I think 3.11 turned NotWorking into NetWorking.
On cutting edge h/w it was stellar.
Up until that time I was pretty ambivalent about the utility of a GUI.
But in 3.1 I discovered that I could have my editor, compiler, and debugger all open in separate windows and switch easily back and forth. I remember thinking yeah, this changes everything.
And then Windows for Workgroups came along and basically blew Novell out of the water, and the rest was history.