Author Topic: How's your DOS ?  (Read 21353 times)

lordedmond

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Re: How's your DOS ?
« Reply #25 on: October 09, 2015, 12:06:18 PM »
Dave

Don't get mixed up OS2 may be a server version OS2 /Warp was the single user version for desk top computers

In the engineering dept for NWB comp centre we had a server with OS2 as the OS boy did it have some lag

The banks mainframes ran on some IBM software I believe it was cobol not certain with a time share system on one of the main frame but it could be 15 mins between key press and result when busy

It's been a trip down memory lane what with soldering up 4116 mem chip et al.
I think my first dos was 3.1

I could not afford the IBM PS2 micro Chanel offerings that the bank used just as a terminal emulator

But how things have changed now the hardware is of no interest but the software still is at this time I use swift with metal api,s

Hope we have not derailed to OP thread with our ramblings

How about the BBC Acton that used a mix of basic and pascal for its OS uggg


Stuart

Offline awemawson

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Re: How's your DOS ?
« Reply #26 on: October 09, 2015, 12:25:44 PM »
Still got my slide rule - an Aristo Scholar that took me through college, but I do have an Abacus hanging on the wall of my office as the ultimate back up device   :lol:
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex

Offline DavidA

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Re: How's your DOS ?
« Reply #27 on: October 09, 2015, 01:23:21 PM »
Stuart,

This is the stand-alone version.
I just pulled the box out to have a look.

World's most popular 32 - bit operating system.

OS/2 Warp  Version 3.

System requirements .
Intel 386 SX compatible or higher personal computer.
4MB of RAM
35 - 55MB free HD space
1.44MB floppy
OS/2 compatible CD - ROM drive.
VGA support
IBM compatible mouse.

And it comes with the cd, two floppies to install the CD.
A manual for the system and one for the different keyboard configurations.
And a bonus pack with IBM Works, Online Access and other programs.

Thing is, you can also retain your DOS as well as utilise Windows 3.1

Pretty versatile.

Ah, the good old days.

Andrew, Lew,
I have a good slide rule, but no cursor. Must get around to fixing that.

But it is amazing the number of kids who have difficulty with straight forward arithmetic these days.
Long division is enough to send many to their therapists.

Dave

Offline CrazyModder

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Re: How's your DOS ?
« Reply #28 on: October 09, 2015, 01:55:03 PM »
OS/2 Warp was nice indeed. When Windows 3.1 - 98 were still little more than DOS with a fancy GUI on top, OS/2 Warp did most things right under the hood. Too bad it had bad marketing and bad market share. I have a feeling if it had just a little bit more/better applications, it would have gone somewhere. But IBM management decided to give it a Windows 3.1 compatibility layer  :palm: - bad for them that Microsoft decided to go their own ways and didn't give them the newer APIs. And when Windows NT4 and later XP got real operating systems with a kernel instead of DOS, it was the end of the story for OS/2.

Offline philf

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Re: How's your DOS ?
« Reply #29 on: October 09, 2015, 01:59:36 PM »
I have an old Compaq SLT  286 luggable with DOS 6.22 on it but it hasn't been switched on for years. (And probably won't boot if I were to try it as the CMOS backup battery is built in to the Dallas Real Time Clock chip - there is a fix for it. ) Cost an absolute fortune when new - prices started at $5,399!

If any one wants to upgrade their old 486 DOS PC to a Pentium I have at least one and possibly two Pentium Overdrive units which will plug into a 486 processor socket and upgrade your machine to a 90Mhz Pentium.

Free to a good home. The luggable would have to be collected. I'd post out the Overdrive(s) in exchange for a donation to MadModder.

Phil.
Phil Fern
Location: Marple, Cheshire

Offline DavidA

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Re: How's your DOS ?
« Reply #30 on: October 09, 2015, 02:25:12 PM »
Phil,

Ah yes, the Dallas real-time clock chip.

I have a couple of machines that need 'the fix'.

A while back I took a computer into our local computer emporium and asked the about the cause of my 'won't boot' problem.

The nice lady didn't quite burst out laughing, She did say that they couldn't do anything. Then disappeared for a while and came back with two sheets of paper.
"Here is the answer, if you want to try it".

It was the fix.

And when I can get up the courage to take a Dremel to the chip I intend to do it.

Actually it looks pretty straight forward.

Worth doing it just to gain bragging rights.
After all, how many people these days can claim that they fixed their computer by taking an angle grinder to the real time clock ?

Dave.

lordedmond

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Re: How's your DOS ?
« Reply #31 on: October 09, 2015, 02:26:14 PM »
I think we have forgotten

Linux , UNIX and BSD I think that's the one

 Then there was the G5 IBM processors aka power PC

UNIX is the base for OSX

And so the show goes one

But it's my belief that the slower processors with a simple OS that is not a multi tasking one can be just as fast to do one task as the modern computer think of the One they used to crack the enigma code yes it was slow but it only did one thing no fancy bells and whistles just KISS

Stuart

Offline awemawson

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Re: How's your DOS ?
« Reply #32 on: October 09, 2015, 03:02:33 PM »
A variety Unix is the basis for the  windows Kernel if I'm not mistaken. Much of DOS was very unix like in the early days. And CP/M had much  DOS compatibility, with all the same low end system calls and the first 100 Hex addresses for i/o

None of these things developed entirely in isolation, if only because the programmers moved from one organisation to another.

I was googling nostalgically last night regarding the Ferranti Argus machines I used to work on. It was always rumoured the the ICL 1900 used exactly the same function codes at the machine code level - sure enough they do (XFMN to the initiated)

X= accumulator to use
F= function code(add, subtract, sift etc
M=Modifier (page addressing effectively)
N= Address

The modifier bits allowed the memory addressing to be extended by pointing to extension registers that were concatonated with the N address

Explained by Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferranti_Argus

(The chap in the photograph is called Leo Capaldi and used to run the Edinburgh office for me - was a crazy rally driver !)
Andrew Mawson
East Sussex