26 Jun
2007
26 Jun
'07
12:59 p.m.
--- Liam Proven <lproven at gmail.com> wrote:
If it runs IBM PC programs of its time period -
whether that's Windows
or Lotus 1-2-3 or whatever - then it's a PC.
Many pseudo-compatibles had to have PC programs
ported to their particular architecture. So the
criteria for uninteresting has become whether or not
it can run a particular program/s?
About
the only time a PC
compatible is interesting in architectural or design
terms is if it's
something like a BBC Master 512 - a 2nd processor in
an alien computer
connected over a CPU-to-CPU bus. Thus, there's some
interest in
hardware PC cards for the various Macs, in the
add-in boards for the
Acorn RISC PC (I have one here, if I ever get it
working) and so
forth.
What about dual or triple processor machines that
just happent to have an 80x86? Are they immediately
deemed uninteresting? It seems that some boxes w/an
Intel processor can often be some of the rarest pieces
around. I can give you a list if you like and
challenge you to find 2 or 3 others on this list with
one, sometimes their won't even be another single
person.
But basically, a PC compatible is a PC compatible.
We've all seen a
thousand of them. Who cares any more?
The problem is when people utter those words it's
really indicative of a unit with an 80x86.
They get marginally more fun to use if they're
running an interesting
OS. Me, I run Linux, because I have work to do and
it networks with
anything, drives almost any peripheral and so on.
But I find BeOS and
Syllable and QNX and AROS and so on much more
*interesting*, simply
because they are different.
Linux? We seem to be diving off topic there. And I'll
grant there are many OS' more interesting then DOS.
But if you're rendering all DOS based machines
uninteresting, you may as well throw CP/M, TRS-DOS and
a number of others in with it. Remember this is a
vintage forum. If you want real *interesting* stuff,
you'd typicall fare better somewhere else, interesting
typically signifying cutting-edge.
Keep in mind there are at least a few Intel based
boxes that won't even run DOS at all.
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