18 Sep
2014
18 Sep
'14
1:49 p.m.
On Thu, 18 Sep 2014, Ali wrote:
Earl,
That is pretty cool. Did the NEC system run an 8" based MS-DOS? Or was
it a different variety of DOS (or straight CP/M)? I have heard rumors of
MS-DOS natively available on 8" disks but I have never seen one. If it
is MS-DOS how compatible is it with MS-DOS versions of the same vintage?
Yes, NEC had 8" MS-DOS. But, when they came out with "high density"
5.25"
and 3.5", they made THOSE formats the same as their 8"! (and therefore
mutually incompatible with the "standard" (PC-DOS) versions of those
formats. That requires a 3.5" drive capable of 360 RPM, or some games
with the data transfer rate.
In the earliest days, MS-DOS 1.0 was briefly available through Lifeboat
on8" as "SB86-DOS"? (based partially on QDOS).
MS-DOS versions are generally very similar to MS-DOS of equivalent
versions, but NOT mimicing the PC-DOS assumptions of I/O locations,
often almost identical to PC-DOS, other than FORMAT, MODE, etc.
MS-DOS 5.00 was the first version of MS-DOS that was sold as a retail
product, without an explicit requirement that it be sold accompanying a
computer (said requirement was oft violated with a wink-wink)
--
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com