McFadden, Mike wrote:
I know that I will have computers in 2038 that I
have now.
Jerome Fine replies:
If I am still around in 2038, I am also hoping to still run software
that was first produced about 30 years ago. But I don't expect
that I will be able to use the same hardware - but who knows -
might a power supply last that long? I have a number of PDP-11
systems in a BA23 box which is about the same size as the full
tower PC that I am using right now that I bought 3 years ago with
W95. Fortunately, there are a number of emulators for PDP-11
software that run just as well under DOS/W95/W98 as on a real
PDP-11. In fact, the PC is a Pentium 166 MMX and runs PDP-11
code about twice as fast as a real PDP-11/93. When I eventually
switch to a current Pentium III 800, I expect the ratio to be about
ten times as fast.
I'm betting only 4 times as fast (maybe 5). Just because you've quad'd
the clock (internally) doesn't mean you see a 400% increase in total
response. Besides when you load the next version of WinX it'll boot
about as fast as my Atari 800 off the disk. :-)
Still I wonder how many emulators can one run under another? I know
I've done Linux -> DOS -> CP/M, Linux -> Linux doesn't count (self-
referencing variables ;-).
--
Linux Home Automation Neil Cherry ncherry(a)home.net