7 Nov
2007
7 Nov
'07
9:42 a.m.
On 7 Nov 2007 at 10:21, ajones wrote:
There was never a version of Linux, or UNIX in
general, less bloated
than Windows 95. Windows 95 will very comfortably get you TCP/IP,
protected memory, preemptive multitasking[1], and a graphical desktop on
a 486 SX with 8M of RAM. Linux 2.0 with XF86 3.x was a carnival of
swapping on that configuration. Solaris x86 wouldn't even boot.
For me, my standard "x86 Work Platform" is MSDOS/Win98 booted to DOS
with DOSLFN added. One gets FAT32 partitions, long filename support
and direct access to hardware ports that will run on a slow 386
(Anyone know why MSDOS 7.1 doesn't work on a 286?). Type "WIN" and
you've got a GUI that will run most Windoze apps, USB, DPMI32 server
and networking--and you still keep access to the hardware ports and
your real-mode DOS drivers. It's not the most secure setup in the
world, but it does most of what I need--even on very slow hardware.
And it loads pretty fast, compared to *nix or even the MS NT variants
like XP or 2K.
95 is a little too flakey for me and ME has got a number of annoying
things that make work more difficult.
Cheers,
Chuck