28 Jun
2000
28 Jun
'00
1:58 a.m.
This might be a topic better posted in the alt.folklore.computers
USENET group, but let me try here first. This is from memory, and
it's not as reliable as I'd like it to be.
IIRC, OS/2 was not Microsoft's first attempt to create a
multitasking operating system. They were working on, and
I believe mostly finished, a DOS 4.0 that was multitasking.
This was not the PC-DOS 4.0 for IBM, nor was it the MS-DOS
4.0 that we finally saw here in the states.
This multitasking DOS 4.0 (from Microsoft, not a third party)
was supplied with a computer that was old only in either the
UK or more widely in Europe. It seems that the first letter
of the computer manufacturer was an 'A', so the machine could
have been an Apricot, an Amstrad, an Acorn, or lord knows.
I read about this machine either in Byte during the late 80s
or in a BIX conference (I MISS BIX!). I've searched the web
for references to this multitasking MS-DOS 4, and have found
nothing.
Does anyone else remember this? Was the Byte article reviewing
a sample of a product that never shipped? Did anyone get their
hands on one? Does anyone have it?
-doug q
28 Jun
28 Jun
2:12 a.m.
On Wed, 28 Jun 2000 09:58:03 -0400 Douglas Quebbeman
<dhquebbeman(a)theestopinalgroup.com> wrote:
This multitasking DOS 4.0 (from Microsoft, not a third
party)
was supplied with a computer that was old only in either the
UK or more widely in Europe. It seems that the first letter
of the computer manufacturer was an 'A', so the machine could
have been an Apricot, an Amstrad, an Acorn, or lord knows.
I remember this! Only vaguely, though. It was indeed a
multi-tasking version of MS-DOS, supplied by Microsoft to a
UK computer company.
I doubt that Amstrad or Acorn would have done something
like this, so Apricot is the most likely 'A'. However, I
get a (vague) notion that it may have been an ICL product.
--
John Honniball
Email: John.Honniball(a)uwe.ac.uk
University of the West of England
30 Jun
30 Jun
1:42 a.m.
On Wed, 28 Jun 2000, John Honniball wrote:
I remember this! Only vaguely, though. It was indeed
a
multi-tasking version of MS-DOS, supplied by Microsoft to a
UK computer company.
Interestingly, Microsoft bought^H^H^H^H^H^H hired the chap who wrote
Wendin DOS. I wonder if there's a connection. Has anyone else here
used WendinDOS, that multi-tasking MS-DOS-like software - that also
could pretend to be VMS or UNIX - what allowed one to attach multiple
terminals to an 8088 PC? Also, does anyone remember playing with VMiX
(another multi-tasking, multi-process, program that one ran from
MS-DOS)?
--
R. D. Davis
rdd(a)perqlogic.com
http://www.perqlogic.com/rdd
410-744-4900
28 Jun
28 Jun
8:17 a.m.
At 09:58 AM 6/28/00 -0400, you wrote:
OS/2 was not Microsoft's first attempt to create a
multitasking operating system. They were working on, and
I believe mostly finished, a DOS 4.0 that was multitasking.
There was indeed a multi-tasking version of DOS 4.0 that
was developed jointly by IBM and Microsoft. The lead engineers
were however from IBM in Hursley. Never was released as far as I know.
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Computer & Video Game Garage Sale
30 Jun
30 Jun
6:14 a.m.
This might be a topic better posted in the
alt.folklore.computers
USENET group, but let me try here first. This is from memory, and
it's not as reliable as I'd like it to be.
IIRC, OS/2 was not Microsoft's first attempt to
create a
multitasking operating system. They were working on, and
I believe mostly finished, a DOS 4.0 that was multitasking.
This was not the PC-DOS 4.0 for IBM, nor was it the MS-DOS
4.0 that we finally saw here in the states.
This multitasking DOS 4.0 (from Microsoft, not a third
party)
was supplied with a computer that was old only in either the
UK or more widely in Europe. It seems that the first letter
of the computer manufacturer was an 'A', so the machine could
have been an Apricot, an Amstrad, an Acorn, or lord knows.
I read about this machine either in Byte during the
late 80s
or in a BIX conference (I MISS BIX!). I've searched the web
for references to this multitasking MS-DOS 4, and have found
nothing.
Does anyone else remember this? Was the Byte article
reviewing
a sample of a product that never shipped? Did anyone get their
hands on one? Does anyone have it?
Well, I never heared about the version you are refering to, but
DOS was basicly starting from 2.0 able to do task switching.
All Informations necersary where contained within a series of
structures with a single root. The only missing thing was a
table of task pointers to switch between - and a service to
store and restore the screen content. There have been several
products offering this service. And with DOS 4 MS supplied the
infamous shell, capable of doing this. You could load several
applications and switch via a hot key combination. Windows is
still today (at least Win9x) based on this very same mechanism
for context switching. Also the functions for 'background'
applications/drivers where designed to support application
switching. The famous TSR mechanism was not only ment to steal
some memory for crude interrupt handlers, but also for true
serviceprovider tasks within the OS ... well, I guess most
programmers never realized the potential offered and kept
limited to a simple one programm state of mind.
All this was already available starting with DOS 2.x, just
it has never been 'official' until DOS 4.x
Gruss
H.
--
VCF Europa 2.0 am 28./29. April 2001 in Muenchen
http://www.vintage.org/vcfe
http://www.homecomputer.de/vcfe
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days inactive
8904
days old
4 comments
5 participants
participants (5)
-
dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com -
gehrich＠tampabay.rr.com -
Hans.Franke＠mch20.sbs.de -
John.Honniball＠uwe.ac.uk -
rdd＠smart.net