OffTopic: Intel's dependent on the Alpha chip...

From: Mike Ford <mikeford_at_socal.rr.com>
Date: Fri Nov 2 00:03:54 2001

>> Where I used to work, there was an IBM PS/2 model 80 that was installed
>> in a closet to do coordination of manufacturing equipment status and
>> utilization reports when it was new. It ran DOS. It was deinstalled in
>> May 2001. It had been running continuously without a crash, except for
>> losses of power, and that only happened twice in the same year, in 1992.
>
>i wouldn't doubt it, i used to run DOS on my 386 many moons ago, and it never
>gave me any trouble. it's great. it's almost entirely useless for doing more

Back in the old single application days it wasn't uncommon for a program to
load and basically totally take over the computer entirely or as much as
the programmer cared for it to, bypassing the OS and talking directly to
the hardware etc. If you do that, other than some hardware compatibility
issues you can make the system as rock solid as anyone would desire, as
long as hardware works well. Some games are still that way a little.

Ultimately I think this is why open systems will grow in popularity.
Received on Fri Nov 02 2001 - 00:03:54 GMT