On Sat, 22 Feb 2003, Fred Cisin (XenoSoft) wrote:
> The PC (that means 5150!) was significantly better documented
> than any of the other microcomputers being sold retail to the
> general public at the time. (conveniently excluding guvmint,
> industrial, and institutional sales :-)
>
> The "PC Technical Reference Manual" was cheap, and contained
> complete schematics and source code for the BIOS. Third party
> "disassemblies" being sold by third parties are NOT comparable!
>
> Apple, Atari, Commodore, Radio Shack, etc. had documentation,
> but not comparable. How many CP/M machines provided both
> schematics and source code?
Fred, all the machines you mention (Apple, Atari, Commodore, Radio Shack)
included schematics and ROM source code listings with their machines, or
at least the machines that were contemporary with the IBM PC. Well, the
Radio Shack might be the exception, as I believe you had to specially
order them. But I know that the Apple ][ Users Manual had a complete
schematic, description, and ROM source listings, and it came with every
Apple ][ and ][+. With the //e you had to order those volumes separately.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
International Man of Intrigue and Danger http://www.vintage.org
* Old computing resources for business and academia at www.VintageTech.com *
Received on Sat Feb 22 2003 - 18:10:01 GMT