Old PC Technology

[ila]

I took a look through some of the old PC books that I have. There is one, published in 1996, specifically for searching the internet. It includes search engines such as Alta Vista, Yahoo, Web Crawler, and a few others. The one search engine not mentioned is google.

[a9127]

Ila, I don’t know when “Google” first became popular? I seem to remember first using it in late ’99 or early ’00. It was the “cool,” “new,” thing and over the last 20 years, has grown so much more as a company. Much of what I teach it is almost impossible to not be involved with “Google” in some way. I use their analytics and many of my students prefer to use “Google Docs” rather than Microsoft. Our major applications however are still Excel and Access, Oracle, also Power BI, and Tableau. We also use SAS, SPSS, R, and teach Python.

According to “Wired,” The Mosaic browser was released in April 1993. I remember my first time using it but I don’t remember the exact date. The whole idea of “hypertext” and “world wide web” started in the late 80’s anyway (Tim Berners-Lee) so I had used software that “linked” to other resources before.

My parents had “CompuServe” for a long time and I still remember ordering clothes for school from Sears or J.C. Penney’s using their credit card. Of course our computer crashed right after I placed the order (it was a “text” interface) and worrying that I would get in trouble.

But enough… Here’s a few “screenshots” that are sure to bring back memories. And for those who weren’t born yet… yes, this really was what the Internet was like back then and was considered “awesome.”

[a9127]

Sorry to disappoint everyone but I’m still here…

CompuServe? Through a 300 bps modem? The kind you put the phone into. Anyone remember those?

This ad is even older. From 1979… But she’s kind of hot.

From the keyboard and “mall shots” I’m guessing this is from around the mid-80’s to early-90’s. Within my lifetime. But I could be wrong. The world as imagined in “the year 2000.” Yes, they were right. We call it “Amazon.”

“Internet in a Box.” I remember seeing these in places like BestBuy. From 1995. Mom and Dad didn’t have to worry, they had me. I would have been embarrassed to be seen using this to get online even as a kid.

And of course “Windows 95.” But pre-release it wasn’t called “Windows 95.” It was codenamed “Chicago.” I can’t remember the exact version but one of my teachers was in a Microsoft “beta tester” program and let me take his copy home to install on my PC. It was on a stack of 3½” floppies—like a zillion of them. Took forever to install.

Finally, really old CompuServe. “Pre Internet Browser” era, no GUI, probably 300 bps at best (see old modem in first pic). Newspaper is dated July 9, 1980.

(Just been very busy with work. That and spent some time in the hospital getting IV antibiotics after a leg infection flared up. Yes it goes back a long time to an old football injury. Otherwise known as a “compound fracture.” )

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

...CompuServe? Through a 300 bps modem? The kind you put the phone into. Anyone remember those? ...

300 bps was far faster than the first modem I ever used. It transferred data at the screaming rate of 75 baud.

Actually I do remember 300 bps modems. I also remember having to put a telephone handset in the cradle of the modem so that it could transfer data.

One time I upgraded my computer so that I had a fax/modem card inside it. I was so ultramodern with that. I purposely bought a fax/modem card because some companies still did business with a fax machine and I could send documents directly to a fax to be printed out.

One thing I learned from the above attached pictures is that CompuServe was owned by H & R Block. I had previously only ever thought of them as a strictly financial company that did personal income taxes as a sideline.

[a9127]

ila,

75 baud? I believed you but had to look it up. It looks like those speeds were used with "teletypewriting" or TTY (mainframe terminals?). I have seen that term "TTY" used with Modems. Don't remember if I ever set anything for that. Maybe for CompuServe? The slowest I've ever used was a "VIC Modem" which was 300 baud. Blazing fast for the time. At least you could get "on line."

What makes me feel old today is this (well that and Billie Eilish turns 18 in three days... ). This is "Windows 2000." It was based on "NT"--the more powerful and "stable" version of Windows. Ran this for a couple of years until "XP" came out. Ran them "side by side." Had an iMac as well. Never had it crash. I noticed Windows 2000 was released 20 years ago today. Can't be. Can't f'ing be...

(You may have to click the "NT info graphic" several times to see it. I just "screen capped" it from Wikipedia. All the info is correct as far as I remember.)

[a9127]

Phones, phones, phones… Thinking about phones... How they have changed over the years. At my university, we still have desk phones, but hardly anyone ever uses them. Like most people now, I take my Samsung Galaxy everywhere. When I started teaching we still had an old (mid 90’s) “Octel” voicemail system. I and the rest of the “younger” faculty hardly ever used it. Hell, I am considered “old” today for using an “Android.” My students a couple of years ago had a campaign to get me to switch to an “iPhone.” “FaceTime” was a big reason for it.

But back to Octel. Everyone made fun of the “nasty lady” who’s voice was heard saying things like “you have three new messages.” She came across as “cold,” “impersonal,” and “authoritarian” and most people hated her. She’s actually a nice person. I read an interview with her several years ago.

I hate voicemail anyway. Don’t have time to listen to a rambling message. Would rather get an email or text. I can read it quickly and decide if it’s important right away. Or trash it…

I don’t know what kind of phone we have at school now but I only seem to get “spam” and calls from “book reps” or "telemarketers.” However it looks much cooler than the old system with a touchscreen interface.

For my consulting business, I use my cell phone exclusively. I will most likely be getting the “5G” folding model in 2020. We also haven’t used a “landline” in years at home. Not long after we were married in 2011 we got a “AT&T U-Verse” package that came with a landline phone and number. Never hooked it up. Think it’s still in a box in the garage.

And there used to be telephone “exchanges.” I know a little about it. You dialed something like “MUrray Hill 5-9975” (the phone number on “I Love Lucy”). Or “BUtterfield 8.” The name of the movie starring Elizabeth Taylor for which she won the 1961 Academy Award.

I am from Detroit which is area code “313.” They replaced “exchanges” with “area codes” sometime during the 60’s and 70’s. I was born after that so I don’t know what the “exchange” for our location was. We lived on the West side. Not far from Dearborn. South of “8 Mile” road. You can buy merchandise with 313 on it. Eminem has a song called “313.” Troy, where we eventually moved is area code “248.”

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

ila,

75 baud? I believed you but had to look it up. It looks like those speeds were used with "teletypewriting" or TTY (mainframe terminals?). I have seen that term "TTY" used with Modems. Don't remember if I ever set anything for that. Maybe for CompuServe? The slowest I've ever used was a "VIC Modem" which was 300 baud. Blazing fast for the time. At least you could get "on line."

Yep, 75 baud was teletype. It was analogue communications though and not digital. The method of transferring data is somewhat similar except that analogue communications usually measured the voltage level, which varies according to the character being transmitted, whereas in digital the voltage is either on or off.

[a9127]

Up early today to work with my students online. Taking a break. Don’t exactly know where to post this. Since it features old technology of the day, I will place it here. Today is April 1st.

April 3, 1974 was a very bad day for weather in the United States. Almost 150 tornadoes in 24 hours. Many lives lost. A record that would not be broken until 2011.

Anyone remember it? Probably most of us weren’t around yet. But if you live in the Central US you most likely know someone who survived it. I am from Detroit. On the map, you can see there is one tornado (#30) that went between Michigan and Canada. I think it crossed over into Windsor in Ontario and caused damage there. Not sure, I wouldn't be born until the 80's.

Members of my family remember this day however. Both my parents remember it although they hadn’t met yet. We are all “West Siders” so I don’t know how bad it actually was where they lived but there were tornado watches and warnings issued for lower Michigan and Canada.

Ironically, the location in Indiana where I live today, appears to have been “spared.” Monticello Indiana did not fare so well. The city took a direct hit from an F4 or F5 tornado that caused great devastation and loss of life. That's the long track in Northern Indiana (#12 and #13). I knew 2 people at Purdue who survived this tornado. Very young then, they both lost their homes and told me they thought they were “going to die.” One remembers his mom covering him under a table as their house was torn apart.

In Southern Indiana, Hanover College was destroyed. The tornado, an F5, then headed straight for Madison, an historic city along the Ohio river and popular vacation destination. At the last second, it changed course. My current wife and also my “ex” have spent lots of time visiting Madison. It’s a popular vacation destination in Indiana. And they have powerboat races on the Ohio. Check out the movie “Madison.” Belterra Resort and Casino, today, is not far from there. This picture of the tornado is posted in many places around town. I have also visited Hanover College. Some signs of the devastation remain today.

But perhaps the story most people have heard was about the Xenia, Ohio tornado. Striking late in the afternoon. It killed over 30 people when it hit a subdivision around dinner time. It is known in popular culture as the tornado that threw a school bus onto the stage. Not an urban legend, this really happened. Students had been rehearsing for a play when one looked out a stage door and saw the approaching tornado. They all took cover. You can see what happened to the school below.

The technology of the time included radar (based on WWII technology—no Doppler then), early satellites, and “teletype” machines. Most warnings went out over radio or TV. Some too late…

(This “outbreak” is legendary in the United States. And there are many people still alive who will never forget that day. I wonder if "Dr. Amy" was born yet? I think she looks too young. Right now it’s in the 30’s F here. So today we are most likely to get snow… We have our own problems right now with the coronavirus… Stay well!)

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

...The technology of the time included radar (based on WWII technology—no Doppler then)...

Doppler just means the change in frequency between the transmitted signal and the received signal. All radar does and always has worked by the Doppler effect.

The difference between early radar and modern versions is the quality of the receiver/computer that can process the returned signal. Modern radar is able to get more and better detail than the old analogue vacuum tube radar.

[a9127]

Originally Posted by ila

Doppler just means the change in frequency between the transmitted signal and the received signal. All radar does and always has worked by the Doppler effect.

The difference between early radar and modern versions is the quality of the receiver/computer that can process the returned signal. Modern radar is able to get more and better detail than the old analogue vacuum tube radar.

What about the rest of my post?

I know what the "Doppler Effect" is. And how radar works. I was under the impression that the radar standard used for years (in the US at least) was WSR-57 and produced images like the one I included in my post above. The Xenia Ohio tornado was indicated by the "hook" echo which must have come from the Doppler effect. Weather radar today uses a different, upgraded standard introduced in 1988 known as "WSR-88." From what I've read, these can measure motion or "rotation" inside a thunderstorm and identify cells that might produce a tornado.

Some of the old "WSR-57's" lasted into the 90's. I read somewhere that Hurricane Andrew in 1992 blew one of the last operational ones off the roof of a weather station in Florida.

The site is all yours my friend... I have contemplated leaving many times. Guess it's time.

[ila]

The whole purpose of my post was to dispel the misconception some people have that Doppler radar is something new or something special. I was merely stating, for those interested, what Doppler means. My post was meant to convey the fact that radar since its inception has worked on the Doppler effect. The main difference now is in the signal processing capabilities of equipment whereby more information can be gathered. My post in no way was to insinuate that you did not understand what is the Doppler effect or how radar functions.

[a9127]

Did not know this font had been around for over 60 years. The slide show accompanying the article is interesting. No wonder it seems like it is everywhere…

https://www.cnn.com/style/article/he...ars/index.html

(Below is an Apple “Mac” circa 1984. My current students think dinosaurs roamed the earth back then. )

[a9127]

How many of you owned one of these? Although we had Macs like the one above in school, my “first” Mac was this one. A “Biondi Blue” model purchased in 1999. If I remember right you could get them in at least 5 colors.

I also opted for the 3 ½” external floppy drive which connected through a USB interface. Steve Jobs did not want anyone to use “floppies” as he envisioned an interconnected world via the “Internet” (quotes because back then it was a still a “thing”… ). But as you can see, there still are wires! And a small CRT display. Wonder what was up with that? Just a few years later that would all change.

It came with a “Jurassic Park” style game. I also had Microsoft Office for it so I could use Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. “Nanosaur” was released April 6, 1998. And an update was offered in 2002 (Nanosaur Extreme). My nieces would probably like Nanosaur. Too bad my iMac ended up in a landfill many years ago.

I still have the 3 ½” floppy in my office… just in case. It has come in handy. My current students have never even used one.

[a9127]

How many of these can you guess? This appeared in one of my "clickbait" ads this morning. Many people still have "vintage porn" in some of these formats.

(The only one I'm not 100% sure of is the small black cartridge with the red stripe in the center. If it's what I think it is, they were used for digital recording and computer backup. Showing my age on the others I guess. Either that or I'm a "student of technology." Hey it's my job... )

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

How many of these can you guess? This appeared in one of my "clickbait" ads this morning. Many people still have "vintage porn" in some of these formats.

(The only one I'm not 100% sure of is the small black cartridge with the red stripe in the center. If it's what I think it is, they were used for digital recording and computer backup. Showing my age on the others I guess. Either that or I'm a "student of technology." Hey it's my job... )

I know, had, or have seen all of them except for the black cartridge with the red stripe.

[paladin68]

That small black w/ red stripe looks like an old DAT cartridge. I still have a Panther mini 2000 DAT drive (SCSI) and a few cartridges but I haven't used it in years.

While i never owned a name brand desktop PC I've used the original compaq portable (with the little built in 9" green screen), IBM XT & AT, compaq 386, Apple IIe (with a microsoft softcard to make it a CPM machine), commodore 64 with tape and diskette drives, and still have a couple old ST412/MFM hard drives. I still have original IBM DOS 2.1 and 3.1 manuals & IBM Basic 3.0 manuals, and lots more.

When I switched to IBM ThinkPads over 20 years ago I always kept the old ones and have them rtom the 600 and 760 series (late 90s) and T series from T21 through T (&W) 530.

Anyone remember ARCnet, or Corvus Omninet?

Token ring - it wasn't even a ring configuration. It was really laid out just like star Ethernet (which we all use now).

Never used the original "thick" Ethernet - that was for very large installations. I did use and run lots of thin or "cheaper"net BNC connected coax Ethernet before the star configuration took over.

[ila]

Originally Posted by paladin68

That small black w/ red stripe looks like an old DAT cartridge...

I, too, initially thought it was a DAT cartridge so I looked for a matching image, but I couldn't find anything that resembled the exact shape and size. It could be that there were different sizes made. It's quite awhile since I've even seen anything DAT so I don't remember all the different tapes and equipment.

[franalexes]

My first computer had no program. I had to type in all commands. The first one( for training I guess) took over 300 keys ( letters, numbers, and symbols) and then hit "enter". result: the screen went red for one second. I then waited ten years for a Gateway computer.

[a9127]

As I began my new position as Executive in Residence at my university last week, I started cleaning out my home office as well. This is the program I wrote way back in grade school with one of my teachers. It was called “Chart Analyst for Windows.” My dad got his attorney to write up a license agreement and also to keep the teacher from taking advantage. As he always said "trust nobody." The program was written in C++. I did most of the coding.

Thought this might be of interest here as it’s all pretty obsolete now. Especially the “modem settings” routine. 1994? 1994??? Christ! I guess it was what it was. I still have an external 3½ USB drive. May try “installing” it later tonight to see what happens?

Anyway it didn’t make me the next “Bill Gates” but I made enough money to buy a Corvette for my 16th birthday some years later. Invested the rest.

Eventually this venture became the basis for the market research consulting firm I now own.

Last picture. Black of course. Six speed manual. Z51 suspension. HUD. At my parent’s home in Michigan. Spring Break 2000. Would’ve taken Dove Cameron out but she was only 4.

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

As I began my new position as Executive in Residence at my university last week, I started cleaning out my home office as well. This is the program I wrote way back in grade school with one of my teachers. It was called “Chart Analyst for Windows.” My dad got his attorney to write up a license agreement and also to keep the teacher from taking advantage. As he always said "trust nobody." The program was written in C++. I did most of the coding.

Thought this might be of interest here as it’s all pretty obsolete now. Especially the “modem settings” routine. 1994? 1994??? Christ! I guess it was what it was. I still have an external 3½ USB drive. May try “installing” it later tonight to see what happens?

Anyway it didn’t make me the next “Bill Gates” but I made enough money to buy a Corvette for my 16th birthday some years later. Invested the rest.

Eventually this venture became the basis for the market research consulting firm I now own.

Last picture. Black of course. Six speed manual. Z51 suspension. HUD. At my parent’s home in Michigan. Spring Break 2000. Would’ve taken Dove Cameron out but she was only 4.

The background information is very interesting. I especially like the modem settings. That brought back a lot of memories. I've still got my booklet on modems and baud rate (part of my trade and I had to know it all). I'll have to pull it out to see if I can find any little nuggets in there to pass on.

[a9127]

Maybe someone else had one of these antiques? In another post, I mistakenly told ila my “first PC” was a C64 like his. In fact he was way more advanced than me. Mine actually was a lowly “VIC-20” my mom picked up on sale at K-Mart or something. Today it resides in a landfill somewhere North of Detroit.

The VIC-20 manual. That kid would be at least a few years older than me. You know he’s saying: “Dad, let’s go back to the pictures you were looking at before Mom walked in.”

Looks like someone tried to bring one into the “21st Century.” Nice try but why isn’t anything showing up on the screen?

“Deceptive Advertising” and technology has been around since… well… forever! This was a “text based” game anyway. So there wasn’t even a poorly digitized version of her to beat off too… Today it’s called “clickbait.”

[a9127]

A few "relics" I found while cleaning up my office today. Some of this stuff I've had for years...

The first "CD" was for a review course on Oracle. But it says "CBT." A course on "CBT"? Wonder who teaches it? Chanel Santini? Angeles Cid? Sign me up!

Or do I just have a dirty mind...

The "AOL" disk is from 1999. God. This one really makes me feel old... Who remembers these? Did you ever use "AOL"? Were you even born? My students weren't.

The others are just "general interest." The best one was the CCNA "Virtual Lab."

The second pic is my membership card for the "Project Management Institute." I became a "Certified Project Manager" when I was still in Grad School. Speaking of which, I'm getting ready to teach it online again in the Spring. Here I'm "Dr. Andrew."

[ila]

The pictures above brought back memories of 2x CD ROM drives. It was top of the line back in '92. I almost bought a PC back then with one installed. The only reason I didn't was because I couldn't afford it.

[a9127]

Originally Posted by ila

The pictures above brought back memories of 2x CD ROM drives. It was top of the line back in '92.

You didn't miss anything really... There wasn't much around. This was from "Encarta '95." Considered to be state of the art "multimedia" and "the future of learning" during the 90's it left much to be desired...

This is the video for "Basketball."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7o4wW4pUMQ


Like most guys I got my porn from "Usenet."

(Always wanted to know what the blonde in the pink top making a basket near the end looked like. Best part of the video. )

[ila]

A couple pictures I found today that have been turned into memes:

Cassette decks can't really be called computer technology, but at one time it was possible to save files to them. I wonder how many still have cassette players (I do ). That head cleaner sure was handy and it actually worked.

Who remembers clippy? I was sure glad that microsoft provided a way to turn off that annoyance.

[a9127]

Didn't think I could find these. First "event" like that I ever went to. May 31, 2001. A long time ago. Got "Office XP" for free. The "highlight" was a "livestream" conference with Bill Gates (you could ask him questions through a moderator) and a guy in a "Clippy" costume. For an otherwise impressive event, "Clippy" was poorly done. Somehow to me he looked more like the fourth picture...

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

Didn't think I could find these. First "event" like that I ever went to. May 31, 2001. A long time ago. Got "Office XP" for free. The "highlight" was a "livestream" conference with Bill Gates (you could ask him questions through a moderator) and a guy in a "Clippy" costume. For an otherwise impressive event, "Clippy" was poorly done. Somehow to me he looked more like the fourth picture...

I laughed so hard at the fourth picture that I almost choked.

[a9127]

Found this in a box in the garage. Who remembers “QuickTime”? It’s still around: QuickTimeX. I really don’t remember when I last used it for anything. “A Hard Day’s Night” allegedly was the “first movie” ever digitized and offered on “CD.” I’ve included a screenshot from my PC so you can see the age of the files. There were no DVD’s back then. As far as I can remember, not much of anything. Vaguely remember the “wmv” and “mov” formats. When I tried to install it on my current PC earlier today, I got a “Catastrophic Error” message.

A birthday or Christmas present from my mom and dad. They most likely wanted me to listen to “good music” instead of “death metal.” But many people back in the 1960’s did not like the Beatles. The sound of “electric guitars” did not score well with the “older generation.” So what has changed in 60 years?

However no post of mine would be complete without references to women.

Interestingly, last night I was watching “Goldfinger” again. After having made love to the girl who ends up painted gold, Sean Connery goes into the kitchen to get another bottle of champagne. In what was probably representative of many “older people’s” (the audience for James Bond maybe?) view of the Beatles, he says:

“My dear girl, there are some things that just aren't done, such as drinking Dom Perignon '53 above the temperature of 38 degrees Fahrenheit. That's just as bad as listening to the Beatles without earmuffs!”

“A Hard Day’s Night” plays upon the themes of “age” and “generational” differences. Sort of like how today everyone uses “Boomer” as an insult for anyone "over 30." Except back in 1964, today’s Baby Boomers were the young fans of the Beatles! I guess some things never change…

I rented it on YouTube. Picked up a couple of terms: John Lennon uses the word “gear” which I guess is “good” or “awesome.” Also George Harrison refers to a girl on TV as a “posh bird.” I think this is good...

Here’s the intro:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8AavEpS6CI


From Goldfinger, a very much alive Shirley Eaton is saying: “Andy, you are SO kinky (giggle).”

And of course in my own lifetime there was “Posh" Spice.

[a9127]

Besides ila, I’m not sure how many members are interested in this old technology thread? My posts earlier today on IBM graphics and games made me think of this book. Titled “IBM Graphics From the Ground Up” it was given to me by the teacher I wrote the stock charting program with (above) back in the mid 90’s.

Copyright 1984 it presented several algorithms for drawing three dimensional objects using BASIC. I did the “3D” PC as an assignment in one of my classes. You could even rotate it using the arrow keys. Nothing special really but maybe more than anything else, helped launch my academic career since it led to other things.

Today this book sits safe and sound on my bookshelf at home.

Damaged during the Summer of 2016 when our temporary offices were flooded, I managed to “salvage” it although it was waterlogged.

You can see some of the water damage in this photo.

The back cover. He graduated from the University of Illinois. Many years later Purdue would play them in football (one of his former students was on that team).

That is a pic of an old 19” IBM “hi res” display. One of the last of the CRT’s. Anyone remember these? Couldn’t help noticing the browser. That looks like “Windows XP” so it must be the early to mid-2000’s. “Overstock.com” is on the screen:

"Have you discovered the secret of the Big O?"

Sabine Ehrenfeld was the spokeswoman for Overstock back then. That was back in the day when all my “celebrity crushes” were older than me. Had to look her up. Sabine was born in 1963. Almost a 20 year age difference.

When exactly did all my "future wives" become 15-20 years younger than me?

[MistressStevie]

Originally Posted by a9127

Besides ila, I’m not sure how many members are interested in this old technology thread?

Having written programs on punch card in Fortran and waiting overnight for results, I love this thread. It is almost as good as Divas and One Pieces Swim Suits.

I have been trying to find my old copy of JCL (job control language) to show my son how far we have come.

[ila]

Originally Posted by MistressStevie

...I have been trying to find my old copy of JCL (job control language) to show my son how far we have come.

This is the first time I have heard of JCL so naturally I had to look it up to get some information. I have never worked on mainframes so now I know why I hadn't heard of JCL. It's always good to learn something new even if it's old.

[a9127]

Originally Posted by MistressStevie

Having written programs on punch card in Fortran and waiting overnight for results, I love this thread. It is almost as good as Divas and One Pieces Swim Suits.

I have been trying to find my old copy of JCL (job control language) to show my son how far we have come.

Glad you enjoy this thread. I think many of us share common experiences with technology.

Have heard of “JCL” but never used it. I knew what it meant. I hope you will post more about it.

My very first experience with programming was “Basic” for the Commodore Vic-20 and then on the IBM PC. In school I wrote a program with one of my teachers in C++ (see above posts). Due to Purdue’s Engineering emphasis, the “earliest” language I’ve ever used was Fortran. I of course know about punched cards but never programmed that way. Have heard many horror stories from others at Purdue.

Along the way, I learned Turbo Pascal, COBOL, Assembly Language, HTML, Java, and many “scripting” languages. Also SQL for working with data. Took an online course in Python a couple years ago just for fun. We require it in our Business analytics major. Thought I should know something about it.

Here’s a link to “Fortran 2021” It will never die!

https://www.absoft.com/?gclid=EAIaIQ...SAAEgLoTvD_BwE

[a9127]

You can find anything out there...

https://www.purdue.edu/registrar/leg...1BZ708O1GXBTIT

[a9127]

Today “PC Magazine” had a look back at Microsoft Windows. It turns “35” today.

Below are a few screenshots from the 80’s and 90’s.

Can’t be that long ago. Can’t f’ing be! Sadly it is...

https://www.pcmag.com/news/heres-what-we-thought-about-windows-30-years-ago?utm_source=email&utm_campaign=whatsnewnow&utm_ medium=image

[ila]

This brings back a lot of memories of the various Windows iterations. I remember how excited people were with Windows 3.1. It was multitasking and multithreadiing. Except that it wasn't really either of those. However it did emulate those functions quite well.

I remember the hype surrounding Windows 95. It was the be all and end all until it was released with so many bugs that it took several updates to fix. By then Windows 98 had been released. That was a great improvement and then Windows 98se was released. That was perfect, except like all editions of whichever OS you choose, it isn't.

Windows 2000 was hyped as the best yet because no one had said anything bad about it; until it was released and then no one had anything good to say about it.

Vista was said to be good until people started saying it wasn't.

Then there was XP and 7.0. I used 7.0 before it was on general release to the public (my secret how I did that).

In fact I really have no quibbles with any version of Windows. They have all had their good points and bad points. Software and OS are an ever evolving too; and it's best to remember that. (Sorry, Andy, that last wasn't a dig at you, but a general observation)

[a9127]

Probably the most stable OS I’ve used was Sun Solaris which was based on Unix. Also the various Mac OS’s throughout the years. Windows NT also was stable and not limited by running “on top of” DOS. Still have old copies of NT 4.0 lying around.

The following may not be the most “technical” but is based on real experience. I ran Windows 2000 Professional for a couple of years before “XP” was released. It too performed well at least for me. It was aimed at “business” users instead of home. I got it by ordering it with a new computer. Probably “Windows 98” or “Me” were the least reliable. Windows 3.1 was fine as I remember (showing my age) although more of a “shell” than true OS. I unfortunately remember a bizarre “user interface” from the late 90’s called Microsoft Bob. Never used it but have seen it running on other computers. Widely considered one of the worst products Microsoft has offered.

“Vista” probably was the worst OS based on personal experience. I can remember purchasing the “Ultimate” version in 2007 with great expectations. And it looked great! Sadly it crashed frequently. Too frequently, necessitating powering off. Writing in my technology blog early 2008, I noted “five Windows Failures and 23 Disruptive Shutdowns since September 2007.” Came very close to switching to a Mac for my main PC at that time.

For a very successful company, Microsoft has made a few missteps over the years. The funniest one I think, was the use of “Start Me Up” by the Rolling Stones for the release of “Windows 95.” Someone in Marketing wasn’t paying attention... The idea of course was to promote the “simplicity” of the OS as well as the use of the “Start” button. But the lyrics paint a slightly different picture.

All my friends who worked in “IT” used to quote the following:

You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry
You make a grown man cry

But my personal favorite was this one:

You, you make a dead man cum
You, you make a dead man cum

I can remember ordering the CD “Tattoo You” from Microsoft then listening to this. So someone HAD to know what they said.

Sorry for such a long post. Hope some will enjoy it.

[Lbloverxxx]

I remember my first pentium 4 processor. Playing Games like duke nukem 3d. Now Intel is about to release a GPU thats 10000x faster than my first computer ( https://gamingindustry247.com/intel-...on-30th-march/ ) time just flies