MS-DOS 6 is fun :D

[GoofKing]

My dad recently found a crap load of old floppy disks that mostly contained old Linux distros that he used to play around with in the 90's but he also has a few games and the classic MS-Dos 6 and 6.2 So I install it on an old Compaq laptop over MS Windows 98 and I love playing around with the old debugger and writing batch files to make it seem use Linux commands like 'ls' and etc.

I also got a neat book to IBM assembly and programming from my dad after he found it I dunno why DEBUGGER doesn't write the correct file size after following an example from the book on using the 'N' switch to write the name of the file and then 'W' which said (if I could remember correctly) to use a combination of the length of the code segment when you do something like

CS:100 A9 00 BD 08 D9 00
CS:106 and blah blah blah

which you're suppose to type the number 12 in when it prompts you for a number :/ ... Anyways I think I found a new toy and I can't wait to start developing my own programs for it I'm trying to think of a way to implement a screensaver-like program for MS-DOS that goes off every thirty minutes ....

 

[Brent]

Windows 3.1 was my first experience with Microsoft.

 

[tlc]

Yes those were the good old days. I've used computers since the 80s but never had my own til 1997 when I got started on a 386 with Windows 3.1 and DOS 5.0. All the hours tinkering to squeak just a little bit more performance out of it and make it run things meant for a 486. That little box was rock solid, it never crashed as opposed to any other computer I ever had. I still have it stashed away as a piece of memorabilia. I also had tons of floppies and still have them in a drawer under my monitor riser. I've long since transferred them to CD but it's there and not in the way so I keep it there.

 

[wyverary]

My first computer experience was with a DOS-based old "portable" (by which I mean, 45 lb) Zenith that my mum used to complete her thesis. I must have been five or so at the time, and I enjoyed learning all the commands and being able to play some very rudimentary arcade games. I think this was when 3.5" floppies were JUST coming around; and I remember it was a while before we broke down and bought a machine with Windows 3.1.

 

[Tarragon]

Ahh, forget dos -just get an old speccy! I've still got my 48k Spectrum with rubber keyboard, and it works fine! I had a souped up 128k+2 but was persuaded to sell it for some reason by my dad(!). But, I also kept my Amiga A1200 which is also within about twenty feet of where I am typing this!

I used a BBC micro at school (primary and secondary!!) and had a few of those cardboard covered 3.5" floppies

I remember PC's coming into existence, and hated them! The dark ages ended when I got a mac and never looked back (Objective C is beautiful!)

But, life should be challenging, so fire up the DOS!!

Aren't computers much more fun than talking to people!

 

[GoofKing]

The very first computers that I used had some alternative OS that wasn't quite windows but could've been Amiga, Macintosh or even Linux. My special Ed class had these really old early to mid 90's machines that ran Windows 95 and that probably the only Window's NT desktop that I enjoyed using. Everything else after Windows 95 seemed to suck, maybe except 98 ....

Actually, my very first computer that my Mother bought me at the age of 11 had the last version of the 3.0 series before she went out and bought Windows 95 for it I remember many many many up all nighters and even late nights spending hours playing around in DOS or playing a game. Too bad my Aunt got me addicted to Sim City XD I remember playing Solitaire and free cell while having my aunt watch... She was a backseat driver and would always go "No, don't put that card there! Do this and that first" ... God that used to be annoying lol

It was fun up until I somehow screwed up the BIOS and really messed up the hardisk drive where it wouldn't even turn on ... I think I messed with the sectors and cylinders or something like that. I used to get yelled at for having the desktop computer's case opened on my bed as I tried to make sense of how it worked

 

[Tarragon]

Oh yeah, I remember those. They were the forerunner of the laptop. The one that I had experience with had 5 1/4 floppies. I actually still have a couple in a box.

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And people moan that macs are expensive!

 

[TallyMan]

Brings back memories. My first PC was an IBM with DOS 3.0 and a 20 MB hard drive. DOS 4 was a disaster as I recall, Microsoft introduced some new stuff that wasn't very compatible with the hardware. DOS 5 and 6 were good though. Then it was over to Windows 3.0.