Did you go with Microsoft DOTD - Free Windows 10?

moparsbob said:
Ah, all you youngsters. I was programming using punch cards and assembler language on an IBM 1130 back in the late '60s and early '70s, then moved on to DEC PDP11s and Fortran in the later '70s. I was the local expert at creating the "program cards" for large data entry jobs on the IBM 029 keypunch machines (later replaced with 129s). I had learned to program for efficiency of execution, storage, and memory usage. I remember when the first IBM PCs came out and the University ordered one for me. I had specified a 10 MB hard drive, and they sent me one with a 20 MB hard drive, which I returned because I didn't think I'd ever be able to use that much storage. At the time, I was running a 20-user system on a DEC PDP11/34 with 512K of Standard Memories core memory and two RK05 removable disk drives which held 5 MB each - one held the entire operating system, and the other was used for application files. I didn't realize how bloated all of the PC stuff was until much later. And then we upgraded to an RP04 88 MB disk drive - back then they cost $43,000. And I was even on the internet (BITNET) back before Al Gore had even invented it - Good times...
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What OS were you running? RSTS/E? My PDP-11 is one of the more modern Qbus LSI-11 based dealies, and I usually ran RT-11 on it (although I did put 2.11BSD on it once for fun).
 
I used Unix mostly but learned Fortran IV and Basic.
Yall remember stuffing cards with DIP socketed memory chips. What a pain. First chip was parity and the rest in that row was base memory. I had a 286 8 MHz with two AST advantage cards and piggybacks on both that took up half the computer real estate. It had an Irwin tape backup (100MB i think?). Wish I had a pic of my old system. There was a program called "Pathminder" (pre-windows/mouse) that was sort of like windows but you had to use the up down arrow keys to navigate the screen then select. Shortly after that the mouse came out and all things changed.

Mbob you got into it a bit earlier than I. It was about 1979-80 when I took my first programming class on the IBM 029 (maybe 129?).
 
Actually, we were using the RSX-11D operating system. The computer was primarily being used for the biomedical physics calculations for radiation therapy, and the physicists had A-to-D converters on the simulator and treatment machine, interfaced to the PDP11 using a device known as a CAMAC, so they could directly acquire data from the machines. At that point we were using a PDP11/40. We were using the RSX-11D OS because RSX-11D still retained lots of parts of the RT-11 OS , making it much easier to interface hardware devices to the computer. But it also had some of RSTS/E multi-user capabilities, so we were able to install some dumb terminals (VT52s) in the clinic and home-brewed a patient managment system.

I wasn't aware of the continued existance of PDP11s after the advent of the VAX - our PDP11s all used the venerable Unibus. As soon a the 32-bit VAX systems came out, we moved to a Microvax running VMS.
 
I've got a MicroVAX II right now serving as an end table in my basement. It does the job admirably well. The last time I powered it up was about a decade ago and it still worked. This was right after Compaq had bought DEC, but they still had a user group where you could order a CD with the latest version of DEC's operating systems. That's how I got VMS and RT-11, although I had a heck of a time copying it to TK-50 and bootstrapping them.
 
I feel eternally blessed that I don't have a clue what yall are talking about. Might as well be Martian for all I know.

My computer is a square box, smaller than the ones I had before, sets on the desk top, has blinky lights and a cup holder that slides out and in sometimes, not sure why, and it don't fit any of my cups to good neither but I continue to search for the perfect size cup.

Sometimes the cup holder tries to slide in when the cup is in it too, a glitch no doubt, maybe Microsoft can come up with a bandaid fix for that, maybe a virus or a Bluetooth or something.
 
Over 20 years ago I learned how to program in MUMPS, and that's what I've been doing ever since. Of course, it's not called MUMPS (Massachusetts University Multi-Programming System) any more. Originally, it was everything - the OS, the file system, and the programming language (DSM-11 was the DEC version of the OS for PDP-11s). After it evolved to running as an application under another OS, it became "M" (emulating the "C" language), and later M/SQL (with an SQL interface added), and now it has evolved into what is known as Intersystems Cache, with all the object-oriented extensions, GUI, and ODBC stuff layered on. We ran our current appication system on a Dec 64-bit Alpha 4-processor system running VMS for many years (when Compaq bought DEC, and later when HP bought Compaq, they would just send out a service guy to change the logo on the cabinets). We finally had to retire the system last year because the maintenance costs became prohibitive (not because it couldn't do the job!). But we're still running on a VMS system, except now on an HP server farm with a dozen or so Itanium 64-bit processors. The VMS operating system was ported to run on the Itanium 64-bit processors, so it's still going to be around for a long time.

P.S. Bawanna, you can just ignore this thread! But I'm with Ndog - we want to see the fish pics!
 
ndoghouse said:
For the most part you didnt have a 287 unless you were university funded or something. Funny cause this was way before internet but there were bulletin boards you could post to like forums and converse back and forth but it was very slow. It did work! My screen name has been the same since about 1982:D
I had Led Zeppelin Song remains the same on a Seagate 20 MB Hard drive at that time. You could listen to the whole song then type "park" to park the heads so you didnt drop the head on a good part of the disk. Then replay it. One song kinda got old tho. It took up the whole hard drive but sure was sure cool! I did try getting Dark Side of The Moon on it but it was just too much. When they came out with the CRC100 I got the whole
album on it:thumbup:
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Uh I had a 21 :) mb Seagate on my XT.

And ah, running park.com before moving the system...this thread got much better than expected :).
 
Dang, thank you to all that contributed. Nice to learn so much about fellow forumites in one little thread.

Today I had a more practical trip down the memory lane, when I had to hack away at some tool written ages ago in VC++6. Of course I have something better implemented, of course it will go in production soon, but the boss still wanted to know why it was failing on his 8.1 machine. Yay...

Being that I've been using Java and Python for many years, and C back in university, plus never having had to deal too much with MFC, staring blankly at my code, then in the Registry, was more fun than I thought. The "Aha!" moment was worth it as well. Maybe this thread helped, too. :)
 
P.S. Bawanna, you can just ignore this thread! But I'm with Ndog - we want to see the fish pics!

Nag, nag, nag, it's like we're married or something. I'll get them fishing pictures up soon. Been a couple weeks without technology and getting regrouped and sorted out. I'll get on it or pretty soon nobody will want to talk to me no more. Lonely......
 
Bawanna said:
P.S. Bawanna, you can just ignore this thread! But I'm with Ndog - we want to see the fish pics!

Nag, nag, nag, it's like we're married or something. I'll get them fishing pictures up soon. Been a couple weeks without technology and getting regrouped and sorted out. I'll get on it or pretty soon nobody will want to talk to me no more. Lonely......
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Who's this Bawanna guy your talkin about Mbob? Sounds vaguely familiar? Ill have to go look in my friends folder? Hmmm?

Yep this is a fun thread! Mbob you and Blue were definitely before me. I recognize SQL but thats about it. I started when the IBM clone PC's took off. 8086 4.7 MHz (push "Turbo" button for a few more MHz:D) and 286-8 MHz was the first products. When I started working for Dell we (3 people) assembled PC's on a cafeteria folding table. My good buddy (rip gramps) took care of all the shipping and another QA person and a manufacturing sup. There were about five sales people and the few office pukes up front counting beans. Oh and a Lawyer because we got into lots of trouble with the FCC and IBM. That floppy disk there was copywritten material and we were not supposed to use it in the plant to test our computers but we did. Dell cant ding me for it because they stole it first:D. We got caught when a bunch of computers got sent out with the test software still copied on the hard drive. It was supposed to be formatted clean at the end of the line but a glitch in a batch file let it get shipped to the customer with IBM copywritten software on it. Big mistake.
I still have a brochure somewhere with all the prices and options etc. If I can find it Ill scan and post it for nostalgic reasons.
 
Naw, you're all way more before me Ndoghouse. I was born in '80, I was just introduced to computers early because my dad was building big chunks of the internet at the time. My first PC was the original IBM PC, but shortly after that I got an old Sun-2 workstation with SunOS on it. Some company going out of business had a bunch of hardware my dad needed, but they'd only agree to give it to him if he took their old obsolete stuff too.

I used to have a bunch of old workstations. Sparcstations, Alphas, Vaxen, HP 9000s, HP 3000, SGI Iris, etc. I had to get rid of most of them but I still have the Vax, and a few others.

That's really cool you were one of the founders of Dell! Did you ever meet the "Dude you're getting a Dell" guy or was that after your time?
 
cul4u01 said:
Punchcards....I hated them with a vengeance, somehow I always had a "glitch". I think the CC guys did it on purpose! I used to tell the boss, I could do my work faster manually, I didn't need the damn punchcards and CC.
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when i was a cadet at the SUNY maritime college, my first computer was a 300 baud paper tape monster, programmed in machine language. if our program crashed it took a couple hours to reload the OS & the computer centre people were not happy. you scheduled running your program a week in advance.

we got a new engr. building my mug year (freshman) & it had a new ibm computer that used punch card programs in fortran!. best of all it had the OS on a huge multi platter hard disk that held a massive 5 MB! we were in heaven. i soon became one of the cadet operators (extra money) after hours and 'assisted' everyone to run their programs & help debug them for re-punching. it used a massive line printer as the output terminal & used masses of paper, but was much quicker than the teletypewriter the old computer used. we also had a number of mechanical adding machines people could use, including an expensive electronic one that used nixie vacuum tube to display numbers and which could do square roots and trig functions and logarithms. ie. you could enter a number and hit the square root key to get an approximate answer, hit it again & it was more accurate. so you'd hit it until the display stopped improving the answer. i think it calculated to 8 places.

back to the IBM beast. each 'job' required a initial job card. the job card told the computer how to run the following program from the cards. kind of a bootstrap loader. you could also have a jobcard to do other things, like punch new job cards. the normal jobcards were kept in a tray just above where you fed in your own, so you'd grab one off the top, stick it in front of yours and run, and return the card to the pile after. there were spares in case someone walked off with one, but they changed the code frequently so the next day the card was no good anyway. it processed cards REALLY fast.

one of the professors was a conceited patronising arsole, would come in with his program, and insist he ran it himself as we were to stupid to understand his massive program that took hours to run, something to do with oceanography and wave/tidal motion. we tried to tell him how to simplify it so it would run quicker - he always used the worst possible coding for loops and subroutines and used his on laborious math functions in lieu of the one already in fortran IV. anyway, one afternoon we were playing games on it when he arrived unscheduled and demanded to run his suitcase full of cards. while he ws distracted we slipped a punch the punchcards card on top of the jobcard pile & he picked it up & loaded his pile of cards. the job card dutifully punched out every location on every row and column of every card before he noticed. we of course commiserated with him, told him it must have been a glitch and destroyed the 'special' jobcard ASAP. when he calmed down we gave him a copy of our own program we'd written that did the same calcs on the same data as his old one, but in about 50 cards rather than hundreds. problem solved. he treated us a lot better thereafter. (we did not ventilate his data cards, just the hundreds of program cards).
 
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i'm glad he never figured out what we'd done. we would have been in deep doo-doo.

ps. -i'm running win10 on my asus pc now, tweaked it over the last few days. seems ok, bit quicker than 7 and a whole lot better than 8. figured i might as well bite the bullet & start the learning curve. i'm finding it works fine, as long as i use firefox or waterfox x64 rather than 'edge' - the new internet browser. had to fart about finding how to tweak win10 the way i like it - which is basically looking like win7. :) except for the start menu, i use a program 'startmenux' which gives a more XP-ish menu. it alkso works in win10.

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Is this some new fabric softener on the market?.....i just pour it in dispenser and let machine decide when to install...
 
When i was a freshman in college, a 4-function calculator had just gone from $125 of those days dollars to a $15 Radio Shack model in one year.

I signed up for intro computer science class where mainframe for campus was an IBM loaded with punch cards....and any simple idea was a complicated math equation.

I decided right then that this was not for me...
40 yrs later shows i was right...funny now how everyone assumes the world orbits around computers while i see vast mountains of work being done just to print out a pretty chart that stickynotes on a wall would cover....when truly it is the other way around, the world ran fine and much less hectic without them and likely will again.....remember "please allow 6-8wks for delivery"?, and now people whine like babies if not there in 3 days....progress?....right....

My first computer was a Dell, my second was an HP laptop sitting in bedroom as i tap, playing gregorian chant downloaded from a CD....it is hooked to nothing but speakers...my total electronic connection and bill to the world is this little $45mth Android which allows a little net surf and discussion, email, weather, and news sites (when i can stand the vile and slanted stuff generally sex or violence oriented passing for "news" these days)....

I mainly stay busy in the physical world and read printed books and spend most time playing with physical objects and spend as little time as possible inside a box while staring at colored lights in a box....and just about everything in this thread just discussed is not Greek to me....it is far more alien than that....

Meanwhile i had the same problem with my cup holder and used a ceramic soup cup and it finally quit trying.....it is sorta like the avionics checks we do at work....when we first power up the bird after major work, what we are doing is a smoke check to see if it leaks....everybody knows if you let all the smoke leak out then it won't work anymore....
 
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mtngunr said:
...remember "please allow 6-8wks for delivery"?, and now people whine like babies if not there in 3 days....progress?....right....
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i ordered a german side-sword a few months back 'allow 5 weeks for delivery'. they have them custom made in romania, shipped back to the netherlands for sharpening, then they have the scabbards made to fit the sword. it should arrive this coming week. bought a tuareg takouba sword via ebay that was shipped last tuesday. i was getting antsy when it hadn't arrived by friday. we here at the cantina are spoiled by aunty's use of a time machine to ensure we get our stuff in 3 days, tho they are custom made in nepal & shipped back to the USA to aunty (it takes longer to get over here to the UK, but not much) - the upshot being that if you know it will take a while in advance & are informed along the way, you can bear the wait, but once the item is in the hands of the postal services/couriers/customs you are in the fickle hands of the gods, which makes any normal person worry.
 
Define normal person. It's been a life long goal of mine to be normal.
 
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