Operating System(OS) Wars

Which OS is better? (post version/build and any reason for your decision)

  • Windows OS

    Votes: 18 34.6%

  • Mac OS

    Votes: 7 13.5%

  • Linux based OS

    Votes: 21 40.4%

  • UNIX

    Votes: 2 3.8%

  • Other

    Votes: 4 7.7%
  • Total voters
    52
No, sorry. I have a desktop that has a half-crippled Ubuntu distro on it that I need to change up, two customer's machines (first, after I test), two test machines of my own, and lastly my server.

I'll bet you need to boot FreeDOS to get control of the display at the level you need.
 
Dr_Toad said:
I'll bet you need to boot FreeDOS to get control of the display at the level you need.
Click to expand...
the video modes are completely different than what i am accustomed to with just enough similarities to keep me interested. i will have to go over the help file a few times to get it down right.
as a test, i ran the following program:
10 screen 1
20 x=rnd(600)
30 y=rnd(200)
40 pset(x,y)
goto 20

i noticed 3 things right off the bat.
1. the ESC key doesn't stop the program.
2. the only output i got was the 0,0 position as being set.
3. i didn't get any errors
the above program should have filled the screen with random dots
i'm not sure whether i missed something with the pset function or the rnd function returns less than 1 random number.
the screen command on line 10 might be faulty too.
like i said, i'll have to peruse the help file a few times.
 
one other thing i noticed is that there is no memory map.
you would need to know this information if you plan on manually manipulating memory locations.
for example:
poking an assembly language subroutine into memory could overwrite locations needed by windows.
i would assume the map would be one of my system.

also, the execution time in text mode is about the same as my coco, maybe a tad slower, and my coco ran at a little over 3 Mhz
 
leopold said:
one other thing i noticed is that there is no memory map.
you would need to know this information if you plan on manually manipulating memory locations.
for example:
poking an assembly language subroutine into memory could overwrite locations needed by windows.
i would assume the map would be one of my system.

also, the execution time in text mode is about the same as my coco, maybe a tad slower, and my coco ran at a little over 3 Mhz
Click to expand...
edit:
correction, my coco had a color subcarrier crystal (3.57 Mhz) for the timing.
i don't know if that was multiplied or not
 
apparently this version of BASIC doesn't allow embedded assembly language execution.
the CALL function is not implemented and the text for the POKE command states this version of BASIC only supports writing to video memory.

BTW, ctrl+break halts program execution and returns you to the command line.
 
leopold said:
i'm not sure whether i missed something with the pset function or the rnd function returns less than 1 random number.
the screen command on line 10 might be faulty too.
like i said, i'll have to peruse the help file a few times.
Click to expand...
the RND function returns a value less than 1

RND is the correct syntax but RND(x) will not return an error.
 
the EDIT function isn't very well documented in this version of BASIC.
then again i'm used to the coco's EDIT function.
this of course means i will probably have to retype the entire line to correct one character.
GW-BASIC is mentioned a few times in the doco, maybe the edit functions are similar.
 
I am going through hundreds of my books. Going to donate them. It is really amazing that they are still invaluable. Some are hopelessly antiquated and that is a shame.

My understanding is that BASIC is antiquated, is this correct? Some others i come across is "Visual J". I just think it is so dependent on the compiler. Basically we would say "the chief that runs the engine"?

Well, Windows NT anyone? I remember Novell Netware but unix and perhaps, to a lesser ectent Windows obliterated that OS. It was a little convoluted though. BeOs was trip. Man that was somrethin'.
 
leopold said:
yes, that's correct.
BASIC of the 1980s is what i cut my teeth on, assembler came soon after.
Click to expand...

I came along a little after you. I learned on Visual Basic. Honestly, now i prefer everything in a browser window so i drift more towards browser compliant apps but only to certain point. Interesting that Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 is still able to develop for windows. God, i hope i didnt throw out my disks.

I have been out of the loop for low level programming and focused more on simpler web browser based programming. For the simple reason that it is just so convenient. Chrome lit a spark in me.

At that point, i guess i lean towards android.

What i really want to try is see if i can get a pre 2000 system up and running. TBH, as far back as i can go is Win 2K or would want to go anyway. That would put me right in the sweet spot hardware wise.

Remember mIRC? Man, that was fun.
 
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Sylvester said:
I came along a little after you. I learned on Visual Basic. Honestly, now i prefer everything in a browser window so i drift more towards browser compliant apps but only to certain point.
Click to expand...
i have visual studio 2005 enterprise edition.
i've tried visual basic but found my monitor too small for the app to display properly.
i also have about a gigabyte of MSDN knowledge base material.
Interesting that Microsoft Visual Studio 6.0 is still able to develop for windows. God, i hope i didnt throw out my disks.
Click to expand...
surely not.
I have been out of the loop for low level programming and focused more on simpler web browser based programming.
Click to expand...
i hardly use assembler, but i had one for my coco.
believe it or not but i still have the manual that came with it.
What i really want to try is see if i can get a pre 2000 system up and running.
Click to expand...
i've tried that a few times and have given up on further attempts.
 
anyway, back to the download.
the RND function sucks.
this version of BASIC acts like it is reading random numbers from a table instead of generating them.

started on the stringart program.
it will take a couple of weeks before i can get a reasonable output.
 
FNaqFst.jpg
 
here is a preliminary draft of the program.
i don't know if the program needs to be in the same directory as the executable.
i've added a help file to get you started.
remember, this program is BETA, so it's gonna have bugs but the program runs fairly well.

BTW, make sure caps lock is on when running this program.
 

Attachments

  • stringar.zip
    1.3 KB · Views: 4
Very nice varda. I have around 70 or so books on subjects ranging from processor level x86 to 3d - Softimage XSI\Lighwave 6\Rhino 1.0 etc.

Hard to believe this tome is pretty much given away (smh):

http://www.amazon.com/Computer-Technicians-Handbook-Art-Margolis/dp/0830632794

In a few weeks i will post an image and if considered legal (public domain) i can upload an electronic version and post the link. You guys can give opinion on what would be worth the time and interest to upload.:)

Leopold, that stringart program is the same is the common stringart program? or did you modify it?

If you make a thread and upload exe's i will beta test, no problem.

My real interest is in writing a sound card driver for windows 7 for the Lynx One sound card.
 
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Sylvester said:
Leopold, that stringart program is the same is the common stringart program? or did you modify it?
Click to expand...
it's one of the first programs i wrote back in 1983.
the BASIC interpreters of that era didn't employ the resolution of my coco.
i thought i died and went to heaven when i got my coco with a resolution 256,192.
the BASIC i downloaded surpasses that with a resolution of 640, 350.
If you make a thread and upload exe's i will beta test, no problem.
Click to expand...
you can download the executable from a link i gave earlier in the thread.
you can run it from any directory but the .BAS program must be in the same directory as the executable.
right now i'm having problems in getting the sin table to generate correct values.
some patterns seem "rotated" by a few degrees but i found out they are actually "skewed" instead.
i'm not sure on how to proceed.
i've tried a couple of methods of generating the table but to no avail.
i might have to generate the first 90 degrees and use that to generate the other 270.
i don't anticipate any problems with the triangular and square waveshapes i plan on adding later.
but yeah, i would like some feedback on what kind of options i could add.

many thanks and kudos for the creators of PCBASIC.
if you are into BASIC then this program is for you.
there are 2 drawbacks.
first, the RND function really sucks, i might be missing something on this though.
second, there is no POKE function and the CALL function isn't implemented.
other than that, these authors did a damned good job.
 
Stryder said:
Which in your humble opinion is the best Operating System? (Feel free to add definition of flavours or particular builds)

You can include Operating system meant for computers (PC/Laptops) along with tablets and Smartphones.

(Personally I use Windows 8.1, but I still prefer having a barebones FreeBSD system through commandline and/or terminal... something about the absence of bloatware running seems attractive)
Click to expand...
Can't answer without having used them all, but Linux is only functional to fools who use it to spite Bill Gates, who has made the best operating systems. Unix? does that still exist? Never used Mac, so I can't comment. Android, though it does work, is also Linux based and is a joke. Windows 8.1 is also dysfunctional, kind of like Vista before 7. Hope 9 returns to normal.
 
Win7 with Cygwin on my desktop, OS X on my laptop, Linux on everything headless. We have a computer with Ubuntu on it but no one ever uses it.

I'm thinking of getting my mom a Chromebook to replace her six-year-old MacBook.
 
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