Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!nbires!vianet!devine From: devine@vianet.UUCP (Bob Devine) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: 640K mem limit (was: MS-DOS Versions) Message-ID: <118@vianet.UUCP> Date: Fri, 9-Jan-87 17:57:43 EST Article-I.D.: vianet.118 Posted: Fri Jan 9 17:57:43 1987 Date-Received: Sat, 10-Jan-87 02:22:41 EST References: <2418@ihlpa.UUCP> <174200005@uiucuxc> <1793@ncoast.UUCP> <2784@osu-eddie.UUCP> Organization: ViaNetix Boulder, CO Lines: 13 Summary: reason for 640K limit In article <2784@osu-eddie.UUCP>, elwell@osu-eddie.UUCP (Clayton M. Elwell) writes: > It's not MS-DOS or PC-DOS that limits you to 640K, it's the IBM video card. > The scene is Boca Raton... > "Hey, Joe? Where should I put the video buffer?" > "How about the middle of the address space? That way we'll have room for lots > of nonexistent ROM expansions!" > "Great, I'll do it!" I suspect the "Joe" character was an IBM product planner who insisted that the engineer limit the address to 640K so as not to make the PC a possible competitor to the "real" IBM machines like Series 1, System 3x... Bob Devine