Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!amdahl!pyramid!ctnews!starfish!tims
From: tims@starfish.Convergent.COM (Tim Simmons)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Is the XT dead?
Message-ID: <1346@starfish.Convergent.COM>
Date: 27 Sep 89 18:16:35 GMT
References: <1989Sep27.104957.24581@cs.dal.ca>
Organization: Convergent Technologies, San Jose, CA
Lines: 47

From article <1989Sep27.104957.24581@cs.dal.ca>, by lane@cs.dal.ca (John Wright/Dr. Pat Lane):
> 
> Are 8086/8088-based machines obsolete? Nearly so? How long have they got?
Yes in IMHO they have been obsolete for over a year.  Reason being
is that they are so slow that most of the "good" software packages
can not be run efficiently. XT's can't use 800x600 (16 bit) VGA
cards and monitors.
> 
> I don't see many ads for or hear much about XT's in the magasines lately.
> Many people are saying that since XT's can't run OS/2 or certain DOS
> programs today, that soon they won't be able to run most new software
> and as such represent a bad investment at any price.

The reason they are a bad investment is that you can purchase an AT
for as little as $800. I don't think the issue is if it can run
OS/2 or not, but can it run programs that require +1MB RAM, which
more and more is becoming the minimum requirement for many business
applications.
> 
> Others say that's just industry hype and a machine that does what you 
> want today will still be able to do so as long as it holds together...
> "and who needs OS/2 anyway".  
> 
This is true if all you want to do is some basic word processing
and maybe a small spreadsheet, and don't expect to use anything
more powerful in the future.  But the industry (software) passed
this point long ago.  People want super VGA, and to run VENTURA and
PAGEMAKER and DBASE IV at a speed that is acceptably fast, vs. the
XT's intolerably slow speed.

> Others say it doesn't matter what you buy, its going to be obsolete
> before you get it out of the box...well, sooner than you think, anyway.
I think if you buy a 386 it will not be obsolete for at least 5
years

> they don't like selling XTs anymore because there's no profit in them.
> 
This is true, dealers make < $100

The bottom line is, if you are looking for a new PC don't even
think about an XT. They are obsolete.

-- 
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TIM SIMMONS   (408)434-2843
Unisys  Network  Computing Group - San Jose CA
tims@starfish.convergent.com