• Tag Archives PC

  • Byte (November 1988 – IBM Special Edition) 

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Byte – November 1988 (IBM Special Edition)

    Byte was one of the earliest and most in-depth computer magazines around while it was being published. It began life in the 1970s and lasted all the way into the 1990s. This issue is from November 1988 and is one of two issues published that month. Once the IBM PC became a huge deal, Byte started doing a yearly special “IBM” issue and did so for a number of years. This is one of those special IBM issues and it includes:

    Trends

    • Editorial: Two Roads – There was still a question at this time as to whether the IBM PS/2 would set the new standard for PCs to come or the AT/386 standard. We all know how that turned out…
    • Probing the State of the Art – More about the latest in the PC world including both PS/2 and AT/386 standards. Plus a look at advanced operating systems like OS/2 and Unix. Also, I look at new peripheral devices like the HiREZ mouse from Logitech, the Kyocera F-3010 laser printer, the ScanJet from HP and more.
    • Mapping the Software World – A look at some of the common types of software available and good representative examples, including integrated software packages, word processing software, desktop publishing software, spreadsheets, database management, telecommunications, drafting, painting, utilities and more.
    • Beefed-up Bulletin Boards – While most hobby BBSes may have been run on a single phone line and a basic PC, there were some much larger systems out there. This article covers a few of them including Exec-PC (54 dial-up lines, 1.48 gigabytes of files), Invention Factory (24 dial-up lines, 1.2 gigabytes), Thousand Oaks Technical Database (160 megabyte), Utilities Exchange (117 megabytes). These systems offer maximum dial-up speeds of 2400bps to 9600bps. According to this article, at the time there were over 10,000 BBSes in the U.S.
    • Migrating: Up or Down? – Migrating from mainframes to PCs and vice versa.
    • OS/2 Dreams – A look at the current state of OS/2 and where it should go in the future.
    • To Mac and Back – Various ways to move files between the PC and a Mac. Options discussed include direct serial and SCSI connections, using a DOS co-processor, using DOS disks on the MAC, and various networking solutions.
    • DOS 4.0 – A look at the new DOS 4.0. Some enhancements over previous versions include support for disk drives larger than 32 megabytes, new and improved utilities, and a DOS Shell.
    • Memory Board Roundup – A comparison of memory expansion boards for PS/2, PC, XT and AT systems. There are 21 boards listed for PC/XT/AT systems ranging in size from 64K to 16MB with prices ranging from under $100 to nearly $1900 and those prices are for whatever the “standard” memory amount is for that board, none of which exceed 2 MB. There are another 20+ boards for PS/2 systems. These max out at about the same price but start at closer to $350.

    Technology

    • The Micro Channel versus the AT Bus – The advantage of the PS/2 32-bit MCA bus was speed. The advantage of the AT Bus was significantly lower cost and greater compatibility with existing expansion cards. At the end of the day, it turned out that the PS/2 wasn’t really faster than the fastest AT based machines and those AT machines were a whole lot cheaper. The rest is history. It wouldn’t be long before 32-bit “AT” solutions came along like EISA and VLB.
    • Keeping Up with the CPU – A processors in the PC increased in speed from 4.77 MHz to 8 MHz to 16 MHz and beyond, the bus (and system memory) started having trouble keeping up. Some solutions at the time were to introduce wait states (negating much of the speed advantage of faster CPUs), using faster DRAM (which was more expensive), or using SRAM (also expensive). For 386 based systems, the approach settled on was using standard DRAM but including a smaller amount of SRAM for cache. Essentially, the same approach at a high level is still used today with cache having long ago moved from the motherboard into the processor itself. Of course now CPUs have much more cache that systems back then had total memory. A common amount of memory in high end 386 desktop systems in 1988 would have been 1 or 2 MB. The relatively old at this point Ryzen 1700 I am typing this on has 8MB of L3 cache plus smaller amounts of L2 and L1.
    • Whither IBM and Unix? – A look a the various implementations of Unix available including PX/IX, ISC, Xenix, and most recently for IBM, AIX. Plus, OS/2 versus Unix.
    • DOS Meets Unix – Hosting DOS applications like Lotus 1-2-3, dBASE III, and WordPerfect in Unix.
    • Graphics: The Big Picture – The transition of PC graphics from monochrome to CGA, EGA, VGA and beyond.
    • Life After DOS – A look at multitasking options for PCs that don’t require OS/2 including DESQview, VM/386, Omniview, Concurrent DOS, PC-MOS, and Windows/386.

    Techniques

    • OS/2 Communications – A look at communications software in OS/2. It turns out that creating such software that takes advantage of OS/2’s multitasking capabilities is not especially difficult compared to DOS. OS2COMM (including source) is a simple com program for OS/2 that is looked at here as an example.
    • Keep Your PC Healthy – Tips for keeping your PC in working order including things like keeping your environment dust free, not smoking around your computer, making sure it has proper airflow, and more. Plus, software oriented solutions like defragmenting your hard drive.
    • Writing OS/2 Graphics – Technical considerations for creating graphics on OS/2, including things like privilege levels, 286 protected mode, directly accessing graphics hardware, multitasking and more.
    • VGA Video Modes – A technical look at the various VGA graphics modes.
    • Exploring OS/2 with a Lisp Interpreter – Using extensions to XLisp to conveniently experiment on OS/2. Includes various code samples.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS 📎and tagged

  • Turbo Touch 360 (1994)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    https://darth-azrael.tumblr.com/post/703137135963832320/retrocgads-usa-1994

    Once upon a time, there used to be tons of 3rd party controllers to chose from. Some of them were very good and some of them were cheap junk. First party controllers were always among the best but not always the very best. I haven’t really kept track with the most recent generations of consoles but it seems like this changed a while back. Probably around the PS3 generation. From then (or some time near then) it seems like first party controllers were the best and generally the only thing you would ever want unless you just needed an extra cheap controller for guests or as a temporary emergency replacement. These days it seems like first party controllers are the only quality controllers. If you can even find 3rd party controllers they are almost always junk or at least obviously lower quality than the first party controller. This isn’t universally true of course. There are still good third party controllers. Just fewer of them than there used to be.

    I guess one place where this isn’t as true is with the PC. There’s not really such a thing as a first party PC controller (I mean I guess you could make an argument for Microsoft but even that doesn’t apply if you are gaming on Linux or MacOS). This ad from 1994 is for a controller for the PC. In 1994 pretty much all PC gaming meant DOS gaming (unless you were playing something like Minesweeper or Solitaire in Windows 3.1 and you didn’t need a controller for that anyway). This controller would have used a gameport connection, not USB.

    While this particular ad is for the PC, the Turbo Touch 360 from a company called Triax Technologies was available for other platforms. It was available for at least the NES, Super NES and Sega Genesis. The Genesis version also worked with Commodore and Atari systems as they used the same connector.

    So what made the Turbo Touch 360 special? For the most part it was a pretty standard controller with turbo support. However, its one unique feature was the D-pad. Instead of using physical switches underneath a button that could be moved in different directions, it used eight capacitive touch sensors. The claim was that because it took less force to operate, it was better for your thumbs and was even endorsed by an orthopedic surgeon. Those used to playing games on mobile devices like phones might find the feel a little familiar. The buttons, however, were standard buttons and not touch sensitive.

    So how did it actually compare to other controllers? Unfortunately, not that well. I’ve never tried it but this doesn’t surprise me. I’ve always felt that even modern games that use touch sensitive control were pretty crappy. A similar but older and less refined version of the same technology can’t be an improvement.


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana DOS Retro Games 📎and tagged

  • Maximum PC (February 2007)

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    Source: Maximum PC – February 2007

    Maximum PC was by far my favorite PC magazine. Sadly, they recently ceased publication. I think it was the last monthly PC magazine being published in the U.S. The February 2007 issue includes:

    Features

    • Lean Machine – Maximum PC builds their version of the best budget PC possible for $1500. It features a BFG GeForce 8800 GTS video card, EVGA nForce 680i SLI motherboard, Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 CPU, 1GB Corsair TwinX DDR2/800 RAM, Antec Nine Hundred case, Antec TruePower Trio 650 power supply, Windows XP, 250GB Maxtor DiamondMax9 hard drive, and Lite-On SHM-165H6S optical drive.
    • Vista – A look at Microsoft’s latest OS and why you don’t need it.
    • Quad FX – A look at AMD’s new enthusiast dual CPU Quad FX platform featuring two 3GHz AMD Athlon 64 FX-74 CPUs.
    • Browsers – The latest versions of Internet Explorer and Firefox battle it out.

    Departments

    • Quick Start – The Justice Department investigates Nvidia and AMD for GPU price fixing; AMD announces its 65mm processors and sets timeline for 45mm processors; HDMI version 1.3; and more.
    • Head2Head – A comparison of the latest consoles (PS3, Wii and Xbox 360) and a modern gaming PC featuring a GeForce 8800.
    • WatchDog – Maximum PC’s consumer advocate weighs in on AVG, HP’s expiring ink, and Dell notebook drivers.
    • How To – A guide to using Google Search, Google Books, and more Google tools.
    • Ask the Doctor – Questions answered about a potential power supply problem with an Athlon XP 2600 based machine, safely removing USB devices, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro refresh problems, and more.
    • R&D – A look at how “electronic paper” works, the technology behind many eBook readers.
    • In the Lab – The best way to configure dual channel memory in AMD Quad FX based machines and a look at the Microsoft Zune Marketplace.
    • In/Out – Questions answered about virtual machines, Windows Vista, CRT monitors, desks, Linux, motherboards and more.
    • Rig of the Month – User submitted system featuring a small form factor, hornet theme, two EVGA 7900 GTX cards and an AMD FX-60 CPU (all watercooled).

    Reviews

    • Gaming Rig: ABS Ultimate X8 III – Featuring an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 overclocked to 3.47GHz, EVGA Nvidia nForce 680i SLI motherboard, 2GB Corsair DR2/800, two 140GB Western Digital (10,000 RPM SATA) in a RAID-0 config, two GeForce 8800 GTXs, and more for a little over $4,600.
    • Videocard: EVGA e-GeForce 8800 GTS – Nvidia’s “cheaper” DirectX 10 card featuring 96 shaders and 640MB of GDDR3 for $440.
    • MP3 Player: Samsung YP-K5 – An expensive MP3 player ($210) with only 2GB of memory.
    • Media Player: Microsoft Zune – Zunes weren’t cheap but I generally liked them better than iPods.
    • Headphones: Ultrasone iCans – A decent pair of over the ear headphones for $129.
    • Earbuds: Etymotic ety8 Bluetooth – Expensive, large and ugly but they get a good review here.
    • HDTV Tuners – A look at two portable HDTV tuners including the Pinnacle PCV HD Pro Stick and Onair USB HDTV-GT.
    • Video Streamers – A look at the Sling Media Slingbox Pro (which gets the better review) and Sony Locationfree TV LF-B20.
    • Case – Reviews of several PC cases including the Zalman Fatal1ty FC-ZE1, Cooler Master Itower 900, and NZXT Adamas.
    • Wi-Fi NAS Unit: Asus WL-700gE – A wireless router with NAS, bittorrent and print server capabilities.
    • CPU Cooler – Zalman CNPS9700 LED – A highly rated and nice looking CPU cooler with copper heatsink and blue LED lighting.
    • Speakers – Reviews of three PC speaker systems including the ABIT Idome D500 Digital 2.1, Bose Companion 5 Multimedia Speaker System, and Altec Lansing FX5051.
    • Digital Camera: Oympus SP-510 UZ – A decent digital camera for the time featuring 7.1 megapixels for $300.

    …and more!


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged