Retrocomputing

Famous Question

 Famous Question
Question with 10,000 views. This badge can be awarded multiple times.
Awarded 254 times.
Why did Windows 95 crash the whole system but newer Windows only crashed programs?
Awarded Jul 31, 2019 at 10:15
Which Linux or BSD distributions do still support i386, i486 or i586 CPUs?
Awarded Jul 28, 2019 at 12:25
Why did computer video outputs go from digital to analog, then back to digital?
Awarded Jul 25, 2019 at 14:50
Why did modems have speakers?
Awarded Jul 24, 2019 at 11:55
Why did base64 win against uuencode?
Awarded Jul 17, 2019 at 14:05
What made Windows Me so crash-prone?
Awarded Jul 16, 2019 at 22:00
Why did moving the mouse cursor cause Windows 95 to run more quickly?
Awarded Jul 2, 2019 at 14:15
Why wasn't ASCII designed with a contiguous alphanumeric character order?
Awarded Jun 28, 2019 at 20:55
How did old MS-DOS games utilize various graphic cards?
Awarded Jun 11, 2019 at 22:45
How can you connect an Amiga 500/600/1000/2000 to a modern monitor?
Awarded Jun 6, 2019 at 8:55
Why is Windows using CR+LF and Unix just LF when Unix is the older system?
Awarded May 28, 2019 at 15:10
How long will floppy disks maintain data integrity?
Awarded May 27, 2019 at 17:50
What did the 'turbo' button actually do?
Awarded May 22, 2019 at 12:45
How big is a mainframe?
Awarded May 6, 2019 at 21:45
Why did C use the arrow (->) operator instead of reusing the dot (.) operator?
Awarded Apr 26, 2019 at 18:15
Why did Commodore 64 cartridge games disappear?
Awarded Apr 22, 2019 at 20:15
Why did DOS use dollar-terminated strings?
Awarded Apr 18, 2019 at 11:55
How did Windows 3.1 implement multitasking?
Awarded Apr 18, 2019 at 10:25
What does the "x" in "x86" represent?
Awarded Apr 17, 2019 at 12:30
Who set the 640K limit?
Awarded Mar 22, 2019 at 19:20
Which was the first programming language that had data types?
Awarded Feb 13, 2019 at 11:30
Dealing with oversized files decades ago? Data transfer in the age of floppy disks
Awarded Feb 9, 2019 at 19:10
Where does this esoteric Pascal operator come from?
Awarded Feb 7, 2019 at 15:20
Back in the late 1980s, how was commercial software for 8-bit home computers developed?
Awarded Feb 1, 2019 at 17:10
Did a shuttle launch take most of the world's computing power?
Awarded Jan 29, 2019 at 23:05
Have programming languages driven hardware development?
Awarded Jan 24, 2019 at 13:25
Why did trackballs disappear?
Awarded Jan 21, 2019 at 12:25
How was it back then in 1984, when the Apple II had color, and the new Macintosh didn't?
Awarded Jan 9, 2019 at 14:40
Loading ZX Spectrum tape audio in a post-cassette world
Awarded Jan 4, 2019 at 19:50
GameBoy Color games do not save any more
Awarded Nov 7, 2018 at 4:05
How can you run a program that is bigger than RAM?
Awarded Nov 4, 2018 at 20:20
How were the first ZX Spectrum games written?
Awarded Nov 2, 2018 at 16:00
Were later MS-DOS versions still implemented in x86 assembly?
Awarded Oct 11, 2018 at 17:50
Why not use fractions instead of floating point?
Awarded Oct 4, 2018 at 4:30
Did personal computers ever support 8" floppies?
Awarded Sep 26, 2018 at 9:25
How can I connect a DIN plug keyboard to USB?
Awarded Sep 18, 2018 at 21:45
Why were CLIs typically light text on dark background, whereas GUIs typically use(d) dark text on light background?
Awarded Sep 18, 2018 at 21:10
Why were chips socketed in early computers?
Awarded Sep 10, 2018 at 4:05
Commodore 64 to modern TV
Awarded Aug 30, 2018 at 23:15
How was C ported to architectures that had no hardware stack?
Awarded Aug 9, 2018 at 8:30
Who is credited for the creation of Assembly Language?
Awarded Jul 27, 2018 at 19:30
Why did the IBM PC need a sound card?
Awarded Jul 12, 2018 at 22:53
Why did computers use a power supply with a socket?
Awarded Jun 30, 2018 at 3:15
Is DOS being shipped with or as an installed OS?
Awarded Jun 26, 2018 at 20:54
It's now safe to turn off your computer
Awarded Jun 22, 2018 at 0:49
How were files transferred between different systems in the late 1980s?
Awarded May 30, 2018 at 18:09
Why do C to Z80 compilers produce poor code?
Awarded May 2, 2018 at 6:15
Why did some early CPUs use external math chips?
Awarded Apr 6, 2018 at 13:33
Why does the Minus World exist?
Awarded Apr 5, 2018 at 0:55
Why did CPU designers in the 70s prioritize reducing pin count?
Awarded Apr 4, 2018 at 0:58
What early home computers have more than one CPU, where both could be used by the programmer? [closed]
Awarded Mar 30, 2018 at 1:09
Why did C have the return type before function names?
Awarded Mar 14, 2018 at 11:46
What character is the MS-DOS cursor?
Awarded Feb 12, 2018 at 16:36
Why are punch card readers no longer in use?
Awarded Feb 8, 2018 at 14:16
Was there ever any reason to wait 30 seconds to restart a c.1995 PC?
Awarded Feb 6, 2018 at 14:15
Is it safe to turn on a 40-year old TRS-80?
Awarded Jan 19, 2018 at 10:39
Why were floppy drives not any faster?
Awarded Jan 18, 2018 at 18:46
How did people use ed?
Awarded Jan 9, 2018 at 14:12
Why were the /\ (min) and the \/ (max) operators abandoned in the C language?
Awarded Nov 9, 2017 at 14:03
How was the first assembler for a new home computer platform written?
Awarded Sep 11, 2017 at 1:49
1 2 3
4
5