Questions tagged [operating-system]
Operating systems on retrocomputers generally.
96
questions
4
votes
0
answers
137
views
Looking for any information related to the CDC 1604 Co-Op Monitor
The CDC 1604 Wikipedia page mentions a "Co-Op Monitor (developed by the users' organization)" used as the operating system. Has a contemporary description of its capabilities, e.g. a user ...
- 17.7k
12
votes
1
answer
501
views
What 386-specific features did Linux use?
There is an interesting discussion about the early days of Linux at https://www.abortretry.fail/p/the-path-to-linux that includes some of the exchanges between Torvalds and Tanenbaum. One that caught ...
- 55.2k
7
votes
2
answers
173
views
Need help restoring the OS of an "AST Premium Exec 386SX/20" laptop
I have an AST Premium Exec 386SX/20 Model 63V laptop minus a floppy drive and hard disk. Otherwise the 1991 vintage machine is fully functional (and in excellent condition, so it's definitely worth ...
- 171
1
vote
2
answers
342
views
Which was the first OS having both isolated users and programs? [closed]
Multi-user OSes are nothing special. Normally one user cannot access the files of another user. Installed programs are shared. User's are running in a sandbox and they're isolated from other users.
...
- 3,557
22
votes
7
answers
7k
views
Why did "protected-mode MS-DOS" never happen?
Software written for MS-DOS used DOS extenders as early as on PC/AT (DOS/16M), and starting from i386-based systems, DOS extenders became really widespread.
I'd think it was pretty obvious at the time ...
- 2,092
10
votes
1
answer
339
views
What is the timeline of vertical cursor usage?
As there have been some questions about vertical cursors:
What is the timeline of vertical cursor usage?
This includes anything that is positioned between characters. It doesn't have to be a vertical ...
- 24k
1
vote
1
answer
110
views
System 7.5 install fails (mac IIsi)
I have been restoring a rather iconic (and temperamental!) Mac IIsi.
I have trouble installing System 7.5 on an IBM drive with Apple firmware that OS 7.0 installed just fine on. I am puzzled by the ...
- 365
5
votes
0
answers
196
views
How many CP/M-86 copies were sold?
Approximately how many CP/M-86 copies or licenses did Digital Research sell across the product life of the operating system? Are there any data or estimates?
I know the success of MS-DOS didn't leave ...
- 1,234
5
votes
1
answer
527
views
Oldest UNIX I can run on my modern system?
What is the oldest UNIX(-like) system that can be legally downloaded and run (in a VM or emulator) on a modern PC (running Linux)?
- 153
38
votes
3
answers
11k
views
What was the first operating system to be called an "operating system"?
According to Wikipedia, the first operating system was GM-NAA I/O, produced in 1956 by General Motors' Research division for its IBM 704.
According to Merriam-Webster and Etymonline, the term "...
- 5,976
-4
votes
1
answer
381
views
If I build a new CPU architecture, how would an OS like Linux know how to run it? [closed]
I am trying to build a CPU from scratch (from NOR gates) in an emulator first, then on breadboard. (Inspired by nand2tetris and Ben Eater)
Just trying to understand how things work.
Now, as my CPU ...
8
votes
7
answers
2k
views
What was the first OS with the type-ahead capability from a dumb terminal?
In a command-line environment of a contemporary Unix-like system, it is possible to "type ahead", that is, for example, to start a process which runs for a while and does not require any ...
- 17.7k
10
votes
1
answer
249
views
Commodore / Apple II GEOS Document Cross-Platform Compatibility
As I have never used Graphic Environment Operating System (GEOS) on an Apple II (only I on a Commodore 64), I have always wondered were the documents created (from programs such as GeoWrite and ...
14
votes
1
answer
321
views
"MOS" - Mini Operating System for PDP-11?
Around 1977 or so, I worked with MOS, a "mini" operating system for the PDP-11. I think it was originally developed at SRI, to support the BBN Packet Radio networking research. It was ...
- 333
11
votes
1
answer
701
views
How did early Minix represent processes
Minix, as most know, is a "Unix-like" OS originally used for teaching. Early Minix (v1 and, apparently, v2) ran on the 8088/6 series of processors. It could run on the IBM XT.
There have ...
- 11.5k
14
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Which is the first non-assembly (and binary) language to write operating system(s)?
Many programming languages predating C, like FORTRAN, LISP, B, BCPL, were either special purpose or too heavy to write OS. OS were bound to their hardware architecture and died with them. C was used ...
10
votes
2
answers
727
views
What did Richard Stallman have against VMS?
Richard Stallman of course was an advocate of free software, and VMS was proprietary, so he would've disapproved of it on that basis alone. (To be clear, I am not discussing here whether he was right ...
- 55.2k
1
vote
2
answers
539
views
Was server operating systems ever created with a terminal operating system in mind? [closed]
I have always thought that in the case of Microsoft's server operating systems that they were created with the idea that the end-user of those servers would use Windows. I also thought the same for ...
- 5,385
4
votes
1
answer
484
views
How does stack size affect functioning of AmigaOS and programs?
A few weeks back I had an issue with a Python script resetting my Amiga on execution. Someone suggested to change stack size in startup-sequence to 4096. I just read that it can be set up to 2500000.
...
- 4,144
1
vote
0
answers
141
views
Why I can't use printk() to print string to the screen [closed]
I am trying to add some system interface made by myself to Linux-0.11 and using bochs to debug the interface.But I have found two strange things. Here is my code.
#include <asm/segment.h>
char ...
- 11
11
votes
2
answers
948
views
How was "GEOS" meant to be pronounced?
GEOS was a hugely popular operating environment for 8-bit Commodore and Apple machines. It was developed and published by Berkeley Softworks, who eventually released a 16-bit version for IBM-...
- 6,941
1
vote
1
answer
206
views
Operating system/hardware used for playing a video during a recorded trial that took place in 2013 [closed]
I am watching a 2013 murder trial on YouTube Jodi Arias Trial : Day 23 : 1 Of 3. There is a considerable amount of evidence involving phones and computers.
The following picture briefly appears on-...
- 1,151
14
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What were the differences between Xenix and Unix?
According to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenix by the beginning of the nineties, SCO was selling 32-bit 386 versions of both Xenix and Unix. According to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=...
- 55.2k
19
votes
11
answers
4k
views
What was the earliest system to explicitly support threading based on shared memory?
The notion of multiple processes has been around a long time, at least since the IBM 360. Multiple processes running at the same time, in separate memory spaces with protection from each other.
(In ...
- 55.2k
6
votes
1
answer
296
views
What information was present in line printer printout cover/trailer?
Nowadays, in corporate offices where there are typically several office printers per floor, sending a file to a printer does not result in any additional pages identifying the print job, at least by ...
- 17.7k
1
vote
0
answers
259
views
Ancient browser media photo [closed]
Perhaps 15 years ago, I saw a photo which looked professional showing multiple media types all with labels for either Netscape v4 or the integrated Mozilla suite (which became SeaMonkey). At the very ...
- 1,242
1
vote
1
answer
342
views
Why does Linux not show you an asterisk when you enter a character for a password? [closed]
I have enjoyed Linux for about two years now, but I laugh at how hard I failed when I first started my Linux journey. I would try and enter a password and then nothing would happen. I first thought ...
- 5,385
1
vote
2
answers
233
views
AST Laptop With No OS
I work in network design/IT for a church, and a someone came in with a AST Advantage Explorer 486SX/33. It looks like it has no OS. After failing to boot, it requests to go to the BIOS to look for an ...
- 11
16
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Processor and operating systems for automatic lifts/elevators
Most automatic elevators have an algorithm that optimises travel between floors and users. Presumably this can be tailored to a particular building.
The first elevators were hand-operated purely by ...
- 1,151
5
votes
3
answers
844
views
What tricks or techniques were used to speed up AmigaOS boot
I did an installation of Workbench 3.1 grounds up. The system takes a moment to boot, well over a minute. I've watched a YouTube video where the system booted in seconds. I have another image of ...
- 4,144
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
The "hidden" flag on partitions and Microsoft
On this website (and others, of course) you could be informed that there is a special partition flag (“hidden”) to avoid detection by Microsoft operating systems.
First: Is this a convention by/with ...
- 183
7
votes
2
answers
902
views
Amiga OS 3.1 vs 3.5 vs 3.9 system difference
I'm trying to find some resources on different versions of Amiga OS (aka Workbench) especially if there were any major changes to the OS architecture, resource use and drivers (with a goal to make ...
- 4,144
11
votes
2
answers
3k
views
What was this OS / Application on a 80286?
I was hoping, that someone could help me find the name of the operating system that was originally (I guess) used on the 80286 (the later ones with 12MHz).
Before I eventually installed DOS-5.0 and ...
- 213
11
votes
2
answers
953
views
Trying to understand some assembly syntax in the Unix v7 write system call
so here is the code: (which comes from here, I've also verified this source is in my unix v7 distribution). For reference, this is running on a PDP-11 simulated with the simh program (so please keep ...
- 245
3
votes
2
answers
452
views
How to implement a 'write' function in pdp-11 / MACRO-11 / ODT using simh?
So, I'm working on a project where I'm aiming to get the first winner of the IOCCC (obfuscated c code contest) dissected down to the last detail... The program is mullender.c which you can find by ...
- 245
4
votes
0
answers
156
views
What does a "DK" signature mean at the start of track 0 sector 3 of a Dragon 32/64 floppy disk?
I'm looking at disk image files for the Dragon 32 / Dragon 64 computers.
The Dragon computers are very similar to the Tandy TRS-80 Color Computer "CoCo" but are not clones and are not the ...
- 5,976
5
votes
4
answers
841
views
What’s the most advanced os I can run on a non memory management pdp11 (ie 11/20)
Building my own emulator. I only have the basic , no memory management, model going (11/20?). I started with caps11. What’s my best choice for a disk based os.
EDIT: and of course if anybody has the ...
- 269
9
votes
0
answers
134
views
On the TRS-80 models I and III when is the directory track number written in the third byte of sector zero, and when in the second byte?
Earlier I had found that many but not all TRS-80 Model I and Model III disks begin with the three bytes 00h FEh 11h.
This is the beginning of the boot sector where the CPU interprets it as a NOP ...
- 5,976
4
votes
1
answer
298
views
Converting Apple II ProDOS blocks to DOS tracks and sectors
The 8-bit Apple II had two disk operating systems with different disk access semantics.
DOS used tracks and sectors. A sector is 256 bytes.
ProDOS used blocks. A block is 512 bytes.
But mapping ...
- 5,976
0
votes
3
answers
303
views
What exactly has the windows OS relationship been towards MS server offerings?
This question is related to this one.
I always was understanding that windows the OS was a companion app of sort in regards to the server offerings and that, yes you could use it for home use, but it'...
- 5,385
33
votes
8
answers
11k
views
How exactly did Windows become the OS of the home PC?
As far as I understand it, the whole personal computing revolution that Microsoft Windows did was not entirely by its own design. Is it true that the Windows OS at its core was originally designed to ...
- 5,385
44
votes
6
answers
11k
views
How should we interpret Dave Cutler's criticism of Unix?
Dave Cutler is well known for his contributions to operating systems, having led the effort on VAX VMS at DEC and Windows NT at Microsoft. According to his Wikipedia page, he is also known for ...
- 59.1k
10
votes
3
answers
876
views
What happened to the S1 operating system?
(Computerworld, Vol. 17, No. 41, 1983, p. 49)
Additions:
Robert Knight, formerly of Princeton's computer laboratories, is [...]
the creator of S1, which he had running on an IBM Instruments ...
- 1,943
4
votes
1
answer
147
views
Version list for TOPS-10?
So, does anybody have a list of TOPS-10 versions? I haven't been able to find any information aside from versions 7.03, and 7.04. are these lost to time?
To clarify, I'm not asking for the software, ...
user11220
4
votes
7
answers
548
views
Static memory partitioning
Does anyone know of any operating system that used static memory partitioning: contiguous physical memory allocation with one process per partition, one partition per process, partitions generated at ...
- 275
13
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Is it a Directory, a List, or a Catalogue?
There are three common CLI commands on microcomputers that all mean the same thing: "Show me the contents of a volume, disk, or sub-directory". I will mention that the noun "Catalogue", and the ...
- 59.1k
27
votes
1
answer
7k
views
What was the first operating system called DOS?
MS-DOS a.k.a. PC-DOS nee QDOS, was commonly just referred to as DOS. But 'disk operating system' is a very obvious acronym; there must have been previous operating systems so called.
What was the ...
- 55.2k
14
votes
12
answers
5k
views
Late 1970s and 6502 chip facilities for operating systems
I'm quite unfamiliar with how operating systems used to be written but its clear to me that operating systems were clearly written for these systems. I'm particularly interested in how operating ...
- 251
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
How to read Microware OS-9 RBF Filesystem under Windows / Linux?
I have a virtual disk image file os9000-xibase.img and Windows can't read it nor mount it.
With ImDisk Virtual Disk, I'm able to mount it, but not read it, because it is a Random Block File System ...
- 515
36
votes
6
answers
18k
views
Why did Windows 95 crash the whole system but newer Windows only crashed programs?
Example situation.
You are using a program in Windows 95 and screen goes blue only for you to restart the whole computer
You are using a program in Windows 7 and the program stops responding only to ...
