Windows 10: OS/2 – Yes, THAT OS/2 – is getting an upgrade

The entire TCP/IP stack used in Microsoft and other modern operating systems came from BSD Unix. They learned about FreeBSD more when they bought hotmail which was FreeBSD based.

 

Forgot all about Houston, TX based CompaQ, never used ERSO.

 

Even Tandy/Radio Shack got into fray with their 8888 processor and PC Compatibles.

 

Yes, I had the Tandy 1000EX and then Tandy/Radio Shack sold their computer division to GRID in 1989.

 

I remember OS/2 very fondly, but OS/2 does not remember me the same way. I just could not keep my sticky beak out of the OS internals and I broke it so many times that IT had a contract out on me. My problem, besides being a pain in the xxx, was that I worked in systems programming supporting the mainframe OS. I spent years as an engineer working at IBM on OS/HASP, MVS and SVS/JES2 . I knew nothing about OS/2 but I moved a lot of stuff around in there. Then I got Windows 95 - just had to get in there too. I think IT had a dart board with my face on it by then. One day I fixed a really bad bug for IT so they let me live.

 

In that case I don't think they liked me much either. Mid '80s onward I was working on replacing RLCs to PLCs on large number of production machines in whole corporation and PCs were just a mean to program them but at home was another story. There computers were more of a toy for me so I could experiment as much as I wanted. I also tried any alpha or beta of OSs I could get my mitts on.

 

and let's not forget the Timex Sinclair.

 

Ah, that one is quite embedded in my mind, had it moved to real keyboard, added 16 KB RAM module, small printer and cassette deck all on a small cart with a small 12v TV set and car battery in the bottom part. Wheeled it thru the factory and used a phenomenal program to keep data on setups for all the machines.

 

We also forgot about the infamous PC Jr.

 

When IBM discontinued the PCjr they let employees buy them cheap. I bought 7 of them for friends and family (none for me). The PCjr didn't sell very well but what's interesting is that Radio Shack had great success with the Tandy 1000 computer which was actually a clone of the PCjr!

Until about a year ago I had a vintage computer collection which included a Compaq Portable, TRS-80, IBM PC, IBM PCjr, IBM XT, IBM AT, IBM XT-286 and many others, about 30 in all. I got tired of tinkering with them so sold them all off.

 

All that sounds very familiar. Except I don't think I ever met SVS. MFT, MVT, even PCP, DOS (the IBM one - the one that eventually became VS/E), and later MVS and finally Z/OS, but not SVS. And every time I run into issues with Windows maintenance I sorely miss SMP/E. But I never really poked around with the system internals of PCs until I retired from the mainframe world, so I'm still a Windows internal neophyte.