On 1999-05-10 [EMAIL PROTECTED] <Peter Torrano> said:
>OK, Awrite, awrite...
>....let's cut thu the chase... ;)
>I think that this should qualify this as abandonware...
>Going once....
With my luck, if I started using VMiX 386 beyond thirty days, the guy would
probably show up!
Something like that actually happened to me once. There was an old Greek
lesson book that I liked, and I was already copying the text (I thought the
copyright had expired and that it was abandoned) for the use of some other
potential students. But I had this nagging concern about doing that -- so I
contacted McMillan (the publisher) -- and wouldn't you know, the copyright
had reverted back to the family of the author... and a distant relative (by
marriage) was in the process of having the book republished! At least there
was good news out of this. I contacted a professor at Berkeley who was
ecstatic about the book going back into print, and he contacted the new
publisher (in the Bay area) to immediately reserve his copies.
With regard to VMiX 386, I think this is the most important lesson to be
learned about the program -- despite its present status:
1. As early as the mid 1980s, someone was developing true multitasking
capabilities for DOS.
2. It is possible to do this with low-end computers (at least a 386) and
with a very small cluster of programs (by today's standards) -- and without
altering the DOS operating system.
3. It proves that DOS has been given a terribly bad rap as a "weak, limited
and archaic" operating system; it most certainly *can* be made powerful with
proper care and tools.
4. The marketing of an operating system has a greater impact on its
popularity than its practicality. For shame!
Jerry
Internet Montana
-*- Be more loyal to good principles than friends.
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