CompuServe Thread

PC Compatibility

4 messages in this thread
#105301From: Jerry MacAlpineJan 25, 1988 6:20 PM
As a new (and very happy) Amiga user, I can't help scratching my head when I see people worrying about making their Amigas capable of using IBM/PC compatible info. I've been programming these things since the Altair (oooo…remember that???….) and the Amiga is a magic machine, both in price and power. I use PC's at work and I have one at home (which has been gathering dust since I got my 500) and I fail to see why anyone would want to reduce to the level of the PC. Most of the programs that the IBM has we have (and better ones, at that) ie: just look at WordPerfect for the Amiga…it makes the IBM version pale in comparison. Anyway, I think it is both funny and a litlle bit sad that for the sake of "compatibility" we have to reduce these machines to handle trivial archaic IBM programs when we could be pushing the machine to its limits. 'Nuff said (…and I didn't kick the dog when I came home <grin>…) – Jerry P.S. I'm selling the PC, by the way…why have a Volkswagen when you other r other car is a Lamborghini?
#105344From: BILL LEACHJan 25, 1988 9:37 PM
Jerry: Your opening line had me lauging so hard I almost cried. Well said! 73, bill
#105404From: Don Curtis/SYSOPJan 26, 1988 12:20 AM
Jerry, I've said that all along about any emulator, but I've also said there is one exception…the bridgeBoard. There are so many folks out there who do need (not want…need) a PC (or clone) at home running MS-DOS that in the case of the BridgeBoard, it's a good thing. The majority of these folks will only have 1 computer at home, and so it breaks down to having a PC or a machine that can act like a PC. I'd much rather see them buy an Amiga with BridgeBoard than just a PC and no Amiga. Don
#105503From: Roger F. BeckerJan 26, 1988 4:03 PM
Jerry: Yeah, it's funny. My very first computer was a PDP-8 configured as the WT-78. This was their so-called limited edition (not by design, you understand) set-up that included a VT-52 terminal, with international keyboard (with special key-caps), a PDP-8 CPU, a pair of RX01 disk drives (the 8" kind) – weighed a TON), 16K of 6-bit RAM and a Diablo 620 printer (called LQ1 in this config). It cost me $13,000 and I was the first kid on the block with a computer. At home, I went through every incaration of CBM machine, starting with a CBM 2001 on up through the VIC-20, C'64 – steeping myself in these OS's, writing in BASIC and 6502 Assembler – really, REALLY becoming proficient in most every aspect of these machines. I had given a tremendous amount of my life and, yeah, _love_ to these, these – things! and the day the Amiga arrived at the door … It was out in the street like yesterday's garbage. Because, why own a Studebaker, when you can have a Rolls? Roger