Re:The 640K memory limit of MS-DOS
by WalterBright on Saturday June 09, 2018 @05:41PM
(#17275168)
DOS extenders were available in the later 1980s.
But xe is nonetheless right that DOS/4GW was part of Watcom C/C++. That's what the "W" at the end means. The full DOS extender was DOS/4G. And Watcom C was available from the middle 1980s, too.
Re:The 640K memory limit of MS-DOS
by WalterBright on Saturday June 09, 2018 @09:30PM
(#17275943)
Zortech C++ came with both a 286 extender and a 386 extender.
I don't know off the top of my head whether Watcom C/C++ ever targetted the 16-bit Phar Lap or Rational Systems extenders. It certainly targetted the 32-bit ones, and others besides.
Yep, Borland Pascal 7.0 supported DPMI, but with a 16-bit segmented memory model. I often wonder how the C hegemony would have been affected if BP had a optimizing 32-bit compiler for DOS. IIRC, Doom's use of Watcom C validated that you could write performant games without using very much assembler, but BP wasn't up to the task.
DOS4GW was part of the Watcom C compiler, but I seem to recall that Borland Pascal also had some protected mode going on. I'm pleased I've never had to spend too much time with the segmented memory model.