Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by ido on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @06:48AM
(#2095824)
That's pretty high end for an 8088! Is it a PC or PC-XT?
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by jmaygarden on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @12:58PM
(#2096998)
It does sound like an XT. The first PC I used was an XT-286; the precursor to the AT. It had a massive 20 MB hard drive!
I still recall that the expensive accounting software for which my father purchased the computer required an ISA card to run it. Now that's anti-piracy!
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by yuhong on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @01:43PM
(#2097160)
"The first PC I used was an XT-286; the precursor to the AT."
It was actually a smaller case version of the AT.
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by ido on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @02:07PM
(#2097244)
I believe it had a different cpu (6mhz vs 8mhz) and different a motherboard (16bit vs 8bit).
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by jmaygarden on Wednesday January 26, 2011 @09:45AM
(#2143399)
You are correct about the clock speed, but not the bus difference.
"In 1986, the XT/286 (IBM 5162) with a 6 MHz Intel 80286 processor was introduced. This system actually turned out to be faster than the ATs of the time using 8 MHz 286 processors due to the fact that it had zero wait state RAM that could move data more quickly."
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by yuhong on Sunday January 16, 2011 @12:11AM
(#2108727)
"(16bit vs 8bit)"
False.
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by Natsu on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @03:39PM
(#2097576)
I think it's PC-XT. I added a lot of those parts with bits I found in a Hamfest back in the 90s. It's been mothballed for ages because I have nowhere to put it so I've honestly forgotten.
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by rapind on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @10:09AM
(#2096343)
I'm betting XT. It sounds identical to what my father had.
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by kilian on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @07:05AM
(#2095866)
I'm in my early twenties, and this makes me feel old too. I have an 8088 too (which contains both an A and a B drive), I should fire it up again. Though mine has a Hercules graphics adaptor (everything is green!)
hums the california games chiptune
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by rbanffy on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @06:52AM
(#2095834)
> I haven't actually put a floppy in there in years
I have one computer (a Sun workstation) with a 3.5 drive that no longer works. The fun part is I cannot tell you in what year it broke.
Re:For what are the Windows A:\ and B:\ drives used?
by electromagnetic on Wednesday January 12, 2011 @07:25AM
(#2095901)
Mine broke when the eject failed, I used a paper clip to pull it out, but lost the paper clip. When it started smoking I had to pull the floppy's power - thankfully I had the side open to my computer so I didn't have to turn the whole thing off before I caused an actual fire.
I think this was back in the early 2000's.
Worse, my current computer has an A:\ drive. I don't know why I keep a 3.5" floppy drive around, exactly, because I haven't actually put a floppy in there in years, but I do have one.
And that's nothing compared to the 8088 that's collecting dust. It has two floppy drives, a 10 MB (yes, MB, not GB) hard drive, a CGA card & monitor, a math coprocessor and as much RAM as it can hold.
I don't know if it still works, though. It did work roughly a decade ago, which is the last time it was actually turned on.
Pity we got rid of the Apple ][ GS back in the 90s. It might be a collector's item by now.