Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zazen!uwvax!daffy!cat55.cs.wisc.edu!dinda From: dinda@cat55.cs.wisc.edu (Peter Dinda) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy Subject: Re: 8-bit death Summary: WRONG Message-ID: <1991Apr28.162045.15585@daffy.cs.wisc.edu> Date: 28 Apr 91 16:20:45 GMT References: <1991Apr26.085327.1@vf.jsc.nasa.gov> <1991Apr27.155155.12730@marlin.jcu.edu.au> <1991Apr28.122439.13393@sugar.hackercorp.com> Sender: dinda@garfield.cs.wisc.edu Organization: U of Wisconsin CS Dept Lines: 31 In article <1991Apr28.122439.13393@sugar.hackercorp.com> peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva) writes: >Nope, MS-DOS is a straight copy of CP/M-80. Originally named QDOS (Quick and >Dirty Operating System) by its author's at Seattle Computer (they were well >aware that it was a kludge, only useful until they could afford to do it over >from scratch), it was just plain adopted by Microsoft after IBM asked them to >do an O/S for the IBM-PC. You see, IBM bought the PC from Seattle. > >Microsoft was purely a language house at the time, with absolutely no >experience in operating systems. They really had no alternative. > >What I never could understand was why IBM went to Microsoft at all, when there >were other, better, companies out there. DRI blew them off, we know that, but >DRI wasn't the only fish in the sea. > >In any case, MS-DOS is a bug for bug copy of CP/M. If that doesn't make it an >8-bit operating system for you, you're listening to too much propoganda. >-- WRONG. MS DOS is a 16 bit REAL MODE operating system. You may be getting confused since something like OS/2 1.x is a 16 bit PROTECTED MODE OS, while OS/2 2.x is a 32 bit PROTECTED MODE OS. The simplest processor that can run MS DOS (the Intel 8088) is a 16 bit processor with an 8 bit data bus. MS DOS, or for that matter, QDOS, is not a direct copy of CP/M - even the command interpreters accept different commands. Finally, MS DOS has now been rewritten 4 times - pretty much elliminating any resemblence to CP/M, even in the file system, etc. Take this from someone who has programmed for MS DOS and used CP/M. Peter A. Dinda #include