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From: farren@well.UUCP (Mike Farren)
Newsgroups: net.micro,net.arch
Subject: Re: Re: What if IBM Had chosen the 68000?
Message-ID: <289@well.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 21-Nov-85 19:49:23 EST
Article-I.D.: well.289
Posted: Thu Nov 21 19:49:23 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 23-Nov-85 05:46:40 EST
References: <129@intelca.UUCP> <392@aum.UUCP> <225@l5.uucp> <533@scirtp.UUCP> <428@ecn-pc.UUCP>
Organization: Whole Earth Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA
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Xref: watmath net.micro:12796 net.arch:2135

After eliminating a LOT of verbiage:
In article <428@ecn-pc.UUCP>, wdm@ecn-pc.UUCP (Tex) writes:
> In article <456@looking.UUCP> brad@looking.UUCP (Brad Templeton) writes:
> >>
> >>    Think what the world would be like now if IBM had decided to go with
> >>    the Motorola family of chips for the PC series.  WOW!!  We would
> >>    really have some systems out there.  
> >
> >2) CP/M Software (8080) is given no place to migrate. (...)
> 
>     Is a sizable percentage of ms-dos software old cp/m software? It
>     would surprise me if it were.  Or maybe I should say it would sur-
>     prise me if it weren't rewritten in a major way, seeing as how the
>     operating systems are not at all alike.  I would have rather they
>     were rewritten for the 68000 environment.
 	
	In fact, MOST of the software first available for the IBM PC
(that which made it a popular product) was old cp/m software (WordStar,
DBase II, etc.).  Without that quickly available software base, the PC
would have languished for far longer than it did.  Also, without that
starting point, it would have taken a lot longer for the state of the
software art (as far as PCs go) to advance to where it is now.
   The two operating systems are very much alike.  There are even hooks
in MS-DOS to allow I/O calls in EXACTLY the same fashion as CP/M!


-- 
           Mike Farren
           uucp: {dual, hplabs}!well!farren
           Fido: Sci-Fido, Fidonode 125/84, (415)655-0667
           USnail: 390 Alcatraz Ave., Oakland, CA 94618