Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!seismo!rutgers!ames!ucbcad!ucbvax!decvax!tektronix!tekgen!tekigm2!timothym From: timothym@tekigm2.TEK.COM (Timothy D Margeson) Newsgroups: comp.sys.tandy,comp.sys.misc Subject: Re: Tandy 2000 Question Message-ID: <1671@tekigm2.TEK.COM> Date: Wed, 22-Apr-87 16:27:28 EST Article-I.D.: tekigm2.1671 Posted: Wed Apr 22 16:27:28 1987 Date-Received: Fri, 24-Apr-87 06:02:03 EST References: <259@rruxa.UUCP> <1623@ihwpt.ATT.COM> Reply-To: timothym@tekigm2.UUCP (Timothy D Margeson) Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR. Lines: 52 Keywords: MS-DOS, IBM-Compatable Xref: mnetor comp.sys.tandy:215 comp.sys.misc:527 Hi, About the 2000 and IBM compatibility. Most of the software available will not work as expected on the 2000. The main reason is not the 80186, but lies mainly in the kernal map, and BIOS implementation, not to mention the key scan differences and video interface differences. Some software, well written - a real hard thing to find - will work if all of the correct switches are set. Such as Norton 3.1, if invoked with the switch that tells the program to use MS-DOS calls for everything it does. If these switches are not available then chances are the software will not work, or may work for a while then crash (due to some obscure call). Some of these programs will give the appearance of working 100%, but enter a slight anomoly (e.g., disk full, mem full), and a crash is guaranteed. Another example of the difference subtleties is Turbo Pascal. Version 2.00 will work on the 2000 okay (except graphics and a few other IBM specific functions), but Version 3.00 will not. I even tried various installations and screen drivers. It looks like it wants to work, but just can't pull it off (everything seems to work, but the screen is blank). Some other differences are the disk formats. You need a special program to make IBM compatible disks. The Tandy defaults to 720K (96tpi DD). You must double step the drive to make the diskette look like a 48tpi. Program developement seems to work on the 2000 (i.e., more standard MS-DOS compilers and assemblers seem to work without a hitch). I have done some programming on my friends 2000 with a 'C' compiler and MASM 4.0. Overall the 2000 is a fair machine, IF you know it is not IBM compatible, and don't expect it to do IBM things. But despite what Radio Shack says, the 80186 is only a 5 to 10 % improvement over the stock 8086, not the 20 to 30 % that the 80286 is over the 8086. Compared to the IBM PC (8088), the 2000 is about 2.5 times the speed overall. This is due the the faster microcode, the 16 bit data path, and the 8 vs 4.77 megahertz clock. The 2000 is on par with my Compaq Deskpro with a V-30 in lieu of the 8086 normally installed (as it turns out the V-30 is more an 80186 inside than an 8086, thus the speed improvements). Oh well, if the Doc can play with the software and machine together for a bit before buying, he'd be in a far better position to know than anything you could say to him. -- Tim Margeson (206)253-5240 PO Box 3500 d/s C1-937 @@ 'Who said that?' Vancouver, WA. 98668 {amd..hplabs}cae780!tektronix!tekigm2!timothym (this changes daily)