Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!bbn!rochester!ur-tut!akk2 From: akk2@ur-tut.UUCP (Atul Kacker) Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac Subject: Re: Macs, IBMs, and compatibility. Message-ID: <761@ur-tut.UUCP> Date: 24 Dec 87 14:45:25 GMT References: <37250@sun.uucp> <11540095@hpsmtc1.HP.COM> Reply-To: akk2@tut.cc.rochester.edu.UUCP (Atul Kacker) Organization: Univ. of Rochester Computing Center Lines: 29 In article <11540095@hpsmtc1.HP.COM> kwallich@hpsmtc1.HP.COM (Ken Wallich) writes: >Something left out of the discussion was that IBM does provide a >"compatability mode" to run old MS-DOS programs. I quote here >from the article "IBM confirms in the OS/2 manual that many >MS-DOS progams won't run, including some communications programs, >networked programs, and a miscellanea of others". > >I just went through and tested a bunch of system utility type stuff written >in 1984-1985 that I got for my mac128K, on my MacII. About 90% of the >stuff worked just dandy, with few side effects (granted, things like >memory tests and disk tests failed). For the life of me, I can't understand why *all* programs written for a circa 1981 IBM PC should run as is on a circa 1988 PS/2 ? It is a machine with a significantly new architecture, will run a different operating system and hence only programs that are written with that in mind will work. Most programs will work with some modifications, which I'm sure the software companies will do. It's just like saying that Apple should have made sure that my Apple // programs would work as is, before they came out with the Mac. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Atul Kacker | Internet: akk2@tut.cc.rochester.edu | UUCP: {ames,cmcl2,decvax,rutgers}!rochester!ur-tut!akk2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------