Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!iuvax!bsu-cs!dhesi From: dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: compatibility: Borland, Microsoft, IBM Summary: Was Re: Turbo C 2.0 / pricing reality, buil Message-ID: <4486@bsu-cs.UUCP> Date: 25 Oct 88 17:19:18 GMT References: <182@imspw6.UUCP> <16800385@clio> Reply-To: dhesi@bsu-cs.UUCP (Rahul Dhesi) Organization: CS Dept, Ball St U, Muncie, Indiana Lines: 37 In article <16800385@clio> berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu writes: >Borland's development environment works ok on a 100% compatible >machine, but the Microsoft stuff continues to work on generic >ms-dos computers. Actually, not entirely so. Borland's Turbo C comes in two versions, both included in the package: the screen-oriented version, which is IBM-specific, and the command-line version, which is usable on any generic MS-DOS system. Similarly, my understanding is that Microsoft's C compiler is usable on any MS-DOS system but QuickC requires an IBM-compatible system. Comparing QuickC and Borland's screen-oriented Turbo C, we find that far more incompatibility complaints have appeared on Usenet about Quick C than about Turbo C. In general it seems that Microsoft has a harder time being compatible than Borland does. However, neither can claim to always write well-behaved software. Over the years Borland has become more and more IBM-compatible and Microsoft has become less and less so. There was a time when all Microsoft products were pretty much MS-DOS compatible, with the possible exception of SWITCHAR, that Microsoft C wouldn't recognize until version 4.0 or so, and which the Microsoft Linker never did and still doesn't. Meanwhile, Borland insisted on going through the ROM-BIOS for all I/O (even pure text) until around version 3.0 of Turbo Pacal (and doing funny things with video hardware), when this became optional (but still the default). Oh, yes, I forgot to mention: IBM, too, has had trouble remaining IBM-compatible. But that's another storey. This article Copyright 1988 Rahul Dhesi, All rights reserved, permission granted to republish except as part of any other copyrighted work or collection. -- Rahul Dhesi UUCP: !{iuvax,pur-ee}!bsu-cs!dhesi