Subj : ArcaOS 5.0 - the "new" OS/2 Warp. Anyone used?
To   : poindexter FORTRAN
From : Oldbieone
Date : Fri Feb 24 2023 06:23:02

  Re: ArcaOS 5.0 - the "new" OS/2 Warp. Anyone used?
  By: poindexter FORTRAN to Nightfox on Thu Feb 23 2023 05:52 pm

Good point, poindexter. But after slugging away with virtualization in my day job for more than a decade, and constantly running into driver compatability issues when trying to run virtualized gaming platforms, I've shyed away from using VMs at home and now run on native(ish) hardware. Like this box, for instance. It's a modified implementation of Windows 95 OSR 2.5 with DOS 7 that's running on AMD Athlon 2600+, with gigabit ethernet card with patched firmware, and Soundblaster Live card, as well as AGP video. I use it as my primary DOS/pre-2000 Windows gaming machine at home. DOS sees the video as VGA and sound as SB, and games like Myst, Quake, etc, play without giving driver issues. Back when I ran dosbox at home, I'd pop in a game and it was a 50/50 question as to whether I'd have useable video or any sound at all. Going hardware meant I didn't have that problem anymore. Plus there's sort of sick satisfaction in getting an OS that wasn't supposed to work on the hardware to see it as native. I also use it for "retro" technologies like USENET and accessing BBS, since the apps that were available for it far surpass modern equivalents to me, which all somehow seem like homebrew approximations. At leats the ones I've tried, anyway. Of course, web browsing is out of the question, even though I have a browser capable of modern TLS, I wouldn't visit any sites due to the inherrent security issues of such an old OS. Except for checking to see which Quake servers are active once in a while...
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