4 ms·

25 years ago i was huge fan of QEMM and 386MAX. I constantly tweaking system to get more and more kb in low (640k) memory. But on that time two things happens:

25 years ago i was huge fan of QEMM and 386MAX. I constantly tweaking system to get more and more kb in low (640k) memory. But on that time two things happens: - Windows 3.11 was released and spread like wildfire. No more limitations. Later they make WfW 3.11 so networking was included. - Many DOS games start using DOS Extenders (like DOS/4GW) and make games to use 4, 8 or many MBs you have. One day i wake-up and decide to not wasting time anymore with 386MAX and QEMM. Then just use HIMEM and EMM386 (both are built-in in DOS).

throw0101a 4y ago
> But on that time two things happens: - Windows 3.11 was released and spread like wildfire. No more limitations. That is not what I recall. First, given that pre-95 Windows ran on top of (MS-)DOS, it had no better capabilities, except that now a bunch of resources (e.g., RAM) was used to run a GUI. And it wasn't really "multi-tasking", again because it ran on DOS, and was more (co-operative) task-switching (like MacOS 9). Further, Windows 3.11 was garbage with regards multitasking / task-switching compared to DESQview. I knew plenty of running multi-line BBSes with DESQview, but it would have been laughable to try that with Windows. I remember (perhaps incorrectly) running Windows under DESQview just fine. Perhaps for 'normies' Windows 3.11 was good enough, and the GUI was helpful, but from a technical point of view saying "no more limitations" did not reflect reality.
- rasz 4y ago
  Windows/386 (enhanced mode) did preemptive multitasking for DOS applications by running them concurrently in separate virtual machines.
  - mobilio 4y ago
    AFAIK - WfW 3.11 uses only this mode. They disable real mode.
- tengwar2 4y ago
  Minor point: Windows ran on DOS up to Win98. If you shut down '95 or '98 you were actually at a DOS prompt, but with the screen set to black on black lettering. You could run the usual MS/DOS command to change the colours to something visible - sorry, can't remember the incantation at the moment, but it was nothing obscure.
- mobilio 4y ago
  Well - at this time i was manage some large spreadsheet like in app called Multiplan on DOS. But due size - it was split on several spreadsheets. At this time i found Excel 4 or 5 and start to use it. I turn back spreadsheet into one single file. Same happens with Word. As soon as i start using WinWord i couldn't hit anymore memory limitations. Of course - only DOS for gaming.

throw0101a 4y ago

> But on that time two things happens: - Windows 3.11 was released and spread like wildfire. No more limitations. That is not what I recall. First, given that pre-95 Windows ran on top of (MS-)DOS, it had no better capabilities, except that now a bunch of resources (e.g., RAM) was used to run a GUI. And it wasn't really "multi-tasking", again because it ran on DOS, and was more (co-operative) task-switching (like MacOS 9). Further, Windows 3.11 was garbage with regards multitasking / task-switching compared to DESQview. I knew plenty of running multi-line BBSes with DESQview, but it would have been laughable to try that with Windows. I remember (perhaps incorrectly) running Windows under DESQview just fine. Perhaps for 'normies' Windows 3.11 was good enough, and the GUI was helpful, but from a technical point of view saying "no more limitations" did not reflect reality.

rasz 4y ago
Windows/386 (enhanced mode) did preemptive multitasking for DOS applications by running them concurrently in separate virtual machines.
- mobilio 4y ago
  AFAIK - WfW 3.11 uses only this mode. They disable real mode.
tengwar2 4y ago
Minor point: Windows ran on DOS up to Win98. If you shut down '95 or '98 you were actually at a DOS prompt, but with the screen set to black on black lettering. You could run the usual MS/DOS command to change the colours to something visible - sorry, can't remember the incantation at the moment, but it was nothing obscure.
mobilio 4y ago
Well - at this time i was manage some large spreadsheet like in app called Multiplan on DOS. But due size - it was split on several spreadsheets. At this time i found Excel 4 or 5 and start to use it. I turn back spreadsheet into one single file. Same happens with Word. As soon as i start using WinWord i couldn't hit anymore memory limitations. Of course - only DOS for gaming.