4 ms·

In a limited sense, yes, Windows (without NT) increasingly /used/ memory protection hardware over its life but never in a holistic approach as we typically unde

by kev009 2y ago

In a limited sense, yes, Windows (without NT) increasingly /used/ memory protection hardware over its life but never in a holistic approach as we typically understand today to create a TCB. I don't believe Windows 2.0 implemented preemptive tasking, can you show a reference so I can learn?

deleted 2y ago
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jazzypants 2y ago
I'm not that guy, but the Wikipedia article[1] is a decent jumping-off point, but I also found this blog article[2] talking about the different versions-- although it seems to get a couple things wrong according to discussion about it on lobste.rs[3] Finally, this long article from Another Boring Topic [4] includes several great sources. 1 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2.0#Release_versions https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2.0#Release_versions 2 - https://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/78006.html https://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/78006.html 3 - https://lobste.rs/s/4xfswa/what_was_difference_between_windows https://lobste.rs/s/4xfswa/what_was_difference_between_windo... 4 - https://anotherboringtopic.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-microsoft-windows-2x https://anotherboringtopic.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-micros...
- lproven 2y ago
  That's my blog post -- thanks for the link. The Lobsters discussion was very interesting. Some people in there were extremely knowledgeable, but also very confrontational. Coming straight in going "that's all wrong!" is not a productive way to start a discussion IMHO. I didn't get any very firm conclusions from it. There are some very knowledgeable people out there on the WWW claiming, with convincing arguments, that Windows/286 couldn't run in 286 mode and only gave you 640kB ("conventional memory" in DOS terminology)+ 64kB HMA. Others, including from Microsoft, say no, Windows/286 did run in protect mode and could access 16MB of (segmented) RAM. I do not know for sure who is right.
fredoralive 2y ago
AIUI Windows/386 2.x is basically a pre-emptive V86-mode DOS multitasker that happens to be running Windows as one of its tasks. So the GUI itself is cooperative, but between its VM and DOS VMs it can pre-empt. (Windows 3.x 386 mode is similar, with Windows 9x stuff in the Windows VM can pre-emptively multitask, mostly).
- kev009 2y ago
  Thanks that explanation makes sense to me!

by kev009 2y ago

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

jazzypants 2y ago

I'm not that guy, but the Wikipedia article[1] is a decent jumping-off point, but I also found this blog article[2] talking about the different versions-- although it seems to get a couple things wrong according to discussion about it on lobste.rs[3] Finally, this long article from Another Boring Topic [4] includes several great sources. 1 - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2.0#Release_versions https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_2.0#Release_versions 2 - https://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/78006.html https://liam-on-linux.livejournal.com/78006.html 3 - https://lobste.rs/s/4xfswa/what_was_difference_between_windows https://lobste.rs/s/4xfswa/what_was_difference_between_windo... 4 - https://anotherboringtopic.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-microsoft-windows-2x https://anotherboringtopic.substack.com/p/the-rise-of-micros...

lproven 2y ago
That's my blog post -- thanks for the link. The Lobsters discussion was very interesting. Some people in there were extremely knowledgeable, but also very confrontational. Coming straight in going "that's all wrong!" is not a productive way to start a discussion IMHO. I didn't get any very firm conclusions from it. There are some very knowledgeable people out there on the WWW claiming, with convincing arguments, that Windows/286 couldn't run in 286 mode and only gave you 640kB ("conventional memory" in DOS terminology)+ 64kB HMA. Others, including from Microsoft, say no, Windows/286 did run in protect mode and could access 16MB of (segmented) RAM. I do not know for sure who is right.

fredoralive 2y ago

AIUI Windows/386 2.x is basically a pre-emptive V86-mode DOS multitasker that happens to be running Windows as one of its tasks. So the GUI itself is cooperative, but between its VM and DOS VMs it can pre-empt. (Windows 3.x 386 mode is similar, with Windows 9x stuff in the Windows VM can pre-emptively multitask, mostly).

kev009 2y ago
Thanks that explanation makes sense to me!