XT Archives - The Silicon Underground

Expanded vs Extended memory, or EMS vs XMS

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 11:00:20 +0000

DOS veterans may remember messing with expanded and extended memory to get memory above 640K. Here’s what you need to know about expanded vs extended memory, or EMS vs XMS. They are two different approaches to solving the same problem.

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Why did old PCs have a turbo button?

Dave Farquhar — Tue, 01 Aug 2017 11:00:21 +0000

Old PCs, especially PCs from the 1980s to the mid 1990s, have a button with the curious label “Turbo.” On some PCs, a number on the front changes when you push it, or an LED toggles on or off. Why

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Why did IBM fail at PCs?

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 03 Jul 2017 11:00:33 +0000

If you ask why did IBM fail, I assume you mean why did IBM ultimately fail in the personal computer market. IBM is still in business, after all. But its exit from the PC market after 24 years, including a

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IBM PS/2 vs PC

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 11:00:06 +0000

The IBM PS/2 line was a fairly radical departure from the older IBM PC line. This was deliberate, as IBM wanted to disrupt the clone industry, which it saw as a threat to its business. Here’s a look back at

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Commodore 64 vs Amiga

Dave Farquhar — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 12:00:14 +0000

Looking at the Commodore 64 vs Amiga seems a little odd, at least to me. After all, the machines were never intended to be rivals. The Amiga was supposed to succeed the 64. Commodore bought Amiga because they couldn’t make a

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Building DOS gaming PCs

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 10 Aug 2015 11:00:48 +0000

The ultimate DOS gaming PC is a topic that I’ve seen come up in forums frequently, and that I’ve been asked directly a number of times. I guess since I published advice on running DOS games on Windows PCs on

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The Post-Dispatch may be giving the wrong idea about the dollar value of vintage computers

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 06 Feb 2014 11:00:01 +0000

Disclaimer: I wrote this article back in 2014. I leave it here as a snapshot of the state of how things were in 2014. The situation at the time you are reading this is likely different. Articles like Top 10

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IBM PCjr and Tandy 1000

Dave Farquhar — Wed, 29 Jan 2014 11:00:20 +0000

On January 29, 1984, two computers hit the market. One was Apple’s Macintosh. It needs no introduction. The other was the IBM PCjr. It was a little less successful. We’ll talk about what this has to do with the Tandy

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How we learn

Dave Farquhar — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 11:00:05 +0000

An article on Lifehacker this week explained a lot about how I initially became a computer professional. Its advice was to fly by the seat of your pants, try things without guidance or manuals, not be afraid to fail occasionally,

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The $99 Android tablet of 2013: The Hisense Sero 7 LT (or Lite)

Dave Farquhar — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:16:26 +0000

So when I decided to bring myself into the current decade, tablet-wise, I opted for the $150 Hisense Sero 7 Pro, though I was certainly curious about its $99 little brother. Unfortunately, information on the Sero 7 Lite hasn’t been

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