81–90 of 156 posts
I can't find a source for it, but my recollection is that MS considers selling a PC with no operating system as encouraging piracy of Windows. So I suspect this option is either due to an agreement with MS, or an overly cautious legal department.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I suppose you could use GRUB and whatever Coreboot has as its BIOS? Either way, sad times indeed when PCs aren't anymore.
Alternatively, we can be happy that some legacy systems actually die when they're no longer useful. My general attitude toward retro-computing is that the good old days weren't actually that good. I, for one, don't care if the original meaning of "PC" passes into irrelevance.
Ghastly.
Kind of random, but the article reminded me. I think every pdf should have it's own linux installation. They should role it into the pdf specification. You never know when that might be useful.
If not, can they just do the same thing with windows, and not bother with supporting it on bare metal?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a weird old nylon cutting machine connected to a DOS machine over a serial port. It would not work with a USB/RS-232 adaptor?
Spend no less than $20 on a USB to serial converter and you'd probably be fine. Anything with an FTDI chip in it are the best. Anything with a Prolific chip has a good possibility of being counterfeit will either not work well or the legit driver will try to brick it.
What gets me is... what's the point ? If you don't want to fight MS about selling PCs with no OS, ship some Linux distro. DOS was a nice option when you needed to support bare-metal stuff like flashing the BIOS without a modern OS getting in the way, but I would be shocked if that worked here - basically, I can see reasons to ship DOS, but they're all mutually incompatible with a virtual machine. And if you're going…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Also, don't forget the Minix running inside a small embedded processor inside your processor or platform controller.
I occasionally wonder what an operating system running below ring 0 would be used for. I haven't thought of anything compelling, apart from being a backdoor.
You are correct - it is basically used as a back door.
I’m guessing they’re doing this because modern x86 processors can’t boot into BIOS mode anymore (edit: untrue, see reply by dmitrygr). This makes me wonder why they’re even offering FreeDOS as an option when they offer Linux for customers who don’t wish to purchase a Windows license. Maybe they have some sort of contractual obligation with a large customer?
> modern x86 processors can’t boot into BIOS mode anymore This is false. They still can and happily will. Issue is more about vendor not shipping a CSM image. A modern x86 processor will happily run real DOS just fine.
I used your apps back when I had a Tungsten T5, and Treo 680. :)
I find OEMs that bundle operating systems to be weird. Dictating choice is something a dictatorship would do. I used to argue the reasoning until the obscurities hit.
You are. (Weird that is). I find OEMs that bundle operating systems to be weird. Dictating choice is something a dictatorship would do. I used to argue the reasoning until the obscurities hit.