MX Linux Forum

Model M! Unboxing & Setup [LGR] 1988.

PC DOS. Who remembers that? I do, and Windows 3.0.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLy_jEbuY-U

I also had a copy of DR DOS. Not sure what the difference was now. Of course MS didn't have the monopoly of DOS back then so I guess different versions of DOS were a little like an attempt at personalising the OS, much as Linux does today!

I was a big fan of DR-DOS.

Worked great until MSFT added a condition that either checked for DR-DOS or checked for MS-DOS, and inserted about 60 seconds of wait and a message that an unofficial version of DOS was found. Caused lots of consternation among the users. It was subtle but effective.

Needless to say, they won and I replaced DR-DOS with MS-DOS on all the boxes connected to the NetWare server. That was my first encounter with user lock-in.

I remember those floppy drives, I still remember how closing that level felt like...

I remember those days. I think My first box was a used 8088 xt and then a used 286 xt. Onward and upward from there. I tried different versions of DOS over the years, including DR-DOS. I also used DESQview / (DV) DeskView / X.

I still have two Model-M keyboards. I used to swear I'd never use anything else at home, then started finding them a tad noisy. They sure seem indestructible ! I do not miss 80286-class HW, though. Being able to run a Unix-like OS at home with pretty much all open source SW I need is all I could ever have hoped for. IBM would have made sure that never happened if they had had their way.

This is being typed on a 1986 Model M. I also have a newer Model M which had been a Token Ring terminal keyboard before I converted it. It fell prey to the only thing that seems to kill Model Ms - before I acquired it somebody had spilled soda into it which eventually ate up the traces on the mylar.
Those keyboards are so popular you can still get replacements parts - including those plastic sheets with the traces & contact pads!

Never had the matching 286 though - went from XT clone (8088) to 386sx. The 286 really didn't offer anything worth the expense.

Remember when a 40 Meg hard drive cost almost $200 retail and was considered huge?