Clarence Verge wrote:
>>Or Botton wrote:
>
> What do NT and Linux do to skip over the 640k limitation in Intel
> hardware?
I have no idea what NT might do, but I'll bet Linux re-maps the memory.
- Clarence Verge<<
>From what I understand, the 640K limitation is *not* a hardware limitation,
but BG's limitation, i.e., an MSDOS limitation. BG put the limitation in by
loading device/video drivers, ROM BIOS, etc., in the top 284K of addressable
memory, whether or not the bottom 640K was fully populated. CP/M, IIRC, did
not have this limitation. The memory addresses above 640K that are not used
by MSDOS are available for use by users, viz., loading high, EMS paging, etc.
If NT is compatible with MSDOS, I would doubt that it has contiguous memory
and makes use of protected mode. However, I would suspect that Linux and
other flavors of Unix do use contiguous memory.
