Old hardware has 16 bit registers. Requiring opcodes that only 386+
systems have an using the extra registers, or assuming that registers
contain 32 bits means that no 8088 class or 80286 class system will run.
That is a big conflict.
On Sat, Jan 3, 2015 at 10:35 AM, Travis Siegel <tsie...@softcon.com> wrote:
>
> On Jan 2, 2015, at 6:29 PM, Michael Brutman wrote:
> > People are free to fork off and make a new project based on FreeDOS. No
> > problem there. But once you break compatibility with existing
> > applications, you lose a lot of your potential user base. And as soon as
> > you go to 32 bits, you lose all of the early hardware.
>
> I'm puzzled at this.
> Why does going to 32-bit mean all old hardware will be broken?
> Why does it mean old 16-bit programs won't work?
> Neither one of these issues are a problem if the 32-bit is handled
> properly. There's no reason it can't be done. I mean, look at linux.
> It's a 32-bit os, but it has been successfully compiled and run on xt class
> machines.
> 32-bit os does not mean no 16-bit apps, it simply means special handling
> is due such apps.
> 32-bit os doesn't mean no old hardware, it simply means drivers need to do
> something to make the translation.
> That's all.
> I see no conflict.
>
>
>
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