On 3/23/05 9:05 AM, "Byron Q. Desnoyers Winmill" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:
> What is a Retrocomputer?
> ------------------------------
>
> A retrocomputer is any system produced before March 1993, which
> runs an operating system released prior to August 1995 (the release
> dates of the Pentium processor and Windows 95, in case you are
> wondering). Any other hardware qualifies, provided that it doesn't
> offer CPU acceleration. Likewise, any other software qualifies.
(Forwarded to Bryon in case this doesn't make it)
I love this challenge. It is like doing one of those PBS shows where a
person has to live in a particular time period. To best understand what was
available in that time, I've done the following research.
Here are some dates to give everyone an idea of what was around prior to
March 1993: (Not a complete list, but a start)
Here is a great chart showing the 1984-1993 timelines for Amiga, Atari,
& Macintosh:
http://www.hostultra.com/~darknerd/tech68k/atari.html
A good general history of graphical user interfaces across like eight
platforms: (Xerox, Mac, PC, Atari, Next, Acorn, etc)
http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/encyclopedia/H/Hi/History_of_the_graphical_
user_interface.htm
MACINTOSH
-=-=-=-=-=
Year Fastest Mac RAM
1984 8 MHz 68000 0.5MB - Fat Mac
1985 8 MHz 68000 0.5MB - no new model in 1985
1986 8 MHz 68000 1MB - Mac Plus
1987 16 MHz 68020 1MB - Mac II
1988 16 MHz 68030 1MB - Mac IIx
1989 25 MHz 68030 2MB - Mac IIci
1990 40 MHz 68030 4MB - Mac IIfx
1991 25 MHz 68040 8MB - Quadra 700, Quadra 900
1992 33 MHz 68040 8MB - Quadra 950
1993 40 MHz 68040 8MB - Quadra 840av (technically out)
Duos:
The Duo 210 & 230 were released in October 1992. They were the last to
qualify here since the Duo 250 and 270c were released in October 1993.
(As you can see, PowerMacs, and A/V Macs (released in July 1993) are out. A
good account on Mac history:1993 can be found at...
http://www.lowendmac.com/history/1993dk.shtml
And the rest of the history:
http://www.lowendmac.com/history/index.shtml
Top end OS might be 7.5 according to:
http://www.mac512.com/system.htm
(7.6 released in 1996)
NEWTON:
-=-=-=-=-
The earliest Newtons were shown to be released August 1993. (Damn!)
This rules out just about any PDA (Palm, Psion, etc).
ATARI PORTFOLIO & CIRCA 1993 HANDHELD
-=-=-=-=-===-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Was released in 1989 and would qualify. The same goes for a few other
portables that come to mind, like the TRS-80 1 Pocket Computer, the TRS-80
model 100 Portable Computer, and a few others. But the Atari Portfolio was
one of the first (if not the first) clamshell computer, and it was in
something like Dos 3 format. It was a PC compatible.
ATARI COMPUTERS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
All Atari 8-bit systems were made between 1979-1987.
All Atari ST/TT systems were made between 1985-1992, includes Falcon.
Only trouble as far as OS goes, there have been some small changes in
Disk operating systems since 1993 for the 8-bit (800/XL/XE) lines. This
would include some SpartaDos.
For the ST/TT line, Mint and Magic went through many revisions between
1993 to current. Not sure if either existed before 1993. Warp OS, and
MultiTOS I belive should be fine (ones that most Atari ST users left in the
dirt years ago.) LOL!
OS resources:
http://members.aol.com/liamproven/reference/tos_hist.htm
MultiTos 1993
(Really not sure on the dates of Atari ST/TT systems. I used regular TOS as
a ST user, and Mint is freeware and Magic is commercial software, neither
released in later stages by Atari.)
Atari clones like the C-Lab Falcon, Hades, Medussa, and Milan I also
could not say, but probably not. (basically all 68040 & 68060 machines)
COMMDORE COMPUTERS
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--
PET released in 1977
Vic-20 1979?
C=64 1982
Amiga=1985-1992 (Last models, 1200 and 4000 released in '92)
Latest OS to qualify for the Amiga... Workbench 3.1 (1992)
3.5 launched in 1997.
(Of course many OS's for Amiga, but that gives you an idea.)
http://amiga.emugaming.com/2ndamiga.html
IBM/CLONE/(MICROSOFT)
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=
Might need some help on this one.
Windows release dates:
http://www.computerhope.com/history/windows.htm
True, Win95 in August 1995. WinNT released in 1996
Processor and computing history: 60-66 mhz pentium 1
http://www.ox.compsoc.net/~swhite/history/timeline.html
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