• argh_another_usernameEnglish
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    19 days ago
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    My first job was building computers with old parts. A guy needed MS Word for work but didn’t want to buy a new computer or upgrade his 386SX (25Mhz iirc). It had like 20MB of disk and I don’t recall the RAM. So he asked me if I could try. So I did. I managed to install DOS, Windows 3.1 and MS Word. I don’t remember how long it took to boot, but I remember that it would take 6 seconds for a pressed letter to appear on the screen.

    • criticonEnglish
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      19 days ago
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      You forgot to press the turbo button!

      • Matriks404English
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        19 days ago
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        And now it takes 12 second for a single character to appear on the screen!

        (Pressing Turbo button actually slowed down the CPU AFAIK).

        • EvotechEnglish
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          19 days ago
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          Yep

          With the introduction of CPUs which ran faster than the original 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 used in the IBM Personal Computer, programs which relied on the CPU’s frequency for timing were executing faster than intended. Games in particular were often rendered unplayable, due to the reduced time allowed to react to the faster game events. To restore compatibility, the “turbo” button was added.[4] Disengaging turbo mode slows the system down to a state compatible with original 8086/8088 chips.

    • Toes♀English
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      18 days ago
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      If you had used the dos version of word it should have been fine

  • metaStatic
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    19 days ago
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    I could probably shave a few seconds off that if it was written in assembly

    if it was compiled then probably a few days

    • TjaEnglish
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      19 days ago
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      I feel like running doom is much less of a challenge

      • bahbah23English
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        19 days ago
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        Doom barely ran on my Packard Bell 386

        • anameEnglish
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          19 days ago
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          Doom has even been ported to 8088

          • Echo DotEnglish
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            19 days ago
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            If we have a discover aliens the first thing we’re going to do if they have computers is try and run Doom on it.

            • bambooEnglish
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              18 days ago
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              And likewise the aliens will want to get ahold of our computers where they will try porting an alternate version of doom where you play as an alien shooting humans.

  • ZILtoid1991English
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    19 days ago
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    Nice, now run Linux on a tube computer!

    • Flying SquidOPEnglish
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      19 days ago
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      You’ve just given someone an idea. Next step: a Babbage difference engine.