Inspirations from reading this posting by fnkysknky (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1783877&postcount=12), so tell me your first PC and what OS did it have?...I'm curious....

I would be interested to hear if anybody still has a PC with Windows3.1...and if so, do you still use it, and what for?

My very first PC was an SX-25 with windows 3.11. We sold it though when we updated to the next PC.

Pentium 166, with a 4x CDRom, 32Mb of Ram, and a 10gb hard drive. Running Windows 95 (it had just come out), bought for 1600 quid from the PC retailer that used to be on the top floor of Debenhams (Silica?), who later went bust.

I've still got one of my Dad's old (amusingly titled) laptops- it seems that laptop technology was similar to mobile phone technology; this is a laptop equivalent of one of those phones that looked like a suitcase.

It's a 286, with Windows 3.1 on it- and I use it as a door stop. It's not really capable of anything else any more.

i had a pentium 2 i think first, with windaz 95 on, god that was a chew on to reformat, without having cd drivers on the floppy

but as i said before in the previous thread, i had a rubber keyed 48k zx spectrum christmas 1983 and later on a c64, atari st and amiga
now i have all sorts :P

First PC machine I bought myself was an Amstrad 1512 - CGA, 512k (yes, k) or RAM and a stonking 20Mb hard disc. Ran DR-DOS and a weird graphical operating system called GEM.

This would have been in the mid/late 1980s? Next came a 386SX-16 with DOS 5 and Windows 3.1 (I think).

I do have a 486SX-25 laptop running Windows 3.1 which I use to control my amateur radio 'Packet Radio' modem, and generally do soem other amateur radio stuff. It's very quiet in radio terms - no interference to my kit - so it's a good, if old, computer for the job it does. 40Mb Hard Disk, 8Mb RAM.

First PC machine I bought myself was an Amstrad 1512 - CGA, 512k (yes, k) or RAM and a stonking 20Mb hard disc. Ran DR-DOS and a weird graphical operating system called GEM.

This would have been in the mid/late 1980s? Next came a 386SX-16 with DOS 5 and Windows 3.1 (I think).

I do have a 486SX-25 laptop running Windows 3.1 which I use to control my amateur radio 'Packet Radio' modem, and generally do soem other amateur radio stuff. It's very quiet in radio terms - no interference to my kit - so it's a good, if old, computer for the job it does. 40Mb Hard Disk, 8Mb RAM.

the atari st's operating system was graphical and called gem :P
never having seen that computer tho im not sure its exactly the same

i was gonna show you the gem os which is used as a backdrop for an atari st site, but as it has disc images / emus on there i thought better :(

First PC machine I bought myself was an Amstrad 1512 - CGA, 512k (yes, k) or RAM and a stonking 20Mb hard disc. Ran DR-DOS and a weird graphical operating system called GEM.

Luxuries:D.

First PC I owned, was a Victor VPC II (though I'd been through numerous home computers before this) with wonderful specs of:

8086 at 4.57 KHz.
14" CRT green screen, form factor: 4:3
Hercules Graphics Card 800 × 600 Green/black
RAM: 64 Kbytes.
5"1/4 floppy drive 180kb
No Hard drive:o:thumbsup:

Found a pic here (http://www.1000bit.net/scheda.asp?id=338).

Next came (numerous) IBM PS2s (and a few Amstrad compats). Then a couple of Compaqs, then I left the computer world altogether:).

Returned a few years ago (about 1998/99) with a P2, and now use an AMD Athlon @ 2G, with .5G RAM, 1 40G HD, 1 20 GHD (suitably partitioned).

How times have changed:)

Mine was a pentium 100 running windows 3.1
it was like lightning :)
my favourite operating system was windows 95
and i hate xp :thumbsup:

I was posh.
A dx33 laptop with floppy drive.

After that I got to the dizzy heights of a dx4-100 desktop for work.

Before I had dragon 32 with disc drive and printer not to mention my sinclair zx81.

That 386 SX-25 I had is actually now a 486 DX-100 with a 40MB hard drive and 16MB RAM with Windows 3.1 and is still used everyday to run a business on (my dad has it).... I have convinced him to get a new one soon though - I don't exactly have much faith in the hard drive lasting much longer, it's well passed the use by date :)

I remember saving up for god knows how long to pay over £100 for a 2x speed CD-ROM drive. Paid something similar for a SoundBlaster Pro as well. I seem to remember the CD-ROM interface being on the sound card..... Also that was the days when 4MB RAM was well over a hundred quid - eek.

First PC machine I bought myself was an Amstrad 1512 - CGA, 512k (yes, k) or RAM and a stonking 20Mb hard disc. Ran DR-DOS and a weird graphical operating system called GEM.


Same as me - I got mine from that second hand shop at west bar (ish) - I think the shop was called Galaxy.

I used to entertain myself making little batch files that would put alarming messages on the screen when 'any key' was hit.

I seem to remember the 1512 had a reputation as a number cruncher/workhorse bach then Joe?

P.S - back then I got 'ont internet via compuserve - they were offering 'Net Launcher' software. Of course it only came on 3.5 floppy - my 1512 had a 5.25 drive - the floppy was truly floppy :hihi:

I'd almost forgot about Compuserve. I have vague memories of using their WinCIM software before they introduced NetLauncher - main thing I remember is it being ridiculously expensive, glad I wasn't paying :)

The 1512 wasn't a bad machine, for it's time! :) I used it for C programming and other development and it was fine.

The 1640 had a full 640k of RAM, but I couldn't stretch my budget!

And yes, I think it was the same GEM - DR made it available to a number of machine manufacturers.

Oh Lord, yes, the 5.25" drive! When I bught the 386SX I made sure it had a 5.25" and a 3.5" drive in it so I could access the discs from the Amstrad!

My first computer was a 48k ZX Spectrum, was a hand-me-down from my Brother in the mid 1980s.

PC wise I got an old 386 several years ago that I used to play old DOS games on, and borrowed my Brother's 486 to play more advanced games on... My first Internet enabled PC was Pentium P120 with 128 Mb of RAM, recieved for Christmas in 1997.

not including the Amimga(s), my first 'PC' was a 486 SX 33Mhz, with 4mb ram (old 40 pin simms), no CD rom, and a 800mb hdd, that ran Windows 3.1 and Dos 5.6

I saved my pocket money (I was about 13/14 at the time) and got myself a 8x CD Rom Drive (£40 :O) and some more memory (another 4mb, as they had to be in matched sets of 4 to work) and then bought Windows 95 not long after second-hand (£30)

It was great ;)

I'd almost forgot about Compuserve. I have vague memories of using their WinCIM software before they introduced NetLauncher - main thing I remember is it being ridiculously expensive, glad I wasn't paying :)
I was paying £7 per month (must have neen a basic package?) But still quite expensive back then.
I was using a little Amstrad modem that I got from a surplus electronics place - I plugged it in ..... and nearly fell off my seat when it worked first time :hihi:

I could only find a BBS to log onto in Huddersfield called 'Last of the summer wine' and no one ever posted 'owt. Ever.

I read about exciting sounding sites in the US by the names of Fishnet and Fidonet, but could never get onto them (probably 'cos I couldn't use netlauncher on 3.5)
I cancelled my Compuserve sub after three months but the buggers got the exrea month out of me by not cancelling my service promptly..... :roll:
- some things don't change.....

Compuserve used to charge by the hour and it was a few quid as well I think. That was on top of the phone charges.....

My first Pc was an Amstrad. it had a black screen with green text. I think you could only type on it. I then got an IBM with win 95 on from staples.

Compuserve used to charge by the hour and it was a few quid as well I think. That was on top of the phone charges.....

Yup, I was on Compuspend from the early 1990s onwards - maybe 1993? There was the phone bill and the hourly rate as well!

I also had an account on CIX, and then when Demon first introduced their service I ran a DOS TCP/IP stack on the 386SX which allowed me to run DOS email, USENET, FTP and Telnet packages - (just prior to the WWW)

When I got Windows running on the 386SX, I installed something called 'Trumpet Winsock' under Windows 3.1 which provided dial up TCP/IP before Microsoft got their IP stack sorted in 3.11.

BBC Master System for me :D

Zx -81, ZX Spectrum 16k, ZX Spectrum 48k, Dragon 32, Vic 20, BBC mod B, Then my first True pc Amstrad 1640 next a Viglen 386 dx 25 a 486 dx 66 then a home built pentium 100 then Loads of p2's (slot 1)now i have the AMD Athlons quite old now they are both 266+. I may update again next year but whilst they are working fine i don't see any real point. I don't play games just live on the internet. Which incidently i was a "trialist" for BT which means i had it for free for 12 months before BT opend it up to the public. I think i started with a 14,400 modem first way before Broadband.

Texas Instruments TI99/4A, Spectrum 48k, Commodore 64, then got into games consoles, 486dx2/66 4MB RAM, 540MB hard drive Windows 3.1(bought this because the bloke in BYTE store told me Pentiums would never catch on :huh: ) 14.4 kbps modem, AST P133 8MB RAM 540MB hard drive Window 95 33.6 kbps modem, AMD 333 32MB RAM 4GB hard drive Windows 98 33.6kbps modem, back to consoles, eMachines Celeron 2.5GHz 256MB RAM 40GB hard drive Win XP broadband, Packard Bell laptop Celeron 1.4GHz 256 RAM 40GB hard drive Win XP broadband.

My first internet access was with Compuserve, £9.99 per month, 10 free hours per month? Then £2.95 per hour, plus phone charges!

Way back in the eighties I got myself a top of the range, super powerfull Commodore VIC-20 :hihi:

Just take a look at this powerhouse and drool!! Picture & Specs (http://www.vintage-computer.com/vic20.shtml)

I hadn't looked at the specs on this for a long time and I did have a laugh at the blistering 1Mhz CPU and the pure power of the graphics card!!

In all fairness this was bought about 25 years ago and it certainly gets you thinking about how far technology has come in a relatively short period of time, but I think what really begs a question is.. What will be here in the next 25 years?? But that's a whole new thread

My first computer was a zx81 in about 1982 I think, didn't know what to do with all the 1k memory, Although I did buy a 16k ram pack :thumbsup: I then progressed to a spectrum 48k. My first pc was built by a mate of mine in 2001. That was an intel celeron 500mhz cpu, 256mb sd ram, 10gig hard drive running windows 98.

I still have an old acer laptop pentium 1 133mhz 32mb ram and 1.6gig hard drive, running windows 95. Well actually that’s my sons.

I still have eleven genuine sealed copies of windows 95 that I have acquired along the way.

The pc I am currently using was built a couple of years ago by yours truly, and has been upgraded a couple of times since. Its currently an amd sempron 2800 cpu, 1gig ddr ram, 160gig hard drive, 256mb nvidia graphics, running windows xp media centre edition. :)

I had an Atari 800XE back in the 1980s, with a tape drive to start off with, and then I bought a 5" floppy disk drive. I lost interest in it, and sold it around 1989.

I was going to buy the Amstrad system that JoeP mentioned, but never got round to it.

I used Windows 3.1 at work back in the early 1990s, but left that job in 1996.

I bought my first "proper" pc in 2000, with Windows 98SE installed. I still have it, but there's something wrong with it, and I've not got round to sorting it out. Bought my current pc just over three years ago, when the old one more or less packed up, and may possibly buy a laptop sometime in the future (that'll probably be Vista).

I had an Amstrad PPC512, then a 486SX25. I came into the PC world quite late as I spent a lot of time and money on 8 bit machines (Commodore Vic 20, Oric 1, ZX81, Beeb and all the Spectrums).

It's nice to hear people used BBS'es as well. I spent a fair bit of time online on them and with Micronet 800 and Prestel back in the mid 80's.

My first computer was a Vic 20. In the early 1980s. I couldn't afford to get a tape machine for it and so I typed in games and programs from magazines, and got them working by debugging BASIC myself, until I switched it off again at night and lost all my work every time ... !
I later saved up about £45 for the special tape unit. And a ram pack, allowing memory expansion up to a full 20K Bytes !

Back in those days all the computer magazines were full of code to type in.. Especially titles like Computer and Video Games, which I bought every month.

After Vic 20 I got a BBC B, which was a superb development machine, and I expanded it with a Floppy disk unit!, and an AMX mouse, so I could use an early Paint type graphics programme.

After that I got an Amiga 500+, then an Amiga 1200 with a hard disk in it!

My first actual PC ( about 10 years ago ) was a Pentium II 266 which I built myself, which was ok at the time, and I first got a modem with this one and later broadband and I still use it for a Linux firewall.

A Compaq SLT286 - a laptop about the size (and weight) of two breeze blocks.
30Mb HDD (at extra cost!) and 2Mb Ram.
Not colour screen, detatchable (but very good, I have to say) keyboard.
Struggled to use W3.1, but a lot of messing with gold old DOS in those days....oh...and 2 grand, all bar 5p...

A Compaq SLT286 - a laptop about the size (and weight) of two breeze blocks.
30Mb HDD (at extra cost!) and 2Mb Ram.
Not colour screen, detatchable (but very good, I have to say) keyboard.
Struggled to use W3.1, but a lot of messing with gold old DOS in those days....oh...and 2 grand, all bar 5p...

I think this is the exact model now being used as a retro doorstop!

Lots n lots of very interesting replies...didn't for one second think this thread would have generated this much interest.
I'm also pleased that this thread also brought a likkle bit of nostalgia back... or maybe even a tear running down your cheek from reminiscing....the good old days.:)

Well my PC was a *cough* Dell*cough* which my parents bought me way back in 1999 for a Birthday present.
It had Windows 98SE, 32MB RAM, 4GB hard drive, and on-board graphics and it was a creamy color with a tiny 14" CRT monitor.

Now I've got 4 PC's... my baby (http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h179/savannah2_photos/Photo-0076.jpg), a notebook, and 2 that I built for next to nothing from scrap parts.

Lots n lots of very interesting replies...didn't for one second think this thread would have generated this much interest.
I'm also pleased that this thread also brought a likkle bit of nostalgia back... or maybe even a tear running down your cheek from reminiscing....the good old days.:)

Well my PC was a *cough* Dell*cough* which my parents bought me way back in 1999 for a Birthday present.
It had Windows 98SE, 32MB RAM, 4GB hard drive, and on-board graphics and it was a creamy color with a tiny 14" CRT monitor.

Now I've got 4 PC's... my baby (http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h179/savannah2_photos/Photo-0076.jpg), a notebook, and 2 that I built for next to nothing from scrap parts.

I never knew women were so computer savvy! :o

*Yup, time to get me coat......

If we're just talking computers as opposed to a PC then I had a Commodore Vic 20, a BBC Micro (model B I think) and a Commodore 64 when I was a sprog. Taught myself to program on the BBC and C64 when I was very young - peek and poke :)

If we're just talking computers as opposed to a PC then I had a Commodore Vic 20, a BBC Micro (model B I think) and a Commodore 64 when I was a sprog. Taught myself to program on the BBC and C64 when I was very young - peek and poke :)

10 Print "Bill Gates is God!"
20 GoTo 10

RUN

That was about my limit of programming on the Spectrum :D

Well, I did used to do the programming listings in Sinclair User and Your Sinclair back in the 80s, could never get the damn pokes for games to work though.. :rant:

I never knew women were so computer savvy! :o


You are norty scarby, indeed very, very norty. :hihi: :D

Umh, can't remember the exact spec but I was a late starter PC wise, bought my first one in 1997. It was a Daewoo with Windows 98, 6Gb HD with a massive 32mb memory :hihi:

when I was a sprog.

I called a program that ("The Sprog"), which added (or improved) 30 odd commands to the Speccy:D

Mine was an IBM 55SX (386SX16 I think) running IBM DOS 5, with Wordstar, Supercalc and dBase IV. It had 2MB RAM and a 20MB ESDI HDD. It was loaned by my employer so I could work at home. After a year or so they let me keep it for a nominal sum and I upgraded it to 4MB RAM and a 60MB HDD.

I too was with Compuserve using a 9600 modem and DOSCIM until I upgraded to Win3.0 and used WINCIM.

In retrospect I think I preferred DOS to Windows, and still have Kris Jamsa's 'MS-DOS Batch Files Quick Reference Guide' on the bookshelf in front of me.

They say you can't teach an old dog new tricks but I was in my fifties when they thrust this PC at me and said 'get on with it'. :)

I used to love DOS to be honest. Windows is a pain in the arse.

Anyone else used to use WordPerfect 5.1? Still think it was much better designed than Word with the way it handles formatting and it's reveal codes feature.

First computer was Amiga 500 almost bankrupt my parents one christmas, first proper PC was a 486; now i've got a 2.9ghz conroe with geforce 8800 and i still want to upgrade. :rolleyes:

I used to love DOS to be honest. Windows is a pain in the arse.

Anyone else used to use WordPerfect 5.1? Still think it was much better designed than Word with the way it handles formatting and it's reveal codes feature.

Agreed.
DOS 3 right through to 6.2 in my case.
Seem to recall loading MS Office off 26 floppies too!

I think this is the exact model now being used as a retro doorstop!

If you were walking along, you could balance it with the latest Motorola 'mobile phone' of the time - yet another breezeblock, complete with telescopic aerial and a handset complete with curly cord!

My first PC was a 12MHz 286 running DOS 4, with a 40MB hard drive (Yes, MB - not GB) and 640k of RAM. It was from VTech, who now make childrens electronic toys.

My very first computer, was the Dragon 32.

Can't remember the manufacturer, but mine had 16k of memory and ran c/cpm. Sheffield Newspapers also ran them, (I worked for Abrafract in Hillsborough at the time). I had Dbase II, supercalc and wordstar. Circa 1986

Can't remember the manufacturer, but mine had 16k of memory and ran c/cpm. Sheffield Newspapers also ran them, (I worked for Abrafract in Hillsborough at the time). I had Dbase II, supercalc and wordstar. Circa 1986

I went to Loxley College in September 1995 and they were still using Wordstar, Supercalc etc to teach word processing and spreadsheets! They even had the whole IT Suite in the Learning Centre running on Windows 3.11! Get with teh times for flip sake, this was 1995! They should've been on at least Windows 95 and MS Office 95 by then.

I assume you only mean x86 machines?

I had an x86 compatible by Apricot. At least I think that was the brand rather than the model!
Strictly command line only, formatting text on printouts was...interesting.

Later a 386 of some description, that had win3.1 and a small SCSI hdd! Still have it somewhere I think, though it doesn't get used!

My first pc was a 386 sx 20 with 2mb of ram, it cost about £80 to upgrade it to 4mb, and a whole 40mb of disk space... MS-DOS 3,and Windows 3.0.. My first computers however was an Atari 600XL, followed closely by a Dragon 64, and Spectrum +2

Ahh .. the good old days :D

Scott

I can't remember the spec of the first PC I bought apart from 486something, but I remember that the 4MB of RAM cost me £120! :o

My first games system was a Phillips G7000 i've never known anyone else who has had one.

My first computer was an Amstrad CPC 6128 plus, again nobody else had one, my friends all had Ataris and Amigas :(

My first PC was a 486DX with 8mb ram (later updraded to 12 at a cost of £55) and a 850mb HDD. The OS was Windows 95. I remeber thinking the graphics were stuning as Encarta 95 played small fuzzy videos. :hihi:

My first computer was an Amstrad CPC 6128 plus, again nobody else had one, my friends all had Ataris and Amigas :(
I had a non plus version of the 6128, the Atari ST came later.

My first computer was a ZX81.

And it got sold many years ago.

Then a Spectrum 48. With a minidrive!

Then Atari ST. The first computer I used with a mouse.

Then an Amiga 500, followed by a 1200. Which got stolen. I would probably still use the 1200, but I have an emulator.:thumbsup:

Then I built my first computer. AMD 600mHz with Win 95.

Currently on an AMD 2600 with Win XP Pro. It's getting a bit creaky, but still does the job!

My very first computer, was the Dragon 32.

...followed closely by a Dragon 64...


Hello fellow Dragon users!

My first 'computer' was also the Dragon32... Ah, fond memories of many an hour sat in front of Chuckie Egg, Cuthbert in the Jungle and Cuthbert in the Cooler to name a few. :)

The Dragon was our household's only machine right up until 1997... when we got our first PC... a Pentium 166MMX, 16MB RAM, 2.5GB HDD, 1MB Graphics(?), 15" (!) Monitor and Windows 95. My parents were still happily using it until about 12 months ago (albeit upgraded to 64MB RAM and 8GB HDD)... and in fact, it does still work actually. I might have to have a play on it. :D



.

My first PC was:

486 DX2 50mhz
8MB RAM
325MB Hard Drive
2x CD-ROM
1MB SVGA graphics card
SoundBlaster Pro sound card
running DOS 6.2 and Windows 3.11

I also had an Amiga 1200 around the same time

They even had the whole IT Suite in the Learning Centre running on Windows 3.11! Get with teh times for flip sake, this was 1995! They should've been on at least Windows 95 and MS Office 95 by then.

Didn't Windows 95 come out in the Summer of that year? It would be very bad practice for a business or educational establishment to switch to a new OS so soon without thorough testing beforehand.

My home computers...


ZX81 (16k ram)
ZX Spectrum (48k ram) :) hurrah!
Atari ST (1 meg ram) :) what fun!
PC 486/33 (2 gig hard drive and 2meg ram)
PC 586/100 (32 meg ram)
PC P2 166 (in cellar gathering dust)
iMac G3/400 (128 meg ram)
iMac G5/18 (768 meg ram)

(all macs purchased from Coles)

I would not go back to smelly virus crashing PC land again!

I use a PC laptop at work and its cack :mad:

what was that black & white one that ran FORTH at the same time as the Speccy cames out?

Was it called the Jupiter Ace?

Spectrum
Apple SE
Dell Laptop
Toshiba Laptop
Dell Desktop
HomeBuild Desktop

Was it called the Jupiter Ace?

Yes it was. And it wasn't (ace, that is:D).

My first PC as in Personal Computer was a BBC Model A which I inherited from my dad followed by various Acorn computers...Archimedes A310, A5000 and finally my own Risc PC when I started Uni.

My first IBM compatible PC was a PIII 450MHz with maybe 128Mb RAM but that's as much as I remember...had Win 98 SE on it :) Currently on a nice Intel C2D machine...

Yes it was. And it wasn't (ace, that is:D).

I always fancied one.....

BTW can you remember when playing computer games involved typing in listings from computer magazines ... and after about 26 hours of typing you got to play a cack version of "Frogger" - then could never reload it because of a dodgey audio tape... hmmmm, maybe I have been lookingback at spectrum days with rose tinted glasses.

I always fancied one.....

BTW can you remember when playing computer games involved typing in listings from computer magazines ... and after about 26 hours of typing you got to play a cack version of "Frogger" - then could never reload it because of a dodgey audio tape... hmmmm, maybe I have been lookingback at spectrum days with rose tinted glasses.

They were made by ex-Sinclair employees (IIRC).

Never really got to like Forth (5 5 + . never made much sense to me - though it should as I understand stack manipulation from my Z80 daze:D).

though it should as I understand stack manipulation from my Z80 daze:D).

Bloody hell - that brings memories back. I purchased a book "Machine Code Programming for the Z80"

Popping stuff on the stack to hold it, then taking it off again. Kin 'ell try telling that to the young people of today (with all their blu ray discs) and they wont believe you.... etc etc

Bloody hell - that brings memories back. I purchased a book "Machine Code Programming for the Z80"

Popping stuff on the stack to hold it, then taking it off again. Kin 'ell try telling that to the young people of today (with all their blu ray discs) and they wont believe you.... etc etc

I remember programming 8080s in code at Poly. And, ey Obidia, they won't believe you.

Fancy a glass of Chateu d' Chasilay?:thumbsup:

I remember programming 8080s in code at Poly. And, ey Obidia, they won't believe you.

Fancy a glass of Chateu d' Chacilay?:thumbsup:


Notwithstanding all this Pythonesque japery, my Goose brain may be limited - and I could really only do linear programming.. but just HOW do they programme things like.. err. say Gran Turismo 4 on the PS2?

There seems to be so much going on at one time that my poor 1980's programming goose-mind goes all honky....

Notwithstanding all this Pythonesque japery, my Goose brain may be limited - and I could really only do linear programming.. but just HOW do they programme things like.. err. say Gran Turismo 4 on the PS2?

There seems to be so much going on at one time that my poor 1980's programming goose-mind goes all honky....

Same here, I gave up at the Amiga and the 68020 :(

I haven't a clue how they do it. Same with most technology now. I know how to use it, but how it's made/programmed, forget it.

Same here, I gave up at the Amiga and the 68020 :(

I haven't a clue how they do it. Same with most technology now. I know how to use it, but how it's made/programmed, forget it.

I can just about cope with the idea of calling loads of sub units for doing different tasks, but getting them all working att he same time, with the AI and the smooth graphics.....

I assume that most of the new (i.e PS2 onwards) games use lots of pre-wriiten engines for many elements of the games... or it would take 10,000's person hours to write......then again - dont the budgets for games like Gran Turismo come out at about 7-10 $million?

Still.. I did :love: manic miner....

I think they are Mr Goose. Alot of them are worlds created within a program similar to 3DS Max and the physics etc are added. Only then do the programmers get there hands on it.

Luxuries:D.

First PC I owned, was a Victor VPC II (though I'd been through numerous home computers before this) with wonderful specs of:

8086 at 4.57 KHz.
14" CRT green screen, form factor: 4:3
Hercules Graphics Card 800 × 600 Green/black
RAM: 64 Kbytes.
5"1/4 floppy drive 180kb
No Hard drive:o:thumbsup:



That's very similar to the first machine I used at work - the Victor was often sold as the ACT Sirius. The one we had had twin floppies.

It ran both MSDOS v 1.0 and CPM operating systems - in the DOS autoexec.bat file you had to have a line to tell the O/S that you had a monitor - those were the days. Don't think DOS even supported hard drives in v1.0.


My first owned PC was the old Amstrad PcW - the one that was a bit of a glorified word processor complete with dot matrix printer and the weird 3 inch floppy drive- however it did the business. It cost more than the new machine I'm using now!

I used to entertain myself making little batch files that would put alarming messages on the screen when 'any key' was hit.



I did that to our internal audit sections PC back in the '80's - linked it to a little compiled basic file that made a worm crawl across the screen and gave a message about a virus. Panic ensued in audit - the "expert" was called in and I got rid of the "virus" for them!

I can just about cope with the idea of calling loads of sub units for doing different tasks, but getting them all working att he same time, with the AI and the smooth graphics.....

I assume that most of the new (i.e PS2 onwards) games use lots of pre-wriiten engines for many elements of the games... or it would take 10,000's person hours to write......then again - dont the budgets for games like Gran Turismo come out at about 7-10 $million?

Still.. I did :love: manic miner....

Most games these days are written in an object-orientated language. Makes life a million times easier. Have a look in Wikipedia for OOP (object-orientated programming) if you aren't sure what it is :)

Not that relevant to games but......... when you've got your head round that look up a language called Smalltalk - very different from 'normal' programming but unbelievably powerful as well. If you're interested then you can grab the free version of Dolphin Smalltalk from http://www.object-arts.com/content/navigation/products/dce.html

I had a ZX81 in 1980s not showing off bu i also had the 16k ram pack for it.

Then went on to a VIC2 0 before splashing out on a C16+4 had that for some time then got a C64.

I started off when my parents loaned a zx81 for a few weeks to see if we wanted to buy it (we didnt as we couldnt afford the £100 they wanted for it).

A bit later I got a Philips G-7000 and had my first go and programming in 6502 hand assembled code. A9 00 anyone?

From there to a Mighty Vic 20 (sadly my dad bumped into a friend of his in dixons and he convinced him to get the vic instead of the spectrum he went in to buy - curses).

The it was c64, c128, Amiga 1000 - still sat here next to my pc fully working.

The It was down to me to buy my own stuff and as such I stick with my amiga for years until I finally could afford a PC.

I got a dodgy AMD DX2 80mhz, with a 14" screen. dont remember the hard drive, think it had 4mb ram. It was from electrowise, who ran from a cellar in arundel gate.

Built my own since then. UPgraded to a P166 when they were new (MB and Processor cost £1000. sigh.

Had a few others and currently on a AMD 3400, 2gb, FX7800, with a couple o 160GB sata drives. Good enough for Wow and Armed assault!

Off topic slightly...

I also had (and loved) an Atari 2600 console.

In teh instructions it said "Turn off console before unpugging from TV". One day I thought "why does it say that in big black bold capitals?@

So I yanked it out and whoops - a big, permanent pink "stain" on the bottom of the screen.

Given that (1) this was in about 1979 and (2) our colour telly was big and new......I never admitted this tale to my Mum

Who would have been MOST unhappy

windows ME, 800 mhz, 64mb ram, 16mb VRAM, DVD drive, 12gb hard drive,

Top of the range at the time =P

Bloody hell - that brings memories back. I purchased a book "Machine Code Programming for the Z80"

Popping stuff on the stack to hold it, then taking it off again. Kin 'ell try telling that to the young people of today (with all their blu ray discs) and they wont believe you.... etc etc

For my sins I earned some nice beer money writing books for Melbourne House and articles for the popular computer mags. Every now and again I interview someone for a job who learned some of their programming form my books or articles.

I always hope they're good. :)

Our first Computer which we purchased for our then eldest son, David, who suffered with Muscular Dystrophy, was a 'Apple 16K' along with a tape recorder which the programmes were fed-in bye. I believe the first programme was its operating system!. After about six months we bought some memory chips (about 12 or 24) and I upgraded it to a 64K machine!!. After this came the 5.25" single sided Floppy which stored the staggering amount of 180kilobytes of data which was rapidly followed by the double side (twice as much data) then the 3.5" floppy 360KB initially and single sided, replaced soon after by the double sided 720KB. After which the double density disk 1400KB started making appearances and eventually the CD-Rom then the Memory Sticks.

The first CD-Rom disk that I was shown cost about £60 -£85.00. The drive, H.P.SureStore around £4000. A Black & White scanner cost roughly £1500 and the H.P.LaserJet 3 costing £2,500. the graphic programmes could be bought separately!!

In the early days our son would write the programmes and my wife would type them in because he did not have the strength to push the keys. He attended Oaks Park School but once went to a exhibition with a group from King Egbert's School under a Mr Pye or Dr Pyle? supervision. Is a present forum member attached to this group in 1976-8?

My Very first PC was a 486DX-33Mhz, with 4MB Ram, 450Mb hard drive, Windows 3.1, I remember saving up 8 weeks pocket money to buy a 8x speed CD rom which cost about £45 at the time..

i then later saved and bought more memory, putting me to 8mb, then saved and bought a legal (second hand) copy of windows 95..

then i moved up and got an upgrade to a DX-66, then a new board and a DX100Mhz (fast chip that was) then I jumped to a P2 300Mhz, then a Celeron 433, then to an Athlon 1.4Ghz (the original, best, cpu, ever ;)) then to a 3200+ and now im on an X2 4200+ :)

mine was from AdMag that cost ?95.

P1 95htz that someone overclocked from 75htz
700 mb Hard Disk that was full of Porno pictures
32mb ram
and No CD drive.

:hihi:

Now i have

X2 64bit 3800 running at over 4800 speeds ( 2X 2500htz)
600gb Hard disk
2500Mb of DDR Ram
________
**** (http://www.****tube.com/)

mine was from AdMag that cost £95.

P1 95htz that someone overclocked from 75htz
700 mb Hard Disk that was full of Porno pictures
32mb ram
and No CD drive.

:hihi:

Now i have

X2 64bit 3800 running at over 4800 speeds ( 2X 2500htz)
600gb Hard disk
2500Mb of DDR Ram

Did you get a 38" Monitor to see the pictures?

i had a amstrad word processor which had no hard drive and so you had to have about 3 floppies to boot up! didi play a few games like space invaders :)

next was a 286 8Mhz 1Mb ram 30Mb HD. i was about 10.

best was a 486 which i upgraded to dx4 100Mhz with 16Mb ram and 800MB HD. could just about play quake 1 :) such fun

Did you get a 38" Monitor to see the pictures?

nothing like hardcore in 256 colours lol :hihi:
________
Free sex (http://www.****tube.com/)

I had an acorn electron attached to my TV and then I got all posh and went to 286 PC with a printer and a monitor!

Does "pack man" or simalar count i still have new one in a box but i'd need to buy two new D battery's to fire it up

Inspirations from reading this posting by fnkysknky (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1783877&postcount=12), so tell me your first PC and what OS did it have?...I'm curious....


Amstrad PC1512DD

I would be interested to hear if anybody still has a PC with Windows3.1...and if so, do you still use it, and what for?

I have a PC running Windows3.1 *code* - does that count? But then we pretty much all do. If you want to find it, try to manually install a font from control panel in any windows PC including Vista and you will find almost completely unmodified 3.1 code.

Yes, I said it, Windows Vista is running interface code that hasn't been modified since 3.1!

Yes, I said it, Windows Vista is running interface code that hasn't been modified since 3.1!


Guess you can't improve on perfection :thumbsup: :hihi:

ZX81, then C64 & CPC464 then Atari ST (used the ST for 10 years in my recording studio, a real GEM).

ZX Speccy, then Amiga, then (bit of a step down this) Patriot P133 (eurgh).

ZX Speccy, then Amiga, then (bit of a step down this) Patriot P133 (eurgh).

Oh yeah, I forgot about my Amiga500 - THAT was my first!

Oh yeah, I forgot about my Amiga500 - THAT was my first!

My bro's got some Amiga simulation software - it's ace. I'd completely forgotten about the wonders of AmigaDOS!

mine was a commodore c64 cant remember much about it only that you hade to load it with tapes for games.

I've got a book titled, ' Programming the 6502 '.
I can't understand a word of it, it was my sons.
Any use to anyone? Give me a PM.

mine was a commodore c64 cant remember much about it only that you hade to load it with tapes for games.

Sounds like me old Speccy! Did you end up fiddling with the tape-recorder volume to get it to load tapes that were getting on a bit?

mine was a bcc of some sort

My first PC was an IBM 8086 based computer mated to an Epson DMX printer. 64K ram, two 5.25 floppies, no hard drive, on DOS 2.1. I had requested an Apple 2C from the company, but the IM department would only sanction IBM which cost them $6000. No built in software, so I did all my own programming in Basica, and fortran. I bought a Tandy 1000 for home use, which had a 10 meg hard card and a 5.25 floppy. I ran the first version of Microsoft Flight Sim on that computer along with a submarine program and a golf course, all of which gave good graphics for the time.

My first PC was an IBM 8086 based computer mated to an Epson DMX printer. 64K ram, two 5.25 floppies, no hard drive, on DOS 2.1. I had requested an Apple 2C from the company, but the IM department would only sanction IBM which cost them $6000. No built in software, so I did all my own programming in Basica, and fortran. I bought a Tandy 1000 for home use, which had a 10 meg hard card and a 5.25 floppy. I ran the first version of Microsoft Flight Sim on that computer along with a submarine program and a golf course, all of which gave good graphics for the time.

Are you able to add further regarding the difference in formatting for the old APPLE 16K and the IBM. Please. The thread is on this channel under converting Apples files to IBM.

Inspirations from reading this posting by fnkysknky (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showpost.php?p=1783877&postcount=12), so tell me your first PC and what OS did it have?...I'm curious....

I would be interested to hear if anybody still has a PC with Windows3.1...and if so, do you still use it, and what for?

I had a 286 - 8mhz, no co-pro, mono 12" screen, 512Kb Ram and a 20Mb HD.
It ran Dos 3.1 when I got it, and Dos 5.0 when it was scrapped, it also ran windows 3.1 at that stage and had been upgraded to over a meg of Ram, a colour screen and a VGA graphics card with 1Mb of ram.

This wasn't my first computer, just my first PC Compatible. I had a dragon 32 and a C64 before this.

First PC was a 286. Remember trying for the life of me to get windows on but with a 640K of memory and no expanded/extended memory proved difficult. I got so much on that 40Meg hard drive. It was lighting. no internet. no CDRom. Them were the days.

My first PC was a 12MHz 286 running DOS 4, with a 40MB hard drive (Yes, MB - not GB) and 640k of RAM. It was from VTech, who now make childrens electronic toys.

My very first computer, was the Dragon 32.

Yes I think mine was around 12 Mhz. Programming was a lot more inventive and made a lot more use of the hardware available. Not like the bloatware you get nowadays. Do you remember loading stuff into highmem? DEVICEHIGH and LOADHIGH.

Does anyone still use or own a Apple 16K in running order with5.25" and 3.5" Drives? Thanks