🚀 go-pugleaf

On 20/03/2018 22:21, Peter Flass wrote:
> Gareth's Downstairs Computer
> <headstone255.but.n...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>> On 20/03/2018 20:42, Peter Flass wrote:
>>> Andreas Kohlbach <a...@spamfence.net> wrote:
>>>> On Tue, 20 Mar 2018 08:34:53 +0000, Ahem A Rivet's Shot wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, 19 Mar 2018 17:56:46 -0400
>>>>> Andreas Kohlbach <a...@spamfence.net> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Yes, 1977. That was when the Commodore PET, the Apple ][ and the Tandy
>>>>>> TRS-80 were offered. The first computers which also had a keyboard and
>>>>>> monitor (well for the Apple ][ the customer needed to buy a
>>>>>> monitor). Thus people not being nerds could actually use them. That
>>>>>> kicked off the home computer revolution in my opinion.
>>>>>
>>>>> Agreed, prior to those three home computing was about building a
>>>>> computer, afterwards it was about using one, not just home use either but
>>>>> also small business use started with these three (I wrote a cattle feed
>>>>> program on the TRS-80 for one farmer).
>>>>
>>>> And there was the MITS Altair. It just had panel switches like some PDP
>>>> computers.
>>>>
>>>> You could add cards though and then had video output and keyboard
>>>> input. But that was not default.
>>>>
>>>> If I understand this correctly the BASIC Allen and Gates wrote was
>>>> also an operating system.
>>>>
>>>>>> I say it was triggered in the late 70s but really kicked off in the
>>>>>> 80s.
>>>>>
>>>>> The next important thing after the PET/Apple/TRS-80 appearing was
>>>>> CP/M bringing with it industry standard applications (WordStar in
>>>>> particular).
>>>>
>>>> A shame CP/M was killed of by MS-DOS. Would had been interesting to see
>>>> what happened to it if not. Especially when the GUIs came out in the mid
>>>> 80. I know GEM ran on it, but (other than used in an ATARI ST and for
>>>> UNIX/Linux) it never really took off or was developed further.
>>>
>>> GEM ran on PC/MS DOS, too. At the time I thought it was a better bet than
>>> windows, probably because of smaller resource requirements. (my "distaste"
>>> for microsoft came later).
>>>
>>
>> 1987 I had the Amstrad PC1512 (2 off 5" floppies" ) which came with the
>> choice of PCDOS or GEM operating systems
> 
> I don't think GEM was an OS. It was move of a graphical shell.
> 

I'll bow to your better knowledge. I remember being disappointed that it
was just a graphical means of displaying a directory's contents and 
launching programs so didn't dally further.

I recall being excited to have a copy of Ray Duncan's book, Advanced 
MSDOS, but how trivial its contents seem now over 30 years later. 
Interesting that MSDOS had two file handling conventions, that of
CP/M and also that of UNIX.