 The magazine of the Melbourne PC User Group Computing in the Mare's Nest Tom Coleman |
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In the current atmosphere of newer, bigger, better and faster I have decided to upgrade my image. You see, there are people out there who believe that I am stuck in a time warp. They think that I prefer to use an XT and that I hate Windows. I will admit that I believe that an XT is far more useful than most people think and that Windows is not.
That said, I think the time has come to discuss what kind of computer I use. Now I will be the first to admit that there are other ways to set up and other things that you can do with a computer and that they are quite reasonable and rational. However they are not my uses. This is my opinion. If you have a different one, well-I am willing to let you keep it. I am not looking to convert anyone, just explain myself.
I have a 486 with buckets of RAM and an umpty-ump MB hard disk. It runs Windows very well. I use it to run all sorts of software including Windows when I want to use a program that requires Windows. At present there is only one of them but I suppose there will be more in the future. The rest of the programs that I use run better under DOS, so I use DOS.
Then there's the AT-2 MB of RAM and a 40 MB hard disk. I am scouting around for some more RAM but am in no hurry.
On an off over the past year or so I have been messing about with LINDA. (No pun intended but Lynda is also the name of my lady. I have already worked out all of the obvious puns.) LINDA for those of you who are not yet computer literate is a sort of hybrid program with bits of Operating System and Network tossed in. It requires a network. It uses idle CPU time on the network to run its programs as background tasks. It parcels up its work into discrete bundles and tosses them into tupple space. Later after they have been dealt with it retrieves them.
Good fun. Haven't worked out anything really useful for it to do yet. I had thought of reverse engineering the Big Bang but don't know how to define the starting point.
Guess what the 286 does? Hooray for you. It is on the other end of the network so I can run LINDA. This 286 also serves as my antivirus machine. Everything that comes in through the door gets checked on this machine. Naturally it runs stand alone when performing virus duties. Once in a while it gets carted out to the workshop to act as a testbed or as a download source if I am doing a set up.
I have cobbled together a conglomeration of parts-cards, keyboard, power supply and so on that live in the workshop but it have no case. Motherboards get swapped around all the time. Sort of "Open Architecture." At best it can be described as variable. I have toyed with the idea of including it on the network but it is too unstable-things keep changing. This is really a testbed.
Then there is my regular computer that I use most of the time. The one that I do most of my writing, databasing and comms on. It is an XT with 80 MB of HDD and 2 MB of AST Rampage expanded memory set up as a RAMDISK. 2 floppies and 640 kB RAM.
My number one reason for using it is that I like the keyboard. It is an original IBM 10-ton keyboard. They have yet to make another keyboard to equal it. The problem with it is that is not AT compatible. Later keyboards had a switch on the back to toggle between the XT and the AT. This one has not got one. It is still the only keyboard that I can find all the keys on.
This is the machine that is attached to my modem and hence to the BBS. It does all of the things that I want to do with a day-to-day computer. It is comfortable. The XT is not usually on the network but that is now imminent.
The 486, the AT and the XT all live in the same room and are all within reach of each other. There are a couple of modifications from a conventional layout. The floppy drives on the 486 have been set up externally. An independently powered case with an extended ribbon cable gets them about 2 metres away from the main box which is tucked away out of sight and hearing below the table.
On both the XT and the 486 the printer ports (LPT1 and LPT2) attach to my regular printer and a dedicated label printer via a switch.
Two of the three monitors sit on a shelf at eye level.
The 486 keyboard (also an IBM but not an original) sits in an below-desk keyboard drawer.
I use one of those ergonomic chairs that you kneel on. They are great.
Only the 486 has a mouse. This uses a cork tile for a mouse mat.
The AT used to have 4 floppy drives but the controller died while formatting double density 360 kB disks to 800 kB. I am sure that was a coincidence.
Most monitors live a long way from their related "box", as do the keyboards-there is a mare's nest of wiring running everywhere. I would tidy it all up and hang it off the hooks that I have installed under the tables but I keep changing things around and it never stays tidy for long.
I also have a friendly NEC PC-8201 laptop. With 32 kB of non-volatile RAM and a word processor, Basic and a Comms program in ROM. It is a non-DOS computer. It runs off mains or 4 AA batteries. Not the most versatile but occasionally handy for some things that require portable, low-power computing.
I use the Comms program and a null modem to transfer files to the XT when I get home.
I did not set out to have a setup like this. Each addition was a target of opportunity. One way or another I acquired a computer or a card or whatever and I incorporated it into my existing setup.
It just growed.
Reprinted from the August 1994 issue of PC Update, the magazine of Melbourne PC User Group, Australia
