Author Archives: Michal Necasek

The XENIX 2.2.3 Mystery, Continued

Posted on January 18, 2013 by Michal Necasek

After pondering the strange TeleDisk images of SCO XENIX 386 2.2.3 (released in 1988) and not being able to make heads or tails of it, I decided it was time to simply restore the TeleDisk images onto actual floppies and … Continue reading →

Posted in PC hardware, Xenix | 25 Comments

Book Review: Linkers & Loaders

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Michal Necasek

A Few Decades Late Book Reviews Linkers & Loaders, by John R. Levine Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, October 1999; 256 pages, ISBN 1-55860-496-0; $60.95 Published in 1999, Linkers & Loaders is one of the more recent books reviewed in this series. … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Development | 1 Comment

The XENIX 386 2.2.3 Mystery

Posted on January 3, 2013 by Michal Necasek

On the Internets, one may find a package labeled as SCO XENIX 386 version 2.2.3 or similar, sometimes mislabeled as version 2.2.2. This is one of the very oldest operating systems designed for 386-based PC compatibles, released around June 1988 … Continue reading →

Posted in 386, Xenix | 9 Comments

Master Builders of OS/2

Posted on December 9, 2012 by Michal Necasek

The MS OS/2 videos exhibit has now been completed with the addition of two PDF documents. These are scans of two fat three-ring binders that were handed out to attendees of the Microsoft OS/2 Developer’s Conference in New York City … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, Microsoft, OS/2 | 11 Comments

OS/2 for PowerPC Tidbits

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Michal Necasek

In December 1994, IBM shipped the first beta version of OS/2 for the PowerPC to selected developers. This beta included the PowerPC operating system as well as Intel-based cross-development tools that ran on OS/2 2.11 or Warp. The operating system … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, OS/2, PowerPC | 8 Comments

Microsoft’s 1987 OS/2 Videos

Posted on November 4, 2012 by Michal Necasek

The site has been finally expanded to include videos of presentations given at Microsoft OS/2 developer conferences held in 1987, a quarter of a century ago. These videos are of historical interest as they show Microsoft’s product plans as they … Continue reading →

Posted in Microsoft, OS/2 | Leave a comment

OS/2 1.0 Availability Announced 25 Years Ago

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Michal Necasek

On November 3, 1987 IBM announced a few new products and provided more information on several previously announced packages. One of those was OS/2 1.0 Standard Edition. First announced on April 2, 1987, OS/2 1.0 SE ($325) had been completed … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, Microsoft, OS/2 | Leave a comment

IBM PC XENIX

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Michal Necasek

In 1984, IBM briefly flirted with XENIX, Microsoft’s variant of UNIX licensed from AT&T.  Around 1983-1984, Microsoft and Intel worked on porting XENIX to the 286 processor; Intel shipped XENIX with a number of its development systems in the mid-1980s. … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, Microsoft, Xenix | 28 Comments

No comments in source code? Really?

Posted on October 19, 2012 by Michal Necasek

A few weeks ago I came across an interview with an academic software researcher, now working for Microsoft. (Unfortunately the interview was in a non-English print publication, so I can’t link to it.) The interview was quite interesting, far better … Continue reading →

Posted in Development | 14 Comments

Why Windows NT from October 1992 refuses to install on modern CPUs

Posted on October 12, 2012 by Michal Necasek

Attempting to install the October 1992 pre-release on any CPU less than about 20 years old is likely to result in the following error message: This is similar to the behavior of the official Windows NT 3.1 and 3.5 releases, … Continue reading →

Posted in Intel, NT | 15 Comments