Category Archives: IBM

Weird Tales

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Michal Necasek

While researching various aspects of the history of computing, sometimes I come across what can best be described as “weird tales” — unsourced claims that sound interesting but are either provably wrong or there’s no evidence to support them. In … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, Microsoft, PC history, PC press | 22 Comments

PC-86-DOS

Posted on September 3, 2021 by Michal Necasek

A number of years ago, an 8″ disk containing Seattle Computer Products (SCP) 86-DOS 1.0 was successfully imaged. The newest files on the disk are dated April 30, 1981, making the disk the oldest complete release of what was soon … Continue reading →

Posted in Development, DOS, IBM, PC history | 18 Comments

The IBM PC, 41 Years Ago

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Michal Necasek

No, the OS/2 Museum does not have either a time machine or difficulty doing basic math. As of this writing, it is August 2021 and the IBM PC was announced in August 1981, 40 years ago. But in August 1980, … Continue reading →

Posted in 8086/8088, BIOS, DOS, IBM, Intel, PC hardware, PC history | 69 Comments

OS/2 6.304: Who Has More?

Posted on June 11, 2021 by Michal Necasek

Yet another interesting item that I recently ran through a Kryoflux is a set of 30 floppies labeled “IBM OS/2 Version 2.0 Pre-release Evaluation Copy – 6.304”. In this case, there’s no mystery as to what it is: 6.304 was … Continue reading →

Posted in Archiving, IBM, OS/2, Pre-release | 8 Comments

OS/2 1.2 EE DAP

Posted on June 2, 2021 by Michal Necasek

That same shoebox I mentioned the other day also contained three plain cardboard 3.5″ floppy boxes with a set of disks that look like this: Once again, despite the plain-looking labels, these are mass-duplicated floppies, which is handy because Kryoflux … Continue reading →

Posted in Archiving, IBM, Kryoflux, OS/2, PC history | 2 Comments

Like New

Posted on May 31, 2021 by Michal Necasek

About twenty years ago, I bought a used IBM Model M keyboard with a PS/2 connector. I believe it cost me around $5-$10 plus shipping at the time. A good investment, given that this sort of keyboard is probably worth … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, Keyboard, PC hardware | 5 Comments

Archival Puzzles

Posted on May 28, 2021 by Michal Necasek

Every now and then I attack the large amount of floppy disks in my basement and run a bunch of them through Kryoflux. This time it was a shoebox full of OS/2 related floppies. Among them was a very incomplete … Continue reading →

Posted in Archiving, IBM, Kryoflux, OS/2, Pre-release | 30 Comments

DOS SMB Client Performance

Posted on May 20, 2021 by Michal Necasek

Recently I had the need to use several different DOS VMs that all used a SMB network client. Although I did not use networking heavily, I noticed that there are massive differences in performance between the VMs. Copying a circa … Continue reading →

Posted in DOS, IBM, Microsoft, Networking | 15 Comments

Not MSX, Either

Posted on October 7, 2020 by Michal Necasek

Further examining the mystery of boot sectors supposedly starting with byte value 69h, I considered the possibility that the check could have been added for MSX machines. The MSX platform ticks a lot of boxes: It wasn’t 8086 (but rather … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, Microsoft, PC history | 15 Comments

PCLP CSD Hunt

Posted on June 21, 2020 by Michal Necasek

Not long ago the OS/2 Museum acquired a boxed copy of the IBM PC LAN Program (PCLP) version 1.3 (1988) on 3.5″ floppies. The IBM PC Network Program (1985), later renamed to the IBM LAN Program, was IBM’s first PC … Continue reading →

Posted in Archiving, IBM, Networking, PC history | 9 Comments