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I remember trying to install Linux on a spare 386 with like 2MB of memory? Bought the SuSE book from the bookstore, tried to install it. Apparently the 2MB was not enough to expand the boot floppy, so I had to make a swap disk first. Everything from the paper manual.

It was pretty cool when it worked. I think I managed to serve a website from it and I used it as a fancy teletype.

MacOS 8.6 and Windows 95 OSR2.1 (the one that had good USB support, but no IE yet). Back then I loved to tweak my OS'es, I totally stripped them from anything it didn't need, tweaked the animations to be instant. Dual Celly 300A@450.

I think I installed a Windows 2000 beta somewhere in 1999 and stuck with that until they really ended support for it. Pretty consistent UI, lightweight. Ran most software including games, even when not officially supported.

Played with the MacOS X Betas, on hardware comparable to the first iPhone in terms of performance. Blue White G3 Tower.

I loved computers back then. Now they're just tools.






I loved computers back then. Now they're just tools.

Preach it brother. I lived through Windows v. *nix (several versions), z80 v 6502, ethernet v. token ring, packet switching v. circuit switching, and a ton of others[1], and was usually a partisan on one side or the other. Now...it's either 'what works easiest' or 'what does the client want' and I make it work for me. This lack of participation in partisan conflict has made most everything go smoother. And vintage computing allows me to get my "remember how much fun it once was" fix.

[1] Yes, even vi v. emacs, but even 30 years ago that had become more of an inside joke than actual debate. Besides, those emacs heretics will never find the One True Way.




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