Most Popular
1500 questions
33
votes
1 answer
"Quit all programs, and then restart your computer" in the Windows 95 "Illegal operation" dialog
Back in the Windows 95/98 days, the "illegal operation" dialog was (from here):
but sometimes, in that dialog, it would say "Quit all programs, and then restart your computer" (from here):
What would cause the "Quit all programs..." to appear in…
Renan
- 727
- 1
- 7
- 11
33
votes
6 answers
Windows 98 with 2GB of RAM
I have assembled a retro-gaming PC out of an old Shuttle SN45G with a Windows 98/Windows XP dual boot.
The motherboard can handle 2GB of RAM, but apparently Windows 98 can only handle 1 GiB.
Windows 98 boots fine when I have 1 GiB of RAM installed,…
Informancien
- 2,657
- 2
- 21
- 35
33
votes
3 answers
How did the IBM 5153 color display detect and modify the signal to make low-intensity yellow into "brown"?
The IBM CGA video card generated 16 colours indicated via four binary TTL signals: R, G, B and I (red, green, blue and intensity). This was not an entirely linear transformation: in particular, RGBI=1100, or "low-intensity yellow" appeared not dark…
cjs
- 25,592
- 2
- 79
- 179
33
votes
6 answers
In the ISO 1990 C standard library, what was the rationale for having memcpy return one of its inputs?
The function memcpy is defined as:
void* memcpy(void* s1, void* s2, size_t n)
and the 1990 ISO standard (ISO 9899:1990) defines the function as:
Description
The memcpy function copies n characters from the object
pointed to by s2 into the object…
Michael Stachowsky
- 3,151
- 2
- 22
- 31
33
votes
6 answers
Why were animated screensavers used instead of a black screen on CRT monitors?
Before the advent of modern monitors, CRT technology was used, which was vulnerable to screen burn-ins. Screensavers avoided these problems by producing animations instead of persistent images.
Were constantly changing pixels more effective than a…
Amessihel
- 433
- 4
- 6
33
votes
2 answers
When and why was the question mark chosen to abbreviate PRINT?
In many dialects of BASIC, the PRINT statement can be abbreviated with a single question mark when entering programs or direct-mode commands. So instead of typing PRINT "HELLO, WORLD" you can save a few characters by typing ? "HELLO, WORLD".
I have…
Psychonaut
- 7,133
- 2
- 24
- 54
33
votes
1 answer
Did John Carmack really invent "Adaptive Tile Refresh"?
John Carmack is credited with making fast-paced arcade games like Commander Keen possible on an IBM-PC that had no specialized graphics controllers suited for those, thanks to the "Adaptive Tile Refresh" routines he is credited to have…
scrØllbær
- 1,109
- 7
- 12
33
votes
4 answers
Why was manual branch suggestion abandoned?
Once pipelined CPUs became common, a common issue arrived as a result of taking the wrong branch of a conditional jump, and thus needing to flush the pipeline. As a result branch prediction mechanisms were introduced to help mitigate the…
Badasahog
- 4,031
- 3
- 24
- 61
33
votes
3 answers
Reconditioning and cleaning old Nintendo (and other) game cartridges
I used to blow the dust out of the cartridges but I heard that can actually damage the cartridge or the system itself.
I am looking for the proper way to clean old Nintendo game cartridges (such as NES and SNES).
Is cleaning the edge contacts…
Tim Penner
- 439
- 5
- 11
33
votes
2 answers
Why was RS-232 12V?
Is there a particular reason RS-232 uses 12V signals (well, sort of) rather than some (any?) other value?
It was formally defined in 1960, so that places it before the era of any standardized ICs like RTL that would have suggested lower voltages.…
Maury Markowitz
- 19,803
- 1
- 47
- 138
33
votes
3 answers
What aspect of portable floating point did Java back down on?
Java was released under the slogan 'write once, run anywhere'; while its adoption was probably more about 'now we have a language that provides garbage collection in a familiar workflow and with a good standard library', as far as Sun's management…
rwallace
- 60,953
- 17
- 229
- 552
33
votes
5 answers
Did IBM originally plan to use the 68000 in the PC?
One of the big turning points in the history of the industry was IBM choosing the Intel 8088 over the Motorola 68000. Given that most people outside IBM considered the 68000 preferable, there has been much speculation about the reasons for the…
rwallace
- 60,953
- 17
- 229
- 552
33
votes
4 answers
Intel CPU bug in the 90s
My teacher who teaches "Logic" at the university told us a story about Intel processors, which goes: "In the 90s, Intel had a bug in the calculation of mathematical functions like sine or cosine encoded in the processor. This bug created…
gomd
- 433
- 1
- 4
- 5
33
votes
7 answers
What are the major technical difference between Multics and Unix?
From the naming of operating system only i.e Unix = Uniplexed Information and Computing Service vs Multics = Multiplexed Information and Computing Service, I was first having a misconception that the prime difference between Multics and Unix should…
Pandya
- 673
- 5
- 10
33
votes
3 answers
How was the 80186 incompatible with the IBM PC?
Wikipedia's Intel 80186 entrymentions
The 80186 would have been a natural successor to the 8086 in personal computers. However, because its integrated hardware was incompatible with the hardware used in the original IBM PC, the 80286 was used as…
rwallace
- 60,953
- 17
- 229
- 552