ref: Microsoft barriers to Linux adoption on the desktop

[Jeff Vian]

On Wed, 2006-02-15 at 13:31 -0500, Gordon Keehn wrote:
> Mike McCarty wrote:
> > Guy Fraser wrote:
> >
> > [I wrote]
> >
> >>> It looks to me like MicroSoft products are much better able to keep
> >>> older hardware going than Linux.
> >
> > I don't have to. NO version of Linux has EVER run on an 8088 or
> > an 80286. Period.
> >
> > [snip]
> >> As far as I know, the 80386 was the first processor supported
> >> by Linux, or BSD but I don't know. Back in those days, I 
> >
> > What I said. MicroSoft products are better able to run
> > on old hardware than Linux.
> >
> > You agree, so there's no need for further discussion.
>     Would someone show me their copy of Windows running on an 
> 8086/8088?  Or for that matter an 80286, except as an interesting toy?  
> I'm willing to stipulate that MS DOS ran well on those processors.  As 
> did PC DOS, and DRDOS, and CPM/86 (and probably a few more that I'm 
> missing).  I know a professional writer who still uses the DOS version 
> of Word Perfect, because it does everything she needs, with no learning 
> curve.  That doesn't mean I have to (or even want to) use the same tools 
> I used in 1980.  I don't even want to go back to using Windows 3.1 
> (which only ran on '386 or better processors).

Actually, Win 3.11 ran nicely on my old 286, which I used until the 486
was out then upgraded.

I would never go back, but it did work for me at that time.

>     Cheers,
> Gordon Keehn
>