anybody remember having a computer before Windows existed ?

[neutralizer]

Originally posted by: FuZioN
nope.. first comp had windows 3.11 on it...

 

[Spamela]

bad memories here:

TI 99/4a, C/64, TRS/80, Apple II, PET.
plus, lots of IBM PC compatibles prior to Windoze.

 

[flxnimprtmscl]

In the mid late 80's we had some Mac that my dad's company had bought for him. I have no freaking clue what it was though.

 

[Techie333]

....

 

[Chaotic42]

My computer history

C-64 (~960KHz): 1986-1991
Tandy SL1000 (4.77MHz): 1991-1995
Packard Bell S301 (60MHz): 1995-1996
AMD K5-166: 1996-1996
AMD K6-200: 1996-1998
Intel Celeron 366: 1998-2000
AMD Thunderbird 1GHz: 2000-2002
AMD Tbred 1.533GHz: 2002-2002
2xAMD Tbred 1.533GHz: 2002-2004
AMD Tbread 1.533GHz: 2004-present

 

[SilverThief]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: SilverThief

1985
I remember playing Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego, Bard's Tale II, Doom, Wolfenstein 3D, and connecting to BBS's for my porn fix.


SIGH

Wolf 3D and Doom? you should your 'decade' is right? BTII was a late 80's game though.

Well damnit! I do remember getting a computer in 85, and at some point I did play BTII, Doom, Wolfenstein 3d!



Must be the :beer:

 

[machintos]

Man... I was still in elementary school and my dad bought a computer.
We had to use DOS to start the computer and I didn't know anything about computer. All I remember is that I only used the computer to play video games like dig dug, bubble bobble. And my monitor was black and white...

 

[Metalloid]

I learned how to run my Sesame Street games from a floppy in DOS on our first computer when I was 4.

Got Windows 95 and a CD-ROM for Christmas when I was 6 or 7.

EDIT: Oh, and I really don't think playing Doom when I was 9 had any effect on what type of person I became. I am actually very passive and calm, I just enjoy "pretending" to blow the heads off of virtual terrorists.

 

[FoBoT]

my Apple II+ didn't have windows

my first PC had Windows 3.1

 

[alkemyst]

how many remember programs in magazines? I remember mostly C64 had the best magazine games....not many had the //e's to program at home. The Atari 400/800 also had good magazine games.

Some other interesting machines at the time were the TRS-80/COCO and the Model 3 and 4's....the TI-4/As, timex sinclar's....the coleco add on 'computer'...I think ADAM?.

I used to like ultima's/wizardry/bard's tale, autoduel, and just chatting/neffing like today

Å

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: cquark
I started with a TRS-80 with 32K, a cassette tape, and an acoustically coupled 300bps modem in the 70s, but I've never really had a MS Windows-based computer. I bought my first IBM-compatible PC in 1995 and immediately put one of the earliest releases of RedHat Linux on it.

My brother did Free-BSD I believe in around 1992 or so with his Amiga 3000. He has never gone back to any other OS, but Unix/Linux since except for OSX within the last 3 months.

He has become such a guru at unix plus along with his CCIE and plus the fact he has edited several tech books now basically a low end/entry level job to him would be starting at *six* figures. I am the idiot that went to college, I am happy at mid *five* figures.

Å

 

[AvesPKS]

Commodore 64...My friends are knocking down my door!

Anybody else remember that commercial?

 

[Grey]

I had the ill-fated PC-jr from IBM. I believe it used DOS . It used cartridges for programs, it was very weird back then.

 

[ctcsoft]

Originally posted by: Linux23
Tandy 1000RL, 740K floppy and no Hard drive. Fastest computer I used.

ROFL. I had the same tandy. dual 3.5 floppy drives. no hard drive. had a 2400 baud modem to dial out to BBS's.

Then I moved up :

486 sx 33
2x 512mb WD Caviars ( were huge back then!! ) This is back when 1gb drives cost $300. Yes! $300!!
like 48mb ram I think.
14.4 then a Zoltrix 28.8 modem

Running an ultra l33t renegade bbs. haha.


*** I remeber having Prodigy Online service and that is where I first found out about the OJ murders. Then I flipped on the TV. WOW.

 

[Tom]

I still have an Atari ST I got in 1985, even modded it myself to a full megabyte of ram by soldering memory chips piggyback !

 

[Salvador]

Yes and it was what Bill Gates copied for Windows. The Mac.

Sal

 

[Nocturnal]

I was first introduced to a Packard Bell computer that had Packard Bell's propriertary Windows-like program/psuedo OS and then Windows 3.1.

 

[sonambulo]

Originally posted by: bigalt

was there actually a productive use of the commodore 64?

I remember my dad had some spreadsheet programs on it that he seemed to use an awful lot. The machine was also capable of teaching me a bit of BASIC.

The games were where it was at though. I had this one game(can't remember the name) where you were a rooster sitting on a seesaw and enemy roosters dropped weights onto the seesaw. The goal was to use leverage to send the weights flying back and knock them out. Great, great fun.

You know...as I write this post I'm suddenly remembering a Q-Bert cabinet my dad picked up when I was 5 or 6. I can distinctly remember one instance when I played the game until I peed my pants...and continued playing for a good 20 more levels. Laugh all you want. It was so worth it. I dominated every kid in the neighborhood at that game until the machine tanked. Meeeeeeeeeeemorrrrrrrieeeeeeeees.

 

[aircooled]

Commodore 64. Also remember Q-Link (Quantam Link) that eventually evolved into AOL

 

[Ichinisan]

TI-BASIC

 

[RossGr]

My first computer was an Apple II+, In '86 I got a dual floppy 8086 machine (1 MB of memory!) Dos of course. I did not have a WinBlows machine till the mid 90s.

Different vein:
Last night the kid trotted out a recording of an X-files episode he wanted to watch. I kinda forgot we were watching a tape...

A Packard Bell commercial came on!! My initial response was "Wow, they're back?? Then When it said "386 with 4MB of memory and Windows 3.1 , it hit me...."how old is this tape!

 

[RossGr]

Originally posted by: PowerEngineer
I sure do. I remember that my first version of Excel (maybe 2.0?) came with a run-time version of Windows.

Excel is the newcomer,
Did you ever use VisiCalc? This Apple II app. was the FIRST spread sheet

 

[Cerb]

Yes, I do.
Thank God that went by pretty quick.

 

[rgwalt]

My first computer had a 4 color monitor. No hard drive, but two 5.25" floppy drives were available. I can't remember how much memory we had, but I doubt it was more than 512K. I also don't remember the model number or processor type. The computer was made by IBM, I'm thinking it was an AT or an XT. We booted to DOS... No windows. I asked my dad for a 2400bps modem for my birthday when I was 8 or 9 years old, and I used it to dial in to local BBS's.

Then we switched to a Mac when I was 12. My computing abilities essentially stagnated for 6 years, though I did learn quite a bit about Mac, word processing, and spreadsheets. I had my first external hard drive and CD-ROM with the Mac, as well as my first inkjet printer (Apple Stylewriter).

Then I got a Compaq when I went to college, and developed all my elite skills with x86 Intel based hardware. I installed and configured ethernet cards in the dorms to meet new people and make friends. I started bulding computers and overclocking when I was a junior, and left the hobby behind as a senior to devote more time to drinking.

I'm getting ready to brush up on my skills and put together a new box. I haven't lost my touch, but I haven't kept up with the latest technologies.

Ryan

 

my first was a PC-JR
16 color video cartridge, BASIC cartridge
a buttload of ram (came with 128k, we bumped it to 512.....which added like 8 inches onto the side of the box)

i was 5 or 6, learned enough BASIC to hack my dads TRUCKER game by the time i was 9