Category Archives: IBM

The XGA Graphics Chip

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Michal Necasek

After covering the 8514/A and its clones, it’s only appropriate to write a few words about the XGA (eXtended Graphics Array), IBM’s final attempt at establishing a PC graphics hardware standard. The XGA was introduced on October 30, 1990, about … Continue reading →

Posted in Graphics, IBM | 5 Comments

The 8514/A Graphics Accelerator

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Michal Necasek

On April 2, 1987, when IBM rolled out the PS/2 line of personal computers, one of the hardware announcements was the VGA display chip, a standard that has lasted for 25 years and counting. While the VGA was an incremental … Continue reading →

Posted in ATi, Graphics, IBM, PC hardware | 29 Comments

OS/2 2.1 National Language Versions

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Michal Necasek

IBM’s OS/2 2.1 (1993) was shipped in a number of national language versions (NLVs). At the time, the US version of OS/2 was the “master copy” and all NLVs were derived from it.  There were two major classes of NLVs: … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, OS/2 | 7 Comments

OS/2 for PowerPC Tidbits

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Michal Necasek

In December 1994, IBM shipped the first beta version of OS/2 for the PowerPC to selected developers. This beta included the PowerPC operating system as well as Intel-based cross-development tools that ran on OS/2 2.11 or Warp. The operating system … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, OS/2, PowerPC | 8 Comments

OS/2 1.0 Availability Announced 25 Years Ago

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Michal Necasek

On November 3, 1987 IBM announced a few new products and provided more information on several previously announced packages. One of those was OS/2 1.0 Standard Edition. First announced on April 2, 1987, OS/2 1.0 SE ($325) had been completed … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, Microsoft, OS/2 | Leave a comment

IBM PC XENIX

Posted on October 26, 2012 by Michal Necasek

In 1984, IBM briefly flirted with XENIX, Microsoft’s variant of UNIX licensed from AT&T.  Around 1983-1984, Microsoft and Intel worked on porting XENIX to the 286 processor; Intel shipped XENIX with a number of its development systems in the mid-1980s. … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, Microsoft, Xenix | 27 Comments

IBM PS/2 Model 50 Keyboard Controller

Posted on August 24, 2012 by Michal Necasek

Thanks to John Elliott, a ROM dump of the PS/2 Model 50 keyboard controller (an 8742 chip) is now available. The IBM PC/AT keyboard controller (KBC) ROM has been analyzed earlier. So what exactly changed between the PC/AT and the … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, PC architecture | 1 Comment

Book Review: Developing Applications Using DOS

Posted on August 17, 2012 by Michal Necasek

A Few Decades Late Book Reviews Developing Applications Using DOS, by Ken W. Christopher, Jr., Barry A. Feigenbaum, and Shon O. Saliga John Wiley & Sons, February 1990; 573 pages, ISBN 0-471-52231-7; $24.95 Developing Applications Using DOS is a surprisingly obscure … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, DOS, IBM | 2 Comments

DOS boot hang update

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Michal Necasek

Additional information came to light regarding the hangs with DOS 2.x/3.x when booting from a disk with large number of sectors per track. The problem appears to have been noticed sometime in 1987—perhaps. The MS-DOS OEM Adaptation Kit (OAK) for … Continue reading →

Posted in DOS, IBM, Microsoft | 4 Comments

DOS 4.0, bum rap, and mismatched expectations

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Michal Necasek

While researching the history of DOS extenders, I came across an article written in 1991 and explaining why OS/2 2.0 was going to be horribly incompatible with Windows 3.x. To support the argument, the following statement was used: “When IBM … Continue reading →

Posted in IBM, PC press | 13 Comments