I've seen someone on Youtube do this awhile back. Can't find that video now, but I did find this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeZS46t7zrQ

edit: the video I can't find now was some guy who committed to using DOS exclusively for something like 2 or 3 weeks. He documented all his efforts to do modern day things, etc. It was really fascinating. It's cool how resourceful you become when you're forced into a situation that requires it.

clueless1 wrote:

I've seen someone on Youtube do this awhile back. Can't find that video now, but I did find this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CeZS46t7zrQ

edit: the video I can't find now was some guy who committed to using DOS exclusively for something like 2 or 3 weeks. He documented all his efforts to do modern day things, etc. It was really fascinating. It's cool how resourceful you become when you're forced into a situation that requires it.

The idea was like that to use only a similar config with all the obvious limitations the old tech will have.

I has sold all my computer stuff and use DOS powered 486 as main (and only one) PC now on daily basis. Just because i don't need computer for my work at all, also i tired off modern gadgets, games, internet, etc. Hope at last to be interested in learning programming or so by that selfmade multimedia vacuum, heh. 😉

I know this is a self-imposed limitation, but what do you mean by "main pc"? Is it intended for any serious work or just fooling around with it? I guess you could get away with a DOS-based 386/486 if you only need it for basic text-editing and e-mails, but for anything more advanced you're going to struggle.

DOS is great for gaming as it lets you access hardware directly and being single-task you won't have other processes or bloatware killing your performance, but that's about it. At the very least I would suggest a true 32-bit multi-tasking OS, like a minimal command-line only Linux distro, and you could use vi/joe/nano for text editing, lynx for browsing the web and so on.

I'm not a fan of modern gadgets/tablets/phones either, but I wouldn't be able to do my day-to-day work on such an old configuration...

TheMobRules wrote:

I know this is a self-imposed limitation, but what do you mean by "main pc"? Is it intended for any serious work or just fooling around with it? I guess you could get away with a DOS-based 386/486 if you only need it for basic text-editing and e-mails, but for anything more advanced you're going to struggle.

Just use MS Office 4.2...

yeah you really should elaborate on "main pc"

Is there any way it could be used even in a limited capacity to do what a basic pc does today? No. Not even slightly. Even simple web browsing on youtube or facebook wouldn't be possible on a 486. Even media playback is somewhat of a chore on a 486 such as music and video.

Could you in theory play around with it as if it was 1993 still , and avoid using modern tech? yes of course.

No way, at the very least I'd need my smartphone sitting next to it.

Your question really all depends on what you want to do. I would want at minimum a graphical multitasking 32 bit OS like OS/2 2.11 or some type of BSD, I don't think there are any Linux versions anymore that will run on a 386. OS/2 2.11 would at least let you run multiple DOS programs at the same time, without crashing. And you're going to be limited to DOS and Win 3.11 era office suites, so like Word Perfect, MS Works, some very early version of MS Office. You might be able to get away with running Warp 3 on a 386, that would get you built-in networking with the fix-packs applied and give you a few more options with respect to multimedia but as to multimedia on a 386....you aren't going to be doing much of it. No movies. No Mp3 files. You could play the hell out of games from that era but forget much of the modern internet, you'd be limited to text-based email, text-based newsgroups, and maybe using Lynx as your web browser to browse a very few web pages that will work with it. You could play MOD files for music. There is still a lot you could do with a 386 as far as basic office productivity but your interaction with the wider world is going to be limited.

486-100 your options are a little better: you could, if you are brave, play around with editing postage-stamp quality video at 160x120, maybe 320x200 if you have specialized hardware. You could fart around with 3D graphics, if you can find older software or content yourself with Povray and other freeware that will run on an old Dos/Win3.1/OS/2 system. You could do image editing so long as you are sticking to images that are 1024x768 or less, you'd probably have to use 15 or 16 bit color depths though. I still don't think you would have enough CPU to run MP3s, so MOD files still for music for you, or compact disc audio with a CD player (same goes for 386, I guess). Your internet situation on a 486 will be much the same as on a 386. If you want to cheat and VNC into something like a raspberry pi 3 or other tiny PC you could surf the modern internet in a window. I think there may even be a VNC client for OS/2. Gaming on a 486, you would have all the options you had on 386 plus the 486 era, and since you've got a really fast 486 you may be able to play some early Pentium era games (Diablo, Quake if you don't mind it running at max 15fps, and so on). You'd have to dual-boot to Win 95 for Diablo, though, as I don't think there was a DOS version.

As long as you're ok with primarily text processing (basic office stuff) and you don't need to really interact with anyone else OR they are cool with you sending them RTF files or plain text or maybe CSV for spreadsheets, you might be able to get by. But I wouldn't want to seriously work like this. If you're an eccentric writer and you really really like your 386, that's the ideal situation as far as being able to produce useful output that might actually earn you a living. Otherwise....forget about it.

The 486 spanks the 386 in a lot of ways, especially the late era 486s like the DX4-75, 100, 120 and the 5x86 133 *however* having said that --- in the modern internet era a 386 or 486 is outclassed by the most humble of systems. It is like Homo Erectus is better than Australopithecus until you drop a Homo Erectus in modern NYC and give it a simple task: it will probably suffer a breakdown 😉

Don't get me wrong, the late 486 era is one of my favorite system types, but you need to have realistic expectations. You're not going to be able to hop on Youtube, Facebook and Amazon with it, or listen to Pandora Radio.

Thank for your answers.
Yeah I had to specifiy the "main" word. Basically as other said I'm bored and tired of all the newer tech since many years now. In some way it's like newer cars where sometimes you ask yourself "man, why to change it when they still run, they all have four tires and a metal box, a 1960 car would still run (and often they do)".
So I could use an office application with very limited functions as long the file will still be readable today by any os. I could use the web only in text and images if still I could get a sort of readable layout I know javascript and html5 would be a problem here. Games is no problem I prefer dos one. Music I know mp3 would be difficult even on a 486DX4-100, and same thing with streaming where I don't think any 144p resolutions would work in any way even on the 486. Security I don't know about risks of dos on a tpc/ip stack connected to a lan/web?

With a 486, forget about any video streaming full stop

Music streaming will be hard.

And graphical web pages will be impossible on 16MB of RAM.

You're only going to be able to use offline utilities, so your experience will end up like your regular computer without any internet on it.

But if you want to go REALLY serious, use a no thrills cellphone too, and no tablets for a week. Live history, my friend.

Ampera wrote:

With a 486, forget about any video streaming full stop […]
Show full quote

With a 486, forget about any video streaming full stop

Music streaming will be hard.

And graphical web pages will be impossible on 16MB of RAM.

You're only going to be able to use offline utilities, so your experience will end up like your regular computer without any internet on it.

But if you want to go REALLY serious, use a no thrills cellphone too, and no tablets for a week. Live history, my friend.

No smartphones or tablet here already. If I had them there'd not be enough reasons to use a pc or I would be tired to use it.

386SX wrote:

a 1960 car would still run (and often they do)"

Well, you certainly can use a 1960 car as your "main car".

So I could use an office application with very limited functions as long the file will still be readable today by any os.

Word 6 wasn't "very limited". Don't know if its files are still readable on modern versions.

Music I know mp3 would be difficult even on a 486DX4-100

I remember I could play mp3s at 44 kHz mono or 22 kHz stereo (you could set that in Winamp).
But 44 kHz stereo was too much.

Azarien wrote:

Well, you certainly can use a 1960 car as your "main car". […]
Show full quote

386SX wrote:

a 1960 car would still run (and often they do)"

Well, you certainly can use a 1960 car as your "main car".

So I could use an office application with very limited functions as long the file will still be readable today by any os.

Word 6 wasn't "very limited". Don't know if its files are still readable on modern versions.

Music I know mp3 would be difficult even on a 486DX4-100

I remember I could play mp3s at 44 kHz mono or 22 kHz stereo (you could set that in Winamp).
But 44 kHz stereo was too much.

For the car it will be a future step I'll try it when I'll change it. Probably I'll go for a 1980 one a bit more secure on chassis,tires etc... 😀 Also they are usually cheaper.

For the mp3 I remember something similar too, 44Khz stereo was too much.