myne wrote on 2024-05-22, 03:29:Yes.
Think of everything in computing as a mostly interchangeable module on a continuum. […]
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ElectroSoldier wrote on 2024-05-19, 22:57:
Back in 2000 were there actually many users who wanted, cared about or even know what native DOS mode was?
Yes.
Think of everything in computing as a mostly interchangeable module on a continuum.
So you get a new pc with a new OS.
Do you suddenly stop wanting your existing games/software?
No. The proof is right there in the link in my sig.
At least a couple hundred people want a game from 1995 to work today. (There have been a few versions so the download doesn't show them all.)
Before that installer, most people used dosbox, emulation with an old Windows, or real hardware.
Business's don't just throw out old software either.
There are still critical systems running ancient software.
So yes, many of us still had an interest in dos back then. Many of us dual booted. Many preferred 98 because it still had dos.
MEs popularity has risen more recently because WDM drivers were released later than VXDs meaning that ME can run on hardware 98 won't. It also got various enthusiast patches restoring the bridge to dos.
So a patched up ME is the broadest hardware and software compatible retro platform as of today.
It bridges the early 80s software to mid-late 00s hardware.
Anything past that point any modern pc can do.
So far.
It's possible that one Intel goes pure x64, AMD follows, and Microsoft eventually kills x32 compatibility in the same way x16 has been.
It's possible your current hardware and w10/11 are eventually perceived as the best hardware/software bridge for the late x32 era.
Youre making several key ass umptions there.
You dont suddenly stop wanting your old software but that ass umes the person already has a computer.
Dont forget Windows 95, was only 4 years old at the point ME was released. Computers might go out of date quickly but earning money takes time 😉
People wanting to play an old game now is absolutely no indication of what people were doing back then.
Do you really think all those people who download a game installer now are reliving their past? Or do you think maybe there are a lot of new users in there too?
Business use.
They didnt throw out old software, many of them didnt throw out the old hardware that was running the software.
I know beyond a single doubt that many businesses who used Inital CityLink courier service used Windows 98 computers well into the 2000s because the booking software told the business Win98 was the best OS to use, and they had named printers etc etc.
If you needed DOS then use DOS. Businesses dont care if you can or cant quick switch into your games.
Youre trying to conflate two different use cases into the same argument.
Windows ME wasnt popular for many reasons, mostly because it was seen as a "limited edition" for the millennium, there was a lot of that about believe it or not, it wasnt just M$ who cashed in on it.
If you werent looking to buy a PC in those few months it was on sale then that was the end of Windows ME for you. And yes it was months not years it was on sale because it was a limited edition.
ME was seen as the first step into the new age of computers, leaving behind the old way of computers and looking to the future. Real MS DOS support is something we are interested in talking about nearly a quarter of a century later.
ME was released late 2000, XP was released late 2001...
Microsoft already knew where it was heading, the computing community who knew knew where they were heading because we were all talking about it.
ME wasnt popular because it wasnt supposed to be.