My hardware doesn't go back that far. The old machine is an AlthonXP 2000+, which is pretty modern by most of your standards even though its actually starting to get on a bit. I run Win2K and Win98 on it. I use Win2K as a file server platform for my main Win7 machine (PhenomII quad core based) where I can keep old stuff and back up the essential stuff. Win98 is there really only for one game, Jeff Waynes War of the Words. I am lucky enough to have bought it when it was new so I get to play it with the proper CD sound track (music), something that can't be done if I try and play it in a virtual machine or use a cracked copy of the software under a more recent version of Windows. For everything else I use virtual machines running under VirtualBox or I use Dosbox. In terms of operating systems I do go back a little. On my Win7 PC I've got XPMode running (not a patch on the real thing but OK for specific tasks) and then under VirtualBox I've got Win2K, Win98, Win95 and Dos 6.22 with Win 3.1 for workgroups and Win286. I don't do much with them, but now and again its nice to just run up Win286 for a quick game of Reversi or Taipeii, or even just to look at the old MSDos Executive interface and marvel at how simple it is and how little file managers in all operating systems have changed.

Well, they are going to have to pry Windows 98 from my cold dead hands.

Seems to me like the bloat in everything after is just ridiculous - you need a quad core machine and 4 gigs of ram to do the same things you could do on a 486 running Windows 3.1 ten years ago (OK I know that's an exaggeration but you get the idea)

Socket 5/7 and one 486 that needs upgrades but beyond that I prefer socket a and 370. Don't like slot 1 all that much but got some good slot kits ect. Need to hunt down some docs for my epox slot kit.

IMHO.....

Socket 7 had a premature death - the latter chipsets were crippled (like TX only able to cache 64 MB of ram) because Intel wanted to move people to p2. Also, Intel could easily have produced faster chips than 233, but again they wanted to move people to p2.

233 - barely adequate for win95/win98
I have a 233 I eventually downgraded to a DOS box

Yes AMD carried socket 7 on for a while, but k6-2 was a weak chip

Socket 370 had a long life and systems are still usable today

ncmark wrote:

IMHO..... […]
Show full quote

IMHO.....

Socket 7 had a premature death - the latter chipsets were crippled (like TX only able to cache 64 MB of ram) because Intel wanted to move people to p2. Also, Intel could easily have produced faster chips than 233, but again they wanted to move people to p2.

233 - barely adequate for win95/win98
I have a 233 I eventually downgraded to a DOS box

Yes AMD carried socket 7 on for a while, but k6-2 was a weak chip

Socket 370 had a long life and systems are still usable today

The only reason you bought a Super 7 system back in the day was because you couldn't afford Intel. If you're building a retro system now, you're better off going with the Intel system because of the bugginess of the Super 7 motherboards and Intel's FPU advantage for gaming. Price differences for parts are minimal to non-existent so better to build the most problem free system and that is usually going to mean a 440BX.

Good point ... BX and P2/P3 were very expensive.....