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Q-Link memories..

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First post, by Jo22

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Hi everyone.

Just recently, while browsing the web
I found old links to websites dedicated to Q-Link,
a forerunner to what later became AOL.
(The others were Promenade, PC Link, Apple Link etc. America Online was original intended for Macs.)

Interestingly, the C64/C128 PCs it was made for, ran GEOS.
- PC GEOS later also was used as basis/runtime for the AOL application on DOS PCs (AOL 1.6).

https://web.archive.org/web/20080211222159/ht … nk/pictures.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20080828030024/ht … ink-history.htm

https://web.archive.org/web/20090217195519/ht … creenshots.html

https://web.archive.org/web/20090219004306/ht … ber_q-link.html

Anyway, here are some links.
Feel free to comment!

Happy reading! 🙂

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 1 of 6, by Jo22

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Found some visuals..

Both Quantum Link and America Online used a form of GEOS..

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"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 2 of 6, by Jo22

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Here's a real, half an hour recording of Q-Link from '89! 😃

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SHo3qjpDsm4

Edit : It's not by me, of course. I was waaay too young back then. 😉

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 3 of 6, by Jo22

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Also interesting.. Re-creation of those networks.. May work with the old client software somewhen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODq_Zo8lPRI

https://www.vice.com/en/article/93aby3/re-aol … ation-of-aol-30

Edit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2 … eature=emb_logo

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 4 of 6, by Jo22

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This one is also interesting.. The client software for "Promenade", another AOL/Q-Link *predecessor.
Promenade was for IBM PS/1 computers.

And its running on.. Yes, an ancient Beta of PC GEOS 1.0 with a Windows 2.x theme! 😎

Source: https://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.p … =377875#p377875

*In essence, it was like that:
The different networks were aimed to suit the different machines best.

PC-Link (for PC's and/or Tandy 1000s with Deskmate)
AppleLink (for Apple IIs and similar)
QuantumLink (for Commodore 64's and 128's); PlayNet was a predecessor
Promenade (for IBM PS/1's)
.. and AOL for Apple Macintoshs (originally)?

Edit: More information..
https://www.geos-infobase.de/WBB_317/index.ph … ead&postID=4253

Edit: http://www.geocities.ws/originalravinray/geos … html#GWE%202.01

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Last edited by Jo22 on 2022-11-03, 06:07. Edited 1 time in total.

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 5 of 6, by Jo22

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Here's a video of PC GEOS with the Windows 2.03 theme! Yay! 😃

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USBD0iJ38DA

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

Reply 6 of 6, by Jo22

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Quick update. Here's an article about the AOL dial-up protocol (P3, AOL3)..

https://osmocom.org/projects/retronetworking/wiki/AOL

"Time, it seems, doesn't flow. For some it's fast, for some it's slow.
In what to one race is no time at all, another race can rise and fall..." - The Minstrel

//My video channel//

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