Reply 80 of 192, by Jo22
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- l33t++
^Actually, I for one do use both the real thing and emulation/virtualizaton. They are no opposites to me.
I do have an XT compatible, some 286 systems, 386/486 spare parts (Hercules cards, early ISA VGAs, SB16s, PAS16, SB2s, a DB50XG, MT-32), a Pentium 133 and so on..
However, despite the real hardware, DOSBox is nice to have still.
I often use it on a modern PC or an Android device, so I can write programs in QB4.5 in a comfortable way.
Most of the "real stuff" is waiting to be assembled for testing purposes.
I saved a lot of it from flea markets, eBay and so on. Some of it needed repair and is now fixed.
My intention was/is to keep that stuff around so it can be used for comparison with emulators at some point.
That way, I hope, I can do some tests for authors of said emulators in the future, if needed.
That's also the reason why I do have a small S3 card collection (Trios and ViRGEs), by the way.
Trio32/64 and Trio64v+ were emulated by DOSBox and Virtual PC 200x due to their excellent compatibility and documentation.
So saving/collecting their BIOSes alone is a worthwhile project (some have VBE 2.x, for example). 😀
Edit: I originally used to run DOSBox at 2500 to 5000 fixed cycles in the mid 2000s, due to the performace limits of the time.
That's about the speed of a medium fast 286 PC, which is fine for WIndows 3.1 (if GDI was accelerated by the emulated S3 chip) and early VGA titles.
Of course, emulating a 486DX2-66 or a Pentium, speed wise, was out of question back then.
Unless some heavily overclocked Pentium IV cooled by liquid hydrogen was used at the time. 😉
"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
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