OSes (was: Does 'load .spl' have a mind of its own?)

[Peter Evans peter@xxxxxxxx]

Michael Norman:

> If XP is built around NT code (no DOS), will we be
> able to install and use XyDos on a DOS-like screen?

Apparently XP is based on NT5, aka Windows 2000. (I rather get the
impression that it is to Win2000 what ME is to 98: a replacement with more
gimmickry, "user-friendliness", and bloat.) For Windows 2000 (and other
Windozes), the shareware program Take Command provides a better DOS than
DOS. This quasi-DOS-within-NT5 runs every DOS program I've thrown at it,
though these haven't yet included Xy4DOS (sorry, Wolfgang). Take Command
is not your only option, either. This does not mean that NT5 runs every
program that runs under Win98; exceptions include various utilities (no
surprise there) and also a strange ragbag that includes WordPerfect for
Windows up to version 7-point-something.

Jordan Fox:

> Not sure whether NT-4 retained (at least some of) the DOS core

It doesn't.

> I've heard it said that WIN-2K is essentially NT-4 at "Service
> Pack 7" . . . with some enhancements, plus. . . .

Not true. (Anyone interested can Google for exhaustive and exhausting
detail; ditto for the issues in the rest of this message.)

Ed Cray:

> Could one create a workaround, that is, by partitioning the
> hard drive into an XP area, and a DOS area?

Even Microsoft hasn't succeeded in preventing people from installing any
two OSes on a single Wintel. (NB this doesn't mean that any new Wintel
will run any OS designed for an older Wintel.)

Jordan Fox on a system that already has four OSes loaded:

> Given sufficient hard disk real estate -- which usually isn't
> much of an issue these days -- one could easily add Linux or
> other WINs to that mix.

It's not quite that simple. For example, it's my understanding that most
Linux distros are happiest when they have three partitions to themselves.
And NB that's partitions, not just logical drives. Well, a single drive
is limited to a maximum of four partitions. There are ways to install
various elaborate combinations of operating systems, but you may find
that you need a second physical hard drive (no matter how gargantuan the
first one may be) or careful thought or both.

Incidentally, Casio is selling a tiny (A5-format) Crusoe-powered notebook
with both Windows ME and a rudimentary Linux installed (or, if you
prefer, "preinstalled"), selected via a switch simply labeled "A" and
"B".
Casio is careful not to refer to it as Linux, and demo models (in Japan,
anyway) lack it altogether.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Peter Evans peter@xxxxxxxx