Re: 64 or 32 bit Win 7

["Kari Eveli" lexitec@xxxxxxxx]

>Why are we talking about this? I've forgotten. For me, DOS is
a Microsoft/PC product, XyWrite was developed for DOS, and that
makes 64-bit backward compatibility a Windows issue,
overwhelmingly. The Subject line says it all. Linux use of
XyWrite strikes me as a niche issue, Mac use probably has more
traction but still in a niche.

What Xy for DOS needs is some kind of portable DOS environment. Virtual PC is a Microsoft-supported
product that comes with Win 7. There are different flavors and support for Windows 2000 onwards.
Many of us are still using 32-bit XP, but a DOS virtual machine prepared today is ready for use in a
64-bit environment. Virtual PC works like a browser for virtual hard disks and 16-bit EXEs. While
support for DOS has been phased out, you can still install Virtual PC 2004 DOS Additions under
Virtual PC 2007. The ubiquity and portability of this solution makes it a strong contender. Setting
it up is a bit tricky, but if you know how to install a DOS computer with Win 3.11 with oddball
hardware (virtual device drivers), you can manage it.

Other free virtualization solutions include http://www.virtualbox.org/, but DOS is poorly supported. "Presently, VirtualBox runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris hosts and supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows 7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris and OpenSolaris, and OpenBSD. "

And then there are Parallels and VMware, which are important on Intel-based Macs.

Best regards,

Kari Eveli
LEXITEC Book Publishing (Finland)
lexitec@xxxxxxxx

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