Re: NB 8 (Trial version)

["Robert Holmgren" holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to message from "Patricia M. Godfrey"  on Wed, 12
Apr 2006 15:22:51 -0400


> I strongly suspect Vista will not let us run Xy for
> DOS

Can you cite an authority for that? No, it won't run on 64 bit machines -- not
because it couldn't (with virtual CPU similar to NTVDM), but because M$ just
won't implement it (VMWare and VirtualPC manage to do it). DOS programs *do*
run on 32-bit Vista. *M$ Project Managers* have said so (e.g. "Some of you may
remember that at the PDC in 2003 one of the first 'Longhorn' demos we did was
of a twenty-year old DOS application (Visicalc, if memory serves correctly), so
it should be clear that maintaining compatibility is important to us.") It is
just about inconceivable, given the huge recent push toward virtual machines
(whole virtual operating systems and computers that you can "pause"
mid-process, move to another machine, and let them continue), that DOS cannot
be maintained. If M$ won't do it, somebody else will.

Moreover, if XyWrite didn't work, neither would NB: both are 16-bit programs.

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Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
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