orangecomputer

7 ms·

1.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Thank god it's not just me! I feel I went about my days the same way you did. I didn't "Get on the 486DX2", I got on "the computer". I've had so many questions about my story with people saying "I cal
2.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I'm hearing people recommend I try Python quite a bit. I may very well give it a try. I'm not sure why other than a school friend recommending it, but whenever I think "programming", I always think of C files and CPP fil
3.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I guess it was for two reasons. Looong post ahead but it describes in a fair amount of detail why I eventually was turned off of C programming, and it was not necessarily the language itself. 1) I opted to try and self-teach using tutorials
4.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I've finally stumbled upon your post, after reading through all the comments this has gotten. They definitely don't build 'em like they used to! The Pentium 1 133mhz system I used for a while after leaving is still in top not
5.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
As the original author of the Imgur post, I agree with this. Reading about people who have written PHP code on entry-level mobiles in 2005, or other Australians who tapped away on 15 year old systems at their school definitely has put me a
6.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Indeed after hearing about Windows 2000, I'm under the belief that it wasn't the OS at fault, but rather the horridly outdated and poorly maintained systems that the school was running it on. They never saw a defrag in their life,
7.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I'm certainly reading! And with great interest at that, it's very interesting hearing of the other Australians who were in similar situations. I find it interesting too how a lot of those from America and other countries are quick
8.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Thanks for your comments. Technically, the naysayers haven't bothered me too much, but a lot of people seem irked (and rightfully) that it was initially mistermed as an Operating System when in fact a simple shell of sorts. I have amen
9.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
That's a very very logical perspective of it, considering it from both sides. A lot of times, my parents (mother and stepfather) played it off as "he needs to be disciplined etc", although they omitted certain truths when it
10.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
The teachers noticed, and they tried to help at first, but this only resulted in aggressive confrontations with my stepfather. They then wanted absolutely nothing to do with either himself or me. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au&
11.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I wrote it up as best as I could in the imgur description, but I'll see if I can summarize it here. Basically, I was without any modern resources for quite some time. I had a 486, QBASIC and EDIT.com to play with; the rest of the DOS e
12.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Now that would've been more interesting. I never got to experiment with printing or connecting anything to my own system, but it would've been fun to make something like what you've described. Indeed C was a bit intimidating
13.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I had access to two programming books; Basic BASIC and Advanced BASIC by James S Coan which I loaned out (and frequently over-loaned) from my high school library. I searched intensely during lunch periods at the library for other books on a
14.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I haven't seen the movie, but I have read once that he used to sleep to orange lights as he believed humans would sleep better to it after being accustomed to sleeping by the light of a fire for many many years. I'll have to look
15.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I guess I've answered the threads question in a sense. Though I wish I'd at least had a basic copy of Windows XP, and a good C++ compiler + some reference books.
16.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
It's very hard to say. Right before leaving for the country, circa 1997-1998, my best friend was trying to get me into C++, as he was a games dev / games fanatic like I was. I had always wanted to get my hands into C++ and start w
17.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Completely understandable; My modern system has suffered enough hard disk failures to put it in the 2 digit range, and I've gone through around 7 graphics cards. Likely the result of having a computer that is constantly exposed to extr
18.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Yep, so far it's just for QBASIC. I can't see much point in resurrecting it or attempting to port it, but if I ever get into C#/C++/another modern language, I will likely focus on writing new and more interesting apps.
19.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I really wish that I had Linux around that time. It's always piqued my curiosity but I fear I wouldn't be able to think of a practical purpose for it (however that probably also stems from a lack of knowledge about Linux itself an
20.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I'd love to write a larger and more in depth recount of it, and release it alongside the codes someday. I would more than likely release it for free, or if it ever got published, donate a lot of the proceeds to a domestic violence char
21.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Indeed, I've re-worked the title to include quotes around the "OS" parts as everyone who states that it is a shell is actually correct. I should've termed it better. Indeed having no inspiration or having a lot of boredo
22.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Sadly not as far as I know. As proven with the recent attack in Sydney (the guy had been walking free with 40 charges against him), my stepfather was in the precise same position. Multiple charges but walking free because the justice system
23.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
That's a very good question. I can't actually remember any particular inspiration for using 1995 as a start date, but it was probably just a random year to give it an "Authentic" look as if it had been some old shell sys
24.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
My experience level with computers was minimal; I had basic knowledge of running games from the DOS prompt or a particular type of DOS Shell that my dad had set up on our home computer. Other than that, I had no knowledge. I didn't kno
25.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I've amended the original imgur post to reflect this. You're 100% correct, it's not an actual OS. but rather a primitive GUI of sorts that is an imitation/representation of what I perceive to be an 80s OS.
26.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Yep, it's more or less a shell. I probably should've clarified it a bit better in the imgur description. It's basically a dos shell representitive of my rendition of a "late 1980s OS".
27.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
I know it had 640k extended memory via the startup memory check. I don't know how much processing power nor memory it had. I had never owned a computer, and my dad left it behind for me after the divorce so I had something to use. I ha
28.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Exactly what happened to me in 2006 when I left the country. I wanted to catch up on everything; I had Deus Ex, the Quake series, DOOM etc to get through. Now if I try and code something, there are too many distractions, yet when you'r
29.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
Today I still have a working Pentium 1 with hard disks in full operating order. As for the 486, I brought it down to my dads when I moved, and switched to using his much more modern system. It did eventually "die" in 2007-2008. M
30.
by orangecomputer 12y ago
OP here; Technically, I had already played them to death over the 1990s. Dad used to bring home multiple shareware games: Xargon, Jill of the Jungle, Wacky Wheels, Skunny Kart, you name it. I played them until I became tired of them, althou

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