Win 11 was the curse of locusts and raining frogs on my desktop PC. It has been wonky since I installed it. I would trade my most valued possessions for an old working PC with XP.
I still remember the stories of people making sure that their boot floppy didn't get misplaced, so they stuck it to the side of the metal filing cabinet...with a MAGNET! :^D
Got me thinking. And then I went into a box in the back closet. Found an 8 inch floppy disc. And a MAG-CARD (which pre-dates the floppy discs). Same little box had a Timex-Sinclair 1000. (1K ROM, 2K RAM - stores on cassette tape. Used television screen on UHF to display). The sucker still boots up. I'm old. And wearing out.
There's guys with youtube channels out there who would be more than happy to take all of that stuff off of your hands, restore it, and save it for posterity.
I got rid of all of my 5 and a quarter disks a while ago. But I still got three and a halfs! I've still got drives for them as well (just in case) though they're in storage, not in any machines.
The annoying part is how many machines don't have CD/DVD/BlueRay drives in them anymore!
Yesterday, I was reading about FreeDOS, an open source operating system for 286 PCs.
I discovered that OS when studying about open source OSs that were, or weren't, going to age-identification in the OS, which was apparently some new stupidity embraced by Europe and California.
They don't want you to worry about ID to vote, but you'll need ID to use your own computer? 🤨
I remember back when I was playing the part of Principal for the Navy CTM"A" and EW"A" Schools. My Chiefs were eager to teach me Win 86, 87 or whatever. I held up my cross, splashed them with Holy Water and rebuked them with Bible verses. What need had I of computers when I had a personal YN2 or CTA3 clerk/typist? Much later, circa 2002-3, after I got hired as a County Inspector (road building and asphalt paving) I was sent to a 1 day "How-To" computer class and was told to sink or swim. I swam but it was a struggle. Refuse modernity at your peril unless you have a decent pension and your mortgage is paid off. Even so, I can't scan a QR code or print one; can't send or receive a text; have no connectivity except a landline and email. That make a lot of the 2026 world dead to me.
The whole win11 thing has me yearning for the dark side.
Win 11 was the curse of locusts and raining frogs on my desktop PC. It has been wonky since I installed it. I would trade my most valued possessions for an old working PC with XP.
I still remember the stories of people making sure that their boot floppy didn't get misplaced, so they stuck it to the side of the metal filing cabinet...with a MAGNET! :^D
Or the tales of staffers stapling the disk to the printouts. 🤦♂️
Seen it - thankfully they did the corner, so it didn't go through the media and we saved it.
At least if they stapled it once, and on a corner, there was a chance (albeit slim) it could still be used.
Seen it.
That worked well, didn't it?
Well, the Technically didn't 'Lose" the disk, so that's something. :^)
I have an unopened box of 3.5" floppies that I have no use for, but can't bear to get rid of.
Got me thinking. And then I went into a box in the back closet. Found an 8 inch floppy disc. And a MAG-CARD (which pre-dates the floppy discs). Same little box had a Timex-Sinclair 1000. (1K ROM, 2K RAM - stores on cassette tape. Used television screen on UHF to display). The sucker still boots up. I'm old. And wearing out.
There's guys with youtube channels out there who would be more than happy to take all of that stuff off of your hands, restore it, and save it for posterity.
Still have a cable box from the 80s that has a sliding switch for 20-something channels. Hanging onto it for a back-up.
"Do not cite the deep magic to me, Witch. I was there when it was written."
―Aslan to the White Witch 😉
I got rid of all of my 5 and a quarter disks a while ago. But I still got three and a halfs! I've still got drives for them as well (just in case) though they're in storage, not in any machines.
The annoying part is how many machines don't have CD/DVD/BlueRay drives in them anymore!
Somewhere, in the confines of the adobe, are some of these. A bunch of the plastic cased 3.5" versions are in known locations....
Yesterday, I was reading about FreeDOS, an open source operating system for 286 PCs.
I discovered that OS when studying about open source OSs that were, or weren't, going to age-identification in the OS, which was apparently some new stupidity embraced by Europe and California.
They don't want you to worry about ID to vote, but you'll need ID to use your own computer? 🤨
My all time ‘favorite’ DOS was Digital Research’s DR-DOS out of Santa Cruz. MUCH more user friendly than Gates’ crap.
That was the first version of DOS I ever bought. Very solid OS.
I remember back when I was playing the part of Principal for the Navy CTM"A" and EW"A" Schools. My Chiefs were eager to teach me Win 86, 87 or whatever. I held up my cross, splashed them with Holy Water and rebuked them with Bible verses. What need had I of computers when I had a personal YN2 or CTA3 clerk/typist? Much later, circa 2002-3, after I got hired as a County Inspector (road building and asphalt paving) I was sent to a 1 day "How-To" computer class and was told to sink or swim. I swam but it was a struggle. Refuse modernity at your peril unless you have a decent pension and your mortgage is paid off. Even so, I can't scan a QR code or print one; can't send or receive a text; have no connectivity except a landline and email. That make a lot of the 2026 world dead to me.