[Info-vax] Dave Cutler, Prism, DEC, Microsoft, etc.

[Bob Eager]

On Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:08:48 -0500, Richard B. Gilbert wrote:

> I think 1984 might be the key year!  That was when, IIRC, IBM started
> pushing out the PC/XT to educational institutions.  The DEC Rainbow 100
> came along a year or so after the PC/XT and the race was on.  Somebody
> did a "clean" rewrite of the IBM BIOS code by having Team A analyze the
> code and produce a specification for a BIOS; e.g. what it did but not
> how.  Team B used the specification to write the clean BIOS.

Are you talking about the Rainbow? Because the Rainbow BIOS wasn't 
anywhere near IBM compatible...the interface definition was substantially 
different. (I once actually had the Rainbow BIOS manual, and was amazed 
just how different it was).

But the Rainbow was neat - running CP/M-80 and CP/M-86 programs as well!



-- 
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
 http://www.mirrorservice.org