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

[Richard B. Gilbert]

Bob Eager wrote:
> 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).

No I was talking about PC clones.  The Rainbow 100 was not, strictly 
speaking, a PC clone.

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