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1500 questions
71
votes
3 answers
Why was the return key symbol ↵ drawn differently from the motion of a CR-LF?
In the operating system (DOS) of IBM PCs, newlines were represented by a carriage return (CR) character, followed by a line feed (LF) character. The motion of a printer or teletype receiving such a combination would be first to move to the left,…
DrSheldon
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69
votes
3 answers
What character is the MS-DOS cursor?
The cursor used on my 486 (and Pentium 3) in MS-DOS 6/7 has a thick underlined character. I cannot find that in code page 437. The underscore character is the closest to it, but is thinner.
Where does this cursor character come from? Or did I miss…
Thraka
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68
votes
12 answers
Did Apple not originally allow anyone to develop software for the Macintosh?
This probably nearly belongs on Skeptics.SE but here goes.
Within the last few years I've become an Apple convert for the most part, which occasionally brings me into (usually) good natured conflict with a good friend at work who hates Apple (and…
Tom Kidd
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68
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7 answers
Where did the popularity of the `i` variable come from?
I have heard that the reason the i variable is used so much is because there was an old computer where each variable could only be a single letter and that reserved the variables a through h as internal variables, leaving i as the first one…
CJ Dennis
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67
votes
1 answer
What's the story behind the name "X11"?
To this day on Linux configs and startup scripts for the GUI system are stored in /etc/X11. I remember this name appearing alone, or alongside others - XFree86, X.org, X - for as long as I had contact with UNIX/Linux systems. I'd guess '11' is some…
SF.
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66
votes
10 answers
How was C ported to architectures that had no hardware stack?
Thinking about machines such as the PDP-7, PDP-10, CDC-160 and so on1, these are machines which do not have a stack pointer which can quickly and easily change to point to a new stack frame, like the x86 or ARM machines we have today.
The C standard…
Omar and Lorraine
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66
votes
10 answers
When was the term ‘directory’ replaced by ‘folder’?
I started using computers with MS-DOS and as far as I can remember the data structure holding files was called a directory (it held other directories as well), DIR is still used to list the content of such structure. When I transitioned to Windows…
user10191234
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66
votes
1 answer
How do I extract the program from the Radiohead "Nude" tribute by James Houston?
One of my favorite videos ever is a tribute to Radiohead "Nude" by James Houston. I have never seen the program in the video available to download, so I've just made an attempt to extract it myself. Here are the steps I tried:
Grabbed the audio…
terrorrussia-keeps-killing
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65
votes
13 answers
Were later MS-DOS versions still implemented in x86 assembly?
Recently, Microsoft published the source code of old MS-DOS versions on GitHub.
What is odd in my opinion is the use of x86 assembly language for everything. The assembly language would not be my first choice for implementing an operating system. At…
juhist
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65
votes
2 answers
What are the software logos in MORICONS.DLL?
Every copy of Windows comes with a file named MORICONS.DLL which was first distributed with Windows 3.0. As far as I know, this file has not been changed since Windows 3.0. Some of the icons include:
Borland C++
Kid Pix
Quicken
All the Lotus…
Avery
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65
votes
14 answers
Why did some early CPUs use external math chips?
While enjoying the response to "Why did CPU designers in the 70s prioritize reducing pin count?" In 1979 IEEE was hard at work at coming up with a standard for handling floating point numbers, and math functions that dealt with them. I remember…
jwzumwalt
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65
votes
5 answers
Back in 1984 I wrote some games for Spectrum - Will they still be playable?
Back in 1984, I was commissioned to write some games for ZX-Spectrum. They were sold together. To my amazement I found that someone is selling a copy online.
I thought of buying it but it is in the original cassette format. Given that I don't have…
chasly - supports Monica
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64
votes
10 answers
How was copying prevented when the first CD-ROM games were introduced?
Several ways exist to protect against the copying of games but, when CD-ROM games were first introduced, were there any measures taken by video game developers to prevent the copying of games?
user11265
64
votes
2 answers
Why are a lot of monochrome computer monitors green?
In my perception, the most common color for monochrome computer monitors is green or white/grey, though I have seen orange monitors.
Is this genuinely the case, and if so, is there a reason for it?
dwjohnston
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64
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1 answer
How did the SNES do the “pixelate” transition effect?
This effect is seen in many SNES games, including Super Mario World. The effect pixelates the screen, and makes the pixels larger, then smaller again when it switches to another scene.
It is done so often in many SNES games, and in such a similar…
Chewie The Chorkie
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