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>
>> >process of putting the latest PCDOS 6.3 and various utilities from the IBM
>>
>> Is there any advantage to pcdos? I took it off in favor of msdos,
>> for two pretty superficial reasons, it was 9 meg, and that damned editor
>> drove me nuts!
>
> To me, the question is not whether there is an advantage to PC-DOS,
>but rather, "Is there any advantage to MS-DOS?" The answer to me at least,
>is NO (except for the editor). I cannot imagine why anyone would voluntarily
>beef up Microsoft coffers just to install essentially duplicate software onto
>their thinkpad. If you like the MS-DOS editor, copy that file and the QBasic
>file and be done with it. There is no reason in the world to dump PC-DOS
>for the MS version--its just plain silly.
>
I don't think so....
At the time I got my thinkpad and thus PC-DOS, PC-DOS did
not include any disk compression software (doublespace, stacker, superstor,
whatever it was supposed to be). Instead, there was a coupon inside
the PC-DOS box saying "send in this coupon, and IBM will send you the
compression software for free".
Well, I sent in the coupon. Then 2 days later I called IBM and
asked if there was any other faster way to get the compression software;
they said no, you must mail the coupon and wait. At that point I
installed MS-DOS, largely at the time to get DoubleSpace (although,
ironically, i have not used so far on my thinkpad...!).
It has now been almost 4 months since I sent in the coupon.
No compression software.
Score one for MS-DOS over PC-DOS.
-Todd
p.s. as an alternative altogether to things like Stacker/Doublespace,
folks may want to consider Infinite Disk from Chili Pepper Software....
It can automatically compress unused files ("unused" = not accessed
for a specified number of days), or it can compress and move the
files off of disk onto floppy, a different disk, Bernoulli, Syquest,
magneto optical, network drive, etc. However, even moved files still
appear in your directory. When you access a file which has moved,
a dialog box comes up asking you to insert the specific floppy, syquest,
etc., that has the file, and it is automatically copied back.
Great stuff, & nice on the thinkpad with the 2.88 meg floppy &
compression, Infinite Disk can get almost 6 meg per floppy! This
software also makes purchasing a Bernoulli or Magneto-Optical much
more attractive (p.s. i do not work for them, just have their software)
What is the downside? 31K TSR. (doublespace TSR is similar, though)
DOS & Windows only, for now.... Lot cheaper than buying a new 500 meg
thinkpad disk from ibm.