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oblivion:
Actually, I did mean the Internet in that I was referring to Fido's behavior as a 'network of networks' communicating under a commonly shared protocol; as opposed to 'the web', which I always took (perhaps erroneously) to refer to the global collection of linked hypertext documents accessible via the Internet. :)-40hz (August 05, 2011, 03:28 AM)
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No, in that sense you're quite right. Although Fido was -- AIUI -- modelled on the internet as it then was, and therefore couldn't have predated it.
Because that meant they missed out on all the aggravation (even if they also missed out on all the "fun") of running a Fidonet node. Onward! :Thmbsup: )
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Hah. It WAS fun. Even when it wasn't, the choice to NOT do it always existed, so it MUST have been fun.
I still sometimes miss 2:25/108. You can tell, can't you? :-[
mahesh2k:
Fruityloops - made it easier for any small guy using computer to produce music. Many production level tunes are made with this software today. Same goes to reason, rebirth and Acid.
Virtual Dimension- lets you keep any wallpaper and apps running on multiple desktop and you can switch between desktops. Just in case ya know..NSFW stuff.
Winamp (no seriously), SQlite and Autohotkey.
daddydave:
Fabrice Bellard's freeware LZEXE, circa 1989 - the first program I ever saw that could convert .EXE files to smaller .EXE files which unpacked in memory before running the same as before. End users were running this on programs even if the developer had not. Imagine how many apps (yes, that word was around in the DOS days) you could fit on a 720KB diskette! The UPX of its day, and possibly the first one. More about Fabrice Bellard on Wikipedia
Vern Buerg's LIST - a DOS file viewer of around the same era, I think. No more type filename.ext|more! The program also came with a command line tool FV.EXE to see the contents of archive files. Very handy! Oddly, he doesn't have a Wikipedia page. (Sadly, Vern Buerg passed away in 2009.)
More as I think of them.
daddydave:
Alpha Four (smooth as silk DOS relational database with prompts that made sense)
PC Tools (great disk repair utility, one version of it even included a flat file database program)
DR DOS 5 and 6, and Novell DOS 7 (Introduced new features like disk compression, caching, and virtual drives that forced Microsoft to do the same with MS-DOS) Plus its version of fdisk did not require a subsequent format. Magic!
Turbo Pascal (version 2 or 3?) provided to me on a 5.25" diskette. A compiler that produced real executables and came with a built-in IDE that made writing compiled code as easy as writing interpreted code.
There was a full screen freeware text editor called "e" that loaded lightning fast because it was compiled to a .COM file, which back then that meant it was non-relocatable by the OS and therefore had less overhead. Your assignment now is to find a web search engine that will let you search for "e".
40hz:
Also add Borland's Sidekick - the sui generis app that launched the DOS "TSR revolution" (with all the problems going down that road ultimately caused :nono2:) before we had personal systems capable of having more than one thing loaded at a time - because DOS (despite the name) was more a "command processor" rather than what we today consider to be an operating system.
Sidekick was a genuinely useful little productivity app collection. I found myself using it constantly.
And the NANSI.SYS and NNANSI.COM enhanced console drivers for DOS! These little beasties boosted screen performance and provided additional features when using EGA/VGA monitors. If you were a heavy spreadsheet user, this was an absolute must have for the improvement in scrolling speed alone. The 50 line display option was also a gift from heaven. Either of these puppies was one of the first things every "power user" worthy of the name loaded onto his or her machine.
8)
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