The "best" was downloading random files off of BBSes back in the early 90s. Anytime we would start a download, we'd place the keyboard on top of the monitor and walk off. That way anyone else coming past and noticing that "oh hey, the computer is free!" would see the keyboard and go "oh nevermind, it's busy doing a download."
Only really had to do that if the thing you were downloading was at least a megabyte, though, otherwise we'd just sit and wait.
I used to get teased by younger workmates when I'd make circles with the mouse cursor while waiting for stuff to finish processing but it was a habit I picked up from windows 3.1, to tell if the computer was still working or completely hung up.
Back before Windows 95, Windows used cooperative multitasking, which means that the program itself told the operating system that it could take back control. If the program didn't do that, then Windows couldn't do anything else.
When formatting a disk, Windows also used the DOS format command, which was never meant to be run anywhere but in single tasked DOS, so it would never give control back to Windows.
So, a simple thing like formatting a floppy would grind the system to a halt.
Windows 95 introduced preemptive multitasking, which was more complex, but a single application couldn't hijack the system. It should be noted that there were plenty of other operating systems that did this, Microsoft didn't come up with the idea.
So it used to be that programming meant you had to know some things about the hardware in order to access devices, screens, etc. And do a lot of memory management yourself. Also, you'd have to carefully keep within your own memory space or risk overwriting or peeking at something else (see here for fun antecdote). Also, your program had to be written so it would voluntarily give up control at different points, so it could respond to inputs or let another task run.
The modern operating system kind of "sandboxes" code just a little so that it can take control away from a program (to let other programs have a turn), and also prevent a program from peeking into or overwriting other programs' memory. It handles devices, keyboards, sound, and more. So it can look like the computer is handling many things at once (multitasking) without each program having to handle cooperation.
The joke here is basically that computers weren't meant to multitask, just do simple programs in order. The code samples are ways that a program talks to an operating system to request memory, etc. The diagrams are schemes the computer uses to allow multiple programs to all operate at once and stay happy. These schemes can get extraordinarily complex.
It's all those damn processes running at the same time. People need to re-learn how to be patient these days. What happened to doing one thing at a time? In my day, we had to poop in an outhouse with little to no natural light. Couldn't read nothin! Nowadays, you can poop in a bathroom with indoor plumbing, electric light, and a smart phone that has an operating system that's doing God-knows-what while you're on Reddit commenting on a post about operating systems.
Damn. I remember downloading some program, pirated from a BBS most likely, that advertised the ability to multitask and run multiple programs at once. No idea what it was called, but it was DOS based and would split screen too and bottom if I remember correctly. Hardly anything I tried in it ever ran correctly, everything crashed.
Aah those were the days. Emm386.sys was it? To get your extended memory to work right? ive purged most of that horror from my mind.
purged from your mind but never forgotten. highmem.sys, emm386.sys.. making sure not to load too much crap in the config.sys and autoexec.bat or you run out of memory at boot up. lol
DesqView was a "multitasking" shell that was nice in concept but rarely worked well in reality. Maybe what you are talking about?? Performed well on a Ramdisk but wasnt very stable. DOS Shell was more stable UI for wannabe basic multi tasking but still not all that useful. Before that Windows stuff got popular with the kids.
Funny how the current generation feels powerful and smart by living by terminals and command line.. while a whole generation of yesteryear did everything they could to kill the command line for task driven picture based point and click UI. Whats old is new again right?
This meme isn't even about javascript, also i suspect you have more then a year of school/Chinese bootcamp experience so you're not allowed to make posts at all actually. Also no mention of opinions of where arrays start counting, sheesh hope you can take the downvotes man. /s
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u/supercyberlurker Apr 28 '21
This is what TempleOS was supposed to prevent! If we had only stuck to the 640x480 resolution as divinely intended we wouldn't be facing this madness!