For me, I'd say anything before Intel's Core I series CPUs, which puts it before 2009.

I Think I had first multi core (core duo) before 2009 and already in XP era.

I think XP era of computers connected last bit of retro PC computing somehow with modern windows of today. if not then Windows 2000 was for sure something like that to me. I still tried to launch MS-DOS apps in Windows 2000.

-h1

... Xerox Alto was the thing. Anything after we use is just a mere copy.

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...I'm hoping something happens with the X16 that can connect it to the of the world.

BAM! - https://texelec.com/product/commander-x16-serial-network-card/

Just be careful, these may be faulty. I purchased one from Kevin and I still cannot go online. I can connect to x16 via telnet just fine, but x16 gets error when tries to send any packets as initiator.

I parked the whole topic as importing just another network card along from over seas is not what I want to prioritize.. I hope somebody in Europe picks up on the topic and creates something more stable.

I hope for fujinet for x16.. that would be lovely.

It's fine computer regardless of networking capabilities, tho.

-h1

... -=Lordz of BooM are back=-

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I used ASR-33 teletypes connected to Northern Telecom PBXes - it was
convenient being able to look at the paper scroll to see error messages
that had occurred.

I'd learned about how TTYs worked with UNIX, it was interesting to see
one in action - and to understand how line editors worked.

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You wrote "line editors".
seeing that made me recall the day the operator inthe computer room noticed me watching the paper jumping up in the Line Printer and invited me in the room. My thinking was there was a dot matrix head really flying forward and back at a fantastic speed.
The operator raised the cover on the line printer to show me the chain of type traveling in a circuit at high speed.
He also showed me a plug board that attacked ached to the IBM mainframe system. This was in the mid-1960's long before I got interested in personal computers and bought a C=64 in1984.
Ed
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My mistake, in thinking after I saved my message to you I thought dot matrix printing wasn't in the 1960's.
I was thinking more of the Teletype machines printing at 100 WPM.
DUH!
Ed
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Re: Re: NetBSD
By: Ed Vance to Kurt Weiske on Tue Dec 02 2025 18:40:35

My mistake, in thinking after I saved my message to you I thought dot matrix printing wasn't in the 1960's.

A reasonable assumption. Actually, the first commercially available DMP debuted in 1968 by the Oki (later Okidata) company out of Japan. It wasn't until 1970 when DEC came out with their first.

I was thinking more of the Teletype machines printing at 100 WPM.

I used an ASR-33 back when I was in my college's amateur radio club. I loved that thing. When you typed on it, you felt like you were doing something special.
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Mortar M. wrote to Ed Vance <=-

I used an ASR-33 back when I was in my college's amateur radio club. I loved that thing. When you typed on it, you felt like you were doing something special.

When I started working on Nortel PBXes, they printed to an ASR-33.
Nice, because starting out I could save the printouts as references.
They also printed out timestamps and lots of diagnostic information
during the midnight routines (the "mids") that you could check in the
morning by looking at the paper spooled off the TTY.



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Re: Re: NetBSD
By: Ed Vance to Kurt Weiske on Tue Dec 02 2025 18:40:35

A reasonable assumption. Actually, the first commercially available DMP debuted in 1968 by the Oki (later Okidata) company out of Japan. It wasn't until 1970 when DEC came out with their first.

I used an ASR-33 back when I was in my college's amateur radio club. I loved that thing. When you typed on it, you felt like you were doing something special.
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The only ASR-33 that I have seen was behind a window in a building I walked by one day. That was the first time I saw 8 level Perf Tape .
When I was in the Navy at a Navy Base I learned to use a Model 28 KSR, loved it!
Ed W9ODR . .
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Re: Re: age required for classic comp
By: Borax Man to Fernando Miculan on Mon Apr 14 2025 00:43:39

I would consider a "classic computer" to be any computer which is, both in terms of hardware and software, quite different to what is running today, and is able to run old hardware and software which modern computers cannot. So I wouldn't consider my old desktop computer from 2009 "classic" as its not really that different to computers today, but the DOS PC's, which can run Windows 98, DOS, OPL3 midi and the like are, because they can do things new computers can't.

That is a pretty good definition.

I think 2009 is soon to be classic so hold on to that thing! :)
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On Wed 11-Mar-2026 9:53p, Grant Weasner@1:138/397.0 said to Borax Man:

Re: Re: age required for classic comp
By: Borax Man to Fernando Miculan on Mon Apr 14 2025 00:43:39

I would consider a "classic computer" to be any computer which is, both

in

terms of hardware and software, quite different to what is running

today,

and is able to run old hardware and software which modern computers

cannot.

So I wouldn't consider my old desktop computer from 2009 "classic" as

its

not really that different to computers today, but the DOS PC's, which

can

run Windows 98, DOS, OPL3 midi and the like are, because they can do

things

new computers can't.

That is a pretty good definition.

Huh? What can new computers do that old computers can not? Also MIDI as a standard is still in use today...

Rug Rat (Brent Hendricks)
Blog and Forums - www.catracing.org
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Re: Re: age required for classic comp
By: Rug Rat to Grant Weasner on Thu Mar 12 2026 10:53:43

What can new computers do that old computers can not?

Guess that depends on how old the computer is and what you're trying to do.

Also MIDI as a standard is still in use today...

Got that right, and I got the gear to prove it. Still waiting for MIDI 2.0 to happen.
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