G'day Martin,

> In my case, I don't use
> Windows and will not until Microsoft cleans it up as an operating system

They have, actually - it's called Windows NT. I can name about 2 Microsoft
products that are worth using - WinNT and MS Publisher. You do need some
memory to run NT (32MB is good) but since memory prices have crashed this
is no longer a problem (memory used to be the most expensive part of a
PC).

The good things about NT are that it is extremely reliable (if it crashes,
you can be sure it's a hardware problem) - rogue applications cannot bring
down the OS, and it runs the vast majority of DOS and Windows software -
32 bit applications multi-task extremely well, 16 bit apps multi-task ok.
DOS programs run better than under Win3.1.

The only drawback to NT is that some equipment, especially that which has
custom bus interface cards like the PICMAster, will not run under NT. This
means you need to dual-boot, or have another machine just for that kind
of thing.

Cheers, Clyde

--
Clyde Smith-Stubbs       | HI-TECH Software,       | Voice: +61 7 3354 2411
clyde@hitech.com.au      | P.O. Box 103, Alderley, | Fax:   +61 7 3354 2422
http://www.hitech.com.au | QLD, 4051, AUSTRALIA.   |
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