IHLS400@INDYCMS.BITNET (Holly Lee Stowe) (03/18/87)
What about DOS for the 810? There are those of us that still love our
trusty 810's... (The disk drive that would not die...)
Holly Lee Stowe
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"The reason that you tell lies about a wonderful place is that you believe
if you get every detail right, absolutely right, and every character in that
story has exactly as many hairs on his or her head as he's supposed to have,
and that if you get it absolutely perfect, that you will be lifted up in
this life and set down in that wonderful place that you've told lies about,
and all your lies become true. Now, you see, what you don't realize is that
not only is Lake Wobegon made up, but Minnesota is made up too."
-- Garrison Keillor, 1983
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.............................rrwood@lotus.waterloo.edu (Roy Wood) (10/19/89)
I know there are a number of different Dos's around for the 8-bit Ataris. What are their relative advantages/disadvantages? I'm presently using Atari's Dos 2.5 an my 130XE with a single 1050 drive. If anyone were to recommend a "better" choice, I'd be happy to listen. -Roy Wood (rrwood@lotus.waterloo.edu)
gdtltr@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Gary D Duzan) (10/19/89)
In article <17345@watdragon.waterloo.edu> rrwood@lotus.waterloo.edu (Roy Wood) writes: =>I know there are a number of different Dos's around for the 8-bit Ataris. =>What are their relative advantages/disadvantages? => =>I'm presently using Atari's Dos 2.5 an my 130XE with a single 1050 drive. =>If anyone were to recommend a "better" choice, I'd be happy to listen. => =>-Roy Wood (rrwood@lotus.waterloo.edu) First of all, if you are comfortable with the DOS you are using, there is little reason to switch. For the system you have, 2.5 has many advantages which include the price (free) and compatability with most software. One of the features most more advanced DOS's have is subdirectory support. Since you are limited to an enhanced density disk, there is little need to split up your files into directories. If, however, you decide you want something else, the two most common (from my experience) are MyDOS and SpartaDOS. MyDOS retains the look and feel of the Atari DOS 2.X line while adding subdirectories, larger disk sizes, and most any size of RAMdisk. One problem I have had with MyDOS is the slightly modified sector count field in the directory listing; it uses 4 characters instead of 3. This throws off a few programs, but it isn't a major problem. SpartaDOS replaces the DUP.SYS idea with a resident command line interface, resembling somewhat the MS-DOS interface. SpartaDOS also supports subdirectories, larger disk sizes, and RAMdisks. It also adds a number of other features which include a real time clock, keyboard buffer, time/date stamping of files, and all sorts of other stuff. SpartaDOS formatted disks are incompatable with Atari DOS 2.X disks due to a new, more efficient format scheme. However, the later versions of SpartaDOS (the earlier versions are rarely used) have no problem reading and writing DOS 2.0 disks. They will read 2.5 disks, but can't write to the extended sectors. Personally, I use SpartaDOS X, the DOS on a cartridge. It has even more advanced features like ARC resident (sort of) all the time. In general, SpartaDOS is more powerful than MyDOS. However, MyDOS is now free, while SpartaDOS costs money. Any decision should depend on how much power you need and whether you are willing to pay for it. There are other DOS's, but I have not used them. Gary Duzan Time Lord Third Regeneration Atari Enthusiast Extreme -- _o_ _o_ [|o o|] "Two hearts are better than one." -- Yes [|o o|] |_O_| "Don't listen to me; I never do." -- Doctor Who |_O_|
tle33710@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (10/25/89)
There sure are alot of DOS's out there, but my favorite is still the little old DOS 2.5 for the 1050. However, I upgraded to the XF551 and finally obtained A-DOS. I'm not sure if the scope of the subject can be covered here, as I'm not familiar with ALL the DOS's available, but I can refer you to some magazine articles when I get the chance. Just be glad you don't have DOS 3!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Genghis.