Bob ..

 BK>   Have you ever noticed the scanners used in super markets to
 BK>   keep inventory? We use the same scanners to keep our storeroom
 BK>   inventory. I was using one today to put some parts back in
 BK>   inventory, when I switched scanner, the scanner I picked up had
 BK>   lost it's configuration. It reconfigured itself through the
 BK>   wireless network we use.

 BK>   The interesting thing was, as it booted up before
 BK>   configuration, the LCD showed it booting up in Dr Dos. It
 BK>   displayed Digital Research also. I didn't catch the version
 BK>   number. Once it configured it would not display the boot up
 BK>   sequence again, but I am very tempted to take one apart to find
 BK>   out what they are running in there that is booting up with DR
 BK>   Dos.

There is a rather large pile of stuff out there in embedded system form
which uses plain old DOS.  For dedicated system use where we are not
talking re-entrancy and so on, plain old DOS is hard to beat.

If you stop and think about it, memory is cheap these days.  It costs you
between say $50 and $65 US money to buy a 256 Megabyte stick of RAM to toss
into a motherboard.  It doesn't really cost all that much more to provide
that same size memory as complete embedded memory with the capability to
run an embedded system like your scanner and have the whole thing remain in
memory.  Who needs a hard disk?

Admittedly this isn't video data, OK?  But we routinely move say 25MB of
archive data for, say an entire medical clinic's entire business system and
professional files for 70,000 patients each and every night across the
internet for mirror image backup!  That's EVERYTHING other than video
needs. We can rebuild the complete clinic exclusive of video data, if
needed in about five minutes flat.  The executables in it for the data
side. can be run in pure DOS with no more than 16MB of high memory!  All
112 complete executables in the DOS side of the suite for data only take
only 25MB or memory or so. Even if I want to use OS/2 and do it in a
DOS-VDM in OS/2, all it takes is a de-minimus 64MB for the entire OS/2
load, WPS and all!  Add 25MB of non-volatile space for the suite and
another maybe 50MB or so for the data and in even one stick of 256MB of
RAM, you've got the entire system even in OS/2.  In pure DOS you could do
it in about 40MB less, grin.

Again, this isn't counting video needs for professional use, just the data
and money needed to run the place.

DOS is very far from dead  --  at least in dedicated situations where the
process is still the same as it has been for a hundred years in the guts
and core of how to professionally manage something ..

Video, well not necessarily.  One has to admit that looking at a cell phone
with a picture is interesting.  Until one realizes that here is the
watchbird watching you, when?

Onstar!  Well yes, but whose car is parked next door and when?  Onstar
knows!  And that isn't Win whatever yet either or is it?  What op system
does Onstar use?

   DOS, OS/2 or LINUX?

Giggle.


--> Sleep well; OS/2's still awake! ;)

Mike {at} 1:117/3001


--- Maximus/2 3.01