[vcf-midatlantic] Ages of PC based software

[Chris Fala]

I don't mean to be critical of any person's passions, but I wanted to
elaborate on the topic of what vintage means.

In the context of our hobby, I am against the idea that simply being old
means something is "vintage". While there are plenty of old things that are
cool, that we miss, and that we want to preserve, I don't feel that all
"old" stuff deserves to be preserved in a museum or exhibited at a show.
The key word that I have come to realize as an important qualifier is
"innovative" (groundbreaking, the "first", revolutionary, etc.). The
opposite qualifier that disqualifies something from being vintage would be
the word "derivative". If something is just a slight improvement over what
came before, is it truly special? For example (and maybe not the ideal
example), if we are talking about Windows operating systems, I would say
that Windows 3.1 and/or Windows 95 might fit my criteria. With hardware,
maybe the first IBM PC with the 8086 is innovative, but all PCs that
followed are basically derivative. Sure, you can make a case about some
specific aspect that is a major improvement that might qualify it as
innovative, and if so great, make that case. But just being old doesn't
make something special, exhibitable, or museum worthy. Just my perspective
and hopefully something to think about.

Chris



On Wed, Jun 26, 2024 at 4:25 PM Dean Notarnicola via vcf-midatlantic <
vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:

> I’d say Windows ME (2000) or older.
>
> On Wed, Jun 26, 2024 at 4:22 PM Gregg Levine via vcf-midatlantic <
> vcf-midatlantic at lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
>
> > Hello!
> > I am again trying one of my blue sky ideas, one to work on between
> > right now, and again of the next repair weekend. That will be onsite.
> >
> > Would any of you good people remember the time period for a
> > representative OS for when we can call it a Vintage Operating system?
> > Last time I checked it was 1995.
> >
> > No velociraptor, he is visiting relatives in California, and Oregon and
> WA.
> > -----
> > Gregg C Levine gregg.drwho8 at gmail.com
> > "This signature fought the Time Wars, time and again."
> >
>