Compact bought digital for the huge and well respected field service organization to compete with IBMs service standards. Digital Semiconductor, which built Alpha and StrongARM (remember the Apple Newton?) was sold to Intel as part of a settlement agreement where Intel admitted to stealing Alpha technology to build Pentium. Alpha was killed by Intel and StrongARM tech went into the Intel XScale family.
The rainbow was just too expensive for the home market. Adding a hard disk cost as much as the machine. There was no Ethernet for connectivity. Wonderful product, but a dead end.
Your video brought up so much nostalgia... I used to work in a research lab that was an almost 100% DEC shop (VAX/VMS, Ultrix). The Rainbow 100 was my main desktop computer and it felt so much more advanced than a PC XT. Way better display (I miss the smooth scroll), better keyboard, dual processor, faster floppies and the built-in 100% accurate VT220 emulation. I also had a graphics card in it with a color VT240-style monitor that gave me much more advanced graphics capabilities than a PC, with REGIS support for graphics from our VMS minis. It's probably been dumped some time after I quit and I really wish I collected it instead. DEC was bought by Compaq, not HP who bought Compaq later. The Alpha processor was years in advance and far better than the Itanium that ultimately killed it. I wish it had the success it deserved. I remember using an Alpha-based Compaq machine for CPU-intensive network intrusion prevention and detection while working with an ISP and the thing really was flying. No other box we had sustained the load.
DEC was actually bought by Compaq, and a few years later Compaq was bought by HP. The Compaq brand name stuck around for a while under HP, but is gone now. DEC had designed a 64 bit computer processor chip (The Alpha), that could have sunk ARM if development on it had continued. However Compaq didn't know what to do with it, and HP canceled it.
In my first job after graduating I was put on a project to replace an existing computer used to burn custom EPROMs for retail label printers. The computer I specified was a DEC Rainbow connected to an Elan EPROM programmer. My thinking was that the Z80 and 8088 made it future and past proof. It was also useful because the Z80 I was familiar with from a university project so it was less risky than jumping straight in with the 8088. The company also used DEC mini computers, so they were looking at buying a few Rainbows for word-processing and spreadsheets etc. I got a free mug from DEC. I also wrote the software to edit the texts to go in the EPROMs and to send the data to the EPROM programmer.
I worked in a place where they were one of the early adopters of 3d printing in the mid 90's . They had the "big 3" . A Sun Microsystems for the networking, an SGI IRIX for interfacing with the Stratasys 3d printer and a DEC Alpha for the 3d modeling with Pro-E CAD. The DEC was $17k and had (2) 350 Mhz processors when most p.c.'s weren't even at 100 mhz. yet.
I worked at Digital in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and my first computer at the job was a Rainbow 100+. It was a great little computer and after they moved me to a VAXstation, they let me take the Rainbow 100+ home, which lived well into the 1990s. I remember a program called "Code Blue" that made it more compatible with IBM PC software. If I remember correctly, not only did it run WPS (Digital's word processing software), but I was also able to run WordPerfect for DOS. I used it to write a lot of software both at work and later on, and also to get to the work VAXcluster on a regular basis. I loved that machine and the LK201 keyboard (standard on all Digital equipment at the time) to this day is still one of the best I ever used.
I own another forgotten PC compatible that wasn't even more obscure than the Rainbow - a Fujitsu Micro 16s. It came out in 1983, had dual processor (8086 and Z80), runs both DOS and CPM like the Rainbow. It didn't do IBM graphics though. If software was text based DOS it would run most of it but any graphics forget about it. Still have it on the shelf running Concurrent CP/M-86.
The single sided 180kb floppy drives was the real killer. DEC made many huge business mistakes and not taking the PC seriously was what killed them and every other mini computer company. Wang, Data General, Prime all big players and all forgotten.
Briefly there were a number of MS-DOS/PC-DOS machines in the market that weren't IBM PC compatible. There were companies that sold versions of software for PC compatibles and separately for MS-DOS machines (that weren't necessarily PC compatible).
I didn't know about the Rainbow, I did work on the Dec-Alpha in the 90s. In the late 80s, I worked on the MAI Basic Four mini computer, (small main frame). They came out with a desktop micro-PC, it had CP/M and their own proprietary OS as well and a 132 character screen, with a 10mg hard drive and room for one or 2 floppy drives.
Back in 1994, the Connecticut State Surplus Store had dozens and dozens of Rainbow 100s for $25 a pop, they were all being retired from the Connecticut DMV. I bought one and took it home. It was painfully obsolete, of course, but even then I was interested in vintage computers and it was a lot of fun to play with!
My elementary school was “adopted” by Digital Equipment for a while in the 80s where they provided some equipment and probably some money to the school. I always confused it with Digital Research as I learned more about computers. Great video about DEC!
True. To be really "PC-compatible," an MS-DOS computer had to run Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Flight Simulator. For a long time, only three companies had slightly-less-expensive-than-IBM clones that met those tests: the "big C" trio of Columbia, Compaq, and Corona. Then, in early 1985, Radio Shack brought out the truly inexpensive Tandy 1000, which could run them all. After that, the floodgates opened. It's interesting to look back at the days of the "personal computer wars" between IBM, DEC, Apple, the big Cs, and many other companies and systems, and realize the eventual winner was…Microsoft.
I owned a Rainbow 100+ with an RD53 hard drive from a MicroVax. Ran FidoBBS on it. It also had more max memory than the IBM PC (896K vs 640K) as well as the ability to produce 256 colors with the optional graphics card vs IBM's 16 (I think I have this right, but it's been a VERY long time). Scram the Reactor was the 256 color game that shipped with it. Also I'm sure you're aware and just short cut things, but Compaq bought the majority of DEC, HP bought Compaq (but not before Compaq sold the Alpha IP to Intel). And DEC's storage business was sold off to Seagate. The only thing left of DEC today, is what was once the employee credit union, DCU. I still bank with them, but most (all?) DCU employees have zero clue about their history, or why the D in DCU stands for Digital.
A minor correction: DEC was purchased by Compaq, not HP. Of course, HP later bought Compaq. The big problem with engineering-heavy companies (DEC and HP) was they just couldn't leave well enough alone. Tinkering and "improving" things is a professional strength and hazard in engineering. In general, I am in this camp, but I recognize "improving" has limits. Since I ran the IT department in a serious DEC site (DECSystem 2060, VAX), I got invitations to DEC events. I remember going to the Rainbow launch event in San Jose. The nonstandard floppy drive and proprietary disks were a complete joke. Probably some marketing decision. As you say, not being compatible with essential software made it DoA.
I remember using a DEC Rainbow at a computer camp I attended in the summer of '83 or '84. IIRC, the one I used supported color graphics which were better than available from an IBM PC at the time. Ran into DEC again in the early 2000s with Compaq/DEC Alpha 64 bit machines running "Tru64" Unix. HP already had 64 bit "PA-RISC" architecture before they tried to move to Intel's disastrous and ill-conceived "Itanium" processors.
I worked for DEC at the time as an attorney. They wanted us to use dumb terminals. I hated that and begged for a PC. They refused, so i brought my own ATT8800 in. It connected to their servers and had Word Perfect. When the server went down (too often) I'd just keep working. My boss brought some people around to try to sell our network product. He had to explain why that guy had an ATT PC and not DEC. Next day I had a DEC PC. I hated it. You couldn't format a diskette, and had to use DEC diskettes.
Great video! I just bought 3 broken Digital laptops and your video popped out on my YT front page. I love the video! According to the Computer History Museum, and same I had in memory, "In the 1990s DEC was slow to respond to significant structural changes in the computer industry, and experienced significant deterioration in its financial performance. In 1998, the firm itself was bought by Compaq which, in turn, was bought out by Hewlett-Packard in 2002." Yes, DEC last in HP hands, as you well said, but they were bought before by Compaq. Compaq kept the Alpha servers and workstations in production. However, I don't think HP gave it the same fortuna.
Interesting trip down memory lane. I worked at NEC Technologies in the 1990s developing US based PCs. NEC had their own flavor of PC the PC 9800 sold in Japan and wanted in on the US market. In 1994 I moved to the DEC PC group. At that point they had decided to embrace PCs both laptops and desktops. I stayed there until 1998 when DEC divested the semiconductor group to Intel and the rest of the company was acquired by Compaq that in turn was acquired by HP.
Interesting video. My dad worked for Digital in the 80s when I was young. He installed mainframes. I have a vague recollection of him talking about the Rainbow. I am pretty sure we had one. Then I remember the day he had the new Amiga delivered. I had to have been 5 or under as we moved from that home when I was 5. So this was before 1985. The Amiga was ahead of its time. Too bad software pirates did it in as a consumer company. We used that computer all through the 90s.
DEC were bought by Compaq (I still have some old Compaq OpenVMS disks - ah, the memories!), not HP - HP then bought Compaq. Lots of the Alpha processor elements were intergraded into Intel's x86 line as part of the Itainimu fun & games - which gave Intel its more modern Pentiums in the early 2ks. DEC also created StrongARM in collaboration with ARM - this also helped push that chip to what it is now. DEC were great engineers, rubbish sales people.
The initial DEC Rainbows were shipped with CP/M (the Z80 version) and CP/M 86. You had the two versions. I think MSDOS came later or was optional, can't remember exactly.
Apple II had 80 column cards long before 1982. 132 columns would have needed a wide printer like the one that was dropped down the stairs. The luxury of selecting MS-DOS, CP/M-86, CP/M or terminal emulator cost $2500. I don’t think adding the new MS-DOS itself was quite that compelling.
Yeah, memory is haze but I do recall DOS having that ability. I haven't done or seen that in a very long time but wasn't "mode x" unbearably slow for literally everything one might have wanted it for?
But VGA came along a long time after the DEC Rainbow era. They didn't even have EGA when the DEC Rainbow came out. IBM PCs either had CGA or MDA. Both limited to a maximum of 80 columns. And the display quality of the Rainbow was far higher, even in 132 column mode than the PC adapters in 80 column mode. The amber colored monochrome screen for the Rainbow was gorgeous!
Also- DEC was responsible for Windows NT, lol- having let go their rockstar OS developer, Dave Cutler ("Davecu") and about 25 of his closest associates who were trying to develop for the ill-fated Prism/MICA projects, of whom Bill Gates snatched up and asked to write a from-scratch operating system for them. * them being MICROSOFT, of course. An addendum being better late than never, huh? xD
Pscht. Cutler didn't finish RSX-11M, he didn't finish VMS, he didn't finish Prism and he didn't finish NT. Just a crabby, self-important little butterfly, flitting from flower to flower. He and Bill Gates deserved each other! 😛
I sold the IBM and the DEC and others in a computer store m. Really wanted the DEC as it was great! But most came in and bought IBM cause it had those letters!
The DEC Rainbow is an interesting machine. DEC always did over engineer everything though. It's built like a tank. Everything is easy to work on once you remove the main board from the back. My big complaint is the floppy drives are just weird. Single sided and not compatible with anything. I have one that I play with from time to time. I did back up the RD53 to a MFM emulator just in case as these often die. Nice video BTW.
Actually I think it was the other way around. TRS-DOS had a lot of bugs. So a bunch of alternative OS's got made to replace TRS-DOS. One of those bugs could be used to create a crude code on the file. It involved the use of the file extension. The extension didn't show up in directory listings so it could be used to put a three digit code on the file. That was about the only cool thing about TRS-DOS that I remember. Otherwise, MS-DOS and IBM DOS were much better and more useable than TRS-DOS was. Now compare MS-DOS and IBM DOS to LDOS and NEWDOS and things might be different.
One of the computer magazines had build your own motherboard. At first it ran CPM and then I did have to look this up. They did get ms-dos available for it. One thing that did strike me as odd was the ISA slots was IBM compatible. Maybe somebody else could jump in. But, that is the only board I Know of that would use 8 bit isa cards. Now I know you could get add-ons to other systems that would have say a single isa slot. My guess is CPM-86 since it uses a 8088 processor. Also as pointed out in a comment before. Tons and tons of mfgs. had hardware specs better than IBM and the same if not mostly lower price.
The Rainbow 100 was great, but IBM had the man-on-the-street name! They also had issues, like the discs you mention Lotus 123 was HUGE, and surprised that DEC did not have it..
I preferred Multiplan to Lotus 123. To this day I prefer the way it numbered both rows and columns. Lotus 123 would call a cell $B$13. Multiplan would call it R13C2. Then for relative cells, whereas Lotus 123 would call the cell B13 and change it when you copied cells. But Multiplan would call it for example R[3]C-2] When I changed jobs and had to use a Lotus 123 on a PC, I found it to be a downgrade in all ways. Come to that, I far preferred Wordstar to Wordperfect. But again it may simply be because I learned Wordstar first and knew it very well.
There was a specific version of Lotus 1-2-3 released for the DEC Rainbow, I'm pretty sure I have a copy with mine and I definitely have a graphics demo that runs on it if you have the colour graphics card fitted which advertises the 1-2-3 port.
Dec got sold to compaq that screwed things up so badly tbey got sold to hp whic led by tge 1st dei faure too dumb to understand how really great alpha chip was tried to force iz to chg out tbier 64 bit alphs chips for 64 bit intel itanic garbage chips so totally killed dec server biz.
DEC was bought by Compaq and may have put them in a financial situation that led them, in turn, to be purchased by HP.
Compact bought digital for the huge and well respected field service organization to compete with IBMs service standards. Digital Semiconductor, which built Alpha and StrongARM (remember the Apple Newton?) was sold to Intel as part of a settlement agreement where Intel admitted to stealing Alpha technology to build Pentium. Alpha was killed by Intel and StrongARM tech went into the Intel XScale family.
That’s a very common story in business: A company has success and buys a competitor. Often, they run low on funds afterward.
After the purchase, Compaq pulled out the technologies they liked and shelved the rest. So did HP a few years later.
The rainbow was just too expensive for the home market. Adding a hard disk cost as much as the machine. There was no Ethernet for connectivity. Wonderful product, but a dead end.
@@markhaas8938that was true of PCs too. Ethernet back then was fat coax and was 3mbit. Only for big expensive machines.
Your video brought up so much nostalgia... I used to work in a research lab that was an almost 100% DEC shop (VAX/VMS, Ultrix). The Rainbow 100 was my main desktop computer and it felt so much more advanced than a PC XT. Way better display (I miss the smooth scroll), better keyboard, dual processor, faster floppies and the built-in 100% accurate VT220 emulation. I also had a graphics card in it with a color VT240-style monitor that gave me much more advanced graphics capabilities than a PC, with REGIS support for graphics from our VMS minis.
It's probably been dumped some time after I quit and I really wish I collected it instead.
DEC was bought by Compaq, not HP who bought Compaq later. The Alpha processor was years in advance and far better than the Itanium that ultimately killed it. I wish it had the success it deserved. I remember using an Alpha-based Compaq machine for CPU-intensive network intrusion prevention and detection while working with an ISP and the thing really was flying. No other box we had sustained the load.
DEC was actually bought by Compaq, and a few years later Compaq was bought by HP. The Compaq brand name stuck around for a while under HP, but is gone now. DEC had designed a 64 bit computer processor chip (The Alpha), that could have sunk ARM if development on it had continued. However Compaq didn't know what to do with it, and HP canceled it.
In my first job after graduating I was put on a project to replace an existing computer used to burn custom EPROMs for retail label printers.
The computer I specified was a DEC Rainbow connected to an Elan EPROM programmer. My thinking was that the Z80 and 8088 made it future and past proof.
It was also useful because the Z80 I was familiar with from a university project so it was less risky than jumping straight in with the 8088.
The company also used DEC mini computers, so they were looking at buying a few Rainbows for word-processing and spreadsheets etc.
I got a free mug from DEC. I also wrote the software to edit the texts to go in the EPROMs and to send the data to the EPROM programmer.
I worked in a place where they were one of the early adopters of 3d printing in the mid 90's . They had the "big 3" . A Sun Microsystems for the networking, an SGI IRIX for interfacing with the Stratasys 3d printer and a DEC Alpha for the 3d modeling with Pro-E CAD. The DEC was $17k and had (2) 350 Mhz processors when most p.c.'s weren't even at 100 mhz. yet.
I worked at Digital in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and my first computer at the job was a Rainbow 100+. It was a great little computer and after they moved me to a VAXstation, they let me take the Rainbow 100+ home, which lived well into the 1990s. I remember a program called "Code Blue" that made it more compatible with IBM PC software. If I remember correctly, not only did it run WPS (Digital's word processing software), but I was also able to run WordPerfect for DOS. I used it to write a lot of software both at work and later on, and also to get to the work VAXcluster on a regular basis. I loved that machine and the LK201 keyboard (standard on all Digital equipment at the time) to this day is still one of the best I ever used.
I own another forgotten PC compatible that wasn't even more obscure than the Rainbow - a Fujitsu Micro 16s. It came out in 1983, had dual processor (8086 and Z80), runs both DOS and CPM like the Rainbow. It didn't do IBM graphics though. If software was text based DOS it would run most of it but any graphics forget about it. Still have it on the shelf running Concurrent CP/M-86.
The single sided 180kb floppy drives was the real killer. DEC made many huge business mistakes and not taking the PC seriously was what killed them and every other mini computer company. Wang, Data General, Prime all big players and all forgotten.
Briefly there were a number of MS-DOS/PC-DOS machines in the market that weren't IBM PC compatible. There were companies that sold versions of software for PC compatibles and separately for MS-DOS machines (that weren't necessarily PC compatible).
I didn't know about the Rainbow, I did work on the Dec-Alpha in the 90s. In the late 80s, I worked on the MAI Basic Four mini computer, (small main frame). They came out with a desktop micro-PC, it had CP/M and their own proprietary OS as well and a 132 character screen, with a 10mg hard drive and room for one or 2 floppy drives.
Had a Ranbow 100+. High School used PDP-11. College used a VAX.
Back in 1994, the Connecticut State Surplus Store had dozens and dozens of Rainbow 100s for $25 a pop, they were all being retired from the Connecticut DMV. I bought one and took it home. It was painfully obsolete, of course, but even then I was interested in vintage computers and it was a lot of fun to play with!
My elementary school was “adopted” by Digital Equipment for a while in the 80s where they provided some equipment and probably some money to the school. I always confused it with Digital Research as I learned more about computers. Great video about DEC!
Randomly stumbled across your video. Really interesting information that you're sharing.
If I remember correctly the Microsoft Flight Simulator was the test kit for PC-compatibility in the past. 😊
True. To be really "PC-compatible," an MS-DOS computer had to run Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Flight Simulator. For a long time, only three companies had slightly-less-expensive-than-IBM clones that met those tests: the "big C" trio of Columbia, Compaq, and Corona. Then, in early 1985, Radio Shack brought out the truly inexpensive Tandy 1000, which could run them all. After that, the floodgates opened.
It's interesting to look back at the days of the "personal computer wars" between IBM, DEC, Apple, the big Cs, and many other companies and systems, and realize the eventual winner was…Microsoft.
I owned a Rainbow 100+ with an RD53 hard drive from a MicroVax. Ran FidoBBS on it. It also had more max memory than the IBM PC (896K vs 640K) as well as the ability to produce 256 colors with the optional graphics card vs IBM's 16 (I think I have this right, but it's been a VERY long time). Scram the Reactor was the 256 color game that shipped with it. Also I'm sure you're aware and just short cut things, but Compaq bought the majority of DEC, HP bought Compaq (but not before Compaq sold the Alpha IP to Intel). And DEC's storage business was sold off to Seagate. The only thing left of DEC today, is what was once the employee credit union, DCU. I still bank with them, but most (all?) DCU employees have zero clue about their history, or why the D in DCU stands for Digital.
Tandy and others had computers that were better than IBMs but later decided it was wise to be IBM compatible.
A minor correction: DEC was purchased by Compaq, not HP. Of course, HP later bought Compaq.
The big problem with engineering-heavy companies (DEC and HP) was they just couldn't leave well enough alone. Tinkering and "improving" things is a professional strength and hazard in engineering. In general, I am in this camp, but I recognize "improving" has limits.
Since I ran the IT department in a serious DEC site (DECSystem 2060, VAX), I got invitations to DEC events. I remember going to the Rainbow launch event in San Jose. The nonstandard floppy drive and proprietary disks were a complete joke. Probably some marketing decision. As you say, not being compatible with essential software made it DoA.
I remember using a DEC Rainbow at a computer camp I attended in the summer of '83 or '84. IIRC, the one I used supported color graphics which were better than available from an IBM PC at the time.
Ran into DEC again in the early 2000s with Compaq/DEC Alpha 64 bit machines running "Tru64" Unix. HP already had 64 bit "PA-RISC" architecture before they tried to move to Intel's disastrous and ill-conceived "Itanium" processors.
I worked for DEC at the time as an attorney. They wanted us to use dumb terminals. I hated that and begged for a PC. They refused, so i brought my own ATT8800 in. It connected to their servers and had Word Perfect. When the server went down (too often) I'd just keep working. My boss brought some people around to try to sell our network product. He had to explain why that guy had an ATT PC and not DEC. Next day I had a DEC PC. I hated it. You couldn't format a diskette, and had to use DEC diskettes.
Your videos are criminally underviewed. This was a great video! Subscribed!
As a young enthusiast - I remember seeing the Rainbow in Firestarter and being fascinated with what it was.
As a fan of these old machines and DEC in particular, I'm ashamed to say I had never heard of this one.
It's a gorgeous looking machine.
Great video! I just bought 3 broken Digital laptops and your video popped out on my YT front page. I love the video!
According to the Computer History Museum, and same I had in memory, "In the 1990s DEC was slow to respond to significant structural changes in the computer industry, and experienced significant deterioration in its financial performance. In 1998, the firm itself was bought by Compaq which, in turn, was bought out by Hewlett-Packard in 2002."
Yes, DEC last in HP hands, as you well said, but they were bought before by Compaq. Compaq kept the Alpha servers and workstations in production. However, I don't think HP gave it the same fortuna.
Interesting trip down memory lane. I worked at NEC Technologies in the 1990s developing US based PCs. NEC had their own flavor of PC the PC 9800 sold in Japan and wanted in on the US market. In 1994 I moved to the DEC PC group. At that point they had decided to embrace PCs both laptops and desktops. I stayed there until 1998 when DEC divested the semiconductor group to Intel and the rest of the company was acquired by Compaq that in turn was acquired by HP.
Interesting video. My dad worked for Digital in the 80s when I was young. He installed mainframes. I have a vague recollection of him talking about the Rainbow. I am pretty sure we had one. Then I remember the day he had the new Amiga delivered. I had to have been 5 or under as we moved from that home when I was 5. So this was before 1985. The Amiga was ahead of its time. Too bad software pirates did it in as a consumer company. We used that computer all through the 90s.
DEC were bought by Compaq (I still have some old Compaq OpenVMS disks - ah, the memories!), not HP - HP then bought Compaq. Lots of the Alpha processor elements were intergraded into Intel's x86 line as part of the Itainimu fun & games - which gave Intel its more modern Pentiums in the early 2ks. DEC also created StrongARM in collaboration with ARM - this also helped push that chip to what it is now. DEC were great engineers, rubbish sales people.
Um lets see: Proprietary software? Hardware? Cost? It was doomed.
The initial DEC Rainbows were shipped with CP/M (the Z80 version) and CP/M 86. You had the two versions. I think MSDOS came later or was optional, can't remember exactly.
Apple II had 80 column cards long before 1982. 132 columns would have needed a wide printer like the one that was dropped down the stairs. The luxury of selecting MS-DOS, CP/M-86, CP/M or terminal emulator cost $2500. I don’t think adding the new MS-DOS itself was quite that compelling.
You can do 132 character mode on any MS-DOS based PC with a VGA card by typing "mode x" where x can be 40, 80, or 132 at a command prompt.
Yeah, memory is haze but I do recall DOS having that ability. I haven't done or seen that in a very long time but wasn't "mode x" unbearably slow for literally everything one might have wanted it for?
But VGA came along a long time after the DEC Rainbow era. They didn't even have EGA when the DEC Rainbow came out. IBM PCs either had CGA or MDA. Both limited to a maximum of 80 columns. And the display quality of the Rainbow was far higher, even in 132 column mode than the PC adapters in 80 column mode.
The amber colored monochrome screen for the Rainbow was gorgeous!
Also- DEC was responsible for Windows NT, lol- having let go their rockstar OS developer, Dave Cutler ("Davecu") and about 25 of his closest associates who were trying to develop for the ill-fated Prism/MICA projects, of whom Bill Gates snatched up and asked to write a from-scratch operating system for them.
* them being MICROSOFT, of course. An addendum being better late than never, huh? xD
Pscht. Cutler didn't finish RSX-11M, he didn't finish VMS, he didn't finish Prism and he didn't finish NT. Just a crabby, self-important little butterfly, flitting from flower to flower. He and Bill Gates deserved each other! 😛
I sold the IBM and the DEC and others in a computer store m. Really wanted the DEC as it was great! But most came in and bought IBM cause it had those letters!
The DEC Rainbow is an interesting machine. DEC always did over engineer everything though. It's built like a tank. Everything is easy to work on once you remove the main board from the back. My big complaint is the floppy drives are just weird. Single sided and not compatible with anything. I have one that I play with from time to time. I did back up the RD53 to a MFM emulator just in case as these often die. Nice video BTW.
Enjoyed the video. Good luck with your channel!
The Tandy 2000 was another one of these PC incompatible MS-DOS computers
My first computer that my dad brought home from work in the weekend
Tandy should have licensed TRS-DOS, a far better OS than MS-DOS. Model 1, 3 and 4 all upwardly compatible. The later versions ran CP/M
Actually I think it was the other way around. TRS-DOS had a lot of bugs. So a bunch of alternative OS's got made to replace TRS-DOS. One of those bugs could be used to create a crude code on the file. It involved the use of the file extension. The extension didn't show up in directory listings so it could be used to put a three digit code on the file. That was about the only cool thing about TRS-DOS that I remember. Otherwise, MS-DOS and IBM DOS were much better and more useable than TRS-DOS was. Now compare MS-DOS and IBM DOS to LDOS and NEWDOS and things might be different.
One of the computer magazines had build your own motherboard. At first it ran CPM and then I did have to look this up. They did get ms-dos available for it. One thing that did strike me as odd was the ISA slots was IBM compatible. Maybe somebody else could jump in. But, that is the only board I Know of that would use 8 bit isa cards. Now I know you could get add-ons to other systems that would have say a single isa slot. My guess is CPM-86 since it uses a 8088 processor. Also as pointed out in a comment before. Tons and tons of mfgs. had hardware specs better than IBM and the same if not mostly lower price.
I was a DEC field service engineer, Vax's and DECsystems. I remember The Rainbow
Vax's what? Which possession of a Vax where you're trying to talk about
The Rainbow 100 was great, but IBM had the man-on-the-street name!
They also had issues, like the discs you mention
Lotus 123 was HUGE, and surprised that DEC did not have it..
The Mindset PC was good also.
I preferred Multiplan to Lotus 123. To this day I prefer the way it numbered both rows and columns. Lotus 123 would call a cell $B$13. Multiplan would call it R13C2.
Then for relative cells, whereas Lotus 123 would call the cell B13 and change it when you copied cells. But Multiplan would call it for example R[3]C-2]
When I changed jobs and had to use a Lotus 123 on a PC, I found it to be a downgrade in all ways.
Come to that, I far preferred Wordstar to Wordperfect. But again it may simply be because I learned Wordstar first and knew it very well.
In order to view more than a minute of your video, I had to slide my browser down my screen until I couldn't see your hands flailing around.
Not really in order to view.
There was a specific version of Lotus 1-2-3 released for the DEC Rainbow, I'm pretty sure I have a copy with mine and I definitely have a graphics demo that runs on it if you have the colour graphics card fitted which advertises the 1-2-3 port.
Dec got sold to compaq that screwed things up so badly tbey got sold to hp whic led by tge 1st dei faure too dumb to understand how really great alpha chip was tried to force iz to chg out tbier 64 bit alphs chips for 64 bit intel itanic garbage chips so totally killed dec server biz.
spell check is your friend.
Dang, what were you smoking when you wrote this?
You should try rewriting that in something resembling English