Date : Tue, 15 May 1984 15:13:00 PDT
From : MMoon.es@XEROX.ARPA
Subject: Re: New CompuPro products
CCP/M ported to an 8-16 as the vanilla example system? Holy batfish,
Catman!
I made my choices on going 16 bit with a piecemeal 8-16 system (so far
everything but the Interfacer-4 & Disk 1-- I'm wiating for the Disk 1a
to be introduced, and running Cp/m 80 on my old disk controller in the
meantime).
Considering that the Disk 1a will be released Any Day Now, I had given
up trying to run the mother before the turn of the century, due to lack
of equipment. Tony Li all but talked me out of doing the port myself
because of the expected complexity of writting the XIOS. Now modifying
an existing system as opposed to writting one from the ground up?
Mmmmmmm. Gotta think about that one. Anybody know how to make an F50
Liberty terminal look like a Z-19? That only leaves figuring out out how
to run the 8-bit stuff on the "other" side of the DPU. Anybody out
there ever write a CP/M-80 BIOS that just translates to CP/M-86 BDOS
calls? Can't be that simple. Sigh. That's probably why Compurpo refers
to there version as CCP/M 816 (on the adds in *this* month's Byte for
the Disk 1a, yet).
But, if Compupro had really released the operating system "in short
order", this would be a moot point. Uh, alas, they have not. My most
recent conversation with Compupro's marketing department yielded
information to the effect that CCP/M 816 would not be released until
1-July (I forgot to ask what year). The marketing person I spoke with
assured me that the product was ready for release, but Digital Research
was holding up the ball game. "Business reasons" were blamed.
Charlie, maybe you and I should book reservations in the same old folks'
home; that way there will be someone around in our mutual old age who
understands simulaneous hysterical laughter and rivers of mourning tears
at the product announcements of certain computer companies.
P.S. Jerry, if you're listening & could shed some light on these delays,
there will likely be many interested, if not eternally greatful,
readers. Also, you may save me from burying my favorite size nine
hatchet in some otherwise probably decent software.
MMoon.es@Xerox