[Coco] rom basics

[Ward Griffiths]

On 06/17/2004 04:22 am, Willard Goosey wrote:

> I know at some point, Tandy and Microsoft had a falling-out about
> BASIC, which is why Microware got saddled with the CoCo 3 BASIC
> modifications.  But I don't know how the timing there relates to the
> major releases of Microsoft BASIC.

Tandy and Microslough didn't fall out over BASIC.  There were a number 
of other factors.  Frank Durda has given a goodly number of history 
lessons on comp.sys.tandy, you might ought to read them.

Coco3 BASIC was later than the early GWBASIC.  The 6809 version was 
faster than the 8088 flavor.  Hell, the Coco 1 BASIC left IBM PC BASIC 
in the dust, as I demonstrated to the salesdrones at my RSCC and the 
twits from several other computer stores after the T1k came out and I 
could actually demonstrate the two CPUs next to each other.  (Of 
course, the T2k was also handy, that left the PC/AT behind when the AT 
came out a year later).

> >	Anyone know anthing about the TI 99/4a? This was a 64k
> >REAL 16-bit system. There are a bunch of them on EBay.

We've got several in the house, one still in shrink-wrap.  They're my 
wife's, I don't deal with them.  Last time I touched a TI/99 was back 
around 1981 when I noticed it had the slowest BASIC interpreter on the 
planet.  I did a loop to count to a hundred and I got there first 
counting out loud.  La Esposa has a soft spot for them because she 
credits a tape-based algebra tutorial on her first one with getting her 
through the math requirement so she could get her nursing degree.
-- 
Ward Griffiths    wdg3rd at comcast.net    http://home.comcast.net/~wdg3rd/

No phrase sickens me more than the pious "'Tis God's will" and I must be
hearing it in one form or another at least twenty times a day.
    --  Richard Cowper, "The Hertsford Manuscript", F&SF Oct '76 p31col2