[Coco] model 4 cp/m

[Willard Goosey]

>Date: Fri, 05 Jan 2007 21:51:04 -0600
>From: Joel Ewy <jcewy at swbell.net>
>
>I have a 128K Model 4 that I may not even have powered on.  It looks to
>be in fine shape, at least cosmetically.  But I don't have any software
>for it whatsoever.  If I were to look for some, which of the way too
>many operating systems would you suggest playing with.  CP/M is one of
>the obvious choices.  What else?

As a Model 4, the main OS is LS-DOS 6.3.  TRS-DOS 6.x is an older,
licensed version.  Most CP/M software is for CP/M 2.2,  but you can
also run CP/M 3 (aka CP/M+) and there is some CP/M 3 software out
there.

In Model III mode, I recomend LDOS 5, from the same people who did
LS-DOS.  It boots up quick and uses the same disk format as LS-DOS.
You will also need TRS-DOS 1.3, unfortunately.  It's slow,
clumbersome, and doesn't know about dates after 1987, and its what all
the Tandy software shipped under.  

Model III CP/M versions had to be so badly hacked to run on the
hardware that they're not worth messing with.

As far as the other Model III operating systems go, you'll have to
play with them and decide for yourself.  They have various internal
differences while still (mostly?) remaining compatable at the software
level. 

Now, I'm not what you'd call a Model III/4 guru, so this is mostly
just my humble opinion.

Willard
-- 
Willard Goosey  goosey at sdc.org
Socorro, New Mexico, USA
"I've never been to Contempt!  Isn't that somewhere in New Mexico?"
   --- Yacko