Re: A modern C128 8-bit

My personal views on a modern C128 like machine - -

The smaller the better. As much ram as you want but there's only so
much register space I want to keep in my head for various hardware
functions. The basic concept of the C128 I like but it doesn't live up
to my dream (or maybe even it's own dream) of being dual processor.

My main influences right now are relational database systems and old
school arcade games.

The DOS could be built as a relational database from the ground up.
This improves searching and programmability. If some backward
compatible file system needs to be emulated it can be archived in a
framed format like the D64.

Right now there is no operating system that's based on relational
database principals, so unless you are acquainted with them you don't
realize how immediately useful this kind of systematic structuring
can be for all types of programming. In fact, the better you lay out
your tables and the more fine grained your attribute domains and
checks, the less you procedurally program. Just connect the right
fields and query.

But that's really an operating system idea.

Having hardware that can function independently and cooperatively
leads to more responsiveness, responsiveness that is hard to emulate
(if not impossible) even on uniprocessor systems going ten or more
times the speed.

To me backward compatability would be icing on the cake if it just
happened to fall into place by the work of some brilliant engineer. I
couldn't place it as a design requirement because there is so much I
dislike about the way the C128 operates. No dual processor mode, VDCs
write/wait/read, etc.

This wouldn't be a brand name system, it would be a system built from
the spirit of the older systems (C128 being one but not all). Not
trying to be a 'fun hobby project' computer, but something people
would really enjoy programming, working with and even putting it to
work.

It would be a 'preferred' platform for people who love the 8 bits (and
really DO think 8 bits is enough), who want to tweak on operating
systems written straight in assembly language, who would love to see a
revival of books and magazines slated for z80 and 6502 programming
with the enthusiasm of the 80s but a connection to the modern - for
the people who can still take this kind of thing seriously and develop
and bring about truly reliable and trustworthy systems for the
prosperity of others and themselves.

For those who are frankly sick of window, mac, and linux.



.

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