Why a Linux User Is Using Windows 3.1 415
colinneagle writes "About two weeks back, I was using my Android tablet and looking for a good graphics editor. I wanted something with layers and good text drawing tools. That's when it hit me. We already have that. Photoshop used to run on Windows 3.1. And Windows 3.1 runs great under both DOSBox and QEMU, both of which are Open Source emulators available for Android and every other platform under the sun. So I promptly set to work digging up an old copy of Photoshop. The last version released for Windows 3.1 was back in 1996. And finding a working copy proved to be...challenging. Luckily, the good folks at Adobe dug around in their vaults and managed to get me up and running. And, after a bit of tweaking, I ended up with an astoundingly functional copy of Photoshop that I can now run on absolutely every device I own. And the entire environment (fonts, working files and all) are automatically backed up to the cloud and synced between systems. But what other applications (and, potentially, games) does this give me access to? How far can I take this?"
Take my advice on this: (Score:5, Interesting)
Try to setup and use OS/2 Warp 3.0.
THE BEST environment to run Win16 and Win32s Applications I ever had.
This beast used to run CorelDraw WITHOUT A SINGLE CRASH for hours. Honest.
(I still have my very own original Box, witth the CDs and the instructions about how to use GOPHER to fetch that fantastic Nescape 3.0 for OS/2!)
Is colinneagle some kind of VIP? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Old software? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's a pity Slashdot doesn't let you delete comments when you realize how badly you goofed :)
Gimped Irony (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:... so. (Score:4, Interesting)
Not really.
Although it does say something about people that like to pretend that they are Photoshop users.
I am sure that the professional artists that actually use Photoshop and don't just talk about Photoshop aren't nearly as thick.
Re:Old software? (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:I've done this with Dosbox too but... (Score:5, Interesting)
Wow... these comments make up a lot of assumptions about my character. What's with all the hostility? One guy called me a cunt! What's next, threats?
Look, you can cobble together a solution for yourself, nothing is wrong with that. I wasn't intending to make it sounds like that was a bad thing.
I'm just saying, pay attention to when you have to do it and you'll see some room for potential invention. The old tablets were a solution looking for a problem - we wern't ready for them yet, and they wern't really good enough for us yet. Now that we're getting used to tablets with the new, cheap consumer oriented models, we're looking for something with more power. We're cobling together our own solutions. I recognize the Surface Pro because I really want one (fuck me right?), it has a pressure sensitive stylus, the same HD4000 from the Mac Mini's, and a real version of Windows that can run both the new and old style of programs. I believe now is the time for just such a device, and the field is wide open on that platform as far as applications are concerned.
You guys can downvote me if you want, it doesn't bother me because I know it's a knee jerk reaction against M$ and capitalists or whatever and I wasn't even thinking about it like that.
Re:I've done this with Dosbox too but... (Score:4, Interesting)
Considering how awful most people consider Windows 8 anytime anyone makes a post mentioning that they like or would recommend Windows 8 to anyone the first thought is Shill.
It's a knee jerk reaction, and although Windows 8 sucks in so many ways, I can understand that you aren't a shill, you just like something that everyone who has used considers crap.
Re:BS (Score:4, Interesting)
Every so often you see someone driving a '70s F250 Hi Boy, or a mid 80s K20, or an early 90s Dodge Cummins. But hint: they are rare
Cars wear out, and parts become increasingly difficult to find.
I'd still be driving my 81 Rabbit Diesel if it hadn't worn out and cost more to fix than it was worth.
Software doesn't wear out, though occasionally it does benefit from a re-install, which can be done for free.
Your Sun Ultra 60 example isn't even about software -- it's about hardware. And like cars, hardware wears out.
Mostly, I'm just saying that your analogy isn't very apt, as software and hardware are *very* different in this respect.
Of course, software suffers from not keeping up with the world around it. Office 97 is quite functional, but it can't load documents saved by newer versions of Office unless they explicitly saved in an old format, so that keeps people from using it even though it fits all their needs because of the people around them. But if your application doesn't require that you share files with others in incompatible formats, Office 97 may be just what you need.
Personally, I have to say "good for you" for the guy using the old Photoshop under Windows 3.1 under WINE. Though I would probably suggest that if Adobe hadn't been able to help him, the warez (or abandonwarez?) sites probably could.
Re:I've done this with Dosbox too but... (Score:2, Interesting)
We're nerds. We don't buy solutions, we create them.
Or more commonly, nerds run around trying to find problems for their current favorite solution.