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PocketDOS - 2021-10-13 6:24 PM
Some notes:
- Bochs emulator is very slow. A 486 chip is faster than a 186 chip because higher clock rate and better IPC. A 486 emulator is slower than a 186 emulator because it has to do more work.
- DOSBox emulator is faster than Bochs emulator, but still slower than PocketDOS 186 emulator. Also, due to some unresolved issues in the DOSBox plugin, the plugin doesn't work as well as Bochs.
- 1Mb XMS can be provided for 186 emulation because of x86 hardware quirks. A real 186 can't support XMS. XMS is managed extended memory.
- There is an EMS driver, it's going to be faster than paging to disk because it pages to memory. It's going to be slower than XMS because pages must be copied.
- You can purchase a PocketDOS license by making contact via email (and doing a payment via PayPal). There is no automated store that will do the small amount of transactions needed for PocketDOS licenses.
- Unless there is a massive uptick in interest/sales, there won't be any further development on PocketDOS, as the number of sales doesn't warrant it.
Thanks for the clarifications; I see how the emulated 486 is not viable at this point, considering how old the Jornada CPU is.
Dosbox to me seems to run as fast as pocketDOS; but I didn't run reliable benchmarks though, so I could be wrong.
I am considering the license if there is a workflow I can implement. As now I see pocketDOS being viable for some work in the ide but it is quite cumbersome in some ways. My concern was mainly related to lack of proper system for transactions. I sell my software too and I do not sell large volumes, but I have a full transaction system in place; which is a peace of mind for me and for the ones that entrust their money to buy what I make. I totally understand that the situation here is totally different, even because as you said, no updates are worth if there are not enough sales. This may be the last application still sold for a retro-device; the last was WHDLoad for the Amiga; which eventually ended up becoming free, even if people were still buying licenses for it.
Thanks for sharing those info