Re: Possible web browser?

[supertimer@aol.com (Supertimer)]

Roy and/or Janet Miller <millers@inetnebr.com> wrote:

>The GEOS people created an operating system/GUI for the IBM that would
>multitask on the humble 4.77 mhz 8088 (slowly). Currently they offer the
>latest version with a graphical web browser, email, web editor and IRC
>and the whole mess will work on an 80286. www.newdealinc.com if you want
>to look at it. Hmmm, isn't the //gs about as powerful as an IBM AT??

I've tested the stock IIGS against the original IBM AT 8Mhz, the
IBM XT at 4.77Mhz, and the PC Transporter, a Turbo XT emulator
card that runs inside the IIGS which runs at 10Mhz with an
8086 compatible processor.  I've run GeoWorks, the OS you
refer to, on all three using a CGA and a Hercules card which
closely simulated the amount of screen data the computer has
to contend with.  Even when moving LESS screen data around,
the ALL three PCs run GeoWorks much slower than a stock
IIGS can run GS/OS and the IIGS GUI.

However, the latest version of GeoWorks will run acceptably
on say a 25Mhz 80286.

The stock IIGS is comparable to the an 8Mhz (probably a
10Mhz or 12Mhz judging from my tests) 80286, but a 286 of
a higher clock speed will be faster.

Then there is the issue of memory.  As another user wrote,
the software you refer to decompresses in real time into
memory.  You could probably fit SIS, Spectrum, Marinetti,
and GS/OS into say 2.3MB and compress the thing down
to 1.44MB, then set up a RAM disk on the IIGS and
decompress it to the RAM disk before running.

The problem: the standard IIGS drive is only 800k.

Is it doable on 1.44MB disks?  Yes.  800k?  Probably not
enough storage.

Since 4MB is the standard on the IIGS these days, the
memory issue is not a problem.