ttsnim wrote:Those systems were fantastic and I sort of miss them.
I must admit I actually don't. I started out as a kid on some early version of MacOS, then went on to DOS (5.0, I think) around the time I started grade school (on which I used used Windows 3.1 from time to time), got Windows 95 by 7th grade, and then started to moved on to Linux sometime during high school. DOS can make me nostalgic, but not Windows.
In hindsight, the Windows 95 period was the most hindering period of my life. Whenever I tried to write a program, I got bogged down just trying to figure out how the system was supposed to work and trying to get past weird APIs and what not; whenever I managed to do anything meaningful, I still did it in DOS. I can understand why Windows users so rarely learn to program -- it's not because they don't strictly "need" to, but rather because the system actively conspires to prevent them.
(As a wise man once said: Having a computer without knowing how to program is like having a gourmet kitchen and just using the microwave oven.)