GG> JG> (I know old post), but was just thinking about what you said...  Yes, I   
   GG> JG> agree   
   GG> JG> with you in that Commodore Computers where decent.  For the most part,   
   GG> JG> all of   
   GG> JG> them...   
      
   GG> JG> 1. VIC-20 -- Very Expandable, nice games, cheap as heck even in its own   
   GG> JG> time,   
   GG> JG>              easy to get started out (can start off with a tape drive,   
   GG> JG> get a   
   GG> JG>              disk drive, add a modem, add another disk drive, upgrade   
   to   
   GG> JG> the   
   GG> JG>              Commodore 64.....   
      
   GG>That is true.  When you are done you do have a C-64.  :)   
       While I have seen some Vic-20's expanded out to have pretty much the   
   "power" of a Commodore 64, or better.  From a programming point of view,   
   a Vic-20 expanded will never be a Commodore 64, though I do understand   
   what your saying.... Buy a Commodore 64 and you now have a C-64... ;-).   
   Funny how they did the Vic-20 expansions...  Everything changes every   
   time you expand the memory... Basic memory moves, I think the video   
   memory moves, where as the Commodore 64, you add a memory card and you   
   basically swap the memory in and out of areas normally used for machine   
   language programs.  No major changes when you upgrade the Commodore 64.   
   Now if you want to upgrade, go to the Commodore 128D, when your done,   
   you have a Commodore 64, Commodore 128, CP/M Computer, and technically   
   any operating system you can run on the Z80 CPU.  They've even had some   
   real geniuses that in Machine Language would load the Z80 CPU with   
   instructions and then switch back and forth from Z80 and the 6502.   
      
   GG> JG> 3. C128/128D -- CP/M mode -- Not popular in its time, 128 mode,   
   again GG> JG> not that GG> JG>                 popular in its time...   
   GEOS128/GEOS64, 64 mode .... Very GG> JG>                 very popular,   
   had the C128d been continued, it could GG> JG> have been GG> JG>   
   the Macintosh of today.  Who knows, Bill gates might not GG> JG> have GG>   
   JG>                 gotten where he is today.....   
      
   GG>Huh.. did they have a GUI at some point?   
       GEOS128 and GEOS64 both where GUI and Mouse driven.  Matter of fact,   
   since you mention it, GEOS64 looked a lot like early Macintosh   
   computers!  They actually came out with a new Mouse when GEOS came out,   
   such that they had 2 Mice for the Commodore.  One worked like a true   
   mouse, the other worked basically as a Joystick that you slide   
   around.... ;-)   
      
      
   GG> JG> 4. C64c   -- O.k. We're back-stepping a bit.... Going back to the C64   
   GG> JG> with a   
   GG> JG>              high-tech look and a cooler design... About the only good   
   is   
   GG> JG>              it was cheaper than the 128 and basically they stopped   
   GG>selling   
   GG> JG>              the original c64's....  Otherwise the same as #2   
      
   GG>Never heard of this.  What was it?   
      The C64c was the same old C64 everyone knew and owned, but later,   
   after the C128 came out, they started shipping the C64c's which had a   
   slimmer kinda low-profile case like the C128, but not as wide.  The   
   computer had like 1-2 locations you could peek and determine if it was a   
   C64c, but otherwise the ROM was almost identical to the C64, and had a   
   newer power supply that stayed cooler than the older brick.  I believe   
   they made a 1541 disk drive that was low-profiled like the 1571 to match   
   it, but most folks just used the 1571.  Basically, it looked cooler, ran   
   cooler because of the better designed case, and the keyboard for most   
   people felt better.   
      
   GG> JG> Various Amiga's   
      
   GG>Amiga truly is an aquired taste.   It's capible, and in the right hands   
   GG>flexible, but not for the common wallets.   
       I've seen some demos done with an Amiga that where impressive, but   
   the only Amiga I got to play with once was I believe an Amiga 500 from a   
   place for handicapped children.  I forget exactly how we got to mess   
   with it, but a friend was upgrading a bunch of computers and they had   
   some Amiga's we got to play with for a few days...  Didn't really know   
   what to do with them, but what I was able to do on them, the graphics   
   wasn't impressive.... Like 64-128 colors at best.  I don't know enough   
   on the CPU to be able to tell you how powerful or easy it is, don't know   
   enough on the hardware capabilities.  I'm assuming the fancy demos where   
   done by switching video modes back and forth before the video card   
   finished drawing the screen, much like the Commodore 64.  This would   
   allow you to draw using billions of colors, but be limited to a given   
   pallet of 64 or 128 during 1 scan line, if done properly.  I'm guessing   
   it's kinda like the mac, using a Motorolla 68000 Based CPU?  From a   
   programmer's point of view, this CPU is as far as you can get from the   
   Intel 80x86.  The 6502/6510 was probably closer to the 68k CPU's in a   
   way, and I believe may have been made by motorolla, but can't get anyone   
   to confirm it.  The 68k was known as a RISC processor, while the Intel   
   is a CISC.  I'm not sure if they consider the 6502 a RISC or not, but it   
   somewhat seemed like a RISC CPU from a programmer's point of view....   
   RISC means you have a small set of instructions, while CISC has much   
   more.  RISC typically allow you to run multiple instructions at a time,   
   which the 6502 could not do, so it was more like the CISC in that   
   aspect.  But the 6502 had no divide or multiply instructions, so to   
   multiply or divide you had to repeat add and subtracts in a loop to   
   (Continued to next message)   
      
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