George R.R. Martin Writes Everything in DOS

[redvamp128]

More like XModem (or Zmodem if he's really advanced).

-Forjo

No...

 

I know ...

\

[Mathachew Veteran]

Using DOS helps him focus on writing, yet it took 11 years to publish two books that started off as a single massive one. Patrick Rothfuss must be taking note.

[Dick Montage]

only because most peopel think that backlilght inttensity and contrast should both be at 100.

 

What kind of fool sets their monitor up like that?  People who want to blink and ruin their retinas?

[greenwizard88]

I use "Writeroom" or Office in full screen mode if I want formatting.

[PGHammer]

More like XModem (or Zmodem if he's really advanced).

-Forjo

More likely ZModem (especially if he is using Procomm Plus for DOS or the old QModem).

 

While both QModem and Procomm Plus have devolved into abandonware, both were hot stuff in the BBS heyday (both were bundled with modems up to V.92 - both internal AND external; both would even make the trip to Windows as well).

 

Between 1992 and 1995, BBSes - not the Internet - were the biggest reason to have a dial-up modem, and most of them were local in nature.  While some local BBSes did have gatewaways to the Internet, such were far from common, even in major matropolitan areas, in 1992.  (They did become MORE common in 1994 and 1995, after CompuServe and AOL established their own online service-to-Internet gateways.  MSN started as competition to both services, and included an Internet gateway as standard, and went live simultaneously with Windows 95 - literally on the same date.)  Before MSN's beta period, I used a local BBS with an Internet gateway to download intermediate Windows 95 betas via a two-stage process - first stage was from Microsoft's FTP server to the BBS, then from the BBS to my PC - basically using the BBS as a giant buffer/server.  The first leg was via FTP, while the second leg used the ZModem file transfer protocol because it didn't try to compress precompressed files, such as Windows CABinet files.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

There's some physics as to how the photoreceptors work that makes black more straining. 

Are you able to cite some studies?

 

As a programmer I stare at screens for 10+ hours a day and I use black/dark backgrounds with light text as much as possible as I get far less eye strain at the end of the day.

[Max Norris]

While both QModem and Procomm Plus have devolved into abandonware, both were hot stuff in the BBS heyday (both were bundled with modems up to V.92 - both internal AND external; both would even make the trip to Windows as well).

Just for giggles/nostalgia, SyncTerm does all the usual BBS bells and whistles plus has more modern Internet related features as well, still actively supported for all major platforms. (Not DOS though.)  Kind of miss the BBS days, used run run a 6 line back in the 80's, fun stuff.  Then that new fangled Internet fad came along. Switched from a huge phone bill to a huge Internet bill, don't miss the per-minute connection charges.. pretty expensive back then.

[PGHammer]

Just for giggles/nostalgia, SyncTerm does all the usual BBS bells and whistles plus has more modern Internet related features as well, still actively supported for all major platforms. (Not DOS though.)  Kind of miss the BBS days, used run run a 6 line back in the 80's, fun stuff.  Then that new fangled Internet fad came along. Switched from a huge phone bill to a huge Internet bill, don't miss the per-minute connection charges.. pretty expensive back then.

Not exactly news - it wouldn't surprise me anymore than HyperTerminal Plus - the shareware, and later freeware, upgrade for HyperTerminal - did.

HyperTerminal was one of those "etcetera" programs included with Windows 95 (and later NT4WS) when it launched.  It could be used for BBS dial-up or as a terminal emulator; however, it had two deliberate lacks (to avoid being accused of anticompetitive bundling) - it didn't support the Zmodem protocol, and it didn't provide full DEC VTxxx terminal emulation; the later shareware/freeware HyperTerminal Plus fixed both of those flaws.  (If you are thinking about HyperModem (both the transfer protocol AND the company), you'd be right on both ticks - that was the company behind all three products and the OS/2-based HyperBBS software.)

 

SyncTerm is, in fact, still around, complete with a full Win32 installer and Windows 8+ compatibility (the current version now requires the VC++ 2010 runtimes).  SyncTerm homepage - http://syncterm.bbsdev.net/

[Max Norris]

SyncTerm is, in fact, still around, complete with a full Win32 installer and Windows 8+ compatibility (the current version now requires the VC++ 2010 runtimes).  SyncTerm homepage - http://syncterm.bbsdev.net/

Yea maybe I wasn't clear with what I wrote, but that's what I meant ("still actively supported") also for other OS's too.  Was just tossing that out there as a current viable option as it not only supports the old stuff like X, Y & ZModem, but newer Internet oriented protocols as well, Rlogin, SSH etc.

[Tomoko]

There are plenty of ways to get the files off an old DOS computer besides floppy disks. You could hook it up to your LAN, save them to an external hard drive, CompactFlash or SD memory cards using an IDE adapter, there is even CD burning software for DOS. The biggest problem would be with the old proprietary file format that WordStar uses and having to find some way to convert it into something more modern. Maybe he just prints hard copies though.

[astropheed Veteran]

If anyone is interested, I found a program called Q10 which is really quite good at this sort of thing. Black background, low contrast yellowish text. very minimalist. I am now using it for writing.

[Obi-Wan Kenobi]

If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

This is the sort of reason that people don't move on to the latest operating system. And in Martin's case, he's doing it the right way by keeping the machine off of the Internet. Good for him.

Very well put! (y)