> Sun's $50 "Rescue" software suite converts computers that use outdated
> 486 chips and Microsoft DOS into "virtual machines" that run Java. There
> are a slew of those dinosaurs out there. Roughly 40 percent of all PCs
> are still running DOS or Windows 3.1 (which runs on top of DOS). They
> don't have the power to run the latest graphical applications. They
> don't have the storage capacity to hold the 150MB Office 97. And they
> don't have the respect of your employees. (I can hear the whining from
> here.)
Wait, I thought Office 97 was 190MB...
> Good news: In theory, Sun's "Rescue" software means at last a longer,
> more useful life for these antiquated computers. You can move them
> downstream in your company. Where they can replace dumb terminals. Be
> used for heads-down applications such as order entry or inventory
> control.
So let me get this straight. A 486 IS an NC? NC is just a fancy name
for 486?
> Bad news: The "rescued" machine will not run your existing Windows
> applications.
This is bad news?
> It will be running a new operating system, the Java OS.
> Most of the applications and the power will be out on the server. Which
> means your 486 whiners are going to keep on whining. Maybe louder.
Maybe we can bleat out their noise.
> Your best bet? Give the salvaged machine to someone for whom it would be
> a step up, not down. To someone who has a dumb terminal now. Or someone
> who doesnt have a computer at all. The same person who would have
> appreciated a retro-fitted 8-track over no tunes at all.
This is also the kind of person who likes banging his head against the
wall because it feels so good when you stop.
----
adam@cs.caltech.edu
Owen will eat a mint and then will enjoy his fresh, minty breath.
-- David Letterman