You are getting this letter twice as, after typing it all out on the Electron and Acorn Plus 3 3 disk drive, the machine went on strike. Must be the Friday the 13th hoodoo. So you are now getting this copy on 80 Track DFS disk. Glad you have solved the problem with supplying these disks.
Incidentally, I did send you some copy on the cost of computing and the rapid financial depreciation on a PC for inclusion in EUG #24. Although the title appeared in the Letters file, the file was missing from the disk you sent me. I wasn't unduly proud of my effort so didn't bother to mention its omission specially. Presumably you will edit these opening two paragraphs though so I will now type today's letter as it was originally written.
Reading Terry Mulcahy's thoughts in EUG #27, that if he decided to buy a PC running Windows, could he load his BBC ASCII work processed files into it? Well, I do not think he could. If that hope is governing Terry's thoughts, I wouldn't take the risk with a newish PC. With an IBM XT PC from about ten years ago, it is possible and there have been numerous articles in Solinet and the 8BS magazine.
I own a PC (a 486) with 8 Meg of memory and a 270 Meg Hard Disk drive. I have been told that "Windows 95" does not like applications and programs of yesteryear. As "Windows 3" (etc) has been in six years, "95" seems happy with those programs produced in that era and I must say quite a lot produced under DOS. However, when computer friends (?) start giving away DOS programs to you, you know that generosity is not the motive. Well, at least the programs were given away!
Should Terry decide to go ahead and buy a PC, with a new PC the Hard Disk is usually a big one with adequate memory. Should he be considering second hand, the size of the Hard Disk and memory should be of greater consideration than the price. Any Hard Disk under 540Mb and memory under 8 Meg is not worth buying these days. With the disks and CDs given away free (?) with a magazine that can cost nearly £5, all the progams and applications want to install themselves automatically onto one's Hard Disk, melting away what space there is.
With 248 Meg spoken for on my hard disk, it is not that I cannot afford these magazines, I cannot afford the memory!
Anyway, if anyone does have any problems with any EUG disk, either with a missing file or a game/utility not running properly then please do contact me. I have said it before. I am very patient and I can take all the criticism that anyone cares to make. If I make mistakes with EUG and no-one tells me then I can't fix the problem and I may make the same mistake again.
I can't of course promise to solve all problems and sometimes I don't see something as a problem at all. Spelling, for instance. But please do write or telephone.
1st October 1996