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Recommendations for a GUI on an 8086

A

allCAPPS

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Does anyone have suggestions for a graphical environment or GUI OS for an 8086 with 640K of RAM?

The GE/OS doesn't need to be useful; I'd just be installing it for kicks and the novelty of poking around in it. The only ones I can think of are Windows 1.0, 2.0, GEM (not sure what versions since I don't know the system requirements), and maybe OS/2 1.x (?).

>>>For those who are curious, I'm running a PS/2 Model 30 from 1989: 8086 @ 8MHz, 640K, 20MB ESDI HDD, 720K floppy, MCGA graphics.​
 
Forget OS/2 - it needs a 286.
You can try Windows 3.0, but it won't be fast.
There's also GEOS/GeoWorks.
 
Definitely Deskmate. Windows 2 should work well enough as well (probably better that Windows 10 does anyway)
 
Here is GEM loaded from floppy on an IBM 5150 running Hercules Graphics and using a Mouse Systems PC Mouse. The biggest challenge of getting this working was finding the mouse AND special mouse pad. This legacy optical mouse needs a special pad to work, because of the pattern printed on it. (M. Brutman has a webpage describing making your own BTW)

gem1.jpg gem2.jpg
 
Despite the needed the special mouse pad, Mouse Systems mice were nice because they were optical. GEM does support other mouse types. For those few that need Mouse Systems protocol compatible mice, many generic 3-button serial mice internally supported that, activated by a switch, holding down a button, or jumpering a wire on the chip.
 
Here is a short snippet from a FAQ which describes how to use GEM without a mouse, by using keyboard shortucts. I am only posting this here because it took me a lot of searching to finally find this information! Michael

***************************************************************************
2.4 Can I run OpenGEM without a mouse?
***************************************************************************

Yes, although GEM is best experienced with a mouse, graphics tablet or
some kind of pointing device, it is sometimes necessary to run it without
such assistance; older laptops being one example.

To allow the cursor to be moved using the cursor (arrow) keys, first
press [CTRL] + [SHIFT]. This should return a beep on the PC speaker.
Mouse operations can now be emulated as follows:

Click: Press [HOME] key
Doubleclick: Press [HOME] key twice
Drag: Press & release [END] key
Use arrow keys to move
Press [HOME] key to finish

Shift-Click: Use arrow keys to select first icon
Press & release [HOME] key
Use arrow keys to select next icon
Press [SHIFT] & [HOME] to select
Repeat as required...
 
I went looking through the online list of shareware/freeware GUIs. Except for GEM derivatives, all the ones I have found are for the 80286 or later CPUs.
 
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