What Operating System would you use to power a lethal android sent from the future… or an awesome, law-enforcement cyborg?

If you said Linux, UNIX, or some sort of Real-Time embedded OS… you’d be wrong.

The answer is... DOS.  And MacOS.  Seriously.

And we have boot screens, from both RoboCop and The Terminator, to prove it.

RoboCop

In the 1987 classic, RoboCop, the titular cyborg is powered by, you guessed it, DOS.

Want proof? Check out this screengrab from the film where RoboCop is booting up his systems:

COMMAND.COM. CONFIG.SYS. An .EXE file.

Yep. There can be no doubt… RoboCop runs DOS.

But… which DOS? MS-DOS? PC-DOS? DR-DOS?

Honestly… it’s darn near impossible to tell based on this screenshot. It’s definitely not FreeDOS (as that was created after RoboCop)… but, otherwise, it could be any of a number of different MS/PC compatible DOS systems.

My money is on PC-DOS. RoboCop just feels like he would be an IBM guy. The guys that built RoboCop did wear neck ties, after all.

The Terminator

In 1984's "The Terminator", Arnold Schwarzenegger -- I mean... the T-800 -- was sent back in time.  From 2029 to 1984.

Which begs the question: What Operating System would a robot be running in 2029?

Let's find out!

That, right there, is from the point of view of the T-800 model Terminator. You’ll note the 6502 Assembly code on the screen… including comments! This is clearly taken from software intended to run on an Apple II.

So the T-800 was a 6502 powered Apple II.  Most likely powered by Apple DOS 3.3 (as that was the most widely used version).

Now.  To answer the question that is, obviously, on your mind: Yes.  The T-800 Terminator could run Oregon Trail.

But, what about other Terminator models?

Back in 2003, we saw the third installment of the Terminator franchise: “Terminator 3 - Rise of the Machines”.

In the third movie, Schwarzenegger plays a T-101 model Terminator -- specifically a "Cyber Research Systems Model 101 Series 850 Infiltration-Combat Unit" -- sent from the future (naturally).

What software is powering the T-101?  Luckily, at one point during the film, he needs to reboot. And we are treated to a very brief shot of the boot status screen.

At first glance, this appears to be just a mess of barely decipherable computer techno-jargon. But, if I can direct your attention to the lower left side of the “RESTART” screen, you’ll notice some recognizable items…

ENHANCE!

What's that I see?

“QUICKTIME PLAYER”?

“CONTROL STRIP”?

Wait just a second! What we have here are the names of Extensions of classic Mac OS (the pre-OS X stuff)! And “ODBC Setup PPC” is a classic MacOS control panel for PPC based Macs!

But, what version -- exactly -- of Mac OS would robots of the future use to power their most lethal fighting machines? Well. There’s one clue that helps to narrow it down:

“KEYCHAIN ACCESS”.

The “Keychain” functionality of Mac OS was added in MacOS 8.6. Meaning that the version of MacOS being booted on this T-101 Terminator would need to be between MacOS 8.6 and MacOS 9.2.2 (the very last version before Apple completely discontinued the classic Mac system).

In other news, if you hooked a T-101 Terminator up to a monitor, and plugged in a keyboard and mouse (I’m assuming there’s an ADB or USB port on him somewhere)… this is likely what you would get:

In summary:

• RoboCop runs DOS.
• The original Terminator is built on a 6502 based Apple II.
• The Terminator model from Terminator 3 runs MacOS 8.6 on a PowerPC architecture.

One thing is crystal clear: SkyNet is an Apple fan.

In March of 1987, Apple held an event at the Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles.

That event, “AppleWorld ‘87”, was where Apple announced two of the most critical Macintosh hardware updates in history: The Macintosh II and the Mac SE.

The Macintosh II, in particularly, was a big move for Apple. For multiple reasons:

• The very first Macintosh without a built-in monitor.

• The very first Macintosh capable of color graphics.

• The first Macintosh (along with the SE) to use the ADB (Apple Desktop Bus) for connecting peripherals like keyboards. (ADB was first introduced 6 months earlier with the Apple IIgs.)

• The first “modular” Macintosh — with multiple drive bays and six NuBus expansion slots (which could drive up to six monitors at once).

That’s a heck of a lot of firsts.

Fun historical tidbit: Steve Jobs was opposed to the Macintosh line having color displays. He felt that everything displayed on a Macintosh must be able to be printed on a standard printer (he was an avid believer in true WYSIWYG). And, since color printers were rare, Jobs was firmly opposed to a color display on a Macintosh.

 

Steve Jobs was also opposed to expansion slots, of any kind, in a Macintosh. Jobs felt strongly that the Macintosh should be a sealed box — not user serviceable or upgradeable — with no internal expandability, relying solely on serial ports for accessories.

 

To get around this… the Macintosh II project was started, in 1985, completely without Jobs’ knowledge. After Jobs was forced out of Apple, later that same year, the project became more prominent.

The next year, in 1988, Apple would announce the second operating system for the Macintosh II: A/UX.

A/UX, Apple’s first release of a UNIX based operating system, was absolutely fascinating. A full, multitasking UNIX — running on a Mac II — with Macintosh System Software running on top. Which means you could run both UNIX and Mac software, side by side, a full decade before the first release of Mac OS X (OS X Server 1.0, in 1999).

Want to know something even more crazy?

Not only could the Macintosh II run “Macintosh System Software” and “A/UX”… but there was also a NuBus expansion card called “Mac286” that added an entire 286 DOS computer to the Mac II.

The Mac286 was two big NuBus cards, connected together with a ribbon cable. One card containing the 286 CPU, the second card containing the memory and drive controller. 1 MB of RAM, CGA display, and full access to the Macintosh hard drive (via a “D:” that provided access to the Mac hard drive).

Yeah. That’s right. Mac OS, UNIX, and DOS. All on the same rig. Awesome.

Ok. Back to AppleWorld 1987.

Below is the keynote from the event, with the new hardware being introduced by Jean-Louis Gassée — who was, at the time, a Vice President at Apple. I highly recommend watching this keynote in full. It is a gateway into a critical time in computer history.

One fun Jean-Louis Gassée tidbit:

During Memorial Day weekend of 1985, John Sculley (who was the CEO of Apple at the time), was in travelling China. Steve Jobs, who was feeling super grumpy at Sculley, hatched a plan to remove Sculley from the Company. Well, Jean-Louis Gassée, who was the Director of European Operations for Apple, found out about Steve Jobs’ dastardly plan. What did Gassée do? He told the board of Apple, who were not too pleased with Jobs (to put it mildly). This directly led to Steve Jobs getting the boot from Apple.

John Sculley then appointed Gassée to be the new head of Macintosh Development… Steve Jobs’ old role. Brutal, right?

During his time in the role, Gassée would introduce the Mac II, and create the Macintosh laptop line… starting with the Macintosh Portable. It could be argued that Gassée had a bigger impact on what the Macintosh would become… than even Jobs himself.

Gassée would later go on to found Be, inc., and create the legendary BeOS. The impact he has had on the broader computer industry is nothing short of astounding.

Fun side note: There was a period of time, during the late 1980s were Apple was producing four distinct operating Systems:

• ProDOS for the Apple II line (including IIgs)

• GS/OS for the Apple IIgs

• Macintosh System Software (before it became known as Mac OS)

• and A/UX (Apple’s UNIX version)

Four Operating Systems from Apple.  Plus the ability to run DOS via an expansion card.  And two completely different computer architectures -- both with similar, color graphical interface -- competing for survival (the Macintosh II and the Apple IIgs).

It was a crazy few years at Apple.

During that same time, Steve Jobs -- after getting the boot from Apple -- was off building NeXTStep… which would eventually get tweaked and renamed to MacOS X. (But that… is a different story.)

On April 16, 1977, something amazing happened. An even that would shape the personal computer industry for years to come…

The first “West Coast Computer Faire” kicked off in San Francisco, California.

Organized by Jim Warren (editor of “Dr Dobb’s Journal of Calisthenics and Orthodontia” — the original name of the legendary “Dr Dobb’s Journal”) and Bob Reiling (editor of “The Homebrew Computer Club Newsletter”).

The event was also promoted — with a full page spread — in the December, 1976 issue of BYTE Magazine.

The list of companies, magazines, and computer clubs already confirmed to be attending — a full 4+ months before the event — reads like a who’s who of luminaries and pioneers in the world of personal computing.

Apple Computer (listed as Apple Computers), Zilog, MITS, Osborne, MOS, and so many more.

Boy howdy, word spread quickly.

Over 12 Thousand people attended the first Computer Faire — more than double the number planned for — making this the largest event in computer history up to this point (by a long shot).

Jim Warren, one of the organizers of the event, recalls that first day this way:

“We had these lines running all around the [CENSORED]ing building and nobody was irritated. Nobody was pushy. We didn’t know what we were doing and the exhibitors didn’t know what they were doing and the attendees didn’t know what was going on, but everybody was excited and congenial and undemanding and it was a tremendous turn-on. People just stood and talked—‘Oh, you’ve got an Altair? Far out!’ ‘You solved this problem?’ And nobody was irritated.”

Introduction of the Apple ][

By nearly every account of the event, the Apple II was the computer that generated the most excitement and the largest crowds. People were truly excited to see an Apple II in action for the first time.

The event was dramatized in the film “The Pirates of Silicon Valley”, which contained the following scene depicting the moment the doors opened, on the first day of the West Coast Computer Faire:

While that’s obviously all been exaggerated for dramatic effect, this does appear to be (based on every account I’ve heard) a somewhat accurate retelling of that particular moment in time. And did, in fact, include Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, Bill Gates, and Paul Allen (along with so many others).

To say the Apple II introduction was a hit would be a mammoth understatement. The very next month, Wozniak would publish a detailed introduction to the Apple II in the May issue of BYTE Magazine… and the Apple II line would go on to sell close to 6 million computers and be in production for almost 17 years. (Making it one of the longest produced personal computer lines.)

If this moment in history had not occurred… would Apple (then “Apple Computer”) even exist today?

Introduction of the Commodore PET

The Apple II wasn’t the only computer introduced that day which was powered by the MOS 6502 CPU…

Commodore Business Machines — which had just recently purchase MOS (the company behind the 6502 processor) — was unveiling the Commodore PET 2001:

Who was there to do the unveiling? None other than Chuck Peddle, himself — the main designer of the 6502 CPU and the Commodore PET. Absolute legend.

The crowds weren’t quite as excited about the PET as they were the Apple II, however. The color graphics and sound of the Apple II really grabbed the attention of the conference goers (the PET only had a monochrome screen).

Just the same, the Commodore PET series laid the groundwork for the VIC-20 and Commodore 64 (which would become the best selling computer model of all time, moving upwards of 17 million units).

Fun bit of trivia: Commodore was this close to purchasing Apple Computer outright before all of this took place. Commodore decided to not go through with the purchase and, instead, built their own computers based on the 6502.

There surprisingly few pictures…

One thing about many of these early — and historically significant — events in computer history: Not a lot of pictures.

The 1977 West Coast Computer Faire, despite being the largest Personal Computer event to have occurred — with thousands in attendance — is no exception to that rule. In fact, many pictures that are often passed off as “Steve Jobs at the 1977 Computer Faire” are actually from later years. The same is true of Bill Gates and Paul Allen (who also attended in the years that followed).

Some of the best, verifiable pictures (although low resolution) came from an article on the 1977 event in Creative Computing Magazine (lovingly preserved by AtariArchives.org). Which I highly recommend reading as an in-person account of this legendary event.