> It's possible they managed to do some rudimentary multitasking with DESQview (or worse...) and so supported two whole users with each box. Does that mean they had to be at least 386s to do protected mode? Or was it virtual 8086 mode? I (fortunately) have forgotten the finer points of how that stuff used to work. I DO remember how damn crashy a box became when you ran it "under DV". Constant system freezes. Yep.

I don't recall DESQview to be all that crashy. I was aware of a number multi-line BBSes that used it (just in the 416). Some BBS software called out its use specifically:

* https://www.synchro.net/docs/multnode_config.html

* http://software.bbsdocumentary.com/IBM/DOS/OMEGA/

Also, a comment from someone whose uncle co-founded the company Quarterdeck:

* https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29396561#unv_29400530

Also, also, if anyone wants to simulate the old-school DESQview experience, perhaps try out "twin":

* https://opensource.com/article/20/1/multiple-consoles-twin

* https://github.com/cosmos72/twin

▲

bink 5 hours ago | parent | next [-]

DESQview was absolutely not crashy. I ran several different types of BBS software in it without issues. The "DESQview (or worse...)" comment raised the hair on the back of my neck. DESQview was revolutionary at the time and I was annoyed at having to use Windows many years later.

ASCII windows may not have been everyone's cup of tea but I loved it.

	▲	EmmEff 4 hours ago \| parent \| next [-]
		I recall running Opus (or maybe the predecessor whose name escapes me) under DESQview on my lousy XT clone. I don’t recall it being crashy but it certainly didn’t have enough horsepower to handle the BBS software and an interactive DOS window. I couldn’t afford a second machine in those days and having to sacrifice my one and only PC for the full-time BBS wasn’t fun :)
	▲	throw0101c 3 hours ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		> DESQview was revolutionary at the time and I was annoyed at having to use Windows many years later. I remember running Win3.11 with-in a DESQview window (and IIRC there was a full-screen mode as well).

▲

driverdan 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

I used DESQview with my BBS. It only had one line but I ran a second local node so I could be online at the same time as my users. I don't remember ever having any problems with it.