> or told me GCC existed for DOS/Windows

DJGPP rhide and allegro that was my gateway drug!

Once Borland started its eventual decline, this was a really awesome way to do a lot of those same Borland-style things in Linux. Allegro in particular was great.

I still miss Turbo Pascal (and later Delphi) ... not so much the language, but the speed of feedback was unparalleled.