User:Dgpop

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Most of my edits are on video game and computer history topics. I've cleaned-up many older game articles that had become disorganized. I've done major restructuring and editing of some large articles: TI-99/4A, TRS-80 Color Computer, Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari 8-bit family, Atari ST.

Articles I've created

Listed chronologically within each section.

People

Video games

Other

Some stuff I've worked on

Listed alphabetically within each section.

Video games

Video game related

Other tech

Other other

Lists

Templates

Categories

For reference

DOS vs. MS-DOS

MS-DOS was released in 1981 along with an IBM rebranded version, IBM PC DOS. For the first seven years of the IBM PC's existence, that was the story: MS-DOS or MS-DOS under a different name. On May 28, 1988, Digital Research released their enhanced, MS-DOS compatible operating system as DR-DOS. Since then there has been a clone of MS-DOS designed for embedded systems (ROM-DOS), a clone developed in Russia (PTS-DOS), and an open source clone (FreeDOS). My interpretation is that there's MS-DOS and clones of MS-DOS, and it's fair to lump the entire group under the MS-DOS header.

A more revisionist view is that there's a family of disk operating systems for IBM PC compatibles, and one of those is MS-DOS. The collective name for this family is "DOS." Complicating things is that "DOS" is both a general acronym for disk operating system and within various communities it's shorthand for a particular system's DOS (e.g., Atari DOS, Commodore DOS).

I used to go out of my way to replace DOS with MS-DOS, but I no longer do this, even though the DOS slang feels more and more incorrect as time goes by.

Tech company name prefixes

Sometimes the name doesn't work without the manufacturer, such as Apple II and Atari ST, but in general there's no reason to add bulk repeating company names.

Apple II

"Apple II" has long been synonymous with "the Apple II line of computers." 1982 reviews in Electronic Games simply say "Apple II", as do many game box covers, book titles, and user group names. Of course that family includes the Apple II, II Plus, IIe, IIc, IIc Plus, and the compatibility modes of the IIGS, but "Apple II" is the concise and natural term. There are already multiple categories using the short form: Category:Apple II games, Category:Apple II-only games, and Category:Apple II software.

Currently, Apple II is about the 1977 model of the same name, and the clunky Apple II series covers the entire line. It makes more sense to have Apple II be the landing page and Apple II (1977 computer) the specific model.

Other

The Copyeditor's Barnstar
WOW! So you're the other person on Wikipedia who comprehends correct tense! I bet I've edited 100 articles to eliminate the childishly nostalgic past tense about classic technology. The stuff about Amiga and Nintendo has been a bear, and there is a perpetual tense edit war on Nintendo Power, lol. So if the product was a computer, then when did it become something else and what did it become then? :-D — Smuckola(talk) 18:57, 23 November 2015 (UTC)
The Barnstar of Diligence

Thank you for all your service to WP:APPLE. I meant to include you in the recent mass messaging but here it is. So please check my new Welcome message and see what you think. — Smuckola(talk) 08:50, 19 March 2019 (UTC)