by Brian Grainger: brian@grainger1.freeserve.co.uk

Every so often, when playing around with your PC, you come across something that is just mind blowing. The incredible floppy disk demo is just such an item. If you fall into any of the following categories you must read this:

• Think PCs are a pain to set up and use
• Think getting onto the Internet is complicated
• Think Microsoft software is bloated
• Hate Bill Gates
• Think the time of Internet Appliances has come

This story started when I checked the positions of the ICPUG regional clubs. In this process I talked to Dave Rose, organiser of the (former) Stoke-on-Trent club. We had a chat about the Amiga and the lack of new hardware. Then he mentioned an operating system I had never heard of by QNX. QNX has contacted Amino, the new Amiga owners, but so far no business is being done, (according to Fleecy Moss). Dave also said there was a demo for the PC and he then e-mailed me the files. To say I was amazed was an understatement.

The files consist of a simple readme, (which give instructions for use), a data file and a 'makedisk' executable. It is a very simple process to run the executable with a brand new floppy disk in the floppy drive. The executable formats the floppy and then writes the data to it to create the Incredible Floppy Demo.

When you have finished you will have in the 1.4MB of floppy space the following:

• A POSIX compliant real time operating system - QNX RTOS
• A graphical user interface - Photon MicroGUI
• A Mosaic based Internet browser - Voyager
• A web server
• 4 demo programs - Towers of Hanoi; graphics display demo; text editor; file manager

You do not have to worry about drivers for the hardware. The operating system detects mouse, keyboard, modem and graphics card on start up. Manual set up of the modem is allowed in the event of problems. A screen resolution is chosen and away you go.

Armed with:

• your Incredible Floppy;
• PC with a minimum specification of: 386 processor; 8MB RAM; VGA video; mouse; 3½" floppy drive;
• a modem;
• details of your ISP account;

you can boot up the PC with the floppy and surf the web or serve the web with html pages of your own.

How is all this amazing capability provided on a floppy? The data compression technology of the QNX RTOS was used to create an embedded system on the floppy. The system is then loaded from the floppy on boot up and decompressed into RAM. Everything then runs in RAM and the floppy is no longer needed. Neither is a hard disk!

The floppy itself is created in a special way. The boot block on the floppy is like any other, it contains a first stage boot loader that the BIOS loads into memory at 0x7c00 and executes. However the rest of the floppy is completely different. You cannot read it under DOS. If you try to reformat it under DOS later it will show a bad sector.

Are there any limitations to the system? It will not work with Winmodems where the UART is replaced with a software solution. I and Dave have found some difficulty getting it to work with internal modems. I am investigating this at the moment. In the demo form there is no way of saving anything to hard disk. Version 4 of the demo allows you to extend the operating system from the QNX web site. I have not yet investigated whether the utilities provided on the site include the ability to access a hard disk. In order to set up the Internet connection you will need to know the IP address of your ISP's Domain Name Server so make sure you know it!

Once you have made a connection to the web through your ISP you can surf as normal, although everything being in RAM means the cache is more limiting than with say Internet Explorer. Any extra memory on the PC can be used to extend the cache.

I mentioned that the Incredible Floppy Demo includes a web server. When you connect to the Internet you can query what IP address your ISP has assigned to you for that session. Tell someone that IP address and while you are still connected they can log directly to your PC and view the HTML pages you have in RAM.

I can see a very practical use for this system. If I take my disk and external modem with me when I go away I only have to find a suitable PC near a telephone point and I can access the Internet! Using something like Hotmail I could even read and reply to e-mail. That is a lot easier than lugging a lap top around. It would not matter what the PC was used for normally or what drivers it has. The floppy gives all that without disturbing the set up of the host PC. There are no problems with cookies or viruses. With everything in RAM turn the PC off and all is lost.

The QNX technology is being used by a number of commercial organisations, including British Telecom.

Have I whetted your appetite for the Incredible Floppy Demo. Then point your browser at:

www.qnx.com/iat/index.html

Download a copy for yourself. Turn that discarded PC you thought was old hat into an Internet Appliance.