A hobbyist software program developer and retro computing fanatic has completed a formidable feat by bridging the hole between ChatGPT and the classic IBM PC-XT laptop, which launched all the way in which again in 1984.
For reference, the PC in query is historical in comparison with trendy computer systems. IBM’s PC-XT runs on a 4.77 MHz Intel 8088 CPU and has 640KB of RAM. The typical processor in the present day runs from 3.50 to 4.2 GHz with 6-8GB of RAM.
Additional, it’s price noting that not everybody makes use of ChatGPT by an online browser like most customers. Some entry the software by a shopper like a ChatGPT-powered smartwatch, and a few have even been in a position to make it run with Microsoft’s Clippy. Nevertheless, on this case, software program engineer Yeo Kheng Meng was in a position to get the ChatGPT shopper up and operating on the traditional IBM laptop, a genuinely spectacular feat.
Meng used the Open Watcom C/C++ compiler to span the 40-year hole between the PC-XT and ChatGPT, and examined the DOS software on a digital machine on a contemporary PC. With Open Watcom C/C++ compiler, Meng was in a position to run trendy platforms just like the 64-bit Home windows 11.
Certainly one of Meng’s greatest hurdles was networking and connecting the shopper to the ChatGPT service. They discovered an answer in MTCP, which facilitated the connection to ChatGPT’s Chat Completion API. Different obstacles that needed to be overcome included JSON parsing, altering the ChatGPT output from HTTPS to HTTP, and dealing with the shortage of multi-threading in DOS, as detailed by Meng in a weblog submit.
As expertise continues to advance at a speedy tempo, it’s fascinating to see lovers like Meng take up initiatives that protect the expertise of the previous.
In different ChatGPT-related information, a latest bug triggered ChatGPT search titles to be seen to different customers.
Picture credit score: Yeo Kheng Meng
Supply: Yeo Kheng Meng Through: TomsHardware