novelraw Chapter 21 Windows 3.1
Chapter 21 Windows 3.1
In his previous life, Lin Yu's generation was introduced to computers through Windows XP, which used a blue sky and grassland as its desktop background.
He used to go to internet cafes with his friends to play 4399 games when he was in elementary school, and he still has an old computer in use until 2026.
However, Windows XP was only released in 2001.
Lin Yu was using Ms-DOS, a basic program instruction system.
The current Windows system is only developed up to version 3.1, which is not yet sufficient to serve as a complete computer system.
After Lin Yu turned on the computer, he had to type "win" in the command line with black text on white background in Ms-DOS before the graphics processing system would slowly start.
At this time, Windows was just a graphical shell of DOS.
The interface is also empty, with only a task processor and a default group of attachments made up of various low-quality pixels.
This interface was vastly different from the computer interfaces of later generations. Accustomed to the smooth operation of later generations, Lin Yu found it difficult to adapt to this interface.
After slowly working on it for more than half an hour, he finally began to use the compiler to write the program and was able to start typing the code for the artificial intelligence algorithm he had in mind.
Lin Yu became increasingly distressed as he continued to strike, but gradually he became absorbed in the experience.
The basement lights were on all the time, so he couldn't see the outside sky. It wasn't until the screen started to look glaringly white and he felt unbearably hungry that Lin Yu checked his watch and realized it was almost 10 p.m.
He stretched and yawned at his workstation, letting out a long breath that echoed in the empty basement.
Lin Yu clicked save, deciding to stop coding here for today and go back to eat something; he still had a few packets of instant noodles stored in his dorm.
But as soon as I finished saving, I subconsciously opened the task manager and found that the hard drive's memory was already mostly occupied.
At that time, the maximum capacity of a personal computer's hard drive was still in MB. This computer's capacity was only 500 MB, with the system taking up part of it and the code Lin Yu wrote taking up another part.
The 500MB hard drive is already 360MB full, but I've only written a tiny bit of the algorithm I envisioned.
This almost drove Lin Yu to the brink of collapse. Starting scientific research from scratch in this era was much harder than he had imagined.
Who in later generations could stand this? In that era, downloading a simple video would take several gigabytes. Now, however, a computer's storage limit is only 500MB.
No wonder few people used computers in 94; their performance was truly too lackluster.
Lin Yu thought to himself that he would need to buy several more large storage hard drives later, but he really didn't know how much storage hard drives cost at this time, though he figured they wouldn't be cheap.
After shutting down his computer, Lin Yu finalized his plans to visit the electronics market the next day.
He needs a whole bunch of CPUs, floppy disks, and hard drives; it's time to ask about their prices.
The wind was relatively calm tonight, and the snow had stopped falling. Lin Yu opened the collar of his cotton coat, letting the cold air cool his overloaded brain.
I walked and thought.
He used Yang Jia as bait yesterday, but I don't know how things are going over there.
How is international news delivered these days?
I wonder how long it will take Yang Jia to get the message to Japan. And will they even believe his story...?
Let's hope it doesn't end up with him having to outwit and outmaneuver the air.
Lin Yu was amused by his own words.
I just hope they'll take it seriously soon so he can get some initial funding from them.
Perhaps because the end of the year is approaching, there are hardly any people on the Beihang University campus at night.
The streetlights could only illuminate a small area around the campus, and the dim darkness still swallowed up most of the campus.
The night was lonely, and the wind made Lin Yu even hungrier.
I walked back to the dormitory quickly. Liu Bo and Ding An were there, but Xu Haoxiang was nowhere to be seen.
Seeing Lin Yu return, Liu Boding breathed a sigh of relief and pointed to his desk, saying:
"You're finally back. Xu Haoxiang, that guy, he really isn't afraid of having his money stolen."
"He just put the 3000 yuan reward he gave you directly on your desk. Ding An and I didn't dare to go out all afternoon, afraid that someone would come in."
As he spoke, Liu Bo swallowed hard.
That's 3000 yuan! Their monthly living expenses are only 120 yuan.
Nowadays, the average worker's monthly salary is only three hundred.
Even if they graduate from Beihang University, and are lucky enough to become a middle-level manager in a state-owned enterprise, their monthly salary will be at most 1000 yuan. Only programmers can earn around 2000 yuan a month.
The reason why they were so fascinated when Lin Yu talked to them about artificial intelligence was that becoming a programmer seemed like a sure path for ordinary people.
"Why did Xu Haoxiang come back by himself last night?"
"When he came back, he was grinning like a lecher, calling out something like 'Jiajia, Jiajia.'"
"It wasn't until after 11 o'clock that his mobile phone rang and became so annoying that he finally woke up. After that, his family said something to him, and he sat anxiously until 2 o'clock in the afternoon."
"When his family came to pick him up, they brought this money with them, saying it was for you."
As Liu Bo spoke, he pointed to the thin stack of brand-new banknotes on Lin Yu's table. Not only did Liu Bo close his eyes tightly, but his pupils also turned sharply in the opposite direction.
"Take it and accept it, Lin Yu."
"After watching it for an afternoon, I felt like my soul was inciting me to commit a crime."
"Too many, really too many."
Liu Bo looked like he wanted to look but didn't dare to, which made Lin Yu want to laugh.
He took two steps forward, stuffed the wad of money into the drawer, and locked it with the key. Then, two simultaneous, relaxed breaths were heard.
"Finally, you've put it away, Yu Zi. What exactly did you guys do?"
"I believe Xu Haoxiang is generous enough to give you money. But his family isn't stupid either, so why did they just give you the money like that?"
At this point, Liu Bo and Ding An looked at each other with curiosity, their eyes gleaming with a hint of desire.
"Although we know we don't have your skills, three thousand dollars is just too tempting."
Lin Yu hesitated when his roommate asked him this question.
He wasn't hesitant about whether or not to reveal Yang Jia's matter; that was definitely something he couldn't say.
Instead, they were thinking about what story to make up to deceive them, or whether to tell them that this really couldn't be said.
Hesitantly, Lin Yu finally pulled out several packets of Sanxian Yi Mian (a type of instant noodle) from under his desk, and then rummaged through the innermost part to find several packets of Master Kong Braised Beef Noodles. These were his treasured treats for improving his meals.
"Don't ask, I really can't say."
"But now that my buddy's made a fortune, we should all enjoy it together."
Lin Yu gave each person a bag of Master Kong instant noodles and two bags of Huafeng Sanxian instant noodles.
"We still have a few packs left of the box of Master Kong instant noodles we grabbed at the supply and marketing cooperative last time. Let's share them."
Seeing that Lin Yu couldn't explain, his two roommates weren't tactless and didn't ask any more questions. They then excitedly accepted the Master Kong instant noodles.
"Wow, you even have Master Kong instant noodles here?"
"This stuff is often out of stock; I can't even buy it when I want to improve my meals."
"It tastes much better than spicy noodles and seafood noodles. It's just a bit expensive at two yuan a pack."
Ding An rubbed his stomach and smiled shyly:
"To be honest, after eating so much of this Master Kong braised beef noodles, I never want to eat regular instant noodles that we produce ourselves again."
"When I heard that Master Kong opened a factory in Tianjin a couple of years ago, I even thought about whether I should go there to work after graduation."
As Ding An spoke, he couldn't help but laugh at himself.
"If it weren't for the fact that it would be a waste of my degree, I would have gone."