DisNCord Community Wiki - User contributions [en]

Microsoft Surface Archival Project

2023-01-16T06:04:45Z

Autumnbreeze: Synthesized an article on the history of the Surface Pixelsense devices, as well as wrote a bit about each's UI and SDKs, and the aftermath of the project as a whole.

== Overview ==
The Microsoft Surface (PixelSense) is a line of touch sensitive tables developed by Microsoft, running an embedded OS and touch oriented UI system. The first table, The Microsoft Surface 1.0, or more commonly known as the "Coffee Table", was released on April 17th 2008. The table ran a version of Windows Vista, with a touch oriented UI layer on top of it called the "Surface Shell". The table contained a large array of infrared light emitters and cameras, rather than a touch sensitive layer in the acrylic. This allowed the table to effectively see what was on top of it, which allowed for the table to recognize things like phones, Zunes, coffee mugs, and even a deck of cards used with an interactive app on the table. in 2011 Microsoft released the Microsoft Surface 2.0 SDK, and the Samsung SUR40 with Microsoft PixelSense. Unlike the previous iteration, manufacturing and product development was outsourced to third parties, such as Samsung, and there were plans for multiple variants of the table. However, The SUR40 is the only known table to come out of this initiative. The SUR40, instead of using infrared cameras, uses light sensors in each pixel on the table, hence the name PixelSense. The PixelSense team was shut down in 2013, and the SUR40 was the last device released by Microsoft from this initiative. However, the Surface Shell would later inspire things like Windows 8 and its Start menu, as well as the Microsoft Surface Hub, a spiritual successor of sorts to the SUR40. The table however, just runs a stripped down version of Windows 10 instead of an entirely custom built software framework with custom built APIs.

== Software ==

=== Version 1 ===
The Microsoft Surface 1.0 ran Windows Vista, running a specially designed touch oriented shell, called the Surface Shell. The Surface Shell was a C# based application launcher, written using XNA Game Studio frameworks, and APIs most notably from the Xbox 360. When applications are run, they run in full screen and on top of the launcher, making the launcher the main way to navigate the table. The launcher comes in two versions, referred to here as SDKs. The "Workstation" SDK which was designed for development workstations, and notably contains a simulator for the launcher and table itself, and the necessary features to simulate RFID tags, and the "Table" SDK, which was Designed to be used on the 1.0 units themselves. They contain the launcher and calibration functionality as well as the necessary tools to mass deploy units. Both SDKs are available online.

=== Version 2 ===
The Microsoft Surface 2.0 (SUR40) ran Windows 7 with an updated version of the Surface Shell. The SDK only comes in one variant now for workstations, and no longer contains a simulator for running the shell, nor the shell itself. The only way to run the 2.0 shell itself is to get it from the SUR40 recovery image. Notably, the recovery image has recently surfaced online.

== Applications ==
For a later Autumn to fill out

User:Autumnbreeze

2023-01-12T15:28:43Z

Autumnbreeze: Doing it right this time...

Hi! I am a cat person, that's cool i guess..... (she/her if your here for these)

User:AutumnBreeze

2023-01-12T15:26:20Z

Autumnbreeze: lol i did not link that last edit to my user.... fuck

User:AutumnBreeze

2023-01-12T15:25:46Z

Autumnbreeze: added a page for me because why not

Hi! I am a cat person, that's cool I guess.... (she/her if your here for these)

Slow Computing Speedrunning

2023-01-12T05:15:35Z

Autumnbreeze: Added my pedantry (some of the formatting in the things entered into the competition had colons in the wrong spot or in the wrong format, say non bolded semi colons, so i cleaned that up.) Added the VM Ception to the idle pain list.

[[Category:Competition]]
Welcome to the Slow Computing any% Speedrunning Contest; also known as watching digital paint dry.

The goal of this contest is simple. To celebrate the long code [https://xkcd.com/303/] times, we're running an informal contest to celebrate this era of batch processing.

== Objective and Rules ==

It's pretty simple:
* Using any vintage computer of your choice, perform a long-running task of some sort
* Livestream, or otherwise provide regular status updates that show how far you have gotten.
* Emulators and the like are A-OK; just let us know what it's doing.

After each run, success or failure, our judges (which is mostly just the regulars in #paint-drying on [https://discord.gg/V8esNah Discord]) will deem what, if any titles such run has earned, and an entirely subjective place on the Wall of Pain. There are absolutely no prizes besides the knowledge that you might be immortalized here for the life of the wiki.

Do you dare step up?

=== Examples of projects ===
For example, upgrading through every version of OS/2, building GCC, or the like. Livestream or otherwise regularly update the panting drying competition community. For NCommander's entries, VoDs on YouTube were provided. Europa livestreamed the terminal on Discord throughout the duration. Any sorta long running log with regular updates is acceptable.

= The Wall of Pain =
New categories will be added as needed

== Idle Pain ==
Idle Pain refers to tasks where they're started, and mostly left untouched until they finish (excluding minor tweaks, build failures, etc.)

=== GCC 8 on an Ultra 5 running OpenBSD/sparc64 (Europa) ===
* '''Status:''' Complete!
* '''Duration:''' Approximately 5.375 days (4.5 days GCC, 0.875 days CDE)
* '''Proof:''' Livestreamed on Discord, updates periodically provided via Discord, [https://twitter.com/europa6502/status/1587304622749876224 Twitter], and Mastodon
* '''Comments:'''
** The build that started it all, Europa's attempt to install CDE which required upgrading GCC, and starting a multiday build process that lead to the creation of the paint drying community ... I'm still wondering how we got here - [[User:NCommander|NCommander]] ([[User talk:NCommander|talk]]) 14:54, 4 November 2022 (UTC)
** It finished! She managed to build CDE with her new GCC after some help from NCommander, and is now working on configuring her newly built CDE! - [[User:Kraaabs|Kraaabs]] (([[User talk:Kraaabs|talk]]) 01:56, 7 November 2022 (UTC)

=== Forcing Windows 7 onto a 66MHz CPU (Griffin) ===
* '''Status:''' Complete!
* '''Duration:''' About 14 hours
* '''Proof:''' Livestreamed on Discord, and live-updated in a Discord thread
* '''Comments:'''
** The first entry to finish, I believe! They used 86box emulating a VIA Samuel, and a lot of trial and error to get the thing to boot at all. Was a fun one to watch. Nice and painful. [https://twitter.com/FOSSfirefighter/status/1588999569593208832 N tweeted about this one, too.] - [[User:Kraaabs|Kraaabs]] ([[User talk:Kraaabs|talk]]) 03:02, 7 November 2022 (UTC)

=== Installing Gentoo in DOSBochs in QEMU on Void Linux on a PowerBook G4 (Krabs) ===
* '''Status:''' Ongoing
* '''Duration:''' About 52 hours so far.
* '''Proof:''' Livestreamed on Discord, and live-updated in a Discord thread
* '''Comments:'''
** Yep, still going. It's been about 52 hours (~24-ish of which was prep work), and we're still decompressing the kernel on the Gentoo install CD. In for the long haul, this one. Being that I have to babysit this, is it active pain? There's a lot of waiting. Hybrid pain, maybe. :^) - [[User:Kraaabs|Kraaabs]] ([[User talk:Kraaabs|talk]]) 03:06, 7 November 2022 (UTC)

=== Compiling every major release of NetBSD on a SparcStation 2 (Daghdha) ===
* '''Status:''' Ongoing
* '''Duration:''' 54 days (as of 2 Jan 2023)
* '''Expected to Complete:''' 15 March 2023 (~73 days)
* '''Proof:''' Livestreamed on Discord, and live-updated in a Discord thread. Each release takes a week to build.

=== Installing Windows 98 inside of Windows XP inside of Windows Vista inside of Windows 8 inside of Windows 10 (Autumn) ===

* '''Status:''' Ongoing
* '''Duration:''' 13 days (as of 1/12/23)
* '''Proof:''' Discord live stream + milestones in the corresponding channel
* '''Comments:'''
** [[Autumnbreeze|Autumn]] (12:13 1/12/23) FFS the XP installer took 11 straight days to boot '''''TEXT MODE'''''... I am going to be in for a long wait on this one...

== Active Pain ==
Active Pain entries are livestreams or single projects that are actively worked on over the period of the competition. They can be over multiple sessions, with time being tallied up.

=== Windows 98/ME on the Cursed 486 (NCommander) ===
* '''Status:''' On Hiatus/Ongoing
* '''Proof:''' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uaINJAktLA (and messages in #content + Fedi)
* '''Duration:''' Multiple attempts over multiple days, one 9 hour
* '''Comments:'''
** You can't install ME on 32 MiB of memory. Upgrades ordered. So far, Windows 98 First Edition was installed from floppies, second edition from Netware, and ME from NetWare and local install, with each attempt taking literal hours. [[User:NCommander|NCommander]] ([[User talk:NCommander|talk]]) 13:44, 2 January 2023 (UTC)

=== Upgrading Through Every Version of OS/2 (NCommander) ===
* '''Status:''' Complete/Historical
*'''Proof:''' VoDs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeaRlhz96mI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uwGTHZzzF4
* '''Duration:''' Approximately 22 Hours
* '''Comments:'''
** ow [[User:NCommander|- NCommander]] ([[User talk:NCommander|talk]]) 14:54, 4 November 2022 (UTC)

=== Windows 10 in QEMU on a PowerBook G4 (Krabs) ===
* '''Status:''' Complete/Historical
*'''Proof:''' Was live-updated on Discord, and also in the [https://picsofbread.com/potato-bread writeup here]
* '''Duration:''' About 10 active hours, and about 18 more waiting for it to boot
* '''Comments:'''
** This was painful. Good way to spend a few days with COVID though. [[User:Kraaabs|- Kraaabs]] ([[User talk:Kraaabs|talk]]) 02:00, 7 November 2022 (UTC)