WinGPT is a new ChatGPT app for your ancient Windows 3.1 PC

theverge.com ^

[algore]

Someone has created a ChatGPT app for Windows 3.1 PCs. WinGPT brings a very basic version of OpenAI’s ChatGPT responses into an app that can run on an ancient 386 chip. It’s built by the same mysterious developer behind Windle, a Wordle clone for Microsoft’s Windows 3.1 operating system.

“I didn’t want my Gateway 4DX2-66 from 1993 to be left out of the AI revolution, so I built an AI Assistant for Windows 3.1, based on the OpenAI API,” says the developer in a Hacker News thread.

WinGPT is written in C using Microsoft’s standard Windows API and connects to OpenAI’s API server using TLS 1.3, so there’s no need for a separate modern PC.

That was a particularly interesting part of getting this app running on Windows 3.1, alongside managing the memory segmentation architecture on 16-bit versions of Windows and building the UI for the app.

Neowin notes that the ChatGPT responses are only brief due to the limited memory support that can’t handle the context of conversations. The icon for WinGPT was also designed in Borland’s Image Editor, a clone of Microsoft Paint that’s capable of making ICO files.

“I built most of the UI in C directly, meaning that each UI component had to be manually constructed in code,” says the anonymous WinGPT developer. “I was surprised that the set of standard controls available to use by any program with Windows 3.1 is incredibly limited

[algore]

I bought an old i386 industrial pc card nib at my local thrift store yesterday. Now I know what to do with it if I don't sell it on abay to someone who has an old cnc machine or something.

[Dr. Sivana]

I bought an old i386 industrial pc card nib at my local thrift store yesterday.

What kind of slot does the i386 card use? If it is ISA, EISA or MCA, good luck finding a machine that can take it. There might even be timing issues with PCI.

[Dr. Sivana]

I am not sure why you would put a 16 bit OS on a 32 Bit chip machine. A 486DX2/66 can handle Windows 95, OS/2 or Windows NT 3.1 just fine.

[algore]

it was one of these

https://www.radwell.com/en-US/Buy/OCTAGON%20SYSTEMS/OCTAGON%20SYSTEMS/5025A

I got a zilog z8 programmer too

[McGruff]

Why?

[Dr. Sivana]

ISA! Your nice 32 bit chip is crippled by a 16 bit bus. You may as well have gotten a 386sx. You can get Pentium 4 boards that will take that, but no newer. https://www.voice-boards.com/product/isa-computer/

[algore]

it supports both 16 and 32 bit machines

Eliza was just renamed and modified. I did this in the very early 80s.

The Chat ‘Ai’ we have today is better at answering questions where there is a consensus.

But it just makes stuff up if it has no clue.

[Dr. Sivana]

it supports both 16 and 32 bit machines

The card is going through a 16 bit bus, so it may support a 32 bit machine, but the chip is not able to use a lot of its power.

[algore]

Fine whatever, I bought it cause it was $5.99 and I remember building my first 386 using parts from computer Shopper.

http://arstech.com/install/ecom-prodshow/usb2isar.html

Maybe USB to ISA?

[1of10]

“finding a machine that can take it.”

It would be like a full archaeological dig ... Indiana Jones and the legend of the 386 ... but somewhere in the back, at the bottom of the pile in my attic..

I imagine you you could find just about anything.

trs-80 ..what was that other one? commodore 64 ..tape drive optional..
pong cabnet, atari.... so many... 386 ...486 4mg ram 33mhz 340mb ide hd ...2 grand...ran my 1st fidonet BBS ..smoking hot machine
Those were the days.... the world was mesmerized by a blip bouncing back and forth. You could dial into just about any system in the country.BEEEEPbooooopZROOOOOM
I feel old ....

[algore]

can you still whistle a tone at 2600hz ?

And are you really one of two?

[Jonty30]

I don’t like the idea of ChatGPT, because it seems too surveilancy to me.

I like the idea of having a computer companion to chat to, to where I can speak at the level of I think it. However, I have a hard time trusting it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a way for Blackrock and the globalists to get ahead of anybody who might be at risk of freeing themselves from their plantation.

[1of10]

sure I can still whistle a tone, can't everybody?
as you you can tell that was a 1200bd modem I emulated in my last post.

and I almost blew coffee
that 1 of 2

never..... dawned on me ... actually choked me

very sharp ....

... but that one of ten is a reference to avoiding a shower of brimstone and fire
my priorities have changed a bit over the years ..

[algore]

Have you ever played with one of the Genoa or Daytonas?

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-4th-gen-epyc-genoa-9654-9554-and-9374f-review-96-cores-zen-4-and-5nm-disrupt-the-data-center/3

I cannot believe they didn’t talk about onboard bmc

[algore]

https://telephone-museum.org/telephone-collections/capn-crunch-bosun-whistle/

[Zack Attack]

Write me a song about the virtues of Win3.1

WinGPT: (A) Abort, (R) Retry, or (I) Ignore

[martin_fierro]

Question #1:

[1of10]

now that's a hooot ..
I remember when that was a thing .. more of a novalty .. I never knew anyone who did that on a regular basis...
but the box was a different story..
since modems were so scattered, long distance charges could really add up. Everybody had a box.

[Larry Lucido]

My old Packard Bell must be around somewhere.

[Cronos]

Here is 90s ChatGPT-->

Eliza!