Salutations, Wise Ones,

Welcome to Week 4! Almost halfway through already – whew! As the exam season gets into gear and the term winds down, we come bearing some new events for your perusal.

This Wednesday, we'll be taking some of the heat out of the term with a frosty treat in our ice cream social! We'll be at George and Danver's on St Aldates from 2pm to enjoy some ice cream amid the swelling spring heat.

For our weekly social on Saturday, we'll be lounging back to enjoy a film! Join us in the Undergraduate Social Area as usual from 7pm to indulge in movies, pizza and snacks!

A final note: our end-of-term social was originally scheduled for this week, but has now been moved – we hope to hold it next week. Stay tuned for further details!

— Declan, CompSoc Secretary

Fun Computing Fact: Let's take a step to the past and look at the things that never were – or the thing that never was. In the 80s, following the introduction of the IBM PC, Microsoft's Disk Operating System (DOS) rapidly became dominant within the home computing market. DOS, however, was incredibly rudimentary – there was no multitasking to speak of and memory was limited to 640 KB. Windows, at this time a thin layer over DOS, was plagued by similar issues, along with rudimentary cooperative multitasking allowing programs to hang the entire system.

To solve the DOS dilemma, Microsoft and IBM joined forces to create Operating System/2. Utilising the Intel 286's protected mode for memory, multiple processes could run simultaneously, and the Intel 386 with 32-bit modes allowed OS/2 to break through the 640 KB memory limit. The dream wasn't to be, however – Microsoft broke away from the partnership to continue developing Windows, bringing Windows 95 to market in 1995 with preemptive multitasking, a 32-bit clean API and lower hardware requirements than the ailing OS/2, which lived on only in embedded systems.

Still not a member? How?! Membership only costs £1 for LIFE, with tons of benefits - discounts on merch and tickets, free food at all socials, our exclusive Discord server and more - so it's definitely worth signing up!

or, go to https://ox.compsoc.net/product/lifetime-membership/

This week, we're venturing out once more in pursuit of frozen treats! This Wednesday, we'll be headed down to George and Danver's for an ice cream social. Join us from 2-3pm as we take the heat out of the term with some free ice cream and lively chatter.

When: 2-3pm, Wednesday 21st May

Where: George and Danver 94 St Aldates, Oxford OX1 1BT

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/86PnrQhKv

As Saturday rolls around, it's time to hit pause on the week and hit play on the weekend! For this week's Saturday Social, we'll be indulging in a spot of culture with a movie night. Join us in the Undergraduate Social Area at 7pm this Saturday as we kick back to enjoy a movie with the customary culinary delights of pizza and snacks.

When: 7pm, Saturday 24th May

Where: Undergraduate Social Area, Department of Computer Science 7 Parks Rd, Oxford OX1 3QG

Click 'Going' here: https://fb.me/e/6EVz0svDo

Make sure to join OxWoCS (Oxford Women in CS), a society we're working closely with, if you identify as a woman or woman-adjacent person in CS! They have a host of wonderful events on, including talks, panels and socials. Computer Science is unfortunately a subject with one of the biggest gender gaps in Oxford and worldwide, and addressing this is at the core of OxWoCS.

or, contact us at committee@ox.compsoc.net

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