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Lotus Improv on the NeXT

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Lotus Improv, a pioneering spreadsheet application exclusive to the NeXT platform, introduced innovative concepts like multi-dimensional data modeling and English-like formulas that presaged modern pivot tables. Developed during NeXT’s struggle to find market traction, Improv redefined spreadsheet design by emphasizing named categories over traditional row-column references, enabling more intuitive and flexible data views. Despite its failure to gain widespread adoption, its legacy endures in contemporary spreadsheet tools and in NeXTSTEP’s influence on modern operating systems like macOS.

https://stonetools.ghost.io/lotusimprov-next/

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The Holy Quinity of UNIX Workstations

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The article explores the author’s pursuit of collecting the final five commercial UNIX workstations produced by major vendors: the HP c8000 (PA-RISC/HP-UX), Sun Ultra 45 (SPARC/Solaris), SGI Tezro (MIPS/IRIX), IBM IntelliStation POWER 285 (POWER/AIX), and HP AlphaStation ES47 (Alpha/Tru64). These machines, released in the early 2000s, represent the last generation designed amid the decline of dedicated UNIX workstations, each embodying a unique approach in hardware and software development, but are rare, expensive, and challenging to obtain—highlighting a niche yet passionate aspect of retrocomputing preservation.

https://www.osnews.com/story/146092/the-holy-quinity-of-unix-workstations/

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Atari Collection & Benelux Online Archive

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Atarimuseum.nl is a comprehensive online archive and private collection dedicated to Atari hardware, software, and related materials, with a focus on the Atari Benelux region. The site features thousands of commercial and public domain Atari software releases, a wide range of Atari computers, consoles, peripherals, and extensive documentation including manuals, magazines, advertisements, and videos. It serves as a valuable resource for enthusiasts and historians interested in preserving and exploring Atari’s legacy in the Benelux and beyond.

https://atarimuseum.nl/

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Demoscene-Recomp

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Demoscene-recomp recreates classic PC demoscene productions from the early 1990s by recompiling their original DOS code to WebAssembly, enabling them to run in modern browsers with accurate hardware emulation. The project records executed CPU instructions of demos like Future Crew’s Unreal and Second Reality, Triton’s Crystal Dream II, and NoooN’s Stars: Wonders of the World, then recompiles them with precise timing and hardware models, preserving the original experience. Visitors can experience these historically significant demos smoothly, as they originally ran on VGA at 70 Hz, without any tracking or modification to the original release files.

https://treylorswift.github.io/demoscene-recomp/web/

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A Cray-1 Supercomputer Replica From 30 “Obsolete” Mac Minis

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Spain’s Museo de Historia de la Computación has created a full-scale visual replica of the 1976 Cray-1 supercomputer powered by a cluster of 30 Mac Minis from 2012, achieving over 1.3 teraflops through coordinated multi-core processing. The replica demonstrates the evolution from the Cray-1’s vector processing to modern parallel computing, using macOS Mojave with MPI for node communication, and employs a passive cooling design to maintain quiet operation. The museum plans to expand the cluster with newer Mac Minis to aim for inclusion on the TOP500 supercomputer list and offers the exhibit as a hands-on educational experience.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/10/a-cray-1-supercomputer-replica-from-30-obsolete-mac-minis/

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Computer Graphics: Past to Present

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Brendan Duncan’s “Computer Graphics: Past to Present” is an extensive, hands-on guide tracing the evolution of computer graphics from basic pixel manipulation to advanced real-time rendering techniques using WebGPU. The book builds knowledge step-by-step with interactive code examples in vanilla JavaScript, covering foundational topics like rasterization and 3D rendering, ray tracing and path tracing, GPU programming, and modern advancements such as global illumination and neural rendering. Designed for readers with basic JavaScript skills but no advanced math, it offers a practical pathway to understand both historical graphics methods and cutting-edge technologies.

https://taosengine.com/docs/graphics/

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Doom64 – Doom for the Commodore 64? Well Sort Of.. But It’s Still Impressive

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Developer Kweepa has released DOOM64, an ambitious demake of Doom for the Commodore 64, on Itch.io as the second installment of his planned id Software conversion trilogy. The game forgoes full texture mapping in favor of dynamic height changes and dithered shading on the C64’s text display, using custom tools and reworked PC shareware sprites, and is offered in versions optimized for both modern emulators and unmodified hardware.

https://www.indieretronews.com/2026/10/doom64-doom-for-commodore-64-well-sort.html

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Buttons, in Time.

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The project “Buttons, in time” created by Cole DeRochie showcases an interactive timeline of Macintosh system buttons from 1984 to 2026, allowing users to explore the evolution of Mac interface buttons by clicking or dragging through different years. Users can also play each button’s pressed state, which triggers the classic Macintosh startup chime, providing an engaging way to experience the history of Mac UI elements.

https://mac-buttons-timeline.vercel.app/

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The Lamentable Later Life of Lemmings

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Originally a groundbreaking puzzle game from DMA Design and Psygnosis in the early 1990s, Lemmings achieved massive success across numerous platforms thanks to its addictive gameplay and broad appeal beyond typical gamers. However, its later sequels increasingly complicated the formula and altered the presentation, leading to diminishing returns and the gradual fading of the franchise, especially after the developer parted ways with Psygnosis/Sony and attempts to revive Lemmings as a multimedia brand failed. The series’ final well-regarded entry, Lemmings Revolution (2000), returned to classic mechanics with fresh level design but arrived too late to restore Lemmings to its former cultural prominence, leaving the franchise remembered mainly as a cult classic rather than a lasting staple.

https://www.filfre.net/2026/09/the-lamentable-later-life-of-lemmings/

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