Turbo was on by default. Pressing the button to turn it off made the computer run slower to emulate an 8086, so that software coded to calculate time based on instruction cycles rather then using a proper real time clock function wouldn’t run faster than the intended speed.
An 8088 wouldn’t have a turbo button since it ran at the same speed as an 8086 to begin with.
while true, BUT: everyone I knew at the time, who had turbo buttons on their systems, told me that it made the computer faster and could lead to the computer breaking if it was left on all the time. So they just had the turbo off :|
I’ve been told this kind of belief was VERY common.
I mean, at the time when turbo buttons were a thing (and I was a kid who didn’t know much about computers yet), I incorrectly thought that too. My own computers never had one though, and I’d like to think that if one had, I would’ve eventually figured out that it worked opposite to how the label implied.
Then it’s probably time to upgrade from that 8088.
They forgot to press turbo.
Turbo was on by default. Pressing the button to turn it off made the computer run slower to emulate an 8086, so that software coded to calculate time based on instruction cycles rather then using a proper real time clock function wouldn’t run faster than the intended speed.
An 8088 wouldn’t have a turbo button since it ran at the same speed as an 8086 to begin with.
(Also, SimCity 2000 required at least a 386.)
while true, BUT: everyone I knew at the time, who had turbo buttons on their systems, told me that it made the computer faster and could lead to the computer breaking if it was left on all the time. So they just had the turbo off :|
I’ve been told this kind of belief was VERY common.
I mean, at the time when turbo buttons were a thing (and I was a kid who didn’t know much about computers yet), I incorrectly thought that too. My own computers never had one though, and I’d like to think that if one had, I would’ve eventually figured out that it worked opposite to how the label implied.