<s>
McBBS	B-Protocol
was	O
a	O
Bulletin	B-Application
Board	I-Application
System	I-Application
developed	O
by	O
Derek	O
E	O
.	O
McDonald	O
and	O
distributed	O
by	O
DMCS	O
Technologies	O
between	O
October	O
30	O
,	O
1989	O
and	O
May	O
30	O
,	O
2000	O
and	O
operated	O
over	O
18	O
versions	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
McBBS	B-Protocol
started	O
out	O
as	O
a	O
project	O
for	O
the	O
then	O
High	O
School	O
student	O
Derek	O
McDonald	O
,	O
then	O
attending	O
Charles	O
P	O
.	O
Allen	O
High	O
School	O
in	O
Bedford	O
,	O
Nova	O
Scotia	O
,	O
Canada	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Heavily	O
influenced	O
by	O
the	O
works	O
of	O
Ken	O
Spence	O
and	O
his	O
Spence	O
XP	O
BBS	B-Application
system	O
of	O
which	O
there	O
were	O
two	O
versions	O
written	O
in	O
1985	O
and	O
1987	O
respectively	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
Ed	O
Parry	O
's	O
EBBS	O
and	O
Clarke	O
Development	O
's	O
PCBoard	B-Protocol
,	O
the	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
software	O
was	O
originally	O
developed	O
for	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
computer	O
but	O
was	O
ported	O
over	O
to	O
the	O
DOS	B-Device
platform	O
in	O
1992	O
(	O
starting	O
with	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
v3.0	O
)	O
where	O
it	O
remained	O
until	O
the	O
project	O
was	O
officially	O
ended	O
in	O
May	O
2000	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
software	O
was	O
written	O
entirely	O
in	O
the	O
BASIC	O
computer	O
language	O
,	O
but	O
starting	O
with	O
version	O
3.1	O
in	O
1992	O
it	O
was	O
compiled	O
from	O
BASIC	O
into	O
8086	B-General_Concept
executable	O
code	O
for	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
featured	O
all	O
the	O
standard	O
functions	O
of	O
a	O
BBS	B-Application
of	O
the	O
time	O
including	O
file	O
transfers	O
in	O
several	O
competing	O
protocols	O
(	O
XMODEM	B-Protocol
,	O
YMODEM	B-Protocol
,	O
YMODEM-G	B-Protocol
,	O
ZMODEM	B-Device
)	O
provided	O
with	O
the	O
program	O
or	O
as	O
third	O
party	O
software	O
;	O
they	O
connected	O
externally	O
to	O
the	O
main	O
program	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
was	O
also	O
capable	O
of	O
producing	O
simple	O
graphics	O
&	O
text	O
using	O
both	O
the	O
ASCII	B-Protocol
,	O
PETSCII	B-Protocol
,	O
and	O
the	O
ANSI	O
escape	O
code	O
character	O
sets	O
and	O
color	O
codes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
McBBS	B-Protocol
also	O
had	O
the	O
advanced	O
and	O
unique	O
feature	O
of	O
a	O
primitive	O
sound	O
broadcasting	O
system	O
allowing	O
the	O
BBS	B-Application
to	O
program	O
the	O
remote	O
computer	O
's	O
beeper	O
speaker	O
using	O
what	O
was	O
essentially	O
an	O
extension	O
of	O
the	O
ANSI	O
Escape	O
Code	O
sequences	O
used	O
exclusively	O
by	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
net	O
result	O
,	O
when	O
used	O
with	O
the	O
appropriate	O
translation	O
software	O
(	O
also	O
supplied	O
by	O
McDonald	O
and	O
company	O
)	O
,	O
was	O
audible	O
,	O
if	O
low-resolution	O
music	O
;	O
a	O
demonstration	O
given	O
by	O
McDonald	O
himself	O
once	O
showed	O
the	O
BBS	B-Application
playing	O
The	O
Rolling	O
Stone	O
's	O
"	O
You	O
Ca	O
n't	O
Always	O
Get	O
What	O
You	O
Want	O
"	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
William	O
Tell	O
Overture	O
,	O
coded	O
using	O
a	O
simple	O
text	O
editor	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
As	O
far	O
as	O
speed	O
goes	O
,	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
first	O
to	O
adopt	O
what	O
was	O
(	O
then	O
)	O
high	O
speed	O
modems	O
exceeding	O
14400	O
bit/s	O
,	O
the	O
program	O
itself	O
was	O
small	O
and	O
efficiently	O
written	O
,	O
allowing	O
it	O
great	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
was	O
also	O
Y2K	B-Error_Name
and	O
survived	O
the	O
century	O
changeover	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
last	O
version	O
"	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
v5.5	O
rev.3	O
"	O
was	O
featured	O
on	O
the	O
Alliance	O
CD	O
as	O
the	O
multimedia	O
component	O
in	O
a	O
last	O
effort	O
to	O
promote	O
the	O
program	O
when	O
Emperor	O
Multimedia	O
Corporation	O
took	O
over	O
the	O
assets	O
of	O
DMCS	O
Technologies	O
when	O
the	O
companies	O
merged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
McBBS	B-Protocol
was	O
marketed	O
exclusively	O
to	O
operators	O
and	O
users	O
of	O
BBS	B-Application
systems	O
over	O
those	O
same	O
BBS	B-Application
public	O
message	O
forums	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
time	O
to	O
time	O
advertisements	O
were	O
posted	O
over	O
various	O
BBS	B-Application
networks	O
promoting	O
its	O
virtues	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Since	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
seemed	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
robust	O
product	O
and	O
yet	O
had	O
a	O
small	O
footprint	O
on	O
the	O
computer	O
's	O
memory	O
and	O
disc	O
this	O
feature	O
was	O
heavily	O
exploited	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
early	O
Commodore	O
days	O
the	O
slogan	O
was	O
,	O
"	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
;	O
The	O
Little	O
BBS	B-Application
That	O
Could	O
"	O
,	O
a	O
spoof	O
off	O
the	O
Children	O
's	O
book	O
The	O
Little	O
Engine	O
That	O
Could	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Market	O
for	O
the	O
old-style	O
BBS	B-Application
software	O
was	O
eroded	O
by	O
the	O
arrival	O
of	O
the	O
Internet	O
and	O
the	O
Windows	O
GUI	O
operating	O
systems	O
during	O
the	O
late	O
1990s	O
,	O
and	O
although	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
had	O
primitive	O
networking	O
capabilities	O
via	O
the	O
FidoNet	O
,	O
and	O
its	O
own	O
proprietary	B-Application
McNET	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
not	O
enough	O
to	O
compete	O
with	O
the	O
internet	O
E-mailing	O
systems	O
,	O
nor	O
could	O
McDonald	O
program	O
a	O
new	O
version	O
fast	O
enough	O
to	O
compete	O
with	O
the	O
arrival	O
of	O
the	O
GUI	O
operating	O
systems	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
McBBS	B-Protocol
was	O
terminated	O
a	O
short	O
time	O
after	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
sometime	O
the	O
official	O
history	O
of	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
was	O
available	O
at	O
the	O
Emperor	O
Multimedia	O
website	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Emperor	O
Multimedia	O
has	O
since	O
moved	O
on	O
to	O
invest	O
in	O
the	O
entertainment	O
industry	O
,	O
specializing	O
in	O
Multimedia	O
,	O
with	O
assets	O
in	O
internet	O
applications	O
,	O
e-books	O
,	O
databases	B-Application
and	O
web	O
design	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
scripting	O
language	O
known	O
as	O
"	O
Viking	O
"	O
,	O
as	O
well	O
as	O
a	O
remote	O
communications	O
terminal	O
called	O
Comterm	O
were	O
also	O
developed	O
for	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
as	O
add-ons	O
for	O
the	O
system	O
;	O
Comterm	O
going	O
on	O
to	O
be	O
a	O
product	O
in	O
its	O
own	O
right	O
that	O
has	O
since	O
been	O
discontinued	O
also	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
McBBS	B-Protocol
's	O
sold	O
for	O
$40	O
U.S.	O
originally	O
on	O
the	O
Commodore	O
64	O
and	O
the	O
later	O
5.x	O
set	O
,	O
all	O
versions	O
in	O
between	O
were	O
free	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
unknown	O
how	O
many	O
copies	O
of	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
were	O
sold	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
is	O
known	O
that	O
installations	O
existed	O
in	O
Asia	O
,	O
North	O
America	O
and	O
Europe	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
largest	O
concentration	O
of	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
installations	O
was	O
in	O
the	O
Mid-West	O
USA	O
and	O
Eastern	O
Canada	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
shipment	O
was	O
sent	O
from	O
Derek	O
McDonald	O
himself	O
,	O
included	O
with	O
this	O
shipment	O
was	O
a	O
single	O
copy	O
of	O
the	O
last	O
version	O
of	O
McBBS	B-Protocol
released	O
thus	O
far	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
5.1A	O
was	O
the	O
first	O
"	O
high	O
speed	O
"	O
modem	O
version	O
that	O
could	O
exceed	O
9600	O
bit/s	O
using	O
a	O
supplied	O
driver	O
written	O
in	O
compiled	O
Pascal	B-Application
language	I-Application
.	O
</s>
