We sound like the old-timers club... My first PICstart dev kit was a 16b that came with a blue screen DOS MPASM and 16C57.
Ahh the good old days when we would code ADC by having an external RC on the PIC pin, pulling the input pin low, then timing how long it took for the pin voltage to go high... Or working with one of those really pricy PIC14 series that actually had ADC built in! I've still got a 28pin PIC14 gold window chip around somewhere.
It was a LONG time before MicroChip brought out Windows versions of their software - which was why WinPicProg was the worlds first Windows PIC programmer software (by a considerable margin).
Do you remember the PICstart16b Nigel? it was a little bare PCB with a 18pin ZIF socket, a DB9 serial plug and 4 rubber feet stuck to the bottom. And a null modem cable to connect it. I got mine somewhere around 1990? if memory serves me right. That was a long time before they released the pretty PICstart in the cream plastic case.
Do you remember the PICstart16b Nigel? it was a little bare PCB with a 18pin ZIF socket, a DB9 serial plug and 4 rubber feet stuck to the bottom. And a null modem cable to connect it. I got mine somewhere around 1990? if memory serves me right. That was a long time before they released the pretty PICstart in the cream plastic case.