Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!udel!udccvax1!don
From: don@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Donald R Lloyd)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: Multitasking on the ST
Message-ID: <4099@udccvax1.acs.udel.EDU>
Date: 4 Aug 89 08:09:44 GMT
References: <8908021826.AA05333@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Reply-To: don@vax1.acs.udel.EDU (Donald R Lloyd)
Organization: University of Delaware
Lines: 42

In article <8908021826.AA05333@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> 01659@AECLCR.BITNET (Greg Csullog) writes:
>It drives me nuts to see so many people worrying about multitasking on the
>ST. Jeez, at 8 MHz on a 68000 without a co-processor, I'm having trouble
>getting good performance running one application at a time. If a CPU intensive
>app is running, I do not want to make it crawl any slower by asking the CPU
>to service another application. Hell, most people crave multitasking but until
>you have a 68030 and a co-processor or a 80386 and a co-processor, it ain't
>worth worrying about for 99% of the users.
>
>Want to run a word processor and a spreadsheet at the same time. No problem,
>get REVOLVER and switch between apps. Want to generate huge dbMAN reports
>and run .CMD files while executing another CPU intensive app - forget it!
>
>Jumping between apps is OK on the ST. Running multiple, CPU intensive apps
>is silly.
>
>Yep the Amiga has multi-tasking; how many people REALLY benefit from it (I
>know this will spark a "look at me" response but I'm talking widespread use
>of multitasking, not isolated examples)?

    How about downloading a file onto one drive, formatting a disk in another,
and editing text all at the same time?  Or running your word processor with
a ray-tracer going in the background?  Running two paint programs and exchanging
data between them?  These are the kinds of things that amiga people 
(in your words) "REALLY benefit from", and can be easily done by anybody who's
spent a little time learning to use their OS.  I can do 'em, and I don't even
own an amiga.....how's that for 'widespread use'?

   I hope this doesn't start Yet Another Flame War.... although I do like 
amigas, I'm not posting this to preach their obvious superiority :-)
( <-- notice smiley).  I'm just trying to point out that multi-tasking DOES
have a place in the home....or if it doesn't yet, it's only because IBM still
hasn't 'invented' it for anybody who can't afford a 286 or 386 w/a few extra
megs of memory and a HD fast enough to make the OS run at faster than Vic-20
speed.....

Still stuck on a single-tasking C128 and wishing for a real computer...

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------    Don Lloyd  El Campeador   don@vax1.acs.udel.edu          |
| |Gibberish is |    DISCLAIMER:               don@pyr1.acs.udel.edu          |
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