Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!yale!eagle!jtreworgy
From: jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Multitasking on the ST
Message-ID: <349@eagle.wesleyan.edu>
Date: 4 Aug 89 13:58:11 GMT
References: <8908021826.AA05333@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Lines: 54

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!
> 

Just becasue an application is CPU intesive doesn't mean you can't benifit
from multitasking with it. That's the best part. Suppose you are generating a
huge dbMAN report (or generating a ray traced image, or anything that is going
to take a long time). Suppose that you also want to use your computer for
whatever else at the same time. So fine! You set the cpu-intesive application
to a low priority, and start doing whatever you want! You won't notice any
slowdown, because there won't be one. If the interactive task (whatever you are
doing) has the highest priority, it will get the CPU time when it needs it. The
other tasks will just run a little slower. Small price to pay to be able to do
whatever you want while some other task is grinding away.

> Jumping between apps is OK on the ST. Running multiple, CPU intensive apps
> is silly.
> 

Generating two separate ray traced images at the same time IS silly. It would
be just as fast to do them one & then the other. But it is NOT silly to let it
grind away in the background while you go about your business.

> 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)?

Not everybody needs to generate ray-traced images or create huge reports. But I
do downloading, word processing, disk copying, printing, and a number of other
things on a regular basis. It is very nice not to have to wait for these things
to finish. Another added benifit is the ease of installation of little public
domain utilities... anything you want, like an alarm clock, a virus checker,
etc. can be installed as easily as running it. The way Amiga multitasking
works, when these are set to low priority, they only take processor time when
it is not being used, thus they don't slow anything down. (I'm sure there are
ways to do things like this on the ST, but they probably involve patching or
other kludges to run simultaneously, and consequently slow the system down).

-- 
James A. Treworgy               "You should have seen me with the poker man,
jtreworgy@eagle.wesleyan.edu     I had a honey and I bet a grand,
jtreworgy%eagle@WESLEYAN.BITNET  Just in the nick of time I looked at his hand"
Box 5033 Wesleyan Station                           -Paul McCartney
Middletown, CT 06475