Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!cs.utexas.edu!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hpfcso!hpfcdc!garyq
From: garyq@hpfcdc.HP.COM (Gary Quakenbush)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.hp
Subject: Re: softPC
Message-ID: <5570313@hpfcdc.HP.COM>
Date: 25 Oct 89 16:05:00 GMT
References: <9122@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu>
Organization: HP Ft. Collins, Co.
Lines: 29

> ...
> to learn more about its limitations.  I would guess that applications
> which bypass the PC's BIOS are not going to work.  Is that correct?
> Are there other limitations?  What sort of graphical output can I
> expect?

I believe SoftPC completely emulates PC devices at all levels, including
BIOS and register level.

The limitation you will see is the limitation of the PC displays
themselves.  SoftPC emulates MDA, Hercules monochrome, CGA, and EGA (in
SoftPC 2.0 only), in an HP-UX X11 window.  Only MDA (no graphics) is
emulated in the version of SoftPC that runs on a terminal outside of
X11.  It wouldn't be impossible for HP to support more powerful PC
graphics standards in the future, but I expect to see more emphasis in
HP on getting graphics applications ported to run native under HP-UX,
rather than enhancing the PC emulation.  Native X11 graphics
applications will always have much better performance on your 835 than
SoftPC graphics applications.

Note that I'm not associated with the SoftPC project, and I do not know
of, or have any effect on, future plans for SoftPC or native-mode HP-UX
applications.  My comments on the future are pure speculation.

The bottom line is SoftPC does not use the full capabilities of your 835
SRX display, since it's limited to the capabilities of the PC display
being emulated.  This may be sufficient for your needs, but I recommend
trying it before making a commitment.  I also recommend waiting for
SoftPC 2.0, which is announced but not yet shipping.