Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!aplcen!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!oneb!kmcvay
From: kmcvay@oneb.UUCP (Ken McVay)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: BASIC QUESTION ABOUT DESQVIEW (was WINDOWS)
Summary: If you hated Windows, you'll LOVE DESQview 386 :-)
Message-ID: <1034@oneb.UUCP>
Date: 10 Dec 89 19:43:08 GMT
References: <413@vlsi.ll.mit.edu> <245@cvbnet.Prime.COM>
Lines: 44


I ran DESQview 386 on an Everex 386/16 with a meg of RAM for about 6 months.
I used DV to run dual FrontDoor/Opus BBS systems, and it worked without a
flaw....I only took it down when I installed Xenix on my new 386, and had
no further need to multitask on the Everex.

With 1024k, life with DV386 can be very restrictive, however. I was able to
use 364k in one window (out of the "lower 640") and about 240 out of the
384k extended memory. While the communications stuff worked VERY well, there
really wasn't enough RAM with DV loaded to do word processing or number work
(WordStar 5.0 would load, but I couldn't print anything, while SuperCalc5
wouldn't load) without hassles. 

On my Eltech 386/25, with 4 megs of RAM, it was a different story - I could
open 550k windows and do whatever needed doing without disturbing other
applications (FD/Opus, for instance). In short, I suggest that for routine
office or business applications, you should have at least a meg of expanded
(above 1024k) RAM. Once you have that, you will love DESQview -  

We ran some "fun" tests on the Eltech before installing Xenix, just to see
what we could squeeze. A batch file was created and run in two windows 
(550k) - the batch file was your basic "time waster" and ran lots of disk i/o
stuff in a loop, with Norton's SI tossed in for good measure:

:Waste CPU time to play with DESQview on the 386/25
key-fake "B" 13         ;pre-load keyboard buffer
DT			;Norton's Disk Test
DS NE /S		;sort directories
chkdsk
SI		
dir \util\*.EXE/w       ;7 megs of junk in here
goto WASTE

The SI runs would report anything from 17 to 29, depending upon what the
other partition was doing at the time. There was no significant difference
noted when we opened the routine in another (third) partition. (The Eltech
reports an SI of 33 without DV running)

In short, go for it - DV's reasonably fast and stable - you'll be glad you
installed it :-)

-- 
     "The number of  things in a given class is the class of all classes 
          that are similar to the given class." (Sprague de Camp)