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From: mitchell@cbmvax.commodore.com (Fred Mitchell - PA)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: 'Virtual Monitors'
Message-ID: <9383@cbmvax.commodore.com>
Date: 19 Jan 90 01:16:10 GMT
References: <9264@cbmvax.commodore.com> <3511@hub.UUCP>
Reply-To: mitchell@cbmvax.commodore.com (Fred Mitchell - PA)
Organization: Commodore, West Chester, PA
Lines: 41

In article <3511@hub.UUCP> 6600pete@hub.UUCP (Pete Gontier) writes:
>> Once again, on the Amiga, you have the CHOICE of letting your application
>> run from its own custom screen, or the Workbench. And remember that the
>> screens co-exist. That is, the custom screen appears in front of, or behind,
>> or overlaps the other screens and the workbench. This is a hard concept to
>> grasp for Mac- and IBM- only people to fully grasp until you have seen it!
>> (There is no equivalent mode for the Mac & IBM Machines, unfortunatly.)
>
>Is this anything like the confusing OS/2 "screen groups"?
>
>Why would you want this?

I don't know anything about OS/2. But I'm sure OS/2 has nothing in common 
with this, because Amiga's Screens are partly hardware-controlled. You
would want them for the following reasons:

1) To keep your Workbench from becomming cluttered- If every application
   opened up its 'work area' on Workbench (Desktop to you Mac types),
   you would wind up with alot of unnecessary clutter (remember, this is a
   multitasking machine, and you could potentially have lots of programs 
   running!

2) To allow the application to take on its own color palette and resolution
   modes and number of bit-planes, so as to not interfere with other programs.

3) To allow direct writes to the bitmap for extra speed- somthing you CANNOT 
   do in a single-screen environment without taking over the machine.

Since I've been working in the Amiga environment, this seems totally natural
and I have come to expect this of other computers as well. I always feel
cramped when I do anything on a PC, and odd on the Mac. Ah yes, I know-
I've been spoiled. Can you blame me? :-)

Like I said, drop in your local Amiga dealer and check it out. Seeing is
believing!

>Pete Gontier   | InterNet: 6600pete@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu, BitNet: 6600pete@ucsbuxa

	Mitchell
	mitchell@cbmvax.UUCP
	"More power than a steaming locomotive!"