Path: utzoo!attcan!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!rutgers!rochester!pt.cs.cmu.edu!sei!bwb
From: bwb@sei.cmu.edu (Bruce Benson)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Windows 3.0
Message-ID: <7770@fy.sei.cmu.edu>
Date: 7 Jul 90 17:43:07 GMT
References: <4085@uqcspe.cs.uq.oz.au+ <1018@ashton.UUCP+ <4100@uqcspe.cs.uq.oz.au+ <7671@fy.sei.cmu.edu+ <685@marvin.moncam.co.uk>
Reply-To: bwb@sei.cmu.edu (Bruce Benson)
Organization: Software Engineering Institute, Pittsburgh, PA
Lines: 33

In article <685@marvin.moncam.co.uk> emmo@moncam.co.uk (Dave Emmerson) writes:
>In article <7671@fy.sei.cmu.edu+, bwb@sei.cmu.edu (Bruce Benson) writes:
>+ In article <1990Jun28.050337.7529@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu+ brian@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Brian Hoffman) writes:
>+ 
>+ I once had a unix fanatic (NOT a guru) try to explain why my msdos PC
>+ could not really multitask.  However, he was having a hard time starting
>+ a Unix background process ('&') that did something meaningful and obvious. In
>+ the meantime I had started about 3 cube demos running under windows and
>+ asked him "you mean something like this?"  He stood there dumbfounded as I
>+ started a few more.  This wasn't quite fair, but the notion that a PC can't
>+ multitask (the *right* way) without Unix should have died years ago.
>+ 
>
>Are you saying that if I buy Windows 3.0, I can take any mix of exes and coms
>from my \bin and run them all concurrently like I can on one of our Suns?
>Great! why didn't anyone say so before?
>'Scuse me while I go find my cheque book..

No. Only that for many people the *PC can't multitask* position is repeated 
without any understanding of either nonUnix or Unix OSes.  You, again, 
specify a given *right way* and imply that since win3.0 doesn't do it in
this *right way* then it must not be able to *truely* multitask.  Tell me
what I can functionally do under any given OS, then I can decide if it meets
my needs.  Starting 50 applications that can run *simultaneously* in some
fashion may be useful but so is starting 50 apps that only run when I work
directly on them. Something in between may also be useful.  How much does your
sun/os/software cost compared to another configuration?  Answers these 
questions then go find your cheque book and buy what you need and can afford.

* Bruce Benson                   + Internet  - bwb@sei.cmu.edu +       +
* Software Engineering Institute + Compuserv - 76226,3407      +    >--|>
* Carnegie Mellon University     + Voice     - 412 268 8496    +       +
* Pittsburgh PA 15213-3890       +                             +  US Air Force