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From: rb9a@watt.acc.Virginia.EDU (Raul Baragiola)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms
Subject: Windows 3 - caveat emptor
Message-ID: <1990Sep13.021413.28670@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>
Date: 13 Sep 90 02:14:13 GMT
Sender: news@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU
Organization: University of Virginia
Lines: 33

After having used Win3 for a few months, I find that some things should be
said, specially considering all the one-sided support that I noticed in
Byte and PC Magazine.
1) Win3 is really nice if your work _normally_ involves switching between
applications.
2) It si also _very_ nice if you need to "cut and paste" between applica-
tions written for Windows (for non-Windows applications, this is a pain in the
neck).
3) Win3 may not work in your hardware. I have tested it on several machines.
On a SX386 I cannot make a fixed swap area work.
4) Windows will slow down noticeably many applications. If you need to do
number crunching, you better do it outside.
5) The File Manager is light years away from the Norton Commander (NC). It
is faster and better to invoke NC as a non-Windows application.
6) This, and most other so-called GUI or "Graphics User Interfaces" are
unconfortable in the long run, due to the limited resolution of the display
(as compared with, e.g. printed material).
7) Microsoft has not yet set up the resources to support a complex product.
Who wants to wait 15 minutes or more to ask a question to just have someone
read the (limited) manual that you have already read.
8) Having said all that, I must confess that similar arguments should keep
anyone away from Unix or similar systems which are equally or more compli-
cated.
9) Despite contrary-sensu claims in magazines, Windows will not necessarily
improve productivity for most people (it may for a few).

All of which should be taken with a grain of salt (or two), since it is only
one of many possible opinions.


Raul A. Baragiola                               \Internet: raul@virginia.edu
Dept. Nuclear Engnr. and Engnr. Physics          \Phone: (804)-982-2907
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA 22901 \ Fax: (804)-924-6270