Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!know!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sdd.hp.com!hplabs!pyramid!mikel
From: mikel@pyrps5.pyramid.com (Mike Lipsie)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: How much is needed to make Windows 3.0 work?
Message-ID: <131737@pyramid.pyramid.com>
Date: 25 Oct 90 15:12:07 GMT
Sender: daemon@pyramid.pyramid.com
Reply-To: mikel@pyrps5.pyramid.com (Mike Lipsie)
Distribution: na
Organization: Pyramid Technology Corp., Mountain View, CA
Lines: 34

In article <1990Oct25.005216.3211@odetics.com> frank@odetics.com (Frank Merrow) writes:
>I have sent several messages on the net asking about monitors and cards.  The
>word I get is that a 2A is OK for VGA, but not for SuperVGA.  A 3D is good
>for both VGA and SuperVGA, but for VGA1K I really need a 4D.  Hey guys, we
>are getting into some bucks here.  What is really NEEDED to run a reasonable
>windows environment?  I gather EGA is NOT enough.  Would the average programmer
>type be happen with VGA?  or is SuperVGA (or VGA1K) "really" needed these days?

What is *really* NEEDED?  I'll give you a low-end data point.
We just got 386/25 systems here and (unfortunately) the stated
reason for the systems had no graphics requirement (game
playing was not considered "work related").  So we ended
up with Hercules Monochrome.

Does Windows 3.x work?  Yes.

Is it pretty?  No.  Color combinations that some programmer
hardwired into his game are awful.  For example, ALMANAC
has a "clock" in their desktop.  It is supposed to look
like a regular digital clock with red LED segments on a
black background with a flashing colon to show the seconds.
Red on black maps to black on black.  Not real useful.

Similarly for a lot of the icons that are floating around.
Taipei is a black blob, ICONDRAW has only 2 (of the 4)
letters visible.

But it works fine and does outstanding at what we claimed
was the purpose.

-----------
Mike Lipsie                               mikel@pyramid.com
Pyramid Technology Corp, Mountain View, CA  +1 415 335 8657
"Toto kansasoseum non est cognito" -- Phil Frank