Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!ingr!b11!dan
From: dan@b11.ingr.com (Dan Webb)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Subject: Re: New Macintosh Strategy
Keywords: Macintosh
Message-ID: <9260@b11.ingr.com>
Date: 30 Oct 90 23:08:40 GMT
References: <306@cti1.UUCP> <1990Oct29.195413.7784@phri.nyu.edu> <1990Oct29.205503.109@midway.uchicago.edu>
Distribution: comp.sys.mac.hardware
Organization: Intergraph Corp. Huntsville, AL
Lines: 37

In article <1990Oct29.205503.109@midway.uchicago.edu>, francis@daisy.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes:
> In article <1990Oct29.195413.7784@phri.nyu.edu> roy@phri.nyu.edu (Roy Smith) writes:
> >	Can somebody explain to me why the average Mac user [...]  needs
> >[virtual memory]?  OK, so you can't run Unix on it, but so what?
> 
> You don't really, but, looking at history, you KNOW there will come a
> word processor too big to run in a reasonable amount of RAM; virtual
> memory will then let you pretend you have an unreasonable amount (provided
> you either have or can cannibalize enough HD space).
>
> Applications always expand to overflow available memory.  Back when the
> Apple II first got 64K, who would have thought anybody could possibly
> ever be crunched with only a meg?

I hope this NEVER happens on the Mac.  If it does, it will take a long time,
given the large number of Mac users who won't be able to take advantage of
VM.  Word processors shouldn't have to fill all available memory; they're
just word processors.  On the other hand, engineering applications, for
example, should take advantage of big, fast Macs; not everyone uses them.

It's a double-edged sword.  If you don't have
VM, you always have nicely space-optimized software that fits well into
physical memory, but it would be nice if you had more memory.  If you DO
have VM, you've got lots of memory, but programmers tend to get lazy, and
you end up with bulky, slow software.

I develop software on Unix systems, and I loathe the applications that
require 10 MBytes or more to run.  I pride myself in the efficient code
that I write.  I wish more people did.

Look at Microsoft Word 4.0.  Some of you may find this unbelievable, but
it can be run on a Mac 512KE!

----------------------
Dan Webb
Intergraph Corp.
...!uunet!ingr!b11!dan