Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!apple!alan
From: alan@apple.com (Alan Mimms)
Newsgroups: comp.unix.aux
Subject: Re: XWindows ??
Message-ID: <11178@goofy.Apple.COM>
Date: 8 Nov 90 18:26:57 GMT
References: <7506@cica.cica.indiana.edu> <11116@goofy.Apple.COM> <5268@lanl.gov>
Sender: usenet@Apple.COM
Reply-To: alan@apple.com (Alan Mimms)
Organization: Apple Computer, Inc.
Lines: 58

In article <5268@lanl.gov>, chn@lanl.gov (Charles Neil) writes:
|> In article <11116@goofy.Apple.COM>, abm@alan.aux.apple.com
|> (Alan Mimms) writes:
|> > In article <7506@cica.cica.indiana.edu>,
|> > Don.Gilbert@IUBio.Bio.Indiana.Edu (Don Gilbert) writes:
|> > |> I am close to deciding on a purchase of A/UX
|> > 
|> > Good choice.
|> 
|> [words of encouragement deleted]
|> 
|> > (Note that our X Window System product is NOT a
|> > straight port; very significant enchancements -- especially with
|> > regard to performance -- are built into the software, and an
|> > excellent set of manuals above and beyond the normal MIT manual
|> > pages is included.)

|> I have to respond to this performance statement.  Here on a MacIIfx
|> with 16 M memory, I have both Apple's commercial MacX for A/UX 2.0
|> and MIT's standard X11R4 (with patches 1-19) distribution compiled
|> under gcc 1.37.91

[performance figures clearly showing Charles' point deleted]

|> These figures support the rule my fingers already knew:  don't do
|> graphics under MacX; use X11R4 for that.  The beauty is we can have
|> both; it takes me maybe 30 sec. to switch from X11R4 to the Macintosh
|> desktop.
	
I was referring to our so-called "Native X" server (available as part of
the X Window System for A/UX product from Apple), which works just like
the MIT server -- and cannot be used simultaneously with the Macintosh
world on A/UX (won't run on MacOS either).  While you might find porting
the MIT code fairly painless, many people won't.  If you use the ported
MIT-supplied X11R4 release you'll not get the excellent manuals our Pubs
people write or the consortium code bugfixes and speedups we include or
the bugfixes we include as a result of our extensive software quality
assurance testing.  The choice is yours to make.

Our Native X11 server (especially the X11R4 based version) is faster
than the MIT code by a good margin for a number of types of operations. 
We are CONSTANTLY working on speedups and bugfixes which are generally
only available to consortium members.  We are also doing some very
effective optimizations which are specific to A/UX and Macintosh.

Your comments about MacX 1.0 are justified.  It IS a very convenient way
to use X clients while working cleanly together (i.e., cut and paste)
with the Macintosh world.  But MacX 1.0 (like the version 1.0 release of
practically anything) has a few performance issues that we're working
very hard on right now.  Stay tuned.

--

Alan Mimms (alan@apple.com, ...!apple!alan)   | My opinions are generally
A/UX X group                                  | pretty worthless, but
Apple Computer                                | they *are* my own...
"Laugha whila you can, monkey boy..." -- John Whorfin in Buckaroo Bonzai
"Never rub another man's rhubarb" -- The Joker in BatMan