Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!samsung!uunet!seas.gwu.edu!timur
From: timur@seas.gwu.edu (The Time Traveler)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: 80287 in WINDOWS
Message-ID: <2316@sparko.gwu.edu>
Date: 7 Nov 90 19:03:37 GMT
References: <1990Nov7.135353.1157@urz.unibas.ch>
Reply-To: timur@seas.gwu.edu ()
Organization: The George Washington University, Washington D.C.
Lines: 27

In article <1990Nov7.135353.1157@urz.unibas.ch> fritz@urz.unibas.ch writes:
>Hello
>
>I have a simple question and didn't find any answer yet.
>
>Does WINDOWS 3 make any use of a numeric coprocessor (80X87) ?
>
>In the \system directory there is a 87emu.dll, but I don't know
>what it does. I didn't notice any difference in speed before
>and after I had installed the 80287 either.
>
I don't think Windows itself uses an '87, because I think all of its
graphics routines can be written with integer arithmetic.  OS/2 has some
other graphic primitives (like bezier splines) which might not be possible
to write with integer math, so maybe OS/2 will show a speed increase.

However, I think it's the applications under Windows that benefit.  
Obviously, Excel does.  I heard that Pagemaker does too (can anyone
substantiate this?)  You probably won't find much of an increase unless
you start running really large, math-intesive applications, like large
spreadsheets, CAD programs, and stuff like Mathematica.

------------------------------------------------------------ The Time Traveler
Your daddy works in porno
Now that mommy's not around                                 timur@seas.gwu.edu
She used to love her heroin                               HE891C@GWUVM.GWU.EDU
But now she's underground              - Guns N' Roses