Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!cs.utexas.edu!hellgate.utah.edu!fcom.cc.utah.edu!cc.utah.edu!cc.usu.edu!slsw2 From: slsw2@cc.usu.edu Newsgroups: comp.os.misc Subject: Re: How wrong is MS-DOS? Message-ID: <1991Jan3.095548.46047@cc.usu.edu> Date: 3 Jan 91 15:55:48 GMT References: <37459@cup.portal.com> <1991Jan02.035501.9457@iecc.cambridge.ma.us> <1991Jan02.062657.21032@kithrup.COM> Followup-To: comp.os.misc Lines: 45 In article <1991Jan02.062657.21032@kithrup.COM>, sef@kithrup.COM (Sean Eric Fagan) writes: > In article <1991Jan02.035501.9457@iecc.cambridge.ma.us> johnl@iecc.cambridge.ma.us (John R. Levine) writes: >>I'd be the last to argue that MS-DOS is the world's best operating system, but >>it has its redeeming points. > > Agreed, and you point out some of them. My problem with DOS is that I think > its time has passed. Users want/need *more*. OS/2 comes close, I guess, > but I don't think it's quite right (it feels too much like DOS still 8-)). That's interesting. My complaint about DOS has always been that it's too big and I want *less*! But then I'm wierd... > For managing the small machine that was the 8088-based IBM PC, DOS is fine. > For handling the not-so-small machine that kithrup is (25MHz '386, 8Mb RAM), > it is not good enough for what I want to do. My needs are still mostly handled by Z80s and, now that Zilog builds 20 MHz Z80s, I don't see myself outgrowing CP/M for my personal needs for quite some time to come. > My objections to DOS start at that point. There are lots of "DOS Extenders" > available; I don't think any of them work as well as DOS-under-UNIX would > (although they eat up a lot fewer resources, I will admit). They don't fit > smoothly into it, and trying to keep up with the changing hardware and > software demands is next to impossible. OK, I'll admit, I have one CP/M extender running: I hacked over ZCPR to give me command line recall and editing. > Anyway: yes, DOS has its uses. If my needs were a bit smaller, DOS would > probably suffice for what I want/need. My needs are smaller than those addressed by DOS, so I still use CP/M. And consider this: in these days of 4 MB SIMMs and 20 MHz Z80s, I could build a system that runs entirely out of RAM and *feels* faster than most DOS machines; it wouldn't *be* faster, mind you, but it would feel faster for the casual use that I do. -- =============================================================================== Roger Ivie 35 S 300 W Logan, Ut. 84321 (801) 752-8633 ===============================================================================