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From: cfreas@eeserv1.ic.sunysb.edu (Terry Freas)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc
Subject: 1.3 general notes after a week of use
Message-ID: <1991Jan14.210749.15054@sbcs.sunysb.edu>
Date: 14 Jan 91 21:07:49 GMT
Sender: usenet@sbcs.sunysb.edu (Usenet poster)
Organization: State University of New York at Stony Brook
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Originator: cfreas@eeserv1.ic.sunysb.edu

Here are some general notes I've made to myself after a week
of 1.3 use.  You might find it useful.  If not, hit 'n' now.
Also, at the end is a plea for group rewrite of the PM utilities. :-)

-- My Gateway 20Mhz 386DX machine still works with 1.3.
-- After installing 1.3 with the full installation, I was left with
*less* RAM than under 1.2.  600K->200K with 4 megs. total.  After
a little searching, I found that by removing the Adobe PostScript
fonts (I don't have a Toshiba printer driver, anyway :-(), I gained
250K.  I hadn't even engaged them yet.  After a little more rummaging,
I read the documentation (on-line) for the IFS config.sys keyword.
The cache (if left unspecified) will eat up 20% of available RAM!
Bringing that down to 256K gave me a little more...
-- PostScript fonts only will work to 48 points (OS/2 System Editor)
and don't seem to be compatible with their ATM Windows brethren.
-- More fonts for AVIO processes, and these same fonts are used for
full-screen text and graphics sessions for video drivers with
replaceable text fonts.
-- Process creation is a good deal faster.  VM seems to be the same speed
(not tested for a LAN).  File open/close also seems a good deal faster.
-- REXX is big.  Lots of memory is eaten up, and it takes a long time
to load once CMD.exe realizes your .cmd file is a REXX script.
-- PMREXX lets you run a REXX script in a PM window with separated
std I/O, and some tracing capabilities.  The output window is a
MLE, so updates cause the entire window to be updated and therefore
flash constantly.  No watchpoints or breakpoints either.
-- The File Manager is still disgusting.  The only speed increase comes
from having the directory tree collapsed by default.  Silly icons for
floppy, hard disk, and net devices.  Nothing compared to Window 3 in
speed or appearance.  Still hogs RAM and is slow.
-- System Editor: same: ""   ""   "" ""  ""  "".
-- Desktop Manager save doesn't work.  Bootup insists on bringing up
Group Main, no matter how I set up the save (with 1.2 I had both the
Desktop Manager and Group Main minimized with all my other programs
started from startup.cmd).

The upgrade is OK.  Very minor improvements all around, except for
ATM and REXX.  Obviously they have no artists whatsoever at IBM.  That's
what they should cross-license from Microsoft: all those 3-D bitmaps :-).
All the PM utilities that come with OS/2 are crap.  They hog RAM (400K
just to bring up FM or SysEdit?!), are slow, and have zero esthetic appeal
and functionality, plus there are so few of them.  I think a group of us
should get together and write some real, standard PM utilities.  Maybe even
send the code along to IBM...:-)
Anyone interested?
-- 
Jeremy Wohl / wohl@max.physics.sunysb.edu / cfreas@csserv1.ic.sunysb.edu