Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!samsung!usc!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!rpi!bu.edu!bucsf.bu.edu!selick From: selick@bucsf.bu.edu (Steven Selick) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Multitasking Message-ID: <74457@bu.edu.bu.edu> Date: 11 Feb 91 14:28:06 GMT Sender: news@bu.edu.bu.edu Organization: Computer Science Department, Boston University, Boston, MA, USA Lines: 29 Originator: selick@bucsf.bu.edu In response to all of the talk about amigas being 'true' multitasking machines and such, I just thought I'd point out that no matter how you slice it, a single microprocessor can only handle one command at a time. Depending on the methods you choose to do your application switching, you can buffer i/o and such to maximize your productivity, but you still are performing one function on the processor at any given clock tick. Although I am relatively upset at the low priority given to midi and such musical applications on the net, I must agree with the amiga user that one of the main features of the st is its built in midi port and relative low cost, making it ideal for the struggling musician (like myself) but I must say that I have USED the 'big' sequencers on the mac, and I have toyed with amiga/ibm sequencers in the store, and none has come close to Notator on the ST. The ST is a wonderful machine for the price, and I was happy enough with my 1040st to upgrade to an STE (mainly for the blitter chip, tos 1.6, and memory upgrade, but what else is there?) I also just want to say that on the mac (I am running spectre by the way) I feel considerably more closed in. This is not a concrete term, but on the old apple ][, I felt at home. On the ST, I feel at home. On the mac, I feel very restricted. I am not saying that the st is better...I don't think anybody needs to make that distinction. I prefer it. As for multitasking, I hope atari does a system somewhat like multifinder on Mac because I love it. see ya! steve