Xref: utzoo comp.windows.ms:11802 comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc:8914 Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!csri.toronto.edu!wayne Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,comp.sys.ibm.pc.misc From: wayne@csri.toronto.edu (Wayne Hayes) Subject: Re: OS/2 2.0 is here! READ THIS, you'll be impressed Message-ID: <1991Apr23.001153.18866@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto References: <1991Apr21.135534.724@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> <1991Apr21.194928.8267@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <1991Apr21.175529.2386@jarvis.csri.toronto.edu> Distribution: comp Date: 23 Apr 91 04:11:53 GMT Lines: 37 In reply to various: Yes, OS/2 2.0 will (should) run on *any* 386 or 486, not just a PS/2. (And no, not on a 286. This is a 32 bit OS) In regard to compatibility at *all* levels (DOS x.y, hardware access by DOS, etc, etc): the statement coming from the developers is that from now on, any compatibily problem will be considered a problem with OS/2, and not a "well you should use a more modern version of your DOS app" reply. I'm about to say something that anyone who knows me thought they'd never hear me say: For a single user, multitasking system, OS/2 has the capability to blow the pants off any Unix system. (I'm usually a DOS and OS/2 critic and Unix flag waver.) This is because of the phrase "single user". Since there is only one user on OS/2, there is the concept of _THE_ foreground process, which is of course the process that is currently taking user input. This allows OS/2 to take advantage of this and give this process a unique, higher priority, so that no matter how busy the machine is in the background, whatever the foreground process is, it nearly always responds immediately, as if it was the only task running. (This foreground process is given priority over everything except processes that declare themselves as requiring real-time processing.) This has an amazing effect on perceived performance. This type of handling cannot be provided under Unix because there *is* no single "foreground" process; even if you're running X-windows and you see that window A is obviously your "foreground" process, there may some flunky logged in over the serial port running a nuclear reactor simulator that is not nice(1)'d. This happens even on the high end Unix boxes running X-windows. -- NOTICE: Due to the complexity of nearly all topics, the opinions expressed above are in continual process of formation and may be changed without notice. Wayne Hayes INTERNET: wayne@csri.utoronto.ca CompuServe: 72401,3525