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From: glenn@gla-aux.uucp (Glenn Austin)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: Mac Vs. Windows? (sorry)
Message-ID: <0E010021.e0mxxc@gla-aux.uucp>
Date: 24 May 91 07:25:48 GMT
Reply-To: glenn%gla-aux.uucp@skinner.cs.uoregon.edu
Organization: The Pit Lane
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In article <1991May18.050842.5732@cs.uoregon.edu>, akm@obelix.cs.uoregon.edu (Anant Kartik Mithal) writes:
> So, my question is: if the Mac is faster than a "comparable" pc in
> execution, what is the reason? Is it ROM? (I don't think so for the
> reasons listed above.) What other things can make a difference?

Two things -- processor effeciency and levels of routines.

1) Windows sits on top of (and beside) DOS.  This is the reason that PM
is faster -- its part of the OS.
2) The Motorola (and for that matter, any linear-addressing processor) is
faster than segmented memory.
3) The average instruction length of normal instructions on the 80x86 processors
is 5 bytes, read a byte at a time (usually -- hook up a logic analyzer and
see for yourself!), where the 680x0 average instruction length is 3-4 bytes,
read a long-word at a time (at worst case, a word at a time).  Less than
half the accesses to memory (RAM OR ROM) is faster.  This is also why zero-wait
state 80x86s show better speed increases than their 680x0 counterparts.

> Anant Kartik Mithal                                     akm@cs.uoregon.edu
> Research Assistant, 					(503)346-4408 (msgs)
> Department of Computer Science,                         (503)346-3989 (direct)
> University of Oregon, Eugene, OR 97403-1202

How about that -- someone else from Eugune! :-)

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