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From: rhyde@hubbell.ucr.edu (randy hyde)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.system
Subject: Re: Apple HW & SW questions
Message-ID: <15262@ucrmath.ucr.edu>
Date: 14 Jun 91 01:08:58 GMT
References: <1991Jun13.221640.11341@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> <4123@ux.acs.umn.edu>
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Reply-To: rhyde@hubbell.ucr.edu (randy hyde)
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Sorry, I *teach* operating systems and I fail to see the analogy with
automatic and manual transmissions.  The user doesn't really control
the process switching, the individual apps do.  Sure, the foreground app
gets the highest priority, and the user selects that, but the user doesn't
assign priorities and doesn't control what app is actually running at any given
instant and what causes things to shift gears.

BTW, Mac O/S = MULTIPROGRAMMING, not multitasking.  "Cooperative multitasking"
and "Nonpreemptive multitasking" are oxymorons.  We've had the terms to
describe
what the Mac does for over 30 years.  It's MULTIPROGRAMMING.
I'm not religious about this, I teach my students about CM and NM as synonyms
for multiprogramming.  However, you'll all sound more intelligent if you use
the proper terms.

Multitasking ("TRUE" or otherwise) implies preemption.

Multiprocessing implies multiple processors.
*** Randy Hyde