Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ucbvax!info-vax From: info-vax@ucbvax.ARPA Newsgroups: fa.info-vax Subject: Vaxstation I Message-ID: <5646@ucbvax.ARPA> Date: Wed, 20-Mar-85 11:42:32 EST Article-I.D.: ucbvax.5646 Posted: Wed Mar 20 11:42:32 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 21-Mar-85 03:59:45 EST Sender: daemon@ucbvax.ARPA Organization: University of California at Berkeley Lines: 25 From: Mark Johnson I used the Vaxstation I when they had it at the Fall 84 DECUS. It was very nice, much better than the VS100. The response to the mouse was good, the pop-up windows worked well, and the demos had a few bugs. Startup took a while (several minutes) but was not too excessive. From the presentations at DECUS, they talked about how they integrated it into the uVAX I. The graphics memory is mapped into system space to allow user mode writes. When you call a graphics routine, it works with that memory directly (and bypasses the change mode overhead) to put the stuff on the display. Hardware support for the display is limited to a lookup table for each raster scan line. No special bit blt's (other than MOVC3), rotation, or scaling hardware is used. It is all SOFTWARE. It still runs pretty fast (good enough for me). We are looking at getting one or two to help support our software development effort. I expect to be using tools such as document previewers, diagram preparation, and maybe some modelling along with all the multi-window, multi-process, multi-machine (we would have it on the Ethernet) stuff that is easy to do with the Vaxstation. Can't wait for the one built on the uVAX II. --Mark