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From: borton@sdcc3.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.micro.mac
Subject: Re: Ten Challenges  (long)
Message-ID: <3346@sdcc3.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 21-May-86 17:48:21 EDT
Article-I.D.: sdcc3.3346
Posted: Wed May 21 17:48:21 1986
Date-Received: Sat, 24-May-86 21:25:07 EDT
References: <21100039@orstcs.UUCP> <420@ccird1.UUCP> <355@cad.UUCP>
Reply-To: borton@sdcc3.UUCP (Chris Borton)
Organization: U.C. San Diego, Academic Computer Center
Lines: 29

In article <355@cad.UUCP> jmm@pavepaws.UUCP (James M. Moore) writes:
>In response to the multitasking issue, Bill Atkinson is supposed to be hard
>at work at this very moment (and many pastmoments) on something called Servent.
>Multitasking in windows on the same screen.  Rumor had it serveral months ago
>that it was due to be released this summer, approximately in June.  I have no
>idea if this is still the case.  
>
It is Andy Hertzfield, author of Switcher, who is working on Servant.
`Multi-tasking' is a tough term to define, but a more correct description of
Servant would be allowing applications to co-reside, as they do now in
Switcher, with `context-switches' happening on mouse-clicks (in which
window).  The primary reason people want `multi-tasking' is to be able to do
`menial' tasks such as printing and file transfer `in the background' while
they don something else.

Switcher currently has the hooks necessary to achieve this `background'
work such as printing; I am disappointed that only ThunderScan is the
only application I have seen take advantage of it.

Andy said last January he hoped to start beta-testing in ~June, with release
perhaps in Fall.  For a more complete description of what he said at
the San Diego Mac Users Group meeting in January see Best of BIX, Mac
section,  BYTE April issue (it might be May)

--Chris
-- 
Chris Borton, UC San Diego Undergraduate CS; Micro Consultant, UCSD
borton@sdcsvax.UCSD.EDU || ...!{ucbvax,decvax,noscvax,ihnp4,bang}!sdcsvax!borton
"Ist alles klar, Herr Kommissar?"  "Ganz!  Sie sind der Dieb!"