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From: lmg@sfmin.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: MS-DOS 5.0 and PC/OS2
Message-ID: <813@sfmin.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 13-Jun-87 12:06:24 EDT
Article-I.D.: sfmin.813
Posted: Sat Jun 13 12:06:24 1987
Date-Received: Tue, 16-Jun-87 00:58:16 EDT
References: <1534@megatest.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Information Systems, Summit N.J.
Lines: 44

> 
> I trying to sort out the rumors pertaining to the capabilities of the
> next release of MS-DOS, and the first release of PC/OS2.
> 
> Could anyone please comment/confirm/deny the following:
> 
> 	1) PC/OS2 will not be compatible with the current applications
> 	   written for MS-DOS. I.e., if you have a copy of Lotus 123 and
> 	   wish to use the multitasking/enhanced memory capabilities of
> 	   PC/OS2, you will need a new copy.

You will be able to run one (1) current MS-DOS application under OS/2.
I believe it gets suspended if you put it in the background to run an
OS/2 application. Only OS/2 applications - none of which exist right now -
can be multitasked. TSR programs such as Sidekick may not work at all.

> 	2) The next release of MS-DOS will reportedly unlock the extended
> 	   memory inherent in the AT and 386 machines, but will it have
> 	   multitasking? a windowing environment? both?
> 
> 	3) To what extent will the next release of MS-DOS use the extended
> 	   or (in the case of the 386) virtual PC modes built into the
> 	   processors?

I think you're confused here. "The next release of MS-DOS" will be DOS 3.4,
and no one outside of Microsoft knows when it will be released, if ever,
or what it will contain, but presumably it will be an incremental
improvement over DOS 3.3.

OS/2 will use 286 protected mode (not 386 protected mode or Virtual 86 mode).
New OS/2 applications can be multitasked with the single MS-DOS application.
It is really very much like AT&T's "SimulTask" or Locus' "DOS Merge": one
MS-DOS program, the rest is not MS-DOS.

If you're considering running OS/2 on a 386, remember that it is a 286
operating system, full of segment switching and all that 16 bit glop.
I have seen 286 UNIX on a 386, and 386 UNIX on a 386, and the difference
in performance is like that between a VW Beetle and a Porsche 930 Turbo.
I have NOT seen OS/2, but I'm prepared to be disappointed when I do.
I've seen benchmarks showing prerelease OS/2 to run MS-DOS applications
more slowly than DOS 3.1 or 3.2.

					Larry Geary
					ihnp4!attunix!lmg