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From: sysop@stech.UUCP (Jan Harrington)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Tru Multitasking meaningless (was Re: Mac Multitasking? Hee-hee!)
Message-ID: <132@stech.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Aug-87 08:03:19 EDT
Article-I.D.: stech.132
Posted: Thu Aug 20 08:03:19 1987
Date-Received: Sat, 22-Aug-87 14:18:44 EDT
References: <1500@apple.UUCP>
Organization: Scholastech, Inc., Waltham, Mass.
Lines: 41
Xref: mnetor comp.sys.amiga:7605 comp.sys.mac:5798

in article <1500@apple.UUCP>, tecot@apple.UUCP (Ed Tecot) says:
> 
> I'd like to dump on the net about a pet peeve of mine:  "True Multitasking"
> has just about as much meaning as "Politically Correct" and "Standard Unix".
> In other words, it has no meaning.  What most everyone means to say is
> "Pre-emptive Multitasking", that is, that the processor can be yielded to 
> another process at any time.  For my sake, please refrain from using
> that other term.
> 
> And now for my more "direct" comments:
> 
> Yes, MultiFinder is being billed as the first generation multitasking O/S
> for the Macintosh.  And it is, in fact, multitasking.

I'd like to add a few random comments about what appears to be an ongoing
argument between Amiga and Mac people about multi-tasking.   I'm am
avid Mac person who used to own an Amiga but sold it in frustration.

I work with someone who has an Amiga, and according to him, the machine can
do no wrong.  He believes that its operating system is more like those he
worked with at MIT some years ago; it's very low level.  Programming it 
requires much more attention to system details than programming on the Mac.
(See my article in the January 1987 Dr. Dobb's Journal if you want the
deep dirty details ...).

Developers on the Mac, if they adhere to Apple's guidelines (those 10 or so
points that they shipped to developers not so long ago), don't need to worry
about MultiFinder details.  Who cares if its not "pre-emptive" multi-tasking
at this point?  For the user, MultiFinder will allow multiple applications
to run in multiple windows.  That's exactly what we need and want.  For the
developer, it adds virtually no complexity to the development process.

Amiga people should stop taking pot shots.  The Mac and Amiga development
environments are totally different. If you like working with message ports
then program on the Amiga; it you prefer to be isolated from such low level
device interaction, then work with the Amiga.  I prefer the Mac, but I suppose
there's room in this world for both ...

Jan Harrington, sysop
Scholastech Telecommunications
seismo!husc6!amcad!stech!sysop