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From: elwell%tut.cis.ohio-state.edu@osu-eddie.UUCP (Clayton Elwell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Comparing computers
Message-ID: <4031@osu-eddie.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 25-Aug-87 11:55:42 EDT
Article-I.D.: osu-eddi.4031
Posted: Tue Aug 25 11:55:42 1987
Date-Received: Thu, 27-Aug-87 01:30:12 EDT
References: <8708242340.AA10671@cory.Berkeley.EDU>
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Reply-To: elwell%tut.cis.ohio-state.edu@osu-eddie.UUCP (Clayton Elwell)
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In article <8708242340.AA10671@cory.Berkeley.EDU>
dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) writes:

{ >> = me, > = Matt}

>>Most of the time, I get more tangible benefits from the thought that
>>went into the design of the Mac (and its software) than I do out of
>>the multitasking that's present on every other machine I use.  To pick
>>an example out of a hat, my C compiler is so fast that I don't have
>>time to fire up a terminal emulator and download a file while it's
>>compiling.
>
>	This is a very minor point relative to multitasking in general and
>a bad example to boot (as anybody who has ever had experience on a multi-
>tasking machine such as a Sun can tell you).  I think what you meant to
>say was something along the lines "The Mac was designed well enough that
>Multitasking doesn't seem to be as much of a benefit as one might think"...
>at least, that's how I read it.

That might be a better way to say it.  I use (and support) Suns
everyday.  They're great for a lot of things, but I end up spending a
lot more of my time in front of my Mac, simply because it makes me
more productive.  If Lightspeed C, Adobe Illustrator, etc. ran on a
Sun (at the same price), then I might switch my base of operations.
As it is, the Mac is a much better environment, even without having
preemptive multitasking.

>	I, for one, find some sort of multitasking a neccesity.  The Mac has
>this in its DA's and other clever interrupt driven tricks.  Even when I still
>had my old Commodore Pet (can you say 7167 bytes free?) I wrote programs which
>semi-multitasked so I could debug them while they were running. 
>
>				-Matt

It's this kind of thing that lets MultiFinder work.  If I can have
more multitasking without giving up the Mac architecture, I'll be very
happy.  MultiFinder is one approach.  A/UX running a layer manager is
another.  I'm patient.

-=-

Clayton Elwell

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