Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att-cb!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!husc6!uwvax!astroatc!nicmad!brown
From: brown@nicmad.UUCP (Mr. Video)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Windows Anyone?
Message-ID: <2598@nicmad.UUCP>
Date: 17 Apr 88 03:22:34 GMT
References: <4490012@hpcvca.HP.COM> <1097@neoucom.UUCP>
Reply-To: brown@nicmad.UUCP (Mr. Video)
Organization: Mr. Video's Hangout
Lines: 53

In article <1097@neoucom.UUCP> wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew) writes:
[... author discusses Windows 386 ...]

Well, I hate to burst your bubble about Windows386, but I have had trouble
with it and don't use it anymore.  I am using a Compaq386/16 with 3MB of
memory (will be 4 when the chips come in).  The version of Windows386 that
I was using is 2.03.

Here are the problems that I have encountered:

1. (Actually not a problem) Lotus 1-2-3 runs without having to declare it
   as an exclusive program.

2. It doesn't manage the com ports correctly.  Windows actually complains
   about a partition messing up the one of the ports and tells the user
   to reboot.  Here are the circumstances; the partition brought up is
   RBBS-PC.  After RBBS starts up OK in its partition, I do the old ALT-TAB
   to get back to the Windows control window and I get to see Windows386
   dumping characters out to the modem.  Then Windows complains about the
   integrity of the com port being messed up.  Hell, the only program using
   the com port was RBBS and Windows goes and decides to spit out characters
   to the com port, and then has the guts to tell me that it is messed up.
   It doesn't always happen.  Sometimes everything will work just fine,
   for awhile and then it will mess up again.

   This isn't good if one is trying to run a 24hr RBBS system.  A night
   wouldn't hardly go by when I would come back to work and find the PC
   locked up.

3. The background time slices are very poor.  If someone is downloading
   something from the RBBS, the efficiency of the download is about 40%.
   If the download is done in the forground, it is about 80-90%.  Not
   good for the poor person spending the money to call the RBBS system.

So, how did I get around these problems?  Well, for the time being I am
using DesqVIEW 2.01.  Yes, I know, it isn't a 386 system.  But at least
the com ports don't mess up and the time slices for the background job
are MUCH better.  I have purchased and am awaiting the 1.1 release of
VM/386.  Version 1.0 doesn't like MS-DOS 3.31 disk partitions larger
than 32 MB.  VM/386 is a true virtual 86 multitasking environment.
It creates each partition as its own little DOS world.  ALT-CTL-DEL
only reboots that partition.  Each partition can run a different version
of DOS.

When the new version of VM/386 arrives I will be installing it real fast.
So, for true virtual 86 operation, software like VM/386 will be required.
DesqVIEW/386 is also coming out soon.

As I have always said; I don't do Windows!!!!
-- 
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Mr. Video               !uwvax.................!nicmad!brown
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