Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!mit-eddie!bbn!rochester!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!decvax!mandrill!neoucom!wtm
From: wtm@neoucom.UUCP (Bill Mayhew)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Windows Anyone?
Message-ID: <1148@neoucom.UUCP>
Date: 28 Apr 88 13:33:46 GMT
References: <4490012@hpcvca.HP.COM> <1097@neoucom.UUCP> <798@netxcom.UUCP> <27922@yale-celray.yale.UUCP>
Organization: Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
Lines: 33
Keywords: MS Windows 386 Desqview
Summary: Windows 386 com port bugs


Windows 386 is a relatively decent product, if not a little pokey
and memory hog. -- Microsoft just this week announced that a
peppier versioun of Windows is in the works, but didn't give an
official realease date.

Windows 386 does have a few problems.  Mostly what I've had happen
are crashes when something is happening on the com ports.  I have a
model 80 PS/2.  I'm using an AT&T CEO 2400 baud modem on COM1: and
the IBM (really made by Racal) internal 1200 buad modem as COM2:.
Using Windows' terminal with the internal IBM modem will
occasionally cause a hang upon exit, but CTRL-ALT-DEL will get you
out.  Natuarally anybackground processes are lost.  The bug seems
related to moving the mouse while terminal is exiting.  I also had
problems last night while running PROCOMM 2.4.1 in a windowed
command processor.  I bumped the mouse while doing a Kermit
download.  Windows exited spontaneously, and left me in regular DOS
where I was just before I invoked Windows.

I also had a crash several weeks while Turbo C 1.5 was doing a big
compilation, but I could not get the crash to repeat, so I don't
know what was going on with Windows.

Despite the bugs, Windows 386 is an interesting product.  I don't
think I'd use Windows though if I were running an accounting system
for a small business, for instance.  The inexplicable Windows
crashes make me nervous about the potential of losing data.
Windows is useful to me as a developer since I am careful and know
what is going on.  I don't want to give it to clients though,
becuase I don't want them yelling at me when it was windows
crashing on some other background job.

--Bill