Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!unisoft!gethen!bdt!david
From: david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: Re: About Atari's, Mac's, and IBM's
Message-ID: <313@bdt.UUCP>
Date: 5 May 88 00:57:45 GMT
References: <5419@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> <226500010@trsvax> <213@bdt.UUCP> <4738@cup.portal.com> <9790@ism780c.UUCP> <4978@cup.portal.com>
Reply-To: david@bdt.UUCP (David Beckemeyer)
Organization: Beckemeyer Development Tools, Oakland, CA
Lines: 23

In article <4978@cup.portal.com> Thomas_E_Zerucha@cup.portal.com writes:
>The problem I was getting at with "virtual" MS-DOS emulators, even in a UNIX
>environment is how do you use the "virtual" MS-DOS devices?  Can I delete
>your files (MS-DOS doesn't allow for protection) - can I read them?  What
>about things like screen writes?  There is a BIG difference between PC
>compatibility and MS-DOS compatibility, a and many PC programs are PC
>specific (or would be slower or have other problems).  PC Ditto is useful
>mainly because it is 98% PC compatible - I can boot games directly.  Can
>I stick Flight Simulator into the '386 UNIX box and have it run properly?

The '386 UNIX DOS products actually provide a "virtual machine" environment,
where each user that wants to use DOS gets his own virtual PC running DOS.
I think the file layout is just a plain DOS partition; I don't know exactly
how multiple file accesses at the DOS level are handled.   And yes, you
CAN run FS or other programs that write directly to screen memory and such
becuase the devices are "emulated".



-- 
David Beckemeyer			| "To understand ranch lingo all yuh
Beckemeyer Development Tools		| have to do is to know in advance what
478 Santa Clara Ave, Oakland, CA 94610	| the other feller means an' then pay
UUCP: ...!ihnp4!hoptoad!bdt!david 	| no attention to what he says"