Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!mailrus!ames!pasteur!agate!saturn!ucscb.UCSC.EDU!lupin3
From: lupin3@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (-=/ Larry Hastings /=-)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: advice wanted on VM/386
Message-ID: <4970@saturn.ucsc.edu>
Date: 30 Sep 88 02:54:12 GMT
References: <23061@amdcad.AMD.COM>
Sender: usenet@saturn.ucsc.edu
Reply-To: lupin3@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (-=/ Larry Hastings /=-)
Organization: MetaWare, Incorporated
Lines: 54

+-In article <23061@amdcad.AMD.COM>, phil@amdcad.AMD.COM (Phil Ngai) wrote:-
+----------
| 
| I'm mainly a Unix user who uses a 286 AT clone to run applications
| such as Microsoft Word and OrCAD's schematic entry program. My problem
| is that most such programs are memory hogs. When I use Sun's PC-NFS
| with Microsoft Word, I can't run the spelling checker because 640K is
| not enough memory. And most of the programs I use don't understand
| extended or expanded memory. 
| 
| Having heard of the 80386's virtual 8086 mode, I wonder if I could use
| a 386 clone to give each of my applications the bare 640K machine they
| seem to require. What kind of software do I need? VM/386 sounds like
| the right thing. Windows is more than I need. I've also heard of
| DESQView. Which one will let me run my applications without running
| out of memory? What do they do if I run out of physical memory? Do any
| of them know how to swap or page?
| 
| Would PC-NFS work with any of the above?
|
| Phil Ngai, {ucbvax,decwrl,allegra}!amdcad!phil or phil@amd.com
+----------

  I've used both VM/386 and DesqVIEW, and I am currently trying to get DesqVIEW
to work with PC-NFS.  You've hit one RIGHT up my alley...

  First of all, I haven't used VM/386 with PC-NFS, but I suspect it might work
alright.  You'd have PC-NFS (telnet, etc.) in one virtual machine, and Word
in another.  You would have to work at it to spool Word print files to the
PC-NFS print spooler, but that'd be liveable.  But I don't like VM/386, because
it takes lots of memory, it slows down disk drive access LOTS (a huge overhead,
which gets worse the more machines you add), and it asks what kind of hard
drive you have.  Anything that works on such a nasty level as having to know
what kind of _hard_drive_ you have scares me...

  DesqVIEW and PC-NFS are kind of allergic, though.  I can reliably crash my
machine by doing any "net" function ("net name", "net print", the possibilities
are endless...).  But the network drives work, and that's the crucial part.
Also, PC-NFS Lifeline Mail and Backup don't work.  Telnet crashes the machine
no question.

  But, the GOOD news... I'm working with Sun ECD to make PC-NFS less DesqVIEW
allergic.  We're gonna try some stuff, as soon as the package from Quarter
Deck arrives.


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