Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uflorida!gatech!dcatla!holos0!lbr
From: lbr@holos0.UUCP (Len Reed)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: Why unix doesn't catch on
Keywords: multitasking
Message-ID: <2038@holos0.UUCP>
Date: 12 Apr 89 14:58:46 GMT
References: <1922@dataio.Data-IO.COM> <101000047@hpcvlx.HP.COM> <199@isctsse.UUCP>
Reply-To: lbr@holos0.UUCP (Len Reed)
Distribution: usa
Organization: Holos Software, Inc., Atlanta, GA
Lines: 19

In article <199@isctsse.UUCP> pajerek@isctsse.UUCP (Donald Pajerek) writes:

=Previous multitasking approaches have failed in many ways. For example,
=Windows will only multitask Windows applications; OS/2 will only multitask
=OS/2 applications.  Besides, any multitasking at all on less than a 386
=processor is impractical for performance reasons.

Nonsense.  SCO Xenix on a PC-AT type system (80286, 2 meg or so of memory)
works very nicely indeed.  This is not only a multitasking system, it
is a multiuser system.  Sure, it can be overloaded; any system can be.
Typical multiuser/multitasking operation for us:
	1) getting news over the modem at 2400 baud.
	2) one user reading news (rn).
	3) one user doing heavy-duty compiles.
	4) one user doing edits and an occasional compile.
	4) printing to a low-speed device.
	5) perhaps some other background processing.
-- 
    -    Len Reed