Path: utzoo!utgpu!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!purdue!decwrl!shelby!polya!Feanor!jwl From: jwl@Feanor.Stanford.EDU (John Lockhart) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Apple System 7.0 Message-ID: <9168@polya.Stanford.EDU> Date: 13 May 89 21:39:38 GMT References: <17148@usc.edu> <24279@agate.BERKELEY.EDU> <18268@cup.portal.com> <17183@usc.edu> <21814@srcsip.UUCP> Sender: USENET News System Reply-To: jwl@Feanor.Stanford.EDU (John Lockhart) Organization: None, really, none! Lines: 38 In article <21814@srcsip.UUCP> mnkonar@gorby.UUCP (Murat N. Konar) writes: >So what? What advantages does 'true multi-tasking' (by which I assume you mean >pre-emptive multi-tasking) have over Apple's co-operative multi-tasking? Co- >operative multi-tasking has significant user interface advantges over the >pre-emptive kind. I haven't seen any advantages to Apple's MultiSwitcher. Pre-emptive multi- tasking allows the user to set the priorities, and does not rely as much on the programmer's good graces in writing a cooperative program. Sure, a very badly written application can screw up multitasking, but that can happen on any machine. >I for one would rather not have my application pre-empted by a background process >in the middle of say a menu selection. Any one who has used TOPS while a large It helps having a good multitasking OS on a machine designed for menus, with a few custom chips to help out the overburdened main processor. You really ought to try an Amiga :-) >Sure, pre-emptive multi-tasking makes it easier for the programmer who would rather >not worry about whether he's in the background or whatever, but it's the user's >view that matters most. That's what the Mac's all about. Allowing the user, not the programmers, to set the priorities of tasks is more important. Ever consider that your background task may be more important than your foreground one? No, the Mac is very restrictive, and does not allow for the degree of customization and flexibility which I demand of my system. Call a Mac McDonald's, and an Amiga, Burger King. I'll have it my way, thank you very much. >Murat N. Konar Honeywell Systems & Research Center, Camden, MN >mnkonar@SRC.honeywell.com (internet) {umn-cs,ems,bthpyd}!srcsip!mnkonar(UUCP) ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- John Lockhart jwl@feanor.stanford.edu BIX: jlockhart