Xref: utzoo comp.sys.amiga:33928 comp.sys.mac:32067
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!iuvax!rutgers!okstate!norman
From: norman@a.cs.okstate.edu (Norman Graham)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Apple System 7.0
Message-ID: <4679@okstate.UUCP>
Date: 16 May 89 03:34:07 GMT
References: <17183@usc.edu>
Organization: Oklahoma State Univ., Stillwater
Lines: 41

From article <17183@usc.edu>, by papa@pollux.usc.edu (Marco Papa):
> Apple can try to fool end-users into thinking that 
> MultiFinder provides multitasking, but I don't think anybody on Usenet
> will ever believe that.  If you do, may I suggest you pick up ANY Operating
> Systems book.  It might be very educational.

May I be so bold as to suggest Harvey Deitel's "An Introduction to 
Operating Systems" Revised First Edition for a discussion of preemptive
vs. nonpreemptive scheduling. This is a very popular operating systems
text used to teach thousands of computer scientists every year. If 
Dr. Deitel has no problem with this issue, I see no reason why I should.

BTW, I plead with all intelligent computerists to cease to use the term
"TRUE MULTITASKING". If by "true multitasking" you mean multitasking
with preemptive job scheduling (or preemptive multitasking) by all means
say this. I'm convinced that the phrase "true multitasking" was invented
by a computer-illiterate computer-journalist who didn't know how
to effectively contrast preemptive and nonpreemptive scheduling.

A system is either multitasking or it is not, there is no reason
to qualify it with extra adjectives.  Geesh... next thing you know
we'll have "kinda sorta multitasking", "really true multitasking",
"truly true multitasking", ad. nausea.

(Next week, I'll tell you why I find the phrase "look and feel"
equally repulsive :-)

(BTW, if "true multitasking" is an illusion of multiprocessing, is 
"false multitasking" an illusion of "true multitasking" an
illusion of multiprocessing?)
 
> -- Marco Papa 'Doc'
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
> uucp:...!pollux!papa       BIX:papa       ARPAnet:pollux!papa@oberon.usc.edu
>  "There's Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Diga!" -- Leo Schwab [quoting Rick Unland]
> -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-- 
Norman Graham                            Oklahoma State University
  Internet:  norman@a.cs.okstate.edu     Computing and Information Sciences
      UUCP:  {cbosgd, rutgers}           219 Mathematical Sciences Building
              !okstate!norman            Stillwater, OK  74078-0599