Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ucbvax!hplabs!hp-pcd!hpcvlx!bturner
From: bturner@hpcvlx.HP.COM (Bill Turner)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: Re: Which windowing system to use
Message-ID: <106580038@hpcvlx.HP.COM>
Date: 26 May 89 19:37:37 GMT
References: <25873@ames.arc.nasa.gov>
Organization: Hewlett-Packard Co., Corvallis, OR, USA
Lines: 25

> 1) How big is the runtime version of MS-Windows vs. the kernal, and
>    will that take less computational overhead than the full program?
>    (we want the application to run on a 286/CGA box as the minimum
>     configuration)

Well, Windows does some things to implement pseudo-virtual-memory.  That is,
code segments can be discarded and reloaded, but data must be in memory.
Usually, when running Windows, you'll have about 350K of free memory space.
As memory gets tighter, performance gets worse.  (N.B.  This does not
take into account the fact that Windows/286 can use LIM 4.0 memory to its
advantage somewhat).

> 2) We need a minimum of 16 colors, I understand that MSW takes 8 colors
>    for itself, permitting only 8 for the programmer (is this the case
>    for EGA/VGA?)

Hmmm, this seams to contradict the minimum system as a CGA display...  :-)
With an EGA, the standard Windows display driver only gives you 8 colors, but
there are other drivers (one that comes to mind is from a company called
hDC [honest!] and allows the full 16-color EGA palette).  There are VGA
drivers that use the full VGA color set as well (but since I don't have a 
VGA, I don't know much about these...)

--Bill Turner (bturner@hp-pcd.hp.com)
HP Corvallis Information Systems