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Subject: [M]: Re: [OT] Computer to LX200 multitasking
From: Paul Hettrick
Reply To: mapug@shore.net
Date: Wed Dec 03 00:01:04 1997


>
> This is yet another good example of the fact that "true" multitasking is
> usually not necessary. The "cooperative" multitasking that has been part
> of the Mac system for many years works just fine in this case.
>
> (Nor should anyone think "true" multitasking is anything new. Unix has
> been doing it since the 70s; Burroughs systems did it back in the 60s.)
>
> This is not to say that "true" multitasking is not a good thing, it is.
It
> just not as important as the marketing folks would have you believe.
> Protected memory is a million times more important (which is NT's great
> advantage).
>
> ---
> Bill Arnett "Science is a way of trying
> San Jose, CA USA not to fool yourself." -- Feynman
> billa@zNet.com
<URL:http://www.seds.org/billa/>
>
>

Bill,

I made extensive use of DesqView back in the eighties for multi-tasking DOS
applications starting on a 286 with a meg of extended memory. I was capable
of much higher productivity as a physicist and software developer than
using a single tasking or even cooperative multi-tasking OS. I still have
a 386 that has been running DesqView for seven years doing the same tasks
concurrently which were impossible with single-tasking DOS or Mac system.
It is extremely stable and has run for twelve months at a time without
requiring a re-boot. I would highly recommend DesqView (around version 2
or 3 if you can find them) for those who wish to (preemptively or
cooperatively) multi-task only DOS applications.

True preemptive multi-tasking in Windows has only come with NT and '95.
The cooperative multi-tasking under earlier versions of Windows requires an
application to be "nice" and hand-off control of the system message queue
to other applications. This model worked fine for well-behaved applications
and brought about an increase in productivity for many users. The Mac is
essentially single-tasking with "background" applications frozen while the
foreground app gets control of the system. It's not too difficult to manage
memory with this simple OS model.

I agree that memory protection is very important however I feel preemptive
and properly utilised cooperative multi-tasking is not far behind in
priority for an increasing number of applications and users. It certainly
was and is a great productivity enhancer for me.

Regards,
Paul Hettrick