From: mike@batpad.lgb.CA.US (Mike Batchelor)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.misc
Subject: Re: Someone explain this to me...
Date: 11 Apr 92 18:55:36 GMT
Organization: The Batchelor Pad

jknepley@isis.cs.du.edu (Ranseus (Jim Knepley)) writes:

> Ah, the benefits of having a subscription to PC Magazine.  I get the issues
> before most people on the street.  If you don't know, the April 28, 1992
> issue is dedicated specifically to Windows 3.1; and what an issue it is...

Yawn, is what I say.  I don't read PC Magazine anymore, because they
rarely feature any information that interests me.  Computer Shopper is
much more interesting, and relevant, to what I do with my 'puter.

[...summaries deleted...]

> The Windows article quotes "If you want multitasking, DESQView does a better
> job with DOS applications."
> I can find many people who think that DESQView does a very POOR job of multi-
> tasking (try using a floppy during a download); and Windows is worse?!?

I have no problem with this.  I use a DV-specific format program, and
I can format in the background while downloading YModem-G at V.32bis
speeds.  I don't like the DOS format program even when I am single-
tasking.

> Flames forwarded to /DEV/NULL, but I'd like to hear _educated_ opinions
> even if they are contrary to my own.

Well, I don't know if I am _educated_, but I certainly have an
opinion.  IMO, Windows users are seeking performance and features that
are now only available in a worskstation, like the Sun SPARCstation.
Windows does a pretty good job of looking like a workstation, but it
is ultimately limited by the DOS it runs on top of - another MicroSoft
product (yeah, yeah, DR and PC DOS, too, but there is really no
difference when it comes to what I am talking about).

I'm easily able to accomodate the limitations imposed on me by MSDOS,
because I am /aware/ of them.  I don't have $10K to plunk down on a
SPARCstation right now, which is without a doubt, a superior
multitasking platform.  But when I get some more C expertise under my
belt (something DOS/DESQview/whatever is able to help me with), it
will probably become more cost-effective for me to get into a
workstation for my personal use, because of all the FREE software that
is available - one just needs the programming expertise to get the
various ports of <insert favorite PD app here> up and running.  DOS
offers me ready-to-run programs at reasonable prices until I feel
ready to tackle UNIX administration.

Windows, on the other hand, tries to obscure the limitations of DOS
from the user - then they wonder why the system keeps crashing, or why
it won't do what they want.  On top of that, Windows apps are
/expensive/ and shareware and freeware apps are rare.  Windows makes
no sense to me at all for a hobbyist environment.  It makes less
sense to me than a MacIntosh for the computer neophyte - that's what I
would recommend to a new computer user who just wants to type letters
or keep a recipe database.  Or maybe an Atari ST, since it can run MSDOS
and/or MacIntosh apps, too.

In short, I think Windows is largely Hype, with some substance, and a
few neat tricks (DDE, for example) but the benefits it provides are
questionable in light of the cost of the applications that can take
advantage of them.  Better, IMO, to spend more money on the hardware,
and a decent OS if it is performance you seek.  "Windows Power User"
is an oxymoron.


[] ---
[] Mike Batchelor -- mike@batpad.lgb.CA.US -- cerritos.edu!batpad!mike
[] Long Beach, California
[] TNG Quote: "You were travelling in close formation at over 80,000 kph, only
[] 10 meters from Cadet Albert, and you didn't even know his orientation?!?"