From: ntaib@silver.ucs.indiana.edu (Iskandar Taib)
Subject: Re: Will Windows crawl on my system?
Organization: Indiana University
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 04:48:18 GMT

In article <1992Dec27.233349.27431@netcom.com> ergo@netcom.com (Isaac Rabinovitch) writes:
>In <1gqtpqINNiel@hpscit.sc.hp.com> matthias@nsr.hp.com (Matthias Kamm) writes:
>
>
>>Believe it or not, I was perfectly happy running Excel and WinWord
>>with Windows 3.0 on my old 286 machine with lots of RAM.  The main
>>time killer was switching back and forth between DOS and windows
>>(286 "brain dead" processor feature).  You'll have no such problems.
>
>There's a certain mythology connected with the 286 and Windows.  Most
>people are under the impression that the 286 "isn't powerful enough"
>for Windows 3.0 or 3.1.  The truth is that, as far as Windows is
>concerned, the only difference betweeen the two is Windows enhanced
>mode, which won't work on a 286.  So no DOS box, modem communication isn't
>as smooth, etc.

I agree. There have been too many posts stating what you say.

Actually, Standard Mode is a quite a bit faster than Enhanced Mode
on the same machine (at least with 3.0), but you do lose function-
ality, which may or may not matter, depending on what you are doing.
It may actually make sense to run in Standard Mode if you have a 
386SX-16. If you have a 40 mHz 386 you have speed to burn and it 
won't make sense since you're losing 32 bit disk access and virtual
RAM.

>What *is* crucial is processor speed.  Intel apparently never bothered
>to make 386s slower than 16 mhz, and by the time the 286/16 appeared,
>386/16 systems were begining to compete for shelf space, so few people
>have 286 systems faster than 12mhz.  But I keep hearing of people who
>are happy with Windows running on ATs, and after all 75% of a 386/16's
>performance is still pretty good.  

I'd say that to make Windows happy on a 286 you need:

1) lots of RAM. At least 4 Meg.
2) a fast video card. Tseng ET4000 at least.
3) a new, fast hard drive. 40 Megs will get you Windows and one
   major app, you'll need perhaps 80-100 Meg.

>The memory weirdness of DOS is probably a factor here.  Since few DOS
>programs make use of extended memory, and memory was expensive, most
>ATs were used with about 1 meg.  Now memory is cheep, and Windows
>needs tons and tons of it.  So a 286 that's gonna become a Windows
>beast probably needs a *major* memory upgrade -- which is still
>cheaper than somehow upgrading or replacing the motherboard.

Yes and no. Depends on how recent the MB is, whether it takes SIMMs,
how much total memory, etc. A newer 286 MB doesn't cost much, or even 
better a new 386 motherboard of some sort, or even a used one. Remember 
also that if you own an EMS card Windows can't use EMS. (Remember EMS?
9-) )

The best deals around at this point in time are probably the AMD 386-40
or Cyrix 486DLC motherboards. The former are just over $200.




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Iskandar Taib                          | The only thing worse than Peach ala
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