From: bcoleman@hayes.com (Bill Coleman)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: 7.1 vs. OS/2 and Windows NT
Date: 30 Sep 92 13:41:32 EDT
Organization: Hayes Microcomputer Products, Norcross, GA

In article <D2150025.o13rcb@spumco.cts.com>, dvan@spumco.cts.com (David Vandeven) writes:
> 
> Apple better get on the ball.  System 7.1 lacks some of the basic features
> that define a REAL operating system.  

Isn't "REAL" a curious adjective? Funny how it is interpreted on the internet
as meaning "just like what I'm using." 

Actually, there's some really cool stuff in System 7.1 that isn't available
in any other OS. I'll get to that in a moment.

> Where is Memory protection?  A system level scripting language that isn't 
> third party?  Preemptive multitasking?  Command-line shells?  All these are 
> things that Apple has been promising us for years.

Memory protection would be nice. While it would be possible to retro-fit
this into System 7 (See The Debugger from Jasik Systems), most likely we'll
have to wait for the Microkernal OS, whatever it will be called. That's 
going to be a couple of years. By then, all Macs will have memory management
hardware and this won't be an issue. (When System 7 was designed, few macs
had this hardware)

As for scripting, Frontier is a start, but Apple should be delivering 
AppleScript before the next Developers conference, if not sooner. Since it
is an extension of System 7, there's no complaint here.

Preemptive tasking? Well, again, you'll have to wait for the Microkernal.
But the situation now isn't bad. If you could have preemptive tasking 
tommorrow, you wouldn't notice much change. The biggest deal would be in
doing processing while formatting diskettes. How often do you format
diskettes?

Command line shells. Today. Get MPW. Oh, BTW, Apple never promised you 
(or anyone) command line shell.

Look at what System 7 does have. WorldScript is great for the international
marketplace. Here's one computer that is instantly compatable with just
about all written human languages. That's going to really open up some
markets. No other OS has these features.

> OS/2 and Windows NT have these features in addition to workable GUIs. 

Workable, perhaps. But they aren't as good as the Mac UI.

Furthermore, both these systems are missing fundamental features of 
System 7, much less the multilingual capabilies of System 7.1.

> And whether the base consumer wants such technical functionality or not, 
> these are features, and features are what sell systems/software to the 
> unwashed masses. 

Technology doesn't sell products. Benefit sells products. That benefit
can be actual or perceived. You buy something because you think it has a
benefit. Technology can help you realise a benefit, but it can be difficult
to communicate this to a customer.

> Apple should realize that OS/2 and Windows NT are its direct competitors.

I am absolutely certain that they realise this.

> Apple is delivering exicting new technology continuously, but some of the
> basic features are lacking in its current software.  I was hoping 7.1
> would change that.  I think the System 7 GUI paradigm is superior to any
> I've ever worked with.  But I'd like to have certain OS functions
> available so I can create all the tools I had available to me in UNIX on
> the Macintosh.  If the OS were more functional, better software would be
> written, and Apple would sell more computers.

If you want Unix on the Mac, I suggest you get A/UX. Then you'd have all
the technological features you requested -- memory protection, preemption,
scripting, command lines. You'd even get the Mac user interface.

Don't expect Apple to backpatch Unix functionality into their OS. Unix is
the OS technology of the 70's. This is the 90s.

-- 
Bill Coleman, AA4LR                ! CIS: 76067,2327    AppleLink: D1958
Principal Software Engineer        ! Packet Radio: AA4LR @ W4QO
Hayes Microcomputer Products, Inc. ! UUCP: uunet!hayes!bcoleman
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Disclaimer: "My employer doesn't pay me to have opinions."
Quote: "The same light shines on vineyards that makes deserts." -Steve Hackett.