From: bull@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Subject: Re: Byte's Amiga 4000 review...
Date: 11 Jan 93 18:13:09 +1100
Organization: Computer Centre, Monash University, Australia

papresco@cantor.math.uwaterloo.ca (Paul Prescod) writes:
>>I believe that OS/2 started around the time of the original AT, but it
>>was not the same beast that it is today.  It has only recently reached
>>the point that people are actually able to use it comfortably...
>
> People could always use OS/2 comfortably.  It's the DOS suppor that
> sucked.  In fact, OS/2 v1.x was one of the most stable operating
> systems for any microcomputer.  It used to be *MORE* stable then it is
> now.

        Provided you had the minimum hardware confuguration. So, what
is the current minimum hardware configuration to get a bare bones
version of OS/2 running (and still be able to run applications)? On an
Amiga it's a 68000 CPU, 512K of RAM and 1 floppy disk drive. Sure,
running that configuration is going to be slow and "painful", but all
of the really important OS stuff is going to be there and I will still
be able to wordprocess, score music, paint pictures or run a compiler.

>>As for the operating systems mentionned above, Windows does not have
>>true multitasking, it is more like what the Mac offers.  The others are
>>all true multitasking systems, but they are not exactly geared to the
>>same sorts of machines that AmigaDOS and OS/2 are.
>
> Windows has full, "true" multitasking.  It does not have preemptive
> multitasking, which is a subset of "true" multitasking.  If the
> computer can make the user feel like he is doing two things at once he
> is multitasking.  You can't change the definition every few years.

        And where did you get your definition from? There is a difference
between thinking you're performing 2 tasks at the same time, and actually
performing 2 tasks at the same time. One is multi-tasking, the other is
not. Just what do you consider "true" multi-tasking to be?

> Windows NT and OS/2 3.0 will have even "truer"
> multitasking...multiprocessing.  SCO does now, and so does the Mac,
> (with an add-on).

        True. Hey, I could buy a 386 card for my Amiga tomorrow and
run MS-DOS/Windows on it and still run AmigaDos on the 680x0, at the
same time. Concurrent, multi-OS, multi-processing. What's your point?

>>I guess the A4000 and A1200 piss you off then, eh?  I'm on my third Amiga,
>>a nice A4000, which replaces my A3000, which replaced my A1000.  I'll be
>>buying an A1200 for use at home and the company I work for will be buying
>>a few A1200s and A4000s for graphics and video work.  And we may be selling
>>several kiosk systems based on the new Amigas in the near future.  Given my
>>investment in the Amiga and the fact that it is crucial to my livelihood,
>>I won't be defecting any time soon.
>
> Funny...looks like you already have:
>
>>You want to know what's funny?  I make a living selling programs for the
>>Clones, yet I prefer the Amiga for personal use.  The great thing is that
>>everything I've bought in the last year, including my A4000, 17" monitor,
>>ethernet, software, etc., has been paid for by Clone programming.  Ain't
>>life great?  :-)
>>
> Those that haven't invested so much into the Amiga don't have as much
> incentive as you to stay with it.  That's why they are leaving in
> droves.

        I suppose it depends on why these people bought a computer in the
first place. I contend that many of them bought whatever box had the
shiniest bells and noisiest whistles when they wanted to spend the money.
Now they're just doing the same thing over again. The same argument can
be applied to PC owners moving to the new Amigas. What does it prove? It
proves that a certain segment of the computer owning public will always buy
whatever box has, what they percieve to be, the shiniest bells and noisiest
whistles, regardless of whether that computer is really the best one for
their requirements. Your point of people leaving their Amiga and buying
a PC proves as much as my point of people leaving their PC and buying an
Amiga.


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