From: gcasa@wam.umd.edu (Gregory John Casamento)
Subject: Re: Amiga 4000/Atari Falcon
Organization: University of Maryland, College Park
Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 05:43:16 GMT

In article <1992Aug11.185853.22855@ctr.columbia.edu> jerry@connection.prospect.com (Jerry Shekhel) writes:
>> 
>>     1.  It's tar-slow at multitasking DOS apps.  I tried to run jut TWO 
>>dos apps at the same time (WordPerfect 5.1 and Procomm downloading at a
>>measly 1200 bps), and it would take ~5 seconds for typed text to show up
>>in WP.
>> 
>
>That's funny.  I run it at work on a 20MHz 386 (PS/2 80), and it's damn fast.
>With Procomm downloading at 2400 bps in the background, characters typed in a
>DOS text editor appear instantaneously.  The system *can* slow down with very
>heavy multitasking load (just like any other multitasking system), but your
>claim of 5 seconds per keystroke on a 486 sounds like typical dreamt-up
>.advocacy bullshit.
>

Have you ever considered that he might have his machine configured wrong?  
Sometimes that can make ALL the difference.  I too have used Windows and
found it very acceptable.  However, the multitasking is in NO WAY as smooth
and refined as in AmigaDOS. V2.04.

>>
>>Even if it gets reworked and recoded (it's ridiculous that OS/2
>>needs a machine with as much power as it does to even function barely
>>adequately),
>>
>
>And how much of a machine do you need to run UNIX with X11?  Sun decided
>that the 680x0 line was not fast enough, and sells most of its Sparcstations
>with at least 32MB RAM.  What about Mac System 7?  It's a joke on anything
>less than a IIci w/8MB RAM.  Don't compare OS/2 2.0 to AmigaDOS -- AmigaDOS
>isn't even close in terms of functionality, so it shouldn't take Sherlock
>Homes to figure out that it requires less hardware.
>

The comparison here is invalid.  UNIX is a MUCH larger system than OS/2.  It
has been around for many MANY years.  Also, it was originally designed for
multi-user  mainframe/minicomputers so it's bound to be big.  As far as    
functionality goes OS/2 had to maintain compatibility with DOS and WINDOWS in
OS/2.  Since OS/2 is carrying all of this extra weight to support previous 
standards it has to have a computer with alot of memory and alot of speed.

On the other hand the Amiga came into the world pretty much as it is today. 
When it was created it already had a multitasking system, the first on any
home computer I might add.  It had no previous standards with which it had to
be compatible with, therefore it could take up much less space in memory
and run efficiently on a machine of fairly moderate speed.    

You PC Clone guys always say the Amiga Users are ignorant about PC's.  Well,
I submit to you that the PC people who post here saying we are ignorant are
just as ignorant about the Amiga as we supposedly are about PCs.  


>>
>>even if all of the bugs get worked out, and even if it
>>becomes better and more powrerful in the future, it still *HAS TO RUN ON
>>INTEL-BASED PC'S*, and _that_ is what's gonna hamstring it.
>>
>
>More bullshit .advocacy whining.  Intel-based PC's now have cheap EISA,
>blazing fast local-bus video, inexpensive sound cards, and more support than
>you could shake an A500 power cord at.
>

Don't worry the Amiga has plenty of stuff.  And I'm sure it's more than you
you shake you entire PS/2 at.

>> 
>>Jon Taylor  jmt@sactoh0.sac.ca.us
>>
>--
>+-------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------+
>| Jerry J. Shekhel  | Molecular Simulations | Time just fades the pages      |
>| Drummers do it... | Inc.  Waltham, MA USA | in my book of memories.        |
>|    ... In rhythm! |     (617) 890-2888    |              -- Guns N' Roses  |
>+-------------------+-----------------------+--------------------------------+
>|           ...! [ princeton mit-eddie bu sunne ] !polygen!jerry             |
>|                            jerry@polygen.com                               |
>+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+


-- 
Gregory John Casamento  --  gcasa@wam.umd.edu
**** The opinions expressed in this article are the of Greg's Amiga ****
**** And not of Greg himself.  He is currently being forced by his  ****
**** Amiga (at gunpoint) to write this article.  :) :P B) BP ;) :O  ****
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy,comp.sys.atari.st