Message-ID: <3277FA9E.264A@ananke.amu.edu.pl>
Date: Thu, 31 Oct 1996 02:02:22 +0100
From: Mark Habersack <grendel AT ananke DOT amu DOT edu DOT pl>
Reply-To: grendel AT ananke DOT amu DOT edu DOT pl
Organization: Home, sweet home
MIME-Version: 1.0
To: Avery Lee <Psilon AT cris DOT com>
CC: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: Preemptive Multitasking under DPMI
References: <5538hu$2ue AT news DOT latnet DOT lv> <28OCT96 DOT 22083606 AT skyfox DOT usask DOT ca> <32769365 DOT 536643 AT news DOT concentric DOT net>
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Avery Lee wrote:
> 
> stow AT skyfox DOT usask DOT ca wrote:
> 
> >A good example of the failure of all of those OSes to implement pre-emptive
> >multitasking is that once you start a floppy formatting you are shut out from
> >doing anything else until the format is done, even though formatting a floppy
> >is a relatively cpu un-intensive task:  the cpu has lots of time to spare
> >for other things but the format program won't cooperate.
> 
> I am among the first to admit that Windows 95 is not great (okay... it
> sucks in many areas) but I am sick of this argument that when you format a
> disk everything else stops.  I can have netscape downloading, compile a C
> program in a DOS shell, print a document, and even play solitaire or
> minesweeper.  In the meantime a disk is being formatted in the background
> (format a:/f:1.44/u) and absolutely no slowdown or sluggishness occurs.
> 
But this all happens in a cooperative environment. When ANY 16bit
application is run in Lose95 you are back to Win31 cooperative
multitasking. And from the apps you mentioned both Solitaire and the DOS
VM are 16bit. So it MIGHT happen that the floppy formating will stop
other activity and even hang the system. And this just cannot happen in
a truly preemptive environment (like, say, Linux or WinNT)

-- 
============================================================================
She nervously undressed in the dancing beams of the Fidra lighthouse
Giving it all away before it's too late. She'll let her lover's tongue
move in a warm wet circle, giving it all away and showing no shame.
She'll take her mother's kiss on her first broken heart, a warm wet
circle,
she'll realise that she plays her part in a warm wet circle...
====================== http://ananke.amu.edu.pl/~grendel
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