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- Path: klf.netconnect.com.au!newsmaster@netconnect.com.au
- From: shepssc@sheppnews.com.au (Ben Anderson)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.applications
- Subject: Re: Is MUI processor intensive?
- Date: 23 Feb 1996 02:45:50 GMT
- Organization: Ballarat NetConnect
- Message-ID: <4686.6624T1363T2964@sheppnews.com.au>
- References: <Pine.LNX.3.91.960210123319.12572A-100000@zen.kuai.se> <802.6616T1183T1415@login.dknet.dk>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: 203.17.148.101
- X-Newsreader: THOR 2.22 (Amiga;TCP/IP) *UNREGISTERED*
-
- >In article <Pine.LNX.3.91.960210123319.12572A-100000@zen.kuai.se>, Claes
- >Wallin (bugcillr@kuai.se) wrote:
-
- >>On 5 Feb 1996, Nicolai Thilo wrote:
- >>>
- >>> >Ahh, the magic word, yes MUI is processor intensive, very.
- >>>
- >>> Of course, it also has a lot more features.
-
- >>Mostly for the programmers.
-
- >Which can only benefit the users, ie. more software in less time.
-
- >>I, as a user, don't want to register MUI just
- >>because, say, my favourite program uses MUI.
-
- >You don't have to, unless you want to change the look.
-
- >>You can build a great
- >>interface with the usual tools.
-
- >But not only does it require much more effort for the programmer, it
- >also increases the risk of bugs, it forces users to waste resources
- >on non-shared GUI layout code and it will never be as powerful as
- >MUI... BTW, I'm a user too.
-
- I too HAVE to use MUI. I have a reasonably fast computer (40mhz '030 and a
- 1200) and I believe that MUI significantly degrades the usability of the
- amiga. I mean, here is a great computer, with a nice tightly coded operating
- system, and then this big, bulky, chip-ram eating, slow (!) gui package comes
- out that means you can't effectively multitask in an 18meg 1200.
- Example. I load workbench (64c screen, 676x512) -leaves 1.4mchip.
- Load any mui program (mosaic, ibrowse, amftp, amirc, etc) and that
- takes me down to about 900k.
- That slows the computer to a crawl because you have so many subtasks
- under mui.
- If I then open another screen, that virtually takes me back to 400k.
- Then I can't even open anything up. So thats two mui screens and workbench.
- The whole thing redraws so slowly (mui 3.3) that it takes me like 3 seconds to
- flip between each screen. And the max res out of the 1200 is 676x512
- (nonflicker). So on each screen I can like have only one thing going (maybe 2
- if I use a smaller gui like the amftp program).
- Why can't mui be coded in assembler, be tight, lean and fast. That
- way I could have 5 or 10 screens open (like I can without mui). Either that
- or someone needs to design a parallel processing accellerator for all amigas
- (1200 included) with a graphics card included to overcome the screen problems.
-
- As an aside, does anyone know of a program that can swap chip ram out
- to fast ram, as by the time I have 13 BYTES of chip ram left I still have
- ^^^^^
- 10meg of fast ram. Surely you only need the frontmost screen in chip for the
- graphics chips to be happy. yes, I know that would slow screen swaps, but I
- have 25Mb/s from fast ram, and 3.5Mb/s to chip. That means it would take a
- little bit more than half a second to swap the whole 2mb's to fast.
-
- Either that, or has someone come up with a design for a combined
- accellerator/graphics card for the 1200's expansion slot. PLEASE, PLEASE :)
-
-
- At the moment, I may be forced to sell the 1200 for an IBM compat. so I can
- use massive screens (1024x1280 over 2x my amiga, 4x area!). Yes I know. Buy
- a 4000, a graphics card, etc, etc. but the price escom are asking is MILES
- too restrictive. 5700 $A for an '060, 6mb ram, 1gig hd. Then add about 950
- for a graphics card. 6650 $A. Then add about 400 $A for extra ram. 7050.
- Yes, I get a machine that is faster than your average P100 for raw processing
- power (about the same as a P200 when you take into acount win95 crap),
- graphics that are better than your average 4mb vram diamond stealth, but for
- what price. For HALF that price I can get a p166, 16mb ram, 4m diamond
- stealth, 16bit soundcard, 6spin CD'rom, software, couple of hard disks (1gig
- each), etc etc etc. Linux, OS/2 and Win95 would all be options. Reasonable
- fast, can open up loads of programs in any of them with Vmem and have the
- whole thing zippy for half that price. If I add the extra in, I could get a
- 4spin cd'rom writer, a decent laser printer, a massive stereo system (screw
- those pissy PC speakers ;) Please someone, tell a once devoted amiga user
- that there is more for amigas. Six months ago, I had everyting I wanted. Now
- I am missing chunky mode games, internet access that I can have more than 3
- clients happening at a time, networking, nice large, 24bit screenmodes, 16bit
- sound.
-
- Sorry for throwing all of this at you, but I am depressed about the sad state
- of affairs the amiga is in right now. PowerPC based amigas won't be around
- for another year, or two, and new graphics chipsets are not likely. Maybe my
- only option is to buy a powerpc based mac, and hope that the amiga goes CHRP
- in the future.
-
- Damn it scotty, I need more power. Sorry capt'n, she j'st c'nt take 't no
- mure, I j'st don't have the pow'r cap'n.
-
- Bye, from a depressed amigian :(
-
-