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- From: dic5340@hertz.njit.edu (David Charlap)
- Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc
- Subject: Re: why OS/2
- Message-ID: <1993Jan5.211818.29262@njitgw.njit.edu>
- Date: 5 Jan 93 21:18:18 GMT
- References: <1993Jan4.221904.438@mr.med.ge.com>
- Sender: news@njit.edu
- Distribution: na
- Organization: New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, N.J.
- Lines: 72
- Nntp-Posting-Host: hertz.njit.edu
-
- In article <1993Jan4.221904.438@mr.med.ge.com> sdk@med.ge.com writes:
- >1. If you value the ability to multi task as a driver to use
- > OS/2, how much to you **really** multitask ?
-
- Lots. I look up information in references while my C compiler is
- bulding code. I also have alarm clocks and memo reminders constantly
- running. When I do word processing and spreadsheeting, I'll never
- wait for printing to finish before doing something else.
-
- >2. Is there any context in which OS/2 can be used to multitask
- > and **not** force the user into a 'windows' mode ? This
- > question in regard to (1) several user developed tasks that
- > only require non graphical I/O or (2) do the multitude of
- > existing DOS applications programs only work in the window
- > mouse world ?
-
- You don't have to run only graphical apps. There are two forms of
- text-based sessions. One is an OS/2 command session, and the other is
- a DOS command session. Both can be run in a text window or
- full-screen (in text mode). The DOS command session is 80% compatible
- with DOS apps. You can also boot a specific version of DOS (like
- MS-DOS 5.0) into a virtual machine and run that in a window or
- full-screen. Virtual-machine DOS is about 95% compatible with DOS
- apps.
-
- >3. How would you rate OS/2 as an operating system if it's
- > user interface were limited to a text based command line
- > interpreter ? Does it have such a facility ?
-
- It'd still be very good. Since version 1.1, the Presentation Manager
- graphical interface was required to switch among applications, but
- aside from that, you can work exclusively with text sessions. The
- memory-eating Workplace Shell is not required to use the
- lighter-weight Presentation Manager and it's associated Session
- Manager.
-
- >4. Does the OS/2 file system allow a user to keep many versions
- > of a file ? (like VMS)
-
- Not as such, but the HPFS file system allows names of up to 240
- characters, so you (or an application) could easilly use a naming
- convention to keep versions.
-
- >5. Are tasks limited by the amount of physical memory configured or
- > does the concept (of virtual memory) extend to some part of the system disk ?
-
- Virtual memory is fully implemented. You can allocate a memory block
- up to the size of free RAM plus free disk space. In general, unless
- you're low on disk space, you only need RAM to lower the amount of
- paging that the virtual memory manager does.
-
- >6. Finally, put yourself in the position of asking this question:
- > I am not a Icon-Mouse-Window person, what can I accomplish with
- > this OS/2 tool ?
-
- There are many utilities that allow you to list and kill running
- processes without the graphical interface. You can always start
- applications from the command line. I don't know if there exists a
- utility to switch among sessions without the GUI.
-
- >I should add that my hardware platform is 25 Mhz 386, micro channel with
- >a 120 Mb disk and 8 Mb Ram.
-
- No problem. Be sure you have lots of free disk, though. OS/2 will
- take about 30MB, and you'll want at least 10MB free for swap space.
- My system is a 25MHz 386 with 8MB of RAM. I've installed OS/2 in a
- 50MB disk partition, which no other apps use, and I've no problems.
- --
- |) David Charlap | .signature confiscated by FBI due to
- /|_ dic5340@hertz.njit.edu | an ongoing investigation into the
- ((|,) | source of these .signature virusses
- ~|~
-