19 Apr
2002
19 Apr
'02
12:59 p.m.
On Fri, Apr 19, 2002 at 10:17:46AM -0500, Doc wrote:
I can cut/copy text from any GIU program and paste into any text window.
I can cut/copy text from any text windows into any GUI program.
I can format floppies while running IE5.5, Outlook98, and OE5.5, with a
Modula-2 programming environment running and a copy of the CDC 6000
emulator running the Chippewa Operating System.
Under Windows 2000. On an 800MHz P-III w/256MB of RAM. Not a killer
machine.
Windows sucks for anough real reasons that it's really not necessary
to perpetuate myths and half-truths....
Ok, My Milage May Vary... -dq
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, John Allain wrote:
I remember this behaviour from Windows 3.1 - format a floppy and you
might as well go grab a book. Enter OS/2: start formatting a floppy and
do something else on the machine until it is done (which didn't take
long). I suppose that:
- since Windows 3.1 couldn't do real (preemptive) multitasking (only
cooperative), it basically stopped everything else,
- this code was carried through to whatever flavour of Windows is sold
currently (hell, I had system error boxes with the Windows 3.1 widget
set pop up at me on some lusers Win9X machines), I encoded some family geneology into set of frame
HTML
pages once. It turned out to be something line 600 small html
files, 300 KBytes or so. When I went to put it on a floppy, it
took over 30 Minutes to write!
OK. This is completely off topic, but it has bugged me for years.
You guys are more likely to know, and care, than any other forum I hang
in. I use a Linux PC as my daily workstation, file server, DNS, MOP
server, etc. Given hardware limitations, it's stable enough.
I can start a lowlevel format on a floppy, go and surf the net, read
my email, compile software, or play a game while (45-75 secs) that happens.
Do that in Win<anyversion> on the same hardware, and I might as well
go make coffee. Same comparison applies to printing large documents.
WHAT is M$ doing that operating a floppy disk drive takes ALL of a
1.4GHz CPU and 512M of memory? I wanna know! 
19 Apr
19 Apr
1:48 p.m.
Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote:
Win2K is "Windows" only by virtue of the marketing dept. It's really NT,
which is a lot closer to OS/2 and/or VMS than Windows, internally. I
have a copy of 3.1 Advanced Server which will be topical in the not too
distant future. Never even installed it, by the time I got a capable
machine I had moved entirely to Linux, but I believe it will format in
the background no problem.
I remember Amiga users in the late '80s proudly demonstrating floppy
formatting while online, rendering graphics, running a vidcam, copying
files on the HD, and playing games. Tending to shut the DOS crowd up for
a while. (Eventually the response would be a total non-sequitur like,
"Well, who really needs multitasking, anyway?")
jbdigriz
On Fri, Apr 19,
2002 at 10:17:46AM -0500, Doc wrote:
I can cut/copy text from any GIU program and paste into any text window.
I can cut/copy text from any text windows into any GUI program.
I can format floppies while running IE5.5, Outlook98, and OE5.5, with a
Modula-2 programming environment running and a copy of the CDC 6000
emulator running the Chippewa Operating System.
Under Windows 2000. On an 800MHz P-III w/256MB of RAM. Not a killer
machine.
Windows sucks for anough real reasons that it's really not necessary
to perpetuate myths and half-truths....
Ok, My Milage May Vary... -dq
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, John Allain wrote:
I remember this behaviour from Windows 3.1 - format a floppy and you
might as well go grab a book. Enter OS/2: start formatting a floppy and
do something else on the machine until it is done (which didn't take
long). I suppose that:
- since Windows 3.1 couldn't do real (preemptive) multitasking (only
cooperative), it basically stopped everything else,
- this code was carried through to whatever flavour of Windows is sold
currently (hell, I had system error boxes with the Windows 3.1 widget
set pop up at me on some lusers Win9X machines), I encoded some family geneology into set of frame
HTML
pages once. It turned out to be something line 600 small html
files, 300 KBytes or so. When I went to put it on a floppy, it
took over 30 Minutes to write!
OK. This is completely off topic, but it has bugged me for years.
You guys are more likely to know, and care, than any other forum I hang
in. I use a Linux PC as my daily workstation, file server, DNS, MOP
server, etc. Given hardware limitations, it's stable enough.
I can start a lowlevel format on a floppy, go and surf the net, read
my email, compile software, or play a game while (45-75 secs) that happens.
Do that in Win<anyversion> on the same hardware, and I might as well
go make coffee. Same comparison applies to printing large documents.
WHAT is M$ doing that operating a floppy disk drive takes ALL of a
1.4GHz CPU and 512M of memory? I wanna know! 
20 Apr
20 Apr
1:30 a.m.
On Fri, 19 Apr 2002, Douglas H. Quebbeman wrote:
I can cut/copy text from any GIU program and paste
into any text window.
I can cut/copy text from any text windows into any GUI program.
I can format floppies while running IE5.5, Outlook98, and OE5.5, with a
Modula-2 programming environment running and a copy of the CDC 6000
emulator running the Chippewa Operating System.
Under Windows 2000. On an 800MHz P-III w/256MB of RAM. Not a killer
machine.
Windows sucks for anough real reasons that it's really not necessary
to perpetuate myths and half-truths....
We're talking about much older Windows than 2000 and much slower machine
than a PIII-800.
Peace... Sridhar
8125
days inactive
8126
days old
2 comments
3 participants
participants (3)
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dquebbeman＠acm.org -
jbdigriz＠dragonsweb.org -
vance＠ikickass.org