Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.advocacy
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!uupsi!sugar!peter
From: peter@sugar.hackercorp.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: Amiga basher
Message-ID: <1991Jun16.170632.22749@sugar.hackercorp.com>
Organization: Sugar Land Unix -- Houston, TX
References: <1991Jun13.065150.3529@cs.mcgill.ca> <1991Jun14.033035.21572@daimi.aau.dk> <56@ryptyde.UUCP>
Date: Sun, 16 Jun 1991 17:06:32 GMT

In article <56@ryptyde.UUCP> dant@ryptyde.UUCP (Daniel Tracy) writes:
> Are you saying the Macintosh cannot multitask? Wake up and smell the toast
> burning, man!

The Macintosh cannot multitask well enough to do things that are second
nature to Amiga users. Try running anything significant on a Mac in the
background and watch interactive response go to hell.

<click click>

I'm now running a mandelbrot set generator at -1 priority. It's getting
almost 100% of the CPU, but because the term program I'm using gets its CPU
time guaranteed when it needs it by the scheduling algorithm I can't even tell
it's running.

<click click>

I'm also formatting a floppy. Still no problems.

You just can't *do* that on a Mac. Any Mac. I've been doing it since I
got my Amiga 1000 years ago.

An operating system is basically a resource allocator. The Mac operating
system does not allocate CPU time at all, it waits for each program to
give up its share. Programs that want to provide good interactive response
have to busy-wait, so they use up CPU time even when idle. And every
applications programmer has the responsibility of duplicating all sorts
of operating system code in the core of his program.

Here's the tasks running on my 3000 right now. If this was a Mac, it'd be
dead in the water. According to PM, I have 0% idle time. And as far as
interactive response goes, I can't even detect that anything's going on.

 ADDRESS Q PRI  WAITSIG TYPE     NAME
 7f34590 W   0 80001000 CLI 2    Background Process
 7f45b90 W   4 c0000000 PROCESS  RexxMaster
 7f5db88 W   0 e3149000 CLI 3    Background Process
 7f5ca98 W   0     2000 PROCESS  FMS-Dummy
 7f2e040 W   0       10 PROCESS  ramlib
 7f4c6e8 W   1 c0000000 TASK     
 7f58eb0 W  10 40000100 PROCESS  FF0
   9aad0 W   0      100 PROCESS  SYS:System/CLI
 7f0e342 W   0 f0000000 TASK     console.device
 7f17448 W  10 40000100 PROCESS  DF0
 7f19b80 W  10 40000100 PROCESS  DF2
 7f226e8 W  10 40000100 PROCESS  Peter
 7f28520 W  10 40000100 PROCESS  Stephanie
 7f77248 W   1 c0000000 CLI 4    Workbench
 7f0fbc8 W   5      300 TASK     trackdisk.device
 7f1c0e8 W   5      300 TASK     trackdisk.device
 7f74dc0 W   0 f1000000 PROCESS  JR-Comm
 7f449d8 W   0 f8000000 TASK     jrcomm-clock
 7f116b0 W  10 40000100 PROCESS  WB_2.x
 7f0afd0 W  12 c0000000 TASK     SCSI bus handler
 7f0a3f8 W  11 e0000000 TASK     scsi.device
 7f08af2 W  20 c0000000 TASK     input.device
 7f1c698 W  10 40000100 PROCESS  Work
 7f33c38 W   0 c0000100 PROCESS  RAM
   99900 W   5      100 PROCESS  CON
   72f28 R  -1       20 PROCESS  Mandel
         (26 jobs 1 ready)

> NeXT has had KILLER color for a while now (full 32-bit, the last byte used
> for transparency/reflectance).

And with a price to match. The cheapest NeXT hardware is priced higher than
any Amiga.
-- 
Peter da Silva.   `-_-'   <peter@sugar.neosoft.com>.
                   'U`    "Have you hugged your wolf today?"
