Mail Archives: opendos/2000/01/26/20:46:57
On Wed, 26 Jan 2000 18:12:50 +0100 (MET) Bernie
<bernie AT mbox302 DOT swipnet DOT se> writes:
> Bruce wrote:
> >Sorry, you're logic here
> >eludes me. Are you implying
> >that the "bugfix" is to a
> >DOS component and not some
> >part of the GUI?
>
> To be able to even run the bug fix I need to start in "Normal MS-DOS
> mode" and then run win.com
That points toward the
bugfix being in some aspect
of the GUI, which makes
sense with my view that the
32-bit API(s) are loaded
with the GUI, not with DOS 7.
>
> >Your hardware doesn't seem
> >to support enough IRQ
> >alternatives, can't blame
> >that on Windoze. It have a
> >similarly crowded card
> >collection -- NIC, modem,
> >two active serial ports,
> >IRQ/DMA-hungry sound card,
> >SCSI controller, Sony
> >proprietary CD-ROM interface
> >-- with no conflicts at all.
>
> But since I do NOT have any conflicts in DOS I CAN blaim Windows for
> this!
> All of a sudden several IRQs are used fror various tasks - but
> neither the
> BIOS nor DOS will see these components.
>
> >Sure, but DOS isn't really
> >an operating system, it's a
> >sort of extended monitor
> >with disk access -- warm-
> >over CP/M with a few Unix-
> >like enhancements. It has
> >virtually no overhead
> >because (outside of things
> >like device drivers and
> >memory managers) it's
> >pretty much idle until its
> >called on to do something.
>
> And why is it then not an OS?
Because, like CP/M, it really
doesn't take or retain true
control of the hardware.
This is part of the classical,
pre-microprocessor view of
what comprises an operating
system, I have no problem if
you prefer the looser, post-
microprocessor definition,
which would indeed encompass
DOS and CP/M.
>This time your logic eludes me.
> Besides, wasn't CP/M a UNIX clone?
Not even close! From the
operator's point of view,
it resembles some of the
early proprietary DEC
minicomputer operating
systems, but internally
it is a relatively
simple beast. The generic
portions of CP/M 2.2, the
BDOS (Basic Disk Operating
System) and CCP (Console
Command Processor) comprise
a *total of 5.5 K of code*!
Even the most compact
version of a UNIX kernel
dwarfs it, and a modern
version of DOS is *huge* by
comparison.
> Anyway I really doubt that an OS is a program that constantly keeps
> your
> computer busy wheter you use it or not. None of the information I've
> read has stated that DOS isn't an OS.
It's not that an OS keeps
the hardware terribly
occupied, but rather the
aforementioned taking and
retaining of hardware
control.
>
> >Multitaskers like Windoze
> >and UNIX are active all the
> >time and are much more CPU-
> >intensive -- of course they
> >actually retain control of
> >the hardware, whereas
> >single-task, non-reentrant
> >stuff like DOS pretty much
> >steps aside and lets the
> >app of the moment take
> >control.
>
> But why do anything when nothing is supposed to be done? IMHO that's
> very useless, and I doubt anyone will disagree with me on that.
Keeping control of the hardware
is what allows multi-tasking
(and therefore simulataneous
multi-user) operation. If it's
done efficiently, it well worth
the CPU overhead. The reason
DOS (like CP/M before it) seems
efficient is because it really
does very little, thus incurring
no appeciable overhead. If you
have no need for multi-whatever
or a sound/graphics-capable API,
by all means work with DOS -- I
used a souped-up CP/M clone
well into the '90s for the same
reason you like DOS, then I
realized that I could work more
efficiently via smart use of
multi-tasking at about the same
time that 486s became reasonably
cheap....
__________________________________________________
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