From: bizzetti AT mbox DOT vol DOT it (Fabio Bizzetti)
Newsgroups: comp.lang.asm.x86,comp.os.msdos.djgpp,comp.os.msdos.programmer,comp.lang.pascal.borland,alt.msdos.programmer
Subject: Re: Preemptive Multitasking under DPMI
Date: 30 Oct 1996 12:05:31 GMT
Organization: Video On Line
Lines: 35
Distribution: world
Message-ID: <1399.6877T702T694@mbox.vol.it>
References: <32769365 DOT 536643 AT news DOT concentric DOT net>
NNTP-Posting-Host: molcl3.vol.it
To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp


Avery Lee (Psilon AT cris DOT com) wrote:
>stow AT skyfox DOT usask DOT ca wrote:

>>A good example of the failure of all of those OSes to implement pre-emptive
>>multitasking is that once you start a floppy formatting you are shut out
>>from  doing anything else until the format is done, even though formatting a
>>floppy is a relatively cpu un-intensive task:  the cpu has lots of time to
>>spare for other things but the format program won't cooperate.

>I am among the first to admit that Windows 95 is not great (okay... it
>sucks in many areas) but I am sick of this argument that when you format a
>disk everything else stops.  I can have netscape downloading, compile a C
>program in a DOS shell, print a document, and even play solitaire or
>minesweeper.  In the meantime a disk is being formatted in the background
>(format a:/f:1.44/u) and absolutely no slowdown or sluggishness occurs.

The problem he is having is probably that he's using the Windows95 GUI to
start the formattation, and since it's the same GUI task that runs it, it
uses this same task and thus freezes the GUI for the formattation time.
Microsoft should implement it as asyncronous, launching a separate task.


>- Avery Lee (Psilon AT concentric DOT net)
>- try my freeware paint program! (alpha 6 ver.) http://www.cris.com/~Psilon




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Fabio Bizzetti  -  bizzetti AT mbox DOT vol DOT it