From: Psilon AT cris DOT com (Avery Lee)
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: Tue, 29 Oct 1996 23:32:20 GMT
Organization: Concentric Internet Services
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Message-ID: <32769365.536643@news.concentric.net>
References: <5538hu$2ue AT news DOT latnet DOT lv> <28OCT96 DOT 22083606 AT skyfox DOT usask DOT ca>
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To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp

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.


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