From: "dragonsong" Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.djgpp References: <3B%_5.7848$IY2 DOT 545636 AT typhoon DOT mn DOT mediaone DOT net> <91lo3k$6t2$1 AT neptunium DOT btinternet DOT com> Subject: Re: To those of you who use NT/2000, we salute you Lines: 82 X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 5.50.4133.2400 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V5.50.4133.2400 Message-ID: Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 18:26:30 -0700 NNTP-Posting-Host: 63.227.82.249 X-Trace: news.uswest.net 977188870 63.227.82.249 (Mon, 18 Dec 2000 19:21:10 CST) NNTP-Posting-Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 19:21:10 CST To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com DJ-Gateway: from newsgroup comp.os.msdos.djgpp Reply-To: djgpp AT delorie DOT com "Tim Nicholson" wrote in message news:91lo3k$6t2$1 AT neptunium DOT btinternet DOT com... > My company had abandoned windows as a viable platform for any software that > has to be certified as being 'fit for form and function' The totally > unpredictable nature of the whole Windows family (Including Win 2000) makes > it impossible to get any form of certification from the bodies that regulate > our industry (Aerospace). I don't doubt it. In fact I'm surprised an OS like Unix (or Linux) wasn't chosen in its place...? > Contrary to popular believe, Windows 2000 is extremely unstable and could > never be used for any form of critical system. And contrary to popular belief, Bill Gates is not the devil. ;} > DOS, due to its deterministic nature is a dream when it comes to proving > what is happening on and instruction by instruction basis - DOS has a long > life left in it and, now that packages like DJGPP are utilising the full > power of the machine (In general DOS code runs much faster than any C++ > equivalent for Windows, simply because it has 100% of the processors > attention), I think that more and more bespoke software writers will move > back to a stable world where GPF's are the fault of the programmer and not > some virtual machine that has more bugs than the average ants nest. > > Long Live DOS Long live DOS. I'll always think fondly of my own DOS days. I work in IT and designed some utilities to test network performance on a Win95 machine using a DOS boot disk. Why DOS? Because I cut out the possibility that something in Windows is causing a machine's network woes. DOS is a very clean, safe, stable, neutral (as opposed to user-friendly Win* or administrator-friendly *nix) environment. (rant mode on) On the other hand, I'm probably never going to run Office 2000 in DOS, I'm probably never going to play Unreal Tournament in DOS, and I'm almost definitely never going to multi-task my NoteTab (with 3 separate .txt docs open), my e-mail, 6 instances of Internet Explorer, and calculator all at once in DOS. And that's just software. They don't make DOS device drivers for half the hardware I'm using, presently. DOS isn't a multi-user networked operating system, either. And who said having 100% of the processor's attention is a *good* thing, anyhow? I also remember fondly having to hit RESET my fair share of times back in DOS because some runaway app did exactly that. Thank God for Ctrl+Alt+Del and Task Manager. Better a GPF in one application than losing my work in all of them. DOS has its place. Win2k has its place. MacOS has its place. Unix has its place. BeOS is really neat-looking. I don't know what the current trend is for programmers in sectors where stability is priority 1, but I'd be willing to bet there are just as many programmers whose priority 1 is usability and a large potential market. And yes, Win2k is buggy. I gasp in surprise. I think there was a book written once - it was called "The Mythical Man Month" - that made some points on how large-scale programming endeavors are generally doomed to be flawed in at least some scope. I don't blame Microsoft. I blame the fact that it was programmed by human beings. (I don't envy them. It must be the least respected yet most demanding job on earth.) (rant mode off) Anyways, I'm done playing devil's advocate for today. I'm sure this isn't the proper forum to be taking up that flag, anyhow. ;) The amount of traffic in this group just goes to show how popular DOS still is - which makes me happy, you happy, everyone happy. :) Long live the freedom to choose. David Frauzel dragon AT weathersong DOT net