wilhite@usceast.UUCP (Robert Wilhite) (02/03/85)
[DOS de way de cookie crumbles] Speaking of multitasking DOS's... I recently received some info about a multitasking utility for PC-DOS called "DoubleDOS" from SoftLogic Solutions. I did a little research and found only a year-old (very sketchy) blurb on the utility in a magazine. From the mailed info and the magazine I've gotten this info: Apparently, the thing installs an 18-40K (depending on options) resident portion of code that shares the CPU between two concurrent user applications. Reportedly the two can be almost any of the more popular applications including Lotus 1-2-3, DBase, WordStar, Peachtext, IBM BASIC, Crosstalk, etc, etc. The utility keeps one process "invisible" and one active. These may be swapped by some key combination (it keeps the "invisible" process screen output in memory somewhere separate from the usual screen memory). In this way, you might (for example) be running a batch compilation invisibly whilst you edit a different source file with your favourite editor. Or you might upload a large file over your modem whilst you...oh, whatever else you might want to do. What I DON'T know: -Are the program partitions of a fixed size? ...or dynamically allocated when the application is begun (doesn't seem likely)? -Can the partition sizes be adjusted without rebooting? -Will DoubleDOS interfere with other interrupt-driven utilities (e.g. SideKick, Prokey, a screen-blanker)? The mailed-info says it will work with Prokey, but what happens to utilities that write to the screen? Has anyone had any experience with DoubleDOS? What other software has SoftLogic Solutions done? (if any) If anyone's interested, these are SoftLogic's vitals: SoftLogic Solutions 530 Chestnut St. Manchester, NH 03101 1-800-272-9900 Thanks in advance for any info. =============================== --rw ..akgua!usceast!wilhite