gavin@mit-caf.MIT.EDU (Gavin C. H. Zau) (06/13/90)
I recently posted a request for information on softwarer for switching between application/ multitasking on 286 and 386 PCs. The current forerunners are : Desqview 386 (+ QEMM 386 ?) Windows 3.0 VM/386 and Software Carousel for 286. Can anyone who has used these software please comment on the ease of use, hardware requirement, compatibility with a network drive (PCNFS) and speed. Windowing capabilities are not critical but are nice to have. Thanks alot. -- ************************************************************ Gavin Zau Dept of Chemical Engineering, MIT gavin@caf.mit.edu mefl@eagle.mit.edu
shim@zip.eecs.umich.edu (Sam Shim) (06/14/90)
In article <4632@mit-caf.MIT.EDU> gavin@mit-caf.UUCP (Gavin C. H. Zau) writes: > > I recently posted a request for information on softwarer for >switching between application/ multitasking on 286 and 386 PCs. The >current forerunners are : > Desqview 386 (+ QEMM 386 ?) > Windows 3.0 > VM/386 >and > Software Carousel for 286. >Can anyone who has used these software please comment on the ease of >use, hardware requirement, compatibility with a network drive (PCNFS) >and speed. Windowing capabilities are not critical but are nice to >have. No offense, but I think you should not have posted this also to comp.binaries.ibm.pc.d. It is not the proper place for this message. Now, answering your question. I use both Desqview 386 (which is Desqview 2.26 & Qemm 5.0) nad Windows 3.0. In some ways, they are very similar (such as their multi-tasking abilities) but in other ways they are not. Windows 3.0 is not only a multi-tasker but a graphical interface similar to the Mac interface. Very nice, but you can't really take much advantage of it unless you are using Windows applications. Desqview is basically a multi-tasker and it does that much better than Windows 3.0. It doesn't crash as often, and it can run graphic DOS applications in the background. Because of its power Desqview (in my opinion) is not very easy to set up. Windows is a bit easier but still not easy enough (IMHO). Another advantage of Desqview 386 is that QEMM can map extended memory into high memory, so you can load tsrs, drivers, etc... into high memory and not lose any of the 640K memory. Because of this my Desqview windows are a bit bigger than my Windows windows (about 585K to 525K with the same tsrs and drivers loaded). Also, Windows is a memory hog compared to Desqview. You can open more windows with Desqview than Windows for the same amount of memory. Windows requires 1 Meg on a 286, 2 Megs on a 386. Desqview requires only 640K, but at least 1 Meg is recommended. I haven't heard much about VM/386 so I can't help you there. But I've heard it is not fully DOS compatible. And I don't use Software Carousel so I can't help you out there either. I believe all it does is tash switch tsrs. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Sam Shim | "I didn't do it... | | EECS Departmental Computing Organization | It wasn't me... | | University of Michigan | Nobody saw me do it... | | Ann Arbor, MI 48109 | Nobody can prove a thing..." | | internet: shim@eecs.umich.edu | - Bart Simpson | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
rdg@virtech.uucp (Roger D. Gough) (06/14/90)
In article <2630@zipeecs.umich.edu>, shim@zip.eecs.umich.edu (Sam Shim) writes: > In article <4632@mit-caf.MIT.EDU> gavin@mit-caf.UUCP (Gavin C. H. Zau) writes: > > > > I recently posted a request for information on softwarer for > >switching between application/ multitasking on 286 and 386 PCs. The > >current forerunners are : > > Desqview 386 (+ QEMM 386 ?) > > Windows 3.0 > > VM/386 > >and > > Software Carousel for 286. > >Can anyone who has used these software please comment on the ease of > >use, hardware requirement, compatibility with a network drive (PCNFS) > >and speed. Windowing capabilities are not critical but are nice to > >have. > > I use both Desqview 386 (which is Desqview 2.26 & Qemm 5.0) nad Windows 3.0. > In some ways, they are very similar (such as their multi-tasking abilities) > but in other ways they are not. I basically agree with the views of the respondent. I've not experimented as much as I'd like with Windows 3.0, but 'til I do, I'm running my Windows applications (in real mode) under DESQview 386. I may _never_ switch. I used to use Software Carousel, and it's pretty good to. It's more than a TSR switcher, though. It'll switch among up to 12 applications. If I didn't have a 386, I'd probably still be using it. -- Roger D. Gough +1 703 689 1692 Sequel Technologies uunet!sequel!rdg
doug@ozdaltx.UUCP (Doug Matlock) (06/15/90)
In article <4632@mit-caf.MIT.EDU>, gavin@mit-caf.MIT.EDU (Gavin C. H. Zau) writes: > > I recently posted a request for information on softwarer for > switching between application/ multitasking on 286 and 386 PCs. The > current forerunners are : > Desqview 386 (+ QEMM 386 ?) > Windows 3.0 > VM/386 > and > Software Carousel for 286. > Can anyone who has used these software please comment on the ease of > use, hardware requirement, compatibility with a network drive (PCNFS) > and speed. Windowing capabilities are not critical but are nice to > have. > > Thanks alot. I have used DESQview for a little less than a year. I have been very satisfied with the program. It takes a little time and patience to set it up, but the setup tools are adequate (you change numbers on a data-entry-form type screen for each application). I did some benchmarking of run time for DV. In compute-intensive apps, DV introduces almost no overhead (i.e. it took almost exactly twice as much time to run two copies of a compute loop as to run one copy). The places I've had trouble are: 1. not all device drivers can be loaded into high memory (IBM's Token Ring drivers especially) 2. Quarterdeck support for developers is terrible I need to specify that I am fortunate enough to use a Compaq 386/20 with 9 Meg of RAM. Others have had more trouble with DV on other machines. I just got Windows 3.0 yesterday, and have not had a lot of time to play with it. First impression: "I'm in LUUUUV"[tm]. It seems MUCH faster than OS/2 (I have nothing to back that up, just my impression) and is every bit as sexy. I hope to have a more objective opinion of Windows in the near future. -- Doug. "If you want Peace, work for Justice."