akcs.khenry@vpnet.UUCP (Ken Henry) (09/18/89)
This may have come up before, but I am new to this group and would like to get some information about the Intel 80386. I would like to know the maximum number of virtual 8086's can be operated on a 80386. My first guess was 4 but I was told otherwise, so I'm checking to see what you guys think. Thanks in advance. Ken Henry signature under construction
las) (09/19/89)
In article <[25138e13:1703]comp.sys.ibm.pc@vpnet.UUCP> akcs.khenry@vpnet.UUCP (Ken Henry) writes: }This may have come up before, but I am new to this group and would like to }get some information about the Intel 80386. I would like to know the }maximum number of virtual 8086's can be operated on a 80386. My first guess }was 4 but I was told otherwise, so I'm checking to see what you guys think. Your question is equivalent to the question "How many separate tasks can can be operated [sic] on a 80386?" The answer is an indefinite number depending on how many your operating system will handle. I.e., the 386 processor itself does not impose a limit. Of course, there are practical limits set by resource availability such as memory and cpu time. Thus, if your O.S. is willing to manage, say, 100 virtual 8086 sessions, it can be done; however, the results may not be very usable. regards, Larry -- Signed: Larry A. Shurr (cbema!las@att.ATT.COM or att!cbema!las) Clever signature, Wonderful wit, Outdo the others, Be a big hit! - Burma Shave (With apologies to the real thing. The above represents my views only.) (Please note my mailing address. Mail sent directly to cbnews doesn't make it.)
johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us (John R. Levine) (09/19/89)
In article <[25138e13:1703]comp.sys.ibm.pc@vpnet.UUCP> akcs.khenry@vpnet.UUCP (Ken Henry) writes: >I would like to know the maximum number of virtual 8086's can be operated >on a 80386. My first guess was 4 but I was told otherwise, so I'm checking >to see what you guys think. The actual answer is "one at a time" but it's entirely a function of your operating system which is in charge of time-sharing among the various processes on your machine. I have run five vp/ix DOS sessions at once on my 386 under Unix and could get 8 easily at which point I run out of Unix virtual screens. Unix runs vp/ix in virtual memory, so the total size of your DOS sessions can exceed the actual amount of memory in your machine. Desqview and Windows/386 also allow many 8086 sessions, but don't provide virtual memory, and so are limited by the amount of memory you have. (At least they didn't the last time I looked which was a while ago.) In practice, running a whole lot of DOS sessions at once is of limited utility. DOS being a single-user system is totally compute-bound, and with a lot of DOS sessions your machine becomes very sluggish. What is quite useful is to have DOS processes in separate windows but with the inactive windows frozen, which lets you switch from program to program without losing what you are doing in one when you use another. -- John R. Levine, Segue Software, POB 349, Cambridge MA 02238, +1 617 492 3869 johnl@esegue.segue.boston.ma.us, {ima|lotus}!esegue!johnl, Levine@YALE.edu Massachusetts has 64 licensed drivers who are over 100 years old. -The Globe