witting@topaz.rutgers.edu (Paul K Willing) (03/15/89)
Hey guys, I hope you can help me out. I've been admiring the Amiga
for some time now, but circumstances are pushing me towards the MAC.
Well, I refuse to buy a machine as limited as the Plus/SE series, but
the MAC IIcx looks great to me. Some questions.
What is a multifinder? As near as I can tell it fakes multitasking by
suspending processes in memory. Is this all there is to it? If I
start compiling a program, and want to start up MacWrite to write a
letter while I wait (or maybe I'm uploading someones 40 Meg HD via
modem, whatever), will the background task (compiler/terminal) halt
and wait? Would the modem bomb?
While I was playing w/ a IIx, the machine freaked, to the point I had
to turn power off to restore it. While I'm sure this was a bad
program (not machines fault) is this common? Amigas have all sorts of
rules to live by in order to multitask it programs, could the Macs
recent intro of MultiFinder make all sorts of programs useless?
I will get a color monitor. How well is color supported? Even if my
256 colors wind up just painting backgrounds, I want it, But I think
color is the greatest. IMHO
The standard Mac RGB has no composite (RCA type) inputs. Is there a
device/interface to allow me to connect a VCR to turn the screen into
a TV? I will be pissed if I pay $600 and still have to by a color TV.
After all, I wont watch TV and work simultaneously. Not supplying
these connectors is silly. Of course, they did us the favor of
internalizing all adjustments (incl power!), so this might be a big
Pain.
And what about A/UX? I heard its a weak implementation, but the Amiga
version wasnt supposed to be great either. Anyway, does it access
Mac/OS programs, or does it require separate disks. One of my last
remaining nits of Macs is the lack of a CLI, since only so much can be
done with Icons.
Sorry bout the length
paul
--
"Run, Run, as fast as you can, you cant catch me, Im the gingerbread man"
"Lets do some crimes. Yeah, lets get sushi and not pay"
6 6
Witting@topaz.rutgers.edu `--' chuq@Apple.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (03/15/89)
>What is a multifinder? As near as I can tell it fakes multitasking by >suspending processes in memory. Is this all there is to it? If I >start compiling a program, and want to start up MacWrite to write a >letter while I wait (or maybe I'm uploading someones 40 Meg HD via >modem, whatever), will the background task (compiler/terminal) halt >and wait? Would the modem bomb? It depends on the programs. They can be programmed to run in the background. Some do (Excel, for instance, will recalculate in the background. DiskFit will do your backups in the background). >While I'm sure this was a bad >program (not machines fault) is this common? >could the Macs >recent intro of MultiFinder make all sorts of programs useless? Multifinder isn't all that new (a year old? whatever...). About the only programs I find these days that don't like to play with Multifinder are games. Crash and burn problems are rather rare. >I will get a color monitor. How well is color supported? Even if my >256 colors wind up just painting backgrounds, I want it, But I think >color is the greatest. On the screen? Color is wonderful. There's a CDEV called Kolor that lets you redefine the default color for various parts if you really want to play. More and more programs are using color to good effect. Printing out? give it a few years -- color printer costs are still beyond the range of reasonableness for most folks. >And what about A/UX? I heard its a weak implementation, but the Amiga >version wasnt supposed to be great either. Anyway, does it access >Mac/OS programs, or does it require separate disks. 1.1 is much better than the initial release. Compatibility is much improved. You can (and I *do*) put both a MacOS partition and an A/UX partition on the same disk. You can either import your MacOS binaries onto the A/UX partition or use a program to launch them from the MacOS partition. There are still limitations in what you can do in a Mac program under A/UX, but they're significantly reduced -- and you can always reboot to MacOS if you need to use something that isn't compatible. >One of my last >remaining nits of Macs is the lack of a CLI, since only so much can be >done with Icons. I've found that DiskTop (a finder-replacement DA) removes any need for a CLI for me, and I'm a hard-core Unix type. I still use the finder for basic stuff, but use DiskTop when I want to do the sort of things that a Unix Shell used to be required for.
jlo@otc.otca.oz (John O_Neill) (03/19/89)
in article <951@anucsd.oz>, drew@anucsd.oz (Drew Corrigan) says: > Xref: otc comp.sys.mac:24939 aus.mac:614 > I hope this roadshow (its going to most capital cities - don't know about > Hobart - haven't got my pamphlet here at the moment) The dates for the Apple Forums '89 are: Canberra: 14-16 Mar 89 (too late!) Sydney: 20-22 Mar (CentrePoint) Melbourne: 18-20 Apr Perth: 9-11 May Brisbane: 6-8 Jun Adelaide: 20-22 Jun The Forums are a highly focussed series of events, which are not generally open to the public. They will appeal to Corporate and Business customers, as well as Education customers on the final day of each Forum. For an invitation, please contact your Apple reseller. He can arrange for an invitation to be issued, to qualified people. > At the A/UX seminar it was said that Apple will be > supporting A/UX on the IIcx (I don't know when though). Overall, the IIcx is > a compact, stylish and powerful Macintosh. Sorry, Drew, I must have confused you a bit! The IIcx runs A/UX now. The SE/30 is the one to watch in the future. Right now it has some minor cosmetic problems with A/UX which relate to the small screen size. A/UX makes some fascist assumptions about minimum screen width and height. Hence, we have not formally announced it's availability on the SE/30. LocalTalk support for A/UX on the SE/30 is problematical, unless you have a network which provides a gateway. John O'Neill Apple Computer Australia