morse@leadsv.UUCP (Terry Morse) (08/11/87)
Read it in the Sunday San Jose Mercury News (8/9/87):
Apple will announce a multi tasking version of the Finder at the Boston
MacWorld Expo. This is assumed to be in response to IBM's OS/2
vaporware, which will be multitasking.
FINALLY!!!! Now let's find out the details:
o is it _really_ multitasking or more like Switcher?
o which programs cannot be run concurrently?
o how do we get a copy, and when will it be available?
o what's the minimum hardware configuration?
--
Terry Morse (408)743-1487
{ hplabs!cae780 } | { ihnp4!sun!sunncal } !leadsv!morsechuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (08/11/87)
In article <1659@leadsv.UUCP> morse@leadsv.UUCP (Terry Morse) writes: >Read it in the Sunday San Jose Mercury News (8/9/87): And, according to the Tuesday SJMN, we hear: >Apple will announce a multi tasking version of the Finder at the Boston >MacWorld Expo. This is assumed to be in response to IBM's OS/2 >vaporware, which will be multitasking. > >FINALLY!!!! Now let's find out the details: > >o is it _really_ multitasking or more like Switcher? Think of it as Finder and Switcher merged. There is no memory protection or MMU in a Mac, so real multitasking is tough. >o which programs cannot be run concurrently? As far as I know, the same restrictions on switcher apply -- any "well behaved" program should work. >o how do we get a copy, and when will it be available? It is supposed to ship free with all new Mac's as of September 15, and can be purchased for $49 (suggested retail) for existing Mac's. It is evidently part of a 4 disk set that includes all the new system software (and maybe some new toys?) so that seems like a reasonable price. >o what's the minimum hardware configuration? I'd guess a megabyte. The more the merrier. chuq Chuq Von Rospach chuq@sun.COM Delphi: CHUQ We live and learn, but not the wiser grow -- John Pomfret (1667-1703)
lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein) (08/15/87)
In article <1659@leadsv.UUCP> morse@leadsv.UUCP (Terry Morse) writes: > >o is it _really_ multitasking or more like Switcher? It works much like Switcher. Whether or not you consider that multitasking is up to you. Some improvements over Switcher: If you try to Restart (in the Finder) and have application open, Multifinder will try to Quit from them automatically. (It tries to locate a Quit command, and "coerces" the application into running it.) Application that are written with Multifinder in mind can make certain calls to it. For example, the new Finder will run in a very small amt of memory (~160K), but when you do a disk copy, it asks Multifinder to allocate some unused memory. Another Multifinder call you can make is WaitNextEvent. It is like GetNextEvent except that the application will be suspended until an event is actually available. There are other parameters to allow the application to get a null event after a certain time, and if the mouse leaves a certain area. You configure Multifinder from the Finder. Under Set Startup you have the option of using Multifinder or not. You can also have Multifinder startup and automatically open any combinations of documents (not just applications) and DAs Under Get Info, you can set the amt of memory assigned to an application. The System Heap under Multifinder is dynamically resizable. All resources that come from the System file are loaded into the System Heap. This includes fonts and DAs. This means, for example, that DAs don't go away when you launch an application. Programs that implement sublaunching according to the recent Tech Note (eg, MPW 2.0) will work under Multifinder and will result in launching a new process. For example, if you are using MPW, you can run an application and still have MPW available in a separate process. >o which programs cannot be run concurrently? Most applications that were compatible with Switcher will be compatible with Multifinder. (According to one of the Multifinder people, there are applications that did not work with Switcher but DO work with Multifinder, and vice versa.) >o how do we get a copy, and when will it be available? It will be available in a month or so. There will be a $49 package you can buy which will give you 4 diskettes and documentation. The 4 diskettes will have installer scripts for the new System Software and printers, and will have the latest versions of Font/DA Mover, etc. >o what's the minimum hardware configuration? You need 1Mb and 128K ROMs or later. More memory will allow you to run more application simultaneously. With Multifinder 1.0b6 (the latest so far), you have about 570K left over when running on a Mac Plus with 1Mb. The actual amount will depend on the number of fonts/DAs/etc. you have. (This number was derived by booting the Multifinder disk itself, which has a minimal set of fonts & DAs.) It is definitely worthwhile to use Multifinder on a 1Mb machine, because it makes going back to the Finder very fast. Also, there is no need for the DAs that manipulate files, because the Finder is always around. People argue that Multifinder is not "real" multitasking because it uses non-preemptive scheduling. I consider that a matter of semantics and don't want to argue the point. I do want to make 1 point: Despite its name, Multifinder is really an extension to the operating system, and it was designed and implemented by people with O/S backgrounds. One of their goals was to design a very solid O/S, rather than hack together something that worked. Multifinder is described in the press release as the first-generation multitasking Mac O/S. This implies that there will be future releases that include features such as pre-emptive scheduling, IPC, etc. -- Larry Rosenstein Object Specialist Apple Computer AppleLink: Rosenstein1 UUCP: {sun, voder, nsc, mtxinu, dual}!apple!lsr CSNET: lsr@Apple.com
kdmoen@watcgl.UUCP (08/15/87)
In article <1478@apple.UUCP> lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein) writes: >The System Heap under Multifinder is dynamically resizable. All resources >that come from the System file are loaded into the System Heap. This >includes fonts and DAs. This means, for example, that DAs don't go away >when you launch an application. >You need 1Mb and 128K ROMs or later. More memory will allow you to run >more application simultaneously. With Multifinder 1.0b6 (the latest so >far), you have about 570K left over when running on a Mac Plus with 1Mb. >The actual amount will depend on the number of fonts/DAs/etc. you have. >(This number was derived by booting the Multifinder disk itself, which has a >minimal set of fonts & DAs.) Does MultiFinder load fonts and da's into the system folder dynamically, as needed, and purge them as needed, or does it try to load every font and da into memory at once? I have a 1Mb MacPlus, with about 800K worth of fonts and desk accessories in my system folder. If the latter is true, then I am afraid that MultiFinder is useless to me, unless I am prepared to purchase a memory upgrade, or live with a completely stripped system file. -- Doug Moen University of Waterloo Computer Graphics Lab UUCP: {ihnp4,watmath}!watcgl!kdmoen INTERNET: kdmoen@cgl.waterloo.edu
dudek@utai.UUCP (08/18/87)
Since MultiFinder handles sublaunching properly, I hope it
will also allow one program to launch another in the good old-fashioned
way. Switcher allows this, but Servant refuses to allows a direct
transfer from one application to another.
Greg Dudek
--
Dept. of Computer Science (vision group) University of Toronto
Usenet: {linus, ihnp4, allegra, decvax, floyd}!utcsri!dudek
CSNET: dudek@ai.toronto.edu ARPA: dudek%ai.toronto.edu@csnet-relay
DELPHI: GDUDEK
Paper mail: Dept. of Comp Sci, Univ of Toronto, Toronto, Canada lsr@apple.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein) (08/20/87)
In article <1584@watcgl.waterloo.edu> kdmoen@watcgl.waterloo.edu (Doug Moen) writes: > >Does MultiFinder load fonts and da's into the system folder dynamically, >as needed, and purge them as needed, or does it try to load every font and >da into memory at once? I have a 1Mb MacPlus, with about 800K worth of >fonts and desk accessories in my system folder. If the latter is true, >then I am afraid that MultiFinder is useless to me, unless I am prepared >to purchase a memory upgrade, or live with a completely stripped system >file. It only loads the resources as you use them. Basically, resources that come out of the System file are loaded in the System Heap, rather than the Application Heap. The System Heap under Multifinder is expandable, because application are loaded towards the other end of memory as much as possible. So if you start opening DAs, the System Heap will start growing; as you close them, it will shrink again. (The about box in the Finder shows the current memory usage; as you open and close DAs you can see the size of the System memory grow and shrink.) The point I made before about the number of DAs, is that the System resource map has to be loaded in the System Heap as well, so every DA and font requires additional map space. For example, the names of resources are in the resource map. -- Larry Rosenstein Object Specialist Apple Computer AppleLink: Rosenstein1 UUCP: {sun, voder, nsc, mtxinu, dual}!apple!lsr CSNET: lsr@Apple.com