gfr@cobra.mitre.org (Glenn Roberts) (02/11/89)
> For those of you who have "several"(more than -1-) of the Sun 386i > machines, how has your experiencesbeen with DOS programs under > Sun's DOS window environment? Don't expect DOS to scream on the 386i. Dbase III and Mass11 (our word processing environment) seem to work at about "AT speed" in a DOS window. You can run MS Windows in a SunView window. This is really neat but will run at "XT speed" or slower (just moving the cursor around in an MS Window hogs most of my CPU - after all you're running MS Windows on top of DOS on top of Unix!). The biggest annoyance is the small window. You might want to get the RR-100 EGA/VGA option. I saw this demonstrated at our local Sun office and there is a way to enlarge the window display. Sun list is $895. Bottom line: if you're mostly interested in running DOS applications get a Compaq or PS/2. If you're mostly doing workstation type work, and by the way once in a while you need to do DOS stuff, get a 386i. - Glenn Roberts, The MITRE Corp., McLean VA gfr@cobra.mitre.org
pat%serendip@sun.com (Pat Lashley) (02/28/89)
gfr@cobra.mitre.org (Glenn Roberts) writes: >Don't expect DOS to scream on the 386i. Dbase III and Mass11 (our word >processing environment) seem to work at about "AT speed" in a DOS window. >You can run MS Windows in a SunView window. This is really neat but will >run at "XT speed" or slower (just moving the cursor around in an MS Window >hogs most of my CPU - after all you're running MS Windows on top of DOS on >top of Unix!). > >The biggest annoyance is the small window. You might want to get the >RR-100 EGA/VGA option. I saw this demonstrated at our local Sun office >and there is a way to enlarge the window display. Sun list is $895. Our experience is that compute-intensive programs run faster on the Sun. It is the slowdown in the window emulation which causes the problem. This is improved considerably with SunOS 4.0.1 (BL9F.3). In particular, if you are running MS-WINDOWS, 4.0.1 has a direct WINDOWS driver that you can install which provides much better mouse tracking, color, and resizable windows. Now for my question. Can anyone out there provide me with technical information about the RR-100 ? -Pat <P.S. Beware of possible munged headers. Reply to the address below.> PMLashley sun!cohesive!kla!pat cohesive!kla!pat@sun.com KLA Instruments POBox 58016, 3901 Burton Drive Santa Clara, CA 95052 +1 408 988 6100
thorstad@wooglin.scc.com (Brian Thorstad) (03/04/89)
Glenn Roberts writes (v7#150) > Don't expect DOS to scream on the 386i. Dbase III and Mass11 (our word > processing environment) seem to work at about "AT speed" in a DOS window. > You can run MS Windows in a SunView window. This is really neat but will > run at "XT speed" or slower (just moving the cursor around in an MS Window > hogs most of my CPU - after all you're running MS Windows on top of DOS on > top of Unix!). > > The biggest annoyance is the small window. You might want to get the > RR-100 EGA/VGA option. I saw this demonstrated at our local Sun office > and there is a way to enlarge the window display. Sun list is $895 While DOS does not scream on the 386i (as it should), substantially better performance under MS Windows (Windows the product, not a generic "dos" window) is available under 4.0.1. When installing Windows, select "other" for the window, and mouse drivers. Custom drivers exist in the directory /usr/dos/msdos (R:\usr\dos\msdos). The mouse is now a "SunView" mouse in a "SunView" window. Performance is slightly less than a normal SunView mouse/window, but not much. Of course, DOS processing of mouse actions (eg. pulling down a menu) is slower than its SunView counterpart, but life is better. Also, while installing Windows, you can select a larger font than the default (I forget which is which). This partially makes up for the difference in pixel density of the displays, and allows you to see objects without the use of a magnifying glass. Also note, after launching DOS, but before Windows, you can resize the DOS window to any size desired -- Windows uses this as the size of the "device" it writes to. I do not recommend resizing the window after launching Windows. > Bottom line: if you're mostly interested in running DOS applications get a > Compaq or PS/2. If you're mostly doing workstation type work, and by the > way once in a while you need to do DOS stuff, get a 386i. I agree, but performance is improved using Sun supplied drivers for Microsoft Windows. Brian Thorstad Contel Federal Systems (thorstad@wooglin.scc.com)