pf@ti-csl.csc.ti.COM (Paul Fuqua) (04/09/88)
[I forwarded the message from Bill Luciw (V6 #52) to an internal mailing list
that deals with the microExplorer, and received a reply from the project
manager, Mike Field. With his permission, and only formatting changes, here
are his comments. I hope they prove useful. - pf]
Date: Thursday, March 17, 1988 8:30am (CST)
From: rochester!kodak!luciw at louie.udel.edu (bill luciw)
Subject: TI microExplorer (Mac II coprocessor) ... [AIList V6 #52]
2) Is TI's implementation of RPC available to other applications (such as those
developed under MPW)?
RPC availability to other applications - we plan to address this in future
releases.
3) How well integrated is the microExplorer into the rest of the Mac
environment - (cut, copy, paste, print on an AppleTalk printer) ?
Integration with Mac environment - the desk top, window system, and file
system integration is excellent; however, coupling the Lisp kill ring with
cut/copy/paste, and a direct interface to Apple printers are features to be
addressed in future releases.
4) Can you install the "load bands" on third party disks (SuperMac 150) or do
they need to remain on the Apple hard disk (the load bands are supposed to
be normal, finder accessible files)?
Installing "load bands" on 3rd party disks - no problem, as long as they
work with the Mac II.
5) How much of a hassle is it to port applications over to the little beastie
from a normal Explorer (what about ART, KEE, SIMKIT, etc.)?
Porting applications - most ports we've looked at so far are fairly
trivial, or will be by first release. There are special requirements
related to screen updates and lack of mouse warping that must be covered,
however.
6) Do any benchmarks (ala Gabriel) exist for this machine?
Benchmarks - yes, we run Explorer benchmarks on microExplorer. It runs
about 50% of an Explorer II.
7) How about ToolBox access from the Lisp Environment? (or am I dreaming?)
Toolbox access from Lisp - future release.
Our group is responsible for testing this type of technology and developing a
"delivery vehicle strategy." Ideally, said delivery vehicle should be under
$10K, but it looks like we'll be around $20K before we're through. This puts
the microExplorer in the same price range as a "reasonably" equiped Sun
3/60FC.
Pricing vs Sun 3/60FC - this is so far superior in performance and
environment to the Sun, it should not be an issue.
Paul Fuqua
Texas Instruments Computer Science Center, Dallas, Texas
CSNet: pf@csc.ti.com (ARPA too, eventually)
UUCP: {smu, texsun, im4u, rice}!ti-csl!pf