[comp.sys.mac.programmer] System 7.0 Multitasking

dant@ryptyde.UUCP (Daniel Tracy) (06/03/91)

Just what is different about how the "new" Process Manager and the old
MultiFinder handle multitasking? I read in BYTE that each application
is given a 64-bit ID number. Does that mean Sys7 will run up to about
18.5 quintillion programs?! :-)

marty@cernvax.cern.ch (hugues marty) (06/03/91)

In article <15@ryptyde.UUCP> dant@ryptyde.UUCP (Daniel Tracy) writes:
>Just what is different about how the "new" Process Manager and the old
>MultiFinder handle multitasking? I read in BYTE that each application
>is given a 64-bit ID number. Does that mean Sys7 will run up to about
>18.5 quintillion programs?! :-)

There are undocumented special bits in this 64-bits ID number
(Process Serial Number). My guess is that only 32 bits are used
for the processes count, so that System 7 will run only 4.2 billion
processes at a time :-)
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john@newave.UUCP (John A. Weeks III) (06/04/91)

In article <5528@cernvax.cern.ch> marty@cernvax.cern.ch (hugues marty) writes:
> In article <15@ryptyde.UUCP> dant@ryptyde.UUCP (Daniel Tracy) writes:
> > Just what is different about how the "new" Process Manager and the old
> > MultiFinder handle multitasking?

> There are undocumented special bits in this 64-bits ID number
> (Process Serial Number). My guess is that only 32 bits are used
> for the processes count, so that System 7 will run only 4.2 billion
> processes at a time :-)

Oh damn!  And my IIsi manual claims that it will run 5 billion processes
at once.  I should have waited for 64-bit clean ROMs....

-john-

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