ergo@.UUCP (Isaac Rabinovitch) (08/19/90)
In <12725@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt3070b@prism.gatech.EDU (Jeff Watkins) writes: >If you have not updated to Dos 4.01 don't bother. Version 5 is in beta testing >even as I type. There are all sorts of rumors about it. I even heard that it >enters protected mode, had reentrant services, and more. >NONE of this may be true, ALL of it may be true, OR (more likely) SOME of it >is true. Even if *A*L*L* of it is true, who cares? By the time 5.0 is stabilized, there'll be noise about 6.0.... -- ergo@netcom.uucp Isaac Rabinovitch atina!pyramid!apple!netcom!ergo Silicon Valley, CA uunet!mimsy!ames!claris!netcom!ergo Disclaimer: I am what I am, and that's all what I am!
ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) (08/19/90)
In article <12176@.UUCP> ergo@netcom.uucp writes: >In <12725@hydra.gatech.EDU> gt3070b@prism.gatech.EDU (Jeff Watkins) writes: > >>If you have not updated to Dos 4.01 don't bother. Version 5 is in beta testing >>even as I type. There are all sorts of rumors about it. I even heard that it >>enters protected mode, had reentrant services, and more. : > >Even if *A*L*L* of it is true, who cares? By the time 5.0 is >stabilized, there'll be noise about 6.0.... And here is another way of looking at this. Why bother updating to Dos 4.xx since 3.3x version is up and running already :-). The serious reason for saying this is that Dos 4 belongs to the series of the big flops of the 1980's, right along to OS/2 (which takes the first price). Windows 3 seems likely to do better, even if its requirements on the PC are exorbitant. Saying this does not necessarily reflect any personal preferences but the discrepancy between what has been the expected and the realized rate of adoption of these operating systems. I wonder when technicians will learn the ability to listen to the market. ................................................................... Prof. Timo Salmi (Moderating at anon. ftp site 128.214.12.3) School of Business Studies, University of Vaasa, SF-65101, Finland Internet: ts@chyde.uwasa.fi Funet: gado::salmi Bitnet: salmi@finfun
frotz@drivax.UUCP (Frotz) (08/21/90)
ts@uwasa.fi (Timo Salmi LASK) writes:
]The serious reason for saying this is that Dos 4 belongs to the
]series of the big flops of the 1980's, right along to OS/2 (which
]takes the first price). ...the discrepancy
]between what has been the expected and the realized rate of adoption
]of these operating systems. I wonder when technicians will learn
]the ability to listen to the market.
Timo, I would suggest that the technicians (read: development
engineers) are not necessarily those responsible for the delay in
getting to market.
I can say from personal experience (observations of internal
decision making) that much of this delay is in Marketing
Requirements as understood by the various Mktg/Weanies and
Weasles(TM) and I assume the same is true in many other
companies. For the longest time many truly believed that the
next step to DOS 3.3 was multi-tasking and Multi-user support.
Certainly history shows that this is not necessarily true due to
a number of factors (probably the biggest is support for dirty
apps).
We have long been in the multi-tasking business (Does any one
remember MP/M?... Sorry to use profanity...;-) And our assumption
was that our solution is right. Personally I think that the DOS
platform will die hard. Companies are now realizing that DOS4
was a mistake and that we [DRI] (and I assume that there are
others out there as well) now need to provide superior support at
the 3.3 compatibility level. Certainly DOS5 (and ...ahem... our
DRDOS5) are aimed at this enhanced functionality while
maintaining the 3.3 support level.
Anyone who uses any of these non-standard features (yes,
including DRDOS' own >32M support) will be opening a pandora's
box, if there is even the slightest hint that another
"compatibile" OS is going to be run on the same box.
Certainly in the case of MSDOS5 there is an unprecedented request
for comment about what is needed from the user community. (I
only hope that this continues in the future, regardless of which
company actually succeeds in the market place.)
--
Frotz
Disclaimer: This is actually the first time that I may not
actually represent the opinion of the company...;-)