CompuServe Messages

Martin – I'm sure you'll get _mucho_ replies, but there aren't any as I write this, so… AmigaDOS is a true _cooperative_ multitasking environment, and it multitasks in as little as 500K of RAM, and fits, uncompressed, on a single 880K floppy. It does not require (as I understand MS-DOS does) that each task voluntarily relinquish the CPU, but instead the CPU parcels out the time to the various running tasks. It is not AT ALL unreasonable to be harvesting messages from CIS (via WHAP!) on one screen, while at the same time un-LHARCing a file on another screen that you just D-L'd, and reading the messages from the previous forum with an editor on a 3rd screen. If the individual tasks are not very CPU-intensive, they don't even noticeably slow down! If they ARE CPU-intensive, and you have an '030 or '040 machine, you may STILL not notice any slowdown. And add in some graphics-intensive project at the same time, like re-creating Yosemite valley or Valles Marineris using Vista Pro, or ray-tracing a complex 3D scene. Another of its strong points, for me, is that it can utilize BOTH the command line interface (CLI), like MS-DOS, AND the graphical user interface (GUI), like Macintosh, and do both at the same time. My wife is more graphically oriented, and tends to use the GUI almost exclusively; I use them about equally; AND WE DON'T HAVE TO RESET ANYTHING BETWEEN USERS TO DO THAT. But I hate unnecessary typing, so I have a raft of aliases and short script commands (MS-DOS => ".BAT") to let me use 1- or 2-character mnemonics. The two strongest features, I think, about the Amiga and its operating system, are 1) Designed-in-the-hardware video compatibility, opening a wealth of hardware and software products for interfacing with the video world. Of [ MORE ]