CompuServe Messages

>>I guess the memory protection is pretty good with OS/2. Part of it is a chip function. All 80386s and above have the ability to be partitioned into multiple 8086 machines. Another part of it is that DOS under OS/2 really isn't DOS. It's an emulated DOS and an emulated BIOS. I am just parroting what I have heard, I don't really understand the technical side of it. All I know is that it works like a charm almost all the time. It's real tough to lock up an OS/2 machine unless you're writing a driver, but anyone can lock up any OS if you screw up a driver. IMHO, more protection could have been built into AmigaDOS, if it had been designed for a chip with an MMU. However, I used to surprise friends with my first Amiga (an A1000) by starting multiple tasks that would _all_ run at the same time. This was when "common knowledge" said that you needed at least 4MB of memory to do multitasking (OS/2 1.0). If you buy OS/2, make sure that you have a compatible machine. 386-33 or above, 8MB+ of RAM, 120MB+ HD (preferably 200MB+ as OS/2 requires 40MB). Version 2.01 goes for $99. If you have a CD-ROM, the version 2.1 beta goes for $15. The beta is supposed to be very solid and supports Win 3.1 apps. Call 1-800-3ibm-os2. BobS