CompuServe Messages

Laurie … without wishing to shoot your argument down, the Amiga multitasking is not hardware based, but is software based. Only with true MMUs can hardware multitasking really work, and the Amigas which have established this very efficient multi-tasking operating system do not have such a facility. The reason that it is better than Windows is that it is built into the operating system at a very low level. The Amiga has a multi-tasking executive, written in very tight assembly code, which is the core of the operating system … whereas Windows is an application program that is built on top of an existing operating system. What _is_ hardware based is the Amiga's very efficient graphics capability provided by the specialised graphics co-processor. Tasks may use this, they may not … it certainly makes graphics work like lightning at times … but it is nothing to do with the multi-tasking. In the end, the Amiga has two features which set it apart … it has the co-processor for fast graphics work and a well-written multi-tasking executive which is at the heart of the operating system. Mike (Whapping from the UK)