CompuServe Messages

Depending on your setup, rendering under OS/2 will be faster than DOS. For one thing, my render drive is an HPFS drive (the OS/2 High Performance File System). 3DS gets much faster performance from this drive than from a DOS FAT drive. I can also have a single LARGE drive, rather than lots of small ones. HPFS doesn't get wasteful when you use large drives like FAT. With OS/2 you also get the benefit of virtual memory. I tell 3DS that I have 32M of RAM, even though I only have 20M. OS/2 will use disk-space to replace the seldom-used RAM, and give more RAM to the programs that need it. Finally, I can set up a rendering slave. Normally, 3DS expects to see a LAN with rendering slaves on it, but I can have a foreground 3DS session and a rendering slave on the same machine. I can kick off a rendering, and go right back to work while OS/2 renders in the background. This is a great time saver if you only have one machine. The BIGGEST reason for running 3DS under OS/2 is the ability to get to your machine even when it's in the middle of a rendering. I used to HATE being in the middle of a long batch job when I realized I needed a file off my 3DS machine. Under OS/2, that's no problem – I can even call Compuserve and read mail while 3DS renders. Kurt says he doesn't want to give up ANY memory while 3DS is running. OS/2's GUI does want a couple meg of RAM, which I can buy for under $100. I think a second machine would be a bit more expensive! 🙂 — Doug Azzarito