CompuServe Messages

Hi Brent, The rule on graphics-based software for the Rainbow is very simple: if it wasn't written expressly for the Rainbow, then it must be a Windows application or it won't run. There are a few Windows-based games. Windows 3.0 includes Reversi and the new Windows Solitaire. There are a several shareware and public-domain games (check out what's available on the MSWIN forum), and one or two commercial games. But to date the market for Windows apps has been a small fraction of the huge DOS market. Low-cost software packages, such as games, don't make big bucks in small markets. As the base of Windows users grows, there'll undoubtedly be more Windows games. Even so, I wouldn't expect to see many Windows-based games in the near future. As for Windows' speed on the Turbowed Rainbow, the news is good. At least a couple of users who alternate between IBM PS/2 Model 60s and Turbowed Rainbows have said the speed of Windows is comparable on the two machines. Sure, Microsoft recommends a fast 386. They have taken heat for years over the fact that Windows apps run slower than DOS apps written directly for the hardware. Since Windows 2.03 their response has been to advise users to buy heavier iron. Yet they have taken care to ensure that Windows will run on a plain old 8088. Windows developers are annoyed by this policy: writing big apps that will fit in 200-300K is more costly and demanding than writing for a Meg or more of memory and a fast 80386. Nonetheless, Microsoft advises everyone to code for a machine with little more than 640K. So if you've got a big 386, Windows runs better than on a Turbowed Rainbow. But if you've got a Turbowed Rainbow, you don't have to buy a big 386 to run PageMaker, Excel, Winword,etc,etc, at useful (if not neck-breaking) speed. –Len