In a message to Eddy Thilleman, Linda Proulx wrote re: dos games under Warp

JS> Also, you don't need all the same settings in the OS/2 DOS startup
JS> file.  For example, you don't need or want any of the sound card
JS> settings in there, OS/2 handles that for it's DOS sessions.
 
LP> If all drivers were loaded when OS/2 boots, they don't take up memory
LP> until used?

The native OS/2 drivers load into memory but I suppose may be 
swapped out if they aren't being used.  But since OS/2 doesn't 
have the conventional/other memory distiction that DOS has, even
if the drivers remain in memory you don't have to worry about a
640k ceiling to fit all the stuff you need.  In OS/2-DOS
sessions, DOS drivers for sound, etc.  are not loaded until you
start the session, are only loaded in that particular virtual
machine, and disappear when you close the session.  Furthermore,
if you are using OS/2's DOS emulation (as opposed to running
"real" DOS in a VMB session) many DOS services (eg, CDROM,
EMM386, HIMEM, network drivers, etc) that typically occupy a
significant portion of your precious "conventional" memory are
actually handled by OS/2, with only a small stub being loaded to
pass such requests on to OS/2 for handling.  This means it is
utterly trivial to get over 700k free conventional memory in an
OS/2-DOS session without needing any special third-party memory
management programs at all.


 * KWQ/2 1.2i * Internet: John.Thompson@attglobal.net


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