On (16 Dec 96) Bill Wolff wrote to Stephen Haffly...
 BW> On (11 Dec 96) Stephen Haffly wrote to Bill Wolff...
 SH> For me it runs fine, with all of the OS/2 applications as well
 SH> as Geoworks Ensemble and my other DOS programs. Windows
 SH> programs have no space on my system, although I have Win-OS/2
 SH> installed to be free to experiment if I want to.
 BW> No wonder you don't see any problems. When you start running Windows
 BW> like the masses are (and almost anything has a Windows version
 BW> available and is largely supported), then you might realize what I'm
 BW> talking about.
What ones I have installed have run until I removed them for lack of
use.  I just find the OS/2 apps and DOS apps I really USE are quite
stable. My system just doesn't randomly crash. Our experiences are poles
apart. My experience with Windows has been like your experience with
OS/2. Therefore, we will NEVER agree.
 BW> Sorry... but it's not just me. The bug that I had found with Warp is
 BW> do to a bug which effects all computers running Warp v3. Which was
 BW> verified by Denis Tonn. IBM releases FixPak after FixPak for over
 BW> two years and still the bug isn't fixed yet! And when it hits, the
 BW> user has to reboot the computer to get it back. OS/2 running mission
 BW> critical application(s)??? My eye!
All Computers?  I ran Warp 3.0 (blue spine) for two years, with fixpacks
up to 22 and didn't experience this lockup problem you speak of.  Yes,
even if the SIQ was blocked by an application not getting it's messages,
background processes kept on working.  That's the essentials of mission
critical.  If one part fails, it doesn't bring down the whole system.
Banks, airlines, and insurance industries have used OS/2 and continue to
use it because it provides the robustness needed for mission critical
applications.
 BW> Denis Tonn claims the bug is finally fixed in Warp 4, but Warp 3
 BW> still has the bug. And how many times did I have to reboot in the
 BW> last two years? Many!
So have I, but usually when I was installing/deinstalling, or otherwise
changing things.  Beta software has caused problems, as well as me doing
things I shouldn't like forcing delete of something that was really
needed.  When I have left the system alone though, it ran days or weeks
straight with no crashes.
 BW> Look! GEOS and Windows runs on top of DOS like a shell. Like it or
 BW> not, DOS running GEOS and/or Windows multitasks. That's something
 BW> Warp wouldn't do for me, if I ran sessions in 640x480x256 or higher
 BW> resolution. As Warp would only task switch between them. See the
 BW> book titled Warp Unleashed for details why it doesn't work on many
 BW> systems.
I hate to have to say this, but DOS isn't doing the multitasking in
GEOS's case.  GEOS takes over the machine, providing all the services
EXCEPT file services, for which it uses the DOS functions.  DOS can't
multitask.  I was never made for it.  And, by the way, I have the book,
read it, and understand why it wouldn't work in all cases.
 SH> OS/2 is also much better at communications while actually
 SH> multitasking multiple applications than Windows 95...
 BW> Oh bull! OS/2 couldn't even run Telix v3.22 in a window while moving
 BW> it around with the mouse. OS/2 is so bad at communications, that Ray
 BW> Gwinn seems to have done well with his SIO driver just to help OS/2
 BW> out some. I have zero communication problems here with W95! And no
 BW> third party drivers either. But OS/2 was just terrible.
Yes, the stock OS/2 comm drivers weren't the best.  SIO provides more
than just better drivers.  It also provides many more functions, a
virtual fossil driver for DOS sessions, Vmodem (telnet with any terminal
program) capability, the ability to lock ports and to map ports that
make it well worth the $25 shareware fee Ray Gwinn asks.  Even so, the
comm drivers for Warp 4 have been quite improved from the Warp 3 ones.
I still use the SIO drivers and recommend them for the added functions
though.
Ran out of text, see you next message.
Stephen
Team OS/2, Team GEOS     
OS/2 & Geoworks Ensemble - What a combo!
slhaffly@bora.dacom.co.kr    FIDO 6:760/4.3
... If you're not GeoWorking, you're working too hard!
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