🚀 go-pugleaf

On Wed, 21 Jun 1995, Shaw Terwilliger wrote:
> In article <3s78ja$fl0@news1.halcyon.com> you wrote:
> > I refuse to buy any more software or upgrade the hardware.  What do you 
> > use as a DOS based internet connection. I'm in Windows, but would like to 
> > go back to dos... The com port runs faster. 
> 
> 	I use Telemate as a terminal program (GREAT program...) and use
> a local free-net for a telnet node on the route to a real provider (free
> too).  Just grab CSLIPPER (Compressed Slipper) and CUTE (Clarkson
> University Telnet Emulator) for a connection.  You still can't run
> Netscape or other non-DOS based apps.  I still don't see why the big
> browser makers (Netscape and NCSA) don't recognize that their programs
> would run twice as fast under DOS!

Well, I sure got no help from Eggehead when I asked about this... Not 
surprised though, Egghead is about 10 miles from MS HQ and the executives 
at both companies grew up together. ARG!  McCAW is yet another...

Well, I've done robotics and Graphics on OLD DOS machines and they were
faster. I also know why. Back in 1989, I was interviewed by Gordon Letwin
and another one of the Windows developers. I'm hardware/software or a
systems engineer by educatation and am very use to thinking in t-states or
CPU clock cycles. I was quized on memory management stuff and then on
hashing heaps by one. The other wanted me to write the C algorithm for a
single pointer link list. I had questioned Gordon extensively and then the
other guy. The said that they were saving memory by using this algorithm
in Windows. Needless to say, I wasn't hired as a REAL employee, but got
called up for a temporary postion in testing a few months alter. OS/2 was
out and Presentation Manager was under development. But Win 3.0 wasn't
even a beta yet. One of the product managers showed me a copy of the code
after I did a technical favor for him and we were in shock. He was in
shock about the bizarre comments in the code... "You have now entered the
Twilight Zone..." and other stuff.  It was even more scarry. Windows is
almost all nested functions... Most quite short. My brain went nutz
calculating the overhead for some of this stuff, then I began to think of
managing a heap with that damed algorithm... : ) 

The DOS engineers inside MS were having the same problems.  The over head
in Windows core was messing up everything from disk access to the com
ports, making most of the very lowest level of resource management a real
nightmare. Nothing has changed. Adobe and some others have punched wholes
in Windows but not many can. I haven't seen any indication that this will 
change with Windows 95. I don't think Microsoft understands what kind of 
people they need to hire and to do what! : ) Microsoft interview jokes 
are really hot in local sushi bars here amoung the system engineers.  But 
for me, pointing out the problem to Mr. Bill only got me black balled 
locally.  

BTW, one of MS DOS's original guys was writing an INTERNET access and 
recently got rehired at an obscene amount of money. The treated this guy 
like shit for the past 6 or so years... I wonder. Then MS picked up one 
of IBM's and then one of Xerox's old timer gurus... 

GETTING DESPARATE BILL?

I LOVE DOS! It works for me and I would love to start a REAL COOP company 
to market good DOS products in a manner other than shareware. Perhaps 
some of the DOS boy's who are now millionairs would back such a 
venture... Perhaps  Paul Allen would be interested? Maybe now that Medio 
is taking a dump and Asymertrix has fizzaled out, he could like to get 
REAL for a change and save MS from Gatesidium... 

Any takers?

Red~  redrose@halcyon.com  http://www.halcyon.com/redrose/joan.html
                           http://www.halcyon.com/coolbrz/cool-brz.html
                           Psychodelic HOT Bodies ...