🚀 go-pugleaf

Scott Wilken writes:
>
>Now that statement I dont agree with.   If programmers refused to take
>advantage of the technology available to them, they are dooming us, the
>users.  Of course those of us who own 386's may be left in the cold
>on rare occasions, but its worth it in my mind.

Programming is programming and it hasn't changed radically in a long
time.  Through all structured programming, OOP, etc. crazes, programming
is still something which requires careful thought and design.  IMO
speed is being looked upon as a replacement for these things.

The "not fast enough" excuse seems to be a way of venting frustration
over poorly designed software.  Whenever something is slow or overly
complex, people always are quick to look to the next generation of
technology for a solution.

>What would have happened if all programs continued to run on an 8088
>based machine?  I dont think we would be seeing a windows nt...

Look at MS-DOS command.com.  That clunker was on the market for
eight years, with the world's biggest software force behind it.  Then
along comes little JP Software and they completely blew it out of the
water with a two man development team.  And Berkely Softworks hasn't
entirely surpassed Windows with PC/Geos, but they have outdone it
in many ways including true pre-emptive multitasking.  Not to mention
that it runs faster on an 8088 than Windows on a 20/MHz 386 (at least
in terms of user perception).

IMO the PC hardware industry is being driven by the output of
a handful of software companies.  This cannot be a good thing.

--
James Hague   
exuhag@exu.ericsson.se