🚀 go-pugleaf

gpsteffler@tiger.uwaterloo.ca (Glenn Steffler) writes:

>Windows 286 protect mode switches modes quite often for interrupts including
>timer and hardisk.  If you notice you aren't running as fast as a friends
>286 then you probably have an older model 286 machine which doesn't provide
>a quick mechanism for switching between modes.

>Newer model PS/2's switch VERY quickly compared to an original AT.

>Any 386 machine will usually run standard mode much faster than a 286 because
>of the processors ability to switch modes itself in software and the
>fact that some device driver (video, etc) code will use 386 code
>if you have a 386 processor.

>----
>Glenn Steffler			gpsteffler@sunee.uwaterloo.edu
><Commodore Amiga 3000 - Amiga DOS 2.0 - multimedia defined>

If microsoft developed MSDOS why can't it simply recode the bulk of the OS
to run in protected mode instead  of switching to real mode to service *DOS*
interupts?

I hear that the new 32 OS/2 does have such a feature where most of the DOS I/O
and services have been ported to protected mode and hence runs DOS applications
much better.

Since a large portion of the PC market is using '286 processors is there not 
much need for a revamped MSDOS does utilizies the 286 protected mode while 
retaining all the functions and services of it's real mode version. The 
disadvantage would be that 8086 processors would be excluded from the new MSDOS
, but then again anyone who is stuck with a PC does not have much need for 
high-powered computing.

Perhaps when MSDOS becomes a protected mode operating system, things such as
expanded memory/extended memory will no longer cripple the AT/386 processors.
Does anyone have any idea if microsoft is going to rewrite DOS for protected
mode operation????
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Chima Echeruo
sl197009@silver.ucs.indiana.edu 
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