Path: utzoo!utgpu!attcan!uunet!super!udel!gatech!bloom-beacon!think!ames!oliveb!amiga!jimm From: jimm@amiga.UUCP (Jim Mackraz) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: OS/2 vs. Pournelle Message-ID: <2971@amiga.UUCP> Date: 29 Sep 88 20:48:11 GMT References: <5384@fluke.COM> Reply-To: jimm@cloyd.UUCP (Jim Mackraz) Organization: Commodore-Amiga Inc, Los Gatos CA Lines: 40 In article <5384@fluke.COM> kurt@tc.fluke.COM (Kurt Guntheroth) writes: )Here's a question I want answered...Do PS/2 (OS/2) machines have memory )protection? I don't mean software segments. I mean hardware protection. )Otherwise, you know what will happen. The first OS/2 applications may be )quite buggy and may have a tendency to wipe out memory, causing system )alerts (we call them GURUs.) As I understand it OS/2 uses the hardware memory protection afforded by the 80286. This affords task protection against accidental and (as I understand it), intentional violations. They had to add special stuff to support things like keyboard enhancers (input handler hacks). )What would Jerry think about GURUs from the )Gods In Blue? Sometimes I think if we went into a dead-end loop and just hung the machine, people would have thought we had a more reliable operating system. They'd say: "this program crashed." As it is, the OS catches the exceptions, and people say "the system crashed." Maybe we'll change the Guru message to say: "Operating system has intercepted fatal application error. Data has been protected, reboot system." (By the way, we have more serious plans for the guru, let's not rehash.") I still think the first products to make money on OS/2 will be debuggers, but yep, it is a protected multi-tasking OS on a personal computer, stressing message-based inter-process communication. )In a year or so, Amiga may have serious revenge on Mr Pournelle. Why bother? jimm -- Jim Mackraz, I and I Computing amiga!jimm BIX:jmackraz Opinions are my own. Comments regarding the Amiga operating system, and all others, are not to be taken as Commodore official policy.