Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ukma!rutgers!sunybcs!cohen
From: cohen@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Alexander Cohen)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Desktop Manager, what it is/isn't.
Keywords: Desktop Manager, Apple, uncertainty
Message-ID: <3167@cs.Buffalo.EDU>
Date: 8 Dec 88 01:46:43 GMT
Sender: nobody@cs.Buffalo.EDU
Reply-To: cohen@cs.Buffalo.EDU (Alexander Cohen)
Organization: SUNY/Buffalo Computer Science
Lines: 40


	My thanks to all the fine folks at apple for answering a question
which is, apparently, only partially answerable.

	The Desktop Manager, an init which comes with the AppleShare Software,
they inform me, is *only* intended for use on AppleShare Servers, they say
it has never been adequately tested on user machines and they say that there
are certain anomalies in using it for any other purpose than for what it was
intended.
	One problem they mentioned is that you can't unmount volumes, but, as 
it turns out this isn't true.  They could not tell me of any other anomalies
that they know of.  Just that we can use it at our own risk.

	It speeds up access to desktop information because it replaces the
normal desktop file which uses the Resource Manager and replaces it with
"B-Trees".

	One person from Apple claimed that the current OS/Finder could not
utilize the Desktop Manager, but two others said that the Finder was
correctly written to test for the existence of new HFS calls on volumes
that provide the calls.  This makes sense of course since the Finder on
an AppleShare "Workstation" must use the desktop from the Server which
is using the Desktop Manager.

	I was assured that future versions of the Finder will deal more 
effectively with the desktop issue, but that for now its use at your own risk
if you want the speed up the Desktop Manager can provide.

	As for myself, I'm going to test it out, if anyone else is using it
	please write to me and tell me if you've seen any problems or can
	report anything really in favor of it.

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		GEnie:    AJCOHEN                            >>>Alex Cohen<<<
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