Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ginosko!brutus.cs.uiuc.edu!psuvax1!rutgers!att!chinet!mcdchg!ddsw1!ddsw1!point!wek
From: wek@point.UUCP (Bill Kuykendall)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Desqview/386 vs Windows/386 ????
Message-ID: <[2152.1]comp.ibmpc;1@point.UUCP>
Date: 26 Sep 89 13:00:18 GMT
References: <10780@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Lines: 41

>apparently, there seems to two camps of window users; first; the
>Desqview/386 camp and second; the windows/386 camp.  I never understood
>the subtle differences of the two multitasking environments; presuming
>they run on a 386 hardware platform.  What makes one settle for one
>over the other!  Does anyone know, or it is it just a choice of
>economy???

There are major differences between the two.  Windows is graphics based
while Desqview is character based.  What that means in the real world is
that Desqview chews up much less CPU time maintaining the user interface and
therefore gives more power to the applications.  Desqview also is a
"preemtive" multitasking environment, allowing you to specifically assign
percentages of CPU cycles to given applications.  This is critical for
things like high speed background file transfers, that must respond in real
time to keep from timing out.  Desqview also has builtin macros.

On the other hand, if speed isn't your main issue, Windows has some
advantages.  Packages that are written to use the windows interface have a
much higher degree of integration with one another than off the shelf 'DOS
packages typically do.  Cut-and-paste works with graphics as well as text in
these applications.

Graphical interfaces are "in" right now.  OS/2 Presentation Manager, Windows
under 'DOS, several X-Windows variations under unix, and of course the
Macintosh, are all the rage.  Desqview is the odd-man-out in that respect.

I'd suggest the following rules for choosing:

Assuming you have no major investment in non-windows based software, and
that you value ease-of-use over speed and power, buy Windows.

If you just want to multitask 'DOS programs and you still feel you made the
right decision in not buying a Macintosh in the first place, buy Desqview.

If you want your PC to run like a real computer, and you don't mind
spending some time and money on it, buy unix.  You can multitask 'DOS
programs under VP/ix, but after a while you won't want to anymore! It's
(quite) a bit more expensive, but you get what you pay for.

Bill Kuykendall
...ddsw1!point!wek