Information on computers<\/p>\n
I'd like to commend The Jakarta Post for publishing a very
\ninteresting and rather advanced computer article, Fast lane
\ncomputing with new CPUs and OSes, by James O. Scharf (May 23,
\n1994). However, there are various errors within the article I'd
\nlike to point out.<\/p>\n
My first concern is Mr. Scharf's claim that Microsoft's
\n\"Chicago\" operating system is the same thing as Windows 4.0,
\ndubbed \"Cairo.\" Chicago and Cairo are not the same; they are two
\ndifferent variants of the Microsoft NT operating system. One is
\nmeant to be a \"pure\" 32-bit Window-based environment (unlike the
\ncomplicated NT, with various kludgy 16-bitisms to support older
\napplications), while the other is meant to be the \"next logical
\nstep\" for current Windows 3.1 users, complete with a separate DOS
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
On another note, perhaps many computerists would agree with
\nMr. Scharf's claim that Microsoft \"...could have brought NT to
\nthe market long before it did...\" but refrained because they did
\nnot want to\"...down play Windows 3.0.\" Personally, I do not see
\nany facts that would justify such a claim. Last year, after
\nstruggling continuously with the pre-release NT March-Beta
\nprototype operating system, there were so many bugs and design
\nmisses I was surprised that Microsoft released NT as early as it
\ndid.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, there was little doubt that the NT market is
\nsignificantly different from the DOS based Windows 3.x market,
\nthat any concerns that NT would down play Windows 3.0 could not
\nhave been justified. Even today, with general availability of the
\nNT release, NT has had only marginal impact on the Windows 3.x
\nmarket.<\/p>\n
Mr. Scharf also remarks that the IBM \"Workplace OS...is really
\nOS\/2 version 3.0 (Although IBM isn't calling it that yet).\" I
\nsuspect Mr. scharf misses the significance of why IBM is not
\ncalling it OS\/2 version 3.0. The IBM OS\/2 version 2.x operating
\nsystems contain Windows code copyrighted by Microsoft. As such,
\nfor every copy of OS\/2 sold, IBM is required to pay heavy
\nlicensing fees to Microsoft, enough that IBM has problems making
\nOS\/2 competitive. To avoid paying massive royalties to Microsoft,
\nIBM chose to pursue two avenues: the first is to ship OS\/2
\nwithout Windows binaries, in the form of a product called IBM
\nOS\/2 for Windows. The second avenue of pursuit is to rewrite the
\nentire OS\/2 operating system, taking advantage of newer
\ntechnologies, and without Microsoft code. The rewrite, an
\nambitious object-oriented operating system with a micro-kernel
\nvariant, is called Workplace OS. Workplace OS is not OS\/2 version
\n3; it exists because IBM wants to get away from OS\/2 and
\nMicrosoft royalties.<\/p>\n
Later in the article, Mr. Scharf describes Win32 as \"...a
\nsoftware layer that lets you run applications using the Win32S
\nsubset API on Windows 3.1.\" Win32 is a full API for the NT
\noperating system, and has little to do with Windows 3.1. Win32
\ndoes not let applications run on Windows 3.1. However, if NT
\napplication programmers restrict themselves to a limited subset
\nof the Win32 interface, called Win32s, then the resulting binary
\nis runable under extended versions of Windows 3.1. The extension
\nis done by installing Win32s drivers within Windows 3.1. I
\nsuspect confusion between Win32 and Win32s.<\/p>\n
I also find the comment, \"...System 7 is Apple's only PC
\noperating system...\" rather misleading. Many Macintosh users,
\nespecially those familiar with the Internet, use a variant of the
\nUNIX operating system (A\/UX) instead of System 7.<\/p>\n
In fact I'm surprised that there is only a passing mention of
\nUNIX. Clearly, an article discussing high technology operating
\nsystems should have mentioned UNIX as an important player in the
\nfield. Regardless, please do not be discouraged from publishing
\nother computer technology papers in the future. As a whole, I
\nfelt the article was generally good and entertaining. I hope to
\nsee other in-depth articles in The Jakarta Post soon.<\/p>\n
ADE BARKAH<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/information-on-computers-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }