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Re: PPC vs Pentium Pro Read it and spell



>>>>> "Joe" == Joe Ragosta <jragosta@dca.net> writes:
In article <jragosta-1206960923450001@news.dca.net> jragosta@dca.net (Joe Ragosta) writes:


    Joe> In article
    Joe> <Pine.Sola.3.91.960610110740.15928A-100000@ux5.cso.uiuc.edu>,
    Joe> tokarek ryan matthew <tokarek@students.uiuc.edu> wrote:

    >> Executor does not emulate the Mac OS in any way. It provides
    >> the ability to run some Mac applications (some of those that
    >> are compatible with System 6).
    >> 
    >> The current version of SoftWindows will run programs that will
    >> run on Windows95, and runs Windows 95.
    >> 
    >> There is a huge disparity between the respective "emulation"
    >> packages.

    Joe> Then, there's the simplist disparity of all. Executor does
    Joe> _not_ run MacOS--it merely runs some Mac apps. SoftWindows
    Joe> _does_ run Windows.

MacOS is a trademark of Apple Computer.  Executor doesn't run MacOS
because it uses its own replacement OS (a virtual OS that runs on top
of other OSes, although a standalone version could be made if there
were interest).  There are many pieces of MacOS that Executor doesn't
yet support and there are some that are supported but that have bugs
or that work as MacOS is documented, but not exactly as how it works
in real life, but the idea that Executor is a "mere" program launcher
is mistaken.

In fact, one way to look at is that Executor *emulates* MacOS, but
doesn't run it, while SoftWindows emulates PC hardware and runs
Windows (actually Insignia has done a lot of translation of key
routines to run natively, so in many cases they too are emulating the
OS rather than running it).  The Mac OS that Executor emulates is
closer to System 6 w/o MultiFinder with respect to multiple apps
running, but is closer to System 7 in things like 32-bit Color
QuickDraw emulation.


    >> According to what I have heard, there are very few mainstream
    >> apps that don't run on Insignia's PC emulator (with thier newer
    >> version).
    >> 
    >> Many mainstream apps won't run on Executor.

    Joe> Not to mention that the apps which _do_ run are missing many
    Joe> essential services--I don't remember the details, but I think
    Joe> it's simple things like networking, printing, etc.

Networking, INIT and CDEV support, scripting, low-level device access
and internationalization are all things currently missing in Executor.
None of those are beyond our ability to implement, but up until now we
haven't had enough engineers to tackle everything at once.  Actuallly,
right now we still don't have those engineers, but Executor 2 will be
going on sale soon and we're hoping sales will be enough so that we
can increase our engineering staff.

Considering that Executor 2 will have a street price just slightly
above Mac-in-DOS, an app that reads and writes Mac formatted media
(something Executor does in addition to running apps), I think we'll
do pretty well.

More information about Executor can be found at http://www.ardi.com/.


    Joe> -- Regards, Joe Ragosta

    Joe> Copyright Joseph M. Ragosta, 1996. Non-exclusive, royalty
    Joe> free license to distribute this post granted to any service
    Joe> provider except Microsoft. By posting this, Microsoft agrees
    Joe> to pay $1,000 per posting.


--Cliff
ctm@ardi.com