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Re: Applications list plus a couple of questions...
>>>>> "Rachel" == Rachel Polanskis <r.polanskis@nepean.uws.edu.au> writes:
In article <4pr450$hp8@ob1.uws.EDU.AU> Rachel Polanskis <r.polanskis@nepean.uws.edu.au> writes:
Rachel> Hi, please forgive this if it is an FAQ...
Rachel> I was so taken by executor that I have just ordered a copy
Rachel> for my home system :)
Yay. We'll spend your money wisely.
Rachel> I've just installed Word 5.1 in my evaluation copy (E-DOS)
Rachel> here at work, and it seems to work very well, so I know I
Rachel> bought well.
Yes, once you get it installed (which is tricky, since the installer
itself doesn't run), Word 5.1 should run like a champ.
Rachel> However the target platform I am running on at home will
Rachel> be linux.
We use Linux for most of Executor's development (we even cross-compile
and cross-link Executor/DOS under Linux).
Rachel> I tried the Linux X version but it appears to be much
Rachel> slower than the DOS one - I have 52Mb of RAM under Linux,
Rachel> but only 256kb of cache.
Rachel> Will upgrading the cache improve performance much with
Rachel> E-linux?
No, it's the access to the screen that is slowing you down. Under DOS
the frame buffer can be linearly mapped. Under X Executor writes
offscreen then has to have the X server draw the changed portions to
the screen. That results in extra memory motion and in an extra
context switch.
Rachel> Also, will running Executor in mono speed it up as well?
Rachel> How do I set it to mono?
You can use Cmd-Shift-5 to bring up the prefs panel in Executor, or
you can run your X server in 1 bpp mode. I'm not sure that it will be
much faster, though.
Rachel> The way I use it is to display the pseudo-mac on my SPARC
Rachel> X-console, this seems to work well - and there seems to be
Rachel> no performance difference using it either on the Linux X
Rachel> console or on the SPARC via X protocol. I don't wish to
Rachel> run X servers on Linux as it is meant to be a file server,
Rachel> not a workstation...
Hmmm... Normally X on a local machine should be much faster than on a
remote machine because on a local machine the "MIT SHM" extensions
should be used for communication, whereas with a remote machine you
need to push stuff across the network. If there's no performance
degredation going across the network either you're running something
faster than ethernet or your local connection isn't using MIT SHM for
some reason.
Rachel> When I displayed executor on a PC X server (MSDOS),
Rachel> however, performance dropped quite a bit. Why would this
Rachel> be?
I'm not sure. I'm surprised by your other results, so I don't know
what to make of this, either.
Rachel> All my displays on Linux and the PC X server are 8 bit
Rachel> (generic SVGA), and on the SPARC as a cg3...
Rachel> of course I did not bother to try spawning multiple
Rachel> sessions, because linux won't handle it, but I would like
Rachel> to speed up video performance. What is the best way to do
Rachel> this?
If you can find a local X expert and discuss it, that might be your
best solution. In general all Executor is doing is shipping pixmaps
across from Executor's memory to the X server.
Rachel> Finally, is there a list of applications known to run on
Rachel> executor? (yes I know Word 5 does)
ftp://ftp.ardi.com/pub/AppNotes is a bit outdated, but it's a start.
Melissa has come up with a nice web interface to more data but we have
to add the new data by hand right now, so it's probably at least a
week away from being public.
Rachel> I am *not* interested in games, but useful software, and
Rachel> something like Photoshop would be nice ;)
Photoshop 3 "limps", at least for some people. NIH Image does pretty
well and is fairly powerful (and free).
Rachel> What about Excel or Powerpoint?
Excel 4 will run nicely, but Excel 5 (and Word 6) demand OLE and we
can't provide OLE under Executor so those two don't run. Powerpoint
has never run :-(.
Rachel> (I really hate Macs and MS products BTW, but I need
Rachel> portability for work matters)
Rachel> I know in any respect, I will be very happy with my
Rachel> purchase - even if I can only run MSWerd (sic)
Heh.
Rachel> What a great product! (the cheque is already on it's
Rachel> way!!!)
Yay. Tell your friends, neighbors and coworkers. The $149 beta price
will be going away soon. When E2 is done we'll start selling it at
$249, although I would guess that eventually some distributors will
have a lower street price.
Rachel> My slogan - "Executor: the Mac you have when you really
Rachel> don't want to have a Mac" or "An Executor today keeps the
Rachel> Apple away"
Truth be known, ARDI's hoping to get *closer* to Apple. Hopefully we
can make some good contacts at MacHack next week.
Rachel> ;)
Rachel> rachel
Rachel> -- Rachel Polanskis UWS Nepean, PO Box 10 Kingswood NSW
Rachel> 2747 Library Systems Ph: 02 852 5899 Software Support
Rachel> r.polanskis@nepean.uws.edu.au Nepean Library
Rachel> http://www.nepean.uws.edu.au/library/
--Cliff
ctm@ardi.com
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