Re: Multi-tasking
It did multitask, but true seemless running of programs simultaneously came with multithreading. That process did not really come to fruition until the microprocessor was able to multithread...the Pentiumm. Without going into the technical differences... to multitask or multithread are very different in their approach to the program running in memory and/or its own thread within a range of memory space.
Sorry to be a stickler for details, but the problem with WIndows was not that it did not support threads, many earlier unix's did not thread either. At issue is preemptive multitasking vs. coooerative multitasking. Win 3.1 was cooperative mt. if a taks did not relinquish control to the OS (i.e. cooperate), no other tasks could run. True multi-tasking OS's are pre-emptive multi-tasking. The OS owns the machine, and will/may give each running task a slice of the CPU. However, the OS remains in control at all times, and may preempt a task at any time (unless it is a real time OS, in which case it must be able to guarantee each task some amount of CPU).
Also, the Pentium was not the first processor to be able to thread. The 80286 was very capable of threading OS 2 1.0 supported threading, and it ran on the 286. All that is required is a processor that offers a protected mode of operation. WHich deals with the last of your technical points which I must refute. If a CPU supports protected mode of operation (as all Intel chips from the 296 on do), then each task can be assigned its own memory area, and no task may write into memory it does not own without generating a processor exception. Of course, Windows 311 runs all tasks in its memory space, and at ring 0, so all tasks have access to all memory and resources, hence the inheirent instability.
Now that we have addressed all of the problems with your technology statements, I think that you fail to realize the implications of this press release. A PC based system using SC-BUS Dialogic boards is being used in an application that previously would have required a very expensive and proprietary PBX. And,they are supporting 240 lines ina single system. With Dm3 expect that number to quadruple or more as DIalogic will be increasing not only board density, but SC-BUS bandwidth as well. Like PC's and Mainframes, the PBX buisiness will still be strong. However, expect PC based CTI solutions to continue to encroach on the turf that used to belong to the traditional PBX vendors. |
