DOS vs. WIN.
Gary Ponting
be my first time with the windows version after 8 years of Autocad for Dos.
What differences can I expect, both good and bad. What thing work better,
what things really suck.
Any feedback would be most appreciated.
Later Gary_P...@mindlink.bc.ca
Roy Salume
Ponting) wrote:
Gary,
Check out the support for the clipboard.
You'll be able to capture images from AutoCAD, copy them
to the clipboard and paste them into a word processor
(like MS Word). Very handy if you want to send an image
to laser printer without configuring a print device within
AutoCAD. Nice for details on a 8-1/2 x 11 sheet.
Are you familiar with the element "Grips"? I use them
quite a bit. I think they are available in R12 Windows
(I mostly use R12 Mac, but the Windows version has many
of the same features).
I like the way the layer control dialogue box was done
in R12 Win.
Not very profound, but sometimes the little features
are the most useful.
Roy Salume
roy_s...@smtp.esl.com
--
"Too many choices make me weep!"
-Mia Farrow, as told by David Pogue
You think too much, Boss.
-Anthony Quinn in "Zorba the Greek"
Robert C. White Jr.
: I'll be starting a new job soon and will be using R.12 for Windows. This will
: be my first time with the windows version after 8 years of Autocad for Dos.
: What differences can I expect, both good and bad. What thing work better,
: what things really suck.
Well, you can expect your machine to hang once in a while. The complexity
of DOS + WINDOWS + ACAD is just too much. In fact, I am amazed that
current software development models are able to produce anything that
works in the DOS/WINDOWS environment whatsoever. It is very, very complex
to program and to use. Who ever decided Windows was user friendly, anyway?
Consistent, yes. User friendly, no way.
I put on a digital mapping
seminar two weeks ago, and three or four of the presentors managed to hang
ACAD for Windows as well as assorted windows programs including ArcCAD.
The DOS version just cuts out a level of complexity. Now I know you can
click on this object, and bring up Wordperfect using OLE 2.0, but you
pay a price while the details of this complexity are being worked out.
To wit, Word 6.0 has all kinds of problems WRT OLE 2.0 and most likely
would be unstable in conjunction with AutoCAD. The potential is neat, but
the software and hardware technology are lagging behind.
Also, because of AutoDesk policy, if you trade up to Windows you give up
your DOS license. Being a person who likes to be productive, I am not
willing to take the risk. It is my strong belief that AutoDesk will
eventually come around and grant their (rather loyal) user base a license
to use either DOS or Windows versions in one package.
I have found, however, that ACADLT gives
you a taste of what the windows version would be like - I think I'll stay
in DOS for as long as I can and not take performance hits. To be fair,
ACAD for windows is only slightly slower than ACAD for DOS.
--
Robert C. White, Jr. r...@whitestar.com
Denver, Colorado Love me, love my malamute.
Timothy A. Anderson
>Gary Ponting (Gary_P...@mindlink.bc.ca) wrote:
>: I'll be starting a new job soon and will be using R.12 for Windows. This will
>: be my first time with the windows version after 8 years of Autocad for Dos.
>: What differences can I expect, both good and bad. What thing work better,
>: what things really suck.
>
>Well, you can expect your machine to hang once in a while. The complexity
>of DOS + WINDOWS + ACAD is just too much. In fact, I am amazed that
>current software development models are able to produce anything that
>works in the DOS/WINDOWS environment whatsoever.
>
As a programmer that actually writes software using pretty much the same
tools that Autodesk uses, I will agree with you here. I lock up Windows
at least 2-3 times a DAY when writing code. It is an extemely flakey setup.
That is why I now use NT. Flip MicroMoron's all the shit they deserve, but
I have crashed NT ONCE in the six months that I've been developing
software on it. Plus, our normal Windows product (after the two day port
to NT) is MUCH better for it. NT page faults when an application screws up,
Windows just merrily goes along. (This is due mainly to the way 32bit Windows
code operates). We now have a Windows product that DOESN'T GPF (fingers
crossed) due mainly to porting it to NT and running it there.
Autodesk has also stated that NT will be first platform ship on most of
their new products. After using DOS Windows and NT, I can see why...
Robert C. White Jr.
: That is why I now use NT. Flip MicroMoron's all the shit they deserve, but
: I have crashed NT ONCE in the six months that I've been developing
: software on it. Plus, our normal Windows product (after the two day port
: to NT) is MUCH better for it. NT page faults when an application screws up,
: Windows just merrily goes along. (This is due mainly to the way 32bit Windows
: code operates). We now have a Windows product that DOESN'T GPF (fingers
: crossed) due mainly to porting it to NT and running it there.
I find your comments about software development for Windows quite interesting.
It reminds me of how, several years ago, we decided to develop MS-DOS
programs under Microport Unix on a 286 instead of MS-DOS because they would
dump core and we therefore stood a chance of debugging them with adb or sdb.
I'm rather surprised by the apparent stability of NT - but I have now heard
similar remarks from several people. Guess we'll have to look into it.
--
Robert C. White, Jr. r...@whitestar.com
The WhiteStar Corp Digital Maps
Englewood, Colorado Love me, love my malamute.
Timothy A. Anderson
>Timothy A. Anderson (ti...@sequent.com) wrote:
>
>: That is why I now use NT. Flip MicroMoron's all the shit they deserve, but
>: I have crashed NT ONCE in the six months that I've been developing
>: software on it.
>
>similar remarks from several people. Guess we'll have to look into it.
>
Watch out for flakey video drivers. There are some problems with the
PCI version of the Viper card and certain brands of motherboards. One of
Gateway's billion rev's of P5-60 motherboards has a 'software anomoly' in
the PCI bios that causes the Viper driver to flake out. This is the only
repeated crashing of NT that I have heard of.
Granted, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to program a decent
operating system using the protected mode of the X86 series chip. The
chip itself does so much of the work that a pack of chimpanzee's typing at
a terminal could produce one given enough time. Just a second, I
thought I saw bunch of produce trucks running down One Microsoft Way! ;-)