Re: A2 Users: Endanged Species? I think not.

[phoenyx <phoenyx@texas.net>]

Supertimer wrote:

> >Emulation has some uses. For instance. I can set up different HDV
> >images to test software configurations. Something not easily done
> >on the real thing unless you have several hard drives. This has come
> >in handy a few times for testing software.
>
> The RAMFast can do this.  You just need a couple of empty partitions
> to set up your test volumes.  Then while booting up, hit the number of
> the partition and it'll boot it.
>

Well, my //c only has a 5.25 and a 512k zram. Great for my average usage
but new hardware isn't an option right now. However testing with various
programs must be done.

>
> One thing I dislike about the current breed of emulators is how UN-GS
> they are.  They all seem to make certain assumptions.  For example,
> I tried setting up XGS to mirror my real GS, so naturally I wanted 1GB
> worth of HDVs.  Well, the ProDOS partitions were not a problem, but
> when I tried to set up an HFS partition, I discovered that I could not
> make one larger than 32MB.  HELLO!  HELLO!  Real GS users VERY
> often have much larger partitions than 32MB.
>
> When I first got my Win 95 unit, I had illusions of how it would run
> all my GS software.  I thought...well, I'd just use emulators like how
> PowerMac folks use their old 68k Mac software under emulation.
> Well, I soon discovered that not all emulation was created equal.
> While the PowerMac's motherboard was DESIGNED to transparently
> emulate the 68k Mac (much like the IIGS motherboard was
> DESIGNED to emulate the IIe transparently), XGS was anything
> BUT transparent.  Not only was it painfully slow (especially to the
> eyes of a TWGS user), but it crashed well over half the stuff I tried
> to run on it and I can't even print from it or set up my HDVs to be
> just like my real GS hard drive partitions!
>
> The current emulators are novelty items.  They don't seem to be
> designed for people who really do still want to boot up AppleWorks
> GS or WordPerfect GS to do some work on the old programs.  I'm
> such a user.  Just like a Win 95 user who occasionally wants to
> do some work on a DOS program or a PowerMac user who wants
> to do some work on a 68k Mac program sometimes, I do boot up
> my IIGS regularly to use it for word processing and some page
> layout, among other things.  Give me an emulator that can do what
> my IIGS can do that I'm satisfied with and I'll switch.  That means
> it has to be AT LEAST as good as SoftWindows for the PowerMac
> can emulate a Pentium running Windows 98 (now Windows and
> Pentium emulation on the PowerMac...THAT's an after market
> emulation that can nearly match the designed for 68k Mac
> emulation built into the PowerMac).
>

I agree with you about XGS but KEGS is a much better program. Of
course you'll have to get away from Wondows. No loss there. I can be
a little difficult to setup on Linux. It was written on a different *nix
system and Linux has a problem with Kents method of write protecting
images. A small hack before compiling the program fixes this. It accurately
emulates drive speeds, super hires and in spite of what the dox say I get
usable sound. It unfortunately doesn't emulate HFS disks but is supposed
to read HFS partitions. I have yet to try this. I only have one HFS CD-rom
disk.

I suppose it depends on what you want to do. Since I program a lot I
like having HDV images already set up and can easily switch them while
the emulator is running. BTW Kegs even reads the XGS image format.

Yeah it's not a real IIgs but I can't afford to buy the system configured
the way I want it with enough RAM and HD space so it'll do.

>
> Dude, as a former user of the PC Transporter, even the PCT's IBM
> XT emulation is more transparent than current IIGS emulators.
> You could set up aliases of DOS programs on the IIGS Finder
> desktop.  Double click on them and the PCT proceeds to run the
> DOS program, almost as if it were an Apple II or IIGS program!
> One thing I'd demand from a good IIGS emulator is the ability to
> set up an icon of an application in the Windows Explorer desktop.
> AppleWorks GS, for example.  Then I could just double click on
> the icon, the emulator would kick in, and AWGS would be
> launched.

The PCT was a combination of hardware and software. The II emulators
are software only. Lots more work for the program. It's pretty amazing that
Apple PC can emulate a 128k Apple IIe with less that 50k of code. As for
the Windows Emulator you are looking for, forget it. No matter how good
the programmer is Windows will always kill it's performance. Besides, who
wants to run a IIgs program inside windows. Takes the fun out of it. Well,
that's not completely true, Kegs does run in the X windows environment
and I consider it fun. But X windows seems to have a better performance
ratio than Windows and is much more configurable. Linux also came in
handy recently when I was checking out the Modula2 compiler posted on
the II sites. It's doc file was in postscript format. I have no postscript
tools
for Windows but Ghostscript was included in the Linux distribution. So I had
the compiler running in one window/desktop and Ghostscript running on
another. Instant documentation access and saved a tree. :-)

Like I said, it works for me and my purposes. Of course I still need to
rely on you guys when I need software tested on the real thing until I
can afford another one.

Phoenyx

Just my 3 cents worth.