From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

I am looking to run multiple programs at the time on a DOS laptop. What program online can do that, and where can I find it?
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sat, 23 Nov 2019 14:23:27 -0800 (PST), Harry Potter wrote:

I am looking to run multiple programs at the time on a DOS laptop.
What program online can do that, and where can I find it?

Maybe this:

https://winworldpc.com/product/real-32/7x


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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/23/19 3:23 PM, Harry Potter wrote:

I am looking to run multiple programs at the time on a DOS laptop.
What program online can do that, and where can I find it?

MS-DOS Shell had a multi-tasking feature.

I don't recall the particulars. Something about task switching and / or
task swapping. I think one was time slicing between multiple programs
in a way that seemed like they were running concurrently and the other switched to only the selected program while suspending the other programs.

Quarterdeck had DESQview.

IBM had TopView.

I'm sure there were others.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sat, 23 Nov 2019 23:28:01 GMT, Grant Taylor
<gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> wrote:

On 11/23/19 3:23 PM, Harry Potter wrote:

I am looking to run multiple programs at the time on a DOS laptop.
What program online can do that, and where can I find it?

MS-DOS Shell had a multi-tasking feature.

I don't recall the particulars. Something about task switching and /
or task swapping. I think one was time slicing between multiple
programs in a way that seemed like they were running concurrently and
the other switched to only the selected program while suspending the
other programs.

Quarterdeck had DESQview.

IBM had TopView.

I'm sure there were others.

I suspect that Mr Potter's requirements would be best met with a newer
laptop; one capable of running a multi-tasking OS.


--
Bah, and indeed, Humbug.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 5:41:21 AM UTC-5, Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

I suspect that Mr Potter's requirements would be best met with a newer laptop; one capable of running a multi-tasking OS.

Well, it *does* run Win3.1. I will try T. Ment's suggestion. I used to have DOS shell. It can do what I need it to do: switch between tasks. I don't think I have it anymore. :(
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 7:40:44 AM UTC-5, Harry Potter wrote:

Well, it *does* run Win3.1. I will try T. Ment's suggestion. I used to have DOS shell. It can do what I need it to do: switch between tasks. I don't think I have it anymore. :(

I downloaded DOSSHELL. I can't get graphics mode or change colors, though, and prefer Star Commander, a Norton Commander clone.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 8:24:44 AM UTC-5, Harry Potter wrote:

I downloaded DOSSHELL. I can't get graphics mode or change colors, though, and prefer Star Commander, a Norton Commander clone.

When I try to open a program with muti-tasking enabled, I get an error message stating that the computer couldn't load command.com or dosswap.exe. What's wrong?
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/24/19 3:41 AM, Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

I suspect that Mr Potter's requirements would be best met with a
newer laptop; one capable of running a multi-tasking OS.

Likely.

But he asked a legitimate question in a reasonable manner. Seeing as I
had an answer to his question, I saw no reason to withhold it.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/24/19 5:40 AM, Harry Potter wrote:

Well, it *does* run Win3.1. I will try T. Ment's suggestion.
I used to have DOS shell. It can do what I need it to do: switch
between tasks. I don't think I have it anymore. :(

I believe that DOS Shell is included with MS-DOS 6.22. It may be on the
4th optional utilities disk.

It's my understanding that DOS Shell was introduced in MS-DOS 4.0 and
included through 6.22.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/24/19 6:44 AM, Harry Potter wrote:

When I try to open a program with muti-tasking enabled, I get an
error message stating that the computer couldn't load command.com
or dosswap.exe. What's wrong?

Unknown.

I would suspect a PATH issue. I've not run into that particular
problem. Though I've not used DOS Shell, much less it's multi-tasking ability, in 20ish years.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 04:40:43 -0800 (PST), Harry Potter wrote:

On Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 5:41:21 AM UTC-5, Kerr-Mudd,John wrote:

I suspect that Mr Potter's requirements would be best met with a newer
laptop; one capable of running a multi-tasking OS.

Even a lowly 386 laptop should run IMS REAL/32. It worked for IBM, they licensed it for POS terminals.

Well, it *does* run Win3.1. I will try T. Ment's suggestion.

Windows 3.11 is stable when configured right. A virtual memory bug hit
Pentium and later chips. They fixed it in Windows 98. I can't find the reference now, but it was online at one time. Probably gone now.

For me, Windows 3.11 is stable without virtual memory. With plenty of
RAM it's not a problem. If you only have 4 MB, that may not work.


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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> writes:

On 11/23/19 3:23 PM, Harry Potter wrote:

I am looking to run multiple programs at the time on a DOS laptop.
What program online can do that, and where can I find it?

MS-DOS Shell had a multi-tasking feature.

I don't recall the particulars. Something about task switching and / or
task swapping. I think one was time slicing between multiple programs
in a way that seemed like they were running concurrently and the other >switched to only the selected program while suspending the other programs.

Quarterdeck had DESQview.

IBM had TopView.

I'm sure there were others.

--
Grant. . . .
unix || die

Hi,

I used TopView, and liked it better than some contemporary
products. Probably text based. It's been quite a while.

WordPerfect also had a shell program. Also text based?

Later products were Windows 3.x and GEM.

OS/2 can run with a pentium and 16 megabytes of
memory. And from version 3 on, is probably the best
MS-DOS multitasker.

Cheers,

Steve N.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 16:18:24 GMT, Steve wrote:

OS/2 can run with a pentium and 16 megabytes of
memory. And from version 3 on, is probably the best
MS-DOS multitasker.

OS/2 is like Frankenstein. A monster. Don't go near it.


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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/24/19 5:40 AM, Harry Potter wrote:

Well, it *does* run Win3.1.

If Windows (3.x) is an option, then I'd also consider OS/2 as an option.
As IBM said "OS/2 is a better DOS than DOS and a better Windows than Windows."



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/24/19 9:18 AM, Steve wrote:

… GEM.

I forgot about GEM.

I don't think about it, or really know anything about it, as I've never
run it myself.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/24/19 9:45 AM, T. Ment wrote:

OS/2 is like Frankenstein. A monster. Don't go near it.

Why do you say that?

I've had quite good luck with OS/2 (Warp 4(.52)).

I'm also forced to choose between OS/2 and AIX for something I'm doing.
Seeing as how I don't have an RS/6000 to run AIX on, I'm sort of forced
to run OS/2.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 10:22:48 -0700, Grant Taylor wrote:

On 11/24/19 9:45 AM, T. Ment wrote:

OS/2 is like Frankenstein. A monster. Don't go near it.

Why do you say that?

Just look at config.sys.

I've had quite good luck with OS/2 (Warp 4(.52)).

I've wasted enough time on OS/2 to know better. Never again.



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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/24/19 10:29 AM, T. Ment wrote:

Just look at config.sys.

That's a non-answer.

Why do you think OS/2 / it's config.sys file is like Frankenstein?

I've personally had effectively no problems with OS/2's config.sys file,
or editing it.

At least it's a text file that can be simply edited compared to the
Windows registry.

I've wasted enough time on OS/2 to know better. Never again.

To each his / her own.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> writes:

On 11/24/19 9:18 AM, Steve wrote:

… GEM.

I forgot about GEM.

I don't think about it, or really know anything about it, as I've never
run it myself.

Hi Grant,

Like TopView competed (sort of) with Windows 1, GEM was a
Windows 2 competitor. Though I mostly used GEM programs
ported to Windows 3. GEM was also supposed to be multi-platform.

Regards,

Steve N.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

In <qree9q$2qn$3@tncsrv09.home.tnetconsulting.net>, Grant Taylor <gtaylor@tnetconsulting.net> writes:

On 11/24/19 9:45 AM, T. Ment wrote:

OS/2 is like Frankenstein. A monster. Don't go near it.

Why do you say that?

I've had quite good luck with OS/2 (Warp 4(.52)).

I'm also forced to choose between OS/2 and AIX for something I'm doing. >Seeing as how I don't have an RS/6000 to run AIX on, I'm sort of forced
to run OS/2.

Hi,

Interesting. What sort of project? I am still using
OS/2 at times, so if I can add support?

Regards,

Steve N.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 24.11.19 14:44, Harry Potter wrote:

On Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 8:24:44 AM UTC-5, Harry Potter wrote:

I downloaded DOSSHELL. I can't get graphics mode or change colors, though, and prefer Star Commander, a Norton Commander clone.

When I try to open a program with muti-tasking enabled, I get an error message stating that the computer couldn't load command.com or dosswap.exe. What's wrong?

It belongs to a certain dos version.
Searching old disk images, i found one with dos5.00, together with
about 8 support files.
That image was from an old computer, not installed by us.
We never installed that piece of shell software.
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/24/19 1:35 PM, Steve wrote:

Hi,

Hi,

Interesting. What sort of project?

I have an old PCI card that is an IBM System/390 Processor Complex (CPU
& main memory). It is highly specialized and was only supported under
OS/2 Warp (3 / 4) and AIX 4.<something>.

The card and software go very much hand in hand.

I am still using OS/2 at times, so if I can add support?

The software seems to be happy in OS/2 Warp 4.52 (Warp Server for
e-business). I'm guessing it would also be happy in eComStation and /
or ArcaOS. (I've not tried … yet.)



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sun, 24 Nov 2019, Grant Taylor wrote:

On 11/24/19 5:40 AM, Harry Potter wrote:

Well, it *does* run Win3.1. I will try T. Ment's suggestion. I used to
have DOS shell. It can do what I need it to do: switch between tasks. I >> don't think I have it anymore. :(

I believe that DOS Shell is included with MS-DOS 6.22. It may be on the 4th optional utilities disk.

It's my understanding that DOS Shell was introduced in MS-DOS 4.0 and included through 6.22.

I had an MS-DOS 5 machine, and DOS Shell was included already
installed. I never really used it, but I got the idea that it was task switching, not truly multitasking. But that was years ago, and I could
be wrong.

--
Paul Bartlett
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Monday, November 25, 2019 at 8:14:51 AM UTC-5, Paul Bartlett wrote:

I had an MS-DOS 5 machine, and DOS Shell was included already
installed. I never really used it, but I got the idea that it was task switching, not truly multitasking. But that was years ago, and I could
be wrong.

AFAIR, it *was* task-switching, but that's good enough for me. :)

BTW, I don't like DOSShell: it looks kind of ugly, and the UI is not the best. --- Synchronet 3.17c-Linux NewsLink 1.111

From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/25/19 6:14 AM, Paul Bartlett wrote:

I had an MS-DOS 5 machine, and DOS Shell was included already
installed. I never really used it, but I got the idea that it was
task switching, not truly multitasking. But that was years ago,
and I could be wrong.

I seem to recall that MS-DOS Shell had two modes of multi-tasking; task switching, and task swapping. I don't recall the specifics of the
differences.

I think one would time slice between programs (switching?) and the other
would simply change between the foreground program when the user changed (swapping?).

I'd have to dig out my MS-DOS book to look it up. Or check the help
included with MS-DOS Shell.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/25/19 8:38 AM, Harry Potter wrote:

AFAIR, it *was* task-switching, but that's good enough for me. :)

See previous reply.

BTW, I don't like DOSShell: it looks kind of ugly, and the UI is not
the best.

To each his / her own.

You asked about ""multi-tasking options. MS-DOS Shell is decidedly on
that list.

You are free to have your own opinion of each list member.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Mon, 25 Nov 2019, Grant Taylor wrote:

On 11/25/19 6:14 AM, Paul Bartlett wrote:

I had an MS-DOS 5 machine, and DOS Shell was included already
installed. I never really used it, but I got the idea that it was
task switching, not truly multitasking. But that was years ago,
and I could be wrong.

I seem to recall that MS-DOS Shell had two modes of multi-tasking; task switching, and task swapping. I don't recall the specifics of the differences.

I think one would time slice between programs (switching?) and the other would simply change between the foreground program when the user changed (swapping?).

I'd have to dig out my MS-DOS book to look it up. Or check the help
included with MS-DOS Shell.

I found an old DOS 5 manual and looked in the chapter of DOSShell.
There is a section on emabling and using Task Swapper, but I don't see
anything on task switching. To be honest, I'm not sure just what the
difference is, if any. But it does not seem to b e multitasking.

--
Paul Bartlett
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

BTW, I keep getting an error message stating that COMMAND.COM or DOSSWAP.EXE is not found whenever I try to multi-task. :( Also, I *really* want to use graphics mode and change color schemes, but the options are not available for some reason. :(
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/26/19 5:34 AM, Harry Potter wrote:

BTW, I keep getting an error message stating that COMMAND.COM or
DOSSWAP.EXE is not found whenever I try to multi-task. :( Also,
I *really* want to use graphics mode and change color schemes, but
the options are not available for some reason. :(

That sounds like a PATH variable problem.

The graphics aren't much different than the text. The main thing that I
recall is the disk drive buttons may have a little disk next to them. I
think the arrows for things might be slightly different. The program
groups / icons may be slightly different. I don't recall it being
anything fancy.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On 11/25/19 5:11 PM, Paul Bartlett wrote:

I found an old DOS 5 manual and looked in the chapter of DOSShell.
There is a section on emabling and using Task Swapper, but I don't
see anything on task switching. To be honest, I'm not sure just what
the difference is, if any. But it does not seem to b e multitasking.

Okay.

I'm going to take your word for it. It's been WAY TOO LONG and I could
be conflating the modes with something else.



--
Grant. . . .
unix || die
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From Newsgroup: comp.os.msdos.misc

On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 16:18:22 GMT, T. Ment <t.ment@protocol.invalid>
wrote:

On Sun, 24 Nov 2019 04:40:43 -0800 (PST), Harry Potter wrote:

On Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 5:41:21 AM UTC-5, Kerr-Mudd,John

wrote:

I suspect that Mr Potter's requirements would be best met with a

newer

laptop; one capable of running a multi-tasking OS.

Even a lowly 386 laptop should run IMS REAL/32. It worked for IBM, they licensed it for POS terminals.

Well, it *does* run Win3.1. I will try T. Ment's suggestion.

Windows 3.11 is stable when configured right. A virtual memory bug hit Pentium and later chips. They fixed it in Windows 98. I can't find the reference now, but it was online at one time. Probably gone now.

For me, Windows 3.11 is stable without virtual memory. With plenty of
RAM it's not a problem. If you only have 4 MB, that may not work.

Back then the mantra was: 4M good 2M bad.



--
Bah, and indeed, Humbug.
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