Experiences with DOS on the 386i

[Brian Thorstad]

Glenn Roberts writes (v7#150)
> Don't expect DOS to scream on the 386i.  Dbase III and Mass11 (our word
> processing environment) seem to work at about "AT speed" in a DOS window.
> You can run MS Windows in a SunView window.  This is really neat but will
> run at "XT speed" or slower (just moving the cursor around in an MS Window
> hogs most of my CPU - after all you're running MS Windows on top of DOS on
> top of Unix!).
> 
> The biggest annoyance is the small window.  You might want to get the
> RR-100 EGA/VGA option.  I saw this demonstrated at our local Sun office
> and there is a way to enlarge the window display.  Sun list is $895

While DOS does not scream on the 386i (as it should), substantially better
performance under MS Windows (Windows the product, not a generic "dos"
window) is available under 4.0.1.  When installing Windows, select "other"
for the window, and mouse drivers.  Custom drivers exist in the directory
/usr/dos/msdos (R:\usr\dos\msdos).  The mouse is now a "SunView" mouse in
a "SunView" window.  Performance is slightly less than a normal SunView
mouse/window, but not much.  Of course, DOS processing of mouse actions
(eg. pulling down a menu) is slower than its SunView counterpart, but life
is better.

Also, while installing Windows, you can select a larger font than the
default (I forget which is which).  This partially makes up for the
difference in pixel density of the displays, and allows you to see objects
without the use of a magnifying glass.

Also note, after launching DOS, but before Windows, you can resize the DOS
window to any size desired -- Windows uses this as the size of the
"device" it writes to.  I do not recommend resizing the window after
launching Windows.

> Bottom line: if you're mostly interested in running DOS applications get a
> Compaq or PS/2.  If you're mostly doing workstation type work, and by the
> way once in a while you need to do DOS stuff, get a 386i.

I agree, but performance is improved using Sun supplied drivers for
Microsoft Windows.

Brian Thorstad
Contel Federal Systems
(thorstad at wooglin.scc.com)