Why PCs are truly crap - by Phil97
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Say to a PC owner, "PCs are crap!" and you'll probably face a torrent of
abuse  and  derision  centring  around the tenuous "Lets see an Amiga do
Quake" argument.  Unfortunately this viewpoint is based around ignorance
and  takes nothing into account apart from raw processing power.  If the
Amiga  CPU  had  developed  at  the  same rate of its Intel counterpart,
believe me, there would be no competition.

Sadly  it  appears  to be a bit too late for the Amiga and so the PC has
become  a  standard  by default (The Mac tends to stick to its own niche
market.)  This doesnt mean that PCs are cool though; VHS is cack but its
the format everyone uses.

So  whats  my point?  Well its all very well Intel making its Processors
faster  and  faster  but  theres  more  to a computer than a processor -
though  most  PC  owners  dont  or  wont  realize  it..   The present PC
situation  is  like  fitting a jet engine engine into a skoda.  Some may
say "Who cares so long as it works?", but thats just the point, how many
people  are really that happy with the operation of their PCs.  "Its not
the  PC's  fault,  its the software" may bellow the rabid PC supporter..
But  one  reason  why  the  software  is  so  dodgey is because the core
hardware it has to work around is a nightmare!

If the Amiga has really bit the dust, its about time Intel/IBM/Microsoft
(whoever!) get together, bite the bullet and radically redesign the PC -
its  long  overdue...   "It  cant be done!", "Idle waffle!" our PC freak
might  say,  believing  his  machine cant be bettered.  Well here's some
ideas..

1.   Intel:   for  gods  sake make the move to RISC architecture in your
CPUs  and  while  you're at it trash all the fragmented memory structure
crap!   All  code  should  now  be  32  bit  only and x86 opcodes can be
emulated  in software.  No more XMS, EMS, real mode, protected mode, dos
limit bullshit - hurrah!

2.    Video   department:    Specify  that  all  screen  modes  MUST  be
double-buffered, if there's one thing that makes a PC look crap, its the
constant  tears  in  the  display  when  any substantial motion happens.
Also:  use dual-ported VRAM for fast access no matter what resolution is
being used.

3.   System  Board:   Trash  all  the  legacy junk like ISA slots / CMOS
settings  etc.  Free up / create more IRQs and DMA channels to avoid the
ridiculous  resource shortage of the present (Plug n play might actually
work then!).  Add essential ports as standard (joysticks, hardware mouse
etc).  No more stupid mouse drivers!

4.   Include a default sound system.  16 channels of 16bit sampled sound
will do.

5.   DOS  -  Scrap  it?   No!  Resurrect it as a new 32bit, multitasking
bitmapped  form  (character  mapped  graphics  modes  are a bit passe!).
"Windows" can then act as a mere GUI for dos.

Well  then,  is  a there a being alive who would argue that these points
would  not  improve  the PC?  Strangly enough this new "IDEAL PC" sounds
just a tad like the once proposed Amiga 5000..  Curious.  --



[There  is  another  solution.   UNIX.   Just  win  the  lottery and buy
yourself a Dec Alpha!  Coolest machines around!  The majority of the big
internet  servers  are  UNIX  based  and  you  just  can't  beat the raw
processing  power  and  multitasking ability of a UNIX machine.  However
portability  isn't  an  option  unless  you get a PC with linux but that
defeats  the  object  doesn't it?  Besides, with Open Windows on UNIX it
feels more like Workbench than any PC can ever come close to.  Kei]


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