X-windows under System V/386

[Brian Cuthie]

In article <524 at pcrat.UUCP> rick at pcrat.UUCP (Rick Richardson) writes:
>DOS under UNIX (at least on 80386) is a reality.
>I've been reading about X-windows, Open Look, etc. every week now.
>They've got me half convinced that a signficant part of the PC 
>world may indeed switch to UNIX instead of OS/2.
>
>OK, so where's the beef?
>
>I mean, there are all these 80386 machines out here, with extended
>EGAs or VGAs and color monitors.  Yet, the only X-windows I've seen
>advertised requires new display hardware, and half again the cost
>of an 80386 system.  How's that going to move the world?  Maybe
>a few developers -- but what about my father-in-law???
...

Well, I think the reason you don't see a lot of X use on any of the standard
PC hardware is size.  Have you ever tried using several windows on screen
that, for the most part, only supports 25 columns of 80 character text ?
Yes, I know that graphics can make the chars smaller and then you can get
more of them on the screen.  But, when you really look at what makes a sun
workstation a sun workstation, you'll see that a lot of it is the fact that
you can have several LARGE (read: useful) windows open at once.  I
personally have never liked *any* windowing package on the PC because the
windows are just too small.

-brian
-- 
Brian D. Cuthie                                 uunet!umbc3!cbw1!brian
Columbia, MD                                    brian at umbc3.umd.edu
"Captain, Captain! All the stars have gone out!"
"No, you fool, you've leaned on the button.  Turn the viewer back on!"