Performance of 80486 based machines running Unix

[Rich Braun]

I run SCO Unix on a 386-33 with 8M main memory, and have concluded that
its scheduling and I/O operations make multi-tasking use quite noticeable.
If I run a backup or a compile in the background, system responsiveness
is quite a bit slower.  It leads me to wonder what the system would
be like if it were used as a true multi-user system; our company has
a policy of giving each developer a 386 on their desktop, so it's not really
an issue for me.

Having done some O/S development before, I'd be curious to hear how the
various flavors of Unix stack up under heavy multi-tasking loads.  Are
there system tuning parameters which can help guarantee responsiveness to
interactive users?

-rich