From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_40,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,9c776e3cc19d3176 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: mfb@mbunix.mitre.org (Michael F Brenner) Subject: Re: Port I/O Date: 1996/11/14 Message-ID: <56ffmj$pko@top.mitre.org>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 196554849 references: <01BBD13B.2E702E00@idc213.rb.icl.co.uk> organization: The MITRE Corporation, Bedford Mass. newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1996-11-14T00:00:00+00:00 List-Id: According to an NT worldwide web site, the Microsoft Developers Network costs five hundred dollars the first year, and then five hundred dollars each year thereafter, and it includes the game developers kit (GDK or G-SDK) for that price. This is far enough from being that the comments on NT can be considered fair. Protection of databases from hardware access can decrease the cost of the databases by making them platform independent. However, protection of the pixels and ports from the programmers makes the games and simulations more expensive, by reducing the number of programmers with access to them, in particular, since not every programmer prioritizes Microsoft Game Developers Kit as the most important five hundred dollars to be spent. When a programmer becomes debt-free, perhaps this is the best way to spend 500 dollars, but according to statistics most programmers are in debt, and might be better advised to pay off their debt before buying the GDK. On the other hand, the quickest way to pay off debt is to produce a best selling game, so the First thing to buy is the GDK? Simon Johnston wrote: :the comments on NT are a little unfair, we are using it in a :high-speed near real-time mission critical environment (150+ lane :hypermarkets) where throughput is very much dependant on O/S :performance. ... we have had to develop our own NT drivers ... :As far as the game SDK is concerned I again question the comment on :price, I got two copies free with our MSDN subscription (if your :developing MS based software without MSDN you deserve everything you :don't get!) and I'm sure if you talk nicely to MS they can get you a :copy. With the game SDK Windows 95 and Windows NT have full DirectX, :DirectSound, DirectDraw, DirectPlay etc. which do provide port level :access to the hardware, fast enough for game programming. Mike had originally written: > Ed Falis of Thomson Software > > you might ask yourself why you're trying to do what you're doing > > (presumably direct hardware manipulation) from user code under NT > NT does not provide device drivers, or fast enough device drivers > to do the kind of animation, serial & parallel & disk & sound access > that games, simulatons, & robots require. A high level OS has > advantages for databases where speed is not important. However, when > controlling industrial or game processes, NT requires you to purchase > expensive additional parts, such as the game developers kit, to put a > pixel directly to the screen, address a memory location, or handle a > port interrupt.