MIDI Timing and PC / embedded systems

[Dave Halliday]

>>Mikko's is the most accurate description I've read so far of windows
>>timing issues. The point that I think most people have missed is that
>>Windows ***doesn't want*** you to have low level control of the machine
>>- for security and stability reasons. That's why an OS like WinNT
>>doesn't allow the kind of 16-bit processes that Win95 does - because
>>WinNT is more secure. WinNT is more "strict" in it's multi-tasking, and
>>it handles 16bit code differently from Win95, and is not very good for
>>sequencing. 
>      
>     Oh, c'mon.. it's not that bad. A 486 mobo now is like $30, RAM for the
>     old things is practically free, and a MIDI sound card is... $18?
>      
>     You don't even need a video card or keyboard once you get the software
>     done (it's very easy to replace the BIOS on these things). Get an old
>     Borland Pascal compiler, an old 486 mobo, an old 200MB hard drive, and
>     an old power supply and build the sequencer from hell - just use that
>     shiny new ultraGHz PII to twiddle the knobs and flip the switches. In
>     fact, if you use the cool new internet-friendly DOS then building your
>     "control panel" becomes nothing more than writing a web page...



Don't know if this is the Web-friendly DOS that you are referring to 
but http:\\www.caldera.com is definatly worth checking out.

It is run by Ray Noorda who was president and founder of Novell.
In his last few years, he went on a major shopping spree and bought 
Dr.DOS as well as Word Perfect, etc...  He took Dr.DOS ( and many of 
the original programming team! ) with him to Caldera

Dr.DOS is now at version 7.2, supports multitasking as a native 
function, is highly ROM-able, has networking built in, etc. etc. 
etc...  They also have WebSpyder which is a DOS based *graphical* web 
browser.  Both of these are available for free evaluation.  Lots of 
source code is available too...




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