OK, now I have to ask.
Maybe Chris Byrne will be able to tell me:
What if I didn’t want an OS at all? What if I wanted a computer to turn on and use ONLY solidworks? A one-shot computer. No multitasking. A CD-rom drive to burn files to be sent elsewhere.
yeah, yeah, I know, there has to be SOME os, but how about an OS so small, with such a small footprint, that EVERY processor tick is devoted to the one piece of software being used? That’s what I want.
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IANA software engineer, but wouldn’t the OS have to be expanded, or at least tweaked, almost every time SW is upgraded with a feature that you want? I like your concept, but I wonder how workable it is.
Build the shit into SolidWorks.
I asked some developers that once (Adobe and Corel, mid-late 90s).
The application software makes calls to the OS to manipulate the metal. NOBODY programs apps on bare metal.
Of course that’s not true, but nobody programs commercial apps that way any more. They use the OS toolbox instead, and accept the performance hit as unavoidable.
It’s too expensive — or so they say — to reinvent the wheel every time. They would, for example, have to recompile the app kernel for every video card/driver out there. Or build their own drivers.
I suspect that a purpose-built (bespoke, even) app/machine pairing would offer infinitely superior performance, but would also cost a LOT of money.
Perhaps even an infinite amount.
And have a limited (infinitesimal?) market.
M
Welll…. technically, you could use the solidworks API to write the program into a stripped version of windows using the windows pre-boot/embedded environment.
It’d be a hack, but yes, basically, it would be a system solely dedicated to solidworks without most of the OS, or any other apps running, or even able to be run.
It would be a lot easier to do it usig any other modeling package that supported linux though, by building a linux from scratch (LFS) distro, around the modeling package. You could do it i a couple hours.
On a more realistic note, you can very seriously strip down an lock out windows fro a basic install to the point where it’s not much more than what you’re asking for.
Chris, you just pointed at exactly what I need, I think. We need to talk about how to make that happen.
Boot from a DOS floppy, loads the memory manager and command processor, period. If you have a modern bios that boots from a USB port, then you don’t need the floppy and have an instantaneous boot, just about, although you still have to load the bios. From there your machine is slaved to whatever program that will run and depends only upon the memory manager and bios. There are quite a few; edit, ptedit, Partition Magic, File Recover etc. There are CD drivers that run in this mode, but solidworks most certainly will not.
Shame. I’d be happy, though, as Chris says, if I could veg-o-matic out all nonessential windows crap.
I suspect that it would quickly turn into a nightmare, as all of the Windows crap is tied together; you need this for that, and that has a dependency on X, X uses Y etc. until you throw the thing out the window, so to speak.
yeah. I remember running Autocad on my little 486 notebook in DOS. It ran quick, and never had any trouble keeping up. Pity.
You wear a digital watch?
No.
That’s about the the only ‘OS’ anymore that is devoted to doing what it’s supposed to do. Windows – in being developed to suit the masses – has become so bloated, it would be quite a challenge to narrow itself down to only do what is required of it, rather than do everything for everyone and handle all equipment.
The good news though, is that I heard there was a ‘new’ OS coming out in like 2010-ish, that is actually a stripped down version of Windows. It supposedly won’t have all the web/media/GUI junk crammed into current versions of windows, but more like a basic GUI to handle configuration and stuff of the system.
The only thin I don’t know is if it will only be server OS’s or if they’ll trim down the OS for a serious user, and not for people who live most of their live on the internet.
That would just tickle me pink.
Windows 2008 Server has what’s called a “Server Core” installation mode. It’s still a GUI (or at least GUI-ish), though. See here for more.
I’ll know more about it on Thursday after I attend the launch event here in Indy.
If you open up the Admin tool for “services” in Windows and turn off nearly everything (Googlize for a list; I *think* it’s safe to turn off all the services, but one or two might be important), that should help.
That and uninstall every possible thing apart from hardware drivers, that you do not need to run your software.
(Not strictly necessary, but it’s easier to remove it all than figure out which bits are running something at all times and causing slowdown.)
Software that’s installed but isn’t running isn’t slowing you down.
(This is, of course, less ideal for a multipurpose machine, but if all you want is maximum possible power in Solidworks, that should help.)
Also, if you can put in more ram, usefully, do so.
(I say usefully, because if you have over 3 gigs already, it won’t be useful to add more.
But if it only has 1 or 2 gigs now, going to 3 or 4 can’t hurt and might help.)
That all sounds too complicated… Solidworks… hacking the OS… Too much for this Ogre to deal with.
I’d just use PocketLinux. That’s pretty dang small… but easy to use. Easy enough, I can use it.
It has to be easy if Ogre can use it. He’s always being distracted by herds of hooved animals passing by his front yard! :)