To: Free Pascal Developer Group
  From: Bartha Istvan


	      I am Bartha Istvan, I am a student and a programmer in Romania.
  I have downloaded FreePascal v1.0.4 from the internet not so long ago, but
  even though my computer is beyond the minimum requirements the IDE and the
  ppc386 compiler runs unsupportably slow.

  My computer:	CPU: Intel 486SX2 50 MHz
		RAM: 12 MB
		VIDEOCARD: RealTek SuperVGA RT3106 512 kb
		HDD: Samsung Apollo 250 MB -> 20 MB free space
		OS: Ms-Dos 6.22 (I tried Dr-Dos 7.03, too).

  IDE problems (speed):

  - Starting the IDE takes 15 sec.
  - It takes 6 sec till the IDE activates: 'Parsing user screen' message ?!
  - Opening any file takes 15 sec |- 2-5 sec till blue window appears
				|- 5 sec till it activates ( white border )
				|- 8 sec till 'Opening...' message dissapears
  - Takes 12 sec to Make a program containing only: begin  end.
  - If I click a menu it takes 2 seconds till it appears, but only if an edit
    window is open (the menu reacts normally if there's no opened file).
  - If I try to edit a file the cursor reacts very slowly:
    reacts 2 seconds after a keypress (clue: horizontal cursor movement, if I
    press the left or right arrow, ususally speeds up after a few letters).
  - These slow actions speed up a bit after the first file saving and compiling.

  Program problems:

  Well now, I have been working with other compilers for a while, but
  ppc386 is totally different:
  - my programs are real fat -> a simple program ( begin  end. ) eats
    up 56,832 KBytes, but why ?
  - it takes 0.6 (min 0.5) seconds for the prog to start up, but why ?

  The answer is probably that the compiled programs are 32-bit progs,
  because I had no such problem with 16-bit compilers.
  I'm not even using the 32-bit features, and my utilities need to be small
  and fast (and I want to use pascal), but instead they are big and slow :-(
  What now ? Please make a 16-bit target option available.
  
  So:

  I guess that now there's no doubt that I simply can't use FP, but I really
  would like to. I think that you did a very good job with this program
  anyway, but I strongly advise to you to eliminate these problems, PLEASE !

  Ideas for the bugfix:

  1. 16-bit programs are much faster in execution and characteric display
     speed :( Borland Pascal IDE starts up and runs way beyond faster )
     and are much smaller ( min 3 times smaller => loads faster... ), so
     I really don't understand why does the FP IDE have to be a 32 program.
     Please try to make a 16-bit version, too.
  2. As I mentioned before 32-bit programs are way too unefficient, but
     I don't forbid you from keeping that option I just ask for a 16-bit
     target option.

  Graphics problem:
  
  I can't make the graphic driver to work in any way, the machine hangs
  for every attempt (even Ctrl-Alt-Del won't work).
  My video card: 
        
           SVGA Chipset: RealTek RTG3106        -> a classic :-)       
           Display Type: Color SVGA
           SVGA VESA: Supported
           SVGA VESA version: 1.00   ( I have tried univesa too )
           Video Memory: 512 Kb
           SVGA VESA Memory: 0
           VESA OEM ID: REALTEK VGA
           DAC: Normal (8 bit)

  - It worked fine with TurboPascal 7.0 :
    egavga.bgi -> 320x200 and 640x480 16 color mode 
    svga256.bgi + svga256.tpu  -> 320x200 256 color
                                  640x400 256 color  with univesa
                                  640x480 256 color  with univesa
                                  800x600 256 color  with univesa
  Note:
  
  I have attached a source code to this letter, which is ripped out from
  one of my oldest programs, but it's very character-display intensive (wow)
  so if you don't belive me, than compile it with a 16-bit compiler and with
  ppc386 and whatch the difference (wich one finishes faster ?).

  THAN YOU FOR READING MY LETTER AND THANK'S IN ADVANCE FOR AT LEAST TRYING
  TO TAKE KERE ALL OF THESE. PASCAL RULEZ, FREEWARE ALSO 8-)

  My E-mail: bico@k.ro