[fpc-pascal]Re: fp under Windows

[Matt Emson]

>Has not, I use it all the time on NT.

No, you use the NT Console window.. this (at the moment) emulates DOS (fairly
badly on 2000) and the support fot 16 MS DOS *will* dissappear in the not too
distant future.. certainly when the 64-bit version of Windows arrives.. I'm
sure not even Microsoft will want to emaulate both a 32-bit runtime environment
*and* a 16-bit runtime environment!! Especially now that they're trying to remove
legacy suppport. In Windows ME ther *is* no DOS prompt.. you have to hack ME
before you can even get one to appear.

>They are genuine Win32 programs, running in the same 
>environment, using the same resources any graphical Win32 program does, just

>happen to use an alphanumeric output. Many programs, including most of the

>network utilities of NT belong to this category, so there is no need and 
>reason why this should disappear.

The thing you have to remember here though is that, first of all these are 32
bit applications that wil not run outside of Windows, and secondly, once DOS
support does go (and it will at some point) Microsoft will either replace the
Console, or certainly re-think the way it works. NT has the ability to have
other Kernals plugged in (somebody even wrote a Unix based replacement Kernal).


Relying on the fact that the DOS version of the Console will always exist is
possibly fool-hardy. The DOS batch language has already been 'superceded' by
the active scripting engine..

Matt