Re: filmscanners: PS with dual CPUs, WAS: Re: Need feedback on VueScan

[derek_c@cix.co.uk (Derek Clarke)]

lalle@email.com (Lynn Allen) wrote:

> >A particular operation like rendering will only go faster if the
> application has been specifically coded to chop the process into a 
> number
> of lumps that can be calculated independently. Then you can start all
> those lumps off at the same time in separate threads and NT or W2K will
> handle the way those threads use multiple processors.
> 
> Derek, does this mean that a program that isn't specifically written for
> dual processors won't *use* dual processors? That would mean that older
> programs aren't going to be improved by the higher technology. How
> up-to-speed are current developers on that angle?

Well the thread model introduced with NT has been out for enough years 
that IMO few people have any sort of excuse for producing single threaded 
programs.

However Adobe are a bit peculiar in that their first love has always been 
the Mac, and their Windows software has been as close to the Mac version 
as they can make it.

Since the Mac architecturally is closer to Windows 3.1 (Yes I know about 
OSX, but that's Unix!) a software house steeped in Mac philosophy won't 
necessarily be fully attuned to multithreading. I'm especially suspicious 
of the fact that SMP support is some kind of plugin as that implies that 
only parts of the software knows about threads, and that's not the core!

But as others have said (and in fact so did I in the earlier message), you 
always get an indirect benefit with dual processors as other programs that 
otherwise would have a share of the single processor have other places to 
play.

Anyway all I have to do is remember where I left the media for my copy of 
Photoshop and I can put it on my brand new dual-processor jobbie and see 
for myself!