[plt-scheme] Appalling performance of DrScheme on Windows

On Jun 19, 2006, at 11:47 PM, Jepri wrote:

> Matthias Felleisen wrote:
>
>> This sounds indeed like an appalling response time and it makes me 
>> wonder why some 10,000 people are using DrScheme on Windows. Now I am 
>> using DrScheme on Windows XP only via Virtual PC on a Mac OS X laptop 
>> and it runs very nicely there. On my Mac, I am running "large" 
>> programs (up to 5,000 lines, threaded) in DrScheme, leave the 
>> environment open for days and weeks at a time, and haver very few 
>> problems of this kind.
>
> Users will often silently tolerate some suprisingly bad program 
> behaviour if they like the program enough.  When asked why they didn't 
> report the problem they just shrug.

That's been my experience.  I've waited several minutes to get a Help 
Desk page to display.  Very often I restart DrScheme, to try to ease 
the pain.  I've been reluctant to mention on the list because I didn't 
want to seem like I'm whining.

DrScheme is perhaps the single most important application I have - at 
least it often seems that way.  I'm incredibly thankful each time I 
launch it, and I worry about the dark day that for some reason the 
project goes defunct.

That being said, I did not find the present sluggish response and poor 
GUI performance in earlier versions of DrScheme.  I guess I've been 
thinking that it was painfully obvious and irritating to everyone, that 
the forces of light were working on the problem, and that it would 
magically vanish never to return again in a not-too-future update.

>>
>> But before we bash Microsoft one more time on this list, let's 
>> investigate your report in some detail. We don't want to blame them 
>> for nothing, right?
>>
>> 1. What kind of machine do you own? CPU speed and memory are two 
>> things we'd really like to know.

A Mac Mini.  I forget now how fast it is.  1.42 GHz maybe.  Should be 
'fast enough'.  I think I've got 1 GB of RAM.

>>
>> 2. Which PLT Scheme implementation are you running? 350? 103p1? 
>> Anything in between?

Welcome to DrScheme, version 350.

>> 2a. Have you modified your PLT Scheme installation in any form or 
>> manner?

Not consciously or intentionally.

>> 3. What kind of programs do you run? Are they text-book exercises? 
>> Dynamic flow equations?

Very simple ones.  Lot's of Help Desk use.

>> Once we have that information we will figure out how to get you to 
>> use this thing in an acceptable manner.
>>
>> Thanks for the report -- Matthias

- David