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Monster Media 1994 #1
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WILDCAT
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WC4.ZIP
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WC4.TXT
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1994-03-02
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229 lines
Memo, March 1, 1994 - Bakersfield, CA
To: All MSI Customers
From: Jim Harrer, President/CEO, MSI
Subject: Wildcat! version 4. (Alpha BBS# 805-873-2454)
Today, I'm happy to officially announce Wildcat! v4. After 11 months of
development, this major revision and update is ready to enter our Alpha
Test phase where 50 selected sites will begin running Wildcat! v4 Alpha
within the next few days.
Testing a Bulletin Board System is a very difficult task due to the
nature of the product. Running 24 hours a day, seven days a week with
hundreds if not thousands of different callers, tracking and finding
bugs is a lengthy process. We break down the product testing into two
phases, the Alpha phase and the Beta phase.
We first start with 50 seasoned Wildcat! v3 Sysops, primarily running
multiline systems, and convert their BBSes to Wildcat! v4. Once we've
ironed out all the major problems, we move on to Beta which normally
adds another 150 sites running a mix of single, multiline, professional
and intelligent multiport product. Even though we have closed the
Alpha team selection process, we are still seeking a few more Beta
Sites to begin testing once Alpha is completed. If you think you might
want to participate in our Wildcat! v4 Beta, please download WC4BETA.ZIP
from our MSI HQ BBS.
The first question on many of your minds is probably, "When is Wildcat!
v4 going to ship?". This is a very difficult question. We have kept
the product in house longer than our previous versions in order to give
it more stability going into Alpha. However, this product will probably
stay in Alpha and Beta testing for 2-6 months, depending on the reports
from the review teams. This time is necessary to give the product ample
time for testing and for our 3rd party developers to retool their
products to work with version 4. Wildcat! currently enjoys an active
installed based of well over 26,000 Sysops making it the most popular
BBS package in the world. Over 1 million callers are estimated to
log-in to a Wildcat! system each month. Wildcat! v4 will ship once we're
certain the product is ready for these millions of calls!
Wildcat! v4 has been rewritten using Borland Pascal v7. It runs on a
DOS Platform. Besides rewriting Wildcat! v4 we have also rewritten all
of its utility programs. A half a dozen new support programs are also
being introduced for the first time.
The feature list below highlights just a few of the new features, those
which have completed development and can be announced at this time.
Some features remain in development and will not be published or
discussed until we're certain they will make it into the v4 release.
Please don't ask us questions regarding this feature list. With 26,000
Sysops asking questions about it, we'll never finish this product if
everyone starts leaving us e-mail. As soon as we're ready to discuss
it, we'll post a follow-up notice like this one with additional details.
The best way to learn about Wildcat! v4 is to take a look at it yourself
at an Alpha or Beta site. Call our Wildcat! v4 Alpha BBS @ 805-873-2454
and explore the BBS if you like.
Wildcat! v4 published feature list as of March 1, 1994:
> Support for 32,767 message conferences and 32,767 file areas.
> Sporty new hierarchical menuing system which allows you to break away
from Wildcat!'s traditional Main, Message, File & Sysop menu
structure.
> Completely new inter-node chat system for our multiline systems.
Supports multiple channels and action words.
> New message editor with a built-in online Spell Checker.
> New script language support! If you don't like the way Wildcat! does
something, you'll be able to change it or even create your own menu
choice for doing almost anything you want. All Wildcat! products will
include a script interpreter, however a script compiler and manual are
sold separately as wcScript.
> New flat file message handling engine designed for quicker tossing of
mail and text searches.
> When downloading files, if any of the files have a .GIF extension, the
caller can select a thumbnail preview of all the .GIF files in
advance. This allows the caller to delete any .GIF which they decide
they don't want after viewing the thumbnail.
> Full use of command stacking is now available when not using hotkey
mode.
> Support for running a batch file when the BBS gets an adaptive fax
connect. This will allow your BBS to swap out and run a FAX receive
program of your choice. A modem which support adaptive fax response
codes is required.
> TOMCAT! now supports the ability to request files. Have your mail
reader send a message to TOMCAT! and in the body of the message place
Request FILENAME.EXE.
> New long header (i.e. TO & FROM fields) for Wildcat!'s message system
to better handle Internet and other mail services.
> Support for file ratios based on upload & download K.
> Improved security access. The Sysop can control conference access to
a greater degree. Users access can be limited to Join Only (no read
or write), Read-Only or Write-Only access. Control is also extended to
specify which file areas a user can list only, download only and
upload only.
> New Full-Screen message editor supports block operations like move,
copy and paste. It also fully supports Wildcat!'s color codes.
> The Wildcat! IM version has been renamed to the Wildcat! Multiline
Platinum. It now supports the Digiboard Intelligent MultiPort cards,
Fossil Drivers and standard serial ports.
> New language support is available, allowing the caller to select their
choice of language, which automatically alters the prompt file and
display files used by Wildcat!.
> Improved support for CD-ROM carousels.
> A new index system has been designed for the file database to reduce
the rebuild time and the amount of disk space used for storing the
search index.
> A new search engine for the file and message systems which supports
And, Or and Not constructs.
> A "Previous" command has been added to file listings, message scans,
and listing of text files which allows a caller to go backwards when
viewing the information. Scrollback for the caller on a screen-
by-screen basis.
> The Sysop can now toggle a capture file from the system console for
recording a callers activity.
> The caller can now display the file and message conferences either in
numerical or alphabetical order.
> Bulletins are now downloadable from the bulletin menu.
> Duplicate file name support has been added to the file database
system. The same filename can be made available in multiple areas.
> The double file listing view has been redesigned to display more of
the fileÆs description. Added a scrollback option for the Sysop to use
at the local console.
> When leaving mail to a specific user, a caller is now able to search
for users by name when not sure of the exact spelling. The search is
available right from the name-entry prompt.
> Group Mail is now supporting for sending messages to a list of
callers.
> Wildcat! now has enhanced support when getting *info* on a file. After
viewing *info*, a caller can easily send a message to the author, if
the caller uploaded the file and his security profile has modify flag
turned on he can either delete the file or upload its description,
and finally the Sysop (alone) can view the file in the Sysop editor.
> Your Settings now requires the users password to be entered BEFORE
they can change it.
> Added the support for BADPHONES.LST which checks the voice phone
number.
As you can see, this is an impressive list of enhancements. Keep in
mind, this is only a list of the features which really stand out.
Overall, hundreds of features have been added or improved to Wildcat!
and its family of products. For example, we have a new product called
wcGate which actually combines our wcUUCP and wcMHS product into one
product. Of course wcPRO and wcFAX have been rewritten and will
continued to be called our wcPRO Utilities product.
Pricing.
Please note, we have not started taking orders for Wildcat! v4. Once
we've completed the Beta cycle and our manuals are off to our printer,
we'll announce Wildcat! v4 availability and begin taking orders. All
Wildcat! Registered Users will be eligible for our upgrade special as
long as we have the registration card on-file. Your registration card
can be found in your Wildcat! Sysop Guide, wcPRO, wcMHS and wcUUCP
manuals. All cards must be returned. Now is the time to do this if you
have not done so. If you recently received our QmodemPro for Windows
special offer for Wildcat! Sysops, its a pretty good indication we have
your registration card on file.
All of MSI's products are available through normal software outlets such
as Software Etc. and CompUSA. However all upgrade purchases are only
available through MSI direct. Here is a schedule of our products and
pricing:
NEW UPGRADE
Wildcat! BBS - Single Line $129.00 $50.00
Wildcat! BBS - Multiline 10 $249.00 $50.00
Wildcat! BBS - Multiline 250 (Old Professional) $499.00 $50.00
Wildcat! BBS - Multiline Platinum (Old IM) $799.00 $50.00
wcPRO Utilities (wcPRO & wcFAX) $99.00 $50.00
wcGATE (wcMHS & wcUUCP) $199.00 $50.00
wcSCRIPT Script Compiler for Wildcat! v4 $149.00 $99.00
We have attempted to keep our upgrade costs as low as possible, even
though each product has a completely new manual, box and dual media
diskettes. wcSCRIPT will have an introductory price of $99.00 for the
first 60 days of its release. Users of either wcMHS or wcUUCP are
eligible to upgrade to the new wcGATE for $50.
Shipping and handling will be $10.00 for Federal Express within the U.S.
Once again, we're not taking orders at this time, we simply want to
inform you of the pricing since it is one of the most asked questions.