Welcome back to the Internet's premier site for up to date news, reviews, interviews, tips, articles and opinions on OS/2--the world's favourite 32bit OS.
In this issue we take a look at popular e-mail clients for OS/2 and bring you a bucket-load of other reviews, articles and opinions. And don't forget to check out our first looks at Object Desktop v1.5 and WordPro 96 for OS/2! Enjoy!
Departments Opinions:
Editorial the Rants... Chris' | Trevor's
the Beta File the Rave
Heath's Tips Linfield's Line
the Warped SOHO The Second Coming of OS/2
Features:
* e-mail Clients
Now that the OS/2 Internet e-mail client market has matured there are many alternatives to IBM's Ultimail Lite. We take a look at Knightware's MR/2 ICE v0.99u2, SouthSide Software's PMMail v1.5 and InnoVal Systems Solutions' Post Road Mailer v1.03a and let you know how they compare. We've also included a handy comparison table so you can quickly check the features of the various mailers against each other!
* Miscellaneous Reviews
Our hodge-podge of reviews this month includes a replacement dialer, a home finance package, a communications application, a scientific calculator, a Windows 3.1 enhancer and OS/2 Essentials.
* Games
Now that Stardock has released Shipyards v2 for Galactic Civilizations 2 we take a look at the enhancements to this popular upgrade. Also, our reviewer takes his chances with addiction by trying out Matrix from CodeSmith Software.
First Looks:
* Object Desktop v1.5
Stardock Systems is readying the first major update to their "Next Generation" operating environment phenomenon, Object Desktop, and we've got a first look for you--complete with screen shots!
* WordPro 96 for OS/2
Lotus is busily testing its replacement for the dated AmiPro for OS/2 and this month we had a look at what's coming in the new product. Get the details and pictures of the word processor the OS/2 world is waiting for!
Articles:
* Connect the World with Merlin - Tim Bryce
Tim Bryce has a plan and he wants to let you in on it. Pay attention, this looks good!
* How to Become an OS/2 Certified Engineer - Martin Ross
So you've thought about taking the certification plunge. Martin tells his story and how you can meet IBM's seal of approval too.
* GNU: OS/2's Hidden Treasure - Murray Todd Williams
There's a world of software for OS/2 that's free for the taking. Here's how to get it and what to do with it once you do.
* OS/2 and X-Windows... Come Again? - Chris McKillop
Making the big commitment to OS/2, Dr. Holger Veit has undertaken to port the XFree86 GUI to OS/2. Chris McKillop spoke with him...
Odds & Ends:
* Hot Sellers 1 - the top 10 selling OS/2 commercial applications.
* Hot Sellers 2 - the top 10 selling OS/2 shareware applications.
* How to Subscribe to OS/2 e-Zine! for FREE.
* How YOU can Sponsor OS/2 e-Zine!
* The Sponsors that Make this Issue Possible
*Coming up in the next issue*
A bigger, better, and bolder
issue with more reviews,
interviews, columns
and articles--
April 30th!
*
Copyright 1996 - Haligonian Media
ISSN 1203-5696
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DeScribe, Electronic Publishing, and Administrivia - editorial
_Let Me DeScribe the Situation_
In the course of putting the finishing touches on this issue of OS/2 e-Zine!, I received a disturbing e-mail. It claimed that DeScribe, Inc. had just announced it was ceasing development of its popular word processor, DeScribe 5.0. Unfortunately, as you all know by now, the report was true. In the final days of March, DeScribe posted an announcement to their (http://www.describe.com/wp/info.html) web page stating:
"We are sorry to give up the struggle, however, we simply could not overcome the market forces against us without the aid of a strong sponsor. It is time to move on."
Obviously, we are sorry to hear this, as are almost all OS/2 users. This can be witnessed by taking a moment to read through the usenet newsgroups. Even people who do not use DeScribe's word processor have spoken passionately about the decision and many are calling for some other ISV to step in and purchase DeScribe's products. This has sparked a fair amount of debate and Jim Lennane, CEO of DeScribe, has even responded personally and frequently.
However, at the time of this writing, no-one had announced intentions to purchase the DeScribe word processor code. In fact, Mr. Lennane clearly indicated in his original announcement that they had been searching for a similar arrangement for some time with no luck.
Many FUD slingers have gleefully pointed to this unhappy development as proof of OS/2's inability to maintain healthy ISVs. Thankfully, many users have cooler heads. One wrote me to say that although he was disappointed to see DeScribe go, this kind of thing happens all the time in the business world and the OS/2 industry is not immune to it.
I agree with him. It's obviously not a good thing for OS/2 that DeScribe is ceasing development but it is not the end of the world. I don't say this to be unsympathetic to DeScribe, Inc. or to its customers, but the fact is that in the world of business, companies change directions all the time. When the monolith of the word processing industry, WordPerfect, fell on hard times and was bought by Novell, people did not shout, "Windows is Dead!" And when Novell failed to turn WordPerfect around, and subsequently sold it to Corel, the Windows world suffered very little. As an interesting aside however, when WordPerfect announced it would not release WordPerfect 6.0 for OS/2, people did shout, "OS/2 is Dead!" Imagine that.
One thing pointed out by many usenet readers is that the DeScribe Voyager CD also contained a Windows 3.1, Windows NT and Windows 95 version of DeScribe. The development of those versions has also been ceased but the Windows market has not erupted. And most importantly, DeScribe has not ceased selling DeScribe or supporting it, just developing new versions.
In the end, Jim Lennane said it all:
"Even if DeScribe had 98% of the features most users ask for, there is not enough market share available in the face of the IBM/Lotus corporate presence and the reluctance of users to give up their Win/OS2 Word Processors. This situation could be overcome by a vendor such as IBM, Adobe, CA or maybe even Stardock but not by a startup or DeScribe alone."
Even though we will miss DeScribe, OS/2 will go on. With Lotus' renewed commitment to SmartSuite for OS/2 and its WordPro 96 for OS/2 (see the sneak peek in this issue!), and the already existing products from Lotus, DeScribe, Clearlook and Star Division, OS/2 is not left wanting for word processing applications.
_Just In Time!_
On more a more positive note, I wanted to say a bit about our editorial policy and publishing cycles. As you have probably already noticed, news and reviews find their way into our pages much more quickly than into traditional paper magazines. While it is hard for any organization to keep up with the near constant stream of new and updated product releases in the OS/2 market, we strive to bring you reviews of applications as soon as we can. Our general goal is to review new products within the first two months of their release and usually earlier if we can. Compared to the probability of a three month delay between product introductions and reviews appearing in print magazines, we feel this is pretty good. But if you don't, (editor@haligonian.com) let us know!
In fact, in this issue, you'll find that we have a review of a product that won't even be available to the general public as of March first. Please believe me that we have no intention of publishing vaporous reviews; the application in question was tested thoroughly by our reviewer throughout its beta testing stages and as the code was being finished, we had first looks at it to make sure our evaluations were accurate. Where they weren't, we corrected them.
Most importantly, we had confirmation that this application would be available to end users either by the time you read this or shortly after.
In general, we try to stay away from testing applications in "beta". The problem is that the definition of "beta" software gets blurred when dealing with shareware. While we believe that shareware is often as good as traditional "commercial" applications, its distribution is often radically different than "commercial" software. Many shareware applications are released to the public with a "low" version number between v0.2 or v0.99 which would traditionally indicate that it was a "pre-release" version and not for sale. However, the authors of these shareware applications often actively solicit registrations for their software so they are technically for sale. Also, while they may release frequent updates during the period of time before the software reaches v1.0, they also often release frequent updates after the software reaches v1.0 status, further blurring the significant differences between v0.9 of an application and v1.0.
For the record, we will endeavour at all times not to do reviews of software that will not be available during the month of the review's publication. Also, we will generally review only applications nearing or above the v1.0 level, using the logic that the author knows what he or she is trying to achieve and is using v1.0 as a yardstick to measure the approach of that goal. Of course, we'll continue to bring you news of applications' beta tests and sneak peeks of hot new applications that will be appearing down the road (see the Object Desktop v1.5 and WordPro 96 for OS/2 first looks in this issue!).
_Ads and Sponsors_
Finally, I just wanted to briefly encourage you to take the time to thank our sponsors. Whether you are one of the generous readers who has contributed to OS/2 e-Zine! or not, you will never be excluded from reading the material that appears in these pages. And if you do read and enjoy it, it is directly because of the financial contributions of our sponsors.
I won't preach to you about registering their shareware or not pirating their commercial applications (I did that in my Rant this month), but I urge you all, if you need products which are developed by one of our sponsors, purchase from them and tell them you saw their ads here! Even if you aren't in the market for new software or hardware, take a moment to click on the links found throughout our pages. Doing just that little thing can help make sure e-Zine! will be here for you to enjoy for a long time to come.
Developer of Smalled, the small, high powered, intuitive OS/2 editor.
(http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/) BMT Micro
Your complete source for over 75 of the best OS/2 shareware applications available. Drop by today and check out our WWW catalog or download the .INF version.
(http://www.ChipChat.com/home00.html) ChipChat Technology Group
ChipChat produces excellent 32-bit OS/2 software for wireless text paging
and state-of-the-art multimedia Sound Cards for Micro Channel PS/2 computers.
Providers of lifetime warrantied name brand simms, laptop and printer memory at competitive prices.
(http://www.spg-net.com/) SPG Inc.
Creators of ColorWorks for OS/2 - The Artist's Ultimate Power Program! ColorWorks has earned both the 1995 OS/2 Magazine Editor's Choice & the 1995 OS/2 Professional Magazine Best New Product Awards.
(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems Inc.
The Next Generation Company bringing you the Next Generation Sofware for corporate and home use.
* Readers Who Have Sponsored:
The entire staff of OS/2 e-Zine! would like to extend special thanks to the following readers who have made significant contributions.
Dr. Ronald E. Wyllys David Busby Stephen Boileau
Quentin Z. Whiplinger Gregory Mobley Ian W. MacKee
Christopher A. King Michel Slivitzky Dennis J. Tuchler
Robert Griswold Wm. Bradley Read II R. Edgar Scrutton
Mike Quinn Ralph Cohen Robert D. Miller
Jan Schatz Michael Shillingford J. McMillan
Vicky Stables Dennis Hayes
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the Beta File
Welcome back to the Beta File, your source for the latest breaking news in OS/2 beta development. As Big Blue and Lotus march on toward the release of Merlin and SmartSuite for OS/2, a horde of smaller ISVs are using the quiet time to work away at their own projects. Let's just say, we've got a lot to talk about.
Of course, during any given month, we don't come across every company currently in development. What's that you say? You want to help fill out this column? You have a product that you're sure is going to be the next killer app? You want a little free hype? Well get off your keister and (editor@haligonian.com) drop us a note!
Now, to business.
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Prepress houses will be pleased to hear that (aglynn@ibm.net) Andrew Glynn and Norman Burkies of Carmel Graphic Systems are about to begin beta testing the SILO Extensions to the SpringBoard Prepress Archiving & Connectivity System. As the product nears beta there will be a web site with sample databases that can be browsed by any Web Browser but at press time it was not yet announced.
The SILO Extensions archive all types of files without operator intervention, produce thumbnail images and 72dpi view files for supported image formats, retrieve images in any requested format and at any requested resolution, connect to proprietary systems via SCSI emulation technology, support database browsing through HTML or Lotus Notes, connect to SpringWell shared SCSI servers and can integrate to SpringWell's internal database. Support for most image, linework, and page formats, including proprietary high-end formats such as Crosfield, Scitex, and Linotype is included as is support for multimedia and 3d formats. It also has full support for Macintosh files and full client platform support through use of HTML and Notes front ends.
Initial availability will be as a commercial product, but Carmel Graphic Systems is looking into the possibility of putting out a smaller "standalone" version with support for only "public" file formats as shareware for the individual OS/2 market.
The alpha version has been tested by 4 large prepress houses over the past couple of months; SpringBoard itself is in operation currently at over 200 full service prepress and printing shops, and is currently at version 3.5.7, having been released originally in 1990 using OS/2 1.2. The SILO Extensions will be released in the second quarter of 1996 for OS/2, and the third or fourth quarter for NT and Solaris. While the price will vary based on options purchased, support plans, platform purchased, etc., it will be much cheaper on OS/2 than on NT or Solaris, simply due to lower support costs for the developers.
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Still on the high end of things, (http://www.tiac.net/users/csn) Client Server Networking Inc. has announced beta testing for its new WATCHIT Plus. WATCHIT Plus, quite simply, provides the information to optimize any IBM LAN SERVER. Platforms include OS2, AIX, MVS\VM, or AS\400. The product will graph mean response, sessions, shares, bytes transferred, print jobs, big buffer and request buffer allocations. Graphs direct administrators to the detail information needed to improve performance and expand capacity.
The commercial product will be available from most OS/2 software retailers in the second quarter of 1996 (around May or June). The beta test started on February 20th but is still open to interested parties (check the web page for details). The price for the GA has not been set yet.
For further information e-mail (csn@tiac.net) Robert Labenski of Client Server Networking Inc. or call (860) 233-2951.
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If all that technical talk made you think that game developers have abandoned OS/2, think again. (http://www.nrvcom.com/business/grinliz) Grinning Lizard in conjunction with (http://www.rhintek.com) Rhintek, Incorporated has announced that they are developing a new network aware multi-player game, Bug-Eyed Monsters from Outer Space (BEM) and they are looking for beta testers. BEM is heralded as a multiplayer, action/strategy game with '50s styling and '90s rocket launchers.
(grinliz@bev.net) Lee Thomason and Bill Herrington of Grinning Lizard and (heeth@rhintek.com) David Mearns of Rhintek are working on the game which can have multiple players through dialup, serial connections, local networks, and, of course, the Internet. It will also have lots of different types of scenarios for individualized play. Players can work against one another or as a team. Genetic algorithms are used to create troops and BEMs to allow increases in difficulty. And the AI doesn't cheat!
The final version will be a commercial product with a list price of US$69. Company officials say it will be released in August 1996 and that the date is, "not a moveable [one], either." In the mean time, if you want to jump onto the beta bandwagon, drop by the (http://www.rhintek.com) Rhintek web site for details. I've been told that, "There are plans to have Grinning Lizard host a game every day for people wanting to try multiplayer action." This sounds like a company to watch!
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Still on the multimedia game front, (maxmars@pianeta.it) Max Marsiglietti and (dandaman@aloha.com) Dan Libby are still accepting participants in their beta test of their OS/2 pinball game. The temporary working name for the application is (http://www.nmia.com/~graphiti/psyberball/) Psyberball. There will also almost certainly be a pinball construction kit to go along with the game.
Featuring DIVE (including FS DIVE) graphics, DART sound support for real time music and sound effects and running up to 66+ frames per second on a 486, the initial demo/beta copies distributed to test the graphics and game engine look good. The final decision on whether this will be a shareware or commercial product has yet to be determined and the final release date is also up in the air. Expect it some time this year is as specific as the developer would be.
Currently, there are about 70 testers, and growing. If you want to get in on the fun, send an e-mail to (maxmars@pianeta.it) maxmars@pianeta.it. As Marsiglietti says, "by testing these early releases you'll be sure that the final release will work on your box."
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In a less game oriented use of multimedia, WiSHware Inc. is continuing its ongoing beta testing of the freeware PMsndX. What does PMsndX do? Well, it does a whole lot. Just about anything you can think of for digital audio is in the program.
Actually PMsndX is two programs, EdSndX.exe and PlSndX.exe, which are aimed at different users. These tools are intended for use by the average home user who wants to play with sound bytes (small sound files) which are typically less than one or two megabytes. EdSndX.EXE is the primary tool for editing audio files of many different formats including Sun, WAV, VOC, MAC, IRCAM, and all the raw formats. PlSndX.EXE is the primary tool for playing sound files. This program is unique in that not only can it can load any of the formats that EdSndX can edit, but it also has special features to make it easy to play sounds directly from the command line.
Have you ever downloaded an .au file and found that it will not play with wepm or ab.exe? This is normally because the file is sampled at 8kHz which the normal players have problems with. PlSndX solves this problem by automatically adjusting the rate to a multiple of 11025 which makes most sound cards very happy. All of these tools are integrated into the WPS environment and support Drag/Drop as well as integrated on-line help.
In an interesting switch, author (wishware@cais.com) William S. Hiles distributes PMSndX only as freeware and only to home users. In his words, "It is intended for home users. The licenses are free for the asking and the only thing that I require is that the user demonstrate that he/she will be using it for personal applications." He further says, "I give this program away in hopes that someone will find it useful and so that I can feel like I contributed to the OS/2 community in a positive way." If only there were more like him!
In one of the most eloquent statements ever heard from a shareware or freeware developer, Hiles says, "Due to the nature of the program, it is always a beta and always a final release." Two years of beta testing has made it stable (Version 2.15) but new features are always being added and new beta testers are always welcome. Just send him a message explaining why you feel that you should be included on the "early list". Hiles sends out notes to the "early testers" to let them know what area has changed and where to really focus the testing.
The program can be found on most FTP sites as pmsx215.zip as of March.
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Finally this month, another developer is jumping into the Internet application ring. The Internet Adventurer for OS/2 PM by Kim Rasmussen is an Internet suite for OS/2, currently supporting IRC (including rexx scripts) and WWW using the WebExplorer API. Soon however, FTP, Telnet, News, Mail, and possibly other protocols will be added.
Until now, the beta test has been going for around one month, and there have already been more that 100 testers. If you would like to participate, just send an e-mail to (kr@belle.dk) kr@belle.dk with the subject Internet Adventurer Beta Request, or drop by the (http://www.belle.dk/kr/) web site for more details.
Final pricing and release date for this shareware suite is still not decided. The author plans to ask all beta participants what they think would be a valid price for it, but for now, the beta is free. So drop by!
Last month we took a very general look at tuning your OS/2 Warp system. We saw how OS/2 uses the hardware in your PC, and what pieces could be upgraded to enhance the overall system performance. We also took a quick look at freeware utilities available on the Internet to help you in this task.
This month we will look at some quick and dirty little changes that can make a huge difference in the overall system speed of your PC.
Before changing anything in your CONFIG.SYS file it is a good idea to back up. If you aren't fortunate enough to own a tape backup (or one of those spiffy new Zip type disk drives) you are still in luck. OS/2 has a built in archiver that automatically saves all key system files and restores them for you (if ever needed).
To enable this feature simply right click on the desktop, choose settings and click the tab that says "Archive". Click the appropriate option and OS/2 will automatically keep a record of the last three successful boots of the system. To revert back to one of them simply press ALT-F1 when you see OS/2 and the white box in the top left of the screen during bootup. (Speaking of ALT-F key combinations on bootup, ALT-F2 allows you to see all the drivers that are loading as the system boots).
Now on to the juicy stuff. In order to verify that my advice works (it's always a good idea to verify your facts before blasting them out to the millions connected to the Internet) I did a clean install on a spare partition which I formatted with HPFS. The system I used consisted of a VLB/PCI motherboard with 256k L2 cache, 8 meg 70ns parity memory, an Adaptec 2842a VLB SCSI-II controller, HP 2490 SCSI-II HD, and a #9 Motion 531 VLB video card with 2 meg DRAM. The version of OS/2 I used was OS/2 Warp Connect Full Pack (TCP/IP support installed).
Before rebooting I installed the latest ATAPI fix since I use an IDE CD-ROM. After the initial boot I ran CSORTOS2 to order the CONFIG.SYS file so it would be easier to read and make changes to. Another added bonus is that it is easier to tell if newly installed apps change the CONFIG.SYS or add extra drivers that load at boot time (possibly causing the system to slow). A copy of the initial CONFIG.SYS can be seen below. I also installed DINFO so I could keep an eye on my swapper growth. For the first run of tests I used just the standard VGA driver.
Then I played with the system. The first thing I noticed was that the swapper grew to 9 meg just on bootup! As intimidating as this initial observation was, I trudged on. I set up the dialer for my local provider and went on-line. The first thing I did was download WebExplorer 1.03. After a quick reboot I went surfing.
Initial system response wasn't too bad. That is, until the swap file started growing again. After about fifteen minutes of browsing around and printing a few pages I noticed the swapper was shrinking. My first note was to see that the swapper had grown to around 20 meg at its maximum. Note two of this initial run was how badly printing was dragging the system down.
Not bad, all in all, for an initial run. I dug into the CONFIG.SYS and made a few quick changes in the following lines (I have numbered them so I may refer to them later, they should not have a number in your config.sys):
Lines 1 and 2 deal with printing. The additional /IRQ switch on line one switches the default printing method to direct IRQ access rather than POLLING (the default in Warp). Direct IRQ printing is much faster and has a lower overhead than POLLING, but you must make certain there are no IRQ conflicts between you LPT port and other devices (most notably your soundcard). POLLING can deal with conflicts, while direct IRQ can not. Line 2 just increases the default port buffer size to 1024 bytes (1k). The max is 2048 bytes or 2k.
Line 3 boosts the initial swap file size to 25600 (25 meg). The 2048 switch tells the system to warn the user when the swap file partition has only 2048 kb (2 megs) left for growth. Earlier I said that the swap file grew to 20 meg just from normal use. Since one of the biggest hits to performance is swapper size adjustment (growth particularly) I gave myself an extra 5 meg to play with. Line 4 drops my HPFS cache size to 512k from 1024k. I found out long ago that on memory tight systems diskcache is expendable. What use is a big diskcache if it means OS/2 is digging into the swap file more often?
Lines 5 and 6 deal with FAT. Line 5 is the cache statement for FAT partitions, which I rarely use or need so I REMed it out. Buffers is set to 90 by default, I drop it down to 60 on most of my systems. If you don't access FAT partitions at all, and you rarely use floppies (which are FAT) you can drop this even lower (to 6 or so). If you are using FAT partitions for OS/2 you would want to take an opposite approach. REM out the HPFS cache line (I have heard you can't REM this out. Anyone care to confirm?), up the DISKCACHE statement, and leave buffers at at least 90.
Lastly, when dealing with swap files, it is sometimes a good idea to play with the position of the swap file. IBM's official recommendation is:
"For systems which have multiple partitions or multiple disks, this should be placed on the most used directory of the least used disk. Also, try to physically locate the swap file on the disk based on its usage. If you are doing a lot of swap activity, place
the swap file at the start of the disk. If is it rarely used, place it at the end." - from the (http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/perf3.html) IBM tuning page."
It won't hurt anything to move it. Just remember to delete any old and unused SWAPPER.DAT files that you may leave lying around.
Line 7 reduces the number of threads that are available to the system. During my first run I used the GO utility to see how many threads were running (around 100) on a normal load. I added 50 for a safe margin.
Lines 8 and 9 have to do with unneeded drivers. The BASEDEV=IBM2FLPY.ADD line is for support of PS/2 floppies (which I don't have). Line 9 is to support the special floppy format used on disk distribution of Warp and other products. If you have a CD copy of OS/2 you will not need this line in day to day use. It is a good idea to just rem it out in case you may need it later.
Lines 10 and 11 are just little touches. Line 10 tells the system to give a process priority if it waits around for 2 seconds, while line 11 is strictly for the IAK (Internet Access Kit) dialer. If you don't have this line, and you dial your provider a second time in the same OS/2 session, you have to wait for the dialer to time out trying to find the host name.
Other changes to the system that I made initially were to install my video card specific drivers (I hate 640x480). I also turned off desktop animation by right clicking on the desktop, going into SYSTEM SETUP, SYSTEM, then the WINDOW tab.
Upon reboot I noticed something wonderful. My system was actually usable! Windows popped up quickly, WebExplorer was as responsive as any web browser in Windows on an 8 meg machine. Printing was still slow but it was bearable.
Still, not being one to ever say, "This is good enough," I started digging a little more. Another area that takes some playing to tune are your PATH statements. There are three path statements in your CONFIG.SYS. They each play a different role in how OS/2 finds files. They (and their purposes) are:
PATH - Like the DOS PATH variable, this is where OS/2 will look for executable files.
DPATH - Where OS/2 will look for data files.
LIBPATH - Where OS/2 will look for .DLL files (a period (.) means look in the current directory)
Finally, here some lists of drivers pertaining to DOS/Win support in OS/2 that you may be able to get rid of if you don't use DOS or Windows.
If you don't use DOS TCP/IP connectivity you can get rid of the following lines:
DEVICE=G:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSTCP.VDD
DEVICE=G:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSTCP.SYS
RUN=G:\TCPIP\BIN\VDOSCTL.EXE
If you don't use DOS-Windows support at all you can dump these lines:
FILES=20
BREAK=OFF
SHELL=G:\OS2\MDOS\COMMAND.COM G:\OS2\MDOS
FCBS=16,8
RMSIZE=640
DOS=LOW,NOUMB
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VEMM.SYS
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VXMS.SYS /UMB
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VDPMI.SYS
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VDPX.SYS
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VWIN.SYS
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VW32S.SYS
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VCDROM.SYS
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VMOUSE.SYS
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VCOM.SYS
DEVICE=G:\OS2\MDOS\VVGA.SYS
Lastly, if you don't have a soundcard (or you wish to disable it) you can type DINSTSND.CMD in any OS/2 command session. This will disable sounds relating to the desktop.
Hopefully this will give you a good start in tuning your own system. OS/2 is a wonderful operating system if you take the time to learn how it works and how to use it. Fine tuning your own system helps you in both of these areas, plus it has the added bonus of increasing your system speed. And that's one thing we all want, isn't it?
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(http://www.athenet.net/~heathp/) Heath Phillippi is currently a Customer Engineer for AmeriData, Inc. in Appleton Wisconsin. He is the OS/2 Warp Champion for the OS/2 BESTeam, as well as a proud member of Team OS/2.
---Our Sponsor: BMT Micro (http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/)---
One of the most frustrating things about running your own businesses is when you need to fix a computer problem. While IBM provides, in my opinion, some of the best support around, unless you're sure it's a software defect it can end up costing you a good chunk of change. What I have found is that supporting OS/2 Warp isn't bad at all if you know where to look and what to look for. So since I have spent my free time over the last three weeks trying to figure out a system problem, which has resulted in the postponing of my original article, I thought this was a good time to get this topic covered.
Let's begin with the most obvious need. Where to go for help, preferably free, or cheap, and quick. Since you're probably reading this on the 'net you are already plugged into a great resource. There are many usenet groups, namely all the comp.os.os2 hierarchy and bit.listserv.os2-l. They all focus on different topics but by scanning them as well as posting your own problems you can usually get your problems fixed or at least narrowed down. The other great place to try is CompuServe's OS2USER and OS2SUPPORT forums, although I know some of you will argue about whether or not CIS is cheap.
On the other net, fidonet, there is another large collection of message areas in the ibmNET, os2NET and FIDONET areas. They can be found on most OS/2 BBSes as well as many other non-OS/2 BBSes. Many are just a telnet away on the Internet; a great one to try is the (http://www.os2bbs.com) OS/2 Shareware BBS. Telneting or connecting by the WWW can also avoid long distance charges. These are all very interactive ways to post your problems as well as browse others' problems which may be similar.
Interactive help is always great but there are many other less interactive, more self-help items at your disposal. One of the best is The OS/2 Warp FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). There is also the "Stupid OS/2 Tricks" document. Both of these gems are on the 'net as well as in INF book formats and provide you with some common answers to common problems. They also can give you a new outlook on what neat little things OS/2 Warp can do. You should also check out IBM's (http://ps.boulder.ibm.com/pbin-usa-ps/pub_search.pl/) Personal Software Search Facility to search IBM's known problem database for answers. Another definite must is (http://godzilla.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/pharmacy/WarpPharmacy.html) The Warp Pharmacy which has the most common problems broken down by category.
A couple of other helpful documents are OS/2 Warp Connect Tips and Tricks, Performance Tuning OS/2 Warp, OS/2 Warp Trouble shooting Demystified and always check out the (http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/os2hw.html) OS/2 Compatibility Table to make sure that your hardware has device drivers and then check the (http://www.europe.ibm.com/getdoc/psmemea/progserv/device) OS/2 Device Driver Repository to get the latest version (doing this fixes a lot of the problems that people encounter).
Newbies or veterans alike need to have good resources at their disposal to be as efficient as possible. So I hope I have given you some new places to look and new resources to rely on. I use these documents and web sites almost every day to make supporting OS/2 shops much easier. I have also put together a collection I call "Warp Start" with these documents as well as one which lists most of the electronically available help for OS/2. I intend to keep it updated with the most current versions as well as by adding any new documents which are of assistance. For details of how to get a copy of "Warp Start" (collin@ice.net) write me.
Oh, by the way, I have my system up and running great after using all the resources I could find and replacing a failing SCSI card, which was the only thing I didn't replace at first or even think of replacing. But more on hardware hassles in a latter column.
I am currently working on articles about automating FAXes in OS/2 applications, setting up a "Connected TAN" (OS/2 Warp Connect Tiny Area Network), creating multimedia presentations under Warp, running "the MOBILE WARPED SOHO" and Warped Voice Mail solutions. So if you have any thing you want to see covered in those topics or products I need to check out please drop me a note. And of course please keep sending me those comments and ideas for anything Warped SOHO related you want to see covered. Oh yeah, I plan on showing you how to automate e-mail too, which in turn will allow me to respond more quickly to your comments and maybe start doing some polls. Until next month remember that if most ATMs run on OS/2, a SOHO on OS/2 Warp is a safe place to put your money.
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(www.ice.net/~collin) Collin W. Summers is president of CSSolutions Inc., a small computer consulting firm in central Illinois, specializing in OS/2 and related products. Currently he spends much of his time doing technical support/marketing for IBM. He also contributes to OS/2 Warp Monthly.
I said in a rant a few months ago that OS/2's greatest asset is us, the people who use it and like it. IBM isn't spending huge megaswaths of money on advertising Warp like Microsoft is doing with Windows 95, yet we stand to lose so much if OS/2 doesn't become a viable standard. But all the while I see people who call themselves OS/2 "advocates" doing nothing but complaining and whining, shouting at the top of their lungs that Win95 "Sucks" and narry a mention of Warp's strength.
You can't sum up Windows 95 as "Sucks" and OS/2 as "Cool" and expect an unsavvy computer user to instantly see the light.
What's more likely is that they'll distrust our grassroots efforts and listen to the popular media--a channel bombarded with Microsoft dollars.
I'm pretty sure nobody made their choice of software because the people on that side of the fence were busy lobbing rocks over to the other side. The only impression they'll get is that one side is pretty sore about something and hoping to drag as many as they can down with their misery. "Oh yeah sure I'm going to buy that product, hey you just threw that rock on my lawn!"
But people keep at it, somehow they're convinced that "sucks" is a power word that affects the same braincell that controls wallet-opening reflexes.
How about trying a different method? How about... oh I don't know... maybe forgetting about Windows 95 for a bit and detailing a few good things about Warp?
Tell you what, I'll start you off. Try some of these:
"I couldn't install my new app because I didn't have quite enough hard disk space. Then I discovered for about the same price as Stacker I could get Partition Magic instead, convert my VFAT drives to HPFS, gain 200 megs back from my Gig partition, AND a performance increase instead of a hit!"
"My boss wanted me to print out everything relating to the Jones account. I opened the Jones folder, pressed ctrl-/, and dragged everything to the printer. I'm done!"
"HiJaak95 puts thumbnails in the icons eh? Oh that's like the shareware PMView for OS/2 or the Light Tables that come free with the Warp Bonus Pack. What, HiJaak costs $59.95? Oh gee..."
Don't tell me you can't write short, snappy, to-the-point soundbites like these. They're easy and they're a heck of a lot more effective than shouting "Windows suuuuucks!" We should not be trying to put down anybody else's operating system like it was the scum of the Earth (and I know some of you like to think it is), we should be trying to seek out the people who really would benefit from Warp, but don't know it yet.
Think about when you made your first platform shift. What concerned you the most? For me and for most other people considering a new operating system it's, "Can I do my work in this?" or, "Can I use my hardware with this?" and the final shove is really the answer to the question, "Am I going to work better with this?"
We're all going to do a lot better answering these questions for new users if we stop the shouting, stop the infighting, and work together as a team. Only a team can pull together the kind of information needed to persuade unsavvy users, and a unified team looks more attractive than a sparse smattering of fanatics when that person is looking for support.
What I've seen from some "advocates" does nothing to promote OS/2 and in fact hurts it instead. Why bicker about whether or not (http://www.ntweb.org/os2web/contro.html) Jason Perlow is on "our side" or not? What? Who? Where? Can't we get on with our work? I'm glad some people refused to consider inhaling marijuana as an issue against Bill Clinton's campaign. I mean, what's that got to do with the price of fish? Similarly enough, why should we have to second guess the intentions of someone who appears to be doing a lot of good for us and sacrificing his own time and resources to do it?
I think I'll be spending my time and energy showing everyone the great stuff you can do with Warp and giving them a banquet of food for thought. I wonder what others will be doing?
(http://www.spectra.net/~fox) Chris Wenham is a Team OS/2er in Binghamton, NY with a catchy-titled company--Wenham's Web Works. He has been writing all sorts of strange things from comedy to sci-fi to this.
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Trevor's Rant - by Trevor Smith
Before you read any further, here's a warning. This rant is inflammatory. I'm going to condemn some people and if you're one of them, you might get offended. If you've got a guilty conscience read no further and we'll be able to stay friends. If you've nothing to hide, then read on...
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I've known some pretty shifty characters in my time. These aren't the kind that would pick your pocket any more than they would pick a fight with you. They're strictly non-confrontational. But they're shifty nonetheless. Why? Because they've got Autocad and PageMaker sitting on their hard drives even though they never use them. Worse, they've got Lotus SmartSuite and four or five DOS games that they do use but they certainly didn't pay for. They're the kind of people that would pirate an application any day instead of buying it. They're the kind of people that would pirate food guide software from the Heart and Stroke Foundation. They just don't care who they rip off. They're a lowly den of reptilian creatures--and I was their lizard king.
Okay, maybe not the king, but I was certainly some sort of petty nobility. Yes, I confess, I have pirated software. I have actually done a little copy protection breaking; I've copied plenty of installation disks from friends; I've used shareware past the evaluation period. But hey, everyone does it. I mean, it's alright, isn't it?
No, it is not!
They say reformed smokers are always much less tolerant of smoking than people who have never taken a puff. Well just like Born Again Christians have many times the zeal of other denominations, I'm here to tell you, it is not alright! And it is especially not all right in the OS/2 world. I have seen the light brother and I'm telling you, sin no more lest we all be destroyed!
No, I'm not just preaching because my conscience has gotten the better of me and I've registered my shareware apps. In fact, I haven't registered them all yet. I will though, and let me tell you why. Because I believe in OS/2 but I realize that if it is ever going to get past the point where the whole industry inhales every time a company goes out of business, then it has to expand. How will it expand? By having OS/2 ISVs, large and small, become successful, introduce new and improved products and attract more companies to the market. How will this happen? By you sending them your money.
The next time you think you're getting such a great deal because you're using the software that some dumb schmoe busted his or her back writing and you didn't have to pay a cent for, use your brain and realize that they are people too. I don't care if they're Lotus, CodeSmith (makers of Xit) or SouthSide Software (PMMail), they are not faceless entities. The people at those companies, whether there are 2 or 20,000 depend on people paying a fair price for the software they make. If people don't pay, those people lose their jobs. Period.
I know what you're thinking. "They're stuff is priced too high. It's not fair." Well if you don't like it move to Moscow comrade, it's called capitalism and some of us think it works quite nicely. Here's the general theory: company X spends a lot of time developing application Y. They figure their time is worth $Z. If you happen to think $Z is too high, then don't buy it! But don't use it either. See how well everything meshes? No one forces you to pay a price you consider too dear and you shouldn't force them to give you their software for free (by stealing it!).
It seems that this is more relevant to the OS/2 world than any other computer platform. At least one OS/2 ISV has told me that OS/2 software is pirated at a greater rate than DOS or Windows stuff and that piracy is the one thing that is hurting this particular company the most. How do you think that makes ISVs feel? Do you think they support OS/2 so you can steal their stuff and they can waste their development time without getting remunerated for it? Are you listening to this? If people steal their software they won't make it any more. Get it?!? You're not just hurting them, you're hurting yourself. Worse, you're hurting me.
Yeah I know we all want stuff for free and I'm not saying that you're all going to burn in hell just for using a few shareware apps past their evaluation period. But come on. I've talked to a few shareware authors and I've been told what some of their registration rates are. No-one is stupid enough to believe that all the rest of the millions of people out there using OS/2 just aren't using some of these apps. Some of them are probably on almost 25% or 30% of the Warp systems out there. If you can name me one shareware author who has had a million registrations (which is less than 25% of 5 million Warp licenses), I'll stop ranting and apologize. I'll even eat my hat.
Just imagine how great that would be; that author would have made literally millions of dollars and presumably would immediately start other projects (realizing how great being rich is compared to being poor) and probably hire other OS/2 programmers. Net result: increased demand for OS/2 skilled programmers, increased and more mature OS/2 applications, increased interest from other ISVs and shareware authors, increased OS/2 sales.
Maybe you think that registering your shareware is too hard. You just can't find an envelope to send your payment in or you don't have a chequing account and don't feel like walking to the post office for a money order. No problem! Many BBS's have on-line registration for many popular shareware products. One that pops to mind is Peter Norloff's OS/2 Shareware BBS but I'm by no means showing favouritism to that one as I'm sure there are many others. Check your favourite local one. If that's not good enough for you, BMT Micro has toll free phone lines for users in the States and Canada. That's right, you can register over 70 quality OS/2 shareware apps by telephone with your credit card (you can also fax BMT your information to register your favourite apps).
And if you're using an application from Athena, DeScribe, Stardock, SPG, Hilgraeve, Lotus, Pinnacle, DevTech or anyone else that you didn't pay for, I don't even want to talk to you. You know what to do.
So don't just sit there looking at the screen. Get out your cheque book and register those apps. I want a future for OS/2.
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(editor@haligonian.com) Trevor Smith is the editor of OS/2 e-Zine!. When he's not saving souls, he's fervently registering his shareware for all he's worth.
Every so often, an especially unique or innovative program appears. The kind of program that is so useful, you wonder why IBM didn't include it with the operating system. The kind of program that leaves your jaw dropping in an attempt to figure exactly how the author did it.
DragText is one of those programs. Several months ago, Rich Walsh released version 1.0 of DragText. Available as freeware, version 1.0 added some amazing features to the OS/2 desktop. Almost any text in a standard Presentation Manager control could be selected, right-clicked, and dragged to an entry field, where it would be inserted. Even more useful was the ability to drag a file or folder to insert the pathname or contents of the file.
DragText v1.0 was an impressive program. With the release of version 1.1, it's even better. Now, you can drag text straight onto the desktop, and a special DragText object will be created. Drag that object back onto an entry field, and the text will be dropped. And if you drop a URL, a URL object will be created!
The new version also has more, prettier drag icons to make the action of any drag obvious. It also includes a few advanced features, like the ability to insert a custom-formatted directory listing when you drop a folder object. Despite all these features, the program is easy to configure, with a nicely laid-out settings notebook that contains all options. It's also easy to install, and the install program advises you of potential problems depending on your version of OS/2.
Speaking of problems, you might think that a program that makes such significant modifications to OS/2 would have a lot of compatibility problems. On the contrary, DragText is an extraordinarily well-behaved program. There's a special page in the settings notebook that allows you to turn off any part of DragText for any program. In addition, the author conducted an extensive beta test and pre-filled the page with the three applications that were found to cause problems.
Even DragText's registration policy is amazing. Only the new features of version 1.1 cost money. You are given six weeks to evaluate them. But even if you decide not to register, you can continue to use the features that were in the freeware v1.0 release. Wow!
DragText v1.1 is an outstanding update to an already impressive program. And with the liberal registration policy, there's nothing to be lost by upgrading. I highly recommend this program to everyone who uses OS/2--after using it for a few weeks, you won't want to do without it.
Although I am still under 30, I have seen computers change from the Commodore PET and APPLE II to the Pentium Pro and the Power PC. I've bought a number of computers ranging from a Commodore 64 in 1983 (and the Commodore PLUS 4 which soon after died a horrible death) to my latest AMD 486DX2-66 (yes, I want a Pentium Pro, no I can't afford it!). What has happened to computers? Are we better off now or are we heading for a fall?
Memory
I currently do not own a computer with less than 12 MB of RAM. Even my 16 MB machine sometimes swaps hard when I put OS/2 through its paces. OS/2 has always chewed up RAM. The 4 MB it says on the box is for masochists only. Eight minimum, 16 is better. But it is not just OS/2. Look to Win95, Win NT, and UNIX for other examples of pigs. Only DOS still lets us get by with less than 4 MB, but even then, DOOM type games want more. My Commodore 64 had a whopping 64kB of RAM, but I played some of the best games of my life on that machine (Archon, Blue Max, Loadrunner, Paradroids, etc). I used PaperClip for my word processing (it could hold 10 pages of text max) and Pocket Planner for my spreadsheet. I think I was happy.
Storage
Ha! I used a tape drive with my Commodore 64 for the first year and then that horribly slow 180kB single sided single density floppy disk drive. Then again, with your operating system on ROM and only 64kB of RAM, how much storage do you need? My main machine now has 1.5GB of hard drive space (recently up from 500MB). OS/2 takes up a 70 MB partition (full install) plus I have most of the BonusPak and lots of commercial software that I have reviewed over the years. Not to mention games like Duke Nukem 3D of course, and data files, graphics, and junk I never even knew I had.
CPU
Well, it's nothing like my 66 MHz 486, but the 6510 ran at 1.01 MHz. Do I need to say anything else here except to note that the C64 was no speed demon?
Graphics
Hands down, my ATI Mach 32 at 1280x1024x256 kicks the C64's video chip. But in 1983, the C64's graphics were much better than the EGA or monochrome PCs. Although now I have more real estate, most programs do not take advantage of my resolution except for letting me see more at one time. DOS games still run in 320x200 low resolution so I don't think I've gained 13 years worth of technology.
Possible Reasons
So, are we better off? In many cases yes. WYSIWYG DeScribe would not be an option, and I can't imagine SLIPping onto the Internet with my 300 bps Pocket Modem. But back then, programs were written in assembler code instead of C. They had to be fast and efficient. Nowadays, if you write a bloated program (like Microsoft Word) it is up to the user to upgrade his RAM or CPU, it's not Microsoft's job to make the program better. What can we do? Not much as a consumer. Programs like Clearlook are rare, and most programs we buy are bloated. CD-ROMs allow us to store over 600MB of information so I personally don't think that any company will not take advantage of the extra space. I guess we just grin and bear it until the revolution comes.
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(linfield@torfree.net) Kevin Linfield is a Toronto based consultant and a freelance writer.
I've been a dyed-in-the-wool OS/2 user for the past four years. I don't follow the industry hype; I try to get work done. And I do this extremely well with Warp. What is disparaging is that I've heard so much FUD from the press over these same years. Writers seem to think they will be committing career suicide if they aren't the first to publicly yell "jump ship!" This is not what I expect from magazines like OS/2 Professional; I expect the press to tell me how to use Warp better. If something is to be done about the effect that this press has on potential users of Warp, the time is now. A better strategy for marketing Warp is in order.
Many lessons can be learned from other marketing successes. Consider Microsoft. Lesson Number One: Microsoft never eats one of its own children, be it Windows 3.1, Win95, Word, or whatever. It always has glowing things to say about them. Microsoft has a diversified bundle of software so that if one product or another fails (and they do), it can still unequivocally support the bundle.
Lesson Two: In many ways, Windows 95 is developed and sold like a GM truck, or to play with prescience, a GM truck is developed and sold much like Windows 95. Fleet sales of trucks, like operating system licenses to OEMs, keep forecasted production fairly constant, which then prevents a lot of the uncertainty about development cycles. Few people care how the truck works, as long as it:
* comes with dual air bags and anti-lock brakes (the OS doesn't lose data or business); and
* impresses people who see you motoring around (is popular).
Finally, compare the slogans: does anyone really know how good a GM truck is because it's "like a rock" ("Where do you want to go today?")?
We, the users of Warp, should be praising it in public. It is GUI, it is an excellent OS, and it is popular.
Consider the first Macintosh, a great machine and OS (for its time). Its marketing was simply elegant. Apple didn't push RAM, "power-using" or functionality. Apple showed us that Macs could be fun, really fun. And that Steve Jobs guy---a Playboy interview when he was 29? The fact that Apple computers are almost revered by their users sends an important message: show people that Warp is fun to use, and they will come around. Don't get me wrong, I do use Warp for C/C++ and SAS, I just think it should be fun too.
Mazda Miatas are developed and sold a lot like Apple Macintoshes. Miatas are engineered to both get you to work as well as to be enjoyed (Mac's ease of use), they convey Japanese reliability (no noticeable or memorable bad Mac press), and Miata drivers just look happy buzzing around (Macintosh: The Religion). More important than whether Macs are in fact this user-friendly is the public's impression is that they are.
What about Warp? I get the impression that we have to prove that Warp is better than Win95 and MacOS. Well, of course it is. One million licenses in December is very impressive, and I'm glad that many were to corporate and government users. A recent Price Waterhouse study of operating systems usage (based on 1994 sales and planned 1995 sales) shows Warp ahead of Sun Solaris, a respected workstation platform. We don't have to prove that, it's a fact.
But little is ever "proved" in marketing nor does it need to be. We and IBM are not selling Warp right. Until "Deep Blue the computer" gives a Playboy interview we are without a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs mascot. Maybe Warp's mascot should be a blue, machine-looking fur-ball, a happy-go-lucky user-friend with "Deep" underlying power who waddles around saying "Think!" The machine that talks and listens to your kids, manages your office, spars with Kasparov, and runs the Olympics and Indianapolis 500? I need to think about it a bit first. And I'm in want of a car analogy.
Short of a mascot, users are the best representatives of Warp. Warp will last a long time because we the users will support it for a long time. When people ask what I use, I say Warp. When they imply that I should use Win95 since everybody does, I explain the difference between a herd of users and a critical mass: that although a herd is sufficient to guarantee continued use, a critical mass of intelligent, innovative users is all that is necessary to keep us productive. I'd call thirteen million copies of OS/2 a critical mass.
So my job is to tell others that I enjoy Warp, start-to-finish, soup-to-nuts. And that I'll be using it for a long time. Sure it's powerful, but it's also fun. Sure it is "document-centric" and has the "object-oriented technology" stuff and has the best and brightest programmers behind it, but personally, I just love dragging documents to the printer, dragging drives to the backup tape, dragging URLs to WebExplorer and making little REXX CMDs so I can drag files onto them too. It's kind of like a motorcycle: once someone shows you how to ride it, you're hooked. Said another way, part of marketing Warp is no deeper than letting others see us enjoying it, and showing them how to use it.
What have I learned from all this? That while IBM can and will continue to improve and refine the power of the family of Warp products, it's our job as users to show others that we use and like it. Be visible. Sell Warp first as functional and easy to use, only then rattle off about 32-bit multitasking etc., etc. Help one person install or configure Warp. Speak highly of OS/2 to new computer users, not lowly of Microsoft; Calling Windows 95 "Lethal Weapon MCV" will get us nowhere. Creating a visible subculture of cutting edge, ESPN2-type users will get Warp everywhere. Let's go!
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(http://www.bfrl.nist.gov/Biographies/mehlen.html) Mark A. Ehlen was previously an engineer and construction project manager. He is now an economist with the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and uses Warp for statistical analysis and development of Clipper-based and C/C++-based programs.
In planning for this issue we began asking months ago when the various developers of e-mail clients would be finished their respective releases: for Knightware, MR/2 ICE v1.0; for SouthSide Software, PMMail v1.5; and for InnoVal Systems Solutions, Post Road Mailer v1.05. The answers were mostly dates early in March. But of course, this is the software industry we're talking about; things never quite work out the way you plan and those dates slipped and then slipped more.
Finally, everyone did start nearing completion of their various clients, but not before we committed ourselves to an editorial cycle containing a review of those programs. Finally MR/2 ICE is nearing v1.0 (and may be at that point by the time you read this) and PMMail's code base is finished (SouthSide Software has publicly stated that it will be released on April 15). The only one missing is PRM v1.05.
We had originally hoped to have our hands on a copy of v1.05 in plenty of time to include it in this review but we were unable to accomplish this. Like PMMail v1.5, PRM v1.05 will almost certainly be released sometime in April, but at press time we were unable to get a firm date on exactly when. Because of this and since the code is still in flux we chose to leave it out of this round-up and focus instead on the presently available PRM v1.03a. Rest assured we will be doing a follow up review of PRM v1.05 as soon as it is released and we have sufficient time to evaulate it properly. Look for this and other reviews of InnoVal's Internet products in upcoming issues of e-Zine!.
Reviews:
* MR2 ICE v0.99u2 - Chris Williams
The newest of commercially available OS/2 e-mail clients, MR/2 ICE has won a large following very rapidly. Chris has a look at the OS/2 notebook metaphor taken to extremes and tells us how good it is.
* PMMail v1.5 - Noah Sumner
Around for over a year now, PMMail has taken its first major leap to version 1.5. With a slew of enhancements to tell you about Noah gives you the ins and outs of this venerable program.
* Post Road Mailer Green Edition v1.03a - Richard Klemmer
Richard looks at the tried and true InnoVal offering in the e-mail arena. Around almost as long as PMMail has been, PRM has just as loyal a following among the OS/2 Internet community and our reviewer looks at why.
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* e-mail Client Feature Comparison Table - Check out our handy comparison table to quickly see which apps have what!
When I "raved" about Mail Reader/2 Internet Cruiser Edition (ICE) just a couple of issues ago, I may have left you with the impression that I liked the product. Now that I've lived full-time with ICE for the last several weeks, I've had a chance to experience life with it "in the real world". The verdict: despite some beta growing pains, ICE is very cool!
Rarely have I used a beta product that has been so reliable for me in almost every respect. Usually, "beta" means getting your crash helmets out and saving all of your data. In contrast, ICE has been more reliable in its beta form than quite a few production applications I've seen. The best part is, ICE will most likely be at version 1.0 by the time you read this or shortly after. Look for ICE to cool down the streets in production form sometime by mid April. Understanding that programming is often more of an art than a science, I can certainly live with that kind of schedule. When was the last time a product from a large software company shipped only a couple of weeks after it was originally promised? Further, since the program is already available to the general public (as v0.99u2) and the author is taking registrations, the differences between this and final version become academic.
To recap some of it's features, ICE is a 32-bit multithreaded POP3 and SMTP mail reader, complete with a 70,000 word thesaurus and 120,000 word spell checker. It has a simple, WPS aware interface that relies heavily on OS/2's spiral notebook scheme. There are lots of other neat features like configurable toolbars with bubble help text and automatic uuencoding/decoding of attachments, just to name a couple.
Installation
Installing ICE is almost as easy as using it. Just create a directory where you want ICE installed, copy the .ZIP files for the main program, spell checker and thesaurus to that directory and unzip them. ICE will automatically configure itself to the settings used by your ISP and display them for you to verify the first time you run it. Make any corrections you may need (which are usually none), and you are ready to go! There is only one big downside to the installation process: you have to create your own program object for ICE. A real installation program that would create the icon for you and optionally place it in a new folder with a name you can modify, or in another folder of your choosing, would be a nice addition.
Basic Features
As it stands right now, ICE provides all of the basic features you could ask for in a mail tool save for MIME and PGP support. These won't make it into version 1.00, but don't fret, plans are to include MIME in a future version that should be released in about one or two months. After that, Nick says he has plans for, "fun things like sound and some other goodies I've got in the back of my mind... a POP3 Server utility that will let you preview/maintain messages without fetching them, an editable clipboard with multiple 'slots' and keystrokes working like macros."
Speaking of extras, lots of people have contributed utilities to help you move to ICE from competing products. These range from programs to convert your Post Road Mailer and PMMail v1.1 files (UltiMail is in the works) to ICE format, to utilities like a program to help you decode MIME messages.
Another feature I use regularly is multiple configurations for different service providers. I have two, and ICE lets me use either one while sharing the same set of folders and address books. It's also possible to have multiple configurations for the same service provider. My favorite feature by far is the split screen editor for replying to received messages. You can copy and paste from one to the other, and the "paste quoted" option automatically inserts a ) " character in the first column for you.
Operation
Using ICE is a joy. It's a snappy program performance-wise. I would rate it as somewhat slower than PM Mail v1.1 and faster than Post Road Mail v1.03a. My Notebook, a ThinkPad 760CD with 40MB RAM, makes ICE scream right along. I've run the program on a number of smaller systems, including a 386SX/25 with 8MB RAM with no trouble. When it comes to usability, ICE will really make you appreciate the power of the spiral notebook in OS/2. The main program window is a large notebook that breaks everything into tabbed sections; one each for the inbox, outbox, and mail folders. Open a mail folder and a tab is dynamically added to the notebook for that folder. Close the folder and the tab goes away. There are context sensitive, pop-up menus everywhere. The best way to explore these is to click with mouse button 2 on everything to see what happens. It's quite simple and intuitive.
Of course, reading and processing your mail is the main goal of all of these tools. ICE makes this very simple. The dialogs for the letters have nice, large buttons across the bottom for the most commonly used functions like Reply and Close. Across the top is a button bar with enough choices to please almost anyone. If you can't remember what one of these buttons does, just leave the mouse cursor over the button for a second and a help text bubble appears explaining what that button does. If you don't like button toolbars, you can also turn this function off.
ICE is one of the most well threaded applications I've seen, and definitely the best threaded of the available mail tools in my opinion. The send and receive functions are even on separate threads. That means you can send and receive mail at the same time. Reading and editing messages are on separate threads. If you're the type to try it, you can send receive, edit, reply, and file messages all at once. ICE will keep up with you--and probably be a lot less confused about what you are doing than you are! Not only does this show off the power of OS/2 computing, it's very convenient. I routinely start reading my first mail message immediately after it's been pulled off my POP3 server--before ICE has finished pulling in the rest of my waiting mail. I can be editing a message and ICE will automatically be checking for new mail, beeping if something comes in. You never have to wait very long for anything.
Utilities and Extras
The address book in ICE is relatively basic. There are only a few fields to fill in: A "Tag" or alias field, full name, e-mail address, and a general comments field. There is also an option to have an entry displayed in a pop-up menu when you click with the right mouse button on the "To:" field for sending a message. A group list of addresses are handled in a separate but related "Group address book". Each group also has its own tag line and comments and can consist of specific addresses from the address book, other addresses, or other groups. If you want to send to multiple addresses or groups from those stored in the address book, you select them at the time you create the message. The Address Group function isn't as obvious as the address book, but once you are at ease with the address book, the feel between the two is very similar. It would be nice to have these two features merged into a single utility.
There are also some nice extra features included with this package that can make life a little easier. Aside from the spell checker and thesaurus (which are more than adequate for my needs), there is a calendar, a calculator complete with scientific functions, and a text editor (the same one used by default for editing your messages). By the way, if you don't like the editor included with ICE, you can use any other OS/2 text editor you want.
ICE also gives you the ability to use canned replies and filters. While I myself have not used these features all that much, the way they are implemented is very straight forward. The filter allows you to automatically sort your messages as they arrive and do any number of things as a result of receiving certain messages. This includes launching a REXX program which, provided you are familiar with REXX, would allow you to do most anything on your PC. This is still a fairly new feature for ICE; there is more to come in this area, but the basic ideas look to be very useful and promising. In the meantime, you will have to live with the fact that most of the options in this area are still disabled because the code to support them is just not there yet.
Templates are also widely used throughout the program. In fact they are so integrated, you won't realize you are using them until you start digging to find out how and why your e-mail messages look the way they do. A template specifies what basic things show up in all of your messages. They exist for new messages, replies, forwarded messages, and more. Eventually, you will be able to create and use your own in addition to modifying the ones provided by default. Template processing is how ICE allows you to have multiple signature files, attributes, and many other features. While it is undocumented at this time, it is possible to have more than one signature file, but it's not something the squeamish would want to try. The template language itself is not documented very well in the program either. It's very powerful, but again, if you're not a programmer, you will probably be better off waiting for this feature to mature a bit more before giving it a try.
The demo version of ICE is available from Nick Knight's MR/2 Web site. Unlike many shareware programs, this demo is fully functional. While in "beta", updates to the package have come at the rate of about once per week. Plans are to slow that release rate to about once every two weeks after version 1.0. Nick says there are still a number of minor bugs he wants to squash--none of which have slowed my ability to run ICE with confidence.
Shortcomings
So, what's not so good about ICE right now? Mainly the fact that some of the features with high levels of promise aren't finished yet. Formatted printing has caused a few headaches. I'd also love to be able to have complete control over the templates without having to play with things I may not fully comprehend since I didn't write the program myself. It's so close you can see how good it will be, but it's not quite there yet. I'd also love to see a true installation program that takes getting everything installed from 'Easy' to 'Nearly Idiot Proof'.
Conclusions
ICE can be registered through most of the major shareware channels. If you don't register after a reasonable amount of time, it will start reminding you to do so. At US$25, this one is a real bargain. You're also registered as a user, so you can have multiple copies on different machines provided you're the only one using the product.
If you like the idea of having a 32-bit mail tool with the power of the best of the competition and a fast, intuitive interface that's actually pleasing to look at, ICE is definitely for you. Expect this product to be a major player in the OS/2 corner of the Internet world. A few Windows 95 and NT users I know have also looked with envy at my copy. One of them is actually going to buy a copy of Warp Connect so he can give ICE a try. When was the last time you heard that from a MS fan?
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(ftp://nick.secant.com/mr2i099u.zip) MR/2 Internet Cruiser Edition v0.99u2 (726k)
(http://privateI.com/~chrisw) Chris Williams has been actively involved with OS/2 systems for the past six years. A former IBM employee, OS/2 Ambassador, and long time member of Team OS/2, he is currently a PC and network specialist for Perot Systems Corporation.
What do I really need in an e-mail application you ask? Well at least I asked myself that when I got a SLIP account and got onto the Internet. I came up with a simple list of answers to this question. I needed a program that could send and receive mail, however it had to be able to send via SMTP and receive via POP. I also wanted the ability to uuencode/uudecode (to attach files) and the ability to check my spelling.
I quickly found that the list of e-mail applications for OS/2 that would do these things wasn't very long and Ultimail was excluded (no SMTP support). In fact, until now only Post-Road mailer did all these things and you had to pay for the speller. Until now. I have found the new PMMail v1.5 to be all I need, and much, much more. By the time you read this, you will probably be able to see what I mean.
PMMail v1.1 was a small and relatively inexpensive program and had a simple interface but it was rather limited. PMMail v1.5 takes that small relatively inexpensive program to the next level. Authors Robert Novitskey and Evan Goldring have completely rewritten the program from the ground up to revamp the interface, add much needed features and tune the performance and the result is a winner.
Performance
The first obvious difference between PMMail v1.5 and the old version is the size. The original program's executable file was only about 350k so even the most limited of machines seldom had trouble running it. While the new version is certainly much larger at 650k, it should still load and run quickly on most systems, even those with limited memory. On an 8 meg test machine it was still snappy in loading and performing standard functions. Likewise, sending and receiving mail is very efficient and you'll be more constrained by your ISP or the speed of your Internet connection than by PMMail.
Like other competent e-mail clients, PMMail v1.5 uses separate threads for sending and receiving mail so both can take place simultaneously. Of course, this means it is also possible to open a new message or the address book or do practically anything else while mail is being sent or retrieved. Throughout the beta program which wrapped up during the writing of this article, it proved to be a fairly stable application and by the time you read this, even the cosmetics should be completely polished.
The Interface
What about the cosmetics, you ask? PMMail v1.5 is certainly visually different from the original! As I mentioned, the program has been rewritten from the ground up and this includes new icons and a new chiseled look which was a much needed improvement. More important than the looks of the interface though, is its new functionality. Users can now organize their mail using folders within folders! There is also a new Trash folder a-la-Eudora for those who like to have a little insurance when deleting messages. The other thing you're likely to notice about the folders is that one click now opens them instead of a double click. This can be disconcerting or even confusing at first but overall it speeds things up.
More important than the enhancement to the folders is the addition of drag and drop to this version of PMMail. Moving and copying messages can still be accomplished through menu items or buttons but who will want to now that you can drag and drop them to their destination folders? PMMail uses standard OS/2 drag and drop techniques to accomplish moving or copying (dragging while holding the Ctrl key).
Other nice enhancements to the interface include an enhanced info window at the bottom of the screen indicating what number message in the list you are downloading when receiving mail, how many messages in total are coming through and what percentage of the message has been retrieved so far. The send information also indicates what percentage of the message has been transmitted. The compose and read windows have been redesigned too. Again, this will throw many users off for a few days if they are used to the sparseness of PMMail v1.1 or another program, but it is very easy to get used to and overall, a nice layout.
Features
Another one of the biggest improvements to PMMail v1.5 is its improved address book with drag and drop moving and copying of addresses between books and to message fields (To:, Cc: and Bcc:) in the compose window. Copying an address to multiple books does not duplicate the information in the database, it simply indicates to the address book manager that it should be listed in both books thus saving hard disk space if you want to copy addresses to multiple books.
The address book entry screens have also been greatly overhauled and now contain adequate slots for most information. There is now a field for an "alias" which will be automatically expanded to the person's e-mail address if you type only it in any address field when composing your message. There is also an expanded, multiple line notes field as well as areas for entering address and phone number information for both home and work.
Not only can users drag and drop addresses or enter aliases, they can also choose to have individual addresses in a book added to a right-click menu available from the message compose window. It is also possible to mail to an entire book for mass mailings. Of course, a migrate feature is provided to move your data (not just address books, but folders, accounts and groups too) from v1.1 to v1.5.
A fairly robust search function has been included in the new interface which allows you to search various parts of messages in definable folders for instances of text. A nice addition to this would be the ability to search address books but it is not implemented. Other utilities include, rexx exits, beefed up filters and canned replies all of which perform as expected.
I personally like the fact that PMMail v1.5 has built in uuencode/decode features which work very well. It also includes MIME support which also works well in my small bit of experience with it and for those who need it, it also handles BinHex attachments. These features, however, have all become almost standard in e-mail clients today. The attachments are handled nicely in messages, with a separate window containing icons named for each attachment (multiple attachments are supported). Decoding attached messages is not automatic as it is with the Windows app, Eudora, but it is simple.
Thankfully PMMail 1.5 includes spell checking! However, the spell checker doesn't work very well right now; it gives recommended spellings for errors but not once has it chosen the right words for me. Unfortunately there is no thesaurus included at this time.
Many people ask for support for multiple e-mail accounts and PMMail v1.5 addresses this too. The ability to have multiple accounts works very well; I have been running two accounts for a while and still haven't found a single bug in this feature. You can even receive mail for two accounts at startup! Each account has its own "utilities" settings.
Many people get massive amounts of e-mail everyday and don't want to download every piece, especially because some of them might contain large files. Just for them is the "remote control" facility. Users can connect to a pop server and see that date, size, subject header, sender and any attached files of messages without having to download their mail!
Finally, Novitskey and Goldring have thrown in a few cool extras. Highlighting text in an open message window and then right-clicking on it will bring up a pop-up menu of options to perform. PMMail extracts any e-mail addresses and WWW URLs it finds in the marked text (and it does a good job of getting them correct) and allows you to quickly add them to your address book, mail to them or pop open WebExplorer to view an URL.
Problems
Unfortunately there are still a few problems with this application. The original configuration can be a little tricky. The interface is great and certainly very powerful, but not as simple as Post Road Mailer's interface. Perhaps it should be more configurable (although I wouldn't configure it to be like Post Road either). The default font is rather small and requires dragging from the OS/2 font palette to update.
It would be nice to be able to drag and drop folders to rearrange their tree structure. Since they are just standard directories, or WPS folders, it is possible to manipulate them from the WPS and the next time you open PMMail the changes will be reflected, but this is not an elegant solution. Also, you can't have multiple folders open at once like PRM. And you can't have multiple e-mail addresses and aliases for one address book entry.
Conclusions
PMMail is still shareware. For those of you that have registered PMMail v1.1 the upgrade to v1.5 is free. As you can tell I certainly believe that PMMail v1.5 is a feature packed application. In fact, I think it is probably the best mail program available for OS/2. I suggest that all of you check it out as soon as it is widely available on April 15th--this is really a dynamite product!
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PMMail v1.5
SouthSide Software (http://k2.cwru.edu/~rrn)
Authors: (rrn@po.cwru.edu) Robert Novitskey and (efg2@po.cwru.edu) Evan Goldring
Registration: US$30
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(http://www.io.org/~to2) Noah Sumner is a student at York Mills C.I. in Toronto, Ontario and a member of the Toronto OS/2 Users Group, as well as the shareware disk of the month editor.
---Our Sponsor: BMT Micro (http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/)---
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Post Road Mailer Green Edition v1.03a - by Richard R. Klemmer
I have a confession to make. I've been using a Windows program for the past 6 months almost every day. After using Ultimail Lite for about the same amount of time, I had to do something, and when someone told me that Eudora Lite for Windows 3.1 was easy to set up and free, I switched to it. It was only a temporary thing, or so I told myself. At the first opportunity, I would get one of the native OS/2 e-mail programs and give it a try. Well, that day finally came when I downloaded the Post Road Mailer Green Edition version 1.03a by InnoVal System Solutions Inc. (PRM). Even though this is a 30 day commercial demo and I'm a freeware kinda guy, I thought I'd give it a try.
Installation
The installation was relatively easy. Just create a directory, unzip the file into it, and then run the seticon.cmd file. There is no separate install program required, you just run PRM; no additions are made to your system files and no reboot is necessary. This worked without a hitch on my system (a 486 DX4 100 with 16meg RAM running the original OS/2 Warp red spine). You will need your Internet e-mail address, the address of your POP3 server, and the address of your SMTP server the first time you run the program though.
The setup was also a smooth operation. As I said before, you will need to know your POP3 and SMTP addresses as well as your e-mail address. When running PRM, you can choose to automatically start a dialer when retrieving your mail but when I set it up to use the SLIPPM.EXE program, it would just bring up the application, not actually dial it. You can also set up how often to retrieve your mail, as well as configure options for printing and locking your in-basket. This will provide at least some security. Another nice thing is that the InnoVal folks provide a welcome message in the inbox the first time you run the program, that gives some brief information on getting up and running quickly.
The Interface
The look of PRM isn't the most glamorous thing I've ever seen, but I like it. It starts with the in-basket opened and there is a menu bar across the top with all the standard functions. The in-basket lists who messages are from, the subject, date, and time. Also, next to each message is an envelope icon that indicates various things about the note; it is closed if unread, open if read, checked if replied to, and has a paper clip attached if a file is attached to the message.
Below the in-basket is the "Action Pad". Here there are buttons to compose, forward, reply, send, and retrieve your mail. One click will activate these buttons, which is good if you're lazy like me. There are also buttons for Printing, Shredding, Queue for Printing, and a Mail Folder button. These are not labeled, which is OK for the Printer and Shredder, but the Queue and Folder buttons are not as obvious. Also, there isn't any help bubble explaining the buttons' functions if you position the mouse pointer over one. There are also two little arrows over the print queue and shredder buttons that will open windows containing all the messages in those folders. From here you can do virtually anything with these messages, such as send, forward, delete, and edit.
Users have multiple choices for sorting the in-basket; by date ascending or descending, by sender id, by subject and by unopened/opened. There is a "Messages Previously Sent" folder already created for you and creating more folders is an easy task either from the drop down menu, or with the "Folders" button on the action pad.
Clicking the right mouse button on a message in any folder or the in-basket will bring up a pop-up menu that will allow you to perform all the actions possible for that message or all selected messages, such as Reply, Forward, Delete, Undelete, etc. PRM also features drag and drop which, incidentally, I love. You can select multiple notes and drag them to the Printer, Print Queue, or Shredder action buttons or another folder. This works for all folders, including the "Messages to be Sent" folder.
Finally, if you want to customize PRM you can drag and drop from the Mixed Color, Font, or Scheme Palettes.
As I said, the interface for PRM isn't the most beautiful, but it is extremely easy to learn and use. To me, this is more important than looks.
Getting Down to Business
Once you've set up your account, retrieving mail is easy. Downloading my mail seemed twice as fast with PRM as it did with Ultimail or Eudora, even though my connection wasn't any quicker.
Composing a message is another easy task. In the "Send a Note" window, you can type multiple addresses or, if you've set up address books, you can open one and select names or groups from it. When composing the body of the message, you can invoke another editor if you wish, or import a text file. You can attach what InnoVal calls a Paperclip (a MIME encoded file) but you can only attach one per message and PRM can only handle MIME attachments with this version. However, the ability to send multiple files attached to one message has been implemented in the beta code for version 1.05 which should be available soon.
After you are finished composing your note, you can preview it to make sure everything is all right. Forwarding and replying to notes is just as easy. Forwarding automatically supplies the text from the original message and when replying, there is a quote button you can click to bring in the body of the original message.
Extras
Setting up an Address book is yet another easy process. There is even a sample address book already created for the U.S. Congress. You can set up multiple address books, and each can have multiple groups. For those who have a lot of different contacts for multiple purposes, this will come in handy. One feature I especially like about the address books is that for each individual you can add up to five e-mail addresses with separate nicknames.
Another feature I like about PRM are the filters. You can set these up to perform specific actions on incoming messages based on search criteria. This feature has many powerful abilities such as automatically deleting or filing the message, or even sending a standard reply to any messages caught with the filter. After you've created a filter, you can deactivate it until such time as you may need it. Even though the filters are a very powerful tool of PRM, they were surprisingly easy to set up.
PRM uses the same basic interface for setting up Folders, Address Books, and Filters. This makes it easy to learn, and with the point and click abilities for creating these features, it's a quick process as well. Also, the overall speed of opening the windows for all of these as well as opening and replying to messages was fairly quick on the test machine. There are no delays waiting for things to load.
There are also user exits which allow you to execute outside programs when you send and receive mail and you can set up a Personal Post Office if you wish to use alternate mail agent software.
Documentation and Support
The help file is extensive and informative. It even supplies you with some examples of how to accomplish certain tasks.
Support is available for PRM by e-mail, on the InnoVal Web site, by Fax, or by voice phone. The last two are toll numbers, but you should be able to get all the help you need by e-mail. I sent an e-mail with some questions and received a reply in less than two days with all the answers to my questions and more.
Drawbacks
The only negative aspect of the program, other than the limitation of attaching only one MIME file per note, is that you cannot bring the main window with the in-basket to the foreground after you have opened another folder or are composing a note. You can still access the in-basket and the action pad, but you have to move the other windows out of the way first. According to InnoVal, this is a problem having to do with OS/2 parent/child window relationships. This doesn't really cause any problems, but it is a minor annoyance.
Conclusions
Even though PRM is a commercial product, being able to evaluate the full functioning demo is a big plus in my book. Overall I was impressed with the power and functionality of PRM even though I had greater expectations of it than I would of a shareware program. It is easy to use, is much faster than Ultimail Lite, and has more features than I will probably ever need. If you are still using Ultimail and are tired of it, or you haven't yet purchased another e-mail package, I recommend giving PRM a try. At the time of writing there was also a
special price for (http://www.aescon.com/innoval/teamos2.htm) Team OS/2
members. Thanks to PRM I no longer have to use a Windows program every day.
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Post Road Mailer Green Edition v1.03a
(http://www.aescon.com/innoval/index.htm) InnoVal Systems Solutions
Price: US$59
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(http://www.webtrek.com/~richard) Richard R. Klemmer is a Computer Specialist with the Department of the Army in Alexandria, VA., and a member of WebTrek L.L.C., a Web Presence Provider.
Visit Indelible Blue's Web Page (http://www.indelible-blue.com/ib/) -
Indelible Blue is a mail order reseller specializing in state-of-the-art OS/2 software and hardware solutions for corporations and individuals. Corporate volume discounts available.
We've got a grab bag of reviews for you this month--everything from communications software to Windows 3.1 enhancers (Windows 3.1 enhancers!?!?). Also in the round-up is another home financial package for OS/2, In Charge at Home!, that got overlooked in last month's review of financial software. And we review the often overlooked OS/2 Essentials.
If it's under the sun, we review it. Next month: the kitchen sink!
Reviews:
* In Charge at Home! - Brian L. Juergensmeyer
If you are wavering on the brink of buying the IBM Family FunPak for OS/2, we take a look at another of the apps included to help you make your decision.
* iLink/2 v0.99b - Bob Smith
A look at a shareware alternative to the Dial Other Internet Providers tool.
* HyperACCESS for OS/2 - Bruce Byfield
Hilgraeve's newest offering to the OS/2 power communicator is a revamped offering. Bruce takes a look at the pros and cons of the big brother of HyperACCESS Lite, the communications program we all know so well from the BonusPak.
* OS/2 Essentials v1.1 - Stacy King
Stacy takes a look at one of the best software bargains of the century to tell you exactly what is and isn't in this do-it-all utility package from Stardock Systems.
* WPS for Windows - Brian L. Juergensmeyer
While not an OS/2 application, this IBM Employee Written Software will be of interest to many OS/2 users. Brian will tell you why.
* MathMate v1.1 - Dr. Dirk Terrell
This month, our scientific software expert takes a look at MathMate, a scientist's dream calculator.
---Our Sponsor: Indelible Blue (http://www.indelible-blue.com/ib/)---
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In Charge At Home! - by Brian L. Juergensmeyer
In Charge At Home! by Spitfire Software is an entry level financial package that is included as part of the IBM Family FunPak for OS/2. It contains a subset of the features included with the full In Charge package available separately through Indelible Blue or your favorite OS/2 retail software store.
Installation
Installation of In Charge is relatively simple but some of the setup leaves a bit to be desired. For example while the install program will warn you that a shutdown and reboot will be necessary to use the package, it is not, unless you are using OS/2 2.1 or earlier. A folder will be created on your desktop with a sample set of books, the actual program object, an online manual (in .INF format) and an install facility. The online manual suggests that you work with the sample data books to get used to In Charge's interface. However, if you have ever used another financial program, you will probably be familiar almost immediately. Pleasantly, the FunPak de-install feature works flawlessly if you should decide you don't prefer In Charge.
Basic Features
Setting up your accounts is a simple matter of telling In Charge that you want a new account added to your books and then telling In Charge what type of account it is. In Charge supports checking, savings, credit card, and investment (money market, securities, and mutual fund, etc.) accounts. These accounts can be marked as tax-deferred and brokerage accounts. The use of Check-Free is also supported. You then give pertinent information (account number, institution name, etc.) and the account is created. The use of different currencies is also supported between accounts.
What is not very easy to follow (or to do) is to set up your printer to print checks. Be prepared to waste paper in an attempt to get them to print properly. Instead of the program storing common check formats (i.e. an individual check, a sheet of 3 checks, etc.), you must wade through two settings pages and give printer setup strings, line spacings, and tab stops. It took me some 2 hours to get everything set up properly and involved referring many times to my printer manual to retrieve setup strings for switching the printer to landscape mode, to center text, and other things.
Once accounts are set up, adding transactions to them is very easy. Simply select the account that you wish to modify and choose either the Register view or Enter Account Transactions. Like most other home financial software, you may track your transactions by category. A handy feature here is the ability to split an expense between two or more categories. For example, if you were to buy a new car stereo, you could split the cost of the car stereo between "Automotive" and "Electronics". You are also able to tell In Charge how much (in percentage terms) of the cost to give to each category.
Negative Aspects
The interface for entering account transactions is not the best that I have ever seen. The same dialog box is used for every transaction in my checking account. The only difference between any two transactions is that, when entering a check transaction, there is a line for "Payee", while in the rest of those transactions, that line is marked "Comment". This can lead to confusion if you are trying to tell at a glance if you are entering a check, an ATM transaction, or making a deposit.
Another problem is that there is no ability to enter service charges for a transaction along with the transaction. For instance, if I use my ATM card at another bank, my bank charges a $1.00 service charge. In Quicken, I could enter that service charge along with the transaction. With In Charge, I cannot. This also applies to reconciling accounts.
Tech support for In Charge may be obtained from Spitfire Software between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. The call is not toll-free, however. Support is also provided through the CompuServe OS2AVEND forum and through the internet. And of course, since In Charge is part of the FunPak bundle, paper documentation is almost nonexistent.
Conclusion
In Charge is a capable program for the home user. It may not be the prettiest thing that I've ever seen, but it works and is native OS/2. However, I would not purchase the FunPak specifically for In Charge. However, since I purchased the FunPak specifically for Star Emperor, I was happy to see that In Charge was included and having it there made me more willing to pay the price for the CD.
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In Charge at Home!
(73577.442@compuserve.com) Spitfire Software
(available as part of the IBM Family FunPak)
Published by: IBM
SRP: US$49
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(http://www.ksu.edu/~bgreen) Brian L. Juergensmeyer is a college senior majoring in microbiology, who does OS/2 consulting work in the Manhattan, KS area. He is annoying the VA hospital in Topeka, Kansas (where he actually works) by trying to get their IS manager to convert from NT/WfW 3.11 to Warp Connect/Warp Server.
iLink/2 is an Internet dialer which is totally compatible with and which more than replaces the Dial Other Providers (DOP) application included in the Internet Access Kit for OS/2 Warp. iLink/2 is shareware and while it is listed as a "beta", you can register it with (http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/) BMT Micro. Version 0.99b was placed on Hobbes and CDROM during the week of March 25, 1996 by the author, (cpommer@georgian.net) Craig Pommer, who maintains a separate (http://www.georgian.net/~cpommer/ilink2.html) home page for iLink/2.
I am running iLink/2 on a Pentium 90 with 16MB and Warp Connect without any FixPaks installed with a ZyXel internal 14.4 modem. On this system, iLink/2 seems quite a bit faster than DOP and since it is somewhat smaller than DOP and does not require any scripts to be loaded for PPP redialing it may cause less swapping on systems with lesser amounts of RAM.
Installation
iLink/2 is totally compatible with the IBM dialer that is included with OS/2. Installing it is quite simple; download, unzip to its own sub-directory and run the included INSTALL.CMD to put an icon on the desktop. In my case, it was install and run; iLink/2 found the DOP setup file, TCPOS2.INI, and used all of the data there to dial up my provider without having to configure it at all. This is not to say that it does not need to be configured, just that it will run "out of the box".
What Does It Do?
A dialer seems so simple; what else does it need to do, other than dial a phone number? Well, iLink/2 does several things that DOP does not do; the most notable of which is redial if your provider's telephone number happens to be busy. That may not be a problem for most, but for those of us who live in the "boonies" and have a local provider with only eight lines, weekends can be a string of never-ending busy signals. One person I know of has had to dial over 250 times to get in to his provider!
Another really good feature of iLink/2 is the inclusion of what the author calls: AutoStarts. These are programs which will start as soon as iLink/2 connects with your provider. This is useful for things like your mail and news programs and Time868, a really neat program which dials NIST and resets your computer's clock to atomic standards. Unfortunately, iLink/2 does not shut down the programs it autostarts when you hang up your connection, but it does flag those programs so it will not start duplicate copies if you dial again without first closing iLink/2. A check box which disables the autostart function is also provided in the dialer's main window.
iLink/2 also provides nice "statistics bars" which display useful information about time on-line, bytes transferred and character per second rates. The main dialer window, settings notebook, and statistics bars are all moveable and stay where they were placed when you reopen the program later. And like Warp's DOP, it also allows multiple setups so that you can have both SLIP and PPP setups for your provider or you can set up SLIP to one provider and PPP to another.
One of the big advantages iLink/2 has over DOP is that it takes up far less desktop space than IBM's offering. There is also a "condensed" setting which reduces the desktop space used by iLink/2 by about 40%. All windows can be changed, font and color wise, with drag and drop from the OS/2 palette. Overall, the aesthetics of the program are far better than DOP and the settings notebook has a slightly more logical interface appearance.
Finally, iLink/2 will also automatically redial your provider if things go to pot during a session. A useful feature if you have a shaky Internet Service Provider.
The Bad News
Needless to say, iLink/2 is still growing. There are a few "glitches" which Mr. Pommer knows about and is working on. When you shut down, if you click on the "EXIT" button before iLink/2 disconnects and clears the "DETAILS" dialog box, the program will hang the system. Not good, but one learns to wait and exit gracefully. Also, the system for registration is cumbersome and in my opinion, doesn't work well: you get a registered version from BMT Micro and when the program is updated, you must FTP to BMT's site again (instead of anywhere else) to get the latest version because there is no "key" to carry over. Mr. Pommer says he is working on this and a "key" system should be in place before version 1.0 is released. On a more positive note, while earlier demo versions had a one hour time limit, the unregistered version of v0.99b and all later versions will not time out during a connection.
My Recommendation?
This is a very useful program; it is what IBM should have done, but didn't and one which I recommend wholeheartedly. I've been using it since I found it and am very enthused about it. Try it and you may be too!
(remmett@cris.com) Bob Smith is a 15 year veteran as a USAF pilot, retired from the Fire Service as an Arson Investigator and Fire Chief in a small city in California, USA. He is currently working as a photographer and computer consultant and has been using OS/2 since v2.0.
HyperACCESS for OS/2 is the next generation of Hilgraeve's popular modem program, HyperACCESS 5. That apparently obvious statement summarizes both its strengths and weaknesses.
Users of HA5 will understand what I mean. On the one hand, Hilgraeve has been a premier developer of modem software for 15 years. The company developed HA Lite for Warp and HyperTerminal for Windows 95, and HyperACCESS' different versions have at least a dozen awards. In fact, HA5 is so functional that, although text-based, it is still sold.
On the other hand, HA5 is designed within the paradigms of DOS. The OS/2 version slows when running in a window, and contains an escape hatch for issuing commands, which the windowed WorkPlace Shell clearly doesn't need. As a result, despite its functionality, HA5 has never been completely satisfactory for experienced OS/2 users.
First Impressions
HyperACCESS for OS/2 provokes the same ambiguity. On the one hand, the program offers the terminal emulations, transfer protocols and other features which modern users expect, all organized into first rate out-of-the-box functionality. On the other hand, while more stable than HA Lite--a rushed program which required three patches in a year--like HA5 before it, HA for OS/2 owes as much to DOS and Windows as to OS/2.
That said, within its design limits, HA for OS/2 is elegantly laid out. From its redesigned logo and glossy manual to its 3D sculpted look, the program has undergone a major face-lift--and not just for prettiness. A quick look at the menus dispels that idea. Consistently, the commonly used features are positioned in the first level of the menu. When they aren't, the menu items are named precisely enough to navigate by. The layout is so easy to follow that many users may never need the manual or on-line help at all.
Features
As its name suggests, HyperACCESS's main feature is its speed. The program includes a number of time-saving features, including several popup menus and Hyperviewer, which allows image files to be viewed while they are downloaded. An especially useful feature is the automatic adjustment of speed, bits and parity for each connection, which lets users forget all about such matters.
But the most time is saved by HA's extensive use of the clipboard. Besides using the mouse to select text, HA for OS/2 also has popup menu items for selecting all the text displayed or the entire scroll-back buffer. The text can then be saved in a file, sent to the printer, or pasted to the host for an on-line reply.
Another handy use of the clipboard is HA's lists of major North American bulletin boards, whose entries can be pasted into the phonebook to make new listings. While only a single entry can be pasted at a time, this feature greatly reduces setup time. In less than ten minutes, I pasted twenty of my favorite boards into the phonebook, and only had to insert
three or four manually.
These time-saving devices are second only to the speed which HA offers. And this speed is very real. Out of the box, HA for OS/2 dials twice as fast as any other modem program I've seen, and consistently transfers files, using Z-modem on a 14.4 modem, at speeds of 16,300 bps or higher.
In the interests of truth, however, I should stress that this speed is not due to multithreading, as the manual implies. If anything, HA for OS/2 is slow, taking 50% longer to boot than other OS/2 comm programs. The speed actually lies in HA's modem initialization strings which, if used with other programs, will often give them better performance too. Using the same modem string with RhinoCom 1.5, for example, I received speeds of 16,500bps. The catch, of course, is that users would be lucky to duplicate HA's performance for a single modem without days of trial and error. Yet Hilgraeve offers strings to optimize hundreds of modems.
These strings are not perfect (in fact, HA for OS/2 is the first program I've used which will not allow my 14.4 Supra FaxModem to run as a high speed Hayes compatible) but Hilgraeve is constantly refining them and posting updates on its bulletin board. And no wonder: with these strings, HA easily outperforms most modem programs.
Drawbacks
Its features make HyperAccess for OS/2 a joy to use at least half the time. Probably, a novice OS/2 user would have no complaints. The trouble is, I'm used to the conveniences of the WorkPlace Shell. Too often, HA for OS/2 lacks those conveniences.
Admittedly, HA for OS/2 is partly integrated into both the desktop and OS/2. It supports file associations, allowing a phone book listing to be placed anywhere on the desktop, as well as REXX scripts, which can be automatically generated. Still, the integration has gaps--gaps all the more noticeable for HA's generally sophisticated design.
The lack of support for the font and color palettes is minor; many other OS/2 programs don't support them, either. What is more annoying is that HA mimics the desktop without some of its basic functionality. For example, icons cannot be dropped on the notebook for a phonebook listing; the icon has to be selected through HA's own mechanism. Similarly, for all the clarity of the online help, it highlights in three different ways, only one of which indicates a link, and had me constantly clicking for nonexistent hypertext.
HA's internal windows are another annoyance. When a settings notebook is open, no other HA Window can become active. Moreover, only one of the five main panels--which include the terminal panel and the phonebook--can be viewed at the same time.
Nor do the changes from HA5 help integration. Probably, the text-based remote control was dropped to avoid competition with Hilgraeve's KopyKat. Other choices, however, are harder to explain. HA5 has a built-in virus detector, which can even scan compressed files, but HA for OS/2 leaves it out. Probably, the reasoning is that there are no OS/2 specific viruses. However, some viruses can affect OS/2, so it might have been left in.
At the same time, HA5's text editor has evolved into a message pad. The manual argues that this feature is more convenient than starting an editor separately, but what would be wrong with a built-in link to whatever editor is preferred? Such decisions emphasize that Hilgraeve is still not designing specifically for OS/2--and, in fact, HA for OS/2 resembles closely HA for Windows.
It is mainly in this lack of integration that HA suffers in comparison with RhinoCom, its new rival among high-end modem programs. Otherwise, a comparison gives mixed results. In addition to greater OS/2 integration, RhinoCom is more customizable and usually offers more features. By contrast, HA for OS/2 offer more speed and functionality out of the box, and a more attractive price. Both have features the other lacked. In the end, HyperAccess' lack of WPS integration made me decide to keep to RhinoCom, but which program anyone prefers will be mainly a matter of priorities.
Conclusion?
If HA is no longer the only high end modem program, this release shows that it is still a contender. Hilgraeve has been supporting OS/2 since 1989, and its plans to develop for OpenDoc and the PowerPC leave me hoping that future versions will complete the integration which this version leaves half-done. If it was a DOS or Windows program, HyperACCESS for OS/2 would leave me in raptures. It isn't, so the rapture remains, but seriously modified.
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HyperACCESS for OS/2
Hilgraeve, Inc.
Phone: (313) 243-0576
Toll Free: (800) 826-2760
List Price: $129
Upgrade Price: $49.95
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Bruce Byfield is a freelance technical writer and editor. He can be reached at (byfield@sfu.ca) byfield@sfu.ca.
This month, I am reviewing OS/2 Essentials v1.1, by Stardock Systems.
It took me awhile to locate this product. I finally found it at CompUSA in Austin, purchased it for $24.99 (despite its higher MSRP), and took it home. It's finally getting fairly painless to purchase OS/2 applications in the retail channels. In fact, my understanding of the situation is that they (the retail channels) are having somewhat of a difficult time keeping some OS/2 software items in stock.
Opening the OS/2 Essentials box revealed only one 3.5 inch floppy, a registration card and a thin paper manual. So, with my one diskette and thin user's guide I went to work to test it in a demanding environment. The test bed is such: Dell Dimension p120c with 40MB RAM, two hard drives, IBM Token Ring card and IDE CD-ROM. I am quite impressed with the results.
Installation
Installation was a snap! Open the 'A:' drive icon and click on install. I didn't even have to look at the user's guide for instructions. No reboot was necessary either although I expected it. I put these products on my HPFS drive (I run a mixed environment for compatibility reasons) and found that a folder was created on the desktop, which contained the following items: File Graph/PM Pro, DirMaster Pro, Havoc, WPS Trashcan Install, Screen Saver Pro, S-Saver DOS Support Install, FileBar Pro, and an Icon folder.
FileBar Pro
This program has already replaced my launchpad on a permanent basis. Basically, it's a thin grey bar that spans the width of your screen and has pop-up menus on it. I like the flexibility of it, and the ease of use as far as bringing up and checking on the status of various applications that I run. You can choose to put it on the bottom of your screen or top, and unless you're running a full-screen command session, it's always available. All the options to configure this tool are located one mouse click away. Adding items under the menus can be a little confusing, but it's fairly intuitive once the layout is realized. It even has options for what clicks of the mouse bring up the file menus from the desktop. Users of the shareware version of FileBar v2.05 beware though: this is a slightly older version and does not include some newer features such as submenus or the ability to move or copy items from one menu to another. Documentation of FileBar Pro is also scarce in the OS/2 Essentials package.
FileGraph/PM
This definitely fits under the "neat doohickeys" category. FileGraph/PM shows you a graphical representation of space usage on your hard drive, but only of the directories, not the files. This is an interesting program, but for casual home users, it may have little practical application.
DirMaster Pro
This is a really powerful file manager. I could probably write a decent sized article on this alone and in fact, OS/2 e-Zine! featured one in its roundup of file managers in issue #4. It can show you everything on your hard disk, including logical drives, and ea files as well as desc files. Help is pretty extensive. I like the fact that the buttons that have right mouse button actions look different then the standard ones. Swapfile size and space available for potential growth of the swapper.dat are displayed at the bottom of the window. I use this utility pretty regularly now, instead of the OS/2 drives icon or command line, although there are still some things done better through a command line.
ScreenSaver
I have to admit that I'm not big on screen savers. Still, if you are so inclined, this one will probably suit your needs. It is highly configurable, allowing you to select activation corners, delay time until activation, any number of modules (there are over 50 included most of which can be configured and many new ones are available via the Internet) to select from randomly, passwords and even "Green" monitor support. You can also alert ScreenSaver to monitor DOS and full screen OS/2 sessions.
Havoc
Now this one can get me into trouble. I loved the game Asteroids when I was younger, and this is really similar. The user's guide calls it 'Roids', but the icon is for Havoc. The reason for this is that it is Roids, but when Stardock licensed it from Leonard Guy, they thought a name change made it more suitable for the masses. For a complete review of Roids, see OS/2 e-Zine! issue #3. No matter what you call it though, it's fun! It's pretty snappy in speed, and my system normally has a 25 MB swapfile to begin with. Except for the name change, the program code is essentially untouched from the shareware version except of course, you legitimately own it when you buy OS/2 Essentials.
WPS TrashCan
Cool! The shredder is pretty neat, but I like this trashcan better. WPS Trashcan requires a separate installation after you have installed the rest of OS/2 Essentials, but it is a simple double click procedure. Once installed, you will find an object nearly identical to the Macintosh trash can on your desktop. It also works like the Mac trash can--objects dragged to it disappear from their original location (on the desktop, in folders, etc.). Double clicking on Trashcan opens an enhanced type of folder displaying all the objects dropped into it and some detail information about the number of objects contained and their size. Emptying the trash via a pop-up menu deletes the objects from your system. Various settings include the ability to have Trashcan emptied automatically on boot, setting a maximum amount of data that can be dropped into it, or changing the default icons displayed for an empty, partially full or completely full Trashcan. I have heard of "dumpster diving" before, but I never thought I would be doing it (grin).
Icon library
Stardock thoughtfully included a folder full of some of the best and most colorful icons for many OS/2 objects and applications. Definitely another "neat doohickey" item. I don't have any normal folders on my desktop anymore!
Summary
I found a few problems, mainly with FileBar functions, which I will duly report to Stardock Systems over the weekend. Overall, however, I really like this product, and I know of two people who have seen me test it that are going to buy it (in fact, one already has). I find that the claim that, "OS/2 Essentials fills that void [for useful utilities]" (user's guide, pg3) is very true. It's easy enough for OS/2 novices to use, and has enough strength to make even the power user happy. Low system overhead, low price, useful, fun... I can't ask for more!
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OS/2 Essentials v1.1
(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems, Inc.
MSRP: US$39.95
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(wizzywig@jumpnet.com) Stacy King is a Level 2 analyst for CTG at IBM. She is married to wonderful husband, Larry, has a 3 year old son, Brandon (future computer geek), is a member of the Central Texas PC User's Group, the OS/2 Co-SIG Leader for CTPCUG and a member of Team OS/2.
---Our Sponsor: SPG (http://www.spg-net.com/)---
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WPS for Windows v1.51 - by Brian L. Juergensmeyer
Have you ever had someone come in and look over your shoulder while you were multitasking several applications? They say, "That looks great, but that interface looks bizarre!" You tell them that OS/2's interface is very intuitive and easy to work with but they remain unconvinced and are unwilling to buy OS/2 until they are comfortable with their ability to work with the Workplace shell.
Or maybe you, like me, still have Windows 3.1 on your system. Maybe you haven't been able to find an equivalent OS/2 program to that one Windows program that you must have. Or, maybe you've found it but just can't afford it. And you just hate Program Manager.
Well, there is a FREE answer to all these problems. Workplace Shell for Windows is an IBM Employee Written Software (EWS) program that will transform Windows 3.1 into something that looks and feels almost exactly like OS/2. Really!
Installation is very simple. Simply download WPS for Windows, unzip it, start Windows (or Win-OS/2) and run the included setup program. That's all! The install program is very straightforward, explains exactly what will happen and reassures you that backups of your .INI files will be made and complete instructions for backing out of the install are easily available.
After the required restart of Windows, you will discover a desktop that might fool even a seasoned Warp junkie. There is a Template folder that includes templates for:
* a new Drive
* a Shredder
* a Program Object
* a Data File, and
* a new Folder
Dragging is now accomplished by the same method that is used in OS/2 (i.e. you drag with the right mouse button and not the left). Right clicking on any object will bring up the pop-up menu for that object. Right clicking on the desktop will bring up the desktop pop-up menu (which looks almost exactly the same as in OS/2). You can even nest folders (place a folder in a folder in a folder), which is one of the most glaring shortcomings of Program Manager. WPS for Windows also creates a Windows system folder that includes the Windows Control Panel and a Drives object. Unfortunately, the drives object only allows Icon and details views instead of the Tree view that I usually use for viewing drives, but that seems a minor thing.
There are also some minor differences between OS/2's Workplace shell and WPS for Windows. In WPS for Windows, you will notice that, in the settings notebook for an object, you cannot choose to open another view for that object when it is double clicked again. You also cannot use the font palette in WPS for Windows to change the fonts for any of the dialog boxes or the Window titles.
There are a few other small prices to pay for this convenience too. For example, WPS for Windows would be a bear to uninstall because it would require wading through your .INI files if you wanted to keep any changes made to them (such as virtual device driver additions and deletions) after you installed WPS for Win. These would have to be added by hand after you restored the backed up copies of your .INI files from the WPS for Windows directory. Also there are a few programs out there that will refuse to install if you are running something other than Program Manager as a shell, so you may have to deactivate WPS for Windows for them to install. Advice: install every Windows program that you want to have, and then install WPS for Windows.
But what a convenience it is! If you're using Win-OS/2 on your OS/2 machine, installing WPS for Windows will partially standardize the interface of your system. No more culture shock when switching to full screen Windows sessions! And if you're just using it to make Windows more productive, get ready for a thrill. Even users with only 8 meg will be able to see how OS/2 is supposed to run--intuitive and graphically oriented but lightning fast--without giving up their Windows software.
In all, you will be very surprised by how well the author of the program managed to translate the feel of the OS/2 Workplace Shell over to Windows. After days of twiddling, I'm surprised when I find something that doesn't work in WPS for Windows the way it does in Warp. And, best of all is the price. I think that IBM would be well served to include this program along with the Warp Demo program that is available for download in Hobbes and half a million other places or with the Just Add OS/2 Warp program they are pushing.
I highly recommend getting this program and using it. It really helps lessen the culture shock when swapping from an operating system to an operating environment for an ancient operating system!
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(hobbes.nmsu.edu/windows/wpsfw151.zip) Workplace Shell for Windows v1.51 (650k)
IBM Employee Written Software
Registration: Freeware
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(http://www.ksu.edu/~bgreen) Brian L. Juergensmeyer is a college senior majoring in microbiology, who does OS/2 consulting work in the Manhattan, KS area. He is annoying the VA hospital in Topeka, Kansas (where he actually works) by trying to get their IS manager to convert from NT/WfW 3.11 to Warp Connect/Warp Server.
MathMate version 1.1, from Science and Engineering Software Experts Limited, is a shareware scientific calculator with some impressive capabilities. And although it is obviously aimed at scientists and engineers, it has plenty of features that make it attractive as a general purpose calculator.
An installation program is provided, making installation effortless. MathMate is a VX-REXX program, and thus requires the VX-REXX runtime library VROBJ.DLL (included in the MathMate zip archive). The installation program creates a MathMate folder on the desktop that contains a MathMate program object and a help file object. The on-line documentation is complete and well-organized.
When started, MathMate comes up in calculator mode, giving you a powerful scientific calculator with the expected functions such as trigonometric (as well as inverse, hyperbolic, and inverse hyperbolic) functions, exponential, natural and common logarithms, and square root. Also available are integer, signum, fraction, and absolute value functions. MathMate also provides very convenient access to the following fundamental physical and mathematical constants: e, pi, Euler gamma, speed of light, electron charge and mass, proton mass, Avogadro's number, Planck's constant, the fine structure constant, the Rydberg constant for infinite mass, Boltzmann's constant, the universal gravitation constant, the Bohr magneton, and the acceleration due to gravity at the Earth's surface. All constants are given in CGS units. A nice addition to the program would be the ability to switch to MKS units, or even better, user-specified units.
MathMate's integration mode is very handy when you need to numerically calculate a one-dimensional definite integral. The precision of the calculations can be controlled by a dialog window with a slider. The limits of integration and parameter values are entered in standard entryfields. Unfortunately, the calculator buttons for the physical constants will not place values in these entryfields, so if you need to enter a constant like pi as an integration limit, you have to manually type its value into the entryfield. Even entering "PI" does not work, and when you are working in double precision, you have to do a lot of unnecessary typing. On the positive side though, MathMate's integration is very snappy. The author's have obviously made efficiency a top priority when coding the calculation engine.
In addition to an integration mode, MathMate also has a summation mode that performs a partial sum of a series, with inputs similar to integration mode. The final program mode is an equation mode that solves for the roots of an equation between specified limits.
MathMate also includes some special mathematical functions in addition to the ones listed above. These functions include Bessel functions, Fresnel integrals, Gamma functions, and Legendre polynomials among others. And if you don't know what these functions are, the on-line help gives the full details on all of them.
If you are not a scientist or engineer, MathMate's built-in functions probably have little value to you, but do not dismiss the program itself. Even as a basic calculator, which we all need at times, MathMate excels. The user interface is clean and easy to use, and you can save calculations to disk should you need them later. MathMate refers to calculation sessions as "Protocols" and they are saved as ordinary text files. The program includes a protocol viewer, but it seems a bit incomplete. Copying text from the viewer is very easy, but the documentation refers to a seemingly nonexistent "Send" function to send calculations from the viewer to the main window.
So, in spite of a few minor shortcomings (no minimize button on the main window) and errors (such as e and pi being reversed in the on-line documentation), MathMate is a piece of software that I highly recommend. It is available on the Hobbes ftp site as (ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/os2/wpsutil/mathmate.zip) mathmate.zip. The registration fee is $25 US or 40 DM. Registration gets you LaTeX or Postscript documentation as well as additional software that enables you to use the calculation engine in your own programs.
(terrell@fdt.net) Dr. Dirk Terrell is an astronomer at the University of Florida specializing in interacting binary stars. His hobbies include cave diving, martial arts, painting and writing OS/2 software such as HTML Wizard.
Big news this month is Stardock Systems' new update to the ever popular Galactic Civilizations family of game products--Shipyards v2 for GalCiv 2. Our man on the inside, Kris Kwilas, takes an in-depth look at it and lets us know how to really wipe out those pesky aliens. And on the shareware front, Bob Smith looks at an addict pleasing strategy game from CodeSmith Software.
* Shipyards v2 for Galactic Civilizations 2 - Kris Kwilas
* Matrix v1.2 - Bob Smith
---Our Sponsor: BMT Micro (http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/)---
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Shipyards v2 for Galactic Civilizations 2 - by Kris Kwilas
What's that you say? Galactic Civilizations 2 is not challenging enough for you? Rather be playing tennis or surfing the 'Net, would you?
Well, that just will not do at all. I am going to write a number on this piece of paper. As soon as we are done here (mind you, pay the nurse on the way out!) give the good folks at Stardock Systems a call. Tell them that you want a copy of Shipyards v2, and you needed it yesterday!
In the bestselling tradition of such classics as Shipyards v1, Stardock Systems released a new version of Shipyards that is designed to work with their latest hit, Galactic Civilizations 2.
If you do not own a copy of Galactic Civilizations 2, turn off your computer and go purchase a copy. Shipyards v2 makes the best space-based strategy game on the market even better. [Note: Shortly before this article was published, a demo version of GalCiv 2 was made available. This demo is on the (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock web site, as well as their CompuServe forum (GO STARDOCK).]
Under the Hood
Shipyards boasts three major enhancements to the Galactic Civilizations environment, as well as a bunch of little functional tweaks that can help make crushing the Drengi Empire just
a little bit more satisfying.
1. Shipyards
In a nutshell, the "Shipyards" portion of Shipyards v2 allows you to design you own classes of ships. Depending on your technological level in the game, you have access to a wide variety of components that you can add to your spacecraft. Access to the Shipyards is provided by a new button that is installed on the main GalCiv window.
Though you are limited to designing and building four new classes of ships at a time, this limitation is not as restricting as it might sound. Since the ships you design are limited to being only warships (unlike some of the more specialized ship functions in games like Master of Orion), by the time you have developed a class powerful enough to matter, you will probably be much more advanced technologically. Redesigning one of your existing classes of ship will cause all the old vessels of the previous type to be automatically decommissioned.
Precise decisions about the loadout of weapons, armor, shields, and engines are left to the player. Design a small, agile fighter or an immense battleship bristling with weapons (expensive enough to require fifty years to build), the choice is up to you. However, you must also learn to balance the intricacies of ship cost, size, and power as you jockey for dominance or survival in this new galaxy.
If you are not an ace ship designer (or could really care less), Stardock has thoughtfully provided an option to "Disable Shipyards Computer AI". Using this option will allow you to play without having to worry about the Dominion of Yor cooking up a fleet of agile fighters to chase you into oblivion. An additional checkbox is also present to allow you to only use ships that you design, rather than the pre-built ones that are defined by the game.
2. Enhanced Governors
To me, one of the most annoying aspects of GalCiv 1 was the tedium of micromanaging the economies of many systems during later stages of the game. The original release of GalCiv 2
introduced planetary Governors to help alleviate this situation. Shipyards v2 expands upon this motif with the introduction of Enhanced Governors.
Rather than simply defining broad goals for your Governors such as Increase Morale or Research!, the Enhanced Governors feature of Shipyards v2 allows you to define a set progression for researching social projects on a global basis.
A new "(shipyar2.gif) Instruct Governors" option has been added to the Foreign Policy window. By adding social projects that you can build (displayed in the left pane) to the right pane, you can set up the order in which your star systems will build these projects with whatever Social resources they have allocated.
For instance, if you always build Soil Enhancement, Schools, and Entertainment Network (in that order) on any new worlds that you colonize, simply set that progression in the right pane. Then, when you colonize a new world, simply select the first item on your predefined list (Soil Enhancement in this case) and the Governor will take over from there. No more micro-management problems, unless you choose to build in a different order on a planet-by-planet basis.
While the addition of Enhanced Governors to Shipyards is a welcome addition, a minor point that stands out is the relative difficulty of reordering items in the Governor Command Center Window. The addition of Up and Down buttons would greatly facilitate sorting. One final nit involves the viewing of Social Projects in a planetary window. If you do not click on the first project in the Governors "tree," that planet will start to produce something else. The addition of a "Governor" Social Project (right under the None selection) would provide a quick way to make sure that the planet is following the intended sequence. According to Stardock, these little quirks should be addressed in a future release.
3. SDS/AI 2.1
A new AI you say? Wake me when something interesting happens...
Not so fast! Stardock has made a number of behind the scenes enhancements to the Artificial Intelligence engine in Shipyards. Though the changes are hard to describe (mostly because Brad Wardell is not telling all his sadistic new tricks), I can state from personal experience that the new AI is much more challenging on the higher levels. If you found GalCiv easy before, think again.
As always, if anyone can develop a consistently reliable strategy to beat the AI on the highest level, Stardock will enhance the AI to counter your strategy. While the new AI may not seem like it rates as one of the top new features of this product, it really does help to make a great game even better.
Minor Enhancements
Shipyards v2 also adds a few minor enhancements to various facets of the game. Besides a few minor bugs being squashed, Shipyards v2 also includes:
* Playability enhancements that cause the sounds and music to kick in more often.
* A display to view how competitive your "Shipyards Corp." is with the other companies that are also trying to sell you ships.
* And, an Item Editor for those days when you feel like redefining a basic laser to have an attack power of 100. Torians beware!
By the way, the Enhanced Governors and updated AI features are now available as a free update (2.11) for GalCiv 2 and Shipyards users. Check the Stardock web site!
Opinion:
If you know the addiction of an eight hour bout of Galactic Civilizations 2, the choice is easy--buy Shipyards v2! If you do not own a copy of Galactic Civilizations 2, buy them
both!
System Requirements for GalCiv and Shipyards:
* 8 MB RAM
* CD ROM drive
* Mouse or other pointing device
* VGA (or higher) video
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Shipyards v2 for Galactic Civilizations 2
(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems, Inc.
Phone: 313-453-0328
Toll Free: 800-672-2338
MSRP: US$19.95
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(http://www.students.uiuc.edu/~kwilas) Kris Kwilas is a student at the University of Illinois.
Brought to you by the same company that developed the popular Xit, Matrix is a different kind of game than the usual card games, shoot-em-ups, etc. which are available for OS/2. Besides being written strictly for OS/2, it is a game which requires thinking and planning ahead. At first, without reading the rules, it isn't apparent just what the objective is, but after reading the rules, it becomes quite clear; but definitely not easy!
This game is on the small side. The zip file takes up only about 96k and only contains the executable, a help file and documentation. There is no installation utility but none is needed. The game is executed from a command prompt by typing its name or from the desktop by clicking the matrix.exe file object. If you want a program object you will have to set one up yourself but the program makes no changes to system files so deletion of the files is all that's necessary to uninstall.
For the first week or so that I had Matrix, I played against the computer with the difficulty set at "moron" level. That's the default, and when I couldn't lose, I went checking to see why. Also available are: Novice, Average Joe and Ace. Average Joe makes the game much more difficult and I am currently reevaluating my estimate of how easy this game is.
The game (.gif 15.5k) really is simple. On your turn you have a choice of three tiles, each with three colored squares on it. You must place the tile on the board so that it is totally adjacent to another tile. Points are scored when you line up three or more squares of the same color, horizontally, vertically or diagonally. Tiles with all three spots the same color do not need to be totally adjacent to another tile and can change the complexion of the game in a hurry. The trick is, diagonal rows are worth double points so you have to carefully plan ahead to line them up while keeping the computer from doing the same. The game lasts until each player has placed 24 tiles.
Although straightforward in play, the game is very versatile (.gif 9.5k) when it comes to its look. The board can be set to display many colors or you can use a bitmap as a background. A grid is available, if desired, but really not necessary. The spots on the tiles can also be changed to one of five shapes and five patterns and a bunch of colors. One option which really makes it harder to beat the computer is the ability to hide the tiles which are available to the computer for its next turn.
At the "moron" level it is rather dull and uninteresting since it's really hard to lose but since changing the difficulty upwards, I find this game far more interesting and it sometimes even takes me away from my solitaire! I like the game but haven't gotten addicted to it yet. It's one of those things that I downloaded because it sounded interesting and, unlike most, it will be kept and used. Definitely a keeper and worth the price.
The game is available as shareware and can be registered with (http:/www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/) BMT Micro or CodeSmith Software. Registration is $15 US or Canadian.
(remmett@cris.com) Bob Smith is a 15 year veteran as a USAF pilot, retired from the Fire Service as an Arson Investigator and Fire Chief in a small city in California, USA. He is currently working as a photographer and computer consultant and has been using OS/2 since v2.0.
Stardock Systems is nearing completion of the first significant overhaul of its flagship corporate product, Object Desktop. Scheduled to be released on April 29, OD v1.5 will add a slew of functionality and performance enhancements to the "Next Generation" operating environment. Company officials claim that systems with 16 meg or more will actually run faster with OD v1.5 than without it!
We had a chance to look at a preliminary beta copy of OD v1.5 and play with some of its features. What will these new features be, you ask? Read on... Please keep in mind though that this is only a preliminary copy! Things can and do change in the software industry and we can not make any guarantees about what features will or will not make it into the GA release.
Object Navigator
The Object Navigator has been reworked to make an already great file/object manager even better. New in this version are multiple "roots" (Desktop, Drives object, Network, etc.) in the tree pane of the Navigator to use as starting points for trees and the ability to delete or add new ones to customize things to suit the way you work.
The Object Navigator interface has also been enhanced with new toolbar buttons for common operations such as copy and move, and new operations such as select objects, create folder or change file attributes. Toolbars also now have fly-over help
Control Center
In response to requests from users with limited screen real-estate Stardock has added the ability to automatically hide the Control Center on use, lock it to an edge of the screen and stop other applications from overlapping it.
Object Packages
Possibly the most significant new feature of Object Desktop v1.5 is the Object Package. Object Packages are simply files that contain Workplace Shell objects--sort of like zip files except they can contain objects as well as normal files. They seem to work well and are quite simple to use. With Object Packages users have the potential to easily package folders or the entire desktop and quickly and easily share them with other users!
Not included in the beta we looked at but promised for the GA release are what Stardock calls Common Desktop Folder Packages. These will be "canned" Object Packages for restoring all or part of the OS/2 System, Templates, Information, OS/2 Warp BonusPak, and Object Desktop folders. The intent of Common Desktop Folder Packages is to provide a convenient way to restore objects that are accidentally deleted.
Stardock Web Shell
Building on the Object Package technology, Stardock has undertaken a project to catalog Web sites of interest to OS/2 users. The Stardock Web Shell is an object package containing a multitude of interesting URL objects. Of course, with the way the Internet works, these could become outdated fairly quickly, but since the package is portable it would be child's play for Stardock to maintain a current version for download from a web or FTP site.
Other things
The street price of Object Desktop will be going up with the new release but there is a bright side to this. Users who buy OD v1 after April 1st but before April 29th can upgrade to v1.5 free. So if you are thinking of buying it, don't wait, you'll get a better deal by picking it up now and getting the higher priced v1.5 at no charge later--but get it before all the copies of v1.0 already in retail channels disappear! For those of you who already own OD but bought it before April, the upgrade price to v1.5 will be US$37.
Stardock also promises overall speed improvements as well as tuning of the performance of individual features such as Object Archives and the Object Navigator. On top of this there are many minor enhancements promised that we haven't mentioned here. Suffice it to say that the Object Desktop development team has been busy and will likely remain that way for the foreseeable future.
---Our Sponsor: Indelible Blue (http://www.indelible-blue.com/ib/)---
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Sneak Peak: Lotus WordPro 96 for OS/2 - by Chris Wenham
While Lotus is still keeping a tight lid on official news about WordPro 96 for OS/2, I had a chance recently to play with a preliminary beta copy. Since it will still be some time before it is released, no features or interface characteristics should be considered set in stone. Still, I thought you might like a sneak preview of what's likely to come in the final release. Just keep in mind that all of this is unofficial and just a sample of the many enhancements that will ship in the final version and should be viewed as such.
Bells and Whistles
Okay here's the meat: Lotus Corp's successor to AmiPro, WordPro 96, adds literally thousands of new features including some that integrate it with the Internet, being of interest to both collaborative teams and web site designers like me. Lotus calls it the Team Word Processor although you don't have to be in a team to use it. This simply refers to its ability to do revision marking, version control and other collaborative tasks--especially over a network.
WordPro/2 also adds what was sorely missed in AmiPro/2 which is a complete drawing module--enough for anything that's no more complicated than a picture of a house or a network diagram. WordPro still keeps the frame metaphor of AmiPro too.
Getting started with WordPro as a new user promises to be much easier thanks to "Smart Masters", a collection of templates suited for the most commonly used business and personal documents. SmartMaster will prompt you to, "Click here to type the title," or, "Click here to type the recipient's name," etc.
WordPro also has a feature called "Ask the Expert", a help search engine that responds to plain English "How do I..." type questions. It is remarkably comprehensive and as long as you ask clear and direct questions it performs well, even in this preliminary version.
The version of WordPro I saw will have the ability to load and save files directly over the Internet using either the FTP or HTTP protocols. Its HTML capabilities look especially nice since it has not only the ability to edit HTML files in WYSIWYG mode but also to save HTML-related graphics files as separate files on the server. One could theoretically maintain a web site without having to copy and store any files on the local hard drive.
Of course, the user interface is much improved with cosmetic and usability changes abundant. Dialog boxes have more help information built into them, and Lotus' "Info Box" technology is used everywhere for controlling context sensitive options like text formatting and graphic elements.
WordPro's "SmartIcons" are still as configurable as before, plus you can now place them anywhere you like on the screen with simple click-and-drag operations.
When's It Coming?
Lotus WordPro 96 for OS/2 looks like it has great potential for any OS/2 user--in a team or not. We're all eager to see a shipping product and of course OS/2 e-Zine! will bring you a full review as soon as that happens. At the time of this writing, Lotus still had no official word on a release date but it should be some time this spring or summer. And with the recent developments at DeScribe, that's not a moment too soon.
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WordPro 96 for OS/2
(http://www.lotus.com/) Lotus Development Corporation
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(http://www.spectra.net/~fox) Chris Wenham is a Team OS/2er in Binghamton, NY with a catchy-titled company--Wenham's Web Works. He has been writing all sorts of strange things from comedy to sci-fi to this.
Note: The following note was excerpted from the Editorial Page of the April 1996 issue of the (http://warp.eecs.berkeley.edu/os2/connect) OS/2 CONNECT newsletter. Since Mr. Bryce's original posting of this letter, much interest has been generated and subsequent replies have been written. Please check the OS/2 CONNECT site for further details.
Connect the World with Merlin
A couple of weeks ago the Board of Directors of our local Tampa Bay OS/2 Users' Group (TBOUG) met to discuss group activities and plans. Since we're always looking for ways to promote OS/2, discussions turned to how our group could best support IBM locally in its promotional efforts. One idea was to conduct demonstrations of OS/2 at some of the computer super stores in the area (CompUSA, Computer City, and Egghead Software). This would help educate both the consumer and local store sales people alike. Although this type of demo could be easily performed, we questioned why we should stop there. Perhaps a more dramatic presentation could be done to showcase the power of the product. Instead of a single demonstration, one store at a time, an alternative plan was proposed: to conduct several presentations throughout the Tampa Bay area simultaneously on the same day all connected through a network. This would allow a presenter in Tampa to show what was going on at other stores in Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Lakeland, etc. But then again, "Why stop there?" Why not link into other user groups throughout Florida? Again we asked, "Why stop there?" Why not link all of the other OS/2 user groups around the globe? Perhaps we could build a map of the world over the Internet using OS/2 Warp Connect and OS/2 Warp Server. The map could show who has logged on to the network over a 24 hour period of time (such as user group name, location, time, etc.; perhaps a graphic image such as a JPG or GIF file could be uploaded or even an audio message could be placed on the map). Think about it:
* It would invigorate computer super stores who have historically taken a ho-hum approach to selling OS/2.
* It would dispel the belief that OS/2 isn't widely used.
* It would showcase the features of the product.
* The press would find it interesting media event in that one computer product was able to easily link the world together.
* It would be incredibly simple to do (and cheap for IBM).
But when would be the best time to conduct such an event? How about the launch of the next generation of OS/2 Warp Connect, "Merlin," the version aimed specifically at the end-user, scheduled for delivery around mid-year (perhaps July).
This is exactly what I proposed to John W. Thompson, Wally Casey and other IBMers at the Warp Server launch in San Francisco. Thompson in particular seemed to find the idea intriguing. From IBM's point of view, the project would be simple to implement; they would have to supply a dedicated Warp Server machine and provide Internet access to it. They would, of course, also have to supply user group volunteers with an advanced copy of "Merlin" to demonstrate.
Recruiting user group or Team OS/2 volunteers should not be a problem. We could probably garner the necessary volunteers from the readers of OS/2 CONNECT alone.
IBM has not promised to implement this idea yet but they said they would give it some serious thought. In the meantime, if you or your user group are interested in participating in this project, please drop me a line to express your interest. Please include your name and title, user group name, mailing address, country, telephone, fax, and e-mail address.
How to Become an OS/2 Certified Engineer - by Martin Ross
-Or- How to spend $400 bucks really fast
A few months ago, I had never heard of the term "OS/2 Certified Engineer" until one day, while browsing through the Byzantine collection of links at IBM's web server, I came across a page labeled (http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/profesnl.html) Professional Certification. Ignoring my homework and having nothing better to do I clicked on one of the links and entered the world of professional certification for IBM.
After reading through the HTML documents, I discovered a few things. First, this was very cool. Second, it was very expensive. Third, it could be very useful. Basically the process of becoming an OS/2 Certified Engineer is simple. You call up Drake Prometric, which has testing centers all over North America and request a particular test number. You must take four tests. Three of them are mandatory tests: Installing OS/2 (#109), Using OS/2 (#110), and Supporting OS/2 (#112).
The fourth test you are required to take is an elective and there are six choices, I chose the "TCP/IP 2.0 for Workstations" test as my particular elective. An added bonus is that "TCP/IP for Workstations" also counts towards the Lan Server certification program. You can get a complete list of the electives and more details on the requirements (http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/proose.htm) on-line.
A quick description of these tests is in order. The "Using OS/2" test was by far the easiest out of all of them. It covers thinks like, "Which mouse button and keyboard combination is used to create a shadow of an object". "Installing OS/2" is somewhat harder, as it requires you to memorize numerical quantities, like the total installation space required for OS/2, etc. Learn to love FDISK. "Supporting OS/2" is harder still because some of the questions are not really covered that well in the OS/2 docs. Many of the questions list a CONFIG.SYS and ask you to correct flaws or to fix problems in the customer's systems by tweaking the file. In order to score well on the tests you must know OS/2 inside and out. Read all the hard copy documents and the INF files. Make sure you get 100% on all the sample tests and if you are rich, order the additional documentation available from IBM.
Speaking of being rich, one draw back to the program is the cost. Each test costs US$100. As you know, $100 x 4 = $400, which is somewhat expensive. Since I live in the Great White North, also known as Canada, this translates to about $500 Canadian. Important, if you fail a test you will not be allowed to rewrite it for free.
After ordering the tests, Drake will send you a confirmation letter with the date of the tests. You can cancel or change the tests up to 24 hours in advance of the time you will write them. You should bring two pieces of identification and one must have a photo on it. People under 16 (like myself) may have problems if the test administrator is unkind because you do not have a driver's licence, so try to bring something else. I used my school ID card with a slick photo of myself.
So, how do you know if you are up to taking the exams? Simple, go to the IBM web site and download the testing documents. This contains the objectives of each test, each section in them and some sample questions (some of which may be on the test you get!). Unfortunately, when I was preparing I couldn't download these documents properly from the web site. Never fear though! IBM has a faxback service to save the day at 1-800-IBM-4FAX. After wading through the maze of prompts, you will be able to request the appropriate documents. Get the IBM education list (0007) and you will see the document numbers for each of the tests, including the desired elective. Then, simply call back and request the other documents. There are also other test preparation materials available from IBM if you really need to study.
Each of these tests are approximately one to two hours in length and are administered on a computer workstation (ironically, these workstations run Windows 3.1). The questions are mostly multiple choice, with a few short answer. They are taken from a database of questions and there doesn't seem to be any real order, although maybe there is and I just didn't notice it. You are allowed to mark certain questions and come back to them later. I went quickly through all the questions, answered the easy ones, marked the hard ones, and then returned to them later. At the end of the test, the computer shows two bar graphs, one showing your score and the other showing the passing score. This is your only indication about what percent you received on the test because the computer does not tell you what the test was out of. Then you are given a printout containing a break down of each section's scores. Important note: the scores on each section are not indicative of their weight on the test. It is quite possible to get 35% on one section and 98% on another and have an overall average of 87%.
Okay, so you have passed four tests. Now what? Simple, IBM will send you a certification agreement stating you are qualified to support OS/2. After you sign and return that in the thoughtfully provided envelope you will have your welcome kit sent to you. What's
in the welcome kit? Well, I haven't received it since I only completed the tests a month ago but according to IBM, "All certified professionals receive subscriptions to technical newsletters and magazines as part of their induction into the Professional Certification Program from IBM and many receive discounts on IBM sponsored technical support." They also get an ID card and a lapel pin. I'll keep you posted.
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(rju@fs3.ucc.on.ca) Martin Ross is a 15 year old high school student, OS/2 CE, War Hammer 40 000 lover, Paintball novice, and a rower.
GNU: OS/2's Hidden Treasure - by Murray Todd Williams
If you've explored many of the shareware programs written for OS/2 recently, you have probably run across GNU. Most of the time we see it in the form of an occasional note in the installation software: "This program requires the EMX.DLL file for emx version 0.9a or later." Occasionally an application comes with notes about the "GNU Manifesto" or ravings in the documentation about the Free Software Foundation.
In short, GNU represents an incredible wealth of software, well-written, powerful and best of all, free. The catch? Well, diving into GNU is like diving into UNIX (for reasons I'll explain later) which is not for the weak of heart. I probably would have never discovered it, had it not been for my annoyingly persistent friend Dave.
Dave has a unique ability to pester me to install this, play with that, and tweak this on my computer until I get some new nifty feature to work. OS/2 is replete with customizable little features, so Dave has kept me busy. The result is that I am becoming--albeit kicking and screaming--a "power user" of OS/2.
What is GNU?
Let me give you a quick background of GNU and the Free Software Foundation. GNU stands for Gnu's Not Unix. It consists of a collection of software which is being written for the exclusive purpose of being available to anyone completely free of cost. Actually, it goes even beyond that, because all GNU components may only be distributed if the entire source code is also made available. The fanatics who write these programs are opposed to the very "proprietary" nature of software today. They dislike the idea of copyrighting the look-and-feel of a particular GUI which creates many competing standards and defeats the concept of open standards.
I call these developers fanatics, and I don't use the term with a negative connotation. The dedication required to develop this software for free is beyond my comprehension. I suspect that most of these hard-core developers are smarter and more driven than is probably good for them. How else can you explain the genesis of a software system that rivals those of most commercial companies? Many of these are the same people who are developing the Linux operating system, and indeed Linux has "inherited" the entire wealth of GNU software as its own.
All of the GNU applications which I mention are available for many different operating systems. Almost any flavor of Unix is supported, including Linux. OS/2 was added to this family of operating systems due to the work of Eberhard Mattes, who moved the GCC compiler to OS/2 and created a series of dynamic link libraries (EMX.DLL is the primary library) which provide an interface between OS/2 and the GNU world. (Eberhard, if you're reading this, you are a god!!) One incredible aspect of the EMX system is that most executable files compiled for OS/2 also run under 32-bit DOS!
If you are an OS/2 power-user who does a good deal of programming, text formatting, scientific work, etc. then this world is for you. If your interests are limited to WYSIWYG word processors or paint programs, or if your idea of "installation" is double-clicking on the INSTALL icon and providing a path to the location of a package, then read no further. GNU is not for you.
On the other hand, if you have Unix experience and groan at the idea of tweaking Makefiles to compile a package for your particular OS, don't panic. All of the GNU software I've seen conveniently comes with the executables already compiled. Also, if you see yourself someday learning Unix, this is a very convenient and painless way of getting your feet wet.
Getting GNU Software
The best place to find GNU Software is the Hobbes FTP archive. I personally recommend purchasing the two disk CD-ROM collection. There's so much software to download ("billyons and billyons" of bytes) that the CD is a real convenience. Choose the \unix directory and go crazy.
Let me give you an idea of what you can expect to find out there. There's a compiler for C, C++ and Objective C. There's a Fortran 77 compiler (my brother has turned to it just this week because Microsoft Fortran kept misbehaving). There's Pascal, Xlisp, Scheme, Perl, Oberon and a many other languages.
For text editing, nothing rivals EMACS (version 19.30) for features. If you haven't seen EMACS before, you are in for a mind-blowing experience. There are also some smaller, more compact editors available. Then for text formatting you can use EmTeX, which is an excellent version of TeX. (It ain't WYSIWYG, but it can put out a more professional-looking paper than WordPerfect can any day.)
You can easily install a collection of file utilities (ie: cp, mv, rm, du, grep,...) which mimic standard Unix commands. Internet programs like Elm and Pine are available, as well as POP mailers and news readers. Even basic Unix shells like Bourne, CSH, or Bash are available. There are plotting programs, symbolic math packages, and the list goes on.
In fact, it is impossible to fully express the scope of what GNU entails in one short article so in the coming issues I will begin a series of articles to help you get started in this exciting new world. I will begin with the base installation of EMX (the heart of the GNU-OS/2 interface) and the GCC compiler. After that I'll explore EMACS, the text editor which will even butter your toast for you. And from there, who knows?
Stay tuned!
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(http://lamar.colostate.edu/~murray) Murray Todd Williams is a student at Colorado State University, working on a M.S. in Statistics. He is also a member of Team OS/2.
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OS/2 and X-Windows... Come Again? - by Chris McKillop
Yes, it is true. Xfree86 has been ported to one of the best operating systems ever! What is Xfree86? What is X? Well, where shall I begin...
A Little History
X, or the X Window System, is a GUI that was developed at MIT under then name "Project Athena". The aim of this project was to provide a machine independent GUI for use on UNIX Workstations. Both IBM and Digital sponsored the initial effort and by 1987 more than a dozen vendors had joined up. Today, there isn't a single flavor of UNIX on any platform that doesn't offer a version of X to run as a GUI.
XFree86 is a version of the X Window System that runs on Intel based PCs under several different operating systems, including Linux, FreeBSD, NetBSD, and now OS/2. It is free software that is distributed under rules much like those of the GNU group. You can get more information on XFree86 and those that work on it at (http://www.xfree86.org) http://www.xfree86.org.
For OS/2?!?
Now that you have some small idea of what X and Xfree86 are, you must be wondering, "Who the heck did this the port?" Dr. Holger Veit, a member of the System Design Technology group at GMD (German National Research Center for Information Technology) is who! Why did
he take on this chore? Why don't I let him answer that for you...
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CM: Why X For OS/2? Isn't PM Good Enough?
HV: The question is not whether PM is good or not. I think PM is good and sufficient for most people, particularly home users. X11 opens another door - PM and X supplement each other. In universities, research institutes, and companies, there are often heterogeneous environments: OS/2, WfWg, NT, and also Unix. Under Unix, the GUI is de-facto the X Window System. What the XFree86 port offers, is true connectivity to Unix systems on the GUI base. It also gives the opportunity to execute X software on the local PC, under OS/2. Commercial competitors, like IBM and Hummingbird claim to offer this as well with their product, but I have yet to see any application developed this way. PMX and EXceed have their market, where it comes to make cheap PCs to a simple replacement for X terminals.
CM: How much of the XFree86 source code had to be rewritten for this port?
HV: I have never counted the lines that had to be changed, but they were surprisingly few. (See also Questions 3 and 4.) Most files in X11 still remain untouched, and compile out of the box. The EMX environment is quite good to translate Unixisms.
CM: What was the hardest service/method you had to port?
HV: A considerable amount of time and effort had to be spent to create a usable infrastructure. This was the special device driver named XF86SUP.SYS which you must install to get the system running. This driver provides certain essential properties like I/O access, access to physical video memory, and Unix-like pseudo-TTYs which are missing, inefficient, or scattered over several drivers in OS/2.
CM: What has been the hardest app to port to OS/2?
HV: Initially, I thought that the X servers would be complicated, but surprisingly, they compiled almost out of the box after I had the support from the XF86SUP.SYS driver. The nice effect was that they share most of their code, so when we got one server working, the others automatically did as well, without specific testing. They now seem to be so compatible to their Linux and BSD equivalents, that the same bugs that appear there can also be observed under Linux. At this point I want to explicitly thank Sebastien Marineau, my remote colleague, who had debugged most of the problems in the server code and is responsible for the X11 / OS/2 interfacing.
The hardest things were applications that extremely use Unix features. This holds for xterm and xdm mainly. Interestingly, with X11R6 there was partly support for WinNT, and the applications missing from that port were: xterm, xdm, xconsole, and the servers!
CM: What are your hopes for this in the next year or so?
HV: Well, what hopes? I am [realistic enough] to know that XFree86/OS2 won't suddenly cause a boost in applications for OS/2; neither did EMX have such an impact. To append to the first question: XFree86 has its market, and so has PM.
I expect that several apps available in the large X archives will be ported to XFree86/OS2 in the future, and this will make OS/2 an important platform for portable software. Which [other] OS can run DOS, Win3.1, OS/2 1.X, 2.X, PM, WPS, and X11 software?
CM: Any hints on when the BETA or FULL release will be?
HV: I follow the track of the people of the XFree86 Project. They want to release one or two more beta releases (one of which I likely skip) and then the full version. From my experiences so far, I think the next version will have a real beta status; I had expected more problems. A date of a next release is not yet fixed.
CM: Who else has been responsible for this project?
HV: The responsibility of the XFree86/OS2 port lies with (Holger.Veit@gmd.de) me; note that my employer is not involved in this. The overall responsibility for XFree86 itself is with (xfree86@xfree86.org) The XFree86 Project(tm). The main URL for XFree86/OS2 is (http://borneo.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html) http://borneo.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html, for XFree86 in general contact (http://www.xfree86.org/) http://www.xfree86.org/.
CM: Any plans to port anything else to OS/2?
HV: XFree86/OS2 is mainly done for me - there will be improvements, bugfixes, ports, but in general, it is now standing on its own feet, and people have to decide what they want to use it for. There is one more challenge for me, under the work title "PM4X", that is the port of the PM/WPS API in a portable way to X11.
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For those who are interested in trying the current ALPHA release of the XFree86 port, please consult (http://borneo.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html) Holger's page on the port and related information. Also, please do not mail Holger if you cannot get it to work, instead ask on comp.os.os2.programmer.porting or on the IRC channel #OS/2. Many people (including myself) can be found at both of those places and would be more than willing to help, as long as you read the READMEs that come along with the release!
Look for a review and installation guide here when the port moves from the Alpha and Beta stages into a full release.
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(http://www.csclub.uwaterloo.ca/~cdmckill/) Chris McKillop is a University of Waterloo Computer Engineering student, currently on work term at a software firm named ISG. He can often be found wasting time on IRC (#os/2 and others) as Variable or playing his guitar. This is his first article (but not his last!) for the OS/2 e-Zine!.
The following list represents the top selling OS/2 shareware applications.
This Month Last Month Product Company
1 1 PMMail SouthSide Software
2 6 XIT Codesmith Software
3 2 ScreenSaver Siegfried Hanish
4 - iLink/2 Craig Pommer
5 - Intercom Revolutionary Software
6 7 PMView Peter Neilsen
7 3 Blanker Peter Wansch
8 8 MR/2 ICE Nick Knight
9 5 NetSuite NeoLogic
10 9 ZOC EmTec
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Compiled by (http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro) BMT Micro - Your Source for Over 75 Quality OS/2 Shareware Applications. - March 1996
---Our Sponsor: BMT Micro (http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/)---
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Sponsor OS/2 e-Zine!
* Corporate Sponsors
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For more information please e-mail editor@haligonian.com or phone (902) 461-2266.
* Readers can sponsor too!
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Please send:
* cash, cheque or money order (International or Canadian--payable to Haligonian Media),
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* web url if applicable.
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Any amount is appreciated and whether you choose to sponsor or not, you will still be able to enjoy every issue of OS/2 e-Zine! on the WWW!
For more information or any other questions please (editor@haligonian.com) e-mail us or contact us at:
Developer of Smalled, the small, high powered, intuitive OS/2 editor.
(http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/) BMT Micro
Your complete source for over 75 of the best OS/2 shareware applications available. Drop by today and check out our WWW catalog or download the .INF version.
(http://www.ChipChat.com/home00.html) ChipChat Technology Group
ChipChat produces excellent 32-bit OS/2 software for wireless text paging
and state-of-the-art multimedia Sound Cards for Micro Channel PS/2 computers.
Providers of lifetime warrantied name brand simms, laptop and printer memory at competitive prices.
(http://www.spg-net.com/) SPG Inc.
Creators of ColorWorks for OS/2 - The Artist's Ultimate Power Program! ColorWorks has earned both the 1995 OS/2 Magazine Editor's Choice & the 1995 OS/2 Professional Magazine Best New Product Awards.
(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems Inc.
The Next Generation Company bringing you the Next Generation Sofware for corporate and home use.
* Readers Who Have Sponsored:
The entire staff of OS/2 e-Zine! would like to extend special thanks to the following readers who have made significant contributions.
Dr. Ronald E. Wyllys David Busby Stephen Boileau
Quentin Z. Whiplinger Gregory Mobley Ian W. MacKee
Christopher A. King Michel Slivitzky Dennis J. Tuchler
Robert Griswold Wm. Bradley Read II R. Edgar Scrutton
Mike Quinn Ralph Cohen Robert D. Miller
Jan Schatz Michael Shillingford J. McMillan
Vicky Stables Dennis Hayes
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Coming up next time - on the Web April 30, 1996
* Reviews!
Graphics Software
We look at ColorWorks V2, Neon Graphix 3d, Impos/2, and various personal graphics viewing packages to bring you the lowdown on the industry heavyweights and shareware favourites.
Utility Suites
We review some of the suite-est utilities on the market for OS/2 and give you the scoop on which does what and how well. From Graham to GammaTech, we've got 'em all.
Web Stuff
We look at WebBook as alternative to WebEx's limited hot list feature and at the commercial release of Secure WebExplorer for OS/2 v1.1.
* Features!
OS/2 Answers
Get your OS/2 questions answered or benefit from others' problems. Our experts answer readers' questions and share their professional tips and tricks with you.
