OS/2 Warp and the Internet by Chris Novak One of the many reasons why IBM's OS/2 Warp has sold millions is the free BonusPak Internet Access Kit (IAK) included with every copy. These applications help you to get online quickly, easily and with power. Here are a number of tips and techniques we've collected for you to use with your BonusPak IAK (a.k.a IBM Internet Connection for OS/2). OS/2 Warp gives you different Internet Connection programs to help you do different things. For example, Gopher finds information and pictures, FTP transfers files to and from your computer, and the WebExplorer gives you multimedia (audio/video), hypertext (fancy term for built-in footnotes and references) access to all kinds of organizations on the Web. The WebExplorer can also access Gopher information and transfer files from FTP sites. It's true; the 'secret' is in defining the Web URLs (Uniform Resource Locators). They define the type of Internet service at the address that follows (URL is in caps ***{E.N. - or bold?}), i.e: http://WWW.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/warp.html (IBM OS/2 Warp page) means World-Wide-Web type service. Requires WebExplorer or MOSAIC FTP://ftp-os2.cdrom.com (Hobbes OS/2 Shareware archives) means File Transfer Protocol service. Use FTP-PM or WebExplorer. (FTP-PM doesn't understand URLs. To use a URL address with ftp, DROP the URL prefix "ftp://" and use "ftp-os2.cdrom.com". GOPHER://index.almaden.ibm.com/1os2dsn (IBM PSP Dev. Support) means Gopher service. Use Gopher or WebExplorer. FILE:///d:\tcpip\tmp\webmap.htm (Web map from your last session) means a local file on your PC (yes, this one has 3 slashes, not 2). So why would you want to use "file:///"? Well, WebExplorer allows you to save World-Wide-Web documents to your disk. It even stores the last Web map you used in \tcpip\tmp\webmap.htm. You can specify this path (add your drive letter where TCP/IP is installed) in WebExplorer's URL field, or drag and drop any *.HTM file onto the WebExplorer icon. To make it even easier, modify the WebExplorer icon's SETTINGS - ASSOCIATION to add *.HTM. Now you can double-click directly on any HTM object on your system. The BonusPak IAK contains 32-bit, point-and-click tools for accessing the most popular Internet functions such as Telnet, FTP, Gopher, News Groups, and the World-Wide-Web. It's designed to make "surfers" out of the hundreds of thousands of "newbies" taking up the pastime of cruising the Internet. If you bought a very early copy of Warp, then you may be missing some IAK functions such as point-to-point (PPP) support and IBM's WebExplorer (for the World-Wide-Web). You can download these by using the "Retrieve Software Updates" option of the IAK, or you can get them via FTP from "ftp.ibm.net" from the /pub directory. You can get updates to both the NewsReader application and the UltiMail Lite applications here as well. Many publications today have articles about how major online services will be offering access to the Internet. I'm a Prodigy subscriber, so I decided to check out their Windows- based Internet Web Browser (which I had no problem running under Warp). I was able to access not only the Web, but Gopher and FTP resources on the Internet. However, I did it the old-fashioned way: one resource at a time. A PPP or Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) connection to the Internet (accessed by using Warp's IBM Internet Connection applications) allows you to run multiple Internet programs to different Internet sites at the same time. For example, while you're using "Retrieve Software Updates" (or FTP) to get the latest Internet Connection updates, you might also use the WebExplorer to access IBM's "home page" (http:// WWW.IBM.COM), a second copy of the WebExplorer to peruse the Library of Congress (http://LCWEB.LOC.GOV), and the Gopher to read a copy of Business Week online (gopher.enews.com/business/pubs/business/bw). You can do all this at the same time with OS/2 Warp! This multitasking capability also applies to any applications which use your Internet connection such as UltiMail Lite, FTP- PM, Telnet, Retrieve Software Updates, NewsReader/2, and others. You see, connecting to the Internet via a SLIP or PPP Service Provider is very much like connecting your PC to a Local Area Network: once you're hooked up, you can have multiple programs accessing multiple servers at the same time. By having several programs running through your SLIP/PPP connection at the same time, you'll always have something utilizing the bandwidth your service provider is charging you for. Folks are constantly amazed during Internet Connection demonstrations at how little time we spend online and how much information we can retrieve in 10-15 minutes by running multiple programs simultaneously (it also shows off OS/2 Warp's ability to multitask solidly without timeouts or resource impacts). Another application which can operate across the Internet is BonusPak's Person to Person/2 (P2P/2) desktop conferenceing. This product allows up to eight users to share a common desktop work-area; each with the ability to cut/paste, markup, and file transfer in full view of the others. It's an excellent supplement to a telephone conference call, and it's free with OS/2 Warp's BonusPak. Here's how to use P2P/2 with the IBM Internet Connection: P2P/2 must be configured with TCP/IP 'enabled' and "Slow-but effective" compression selected. After your Internet "SLIP" connection has been started, bring up the P2P/2 Call Manager. Call Manager status should have changed from "Inactive" to "No Calls." This indicates that the TCP/IP Internet connection has been established. All each P2P/2 system needs now is the IP address of the other to complete the connection. That information is established dynamically at the start of each Internet session via the IBM Global Network. It can also be found by maximizing the Internet Dialer and scrolling down to the line which says: "nnn.nn.nnn.nnn (e.g. 129.37.124.135) is your IP address." This is the address that should be entered into the P2P Address of the other P2P system (and their IP address should be placed in your P2P/2 address). Now you're ready to initiate contact with the other P2P/2 system. Allow 5-20 seconds for it to be completed, and you're ready to use any of the P2P/2 functions across the Internet. You will also be able to use WebExplorer, Gopher, FTP-PM, and other Internet applications at the same time. You can also get your free copy of P2P/2's own File Transfer capability from the Internet via "FTP.HURSLEY.IBM.COM" in the "/PUB/P2P/P2P-FT.ZIP" directory. Finally, when you're exploring the World-Wide-Web and you find an interesting "page", don't forget to click the 'thumbs-up' button on the WebExplorer's button bar. This will 'bookmark' where you are so you can come back another time (Gopher has a similar facility). The Internet is very big, and it can be difficult to find your way back again, but bookmarking can take you directly where you want to go in future sessions. Use the WebExplorer's "Quicklist" pulldown menu to display all of your bookmarks. You can also use the Web Map icon which maintains your entire Quicklist as well as all the places you've visited in the current session. To save time when using the WebExplorer, disable the option to load a "home page" when the WebExplorer starts, or change your 'home page' to be "file:///d:\tcpip\tmp\webmap.htm". This will give you the Web map from your last WebExplorer session and will include all of your Quicklist access bookmarks as well.