Welcome back to the Beta File. As always, we've done our best to scour the web for interesting OS/2 applications in beta testing this month. Many of the programs we've mentioned in past columns are now "on the shelves" (or the FTP sites) or about to be. Below, you'll find the next batch of software you'll soon be seeing at a site near you.
And 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 drop us a note!
Now, to business.
Jan Hubicka and Thomas A. K. Kjaer have taken it upon themselves to conjure up a native version of the Unix multiplayer action game, Koules. Since Hubicka is the game's original author the team brings some authority to the project. Trust me, I've played the OS/2 version and it's addictive!
Koules/2, as its latest incarnation is called, features DIVE/Fullscreen DIVE support, playfield sizes of 320x200, 320x240 & 640x480 and is possibly the first public non-IBM FSDive aware program. Since the software is covered by the GNU GPL it is free of charge and includes the full source code! By the time you read this it should be available in the /os2/games directory of hobbes but you can always grab a copy at the Koules/2 WWW site.
Currently about 10 people have been testing for a short time and the development team is still accepting beta participants. If you want to get involved, grab koules.zip from the mentioned sites and play it. It's that simple!
The winner of the "most colourful software name of the month" is definitely RED, or as it is more formally known, Rexx Editor. Black Pine Development is in Phase One of their two phase beta test of this new shareware editor. The beta is open to the public and participants for the second phase will be picked from the feedback provided in the first phase. If you want to get in on the fun download the initial beta from the usual OS/2 FTP sites or visit the Black Pine home page after 15 March 1996.
According to David E. Wald, the lead developer, RED is an editor designed to use drag and drop interface for REXX/VXREXX programing. The final release is expected by mid May 1995 and should carry a registration fee under US$40.
Here's some welcome news for those of you (or rather, those of us!) that routinely do minor graphics editing. Paul Czarny has gotten as fed up as the rest of us and taken it upon himself to create a small, simple paint and animation program for OS/2. BluePaint is currently in v0.1 so it's obviously very early in the beta program but Paul has been working on it since December of '95.
As of Feb. 21st, about 500 people have downloaded the program so it's a pretty open beta. If you want to download a copy or take a look at a screen shot jump over to Paul's WWW site.
BluePaint features an multiple document interface that lets you work on up to three images or animations simultaneously, full clipboard support, and flexible image size. Again, this is very early in this product's development so new features are as much a function of beta testers' input as anything.
The final version will be freeware. In Czarny's words, "That means, it's available to everyone at no cost, you'll never see any annoying registration reminders, it won't expire after using it for 30 minutes in demo mode, nothing like that." There should be another release in the first week of April '96, and at least 2 new releases by the end of summer '96 (during next 6 months) in any case. No word yet on when this work in progress will eventually be finished. Maybe you can help!
MainConcept, GbR of Germany is currently continuing that country's long-standing support of OS/2 with their new modular animation package, MainActor/2. Originally developed for the Amiga, the OS/2 version can load, edit, create, convert and play any animation format for which it has the proper loader/saver module. The final version will have support for most animation formats, including MPEG and AVI. Quicktime is already integrated. DIVE is used for playback.
MainActor/2 is shareware although a commercial successor is likely. Registration of the shareware version will be US$60. The current betas are free of charge and can be obtained from hobbes or from the MainConcept home page.
Markus Moenig, the main developer of MainActor/2 (no pun intended or achieved), says, "MainActor is the most powerful animation package for the Amiga, we hope to make it as good on OS/2."
So far the public beta has lasted about a month. The general availability version will take around three or four months to complete. MainConcept is still accepting participants so feel free to drop by their site and offer your help.
And finally, in an update to a previous Beta File, Craig Pommer has released the first public beta version of his replacement for "IBM's Dial Other Provider" application. By the time you read this, iLink/2 should be available on the regular OS/2 FTP sites under the filename Ilnk099a.zip. Grab it and start dialling!
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