MMOUG October 1993 Newsletter Volume 1 Number 5 The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily the views held by the MMOUG or it's members. Don't agree with something you've read here? Write and tell us about it! Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group ============================= The MMOUG meets on the third Wednesday of each month, meeting at the Columbia IBM office on even months and at the Jefferson City office on odd months. October Meeting Announcement ---------------------------- When: October 20, 1993 at 4 PM Where: Columbia IBM Office (See directions) Activities: Dale Hackemeyer, MMOUG Information Officer, will show how he creates the MMOUG Newsletter using the OS/2 Information Presentation Facility. Directions: Columbia IBM Office 101 Park De Ville Place Columbia, MO 65203 From either I-70 or US 63, take Stadium Drive to Broadway. Go West down Broadway and go through the next stop light. Park De Ville Place is the first street on the right after the light. IBM is about a block down Park De Ville on the left. Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group Information ----------------------------------------- Current Officers: Phillip Wilson - President Diane Kehl - Vice President Robert Shelley - Treasurer Shawn Frazier - Membership Secretary David Finch - Recording Secretary Woody Sturges - BBS Officer Dale Hackemeyer - Information Officer Official MMOUG BBS: OS/2 Woodmeister - (314) 446-0016 (1:289/27) Jeff City Point - (314) 634-0393 (MMOUG Members only) MMOUG Mailing Address: Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group P.O. Box 30645 Columbia, MO 65205-0645 MMOUG Internet E-mail Address: uc545502@mizzou1.missouri.edu Presidential Corner =================== Greetings and Salutations :-) Well we had another full room this past meeting in Jefferson City, and I believe everyone found the WordPerfect demonstration informative and helpful. I would personally like to thank the WordPerfect Corporation for allowing their representative to come to our meeting and give our users the opportunity to see WordPerfect 5.2 for OS/2 first hand and get answers to a lot of questions. Thanks Curtis (Wordperfect Representative). I have requested a larger room for the November meeting due to the shortages of chairs in the room (definitely a positive predicament to be in. ) So here we go into fall months that normally herald a lot of new developments and products being announced to the public and the fall trade shows. Here's hoping that the OS/2 ball will keep gaining momentum. Shortly, we will be a member of the Association of PC User Groups (voted on last meeting). Our formation as a User Group will be complete with the final touches on our incorporation, including the Bylaws which we also voted on last meeting. For those of you lucky enough to be able to attend the fall Comdex show, see if you can stick your two cents in on behalf of our User Group. It should be a blast for OS/2 User Groups and Team OS/2'ers. I would also like to thank our Vice-President Diane Kehl for providing a much needed sense of order to our meeting. Diane has volunteered to write up the agenda for each meeting to keep it running smoothly. Also, a big thank you to Rick Wolters for helping identify limitations in the Jefferson City OS/2 Woodmeister BBS, Dayton and Penny Shepherd for volunteering to do a Software review for the newsletter, and Gary Pool for continuing to remind me we needed to ratify our bylaws. Also on a side note, you may want to check out the September issue of the OS/2 Professional magazine. There is a very good article in there about how IBM is helping it's OS/2 User Groups. We have definitely benefited from that and hope to continue to do so. Michelle Wilson is working on getting our future meetings announced in the OS/2 Professional magazine. Thank you for being a member. If you are not a member please remember you are always welcome to stop by and attend the meetings. Take Care and have a Great October. Phillip Wilson President, Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group OS/2 Shopping ============= Shopping for native OS/2 applications got you down? Do you find it almost impossible to find OS/2 software by mail order, let alone locally? Don't despair! Pick up the phone and you can choose from several OS/2 only mail order houses, stocked with the latest OS/2 apps, usually at discount prices. They carry not only IBM OS/2 products, but a wide range of other commercial apps, registered versions of several popular shareware products, OS/2 books, and OS/2 paraphenalia, such as buttons and shirts. Some even offer OS/2 compatible hardware! Sound like something you're looking for? Call or write: Indelible Blue Inc. PO Box 31306 Raleigh, NC 27622-1306 Orders: (800)776-8284 Fax: (919)783-8380 Inquries: (919)834-7005 The Corner Store 33 West Street Litchfield, CT 06759 Phone: (203) 567-3394 Below Zero Box 22009, Bankers Hall 135-315 8th Ave. SW Calgary, Alberta Canada T2P 3J1 (800)461-2777 (461-BRRR) (403)547-0669 Fax: (403)547-1018 I'll have the October 1993 Indelible Blue Inc. catalog at the October meeting, plus there are electronic catalogs for The Corner Store and Below Zero on the OS/2 Woodmeister BBS, in the files CSTORE.ZIP and BZ0593OS.ZIP respectively. Be warned that these electronic catalogs are a bit dated (pre-OS/2 2.1). Dale Hackemeyer OS/2 Hardware Central ===================== Here are some posts to usenet that summarize the responses to some OS/2 hardware questions. Miscellaneous ------------- From: art10639@leonis.nus.sg (JT) Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc Subject: nice os/2 system This is the summary of the responses I got for the post "nice system for os/2". With the number of peripherals available in the market today, the options are mindboggling. Making the right choice for a new system for any operating system is tough. Often, the responses conflict and opinions differ, you wonder who's giving the most accurate information. Ultimately however, armed with the knowledge gained, one has to make the choice. Thanks to the following individuals who responded : A.A. Olowofoyeku cro@socrates.ed.asu.edu (C. R. Oldham) Eliot Wilson ewann@sfu.ca (Ewan Ng) hoppie@kub.nl (JeroenHoppenbrouwers) james.gow@canrem.com (James Gow) jliukkon@cc.helsinki.fi (Juha-Matti Liukkonen) Pat Duffy Rod Smith Timothy F. Sipples uttsbbs!john.navas (John Navas) 91063357@ramsey.cs.laurentian.ca (Kurt Schafer) Please forgive me, if I have left your name out. Motherboard ----------- Generally, the 486-33 or 486-66 was preferred over the 486-50 due to the VL-Bus spec of 40Mhz. There was general agreement that the 486-50 may cause cards to malfunction. To prevent this, one can either buy a good motherboard or some cards which have been rated for 50Mhz. C.R. Oldham says: "Running near the edge of the envelope is sure to bring out any inconsistencies." Besides the Intel based motherboards, other 486 chips to consider are the IBM 486SLC/2 chips. These have an internal 16k cache and are relatively cheaper than Intels. Of greater consideration, perhaps is RAM. It has been suggested that 16meg is the minimum required to do *ture* multitasking. James Gow has says that 486-33 with 16meg ram have outperformed 486-66 with 8meg ram. I had a few mails suggesting EISA/VESA or EISA rather than VL-Bus. However, EISA is a lot more expensive. SCSI HDD and Controllers ------------------------ In the FAQ both the Adaptec and the Future Domain are recommended. However, it has been observed that most users (who responded) generally preferred the Adaptec. A buslogic comment taken from an old posting : --------- From: jim@aisbbs.com (Jim Louvau) Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc Subject: VLB SCSI: Ultrastore 34f ? Date: Wed, 25 Aug 1993 07:59:18 SX> I never got mine working with my Gateway 2000 486DX2/66, despite all the SX> help I got from IBM, Ultrastor, and Robert King(who has been succesfully SX> using Ultrastor 34F). FWIW, I have a dozen sand boxes at work, and two at home, all running Buslogic (Bustek) BT-445S VL HA's with *ZERO* problems. Ditto on a couple of NetWare file servers. A super-easy, absolutely painless, no-brainer installation of their OS/2 2.x drivers after setting a single (and labled clearly ON THE CARD) bus speed jumper was all it took. These suckers are SCSI-2F, and will do 32-bit transfers with the host at 40MBps. They'll also handle (guaranteed) a full 50mHz bus speed for you DX50 powermongers out there. Tech support at Buslogic fielded multiple phone calls and questions from me, even BEFORE I owned the product. Very nice people to deal with, and competent to boot. Needless to say, I was, and still am, VERY impressed with both the product AND the company. What's more, the street price of < $300 puts them within $5 - $10 of the Ultrastor's. Just consider the above a recomendation from a very satisfied customer :-) ---------- There exists some VL-bus type SCSI controllers. However, these are not standardized. It seems that cacheing, here, is also a problem. Few respondents know what the FastSCSI2 is all about. However, just one person said that the SCSI2 is an established standard whereas the FastSCSI2 is not. If you are going for EISA, then get an EISA Adaptec 1742 as a host adapter. As a point of interest, it is generally agreed that the SCSI port of the PAS sound cards do not come into conflict with the SCSI controller. Go with the Logitech Soundman for full PAS compaitbility without the SCSI port or the PASBasic (pro Audio Spectrum w/o the SCSI port) For SCSI hdd, stick with known brands such as Quantum, Conner and Maxtor. Fujitsu's are paticularly good. One person has gone so far as to recommend Fujitsu's for hdd over 600meg and Quantum's for hdd below 550meg. Then again, another mail says : "The best 500 Mb hard disk is the new Maxtor; the best 1 Gb hard disk is the Seagate Barracuda." Display Cards and Monitors -------------------------- Some users are pretty happy with their Catseye/X (recommended in the FAQ), of which there is no VLBus version yet. Many people have also claimed that their S3-based cards are faster than the XGA-2s. Among the well recommended brands are Orchid, Actix, Farenheit (1280+), Spea Mirage V7, and #9 (see attached mail). Those cards based on the S3 928s are pretty good choices. Actix and Magma have full os/2 support. Here is a copy of a message posted to comp.os.os2.misc about the Actix card: ---------- From: csjohn@perot.mtsu.edu (John Wallace) Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.misc Subject: Re: Best Video Card for 2.1? Date: 20 Aug 1993 13:30:16 -0500 No contest. Get an Actix S3 VLB board. Actix (unlike Diamond and a few others) does not use a propreitary video BIOS. Actix uses straight Quadtel (S3) BIOS. This makes it as compatible as it can possibly be. You can buy one from CSI if you hurry. Right now they have a special for OS/2 users for under $225, and it comes with 2MB VRAM. You can call CSI at: 1-800-733-9798. ---------- From: danzig@eclipse.its.rpi.edu (Danzig) Of the S3-928 based cards out there the #9s perform the fastest and they are the only video cards with the FLASH bios built into them, LED indicator on the outside of the card to tell you the status of the card. It's also capable up to 2048x1024 in the Virtual mode and 1280x1024 in the regular display mode up to 16.7 million colors for 1024x768 and 65k colors for 1280x1024. It supports refresh rates up to 76Hz for all resolutions and the card has a bandwidth of more than 100MHz, and the clock generator is fully programmable and #9 is very good with programming information. The OS/2 drivers for it makes this the fastest of the S3-928 cards out there. And #9 makes the highest quality S3-928 cards. The Diamond Stealth Pro which is based on the same chip only runs at about half the speed. There is the 1meg, 2 meg, 3meg and 4meg versions. The GXE Level 10/11/12/14. Where their ram configurations are 1v , 2v, 2v+1d, 4v. (v = VRAM, d = dram) The Level 14 is currently only available for ISA version. All the others are available for both ISA and VLB. According to my benchmarks, VLB doesn't seem to affect performance much. For a really accelerated card, the bus bandwidth it needs is much less than let's say a Cirrus/ET4k/pvga so localbus doesn't really help much. The prices for VLB and ISA is the same. ---------- (contact Danzig for prices) It is agreed that monitors should support at least 1024x768 NI. Highly recommended ones include the Zenith FTM, NEC, ViewSonic, Mag, Nanao, and IDEK. Higher resolutions require a larger screen space. Hope some of you find this information useful. J˙ Video ----- From: poe@dow.wharton.upenn.edu (Philip Poe) Subject: REVISED: SUMMARY: Fast Video! (9/17/93) Date: 17 Sep 93 19:40:49 GMT Hello World. I've posted several requests for information concerning accelerated video cards recently. My purposes are for use in OS/2 specifically, but there is useful information here for DOS/Windows and UNIX users as well. Along with my own research, I've received some helpful information from The Net. Here's a subjective summary of what I've learned.... BTW, if you have text search capability, search for "*-" to find subject headers. If you want to skip over all the gory text (it's a _lot_) go immediately to the bottom or search for "BOTTOM LINE" I do not discuss refresh rates or overclocking the bus speed (much :). I think I supplied enough phone numbers point you in the right direction for questions/answers. Please post followups for errata or flat out mistakes. Also, any good sources to purchase these cards is appreciated. Hope it helps, Phil I am pulling relative performance reviews from previous reviews in magazines, generally from old issues of PC Magazine and posts on the net from user benchmarks, but mainly from PC Magazines Perfect PC issue, and from Sept 93 Computer Shopper review of VLB boards. Of course, they conflict with each other.... Amazingly, in the same issue of PC Mag, they review video cards again, including some discussed in the Perfect PC section, and the results CONFLICT!!! *--- ISA vs VLB VLB has the advantage of a 32bit bus, at 33 (newer boards up to 40) Mhz compared to ISAs limit of 16bits, at 8MHz (most new motherboards allow you to up the bus speed to a max of 16MHz). Unfortunately, most high-end accelerators are poorly optimized in terms of VGA compatibility. The result is while driver based (Such as Windows or OS/2) performance is phenomenal, if you do not have a driver for your software, performance is poor. For example, the Weitek Power9000 chipset is arguably the fastest chipset for Windows, but in DOS, despite the 32bit bus, performance is poorer than most ISA based cards. Using drivers, most accelerators will NOT hit the maximum throughput of a particular bus, so the speed of ISA accelerators is in the same ballpark as their VLB counterparts. On the other hand, the _fastest_ chipsets seem to be made only for VLB cards. On the first hand, even low-mid range accelerators are many times faster than frame buffer cards, and may be "fast enough" (heresy!) for some users. When I compare DOS performance, the standard I will use is the Tseng labs ET4000/AX chipset on an ISA based card. This is a well known standard for DOS based performance. Cards with this chipset are Diamond SpeedStar and Orchid ProDesigner IIs. Do not confuse the AX with the ET4000/W32, which is a 32bit frame buffer _and_ accelerator. *--- IF YOU HAVE AN ISA SYSTEM AND WILL NOT PURCHASE A VLB SYSTEM It looks like your needs will be best met by one of the following chipsets: ATI Mach32 (Mach32) IBM XGA-2 (XGA-2) Cirrus Logic 5426 (CL5426) S3 801 or 928 (S3801 or S928) *------ Mach32 Found on the ATI Graphics Ultra + and Graphics Ultra Pro. Can be found with 1MB, but as far as I know, all new ones come with 2MB. DOS performance is adequate. According to PC Mags Perfect PC issue, the ISA version of the GU+ is roughly 75% as fast as the Tseng ET400/AX. As far as I'm aware, Mach32 cards use a second chipset, identical to the one on the VGA Wonder with 512KB. This supplies the VGA compatibility. Windows performance is very good with the release of the new 2.0 drivers. Many people complain about the driver reliability under Windows. Now I believe the latest Windows drivers are v2.1 OS/2 drivers are in Beta stage, and get complaints about reliability. The Mach32 is also 100% hardware compatible with the IBM 8514/A chipset, so the 8514/A drivers supplied with Windows and OS/2 will work well. 8514/A compatibility is markedly slower than native mode however. The best buy on a ISA based seems to be the GU+ with 2MB. Most cards will also have a mouse port, and include a high resolution bus mouse. Computer Discount Warehouse has the GU+ w/2MB and mouse for $239 at last check. *------ CL5426 Many vendors use this chip. They have accelerated drivers for Windows, and as far as I know, unaccelerated drivers for OS/2. (please let me know if otherwise). DOS performance is very good. Slightly faster than a Tseng ET4000/AX card. Windows performance is on the low end for an accelerator, but is several times as fast as a frame buffer. No-name clones go for as little as $80, name brands for $100 or so. Name brand vendors include : Actix, Genoa, Edge I hear accelerated OS/2 drivers are released now or are due _very_ soon. (Can someone please verify this?) *-------- XGA-2 Technically, this is a specification, not a chipset, but a chipset seems to describe it well enough for this discussion. This is apparently _the_ chip with best support under OS/2 2.x. All others are racing for second place. Acceleration isn't the fastest, but is _slightly_ slower than the S3 801 chipset for most tasks, and faster on others. Unfortunately, it is (currently) limited to MCA or ISA versions. Memory is limited to 1MB (?) and maximum 64K colors. DOS speed is adequate, on par with S3 801 chips (That is, 70% of Tseng ET4000/AX). Windows performance is good, again, on par with S3 801. The XGA-2s real claim to fame though, is its OS/2 support. FutureComm sells the CatsEye XGA-2 card for $249. (Phone number anyone?) Rumor has it that a VLB version is due out RSN (Real Soon Now). Rumor 2 has it that an XGA-3 chipset/specification will be out (who knows when), that will have speed near the P9000 chipsets or faster. *----------- IIT AGX-014 I couldn't find any reviews of an AGX-014 card, but I'll mention it for completeness. This is IITs XGA based chipset (not compatible, though). I hear it's plenty fast, but I wouldn't know. *-------------- S3801 or S3928 The 928 is really designed for VLB, but exists in ISA form. Unless you really need some feature found in a 928 based, I strongly suggest that you get an 801 based card. The 928 cards are significantly more expensive due to VRAM. IMHO, the relatively small speed increase is not worth it. The major factor of the 928 and VRAM is that it supports higher refresh rates at high resolutions for those of you with large monitors. Another factor is that if you do a lot of 15bit, 16bit, or 24bit color work, the 928 earns it's pay over the 801/805. S1 801 DOS performance is adequate, roughly 70% of the ET4000/AX. Windows performance is very good, and the drivers are stable. 16 bit OS/2 drivers are available from some vendors including Actix, Orchid and STB. 32 bit OS/2 drivers are available from IBM and work with boards from Actix, Orchid, and most others. The best selection on 801 cards seems to be the Actix GE32+ series. They can be found with up to 2MB DRAM. The only place I've seen with 2MB cards is WINXPRESS, 800/859-8500. Ask for Vince. Most people on the net seem to recommend the Orchid Fahrenheit 1280+ or VA. They are identical except for the sound capabilities of the VA. The lowest priced name brand card I've seen is the STB XL-24. I've seen them on the net for $159 shipping _included_. This card seems to be faster in Windows than the Orchid card and has 16bit OS/2 drivers. Call SELLCOM 800/735-5266, and ask for Steve Winter. Diamond and Number 9 make exceedingly fast 928 versions with ample VRAM if you have the $$ to spend. #9 is earning a good rep for their drivers. No name cards go for $140 or so. *--- IF YOU ALREADY HAVE OR ARE CONSIDERING BUYING A NEW VLB SYSTEM *---------- ATI Mach32 See description in ISA section. DOS performance is very fast. According to PC Mag Perfect PC issue, >= 2 times faster than ET4000/AX. Windows performance is slightly slower than the S3 928 on VLB. OS/2 2.1 drivers are in beta stage and are met with mixed reviews at best. Mach32 chipset is 100% hardware compatible with IBM 8514/A. So drivers for that chipset work with Mach32 cards. This will give slower performance than if you have native Mach32 drivers. *----------------- Cirrus Logic 5426 See description in ISA section. DOS performance is very fast. According to Computer Shopper Sept 93 issue, performance is roughly 30%-50% faster than the ATI GU Pro. Windows performance is adequate. According to the same Computer Shopper, roughly 50%-70% of the ATI GU Pro. Windows drivers are stable, OS/2 drivers exist, but may not be accelerated. No-name clones go for as little as $100. Name brands for >= $125. USA Flex has an OEM card for $110. Rumor has it that accelerated OS/2 drivers are out or are due _very_ soon. (can someone please verify if there is acceleration with these drivers?) *----------- IIT AGX-015 The VLB version of the IIT chipset. Supposedly as fast as Weitek P9000, but reviews haven't verified this. Computer Shopper didn't like it too much in it's Hercules Graphite form. PC magazine, however gave it an Editors Choice (?!?!?! Aren't these guys from the same publisher?) In any case, DOS performance is _poor_ according to Computer Shopper. There are no OS/2 drivers that I know of. With such conflicting reports, I abstain from commenting on it. USA Flex has the 1MB version for $270. Hmmm... looking at the ad, the Hercules card is listed as having the AGX-014, a chip _not_ designed for VLB, perhaps this is the source of it's poor reviews. Orchid makes the Celsius VLB, which uses AGX-015. USA Flex has it for $250 *-------------- S3 805 and 928 See description of 801 and 928 in ISA section. Again, unless you _must_ have some feature found on a 928 card, I suggest you use an 805 based card. 805 cards can have up to 2MB DRAM, 928 cards up to 4MB VRAM. According to PC Mag Perfect PC issue, 805 VLB is approx 80% the speed of 928 VLB. To say the least 805 costs a lot less. See the ISA section for reasons you might want 928 and VRAM. I've only seen Actix boards have 2MB DRAM on 805 cards. Actix also has a 4MB VRAM card. See ISA section for WINXPRESS phone number. Actix claims that their boards can handle 50MHz on VLB. STB VL-24 is a 1MB card and goes for $165 _delivered_. See ISA section for SELLCOM phone number. This card gets faster scores under windows compared to Actix and Orchid. USA Flex has a Boca OEM card for $150. DOS performance is good, roughly 10%-15% faster than ET4000/AX In almost every case, 801/805 is _slightly_ faster than 928 in DOS. Windows drivers are mature for this chipset. OS/2 2.1 drivers come in 16bit form from vendors and IBM 32bit drivers support most cards with this chipset. No-name 1MB 805 cards go for >= $140. Again Diamond and Number 9 have earned a rep for exceedingly fast 928 VLB cards if you have the $$ *---------------- Tseng ET4000/W32 A new accelerator chip from Tseng Labs. Also optimized for VGA performance on the VLB. This card is the last word in raw VGA performance. According to PC Mag Perfect PC issue, ET4000/W32 is 60% faster than ATI GU Pro in terms of VGA performance. Which is >= 3-4 times faster than ET4000/AX. this is _without_ acceleration. Windows performance, according to PC mag again, is slightly faster than the S3 805, slightly slower than ATI Mach32. Hercules Fahrenheit goes for $160 at Publishing Perfection 800/782-5974 Cardinal also makes a card. You can contact Kevin at KC COMPUTERS for a no-name (Cardex?) version. 716/388-8621 or kcc@pt.com This chipset has OS/2 drivers, but are _currently_ unaccelerated. Accelerated drivers are supposedly on the way. I believe it relies on backwards compatibility with ET4000/AX. It's superlative frame-buffer performance partially makes up for lack of drivers. The ET4000/W32 can support 2MB DRAM, but I have been unable to find sources for these cards. I have heard from 1 user in Australia that has a 2MB card, but software detects 1MB. The Cardex version mentioned above can support 2MB, but has no socket for it (?). Tseng Labs has or is coming out with the ET4000/W32i, which supports more DRAM (2 or 4MB) and some say doubles the speed of the ET4000/W32. *---------------- Weitek Power9000 Seemingly the last word in Graphics acceleration. Windows performance is in a class by itself. Way faster than any other card. Diamond once again seems to make the fastest version. They even have OS/2 2.1 drivers that appear stable (!!!!!). This is nothing short of amazing to me, since I wouldn't even be looking for a card if My SpeedStar 24X had Accelerated drivers. If you decide to get it, make sure you get the latest BIOS (2.02?), since older ones are buggy. Weitek supplies the drivers for these cards, BTW, so look for other P9000 cards with OS/2 support in the same timeframe. Orchid and Cardinal and others also make P9000 boards. Orchid also has beta drivers for OS/2. Orchid is also notable because they seem to have done something to notably improve the DOS performance of this card. I hear that they use the Weitek 5286 as opposed to 5186 to get a 32bit frame buffer card. The price for these cards with 2MB is in the $400 range. My previous comment about the P9100 chipset and its improvement in performance seems to be incorrect. I have been informed that the P9100 is a part reduction /cost reduction move. *---------- MATROX MGA I am deliberately NOT discussing this card here. It is a 64-bit coprocessor with cards available for ISA, EISA, VLB, and in the future, PCI. The costs are prohibitively high for this discussion. From initial tests, it is _much_ faster (Up to 50%???) than P9000 cards in windows (where does it all end? :) *--BOTTOM LINE: *--ISA: Get an S3 801 based card, no excuses here... If you _have_ to, get the 928 versions. (See above for reasons) If you value DOS performance over GUI performance or if you're on a _severe_ budget restriction. Get a CL5426 based card. They go for almost 1/2 the price of an 801, and provide roughly 50% better performance in DOS, and reasonable performance under GUI drivers. (70% of S3 801?) If you don't mind used equipment, and are primarily a Windows user, Help an OS/2 user out, and buy their Diamond SpeedStar 24X! They offer superlative DOS performance (fastest I've seen), can be modified to run up to 16MHz on the ISA bus under spec (faster DOS performance!), and Windows performance is good. (faster than CL5426) Make sure you upgrade to the latest BIOS. They can still be found new, but the prices are too high, IMHO. Actix makes 2MB versions of 801 based cards. Search the above text for "WINXPRESS" Orchid is well regarded and has a version with Voice Annotation (ie simple sound card) capabilities. STB makes a relatively fast version for a low price. Search the above text for "SELLCOM" Diamond consistently makes fast cards, but drives you nuts with proprietary dot clocks! *--VLB: Widest Support : S3 805. Can be found with up to 2MB DRAM. If you _have_ to, get a 928 version. (See above for reasons) Read the ISA 801 text for specific brand names, word for word. Best DOS performance : If you need _speed_ in DOS, the Tseng ET4000/W32 is IT! Windows performance on par with the S3s. Wide accelerated driver support isn't there yet as far as I saw, but you can use ET4000/AX drivers, which has a _LOT_ of support. You can get a no-name clone from the net for $140. Search the above text for "KC COMPUTERS" Absolute Fastest : Go for the Diamond Viper, it smokes even other P9000 based cards. Diamond seems serious about supporting this one.... Some folks like me promised never to buy Diamond again though :( Orchid seems to have taken steps to speed up DOS performance with a 32bit frame buffer chip for VGA compatibility. IMHO, it's NOT worth upgrading to VLB from ISA. 801 cards are plenty fast compared to anything short of the P9000 based cards. The other exception is the DOS performance of the ET4000/W32. Software Showcase ================= Blanker 1.3 ----------- Review By Harvey Summers Blanker is a new screen saver that can move a small IBM or OS/2 logo around the desktop when you walk away from you computer. Blanker is no-frills. You can set the blanking time and pick what logo you want to see. There is no provision for passwords, animation files, hot spots, or other nonsence. Blanker simply works, and works well. Copying in to the startup folder will automatically start it up. Adding "-" to the parameters line of the startup options in the notebooks settings will make it invisable - no minimized icons, just a brief flash when it fires up. Blanker has a couple of small problems. When returning from a DOS session, the WPS screen is blanked. Appearently it doesn't catch keyboard activity in full- screen sessions. IT also causes my communications program to beep erratically when it should give 5 short beeps at the end of a transfer. Minor problems for a screen blanker than finally just simply does the job. BLANKER can be found in the file BLANKER3.ZIP on the OS/2 Woodmeister. PMComm 2.1 ---------- Review By Scott A. Moore The manual The first thing out of the box that hit me was that the manual was decidedly unprofessional looking. Since I had only played with the demo a limited amount of time, the impression was immediately formed that the features were bound to be minimal. I no longer think that that is true. The manual looks like something run off by Windows "write", and the type chosen looks like a cheap typewriter (a good reason not to use courier font). The entire document was done with ragged right edges, a fact that provoked laughs when later the download dialog was also found to lack such justification! In many places, the writer lost track of his style, underlining some headings but not others, etc. The cover page was an attempt to create a colorfull cover sheet, but looked to me exactly like the output of my color dot matix printer. Having gotten that off my chest, the technical writing was quite passable. It hit the right points, and was comprehensive. After reading the manual, it was obvious that there were no gaps in the feature coverage of Pmcomm. I thought the writing style was somewhat plain, with no real separation between distinct subjects, and zero diagrams and pictures. I know the writer if he reads this will think that I am unfairly picking on the manual, but Pmcomm is a good product, and a professional looking manual would go a long way to making Pmcomm a retail class product. I felt that given a day I could have changed the look of the manual entirely with a good word processor. The features Setting up Pmcomm was no sweat. I did what I always do, tour the menus and check all the proper buttons, then look for a way to save it all. I quickly got my fonts and colors the way I like them, and found more options and features than I am likely to use. I thought the terminal emulation was a bit skimpy, considering that terminal controls are widely documented (my Procomm manual lists many of them in back). The general layout of Pmcomm is very standard (now, but not in the demo). There is the menu bar, followed by the toolbutton bar, then the screen area, and finally the information line. The buttons are left justified, and disappear from the right if you make the window too small, as is the most common now. My only complaint here is that the number of buttons is pitifully small, only 8 buttons. More common now is to provide many more buttons than can usually be displayed, so that as you climb up in resolution you get more and more buttons. If the buttons are arranged in order of importance with left being most important, this does not cause problems when using vga or similar mode. There does not seem to be a good explanation for the small number of buttons. The IMHO essential feature of screen clear (used after some line trash sets your emulated terminal to a funny mode) is a menu item but not a button. Having to search around menus when there is blank grey space in most of the toolbar is mildly annoying. It is possible to set up any number of macro buttons (see below), but I was unable to find a way to hook screen clear to a macro. The information bar at the bottom has connect time, terminal emulation type and a general information line that normally gives you the time and day. This line also will tell you what each button does as you cross the pointer over it, a high class feature that is becoming more widespread. I would have preferred that the comm parameters have their own space on the information line. This along with the small button bar seems to indicate that the program was written exclusively on a VGA monitor, where space was premimum. Setting up the dialout was uneventfull. My required 57600 baud is a choice, which seems to be missing from many PM products (including the package shipped shipped with os/2). Setting up the dialing directory was no sweat (but why is it that word processors can read each other's formats, but modem programs cannot read each other's dialing directories?). When performing my first dialout, I came across my first major complaint. The dialout procedure is done by hitting a "phone" icon, then duoble clicking a bbs. But get no answer or cancel the dialout, and then hit the phone icon to select another bbs to dial, and Pmcomm goes right back to dialing again! The only way around this is to select "dial" from the pulldown menu. A check of the manual showed this was indeed a feature, but IMHO a poorly thought out one. I can't really think of a proper use for having the dial icon resume calling everything selected, but the defacto effect is to make the operation of the dial button unusable in some cases. Macros Macros were mentioned here (on usenet) as a Pmcomm weakness, but I cannot agree. The internal script language is minimal, but Pmcomm allows you to plug in a REXX program or even write your own C programs to call Pmcomm functions. I saw no limits here, and in fact this seems like a considerable improvement to me. I don't really see the use of the modem program having a huge set of script functions built in that are sufficent to write an entire BBS in. If I want to write a BBS, I'm going to do it in a real, portable language. Pmcomm rightly plugs into the higher powered packages. Personally, I began to use the internal script language. I created a few login scripts, all automatically created by hitting a "record" icon, then plugging the name of the script back into the dialing directory. I also created a script to access a typical FTP automatically. Executing that script was a simple button hit and double click the name. If that is still to much work for ya, the script can be executed from a key macro (as indeed can any function) such that a single keypress does it. Key macros can also be set up as buttons, so that you can really go to town and create a full custom toolbar. But as mentioned above, the macros cannot reach all functions on the menu. Each macro created as a button gets a label of your choosing, so for instance I have a button marked "hobbes" that connects to the hobbes FTP server. Scrollback I have to admit this is a big issue for me, since the feature is essential on the internet. The standard methodology is to have a button or key that places the program into scrollback mode, then the arrow or pageup/pagedown keys roll through that buffer. Pmcomm totally discards this system, and I have seen complaints about that here. Instead, you hit a button that opens up an entirely new window with all of the scrollback information. I know that people here are going to disagree with me, but I gave the system a chance, and on the balance, I think it makes more sense than the usual mode. I always find myself flipping back and forth from the scroll mode to the online mode to look up that filename that scrolled off the screen. In the Pmcomm system, you just pop that up as a window next to Pmcomm and leave it there. You can then continue to talk online, since the original dialup window is still active. It also includes many features to read and write the scroll back buffer, etc. What I didn't like about the scrollback system was that it is not updated with the screen information. The scrollback window was instead "frozen" with the information current at the time you pressed the scrollback button. In fact, refreshing the scrollback buffer meant closing it, then reopening it. With all of os/2's abilities, there seems to be no good excuse for not at least giving us a "refesh" button on the scrollback. I also did not like the fact that the scrollback buffer system was not terminal emulation aware. All of the terminal control codes appeared as little symbols in the scrollback buffer. This also seems inexplicible. Other programs I use place information in the scrollback buffer as it appears on the terminal screen. Pmcomm obviously has the knowledge how to do this in the terminal emulation handling, but it was choosen not to. Download/upload One of the major reasons I decided to "go native" with an os/2 based modem handler program is that my windows based Procomm will start and stop during downloads, often getting "bad CRC" errors (when a program overruns the buffering built into os/2, it loses data) when I run heavy loads in the foreground of os/2. Decompress a JPEG using JOEVIEW regular priority mode and Procomm simply falls to it's knees. A VDM has a lot of buffering and emulation going on. There is also interrupt handling difficulty (limited rate of interrupts). I thought that a PM native program would bypass these problems. I was not disappointed. Putting together back to back downloads, then decompressing a large JPEG, AND formatting a floppy brought the PM virtually to a standstill, and started the disk a' dancin' (a really HUGE picture will start the system swapping). Pmcomm kept chugging throughout this nonsense. If it got any data errors in the process, it was not sharing them with me. I went back and again performed the exact same activity using Procomm, and it immediately colapsed under the load. This could be perhaps a problem with os/2 not giving Procomm and Windows enough time/priority (yes, this is with a buffered uart), but this a clear win for PM based Pmcomm. I have to admit that on my first try with Procomm, the system simply locked up when overloaded. I have often noted that when running downloads in procomm/windows, doing to much in the foreground can lock the system up. All and all I would rate download/upload as the number one reason to get an os/2 based modem program. Terminal emulation I used Pmcomm exclusively in vt100 mode, and had no problems with it. My only complaint is perhaps unfair, as I have yet to see a PC program that does it correctly. This is that the actual printing area of the emulated terminal is not marked or indicated in any fashion. With the screen blank, you haven't a clue as to what the terminal area is, and so cannot set the Pmcomm screen area to match. Instead, Pmcomm cheerfully allows you to waste wide open screen space on areas that the terminal emulator cannot possibly use. The only program i've seen even make an attempt at this was the HP workstation version of the VT100 emulator, which at least drew a box around the terminal area. Better still is to have a terminal option that automatically sizes the screen to the terminal box. In Pmcomm's case, you could also safely get rid of the scroll bars on the emulator window, since without the need for scrollback they are essentially useless in this mode. as it is, the only way to properly adjust the screen is to call up a VT100 program on the connected computer that fills the emulated screen, then adjust Pmcomm to fit. Of course, if you must emulate multiple terminals, you are hosed. Again, I must say that I have not seen any other program handle this properly, either, but I am hoping to be suprised someday. Conclusion I think that Pmcomm was worth the money. I must admit that having paid the same amount for 32 bit Describe and comparing how much better the manuals and features were is somewhat depressing (is a word processor really that much more general interest than a modem program ?). Pmcomm is, however, alone in it's field of being a general interest program based on the PM graphical system. It's only competition, Pmterm shipped with os/2, is IMHO incomprehensible and lacks the essential features ( I tried several times to get it to do usefull work for me, to no avail). While the consensus on OS/2 seems to be that a full feature character based program seems to be the way to go, I for one much prefer a PM native program. Pmcomm hit all the proper bases, and cannot even be accused of making you learn a lot of new tricks. I deleted my Procomm directory this morning. Pmcomm is currently at version 2.10, about $90 from multinet communications, Klamath Falls, OR, (503) 883-8099. There is a demo commonly avaiable, but I don't think that it is very representative of the current state of the product. Scott A. Moore [SAM] samiam@netcom.com DeScribe 4.0 ------------ Review By Dale Hackemeyer DeScribe 4.0 is DeScribe Corporation's premiere 32-bit OS/2 word processor. DeScribe is probably the best native OS/2 word processor avaiable today, even with the likes of WordPefect and Lotus breathing down it's neck. DeScribe has been around since the OS/2 1.x days, so it's no newcomer to OS/2 development. DeScribe is a fully WYSIWYG PM application that takes extensive use of the WPS. Tutorial DeScribe ships with an excellent tutorial. Included on disk are artwork, layouts, and even the text for completing the exercises, as well as the completed exercises. The 200+ page tutorial manual does a good job of starting from the basics (how to open a document) to the complex (designing a form letter with graphic letterhead and mailing list data). The edition I evaluated had minor discrepancies, mainly between what the book said the included layouts did, and what the layouts on disk actually did do. There was nothing major enough to render a tutorial lesson useless, but it was enough to cause a few moments of confusion. What's it got? DeScribe includes nearly all of the functions you expect to find in any good word processor such as Spell Check, Index and Table of Contents, cut and paste of graphics in your document, macros, and more. Some of DeScribes more unique functions include Frames and the extensive use of Layouts (aka Style Sheets). A frame is a rectangular area on the page where you can place text or graphics. Every document contains at least one frame, and you can add frames for headers, footers, graphics, and other text. DeScribe is frame oriented. All of DeScribe's features and functions recognize the active frame and if you want to place text or grapics where there is no frame, you must either create a new one or stretch an existing frame to cover it. Layouts contain predefined page layouts and style sheets. They allow you to use the same layout out and typographical styles with several files. DeScribe comes with over 40 predefined layouts. Layouts are easy to apply to a file. After selecting a layout and typing in your document, all you have to do is highlight sections of your text that you want to apply a portion of the layout's style to and click on the appropriate section of the Layout Palette. Another great feature is the unlimited undo. When you click on Undo, either from the Edit menu or on the toolbar, a dialog with a slider control is displayed. Either clicking on the left arrow or dragging the slider to the left undoes keystrokes and actions, from the last character you typed all the way back to the first. The only restriction is that you can only undo actions done since your last save. Sort of a two-edged sword: if you save often, your undo ability diminishes, but if you don't save often you run the risk of losing your work inadvertantly. Customizable! DeScribe is EXTREMELY customizable. While the default layout is clean and logical, you have complete control over how things look. The toolbar found at the top of the window can be put on the bottom, left, right, or made to "float" around the screen wherever you want it. The menus have two modes: Novic and Standard. In Novice mode some of the more complex functions aren't shown on the menus, while in Standard mode all the functions are shown on the menus. Don't like all the functions of the toolbar? You can add or delete what you like using the "Custom Tool Manager..." found under the "Options" menu. There are 34 functions with icons on the toolbar by default, but DeScribe comes with over 200 predefined tools (each with it's own icon)! Plus, you can define your own custom tools using DeScribe's macro facility. You can even give these custom tools your own icon and even bubble help. Want to have one toolbar displayed when working on a project, and a different toolbar displayed when working on another project? All you have to do is save your different toolbar configurations and load up the one you need when you need it. Even individual documents can be customized. You can define how you want the document to be displayed, what rulers to use, what to check when running the spell check, even what the status line at the bottom of the document window should display. DeScribe has great file import and export capabilities for those of you that must co-exist with other word processors. Macro-mize your time. Now let me talk about the macro facility. DeScribe comes with a seperate 254 page manual on the macro language. Sound like too much? Well there's also a "record macro" function that simply lets you record any task you do often. With the recorded macro, all it takes is a couple keystrokes or mouse click to do everything you recorded. You can open files, edit and save files, or whatever, and the record function will create a macro to do it all for you whenever you want. For the more technically inclined, about 244 pages of the macro manual are dedicated to how to create a macro using DeScribe's own scripting language. Besides being able to write your functions, you can call just about any DeScribe function in your macro. File Open dialogs, File Delete dialogs, just about anything. While there's a lot to learn if you decide to script your own macros, the power available to you is impressive. So what's the catch? Despite all it's powerful features, DeScribe does lack in certain areas. One that I noticed first thing was the way it refreshes the screen when you are using the pull down menus. Say you've pulled down a menu and decide you want to pull down the one next to it. If you just slide the mouse over without releasing it, DeScribe will draw the new menu, then redraw the screen under the previous menu. The result of this is having two menus down at one time, one partially covering the other, for a split second. It's only a cosmetic problem (it doesn't impair DeScribe's functionality), but one that I've never seen on any other PM application. Footnotes are also a problem: DeScribe has no built in footnote function. It does have an endnote function, but this isn't quite enough when you want a definition for a reference in a footer on the page the reference occurs. It is possible to overcome this with a macro, but that could be a bit time consuming for the beginner. The bottom line. DeScribe seems to be a great word processor to me. It has some shortcomings, but none are too great to impair it's ability. The amount of customization possible with it is a great asset to me as well, since I'm not limited to whatever the original programmer's thought would be nice. The documentation is great with a main manual that is almost 1000 pages and in nice ringed binder. It has the ease of use to create a quick easy paper, but the functionality to do entire newsletters (look for the Minnesota Users Group newsletter, "Threads", on the Woodmeister for an excellent example). If you don't beleive me, check it out for yourself. Look on Woody's for the DeScribe 4.0 demo in the file DESCRB40.ZIP. You can't print and it doesn't include all the file conversion libraries, tutorial, or layouts, but hey, it's free!˙ OS/2 Tips & Techniques ====================== Dual boot with MSDOS 6 ---------------------- Taken from Joe's OS/2 tips, in the file JMOS2-10.ZIP on Woody's Question: Recently I installed OS/2 on my system. OS/2 configured itself for dual booting, which I thought was great, but after going back to DOS to run one of my favorite games I couldn't get the Boot /OS2 command to work correctly, in that I had to reinstall OS/2 very time I want to go from DOS to OS/2. Is this suppose to happen? I'm running MS-DOS 6. Answer: DOS 6's Smartdrv uses a technology called staged writes, which enables the computer to continue on processing until either one large write to the hard drive, or when the computers CPU isn't busy. This Stage Writing is a very good idea to increase ones systems performance, but is also a nightmare for OS/2's BOOTcommand. Since BOOT must transfer Both DOS's important files to a directory and OS/2's boot files to the root directory the stage writes keeps the changes in memory and once BOOT is 'finished' moving the files it reboots. Then the system appears to be dead, because the Smartdrv program failed to flushes it's stage write buffers before rebooting, hence the changes where never completed. The solution is an easy one. Write a batch file. I've included a short one for you to use. REM BOOTOS2.BAT Echo Press Ctrl-Break, if you don't wish to start OS/2. Pause smartdrv c- smartdrv /c C:\os2\BOOT /OS2 This batch file assumes the OS/2 system is on drive C, which it should be for a dual booting system and that smartdrv is your caching programing (which is also in the DOS path). I'd also add all the drives to the smartdrv line so that they are all disabled. From now on, your system will be quite useable, as long as you follow the above method. OS/2 to DOS is ok, as BOOT /DOS causes OS/2 to perform a cache flush before rebooting, which is what all good Multi-tasking OSs should do. New Products! ============= OS/2 Software recently announced or released: Mathematica for OS/2 -------------------- From the OS2 comp.os.os2.announce newsgroup Mathematica for OS/2 "Thanks to a very steady stream of requests for an OS/2 version of Mathematica from users, WRI is now planning a native port of Mathematica to OS/2. As soon as the Mathematica OS/2 version is ready, we will announce it's availability. Please watch for further news in MathUser, The Wolfram Research, Inc. newsletter both for Mathematica users and for those interested in Mathematica. To subscribe to the newsletter, send your name and mailing address to:mathuser@wri.com or call 217-398-6500. For general and sales information, please contact info@wri.com." And our own Phillip Wilson got us on the mailing list to keep up with developments Date: 19-Sep-93 21:08 CDT From: amyy@wri.com Subject: Re: Newletter Hello Philip, Thanks for your mail. I have added your Group to our mailing list. We will keep you posted on the OS/2 port. Sincerely, Amy M. Young OS/2 Club on Prodigy -------------------- From: Phillip Wilson Conf: Os2 OS/2 Club on Prodigy now available! September 15, 1993 Today IBM is starting an OS/2* Club on the PRODIGY(r) Service! Available at no additional charge to any PRODIGY subscriber, the OS/2 Club offers the following services: o Up-to-date news and information about OS/2. o Q & A database containing answers to many of the most frequently asked questions about OS/2. o List of available OS/2 applications, company names, and phone numbers. o The "OS/2 Exchange" forum in which you can post notes and answer each other's questions on a variety of OS/2 topics. o IBM OS/2 Support also will be answering questions here. (Standard PRODIGY Plus charges apply). o E-Mail for sending messages, problem reports, or questions directly to OS/2 Support representatives at IBM. o Downloading ability to obtain IBM and non-IBM files that include announcements, device drivers, fixes, games, demos, shareware, sample applications, and a lot more. (Standard Prodigy download charges apply). To join the Prodigy Service, call 1-800-PRODIGY. To join the OS/2 Club on PRODIGY, Jump OS/2 Club after you connect to PRODIGY. PRODIGY is a registered servicemark and trademark of Prodigy Services Company. IBM and OS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. ˙ The Developer Connection For OS/2 --------------------------------- The Power of the Future Delivered to Your Door The Developer Connection for OS/2 --continuing proof of IBM's commitment to OS/2 developers-- can greatly increase your productivity by providing you with the latest tools, pre-release software, product demos, and information you need on today's most convenient medium--a CD. And, because we live in changing times, an annual subscription to the Developer Connection for OS/2 keeps your tools and information from becoming obsolete. Each year you'll receive 4 CDs, each packed with the tools and information you need for your OS/2 development efforts. Along with each CD, you will receive our newsletter, The Developer Connection News. Look to The Developer Connection News to be the complete source of information for all of your OS/2 development efforts. When accessed from your CD drive, The Developer Connection for OS/2 becomes a part of your Workplace Shell environment. Click on The Developer Connection icon, and all the wealth of the Developer Connection for OS/2 is instantly attainable. Use the powerful Developer Connection Browser to locate any piece of information. And because the intuitive graphical user interface is a part of the Workplace Shell environment, each task is familiar and simple. Try the products, install them, or simply retrieve product information. There is also an available option for creating diskettes for many of the products on the CD. And, because these are the products you need to develop the best OS/2 applications today, as well as tomorrow, we have designed The Developer Connection for OS/2 to be your open door to what IBM is doing now and in the future. Each CD will contain product level versions of the Developer's Toolkit for OS/2 (which includes the Multimedia Presentation Manager Toolkit/2) and Pen for OS/2 Developer's Toolkit, pre-release versions of software, volumes of technical documentation, internal tools, product demos, and bitmaps. In addition, we plan to include the latest pre-release version of the OS/2 operating system on each CD. Put The Developer Connection for OS/2 to work for you... now! o Obtain new versions of operating system technologies as soon as they are developed. o Try new OS/2 products before you buy them. The Developer Connection for OS/2 is truly one-stop shopping. o Use the sample source code on the CD to start you on the path to more productive programming. o Access pre-release versions of IBM's 32-bit tools. Use these tools to prepare for tomorrow's technology--Workplace OS. o Read The Developer Connection News to gain knowledge of IBM's future directions and strategy, new OS/2 products (from both IBM and Independent Software Vendors), and timely tips. o Access The Developer Connection for OS/2 forum on CompuServe*TM. This is a private forum just for Developer Connection subscribers. Got a question? Got a problem? Post it on CompuServe and you are assured a timely response! * CompuServe membership is required. Features Benefits Annual Subscription Subscribe and have the tools and information you need delivered to you for a whole year. What could be easier? Graphical Catalog This easy-to-use, front-end presents the contents of the CD by category. You can expand and collapse the categories with the click of a mouse. Powerful Browser A search tool to optimize keyword search and query tasks, and accessibility to the comprehensive technical library. The information you need - at your fingertips with the click of a mouse. Developer's Toolkit Developer's Toolkit for OS/2 2.1 Provides the tools, sample programs, and documentation that enables you to develop your OS/2 applications quickly and easily. Multimedia Toolkit/2 Presentation Manager Multimedia Toolkit/2 The fully documented sample programs illustrate the use of the comprehensive multimedia device and data handling capabilities of MMPM/2. Pen for OS/2 Pen for OS/2 Developer's Toolkit Provides the tools, sample programs, and documentation to enable you to create new pen-aware OS/2 applications, pen-enable existing applications, and create new pen-centric OS/2 applications. Pre-release Software Helps you keep on top of the emerging technologies by allowing you to be one of the first to use pre-release versions of OS/2 and other exciting products from IBM and Independent Software Vendors. Development Tools Development and Productivity Tools Use some of the internal tools that were developed by IBM programmers to help get their jobs done faster and more easily. Documentation Have the complete OS/2 Technical Library at your fingertips - with the click of a mouse. Complete online documentation provides a quick, effective reference to all system APIs, messages, and features, including code examples and helpful notes. Also, view the best chapters from popular OS/2 books by well-known authors. Product Demos See demonstrations of products developed by IBM and Independent Software Vendors and keep on top of the fast-growing list of OS/2 applications that are available. The Developer Connection for OS/2 at a Glance . System Requirements System must support OS/2 2.0 or higher Memory Requirements 6MB minimum; 10MB recommended; actual memory required varies depending on which programs you choose to run. The performance of the catalog and browser can be enhanced with the addition of more memory. Disk-space Actual disk space required varies depending on the requirements of the programs you choose to install. CD-ROM Drive A CD-ROM drive supported by OS/2 Support Through CompuServe* for the duration of the subscription Ordering: Country Phone Fax United States 1-800-6-DEVCON 1-800-494-3045 Canada 1-800-561-5293 1-416-946-5700 England 45-3-252-6588 45-3-252-8203 France 45-3-252-7411 45-3-252-8203 Germany 45-3-252-6711 45-3-252-8203 Italy 45-3-252-7622 45-3-252-8203 Netherlands 45-3-252-7088 45-3-252-8203 Spain 45-3-252-6311 45-3-252-8203 Asia/Pacific 61-2-354-7684 61-2-354-7766 (c)International Business Machines Corporation 1993. IBM Boca Raton Department LD4 1000 NW 51st Street Boca Raton, FL 33431 GammaTech Utilities for OS/2 2.1 Available ------------------------------------------ From: Pete Norloff Subj: GammaTech releases versio Conf: Os2 The following release information is from Benny Ormson: -------- The following is the news release for our next release of the GammaTech Utilities Version 2.1 which will begin shipping September 1st, 1993. Upgrade letters should be on their way to existing registered customers. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE GAMMATECH UTILITIES FOR OS/2 RELEASE 2.1 AVAILABLE Oklahoma City, OK August 5, 1993 -- SofTouch Systems, Inc. today announces the general availability of release 2.1 of their popular OS/2 workstation software, GammaTech Utilities for OS/2. Release 2.1 represents a significant development effort, according to President Richard Jones. "The GammaTech Utilities are the most advanced set of utilities available for OS/2 users. It contains the types of tools which MS-DOS and MS-WINDOWS users have become dependent on. Since OS/2 users are advanced users, they know they need the type of protection and service which the GammaTech Utilities provides." The release is free to registered users who purchased release 2.0 since May 1,1993. Upgrades to version 2.1 for all other registered version 2.0 users is only $49.00. Upgrades to version 2.1 for registered version 1.3 users is $79.00. First time purchase for all non-registered users is $149.00. Shipping and handling costs are additional. For additional information contact SofTouch Systems, Workstation Division at (405) 947-8080. [There are about 5 more pages to this news release so I will just summarize the major enhancements below.] Fat Optimization. We have always had HPFS defrag capabilities, nowwe do it for FAT too! We also allow you to sort your FAT directories. Bad Sector Marking. We have always had diagnostic tools to locate bad sectors but there was no way to mark them as bad. Now you can. Several new backup and recovery utilities have been added. You can back up all of your boot sectors and restore them later if they should become corrupted. You can recreate damaged boot sectors in most cases if they become corrupted and you do not have a backup. You can automatically backup (on intervals you provide) your ini files and the OS/2 desktop structure. The Undelete utilities now allow you to recover more than one file in a single operation. We also reduced the number of keystrokes to perform a recovery operation. Makes life much easier. We also have a command line version of Undelete so you can recover files when PM is not available. The HPFS volume recovery has been greatly enhanced. A fast analysis feature has been added. You can recover entire directory structures or the entire volume without prompting. It will, if requested, create the directory structure from the damaged volume automatically on the target volume. You can override the starting directory F-Node for the recovery process if you know what it is. You can do this with some persistance using the Sector Editor. Delete Files has been enhanced to allow file selection based on file size and date/time stamps. The File Find utility allows for additional search criteria and you can now select from the list of located files to edit or browse the file. This feature defaults to using the OS/2 E Editor but you can configure it to use any utility you choose. We now provide a very nice bound manual which includes basic OS/2 file system information and a recovery procedures section. Of course it documents the utilities and there functions too. We have made several enhancements regarding saving and printing of the various log files in all of the PM utilities. Several less significant enhancements have been made to the following utilities: Sector Editor, List Directory, SysInfo, Sentry, Reboot and Analyze. These are just the major enhancements. The package includes several utilities and functions not mentioned here. It probably gives you a good idea of the types of things the package provides. If you would like more info I urge you to contact SofTouch at (405) 947-8080. They have nice well written marketing literature that does a better job of explaining things than I. After reading this you can see why I'm not in marketing. Benny Ormson - GammaTech, Inc. ˙ Announcing Screen Reader/2 Ver. 1.1 ----------------------------------- September 2, 1993 IBM Special Needs Systems announces the availability of Screen Reader/2 Version 1.1 for OS/2 Version 2.1. Screen Reader/2 enables blind and visually impaired computer users to access multiple operating system environments and graphical user interfaces (GUIs). Screen Reader/2 is the first system to offer access to three operating environments: OS/2 Version 2.1; Windows Version 3.1; and DOS. Screen Reader/2 includes the following features: SWITCH LIST Use the Screen Reader/2 Switch List as a "fast path" for accessing your applications. This feature is comparable to locating an application visually and then clicking on it to bring it to the foreground - using the keypad instead of a mouse. AUTOMATIC READING Move your focus to an application and Screen Reader/2 will announce its title automatically. Move a selector to a menu item and you'll hear it. You'll even hear pushbuttons, radio buttons, spin buttons, and other controls described. This works in both OS/2 Presentation Manager and Windows applications. PROFILES FOR POPULAR APPLICATIONS Choose from over 35 applications and Screen Reader/2 will automatically select a profile to optimize your work. Screen Reader/2 includes profiles for OS/2 (e.g. OS/2 applets, BookManager Read/2, Communication Manager, DeScribe), Windows (e.g. Quicken 2, Word, WordPerfect, and WordScan Plus), and DOS (e.g. Lotus 1-2-3, Quicken, WordPerfect 5.1) MULTIPLE SERIAL DEVICE SUPPORT Attach any of the many popular speech synthesizers for voice output or refreshable braille devices for tactile input and output - or achieve multi-sensory access by using BOTH. ICON RECOGNITION Hear icons announced as you select them - true GUI access. MOUSE SIMULATION Simulate the actions of a mouse - single and double-click on either mouse button - using the Screen Reader/2 keypad. OS/2 2.1 DISPLAY DRIVER SUPPORT All graphics adapters supported in the OS/2 2.1 GA release are also supported by Screen Reader/2. Plus all the features and functions of Screen Reader/DOS: Reading by line, word, paragraph, screen, etc. Echoing keystrokes, words or lines Autospeak Profile Access Language To order Screen Reader/2 Version 1.1 call: 1-800-426-3388 (US), 1-800-465-7999 (CANADA). The following is specific Part Number (P/N) information: 1. Screen Reader/2 Software and Getting Started Cassettes P/N 2261649. 2. Screen Reader Keypad P/N 1393515. 3. Screen Reader Keypad Cable P/N 72X8537. 4. Screen Reader Adapter Card P/N 57F1588. For more information in the US or Canada, call: 1-800-426-4832 (VOICE) 1-800-426-4833 (TDD). 1-800-465-7999 (CANADA) For more information outside of the US or Canada, contact your country NSCPD (National Support Center for Persons with Disabilities). VX-REXX Ver. 1.01 ----------------- WATCOM is pleased to announce the availability of VX-REXX version 1.01 for registered users of version 1.0. Version 1.01 of VX-REXX includes many new features and improvements: o SpinButton object. Another object type to use in your programs. o Drag-n-drop programming. Drag an object onto an editor window and you are presented with a list of actions available on that object. Fill in the appropriate dialog and the code is inserted into the editor. If you want to use an external editor, there are macros provided to insert the code into the clipboard instead. There is also a set of macros for use specifically with the EPM editor. o Macros. Now you can write macros for the VX-REXX editing environment itself, using VX-REXX of course. Macros are invoked from the popup menu. Sample macros are included to set properties on multiple objects at once and for setting the tab order of the objects. o User interface improvements. Swipe selection, a hint bar showing the name and type of object under the mouse pointer, and better keyboard support are just some of the improvements. o Keyboard support. VX-REXX now supports mnemonics and menu accelerators. Objects can also trap and change keyboard events. You can also send keypresses directly to objects. o Encryption of .EXE files. Protects your source! o Direct manipulation of PM windows. You can list all the frame windows on the desktop, move them, minimize them, send keystrokes, etc. Many new events, properties and methods: Change, KeyPress, KeyString, ListChildren, ListWindows, Paste, Cut, etc., etc. The complete list of changes and fixes is found in the "Read Me First" object available after you install VX-REXX 1.01. As you can see, this is more than just a simple maintenance upgrade! Many of these features are a result of direct feedback by our users -- please keep the comments coming in. VX-REXX 1.01 is available in patch form for current users of VX-REXX 1.0. You can FTP the file /pub/os2/vxrexx/vxrx101.zip from rexx.uwaterloo.ca. The file is also available on CompuServe (type GO WATCOM) and from the WATCOM BBS (see your documentation for access information). To install the patch, simply copy the ZIP file into your VX-REXX directory (make a backup of the directory first, of course) and then use the command unzip -x -o vxrx101.zip to extract the files. Then run the patch.cmd file to patch the executables and DLLs to the new version level and rebuild the Workplace Shell folder. You should then read the "Read Me First" information carefully. (These instructions are also in the README.TXT in the ZIP file and in the zipfile comment.) If you do not wish to download the patch electronically, contact WATCOM. Any questions or comments should be phoned in or emailed to tech@watcom.on.ca. OS/2 Bookshelf ============== Books useful to the OS/2 user: REXX Programming for OS/2 ------------------------- Title: REXX Programming for OS/2 Author: Garbiel F. Gargiulo ISBN: 0-89435-449-3 Price: $39.95 Pub date: November 1993 Contents: What you can do with REXX. REXX on OS/2. How to create and execute a REXX EXEC. REXX syntax. Some simple REXX rules. IF-THEN conditional. String manipulation--the PARSE instruction. Debugging. Trapping errors. Math. SELECT. Executing OS/2 commands. Built-in functions. User-written functions and subroutines. Looping. Using the OS/2 stack. Compound variables. Reading and writing files. The INTERPRET instruction. Converting from DOS batch files. Problems and solutions. OS/2 commands. The Insiders' Guide to Developing, Porting, and Testing OS/2 ------------------------------------------------------------ Title: The Insiders' Guide to Developing, Porting, and Testing OS/2 2.1 Applications Authors: Ivan Biddles and Kelvin R. Lawrence ISBN: 0-89435-453-1 (QED Publishing Group) Price: $34.95 Pub date: August 1993 (assumes IBM closes 2.1 in 5/93) Contents: Why port to develop for OS/2? Converting 16-bat applications to 32-bit. Memory management considerations. Support the Old World. The 32-bit C Set/2 compiler. The C Set/2 debugger. NMake. The kernal debugger. Borland C++ for OS/2. Other tools. Workframe/2. Effective use of multiple threads. Considerations for building DLLs. Assembler functions. Incorporating the power of REXX into an application. Making applications Workplace Shell enabled. Interprocess communication. Performance tuning. Coding techniques to make your life easier. Porting methodologies. Porting DOS or OS/2 character-based applications. Porting device drivers. Debugging strategies. Debugging without a debugger. Using the Kernal debugger. Using the C Set/2 debugger. Common pitfalls. Unit and functional verification testing. Automated testing for effective system and regression testing. Appendix. Index. The Art of OS/2 2.1 C Programming --------------------------------- Title: The Art of OS/2 2.1 C Programming Authors: Kathleen Panov, Arthur Panov, and Larry Salomon, Jr. ISBN: 0-89435-446-9 (QED Publishing Group) Price: $39.95 with diskette Pub date: August 1993 Contents: Introduction to OS/2. Toolkit and compilers. File I/O, HPFS, and extended attributes. Memory management. Multitasking--threads, priorities, and the scheduler. Pipes, queues, and shared memory. Asynch communications. Window and messages. Presentation Manager controls. Subclassing and register private classes. Drag/drop. Help manager. Printing under PM. Bitmaps. Tips and techniques of PM programming. Appendixes. Index. Other Sources ============= Other places to locate OS/2 information: OS/2 User Group Directory ========================= This OS/2 User Group listing is provided courtesy of David Sichak, Editor of the San Diego Users Group Newsletter. Thanks David! User Group Introduction ----------------------- We try to list known OS/2 User Groups whenever we get the information. Of course, we can't be responsible if the information proves to be unreliable -- you, the reader are our best source of this information. And we're learning of more and more OS/2 user groups across the country and even around the world every week. It's been slow, but we have made some contacts and we may be able to exchange information and articles in the future. If you're travelling and have some free time, stop in on one these meetings. If you know of another OS/2 user group, drop us a line and we'll mention them. Remember, we'll list them all in the INF file each time. And thanks! Australia - Glen Waverly ------------------------ Victorian OS/2 Developers SIG Contact: Jon Wright 5 Brighton Street Glen Waverly, Victoria 3150 Australia CompuServe: 100032,776 Ontario - Bailieboro -------------------- Kawartha Computer Club Contact: Cedric Silvester RR #1 Bailieboro, Ontario Canada KOL 1B0 Note: OS/2 SIG is part of the KCC Phone: BBS -- (705) 748-0023 Quebec - Montreal ----------------- Montreal OS/2 Users Group Contact: Gilbert Lefebvre IBM Tower 10214 Peloquin Avenue Montreal, QC H2C 2J8 Canada Meets: 7:00pm, 3rd Wednesday Phone: Voice -- (514) 382-9858 (evenings) Netmail: Programmer's Quest 1:167/110 The Montreal OS/2 Users Group held their first meeting on February 17. Gilbert reported that their first meeting had over 70 persons in attendance. They're real happy to see the interest in OS/2. Please note that this group does not expect to meet during June, July and August. Saskatchewan - Regina --------------------- Regina Saskatchewan OS/2 User Group Contact: Robert Shiplett Cooperators 1920 College Avenue 5W Regina, Saskatchewan S4P 1C4 Canada United Kingdom - Gloucestershire -------------------------------- International OS/2 User Group Contact: Mike Gove Barton House Cirencester Gloucestershire GL7 2EE UK Phone: - +44-285-641175 Phone: - +44-285-640181 (FAX) Phone: - (UK) 0285-641175 Note: - Also home to OS/2 Solution Centre South Africa ------------ OS/2 User Group of South Aftrica P.O. Box 875 Halfway House 1685 South Africa Sweden ------ Swedish OS/2 Users Group The Cruiser BBS, +46-8-704 9438 California - Fresno ------------------- Fresno OS/2 SIG (Fresno PC Users Group) Contact: Sandeleh Francis (209) 229-0473 Contact: Rod Jessen (209) 323-9849 Meetings at: 1425 Shirley Circle Clovis, CA 93611 Meets: 7:30pm, last Monday Phone BBS -- Wild Side BBS (209) 226-3476 Phone BBS -- Clovis Connection (209) 229-3476 They are a part of the Fresno PC Users group which meets the first Monday of the month at the Ramada Inn at Hwy 41 and Shaw Avenue in Fresno at 7:30pm. California - Huntington Beach ----------------------------- Orange Coast IBM PC Users Group OS/2 SIG Contact: Dave Lorenzini 17632 Metzler Lane, Suite 211 Huntington Beach, CA California - Los Angeles ------------------------ Los Angeles OS/2 Users Group Contact: Paul Duncanson 3008 Texas Avenue Simi Valley, CA 93063 Phone: (805) 584-6721 Meets: 3rd Thursday @ 6:30pm IBM 21041 Burbank Boulevard Woodland Hills, CA California - Sacramento ----------------------- Sacramento OS/2 Users Group Contact: Charlie Kotan IBM 400 Capitol Mall Sacramento, CA Meets: First Wednesday @ 7:00pm Phone: - (916) 641-4007 CompuServe - 70110,254 California - San Diego ---------------------- San Diego OS/2 User Group Contact - Craig Swanson P.O. Box 13346 La Jolla, CA 92039-3346 Meets - 7pm on 3rd Thursday Meets at -- IBM @ LaJolla 8845 University Center Lane San Diego, CA 92122 Phone - Voice -- (619) 587-5955 Phone - BBS -- (619) 558-9475 The San Diego OS/2 User Group has participated in the San Diego Computer Fair in which over 18,000 people attended over a three day weekend last September. This group has started an OS/2 newsletter with the goal of providing information to not only OS/2 users but also to others who are interested in learning more. Our aim is to also develop the newsletter so that it becomes a community effort among the OS/2 user groups and SIGs. Past meeting topics have included presentations by IBM's Ultimedia for OS/2; Lotus demonstrating beta versions of 1-2-3 and Freelance Graphics for OS/2; an introduction to REXX, demo of the December OS/2 2.1 beta along with Visual REXX; Eddie Miller, one of the authors of "OS/2 2.1 Unleashed" sharing insights into the OS/2 mini-applets; and, local OS/2 developer Jeannine Wolf discussing the OS/2 Config.SYS file and providing tips. California - San Francisco -------------------------- Bay Area OS/2 User Group Contact - Guy Scharf Software Architects, Inc. 2163 Jardin Drive Mountain View, CA 94040 Meets - 4th Monday @ at IBM Mountain View Phone - Voice -- (415) 948-9186 Connecticut - Enfield --------------------- New England OS/2 User Group Contact: Dave Pinard 145 Candlewood Drive Enfield, CT 06082 Phone: Voice -- (203) 954-1872 Phone: BBS -- (203) 763-1674 Connecticut - Darien -------------------- Darien OS/2 Users Group Contact: Steven J. Palmer 75 Rings End Road Darien, CT 06820 Delaware - Wilmington --------------------- Delaware Valley OS/2 Users Group Contact: Chuck Gaglia 1120 Webster Drive Wilmington, DE 19803 Florida - Boca Raton -------------------- OS/2 Users Group of Boca Raton Contact: Doug Azzarito Meets at: PC Systems Store 2855 S. Congress Avenue Delray Beach, FL Meets on 2nd Thursday of the month at 7pm Phone: BBS -- (407) 997-2235 Phone: Voice -- (407) 276-2945 Florida - Tampa Bay ------------------- Tampa Bay OS/2 User Group Contact: Paul Wylie M. Bryce & Associates, Inc. 777 Alderman Road Palm Harbor, FL 34683 Phone: Voice - (813) 786-4567 Phone: FAX -- (813) 786-4765 Meets: - 1st Tuesday @ 3:00pm. Meets at: IBM 3109 W. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard 4th Floor Tampa, FL Illinois - Chicago ------------------ North Suburban Chicago OS/2 User Group Contact - James R. Schmidt Meets - William M. Mercer, Inc. 1417 Lake Cook Rd. Deerfield, IL 60015 Meets - 5.30pm Last Tuesday of each month. Voice -- (708) 317-7405 BBS -- (708) 895-4042 Turned one year old in September. Happy Birthday! Indiana - Fort Wayne -------------------- Fort Wayne OS/2 User Group Contact - Stephen Gutknecht Fort Wayne, Indiana Meets - Central Soya on Cook Rd. Meets - 7pm, 2nd Tuesday Phone - Voice -- (219) 484-0062 (Bus. Hrs.) Phone - BBS -- (219) 471-3918 Indiana - Indianapolis ---------------------- Indy OS/2 Users Group Contact: Jay Schultz 350 E. New york Suite 300 Indianapolis, IN 46204 Phone: Voice - (317) 634-8080 Louisiana - Baton Rouge ----------------------- Baton Rouge OS/2 users Group Contact: David Arbour 16726 Bristoe Avnue Baton Rouge, LA 70816 Phone: - (504) 753-9637 Massachusetts - Boston ---------------------- Boston Area OS/2 User's Group (BCS) Contact: Marcia Gulesian (508) 369-3918 Meetings at: IBM Boston Computer Center One Copley Place Boston, MA Meets: 7:00pm, first Tuesday Meeting location is near Back Bay and Copley train stations. From the Mass. Turnpike East, exit 22 (Copley Square Lane) - first left onto Dartmouth St. Next left onto Huntington Ave. Enter COPLEY PLACE PARKING on left. Parking is free when you spend $5 and have your parking ticket validated in any restaurant or store at Copley Place and enter the garage after 5:00pm. Michigan - Grand Rapids ----------------------- West Michigan OS/2 User Group IBM 2900 Charlevoix Dr. SE Grand Rapids, MI Minnesota - Minneapolis ----------------------- Minnesota OS/2 User Group Contact: Marcus Krumpholz IBM Building 650 Third Avenue South Minneapolis, MN Meets last Thursday each month 7:00pm - 10:00pm Voice: (612) 869-7956 BBS: (612) 379-8272 ISV's wishing to do a presentation can contact Marcus Krumpholz at (612) 869-7956. Registrations for meetings are requested and can be done by calling (612) 397-6444 and then asking for course code "OS2". The IBM building is shared with First Bank on Third Avenue south between South Sixth Street and South Seventh Street. Parking is recommended at Northstar Center (1 block west), Pillsbury Center (1.5 blocks north), Hennepin County Government Center (diagonally across street) and Court Park (2 blocks north). Nebraska - Omaha ---------------- Omaha OS/2 Users Group Contact: Joe Peterson 7724 Fort St. Omaha, NE 68134 New Jersey - West Orange ------------------------ Northern New Jersey OS/2 Users Group Contact: Jason H. Perlow (201) 224-7605 Meetings at: IBM 300 Executive Drive West Orange, NJ Meets: 7:00pm, second Tuesday INFO: Phone: (201) 325-5600 This group is affiliated with the Westchester OS/2 Users Group. New York - Westchester ---------------------- Westchester OS/2 Users Group Contact: Craig Smith (914) 686-9828 Meetings at: IBM 2000 Purchase Street Purchase, NY Meets: 7:00pm, second Tuesday INFO: Phone: (914) 697-6000 Westchester was instrumental in getting IBM's OS/2 featured on the PBS Computer Chronicles show in March. North Carolina - Durham ----------------------- Triangle OS/2 User Group Contact -- Steve Gallagher IBM Building 4800 Falls of The Neuse Road Room 5074 Durham, North Carolina Meets -- 7.30pm, 3rd Tuesday Phone -- Voice -- (919) 254-5637 Internet -- sjgalla@vnet.ibm.com Ohio - Akron ------------ Northeast Ohio OS/2 User Group IBM 3 Cascade Plaza Akron, Ohio Contact: Gary Smiley Phone: (216) 630-3565 CompuServe: 75600,1737 Ohio - Cleveland ---------------- Cleveland OS/2 User Group IBM Bond Ct. Building 2nd Fl E. 9th St. Cleveland, Ohio Pennsylvania - Erie ------------------- Computer Users of Erie OS/2 SIG Contact: Tom Kuklinski 3928 Sassafras Street Erie, PA 16508 Phone: (814) 866-5396 Phone: (814) 898-2905 Tennessee - Knoxville --------------------- East Tennessee PC User Group OS/2 SIG Contact: Arnold Sprague 808 Fairfield Drive Knoxville, TN 37919-4109 Texas - Dallas - Fort Worth --------------------------- Dallas-Forth Worth OS/2 User Group Contact - Toby Pennycuff CompuServe ID - 70007,6267 1211 Wilshire Blvd. Arlington, TX 76012-4623 Meets at: American Airlines HQ 4255 Amon Carter Blvd. Arlington, TX Meetings - Time and dates not listed. Wisconsin - Madison ------------------- Madison OS/2 Users Group Contact&olon. Tom Ender or Donn Tolley 2703 Rolling View Rd. Stoughton, WI 53589-3386 ˙ OS/2 BBS's ========== This BBS listing is provided courtesy of David Sichak, Editor of the San Diego Users Group Newsletter. Thanks David! BBS Introduction ---------------- Well, I am trying to update this file in an expedient way so it doesn't become too stale when I include it in the INF version. But I'm trying to catch up on a backlog. I've got the list in an Rbase for OS/2 database file right now, so all I need to do is figure out a way to create a report that does much of my INF coding for me. Next month, I'd look for a few more additions. And by all means keep Dave Fisher posted on your BBS's if he's still keeping his list up and current. Without him, we wouldn't be able to include as much as we do. This listing is for the BBS junkie in you who needs to have a phone bill treat once in a while . Or bored to death while you're travelling. Our listing is based on a rather extensive listing put together by Dave Fisher of OS/2 type Bulletin Boards. Space limits this month prevent us from listing all the details he has for each BBS, but we've tried to include a couple from every state in the US (Notice and hint to you sysops...not all states are represented.) and a few foreign countries, too. Dave Fisher's list is a compilation of OS/2 BBS's across the world. If you wish to make an addition or correction to his list, he's asked that you please netmail your BBS information to Dave Fisher at LiveNet, 1:170/110@fidonet.org. For the newsletter, I've sorted the in alphabetical order by Country for the international ones and by state for those in the USA to make it easier to find one close to you. His file has other details related to these BBS's but we didn't have room, okay? The file we're using showed that the last update was September 7, 1992. Does anyone know if this list of his is being kept up to date? I hope to expand it more next month; ran out of time. But I've got his list in a database right now and I'll be able to code that list a lot easier next month. Hope you find this inclusion useful. Large phone bills are not my fault...!!! Australia --------- Graham Stair 3M Australia +61-2-498-9184 Australia Alan Salmon PC User's Group +61-6-259-1244 Australia Norbert Fuerst The Styrian OS/2 Jumbo +43-316-673237 Australia Bill Bolton Software Tools Mail Exc +61-2-449-2618 Australia Bill Bolton Software Tools Mail Exc +61-2-449-9477 Australia Felix Tsang Programmer's BBS +61-2-875-1296 Australia Alan Salmon PC User's Group +61-6-259-1244 Australia Ian Watson OZ-Share OS/2 BBS +61-7-398-3759 Australia Belgium ------- Bas Heijermans Moving Sound OS/2 BBS +32-3-3850748 Belgium Benoit HUON Os/2 MANiA BELGIUM +32-2-3872021 Belgium Danny Bruggeman Hellfire +32-2-7515203 Belgium Bas Heijermans Moving Sound OS/2 BBS +32-3-3850748 Belgium Canada ------ Kevin Lowey Univ. of Saskatchewan (306) 966-4857 Canada Evan Smith ECS Net (403) 253-5996 Canada Ian Evans Baudeville BBS (416) 283-0114 Canada Herbert Tsui BBS Council (604) 275-6883 Canada Jerry Stevens The Locutory (613) 722-0489 Canada Denmark ------- Rene Carlsen OS/2 Task and FrontDoor H +45-98451070 Denmark Jorgen Ollgaard Josti-BBS +45-47-380120 Denmark Jorgen Ollgaard Josti-BBS +45-47-380524 Denmark France ------ Emmanuel Sandorfi Os/2 MANiA (Help Maximu +33-164-090460 France Germany ------- Ulrich Roeding BOX/2 +49-89-6019677 Germany Peter Kaszanics APOLONIA +49-201-200381 Germany Peter Kaszanics APOLONIA +49-201-200382 Germany Peter Plischka IBM Mailbox +49-201-210744 Germany Peter Kaszanics APOLONIA +49-201-237509 Germany Peter Plischka IBM Mailbox +49-201-295181 Germany Chris Leuder Zaphod BBS +49-228-229147 Germany Chris Leuder Zaphod BBS +49-228-262894 Germany Kalle Braun Terrania City +49-228-317752 Germany Oliver Lass LRZ-System +49-228-331214 Germany Oliver Lass LRZ-System +49-228-334372 Germany Harald Kipp OS/2 Point +49-234-9279222 Germany Karlheinz Kissel The_File_Store +49-6106-22266 Germany Juergen Berger JERRY'S OS/2-BBS +49-6134-26563 Germany Oliver Schwabedissen MoonFlower +49-6145-31602 Germany Richard Clement OS/2 Express +49-6183-74270 Germany Michael Breukel PC Softbox OS/2 +49-6196-27799 Germany Romeo Bernreuther CCWN-BOX +49-7151-68434 Germany Markus Noller Second Source +49-7191-56267 Germany Juergen Fritz CheckPoint OS/2 +49-7331-69116 Germany Thomas Tegel The CAT +49-7971-72446 Germany Italy ----- Luigi Ravina Italy Network +39-11-8180069 Italy Roberto Sonzogni Runnin' with The Devil +39-363-303567 Italy Pasquale Cantiello FastForward BBS +39-823-812099 Italy Netherlands ----------- Peter Smink BBS The Experiment +31-1150-15245 Netherlands Dave Jones The TJD Support BBS +31-1720-38558 Netherlands Joop Mellaart INFOBOARD +31-4752-6200 Netherlands Marcel Stikkelman PC-Square +31-79-424107 Netherlands Norway ------ Terje Slydahl PerlePorten +47-83-33003 Norway Singapore --------- Ivan Leong Miqas/2 Singapore +65-755-6463 Singapore Switzerland ----------- Alex Wyss Gepard's Oracle Zuerich +41-1-3637037 Switzerland Michael Buenter MICS OS/2 Paradise +41-41-538607 Switzerland Ernesto Hagmann PC-Info +41-61-9412204 Switzerland United Kingdom -------------- Mike Gove MonuSci BBS +44-0-454-633197 United Kingdom Phil Tuck The TJD Support BBS +44-535-665345 United Kingdom Arizona ------- Mike Mahoney Emerald Isle, The (602) 749-8638 Arizona Frank Ward Encounter, The (602) 892-1853 Arizona California ---------- Patrick O'Riva AsmLang and OS/2 (408) 259-2223 California Michael Cummings Zzyzx Road OS/2 BBS (619) 579-0135 El Cajon, California Craig Swanson OS/2 Connection (619) 558-9475 San Diego, California Chuck Gilmore Magnum BBS (805) 582-9306 California Michael Nelson SeaHunt BBS (415) 431-0227 California Michael Nelson SeaHunt BBS (415) 431-0473 California Colorado -------- William Herrera Cuerna Verde (719) 545-8572 Colorado Randy Edwards Socialism OnLine! (719) 392-7781 Colorado OS/2 BBS Denver (303)755-6859 Colorado OS/2 Source Denver (303)744-0373 Colorado Connecticut ----------- Chris Regan Storm Front - OS/2, The (203) 234-0824 Connecticut Felix Tang Excelsior, The (203) 466-1826 Connecticut Emmitt Dove Fernwood (203) 483-0348 Connecticut Steve Lesner Bullet BBS (203) 322-4135 Connecticut Steve Lesner Bullet BBS (203) 329-2972 Connecticut Rob Schmaling Caladan (203) 622-4740 Connecticut Don Dawson Treasure Island (203) 791-8532 Connecticut Bob Morris Ascii Neighborhood (203) 932-6236 Connecticut Bob Morris Ascii Neighborhood (203) 934-9852 Connecticut Deleware -------- John Tarbox Singer Bear BBS (302) 984-2238 Deleware Scott Street Space Station Alpha (302) 653-1458 Deleware Florida ------- Mark Wheeler SandDollar, The (407) 784-4507 Florida Rusty Plant The 19th Hole (904) 479-8538 Pensacola, Florida Don Bauer OS2 Exchange (904) 739-2445 Florida Chris Wolcott The Outer Limits (904) 934-1141 Gulf Breeze, Florida Kathy Todd The Apothecary's Archives (904) 934-3146 Gulf Breeze, Florida Richard Todd The Disintegrated Circuit OS/2 (904) 934-9796 Gulf Breeze, Florida Georgia ------- IBM IBM National Support Ce (404) 835-6600 Georgia IBM IBM National Support Ce (404) 835-5300 Georgia Ed June Information Overload (404) 471-1549 Georgia Hawaii ------ Craig Oshiro Ghostcomm Image Gallery (808) 456-8510 Hawaii Illinois -------- Bill Cook GREATER CHICAGO Online! (708) 895-4042 Illinois Bogie Bugsalewicz I CAN! BBS (312) 736-7434 Illinois Indiana ------- Mike Phillips Catacombs, The (317) 525-7164 Indiana Jay Tipton Play Board, The (219) 744-4908 Indiana Kansas ------ Troy Majors Byte Bus, The (316) 683-1433 Kansas Louisiana --------- Stan Brohn HelpNet of Baton Rouge (504) 273-3116 Louisiana Jim Sterrett Padded Cell BBS, The (504) 340-7027 Louisiana Maryland -------- James Chance Last Relay, The (410) 793-3829 Maryland Michigan -------- Dave Shoff Cornerstone BBS, The (616) 465-4611 Michigan Minnesota --------- Brady Flowers Oberon Software (507) 388-1154 Minnesota Missouri -------- Woody Sturges OS/2 Woodmeister, The (314) 446-0016 Missouri New Jersey ---------- Bob Germer Capital City BBS (609) 386-1989 New Jersey Mike Fuchs Dog's Breakfast, The (908) 506-0472 New Jersey Nevada ------ Kerry Flint Caddis OS/2 BBS (702) 453-6687 Nevada Dennis Conley Communitel OS/2 BBS (702) 399-0486 Nevada New York -------- Mikel Beck Kind Diamond's Realm (516) 736-3403 New York North Carolina -------------- Thomas Bradford Backdoor BBS (919) 799-0923 North Carolina Richard Lee Psychotronic BBS (919) 286-7738 North Carolina Ohio ---- Mark Lehrer Akron Anomoly, The (216) 688-6383 Ohio Oklahoma -------- Bill Schnell Asylum BBS, The (918) 832-1462 Oklahoma Scott Dickason BBS/2 (918) 743-1562 Oklahoma Oregon ------ Bill Taylor Integrated Media Servic (503) 667-2649 Oregon ------ Paul Breedlove Multi-Net (503) 883-8197 Oregon Pennsylvania ------------ Louis F. Ursini Quantum Leap (215) 967-9018 Pennsylvania Ed Barboni System-2 RBBS (215) 631-0685 Pennsylvania South Carolina -------------- Paul Beverly PMSC OnLine Resource (803) 735-6101 South Carolina Tennessee --------- Operand BBS Lonnie Wall (901) 753-3738 Tennessee Edward Owens Looking Glass, The (901) 872-4386 Tennessee Texas ----- Robert McA Live-Wire (214) 307-8119 Texas Doug Palmer Rock BBS, The (512) 654-9792 Texas David Dozier Roach Coach, The (713) 343-0942 Texas Ken Rucker RucK's Place/2 (817) 485-8042 Texas Virginia -------- Pete Norloff OS/2 Shareware (703) 385-4325 Virginia Pete Norloff OS/2 Shareware (703) 385-0931 Virginia Bill Andrus Systems Exchange, The (703) 323-7654 Virginia Joe Salemi Max's Doghouse (703) 548-7849 Virginia Washington ---------- Adolph Weidanz The Gold Pegasus BBS Running Maximus/Binkley using OS/2 Versions (206) 698-8404 Fidonet: 1:350/35 Eznet: 255:1206/101 and 0 Bremerton, Washington LeRoy DeVries Sno-Valley Software Exc (206) 880-6575 Washington Rodney Lorimor Gecko Control (509) 244-0944 Washington Todd Riches Alternate Reality (206) 557-9258 Washington ˙˙ Information on Internet resources supporting OS/2. ================================================== This list is maintained by Dale Hackemeyer. Please e-mail any additions or corrections you might have to him at uc545502@mizzou1.missouri.edu. OS/2 Related mailing lists -------------------------- ŚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄæ ³BITNET Address: ³Internet Address: ³About the list... ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³JPSOFT@IRISHVMA ³jpsoft@vma.cc.nd.edu ³Discussion of JP Software ³ ³ ³ ³products (4OS2, 4DOS). Subscribe ³ ³ ³ ³by sending a message to ³ ³ ³ ³LISTSERV@xxx (where xxx is the ³ ³ ³ ³part of the list address after ³ ³ ³ ³the @) with SUB JPSOFT name ³ ³ ³ ³(where name is your first and ³ ³ ³ ³last name). ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³OS2@BLEKUL11 ³os2@cc1.kulueven.ac.be ³Moderated OS/2 discussion. ³ ³ ³ ³Subscribe by sending a message to³ ³ ³ ³LISTSERV@xxx (where xxx is the ³ ³ ³ ³part of the list address after ³ ³ ³ ³the @) with SUB OS2 name (where ³ ³ ³ ³name is your first and last ³ ³ ³ ³name). ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³OS2-L@HEARN ³os2-l@nic.surfnet.nl ³OS/2 discussion. Subscribe by ³ ³ ³ ³sending a message to LISTSERV@xxx³ ³ ³ ³(where xxx is the part of the ³ ³ ³ ³list address after the @) with ³ ³ ³ ³SUB OS2-L name (where name is ³ ³ ³ ³your first and last name). ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³OS2USERS@MCGILL1 ³os2users@vm1.mcgill.ca ³OS/2 users discussion. Subscribe ³ ³ ³ ³by sending a message to ³ ³ ³ ³LISTSERV@xxx (where xxx is the ³ ³ ³ ³part of the list address after ³ ³ ³ ³the @) with SUB OS2USERS name ³ ³ ³ ³(where name is your first and ³ ³ ³ ³last name). ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³SASOS2-L@UNCVM1 ³sasos2-l@uncvm1.oit.unc.edu ³RTPNC SAS/OS2 user group list. ³ ³ ³ ³This list doesn't allow automatic³ ³ ³ ³subscriptions. You may send a ³ ³ ³ ³message requesting to be added to³ ³ ³ ³LISTSERV@xxx (where xxx is the ³ ³ ³ ³part of the list address after ³ ³ ³ ³the @) with SUB UTOS2-L name ³ ³ ³ ³(where name is your first and ³ ³ ³ ³last name). This message will be ³ ³ ³ ³forwarded to the maintainers of ³ ³ ³ ³the group who can grant ³ ³ ³ ³subscriptions. ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³UTOS2-L@UTKVM1 ³utos2-l@utkvm1.utk.edu ³Discussion of OS/2 at UTK. ³ ³ ³ ³Subscribe by sending a message to³ ³ ³ ³LISTSERV@xxx (where xxx is the ³ ³ ³ ³part of the list address after ³ ³ ³ ³the @) with SUB UTOS2-L name ³ ³ ³ ³(where name is your first and ³ ³ ³ ³last name). ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³N/A ³mmos2@knex.via.mind.ORG ³Discussion group dealing with ³ ³ ³ ³multimedia aspects of OS/2. To ³ ³ ³ ³subscribe to the digest version, ³ ³ ³ ³send email to ³ ³ ³ ³Mail-Server@knex.via.mind.ORG ³ ³ ³ ³with SUBSCRIBE Mmos2-L firstname ³ ³ ³ ³lastname in the BODY of the mail.³ ³ ³ ³To subscribe to the bounce ³ ³ ³ ³version, send email to ³ ³ ³ ³Mail-Server@knex.via.mind.ORG ³ ³ ³ ³with SUBSCRIBE Mmos2-Digest ³ ³ ³ ³firstname lastname in the BODY of³ ³ ³ ³the mail. ³ ĄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĮÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĮÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄŁ About electronic mailing lists. Electronic "mailing lists" are large group discussions held via electronic mail (e-mail). These lists require that you have either BITNET or Internet e-mail access (which one depends on the particular list). Generally the list works by receiving mail from a list participant, and then sending a copy of that message to all the people subscribed to the list. On very active mailing lists this can result in a deluge of e-mail. Some lists avoid this problem by having "digests", where each day all the messages sent to the list are saved and then sent out in a single large piece of e-mail at night. Generally a mailing list has two e-mail addresses: the mailing list proper, and an administrative address to handle subscriptions and cancellations. Never send requests to subscribe or unsubscribe to the main address unless you can find no other way to bring your problem to attention. For more information, please ask you site administrator or sysop. OS/2 related FTP sites: ---------------------- ŚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄæ ³NAME: ³IP ADDRESS: ³Directory & Notes: ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp-os2.nmsu.edu ³128.123.35.151 ³/os2 (mirror of cdrom.com) ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp-os2.cdrom.com ³192.153.46.69 ³/os2 (mirror of ftp-os2.nmsu.edu)³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³software.watson.ibm.com ³129.34.139.5 ³/pub/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³mtsg.ubc.ca ³137.82.27.1 ³/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³luga.latrobe.edu.au ³131.172.2.2 ³/pub/os2 (mirror of cdrom.com) ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³msdos.archive.umich.edu ³141.211.32.2 ³/msdos/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³funic.funet.fi ³128.214.6.100 ³/pub/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp.ieee.org ³140.98.1.1 ³/pub/fidonet/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³boombox.micro.umn.edu ³134.84.132.2 ³/pub/gopher/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp.3com.com ³129.213.128.5 ³/adaptors/drivers ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp.germany.eu.net ³192.76.144.75 ³/pub/comp/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp.luth.se ³130.240.18.2 ³/pub/pc/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp.uni-kl.de ³131.246.9.95 ³/pub/pc/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp.uni-stuttgart.de ³129.69.1.12 ³/pub/soft/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp.usask.ca ³128.233.3.1 ³/pub/archives/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ifcss.org ³129.107.1.155 ³/software/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³luga.latrobe.edu.au ³131.172.2.2 ³/pub/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ma2s2.mathematik.uni-karls³129.13.115.2 ³/pub/lisp/clisp/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³mcafee.com ³192.187.128.1 ³/pub/antivirus ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³mtsg.ubc.ca ³137.82.27.1 ³/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³nic.switch.ch ³130.59.1.40 ³/mirrors/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³novell.com ³137.65.4.1 ³/netwire/novfiles/client.kit/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³plaza.aarnet.edu.au ³139.130.4.6 ³/micros/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³rhino.microsoft.com ³131.107.1.121 ³/LANMan/OS2xBeta ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³rs3.hrz.th-darmstadt.de ³130.83.55.75 ³/pub/machines/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³software.watson.ibm.com ³129.34.139.5 ³/pub/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³sprite.cica.indiana.edu ³129.79.26.102 ³/pub/pc/borland/c/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³src.doc.ic.ac.uk ³146.169.2.1 ³/computing/systems/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³sun0.urz.uni-heidelberg.de³129.206.100.126 ³/pub/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³tethys.rz.uni-osnabrueck.d³131.173.17.10 ³/pub/os2 ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³world.std.com ³192.74.137.5 ³/src/os2 ³ ĄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĮÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĮÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄŁ Other FTP sites of interest ŚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄæ ³NAME: ³IP ADDRESS: ³NOTES: ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³rtfm.mit.edu ³18.70.0.226 ³FAQ lists ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³cs.uwp.edu ³131.210.1.4 ³Music related stuff ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³wuarchive.wustl.edu ³128.252.135.4 ³Lots of other stuff ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³saffron.inset.com ³192.94.75.2 ³Sounds (various formats) ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³sounds.sdsu.edu ³130.191.224.2 ³Sounds (.au format) ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³watsun.cc.columbia.edu ³128.59.39.2 ³/kermit/b ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³prep.ai.mit.edu ³18.71.0.38 ³/pub/gnu ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³ftp.uu.net ³192.48.96.2 ³/usenet (e.g.) ³ ĄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĮÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĮÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄŁ About FTP. FTP stands for "File Transfer Protocol" and is the standard protocol on the Internet for transfering files. With a fast, direct internet connection, download speeds can approach 32Kbs under light network load. The sites listed allow "anonymous" logons. When prompted for a User name when logging in, enter ANONYMOUS and then enter your e-mail address as your password. This assists the administators at the remote site in tracking usage of the site. Don't forget that you're downloading from someone else's computer, someone who has to pay for and use that computer. Given the global reach of the internet, even though you may be downloading at 4am, it could be noon at the site you're downloading from. To avoid putting more of a load on a machine someone may depend on for work during the day, try to only download sometime other than 9-5, remote time. The last couple of letters in the remote sites address can help you determine where your downloading from. The last 2 to 3 letters indicate the location of the site: .de Germany .au Australia .ca Canada .fi Finland .uk United Kingdom NNTP usenet servers: ------------------- ŚÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĀÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄæ ³NAME: ³IP ADDRESS: ³NOTES: ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³mont.cs.missouri.edu ³128.206.100.208 ³Local to University of Missouri ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³sol.ctr.columbia.edu ³128.59.64.40 ³Huge place. Takes a long time ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³umd5.umd.edu ³128.8.10.5 ³No posting allowed as guest ³ ĆÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÅÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ´ ³raven.alaska.edu ³137.229.10.39 ³No posting allowed as guest ³ ĄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĮÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄĮÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄŁ These OS/2 newsgroups are available: comp.os.os2.multimedia For information on OS/2 multimedia features, including MMPM/2 and Ultimotion. comp.os.os2.setup For all questions relating to setup, installation, and driver support under OS/2. comp.os.os2.bugs For the discussion and reporting of OS/2 bugs (flaws). comp.os.os2.advocacy For the discussion of OS/2 compared with other products, marketing, and "politics." comp.os.os2.networking For any OS/2 questions dealing with networking. comp.os.os2.ver1x For any OS/2 questions dealing with OS/2 versions prior to OS/2 2.0. comp.os.os2.programmer.porting For talk about porting software from other environments to OS/2. comp.os.os2.programmer.misc For discussion of any other OS/2 programming issues. comp.os.os2.apps Discusses DOS, Windows, and OS/2 applications running under OS/2. comp.os.os2.announce Carries important OS/2 announcements. This newsgroup is moderated -- you cannot ask a question here. comp.binaries.os2 If you do not have ftp access you can obtain OS/2 software using this newsgroup. This newsgroup is also moderated. comp.os.os2.beta For discussion of beta releases of OS/2 (versions of OS/2 that are released for testing purposes by IBM and that you cannot buy in stores). comp.os.os2.misc For general OS/2 discussion. Post here only if none of the above categories fits. From the Wire ============= A selection of messages about OS/2 seen fleeting across the wires on Fidonet and Internet. Borland C++ and TCP/IP ---------------------- From the comp.os.os2.programmer.porting newsgroup Some time ago, in tcpip 1.2.1 I tryed to make a program using sockets with borland c++ for os2. Never succeed. I'm pleased to said that I succesfully compiled and run some socket programs using BC++ and the new tcpip 2.0 32 bits programmer kit. ( first one was nistime.c ) At this time, the only needed changes are: modify tcpip\include\nerrno.h ENAMETOOLONG to ENAMETOOLONG_ or modify the bc\include\error.h file accordingly. include the following file (see below) before any tcpip include Order the #include(s) to include tcpip headers last because they redefine min() max() and random() differently from the borland way. (in tcpip\utils.h) Hopefully, there is #ifdef that bypass definition if the macros are allready defined (usually from stdlib.h) perror() for socket errors must be replaced by the equivalent for sockets error (i dont remember the name, see doc) (Probably same for CSet++) change read() and write() to send() and recv() calls. Beware of ioctl() and fcntl() (same for CSet++). That's all I know after 1 days trying. I did not test it at this time, but probably you will need a sort of the following #ifdef if you are using the C++ compiler option. #ifdef __cplusplus // ps: not sure of the name extern "C" { #include all_tcp_includes_here } #endif I will know... as soon as I start my AF_INET Stream Multithread Socket class . --------------- suggested name: tcpip\include\bctcp.h -------------- --------------- or bc\include\bctcp.h -------------- /* * Some adjustments needed under BC++ for os2 to compile a socket pgm. * * Others adjustments: * * ENAMETOOLONG conflict between * bc\include\errno.h and * tcpip\include\nerrno.h * yous must edit and rename one or the other name. * * Append ;tcpip\include to your include path in your project * Add tcpip\lib\so32dll.lib and * tcpip\lib\tcp32dll.lib to your project * * in os2, sockets are not files, so beware of * write() -> send() * read() -> recv() * fcntl() and ioctl() have their os2 tcpip counterparts * close() -> soclose() */ #define _System __syscall // CSet++ to BC++ convention #define tcperrno sock_errno // in os2 different names #define BSD_SELECT // optional: for bsd type select() /* end of bctcp.h */ Christian Robert $$$0@music.mus.polymtl.ca VisPro/REXX or VREXX -------------------- From the Fidonet OS2 Conference. From: Steve Gallagher Subj: October Byte Conf: Os2 HB>Looking at the October BYTE magazine: HB>Page 205 - an article comparing VisPro/REXX and VX-REXX One and all, be advised: the author of this comparison MAJORLY dropped the ball! He was looking at the freeware package VREXX, not Vispro/REXX!! I can't imagine how he screwed up so royally, but there you have it. Hockware ( producers of Vispro/REXX ) are NOT amused. Also from the Fidonet OS2 Conference. From: Scot Gould Subj: October byte Conf: Os2 HB> Looking at the October BYTE magazine: HB> Page 205 - an article comparing VisPro/REXX and VX-REXX A representative of Hockware (makers of VisPro/REXX) has said that the Byte reviewer seemed to review VREXX (and IBM freeware) vs. VX-REXX not VisPro/REXX. Frankly I have had it with Byte and will be letting my subscription expire. Scot Gould Inland Empire OS/2 Users group Diamond Viper Drivers --------------------- Area: OS2HW From: Gary Rambo (1:289/27) Subj: Viper drivers here!!! Word from DIAMOND COMPUTER SYSTEMS, August 30, 1993. I had a very long chat with a Diamond tech today about drivers for OS/2 for the VIPER VLB. We also discussed several issues that have been brought up here on the conference. This is what I heard. . . Drivers to be out by end of August. I read already on Compuserve that the drivers are there. IBM says the drivers with the VIPER card and OS/2 is without any doubt the fastest thing they've ever seen. Completely seamless. New (Weitek?) chip that makes DOS as fast as Windows and OS/2. I asked him about slow support told him that Diamond was being hit very hard on the national nets. They're aware of their short comings but said that they've added more techies and that the company has grown so fast that they did not forsee the problems they now face. When asked why they would not at least release beta VIPER drivers they said that releasing betas would solve very little as the bugs would generate as many calls as not releasing them. Diamond wanted to wait until EVERYTHING was fixed and then release the OS/2 drivers. So, by the time you all read this, the VIPER OS/2 drivers should be out there at various sites and spreading quickly. I pity the over zealous fools who, in an effort to get any drivers bought an ATI, or something less than VIPER. Now they're out, they work, they work seamlessly, they're the FASTEST. NT Backs Out ------------ From: John Mitchell Subj: SHOOTOUT SHOT DOWN Conf: Teamos2 I found this on page 102 of the August 30, 1993 COMPUTERWORLD: Microsoft last week backed out of a Windows NT vs. OS/2 shootout that would have compared performance on single-tasking, 16Mbyte 486-based desktops. Microsoft agreed to that configuration but also wanted to demonstrate the two operating systems running on Intel- and RISC-based mulitprocessor servers. The organizer of the event, Barnett Bank in Jacksonville, Fla., proposed that Microsoft give its server demonstrations as part of a 20-minute rebuttal to IBM. Microsoft also turned that down because it said there would not be enough time to properly demonstrate what it believes are the superior strengths of NT. Thought you all might be interested... ˙ OS/2 at One BBSCON ------------------ From: Kurt Westerfeld Subj: IBM At One BBSCON!!! Conf: Os2 I found this post from Vicci Conway on the OS2USER forum on Compuserve today: Sb: OS/2 at One BBSCON Fm: Vicci Conway [IBM/PSP] 76711,1123 To: ALL One BBSCON The IBM Booth at One BBSCON was a smash HIT! Working in the booth were Doug Azzarito, co-author of RBBS and OS/2 demo'er extraordinaire; Rob Rose, ex-Galacticom (The Major BBS) employee, and Scott Dudley, author of Maximus for OS/2. Their expertise was what made the booth a success. One of the most exciting aspects of the conference was the fact that everyone there couldn't believe that IBM had a booth there. These folks did not expect to ever see IBM at a conference to do with sysops. We impressed everyone there. Some just stood there with mouths hanging open and once they heard our offer, the jaws really fell to the floor. Friday morning Dave Whittle did a presentation on running BBS's under OS/2. It was a great presentation and the Q&A lasted for over an hour. That shows us just how much interest there is in our product. We went to the show with the intention of showing the sysops that OS/2 can run their current BBS sosftware and show off a bit about OS/2 as well. We were prepared to give away copies to sysops who signed an agreement that they would try OS/2, put the fact that their BBS is running under OS/2 on their logon screen, and setup a file and message area for OS/2. We had over 500 sysops take us up on the offer! Not only did we do major goodwill at this conference, but many people now have a lot more faith that IBM and OS/2 will do well. It meant a lot that we have a Grass Roots Marketing effort and people out supporting users and not just corporate customers. Many vendors came over to us and wanted to do a product swap, due to so many people asking them if their BBS software ran under OS/2. The vendors were very excited about the fact that we were there and how much interest there was about OS/2. Sytronics is about ready to beta an OS/2 version of their BBS software, and they were getting quite a few interested parties who were about to setup BBS's. We put a copy of most of the BBS packages on our demo machines to show that they do run, and run well. Many folks were excitied about how well these programs run and the fact that they can do other tasks on their machines, while the BBS is still running. Everywhere you went there were people with OS/2 stickers on their badges and people talking about OS/2. Everywhere we went, we were recognized as the 'folks making that great offer', asked questions about OS/2 and chatted up again and again about how they couldn't believe we were really there. It made us feel really good to be there and let us know (again) just how many people really want us to do well. In closing, I have to thank John Soyring for putting up he expense money for this conference; Wally Casey for putting up the copies of OS/2; Dave Whittle for coming up with the idea; and Doug, Rob and Scott for helping out in the booth. Also thanks to Dave for pushing me to make this happen, as without his encouragement, I wouldn't have pushed to make this a reality. Vicci Interesting! I highly applaud this action. IBM is to be commended! Kurt Westerfeld˙ ˙˙ Bargain Alert ------------- From: Jd Brown Subj: Bargain Alert! Conf: Os2 BARGAIN ALERT! Lotus SmartSuite For OS/2 OS/2 2.1 Norton Commander For OS/2 Yes, I know, most of use already have OS/2 2.1, but for the price you are about to see, it is worth having another copy. This ENTIRE package deal is available from Corporate Software at 1-800-677-4003 for ONLY!!!!!!!!!! $ 319.00 plus shipping. The only drawback is, if you are not a business you must pay by Visa, MC, America Express, or Discover Card. No COD. They are taking orders now and expect shipping sometime in the second week of October. Folks, this is a GOOD way to get some sales numbers in all the top 10 lists. Buy it, and sell OS/2 2.1 to a friend for $ 50.00 and you have still come out WAY ahead. Unless of course you don't have 2.1 yet. MMOUG mailbag ============= Mail sent to us about the User Group and what we're doing. The Newsletter and IPF ---------------------- Date: 25 Sep 93 13:21:16 EDT From: Johnny Sewell <76701.254@CompuServe.COM> To: Dale Hackemeyer Subject: Your Newsletter Dale, I had downloaded your newsletter from CompuServe a few weeks ago, but just got around to looking at them. Very nice and impressive!!! I sent a note to Phillip too, so if he forwards it on to you, act surprised. I think the way you are working this thing in the .inf file is great. Do other newsletters do that too, or did you think of that? Is there a way to mark text in an inf file to paste somewhere else? For instance, I just wanted to paste your internet address over to my userid.cis file in epm, but I couldn't figure a way just to mark that line and copy it over. Johnny 25-Sep-93 13:14 Date: Sat, 25 Sep 93 12:24:52 CDT From: Dale Hackemeyer Organization: University of Missouri at Columbia Subject: Re: Your Newsletter To: Johnny Sewell <76701.254@CompuServe.COM> In-Reply-To: Your message of 25 Sep 93 13:21:16 EDT On 25 Sep 93 13:21:16 EDT you said: >I had downloaded your newsletter from CompuServe a few weeks ago, but just >got around to looking at them. Very nice and impressive!!! I sent a note to >Phillip too, so if he forwards it on to you, act surprised. I think the >way you are working this thing in the .inf file is great. Do other >newsletters do that too, or did you think of that? Thanks! Glad to hear you like it. I'll have to get Phillip to upload them every month. I originally got the idea from the San Diego OS/2 Users Group, who started doing an INF version of their newsletter in January. They were kind enough to provide the IPF source to their OS/2 BBS and User Groups listings for use in our newsletter. >Is there a way to mark text in an inf file to paste somewhere else? For >instance, I just wanted to paste your internet address over to my userid.cis >file in epm, but I couldn't figure a way just to mark that line and copy it >over. Unfortunately there's no direct way to do so, however there is a bit of a kludge that'll work. If you press CTRL-F when viewing an INF file, the IPF system will create an ASCII text fle of the current window, minus any bitmap graphics, of course. The file it creates is TEMP.TXT or TEXT.TMP, I can't remember which right now. It should show up in the current directory that you issued the VIEW command with. From there you can edit the text and cut and paste it with an editor. It's not very practical for a line or two, but if there's a paragraph or more involved, it could be handy. Thanks for the note, and let me know if you've got any good ideas for articles in the newsletter. Dale Date: 25 Sep 93 14:42:34 EDT From: Johnny Sewell <76701.254@CompuServe.COM> To: Dale Hackemeyer Subject: Re: Your Newsletter Dale, I met Phillip at the 2.1 kickoff at IBM here in KC. And the internet connection from CompuServe hasn't cost me anything yet, but that may have to do with having a sysop account. I'm an Assistant SysOp on the Aviation Forum on CompuSeve, GO AVSIG. > They were kind enough to provide the IPF source to their OS/2 BBS > and User Groups listings for use in our newsletter. I'm not all that familiar with IPF. Can you take your text file with their source code and pretty much make the inf file? I'm sure there has to be some things you have to add, like name highlighting and the hyperlinks. Johnny 25-Sep-93 14:26 Date: Sat, 25 Sep 93 13:45:31 CDT From: Dale Hackemeyer Organization: University of Missouri at Columbia Subject: Re: Your Newsletter To: Johnny Sewell <76701.254@CompuServe.COM> In-Reply-To: Your message of 25 Sep 93 14:42:34 EDT On 25 Sep 93 14:42:34 EDT you said: >I met Phillip at the 2.1 kickoff at >IBM here in KC. And the internet connection from CompuServe hasn't cost me >anything yet, but that may have to do with having a sysop account. I'm an >Assistant SysOp on the Aviation Forum on CompuSeve, GO AVSIG. Now THAT'S the way to get CompuServe! :) What part of KC do you live in? I'm from Lee's Summit myself, over here in Columbia trying to get through college. >I'm not all that familiar with IPF. Can you take your text file with their >source code and pretty much make the inf file? I'm sure there has to be some >things you have to add, like name highlighting and the hyperlinks. The IPF souce code for an INF file is just ASCII text that I edit like you said, by adding the links and special formatting. All I add are strings that start with a : or & and end with a . For example, to change the font to Courier, I have to add the following line: :font facename='Courier' size=14x14. And to change it back to the default font, I put in the following: :font facename=default. The listings that the folks in San Diego provided already has all the IPF tags like those above in there, so all I have to do to put it in my newsletter is add the following line in my source file: .im sdug0593.ipf This simply copies the specified file into my source file where the .im tag appears. I do have to change a few reference numbers for it the get along with the rest of my stuff, but that's pretty simple to do. I do the Internet section, and do it the same way to make changing it easier. I also let other groups have it for their newsletters. If you'd like a copy to look at, I'm sure I could mail you a copy. The IPF stuff is pretty dry and boring at the source level, but it's interesting what you can do with it. Keep an eye out when the Novemeber newsletter comes out, as there's a good possibility I'll have an article on how I create the newsletter. I was "volunteered" to do a presentation on how I do the newsletter at the upcoming October meeting, so I hope to do a follow up article on it. Dale Date: 25 Sep 93 16:07:16 EDT From: Johnny Sewell <76701.254@CompuServe.COM> To: Dale Hackemeyer Subject: Re: Your Newsletter I saw an article in OS2 Professional about how to do IPF stuff, but I think it said that another software package was required. Something other than what comes with OS/2 2.1. But I forget what that package was. Johnny 25-Sep-93 15:42 Date: Sat, 25 Sep 93 16:14:55 CDT From: Dale Hackemeyer Organization: University of Missouri at Columbia Subject: Re: Your Newsletter To: Johnny Sewell <76701.254@CompuServe.COM> In-Reply-To: Your message of 25 Sep 93 16:07:16 EDT On 25 Sep 93 16:07:16 EDT you said: >I saw an article in OS2 Professional about how to do IPF stuff, but I think it >said that another software package was required. Something other than what >comes with OS/2 2.1. But I forget what that package was. You need the IPF compiler, IPFC.EXE. It's not a very big program, and it comes with the OS/2 Developer's kit, IBM C-Set and C-Set++, and Borland C++ (where I got my copy). I don't know how much IBM might charge for it alone. Dale NSCOUG Correction ----------------- From: schmidtj@mcs.com (James Schmidt) Subject: News Letter To: uc54550@mizzou1.missouri.edu Date: Sat, 25 Sep 1993 16:17:15 -40962758 (CDT) Hello, I just downloaded the Sept issue of the Mid-Missouri OS/2 User's group. I have a few minor corrections to my user group listing. I think it's great that we are listed but your information is a bit dated. North Suburban Chicago OS/2 User Group Telephone: 708-317-7405 BBS: 708-895-4042 Meetings: Unless otherwise scheduled we meet on the Last Tuesday of each month. All other information is correct. The BBS number is an addition the other items are corrections to existing items. Thanks again for listing our group. We're 1 year old this month. James Schmidt NSCOUG Date: Sun, 26 Sep 93 12:07:55 CDT From: Dale Hackemeyer Organization: University of Missouri at Columbia Subject: Re: correction to newsletter To: James Schmidt In-Reply-To: Your message of Sat, 25 Sep 1993 20:38:09 -0500 (CDT) James, Thanks for the correction. I'll be sure to fix it in the October issue, and I'll forward this to David Sichak at the San Diego OS/2 UG which provided me with the list. Thanks again! Dale From the Editor --------------- Another newsletter, another hectic deadline. With school and work, it's getting tougher and tougher to meet the first of the month deadline, but it looks like I missed this one by only 4 days. Close enough for non-profit work, right? You might expect to see the newsletter become a bit leaner in the next few months as I get really busy, but be assured it will be here every month. Enough of my complaining! This month's meeting should be interesting, especially for me since I'm the presenter. Ever wonder how I create this newsletter? Now's your chance to see how I do it. If you can't make the meeting and are interested, don't worry&colon. there should be an article on how to do it either in the November or December issue of the newsletter. Not sure when just yet. Like I said, things are a bit hectic! Hope to see you all at the meeting! Dale Hackemeyer Editor, MMOUG Newsletter OS/2 Woodmeister BBS (1:289/27) Internet: uc545502@mizzou1.missouri.edu