TO/2 Newsletter -, 1995 Welcome to the Toronto OS/2 User's Group Newsletter! [*][IMAGE]"volume 1, issue " --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Return to TO/2 Homepage --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE][*]Introduction/ Administrivia From the Warped Mind of the Editor Meeting Schedules Meeting Map --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE][*]News of the Month Group Announcements Latest News from Vendors Shareware/Freeware Information Products in Review Classified Advertisements --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE][*]Tools, Tips and Tricks Tips for Users New and Old Vital OS/2 Tools and Utilities Fixes, Patches and CSD's --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE][*]OS/2 Information OS/2 BBS List OS/2 Echoes and Mailing Lists OS/2 Vendors OS/2 Books Team OS/2 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE][*]Details and Legals This Month's Contributors Request for Contributors Request for Sponsors/Advertising Disclaimer/Copyrights --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE][*] [IMAGE][IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Martin Moran Editor, Toronto OS/2 User's Group Newsletter TO/2 Newsletter - Intro/Admin - 11/95[IMAGE] [*]Introduction and Administration [IMAGE][*]From the Warped Mind of the Editor [IMAGE][*]Membership Information [IMAGE][*]Meeting Schedules [IMAGE][*]Meeting Map [IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Return to Table of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]From the Warped Mind of the Editor 50.6%. Certainly a narrow margin. I listened to the Referendum, as most Canadians likely did, going about their business but having the thing eat away at their insides. It was hard to keep plugging away at writing this NL when the results were coming in in favour of the "Oui" campaign. But October 30 was also set to be another day of decisions. Decisions which didn't happen, apparently. Good sources informed us that the BigBrains at IBM would be meeting on 10/30 in order to determine the fate of OS/2. They would be deciding on whether support for OS/2 would be provided only for Corporate users, and small/home users be damned. This meeting never happened, and it was joked that if it would, it would probably take place via Person-to-Person (an application. that would likely be scrapped along with low-volume buyer support). Apparently the OS/2 referendum never happened. Scuttlebutt tells me to watch what happens at Comdex - that the decision may be announced either prior to or just after Comdex. I hope it's after, and click here to find out why. You'll notice some changes to the NL, mostly for consistency and loadspeed. For one, some things like vendor news have been loaded onto separate pages due to their size. For another, my column in shorter! (Grin!) We're still working on the NL, and the input we have this month is fantastic! I can't wait to see what we have in next months'! If there is something you would like to see in the NL, just drop me a note: [*][IMAGE] Martin Moran, Editor "The opinions expressed in this editorial are only those of the editor, and do not reflect any opinions at IBM or with the Toronto OS/2 User's Group"[*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Membership Information Presently, membership in TO/2 requires only that you show up at the monthly meetings. Normally, we have a crowd of roughly 70 to 80 people attend, but this swells and dips on a regular basis. Please ensure that, should you attend to the meeting, you sign the Sign-In sheets, so that we can properly account for you as a member. At that time, you will also receive a ticket, for your magic prize! BOLD>Presently there is no membership fee for TO/2, and the Executive is currently debating this. Until such time as a decision has been made, all TO/2 meetings and events are free of charge. For more information about Membership, please contact [*]Kevin Quinn, Membership Co-ordinator by e-mail.[*] SRC=../imgs/a_down.gif> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Meeting Schedules All TO/2 meetings take place on the second Thursday in the month, in the Auditorium of 3600 Steeles Avenue East, Markham. Meetings begin with a half hour question and answer period with the New User SIG at 7:00 in room D109, and then presentations start at 7:30 with the group news. The main presenter appears from 7:45-8:45, and then we have a 15 minute break. A number of smaller presenters, including members of TO/2 and the Executive, will take us to conclusion at 10:00pm. The November Meeting will take place on November 9, 1995 . The December Meeting will take place on December 14, 1995.[*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Meeting Map [IMAGE][*][IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE][*] [IMAGE][IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Martin Moran Editor, Toronto OS/2 User's Group Newsletter TO/2 Newsletter - News - 11/95[IMAGE] [*]News of the Month [IMAGE][*]Group Announcements [IMAGE][*]Latest News From Vendors [IMAGE][*]Shareware/Freeware Information [IMAGE][*]Products in ReviewIncluding BackupWiz and Warp Connect [IMAGE][*]Humour for this month... [IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Return to Table of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Group Announcements We understand that the Programmer's SIG is doing well, but because of the revised SIG schedule, have not met since the last User's Group meeting. The executive is still thinking about making the 4th thursday of every month a "SIG Night", where various SIGs will meet in smaller rooms like D109.[*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Latest News from Vendors And the vendor news had been flying this month. So much so that the editor's mail box couldn't keep up, and he's got to dump a bunch of it. So he's gone and put it in a separate document, which can be reached from the following link: [*][IMAGE][*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Shareware and Freeware Information We have no shareware and/or freeware available for you this month. Look for a review of File Manager/2, along with other shareware, in future issues. To find out about how to submit an article for the newsletter, which is greatly encouraged, please refer to the for more information.[*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Products in Review We have two products in review this month: [*]Warp Connect Fullpack(in a real-world setting!) [*]BackupWiz [*]Software reviewed: Warp Connect Fullpack ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- Introduction: - I was a happy and serene OS/2 2.11 user. It was as reliable as a hammer, I had working drivers for all my hardware and I had no particular desire to upgrade to Warp, especially not Warp for Windows where I would have lost the single CDROM install. As far as software (i.e., Windows 3.1) compatibility went, among other things I was able to run Netscape (with Trumpet Winsock) quite acceptably as my Web Browser. However, I found more and more software would only run under Warp and since I am after all developing programs that have to run under Warp, I purchased Warp Fullpack only a few days before winning this copy of Warp Connect, which I installed instead. In recounting my adventures, I will try to avoid repeating what you can find out in the sales literature and the usual Warp vs. Windows arguments. For those few who don't already know, the September 26, 1995 issue of PC Magazine has a series of articles looking at Windows 95 in comparison with Warp Connect, Windows 3.1 and Windows NT. Computers used for testing: - Primary workstation configuration: 486DX2-66 EISA motherboard 32MB RAM ATI EISA Graphics Ultra Pro Mach 32 video card, 2MB VRAM Adaptec AHA-1742A EISA SCSI controller 1GB Maxtor SCSI hard drive, 650MB Seagate SCSI hard drive Toshiba 3401 external SCSI CDROM Dynatek (HP35480A) external SCSI DAT tape drive HP IIcx scanner (SCSI) Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 + WaveBlaster sound card 3.5" floppy as A:, 5.25" floppy as B: 3COM 3C509B Combo network interface card GVC 28.8 V.34 faxmodem - Secondary workstation configuration: 386DX-33 ISA motherboard 8MB RAM ATI VGA Wonder 1024XL 1MB video card 200 MB IDE hard drive Adaptec AHA-1510 SCSI controller (for external DAT and CDROM use) Creative Labs Sound Blaster (SB 1.0, not OS/2 capable) 5.25" floppy as A: 3COM 3C509B Combo network interface card Minor Irritants: - The old ATI Mach 32 display drivers I had installed under OS/2 2.11 were left in by the Warp install. I had to manually remove them or Warp tried to run both the old and new ATI drivers. - I found a bug during the install where a bad character is inserted into AUTOEXEC.BAT. This aborted the execution of AUTOEXEC.BAT in DOS and Windows sessions, preventing TCP/IP from being available to DOS and Windows programs, among other things. - On my 486DX2, the OS/2 Peer LAN software didn't work with my 3COM 3c509 LAN card at address 300h. I had to move it to 320h. I saw no obvious reason why; the card worked at 300h under DOS, and I'm pretty sure there were no address conflicts--but I could be wrong. - Warp didn't detect my Sound Blaster 16 all the time and usually thought my ATI Mach 32 video card was a ATI 28800 unaccelerated SVGA video card. - The creation of the \TCPIP\DOS\ETC\RESOLV file for DOS/Windows Internet sessions doesn't happen reliably. I manually copied it from \MPTN\ETC\RESOLV. It is also irritating to have the Internet Access Kit for straight Warp Fullpack and the Internet Access Kit for Warp Connect using different subdirectories for the same data. - CSET++ 2.1 compiles run a bit faster under 2.11 than Warp. This may be true of most CPU intensive applications, but the better screen speed is a good trade. - Netscape (16 bit Windows version 1.1N) worked under OS/2 2.11, but I couldn't get it stable under Warp. I normally run WebExplorer now, but there are sites that are using Netscape extensions that don't work well with WebExplorer (just as there are HTML3 sites that don't work well with Netscape). - I encountered several bugs in the ATI Mach 32 drivers, all of which were previously recorded in the Warp APARs, with fixes in version 2.6 of the drivers. I tried the ATI Mach 32 version 2.6 drivers (32OS2260.ZIP) which I downloaded from the ATI BBS and found them so slow that Warp wouldn't boot up properly unless I manually "did things" (e.g., I kept hitting Ctrl-Esc). I had about a 50% chance of a clean bootup if I "did things". In the end I gave up and went back to the drivers supplied with Warp. For some reason, the constant seamless Windows session lockups that I had with those drivers before, went away, though other bugs remained. Message traffic indicates that most people using the 2.6 drivers find them unacceptably slow and ATI is aware of the problem. I then found and tried the IBM distribution of version 2.6 of the Mach 32 drivers (Mach 32P.ZIP) and they work quite well. Unlike the ATI distribution, the IBM distribution also allows you to revert to the Warp supplied drivers, but of course you don't need this option since they work. - I had a bug during an across-the-LAN (CID) installation from my 486 to my 386, which I verified with a second install. A number of executable files that belong in x:\MUGLIB were placed in x:\IBMLANLK\MUGLIB. I fixed this by changing the CONFIG.SYS to add the path x:\IBMLANLK\MUGLIB wherever I found x:\MUGLIB and changing the settings of LOGON and LOGOFF to point there too, though it would have been easier to move all the files from x:\IBMLANLK\MUGLIB to x:\MUGLIB. My CONFIG.SYS also disappeared at one point, but I managed to recover it from x:\OS2\BOOT\CONFIG.X (and had to fix the MUGLIB stuff again). Unresolved Problems: - When I change CONFIG.SYS or sometimes settings for DOS or Windows sessions, there's a good chance DOS and Windows sessions won't run on the next boot unless I first delete my SWAPPER.DAT file. In fact, if I boot up with my external DAT drive or external CDROM drive powered down instead of powered up, because their drivers then don't load, this *effectively* changes my CONFIG.SYS and yup, DOS and Windows sessions won't run until I clean out SWAPPER.DAT. Admittedly, I've been adding things on and upgrading OS/2 since version 2.0 without ever installing "clean" on a freshly formatted partition, but I never ran any beta versions of OS/2 and I really expected this to work. I imagine the problem might have something to do with old junk in my .INI files or the ordering of my CONFIG.SYS statements. - Warp somehow managed to break my tape backup/restore program Novaback for OS/2 version 2.10 (text mode version; not the PM version) so that it traps all the time. It worked fine under OS/2 2.11. I reverted to Novaback version 2.02J which works, as does the tape backup program I use for archiving, Arcsolo for DOS, thus verifying my hardware is working. Good stuff above and beyond the usual Warp accolades: - The Warp Internet Access Kit blasts along over 2X faster than what I found with a Windows based serial modem connection (Trumpet Winsock under either Windows 3.1 or OS/2 2.11). I benchmarked this by timing how long it took to capture news articles from my Internet Service Provider. I did this to make the test entirely local and remove the factor of how fast communications to an external site happened to be at the moment. Given that there are rumors that Windows 95 runs Windows 3.1 programs about 10% slower than Windows 3.1, this makes Warp an excellent platform for running Windows 3.1 Internet applications, though obviously most people would run the native OS/2 Internet programs provided with Warp. - I did an install of Warp Connect across the LAN (from a 5.25" boot floppy even) to my old 386 with 8MB of RAM. The install is fabulously simple to use. A basic installation of Warp Fullpack with no multimedia, HPFS or Bonuspack stuff and OS/2 Peer alone used 70MB of disk including 10MB for a swap file. 90MB is recommended. LAN considerations: - Warp Connect's LAN software, OS/2 Peer, can connect fully to OS/2 Peer, Lan Server and Windows for Workgroups (which should mean Windows 95 too). - Lantastic for OS/2 can connect to OS/2 Peer, but OS/2 Peer can't connect to Lantastic for OS/2. Lantastic for OS/2 can also connect fully to Lantastic for DOS. Lantastic for OS/2, comes on 2 diskettes, uses only about 3MB of disk space and is faster, cheaper and less disruptive to install if you already have OS/2 Warp (or OS/2 2.11) running. You can install individual Warp Connect products on an existing Warp system, but only via the CDROM or diskettes generated from the CDROM (7 diskettes are required for OS/2 Peer), not across the LAN. - Windows for Workgroups, and now Windows 95, offer peer to peer LAN capability for less money, but of course the price of the OS is only part of the system cost and all of the usual Warp advantages come into play. Still, money is money and IBM would do well to remember the results of their pricing of PC-DOS 1.0 vs. CP/M-86. - Lan Server becomes less expensive to purchase than Warp Connect at around 6 workstations, but then you have to factor in the higher cost of more complex LAN administration. - You need Warp Connect instead of standard Warp if you want to hook up to the Internet with ISDN rather than a modem, assuming a network ISDN adapter. - I didn't get a chance to test LAN Distance. Comparison of Warp Connect with Windows NT: - I have a copy of the Windows BackOffice kit. Comparing this kit to Warp Connect may seem a bit unfair but I don't know of any comparable kit from IBM (which is another problem in itself). - The BackOffice kit is extremely complete, including SQL Server, Systems Management Server, SNA Server and Windows NT Server and NT Workstation. - Windows NT Server comes on one CDROM with SMP support, Novell file and print support, and connectivity to Windows for Workgroups 3.11, Novell Netware, SNA, Macintosh, TCP/IP protocols (among others), Remote Access Services (ISDN, telephone lines, etc.) and OpenGL 3D graphics support. - NT Server is about twice the price of Warp Connect. However, the content is higher and the packaging much more convenient. To be comparable, you would have to include OS/2 SMP and Lan Server 4.0 in one package. This probably would be a more expensive combination in the end. IBM should not overlook the convenience factor. A colleague of mine tried to buy OS/2 SMP and failed, after numerous calls to the labyrinth at IBM. Everything you need to run multiple CPU's is on the NT CDROM. NT Workstation, which compares more closely to Warp Connect, sells for about the same price (about $200 US street price for NT vs. $160 US street price for Warp Connect). - NT Server is expensive and a resource hog compared to Warp Connect. However, it has built-in scalability with SMP support and has a higher top end since you can run NT on a 275Mhz Dec Alpha. To attain the same level of computing power with IBM you would have to jump to an entirely different platform like the AS/400. IBM should be aware the NT is slowly capturing the mind space of high end desktop computing from Unix. Conclusion: - Warp Connect is a good choice for the small business user and vertical application integrator requiring robustness in a small LAN at a reasonable cost. I assume that it represents a return of IBM's focus to the business market after the dubious pursuit of the upgrade home user (never start a land war in Asia and don't expect every home user to install a real operating system on random hardware). Without this distraction, it is possible that enterprise-oriented products like Warp Connect, OS/2 SMP, OS/2 Server and OpenGL for OS/2 would have been available earlier to compete with the slick all-in-one Windows NT and cheap Windows for Workgroups (now Windows 95). Review by: Alexis Kwan, akwan@neocom.ca Sam Lew, slew@neocom.ca(Windows NT comparison) ---------------------------- END PREFORMATTED ----------------------------- [*]Software reviewed: BackupWiz ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- I received a copy of BackupWiz at the June Toronto OS/2 user group meeting. At long last I'm getting to a short review of the product. We all know the importance of having a backup of or data, however most of us have not done this for a variety of reasons. One of the is these is the lack of native OS/2 software. BackupWiz from PCX is a native OS/2 SCSI tape backup solution. It supports the majority of SCSI tape drives by name, and in case your particular drive isn't in the directly supported list there are three different generic types that will cover almost all other drives. The version that I received is 1.12. The first thing that I noticed when I open the box was that the manual included with the product is for the DOS version of the product. Since BackupWiz is a character based program and not a PM GUI based program the screen shots are the same and hence this not a big draw back. There is a four page errata sheet enclosed that covers the OS/2 specifics. The first thing that is unusual is the installation. There is no in-stallation program. You must install manually and while not difficult is unusual for a commercial product. The install is nonetheless straight forward. Create a directory, copy all the files from the source diskette, edit the config.sys file to include the BackupWiz tape driver and then create a WPS object for the program. Next reboot the system to include the tape driver. The first thing to do after rebooting the system is to configure your backup device. Now you are ready to do your first backup. BackupWiz does not do software compression, but does allow hardware compression if your tape drive is capable of it. The main advantage is tape transferability between different versions of BackupWiz, the main disadvantage of course is a larger number of tapes needed for backup. Setup is straight forward as is choosing drives and or files to back-up. The menu layout is straight forward and there is context sensitive help available. It is quite easy to choose a full, partial or incremental backup. It is easy to choose a grooming action too if you want. Not only does BackupWiz allow for the above choices, but you can specify inclusion lists, for example all files starting with "A", and exclusion lists. This means you could request a full backup but exclude all ".tmp" files. The backup is file by file based rather than device based so that individual files can be easily restored. One option that I would like to see changed is Verify. It is off by default and has to be turned on. It's no good having a tape backup if the tape can't be read when you need it. (Ed. note: no backup is worth anything unless it has been verified immediately after completion.) While the default action is to backup to tape BackupWiz will also use any disk that is directly accessible by the system. This can be a local disk (floppy, hard disk, optical, bernoulli, zip, etc.) or a network drive. In other words if it looks like a local drive BackupWiz can use it. A very nice feature. The only caveat is that the directory specified for the backup must exist, it will not be created. This disk backup will be an image of what would have gone onto a tape. The fact that this program is character based has one main advantage over a GUI based one. If you have a catastrophic failure you do not need to reload the operating system and then reinstall your backup software in order to recover your files. You only need to boot up from your emergency boot floppies (which we've all made,right!) and then run BackupWiz to recover your system and data from your current backup tape(s). To facilitate creating recovery disks PCX provides a copy of BOOTOS2, and IBM Employee Written software package, on the installation disks. Unfortunately the version of BOOTOS2 provided is the one from 11/10/94, version 0600, which does not create boot disks for Warp properly, at least it never did for me. In order to make a set of boot diskettes for Warp you need at least version 0650 of BOOTOS2 from 04/04/95 or use the "Create Utility Diskettes" function in the System Folder. You must include the BackupWiz driver in the "config.sys" file of the boot diskettes, and put BackupWiz and it's associated files on a third (in all likelihood) diskette. Luckily I have not had to try this out, but I see no reason why it shouldn't work. The other utility included with BackupWiz if a cron like utility to allow scheduling backups at some future time or times. I would not hesitate to recommend BackupWiz to anyone needing a native OS/2 backup program for a SCSI tape drive. Now for the commercial plug! BackupWiz is available from your local OS/2 software retailer. If your friendly software retailer doesn't handle much or any OS/2 software contact House of Technology or Below Zero. ---------------------------- END PREFORMATTED ----------------------------- Jim Arnold[*]jarnold@cid.aes.doe.ca[*] a_down.gif> --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Humour for this month... This first bit is not humour, but is an actual news report. Down with Win '95!!! [*]Australian Post Drops Win '95 [*]Win '95 Witnesses [*]Australian Post Drops Win '95 ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- Australia Post (possibly only a state branch) has joined a long line of Government departments, that have rejected or postponed Windows 95, despite the Governments desire to make e-communications here a subsidiary of MicroSoft. A letter was leaked to the press which read roughly as follows: "Australia Post will not install, or allow Windows 95 to be installed, on any computers in any business or operational areas of Australia..." Any change in the policy will probably not be made "before late 96, when another version is expected to be released; *and* compelling business reasons which justify the additional cost (current estimates are total costs of between $1000 and $1,800 [US$750- $1,350] per personal computer) are approved...." "Areas which have purchased Windows 95 software are requested to return this software to Information Services branch. Those personal computers that have already been upgraded to Windows 95... will be subject to critical review and probable deinstallation of this operating software" Microsoft said that "its not unusual for MIS managers to do things in an orderly way... I don't believe they are saying Windows 95 is rubbish and full of bugs or anything like that. The product has been out for some time and we know that's not true". ---------------------------- END PREFORMATTED ----------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]The Win 95 Witness (Hide Behind the Couch) ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- There was a knock on the door. It was the man from Microsoft. "Not you again," I said. "Sorry," he said, a little sheepishly. "I guess you know why I'm here." Indeed I did. Microsoft's $300 million campaign to promote the Windows 95 operating system was meant to be universally effective, to convince every human being on the planet that Windows 95 was an essential, some would say integral, part of living. Problem was, not everyone had bought it. Specifically, I hadn't bought it. I was the Last Human Being Without Windows 95. And now this little man from Microsoft was at my door, and he wouldn't take no for an answer. "No," I said. "You know I can't take that," he said, pulling out a copy of Windows 95 from a briefcase. "Come on. Just one copy. That's all we ask." "Not interested." I said. "Look, isn't there someone else you can go bother for a while? There's got to be someone else on the planet who doesn't have a copy." "Well, no," The Microsoft man said. "You're the only one." "You can't be serious. Not everyone on the planet has a computer," I said. "Hell, not everyone on the planet has a PC! Some people own MacIntoshes, which run their own operating system. And some people have PCs that run OS/2, though I hear that's just a rumor. In short, there are some people who just have no use for Windows 95." The Microsoft man look perplexed. "I'm missing your point," he said. "Use!" I screamed. "Use! Use! Use! Why BUY it, if you can't USE it?" "Well, I don't know anything about this 'use' thing you're going on about," The Microsoft man said. "All I know is that according to our records, everyone else on the planet has a copy." "People without computers?" "Got 'em." "Amazonian Indians?" "We had to get some malaria shots to go in, but yes." "The Amish." "Check." "Oh, come on," I said. "They don't even wear BUTTONS. How did you get them to buy a computer operating system?" "We told them there were actually 95 very small windows in the box," the Microsoft man admitted. "We sort of lied. Which means we are all going to Hell, every single employee of Microsoft." He was somber for a minute, but then perked right up. "But that's not the point!" he said. "The point is, EVERYONE has a copy. Except you." "So what?" I said. "If everyone else jumped off a cliff, would you expect me to do it too?" "If we spent $300 million advertising it? Absolutely." "No." "Jeez, back to that again," the Microsoft man said. "Hey. I'll tell you what. I'll GIVE you a copy. For free. Just take it and install it on your computer." He waved the box in front of me. "No," I said again. "No offense, pal. But I don't need it. And frankly, your whole advertising blitz has sort of offended me. I mean, it's a computer operating system! Great. Fine. Swell. Whatever. But you guys are advertising it like it creates world peace or something." "It did." "Pardon?" "World peace. It was part of the original design. Really. One button access. Click on it, poof, end to strife and hunger. Simple." "So what happened?" "Well, you know," he said. "It took up a lot of space on the hard drive. We had to decide between it or the Microsoft Network. Anyway, we couldn't figure out how to make a profit off of world peace." "Go away," I said. "I can't," he said. "I'll be killed if I fail." "You have got to be kidding," I said. "Look," the Microsoft man said, "We sold this to the AMISH. The Amish! Right now, they're opening the boxes and figuring out they've been had. We'll be pitchforked if we ever step into Western Pennsylvania again. But we did it. So to have YOU holding out, well, it's embarrassing. It's embarrassing to the company. It's embarrassing to the product. It's embarrassing to BILL." "Bill Gates does not care about me," I said. "He's watching right now," the Microsoft man said. "Borrowed one of those military spy satellites just for the purpose. It's also got one of those high-powered lasers. You close that door on me, zap, I'm a pile of grey ash." "He wouldn't do that," I said, "He might hit that copy of Windows 95 by accident." "Oh, Bill's gotten pretty good with that laser," the Microsoft man said, nervously. "Okay. I wasn't supposed to do this, but you leave me no choice. If you take this copy of Windows 95, we will reward you handsomely. In fact, we'll give you your own Caribbean island! How does Montserrat sound?" "Terrible. There's an active volcano there." "It's only a small one," the Microsoft man said. "Look," I said, "even if you DID convince me to take that copy of Windows 95, what would you do then? You'd have totally saturated the market. That would be it. No new worlds to conquer. What would you do then?" The Microsoft man held up another box and gave it to me. "'Windows 95....For Pets'?!?!?" "There's a LOT of domestic animals out there," he said. I shut the door quickly. There was a surprised yelp, the sound of a laser, and then nothing. ---------------------------- END PREFORMATTED ----------------------------- [*][IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [IMAGE][*][IMAGE] [IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Martin Moran Editor, Toronto OS/2 User's Group Newsletter TO/2 Newsletter - Vendor News - 11/95[IMAGE] [*]Vendor News [IMAGE][*]LiveWire Update [IMAGE][*]Mesa Spreadsheet Update [IMAGE][*]Star Office Information Update [IMAGE][*]Present and Future Products from Stardoc Systems [IMAGE][*]OS/2 Professional Product Awards [IMAGE] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Return to Table of Contents --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]LiveWire Product Update Announcement ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- DataMirage Software is announcing the release version of LiveWire 3.0 for the WorkPlace Shell. LiveWire 3.0 for the WorkPlace Shell is an object- oriented 32-bit multi-threaded professional communications program for OS/2 Warp 3.0. LiveWire 3.0 retains the great features of the text mode version of LiveWire (version 2.2) along with a set of new features and an excellent new interface. Truly object-oriented, LiveWire is a collection of familiar WorkPlace objects (Terminal, Phone Book, and Log) that interact loosely. More than one terminal, phone book, and log object with its own settings can be created and in use on your desktop! LiveWire's intuitive and elegant interface allows you to get online right away. Advanced users will find extremely pleasing the fully multi-threaded GUI. LiveWire's feature list includes: --------------------------------- - NEW! : Support for TELNET - NEW! : Exception management avoids desktop crashes - Object-Oriented WorkPlace Shell Interface - Efficient and elegant multi-threaded UI - Easy Install and DeInstall GUI programs - Mutiple online sessions at the same time - FAST text output, windowed or full screen - SEAMLESS switch between full screen text and graphics modes - Screens up to 132 characters wide and 75 deep - Full macro facility and character translation - Unlimited scroll-back viewer - Configurations for 70 popular modems - Internal protocols - Zmodem-32 Batch - Ymodem Batch - Xmodem - Xmodem CRC - Xmodem 1K - ASCII (Message transfer) - Automatically supports many OS/2 external protocols - Kermit - P - M2Zmodem - and more... - REXX script language support - Script record capability - REXX script control panel - Multi-threaded phone book object - Phone book imports many other formats, including ZOC - Speed support up to 230,400 bps (w/ SIO) - Named pipe support - The following emulations: - TTY - ANSI - VT-102 (132 column support w/ underline & bold) - OS2You - AVATAR 0+ - RIPterm 1.54 - Includes a handy unzip utility - New TAP format allows the popular PMView image viewer to view GIFs, JPGs, and many other formats during file transfers. LiveWire 3.0 can be retrieved from one of the following places, filename LW30.ZIP : - ftp site hobbes.nmsu.edu - CompUServe (GO OS2SHARE) - DataMirage Software BBS at 1-714-856-2071 Thanks for your using this product, Les Novell DataMirage Software ********************************************************* To order a copy, call... Registration information (How to purchase) You can purchase LiveWire 3.0 now by calling: Office Solutions 404 Termino Avenue Long Beach, CA 90814 Orders: 310-439-5567 800-897-APPS Fax: 310-438-7888 There are two types of registration: 1. Basic registration is $43.00 Basic registration includes: - Your registration number - Support through the DataMirage BBS 2. Complete registration is $73.00 Complete registration is a shrink-wrapped package containing: - The latest version of LiveWire on 3.5" diskettes - Information on how to obtain support through DataMirage BBS - Complete printed user and script manuals (+ Shipping costs) One registration per individual using the program, please. As with all other software, you must purchase one copy per person. ---------------------------- END PREFORMATTED ----------------------------- [*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Mesa Announces Update to Spreadsheet Softwares ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- PRESS RELEASE For Immediate Release CONTACT: Tracy Kugelman 1-617-426-6372 1-617-426-7665 fax info@athena.com Athena Design Ships New Version of Mesa Spreadsheet for OS/2 (R) Boston - October 25, 1995 - Athena Design announced today the immediate release of version 2.0.4 of its Mesa for OS/2 spreadsheet application. This version is available to all registered users as a free upgrade and at a sale price of $95 to new customers. Two weeks ago, Athena Design stopped shipment of version 2.0.3 on the scheduled release date when it discovered certain bugs. The current release not only remedies those problems, but contains additional enhancements as well. "It was embarrassing to have released a product that had serious bugs in it, but we appreciate the feedback and support we've gotten from our user base. By acting promptly and keeping our users informed of our progress, we are confident that we've minimized any negative impact on them and that they will receive a better product in the end," said David Rodger, Product Development Manager. "Version 2.0.3 did not die in vain," said David Kahan, the company's chief operating officer. "Our development team has made great strides in a short time, and we are making a much improved product available today." The Mesa application was built using the Mesa Developer Object Kit (Mesa DOK). A number of corporate OS/2 users are currently beta testing Mesa DOK which provides corporate developers and independent software vendors the ability to integrate Mesa's 32-bit spreadsheet functionality into their applications with as few as 20 lines of code. This will minimize developers' programming time and required resources by providing embedable, commercial strength objects ranging from a simple table view to a multi-threaded recalculating spreadsheet. This version of the application contains the following new features: * Improved display speed * Improved recalculation speed * Additional file filters, including Lotus 1-2-3 .WK4 files Quattro Pro .WB1 files * Enhanced keyboard accelerator keys to speed movement through workbooks * A script recorder which gives users the ability to record actions and automate scripting * Page tabs that have been moved to the bottom of the workbook providing more screen workspace * The Formula Builder allows users to select formula functions and insert them directly into the Formula Bar increasing the speed and accuracy of formula entry * Text Boxes can be created to emphasize sections of the workbook by annotating graphs and labeling cells * SmartSize can resize row height and column width to "shrink-wrap" around cell text by double-clicking on the lines separating row and column labels * Better exploitation of OS/2's multi-threading ability Mesa is a full-featured, 32-bit spreadsheet offering huge, three dimensional workbooks. The application also provides unlimited undo/redo, multi-threaded recalculation and Workplace Shell interaction with OS/2's color and font palettes. Mesa for OS/2 uses OS/2's REXX scripting language. Mesa includes many unique usability features including SmartFill, Formula Inheritance and drag and drop color and fonts. Mesa also supports real-time data feeds from a variety of sources including financial markets. Mesa for OS/2 can be purchased directly from Athena Design by calling 1-800-315-MESA or from major OS/2 resellers for a sale price of $95 for commercial customers and $70 for educational users. Mesa comes with 90 days of technical support via fax and email. An additional 12-month support contract which includes phone support is also available at a suggested retail price of $99. The updated version of Mesa is available from the following ftp sites: ftp://ftp.athena.com: /pub/Mesa2/mesa204.zip ftp://ftp-os2.nmsu.edu/os2/demos/mesa204.zip This new version will also be available on CompuServe through the OS2AVEN forum, through America Online and the OS/2 Shareware BBS at 1-703-385-4325. Users who are unable to ftp the software should contact their local reseller for information on obtaining the update on floppy disks. For more information contact the company directly at 1-617-426-6372, or at info@athena.com. Mesa, SmartFill, Formula Inheritance, SmartSize and Mesa DOK are trademarks of Athena Design, Inc. OS/2 is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Other trademarks which apply belong to their respective companies. StarOffice Information Update [Ed. Note: I have reported in past that StarOffice was up and down much the same way as Corel 6 for OS/2 (which itself is now scrapped). This proves that a press release in the hand is worth two rumours in the bush...] STARDIVISION ANNOUNCES RELEASE DATE FOR STAROFFICE FOR OS/2 StarDivision announced that the German version of StarOffice will start shipping October 16 and the English one ships in December. StarOffice will contain StarWriter, StarCalc, StarDraw plus smaller utilities like StarImage, StarManager, StarMath and StarChart. This office suite will come in OS/2 and Windows editions, to be followed by PowerMac and Unix editions. For a limited time, to celebrate their 10th anniversary, StarOffice will also include StarMedia. StarMedia is a CD-ROM with 1000 fonts, 5555 images, 10000 clip arts, 555 sounds, 85 songs and 50 animations/video clips. ---------------------------- END PREFORMATTED ----------------------------- [*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Present and Future Products from Stardoc Systems ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- For those of you who are interested... As many of you know (particularly on comp.os.os2.games which is where 99% of the GalCiv discussion takes place) Galactic Civilizations v2.0 is nearing completion with a release date of the end of November. I wanted to give y'all a sneak preview on where we are going with the Galactic Series. 1995: Galactic Civilizations V2 (it's not a "sequel" by our standards to GalCiv since it's the same game with some user requested improvements and graphics overhaul and great music--existing GalCiv players who liked GalCiv should upgrade to it but those that didn't like GalCiv won't like GalCiv V2). GalCiv is about creating an interstellar civilization. Using diplomacy and economic might you try to influence your neighbors to unite together into a grand alliance. You can also conquer them through military might and good strategy. You start out with nothing and try to get everything. 1997: Galactic Federations. This is the next generation sequel to Galactic Civilizations. In this, the player must bring together an already existing set of planets through diplomacy and you can also colonize good worlds. Like a real federation, each world is semi-independent and you will have to keep an eye on your relations with them so that they don't join a competing federation. It will focus heavily on multiplayer network stuff and on advanced economic simulation. In short, I want to make it as if you are in charge of Starfleet command (to use an analogy). 1998: Galactic Tyrants. Well, the galaxy may have been united once but it's all fallen apart... There is no colonizing and a dark age has fallen upon the entire galaxy. No one knows much about what is beyond their own sector of space. But hints are abound that a great menace is coming to the galaxy (as foretold long before according to legend). You must bring the galaxy under your thumb to combat this terror. The game will be heavily focused on how you behave and your empire will reflect your behavior (remember Ultima IV?). Obviously with these games not coming for a long time (other than the new Galactic Civilizations) ideas and plots will change somewhat but that's our current concept right now. Brad Information on our software (games, education, utilities, applications) on http://oeonline.com/~stardock OS/2 Professional Announces Product Awards OCTOBER 26, 1995--ROCKVILLE, MD. OS/2 Professional has announced its third annual award winners recognizing the best in OS/2 Warp for 1995. The awards recognize the achievements of individuals, products, and corporations that have contributed to the growth and productivity of OS/2 Warp. In the product categories, only new software is eligible. As such, the many improvements in existing products are not reflected in this year's awards. OS/2 Warp remains unique in the Intel hardware market, having supported multithreaded applications for nearly eight years and object-oriented 32-bit applications since early 1992. According to Editor Bradley D. Kliewer, "The work and design goals of OS/2 developers have just begun to bear fruit as Microsoft takes the first baby steps on its long journey toward an object-oriented system. As IBM and independent OS/2 developers lead, so will the rest of the industry eventually follow." We are proud to recognize just a few of the people and products who have established OS/2 Warp as the corporate reference platform for 32-bit computing. As Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Edwin Black asserts, "We gave our awards to a distinguished few. But the fact is that anyone who perseveres in OS/2 despite IBM deserves a medal." OS/2 Professional's highest year-end honors are as follows: * Best New OS/2 Application--Colorworks * Best New OS/2 Utility--Partition Magic * Best New Communications Package--HyperAccess for OS/2 * Best New Backup Program--BackAgain/2 Pro * Best New Development Tool--IBM VisualAge C++ * Best OS/2 Marketing Campaign--DeScribe Voyager * Media Award--Nicholas Petreley (Infoworld) * Corporate Commitment--Stardock Systems * Outstanding IBM Executive--Steve Mills, general manager IBM SWS * Best Hardware--IBM Butterfly (Thinkpad 701C) * OS/2 Pro of the Year--Mark Elliot, VP of Software Marketing IBM Europe A full account and listing of previous years' winners can be found in the forthcoming November/December issue of OS/2 Professional available on newsstands everywhere. Subscriptions, as well as orders for award- winning products, are available through OS/2 Express at 800 OS2-KWIK (800 672-5945 or 612 823-6255). Web Sites: http://www.ifi-mpls.com/os2pro/ http://www.ifi-mpls.com/os2express/ An HTML-formatted copy of this announcement is available on the Web at: http://www.ifi-mpls.com/os2pro/os2proAward95.html Martin Moran Editor, Toronto OS/2 User's Group Newsletter TO/2 Newsletter - Tips 'n Tools - 11/95 Tools, Tips and Tricks Tips for Users New and Old Vital OS/2 Tools and Utilities Fixes, Patches and CDS's Return to Table of Contents Tips for Users New and Old We've got a couple of good tips for you this month, donated by none other than the Tipmeister himself, Norval Oswald. Undelete Tip Formatting a Diskette in the Background [Ed. note: it's beyond what you're thinking...] Using XDFCOPY in more ways than one Updating your .INI files Tips for Undeleting [Ed note: this is specially dedicated to Kevin Linfield, our Vice President, for his appearance on @Discovery.ca] When you first install OS/2, Undelete is not enabled. You have to enable it by changing the line in CONFIG.SYS that contains the string SET DELDIR. By default, there is a REM in front of the line, which you have to remove in order to enable Undelete. The line specifies a directory for storing deleted files and a size for that directory. There should be an Undelete directory for each drive on the system (except for removable media drives). If the size of all the deleted files add up to more than the specified size of the directory (SET DELDIR), files are removed in a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) order to make room for the next deleted file. Although they are in a hidden directory, the files that are available for recovery are counted when used bytes are counted. Undelete works from the command line. When a file is undeleted, it is restored to its specified path, and if another file with the same name exists, you are prompted to rename it. You can invoke Undelete from both OS/2 and DOS command sessions. When you undelete a file, you are asked to confirm the undeletion. There are several parameters that are available for the Undelete command, as follows: /L lists files that are available for recovery without actually recovering the files. /S follows a directory parameter (UNDELETE DIRECTORYNAME) to specify that the directory and all subdirectories should be involved in any actions. /A recovers all deleted files (if they are still available) without asking for confirmation on each file. /F removes the file from the deleted files directory so that it can not be recovered. ---------------------------- END PREFORMATTED ----------------------------- [*] [*]Formatting a Diskette in the Background You can use the DETACH command for any OS/2 command that doesn't require user interaction. Detach is similar to START in that it lets you begin a batch process. For example, the following command can be used to format a diskette in the background: detach format a: /once /v:MyLabel What makes this work is that no user interaction is required once the correct parameters are supplied to the format function. The combination of "/once" so you do not get prompted to format another and "/v:Mylabel" so you do not get prompted for a label name. P.S. Mylabel can be replaced with any valid label text that you prefer. Limitation: Detach can not be used to start a PM application. [*] [*]Hidden use for XDFCOPY XDFCOPY can be used to copy both 1.44 and 1.88 MB diskettes. For example: XDFCOPY A: c:\disk.dsk copies the diskette to the hard drive and XDFCOPY c:\disk.dsk A: copies the diskette image from the hard drive to the diskette - the diskette is formatted during the copy.[*] [*]Unable to update INI file? If you see an error message from OS/2 Warp that says it cannot update the INI files, don't panic. It means that the disk that holds the INI files is full (usually the boot volume). If you get this message, you must free enough disk space to allow OS/2 to write new ini files. Once you have gotten around the problem, try one or more of the following to keep it from returning: 1) If you have not moved the swap file to another drive, consider doing it now... See SWAPPATH in your CONFIG.SYS file. 2) Move the SPOOL directory to another drive Can be done within the spooler opbject - only when there are no outstanding print jobs in any of the printer objects. 3) Move parts of OS/2 to another drive Keep the same directory structure on the target disk - update paths if you move files (DPATH, LIBPATH, and PATH statements) in config.sys Best choices/examples are: \APPS \BOOK \HELP[*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Vital OS/2 Tools and Utilities ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- Get the most out of OS/2 Warp, with easy-to-read answers to your most frequently asked questions, with "IBM's Official OS/2 Warp FAQs," by IBM software experts Michael Kaply and Timothy F. Sipples, with consulting editor Bradley Kliewer. Published by IDG Books, this IBM Press book includes answers direct from IBM's own technical support database. Hardware concepts (such as DMA and interrupts) are explained in terms that make sense, leading to advice on OS/2 Warp installation, configuration, and choosing new hardware. "IBM's Official OS/2 Warp FAQs" is one of the first books to cover OS/2 Warp Connect and its networking features. The OS/2 Warp BonusPak is also discussed, with detailed information on how to use OS/2 Warp with practically any Internet service provider. Even hard disk partitioning is described in plain English with practical advice from the authors. "IBM's Official OS/2 Warp FAQs" includes the FAQ Pack, a CD-ROM containing a complete online version of the entire book. The CD-ROM also includes extra device drivers, fixes and patches, hotlinks to popular Internet sites, bitmaps, demonstrations, and free software for your OS/2 Warp PC. For OS/2 Warp novices and power users alike, "IBM's Official OS/2 Warp FAQs" is the perfect companion to IBM's best selling software. "Comprehensive and concise, 'OS/2 Warp FAQs' answers both the simple and tough questions..." says Tim Bryce, M. Bryce & Assoc., Inc. "Some of the best minds in OS/2 share the wealth..." notes Edwin Black, Editor-in-Chief, OS/2 Professional Magazine. "IBM's Official OS/2 Warp FAQs" is available from computer booksellers everywhere for under 30 U.S. dollars, including bonus FAQ Pack CD-ROM. The ISBN is 1-56884-472-7. The IBM Publication Number is SR28-5882. Order your copy today! For more information, or to order, please call 800-762-2974 (United States) or write IDG Books Worldwide, 7260 Shadeland Station, Suite 100, Indianapolis, IN, 46256, U.S.A. Other IBM Press books include: "Official Guide to Using OS/2 Warp" ISBN 1-56884-466-2 "OS/2 Warp Uncensored" ISBN 1-56884-474-3 "OS/2 Warp and PowerPC..." ISBN 1-56884-458-1 "OS/2 Warp Internet Connection..." ISBN 1-56884-465-4 ---------------------------- END PREFORMATTED ----------------------------- [*] --------------------------------------------------------------------------- [*]Fixes, Patches and CSD's ------------------------------ PREFORMATTED ------------------------------- OS/2 Warp Updates October 24, 1995 Introduction: This document contains a list of the publicly released fixes for OS/2 Warp. In order to keep this list manageable, I am not including the limited release "private" fixes occasionally provided by IBM OS/2 Support or the continuing stream of new and revised OS/2 device drivers. OS/2 drivers can be obtained from many of the sites listed in the section on "Where to obtain these files" OS/2 Warp FixPack #10: IBM has released a second cumulative FixPack for OS/2 Warp (XR_W010.xDK, XR_W010x.ZIP). This six-diskette FixPack includes upgraded drivers and fixes for all versions of OS/2 Warp: Warp for Windows (XR03000, Red spine), Warp with Win-OS/2" (XR03001, Blue spine, a.k.a. FullPack) and both of the Warp Connect packages. Please review the two FixPack information files on Diskette 1 before installing: README.1ST, which contains detailed installation instructions and workarounds for commonly encountered problems, and README2, a list of problems fixed by FixPack 10. You will need a copy of the IBM LOADDSKF utility program, the OS/2 Warp 3.0 Corrective service Facility boot disks (WKICKR.ZIP, now at v1.2) and about 150K of free space on your C: partition to apply this FixPack. Be sure to make copies of your \OS2\DLL\REXX*.DLL and \OS2\DLL\HELPMGR.DLL files prior to starting installation of the FixPack. Problems have been discovered with the FixPack 10 versions of these files and you will need to restore them after completing installation of FixPack 10. IBM has also released WFWIN10.ZIP for users who have experienced problems installing OS/2 Warp. This file contains the installation-related fixes and updated device drivers from Warp FixPack #10, as well as BAT and CMD files to update your Installation Diskette and Diskette 1. If you have already installed your copy of Warp, you will not need these updates. Printer Driver Updates for Warp and OS/2 v2.11: The following updated printer driver are available for OS/2 Warp and OS/2 v2.11: XR0P002.ZIP OS/2 2.11 Printer FixPack v1.0 XR0P010.ZIP OS/2 2.11 & 3.0 Printer FixPack(Plotter v30.452) XR0P011.ZIP OS/2 2.11 & 3.0 Printer FixPack(PostScript v30.442) XR0P012.ZIP OS/2 3.0 Printer FixPack (LaserJet v30.444) XR0P013.ZIP OS/2 2.11 & 3.0 Printer FixPack (OMNI DRV v30.452) XR0P014.ZIP OS/2 2.11 & 3.0 Printer FixPack (IBMPCL5 v30.450) XR0P015.ZIP OS/2 2.11 & 3.0 Printer FixPack (IBM4019 v30.452) Updated Win32s driver: If you are seeing the message "UNHANDLED EXCEPTION 0XC000005" when running certain MSWindows programs, there is a modified Win32s driver available as VW32S.ZIP. CSD 1 for IBM Works: Footprint Software has released a CSD set (Corrective Service Diskette set) for the BonusPak IBM Works package as WKSCSD1.ZIP. This package includes changes to use SOM2 as well as fixes for a memory leak problem, several application traps, drag and drop errors, and other minor problems such as the PIM dialer. IBM Internet Connection software: The IIC "Retrieve Software Updates" object will list the updates currently available from ftp.ibm.net. As of July 25, the following updates were available from the IIC: WebExplorer v1.02 IBM Internet Dialer 1.45 NewsReader/2 v1.2 IBM Internet phone list Archie (beta) IBM Internet modem list Ultimail Update Latest SLIP and PPP Telnet 5250 Emulation TCP/IP Base Update / PN71501 This list will periodically change as new fixes and upgrades are released. To learn more about the changes or improvements in the new code, first download the item labelled "Package descriptions. Read first!". The updates are also available via anonymous FTP from ftp.ibm.net. For example, the new UltiMail 2.1 Lite can be found in file umf21001.zip. An updated copy of FTP-PM which fixes a problem with the program hanging on exit has been released separately as IAK001.ZIP (and IAK001.EXE). HyperACCESS Lite: Hilgraeve has created a second (4/95) update to the BonusPak HyperACCESS Lite package. This is available as HAL.ZIP (new copies of HALITE.EXE and MODEMS.BIN) or as HALOS2.ZIP (complete package refresh). System Information Tool: A replacement for the shipped BonusPak System Information Tool v3.02 has been distributed as SITCSD.ZIP. Person-to-Person (P2P): The copy of IBM's Person-to-Person included in OS/2 Warp v3 does not include the File Transfer utility shipped with the retail copy of P2P. The necessary files are available from the IBM Hursley FTP site as P2P-FT.ZIP. There are also a number of P2P fixes in /pub/p2p/v1fixes/os2; for complete details see /pub/p2p/v1tips/os2/read-os2.txt. Aptiva Updates: If you are installing OS/2 Warp on an Aptiva, you should obtain a copy of either WAPTIV.ZIP (for Warp for Windows) or WFPAPT.ZIP (for Warp with Win-OS/2). Installing OS/2 Warp from 5.25" drive: IBM does not provide a separate OS/2 Warp package containing 5.25" diskettes. However, both Warp for Windows and Warp with Win-OS/2 can be installed on systems with a 5.25" A: drive. This is done by using a specially-prepared set of 5.25" diskettes which will start the installation process, then redirect all further installation activity to either a 3.5" B: drive or a CD-ROM drive. To do this you will need to obtain a copy of the LOADDSKF.EXE utility program as well as one of the following files: Warp version Warp for Windows Warp with Win-OS/2 Media (Red spine) (Blue spine) ----- ---------------- ------------------ CD-ROM package W5CRDR.ZIP W5FPCD.ZIP 3.5" diskette package W5DRDR.ZIP W5FPDK.ZIP Where to obtain these files: These files are available from CompuServe, TalkLink OS2BBS, and OS/2 BBS sites. If you have Internet access, you can download the files from several Internet "anonymous" FTP sites, including the new IBM Personal Systems support site. OS/2 Shareware BBS BBS (703) 385-4325 Blue Ridge Express BBS (804) 790-9600 IBM PCC BBS (919) 517-0001 FTP ftp.pcco.ibm.com TalkLink OS2BBS BBS Call (800) 547-1283 to subscribe IBM FTP software.watson.ibm.com Hobbes (NMSU) FTP ftp.cdrom.com IBM Global Network FTP ftp.ibm.net IBM PSP WWW http://ps.boulder.ibm.com/ FTP service.boulder.ibm.com FTP ftp.software.ibm.com Hilgraeve FTP ftp.hilgraeve.com IBM Hursley (P2P) FTP ftp.hursley.ibm.com Be aware that not all files are available from all sites. Also, new device drivers, as well as OS/2 utilities and shareware, can be obtained from many of the sites listed above. This list is, as far as I know, complete as of October 24, 1995. As new updates and fixes appear, I will add them to this list and re-distribute it. Frank McKenney Internet: rrs0059@ibm.net TalkLink: WZ01123 TO/2 Newsletter - OS/2 Info - 11/95 OS/2 Information OS/2 BBS List OS/2 Echoes and Mailing Lists Vendors Books Team OS/2 Return to Table of Contents OS/2 BBS List Local BBS' for OS/2 Users: The TELEMAX BBS!Home of TO/2! Node 1: 416-422-4351 Node 2: 416-422-4599 IBM BBS 905-316-4255 One Less Car 416-480-0147 Detached Process 416-447-9260 ATI Technologies 905-764-9404 World's Biggest Bookstore 416-240-8056 OS/2 Echoes and Mailing Lists Echoes and Mailing lists: It became much too difficult to maintain a large list of echoes and mailing lists for the editorial staff. The list on the main home page is an excellent source of links and mailing lists, and will be maintained there and only there. We apologize if this is an inconvenience to anyone. OS/2 Vendors We a presently working on a local OS/2 Vendor list, which should be available in a future newsletter. In the meantime, you can contact House of Technology, who are still dealing directly with consumers. OS/2 Books As with the vendors, we are trying to come up with a list and brief review of the books available for OS/2, and especially Warp. Please watch this page for more info. Team OS/2 Yes, it is confirmed, there are some Toronto area Teamers going to Comdex in Las Vegas. And yes, we are driving there. Yes. DRIVING. Apparently, we'd do anything for OS/2. We will be accompanying Mr. Arylnn Poczynek, the IBM Canada Team OS/2 Advocate, who will be our MC and general giver of orders for the trip. Anyone that is interested in going (we leave on November 9, 1995, but there are airfares that will take you there on a charter basis for less), contact Arylnn for more info at arylnn@vnet.ibm.com. Vive le OS/2!!! TO/2 Newsletter - Details - /95 Details and Legals This Month's Contributors Request for Contributors Request for Sponsors/Advertising Disclaimer/Copyrights Return to Table of Contents This Month's Contributors This month, we'd like to thank Terry Hamilton and the Editor, Martin Moran, for their news feeds. We'd like to thank Alexis Kwan and Sam Lew for their review of OS/2 Warp Connect , and Jim Arnold for his review of BackupWiz We'd also like to thank Norval Oswald yet again for all of the tips that he submitted, and Terry Hamilton for the kick in the pants to get it done. As always, thanks to the NL editor, Martin Moran, for putting it together. The TO/2 newsletter is always willing to accept contributions, especially from its own members. This newsletter can really take off with your help, and the Executive would really appreciate any contributions. If you wish to submit something, mail it to Martin Moran, with 'Newsletter:' starting the subject line. This means anything, including product releases that you grab from the 'net to little reviews you do about a utility you find valuable. Remember, though, that the editor follows the Team OS/2 list, the OS/2 announce list, and comp.os.os2.announce As an aside, we have already been contacted by a few members who have prepared something for submission. Way to go, guys, and keep it coming. Request for Sponsor/Advertising TO/2 is always looking for OS/2 centric companies to come and demonstrate their products. Any product demonstrated at TO/2 will have a review in the newsletter following the presentation. For more information, please contact Terry Hamilton, TO/2 President. Disclaimer/Copyrights All standard disclaimers apply. All products mentioned, with their accompanying symbols and trademarks, are the properties of their manufacturers. All trademarks are the property of the registered owners. The views of this newsletter in NO WAY reflect the views of IBM, unless otherwise stated. Any information about product releases and dates should be taken to be information released into the public domain. Any information that is provided here may have been obtained via the internet, and as such should not necessarily be taken as true and correct. This document is The Toronto OS/2 User's group and Martin Moran. No reproduction, in any form, is allowed without express written consent. The Toronto OS/2 User's Group takes no responsibility for any information located in links to other HTML pages and/or other internet locations that some may find offensive. The Toronto OS/2 User's Group takes no responsibility for the length of this disclaimer. No MicroSoft employees were harmed during the creation of this document (we'll try harder next month.) HTMLCon Statistics ------------------ HTML bytes processed : 71942 Output lines constructed : 1585 Possible links encountered : 94 Images encountered : 55