═══ 1. VOICE Newsletter - Contact Information ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education For the latest news on VOICE and OS/2, please check our web site news page - http://www.os2voice.org/whatsnew.html Previous issues of the VOICE Newsletter are available at our website http://www.os2voice.org/newsletters.html and from the hobbes ftp site ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/info/newsltr/voice. To subscribe to any of the VOICE mailing Lists please go to our web site http://www.os2voice.org/mailinglists.html If you have any OS/2 or VOICE news you would like to submit for the next issue of VOICE Newsletter, please send it to Mark Dodel (editor@os2voice.org) VOICE Reporter by the 15th of the preceding month. ═══ 2. VOICE Newsletter - VOICE News ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 The News Page VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org August 13, 1998 Stanley Sidlov Dear Loyal OS/2 User, The Warpstock Committee announces the final pricing for Warpstock '98 to be held in Chicago, October 17 and 18th, of this year. We have held the pricing for admission tickets at the same levels as last year for a very extended period of time. Our early bird pricing is now discontinued, and we are pleased to announce the final pricing for all admissions to Warpstock '98. Tickets are still a bargain. There are only two types of passes -- a two day pass for $75 and a one day pass for $50. All passholders have access to all Warpstock events, venues and presentations. These passes will not have any raffle tickets attached to their purchase. All passes already sold will have the number of free raffle tickets promised for that pass. Raffle tickets will be available for purchase at Warpstock'98. Our sales statistics figures show that there was a very very small number of people who purchased Bronze or Gold passes, the vast majority of the passes sold were Platinum. The Bronze passes will become One Day passes without raffle tickets. The Gold passes will be Two Day passes with two raffle tickets. Platinum tickets are Two Day passes with 3 raffle tickets. You can buy your tickets online from our web site @ http://www.warpstock.org or use the toll-free number (800) 414-4268. Warpstock '98 will be held at the Wyndham Northwest hotel. Wyndham's web site is http://www.wyndham.com. You call the directly at (630) 773-4000 or use the toll free number 800-WYNDHAM. Remember to get the bargain room rate of $99/night you must use the group reservation code, "Warpstock." A personal note if I may; the hotel is simply gorgeous. Amenities abound, restaurants, health club, you name it; you can not beat the rate of $99/night and not have travel time on the days of the event. We hope to see everyone there. Get there safely. Stan August 10, 1998 Source: Centari Computers Centari Computers along with WarpSpeed Computers and The OS/2 SuperSite will be conducting a drawing from now till the WarpStock convention. We will be giving away a 40x CD-Rom, The Graham Utilities v2.1 and a Membership in the OS/2 Supersite Members Club. We will have several other prizes to give away also. Log on to the site beginning tomorrow and sign up for the drawing, this is the only way to get added...I'm working on the forms as we speak and expect them to be up in the morning. According to Centari Computers owner Thom Davis, "Chris, Dirk and I are excited about the opportunity to show everyone that OS/2 suppliers can be just as generous as the other OS's suppliers can be and return something to the people who support us. Warped Surfers can log on to any of the sponsors website's and signup for the contest. We also have the Centari Computers mailing list available for sign up at the same time, no purchase is necessary. We will be drawing the name of the lucky people at the WarpStock Convention and announcing them via The WarpCast News Service (http://www.warpcast.com)." The address is http://pages.sssnet.com/Confed2. The site is also Comm/2 Java friendly :) August 10, 1998 Source: Don Eitner, VOICE Secretary The log of tonight's special VOICE SpeakUp session with Mike Kaply (IBM) on Communicator for OS/2 is now online! You can read it at http://www.os2voice.org/logs/V081098.LOG.html or http://voice.os2ss.com/logs/V081098.LOG.html. August 10, 1998 Ver 1.0.5 of MasterGear/2, the OS/2 port of Marat Fayzullin's Sega Master System/Game Gear emulator, has been released. Features include:  Performance improvements.  Workaround for black-bitmap problem which showed up in FixPack 5.  MasterGear now begins in ROMS directory, if present.  Improved throttle routine for faster machines.  Fixed window resize problem, occured if only Master System games had been played, the default.  window size was bigger than 1, and the oscilliscope was turned on using the O key.  Source code now available, to hopefully drive new emulator ports to OS/2 :-) You can download a copy from http://www.geocities.com/~spiceware. August 10, 1998 PMConverter has been updated to v0.03, this is an MP3 Encoder Frontend with CDDB Support for OS/2 MP3 Grabber and Encoder for OS/2 Warp with CDDB access via Internet Data Base or local Data Base. You can download a copy from http://www.os-2.de/programme/indos2/cdencoder/. August 10, 1998 Source: Timur Tabi (timur@io.com) If you're interested in the development of OS/2 device drivers, whether you're an expert or a newbie, there is now a mailing list available for you. Please go to: http://www.io.com/~timur/os2pdd.html to get all the information you need. I think this mailing list is a great resource which should have been created long ago. I urge all OS/2 driver programmers to sign up. Without the support of the experts, the novices won't know what to do. August 8, 1998 Entrepreneur 1.3 beta 8 for OS/2 can be downloaded from: http://www.stardock.com/uploads/entxb8.zip August 8, 1998 There is a new page with freeware OS/2 utilities (in German). There is no English version of this page. http://www1.stuttgart.netsurf.de/~kevers/warp.html August 8, 1998 There are new drivers for AceCAD digitizer tablets (7/16/98) available: http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/digitize/acecad_i/index.htm August 8, 1998 There is a new release of NetExtra, and a new name: Web Willy Watch 3.0. Web Willy Watch 3.0, now supports Netscape Communicator 4.04 for OS/2 (now in beta) as well as prior OS/2 versions of the Netscape Navigator and the IBM WebExplorer for OS/2. A companion version of Web Willy Watch 3.0 for Windows 95/98/NT supports Netscape browsers and the Microsoft Internet Explorer. Because many web sites now use methods to force-open new instances of the browser, Web Willy Watch now supports simultaneous instances of the browser window. Page mining, (offline browsing) has been significantly improved. Web Willy Watch has powerful parental option features that allow you to block pornography sites, particularly when children as surfing the web. By our estimate, it blocks nearly 98% of such sites when parental options are enabled. Web Willy Watch 3.0 for Windows 95/98/NT is available at no additional charge for OS/2 customers. You may download Web Willy Watch for each platform if you wish. For more information see http://www.innoval.com/. August 8, 1998 StWTV v1.01 has been released, this is a TV-Application for the WinTV/PCI card with the driver from Abbotsbury Software (http://www.wdi.co.uk/OS2TV/download.htm). Features of the program include:  User defined station-buttons  Float on top  Free definable priority of the blitting thread  Record and playback short movies  Rexx-API If you are interested in StWTV visit you can visit their web site, available in English (http://home.t-online.de/home/stefan.milcke/stwtv_en.htm) or German (http://home.t-online.de/home/stefan.milcke/stwtv_en.htm). August 7, 1998 There is a problem with the new Fixpak 7 for OS/2 Warp 4 and PMfax and FaxWorks Software. The Keller Group Inc. has the info at their home page: http://www.kellergroup.com/ It seems the new PMMERGE.DLL in Fixpak 7 conflicts with the fax programs. August 7, 1998 Here's some additional information on installing and upgrading the Notes 4.6 client for OS/2. After installing the Notes 4.6 client, change the entry "KitType=2" to "KitType=1" in your notes.ini file. The incremental installers found on notes.net (http://www.notes.net/) may have a problem determining version, here's the workaround: In the $TEMPDIR/upgrade.log file you can find which files are causing the incremental installer to fail, rename the offending files to a .bak file, and restart the incremental installer. It should then upgrade successfully. After upgrading rename them back to their original name. August 7, 1998 WarpZip v1.09 has been refreshed to support Communicator. "The archive has been refreshed since it's June 27 release. The only change is to the Netscape helper app (WZPrep.exe) to make it work with Netscape Communicator. If you already have version 1.09 you may just download the changed helper app in zip form" You can download a copy from http://www.fm-net.com/pillarsoft/warpzip.html. August 6, 1998 Adaptec released new driver for 78xx family cards. Driver (package), dated 1 Aug 98 is available at IBM device driver pak on-line: http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/diskands/adaptec/index.htm August 6, 1998 Scan It/2 is a native OS/2 PM front end for the free available SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) software interface. Scan It/2 supports all scanners which are supported by SANE. The application was tested in-house with Canon and Hewlett Packard scanners. Get it at: http://home.t-online.de/home/RReuters/ScIt_E2.htm SANE is a port of the Linux version of the popular freeware SANE scanning package. Version 0.661 of SANE for OS/2 can be found on Hobbes: For more information about SANE, see its web page at: http://www.mostang.com/sane/ Some highlights already included in this beta release are:  English and German language files and online help  sizeable and zoomable preview window  individual resolution of preview window  Drag'n'Drop support: drag a selection from the preview window to scan an image  support for extended settings like contrast, brightness, gamma correction (if supported by attached scanner)  save images in various file formats: PNM, Bitmap, TIFF, JPEG.  batch processing: drag and drop multiple selections from the preview window onto a  batch processing window and process the scans in a batch  all needed run-time files included (ASPI Router, EMX, SANE library)  installation and deinstallation program Because this is a beta version, Scan It/2 v0.9beta will cease function at August, 31st 1998. The release version 1.0 will be available before that date. Please watch this space. August 6, 1998 1) AWE 0.155 beta has been released and is avaliable in a "full" installation at: http:/www.yoursite.co.uk/os/2/webwriter AWE is an advanced web writer, with project support, user supported and free. AWE is extremely flexible, has hundreds of possible assignable keystrokes, has a reusable parts list etc. 2) We are urgently looking for a helpdesk staff member for London City Work. Pay, 16 pounds per hour, Start Monday, needs to know OS/2 and Smartsuite. August 6, 1998 The August issue of EDM/2 is now available. In this months issue: I-net 101 - The Basics of File Transfers - Part 3/4 Java Servlet Programming in OS/2 A Discussion of Oberon A Description of the Oberon-2 Language Calling PM APIs from AVIO sessions An Introduction to C++ Programming - Part 13/13 You can read EDM/2 at htt://www.edm2.com. August 5, 1998 New edition of Focus on OS/2 is now online. Included in this fortnight's edition is a continuation of the series on Large Hard Disks. Partitions are zeroed in on as both a workaround for some problems and a useful means of managing data. In addition there are a host of new links and new items. You'll find information on the new Warp Server, and links to the newly released Netscape Communicator for OS/2 and a new Warp fixpak. Focus on OS/2 may be read at http://os2.miningco.com. August 5, 1998 News Harvest v1.0 has been released, this is an OS/2 Presentation Manger application for the automatic retrieval of Usenet News binary articles. The main design impetus was to create a Fire and Forget utility that would process any number of groups over any number of servers with no user-intervention. This is indeed the case - once News Harvest is configured with host and group information, a single command will run the process to completion. A binary news harvester with such simplicity of operation is often low on features. This is not the case with News Harvest:  Multi - threaded , fully 32-bit executable.  Completely automatic operation.  Rebuilds multipart articles.  Remembers past downloads.  Utilizes SPAM-keyword filtering.  Fully configurable output paths.  Handles abrupt disconnections (re-connects).  Updates Netscape Navigator news file (optional).  Very low, average CPU load.  Comprehensive logging information (optional).  WPS Drag and Drop.  Output displayed in ordered and intuitive manner.  On-the-fly changing of configuration.  Complete online manual. You can download a copy from ftp://ftp.bmtmicro.com/bmtmicro/nhvst10.zip August 5, 1998 Source: Helmar Rudolph, Opera Software Here is the latest news from Opera Software on the status of their OS/2 porting efforts: I had a long chat with Arthur Lee last night, and what transpired is both encouraging and frustrating alike. Arthur said that if it wasn't for the resource files, we'd have a beta version already. But it's just these resource files that are not compiling at all, causing the team great headache. The programmers in Norway have been notified, and we hope to find a solution to this problem really soon, because then we will able to see Opera/2 in real action. For more information on the Opera web browser, see http://www.operasoftware.com. August 4, 1998 Solution Technology (STi) has qualified their high performance BarCode Anywhere(TM) for OS/2(R) input filters under ImagePlus(R) VisualInfo(TM) Version 2.3.1 as well as the ImagePlus Workstation Program Version 2.1.0. Previously, BarCode Anywhere was qualified under the ImagePlus Workstation Program Version 1.2.x. BarCode Anywhere is the first product in the industry to achieve a scan and read rate of over two (2) pages per second without special hardware and continues to be the fastest all angles software barcode image reader in the industry. Solution Technology is a leading supplier of components for image analysis, data-entry, document management applications, and device driver development. Other barcode, forms reading, image data-entry, and departmental management products for OS/2 and NT are available for use in the transportation, banking, distribution, and insurance industries among others. For more information, contact Leon D. Zetekoff, NCE, Product Manager, 1101 South Rogers Circle, Suite 14, Boca Raton, FL 33487 or wisit our Web site at http://www.gate.net/~stidev. August 4, 1998 Source: Duane A. Chamblee (duanec@indelible-blue.com) As mentioned earlier today, you can install the Notes 4.6.x Server under OS/2, and then change the INI file to get a 4.6.x client. If you want to install the 4.6.x Workstation by itself, without the server do the following: 1. Copy the Server installation directory from the CD to the hard drive. (this is just so you can modify a package file) 2. Edit the P32WRK.PKG file and change the line DISPLAY='NO', to DISPLAY='YES' 3. Run INSTPM.EXE and select the "server" installation. You should now be able to see and select ONLY the "Notes Workstation" choice. After the install, add "unsupportedclient=1" to your NOTES.INI file (Note: you may be able to add this line to the NOTES.INI in the install directory and have it automatically put on the client. I haven't tested that yet) Apparently, Lotus did most or all of the code for Notes 4.6 OS/2, but decided to not release it. I haven't found a problem with the hack yet. August 4, 1998 Source: Don Eitner, VOICE Secretary The Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education (V.O.I.C.E.) has scheduled a very special SpeakUp session in IRC for Monday, August 10, 1998. The guest speaker for this night will be Mike Kaply, Technical Lead, Communicator for OS/2 at IBM, who will be discussing the recently released Communicator 4.04 beta for OS/2 and answering your questions. Come for the chat, stay for the news! SpeakUp sessions are held on the WEBBnet IRC network in the #voice channel at 8pm US Eastern Daylight time (midnight GMT as Monday becomes Tuesday). For a current list of WEBBnet IRC servers, please visit http://www.suntrix.com/ibbs/server.html and for a list of OS/2 IRC client software visit http://www.gt-online.com/~bri/irc_clients.html. Further information on V.O.I.C.E. meetings can be found on the Meeting Info page of the V.O.I.C.E. website (http://www.os2voice.org/). If you require still further assistance, please contact the V.O.I.C.E. Secretary at freiheit@tstonramp.com. As always, SpeakUp sessions are open to everyone, so please don't hesitate to attend and tell everyone you know! V.O.I.C.E. is a non-profit organization established by volunteers in 1997 for the benefit of OS/2 home and SOHO users. August 4, 1998 Source: Worth Davis (davis@prosx.com) I am getting killed by putting up with OS/2 in my compnay - I need a OS2 client guru with extensive knowledge of Sybase and ORacle Clients - its a warp 3 and 4 environment - email me at davis@prosx.com or call 713-335-5270 - this is not a recruiter or any BS. August 4, 1998 FED v0.2.0n has been released. FED is my small text mode editor. Small but powerful enough to be used as my everyday editor. Features of FED includes:  Unlimited files open  Full UNDO  Syntax hiliting for C++/REXX/HTML/ASM/Makefile  CUA style blocks  Rectangular blocks  Goto line/column  Indent / unindent  Auto indent/smart C++ indent  Find/replace  REGEXP find  Bracket matching for ()/{}/[]/ bracket pairs  Flexible key assignment  Transparent with PM clipboard (only windowed sessions)  Block sort of rectangular blocks  Flexible status line format  Keyboard macro recorder/player  REXX macro support FAST Editor Lite can be downloaded from my home page: http://www.noos.kiev.ua/~es/. August 4, 1998 PU Monitor v2.01 has been released. PU Monitor is a general purpose system monitoring tool. PU Monitor is highly informative (includes CPU usage monitor, TCP/IP traffic monitor, Uptime, free RAM, clock, POP3 mailbox checker and Connectivity monitor) and consumes small amount of desktop space. You can download a copy from: http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/pumonitor.html August 4, 1998 X-it 2.51 has been released, this is an OS/2 desktop enhancer - single click to many common actions that normally take a large number of mouse movements and clicking. Adds user defined titlebar buttons to all windows, such as close, rollup, open parent folder, task list and many more, including running any program. These actions can also be assigned to the middle/right mouse buttons (including double-click with just a single click) and well as the keyboard. Many other features, such as a titlebar clock and international support. Works with any shell (WPS, MSHELL, etc). You can download a copy from: http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/catalog/xit/xit.html. X-it gives you a single click to many common actions that normally take a large number of mouse movements and clicking. X-it was nominated as Most Innovative New Product at the 1997 Shareware Industry Awards (www.sic.org). NEW FEATURES:  Added "Rollup/down all windows" by pressing SHIFT+rollup titlebar button.  Fix for lockup with Pmmail 1.9x, Communicator/2 beta and Smartsuite for Warp 4 (Approach, 123w).  Fix for rollup not working on Pmmail message windows.  Fix for Warp 4 close button re-appearing on folders (if remove close button option is enabled).  Fix for custom/user X-it tbar buttons not appearing.  Fix for Desktop clock not appearing in Desktop window.  New port: X-it for Windows 95/98/3.x at http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/xitwin/ AND THE STANDARD FEATURES:  Multiple user defined titlebar buttons - assign a predefined action to them or launch any PM, Dos or Windows program. Place them on the left or the right side of the titlebar.  Over 30 useful predefined actions.  Window actions include close, rollup, next, previous, move, size, task list.  Edit actions include cut, copy, copy all, paste and clear. These actions are available in any PM window or any command line window. Copy all will copy the entire text in a PM multi-line entry field with a single click - no need to mark it first! Copy from static text or the titlebar!  Folder actions include open parent, open parent and close, sort, arrange and refresh.  User defined middle and right mouse buttons - assign them with the same actions available for the titlebar buttons. Plus, you can assign the right or left mouse button double click action to a single mouse button or a key - never have to double click again!  Keyboard keys can also be assigned any predefined action (including Win95 keys).  User defined popup menus for edit and folder actions. Copy and paste or sort a folder with almost no mouse movements.  Full OS/2 and Dos command window support, including font size and full screen actions. Bypass that pesky "are you sure" dialog when closing a command line window or doing a system shutdown.  Other available actions that can be assigned are X-it task list (single click to another program), OS/2 task list, LaunchPad, and Help.  Titlebar and Desktop clock, with date and/or time in your country format.  "Auto drop down combo box on mouse click" - a handy windows-like feature where you don't have to click on the tiny down arrow to open a drop down list.  X-windows like window focus - the window under the mouse pointer is automatically activated. User defined delay, and Z-order can be preserved.  "Remove Warp 4 close button" option.  "Disable capslock key" option. Handy for small keyboards.  Language support for German, French, Danish, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Portuguese, Hungarian, Italian and English.  No charge when updating from a previous 2.x version, and all your current settings are preserved. Product Info: Product: X-it for OS/2 Filename: XIT251.ZIP. Language specific versions (XITDE*.ZIP) can be found at the X-it web page (see below) Type: Desktop enhancement utility, Shareware Price: $25 US CIS SWREG: #11263 Company: CodeSmith Software, RR 1, S-2, C-23, Fernie, BC, Canada V0B 1M0 Web: http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/xit/xit.html Update notices via list server: email: majordomo@bmtmicro.com body: subscribe x-it Email: xit@bmtmicro.com USA Phone: 800-414-4268 (orders only), 910-791-7052 (orders or order inquires only) Online ordering: https://secure.falcon-net.net/BMT/order0229.html Requirements: OS/2 2.0 or later. @250K RAM (X-its usage), 300K disk space Look for XIT251.ZIP at these sites: http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/xit/xit.html (web) ftp.bmtmicro.com /bmtmicro (ftp) hobbes.nmsu.edu /util/wps (ftp) ftp-os2.cdrom.com /wps (ftp) http://www.musthave.com (web) GO OS2BVEN, OS/2 Shareware, Library #1 (Compuserve) IBM OS/2 BBS: 604-664-6464 (Canada) August 4, 1998 Holger Veit recently released the third fix to XFree86/OS2, to bring it up to date with the latest security fixes from XFree86. There are also ports of new servers created by SuSE, for Permedia2, Rendition Verite, and NeoMagic MagicGraph. You can download a copy from http://set.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html. August 4, 1998 Source: Jens Wiessner (wiessnej@rfi.de) I've found a trick how to get a Lotus Notes 4.6.x Client for OS/2. After the installation of the 4.6 OS/2 Server just add the following line to the NOTES.INI: UnsupportedClient=1 and then you get a Notes 4.6 Client for OS/2. August 3, 1998 Phoenix Software Announces Registration For The Think Tool Pro For OS/2 Beta 2 Program August 1998, Reno - Phoenix Software announced today that they WILL be having a second, OPEN beta program for the OS/2 version of the Think Tool Pro object database and Personal Information Manager (PIM). The beta 2 program will be open to anyone who wants to participate. This is a change of plan for the company which had previously announced that they would not be conducting a second beta. Phoenix Software is providing a registration web page for those who want to participate in the Think Tool Pro beta 2 program. The web page can be found at http://www.phxsoft.com/beta2.html. Robert Blake of Phoenix Software had this to say: "We have received a lot of feedback - both in favor of, and against a second beta. There are many individuals and some large companies who are very interested in benefitting from the Think Tool Pro as soon as possible, so we wanted to make it available quickly. But ultimately, we decided that in order to ensure the greatest product quality, compatibility and usability that we should do a second, more open beta." "We are not yet ready to begin the second beta program, but we will be within the next few weeks. We are currently accepting registrants for the beta 2 program through our web site. When we are ready to begin the beta program, all registrants will receive additional details about the program. Thank you to everyone who has registered so far; we appreciate your interest and support. For additional information you can go to our web site or send questions to beta2@phxsoft.com" About Phoenix Software Phoenix Software is a privately held company founded in 1996 to provide object database, knowledge management and groupware/workflow products and solutions. Phoenix Software is developing for OS/2 FIRST, and will support other additional operating systems in the future. Phoenix Software is currently located at 100 West Grove St. Suite 360, Reno, NV 89509, phone: 541-741-2430, fax: 541-741-2485, www.PhxSoft.com, or at info@PhxSoft.com August 3, 1998 A couple of people have written and asked what B.U.G.S. is and where they could find more information about it. B.U.G.S. is a relatively straight forward game of saving the galaxy from alien creatures. You fly a lone star ship in which you must destroy these invaders one by one. The Galaga-like game play changes from level to level as new bugs are introduced as the game progresses. A boss bug arrives on the scene every few levels in an effort to wipe out the puny human resister. B.U.G.S. was first released on IBM's OS/2 operating system and is one of the most popular OS/2 games available. Its very simplicity (and low price) have attracted many OS/2 gamers and even won it the coveted OS/2 game of the year runner up award from OS/2 Inside magazine for 1997. More information can be found on: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bugs_home/ Best regards, Your B.U.G.S. Team August 3, 1998 Some OS/2 users may have noticed that the Unofficial Netscape for OS/2 page previously available at: http://people.netscape.com/law/os2nav/ can no longer be found at its regular location. The resource's maintainer, Bill Law, reports that its disappearance was caused by a company crackdown on Netscape's public employee webserver. The full story on the crackdown can be found at the following URL, courtesy of the San Jose Mercury News: http://www.mercurycenter.com/premium/codes/B/docs/B791.htm However, Law has also assured OS/2 users that the resource "should be back soon". The Unofficial Netscape for OS/2 pages were originally established by employees working on the Netscape Navigator 2.02 for OS/2 project, and offer a variety of tips and tricks and information on plugins and helper applications for Netscape 2.02. More recently, Law has also created under the same webspace a repository for information about Mozilla/2, one of the efforts underway to port Netscape's Mozilla source code to the OS/2 operating system. August 3, 1998 William H. Geiger III (whgiii@invweb.net) has released PGP 5.0 for OS/2 GA. That's right it's done unless something major comes up. No more expiration dates. The only major bug that I can think of that was fixed in this version deals with high ascii chars and clear-signed messages. Both an interantional version and a USA version (compiled with RSAREF lib) are available. You can download a copy from http://www.openpgp.net. August 3, 1998 The August 1st issue of the OS/2 e-Zine! is now available. In this issue:  Communicator for OS/2 First Looks  OS/2 e-Zine! Reader Survey  OS/21st  and more... You can read the issue at http://www.os2ezine.com. August 3, 1998 A new hauppauge-TV-card driver (Wincast PCI) has been released, you can download a copy from http://www.wdi.co.uk/os2tv/wcast.zip. August 3, 1998 Source: Ingo Guenther (bugs_home@csi.com) The B.U.G.S. wishlist is open now! We're looking for suggestions from all B.U.G.S. users (future users of B.U.G.S. for Windows included) on what should be added/put into an upgrade. We can't promise that all of the suggestions will be implemented, but we're interested in hearing our customers' opinions before making any decisions on new features... Please send your ideas to: bugs_home@csi.com with the Subject: [WarpCast] "BUGS Survey" We're really looking forward to receiving your opinions! :) Note: By sending us your suggestion you agree that we can freely use it (if we decide to) without any further obligations. Thanks in advance, Your B.U.G.S. team. August 2, 1998 The beta 7 version of Warp Globe has been released. It includes a smaller executable, an idle time control, a new icon, control of the number of stars, and a cleaner exit. The cities file has been updated as well. WarpGlobe is a program that puts an earthglobe on the desktop, and paints the cities with some OS/2 users. You can download a copy from the WarpGlobe web site at: http://www.arrakis.es/~scostas/OS2/globeeng.htm August 1, 1998 There is now a mailing list for Netscape for OS/2 Just send a message to: ns4os2-subscribe@makelist.com for general discussions about Netscape for OS/2 To send a message to this mailing list use: ns4os2@makelist.com (Note: must be a member to send email to list) August 1, 1998 VOICE has scheduled two SpeakUp sessions for the month of August, 1998. Monday, August 3 - Kim Rasmussen, author of Internet Adventurer, the popular OS/2 internet suite. Monday, August 17 - Benedict Chong, author of Power Boot, the Boot Manager replacement. Benedict will have one free copy of Power Boot to give away during the meeting to one of our lucky members. Both sessions will be held in IRC (Internet Relay Chat) on the WEBBnet network. SpeakUp sessions begin at 8pm US Eastern Daylight time (midnight GMT). For information on WEBBnet servers, please refer to http://www.suntrix.com. For information on IRC client software, please refer to http://www.gt-online.com. For further information, please visit the VOICE website at http://www.os2voice.org August 1, 1998 IBM has released new FixPaks the following langauges: FixPak 7 (German) - ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/german FixPak 6 (Simplified Chinese) - ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/china-prc/fx03006 FixPak 6 (Traditional Chinese) - ftp://ftp.software.ibm.comps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/china-tw/wx03006 July 31, 1998 Escape GL has been updated to V2.2 and is available free of charge for registered Escape GL V2 users. The Snow Storm Software web site is: http://www.snowstormsoftware.com/ This update includes ongoing performance and stability improvements, new default settings, and expanded custom module support. Special! Limited time offer: Until August 31, 1998, Escape GL V2.1 for Windows is available to all Escape GL for OS/2 users for only $15US. The full copy price is identical to the OS/2 product, $25US. *** Escape GL V2 Developers Toolkits *** Developers Toolkits are now available for both the OS/2 and Windows versions of Escape GL. Both are free of charge for Escape GL users. These toolkits allow you to easily develop 3D OpenGL modules and run them under Escape GL. July 31, 1998 Contact: Marianne Roderus, 914-835-3838 (innoval@ibm.net) Native OS/2 Web Willy Watch 3.0 for Netscape 2.02 and 4.04 Harrison, New York, July 31, 1998 -- InnoVal Systems Solutions announced that a native OS/2 version of Web Willy Watch 3.0 is immediately available. Web Willy Watch is a combination tool that allows parents to optionally block pornographic web sites and, at the same time, adds significant useful function for those who use the Netscape Navigator, Netscape Communicator, and certain other web browsers. Low cost Single Family licenses and Every Family licensing options for businesses, K-12 schools, membership organizations, churches, and synagogues, are available. Web Willy Watch is also available for Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT. "Not only is Web Willy Watch unique, so too is the license agreement," said Dan Porter, President of InnoVal. "For instance, I have a Single Family License. For $20.00, the license covers all OS/2 and Windows machines at home and the machines that I use at the office. An Every Family License extends coverage to the entire constituency of an organization. A small business may buy an Every Family License for $159.00 that extends coverage to every employee's family for home use. We have been surprised that a number of people have obtained, on their own personal initiative, an Every Family License for their children's school or their church." In addition to optionally blocking pornography sites, Web Willy Watch may be used to gather web content for offline browsing. It is a very powerful offline browser. The program can also record the title and URL of every web site ever visited. In addition to being useful for monitoring a child's web activity, this is a useful feature for tracking down forgotten URL's that were not bookmarked. "I call it bookmarks for dummies," said Porter. "Like me, have you ever wanted to find a site you visited three or four months ago? You didn't bookmark it. You don't recall the URL, and it's one of those sites low on search engine lists. I can't imagine not having this feature on my system." Web Willy Watch for OS/2 works with Netscape Navigator 2.02 and the IBM WebExplorer. It will also work with the upcoming Netscape Communicator 4.04 when released. The Windows 95/98/NT version supports Netscape Navigator, Netscape Communicator and the Microsoft Internet Explorer. InnoVal is also announcing today, details about new spam fighting software to be released in early September. A native OS/2 version will be released first. Yet unnamed, the new spam fighting software will include a database of thousands of known spammers and tools for effectively fighting back at the spammers through abuse reporting facilities, the Federal Trade Commission and various States' Attorneys General. See InnoVal home site at http://www.innoval.com for additional details. "We will process your order in 5 minutes, twenty-four hours per day, seven days a week. You can have it up and running in 15 minutes," said Porter. Web Willy Watch is also available very rapidly from BMT Micro at http://www.bmtmicro.com. InnoVal is a leading producer of specialized software for the Internet including the J Street Mailer, a Java email client, the Post Road Mailer, and Hacksaw. Hacksaw is a popular 32-bit Windows and OS/2 Internet file transfer utility. Additional details about Web Willy Watch and Single Family and Every Family licensing may be found at http://www.webwilly.com and at InnoVal's home site at http://www.innoval.com. July 31, 1998 Contact: Marianne Roderus, 914-835-3838 (innoval@ibm.net) InnoVal Announces New Information About Spam Fighting Software. Harrison, New York, July 31, 1998 -- InnoVal Systems Solutions announced new details about its soon-to-be-released new spam fighting software. A native OS/2 version will be released first. Yet unnamed, the new spam fighting software will include a database of thousands of known spammers that is frequently and automatically updated. Logic rules, including "black hole lookup" will help to identify other spam. In a letter to InnoVal customers, Dan Porter, President of InnoVal, wrote: "This is far more than a filter program. It's a fighting program. For instance, we're including facilities for forwarding spam messages to service provider abuse centers. We've gathered email addresses for most ISPs (it isn't always abuse@domain or postmaster@domain) and we are building those addresses into the forwarding facility." New legislation, much of it now working its way through Congress and various state legislatures, may provide new mechanisms for fighting spam. But they also add new problems and may change the way we deal with spam. Residents of the State of Washington may now sue spammers, but only if headers are forged or the subject header is not clear. We are including logic for detecting forged headers. A Bill in the United States Senate, S.1618, which deals primarily with telephone long distance carrier "slamming" includes some provisions (Title III, Sections 301 through 305), that apply to unsolicited commercial electronic mail. The bill passed the full Senate in May and a companion bill in the House, HR3888, is expected to be voted out of committee soon. It is very likely that this legislation will be signed into law by the President, soon. The problems with the Federal legislation are that it legitimizes so-called "responsible" spamming and places the burden on the recipient of spam to request removal from the spammer's mailing list. "We are going to build in tools to help you deal with Section 301' spam," Porter's letter continued. "Generally, you should never send a remove request to a spammer. At worst, it confirms that you have a valid email address and that you read the message you received. At best, it simply generates rejection notices since the email address is most often invalid. "Section 301 spam may need to be treated differently. It is likely that you will want to send a single remove message. You will want to keep a copy of the spam, your request for removal, and any rejection notices so that, if appropriate, you can file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission, Internet Service Providers, and appropriate States' Attorneys General, as provided for in the law. "This means that we will need to revise the software as laws go into effect and as the FTC and various States promulgate rules and procedures. This we will do free for those who have purchased our software. "The first release, for OS/2, will be around September 1. A Windows 95/98/NT version will follow shortly afterwards. The software is designed to work separately or in conjunction with your favorite email client software. I expect the price to be about $25.00. We haven't named the product yet. If you have a great idea for a name, let us know." InnoVal also announced today, the immediate availability of a native OS/2 version of Web Willy Watch 3.0. Additional details about Web Willy Watch and unique licensing for the product may be found at http://www.webwilly.com. InnoVal is a leading producer of specialized software for the Internet including the J Street Mailer, a Java email client, Post Road Mailer for OS/2, and Hacksaw. Hacksaw is a popular 32-bit Windows and OS/2 Internet file transfer utility. July 31, 1998 With the release of Netscape Navigator 4 for OS/2 in the last couple of days for public testing the OS/2 community was finally graced with a more up to date browser to cope with modern web navigation. Unfortunately, as with the previous version (2.02), the dialog boxes remain ugly, unorganised and waste valuable screen space. Thankfully, the new Navigator subsytem can be modified unlike previous versions, and as a result, the Dialog Enhancer (http://www-student.lboro.ac.uk/~mcrsc/ostrans.html) team are currently working on updating all of the dialogs used. Areas being addressed are:  Size of dialogs significantly reduced.  WarpSans used instead of Helvetica.  All controls changed to Dialog Enhancer standard size.  Icons to improve clarity of dialog boxes. Expect to see a beta test containing the patch soon, before that, we would like to hear from users about areas of the browser that need to be addressed, and any images that need to be tweaked. The project is quite large so all comments are welcome. For information regarding the top selling product Dialog Enhancer - visit the Dialog Enhancer web site. Submit all commentsents/suggestions regarding Communicator to, dialogenhancer@bmtmicro.com with the subject "Communicator". July 31, 1998 Source: Dmitry I. Platonoff (dip@lab321.ru) The beta of Communicator will not install on OS/2 v3.0 (it only supports Warp Server and OS/2 v4.0). However it is possible to change this. First you need to be have FixPak 29 (or higher) installed, and then you need to modify the installation script. Find the following lines in the beginning of NS40COMM.PKG: FILE EXITWHEN = INSTALL, EXIT = 'SETVAR INSTALLING=INSTALLING' EXIT DLL = NS40EXIT.DLL FILE EXITWHEN = ALWAYS, EXIT = SETOS2VERSION FILE EXITWHEN = INSTALL, EXIT = NETSCAPEFIXPAK EXIT DLL = EPFIEXTS.DLL Remove (or comment with asterisks) this text and replace it with this: FILE EXITWHEN = ALWAYS, EXIT = 'SETVAR V4X=TRUE' Then you can run INSTALL.EXE and enjoy Communicator. July 31, 1998 IBM has released RSUINST v1.71. This is the program that allows you to install FixPaks over the web, and this new version will be the minimum level needed for all future OS/2 RSU Fixpaks. You can download a copy from: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/rsu/rsuinstn.exe Version 1.70 had some fixes so it works better with the new FTPINSTL.EXE program. This is the minimum level needed for all future OS/2 RSU Fixpaks. Version 1.71 implements automatic update when a new version is released. Note: FTPINSTL.EXE is the GUI replacement for the original FTPINSTL.CMD. It is included in Warp 4 FixPak 7 and Warp 3 FixPak 37 and will be in all future FixPaks. July 31, 1998 There is a new release of the MR/2 ICE Newsreader, release #50. You can download it from: http://nick.secant.com/newsbeta.htm July 30, 1998 SANE 0.74 has been released, and includes OS/2 enhancements by Yuri Dario and Rocco Caputo. I suspect Yuri will have a binary available for download from his web page soon. "Jul 27: SANE v0.74 is now available! There is a new backend for the Kodak DC25 camera and the backends for Artec, Microtek, Microtek2, Nikon Coolscan, and UMAX have been updated. OS/2 SCSI support has been improved so scanners can be autodetected and Epson parallel port scanners should now work under OS/2 as well (this is untested, however)." SANE home page: http://www.mostang.com/sane/ Announcement: http://www.mostang.com/mail-archive/sane-devel/1998-07/0162.html Yuri's web page: http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Peaks/4320/sane2.html July 30, 1998 Source: John Wubbel (jwubbel@www.PediatricNetwork.com) The Medicine Chest Medical Education Edition - General Availability I am pleased to announce that the Student Editions are available free of charge to: 1. Student doctors currently enrolled in an accredited pediatric program. 2. Medical school pediatric departments engaged in training student doctors. 3. Nursing schools engaged in training students to work in pediatrics. 4. Missionary Clinics/Hospitals in developing or third world countries. The following versions have been released: Pediatric H & P OS/2 Student Edition Version 1.0s Pediatric H & P JAVA Student Edition Version 1.0s for Mac, Win95/98/NT, OS/2 Registration via our web site is required at the following URL: http://www.PediatricNetwork.com/ivory/se/se.htm For the convenience of students, the User's Guides are available for reference on our web site. The Student Edition FAQ is also available to aid in support of installation and setup problems. The Medicine Chest is a Notebook Data Capture Facility for Pediatric Intern and Residents wishing to take patient history and physical profiles giving them a mobile capability. July 30, 1998 Minta 1.45 is out now! Minta is a useful PM utility for everyone who works with MP3 audio files frequently. Apart from displaying lots of technical information about the files, you can create, edit and remove the ID3 info tags, for single as well as for multiple files, one after another or all at once. Another feature of Minta is the listing function that allows you to output the files with selectable information to a list very easily. If you want to know more about Minta, check out the Minta home page at: http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/CIP/thielen/minta July 30, 1998 Source: Carsten Mueller (carsten.mueller@hamburg.roses.de) Listen 306 Version 1.1 is now available. "Listen 306" is an ISDN watcher tool for users of the Eumex and AGFEO ISDN communication machines, for example Eumex 306 (where the name "Listen 306" comes from). This native OS/2 software provides the following features:  easy-to-use install program  support for COM1, 2, 3 an 4 serial devices  support up to 9 ISDN devices  listed and detailed log view for all connect information  powerful printing features (including preview)  multithreading  German user interface Demonstration Version 1.1 can be downloaded from my web site: http://www.hamburg.roses.de/~carsten.mueller July 30, 1998 PU Monitor v2.0 has been released. PU Monitor is a general purpose system monitoring tool. PU Monitor is highly informative (includes CPU usage monitor, TCP/IP traffic monitor, Uptime, free RAM, clock, POP3 mailbox checker and Connectivity monitor) and consumes small amount of desktop space. You can download a copy from http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/pumonitor.html July 30, 1998 IBM has put up a web site for the Netscape Communicator 4.04 for OS/2 Warp Pre-release Customer Program. You can sign up and download a copy of Communicator and the new Plug-In pak. See: http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/pcpd.nsf/ocomm40+home There was an early error where the downloadable file seemed to only be about 1.1 MB, but that was quickly fixed. July 30, 1998 The Warpstock 98 Speakup session hosted by VOICE on Monday, July 27, 1998, brought a lot of interested people out to talk about the OS/2 event of the year and a big surprise. In support of Warpstock 98, the Warpstock prize drawing was opened to all who attended the Speakup session. The first and second place winners of the contest were: 1st Place: Gregory Salomone - Warpstock Platinum Pass & One Night at the Wyndham Hotel 2nd Place: Esther Schindler - Warpstock Platinum Pass Congratulations to the both of them and thanks to all who attended and participated in the drawing! Here 's to another wonderful Warpstock event! July 30, 1998 File Manager/2 v3.0 has been released. File Manager/2 is a shareware OS/2 3.0 (Warp)+ PM 32-bit file/directory/archive maintenance utility (a sort of super-Drives object, something midway between the Drives objects and a more traditional file manager) with plenty of bells, whistles and utilities, drag and drop, context menus, toolbars, bubble help and accelerator keys. If you know how to use OS/2, you already know how to use most of FM/2. You can easily glean the rest from the extensive online help, including tutorials. You can download a copy from: ftp://ftp.bmtmicro.com/bmtmicro/fm2_300.zip ═══ 3. VOICE Newsletter - VOICE News Continued. ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 The News Page Continued VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org July 30, 1998 NetLookout has been updated to v2.08. NetLookout for OS/2 is a internet notifier. It will watch Web, FTP and Gopher sites, and tell you if they have changed. You can download a copy from: ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/apps/internet/misc/nlook208.zip July 29, 1998 Source: Macarlo (macarlo@macarlo.com) Hobbes has improved its upload policy for OS/2 software and has changed the document "Upload Policy" at: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/uploadpolicy.html I include this new document in the Special Report I' m publishing on my OS/2 Site (http://macarlo.com) about the "DeScribe affair". July 29, 1998 MP3PM has been updated to version 0.60 (7/19/98): http://www.kiss.uni-lj.si/~k4fe0470/progindex.html NEW: - support for NTenc, ToMPG; ID3 TAG editor, ... MP3PM is PM shell for producing audio files in MP3 format. Files in this format are about 12 times smaller than their .wav companions at no hearable quality loss. FEATURES: - suport for L3enc for OS/2 from Fraunhofer - support for CD-grabbing with Leach v1.20 or more - etc... July 29, 1998 Want to receive fixpaks on CD automatically as they are released? If so, you'll find BMT Micro's Fixpak Subscription Service a valuable resource to keep you updated with the latest fixpaks for OS/2 Warp 3 and 4 as they are released. Each time a CD is updated we'll send you the latest release--it's as easy as that. You can select Warp 3 or Warp 4. If you need both, please submit a subscription form for each version. Here are the links to order online:  Warp 3 SSL Subscription (https://secure.falcon-net.net/BMT/order1227.html)  Warp 4 SSL Subscription (https://secure.falcon-net.net/BMT/order1228.html) You can cancel at anytime. The FixPak subscription service costs $8.00 per CD starting with the first CD you are shipped. Here are the details: 1. The FixPak subscription service starts with FixPak 8 for Warp 4 and FixPak 37 for Warp 3. If you wish to purchase FP 7 for Warp 4 or FP 36 for Warp 3, please purchase our regular FP CD (non-subscription). If you wish to purchase FP 7 or FP 36 -and- get a subscription, use the regular FP CD order from and also submit a FP subscription order. 2. These subscriptions are based on the US English releases. 3. This does not include MPTS, File/Print services or TCPIP updates. These are updated whenever a new release is made available but are not part of the subscription service. 4. This does not include the Java fixpaks. The Java updates are available on a separate CD. July 29, 1998 JMA Software Technologies shipped the BootSet 2.0. Version 2.0 is a significant upgrade to BootSet 1.20, our boot time utility for OS/2. With BootSet you get a menu that allows you to perform tasks before the graphic part of OS/2 starts. It's perfect for switching between CONFIG.SYS files and replacing WPS .DLL files. It's based on a simple text file (.INI file) where you enter the commands (any batchfile or REXX commands) that you want to perform. To get a copy, see the JMA Software Technologies web site: http://www.jmast.se July 29, 1998 MSE is designed to make mousing about the old desktop a bit easier. It allows you to assign various commands to your mouse buttons with or without keyboard modifiers. It also provides:  Virtual Desktops  Clipboard Management and Extension  Screen Capture  Titlebar Enhancements  Swapfile Monitor  Desktop Clock  Calculator  File dialog enhancement MSE is page-tuned, which means that any parts you don't use don't take up valuable memory, and seldom-used parts take up memory only while in actual use, and can then be swapped out until the next use. IOW, it plain old fashioned doesn't use any more memory than absolutely necessary at any given time. You can download a copy from ftp://ftp.bmtmicro.com/bmtmicro/mse.zip July 29, 1998 Source: Adrian Gschwend (ktk@netlabs.org) I'm proud to announce the OS/2 port of MAME! M.A.M.E. stands for Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, and currently runs 500+ classic (and even some not so classic) arcade games such as BombJack, 1943, and Bubble Bobble. The port is done by Martin Amodeo, and the project is a part of the OS/2 Netlabs. To get more information or download a copy see the MAME web page. Matrox users should read the special page about Matrox Cards before running MAME. July 29, 1998 IBM has released an update for Java 1.1.6 (Build o116-19980728), you can download a copy from ftp://ftp.hursley.ibm.com/pub/java/fixes/os2/11/116/ or ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/software/java/fixes/os2/11/116/. July 29, 1998 SouthSoft has released PMINews 2.0 Beta 2. This beta will work until September 30th. If you'd like to know what new or fixed in this beta, see the version history. You can download a copy from http://www.southsoft.com or ftp://ftp.stardock.com. July 28, 1998 IBM has released FixPak 37 for OS/2 v3.0. You can download a copy from ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v3.0warp/english-us/xr_w037/ or from the Remote Software Updates page at http://ps.software.ibm.com/pbin-usa-ps/getobj.pl?/pdocs-usa/softupd.html July 28, 1998 JMA Software Technologies (http://www.algonet.se/~d103862/) shipped the first beta of WebNav 2.1. Wersion 2.1 is to be a minor upgrade to WebNav 2.0, an Internet web browser and HTML document viewer. Features include online and offline browsing, news and mail support, internal/external* downloads, select a new link while a document is loading, easy to use treebased quicklist and others. There is also a new beta (Beta 2) of WebNavDLL (a browser plugin for Adventure Software's Internet Adventurer). July 28, 1998 Cirrus Logic has released new drivers for their Crystal-Soundchips. They are dated 29th and 30th June. You can download the drivers from http://www.cirrus.com/drivers/audiodrv/os2.html July 27, 1998 Here is the latest news from Stardock. Entrepreneur 1.3 beta officially available Go to www.stardock.com to download the beta of Entrepreneur 1.3 if you already have Entrepreneur. There are a lot of new features in it. An enhanced version of Entrepreneur 1.3 with more direct action cards, more markets, and more maps will be available in the upcoming Expansion pack for only $19.95 (that price is good until it ships). Go to our order page to get your copy. The expansion pack should be out in a few weeks. Speaking of Entrepreneur. Stardock has worked out a promotion with Electronics Boutique and Babbages where Entrepreneur is only $25 or so! If you don't have Entrepreneur, now is a good way to get it very inexpensively. Entrepreneur puts you in the role of the CEO of your own company. You must crush your competitors using any tactics available to you. It has received universally good reviews from Stategy Plus, PC Gamer, Computer Gaming World, and more. Electronics Boutique has it if you don't have one local to you. Object Desktop 2.0 Preview Page Updated Visit the Object Desktop 2.0 Preview Page to see some of the cool new features in Object Desktop 2.0. If you haven't already, you can still join the Early Experience program. The beta is in manufacturing and will begin being sent early next week we expect. Since we've only manufactured a limited number, only a limited number of people will be able to join so now's the time to get a good look at what is almost certainly the biggest technological advancement OS/2's seen in 1998. Object Desktop 2.0 will ship 4Q98. Commerce Server Status Stardock's commerce server has been very busy since we lowered the price on a few products. For Windows users, Object Desktop for Windows (Network) is now available for purchase via the commerce server for $49.95. Links for OS/2, is now only $19.95. Links is the most popular golf game of all time and the OS/2 version is spectacular. PlusPak: Themes, a handy program for replacing all the icons on your desktop in a single click is also now only $19.95 and it comes with hundreds of the best looking icons ever seen on any OS. If you want to get any of these, go to the commerce server. OS/2 Warp 5 Rumors These are JUST rumors. This is not official information. IBM hasn't decided for sure whether there will be an OS/2 Warp 5 client. The server will be what comes first and then probably a client. There will probably be a client version because Warp 4 out of the box is not Year 2000 compliant and many customers balk at having to install an OS and then to have to install a Fixpack. If there is a client, it will be largely a stripped down version of the server edition which means SMP will be in it. HPFS386 would not be the the client version but JFS would be which comes from AIX and adds a great deal of new features. Greater JAVA integration would become available and there are rumors that a much more powerful back up utility would be included to bring it up and beyond what NT 5 will have in it. JFS would probably be the biggest bullet point new features for end users of OS/2 because it is so much faster than HPFS, might support compression on a directory basis, hot links, and a lot more. Netscape Communicator 4.x is also not dead as it's being enhanced to use OS/2's speedy JAVA intead of the built in one which was originally the plan. Stardock and GT Interactive team up The next major add-on for Starcraft, the world's best selling PC Game, is coming from Stardock and being published by GT Interactive. Stardock was given the nod to produce the add-on based on the success and quality of Entrepreneur. The add-on called "Starcraft: Retaliation" should hit stores in September and is an official add-on that has been tested and approved by Blizzard. July 27, 1998 MR/2 ICE v1.50 has been released. MR/2 ICE is a feature-packed Internet EMail client. Both POP3 and SMTP are fully supported. Configurability is taken to an extreme. MR/2 ICE lets the user select from many options, including optional pieces of the user interface. You can download a copy from ftp://nick.secant.com/mr2i150.zip. July 27, 1998 IBM now has a site dedicated to Year 2000 Readiness of OS/2 and DOS - http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/solutions/and/y2000/year2000.html This site lists links to other IBM Year 2000 sites as well as a three step determination of Year 2000 readiness for OS/2 and PC-DOS operating systems. These include: Step 1: Year 2000 Ready Products Step 2: Migration Alternatives Step 3: Year 2000 FixPaks Interesting that under Migration Alternatives, Warp 4 has the same Free service support end date as WSOD "31 Jan 2001". July 27, 1998 Source: D. Gartner (dgwhiz@earthling.net) "Broken Promises, Broken Laws: How Bad Software Can Crash a Great Party." We just posted a new 24x7 Report exploring the recent, hotly-debated "2B" plans to change our software laws! If the proposals are enacted, is it possible that software corporations like Microsoft will be able to dodge responsibility for the Bad & Buggy software that they make-- and avoid the legal penalties while you and I bear the costly liabilities? You won't find the answers to those heavy questions in your software's User's License Agreement, but you'll find them in our 24x7 Report, "Broken Promises, Broken Laws: How Bad Software Can Crash a Great Party." Our article will explain how the drafted proposal would affect your daily use of software, whether you're a business-owner, consumer, student, programmer... anyone who has invested time and money in computer software and is naturally concerned about the future of your investment. Page at http://pages.cthome.net/iact/. Be sure to check it out if you haven't already. Btw, you're invited to contribute your own new and original 24x7 report, based on first-hand experiences with the major desktop and/or network platforms. I especially would like to see more articles contributed by multi-platform users, who use any combination of Linux, Unix, OS/2, DOS, MacOS, Rhapsody etc.. Please e-mail me if you have ideas/questions about possible topics. In the past month or so, nearly all pages of the IACT website were updated, as part of an ongoing effort to make the site appealing and accessible to a wide range of users. New projects are in the works, too, and will be announced soon at the website. So enjoy the offerings, both current and future, and re-visit the website often! July 27, 1998 There is a new article about OS/2 Assembly Language online: http://www.netlabs.org/devcorner/asm/os2asmhowto.html The goal of this document is to provide a smooth transition to 32-bit OS/2 programming for people who have had prior experience with assembly language. It covers: - 16-bit real mode vs. 32-bit protected mode - What an OS/2 Programmer Needs to Know - Advanced Topics (DLL...) - Where to Get Stuff - Examples It's done by Kyle Markley and it is a part of the OS/2 Netlabs Developer Corner. http://www.netlabs.org/devcorner If you think you could do something similar about OS/2 Programming, don't hesitate to ask for webspace! July 27, 1998 PolyEx Software has completed their new game, "Hopkins: FBI". It will be released August 5, 1998, and can be pre-ordered now. For more information, check out PolyEx's website: http://www.polyex.com July 27, 1998 Part of the Warpzilla team (a team porting the Mozilla 5.0 code over to OS/2) has released new source and has a screenshot of a primitive (but working) front end: http://www.axess.com/users/sobotka/warpzilla/warpz004.htm For more news on the Mozilla project: news://news.mozilla.org/netscape.public.mozilla.os2 July 26, 1998 Source: Pieter Hintjens (ph@imatix.com) This is to announce that the Xitami webserver version 2.3d is now available from http://www.imatix.com for all platforms. Version 2.3d corrects some problems in the last release, 2.3c3, and is a recommended upgrade, especially for high-volume web sites. For details see: http://www.imatix.com/html/xitami/index16.htm Xitami is a free web server for many platforms, including OS/2. July 25, 1998 Source: Don Eitner, VOICE Secretary 32-Bits Online Refuses Positive OS/2 News Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1998 09:50:40 -0700 From: Ronny Ko (ronny@unixg.ubc.ca) Reply-To: Ronny Ko (ronny@unixg.ubc.ca) To: freiheit@tstonramp.com Subject: Re: VOICE SpeakUp for August 3 Please take me off your mailing list. We are really not interested in VOICE related stuff. However, I believe that OS/2 e-Zine! would be mor than glad to post your mailings. Thank you. > The VOICE events calendar for August is filling in nicely. Aside from > the publishing date for our August Newsletter, we have scheduled a > SpeakUp session with Kim Rasmussen, author of the popular OS/2 internet > suite Internet Adventurer. > The SpeakUp session, which will be open to all, will be held on the > WEBBnet IRC network at 8pm US Eastern Daylight time on Monday, August > 3, 1998 (0:00 GMT Tuesday, August 4, 1998). If you need information > about IRC clients or WEBBnet servers, please see the Meeting Info page > of our site at http://www.os2voice.org/. > We hope to see everyone in attendance for this SpeakUp session. > Remember, this is your chance to provide direct feedback to an OS/2 > developer, ask questions, and maybe provide him with new ideas for his > product(s). > The Events Calendar, recently added to our website, allows you to plan > ahead for VOICE meetings and special events. Please let us know your > opinions of its usefulness. July 25, 1998 Walter Metcalf (os2.guide@miningco.com) This week's edition of Focus on OS/2 is now online. This week's feature begins a series on Large Hard Disks. This week briefly looks at the history of the hard disk drive, and examines how newer hardware deals with the limitations imposed by old designs, such as FAT and the 1024 cylinder maximum. The OS/2 Bulletin Board has arrived! Please come and post your thoughts on the site, my features, or the OS/2 world in general. Feel free to post specific problems you are encountering. Others may have encountered and *solved* the same problem! In general I visit the Board at least once a day. Suggested links are more than welcome. July 24, 1998 Apache v1.3.1 web server has just been released and there's an OS/2 version available at: http://www.apache.org/dist/binaries/os2/apache_1.3.1-os2.zip Apache has been the most popular web server on the Internet since April of 1996. The June 1998 WWW server site survey by Netcraft found that over 53% of the web sites on the Internet are using Apache and its derivatives--thus making it more widely used than all other web servers combined. The Apache web site is: http://www.apache.org/ July 24, 1998 Source: Adrian Suri (asuri@vpub.powernet.co.uk) OS/2 Zipmag 3 will be re launched shortly on my web site. However, if anyone wants to make any kind of contribuutions, reviews, etc. please email me. A list of the contents of the next issue will be available from: http://users.powernet.co.uk/vpub/ As of Saturday AM (UK time), possibly before. July 24, 1998 The beta release of xDBView, a fast freeware VIO DBF viewer/editor with HTML exporting capabilities is available for download from OGCs home page at: http://www.ogcs.com/ While still being considered a beta, the program has been intensively used in-house in a productive environment for a year now. A list of some of the features which are currently being implemented and/or considered is at your disposal online. July 24, 1998 From the Southern California OS/2 User Group: A new monthly OS/2 column, "INK - Printing and Scanning on the OS/2 Platform" by Tony Butka, has premiered and is now online at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/1998/scoug807.2.ink.html In this new monthly column, Tony Butka discusses OS/2 graphics with an emphasis on scanning and printing. In his premier column, Tony covers: - Lexmark's new OS/2 drivers for their 5700 and 7000 series color printers (the 5700 costs about $250; the 7200 model in the 7000 series is 1200x1200) - Epson's new Photo 700 and compatibility with previous drivers, plus discounts on older models - a CFM TWAIN driver bundle and Solution Technology TWAIN drivers for many popular scanners - the PMSANE scanner drivers Tony is well known for turning out high-quality graphics images with inexpensive equipment and materials. "Each month I'll be telling the readers about the tricks I've learned, the equipment and software that works the best, and where to get the compatible drivers for the highest quality output," says Tony. "OS/2 has a wealth of graphics products available that people just don't know about. I'll take care of all these issues, right here, in INK." July 24, 1998 Source: Dan Porter (innoval@ibm.net) On Wednesday, July 22, I dropped in, unannounced, at a meeting of the Philadelphia OS/2 SIG. They were gracious enough to give me a few minutes on the program for a couple of announcements. I want to share those announcements with the rest of the OS/2 community: 1) A native-OS/2 version of Web Willy Watch will be available sometime next week (July 27 - July 31). This is a full month ahead of schedule. Everyone who has ordered, or orders, the Windows 95/98/NT version will be able to download the native OS/2 version at no additional charge. In other words, anyone who orders Web Willy Watch may download either or both versions. Web Willy Watch is both a powerful web pornography blocking filter, for those who want to use it as such, and a feature rich add-on for the Netscape Navigator (for instance, it includes all of the features found in NetExtra). Read about its features at http://www.webwilly.com. The price is $20.00. You may order it from our Web Willy Watch site or from BMT Micro. 2) Within the next 45 days we will release another native-OS/2 program, a powerful spam "fighting" tool. It is much more than a filter program. It will work with any favorite OS/2 email client as well as the J Street Mailer. This is a very advanced spam fighting program which works with automatically updated lists of thousands-upon-thousands of known spammers as well as with a significant set of rule you can customize. It is highly configure-able. The price is expected to be about $25.00. One of the pleasures for me at meeting was seeing J Street Mailer, InnoVal's full-Java email client, demonstrated by someone else (on OS/2, of course). I also had the opportunity to talk with many the members of the SIG. Their message to me was clear: OS/2 is very much alive, there is a consumer market, and keep on supporting OS/2. The fact that the meeting was very well attended for late-July was evidence of that. For more information about our OS/2 products, please visit our web page at: http://www.innoval.com July 24, 1998 An OS/2 port of the Pilot Link tools for UNIX Version 0.8.13 is now available on Hobbes: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/plk0813.zip and it will soon move to: http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/unix/apps/misc/plk0813.zip The Pilot Links tools are for use with the 3COM Pilot or IBM WorkPad handheld computers. Requires HPFS, and EMX 0.9c runtime with fix4. Includes source code. July 24, 1998 Source: Christoph Bratschi (cbratschi@datacomm.ch) File Browser Beta 1 is now available at: http://www.datacomm.ch/~cbratschi/fbrowser/fbrowser.zip What is FileBrowser? File Browser is a file manager with enhanced capabilities: - File manager - Web browser - File viewer (graphics, Netscape plug-ins) - WPS support and several other features Screenshot: http://www.datacomm.ch/~cbratschi/fbrowser/fbrowser.gif The final version will be Shareware. This beta version works until 9/1/1998. The File Browser home page is at: http://www.datacomm.ch/~cbratschi/ July 23, 1998 Source: Don Eitner, VOICE Secretary With the recent news of the Warp Data Book registrations being handled by BMT Micro, the VOICE member discount on the Warp Data Book is being extended. All existing members will be eligible to buy the Databook at the member discount for 60 days after the date of this announcement (July 23, 1998). All new members will continue to have 60 days from the date their membership is effective (according to the VOICE Treasurer's records) to register the Warp Data Book at the discounted price. The V.O.I.C.E. web site can be found at: http://www.os2voice.org/ July 23, 1998 Source: Sharon Dagan ( idagan@il.ibm.com) I've just released the first public beta version of Nice/2. Nice/2 is a command line utility to change priorities of related and unrelated processes. For now, it is available for download only from my home page at: http://www.geocities.com/Nashville/6525/nice001b.zip This utility will enable you to quickly change priorities of almost any running process whether it's a related process or not (useualy OS/2 only permits priority changes to related processes). Please send bug reports etc. to: idagan@il.ibm.com. July 23, 1998 NetLookout has been updated to 2.07. You can download the latest release at: http://www.primenet.com/~ckennedy/software/lookout/ NetLookout is an Internet notifier. It will watch Web, FTP and Gopher sites, and tell you if anything has changed. Changes in this version:  OS/2 - fixed problem with remembering fonts  All - added multiple selection to main list  All - removed 256 char restriction on URL's  All - cleaned up pull-down menus and help file  Win32 - fixed problem with upper/lower case in viewer command line July 23, 1998 Source: Manfred Radimersky (maradim@mupad.de) MuPAD 1.4.0, a system for symbolic and numeric computation and mathematical programming, was ported to several platforms, including Windows 95 and NT, several Unix systems and the Apple Macintosh, and we added an OS/2 port just recently. For many platforms, there is a comfortable window-based graphical user interface. But for OS/2, we made just a terminal version for a start. This may change with future releases if there is enough commercial demand for a full-featured graphics version, but there will definitely be no port of the graphics to OS/2 this year. Moreover, the OS/2 version of MuPAD is currently usupported. This means you get a free license for it. You may use it as you like, but there is no support, of course. You may also not re-distribute this version or refer to it in any software review without permission of SciFace. Further on SciFace reserves the right to withdraw this free license at any time in the future. Here is a short list of the capabilities of MuPAD: Mathematical Functionality:  Arithmetic: - exact integer and rational arithmetic - floating point arithmetic with arbitrary precision - complex and quaternion arithmetic  Transcendental functions  Expression manipulation  Solving  Calculus  Numerical computations  Set Theory  Linear Algebra  Linear optimization  Number Theory  Algebraic Structures  Polynomials The MuPAD language:  easy-to-learn programming language  Pascal-like syntax  imperative, functional and object-oriented programming  generation of TeX output Technical information specific to the OS/2 version can be found at: ftp://ftp.mupad.de/MuPAD/distrib/os2/COPYING For more information, visit our web site: http://www.sciface.com/ Email: General Information: info@sciface.com Product Distribution: distribution@sciface.com Bug Reports: bugs@sciface.com Phone: +49-5251-6407-51 Fax: +49-5251-6407-99 SciFace Software GmbH & Co. KG Technologiepark 12 D-33100 Paderborn Germany July 23, 1998 Source: Timur Tabi (timur@io.com) According to the announcement on this web page: http://www.ibmlink.ibm.com/usalets&parms=H_998-198 The IBM Technical Connection CD-ROM Version 2.0 has been withdrawn, with no replacements intended. What is the Technical Connection? The IBM Technical Connection CD-ROM is a multi-pack of CD-ROMSs which serve to provide users with a comprehensive collection of software fixes, device drivers, closed APAR's, hardware updates (including reference and diagnostic diskettes and BIOS updates), and technical information. This information is included for products such as OS/2 Warp, OS/2 Warp Server, DB2, Software Servers, VisualAge, MQSeries, CICS, Personal Communications and IBM Middleware that runs on Windows 95 and Windows NT. For more information on the set, go to http://pscc.dfw.ibm.com/info/techconn.html. Note that although the CD-ROM set is a very convenient way to get all sorts of stuff from IBM, most of the stuff that OS/2 users care about is already freely downloadable. I've never actually seen the CD-ROM set, but based on other CD-ROM offerings from IBM, I would not be surprised if the TechConn is not quite as up-to-date as they claim. July 23, 1998 The zipfile with the last version (5.06) of the famous wordprocessor DeScribe was removed from Hobbes today. Apparently, the following message was also posted: "Rejected: This is warez. Don't bother trying to download the file. Sender has been banned and his ISP will be notified." To read more on this, visit http://macarlo.com July 23, 1998 Source: Don Eitner, VOICE Secretary VOICE has scheduled a special SpeakUp session on IRC for July 27, 1998. This SpeakUp will include the following members of the Warpstock '98 committee: Stan Sidlov, Warpstock 98 Event Coordinator Jason Kowalczyk, Audio Visual & Networking Coordinator John Hebert, Exhibits & Facility Coordinator Esther Schindler, Advisor Larry Finkelstein, Warpstock Steering Committee Judy McDermott, Warpstock Steering Committee The SpeakUp will take place on the WEBBnet IRC network at 8pm US Eastern time (midnight GMT). For more information on meeting time as well as information on IRC clients and WEBBnet servers, please visit the Meeting Info (http://www.os2voice.org/meetinginfo.html) page. During this meeting we will be giving away one Platinum Pass and one night's hotel reservation for Warpstock to one of our lucky members. We will also be giving a Platinum Pass without hotel reservation to a second-place winner. Anyone is welcome to attend, but you must be a member of VOICE to be eligible for the prizes. Prize winners will be announced at the meeting. If you have further questions, please direct them to the VOICE Secretary at freiheit@tstonramp.com. We hope to see you there! July 23, 1998 An OS/2 port of Internet Junkbuster (v2.01) has been released. It is used to prevent the loading of unwanted banner ads in HTML documents and to block cookies. New version has option to replace banner ads by 1x1 transparent GIFs. You can download a copy from http://hobbes.nmsu.edu. July 23, 1998 Henk Kelder (hkelder@inetgate.capgemini.nl) has updated the beta (v0.80) of his FAT32 IFS (Installable File System). This will allow you to access FAT32 partitions from OS/2. You can download a copy from http://www.os2ss.com/information/kelder/ July 23, 1998 SysBar/2 beta 0.13d has been released. SysBar/2 includes a variety of useful applets which take up very little screen space, including a digital clock, CD player, task switcher and pipe monitor. You can download a copy from http://www.lab321.ru/~dip/sysbar2/download.html July 23, 1998 Source: Sergio Costas (scostas@arrakis.es) Warpglobe Beta 6 is now available, this is a program that I am developing. It puts an earth globe on the desktop, and paints the cities with some OS/2 users. It paints to the light and dark zones produced by the sun rotation (to do this, it uses the local time, correcting it with the GMT deviation given by the Operating System). Of course, the user can select which part of the earth they want to see. The image is refreshed each half hour to avoid excessive CPU usage, so the program is completely transparent. This program is similar to other one for Linux. You can download a copy from http://www.arrakis.es/~scostas/OS2/globeeng.htm July 22, 1998 IBM released some details on the upcoming VisualAge for Java (http://www.software.ibm.com/ad/vajava/) v2.0. This version will include support for the Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) specification. It includes Enterprise Access Builders for adding persistence support and connections to IBM's CICS and TXSeries transaction middleware and SAP's R/3 enterprise application servers. In addition there will be a new IDE and it also includes JavaBeans for adding links to Java Database Connectivity (JDBC)-compatible databases, improved team development repository and version control, Lotus Domino support, Tivoli Systems' systems management capabilities, support for the Object Management Group's (OMG's) CORBA Interface Definition Language (IDL) and Internet Inter-ORB Protocol (IIOP), and a remote testing and debugging tool. It will include support for Java Development Kit v1.1.6 and Swing 1.0.2 Java classes. It will be available on Windows NT, AIX, OS/2, and OS/390. The Windows NT and OS/2 versions will ship later this quarter, the AIX and OS/390 versions will ship in the 4th quarter. July 22, 1998 Network Associates (http://www.nai.com/) has just released a new .DAT file for VirusScan for OS/2. This .DAT file should solve the problem in the previous one that erroneously reported some Java files were infected. You can download a copy from http://www.mcafee.com/download/dats/3x.asp. July 22, 1998 IBM has released an update for Java 1.1.6 (Build o116-19980718), you can download a copy from ftp://ftp.hursley.ibm.com/pub/java/fixes/os2/11/116/ or ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/software/java/fixes/os2/11/116/ Updates to Java 1.1.6, runtime.exe, samples.exe and toolkit.exe are available for downloading at http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/diskands/adaptec/index.htm. According to the read.me, these may not be used for initial installation. These are updates for those that have used Feature Install to install the original Java 1.1.6. July 19, 1998 Source: Mark Overholser (marko@peak.org) The drivers for Greater Than 8.4GB IDE Hardfile Support were updated on 15 Jul 1998 at 01:20pm. You can download the latest drivers at: http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/647679D565C73E0F862565980068EFB0.html July 19, 1998 Source: Dan Porter (innoval@ibm.net) Harrison, New York, July 19, 1998 - InnoVal Systems Solutions is pleased to announce that it has committed to build a native OS/2 version of Web Willy Watch for release by early September. "The many encouraging emails from OS/2 users convinced us that it is the right thing to do," said Dan Porter, President of InnoVal. "I wanted to do it but I had to make sure that there was enough interest. There is. We have come up with a plan that I think is right for OS/2 users." OS/2 users who also use Windows 95, Windows 98, or Windows NT, may order Web Willy Watch now and receive both the Windows version immediately and the OS/2 version in early September at no additional charge. In fact, we can process your order at http://www.webwilly.com in five minutes and you can be up in running in 30 minutes. Web Willy Watch is also available from BMT Micro at . For Web Willy Watch, we are also announcing a Single Family License and a unique, low-cost Every Family License for churches, synagogues, K-12 schools, businesses, and membership organizations. The license agreement will apply to both OS/2 and Windows platforms. "We've put together new technology for blocking pornography sites with an unusually attractive price and distribution concept," said Porter. "As an example, if a school or concerned parent buys an Every Family License for (or on behalf of) a school, then every parent with a student in the school may download and use the software at home. The school can put the software (OS/2 and Windows Versions) on a school web page or a parent can do so on a personal web page. In fact, the Every Family License grants the school a site license for all OS/2 and Windows 95/98/NT computers in the school." In order to block pornographic sites, Web Willy Watch checks to see if the site is one of tens of thousands of known pornography sites. It also evaluates page content looking for word patterns that suggest that a site has inappropriate sexual content. The software can be easily customized by parents to disallow additional sites, allow certain sites, add key words, and adjust the sensitivity of the program's word pattern logic. Extra features allow parents to block numeric-only IP addresses, common among pornography sites, and pages with 1-900 phone numbers. It is easy for someone with a password to switch between secure and non-secure mode. In addition to blocking pornography sites, Web Willy Watch may be used to gather web content for offline browsing. The program can also record the title and URL of every web site ever visited. In addition to being useful for monitoring a child's web activity, this is a useful feature for tracking down forgotten URL's that were not bookmarked. "Have you ever wanted to find a site you visited three or four months ago," said Porter. "You didn't bookmark it, you don't recall the URL, and it's one of those sites that is probably very low on search engine lists. I've gotten so used to what I call bookmarks for the rest of us,' that I can't imagine not having this feature on my computer." Web Willy Watch for Windows works with Netscape's browsers and the Microsoft Internet Explorer. The OS/2 version will work with Netscape browsers for OS/2. A Single Family License is $20.00. An Every Family License for a K-12 school, church, or synagogue as well as for a small business or membership organization, costs $159.00. InnoVal is a leading producer of specialized software for the Internet including the J Street Mailer, a Java email client, Post Road Mailer, a popular native OS/2 email client, and Hacksaw. Hacksaw is a popular 32-bit Windows and OS/2 file transfer utility. Additional details about Web Willy Watch and Single Family and Every Family licensing may be found at http://www.webwilly.com. An important FAQ for OS/2 users may be found by visiting InnoVal's home at http://www.innoval.com. July 17, 1998 SCOUG to Exhibit at Warpstock Costa Mesa, CA - The Southern California OS/2 User Group (SCOUG) today announced that it will be exhibiting at this year's Warpstock event in Chicago. SCOUG, which hosted the premier of the event last year, is the largest local OS/2 user group in the U.S. "Last year Warpstock defined a successful volunteer event. It was a smash, and showed the widespread SOHO support that OS/2 enjoys," said Terry Warren, SCOUG president. "This year promises to be even better, and we're excited to be a part of it once again." SCOUG expects to finalize plans for this year's Warpstock soon, but last year the SCOUG booth included facilities for digital pictures for visitors, and was a major gathering place for event visitors. In addition to participating at SCOUG's booth, a number of SCOUG members will also give presentations as Warpstock speakers. Questions may be directed to terry@scoug.com. (For more information on SCOUG, please visit out website at http://www.scoug.com) July 16, 1998 Folks, I'm sorry for the confusion. I just got off the phone (again) with our Wyndham representative, and found out that groups (which we are) can only be booked via the 800 or direct numbers or FAX. They have not integrated their web pages directly to their group meetings database. The 800 number may not be updated due to a computer problem they are having. You can not use the web pages to book with our discount. I know that this will be a inconvenience for our international travelers as they cannot use the 800 number. But feel free to use their fax number to reduce the time for your call. Use this fax number to get directly into reservations: --------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------- Wyndham Hotel Northwest Chicago 1- 630-773-4088 Attn: Megan Fry, Reservation Director. You must include the following information: Group Code: WARPSTOCK Arrival Date: ___________________ Departure Date: __________________ Number of Adults:___________ Number of Children:_____________ Number of rooms:________ Customer Information: First Name: _______________________________________ Last Name:_______________________________________ Telephone:_______________________________________ E-Mail Address:___________________________________ A reservation confirmation will be sent to the email address provided. Street Address:____________________________________ Suite or Apt. Number:________________________________ City:______________________________ State:_____________________________ Zip/Postal Code:__________________ Country:____________________________ Credit Information: A credit card number is required to confirm / guarantee your reservation. Credit Card Type: American Express, Carte Blanche, Diner's Club Discover, JCB, Master Card, VISA Credit Card Number:________________________________ Expiration Date (MM/YY):_____________________ Special Request Information: (bed type and number of) _________________ Smoking Preference: Non-Smoking Room or Smoking Room Comments:_____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ _______________________________________________________________ July 15, 1998 The Warpzilla page (one of the ports of the free Netscape 5.0 source code) has been updated with a new layout, new news, code changes and PM frontends for the upcoming Warpzilla... http://people.netscape.com/law/warpzilla/ July 15, 1998 Source: Lech Wikotr Piotrowski (a_j_p@it.com.pl) I'm happy to announce that TeamOS/2 Poland web site has been opened. It is now only in Polish, but I have an English version in preparation. On the site you can find: OS/2 IRC page, OS/2 Quake2 page, News, articles about OS/2 Apps (Now only about NetFinity, but soon about IBM Antivirus, Neon graphics 3d etc.) and some OS/2 Links. The adress is: http://www.calder.com.pl/teamos2/ We're trying to change it to www.teamos2.org.pl, but I don't know if it will be possible... July 15, 1998 From the Southern California OS/2 User Group: An interview with Dave Swartz, the OS/2 Forum Leader for America Online (AOL), is now online at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/1998/scoug807.2.swartz.html Many of the 14 million members of America Online use OS/2 and rely on AOL's OS/2 Forum for news and technical support. In the interview, Dave touches on many subjects, including  AOL's coverage of the three big OS/2 issues: installation, drivers, configuration  his one-on-one contact with OS/2 users requesting help  how the IBM 1620 circumvented technology and sped up its math instructions  why the 7 million Linux users will be writing the next century's software  out of all the OS/2 software available to him, what he's really got on his machine  his OS/2 Forum interviews of Tim Sipples, Brad Wardell, Felix Cruz, Randell Flint, Rollin White, Dave Moskowitz and others  AOL's parental control over online and Internet access  power user tips such as how to circumvent OS/2's plug 'n' play "sniffers" and the proper versions of Win32s to run on Warp  the OS/2 volunteers: Robin, Simon, Tom, Kevin, Gerry, Joyce and more - the one trick to getting AOL installed successfully on OS/2 Included at the end of the interview is an extensive url list. The author wishes to extend his thanks to Mr. Swartz for taking the time to make this interview possible. Sponsored by the Southern California OS/2 User Group (http://www.scoug.com). July 15, 1998 Home Page Publisher 2.0 "level D" is available (6/30/98) from the HPP web page: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/clerin/hppframe.htm New in this version: choose between several dictionaries, keyboard accented keys fixed, Clear and Nowrap parameters obsoleted. HPP is an integrated WYSIWYG HTML Publisher and Editor/Browser. HomePage is a new product that will allow you to create or modify any HTML pages. Easy to use, it does not require knowledge of HTML tags. July 15, 1998 VisualNetRexx Alpha Release 3 has been released (6/27/98): http://www.trongus.com/VisualNetRexx/ VisualNetRexx is an Integrated Development Environment for IBM's NetRexx Language, which is a dialect of Rexx compiling to Java bytecode. Thus Java applets, applications and servlets may be written, using the familiar and human-oriented syntax of Rexx, in a graphically managed environment. Included in the alpha release are an editor, interface to the NetRexx compiler and project, category and package tree views for grouping of source code. Additional tools such as a Class Designer, GUI Layout tool, Debugger and Hierarchy Browser are in the wings. July 15, 1998 WarpNote v1.5 has been released. Again, it's the users who improved WarpNote, the ultimate sticky note replacement for the OS/2 Desktop. New features in this release are:  Added setting to control confirmation when closing notes.  Added setting to change behavior when last note is closed.  Added setting that adds a vertical scrollbar to each note.  Added hotkey and menu entry to resize a note for best fit.  Added APPENDTEXT command to WNCOMM for easier scripting. Of course, there are many more features in the queue... More information on WarpNote as well as the demo version can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/RodeoDrive/2048/warpnote.html And remember, the Happy Birthday Special which saves you $$$ is still on for one remaining week! July 15, 1998 Stellar Frontier has been updated to 0.86 (7/15/98): http://www.stardock.com/update/update_sf.html Stellar Frontier is a space war/strategy game being published by Stardock Systems. ═══ 4. VOICE Newsletter - OS/2 User Group News ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 The OS/2 User Group News Page VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org This page is reserved for announcements from any OS/2 User Groups. If you would like your user group announcement to appear here, please send it to editor@os2voice.org. July 17, 1998 SCOUG to Exhibit at Warpstock Costa Mesa, CA - The Southern California OS/2 User Group (SCOUG) today announced that it will be exhibiting at this year's Warpstock event in Chicago. SCOUG, which hosted the premier of the event last year, is the largest local OS/2 user group in the U.S.. "Last year Warpstock defined a successful volunteer event. It was a smash, and showed the widespread SOHO support that OS/2 enjoys," said Terry Warren, SCOUG president. "This year promises to be even better, and we're excited to be a part of it once again." SCOUG expects to finalize plans for this year's Warpstock soon, but last year the SCOUG booth included facilities for digital pictures for visitors, and was a major gathering place for event visitors. In addition to participating at SCOUG's booth, a number of SCOUG members will also give presentations as Warpstock speakers. Questions may be directed to terry@scoug.com. (For more information on SCOUG, please visit out website at http://www.scoug.com) July 17, 1998 From the Southern California OS/2 User Group: A new monthly OS/2 column, "Download!" by Paul Wirtz, has premiered and is now online at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/1998/scoug807.2.download.html In this new monthly column, Paul Wirtz describes the software that he feels every OS/2 user should download and install. In Paul's own words: "There's valuable software out there you don't know about. It's easy to get and a lot of it is free. There's new stuff and old stuff, big apps and little apps, all waiting for you to try them out." In his premier column, Paul reviews: - a "neat little utility" that enhances your desktop and is easy to install - a new DLL that noticeably improves the way things look on your screen "I've always enjoyed seeking out the unknown programs that make life easier for the average OS/2 user," Paul says. "With this new column, everyone can share in the results of the hours I spend online." Sponsored by the Southern California OS/2 User Group (http://www.scoug.com). July 30, 1998 WarpUK - OS/2 UK Users Group We are here to provide resources and feedback from a UK perspective for computer users who are using or interested in using OS/2. You can reach us at http://www.denzil71.demon.co.uk/os2 August 4, 1998 In light of the recent release of Communicator for OS/2, the Atlanta OS/2 User's Group is announcing the meeting agenda for Tuesday, August 18th: Agenda 1. Netscape tips -n- techniques 2. Demo: Netscape 4.04 !!!!!!!! 3. Borrello's Top Ten 4. Raffle: Java shirt and other stuff from IBM 5. News and Announcements If you are in the Atlanta area, we'd love to see you there! See our web site for directions: http://www.goldencode.com/atlos2/atlos2.html Regards, Roger Borrello Atlanta OS/2 User's Group Secretary Eddress: rfb@GoldenCode.com ═══ 5. VOICE Newsletter - Feature Columns ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org Features ┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┬──────────────────────────────┐ │The Editor of VOICE speaks out │By: Mark Dodel │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │OS/2 Technology Issues. Fifth in a series. │By: Dan Casey │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │Color Printing Worthy of OS/2 - The Lexmark Color Inkjet 5700 │By: Don Eitner │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │WarpGlobe, Beta 7 │By: Wayne Swanson │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │"Good News? No, it's GREAT News!" │By: Tom Nadeau │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │Interview with an OS/2 Business User │By: Thom Davis │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │Interview with an OS/2 Business User │By: Tom Stevic │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │OS/2 Tips │ │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │Letters to VOICE, addendums, Errata, │ │ ├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┼──────────────────────────────┤ │View from the End (User) │By: dON eITNER │ └──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┴──────────────────────────────┘ ═══ 5.1. VOICE Newsletter - The Editor of VOICE speaks out ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org OS2lives An editorial view from Mark Dodel, editor of the VOICE Newsletter editor@os2voice.org The heading says it all. OS/2 Lives on. Many people (including some folks at IBM) want it to die, but it's just so damn good it keeps on keeping on. IBM has cut off just about all that is left of the shrink wrapped applications for OS/2 in their drive to be the number one purveyor of "NT applications" (not my first choice of verbiage) in the world, but still some things slip by. They have refused support for ISV's and IHV's to the point that any new application or device support that is developed for OS/2 is a rarity. They tell everyone that Java is the one and only future for OS/2 in it's latest direction as a "network computing solutions". But folks it is still happening. A couple months ago it was Lotus Smartsuite for OS/2 Warp 4. This month it's Netscape Communicator for OS/2 4.04 beta. Long overdue, but it's finally arrived. For a beta it's not bad, but there are problems with stability especially with Java 1.1.6. The biggest news is that it doesn't appear to lock up and Black Hole like its predecessor did. At least not very often. This month's issue of the newsletter has a short review by the ENDuser of the spanking brand new (well to those of us who never use winDOS it's new) Communicator for OS/2. Also in this issue is a review by Don Eitner of the Lexmark 5700 Inkjet printer and Lexmark's continued support of OS/2 with excellent driver development. Dan Casey is back with part 5 of his OS/2 technology issues series. In this issue he discusses how to set up a multi-configuration OS/2 boot partition. Also a review by Wayne Swanson of a nifty little app for watching the outposts of Warpdom around the world, WarpGLOBE and another short review by Don of X-it 2.51, the WPS utility which first put the close button on the OS/2 title bar and now does so much more. Tom Nadeau adds his 2 cents about SMP in Warp 5 and we have 2 more interviews with OS/2 users showing that OS/2 is in fact alive and still kicking. I'll use my soap box this month to promote a couple of interesting ideas I have recently encountered. The first is a novel way to fund the development of OS/2 Freeware. The folks at PowerDale IT, Ltd. who are developing the AWE (Advanced Web Editor) - http://www.yoursite.co.uk/os/2/uss/ are asking OS/2 users to go to their page and click on a Hotmail advertising banner for which they will recieve about 10в. What makes this extremely ironic is that Hotmail is owned lock stock and barrel by those generous folks at micro$oft. They have dubbed this 'clickware' and say "Clickware has all the benefits of Freeware to the downloader of the software, has no annoying nag screens, and actually 'pays it's way'." I say more power to them, and here's clicking at you. ;-) If you are totally adverse to going to a Micro$oft site, there is also a casino banner you can click through instead. Before I get into my usual jag asking readers to write to the USDOJ to complain about IBM's blatant anti-competitive practices, I'd like to direct your attention to another worthy cause. Martin Alfredsson, the keeper of the Warp X site which chronicles what little that can be ferreted out about the future of OS/2, has begun a campaign to get people to commit to purchase of a Warp 5 client. As of this writing he has pledges for over 5100 copies of a version 5 client. If you are interested in coaxing IBM to release a Warp 5 client read over this web page - http://www.jmast.se/21warp/index.htm and fill in the pledge form for the number of copies of Warp 5 client you would purchase if it were available. Be as honest as possible, since making a bogus pledge will only confirm IBM's belief that OS/2 has no future. Of course if we can convince the US DOJ of the illegality of most major pc vendors forcing us to buy pc's with only Windows preloaded, then perhaps IBM wouldn't be in such a rush to write us out of the picture. If you feel the same way please write a letter, stating your concerns about the lack of choice in computer operating system availability to: Joel I. Klein Assistant Attorney General Antitrust Division U.S. Department of Justice 601 D Street, NW Washington, DC 20530 The email address is antitrust@justice.usdoj.gov If you would like to let IBM know that you want them to support OS/2 and ask them to release a new version of OS/2 send an email to: John Stenson ssadm281@us.ibm.com Network Computing Software Finally if you want to let Lou Gerstner's office know how you feel you can do so by pointing your favorite web browser to http://www.ibm.com/cgi-bin/email-lvg.pl You'll probably then get a response from someone in John's office anyway, so I'm not sure what difference it makes. Mark Dodel Editor, VOICE Newsletter editor@os2voice.org ═══ 5.2. VOICE Newsletter - OS/2 Technology Issues. Fifth in a series. ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org OS/2 Technology Issues Part 5 Multiple Boot Configurations by: Dan Casey (abraxas@os2voice.org) http://www.ameritech.net/users/dcasey/index.html August 15 1998 This series of articles is not about recommending specific hardware and/or software. It's about information. Beginning with Warp 3, IBM introduced a new feature to OS/2 users; the ability to boot different configurations and the ability to select which configuration you want to boot from a startup menu. I think we all know that pressing when the white rectangle appears at bootup will bring us to a "Recovery" menu. From there you can select to boot to a command prompt, or to reset video to Standard VGA. But how many of you know that you can modify that menu, and add a Custom CONFIG.SYS file to it? This is a little-known but (fortunately) well documented feature that could come in real handy, especially if you use a Laptop computer with a Docking Station or Network. You can use the default CONFIG.SYS file to boot the system normally (whatever your most-used configuration is) and use the Custom CONFIG.SYS file to boot it when you need a different configuration (such as using the Laptop in a Docking Station, or using the Laptop without the LAN configuration). The possibilities are only limited to whatever you need to do. For the purposes of this article, we'll use, as an example, a Laptop that is to be used both Stand-alone and connected to a LAN, with different CONFIG.SYS files for each use. The "normal" CONFIG.SYS file will be for use in Stand-alone mode, while we'll use CONFIG.L for use when attached to the LAN. Step 1 Copy the existing CONFIG.SYS file to the \OS2\BOOT directory, and rename it to CONFIG.n where n is any letter or number EXCEPT C, M, V, X, 1, 2 or 3. For this example, we used CONFIG.L Step 2 Edit the file \OS2\BOOT\ALTF1BOT.SCR This file is the Bottom of the ALT-F1 Recovery Menu. It is also Write-Protected, so you'll have to change the attribute before you can edit it. From an OS/2 Command Prompt, type: ATTRIB -R C:\OS2\BOOT\ALTF1BOT.SCR If you boot from a drive other than C:, substitute the drive letter in the command. Now, using whatever text editor you like (E.EXE works just fine), Edit the file ALTF1BOT.SCR and add a line that gives you a description of CONFIG.L that you'll recognize at boot. Add 3 spaces (press the spacebar 3 times) at the beginning of the line, so it will line-up with the choices already present (in the ALTF1MID.SCR file). Example: L) CONFIG.L Loads LAN drivers when chosen. Save the file and exit the editor. Step 3 Edit the CONFIG.SYS and CONFIG.L files. Let's assume that the original CONFIG.SYS file always booted with the LAN drivers. Now, we need to have it boot WITHOUT the LAN drivers. Edit the CONFIG.SYS file and REM out the lines that load your LAN drivers. On my system, this would be: REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\LANPDD.OS2 REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\LANVDD.OS2 REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\LANMSGDD.OS2 /I:C:\IBMCOM /S REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTMAN.OS2 /I:C:\IBMCOM REM CALL=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBIND.EXE REM RUN=C:\IBMCOM\LANMSGEX.EXE REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBEUI.OS2 REM DEVICE=C:\IBMLAN\NETPROG\RDRHELP.200 REM IFS=C:\IBMLAN\NETPROG\NETWKSTA.200 /I:C:\IBMLAN /N REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBIOS.OS2 REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\MACS\EXP16.OS2 REM SET I18NDIR=C:\IBMI18N REM RUN=C:\IBMLAN\NETPROG\LSDAEMON.EXE REM DEVICE=C:\IBMLAN\NETPROG\VNETAPI.OS2 REM RUN=C:\IBMLAN\NETPROG\VNRMINIT.EXE REM SET NWDBPATH=C:\IBMLAN\NETPROG Save this file as CONFIG.SYS and exit the editor. Step 4 Set the Recovery Menu to always appear at boot. This, of course, is optional. If you choose not to do this, you can always press when the White Rectangle appears to get to the menu. RMB click anywhere on the desktop, and when the menu pops up, select PROPERTIES. Click on the ARCHIVES tab, and select: Display Recovery Choices at Each System Startup. That's all there is to it. You now have 2 different boot configurations, and a method to choose which one you want to use at each startup. NOTE: If you install a new application that modifies your CONFIG.SYS file, you'll need to manually edit the other CONFIG file to match, or else the app will only work when you boot to the configuration in use when you installed it. NOW .... here's where it can get interesting. Say you want to install some applications that you would use ONLY when connected to the LAN. Besides modifying the CONFIG.SYS file (or in this case, the CONFIG.L file), you also change the User INI file (OS2.INI) to update the desktop and WPS. But you don't need this application when not connected to the LAN, and you don't want it to appear on the Desktop when you boot the Stand-alone configuration. In CONFIG.SYS (or in this case, CONFIG.L) there is an Environment Variable that is set at boot. SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2.INI Copy the OS2.INI file to, say, OS2L.INI (L for LAN) and edit the CONFIG.L Environment Variable to reflect the other copy of the INI file. SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\OS2L.INI Now, when you boot to the LAN configuration, you are not only using a different CONFIG file, but a different INI file as well. Any changes made to either of these files will only be evident when booting this configuration. Booting the standard (default) configuration will not reflect any changes made while in the other configuration. You can also change the Environment Variable for the System INI (OS2SYS.INI) file as well. Other possible uses for this is BETA testing applications. Use another copy of CONFIG.SYS (such as CONFIG.B (for BETA) and OS2B.INI and OS2SYSB.INI) and you'll not have to worry about corrupting your INI Files because you used a BETA copy of an application that has a serious bug in it. Should you choose to boot a configuration that, basically, starts from scratch, without destroying your current setup, you can copy the file CONFIG.X to, say, CONFIG.B (CONFIG.X is the config.sys file your system uses when you choose "F2 - Go to command line, (no files replaced, use original CONFIG.SYS)" from the Recovery Menu). This file is Write Protected, so, after you make the copy, you'll have to run: ATTRIB -R C:\OS2\BOOT\CONFIG.B Then, create new INI files using the built-in utility MAKEINI. MAKEINI OS2B.INI INI.RC MAKEINI OS2SYSB.INI OS2SYS.RC Then, edit the CONFIG.B file and replace the values for the Environment Variables: SET USER_INI=C:\OS2\BOOT\OS2B.INI SET SYSTEM_INI=C:\OS2\BOOT\OS2SYSB.INI SET RUNWORKPLACE=C:\OS2\PMSHELL.EXE This will give you a config.sys file equivalent to the settings and configuration you had when you first installed Warp, as well as the original OS2.INI and OS2SYS.INI files. You can, in effect, start up a configuration of Warp that is as it was when you first installed it. You can even choose a configuration that allows your Warp system to appear like an OS/2 2.0 Desktop, an OS/2 1.3 Desktop or a Windows 3.x Desktop by creating unique INI files using the MAKEINI utility and editing the CONFIG.n file to reflect the changes you wish to use in the Environment Variables. CAUTION: There is no guarantee that using this configuration will prevent damage to your file system if you are using a misbehaving BETA application. It will prevent corruption in your default INI files, but the only SAFE way to test BETA products is by actually booting a totally different Warp system using Boot Manager (or another Boot Utility), thus isolating the 2 Operating System partitions. Information and Instructions in this article were found in the OS/2 Warp 4 Online Documentation, in the printed book "OS/2 Warp Unleashed, Deluxe Edition" and "The Warp Databook (at http://www.millennium-technology.com/) Even though OS/2 Warp Unleashed was written for Warp 3, it is still one of the best 3rd party Printed books available for Warp systems. And the Warp Databook is constantly updated to reflect changes, upgrades and enhancements to the Warp Operating System, making it an excellent source of up-to-date information on OS/2 Warp. VOICE is, basically, a volunteer organization. We are supported, almost entirely, by our members. We are OS/2 users helping OS/2 users. If you'd like to contribute to our effort, Membership information is available on our Website. And if you'd like to contribute to this series of articles, E-mail abraxas@os2voice.org me with a brief description of your idea. Of course, we'd like to have contributions from our members, but membership is not a requirement for contributing to our cause. ═══ 5.3. VOICE Newsletter - The Lexmark Color Inkjet 5700 ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org Color Printing Worthy of OS/2 Lexmark's Color Jetprinter 5700 Turns Heads By: Don K. Eitner (freiheit@tstonramp.com) http://www.tstonramp.com/~freiheit/ Lexmark have a bit of a reputation as one of the few printer manufacturers who develop their own OS/2 print drivers for home and small business use. This reputation is well deserved and continues to march along with their recent OS/2 drivers for the 3000, 5000, 5700, 7000, and 7200 series Color Jetprinters. (available through http://www.lexmark.com/software/driverlanguage.html) Software I have installed the provided Windows 3.1 drivers as well as the free downloadable OS/2 drivers for the 5700 on my system and, aside from some specific visual aspects of the two systems, have found them to be identical in terms of features* and options. Both provide on-screen ink level indicators to let you know when you're running out of any color of ink, both provide button driven ink cartridge installation and removal, both provide for up to 1200x1200 dots per inch printing, and more. Installation of the OS/2 drivers was as simple as unpacking the self-extracting archive file to a temporary directory (g:\os2zip\printers\lexjet\ in my case), double clicking on the LEXIJET.DRV program object under the Drives folder, and dragging the Lexmark 5700 Series ColorFine printer object to the desktop. It was then just a matter of setting preferences within the resulting print driver object. ┌─────────────┐ ├─────────────┤ │Lexmark Color│ │Jetprinter │ │5700 Retail │ │price: $249 │ │US List │ │prices for │ │ink │ │cartridges │ │Photo Color │ │Ink : $39.99 │ │Standard │ │Black Ink : │ │$29.49 │ │Standard │ │Color Ink : │ │$35.99 │ │Contact │ │Lexmark 740 │ │New Circle │ │Road Dept. │ │S78A, Bldg. │ │001-1 │ │Lexington, KY│ │40550 │ │http://│ └─────────────┘ My only complaint about the OS/2 drivers is that clicking the Job Properties button in the standard printer setup notebook for OS/2 gives one less configuration tab/page than right mouse clicking on the specific printer object within the printer setup notebook and opening its properties notebook. The latter method makes you work through two separate notebooks of settings, but gives the Setup Forms Connections tab/page which lets you specify paper sources and sizes as well as the format for the spool file (RAW or STD). Hardware The 5700 is a very reasonably priced ($249 retail) printer that can achieve up to 1200x1200 dots per inch printing in full color on a variety of paper types. Comparable printers from Hewlett Packard or Canon can run as much as $400 retail and you'll be lucky to get more than 600dpi from them. Whether this makes a difference is entirely based upon how you will use the printer. The printer features Accu-Feed paper handling, which does away with the myriad levers and switches in many inkjet printers. These levers and switches usually select either letter-size or envelope paper, normal thickness or cardstock paper, and sometimes (as with the Epson Stylus Color 500) a lever which can alter the closeness of the paper to the inkjets to improve clarity in some circumstances. There is only one lever on the Lexmark 5700 and it's for the paper alignment (if using smaller than 8.5" x 11" paper) to ensure straight feed-through. The printer handles envelopes and cardstock paper just fine. Setting up the printer was remarkably simple. I've had more trouble hooking a CD player to my home stereo system. No parallel cable is provided with the printer (seems to be a common occurrence) and Lexmark recommend a bi-directional parallel cable, which I already had for use with my Epson Stylus Color 500. The short printer setup sheet provided easy to follow instructions but only mentioned Windows 3.1, 95, and NT. The OS/2 drivers didn't exist until months after the printer came on the market, so I'm not at all surprised. However I am a bit dismayed that the website for the 5700 still does not mention OS/2 support--a fact which might lead many borderline OS/2 users to not consider buying the printer or to consider using Windows instead of OS/2. To get to the OS/2 drivers, you must go instead to the Printer Software section of Lexmark's website and click again for a list of all their printers. Here you will need to click on the Color Jetprinter 5700 link to access all the available drivers for this printer. Installation of print cartridges is done through the aid of the driver. You open the job properties notebook (shown below), select the Cartridge tab, and then click on either Install Left Cartridge or Install Right Cartridge. The short setup sheet tells you which side to place the color ink into and which side to place the black ink (or optional photo ink) into. Furthermore, after you click Install Right Cartridge, you will be asked whether you're installing a Black Ink or Photo Color cartridge. The Photo Color cartridge can replace the black ink cartridge. It contains black ink as well as light cyan and light magenta. The black ink in this optional cartridge does not have the full 200 print nozzles of the dedicated black ink cartridge, and as such prints of black text or black and white images may not be as precise, but your color photographs should get quite a boost in color realism and overall quality. In my opinion, the standard tri-color ink cartridge and dedicated black ink cartridge do an incredible job of printing color photos. The Real Test Using plain paper and the Normal 600dpi setting (there's also a Quick 600 and an Enhanced 600), photographs printed with more realistic colors and less spottiness than the maximum quality (720dpi) of my former Epson Stylus Color 500 when printing on coated inkjet paper. The ink also did not saturate the paper as much as the Epson But no one really expects photographs to print well on plain typing paper. Prints of the same images on the coated paper but using the Lexmark's Enhanced 600dpi quality showed some improvement in color depth as well as overall clarity and would most definitely make for excellent printing of a small circulation magazine, newsletter, or greeting cards. It has also proven excellent for creating buttons of the mylar-covered, pin-back variety. The glossy mylar film helping to bring out the colors of the print. Using the same Enhanced 600dpi quality for the same images but printing on glossy photo paper provided absolutely stunning results. Assuming a quality scan of the image initially (say more than 200dpi) it's almost impossible to tell the difference between these prints and real photographs that you get back from your local drug store or 1 hour photo lab. Only close inspection revealed some red and green banding in dark regions of my photo printouts. This would be excellent printing for postcards, inserts for self-made CDs (if you plan to sell them on a private record label) or the cover of the aforementioned small-circulation magazine. It should be pointed out that when printing on the photo/glossy paper from Hammermill, the ink remained fairly wet for quite some time (as many as three days for some images). Conversely, printing on postcard paper from Hewlett Packard (not photo/glossy but somewhat glossy) dried almost instantaneously and produced surprisingly similar quality at Enhanced 600dpi. Naturally the cost per page increases with the different types of paper. Good photo paper will run you about $14 for 20 sheets, while coated inkjet paper may cost $20 for 100 sheets. The results (as opposed to plain typewriter paper) are certainly worth the cost of the coated paper and worth the cost of the photo paper if you wish to make your own copies of existing photos and hand them out to friends and family. So what of the 1200dpi print mode, you ask. Well my suggestion is that unless you have more than 32 megabytes of RAM and a swap file on a fast SCSI hard drive, you shouldn't even try to print at this resolution (not in color, anyway). Remember that the basic amount of memory needed to store a 4x6" (postcard size) image at 1200x1200 dpi in true color is: (4" x 1200 dpi x 6" x 1200 dpi x 24 bpp) / 8 bits = # of bytes (103,680,000 bytes) 103,680,000 bytes / 1024 bytes = # of kilobytes (101,250 kilobytes) 101,250 kilobytes / 1024 KB = # of megabytes (98.877 megabytes) The next factor to take into account is print speed. True print speed, of course, involves everything from the moment you tell PMView (or some other application) to send the image to the printer until the moment the printer releases the printed page for you to pick up and frame. The amount of RAM in your system and the speed of your hard drive will make quite a difference, especially if you attempt to print a 600dpi image at any size larger than about 4x6". I tried to print a 5x7" photo that I'd scanned at 600dpi and after two and a half hours it still hadn't made its way to the print spooler file--my swap file went nuts, growing to 240 megabytes from its default of 64 megabytes. Apparently it was doing a lot more in the swap file than just setting down a 100 megabyte raw image--it seemed to be moving it around within the swap file almost constantly, which made my whole system drag as OS/2 was forced to constantly monitor and change the size of my swap file. I wised up a little after this--I cut the size of the image down until it was the equivalent of 400dpi and I converted it from 24-bit true color to 8 bit grayscale (it was a mostly gray image to begin with). The swap/spool/print job took less than two minutes with the actual print portion being only half of that. The results (printed at Enhanced 600dpi on photo paper) are near photographic quality. Again, only close inspection reveals slight red and green banding in the darker regions of the image--indication that the drivers are using the tri-color cartridge rather than the black cartridge for printing shades of gray (under both Windows and OS/2). There's a great interview on the SCOUG (Southern California OS/2 User Group) website about getting the most from color inkjet printers. This is a must read for anyone thinking of printing anything that they wish to keep or sell. The URL is http://www.scoug.com/os24u/1998/scoug805.2.dbaker.html. Overall Ratings Ratings are 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) ┌────────────────────────┬───┬───┐ │Print Speed │-->│8 │ ├────────────────────────┼───┼───┤ │Print Quality │-->│9 │ ├────────────────────────┼───┼───┤ │Color Matching │-->│8 │ ├────────────────────────┼───┼───┤ │Noise Level │-->│7 │ ├────────────────────────┼───┼───┤ │OS/2 Driver Quality │-->│9 │ └────────────────────────┴───┴───┘ Test System: Cyrix 6x86 P166+, 32MB of EDO RAM, bi-directional parallel cable, Lexmark Color Jetprinter 5700, OS/2 Warp 4.0, fixpack 6, Lexmark ColorFine printer driver v2.446 ┌────────────────────────┬───┬───┐ │Print Speed │-->│6 │ ├────────────────────────┼───┼───┤ │Print Quality │-->│6 │ ├────────────────────────┼───┼───┤ │Color Matching │-->│5 │ ├────────────────────────┼───┼───┤ │Noise Level │-->│4 │ ├────────────────────────┼───┼───┤ │OS/2 Driver Quality │-->│7 │ └────────────────────────┴───┴───┘ For the sake of comparison, I'd give my previous printer (Epson Stylus Color 500) the following ratings when used with the same system: * Only one difference, being an Enable Buffer Mode option in Windows 3.1. The manual claims this is unnecessary for Windows NT (and therefore, apparently, for OS/2 as well). About The Author Don Eitner has been an OS/2 user since 1995 and has maintained The 13th Floor website since 1996. There he keeps an ongoing list of as many currently available native OS/2 applications as he can find (http://www.tstonramp.com/~freiheit/os2apps.shtml) which was awarded 3 A ratings, including an A+, from SCOUG (http://www.scoug.com/os24u/1998/scoug806.2.webfoot.html) To date Don has written 13 articles for the VOICE Newsletter and was elected as Secretary on the Board of Directors of VOICE in April, 1998. Acknowledgements Lexmark (http://www.lexmark.com) Epson (http://www.epson.com) ═══ 5.4. VOICE Newsletter - WarpGlobe, Beta 7 ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org WarpGLOBE, Beta 7 By: Wayne Swanson, (psoft@Tech-Center.com) http://fm-net.com/pillarsoft Initial Impressions I'm not quite sure where I first heard of WarpGLOBE, perhaps it was from the "most excellent" WarpCast mailing list. Whatever the case may be, I can say that it sounded like an intriguing program. For the uninitiated, WarpGLOBE is a background bitmap for your desktop that paints a red dot (light?) wherever OS/2 users live. Of course, the only users that appear on the globe are the ones that have sent their home location to the author, Sergio Costas. The bitmapped globe is updated at user specified intervals to reflect the actual position of the sun's lighting of the earth. It can be adjusted to view your hemisphere only or you may elect to have the earth rotate and the sun remain static. It is also quite attractive as a desktop background. WarpGLOBE is small and unobtrusive so you will hardly realize that it is running. It is a text mode program that uses very little in the way of resources to start with and is usually found sleeping. At the interval you select, it will awake and update the background display. You've got to believe that there is some heavy number crunching going on here but it only takes a second for the bitmap to be updated and WarpGLOBE to go back to sleep. The update of the image is divided into three parts: the first one paints the stars in the output buffer. The second one maps (projects) the MUNDO.PCX image as a sphere, creating the world, and storing it in the output buffer over the stars. The third one takes each cities' coordinate pair from USERS.NFO file, and uses it as longitude-latitude angles to paint the points over the mapped image in the output buffer. Finally, it saves the buffer as a bitmap and changes the desktop background, making point it to the new file. Why a globe with OS/2 user locations? Sergio says, "I saw the XEarth program on Linux, and I thought that it could be a good idea for OS/2. A lot of times I think that I'm alone using OS/2, and I'm sure that a lot of users sometimes think like me. I think that WarpGLOBE could make OS/2 users feel that they aren't alone in the world, that there's a lot of people using this Operating System." User response has been very good. According to Sergio, "The first week I received more than 60 messages with cities, comments, bug reports and suggestions. Now, only one month after the first release, I have received (in total) more than 250 e-mails. There's 170 cities listed, and I'm receiving more cities every day (about 6-7 new cities per day)." You can almost bet that if you send your city information to Sergio, it will probably be in the next USERS.NFO file and visible on your new WarpGLOBE background. Installation The first prerequisite is that WarpGLOBE works with the EMX runtime. A large percentage of OS/2 users will probably have EMX installed already but those that do not will need to download it from Hobbes and install it. The program itself comes in three separate archives: GLOBEUSR.ZIP contains two files: CITIES.TXT, which contains the names of the cities included in WarpGLOBE, and USERS.NFO, which is the file that has the coordinates used by the program. This file is updated each week with new cities. GLOBEPRG.ZIP contains the last executable file, the instruction files (both in Spanish and English) and an icon file. GLOBEIMG.ZIP contains the MUNDO.PCX file. This pcx file is reworked at each program interval and is the basis of the bitmapped globe. The reason for the three file distribution according to the author is, "The MUNDO.PCX is an extremely large file and never changes. If I distribute in one file, each time a user wants to take the file with new cities, or a new beta executable, he/she would have to download a lot of repeated data. Dividing it into three files, the users can download only the new parts, reducing their telephone costs." Once the files were downloaded we created a directory for WarpGLOBE and unzipped all three archives into the new directory. There wasn't an installation script to build a program object for Globe.exe but most OS/2 users are familiar with that process. Upon starting WarpGLOBE (Globe.exe) you are presented an OS/2 window with the program setup. Here you can set your screen size, time zone (in deference to GMT), refresh interval etc. There are plenty of adjustments to be made but most will be easily understood. For the ones you don't understand, it is possible to refresh the display every time you make a selection to see the effect it will have on the background. After setting your preferences you can minimize the window and forget about it! WarpGLOBE will keep your view of the world of OS/2 users updated. Conclusion There has not been time to do a help file yet and it could use an installation script for the neophyte OS/2 user that doesn't have a handle on creating program objects yet. These are very minor inconveniences and may come to pass soon as WarpGLOBE is still a very young program. Another item that would be nice to see is an option to save a particular view and leave it as your desktop background without the periodic updates. If you exit WarpGLOBE, it automatically deletes the present bitmap and your background will revert to it's underlying color. I have found myself manually saving a view that I like and setting it as my background to get around this. The author updates the GLOBEUSR.ZIP (Cities files) about once a week and they can just be unzipped into the WarpGLOBE directory overwriting the old files. All in all, it was relatively easy to setup and very pleasant to look at. The price is not a factor in deciding whether to install WarpGLOBE. Sergio has made it available for free saying, "I would like WarpGLOBE to be used by all OS/2 users, so making it freeware is the best way to do it." Send your city location to Sergio and take a peek at WarpGLOBE. I think you'll like what you see! Author Information Sergio Costas Rodriguez (RASTER) scostas@arrakis.es http://www.arrakis.es/~scostas WarpGLOBE URL: http://www.arrakis.es/~scostas/OS2/globe.htm (in spanish) http://www.arrakis.es/~scostas/OS2/globeeng.htm (in english) WarpGLOBE is FreeWare! Wayne Swanson, email: Psoft@Tech-Center.com, PillarSoft: http://fm-net.com/pillarsoft The author is a contractor and software developer associated with PillarSoft, producers of WarpZip, ShowTime/2 and the Enhanced E Editors. He is also a proud member and Vice President of VOICE. ═══ 5.5. VOICE Newsletter - "Good News? No, it's GREAT News!" ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org "Good News? No, it's GREAT News!" By: Tom Nadeau os2headquarters@mindspring.com IBM has announced the next generation of OS/2 Warp, version 5, will be rolling out early next year. One of the key ingredients is the SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessing) feature. Why is this such good news? For one thing, SMP the OS/2 way will mean 64-way SMP support. While Microsoft and others struggle with 4-way and perhaps someday 8-way SMP, OS/2 version 5 will support up to 64 Pentium CPUs in a single PC. Furthermore, IBM's way of scaling SMP is inherently superior to products like NT, because IBM's stated design goal is 100% utilization of each additional processor in an SMP CPU bed. That is one reason why Warp Server Advanced blows the doors off of NT Advanced Server -- IBM's implementation of 4-way SMP is essentially 1 full CPU better than Microsoft's. In other words, the fourth Pentium for NTAS is unavailable, while IBM's best server utilizes 60% of its capacity. Well, that's all well and good, but you may be thinking that 64 Pentiums is a little out of your price range. Think again. Moore's Law implies that in two or three years, Pentiums at the 200 MHz level will be a dime a dozen. A nice 8x8 matrix of Socket 7's will actually be feasible. But there's one more reason that surpasses even these: the issue of scalability versus data handling. Having a single CPU or even 4-way PC max out means trouble, because now you have to network several of these boxes together, plus find network management tools and additional storage space for a growing "server farm." Your data must now be partitioned across multiple hard drives located in several different physical machines. This is a headache to manage and an absolute migraine to troubleshoot. Meanwhile, your OS/2 Warp 5 machine running 4 CPUs cannot "max out"; you simply pop another 4 CPUs in the box and keep right on working. Need more server power, throughput, and thread-handling? Drop another 8, 24, or 56 CPUs into the box. No server farm, no need for distributed data management across multiple hard drives, and no low-bandwidth NIC bottlenecks in between them -- no more headaches for a long, long time. This indeed GREAT news for network administrators! The only question now is..... Where's the hype??? Tom Nadeau VOICE Marketing Director -- http://www.os2voice.org ********************************************************** IBM OS/2 means Better Computing ********************************************************** OS/2 Headquarters -- Your Chauffeur on the Info Highway http://www.mindspring.com/~os2headquarters ═══ 5.6. VOICE Newsletter - Interview with an OS/2 Business User ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org Interview with an OS/2 User This month VOICE interviews two business OS/2 users. Our first interview is with Thom Davis, of Centari Computers. Thom is a former BBS sysop that used to run & Beta Test Wildcat BBS from Mustang Software, the BBS was called "The Confederate BBs" and was one of the first to get Wildcat running under OS/2. Thom also runs The WarpCast News Services' Alternate Site for IBM.NET users, where they can finally get the Warpcast, because IBM's Spam filters do not like Warpcast from it's source. He also run the OS/2 BookStore, where you can find books that pertain SOLELY to OS/2 VOICE> What kind of business are you involved in? Thom> We're a small store front that has been dealing with local customers but are branching out via the Web to service a big hole in the OS/2 Community, A OS/2 Reseller with a heart! :) VOICE> Can you please describe your current use of OS/2 in your workplace? What kind of hardware and software are you using for OS/2? Approximately how many pc's are running OS/2 at your site? Thom> OS/2 is the primary OS on a Cyrix 200mhz System, although we do have Win'95 installed, it is used only for cross-platform testing. We run our Web Site on a Road Runner Cable Modem using IBM's Internet Connection Server v1.1 also we use QuikBooks for all our other needs under WinOS/2 VOICE> Were you aware that Intuit has dropped win 3.1 support for Quickbooks >6.0? Thom> No, I was throughly upset with this development. Last night I was actually going to their sight to thank them for supporting Win3.1, but alas, I ended up asking for a v6.0 that could be run in Win/OS2. This is not a big deal us, as v4.0 is what we use and it works good enough, but for them it could cause problems, they just lost another customer. As a side note, Family Tree Maker, the Genealogy program from BroderBund has also ceased making a Win 3.1 version of it. My Wife discovered this recently and called them about it. These mis-informed people told her that "OS/2 Warp is OLD" and then proceeded to tell her "You need to get with Times" and when she kept asking questions about it, the guy got even more rude and basically told her "TOUGH" Needless to say, BroderBund will never get another dollar of my personal or company money and I might even goes as far as putting a nice blurb on my Website's support page about us "NOT" support running BroderBund software on our systems, we'll have to see if I calm down or not in the next day or 2, but right now it is a go :) VOICE> Since you are in the business :-) Are you finding it harder to find components that support OS/2? Thom> Not nessasarily hard, just frustrating and time consuming, I eventually find what I am looking for, whereas the common user that only uses the Net on occassion would have a even harder time. VOICE> Can you outline two systems you might suggest for us? A minimal OS/2 configuration and a power users "money not a big object" system. Thom> For A Minimal System I would suggest our Londo Series, cheap and fast with all the basics except printer (we don't do printers ) Cyrix 200MX CPU, Motherboard w/512k Cache, 16meg of RAM, 3.2 Gig Hard Drive, 1.44 Floppy, 2meg S3 Virge 3D Video, 24x CD-ROM, Sound Card, 60watt Speakers, 33.6k Modem, Enlite Mini-tower case, 104 Keyboard, Artec Mouse, 14" AOC SVGA Monitor and OS/2 Warp v4.0 (easy installation) or Win 95 for $799 +shipping For a Power Users System, we just recently added this to the WebSite, Our "Presidential Power-Users Series" The system is the ULTIMATE, the big guys can't get one over on me with this one! Pentium II 400Mhz CPU, Motherboard, 256meg of RAM, 18gig Wide SCSI Hard Drive, 1.44 Floppy, Internal Zip 100 Drive,16meg Matrox Millennium Video, 40x CD-ROM, AWE 64 Gold Sound Card,180watt Speakers, 56k v.90 Modem, Super Tower case, 104 Keyboard, Artec Mouse, "21 SVGA Monitor and OS/2 Warp v4.0 (easy installation) or Win 95 for $5099 The website is probably a better reference , we have buttons with all the different CPU's available for each system. http://pages.sssnet.com/Confed2 VOICE> Do you do any marketing of OS/2 to the general computer user in your area for your business? Thom> Yes, we are one of the few places in the area that deals with Cable Modems and have been avidly persueing letting people know that OS/2 can run on these systems. We have OS/2 Displayed in the Store as "The MicroSoft Alternative" (which we had to Create our selves) When people ask me about certain Win95 programs I even have a good line to get the conversation turned to OS/2 "We do not run or install any Microsoft programs" this usually gets a response of "Then what do you use?" "Why OS/2 of course" in fact most of my return local business knows this and has repeatedly asked questions, some have tried some just think I'm eccentric, by either way, they have been informed that M$ is not the only game in town. VOICE> How did you decide to use OS/2? What features were considered important for this project(s)? What previous experience was there with OS/2 and other operating systems? Thom> I jumped into OS/2 Because at the time I needed to upgrade the BBS to 2 lines and DesqView was getting overloaded and the reports that I had seen OS/2 handled comports better than anything else, I admit, I did try Win31, but the ports speed and the lack of true ANSI emulation was terrible. VOICE> What other operating systems if any were under consideration or are used for your business? If you use OS/2 in conjunction with other OSes in any form of a network, how well does OS/2 work with these other systems? Thom> Currently, we are working on installing a Lan with OS/2 only, we really have no need for another OS except for like I said earlier, cross-platform testing, OS/2 fills all the other needs quite nicely. VOICE> Do you foresee continued/increasing use of OS/2 in this fashion? Thom> If IBM would quit putting there foot in their collective mouths, I think OS/2 has a bright future. I would not have moved into OS/2 Web Market had I thought otherwise. OS/2 is proven it's self, I just wish IBM would stop installing Win95 on all their computers they sell and start letting the common man have a choice. OS/2 could actually be moving at Warp speed if they would just OPENLY support it. VOICE> Are there any changes that you would like to see to OS/2 that would facilitate your continued use or expanded use of OS/2? Thom> It's hard for me to sell a local customer OS/2 when the only software they see if for Win'95, so from my store's point of view, I would have to say that the ability to run Win'95/98 is number one for continued use and expandability VOICE> How have IBM's statements that they are targeting the medium to large business sector affected your work or your decision to continue using OS/2 for this/these task(s)? Thom> It's gotten very hard! I tell everyone about OS/2, some to the point that they won't talk computers with me as much :) It's also very hard to get business customers to consider us for their needs when our expertise is in OS/2 and all they see is 95/NT software and support out there. VOICE> If IBM licensed another company to sell the OS/2 client to home/SOHO users, would it affect your usage of OS/2 (would you use more OS/2 clients for your work, etc)? If this company could add features, what features would you like to see added? Thom> I probably would not use more clients personally, but I would imagine it would be easier to sell to the end-user, just because I think another company would be able to see the potential that OS/2 has and would add in things like support for 95/NT, shoot, NT should be relatively easy considering a lot of it's API's are OS/2's! I'd also like to see more device drivers added, Yes, I know OS/2 will need these, but I would especially like to see Scanners with Parallel Port interfaces supported, there devices are really cheap and very useful, but OS/2 has not 1 driver for them VOICE> Would you be interested in a refreshed version of OS/2 Warp 4.0, that is a new install package that included all fixes and new enhancements as well as new harware support since the original release? Thom> DEFINITELY! But I would like to see them have a new Large disk driver, one that would incorporate more capacity that what is currently available, I personally have had to change that driver 3 times in the last year VOICE> Has your business been contacted by IBM about the potential use of Work Space on Demand? Do you see any use for that product in your business? Thom> NO, IBM has not contacted me on ANYTHING! I'm a SO/HO and with my store obtaining the Toll-Free number (877-OS2-WARP) I'm very suprised and it also makes me wonder.... VOICE> Do you know of any other sites using OS/2 in your industry? Thom> I know most of the popular ones that everyone knows, like Stardock, Supersite, BMT Micro. I do a lot of searching on the search engines and find a lot of the other sites, but don't always bookmark them. One thing I have seen is a few sites that run OS/2 but do NOT publize it, (you can tell when you get and error 404) These are usually bigger companies that do not care to make their OS known ═══ 5.7. VOICE Newsletter - Interview with an OS/2 Business User ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education AUGUST 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org Interview with an OS/2 User Next we interview Tom Stevic. Tom works for a distributor of industrial computerized machine control products. He also has a small company of his own to enable him to do projects outside of his employer's scope of business. VOICE> What kind of business are you involved in? Tom> I do technical support for the machine control products we sell. This includes working on the help desk, training, on site troubleshooting, and doing the engineering for some of the turn-key projects we do. VOICE> Can you please describe your current use of OS/2 in your workplace? What >kind of hardware and software are you using for OS/2? Approximately how many pc's are running OS/2 at your site? Tom> I use OS/2 as the primary operating system for all of the PCs that I use, and for two other PCs that I am responsible for. Other than the PCs I have OS/2 on, there are 3 win95 machines, one win 3.1, and a RS6000. With the exception of the laptop computers that I and another Tech use, the PCs are used as replacements for terminals to the RS6000. ( we still have 15 ascii terminals running ) When at my desk answering the telephone, I use voice-type to record the details of my conversations, the details are stored in a DB/2 database that uses a front end designed with DBExpert. During my conversations, I am often required to look up specs on different products ( most of the tech references I use have been scanned an stored on my desktop, that makes retrieving them a snap, and also allows me to fax pages without leaving my office ). I often am required to walk customers through the keystrokes required to do things in the support software the control devices use. I also can generate quotes, log on to our vendors web sites, and write documentation. My work machine is up and running 24/7, and I typically have 6 DOS sessions, the DBExpert applications( along with DB/2 ), 3 windows sessions, netscape, mr2ice, the IBM works word processor, wordperfect 5.1 for dos, and faxworks all open and active at once. VOICE> How did you decide to use OS/2? What features were considered important for this project(s)? What previous experience was there with OS/2 and other operating systems? Tom> In the beginning, I was a dos sort of guy, and later, a DOS + Desqview guy. When windows 3 was released, and I heard all the ravings about how good and easy it was to use, I took a look at it. I was very unimpressed with the total lack of performance. I could finish tasks in less time than it took the windows machines to start their applications. I decided at that point that windows was not for me. And I made it clear to those who would ask. After a while, though, I was beginning to realize the a graphical interface was the wave of the future and I could not resist forever. About that time, while visiting my brother, he gave me a demo of OS/2 2.1. After I installed it and played with it a while, I decided that with the flat memory model it used, I could work the way I had become accustomed to, without getting the dreaded GPF and out of memory errors that windows always gave me when ever I would try to use it. I also decided that if I started using OS/2, I could continue to voice my opinion about windows. ( which turned out to be more accurate than I realized ) I have been sold ever since. The features that are important to me are primarily the fact that I can have multiple programs open and active, and I can switch from application to application at will. My work habits have grown to use this and I now find it very hard to go back to starting and closing programs so the OS does not lock up on me. VOICE> What other operating systems if any were under consideration or are used for your business? If you use OS/2 in conjunction with other OSes in any form of a network, how well does OS/2 work with these other systems? Tom> Two of the OS/2 machines and all of the win machines are networked back to the RS6000. After the initial difficulty of getting the OS/2 machines setup ( the people who wrote the application that runs on the RS6000 had no clue what they were doing. Even when problems came up with the win machines, the 'fix' was to reinstall windows and then follow the keystrokes to install networking ), the OS/2 machines perform flawlessly. My desktop machine gets rebooted when I add things to it, but the other OS/2 desktop ( running V3 connect ) has been up for over two years. I simply have no networking problems with them at all. Not so with the win machines. They lock up at least once a day. I can't offer much more insight on them however, I refuse to touch them. The RS6000 has several flat ascii file "databases". These files contain our customer information, inventory and pricing, billing, and other such information the system uses. The RS6000 application is ODBC enabled though, and those of use who use PCs make use of that. Most of the use by the other people is to create custom reports using Excel. My use of the information is to have a local copy of the information I use ( customer info, inventory & pricing ) sitting in a DB/2 data base. I used DBExpert to create a custom interface to the data and have a much more powerful and flexible set of screens than the others who still use the ascii terminal emulation to access the standard screens. VOICE> Do you foresee continued/increasing use of OS/2 in this fashion? Tom> I have made quite an impression on the owner of the company with the data screens I use, and have received the OK to change all of the terminals to 'my' system. He has no idea what an OS is, so I am free to use what ever I want. The only trouble is to find the time to do this while not dropping any of the other balls I juggle, and the accounting department is not going to change, because OS/2 is not used by 'everyone else', plus the fact that the people the accounting department deal with have told them that OS/2 is a dead end. ( Gee, that sounds familiar ) VOICE> Are there any changes that you would like to see to OS/2 that would facilitate your continued use or expanded use of OS/2? Tom> A *visible* commitment by IBM to the product and the ability to run win32 programs. VOICE> How have IBM's statements that they are targeting the medium to large business sector affected your work or your decision to continue using OS/2 for this/these task(s)? Tom> I do not look at IBM for any support, other than to continue developing the product. My shop is small enough that I am looked on as something of an *expert*, even though I am not. I use what works. And for the way I work, and for the stability of the product, OS/2 works best. VOICE> If IBM licensed another company to sell the OS/2 client to home/SOHO users, would it affect your usage of OS/2 (would you use more OS/2 clients for your work, etc)? If this company could add features, what features would you like to see added? Tom> If the company actively marketed the product, and responded to the constant reports of the death of OS/2, and provided the ability to run win32 programs, and kept the device drivers for new hardware coming, yes, it would make my use and support of OS/2 a great deal easier. VOICE> Would you be interested in a refreshed version of OS/2 Warp 4.0, that is a new install package that included all fixes and new enhancements as well as new hardware support since the original release? Tom> This would be very helpful, even though software choice is a very easy way to update, for new installations, one CD would be helpful. Perhaps a quarterly release of refreshes for a small fee to licensed users? I would pay $15 - $25 for this ( after the original W4 purchase of course ). VOICE> Has your business been contacted by IBM about the potential use of Work Space on Demand? Do you see any use for that product in your business? Tom> No. We have never been contacted by IBM. Unless I can convince the accounting department to replace the main application that we use with standard off the shelf products, there is no use for WSOD at our shop. VOICE> Do you know of any other sites using OS/2 in your industry? Tom> As a distributor, no. But one of the products we sell is an IBM product called Plantworks. This is a factory automation product that only runs on OS/2, and we have 11 customers that we have placed this package at. The smallest being a single node doing fault collection for three machines, the largest being a 23 node system collecting fault and production, and providing operator interface functions for 124 machines. OS/2's stability has shown to be flawless in these installations. All of the machines run 24/7. There has *never* been an unplanned reboot for any of the 87 machines. ═══ 5.8. VOICE Newsletter - OS/2 Tips. ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org OS/2 Tips We scan the Web, Usenet and the OS/2 mail lists looking for these gems. Have you run across an interesting bit of information about OS/2 recently? Please share it with all our readers. Send your tips to editor@os2voice.org August 13, 1998 Source: Mike Kaply posting a response in comp.os.os2.beta about how to turn off the icon display in the Communicator/2 beta's toolbars: Edit->Preferences->Appearance - Second group of radio button - Text Only Editor's note: Another customization feature of the toolbars is that you can drag any of the 3 toolbars with the left mouse button held, to re-arrange their sequence. August 12, 1998 Source: John Sandercock on the IBM OS/2 Unedited Discussion List: I had a lot of trouble, too( Installing Java 1.1.6). I succeeded finally after reinstalling Warp 4 and installing Java 1.1.6 before I applied any FixPaks, but I don't suggest that you need to do anything that drastic. There is an IBM Technical Document at http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/pspsdocs.nsf/8d77653332b629ab862563cc005ee09a/c43ee3ee9ffd90028625657100759407?OpenDocument (no spaces) Which says that one should clean up after an unsuccessful Feature Install by deleting Install objects and FI.INI from C:\OS2\INSTALL and rebooting. August 7, 1998 Source: Mark Dodel Three things I can think of that I have done in the past to get back a window that is off the screen: First thing to try is open the window list and select netscape and click the RMB (Right Mouse Button) and select Tile. That should bring it back. If that doesn't work, you can try increasing your video resolution temporarily if your card supports it, and then move it to the center of the screen and reset back to your normal resolution. Finally if none of those work, you can take an icon on the desktop and gradually move it up off the screen in the direction of the out of bounds window, as you do this, scroll bars will appear on the Left and bottom of the screen. Move these in the direction Netscape window is located. This can be tedious if it's way off, but it does work. When you are done just move the icon back to where it was and the scroll bars will disappear. August 6, 1998 Source: John Sandercock on the POSSI Discussion List: I learned, by accident, that you must apply the MPTS upgrade *before* the TCPIP stack upgrade. If you reverse the order, you will find that the MPTS fix puts your TCPIP stack back from 4.02t to 4.02r without telling you anything about it. (This is also the order that Duane Chamblee advises on his very helpful page. I just thought I would share my experience in case anyone was wondering whether the order made a difference.) Editor note; Duane's page can be found at - http://duanec.indelible-blue.com/fixes/LatestWarp4.html August 4, 1998 Source: J. Pedone on the OS/2 User Mail List, had this tip for folks with problems installing fixpacks. This was posted to usenet a while back to clean up the log files after a bad FP install. Just run it from your boot drive: Begin cut______ cd \ del CSF_*.* cd \OS2\INSTALL\ del LOGF0000.OS2 ATTRIB -R LOGSTART.OS2 del LOGSTART.OS2 del LOGARCH.OS2 ATTRIB -R SERVICE.LOG del SERVICE.LOG cd \MMOS2\INSTALL\ del LOGF0000.MPM ATTRIB -R LOGSTART.MPM del LOGSTART.MPM del LOGARCH.MPM end cut _____ August 4, 1998 Source: Joseph J. Hansen on comp.os.os2.moderated had the following advise for an OS/2 user with no "sound except the .MID players" I had the same problem a while back, and here is what worked for me: 1. Power down the computer, remove the sound card. 2. Power up with the sound card out so that the BIOS can "notice" that it isn't there any more. 3. Power down, replace the card, power up. I don't know whether this will work for you, but it's worth a try. August 3, 1998 Source: Bruce Leiwant reports the following on the TeamOS/2 Help List: I received this from Keller Group Support: IBM appears to be working the problem, and it does appear to be a bug in PMMERGE.DLL. Another workaround is discussed below.... OS/2 development has been able to recreate the crash that I experience. They also have a temporary solution that works for them and me. First, in the Headers setting page, I unchecked the enable check box and second, I also unchecked "Add time-stamp header line" in the Printer settings page. After that I could print a document without any problem. IBM development is continuing to work on this regardless. July 31, 1998 Source: Rolly Green on the OS/2 User List: If you are looking to Import your Old Netscape Navigator for OS/2 bookmarks into your spanking new Communicator for OS/2 Beta try - Bookmark/edit bookmark/edit/import July 27, 1998 Source: Bernie Walp on the Berkeley OS/2 Mail List: It took "WarpGuide" to successfully install a new printer. As previously posted, I'd been unable to install a new printer object by following the usual icon-dragging procedure described in instructions accompanying IBM's latest OMNI.EXE -- as well as the OS/2 driver published by Epson Deutschland GmbH. The approach worked with neither driver package, although that's how I'm accustomed to creating printer objects. However, when I clicked the WarpCenter "Information" icon, then went to "WarpGuide" and "Install a New Printer," WarpGuide invoked the original OS/2 installation program. It went beautifully. Go figure. July 27, 1998 Source: Robert W. Erickson on the IBM OS/2 Unedited Discussion List on where to find the IBM "Pen for OS/2" software: ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/system/patches/warp_4/v4penos2.zip Although the file is refered to as a 'patch' it is in fact the whole package for warp4. You can use this package with the updated driver set from the IBM DD site: ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/os2ddpak/penos2.zip I use it with a Wacom "Artpad II". I tried the character recognition features and the gestures and couldn't get the hang of it. I use it now just as a mouse replacement July 19, 1998 Source: Allan Ballard on the Berkeley OS/2 Mail List: Good IBM FTP site search engine http://os2.ami.com.au/OS2/cgi-bin/ftpsearch.pl July 17, 1998 Source: Otso Ylonen: I just noticed a trick with network names with funny characters I would like to share with you: There is a printer in our (NT based) office environment which has a name like \\PRINT_SERVER\BLACK&WHITE In spite of the '&' in the name, you can access the printer just fine from the Network Resource Browser. The problem comes if you need to assign it to a LPT port with a NET USE command. OS/2 command processor interprets '&' as a separator between two commands. So, what you have to do is have the resource name quoted like this: NET USE LPT1: "\\PRINT_SERVER\BLACK&WHITE" Regards, Otso Ylonen July 16, 1998 Source: Vit Timchishin via Warpcast: Anyone who would like documentation concerning the built-in firewall features in the TCPIP 4.1 release: http://www.os2.spb.ru/technology/tcpip/ipsece.html ═══ 5.9. VOICE Newsletter - Letters, errata, addendums. ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org Letters, Addendum, Errata The following is an errata from Jason R Stefanovich about his Review of the IBM Intellimouse in the July VOICE Newsletter - http://www.os2voice.org/VNL/past_issues/VNL0798H/vnewsf3.htm: I wrote "Horizontal scrolling" ( Left & Right ) when I meant "Vertical scrolling" (Up & Down) when discribing the Intellimouse. Serves me right for not paying attention during plainar geometry. Also a helpful individual on the unedited list told me to move the extra notebook into a folder and delete the folder. I have no clue why, but for some reason this worked. The following is a letter from Walter Schmidt about Dan Casey's article on the OS/2 Adaptec SCSI driver AIC7870.ADD in the July VOICE Newsletter - http://www.os2voice.org/VNL/past_issues/VNL0798H/vnewsf2.htm: I've got some information concerning the latest Adaptec 2940 driver for OS/2. The following was posted on the TEAMOS2HELP mailing list. (The driver concerned there is the one mentioned as item #3 on your web page I've referred to in the subject): The latest Adaptec AIC7870.ADD d2.2 980617 (6/17/98, 133,768) fails to write a CD-R correctly (RSJ, Sony CDU960) but it did run the SCSI tape correctly (BackAgain/2 Pro, Python drive) so I put the previous driver back in ,d2.11S24, 980511, (5/11/98, 133640) which makes perfect CD-R's and I think the tape is ok as well. The author of this posting was Robert M. Riddle, PhD Houston, TX Walter Schmidt Erlangen, Germany The following letter is from Dr. Allie Martin, an "End user of OS/2 Warp 4 FP6": Faster internet connections and the development of widespread use of secure transactions have given rise to a new method of purchasing software. Instead of the usual delivered, shrink wrapped article, you may now electronically purchase software and have it electronically delivered as well. This is of benefit to both the customers and the ISV's. Electronic delivery avoids the cost of packaging and printing of handbooks. Electronic delivery provides prompt delivery of the software, free of shipping and duty costs which can be quite considerable for an international customer. Disadvantages only lie with the customer who will not get a printed manual with the purchase. Manuals, however, can also be provided with the download, or separately in PDF format for perusal or even printing(Stardock already does this).With the era of removable media and high capacity hard disks being common place, downloaded purchases may be easily stored for further use. This is clearly not suitable for large apps such as office suites and the like. At least not yet........it's only a matter of time. I personally have benefited a great deal from this service, and certainly encourage all OS/2 ISV's who offer software of a size suitable for download to offer sales and delivery electronically. OS/2 has users worldwide and the ISV's should ensure easy and all means of access to their software. For those OS/2 users who are not aware of this facility, check out the OS/2 Supersite and look at the various software solutions offered via the rapid internet purchasing service. BMT Micro also offers this service. Check it out and support your ISV's! ═══ 5.10. VOICE Newsletter - View From the END(user) ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education August 1998 VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org View From the End (User) Short Reports By: Don K. Eitner (freiheit@tstonramp.com) http://www.tstonramp.com/~freiheit/ X-it 2.51 is Gold When I first tried out Codesmith's X-it 2.5 on OS/2 Warp 3, I thought it was a pretty neat little program. I got some much needed features such as a close button that could be placed on either the left or right side of window title bars, I got some extra control over popup menus and VIO windows (OS/2 and DOS command line windows) and more. But then I started using PMMail 1.96 and was disappointed by a few problems the two programs had getting along. For instance, if I had the X-it title bar buttons enabled and I tried to roll up the PMMail window, it would lock into a frenzy of rolling up and down and would nearly lock my system. One of the worst things about using a desktop enhancer is having to disable it for certain programs. But recently Codesmith released X-it 2.51 with some feature enhancements and fixes for the PMMail problem as well as some Netscape Navigator problems. I am glad to say these fixes have worked! No longer do I have to forego the customizable title bar controls when using PMMail. No longer do I have to worry about whether X-it's edit box popup menu will conflict with Netscape's popup menu. The documentation also claims some fixes in regard to Lotus SmartSuite for OS/2 Warp 4. X-it 2.51 has thus far proven to be a stable and mature product that I can proudly use with all my OS/2 PM programs. Codesmith (http://www.wilmington.net/bmtmicro/catalog/X-it/X-it.html) License: Shareware Cost: $25 (also available now for Windows at $10) Communicator/2 Lives It finally happened. Only a year after being told we'd have a beta of Netscape Communicator for OS/2, IBM finally put it out for the public. Brief evaluation? It's decent. It's got the updated HTML and JavaScript support we've been needing, but it's terribly unstable with Java (more so than any version of Navigator 2.02 we ever had!) and it seems that on most systems (Matrox users seem to be immune to this) inline graphics on websites come up with white lines through them. Refreshing the display or simply getting the graphic off screen for a while fixes it right up, but it's nonetheless annoying. I'm also not fond of Communicator's newsreader. The one in Navigator 2.02 was bad, but this one's about like going full speed in the wrong direction. They tossed out the 3 pane view, which I preferred, and there's still no multi-part binary support that I could find. However, the installation of Communicator was a snap and the download file is a slim (slim?!) 7 megabytes instead of the 15 or so of Communicator for Windows. Granting not all the parts are present (It's missing Conference, Netcaster, and AOL Instant Messenger from the Standard Edition and Calendar, Auto-Admin, and IBM Host On-Demand from the Professional Edition), but who actually uses Netcaster anyway? Netscape themselves seem to have abandoned this as of Communicator 4.5. There is now a mailing list for Communicator/2. To subscribe, send a message to ns2os2-subscribe@makelist.com. To send messages to the list, use ns4os2@makelist.com. Netscape Communicator for OS/2 4.04 beta is available from: IBM/Netscape (http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/pcpd.nsf/ocomm40+home) License: Freeware but you must register to download it. Additional downloads: PlugIn Pack v2.1 (http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/pcpd.nsf/ocomm40+home) About The Author Don Eitner has been an OS/2 user since 1995 and has maintained The 13th Floor website since 1996. There he keeps an ongoing list of as many currently available native OS/2 applications as he can find (http://www.tstonramp.com/~freiheit/os2apps.shtml) which was awarded 3 A ratings, including an A+, from SCOUG (http://www.scoug.com/os24u/1998/scoug806.2.webfoot.html) To date Don has written 13 articles for the VOICE Newsletter and was elected as Secretary on the Board of Directors of VOICE in April, 1998. ═══ 6. VOICE Newsletter - What is VOICE? ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org I am VOICE, hear me roar, in numbers too big to ignore! VOICE is a nonprofit, virtual user group, devoted to the education and marketing of the OS/2 operating system. VOICE was formed by a small group of OS/2 users who felt they could do something to advance knowledge of the OS/2 operating system, and is comprised of other OS/2 users who feel that something needed to be done with getting OS/2 more widely recognized. VOICE is not affiliated with International Business Machines (IBM). *Mission Statement* Representing OS/2 to I.B.M. and the industry, as well as marketing OS/2 to users and professionals worldwide. *VOICE Objectives* 1. Serve as a "virtual", on-line user group for OS/2 users, without a local user group, and to any other OS/2 users interested in VOICE. 2. Promote OS/2 to the SOHO [small office/home office] consumer and to general computer users. 3. Provide an effective communication channel between members, user groups, ISV's [independent software vendors], and IBM. 4. To help OS/2 User Groups organize and promote their activities. *Virtual Meetings* Weekly IRC [Internet Relay Chat] meetings are held on WEBBnet in the channel #VOICE. Meetings are now held on the first and third Mondday of each month at 20:00 EST (01:00 GMT). For a list of current WEBBnet IRC servers please refer to http://www.suntrix.com/ibbs/server.html If you're unfamiliar with IRC, visit IRC Clients (http://www.gt-online.com/~bri). There is a list of available IRC clients, with descriptions, and a link to a chart that compares features of each. If you need further assistance e-mail Judy McDermott (mailto:judymc@ameritech.net). ═══ 7. VOICE Newsletter - VOICE Officers ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education Voice Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org There are Seven Officers presiding over VOICE affairs. They are common OS/2 users, voted into office by the membership of VOICE, and act solely to carry the VOICE of our members to the rest of the world. They are: Voice Board ┌───────────────┬──────────┬──────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │President │Dan Casey │dcasey@ameritech.net │http://www.ameritech.net/users/│ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Vice-president │Wayne │psoft@Tech-Center.com │http://fm-net.com/pillarsoft │ │ │Swanson │ │ │ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Treasurer │Peter │plazenby@yellowhead16.net │http://www2.yellowhead16.net/~plazenby │ │ │Lazenby │ │ │ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Secretary │Don Eitner│freiheit@tstonramp.com │http://www.tstonramp.com/~freiheit/ │ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Marketing │Tom Nadeau│os2headquarters@mindspring.com│http://www.mindspring.com/~os2headquarters/ │ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Liason Officer │Judy │judymc@ameritech.net │http://www.gt-online.com/~bri │ │ │McDermott │ │ │ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Editor │Mark Dodel│editor@os2voice.org │http://home.ptd.net/~madodel/ or │ │ │ │ │http://204.186.32.110/ │ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Tech. Advisor │David Both│warpguru@ibm.net │http://www.millennium-technology.com/ │ └───────────────┴──────────┴──────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ Assisting the VOICE Board ┌───────────────┬──────────┬──────────────────────────────┬─────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │Web Master │Seth │ptackbar@vnet.net │http://users.vnet.net/jamawkin/superior/ │ │ │McFarland │ │ │ ├───────────────┼──────────┼──────────────────────────────┼─────────────────────────────────────────────┤ │Asst Editor │Don Eitner│freiheit@tstonramp.com │http://www.tstonramp.com/~freiheit/ │ └───────────────┴──────────┴──────────────────────────────┴─────────────────────────────────────────────┘ ═══ 8. VOICE Newsletter - VOICE Membership ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org To become a member of VOICE, you must agree to abide by the bylaws and code of ethics of VOICE, and send in a check or money order to cover the dues for a one year membership. The dues are listed below. ____________________________________________ 1 Year Membership Dues for VOICE Student Membership................................. $10.00 Individual Membership............................. $25.00 Corporate Membership........................... $100.00 All monies must be in United States Currency. Make out your check or money order to: VOICE 60 Starling Street Kitimat BC V8C 1K5 Canada Secure credit card payment for VOICE membership and sponsorship is now available through BMT Micro. https://secure.falcon-net.net/BMT/order0308.html Please review the VOICE Bylaws and Code of Ethics and then fill out the membership application form and enclose it with your membership dues. ═══ 8.1. VOICE Newsletter - VOICE Bylaws ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education Bylaws VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education (VOICE) ENACTED APRIL 2, 1997 Revised July 21, 1997 ARTICLE I NAME  Section A The name of this organization shall be the "Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education," hereinafter called VOICE. OS/2 is defined as a computer operating system marketed by IBM. ISV is defined as Independent Software Vendor. SOHO is defined as Small Office/Home Office. IOTA is defined as International OS/2 Trade Association. OS/2 and IBM are the registered trademarks of the International Business Machines Corporation. ARTICLE II PURPOSE  Section A Mission Statement: Representing OS/2 users to IBM and the industry as well as marketing OS/2 to users and professionals worldwide. Section B The objectives of VOICE shall be: 1. To serve as a "virtual", on-line user group for OS/2 users without a local user group and any other OS/2 users interested in VOICE. 2. To promote OS/2 to the SOHO consumer, to general computer users, and to any other users most likely to be receptive. 3. To provide an effective communications channel between members, User Groups, ISVs, and IBM. 4. To help OS/2 related User Groups organize and promote their activities. Section C Achievement of the objectives of VOICE shall be accomplished by: 5. Planning and conducting regular meetings of VOICE. 6. Developing and maintaining a web site to facilitate the exchange of ideas and foster communication between members. The web site will also serve as a central collection point of OS/2 related information for use by both new and experienced OS/2 users. a. Use of such the above web site and any other electronic service is made available to the Internet community on a strictly voluntary basis and at their own risk. VOICE and the Executive Board will not be responsible for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages including, for example, loss of profits resulting from the use of the web site service or software obtained from the service, even if VOICE has been advised of the possibility of damages. 7. Promoting VOICE and OS/2 through various means, such as on-line and off-line advertising and voluntary participation in OS/2 promotional activities (i.e. seminars, demonstrations, etc). 8. Working with existing OS/2 support structures, such as existing web sites and newsletters, to improve communication and form a cohesive relationship between all OS/2 users, ISVs, User Groups, and IBM. a. Contacting ISVs directly and via IOTA to keep abreast of OS/2 news and development in addition to providing feedback on ISV products. b. Contacting OS/2 user groups to keep them informed about OS/2 related news and events. 9. Developing and maintaining a list of VOICE members. 10. Developing and maintaining a reference library of VOICE related documentation (i.e., minutes of meetings, committee reports, membership lists, etc). ARTICLE III MEMBERSHIP  Section A Classes of Membership: 1. There will be several classes of membership: Corporate membership, Individual membership, and Student/Senior membership. 2. Each Corporate member is entitled to five (5) votes. 3. Each Individual member is entitled to one (1) vote. 4. Each Student/Senior member is entitled to one (1) vote. A Student member is considered to be a member who is currently enrolled in an educational institution working towards a degree. A Senior member is considered to be a member who is over the age of 65. Section B Qualification: 5. A membership may be held by any company, organization, or individual with an interest in OS/2. 6. Qualification for membership shall be automatic unless the Executive Board believes this membership would not be in the best interests of VOICE. Section C Application: 7. Application for membership must be made by writing to the Secretary of VOICE. 8. The application for Corporate Membership shall designate an individual to serve as that corporation's voting delegate. The member corporation may designate its delegate at any time by written notice to the Secretary. 9. The Executive Board shall promptly act to accept or reject an application for membership and will inform the applicant of its decision as soon as possible. Section D Fees: 10. An annual membership fee will be established by the Executive Board to cover the operating expenses of VOICE. The membership fee is payable to the Treasurer at the time of applying for membership. If membership application is rejected, the fee will be returned to the applicant. Section E Termination of Membership: 11. Membership terminates when qualification for membership ceases to exist. 12. A membership may be terminated by notification in writing to the Secretary from the corporate delegate of a Corporate membership, or an individual for an Individual or Student/Senior membership. 13. Membership of a Corporate, Individual, or Student/Senior membership may be terminated by the Executive Board at any time if the Board rules that the member is not acting in the best interests of VOICE, as defined by this document and the Code of Ethics. 14. Membership shall expire after 12 months from the date the application was submitted, unless the member's annual fee is received by the Treasurer prior to that date. 15. The Secretary will notify the member by letter that such termination has occurred. Re-instatement may be requested by letter to the President. ARTICLE IV GOVERNMENT  Section A Executive Board of Directors: 1. Executive Board - The government of VOICE shall be vested in the Executive Board, which shall consist of eight members. 2. Executive Board Officers - The executive officers shall be: President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer, Legal Assistant, Liaison Chairperson, and two Marketing and Public Relations Chairpersons. 3. The tenure of an officer or Executive Board member shall terminate if the incumbent becomes ineligible to hold office. 4. New positions may be added to the Executive Board when deemed necessary by a majority rule of the Board. 5. A majority rule of the Board can result in the removal of an officer from his/her position if the Board rules that the officer is not fullfilling his/her duties or is not abiding to the by-laws of this document as well as the Code of Ethics. Section B The President shall: 6. Be the principal executive officer. 7. Participate as an executive officer of the Executive Board of VOICE. 8. Provide for committees as described in Article VII. 9. Preside over all formal meetings and Executive Board meetings of VOICE. 10. Be ex officio a member of all committees. 11. Provide for the discharge, pro tempore, of necessary functions in the event of the absence or incapacity of a member. 12. Call all Executive Board meetings. Section C The Vice-President shall: 13. Participate as an executive officer of the Executive Board of VOICE. 14. Be of official service to the President. 15. Perform the duties, pro tempore, of the President in case of Presidential absence. 16. Act as Chairman of the Program Committee. Section D The Secretary shall: 17. Participate as an executive officer of the Executive Board of VOICE. 18. Publish and maintain the minutes of Executive Board meetings. 19. Be responsible for all official publications of VOICE, except those published by the Marketing and Public Relations Chairpersons. 20. Maintain the membership roster. 21. In conjunction with the Liaison Chairperson and Marketing & Public Relations Chairpersons, form and maintain a healthy relationship with User Groups, ISVs, IOTA, and IBM. 22. In addition to the Liaison Chairperson, be responsible for all official correspondence with ISVs, User Groups, IBM, and any other organization. Section E The Treasurer shall: 23. Participate as an executive officer of the Executive Board of VOICE. 24. Be responsible for all monies of VOICE. 25. Maintain all accounts and handle all financial transactions of VOICE and prepare and issue to each member an annual financial statement. 26. Prepare and maintain an operating budget by fiscal year for VOICE. An approval of the budget by the Executive Board is required. 27. Arrange for an annual audit of the financial accounts of VOICE. An Audit Committee consisting of at least three (3) members of VOICE will be appointed by the President. Said committee will review their findings with the Executive Board for approval. 28. Collect all fees pertaining to membership. The Treasurer may appoint a member to collect fees in the event of his/her absence. Section F The Legal Assistant shall: 29. Participate as an executive officer of the Executive Board of VOICE. 30. Be responsible for all legal matters involving VOICE. 31. Be responsible for handling the incorporation of VOICE and maintaining the legal status of VOICE. 32. Be available for consultation by the Executive Board regarding legal issues as needed. Section G The Liaison Chairperson shall: 33. Participate as an executive officer of the Executive Board of VOICE. 34. In conjunction with the Secretary and Marketing & Public Relations Chairpersons, form and maintain a healthy relationship with User Groups, ISVs, IOTA, the press, and IBM. 35. Maintain a list of User Group, ISV, IOTA, press, and IBM contacts and be the contact point for Executive Board or members wishing to reach User Groups, ISVs, IOTA, the press, and IBM. 36. In addition to the Secretary, be responsible for all official correspondence with ISVs, User Groups, IBM, and any other organization. Section H The Marketing and Public Relations Chairpersons shall: 37. Participate as executive officers of the Executive Board of VOICE. 38. Be responsible for the marketing and public relations of VOICE with, but not limited to, User Groups, ISVs, IOTA, the press, and IBM. 39. Issue press releases, as necessary, for VOICE, ISV, and User Group news and events. 40. Write articles for both on-line and paper magazines promoting VOICE news and events. 41. In conjunction with the Secretary and Marketing & Public Relations Chairpersons, form and maintain a healthy relationship with User Groups, ISVs, IOTA, the press, and IBM. 42. Inform and provide the Secretary with copies of any official publications and press releases written and distributed by the Marketing and Public Relations Chairpersons. Section I Scope of Duties: The duties of the Executive Board and the officers shall include but not be restricted to those named in this article. ARTICLE V Nomination and Election  Section A 1. The Nominating Committee shall present a slate of candidates for each office at the last scheduled public meeting of VOICE. This committee will be chaired either by the Past President or a delegate member appointed by the President. 2. Additional nominations may be appended to the slate of officers upon receipt by the Nominating Committee, before the close of the meeting, of a petition signed by five (5) delegate members. No delegate may sign more than one petition for the same office. 3. Elections shall occur during the course of that meeting. 4. Election shall be by open ballot cast by delegate members. 5. Absentee ballots are not permitted. 6. A candidate is elected upon receiving a majority of the votes for the office. Should the first ballot fail to produce a majority vote for any office(s), a run-off shall be held between the two candidates receiving the highest and second highest number of votes cast for the office(s). 7. The procedure for electing the remaining members of the Executive Board shall be as follows. Each delegate member may vote for as many candidates as there are vacancies to be filled. Those candidates, equal in number to the actual number of vacancies to be filled, receiving the highest number of votes shall be declared elected to the Executive Board. In the case of a tie which results in a conflict, a run-off between the tied candidates shall be held to fill the vacancies remaining. 8. Elected officers and Board members shall assume their duties upon adjournment of that meeting. Section B Vacancies: 9. In the event the office of President becomes vacant, the Vice President shall succeed to the Presidency. 10. When any other office becomes vacant, the Executive Board shall act to fill the office for the unexpired term. They shall use such procedures for this as they deem advisable under the circumstances, including if they wish, the holding of a special election. Section C Eligibility: 11. Only member delegates are eligible to be Executive Board members. 12. No restriction shall be placed on the number of times a person may be re-elected to office. 13. No nomination shall be accepted unless the nominee has given assurance of willingness to fulfill the responsibilities and duties of the office for which he is nominated. 14. Employees and relatives of IBM and its subsidiaries are ineligible to serve as officers or members of the Executive Board. However, IBM can appoint an official non-voting representative(s) to act as vendor liaison at Executive Board meetings and committee meetings. Section D Duties of Officers: 15. The Executive Board shall: 16. Establish official policy for VOICE. This includes a Code of Ethics and standard practices to be observed at all VOICE functions. 17. Monitor and supervise all VOICE related activities. 18. Establish fees for membership. 19. Sanction special projects related to VOICE. 20. Control the distribution of VOICE membership roster to parties internal and external to VOICE. ARTICLE VI MEETINGS  Section A Definitions for Meetings of VOICE: 1. A formal meeting is an event composed of one or more scheduled sessions for the general membership of VOICE. The sessions may be concurrent and/or contiguous for each day of the meeting. A formal meeting is completed when adjourned 'sine die.' 2. The Executive Board will conduct separate meetings to conduct the business of VOICE. Board meetings will be open to all members. 3. Committees will conduct separate meetings to discuss pertinent topics of interest. Committee meetings will be open to all members. Section B Schedules: 4. Formal meetings will be conducted at least twice a month. Locations for these meetings shall be selected by the Executive Board based on the recommendations of the Program Committee. 5. Executive Board meetings will be conducted at least two times a month. The President shall select the meeting location and time. 6. Committee meetings will be conducted periodically as determined by the committee. The Committee Chairman shall select the meeting location and time. Section C Meeting Preliminaries 7. The agenda and other particulars for a formal meeting shall be distributed by the VOICE Secretary to the members at least 2 days prior to the opening day of the formal meeting. 8. The agenda and other particulars for a board meeting shall be distributed by the VOICE President to the members of the Executive Board at least 2 days prior to the opening day of the board meeting. 9. The agenda and other particulars for a committee meeting shall be distributed by the Committee Chairman to interested members at least 2 days prior to the opening of the committee meeting. Secton D Attendance: Attendance at all meetings is limited to members, guests invited by the Executive Board, and other interested parties. Section E Proceedings: A recording secretary shall be assigned for each meeting. For formal meetings and board meetings, this will be the VOICE Secretary. For committee meetings, the Chairman will appoint a member to record the events in a fashion acceptable to the VOICE Secretary. Section F Restriction: 10. No member or guest of VOICE shall engage in employment recruiting and/or interviewing at and during any meeting. 11. Meetings of VOICE shall not be used as a vehicle for direct solicitation of business. To clarify, the Executive Board or a Committee Chairman may from time to time invite a vendor or consultant to a meeting to describe their product and/or service. In this event, the vendor/consultant can describe their product/service and pricing structure to the general membership in attendance, but must avoid direct solicitation for business from individual members during the meeting. Section G Meetings: The date and location of any meeting to be sponsored by VOICE or by any of its committees must be coordinated with the Vice President and/or Secretary before being formally scheduled or announced. ARTICLE VII COMMITTEES  Section A Establishment of Committees: 1. A committee and its charter are established by the President with the approval of the Executive Board. 2. The Chairman is appointed by the President with the approval of the Executive Board. 3. The Chairman appoints the members of the committee. However, a committee may be as small as one (1) member. 4. The Chairman shall keep the Secretary informed, on a timely basis, of the membership and activities of the committee. 5. A committee may be dissolved, or its charter modified, or its chairman removed by the President with the approval of the Executive Board. ARTICLE VIII COMMUNICATIONS  Section A Distribution: The official distribution of information to the members shall be through the Secretary. Section B Nature of Material: Material sent to the Secretary for distribution is considered non-proprietary and unclassified. Material is unequivocally subject by the Secretary and VOICE. Section C Library: A library of material will be maintained by the Secretary in a manner to be determined by the Executive Board. Section D Communication with the Vendor: All official communications between VOICE and the OS/2 vendor, IBM, about matters of VOICE business must be conducted through the VOICE President, or through such individual(s) as he/she may designate. ARTICLE IX PARLIAMENTARY AUTHORITY  Section A "Robert's Rules of Order" shall prevail except that where they conflict with these bylaws, the bylaws shall govern. ARTICLE X AMENDMENT OF THE BYLAWS  Section A Proposals: Amendments to the bylaws may be processed by action of the Executive Board or by a petition to the Secretary of five (5) or more members. Notice of a proposed amendment must be distributed to the membership at least one week prior to the formal meeting at which discussion is expected. Section B Voting Procedure: Amendments to the by-laws shall be voted on at formal meetings. A majority of the votes is required to carry the proposed amendment. Section C Restriction: The VOICE Secretary or other members of the Executive Board may not edit proposals for bylaw amendment. email Previous Page | Index | Next Page ═══ 8.2. VOICE Newsletter - VOICE Code of Ethics ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education Code of Ethics VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org The objective of the Code of Ethics is to declare and set forth the means to enforce the minimum ethical conduct expected of all members as professionals. They are the absolute minimum level of conduct required of every member. Be courteous and respectful to every person I [we] come in contact with when representing VOICE. Perform my professional activities with honesty and in a way that will enhance my [our] reputation and the reputation of VOICE. Not knowingly misrepresent VOICE nor will I [we] engage in dishonest or illegal practices. Build confidence and good will with the public by poise, self-restraint and constructive cooperation. Not misrepresent my [our] membership, nor assert or imply that VOICE membership is evidence of accreditation or endorsement. Not write, speak, or act in such a way as to lead another to believe that I [we] officially represent VOICE, unless duly authorized to do so by the officers, or Bylaws of VOICE. I [we] have read, understand and accept the Code of Ethics as stated Name: ______________________________________Date:_____________ Download the Code of Ethics and Application for Membership. Please enclose a signed copy of the Code of Ethics with your check and Application for Membership. Thank you for supporting VOICE ═══ 8.3. VOICE Newsletter - Membership Application ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education VOICE Offline Member Application Please print off and fill out the application for membership form. After you have read and agree to the terms and conditions of VOICE, send the signed membership form and check, (in US dollars) made payable to VOICE User Group, to: VOICE 60 Starling Street Kitimat, BC V8C 1K5 Canada Your application for membership will be processed upon receipt. Confirmation of receipt and membership number will be sent to your email address as listed. If no e-mail address is supplied, receipt will be sent to your postal address as listed. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Membership Number: (To be assigned) First/Last Name: Company Name: Address: City: State/Region: Zip/Postal Code: Country: Home Phone: Work Phone: Fax: Email Address: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Which type of membership are you applying for (choose one)? __ Individual (US$25 per year) __ Corporate (US$100 per year) __ Student (US$10 per year) __ Senior (US$10 per year) * Which of the following do you classify yourself? __ Home User __ SOHO User __ ISV/Developer __ Corporate User * Which of the following mailing lists do you wish to be added to? __ VOICE meeting announcements (e-mail) __ VOICE news & product announcements (e-mail) __ VOICE general discussion (e-mail) __ VOICE help discussion (e-mail) __ VOICE newsletter (regular mail) __ Product announcements and offers from third party vendors (regular mail) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Terms and Conditions * By submitting your membership form, you agree to the following: -I have read and understand the VOICE By-Laws and agree to abide by them. -I have read and understand the VOICE Code of Ethics and agree to abide by them. Signature: ____________________________________________ Date: _______ ═══ 9. VOICE Newsletter - VOICE Sponsors ═══ Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education VOICE Home Page: http://www.os2voice.org We would like to thank the following companies for supporting VOICE: 2Rud Software. http://www.netusa.net/~rmahoney/ - BMT Micro http://www.bmtmicro.com BMT Micro is a leading OS/2 software reseller serving the entire OS/2 community with a wide range of OS/2 software for every need. GammaTech, Inc. http://www.gt-online.com - Hethmon Brothers http://www.hethmon.com - InnoVal Systems http://www.innoval.com - Solutions, Inc. Maxmars http://www.ososoft.com/RXDBASE.HTM - Millennium http://www.millennium-technology.com/ - Technology Panacea Software http://www.panaceasoft.com - PillarSoft http://www.fm-net.com/pillarsoft/ Developers of WarpZip, ShowTime/2 and the Enhanced E Editors SofTouch Systems, http://www.softouch.com - Inc. Spitfire Software http://rampages.onramp.net/~landeck/ - Stardock Systems http://www.stardock.com/ - For more information on VOICE sponsorship please refer to our sponsorship information page on the VOICE website - http://www.os2voice.org/sponsorinfo.html