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`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'` *** January 1993 San Diego OS/2 User Group Newsletter *** `'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'`'` January 1993 marks the release of the second issue of our monthly newsletter. We've noticed interest in it from people outside of the San Diego area and would therefore like to provide a newsletter for any and all interested OS/2 users and potential users, including those outside of our area. As we are an informal volunteer user group, we don't have fees or charge subscriptions for the newsletter. So far we've been financing user group activities out of our own pockets. But this could get to be financially burdensome if many people outside of the San Diego area would like to have the newsletter mailed to them, so we've come up with a tentative plan to address this issue in a way we feel will be fair and reasonable to all. Our intent is to try this plan for a few months and then evaluate how well it worked and make adjustements if necessary. If you'd like a sample issue of the San Diego OS/2 Newsletter, please send a self-addressed stamped envelope with enough postage to cover 2 ounces ($0.52 in the USA) to our address listed at the bottom of this announcement. If you'd like more than one issue, send as many SASE envelopes as issues you'd like to receive. Since the newsletter costs more than just postage, we also have to get funding from people who are interested in it to help pay for duplicating costs, the post office box, and other newsletter related expenses. After some discussion, we've decided that for now the best way to be fair to all concerned is to ask for a donation to help cover newsletter expenses. We'll leave the amount up to you, suggesting that you are the best judge of what you feel is appropriate after you've seen an issue of the newsletter. Personal checks are completely OK as these are donations, notsubscriptions. You can make out any donation check to "Dave Sichak" who is the editor of the newsletter. We'll use any donations we receive for covering newsletter expenses. If you'd like to contribute an article to the newsletter, we welcome your contribution in that regard also. If we use it, you would be entitled to a complimentary copy of the newsletter in which we used your material. We have an idea list and some hints at what we'd like your articles to include. Let us know if you are interested in contributing articles and would like a copy of this list. You can submit material via US Mail or via electronic mail at the addresses listed below. Here's our mailing address: San Diego OS/2 User Group P.O. Box 13346 La Jolla, CA 92039-3346 If you'd like to get in touch with somebody via electronic mail, you can contact the following people: EDITOR ====== Dave Sichak Fidonet: 1:202/514 Internet: Dave_Sichak@f514.n202.z1.fidonet.org SAN DIEGO OS/2 USER GROUP ORGANIZER =================================== Craig Swanson Fidonet: 1:202/514 Internet: Craig_Swanson@f514.n202.z1.fidonet.org -------------------------------------------------------------- ||| January Meeting ||| ||| "OS/2 2.1 Sneak Peek & Visual REXX Discussion" ||| -------------------------------------------------------------- When January 21, 1992 - 7PM to 10PM Where IBM Building 8845 University Center Lane San Diego, CA 92122 Main We have two main events this month. Interest in the OS/2 version from IBM is growing. The news media reports OS/2 2.1 is in beta. Ron Lingley of IBM will provide a preview of the upcoming release. Among the anticipated features are Windows 3.1 support, improved Windows application speed, the ability to do DOS & OS/2 applications while in Win-OS/2 full screen and more -- attend and find out. Ron will also provide a different look at the REXX language available in OS/2 by demonstrating "Visual REXX". Developing your own OS/2 batch files should be more appealing with this feature. ====>Schedule * User group announcements and OS/2 news * OS/2 2.1 presentation * Visual REXX demonstration * Our ever-popular OS/2 question and answer session where you can get help and advice from many other OS/2 users ====>Directions Driving from south of the UCSD area, take the Interstate 5 north. Get off at the Nobel Drive exit right after the passing the Mormon temple which is under construction. The IBM building will be immediately in front of you as you are stopped at the exit stop light. Turn right off exit and then left at first light. Driving from north of the UCSD area, take Interstate 5 south and get off at the La Jolla Village Drive exit. Head east until you reach Lebon. Take a right and continue until you reach Nobel. Take a right onto Nobel Drive and continue until you see the IBM building at the next light on your right just before reaching Interstate 5 again. ====>Parking Free of charge in the IBM parking lot. ====>Cost As usual, this is a free meeting open to anyone interested in attending. ----------------------------- | MARK YOUR CALENDAR... | ----------------------------- We get together on the third Thursday of the month. Mark your calendar for these upcoming dates: Thursday, February 18, 1993 at 7:00pm Thursday, March 18, 1993 at 7:00pm Turn off the television set or turn off your PC for a couple of hours. Come on down and join us. ----------------------------- | FOR MEETING | | INFORMATION | | CALL 587-5955 | | (Thanks for IBM's Help | ----------------------------- -------------------------------------------------- | IN THIS ISSUE | -------------------------------------------------- | Stolen Taglines | | Spock's Logical Tips | | Craig's Corner | | IBM Future Strategy for Personal Software | | HPFS Tape Backup Support | | Software Reviews: | | > HyperAccess/5 | | > Mr. File/PM | | > File Commando | | New OS/2 Software Announcements | | OS/2 Reading | | BenchMark Tests | | Media Scan | | Consumer Advocate | | OS/2 User Groups | | New OS/2 Magazine | | OS/2 BBS's | | Where to Buy OS/2 Apps | -------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------- | STOLEN TAGLINES | ---------------------------- Use a mail reader program? Part of the fun is adding the tagline to your message. Here's a few chuckles seen along the BBS messages to add to *your* list... "Artificial Intelligence: No match for natural stupidity." "Artificial Intelligence: The other guy's opinion." "On A Clear Disk, You Can Seek Forever." "Unauthorized amphibians will be toad away." "Every morning is the dawn of a new error." "Sociopathic Apathy: I'd kill you if I cared." "When the chips are down, the buffalo's empty." "Time is a dressmaker specializing in alterations." "C Code. C Code run. Run code run." "I'm not confused. I'm just well-mixed." "Hindsight is an exact science." "Life is a sexually transmitted disease." "Dead Atheist: All dressed up with no place to go." Of course, for those who like doing the OS/2 versus Windows one-line jabs... "Bugs come in through open Windows." "WindowError: 001 No error...yet." "WindowError: 00F Unexplained Error. Tell us what happened." "WindowError: 010 Reserved for future errors." "WindowError: 014 Nonexistent error; cannot really be happening." "Windows is a pane." "Windows. Just another pane in the glass." "Windows. It's not pretty. It's not ugly. But it's pretty ugly." "OS/2: Logic, not magic." "OS/2: The choice of the next generation." "OS/2. Industrial strength operating system." --------------------------- | SPOCK'S LOGICAL TIPS | --------------------------- You don't have to be a Vulcan to learn the logic of OS/2. It's not even magic. Earthlings call it common sense. Here's another little tip to those just starting out. Question: I just downloaded a couple of dozen ATM fonts from my favorite OS/2 BBS and now I want to use them in OS/2. But I haven't been brave enough to figure that out yet. How about walking me through this process? Logical Solution: Fear not. While it takes many steps, you'll find after you do one, it's rather logical in adding a font to your system to customize the Work Place Shell (WPS) to your liking. Let's try these steps: 1. Unzip your ATM files to a convenient sub-directory. Remember where they're at. I unzipped mine to the D:\OS2\DLL\ subdirectory. 2. Open up the "OS/2 System" folder on the WPS. 3. Click-on the "System Setup" icon. 4. Click-on the "Font Palette" icon. The "Font Palette - Palette" dialog box opens up. 5. You'll see a group of 8 fonts. This is sort of similar to the selection we saw when you used Lotus with Allways or in Excel 2.10. 6. Highlight a font that you want to change or replace. 7. Click-on "Edit" font. 8. The "Edit Font" dialog box opens up. Under "name" you can click on the "down" arrow to see what fonts you already have installed. Select "Add". 9. The "Add Font" dialog box opens up. Either put your diskette in drive a: (if your new fonts are on a diskette) or tell OS/2 2.0 which sub-directory the font files are in. In my case, they were in the D:\OS2\DLL\ sub-directory. 10. You'll also need to notice the "copy font files to drive/directory" area of this dialog box. The default path shows up where they're at -- the D:\OS2\DLL\ sub-directory. If you've changed the location since you installed OS/2, you may see a different sub-directory. If they're already in the sub-directory you're copying to, don't do anything. Then select "add". 11. You're back to the "Edit Font" dialog box. 12. Now, the funny thing is, you'll have to close this dialog box, then select "edit" on the "Font Palette -- Palette" dialog box for OS/2 to "recognize" the addition of this font. Well, if you consider the alternative of re-booting as you sometimes do for system changes, this is a minor annoyance. 13. Under "name", click on the little "down" arrow and scroll through til you see your new font. Mine was called "Old-Town". You'll see an example of it in the lower right corner. Change the size of the font if you're not satisfied yet. Then close this dialog box. 14. Your new font is now one of the eight available. If you want to use it, just drag it with the right mouse button. For example, drag the font to the WPS. All of the icons/folder text on the WPS will change to your new font. If you just want to change a folder's text -- open it up and drag the font to the folder. Only that folder's fonts for the icons will change. It's that simple to make a change. 15. What about printing with them you say? You have access in the OS/2 editors. It's also available with your OS/2 applications. In WinOS/2 -- if you're set up with the correct printer driver, that is, the "A" for ATM doesn't have a line through it when you load WinOS2, you can choose that in any Windows application. This is just one of many ways to customize the OS/2 WPS to your liking. Check the next issue for another idea or two. Or send us your favorite tip. ----------------------- | CRAIG'S CORNER | ----------------------- The Operating System Wars Have Just Begun Over the past two years of spreading the word about OS/2, I've come to realize that the biggest challenge IBM faces selling OS/2 2.0 is overcoming the "image of failure" that the product has in the minds of many users because of the biased writings of journalists who should know better. To illustrate what I'm talking about, here a couple quotes from a recent issue of the Ziff-Davis publication Corporate Computing where columnist Robert Ziff writes about why he thinks OS/2 is doomed to failure: "The Prognosis for OS/2" "The unfortunate truth for IBM is that Windows has become standard. The market has soundly rejected PM. It is time to face reality and recognize that the current development of PM products cannot hold a candle to the daunting pace of software development for Windows. "Today, OS/2 conforms to that standard; soon it won't. That alone is enough to doom OS/2. I don't care how good it is, or how bad DOS and NT are." Is Windows really a standard? That depends on what Ziff means by the word "standard." As far as market penetration goes, Windows is very far from running on every personal computer sold. In that sense, Windows is not a standard like DOS. Recent industry press reports state that Microsoft claims to have shipped 15 to 16 million copies of Windows 3.0 and 3.1 to date. Assuming that none of these 3.1 copies are upgrades (which is unclear from the figures I've seen) and all of those copies are in use (which is unlikely), that represents only about 15% of International Data Corporation's October 1992 estimated installed base of 103.8 million PC compatible. That's a far cry from the 90+% usage of DOS in this same installed base of machines. An independent study on the usage of Windows 3.0 described in an early 1992 issue of ComputerWorld found that an estimated 50% to 60% of the 9 to 10 million copies of Windows 3.0 shipped by that time were actually in use. In the middle of 1992, InfoWorld and PC Week both reported on a leaked Microsoft study that indicated the usage rate was even much lower than the independent study suggested, possibly as low as 30% or less. While these figures are nothing more than unverifiable statistics like so many figures printed in the trade press, it is undeniable that a substantial number of copies of Windows are "shelfware." This shelfware situation exists even after many years of improvements to Windows. Considering it has had well over seven years on the market, Windows still has a very small market penetration compared to DOS. If anything can be learned from these figures, it is this: the operating system wars are not over as it takes a long time for personal computer users to switch to a new operating system platform. Mr. Ziff's assertion that the market has rejected Presentation Manager is ridiculous. Only now are a substantial number of 32-bit OS/2 PM applications starting to be delivered. Prior to this, the only things the market was rejecting were a lack of PM applications to buy and the poor quality of several of the OS/2 programs written by companies like Microsoft. It is no wonder that users would be hesitant to buy products like Excel 3.0 for OS/2 PM. Microsoft didn't even bother to make the on-line help functional nor did they take advantage of OS/2's unique features such as multithreading. Since the release of OS/2 2.0 there has been a trickle of new 32-bit PM applications. Programs like DeScribe 4.0 take advantage of multithreading and Workplace Shell functions that demonstrate how OS/2 software can be better than anything Windows can offer if the applications are written to use OS/2 well. Soon the trickle of new OS/2 applications will turn into a torrent as many significant applications are already in beta testing and more will start beta testing soon. Lotus and Computer Associates are both writing new suites of OS/2 applications that use multithreading and Workplace Shell functionality. The Comdex/Fall 1992 demo of the upcoming 32-bit cc:Mail for OS/2 showed a quintessential Workplace Shell application with an extensively object-oriented user interface and drag-and-drop functionality. Borland is far along in development of its C++ programming environment and compiler for OS/2. Word Perfect Corporation has recently started soliciting beta testers for Word Perfect for OS/2 PM. If these applications live up to the promise of some of the beta versions I've seen and used, several excellent OS/2 PM applications will be on the market around the time OS/2 2.1 is expected to be released in March. Robert Ziff could have written in 1986 that the market had soundly rejected Windows -- it had hardly any applications, a pathetic user interface, and no market share. Yet today he is saying that Windows is the hot fad. The computer industry is very dynamic. Many customers have not committed to a post-DOS environment yet. Mr. Ziff's assertion that PM is dead is being made far too early to have much chance of being accurate by anything more than chance. One might propose that if he had been a newspaper reporter in the early 1940's, Mr. Ziff might have written on December 8, 1941, that the United States had lost World War II after being crushed by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Aside from the long time it takes for users to move to new operating system platforms, one can find other reasons to doubt that Windows has an unbreakable lock on the market. PC users sometimes get sidetracked by inferior technologies like Windows, but usually they realize the limits and start asking for more power. Although the media often suggests that Windows 3.1 is a good choice for all applications, especially new technology ones like multimedia, it is not powerful enough to handle such applications. For example, Windows 3.1 is a joke for multimedia because it lacks preemptive multitasking and multithreading. But if you don't mind listening to multimedia presentations interrupted by frequent pauses as you copy files to diskettes or your spreadsheet macro runs, maybe it would be adequate. Of course, psychologists might like Windows multimedia support for experimenting with the effects of randomly corrupted soundtracks on human patience. The Windows advocates point out that the shortcomings of Windows 3.1 will be fixed in the upcoming Windows NT, but no matter what Microsoft may claim, NT isn't going to be a miracle solution to everybody's needs. While NT will have the preemptive multitasking and multithreading needed for reliable and powerful communications and multimedia, it requires significantly more machine resources than any version of OS/2 to date. Even Microsoft prints that a system with 8MB RAM and a 100MB hard drive will be the minimum for NT. If this is anything like the 1MB minimum for Windows, there are going to be a lot of unhappy owners of machines with 8MB RAM if Microsoft sells more than a few copies of NT. The users of the October 1992 NT beta release with whom I've corresponded point to huge paging file sizes even on machines with 20MB RAM or more, poor compatibility, slow performance running DOS and Windows 3.1 applications, and a general expectation that it won't be available until around the middle of 1993 at earliest. Why should users be expected to either pick an inferior technology Windows 3.1 or wait several months for NT and then have to spend thousands of dollars for hardware upgrades? OS/2 has already proven its technical prowess at communications and multimedia in a product that can be purchased today. Windows didn't make a positive impression on users until Windows 3.0 was released in May 1990, about five years after the original version shipped. Likewise, OS/2 2.0 was the first version of OS/2 to do well on the market and it also shipped about five years after the December 1987 release of OS/2 1.0. New operating systems need time to gain acceptance, no matter how good they might be. OS/2 2.0 has sold at a rate similar to Windows 3.0 in its first several months on the market. In fact IBM has sold more than 2 million copies of OS/2 2.0 to date. Why is it that the industry press continues to point to Windows as a success and OS/2 as a flop with small market potential? Is it resistance to change? If anything, there are significant market acceptance parallels between the acceptance of Windows and OS/2 that indicate OS/2 has a chance at being much more important than the journalists will admit. With the upcoming OS/2 2.1 widely regarded as finally delivering on IBM's April 1991 promise of providing a "better Windows than Windows," perhaps OS/2 2.1 will do for OS/2 what Windows 3.1 did for Windows and make OS/2 a new standard. With NT's ship date slipping off into the future and companies not being able or willing to wait forever to make a choice for their next-generation operating system, OS/2 2.1 may surprise the industry. In fact, 1993 should be the best year yet for OS/2. Craig Swanson San Diego OS/2 User Group -------------------------------- | OPTUNE Does Not Like OS/2 | | Software Bug Report | -------------------------------- By Douglas A. Bell (From Original Area: comp.os.os2.misc) (Thanks to Craig Swanson for passing along a message he saw.) Do not use Gazelle software's Optune disk optimizer on any disk that has extended attributes on it or has ever had extended attributes on it. It can cross like files and destroy directories, even when just doing a check disk. I called Optune's customer support and they confirmed what I have seen. Optune cannot deal with extended attributes. ----------------------------------- | COMDEX: IBM Future Strategy | | for Personal Software | ----------------------------------- By Ron Lingley - San Diego (Via NetMail to Craig Swanson) (Editor's Note: The following is a summary of Lee R. Reiswig's November 24, 1992 presentation at Comdex -- "The Power of The Future NOW") The presentation introduced IBM's Personal Software Products (PSP) organization and described their product strategy for the future of personal software. It focused on the continuing evolution of IBM's current operating systems as well as on IBM's vision for networking and operating systems in the future. Future operating systems software must take three factors into account: software and hardware innovation will continue -- making change a way of life; continued, successful innovation must protect existing investments; and operating systems must integrate a broad range of platforms -- from $300 palmtops to $300,000 workstations. IBM's PSP strategy was designed to deliver: -> easy access to information -- anytime, anywhere; -> systems that will leverage their current investments in hardware, applications, data and training; and -> solutions that will adapt easily to new technologies - allowing customers to keep up with the pace of change. The IBM Workplace family will initially encompass DOS, OS/2 and AIX. The technology that unifies them will make the systems easy to connect and manage, able to develop applications simply, and extremely easy to use. The family will evolve -- eventually to include Taligent -- by introducing these unifying technologies: -> a common desktop user interface, based on the OS/2 2.0 Workplace Shell that will allow users to move readily between systems. This desktop has two additional benefits for developers: It provides common services, such as filing and printing, and it results in applications software that has a consistent design, regardless of the system for which it is built. -> Common components (e.g., databases, mail and communications) that are implemented in identical ways and are available as servers from any system, making it simpler to write applications that will run on multiple systems. The most significant of these common components is the microkernel. It will form the basis of the OS/2, AIX and Taligent operating systems, and make those systems portable across multiple hardware platforms. -> Powerful object technology from IBM and Taligent to introduce software libraries that can be extended and combined easily to build new applications from existing parts. Application development will change from a model in which every applications designed and constructed from scratch, to one where new designs are adapted from standard patterns, or frameworks. Like common components, these software libraries will mask underlying differences in the operating systems. Applications built using them will be portable across the Workplace family. -> Distributed object technology that makes it natural and simple to build distributed, client/server applications. Applications can be designed to span multiple machines and can be tuned to match your particular network. This technology has been designed to support emerging industry standards from the Object Management Group (OMG). It also was designed in cooperation with leading language and systems vendors. It will allow software in the Workplace family to communicate simply with software in other systems that support the OMG standard. -> Personalities (the unique characteristics of a particular system) can be hosted on other systems. This means that you can move to a new operating system and carry forward the applications from the old one. This feature will enable applications from non-family systems like Windows and Macintosh to run on family systems like OS/2 and AIX. The IBM Workplace family operating systems of the future will provide a framework that can innovate and evolve while protecting your investment in hardware, applications and training. Future family members will consist of a single microkernel that masks hardware platform differences; server-like components providing common services, such as file management and communications; extensible application design frameworks; and personalities that host the small number of unique characteristics necessary for an evolving, innovative environment. -------------------------------- | HPFS Tape Backup Support | -------------------------------- By Robert Montgomery (from Fidonet); Additional comments by Craig Swanson (Edited for Newsletter) MG> I am tired of backing up my 240 Mb hard drive to 1.44 Mb MG> floppies and would really like to get a tape drive for my system. Can MG> someone help me figure out the least expensive way to get a tape drive MG> that will work with OS/2 2.0 on a drive that is 240 Mb HPFS MG> single partitioned drive? The problem that bothers a lot of people is how to do backup/restore. A lot of solutions exist but none are very satisfactory. Some shareware programs do partial work in this area. A user typically wants to save the personalized work place shell; and, if using HPFS a way to insure that the EA'S (Extended Attributes) are saved. Using DOS, most users either use diskettes (too much trouble) or have a QIC-80 tape backup system. Colorado Jumbo has no OS/2 software, but Irwin has a QIC80 system that looks just like the Jumbo. Irwin also makes a program called Eztapepm 3.1 that will backup FAT and HPFS to tape. But Eztapepm 3.1 has one major flaw. It has no easy way to restore the "personalized" Work place shell. To restore the operating system, OS/2 2.0, you do the lengthy reinstall. Not to mention the time to redo the desktop to your liking. The average user probably cannot afford a SCSI backup system ($1,500.00 minimum). Finally, I have discovered a solution. At least if you have the money to buy: 1. Irwin Accutrack Plus (external) ($350.00?) 2. Irwin 4100 controller ($100.00) 3. IBM Pmtape 2.01 ($88.00 mail order) Total cost? Hmmm, about $450 to $500. Very reasonable price for an external unit. I have no experience with the less expensive internal unit or using the 4251 controller (less money than the 4100) or even an internal system that uses the floppy controller. But the combination listed above works! I have done a complete command line standalone restore using Pmtape standalone program (SR.EXE) on a "virgin" disk. Made the 3 disks for the HPFS and just rebooted. Inserted the QIC80 tape (DC2120) and voila! My entire OS/2, from operating system to WPS, to all applications were automatically restored without error. After rebooting, I was back in operation. Now I have a fool proof backup of everything. And it was so easy! Boot with three disks and insert tape and it was all done automatically. It works with FAT just as well as HPFS. The Irwin unit has support for DOS (and Windows) and OS/2 via IBM Pmtape 2.01. If you are ready to buy a tape unit, go with the Irwin. If, like me, you have a Jumbo unit, sell it to a DOS (Windows) user. Some people are waiting for a Jumbo tape backup application for OS/2. My advice is don't. Experience counts: Irwin and IBM have supported OS/2 for years. You should also go with IBM Pmtape 2.01, because it has standalone restore. That one feature makes it worth the $88.00 mail order, from Corporate Software (they have an 800#, just call 1-800-555-1212 and ask). Craig's Response: I've saved your message because it is very informative and says basically everything that needs to be said. One factual error, however, is that the Irwin tape unit is not QIC80, it uses the Rhomat tape format which is not a QIC format. The fact that it uses DC2120 tapes is not the same thing. Aside from this slight mistake, however, this is just the kind of thing we could use for putting together an OS/2 newsletter. Robert's last word: I hope you use it and correct it so that errors such as the QIC 80 don't confuse things. Hopefully I will be able to get some more info on other variations. And hopefully you will be able to modify it based on your personal experiences. -------------------------------- | Software Review | | HyperAccess/5 Version 2.0 | -------------------------------- By John Hlavac, NOCCC (North Orange County Computer Club -- California) Beginning Modem SIG Leader (Fidonet area "OS/2") (Edited for Newsletter) This program advertises itself as the number one communications program. Not the cheapest, but the best. I felt this program had to prove it's worth the extra money. Being a Beginning Modem SIG leader, I also wanted to make sure that this program is easy for beginners to configure and learn. HA5 is also a powerful program chock full of features for the power user. HA5 comes in an OS/2 version and a DOS version. HA5 has an interesting guarantee: "We guarantee that you can install and place your first call in less then 20 minutes." Beginners take note, HA5 won't lose money on either bet. The user interface is text-based. This means it's fast, not pretty. It also means that the underlying software is compact, good news to those trying to wedge another program onto the harddisk. When installed, the DOS version fits into 1.4mb and the OS/2 version fits into 1.5mb. Naturally I installed both so that I could compare and contrast. Both programs look and 'feel' the same. The difference is in the operating system. OS/2 will run any DOS-based comm program and HA5 comes with instructions on how to maximize OS/2 usage of its DOS version. What isn't made clear, by IBM, is that each of OS/2's virtual DOS machines has a limit on how many interrupts per second it will handle. That number is exceeded by modems faster than 9600 bps. If you want to download any faster than that you should have an OS/2 based comm program. Another advantage of the OS/2 version is the ability to run in the background, powerful given HA5's scripting and BBSing abilities. Finally, the OS/2 version has a unique diagnostic utility that collects data that Hilgraeve Customer Support can use to track down errors or protection violations. The look and feel of the screen is well thought out. The top half has the main menu, the bottom half has the system list (or dialing directory). Navigating the menus is easy using either the keyboard or the mouse. I found using the keyboard faster. The menus themselves generally make sense although I found times when I had to consult the online help facility to do what I wanted. The documentation is full of suggestions to make the keyboard even faster once you get used to what you are doing. The documentation is easy to read and thorough, with only a few thin spots. It comes spiral-bound so that you can open it flat on the page you're reading. Configuring HA5 is easy. 195 specific modems or ISDN desksets are supported, but setting up cheapie generic modems, like mine, was easy. I found an undocumented question in the user-defined modem setup. It gave me a good excuse to try out customer relations. Unlimited support is available, but it's your phone call. The Dialing Directory can be sorted three ways, by frequency of use, most recent use, or alphabetically. It can also be searched. All this is handy since the directory can hold up to 2000 entries. The editor that comes with HA5 shares a lot of features with the main program. The keys configure easily to your tastes. It's fast, too fast for OS/2's Workplace Shell to keep up. To eliminate the jumpiness, HA5 recommends going full screen instead of in a window -- good advice. One of the nicer editor features is the ability to work two files at once, even under DOS, so that you can use one file as input and one as edited output. The editor has spell checking, but frankly it's wimpy. The biggest problem I found with HA5 is that the mouse is brain dead. If you want to flag a filename in the file directories of your local BBS you can't do it. If you select a filename with the mouse the software will select text up to the dot and omit the extension name. On top of that it doesn't just leave you there, it also adds a CR-LF, so that you can't add the .ZIP with a macro. It's dumb, dumb, dumb. Another shortcoming is that HA5 has no fax handling capabilities, though all the newer modems are fax-modems. Scripting under HA5 is unusual in more ways than one. First, it works. The learn mode is remarkably perceptive. The only time I had to go back and edit the learned scripts was when *I* made a typing mistake while it was in learn mode. Another unusual aspect of the scripting is that you don't run the script text, rather you compile it into a binary script. The scripting language looks to be extensive with more than 150 commands. Personally I'm not much of a script writer but I have a feeling that will change. This program just begs to be customized. Some of the nifty features of HA5 are automatic unzipping of downloaded files, if you so desire. Extended point and shoot file handling capabilities are built into the program, so you don't have to shell out to do basic maintenance. The virus scanning feature is very nice. Hilgraeve insists that the scanning takes place even in ZIPped files. If that's true it's a real breakthrough in virus scanning technology. As most people know, the zipping process changes the virus' signature, making most SCAN's of ZIPped files an exercise in futility. I respectfully declined to test this, although I sure would like to see it done by an outside authority. As to upgradability of the signature file Hilgraeve invites customers to pick up the latest copy quarterly FREE from their BBS, a classy touch. More evidence of their class is shown by the respect they pay DSZ, the difficult-to-use shareware zmodem. Although they have a Zmodem built-in to the software, they realize that Forsberg is constantly tweaking his DSZ and they provide prewritten scripts, so that you can easily use it. Person-to-person telecommunicating is enjoyable using this program. If the other person is using Hyperprotocol, a free external protocol available on your local BBS, you can send bunches of files without having to ZIP them first. The protocol compresses them for you. If the person at the other end has HA5, then access to your computer can be turbocharged. DOS or OS/2 access can be extended to the remote computer, so that the host computer becomes a terminal. Imagine, being on the road and being able to get something from your home machine. File transfers are easy. While you're on-line, pick up the mail that HA5 has been automatically picking up for you. This program will even call you back, at a predetermined number, if you're really security conscious. HA5 has gone out of its way to make it easy for ex-Procomm Plus users, like myself, to make the change over. They've added little command macros for the key sequences that I'm used to. Things like Alt-X to exit the program. I won't say that there is no learning curve, but I can say that it's not very high. The ability to add key sequences to a macro and assign it to almost any key you desire is one of the indicators of the power of this software. Don't like the menu path that Hilgraeve supplies to do something? Change it to your way of thinking. That's right, even stepping through the menus can be automated. In summary, this is red hot software for communications. All levels of computer users will find plenty here. Beginners will find an easy to configure program with a menu and online help structure that will make learning telecommunications relatively painless. More advanced users will find a configurable program that offers true power at what turns out to be an extremely reasonable price. The suggested retail price for HA5(DOS) is $99.95, for HA5(OS2) $199 (carried by bigger software dealers mainly). The competitive upgrade price is $49.95 for DOS and $99.50 for OS/2. If you don't have a competitive product, ask for the User's Group Price, it's the same as the competitive upgrade. Should you have a older version of HA5, the upgrade is $29.95; I list this to show that Hilgraeve is not gouging its customers. Call 1-(800) 826-2760 to order. UPS shipping adds $6.00 for everybody. ----------------------------- | Software Review | | Mr. File/PM | ----------------------------- By John Faughnan (Originally from FIDONET area "OS/2") (Edited for Newsletter) A SIMPLE, CONFIGURABLE OS/2 FILE MANAGER Mr. File/PM is a file management utility that comes in 16 bit (1.x) and 32 bit (2.x) versions. It is a PM application that supports WPS drag and drop. It is started from the OS/2 command line: "start mrfile32.exe". I have a copy of Norton Commander/PM, a commercial file management utility but I prefer Mr. File/PM. It is faster, less troublesome on my system, and much closer to native OS/2 operation. Best of all -- it's free! Double clicking on a file in the Mr. File List launches an associated application. For example: double clicking on "config.sys" launches the OS/2 editor. You can copy, move, delete, clone, rename, change attributes, or print a file or a group of files. There's a pseudo-tree view, and you can sort lists by name, extension, date or size. Information on file size is a quick-key away. You can "remember" a directory and it will then be available on a list for a quick jump back to it - a useful feature. You can also copy selected entries to the clipboard. A super handy feature is the command line available by striking the <Esc> key. It's possible to link extensions to commands. You can also link behavior to dropping files on windows with specific NAMES. Such as a "*.cmd" or REXX script that runs whenever a file is dropped into a folder with a specific name. Imagine the possibilities. The documentation is good and the help file is thorough, but the application is so easy to use they're almost superfluous. A must-have utility. Four BYTES for Mr.File/PM! Mr. File/PM (4.1) (Look for "MRFILEPM.ZIP" 259,033k) Shareware Author: Mike Kaczmarski ------------------------- | Software Review | | File Commando | ------------------------- By Stewart Davis (Originally from FIDONET area "OS/2") (Edited for Newsletter) I had downloaded another OS/2 file, called File Commando (FC.ZIP, ARJ, etc.). The author makes no bones about patterning File Commando after Norton's File Commander and has done a pretty good job at it. File Commando runs in a text mode only, either as a window on your screen or as full screen, depending what you choose in the OS/2 settings for the app. The window is split into two areas vertically and you can have different directories in each area. You can mark, delete, copy or move files from one directory to the other. You can fire up a DOS or OS/2 app directly by simply highlighting the executable and pressing your <ENTER> key. You can view ascii text files by highlighting it and pressing your <ENTER> key. As supplied, FC uses the OS/2 Editor (E.EXE) as both viewer and editor. You can change that by editing the TOOLS.INI file used by FC to call up any viewer or editor you wish. I changed my viewer to LIST and my editor to TEDP. FC uses menomic keys, such as V for view. You can modify the setup to have a direct command area at the bottom of the screen. Function keys can trigger your commands if you choose that method. Using the selection bar or the function keys, you can rename files, view files, edit files, delete'em, move'em , copy'em, etc. File Commando, unlike Mr. File/PM, does not use the WPS and does not really have all the bells and whistles of Mr. File/PM. However, it is simple, clean and works great within its designed parameters. If you who have been thinking of buying Norton Commander for OS/2, I suggest you download give File Commando and give it a try first. Like Mr. File/PM, it is FREE and may be all the file management and program launcher you need with OS/2. On a scale of 10, I would rate FC as a strong 8. File Commando -- Freeware (tho "a six pack of good beer is always welcome." -- per readme.doc.) Written by -- Sean Purcell Hard Drive Space Needed: 57,531 --------------------------------- | -->> NEW OS/2 2.0 Software | --------------------------------- ZORTECH C++ FOR OS/2 Symantec has released their new C++ compiler for OS/2. This new release allows a developer to write text-based or GUI-based 32-bit applications for OS/2 2.0. Zortech now has a compiler version for OS/2, DOS and Windows 3.1. The OS/2 version carries a suggested retail price of $499. Upgrades from an earlier OS/2 version will cost $249. Symantec can be reached at (800) 441-7234. (As reported in PC Week December 14, 1992, page 69) COLOR TOOLS FOR OS/2 Time Arts, Inc. is shipping the first integrated multimedia product for OS/2. Color Tools for OS/2 provides tools for developers to build graphics screens for multimedia applications. The article also says that multimedia in OS/2 is better than in Windows 3.1 and Apple's System 7 because of its multitasking and background tasking. (Remember the film demo of the comparison at the November meeting?) Color Tools for OS/2 is reported to include drawing and painting tools, a light box, color palette, special visual effects and supports importing of other graphic formats. Suggested retail price is $595. Time Arts, Inc. can be reached at (800) 959-0509. (As reported in PC Week December 21, 1992, page 49) ------------------------------ | OS/2 Reading | | Seen in the bookstores | ------------------------------ Inside OS/2 2.0 Special Edition By Mark Minasi, John W. Little, Marlene Semple, and Bill Camarda (New Riders Publishing) ISBN: 1-56205-134-2; 896 pages. Listed as $34.95 USA, $43.95 CAN & 32.45 UK. Claims to be the number 1 OS/2 selling title. This is the successor to the "Inside OS/2" book we reported in our December newsletter. Featured is a discussion of the inner workings and technical details of OS/2. Discusses installation, memory management and backward compatibility options. Troubleshooting tips and hints are offered for the OS/2 user. In-depth coverage of the OS/2 WPS is touted. You're told you'll learn how to access and manage OS/2's generous multitasking and communication capabilities. (Seen at Bookstar and SD Technical Books) ------------------------ | BENCHMARK TESTS | ------------------------ Craig Swanson came across some folks who had did some comparisons of the Windows NT beta to Windows 3.1 and OS/2. While perhaps not fair in that NT is not a shipped product yet, it does show the progress that needs to be made yet. October 1992 NT beta performance versus Windows 3.1 Craig's Note: This set of benchmarks were done by Eric Lapaille and reported on the Fidonet WIN32 echo. ------------------------------------------------------------ | LOAD A 2.3MB WRITE DOCUMENT USING WINDOWS 3.1 WRITE | -----------------------------------------------------------| | Windows 3.1 | 28 seconds | | Windows NT | 40 seconds | ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ | FIND A WORD AT THE END OF THE ABOVE DOCUMENT | -----------------------------------------------------------| | Windows 3.1 | 40 seconds | | Windows NT | 59 seconds | ------------------------------------------------------------ ***NT vs. OS/2 vs. Windows 3.1 Craig's Note: The next set of benchmarks were done by Albert Shan and reported on the Fidonet WIN32 echo. Test software: October 1992 NT beta, Windows 3.1, December 1992 OS/2 2.1 beta. (NT beta and OS/2 2.1 beta are on the *same* FAT logical drive) PC Magazine WinBench 2.51 benchmark software Test hardware: 486DX2/66 with 20MB RAM Display adapter is Diamond SpeedStar 24 (ET4000) ISA bus speed set to 11MHz Test conditions: - No other background tasks were running (no clock, memory meter, etc.). - The mouse pointer was constantly moved away from the client window from one benchmark to another. This minimized mouse cursor blinks while the screen was updated. - Tests were done in VGA 640x480 16-color mode. - Only Enhanced mode was tested for native Windows 3.1 and OS/2 2.1 beta, since most people will be using Enhanced mode anyway. - Winmark was run three times and the average was calculated. There are two benchmark results, one with the CPU running at full speed -- turbo speed on; the other with the turbo switch off. Norton SI 5.0 ------------------------------------------------------------ | RUNNING ON PLAIN DOS | -----------------------------------------------------------| | Turbo On | 103.3 | | Turbo Off | 46.5 | ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ | OCTOBER 1992 WINDOWS NT BETA | -----------------------------------------------------------| | Turbo On | 2,149,032 pixels/sec. | | Turbo Off | 1,344,840 pixels/sec. | ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ | WINDOWS 3.1 ENHANCED MODE | -----------------------------------------------------------| | Turbo On | 3,996,561 pixels/sec. | | Turbo Off | 2,384,168 pixels/sec. | ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ | OS/2 2.1 BETA WITH WINOS2 3/1 ENHANCED MODE: FULL SCREEN| -----------------------------------------------------------| | Turbo On | 4,009,681 pixels/sec. | | Turbo Off | 2,383,379 pixels/sec. | ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------------------------------------------ | OS/2 2.1 BETA WITH WINOS2 3.1 ENHANCED MODE: SEAMLESS | -----------------------------------------------------------| | Turbo On | 3,670,278 pixels/sec. | | Turbo Off | 2,087,474 pixels/sec. | ------------------------------------------------------------ Just for comparison, seamless WinOS2 3.1 in standard mode under the latest 2.1 beta with "Turbo ON" achieved a Winmark score of 3,684,381 pixels/second, approximately the same as seamless WinOS2 3.1 enhanced mode. ------------------------------------ | MEDIA SCAN | | DECEMBER & JANUARY | ------------------------------------ **OS/2 Sales Increasing? Each month, Datamation publishes sales rankings of software, based apparently on figures from Corporate Software, Inc. These rankings "reflect monthly software sales primarily to Fortune 1000 companies in the U.S." In the "Utilities/OSs" category, OS/2 has climbed from a ranking of 8 in the 9/92 data to a ranking of 7 in the 10/92 data. By cross- referencing the "DOS" and "Utilities/OSs" categories, one can derive a ranking for OS/2 in relation to the "DOS" software category. Using the 9/92 data, OS/2's relative ranking is somewhere below the (last reported) 10th ranking DOS program (Procomm Plus). However, using the 10/92 data, OS/2's relative ranking is equivalent to the 6th ranking DOS program (Harvard Graphics). This appears to be an indication that OS/2 sales are significantly increasing, for at least one vendor. > Datamation, September & October 1992 From Lou Culbertson (From FIDONET "OS/2" area) **Ship Date of OS/2 2.1 Revised The beta program for the next version of OS/2, version 2.1, reportedly increased to include 5,000 users. This beta version includes more SVGA drivers, 32-bit graphics engine, more printer drivers, Windows 3.1 support, multimedia extensions. It was stated that we would be able to run OS/2 and DOS applications when running full screen Win-OS/2. It's also stated that Win-OS/2 3.1 could be installed separately, indicating the likelihood of a future Windows-less OS/2 version. A new mini-applet that is capable of sending one-page FAXes was also reported. Estimated ship date is March 1993. If you just can't wait that long, you can order the OS/2 2.1 beta for $15 (it's shipped on CD ROM) by calling (800) 342-6672. > InfoWorld, December 28 - January 4, 1993 PC Week - January 11, 1993 **MACH Microkernel & OS/2's Future A technical review article offering some insight on the Mach Microkernel being developed. The idea behind Mach is that the core of the operating system should be lean and portable. Some of the vendors working with Mach are NeXT, OSF and IBM. The article discusses many topics such as the history of Mach, Mach internals, Multiprocessing, Transparent libraries and Scheduling. The article tries to inform the reader of what Mach is and isn't to help evaluate future products based on it. > PC Week - December 21, 1992 **1-2-3 and Freelance Betas Released Lotus is readying a suite of OS/2 applications to use the OS/2 WPS interface and 32-bit memory management. PC Week reported the betas were a bit rougher than expected (remember the demo we saw in November?) The new 1-2-3 OS/2 version reportedly has better graphics and charting abilities than it's Windows counterpart. Freelance for OS/2 is supposed to have spell checking and better charting options -- features not in it's Windows edition. SmartIcons are included. The article was an extensive review of both products. The review deemed them both good upgrades for OS/2 users. > PC Week - December 21, 1992 **Medical Center Picks OS/2 Network Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma is reported to have revamped its IS by implementing a network of OS/2-based PC's. It's reported to go live in March 1993. It's using OS/2, Novell LAN and 3Net Systems, Inc. (for app development) tools. The reported goal of the project is to save $10 million over 5 years in eliminating mainframe maintenance costs. The medical center's mainframe applications were stated to be over 20 years old. > Computerworld - December 14, 1992 **MicroGrafx & IBM Extend Mirrors Pact MicroGrafx (MG) and IBM inked a new two-year deal for joint licensing and development. MG will extend the Mirrors technology based DMK/2 toolkit to support Windows 3.1, multimedia and international languages. It will be sold under the MG logo instead of IBM's. MG is to assist 3rd parties porting apps from Windows to OS/2. MicroGrafx will ship its own MicroGrafx Designer for OS/2 later in December. > PC Week - December 7, 1992 **Co-Creator of BASIC Dies The BASIC computer language so many of us are familiar with was co-created by John Kemeny and Thomas Kurtz in 1964. Mr. Kemeny died in early January 1993. Autobiographical article. > Computerworld - January 11, 1993 **Norton Commander for OS/2 Reviewed As reported in the December newsletter, Symantec had released Norton Commander for OS/2. Two publications gave it their first reviews. PC Week gave it a 3.3 out of a possible 5. InfoWorld gave it a plus for easy use of OS/2's WPS but a minus for lacking certain features. > PC Week - December 14, 1992 InfoWorld - December 28, 1992 - January 4, 1993 **Microsoft Reviewed by U.K. Microsoft is receiving scrutiny by both the FTC in the USA and by the FTC counterpart in the UK -- the "Office of Fair Trading". In question is Microsoft's DOS licensing pricing practices. Simply, Microsoft has vendors pay a fee for all PC's made, even if MS DOS is not installed on them. If they don't choose this plan, the MS DOS licensing fee is higher. > Computerworld - December 21, 1992 **IBM Reorganization Computerworld ran a front page dual set of columns discussing IBM's reorganization. From the PC to the AS/400 and OS, IBM's strategies are reviewed. The analysts also provide their opinions as to what IBM should have done. > Computerworld - December 21, 1992 **PC Magazine Award for OS/2 2.0 PC Magazine (believe it) gave IBM's OS/2 2.0 it's 1992 "Award for Technical Excellence" in the Operating System and Software Standards category. > PC Magazine - January 12, 1993 **PC Magazine Reviews OS/2 Books PC Magazine reviewed 3 books we mentioned in the December newsletter. The editor's final summary of these books: "Now That I Have OS/2 on My Computer...What Do I Do Next?" -- easy overview of OS/2's WPS. "Using OS/2 2.0" -- comprehensive guide. "Inside OS/2" -- for extensive fine tuning of OS/2. > PC Magazine - January 12, 1993 ------------------------------ | CONSUMER ADVOCATE | ------------------------------ This month my investigative mind was aimed at Logitech. I and many others have waited in vain for months in getting OS/2 to recognize our Logitech 3-button mouse. A few months ago I called Logitech direct and left a message on their BBS, inquiring about mouse and hand-scanner support. Their initial response was "IBM promised OS/2 would be compatible, not Logitech." They also indicated that they were not doing any OS/2 development. I am still frustrated. My routine when I get a system freeze (mostly in native DOS) on occasion is to: 1. Re-boot. 2. Disconnect the PS/2 style bus-mouse from the back of my PC for about 15 seconds; reconnect the mouse. 3. Type "MOUSE PC" at a DOS prompt. This does not reactivate the mouse at this point. 4. Re-boot machine. 5. Mouse re-activates. Other users have reported problems with other Logitech serial mice. The common reported fix is to make sure your OS/2 "config.sys" file has the following lines: DEVICE=C:\OS2\POINTDD.SYS DEVICE=C:\OS2\PCLOGIC.SYS SERIAL=COM1 DEVICE=C:\OS2\MOUSE.SYS TYPE=PCLOGIC$ January 13, I left another message on Logitech's BBS (510) 795-0408 about my mouse blues. I called back January 17 and found a message - - they've changed their tune. The terse response from their tech support was: "Thank you for your feedback. We are looking at all possibilities of OS/2 for future consideration." Then I replied, using my own version of "fuzzy" logic on them. Their BBS lists statistics of files downloaded. After I downloaded the latest mouse driver, it noted that 2,936 callers had downloaded this file. They have a file available for download that has information on using Logitech mice with OS/2. It's "1002.TXT". That file has been downloaded 1,311 times. Therefore, aren't 45% of their mouse customers interested in OS/2? Stay tuned til we find the answer to this dilemma. -------------------------- | OS/2 USER GROUPS | -------------------------- For those who travel and have the time or those who want to exchange information, we'll try to list known OS/2 User Groups whenever we get the information. Of course, we can't be responsible if the information proves to be unreliable -- you, the reader are our best source of this information. This month we got the names from a file called "OS2UG.ZIP" that we found on IBM's OS/2 User Group forum on CompuServe, put together by the Association of PCUG's. Bay Area OS/2 User Group Contact: Guy Scharf Software Architects, Inc. 2163 Jardin Drive Mountain View, CA 94040 Meets: 4th Monday @ IBM Mountain View Phone: Voice -- (415) 948-9186 Fort Wayne OS/2 User Group Contact: Stephen Gutknecht Fort Wayne, Indiana Meets: Central Soya on Cook Rd. Meets: 7:00pm, 2nd Tuesday Phone: Voice -- (219) 484-0062 (Bus. Hrs.) Phone: BBS -- (219) 471-3918 Dallas-Forth Worth OS/2 User Group Contact: Toby Pennycuff CompuServe ID: 70007,6267 1211 Wilshire Blvd. Arlington, TX 76012-4623 Meets: American Airlines HQ 4255 Amon Carter Blvd. Arlington, TX Meets: Time & date not listed. North Suburban Chicago OS/2 User Group Contact: James R. Schmidt Meets: William M. Mercer, Inc. 1417 Lake Cook Rd. Deerfield, IL 60015 Meets: 5:30pmTues preceding 3rd Thurs. Phone: Voice -- (708) 317-7485 ----------------------------------- | WHERE TO BUY OS/2 SOFTWARE? | ----------------------------------- Guess what folks? We can obtain OS/2 software applications locally here in San Diego. No, it's not CompUSA or that new Computer City store. It's a local company called "PCAware Technology". David Lents, one of our members and co-sysop with Sue Lin Poh of the PCAware BBS and Pandora's Cafe BBS, did some investigative research and put together a list of products that we can purchase through PCAware Technology. Here's a sampling of what he has to offer. You can call PCAware for more information at (619) 291-8864. Their BBS phone number is (619) 291-9792. PCAware Product Name Description Price ------------------- ------------------------------------- ----- Coreldraw OS/2 2.5 Graphics for DTP $395 MicroGrafx Draw Graphics drawing & clip art $109 MicroGrafx Designer Graphics for DTP $479 Gamma Tech Util. 32-bit set of hard disk utilities(HPFS) $115 DCF/2 Disk Compression Utility (HPFS) $ 85 DeScribe 4.0 (32-bit) 32-bit full Word Processing $369 Borland ObjectVision for OS/2 Object development environment$185 WatCom C/386 9.0 32-bit C Compiler (also supporting DOS & Win 3.x) $535 HyperAccess/5 Text mode (VIO) Communication/Term (DOS version included, too) $119 PMComm-32 32-bit PM Communication $ 69 Golden CommPass CompuServe communication and navigation $ 65 R:Base 4.0 for OS/2 32-bit database application $500 --------------------------- | NEW OS/2 MAGAZINE! | --------------------------- By Steve Landrum I was out making my usual rounds at the mall when I stopped in the Software Etc. at the Grossmont Shopping Center to ask where the OS/2 software section was. They never know but I have to let them know someone wants OS/2 software. But, I did see an OS/2 magazine called OS/2 MONTHLY. I noted a couple of differences about this magazine. The first difference I noticed was this new magazine didn't have a slick cover like the other pc magazines. This is a good clue that the magazine hasn't been around very long (issue six). The second difference I noted about the magazine was that there are more articles than advertisements -- how refreshing. I went back to the counter to buy OS/2 MONTHLY where the salesclerk informed me they did have a book about OS/2 called "Inside OS/2" but no software. "I already have that book," I replied, "I'll just buy this magazine". OS/2 MONTHLY seems to be aiming at the broadest possible audience. Articles ranged from the OS/2's beginner interest "On the Eve of Installation" by Bill Zinsmeyer, to the Programmer's interest in "Introducing Containers" by Guy Scharf with several articles covering the range between these two extremes. I didn't see a "Letters to the Editor" department and the Q&A department did not have a question but instead had a good article about the author's experience in overcoming the media's standard objections to OS/2. On the whole, I thought the articles were well written and the magazine was laid out well but artwork was minimal. I guess OS/2 MONTHLY reminds me most of the LAPALS Paradox user's group newsletter INSTANT SCRIPTS. The contents of issue Six are below: **Features The OS/2 DOS Environment Part III By Les Bell On the Eve of Installation by Bill Zinsmeyer OS/2 + MIS by Gary Murphy **Departments Q&A by David Hunt Discovering the Workplace Shell by Brett Kotch Review by Ron Beauchemin & Paul Duncanson Advanced PM Programming by Guy Scharf The Ultimate OS/2 Game by Timur Tabi Object Objective by David Moskowitz In The Trenches by Eric Pinnel OS/2 MONTHLY is published by: JDS Publishing PO Box 4351 Highland Park, NJ 08904 (800) 365-2642 Cover price $4.50 1 Year rate - $39.00; 2 Year rate - $75.00 ------------------- | OS/2 BBS'S | ------------------- Those of you who feel like a "treat" on your phone bill once in a while, here's a list of some local and some not so local OS/2 specific Bulletin Boards.... OS/2 Connection San Diego, CA 619-558-9475 PCAware TechNet OS/2 San Diego, CA 619-291-9791 PCAware TechNet OS/2 San Diego, CA 619-291-2963 Pandora's Cafe San Diego, CA 619-291-9792 Zzyzx Road El Cajon, CA 619-579-0135 AsmLang and OS/2 San Jose, CA 408-259-2223 Spectre OS/2 Tech Exch Santa Ana, CA 714-751-9307 Communitel OS/2 BBS Las Vegas, NV 702-399-0486 Caddis OS/2 BBS Las Vegas, NV 702-453-6981 Las Vegas OS/2 SIG BBS Las Vegas, NV 702-443-5535 Greater Chicago Online Chicago, IL 708-895-4042 Marquee Systems Miami, FL 305-424-0465 Fernwood Branford, CT 203-483-0348 Fernwood II Branford, CT 203-481-7934 IBM Natl Suppt Ctr Atlanta, GA 404-835-5300 Information Overload Riverdale, GA 404-471-1549 OS/2 Shareware Fairfax, VA 703-385-4325 Short Circuit Boca Raton, FL 407-997-2235 T.E.L. Net Systems #2 Chino, CA 714-597-7858 International Lounge Babylon, NY 516-321-8125 Multitasking Systems Kansas City, MO 816-587-5360 The Looking Glass Memphis, TN 901-872-4386