[Please note: this is a text only version of the on-line magazine, OS/2 e-Zine!. OS/2 e-Zine! is a graphical, WWW OS/2 publication and, if possible, should be viewed in its HTML format available on-line at http://www.haligonian.com/os2/ or zipped for off-line reading. For best reading of this ASCII version of OS/2 e-Zine!, use a text editor at full-screen width.]
Editor's Note | Developers | Internet | Business | System | Diversions
-Hardware-
Matrox Mystique - Donovan Long
Digitizer Tablets - Christopher B. Wright
-Reviews-
Animated Mouse Pointer for OS/2 - Ryan Dill
Word Processors: An Overview - Jon Cochran
-Diversions-
PMICS for OS/2 Warp v2.1.1 - Steve Kelly
x128 OS/2 v0.5b5 - Tim Walker
END NOTES:
* Help Desk
* Harry Martin
* Nethead's Nook
* The Chronicles of John Ominor
* Hot Sellers - the top 15 selling OS/2 applications from Indelible Blue.
* Hot Sellers - the top 10 selling OS/2 applications from J3 Computer Technologies.
* Hot Sellers - the top 10 selling OS/2 applications from BMT Micro.
ODDS & ENDS:
* How to Subscribe to OS/2 e-Zine! for FREE.
* How YOU can Sponsor OS/2 e-Zine!
* The Sponsors that Make this Issue Possible
Copyright 1997 - Haligonian Media
ISSN 1203-5696
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Customs Canada and Network Computers
-----
Last month we reviewed two OS/2-preloaded computers, one from Indelible Blue and one from Mercede Computer Associates (MCA). In our review of the MCA system we reported that the machine was nonfunctional when we received it due to some loose cables inside the box. During discussions with MCA, we speculated that these loose connections might be the result of Customs Canada inspecting things on their way across the border.
We still have no conclusive evidence of how or when the cables inside the system came loose but we can make a few educated assumptions. We know that OS/2 was preloaded by MCA on the machine we received and that this required the use of the floppy disk and CD-ROM drives. These drives were both disconnected when we received the machine but since Warp 4 was installed, these disconnections obviously occurred after the installation.
In retrospect, and especially after some further incidents which occurred while sending the machine back to the USA, we believe that Customs Canada probably was the culprit. The moral of the story? If ordering a computer from outside your country of residence, be prepared to have your customs department be a little rough with it--above all, always insure valuable shipments (we did).
We apologize to MCA for any potentially misleading information we may have published regarding their system. We do not apologize to Canada Customs.
-----
I read the other day about IBM's newest plan for OS/2 Warp--Warp for NCs (Network Computers) and was amazed at the state of the world today. We are rapidly approaching the day when people will no longer be able to deny that computers have reached "critical mass" (yes, there are people out there that still claim computers aren't essential). Just like televisions and telephones before them, our information appliances will soon be so essential to the way we communicate--to the way we live--that only the most impoverished or most eccentric will even consider forgoing one.
After a year or more of unsuccessful attempts to make a popular "thin client" (a computer that exists basically just to connect to a network--for example, the Internet), many of the biggest players in the computer industry are still pushing toward that goal. And right there in the thick of things is that little "train that could", IBM's Personal Software Products, with its powerhouse engine, OS/2 Warp, pulling the weight.
Despite the public's (so far) lukewarm reception to "thin clients" or NCs, the big boys remain convinced that these machines that may some day be a merger of telephone, web browser, computer, television and more, are a winning project. And IBM remains convinced that Warp is the operating system to run them.
Once again, IBM is showing the world that there is still enthusiasm for OS/2 in their sometimes apathetic ranks. What better OS to run a machine that the average Joe and Jane will someday view no differently than their Sony TV? To be an appliance, you have to run like an appliance: you turn it on, it works.
Windows 95 for NCs? Hah!
Windows NT for NCs? A little fat for a "thin client".
No, once again in the computer industry, there is only one real answer for this particular niche. The only operating system that is reliable, time proven, robust and that works in next-to-no-memory situations (we're not talking about full blown Warp here, just a stripped down kernel welded to a web browser).
Is the world ready for NCs? Has the overall state of technology progressed to a level that Joe and Jane will be comfortable using it? Probably not. But the day is coming; anyone with a history book and a memory can see that. And Microsoft's "Windows everywhere" motto is certainly the winning strategy in this time of sweeping cultural change that we are soon to enter. Getting in on the ground floor of these booms, when standards are being written, is obviously the path to follow for any corporation.
The only problem with Microsoft's game plan is that they seem to have underestimated one fundamental step in the plan: make sure you have the goods to deliver when the world comes knocking. Users can be cowed along on predetermined paths for periods of time but when big changes come, if your technology isn't up to the task, you'll fall by the wayside. The big change will be when the average consumer starts buying "information appliances". The necessary technology will be a robust, simple and stable OS. Right now, that means Warp.
My prediction? Warp for NCs will be one more concrete demonstration of how and why Warp is the best operating system in the world today. It will further expand the growing and loyal OS/2 market. Its detractors will continue to claim that it is just a niche product as they scurry around desperately trying to bring their own products up to Warp's level of technology. And OS/2 will silently advance.
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Corporate Sponsors of OS/2 e-Zine!
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(http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro
Your complete source for over 175 of the best OS/2 shareware applications available. Drop by today and check out our WWW catalog or download the .INF version.
(http://www.4ctc.com/) CrossTec Corporation
NetOp Remote Control Software for OS/2 with cross platform support to Windows (either direction). Free evaluation copies available.
(http://www.ChipChat.com/os2ezine) ChipChat Technology Group
ChipChat produces excellent 32-bit OS/2 software for wireless text paging and state-of-the-art multimedia Sound Cards for Micro Channel PS/2 computers.
(http://www.emtec.com/) EmTec Innovative Software
EmTec Innovative Software produces state-of-the-art OS/2 ISDN, modem and telnet communications software. OS/2 Magazine and Inside OS/2 1995 award winner.
(http://www.fx.dk/) F/X Communications
Home of the top selling (http://www.fx.dk/injoy/) InJoy dialer, ranked #1 in worldwide OS/2 shareware sales (Jan-97).
(http://www.hotinc.com/) House of Technology, Inc.
Your Canadian Source For OS/2 Applications.
(http://www.indelible-blue.com/ib/) Indelible Blue
Indelible Blue, a mail order company, provides OS/2 software and hardware solutions to customers worldwide.
Defend against desktop freezes with Ctrl-Alt-Del Commander and create online documents/help with the IPF Editor.
(http://www.prioritymaster.com/) ScheduPerformance, Inc.
Dramatically improve performance on your OS/2 system now with the patented priority scanning logic and visual priority identification of Priority Master II.
Providers of lifetime warrantied name brand simms, laptop and printer memory at competitive prices.
(http://www.softouch.com) SofTouch Systems, Inc.
Home of the bestselling set of disk and desktop maintenance products for
OS/2: GammaTech Utilities, UniMaint, and FileStar/2! ---- Your System's Safe and Sound with SofTouch Around
(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems
Providing quality software for the home and office.
***********************************
Chris' Rant - by Chris Wenham
-----
What's gotten into you?
At times I don't understand the OS/2 community at all. Right at the point where everyone should be feeling good, they're not. Instead, I see morale at the lowest its been in years and an overall defeatist attitude creeping up on us. And all I have to say is: "What has gotten into you?"
Out comes Warp 4 and in it we find not one, not two, not even just three but four CD-ROMs crammed with stuff. They put OpenDoc in it, they pour Java into it, they weave OpenGL into it, bolt on a new GUI, then stick VoiceType in it and to drive the point home they stuff a headset microphone in the box to emphatically point out, "Yes, you can even talk to the thing now!"
IBM marches over to the offices of Netscape, beats up a few suits and walks out with a port of Navigator. They keep hammering on the Java support until it's the (http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?970210.wwarp.htm) fastest in the business, then make sure that owners of Warp 3.0 can run it too.
And they're still at work on it. There's a (http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?97024.encwarp.htm) Network Computer version in the works, the server version is being fitted to (http://www.infoworld.com/cgi-bin/displayStory.pl?97024.ewserve.htm) better compete with Windows NT and if that isn't enough there are even (http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-13247/warp5.htm) rumors leaking out on Warp 5.0 (if Warp 4.1 isn't out by the time you read this, it should be within a few days).
So what's up with these people who can't find anything better to do than moan about the copy protection on Process Commander's first FixPak? What's the matter with the ones who are still convinced OS/2 has been "orphaned" when IBM executives are practically blue in the face and beating their heads against the wall saying otherwise. HELLO?? Microsoft themselves up and admitted that (http://www.microsoft.com/industry/bank/ibmpr.htm) OS/2 is whupping NT's hide in the Banking industry.
What's wrong with this picture?
Contrary to popular opinion the sky is not falling, the world is not coming to an end and Bill Gates is not God. It just depends on what perspective you have. And I got news for ya, OS/2's not lying in the coffin you're banging nails into.
Just remind yourself of a few things the next time a doomsayer story comes trolling by. Your money is just as green as everyone else's. You, the customer, are King. Everybody has the right to their own opinion and if you don't agree with it you have the right to flip them the bird. The 'B' in IBM has always stood for 'Business.' And you decide where you want to go today.
I see where some of this is stemming from though. Too many OS/2 journalists (like me) have been moaning and groaning and being all-round sourpusses, making mountains out of molehills and looking to the year 2000 with more pessimism than a COBOL programmer. Well I'll be the first to can the chicken-little routine. Let's see if others can, too, eh?
Lighten up!
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the Rave: Conversion Pro v1.6 - by David Butt
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Ever wondered how many ells there are in a fathom? How many cables in a knot; minutes in a year; gills in a hogshead or slugs in a pound?
Conversion Pro by NEGC Software of Tacoma, Washington determines these and hundreds of other unit conversions and presents them with an easily understood, simple, clear and logical interface.
Conversion Pro includes a huge list of over 1,800 conversions in the following categories: acceleration; illumination; velocity; weight & mass; angular velocity; energy & work; area; volume; power; concentration; force; pressure; density; hydraulics; nuclear physics; electricity & magnetism; distance & length; temperature; and time. If these are not enough and you have a regular need to convert furlongs per fortnight to light seconds, the 'user defined category' will even let you create your own special conversions!
All that is required to use this utility, is to choose the conversion you need, enter the number you wish to convert in the entry box and the answer is presented.
Installing Conversion Pro is a straightforward matter of unzipping the file into a temporary directory, invoking the install utility, choosing a directory, and sitting back. The install utility places an icon on your Desktop for your further action.
In addition to all the conversion utilities, the just-released v1.6 includes LoanPro, a loan calculator program, and Time Pro, a utility that sets your computer's internal clock to the United States Naval Observatory Time Service Department cesium atomic clock. Registration for all these wonders is only US$19.95.
However, the interface for v1.6 differs from v1.5, requiring greater use of the included calculator to quickly convert the units you wish to determine. This reviewer feels that Conversion Pro v1.5 is equally capable and the more useful product, as well as being a better value. However, your mileage (.3333 furlongs) may vary!
This is a great utility for anyone who regularly works in the sciences and has a need to convert between one unit of measurement and another. It is fast and easy to use, and comes highly recommended.
-----
* Conversion Pro v1.6
by (http://www.eskimo.com/~4jfk/negcsoft.html) NEGC Software
download from (ftp.bmtmicro.com/bmtmicro/cpro_16.zip) BMT Micro (ZIP, 600k)
Registration: US$19.95
-----
(dfbutt@mail.netshop.net) David Butt is a recreational user of OS/2--a rather solitary habit in (http://www.netshop.net/~smicham/index.html) Smithers, British Columbia. He sates this addiction with megadoses of OS/2 information around the 17th of each month.
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Here We Go Again!!! - by Barry Brindisi
-----
Here we go again! It seems that whenever I turn around, I hear something hauntingly similar to what I heard years ago.
I have been dealing with computers, in general, for about 14 years. Over time, I've seen basically the same thing occur again and again. In 1984, Apple came out with a revolutionary new computer called the Macintosh. It was the first commercially available graphically oriented computer. Unlike OS/2, its operating system was closely tied to its hardware. The Mac had a lot of the same features that we take for granted today, thirteen years later. One of these features is Plug 'N Play; another, the ability to handle multiple tasks at once. Sound familiar? It should. OS/2 has a number of similarities (as well as some distinct differences). The same is true for Windows NT and Windows '95.
A couple years after the Mac came out, IBM and Microsoft released a graphical shell to sit on top of DOS, thereby imitating what users of the Macintosh had been doing since '84. The main difference between these two OS's was that Windows was a graphical shell that sat on top of the operating system while the Mac was an entirely graphical OS and not merely a shell. You'd think that with its many strengths, the Mac would have dominated the market.
But as we all know, Microsoft had time to develop its new graphical shell and market it as an alternative to dealing with DOS while allowing computer users to use their existing software--a very important factor when deciding what platform to use. At that time, Apple did not have any way for DOS users to keep their existing software and gradually migrate over to native Macintosh software. One should also remember that software and hardware were much more expensive in those days than they are now.
Largely because of these two factors, many users opted to stay put. Interestingly enough, this is no longer the case. You can get a PowerPC Mac for about the same price as a PC. For a little more money you can run your old DOS programs, as well.
In 1986, I was looking into the possibility of going over to the Mac. While investigating, I came across claims that I would hear repeated for years to come. Do these claims sound familiar? "The Mac is dead!", "There is no real software for it.", "Apple is going out of business!", "IBM may be buying Apple", "Apple is abandoning the Mac!", "Adobe is abandoning us, for the Windows platform."
If not, just substitute OS/2 for Mac and IBM for Apple. As for Adobe, they are still predominantly Mac based, just as Stardock is still predominantly OS/2 based and more than likely will remain that way. In fact, not one of these claims about the Mac has born any substantial amount of truth. Apple is still one of the top 500 corporations in the US. Their Macintosh hardware and software lines are doing quite well.
So what does all this have to do with OS/2 Warp and today's market? There is much that we can learn from history. People should try to remember that much of what we hear and read today has already happened in the past. And unfortunately, it will probably continue on like this in the future. Which is why it is important to know the facts of what has gone before and what is really happening today.
Here are some observations that I have been able to make:
Like the Mac, OS/2 is not dead; it is quite far from it. There are about 15 million OS/2 users and over 50 million Mac users worldwide. It should be noted that both IBM and Apple have spent millions of dollars on their respective platform and each company has thousands of developers working on it. This is not including the many third party developers for each platforms. From this, I would have to say that IBM is definitely committed to OS/2.
While I'm not sure about Apple, IBM makes several operating systems, several business applications (commercial and specialized) and a huge variety of computers ranging from mainframes to notebooks and their respective components. It is because of this that the media and Windows zealots love to claim that IBM isn't doing enough for OS/2. My suggestion to those zealots is to get Stardock's business simulation game, (http://www.stardock.com/) Entrepreneur and try maintaining a computer company the size of IBM. It definitely won't be an easy task. (By the way, the final version of Entrepreneur will be available on both OS/2 Warp and Win95.)
In spite all this, the media seems to be in love with proclaiming that the Mac and OS/2 are dead. Remember, these are the same folks that have sung the virtues of Windows 3.1 and did some target shooting at the Mac and other platforms since the beginning of the desktop computer industry. Though media predictions can be fun to read, they are often totally bogus. And they should always be taken with a grain of salt.
General computer magazines are great for reading about current trends in the computer industry and for finding out about new hardware and software. They are also great for finding out about the impact that certain events may have on you. Ideally though, they should only print the facts; personal biases and perceived popularity shouldn't enter into the articles that we read. However, this is almost never the case, which is why specialized online and print magazines exist. The key here is to be selective in where we get our information. I generally read PC Magazine and C|Net for general information and OS/2 e-Zine! and OS/2 Computing for my OS/2 related news.
The media is always going to be this way; they have been since the 1970's. Writing letters to the editors of magazines is one way to get them to report on the things that matter to you. Changing to a different magazine is another way.
OS/2 is a constantly evolving and growing operating system. It has been evolving since it was developed in 1987 and will likely continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
This is actually true for all software. Mac users have seen their favorite platform evolve from a little cube-shaped unit with components that could only be bought from Apple to a full-blown system that can use a variety of the same components that any PC can use. The same holds true for OS/2. There was once a time when we couldn't run our favorite Windows or DOS software on OS/2. As of OS/2 2.1, this no longer held true. At one time OS/2 ran only proprietary OS/2, DOS or Windows applications. Now it is the world's first OS with built in Java support.
As I stated, OS/2 is constantly evolving and changing to deal with an ever-changing future. I, for one, am glad that IBM is constantly working to improve OS/2 and further develop it to deal with the future. In a world where Microsoft is coming out with a network-centric operating system tailored for home users (Windows 97) and Apple is planning on upgrading the MacOS to include capabilities of the recently acquired NeXT operating system (code named Rhapsody), it's nice to be using an OS that those others will be compared to--in the future.
-----
(pharyn@amug.org) Barry Brindisi has been dealing with computers since 1982 and has used a wide variety of computers and software. He is just starting on a freelance writing career.
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It's Just No Good - by Henk de Jong
-----
Dear Sir,
I want to give you some advice:
Stop with your publication.
You publish about OS/2.
But OS/2 is bad for almost everybody.
The biggest disadvantage is that it offers the customer too much.
Terrible!
OS/2 works fast and effectively.
The interface has great functionality.
The system supports Java and OpenDoc.
It has a good, easy to use, "Office" suite (IBM Works).
The support for all kinds of applications is great.
The user can still work with his old DOS programs.
Without memory problems! Even on a network.
He doesn't need memory managers.
His old DOS programs give him almost the functionality of Windows programs.
He can copy and paste to any other application, including OS/2 programs.
That is why he doesn't buy new applications (unless they give the functionality of OS/2 applications).
That means no business for a lot of developers.
No upgrades every year.
And what about the Press?
They don't know anything about OS/2.
What should they write?
And the retailers?
No upgrades for operating systems or applications every year.
And if there is an upgrade, retailers can only sell a microphone for Voice Type.
OS/2 is terrible for business! It offers too much in its basic form!
The possibilities with Windows are much better:
The user can start with Windows 3.1.
Then the customer notices that he can not use his old DOS applications on a network.
He doesn't have enough memory. He buys a memory manger.
And new Windows applications.
The retailer sells and installs them.
The press writes about them.
After a while the customer notices that he gets General Protections Faults.
And if DOS goes down, his whole system goes down.
He buys Windows 95.
Nice interface isn't it?
The Press says so.
It has to be true. The Press wouldn't lie.
But he doesn't understand the new interface.
He takes several courses. Finally he gets used to Windows 95.
And he can plug and play with new hardware.
He buys new hardware every week to exercise.
Then he notices that his old Windows programs still give the same problems.
Or even don't run any more.
And he buys new software again. Now Windows 95 software.
Real "32 bit". Everybody says that's the ticket.
Good for the Press. Good for the retailers.
Good for everybody in the business.
What more do you want?
After a while he notices he still has a lot of problems.
The General Protection Fault is still there, but it has another name.
And he buys Windows NT.
He buys a new PC with a Pentium Pro and a special expensive motherboard.
And at least 64 MB.
And, of course, "real Win-32 multi-threaded applications", because Win95 applications had their limitations.
A little bit expensive but you need it for Windows NT, right?
And he is satisfied for a while.
But eventually he notices that the new "Win95" interface is not very good. It doesn't work for him.
But no problem, there is a new Windows 97 with a newer interface.
That will be better.
It has to be very nice. The Press says so.
And Bill Gates says so.
And every owner of Microsoft stock says so.
You see, Windows is good for business.
So don't advertise too much for OS/2.
Because we have to keep the customer dumb.
Imagine if OS/2 becomes a real success in the consumer market.
Imagine if the price of Microsoft shares dropped to the level they were really worth!
All those billionaires losing 95% of their money!!
(Even IBM employees have Microsoft shares.)
Do you want to be responsible for that disaster?
So stop writing about OS/2.
Please give Windows 97 and Windows 99 a chance.
Keep the market penetration of OS/2 under 10%.
Several managers of IBM will be pleased to help you.
And wait three years.
That is early enough for Operating System/2(000).
-----
(hdejon@ibm.net) Henk de Jong is a project leader / consultant at a Dutch Service Provider. He works in a DOS, Windows 3.1 / 95 / NT, and luckily, also in a UNIX and OS/2 environment. He has preferred OS/2 since v2.0.
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the Beta File
-----
Welcome back to the Beta File, your source for the latest breaking news in OS/2 beta development. Every month we scour the OS/2 world to bring you interesting news of OS/2 software in development. If you have a product that you're sure is going to be the next killer app, or you want a little free exposure for your beta test (feedback@haligonian.com) drop us a note!
***
Out of the gate this month, the long awaited "next project" from (http://www.southsoft.com/) SouthSoft, Inc., PMINews, is making its way into the world. As anyone with an Internet connection knows, SouthSoft is the company founded by Robert Novitskey and Evan Goldring to develop and publish the wildly successful PMMail v1.x. Hoping to duplicate that success, SouthSoft will soon introduce its first news client.
PMINews is a native OS/2, 32-bit, Presentation Manager (PM) Usenet news client built on technology from PMMail. It also incorporates many new technologies that may change the way users interact with Usenet news. One of these features is SouthSoft's ICSL (Internet Content Search Language) which allows unattended interaction with news articles through advanced filtering and find capabilities. PMINews will support multiple servers and, like PMMail, is fully MIME compliant and will have full featured filters which will allow you to kill posts, notify you of the presence of certain articles, etc. As well, PMINews will work
with PMMail to allow users to file articles into PMMail's folders with simple drag-n-drop.
Until recently, the beta test has been limited to a few people close to the developers but in late February, all previous beta testers of SouthSoft code will be able to join in. It will still be a closed beta (as is SouthSoft's custom) though. In Bob Novitskey's words:
"We have received many requests from people actually wanting to purchase the beta. We generally don't make that a practice. We feel the whole beta process in the world has gotten a little out of control. Still, if we continue to be inundated with requests, we may break this rule."
Right now, people interested in the product should just watch the (http://www.southsoft.com/pminews.html) SouthSoft web page for PMINews. If they need additional testers, they'll put a note up there. Expect to see this shareware news reader by the end of March or early April with a registration fee of US$30.00 (with discounts for people who purchased PMMail in the 30 days preceding the release).
Will it be worth the wait? According to Novitskey:
"People often tell us, "If PMINews is anything like PMMail, I'll send you my money today." Well, we used the code base for PMMail as a starting point and then enhanced it. We created new controls so powerful that they will be used in future versions of PMMail... we enhanced the spell checker... we made hundreds of improvements. So it's not just like PMMail... it's better."
***
The newest version of the popular text editor, Smalled v1.45, from Bianchi Software has just wrapped up beta testing (at the time of this writing). Eric Slaats has been refining this handy replacement for E.EXE and alternative to HTML editors for many months with this latest version as the most solid result yet.
Smalled is a fast PM editor with a number of extras, including a separate package called the Smalled HTML Extensions. Complete information on the product(s) can be found at the (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/smalled/) Smalled web site.
In the process of testing v1.45, 11 beta participants (who are more or less regular testers) have worked with the code for a few months. Slaats occasionally accepts new testers if somebody has some great ideas to contribute. If you're interested, (eric.slaats@pi.net) send him a note.
As mentioned above, this beta test was just wrapping up at the time of this writing, with a release date estimated around the last week of February. Registration for Smalled is US$18 and the program is shareware.
***
Also in text editor news this month, PillarSoft's Enhanced E & Enhanced EE Editors are entering testing. The freeware Enhanced E Editor is a clone of the OS/2 "E" System Editor. It looks and acts like the System Editor but adds a few features such as the ability to print, print selected text only, insert date and time via hotkeys or menu selection and a complete pop-up menu.
The shareware Enhanced EE Editor starts with Enhanced E as its base package and adds many more features to extend its functionality. It provides users with full printer selection and setup; pop-up menus; time-date-name and signature file insertion; a toolbar; configurable autosave; find by keyword or line number; save or append selected text to file; a file history and more...
Developer, (Psoft@Tech-Center.com) Wayne Swanson tells us that the beta has been open since January 25th and anyone with an Internet connection can jump to (http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/3512/) his web page (which always has the latest version) and join up.
By mid-summer '97 end users will be able to see the finished result of the beta test. Those really eager can register the Enhanced EE now for US$25 for every version up to and including the GA v1.0.
Swanson says, "If you are using the 'E' System Editor, the Enhanced E or the Enhanced EE can add to your productivity. The Enhanced E, considering the price, should be part of everyone's toolbox."
***
And wrapping up where we started off this month, another well known shareware developer is busily testing their latest creation, ProNews/2.
Panacea Software, developer of HTML Studio, is also entering the (arguably crowded) OS/2 Usenet news arena with this 32-bit PM reader, featuring off-line capabilities and much more. However, the final feature set had not yet been determined at the time of this writing.
Developers (panacea@program.com) Bill Buchanan, Bill Young and Brian Lamb should have just commenced their open beta test by the time you read this. For complete details, visit (http://www.program.com/panacea/) Panacea's web site. Expect the final release sometime late in the second quarter of this year at a yet-to-be-determined price.
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Answers from e-Zine!
-----
Welcome back to your source for answers to all your OS/2 questions! Each month we bring you tips, tricks, questions and answers from our readers and contributors. If you've got a question or tip you would like to share with us, (feedback@haligonian.com) send it in!
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Q -- Is there a way to back up the appointment book that comes with IBM Works without backing up the entire IBM Works suite or the whole disk?
A -- Yes! You can back up the data from the IBM Works appointment book by switching to the:
X:\bonuspak\ibmworks\data
directory on your Warp 4 system (where X: is the drive IBM Works is installed on), and zipping up, or just copying all the files of the name:
appt.*
This is a crude method but it works. Also, this should work with most of the BonusPak PIM-related applications. For example, you would back up:
todo.*
to save all the Todo list files.
- (editor@haligonian.com) OS/2 e-Zine! Staff
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Q -- I have a problem! I cannot seem to find a way to convince my Netscape Mail client, that I do not live in the Eastern Standard Time (EST) time zone. I can find no clues in the docs, and Netscape's on-line help really only deals with the Windows versions. I do have a hunch however, that the trick might be something with a TZ environment variable, but I have no idea which string to use!
A -- The answer is in your CONFIG.SYS file. Somewhere in it there should be a line that looks like:
SET TZ=EST5EDT
which the Warp 4 install program establishes. Change this to:
SET TZ=XXXnnYYY
where 'XXX' is a character string for your time zone's standard time, 'YYY' is a string for daylight savings time and 'nn' is the number of hours difference from Greenwich Mean Time to your time zone. For example, here in California I use:
SET TZ=pst08pdt
There is also a lot more that can be included in the TZ variable, especially if daylight savings time does not start in your area when all the rest of us do.
- (bsmith@ccis.com) Bob Smith
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TIP -- I just came across a solution to something that has bothered me forever and I thought that I would throw it your way.
For a long time now, I have been unable to get NR/2 to save its window positions no matter what I tried. And even though others have the same problem, I have asked repeatedly and no one seemed to know why this is. It is not a setup issue because with identical setups some people had this problem and others did not.
Two days ago I stumbled upon the answer, I believe. I got tired of the slowness associated with dragging windows around in full-drag mode (the standard Warp 4 variety), and turned this feature off. Some time later, I added a newsgroup after finishing reading the news and I resized the main window and saved the position (since the main window was never afflicted by this malady).
Lo and behold, my header window also kept its position! Then I got cocky and tried resizing the article window and it kept its position too! After much mind searching, I realized that the full-window dragging was responsible and after confirming it with another user on the OS/2 setup newsgroup, here you are: a tip
Q -- Is there a web site or a downloadable list somewhere with all the
hardware that works with OS/2?
A -- It may not be complete but a good place to start is the (http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/os2hw.html) PC systems and devices compatible with OS/2 Warp page maintained by IBM.
- (editor@haligonian.com) OS/2 e-Zine! Staff
-----
TIP --Misc Hangs At Workplace Shell Start-Up - "Blue Screen Hang"
The system boots normally up to starting the Workplace Shell at which time the system hangs. Sometimes the startup sound will be heard, the background will change to blue or the background bitmap will appear. The cursor turns into a clock followed by nothing.
There appear to be several possible causes for this.
If you run the WarpCenter and Object Desktop and both have the CPU monitor enabled then this can cause a "clash". Try disabling one or the other and see if this gets rid of the problem. Even if you don't have the problem it's probably a waste of system resources to have two apps doing the same thing anyway. I'm not sure if this happens if you are running other CPU monitors (Pulse or shareware) but it is possible.
The registration program that appears in Warp 4 from time to time has a thread running (ARTCHRON.EXE) which might also cause this problem. If the above does not get rid of the problem try eliminating this thread. I have not found what starts this one (there is nothing in CONFIG.SYS or STARTUP.CMD) but one way to get rid of ARTCHRON is to kill the thread (or boot from floppy) and rename the .EXE files to something else. They are in the OS2\ART directory. (Thanks to Kris Kwilas for this one.)
Finally, if the above do not work, try moving the WarpCenter startup from your CONFIG.SYS and putting it in the StartUp folder. Other RUN= statements can also be moved in this way which some users have reported makes the boot more stable.
- (paulmuir@singnet.com.sg) Paul Muir
-----
That's it for this month. If you have a tip or question that you don't see covered here, don't forget to (feedback@haligonian.com) send it in!
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Chris' ColorWorks Powertips - by Chris Wenham
-----
Cut out Shadows and Netscape Palettes
This column is coming together a bit late this month, partly because I'm naturally lazy and partly because I've been busy making half-a-dozen versions of that glossy Readers' Choice logo you see on the contents page (picky editor y'see).
I've also been chastised in the past for not explaining the steps in my tips clearly enough, so this month I'll start to go a bit slower and outline the procedures more concisely to help the beginners out there.
News about future columns: someone pointed me towards a very cool site called (http://www.binary.net/cooltype/) CoolType which has a ton of tips for getting exqueemishly cool text effects, but for Adobe Photoshop. If I can (and when I get the time) I'll be working on 'porting' as many of these tips as I can to ColorWorks. Look for these in future columns.
As for this month, I'm catching up on some reader requests.
Q&A Center
"I have a question for you... how do you create the cut out drop shadow as seen in the purple OS/2 e-Zine! logo?"
- (http://www.geocities.com/~bestos2/home.htm) Colin Williams, Hamilton, New Zealand
It's not much different from the regular drop-shadow effect. Start with the base shape that you want to cut the text out from.
Now pick white (or your background color) and double-click on the Text tool to set your font and enter the text you want to apply. Click 'Apply' and position this text over the shape. (Don't switch on anti-aliasing yet, we'll apply that later.)
Now to create the shadow. Go to Edit.Copy (or press Ctrl-Insert for the same thing) then select Edit.Paste (or press Shift-Insert) to give yourself a new canvas with the same cut-out shape in it. Pick a very dark grey as your color, select the paint can tool and go fill that shape with the shadow color.
Next we go to the Effects.Filter Labs.Smoothing Lab dialog and pick "Gaussian Distribution" from the drop-down list. Click 'Ok' and then pick the Full Canvas tool from the floating toolbox. Now click on the canvas with the shadow-colored shape 3 to 4 times to blur it out. You don't have to wait for ColorWorks to finish each cycle before you click on it again, since the program will queue up your requests. This is a good opportunity to click on the 'i' in the corner of the canvas and check out what it's doing.
You should now have a nicely softened shadow.
At this point you want to left-click on the mask icon to flip ColorWorks into mask mode. Select the paint can tool and go fill the original, normal-colored shape with the mask. Don't mask the white parts since those must let the shadow show through from behind. (By the way, in this screenshot I'm using cyan as my masking color, selectable by double-clicking on the mask icon.)
Finally we float the mask (Edit.Save and Float Image Mask, or Ctrl-F--for ColorWorks v1.0 users you must save the image mask first, then float it) and right-drag it over the shadow canvas. Position it until it's just right, then Edit.Paste Floating.
You're done! Well, almost: right-click on the mask icon to take yourself out of mask mode then go to Edit.Drawing Merge Control and switch on Anti-aliasing. Use the eyedropper tool to get the original color you had before, then select the paint can tool and fill the 'cookie cutter' part of the shape with its own color. With anti-aliasing switched on the paint can will smooth the edges without giving you the 'fringing' effects you would have experienced had you anti-aliased the shape before dropping it over the shadow.
Reader's Tips
"Here are two palettes for ColorWorks. Together, they make up the Netscape colour cube. This means that if you use colours only from these two palettes, colours will never be dithered on 256 colour system, and turning your TIFs into GIFs won't ruin them for web work. The colours are made up of all possible combinations of the hex values 00, 33, 66, 99, CC, and FF, in case you are interested, i.e. a 6-6-6 palette (six intensities for each of Red, Green, and Blue).
For this to work, the gamma must be set to 1.00 all around, since
otherwise ColorWorks adjusts the colours as it saves a file."
Thanks Carsten. A link for downloading the palettes is below.
Download Depot
(http://www.haligonian.com/os2/v2n2/cube.zip) Netscape Color Cube Palettes - Download and unzip to your x:\cworks\palettes directory.
News
(http://www.modulardreams.com/) Modular Dreams Incorporated has released another package of ColorWorks plug-ins, this one called "Renders", which will generate a variety of weird, wonderful and colorful patterns and textures. I'll be reviewing this package in full next month along with their Animated GIF plug-in.
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(http://www.spectra.net/~fox/) Chris Wenham is a Team OS/2er in Binghamton, NY with a catchy-titled company--(http://www.spectra.net/~pendulum/webworks/) Wenham's Web Works. He has written comedy, sci-fi, HTML, Pascal, C++ and now writes software reviews.
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Object Desktop Tips - by Alexander Antoniades
-----
Since its initial release, Stardock Systems' Object Desktop has been among the best selling OS/2 applications in the world. Many OS/2 users enjoy greater productivity thanks to Object Desktop's helpful features.
Something many users don't know, however, is that there are many undocumented or often overlooked features of Object Desktop that can make your OS/2 system even more productive and fun to use. We've gathered together a few of them to share with you here.
Overriding Object Viewers
One of the most popular features in Object Desktop Professional is our new Object Viewer component, but as good as that is, there is an option that many people have requested we add. Many users like launching their favorite application by simply double clicking on a file associated with it. Happily, the ability to selectively choose which documents are viewed using Object Viewers and which are viewed by other applications is a feature which, unbeknownst to most people (including me until recently), is already in Object Desktop Professional.
In order to do this you simply have to open the Master Setup object in the Object Desktop Professional folder and then go to the "data file defaults" page. From there un-select the "Automatically view when identified" option. Now every data type that has an associated file extension or extended attribute will automatically load the associated application when you double click on it.
The Class Editor
While I like to focus on regular Object Desktop 1.5 for most of these columns, there are also occasionally features in the Professional version of Object Desktop that need to be pointed out because they're either hidden or simply not obvious. One of my favorite Object Desktop Professional features that falls into this category is the Class Editor.
The Class Editor is one of the less talked about, harder to find pieces of Object Desktop Professional. What the Class Editor allows you to do is actually modify the class table of either the Workplace Shell itself or any selected Object Package.
To call up the Class Editor, simply right click on the Object Inspector in the main Object Desktop Professional folder and select "Class Editor View" under the "Open as" menu. This will bring up a modifiable list of the Workplace Shell classes registered on your machine. From this interface you can add and remove object classes from whichever class registry you're editing.
I must caution you, if you don't know what a class does the best thing that you can do is not alter it in any way. That said, by reading most class names and the descriptions accompanying them you can often find classes on your systems that have been left by programs you've either removed or that were installed with OS/2 but you don't use. A perfect example of this is the Advantis dialer, which is used instead of SLIPPM.EXE (Dial Other Internet Providers) to hook up to IBM's Advantis network. This program has five classes associated with it that are totally useless if you don't have an Internet access account with Advantis. These are the first classes that most people delete.
That's a quick backgrounder on the Class Editor one of the harder to find features of Object Desktop Professional. Next month we'll get back to regular version OD and talk about some of the other goodies hidden in there.
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(sander@stardock.com) Alexander Antoniades is the former Associate Editor of OS/2 Magazine and the current Vice President of Marketing at Stardock Systems.
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The Need For Speed - by Jon Cochran
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Warp 4 Perspectives
Well, after a few months, I think I've kicked OS/2 Warp 4 around to have a good idea of its faults and strengths. So this month I'd like to put forward some tuning tips, and just generally share my opinions on Warp 4.
By now, you would think IBM would have followed Microsoft's lead and made the Warp 4 installation a bit friendlier. Granted, including the boot discs in the box is a bit nicer than making them yourself (which was the procedure in the past). But I'm sure most users would prefer just inserting the new CD, clicking the CD object, finding SETUP.EXE, and going from there. Or perhaps I'm just being picky. At least the installation procedure itself worked flawlessly for me.
After the installation, looking at the config.sys file (isn't it time config.sys was put out to pasture?) you'll find the usual defaults--which don't lend themselves to great performance. The first thing to do is to change your swap file size, which is probably set like this:
SWAPPATH =C:\OS2\SYSTEM 2048 4096
This default setting (or something similar, depending on your system) leaves a 2MB swap file, which is way too small for general use. Try changing it to:
SWAPPATH =C:\OS2\SYSTEM 2048 20480
Which will create a 20MB swapfile (good for 16MB and 24MB systems). For a 32MB system, you could create a smaller swapfile, but as a general rule, bigger is better.
Second, the number of threads in the system is set to 1024. Unless IBM has changed something in the internal workings of OS/2, each thread takes a bit of memory (If I remember correctly, 256 threads occupy 1MB of memory), even if it's not in use. Setting the number of threads back down to 256 should save you some valuable RAM. (editor's note : users of VoiceType should leave the threads setting high since VT uses a lot of threads.)
Finally, my biggest complaint about the Warp 4 installation was the number of lines inserted into the config.sys for networking. Even if you're just using dialup TCP/IP, you will find a plethora of drivers for LAN networking installed. Many readers have been asking exactly which of these lines can be axed so I've done some digging and come up with the following.
If you want to save some memory, the lines that can be safely removed from the config.sys without interfering with dialup networking are:
REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\LANMSGDD.OS2 /I:C:\IBMCOM /S
REM RUN=C:\OS2\SMSTART.EXE
REM CALL=C:\IBMCOM\PROTOCOL\NETBIND.EXE
REM RUN=C:\IBMCOM\LANMSGEX.EXE
REM CALL=C:\OS2\CMD.EXE /Q /C C:\MPTN\BIN\MPTSTART.CMD >NUL
REM DEVICE=C:\IBMCOM\MACS\NULLNDIS.OS2
In my opinion, a lot of these little "fixes" shouldn't have to be made at all. It's really time IBM got it together and looked at the little things that make installation programs work well. After all, do you think that people who install Warp 4 and notice its initially sluggish performance will attribute it to a config.sys in need of editing, or attribute it to the operating system itself?
Despite all the installation quirks, if you're still considering the move to Warp 4, I recommend you do it. It's a bit more resource hungry than Warp 3 was, but the stability has been greatly improved. And it comes with a ton of new features making it well worth the money you'll spend for it.
Special Note For Aptiva Owners
If you own an IBM Aptiva and were considering installing Warp over the preloaded Warp 4, be careful. I know of 2 cases of Warp 4 being installed over the preloaded Warp: one worked out OK but the other left the system a mess. And before you install at all, be sure to make your MWave driver disks in advance (they're located on the device driver CD). I know they should be on the main CD (IBM hardware and software should work well together, right?), but IBM didn't think that far ahead.
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(cochran@genius.rider.edu) Jon Cochran is a full time student at Rider University majoring in History/Secondary Education. He hopes (or at least his parents do) to graduate soon.
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the REXX Files - by Dr. Dirk Terrell
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Very often is it necessary to save information about a program when it is shut down. For example, a programmer may wish to save the location of a program's window, the color and typeface of a font being used, or the name of data files that the program has used so that they can be recalled when the program is restarted.
One could, of course, write routines to create and manage files to store this kind of information, but OS/2 comes with all the tools needed to perform such tasks with minimal coding. The solution lies in the OS/2 INI files. INI files are a relatively painless way of storing information across program invocations or sharing information between processes in a type of poor-man's interprocess communication. You could even use INI files to create a simple database.
Unlike Windows 3.1 INI files, OS/2 INI files are not in a pure ASCII format, and therefore can not be edited with a text editor like EPM. Fortunately, the REXXUTIL library has a function for reading and manipulating INI files. The function name is SysIni. This function can read, set, and delete entries from INI files. The hierarchy of INI file data goes like this:
Application ----> Key ----> Key Value
That is, the uppermost level is represented as an application name, with keys representing variables for that particular application.
The calling form for SysIni varies depending on what you are doing. To read the value of a particular key, the call is:
value=SysIni(IniFile,ApplicationName,KeyName)
To set the value of a key (or create it) you would use:
Suppose you need to determine the names of all keys associated with a particular application. SysIni makes this very easy too. A call of the form:
rc=SysIni(IniFile,ApplicationName,"ALL:",Stem)
where Stem represents a REXX stem variable, will return a list of all of the keys associated with the application stored in the stem variable. Following the usual convention for returned stems, Stem.0 contains the number of keys returned , and the key names are in Stem.1, Stem.2, ...
If you need to delete an application (and therefore all of its keys),
rc=SysIni(IniFile,ApplicationName,"DELETE:")
will do the trick. If, like me, you test many applications and then delete them, this is very handy for cleaning up your INI files.
Finally, if you need to get a list of all the applications in the INI file, use:
rc=SysIni(IniFile,"ALL:",Stem)
where Stem behaves as before.
Real World Examples
As an example of using INI files, let's look at how HTML Wizard, an HTML editor that I wrote mainly in REXX, uses them.
As a programmer, one thing I learned very quickly is that people want configurability in a program. For an editor, things like font type, colors, window size and position, and word wrap should be user-configurable and, of course, not require that the user set them every time the program is run. In HTML Wizard, the user can configure these things, and when the program exits, it saves the values in the HTMLWIZ.INI file.
A simple example of this is 'word wrap'. When editing HTML files, I can't stand it, but other people can't do without it. HTML Wizard allows everyone to do it their way with a menu item that can be set on or off. Now, it would be a pain for people to have to set that menu item every time they started the program, so when the program detects that the user has requested a shutdown, it determines the value of the word wrap menu item, and then saves that in the HTMLWIZ.INI file with application name "MainWindow", key name "WordWrap" and a key value of either 1 or 0 depending on whether word wrap is on or off. If word wrap is on, the call looks like:
Other values are set in the same way. For example, people often use the same HTML tags repeatedly. To make things a little easier (and allow some flexibility as new HTML tags are added to the language), HTML Wizard allows the user to program buttons that insert whatever HTML code they want. And how does HTML Wizard remember these customized tags? By storing them in the HTMLWIZ.INI file:
rc=SysIni("HTMLWIZ.INI","User Tag 1","Tag","<MYTAG></MYTAG>")
When the program is started, it calls SysIni to find out what it should use for the user's programmable tags:
UserTag1=SysIni("HTMLWIZ.INI","User Tag 1","Tag")
Other Uses
Of course, there are many uses for INI files. You could probably implement a simple address book application using an INI file, with people's names as the application and phone number, e-mail address, etc. as keys. Or perhaps you might use a social security number in the application field, and put the names in key values.
One common need in REXX programming is to know when an application has finished so that another can then be started. Using an INI file, you could pull off such interprocess communication by setting a key value. When the one app finishes, it would set a key value which the second program is watching, and then the second program would continue with its processing. (There are, of course, better ways to accomplish this with some available third party libraries.)
Finally, there are two special values for the name of the INI file when calling SysIni. "USER" will point to the OS2.INI file and "SYSTEM" to the OS2SYS.INI file. I would caution you against messing with those files, however, unless you are sure you know what you are doing. If you mess them up, it could cause no end of problems with your OS/2 setup.
The example file this month contains a program that lists all applications and their associated keys in a given INI file. I have also included a sample HTMLWIZ.INI file that you can use for testing. Good luck!
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(http://www.gnv.com/HTMLWizard/) Dr. Dirk Terrell is an astronomer at the University of Florida specializing in interacting binary stars. His hobbies include cave diving, martial arts, painting and writing OS/2 software such as HTML Wizard.
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How Do I? - by Eric Slaats
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Hi, welcome to the next lesson on PM programming. In this column simple Presentation manager programming problems and philosophies will be discussed. This Column is aimed at people who are interested in PM programming or are simply curious what makes PM programs tick. To understand this column a little programming experience (preferably in C++) is recommended.
As promised we will finish the 'menu' discussion this month. Last month's article and this one can be viewed as one in this respect. Last month the simple menu stuff was discussed. Everything discussed there could be done in a resource editor or by writing simple resource (RC) files. This month we'll focus on the heavy stuff that needs actual programming to accomplish. The Sample program presented this time is essentially the extended program of last month's column.
We will be looking at:
o Checked menu items
o Conditional cascades
o Disabling and Enabling menu items
As I have said, the items presented here need a little programming. Remember, we're working in an environment that is ruled by events. So the first thing we need to know is on what event (message) we have to act regarding these items.
It isn't very handy to constantly change the menus every time an action dictates a change. For example, for copying text, a menu selection has to be made active. This would mean that every time a selection is made, the copy item (in the invisible submenu) will be enabled. Every time the selection is undone, the menu-item has to de disabled. This isn't very efficient because we only want this to happen when we really need this information on the menu-item. In other words when the menu is showing.
If you think about it, all the above actions that can be done to menu items only appear in submenus. Submenus aren't displayed continuously. If we want to change a submenu to reflect the current status, a perfect time would be when the menu is going to be displayed. This way we don't have to act on every event that dictates a change; instead we just change the menu before it's displayed.
And, of course, (how convenient) OS/2 has a perfect message for this. This is the WM_INITMENU message. This message is sent to your main window whenever a menu attached to the frame will become active. The nice thing about this message is that it will also work for pop-up menus. This means we can handle pop-up items the same as normal menus in this respect.
The WM_INITMENU message has the following structure:
param1 SHORT smenuid // Menu-control identifier
param2 HWND hwnd // Menu-window handle
returns ULONG ulReserved // Reserved value, should be
The parameters of this message are just what we need: the ID of the submenu that is becoming active as well as the handle of this submenu so we can interact with it. With this info we can set up the code for handling the WM_INITMENU message. It looks just like the handling of the WM_COMMAND message; it's a large case statement in which the menu that is becoming active is selected. This gives the following structure:
WM_INITMENU
{
switch (SHORT1FROMMP(mpParm1))
{
case IDM_MENU-1:
{
// Actions
}
break;
.
.
.
case IDM_MENU-N:
{
// Actions
}
break;
}
}
break;
Where the "// Actions" are placed we can work our magic to change the menu that is going to be displayed. For example, this can be the items that are mentioned at the start of the article. Remember that it can go a lot further too; items can even be added or removed from a menu.
Now that we know where to perform our magic, let's handle the checked menu items first. What do we use these for? In most cases, checked menu items are used for those options that perform a toggle between two states. An example could be turning 'wrap mode' on or off. In the 'on' state, the Wrap menu item has a check mark, in the 'off' state no, check mark. This kind of use is often seen in menus where a number of settings can be turned on or off. For example, take a look at the 'view' menu of the Works word processor (in the BonusPak).
There is also another use for checked menu items. Essentially, it's the same as showing the state of an item but in this case there are more items involved. It can be used to show which item of an array of items is active. An example of this can be found in the same word processor mentioned above. (Check out the "Character" menu.) In this menu, items like bold, underline, etc. can be chosen. These are mutually exclusive (only one item can be active) and the active item has a check mark beside it. If another item is chosen, the check mark will be on this item the next time the menu is opened.
We will build a small example of the last situation. If this situation can be handled, the simple situation should be trivial.
First things first: before we can set/reset the check mark on a menu item, the item has to be defined as a CHECKED menu item. This means we have to add a Menu Item Attribute to the menu items we want to have the ability to appear checked. This can be done with the MIA_CHECKED keyword. Check the SAMPLE5.RC file (in this month's sample zip file) and you'll find the following is added:
SUBMENU "~Checked", IDM_MENU
BEGIN
MENUITEM "Checked ~1", IDM_CHECKED1, MIA_CHECKED
MENUITEM "Checked ~2", IDM_CHECKED2, MIA_CHECKED
MENUITEM "Checked ~3", IDM_CHECKED3, MIA_CHECKED
MENUITEM "Checked ~4", IDM_CHECKED4, MIA_CHECKED
MENUITEM "Checked ~5", IDM_CHECKED5, MIA_CHECKED
END
It would be nice if that code alone would handle everything. Unfortunately it won't. A menu defined this way displays the menu items simply if there is no MIA_CHECKED attribute. To have the menu item display a check mark, it has to be 'turned on'. This can be done two ways: the hard way, using a MENU message, or the easy way, using a predefined macro. Of course we will use the easy way (KISS and be LAZY remember). On the other hand, it always pays to know what you're doing, so we'll also take a look at how the Macro expands.
The macro we will use is WinCheckMenuItem. This macros needs three parameters:
o The window handle of the menu that's becoming active
o The ID of the menu item to be handled
o The checkstate wanted (True of False)
We already have all these items. The menu handle is mp2 from the WM_INITMENU, the ID of the menu item we simply know. When used, the WinCheckMenuItem macro expands to:
Now to the last part of creating the checked items we want. We wanted to set up a menu that has only one of the items checked. This means they must be mutually exclusive. To handle this we create a global SHORT that gets the number of the men uitem that is to be activated. This way we know which menu item to check and which to uncheck when the menu is activated. (Check out the extra code for this in WM_COMMAND. I guess (hope) that this needs no further explanation).
We can now fill in the code for handling the IDM_CHECKEDMENU menu in WM_INITMENU. This gives us the following piece of code.
As I said, the WM_INITMENU event can also be used to enable/disable menu items. What do we use this for? When a menu-item is disabled, it can't be activated. So if we want to prevent users from activating a certain menu option, we simply disable it. And (here we go again) we can do it the simple way or the hard way. Just as with checking menu items, we can use a macro to handle the dirty work. This is the WinEnableMenuItem macro. The parameters it needs are identical to the WinCheckMenuItem macro:
o The window handle of the menu that's becoming active
o The ID of the menu item to be handled
o The checkstate wanted (True of False)
Again, just as with the WinCheckMenuItem, we will take a peek on how the WinEnableMenuItem macro is expanded.
Now let's handle it in a sample. Just for the sake of this example, we'll define the following problem: if a menu item is checked in the checked menu, this menu item must be disabled. We'll use the WinEnableMenuItem menu item for this. The following piece of code takes care of business:
We still have one thing left to discuss. The conditional cascade menu. A conditional cascade menu is a cascade menu where the arrow is a little button. If this button is selected, the submenu becomes visible. If the menu item is activated, the top element of the (non displayed) submenu is activated. The default item can be changed though.
To do this, we use the MM_SETDEFAULTITEMID message. Using this message also creates a check mark in front of the default-item (check after the 'Open' menu item on the Desktop menu for an example of this).
Normally this is the way to go. However, I can think of some situations that I like to do things in a different manner. Personally I like to use conditional cascades for mutually exclusive situations. The default (first) item in the submenu is used to toggle between the possible values while the check mark indicates the active choice. This means we can't set a default because that would create a check mark making it impossible to only check the current choice. For an example of this, check out how Smalled handles its Wrap and Indent settings.
Which of the two choices you use will depend on the situation and your personal taste. I only show you how to create a conditional cascade menu; the handling of setting the default I leave to your vivid imagination.
To make a menu item conditional, a style has to be attached to this menu. This is done by attaching the MS_CONDITIONALCASCADE style to the submenu that has to become conditional. Unfortunately this can't be done directly by handling the RC file, we've got to change the style by hand. To change the style of a window (any window), first we must know how this is maintained in a window.
Information over a window is kept in the so called 'window words'. (I'll be looking into these in some future column). Window words are a set of bytes that are reserved for every open window. In this piece of memory a lot of useful info is stored among which are the style info, the window ID, the pointer to the window procedure, the window flags, etc.
For now, we're interested in changing the STYLE of a window. The LONG in which the STYLE is kept can be changed with several calls. We only want to change some bits in this variable and to do this we can first query this LONG, change it and write it back. Sounds good, but there is an even easier way. OS/2 has a function that will change a specified number of bits in a specified area of window words. This is the WinSetWindowBits function. This function takes the following parameters:
HWND hwnd; // Window handle.
LONG index; // Zero-based index of the window word to be set.
ULONG flData; // Bit data to store in the window words.
The hwndSubMenu speaks for itself. However, we've got a little problem here. How do we get this window handle? For this we've got to make a slight detour. There is a function through which window handles of controls can be obtained when we know the ID of the control and the handle of the parent window. In the case of the main menu, we've got to have the handle of the frame-window. Fortunately, we've got this handle; it is available after we create the frame window. But how do we get the ID of the Main-menu? OS/2 assigns default identifiers to the standard frame-controls (also something that will be handled in a future column). For the main menu this is FID_MENU. This means the following line will return the handle of the main-menu:
WinWindowFromID(hwndFrame, FID_MENU)
This can be substituted in the place where we must enter the menu hwnd.
The next parameter in WinSetWindowBits, QWL_STYLE, is a constant that indicates the index in the window words for the STYLE bits. The following two values declare what we want to store in the STYLE LONG. So, in fact, it would be enough to call only this function once to set the conditional cascade. There is one pitfall to this though: we don't know the window-handle of the submenu.
How do we handle this? Here we also take the easy way out, we simply query all the information for the submenu. For this we'll use the MM_QUERYITEM message and send it to the menu item that is formed by the conditional cascade. This will fill a MENUITEM structure. This structure contains a window handle to the submenu and voila, we've got all we need. This means we've only got to call the following code at initiation time to set the conditional cascade for the duration of the session. The following code will take care of business:
MENUITEM mi;
WinSendMsg(WinWindowFromID(hwndFrame, FID_MENU),
MM_QUERYITEM,
MPFROM2SHORT(IDM_CASCMENU,TRUE),
&mi);
WinSetWindowBits(mi.hwndSubMenu,
QWL_STYLE,
MS_CONDITIONALCASCADE,
MS_CONDITIONALCASCADE);
OK, now we know how the conditional cascade can be set, but where do we set it? The easiest place is right after the creation of the frame window, before the message loop starts (check out the sample). In the sample file this month one of the cascaded menus is made conditional with the above code.
This article started with mentioning that a little programming was needed. If you take a look at the sample, you can see that it isn't too much. All the new code is marked with // NEW.
Next month we will start on a completely new topic. See you then!
-----
(eric.slaats@pi.net) Eric Slaats holds a degree in Computer Science and teaches computer technology in Eindhoven. He is the creator of the (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/smalled/) Smalled utilities.
***********************************
1996 OS/2 e-Zine! Readers' Choice Awards
-----
After a month of voting and hours of tabulating results, here we are: the "1996 OS/2 e-Zine! Readers' Choice Awards".
These awards will be a recurring event here at OS/2 e-Zine!, with the voting next year being preceded by a nomination stage to begin in November. After this year's inaugural event we have gained a great deal of experience and ideas--too late to make our tasks easier this year but they will improve the entire event for 1997.
In viewing these results, there are many things that readers should keep in mind.
First and foremost, these results are not meant to be taken as an indication of one program's superiority over any other. These results represent only our readers' opinions.
Also, as with any voluntary survey, these results must not be accepted as irrefutable proof of any program or developer's popularity or unpopularity. There are many variables that may have affected our results. Some (but not all) of them include:
1. Because readers were able to vote for any company or product name, some manual tabulation of results was necessary. For example, due to a change in ownership, we combined all votes for "Neologic Network Suite", "EmTec Network Suite" and many other variations of those names. This necessary manual sorting could have introduced error into our results (although we don't believe it did).
As an interesting aside, we noted that while users may like a product, they do not always know the name of its developer. For example, in the "Best Freeware or Shareware Developer" category we received votes for "Nick Knight", "The developer of MR/2", "Nick Secant" (Nick's e-mail address is nick@secant.com, hence the confusion) and a host of other variations. (No offence meant to Nick, this confusion extended to every category and most developers; we use his name here as an example only.)
2. There were no safeguards in place during our voting period to stop developers from being "proactive". We did not directly encourage any users to vote but it is very likely that some developers did (while others did not). Obviously, if this did take place, it would skew our results.
3. While only one vote per category per person was allowed in our survey, it is possible that users "stuffed the ballot box" by sending us more than one vote using different e-mail addresses. We are certain that no one in the OS/2 community would stoop to this type of low tactic but, of course, it is possible.
As a closing note, we are eager to admit that we realize this survey is not perfect. Most notably, we missed one very important category in our on-line voting form: "Best Financial Software". One concerned reader wrote:
"Your contest for rating OS/2 software does not have a category for personal-finance software, but I have a favorite program in that category: viz., InCharge!
I have used InCharge! for over 2 years now. I have been continually impressed by its user friendliness, its power (i.e., broad scope of functions), and the fact that its author provides the best support I have ever seen for a piece of software. (Re that "ever seen": I have been involved with computers for 45 years.)
If the next issue has any room for a section on "Special Mention" programs, I nominate InCharge!."
This reader is absolutely right and to the developers of InCharge! and all its fine competitors, we apologize and assure you that next year's voting form will include a category for "Best Financial Software" as well as many other improvements.
Until then, here are this year's results...
***********************************
1996 Readers' Choice Awards: Developers
-----
Best Freeware or Shareware Developer
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best Freeware or Shareware Developer" category was very small. There was a difference of only 39 votes between the two.)
WINNER: (http://nick.secant.com/mr2ice.htm) Knightware Software Company
Founded by Nick Knight to develop and publish his shareware e-mail client, MR/2 ICE, Knightware Software Company has enjoyed great popularity from its very beginnings. Since then it has been steadily improving and updating MR/2 to make it a world class contender.
This excellent product and an unswerving loyalty to his customers has earned Knight an equally loyal and vocal following. So vocal, in fact, that it earns Nick Knight our "Best Freeware or Shareware Developer" award.
-----
RUNNER-UP: (http://www.southsoft.com/) SouthSoft, Inc.
Formerly known as Southside Software, SouthSoft, Inc. was created by two former university students, Robert Novitskey and Evan Goldring (aka "BoB" and "Icon"), in response to a desperate need for OS/2 e-mail software.
Almost two years later, SouthSoft, Inc. is best known for its PMMail e-mail client, now in version 1.9. BoB and Icon have now graduated from their Masters programs and are currently working full-time on two more OS/2 applications to be released soon--PMINews, a Usenet news reader, and PMFTP, an FTP browser.
-----
Best Commercial Software Developer
WINNER: (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems
An aggressive release schedule and top quality products have won Stardock Systems a huge loyal following and made them the overwhelming winner in this year's voting.
Stardock's line of credits include the immensely popular Galactic Civilizations, Object Desktop (standard and Professional) and the recently released Trials of Battle. Stardock not only develops their own OS/2 software but also publishes software developed by other talented companies. Some of their future product plans are a font anti-aliasing system and an advanced Internet dialer for their just-released PlusPak! line of software.
-----
RUNNER-UP: (http://www.lotus.com/) Lotus Development Corp. / (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM
Lotus Development Corporation, now part of IBM, is the publisher of SmartSuite 97 for OS/2 Warp--the top-of-the-line office suite featuring WordPro and Freelance Graphics for OS/2.
And IBM is, of course, the father of OS/2 itself and the developer of an incredible range of software for this premiere 32-bit operating system. As our readers decided, no awards would be complete without mention of this great software giant.
***********************************
1996 Readers' Choice Awards: Internet
-----
Best e-mail Client
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best e-mail Client" category was very small. There was a difference of only 5 votes between the two.)
WINNER: MR/2 ICE Internet Email Client
by (http://nick.secant.com/mr2ice.htm) Knightware Software Company
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/network/tcpip/mr2i124.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 891k)
This year's winner in the "Best e-mail Client" category, MR/2 ICE, is a great example of software done the OS/2 way. Instead of the typical interface offered by Windows clients, MR/2 uses the OS/2 notebook interface to allow users to organize, read and compose messages.
With an extensive string of appearances on the "BMT Micro Top 10" list, it's no newsflash that MR/2 is popular with Internet citizens. But if anyone did need further proof, our Readers have spoken.
-----
RUNNER-UP: PMMail
by (http://www.southsoft.com/) SouthSoft, Inc.
download from (http://www.southsoft.com/bin/pmm190.zip) SouthSoft, Inc. (ZIP, 1.2meg)
Coming behind MR/2 ICE by only a handful of votes, this Presentation Manager e-mail client from SouthSoft, Inc. has long offered powerful and outstanding features, not to mention a professional degree of polish that makes it look great. PMMail, now in version 1.9, integrates PGP security, powerful filtering and address-book management along with all the standard features that make it stand out from the crowd.
Also blessed with a long history on the "BMT Micro Top 10" list, PMMail is another OS/2 e-mail client that is wildly popular with our readers.
-----
Best Web Browser
WINNER: Netscape Navigator for OS/2
by (http://www.netscape.com/) Netscape Communications
download from (http://www.internet.ibm.com/browsers/netscape/warp/) IBM
Netscape Communications' Navigator for OS/2 runs away with this category, being overwhelmingly adopted and voted for by OS/2 users. In fact, Navigator/2 received almost 13 times as many votes as its nearest competitor, WebEx, making it the most popular program in any category this year.
Although technically the whole Web craze started with Mosaic, it was Netscape that first brought a high quality web browsing experience to the masses. This OS/2 version, while called v2.02, has many of the features found in the 3.0 version of its Windows counterpart and has a growing collection of native plug-ins behind it too.
-----
RUNNER-UP: Web Explorer
by (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM
download from (http://www.raleigh.ibm.com/WebExplorer/) IBM
WebExplorer earns itself a place in these awards if only for always being there when we needed it. It was the first native graphical web browser for OS/2 and is still used frequently for the very same reasons that IBM chose to replace it: without support for frames, Java, GIF animations or other gadgetry, WebExplorer is both faster and less crash-prone than Netscape. It's also still used heavily by other Web-related programs that borrow WebEx's core HTML display engine to display previews of web pages being worked on, or as a simple integrated browser to round-out an Internet suite.
-----
Best News Reader
WINNER: EmTec News
by (http://www.emtec.com/) EmTec Innovative Software
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/network/tcpip/ens46b.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 1.7meg)
EmTec News, part of the suite of Internet tools formerly known as the Neologic Network Suite, has an interface far removed from the "FreeAgent" style adopted by others. Despite or because of this--you decide--it still keeps way ahead of its competitors in terms of power and usability. It has a built-in UUDecoder as well as the ability to store an address book of multiple news servers. These features and its long history as a native OS/2 program help make EmTec News our Readers' Choice.
-----
RUNNER-UP: Netscape News
by (http://www.netscape.com/) Netscape Communications
download from (http://www.internet.ibm.com/browsers/netscape/warp/) IBM
Aside from being wildly popular as a WWW browser, Netscape Navigator for OS/2 is also one of our readers' programs of choice for news reading. Its built in Usenet news navigation features are quite robust; users get a graphical news interface consistent with the rest of Navigator/2, multiple server support, excellent sorting and threading abilities and a display that supports HTML formatting and linking.
-----
Best FTP Client
WINNER: EmTec FTP
by (http://www.emtec.com/) EmTec Innovative Software
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/network/tcpip/ens46b.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 1.7meg)
EmTec's FTP client (also part of the suite formerly known as the Neologic Network Suite) also rates as the best in its category. This multithreaded client has the ability to connect to multiple servers at once, or even the same server multiple times. It also has a useful 'shopping list' feature that lets users browse through remote directories, adding files to a list, then downloading them all in one big batch operation at the end of their 'shopping'.
-----
RUNNER-UP: NcFTP
by (willer@io.org) Steve Willer
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/unix/ncftp2r1.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 477k)
The documentation for NcFTP claims that it is, "the best ftp client ever!" and a significant portion of our readers agree. NcFTP for OS/2 is a port of the unix program by the same name and requires the EMX runtime libraries to operate.
Not a graphical client, NcFTP builds on the interface of the command-line ftp client that comes with OS/2 Warp and offers a huge number of benefits such as: automatic binary-mode selection; a "progress-indicator" bar; and a "colon-mode", which allows users to quickly pick up a single file by typing a single command. NcFTP is small, stable and lends itself very well to automated use (through cron jobs, automatic pickup of the "new files list" on Hobbes, etc.).
-----
Best IRC Client
WINNER: GammaTech IRC
by (http://www.softouch.com/) SofTouch Systems
download demo from (http://www.softouch.com/demos.html) SofTouch Systems
GammaTech IRC was one of the first GUI based chat clients for OS/2 where only character mode versions stood before. It is loaded with features that make on-line chatting fun, such as CTCP sound effects support, string highlighting and support for nicknames up to 30 characters long. GTIRC also has powerful REXX scripting support that allows for sophisticated command aliasing, filters and automation.
-----
RUNNER-UP: OpenChat/2
by (mikh@escape.com) Max Mikhanosha
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/network/tcpip/ochat105.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 508k)
OpenChat/2 (very briefly known as OpenIRC/2 but hastily renamed due to trademark problems) is a PM Internet Relay Chat client of outstanding power. It has WPS integration for drag 'n drop file transfers, blinding fast IRCII compatible script support and a colorful, fully configurable user interface. The sample scripts included allow users to see colors generated by mIRC clients, right-click on URLs and send them to a currently running Netscape session, and automatically fill out lengthy commands with a few taps of the TAB key.
***********************************
1996 Readers' Choice Awards: Business
-----
Best Word Processor
WINNER: DeScribe
by (http://www.describe.com/) DeScribe, Inc.
Despite two "deaths" in recent times, DeScribe is still our readers' choice for a word processor. Originally DeScribe, Inc. planned to close its doors but renewed interest from outside investors kept it afloat. However, even after this change of direction, the company eventually ceased development of their flagship product late last year.
However, DeScribe Word Processor continues to ship and despite lack of technical support channels, remains an excellent product. With extremely powerful frames based layout features and configurability enough for any level of user, DeScribe is a world class word processor. There has recently been yet another surge of interest from Internet users to revive some kernel of this product. Only time will tell what the eventual fate of this great word processor will be.
-----
RUNNER-UP: Word Pro
by (http://www.lotus.com/) Lotus Development Corp.
Despite the fact that it is not yet "officially" a working product, Word Pro is our runner-up in the "Best Word Processor" category this year. While the product has been available as a demo or beta from Lotus' web site as well as the Warp 4 Applications Sampler CD, the final release (which recently shipped) requires FixPaks that have yet to be released. Still, the beta version of this product is full-featured and very stable.
As the first true "Team Word Processor", Lotus Word Pro 96 claims to revolutionize the way people create, review and edit collaborative documents. Its immense list of features includes, Internet Support; TeamConsolidate (display edits made by each team member); markup tools; TeamMail; SmartMasters; the legendary Lotus InfoBox; support for REXX and more.-----
Best Spreadsheet
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best Spreadsheet" category was very small. There was a difference of only 39 votes between the two.)
WINNER: Mesa 2
by (http://www.sundialsystems.com/) Sundial Systems Corporation
The Mesa 2 spreadsheet is designed for users who want to combine the power and reliability of OS/2 with the flexibility and ease of use of object technology. Mesa 2 takes full advantage of OS/2's advanced technology; every Mesa 2 file runs in its own thread, and the program supports multi-threaded feeds that update data in real time based on changes in the stock market or other sources.
Mesa 2 was purchased from Athena Design by Sundial Systems last year in a move by the company to extensively expand its portfolio of OS/2 software.
-----
RUNNER-UP: StarCalc
by (http://www.stardiv.de/) Star Division
Part of its extremely popular cross-platform suite of applications, Star Division's StarCalc is the company's offering in the spreadsheet category. Despite the sometimes frustrating inability for North Americans to gain information about StarOffice, the suite, and its spreadsheet have continued to gain in popularity.
StarCalc, available in German and English, for Windows, OS/2 and Linux, features 2-D and 3-D graphing abilities, drag 'n drop support, hyperlinks, and over 200 functions. In a market that might seem lacking in this category, StarCalc is a world class product, feature-equivalent with its Windows and Linux counterparts.
-----
Best Database
WINNER: DB2 for OS/2
by (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM
It's not surprising that our readers picked IBM's DB2/2 as their database of choice. It's one of the most powerful pieces of software on any platform in the world. Part of a larger DB2 family of products that runs on OS/2, Windows NT, AIX, HP-UX, SINIX, SCO OpenServer and the Solaris Operating Environment, DB2 Server is a robust, full-function database management system that includes optimized SQL support, tools to manage data, and access to remote database servers.
-----
RUNNER-UP: DBExpert
by (http://www.sundialsystems.com/) Sundial Systems Corporation
Developed by Designer Software, Inc., DBExpert is another product recently acquired by Sundial Systems in their plan to develop a full featured OS/2 applications suite.
DBExpert offers the advantages of rapid database application development through easy to use Tables, Forms, Reports, Queries and REXX Macros. It is fully object-oriented in its design and interface and can be used by beginners without programming or SQL. DBExpert's ability to work seamlessly with data from DB2, dBASE, Clipper, FoxPro and Oracle databases accounts for its popularity with our readers.
-----
Best PIM/Scheduler
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best PIM/Scheduler" category was very small. There was a difference of only 15 votes between the two.)
WINNER: Relish
by (http://www.sundialsystems.com/) Sundial Systems Corporation
The last of Sundial Systems' suite of products that appear in our awards this year, Relish is also the one that started it all. This longtime flagship product of Sundial Systems has been keeping OS/2 users organized for many years and has recently been upgraded in exciting and innovative ways.
Relish consists of a calendar, to-do list, and phone book that are fully integrated for total reliability, yet also independent for maximum flexibility. It allows users to: schedule realistically for any time and duration, double-booking as necessary; categorize commitments; repeat events; print schedules; run programs; dial calls; prioritize to-do's and more. Drag 'n drop and Desktop objects are just part of what makes Relish our Readers' Choice this year.
-----
RUNNER-UP: IBM Works
by (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM
One of the often overlooked gems of OS/2 Warp is IBM Works and its personal information manager. This PIM offers integrated to-do lists, calendars, a monthly planner, appointment & phone/address books, and an event monitor for scheduling automatic reminders. With power and flexibility right out of the OS/2 box, many users have found that his suite of tools is all they need.
-----
Best Communication Application
WINNER: ZOC
by (http://www.emtec.com/) EmTec Innovative Software
download from (ftp.us.emtec.com/zoc/zoc304.zip) EmTec (ZIP, 750k)
On top of the other awards EmTec has won this year for its newly acquired EmTec Network Suite, the company has also been recognized by our readers for its original product: Zap-O-Comm (aka ZOC).
ZOC is a communications application extraordinaire, raved about by users of OS/2 and Windows. It features ISDN support for CAPI V1.1 (OS/2 only); TTY, VT52, VT100, VT102, VT220, AVATAR and ANSI emulations; English and German versions; ASCII, Xmodem, Ymodem, Zmodem, and CompuServe-B file transfer protocols; GIF/JPG display while downloading; an autodialer with autologin and learn mode; REXX language for scripting (same on all platforms) and more.
-----
RUNNER-UP: HyperACCESS for OS/2
by (http://www.hilgraeve.com) Hilgraeve, Inc.
Hilgraeve claims that HyperACCESS will, "get you on-line fast with the hottest, most graphical 32-bit communications software!" Some of the other great features of this popular big brother of the HyperACCESS Lite shipped with OS/2 Warp include: a huge list of supported modems; automatic port detection with new "Commsense" technology; a library of 1000s of
ready-to-call on-line systems; graphics file viewing on the fly; support for multiple threads, semaphores, and the graphical look and feel of the Workplace Shell; Zmodem, Ymodem, Ymodem-G, 1K-Xmodem,Xmodem, CompuServe B+, Kermit, and HyperProtocol (the fastest of all); and a host of terminal emulations.
-----
Best Graphics Application
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best Graphics Application" category was very small. There was a difference of only 19 votes between the two.)
WINNER: ColorWorks
by (http://www.spg-net.com/) SPG Inc.
SPG's ColorWorks broke the mold for graphics applications by doing things in a different, but much more powerful way than the rest of the field. In an age where you can't even think about running PhotoShop in less than 32 megs of RAM, ColorWorks' footprint is only 1 meg and its DIMIC (Dynamic In Memory Image Compression) support can compress an image in memory as you work on it. Now that third party vendors are beginning to supply plug-ins, ColorWorks' future looks even brighter.
-----
RUNNER-UP: PMView
by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/pmview/) Peter Nielsen
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/graphics/pmview93.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 1.3meg)
Not all image viewers are created equal. PMView not only supports the widest range of image formats we've seen in any program, it also blows the rest away for speed and features. It has drag 'n drop integration with the WPS, an amazing thumbnail browser, slideshow and image processing power and a lot more too.
-----
Best Disk/File Utility or Suite
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best Disk/File Utility or Suite" category was very small. There was a difference of only 5 votes between the two.)
WINNER: FileManager/2
by (mkimes@ibm.net) Barebones Software
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/diskutil/fm2_250.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 1.4meg)
A longtime favourite of the OS/2 community, File Manager/2 (FM/2) is a shareware OS/2 file / directory / archive maintenance utility. The program's documentation calls it, "a sort of super-Drives object, something midway between the Drives objects and a more traditional file manager". It features all the functions of file management utilities from other platforms plus abilities unique to OS/2 such as long file names, etc. Whatever you call it, though, it's tops with our readers.
-----
RUNNER-UP: GammaTech Utilities
by (http://www.softouch.com/) SofTouch Systems
download demo from (http://www.softouch.com/demos.html) SofTouch Systems
Like any mature operating system, the OS/2 market boasts its share of data repair and recovery utilities. One of the most popular with our readers is SofTouch System's GammaTech Utilities.
The GammaTech Utilities for OS/2 are a suite of Presentation Manager and command line disk and system utilities that perform volume recovery, optimization and essential maintenance operations easily, often without extensive technical knowledge. The utilities support both FAT and all HPFS versions, including HPFS versions 2.3, 2.4 and HPFS386. All the utilities support long file names and extended attributes.
-----
Best WPS Enhancement
WINNER: Object Desktop
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems
Is it a third-party upgrade to OS/2 Warp or is it just Stardock? Object Desktop is so smoothly integrated it's hard to tell where Warp ends and OD begins! The Keyboard Launchpad is a godsend to some people and the Virtual Desktops of the Control Center can expand the working space of your Desktop by tenfold or more. If downloading from the Internet is your thing, Archive Folders will prove more valuable than the wide array of unzippers, decompressors and unpackers themselves that OD supports. On top of all these features add a new and improved folder class, performance enhancements to many objects and one of the best file/object managers on the market and you'll see why our readers rave about OD.
-----
RUNNER-UP: NPS WPS
by (nps1970@ibm.net) TAKASUGI 'N.P.S.' Shinji
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/wpsutil/npswp182.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 101k)
The best things in life are free, they say, and one of them is NPS WPS. This little utility is crammed with an assortment of Desktop enhancements such as mouse wrapping, mouse sensitive window activation, icon arranging on a grid and full-window dragging. It also has some cosmetic enhancements like window shadows and some "Oh Wow!" window open/close animations.
***********************************
1996 Readers' Choice Awards: System
-----
Best Programming Environment or Compiler
WINNER: VisualAge C++
by (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM
IBM is not just the father of OS/2, it is also the developer of the best loved compiler for OS/2 (as well as Windows and other platforms): VisualAge C++. This robust visual development environment is the successor to the popular CSet++ and contains a C/C++ compiler, linker, debugger, performance analyzer, visual builder, database access tools and IPF compiler. VAC++ also features extensive class libraries and Direct-to-SOM support. This is the tool for OS/2 Warp C or C++ programmers.
-----
RUNNER-UP: Watcom C/C++
by (http://www.watcom.on.ca/) Watcom
Next in popularity after VAC++ is programming language giant, Watcom, with their Watcom C/C++ compiler. Version 10.6 of this multiplatform development tool allows developers to create one code base and then compile for OS/2, DOS or Windows (95 or NT). With all the traditional compiler bells and whistles, great cross-platform support and the famous Watcom name behind it, Watcom C/C++ was a winner with our readers.
-----
Best System Utility/Tool
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best System Utility/Tool" category was very small. There was a difference of only 31 votes between the two.)
WINNER: UniMaint
by (http://www.softouch.com/) SofTouch Systems
download demo from (http://www.softouch.com/demos.html) SofTouch Systems
UniMaint is SofTouch Systems' popular answer to OS/2 system management needs. This versatile product offers users the ability to completely uninstall, archive and reinstall their OS/2, DOS and WINOS2 applications. Additionally, UniMaint provides a unified suite of utilities designed to allow users to maintain their OS/2 Workplace Shell, including automated repair of INI files, facilities for displaying and editing EAs, Desktop backup, and portable Desktop backups.
Shipping in various versions for some time, the latest version of UniMaint is one of the many reasons our readers so highly regard SofTouch Systems.
-----
RUNNER-UP: Process Commander
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems
The three-finger-salute is no longer a kiss of death for your data thanks to Process Commander (PC) from Stardock. PC's heritage comes from WatchCat, a venerable utility that quietly monitored running processes and allowed users to kill them in an emergency should they become frozen. Process Commander does this and more, giving users a Shutdown folder in addition to the Startup folder, remapping those "Win95" keys on new keyboards and giving network administrators the ability to Telnet into a machine and kill processes remotely.
-----
Best Text Editor or Programming Editor
WINNER: OS/2's Enhanced Editor
by (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM
Another of our "Best of category" winners included free in OS/2 itself is the Enhanced Editor, better known as EPM. EPM is a do-all workhorse used for everything from simple text editing to program code editing to HTML editing. Its programmability allows users to extend its basic functions with new, custom menus and features. This incredible versatility and low price tag (free) keep its popularity high despite competition from third party products.
-----
RUNNER-UP: The SemWare Editor for OS/2
by (http://www.semware.com/) SemWare
The SemWare Editor Junior for OS/2 offers the same rich set of features as the standard DOS version of this 10 year old product, but is designed for the OS/2 operating system. It is a native OS/2 application that takes advantage of OS/2's virtual memory management system to allow editing of large files. The OS/2 version offers full HPFS support, including handling of long filenames and extended attributes (EAs), and provides access to the OS/2 Clipboard. The SemWare Editor Junior for OS/2 package also includes a copy of the standard DOS version of the editor making it a great product and a good bargain.
-----
Best HTML Editor
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best HTML Editor" category was very small. There was a difference of only 19 votes between the two.)
WINNER: HTML Studio
by (http://www.program.com/panacea/) Panacea Software
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/editors/htmls101.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 1.6meg)
Most popular of the "new breed" of HTML editors this past year was HTML Studio. HTML Studio is an OS/2 Presentation Manager application used to rapidly design custom world wide web pages. It allows users to create web pages without having to know the HTML tag language--which is exactly what most people want! The program features drag 'n drop support, a preview window (a fully functional HTML 3.0 web browser using WebExplorer libraries), printing, font and colour support. A solid program solidly favoured by our readers.
-----
RUNNER-UP: HomePage Publisher
by (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/clerin/) JBC
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/internet/www/editors/hpp100a.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 3.3meg)
Almost as popular as the leader in this category, HomePage Publisher (HPP) was also heavily favoured by our readers. HPP is a WYSIWYG Web Page Design tool for OS/2 similar to many offerings on Windows platforms. It allows users to create or modify HTML pages and does not require knowledge of HTML tags. With HPP, users can make changes by simply clicking toolbars, etc. In short, HPP is a Web browser that offers all the possibilities of a word processor.
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1996 Readers' Choice Awards: Diversions
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Best Game
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best Game" category was very small. There was a difference of only 4 votes between the two.)
WINNER: Galactic Civilizations
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems
download demo from (ftp.stardock.com/demos/galciv25.zip) Stardock (ZIP, 3.3meg)
Galactic Civilizations started as a runaway hit and launched Stardock into orbit as one of the most successful OS/2 software vendors ever. Since then, this product has continued for over two years as one of the most successful games ever.
The latest incarnation, Galactic Civilizations II, has high-quality color artwork, addictive game-play and fiendishly intelligent computer opponents that have probably claimed a few thousand hours of productivity from offices and homes everywhere. More than just Stardock's original claim to fame, GalCiv is the strategy game against which all others are measured.
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RUNNER-UP: Trials of Battle
by (http://www.NeoSoft.com/~shadsoft/) ShadowSoft Entertainment Software
(published by Stardock Systems)
download demo from (ftp.stardock.com/demos/TOBDEMO.ZIP) Stardock (ZIP, 4.2meg)
Following extremely closely on the heels of Galactic Civilizations is a second awesome game published by Stardock: Trials of Battle by ShadowSoft.
TOB is the action game OS/2 users have been waiting for. Combining elements of Doom, Wing Commander and other popular all-out, kill or be killed action games, TOB was an instant hit when introduced late in '96. Its ability to play network games over a wide range of connections (including modem or the Internet) keeps phone lines jammed and players busy rebuilding their ships worldwide.
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Best Edutainment or Multimedia Application
(editor's note : The number of votes separating the top two companies in the "Best Edutainment or Multimedia Application" category was very small. There was a difference of only 2 votes between the two.)
WINNER: QuickMotion for OS/2
by (http://www.practice.xo.com/) Practice Corporation
download demo from the (http://www.os2ss.com/mmedia/qmdemo11.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 413k)
QuickMotion brought an ability to OS/2 that had been sorely missed by many: the power to play QuickTime movies (.MOV files). QuickMotion accomplished this not by creating a new application for users to install on their systems, but by seamlessly integrating QuickTime support into existing OS/2 multimedia software.
QuickMotion contains a complete QuickTime engine, with support for all QuickTime 1.0 video decompressors and the engine is completely transparent, so it allows the latest movie players, such as IBM's multimedia video plug-in for Netscape Navigator, to play QuickTime movies. QuickMotion also provides seamless support for Windows-style AVI movies because it includes a free registration of AnPoCODEC.
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RUNNER-UP: MainActor/2
by (http://www.mainconcept.de/) MainConcept
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/graphics/mactr080.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 1.8meg)
MainConcept's modular animation and multimedia application, MainActor, is a steadily evolving port of the product that was originally introduced on the Amiga. It has support for almost all known animation formats, including AVI, FLI, MPEG and QuickTime. With MainActor, video files can be split into a list of separate frames that can then be edited separately, allowing users to incorporate soundtracks and additional frames, or convert from one format to another.
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Matrox Mystique - by Donovan Long
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As some of you are coming to expect from reading my reviews, I have the worst luck in installing new hardware. I like to feel it is not because I'm an idiot but because some things are just not as simple as they should be or possibly that my purpose in life is to be tortured by these products. <grin>
Case in point: The Matrox Mystique. After spending a couple hours trying to get this card working properly under OS/2, I was wondering if in fact, since the manufacturer is located in Quebec and is primarily French, they really meant to call this card the Matrox Mistake.
The Whole Story
Let's start at the beginning. After installing my new Mystique I eagerly grabbed the latest drivers from the Internet (since the ones on the Warp 4 driver CD-ROM are older), and selected my monitor from the MGA properties notebook. After selecting a resolution, however, my system rebooted to an incorrect video mode. There was nothing I could do but reboot and then reset to VGA (via Alt-F1 on boot-up).
Okay. So I reinstalled the software, selected my monitor and rebooted--right back into an incorrect video mode. Again, I rebooted and reset to VGA, with blood pressure level rising.
Checking the documentation and Matrox's web page I found that they only suggested using Alt-F1 to reset to VGA if you were put into the wrong video mode. This was no help at all, as that was what I had already done. Reading further into the install documentation I discovered how to completely remove the drivers from the hard drive (via INSTAL -clean). With this done, the system finally rebooted into a proper video mode (but still in 640x480).
Eventually I discovered that if I selected my monitor (a Samsung SyncMaster 3), closed the properties notebook and reopened it, the monitor selected was the Samsung SyncMaster 3NE. By experimentation I noted that the settings remained correct when I selected other monitors, but the notebook always wanted to remember the SyncMaster 3NE when I selected my monitor.
Feeling inspired, I edited the MGA.MON file in the \MGA\OS2 directory to comment out the Samsung SyncMaster 3NE entry. It appears the similarity of the names was exploiting a bug in the monitor selection dialogue that has, up to this point, probably never been experienced. By using the wrong monitor profile the video card was attempting to use frequencies that my monitor was not designed for. Removing the SyncMaster 3NE entry from the file solved this problem.
I did have a bit of trouble getting my older monitor to center the display properly in all modes. It is very unlikely this is the Mystique's fault though. I was finally able to sort this out more or less satisfactorily.
Vrooom
With the Mystique up and running, I immediately ran SysBench to see how it performed vs. my 5 year old Trident 8900C.
(1) Since the trident could not do more than 8 bits per pixel (256 colors) in 800x600 mode, all speed increase comparisons are with the Trident running at 800x600x256.
The results, as you can see, are quite impressive, even in 32bpp. However, I settled on 16bpp because of a glitch I noted: in deeper colour resolutions the WarpCenter's CPU activity graph would turn red instead of blue when it wasn't either at minimum or maximum CPU usage, so you would end up with the bottoms and tops of the CPU meter in blue, and the rest of the graph in red. I've also noticed that, in the past at least, there are other problems with some cards using ridiculously high resolutions. Finally, the speed is twice as fast in 16bpp as it is in 32bpp, and after using the Trident, the more speed I can get, the better. <grin>
Down to Business
With SysBench out of the way and my ego satisfied, I wanted to see if I could maximize QuickTime movies (viewed with MainActor) to full screen without slowing down the frames per second (fps) rate. It worked great except the system would very shortly and very reliably "hard lock"--that is, freeze up with no recourse but to hit the reset button. Ctrl-Alt-Del would do nothing.
By this time I was pretty upset, as the MGA cards were supposed to be a sure bet under OS/2. MGA has been making top-quality high-end video cards for business for over 15 years now, and if anyone was going to do a video card right under OS/2, it was supposed to be MGA.
I gave up trying to watch movies (it was getting late) and tried to forget about the problem for a while. Later, I noticed that my Mahjongg Solitaire would not start, it would crash immediately, and Klondike Solitaire would start but then freeze-up when it was about to deal the cards and had to be killed. Would you be frustrated a bit at this point?
Seeking the help of the IRC channel, #os/2, I didn't get a response that day, but the next day while mentioning the bug in the monitor selection dialogue, I was rewarded with a shout of "Disable EnDIVE!" Sure enough, as soon as I deselected "Enable EnDIVE for 16 and 32bpp" everything worked as it should! I was thrilled (as you can well imagine); that was it, the last problem overcome, the card working flawlessly ever since.
Back to testing the card, I once again tried viewing some movies. Using the highest frame per second movie I had (only 15 fps), I noted that there was absolutely no reduction in fps rate with a movie maximized! I could even move the movie around and resize it while it was playing with the window still updating.
Finally, with regards to my EnDIVE problem, I had e-mailed MGA tech support the day before I discovered my solution with the help of #os/2. Rather than tell them I had figured it out, I waited for a response and over a week later, someone got back to me, wanting more information such as my CONFIG.SYS. I brushed them off, saying that I had simply disabled EnDIVE support. They responded that they would only do that as a last resort and still wanted to try to solve the problem and add my hardware information to their 'bug database'. I appreciated the offer, and gave them the information; who knows, they may get that problem fixed in the near future. Please note, however, that the drivers are fast enough with EnDIVE disabled, this is absolutely nothing to be concerned about, in my opinion. The results in the SysBench tests are with EnDIVE disabled.
One interesting feature of the Mystique drivers is that you can set up two keyboard hot keys. One will bring up the MGA properties notebook, and the other enables PixelTouch, which uses the whole screen to double the size of the area near your pointer when activated. (This could be useful for reading text that is too small or for the visually impaired.) I found scrolling while in PixelTouch mode too jerky. The screen won't scroll continuously when you move the pointer to one of the edges; you have to keep moving away and towards the edge to move the viewing window. For the most part this is just a cute feature, perhaps useful if you have an application that only uses 1/4 of the screen and you want to blow it up to use the whole screen...
One final note about the drivers: I did notice that if there was a scrolling/updating window behind another window that you had your mouse over, the mouse would flicker as if the scrolling/updating was being done in the current window and not the one underneath it.
Summary
Despite my early problems with the drivers the Matrox Mystique is number one on my recommendation list. It is reasonably priced given its outstanding performance. In today's world where mediocre or no OS/2 support abounds, this is the OS/2 compatible video upgrade you have been waiting for. Get yours today!
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* Matrox Mystique
by (http://www.matrox.com/) Matrox
MSRP: US$159 (2MB PCI card)
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(tsst@isisnet.com) Donovan Long is an avid Team OS/2'er in Halifax, Nova Scotia. His latest web endeavour is (http://isisnet.com/tsst/os2/) Maximizing OS/2 Warp, a resource designed to solve problems, such as the one with the Mystique, and share this information with other users. As the title suggests, there is also information on performance tuning.
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The pen is mightier than the... err... mouse - by Christopher B. Wright
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ACECAT II vs. Wacom ArtPad II Digitizer Tablet
Do you do a lot of graphics for OS/2? Any desktop publishing? Web authoring? If you have, chances are you sometimes find a mouse or trackball less than adequate for your needs. Mice have moving parts--which, at times, don't move. There are few things on Heaven and Earth, Horatio, that vex more than trying to move a complicated graphic just so , only to have your mouse ball jam on a crumb from that danish you were eating earlier this morning.
The solution, of course, is to find a pointer with fewer moving parts. There are a few solutions to this: optical mice (I hate them), touchpads (too tiny for much graphics work, and they tend to build up static which can make your pointer zoom around erratically) and, if you work with a lot of graphics, digitizer tablets.
Digitizer tablets are flat tablets that map out straight to your monitor screen: the upper right hand corner of the active tablet area is equal to the upper right hand corner of your OS/2 Desktop and the lower left hand corner of the active tablet area is equal to the lower left hand corner of your OS/2 Desktop. To move your pointer around your Desktop, a digitizer tablet will either come with a pen (which is pretty much what the name implies) or a puck (something that looks like a mouse with four buttons and a magnifying glass with a set of crosshairs attached to the front of it).
Digitizer tablets were originally used for transferring hand drawn blueprints into CAD applications. A CAD specialist would place the blueprint on top of a large digitizer tablet, then trace over the blueprint, usually with a puck. This would transfer the lines of the paper blueprint into the application. After a while, however, pen-based tablets became popular with many computer graphic artists since drawing with a pen often feels more natural than drawing with a mouse. Over time, digitizer tablets became smaller and smaller as more people began to use them primarily as drawing and pointing device tools (though there are still plenty of large tablets out there for anyone who wants the precision).
In my mind, the digitizer tablet is the ideal pointing device--if it's designed right. If it's not, it can be a very frustrating piece of equipment to use. Not only can it be used flexibly as a mouse, but I think it's superior to a mouse when it comes to working with graphics.
Over the years, it's been my pleasure to become acquainted with two 'entry-level' digitizer tablets--the ACECAD ACECAT II and the Wacom ArtPad II. Both have their strengths and weaknesses: depending on what you need, either may be able to satisfy you.
Using Digitizers in OS/2
As you might expect from experience in other areas, Digitizer support in OS/2 is not quite current with the Macintosh and Windows operating systems. Still, you have a few options as far as this is considered.
First, IBM has an add-on called Pen for OS/2 that integrates Pen devices with the OS/2 operating system, giving it some (limited) handwriting recognition to boot. This utility is available for download from the (http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/) OS/2 Device Driver Pack on-line web site as is a driver for the ACECAT II. Anyone using Warp 4 should know that an updated version of Pen for OS/2 is available that should work (it can be found in either the /Patches or /Drivers directories of Hobbes, and is called "v4penos2.zip"). To my knowledge these files are free.
Pen for OS/2 currently supports the following devices:
o Kurta PenMouse/APT Gliffic Plus (Com 1 and 2)
o Kurta XGT
o Wacom ArtPad (Com 1 and 2)
o Wacom ArtZ (Com 1 and 2, pressure sensitive)
o Wacom SD-510C (Com 1)
o CalComp (Com 1 and 2, 1 or 2 Buttons, AFT or no AFT)
o Compaq Concerto
o and a bunch of IBM ThinkPad pointing devices
If you don't have any of these, you have a few other options:
1. You can hope the equipment comes with stand-alone drivers for OS/2. I haven't looked into many digitizers, but from what I've heard this is rare.
2. You can try using Scott Moore's SummaSketch drivers. Scott wrote some drivers from scratch to use with a Summa tablet and he wound up making drivers that work on a fair number of tablets. The file is summa.zip, and it can be found on the (http://www.uk.ibm.com/getdoc/psmemea/progserv/device/) IBM OS/2 Device Driver Repository. Read the documentation included with the file before you install these... it's very thorough and will give you a lot of good information on what to expect.
And now, the tablets...
The ACECAT II
The ACECAT II is a very traditionally designed digitizer tablet and pen: the tablet itself is sloped off the desk (the top of the tablet is raised higher off the desk than the bottom) and the pen is connected by a cable to the top of the tablet (for power). While many digitizer tablets require you use an AC adapter to power them, the ACECAT comes with an adaptor that allows it to be powered from the keyboard outlet on your computer.
The ACECAT II (and its successor, the ACECAT III) both come with drivers for OS/2 on the disk. The ACECAT II's drivers are not as complete for OS/2 as they are for Windows, but they still give you a Workplace Shell utility that lets you configure the active area of your tablet and assign specific functions to your digitizer pen or puck's buttons. From the information on their web site, the ACECAT III's OS/2 drivers appear to be current with their Windows drivers. Both the ACECAT II and ACECAT III are supposed to be able to work with Pen for OS/2, but I've never tried this.
The ACECAT II and III tablets can be used as a standalone mouse replacement or can be used simultaneously with a mouse or trackball. I was never able to get this feature to work for my ACECAT II but I was not able to verify if this was due to old drivers or COM Port conflicts with other devices.
Hooking up the tablet to your computer is not a problem, since the directions are very clear and the graphics showing how everything hooks together are well thought out. Installing the software, while not a challenge, is not as nice or pretty--the install routine looks hurriedly put together, typos and all ("Press any key to coutinue..."). Once it's installed, you reboot and it works.
My ACECAT II came with a 2 button pen. You can order other pointers (a 3 button pen, a 4 button puck) from ACECAD. The drivers that come with the ACECAT II let you specify what kind of pointer you're using, but I found the 2 button pen setting wouldn't let me 'chord' buttons 1 and 2 to bring up the OS/2 task list. Choosing the 4 button puck setting, however, allowed me to assign button 1 and 2 functions correctly, and 'chord' like a regular mouse.
Another nice feature is the ability to define how much of the tablet's active area you actually want to use. The ACECAT II has a 5x5 inch tablet area, which is adequate for graphics work but may be a bit too much if you simply want to use it as a pointer. Using the ACECAT WPS utility you can define how much of that space will actually be used, allowing you to cover more screen real estate with less effort on your part.
The ACECAT II works fine in a seamless Win-OS/2 session but if you use full screen Win-OS/2 sessions at resolutions higher than 640x480, you'll run into a problem. For some reason, the higher your resolution in a full screen Win-OS/2 session, the less screen the ACECAT is actually able to move around in. This limitation never bothered me because I never had need for a full screen Win-OS/2 session but for those of you who do you will find this limiting. The ACECAT III may not have this problem.
I was generally satisfied with the ACECAT II but I was very annoyed at the fact that the pen was attached to the tablet--my hand kept getting tangled up in it. Also, the tablet was angled too high so it was uncomfortable for use over long periods of time. These last impressions are very subjective, however, and they might not bother you at all.
The Wacom ArtPad II
Ergonomically speaking, the ArtPad II is the perfect digitizer tablet: the tablet itself is very flat and thin (rising no more than a centimeter off my desk) and its textured "active area" gives just the right amount of friction against the pen when I'm drawing. The pen itself is blissfully free of a power cord (it doesn't even need batteries--somehow, the folks at Wacom figured out how to have the board detect the pen without current running through it). It comes with a 12 volt adapter--if it had come with an adaptor like the ACECAT II (the kind that plugs into your keyboard port) I would dub it "the perfect in digitizer design." As it is, I'll have to settle for "a nearly perfect design that makes it quite pleasant to use."
The ArtPad II pen has 4 "buttons"--the tip (which functions as button 1 on a mouse), two on the barrel (only one of which works under Pen for OS/2), and an eraser which has no functionality (it mimics the tip).
The ArtPad II does not come with native OS/2 drivers--you must use Pen for OS/2 to use this digitizer pad. It will, however, coexist peacefully with another mouse or trackball (Pen for OS/2 does not replace mouse.sys in your config.sys file; you can use both drivers simultaneously so long as there are no port or IRQ conflicts). Also, you can use drivers designed for Pen for OS/2 that will allow the ArtPad to be pressure sensitive (up to 256 levels). This will only work in applications that recognize this function, however. ColorWorks is a pen-enabled application, so it may work there.
I missed the ACECAT II's superior utilities when using the ArtPad II, and I found the pen for the ArtPad was a little more sensitive than I would have liked--for the first week I was accidentally opening folders while I was dragging my pointer across the screen. I got used to it after a while (though I'm still looking for a way to disable the handwriting recognition portion of Pen for OS/2--any suggestions, anyone?).
The biggest frustration with using the ArtPad II was its button support. When I first installed Pen for OS/2, I discovered to my surprise that my pointer was listed as having only one button. I thought they were talking about the tip of the digitizer pen, since it mimics button 1 on a mouse, but it really meant the button on the pen's barrel. Unfortunately, there are two buttons on the side of the pen barrel, and I've never been able to get the second to work.
Next, actually using the button on the side of the pen is a bit of a trick; you have to press on the side button, then press on the tip, then either perform your drag/drop operation or release both simultaneously to bring up an object menu. This is not something that gets explained in the documentation--it took me quite a few days to figure it out.
Again, the ArtPad II works just fine in a seamless Win-OS/2 session, but (again) it suffers the same fate of the ACECAT II if used in a full-screen session. If you need to work in one, have a backup mouse or trackball lined up.
Final Evaluations
The ACECAT II and ArtPad II have different strengths. The ACECAT II has much better driver and software support, being compatible with Pen for OS/2 but also coming with its own native drivers that give you extensive control over the device tablet, pen and puck mappings. On the other hand, it's a bit more physically awkward to use than the Wacom ArtPad II which has an elegant and less constraining design. Still, some of the features that make the ArtPad II compelling (like the eraser) don't work under OS/2, and the "extra" features of Pen for OS/2 can make using the ArtPad II a little aggravating at times.
In my view, the Wacom ArtPad II slightly edges out the ACECAT II when it comes down to day-to-day, extensive use because I find it more comfortable and easier on my wrist. On the other hand, I can think of situations when the ACECAT would be preferable, since its software lets you use all the tablet's features to their fullest, and it's a good $40 - $60 (US dollars) cheaper depending on where you go to buy it.
If comfort is the most important feature you're looking for, go with the ArtPad II. If you're interested in something a little cheaper with full functionality, go with the ACECAT II. Best Case Scenario: Wacom and ACECAD merge, combing the hardware of the one and the software of the other.
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* ACECAT II
by (http://www.acecad.com/) ACECAD
MSRP: ~US$69
* ArtPad II
by (http://www.wacom.com/) Wacom
MSRP: ~US$160
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(cwbrenn@ibm.net) Christopher B. Wright is a technical writer in the Northern Virginia/D.C. area, and has been using OS/2 Warp since January 95. He is also a member of Team OS/2.
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Animated Mouse Pointer for OS/2 v1.0 - by Ryan Dill
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Some of you may remember back in July of last year, when I 'raved' about Animouse from Australia's Sentience Software. Well, with all due respect to the folks from Oz, a new day has dawned, and it's even brighter than the last.
Animated Mouse Pointer for OS/2 (which I'll call AMPTR from now on to save myself some typing) is a little gizmo created by (C.Langanke@TeamOS2.DE) Christian Langanke of TeamOS/2 Germany; it gives your OS/2 Warp system animated pointer ability, much like that possessed by Windows 95 and NT. Your old static mouse pointers can now run, jump or dance a jig!
Why Bother?
"Well fine," you might say, "but Animouse does that; why should I use the one with the really long name instead?" Three reasons. Number one is the way it's designed; it fits into the Workplace Shell like a glove. Number two is the fact that it supports more types of animated pointers than Animouse. And number three, unlike Animouse, which is about US$20 from Indelible Blue, AMPTR is absolutely FREE! You can't get a much better deal than that...
Unlike Animouse, AMPTR is not a separate program with an executable. AMPTR uses IBM's SOM (System Object Model) technology to seamlessly integrate itself into the operating system--If you didn't know you had installed it, you'd think its features were part of OS/2. (SOM is a powerful way to add functionality to your existing OS/2 system; one of the best-known examples of SOM can be seen in Stardock's Object Desktop, considered by many to be a natural upgrade to Warp 3 and 4.)
AMPTR builds upon the existing OS/2 pointer classes and Mouse object so you lose nothing by installing it; you can still use all your old pointers without any problems. AMPTR adds, however, the ability to replace one or more of OS/2's nine mouse pointers with an animated version. AMPTR also makes this change as simple as drag'n'drop! Just drag any valid pointer onto the Mouse object and drop it on the pointer you want to replace, or, drag a pointer set into the window to replace the entire current set.
A pointer set may either be a directory (in which all the desired pointers are stored as normal .PTR files) or an Animouse-style resource which contains multiple pointers in a single file. If you only want part of a set of animations to be animated (I myself dislike animating the text pointer) simply right-click on the specific pointer and select such from the menu. Simplicity!
AMPTR supports more formats. In addition to normal OS/2 .PTR files, it supports (as you've probably gathered) animations which use Animouse's .AND resource format. Perhaps the coolest feature though, is that it supports Windows 95 pointer formats, like .CUR and .ANI! Have you always liked that animated pointer that your friend with the Win95 machine has? Simply put it on your system and drag and drop it on your Mouse object!
This is perhaps one of AMPTR's best features because it means that we, as OS/2 users, immediately have a HUGE database of animated pointers to choose from. Simply doing a web search on 'animated pointers' will give you access to thousands of ready-to-use animations for your OS/2 system. (You can find over 3,500 at (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dierk/moreani.htm) Dierk's List of Animated Cursors. note : Dierk's List of Animated Cursors will move to (http://www.anicursor.com/) http://www.anicursor.com/ as of March 1st.)
AMPTR has other features too, such as the ability to use REXX to configure its settings (full details are available in the INF file). It also includes the ability to make your own .AND collections of animations, with both animated and normal pointers in the same resource! This version of AMPTR doesn't allow grouping of Window .CUR and .ANI into .AND files, but the author has promised this ability in a future version. The aforementioned future version will also include a utility to convert Windows cursor files to OS/2 format, so that you can edit them with OS/2's own Icon Editor.
Glitches
For a first release, AMPTR works surprisingly well on a variety of systems. However, a few anomalies in this version have been noted:
The program works under both Warp 3 and Warp 4, but a few people, myself included, can't get the drag-n-drop of pointers (which works fine in Warp 3) to work in Warp 4. This is confusing, since the author and others have no such problems. Still, the animations work fine under either OS, which is the main reason to use the program.
The installation program appears to have a problem installing to a directory with spaces in it (like "X:\Pointers and Icons"), but this will no doubt be fixed in the next release. (Also, since OS/2's own resource compiler, with which you would create .AND files, doesn't support spaces either, it's not recommended to install AMPTR to a directory with spaces in its name.)
When running under Warp 4, AMPTR appears to have a beef with the WarpCenter; while AMPTR is installed you can't access the Mouse object from the WarpCenter, you have to open the System folder and double-click from there. A fix for this has also been promised in the next version.
A minor glitch with Matrox cards; in certain resolutions, one pointer in an animation may be displayed a pixel higher than the others, causing the animation to 'jump'. My ATI card has no such problem.
Lastly, the author says that there is a typo or two in the REXX install script which, although it works fine under normal REXX, chokes if run under Object Rexx. Therefore, until the next version comes out, AMPTR should be installed with normal REXX.
Some of these glitches may have already been solved by the author by the time you read this, and fixes will be in the next release. He also plans to create a web page in the near future where all updates can be downloaded, along with additional useful and cool animations.
Just like Animouse, AMPTR looks and operates better in a decent graphics mode; IBM's regular VGA mode, especially, results in a lot of flickering. Myself, I'd recommend a graphics mode with at least 256 colors, as a lot of the cooler cursors out there may simply look unappetizing in less. As well, any application like this will perform better on a graphics card with hardware support for mouse pointers (pointers are stored in the card's memory rather than taking up system RAM). Still, the only way to find out what'll work for you is to experiment. If you don't like AMPTR, the included REMOVE.CMD script works quite nicely.
Conclusion
Animated Mouse Pointer for OS/2 is a great little application that I recommend in a second for anyone who wants to improve the look of their OS/2 Desktop. It comes with a stock of ready-to-use animations, and is available in both English and German versions. And because of its NLS support, new languages aren't that hard to add (French and Japanese versions are already on the way). If you like the program and think you'd like to help translate a version for your native language, let the author know...
Download the program and try it out!
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* Animated Mouse Pointer for OS/2 v1.0
by (C.Langanke@TeamOS2.DE) Christian Langanke
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/wpsutil/amptr100.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 333k)
Registration: Freeware
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(dill@glinx.com) Ryan Dill is a student in Computer Science at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS. He is reported to be relieved that, with the advent of Warp 4, talking to your computer is no longer considered a sign of mental instability.
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OS/2 Word Processing: An Overview - by Jon Cochran
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Until very recently, if you needed to do any serious word-processing under OS/2, your options were very limited. If you were a die-hard OS/2 user, you could have used AmiPro/2. The other option was an almost mandatory Win-OS2 session for Microsoft Word 6.0, Lotus WordPro, or Corel WordPerfect.
The times are changing, and the OS/2 word-processing arena is becoming a bit more populous. Which is good news, because newer versions of Microsoft Word, and Corel WordPerfect (for Windows) won't run under Win-OS2.
The Contenders
The best news for OS/2 users is that two heavyweight word processors are now officially available for OS/2. The first of these, Lotus WordPro, is from an old OS/2 supporter. WordPro was hailed as revolutionary when it first appeared on the Windows platform over a year ago, and the OS/2 version is nearly as good.
The second heavyweight contender is a newcomer (sort of) from Germany, StarWriter, officially a part of the StarOffice suite, but reviewed here as a separate entity. (However, it's StarWriter's superb integration with the rest of the components in the suite that make it such an attractive choice.) Users familiar with Microsoft Word will feel right at home with StarWriter, as its interface is a near copy of Word's.
Features
Lotus WordPro
Lotus' attempts to achieve parity between the OS/2 and Windows versions of WordPro seem to have almost worked. Both programs have nearly identical feature sets, with the OS/2 version supporting REXX scripting (note: I don't consider long file name support an OS/2 exclusive feature anymore, as Windows 95 supports LFNs). For this article, I examined a late WordPro beta since the final GA version was not yet available. At the time this article was published however, it was finally shipping in the just released SmartSuite for OS/2.
Everything you would expect from WordPro is included, with the exception of a charting module. Lotus says that the charting module is dependent on OLE which is not supported under OS/2, therefore it couldn't be ported.
The number of filters supported for translations from other formats is exceptional. Just about every format is supported (except, notably, DeScribe). Graphics support is also very well handled, with import filters being available for all popular formats.
Another highly touted feature, the Lotus InfoBox, is a very nice break with tradition in word processing. The InfoBox basically places all the important controls for a page/paragraph in an easy to use dialog box where just about everything can be modified. This is a very nice change from the hunting through menus and dialog boxes that you're forced to do with most word processors to change page attributes, etc.
StarWriter
At first glance, StarWriter seems rather underwhemling. If you didn't give it much thought, you'd think it a knockoff of Microsoft Word. But it's the fact that it incorporates so many 'Word'-isms that makes it such a nice word processor.
StarWriter may not have nearly the number of import and export filters that WordPro has, but it seems to handle HTML much better than WordPro. And its HTML features make StarWriter a nifty word processor. Load an HTML file into WordPro, and you just see the file. Try to click on a link, and you get nothing (in fact, I still haven't figured out how to make a link with WordPro). Load the same HTML file with StarWriter, click on a link, and the new page loads. Making a link is as easy as typing a URL and title into a field. StarWriter shines in its ability to make and edit HTML files (some difficulty in placing graphics should, hopefully, be fixed in the GA version).
Feature for feature though, StarWriter can't hold its ground against WordPro. Missing is a grammar check, the format check, the powerful outlining abilities, etc. And while StarWriter does support popular graphics formats, it is limited to only being able to import Text, HTML, and Microsoft Word documents. Where StarWriter shines is its integration with the rest of StarOffice. Need a chart? Just click on the charting icon and StarChart opens (in a very OLE-like manner) into your document. Need to do some imaging work on a picture you just imported? Just click an icon and the StarImage toolbar pops right onto the StarWriter toolbar (again, very OLE-like).
Performance
Neither program is a speed demon. WordPro suffers from the fact that it was ported using Open32 which is a translation library that allows Win32 programs to be compiled for OS/2 and not built for OS/2 from the ground up. WordPro's performance for most tasks was acceptable, but when trying to do something ambitious (such as call up the drawing tools) there is a noticeable pause. WordPro does appear to be nominally multithreaded; I did observe it using 3 threads.
What disturbed me about WordPro was the fact that every time I ran it, a program called RSRV was detached and was never terminated when WordPro was closed. What's worse, the program appeared to be a bit CPU greedy. Hopefully this will be fixed when WordPro GA ships (which is now).
StarWriter, on the other hand, was written with a class library that is supposed to allow code to be ported to any platform with minimal effort (at this time StarOffice is available for Windows, OS/2 and Linux). What is surprising is that StarWriter was decently fast (although neither program is as fast as AmiPro/2). And even more surprisingly, StarWriter achieves all of its speed on a single thread (not once did I observe a second thread). Obviously the folks at StarDivision did some serious tweaking, and it pays off here.
Other Notables
DeScribe and Clearlook are the sole challengers to the "big two". DeScribe has recently retired from the word processing arena and is probably no longer a serious contender since, despite a fair amount of power under the hood, it lacks some "mainstream" features that have kept OS/2 users pining for a Word equivalent. And of course, DeScribe has ceased development.
Clearlook has bounced around a bit, and is now owned by the folks at Sundial Systems Inc. They have plans to release a 2.0 version of Clearlook, but were unable to give me any clear answers as to the feature set. Time will tell if this long time OS/2 contender will rise to the challenge of the new kids on the block.
One other program may be about to make a big splash on the OS/2 scene, as ironic as it may be: Corel WordPerfect for Java. With the release of early betas of Corel Office for Java, one of the first word processors available for OS/2 has finally come home. While still too early for conclusions, WordPerfect (for Java) may become an important player in the OS/2 word processor market once again.
The Final Call
Users looking for the absolute best word processor they can get under OS/2 should go the Lotus route. Pound for pound, WordPro packs more features than any other word processor available for OS/2. It's friendly, innovative, and feature packed. And somewhat more importantly, WordPro 'feels' professional. From the way it handles text selection to the way it guides you through tasks, WordPro is an out-and-out winner.
Users looking for a well rounded office suite should give serious consideration to StarOffice. It is fully native OS/2 (unlike the new SmartSuite for OS/2) and packs most of the vital features.
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* WordPro 96 for OS/2
by (http://www.lotus.com/) Lotus Development Corporation
* StarWriter v3.0
by (http://www.stardiv.de/) Star Division
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(cochran@genius.rider.edu) Jon Cochran is a full time student at Rider University majoring in History/Secondary Education. He hopes (or at least his parents do) to graduate soon.
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PMICS for OS/2 Warp v2.1.1 - by Steve Kelly
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If you are like me and love your chess the same way you love OS/2 Warp, then wait no longer, my friend. Your ship has come in. It's called PMICS for OS/2 Warp.
PMICS for OS/2 Warp is a native OS/2 client for communicating with Internet Chess Servers. Internet Chess Servers (ICS for short) are telnet site chess clubs on the Internet. When one visits them, it's like going to the local chess club; you can talk to your friends, play chess, chat with others about games in progress, view a game being played by an International Chess Grandmaster... and all this while never leaving your home.
While there are web pages designed to handle chess, telnet connections offer response times and flexibility that web servers just can not match. And while it is indeed possible to use a simple telnet client to get to these chess clubs, the experience is far more enjoyable with an ICS client. These applications provide the user with a graphical chessboard from which to play with their mouse (much like you would play OS/2 Chess that comes with Warp), windows in which information from the chess server or from other users appears, and so on.
Chess, Presentation Manager Style
This is where PMICS for OS/2 comes in. PMICS, the native chess client for OS/2 Warp, requires only an OS/2 machine with an Internet connection. What makes PMICS so enjoyable to use is its status amongst the other available chess interfaces. Far too often, we, the OS/2 users, often have to make the grim choice between running native software with reduced features vs. feature-packed Windows software. In the land of ICS clients, the exact opposite is true. PMICS, by far and away, exceeds any of the currently available ICS clients available for any other operating system, in both ease of use and number of features (both powerful and subtle). Gone are the days of being envious of your WinFriend. In Internet chess, it's his turn to be envious of you.
Installation
Like most freeware, you have to do the installation of PMICS yourself, but the installation is very straightforward. You unzip it in a desired subdirectory, create a program icon for it on your Desktop, and that's that. When you first run PMICS, you will note that it already has one excellent chess server already configured, the Free Internet Chess Server (FICS). You can add more if you like, but FICS may well prove to be the only chess server you ever need. Just tell PMICS you wish to go to the site by double clicking on the entry, and presto, you're there.
Getting On-line
Once on-line, you will start seeing interesting things on your screen, all in various colors. This is one of PMICS's many features at work, displaying different types of information in different colors to make the swarms of data much easier to read. If you want to get your feet wet immediately, try typing "seek<Enter>", which will send out a challenge to everyone on the server looking to play chess. You will soon find a chessboard popping up on your screen, indicating your challenge has been answered. Go ahead and play a game. You play by using a dragging motion with the mouse; it's very straightforward, as are so many of PMICS's features. However, at some stage you would be well advised to type, "tell 1 I'm new and would like some help." Others will fill you in on the ins and outs of using the command-driven chess server.
Features, Features, Features
After you become comfortable with playing chess on the server and start reading the help file provided with PMICS, you can get into setting its features. This is the area in which PMICS for OS/2 Warp shines far above the rest. Not only does PMICS display different kinds of information in different colors, it can even display this information in separate windows if you so choose. For example, if your best friend comes in, you can set up a private 'tell' window just for him, separated from the rest of the server chatter. Or you can define a window for the comments on a game in progress. Or you can set up a window for the help channel (where new players seek help from the ICS administrators). Or you can set them all up if you want. PMICS can handle it.
Still, all these features mean little if they aren't easy to use. PMICS does an excellent job of making the complex very simple. (Just be sure to give the readme file a once-over at some stage.)
Other features of PMICS include using buttons to examine previously played games saved on the server, using point-and-click finger, challenges and histories of players currently on-line as well as point-and-click observations of games in progress, support for FICS Timeseal (a utility available that charges your clock only for the actual time you spend making a move, rather than having transmission times charged against you as well), login scripts, fully configurable colors and multimedia sound (MMPM is required for this), and numerous other features that leave all other available ICS clients in the dust.
New Features Now in Beta
The beta version currently being tested (I'm using v2.2 beta at this time) takes the most powerful of the ICS clients and widens the gulf between it and its nearest rivals. In addition to the above features (plus many I didn't mention), it adds things such as DDE of URL's to Netscape so that you can click on a URL, address or FTP item in someone's finger notes and have Netscape invoked for you (a very useful feature); intelligent point-and-click support which allows you to gather information on virtually any string you click on (namely user handles, server command help and URL's); full compatibility with the Internet Chess Club (known as ICC, a commercially available chess server); support for ICC Timestamp (similar to FICS timeseal); more servers set up in its default configuration; and other features just too numerous to mention. Paul Mitchell, the author of PMICS, has gone far out of his way to make certain PMICS remains the king of the ICS clients and is to be applauded for his brilliant effort.
Starting Points
The following servers in the United States are available:
The Free Internet Chess Server: telnet ics.onenet.net 5000
No fees required for permanent account. Do not let the free
registration fool you (after all, PMICS is the best, and it's free,
too), this high quality server is a great place to get your feet wet in
the world of Internet chess. Many chess players make this server their
permanent home. A powerful chess server administered well by a
competent and friendly volunteer staff.
The (http://www.chessclub.com) Internet Chess Club: telnet chessclub.com 5010 (actually, any port number ranging from 5000-5099 will work)
You can visit this site for free as often as you like as a guest, but a fee
is required for registration, which entitles users to view grandmaster
lectures, participate in simultaneous exhibitions, ICC events, along with
the usual benefits of unlimited play, ratings, etc. Its 6,000+ members
and 20,000+ games played per day make this server the largest chess
club in the world today.
There are other chess servers available as well. As you get your feet wet in the world of Internet chess you'll find out where they are. Half the fun is finding much of this information out for yourself, so I won't spoil it for you.
See you on the 'net.
-----
* PMICS for OS/2 Warp v2.1.1
by (http://www.tcom.co.uk/secondnature/pmics/) Paul Mitchel
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/games/pmics211.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 843k)
Registration: Freeware
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(lskelly@ibm.net) Steve Kelly is an administrator on the Internet Chess Club, a USCF Expert Chess Player, APCT Postal Chess Master, and an enthusiastic OS/2 user. Any OS/2 user who wishes more information on how to play interactive chess live on the Internet should feel free to write him.
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x128 OS/2 v0.5b5 - by Tim Walker
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The Time Machine
Boot up TARDIS/2, OS/2's very own time machine emulator, and take a trip with me back to December 25, 1983. The location: Swindon, southern England. The UK is in the grip of its first ever wave of home computer fever. We land in a front room where a feverishly excited 11-year-old is about to open the present he's saved and waited for for months. Off comes the wrapping, and there before him is a Sanyo cassette recorder and a little black box with rubber keys and some sockets in the back. Oh, and a little rainbow across one corner.
That boy now possesses a 48k Sinclair Spectrum home computer. 8-bit, 16-colour display output, cassette storage of data and--to the eternal derision of owners of its great arch-rival, the Commodore 64--a solitary monophonic internal beeper for sound, which halted the computer every time it sounded.
And yet that little black box, and the thousands of classic games written for it, changed the lives of this youngster and millions of others--particularly in the UK and Europe--for good. To the point where these same folk, now in their twenties and thirties and often still in computing (working on machines hundreds of times more powerful), still turn their ear to the past, where they can still hear that little black box beeping plaintively at them, its siren song calling them back for one more game of Jet Set Willy...
Stop me, stop me! I'm afraid to say that even today I am, despite sitting before a Pentium as I type this, still a Spectrum addict. And, it seems, I am not alone. The 'net is home to a plethora of Web and FTP sites, and even a whole newsgroup (comp.sys.sinclair), devoted entirely to the love and preservation of all things Sinclair, such as the Spectrum16/48/128, ZX80/81, QL and so on. (I haven't room to expand on the Internet's Spectrum fan base here, but can recommend the (http://www.jetman.demon.co.uk/speccy/faq/index.html) comp.sys.sinclair FAQ as an excellent starting point.)
An old favourite revived...
Thankfully, it's not all memories. There are Spectrum emulator programs available for all manner of modern platforms allowing you to run all those wonderful old games you thought were lost forever. The most well-known emulator for the Intel CPU is probably the DOS-based Z80 (named after the CPU which powers the Spectrum). Unfortunately, Z80 refuses to run under OS/2--on my system it freezes the DOS session just after loading--so I resigned myself to booting up DOS for those quick games of Manic Miner. Then, recently, I was browsing through the comp.sys.sinclair FAQ when it drew my attention to an OS/2 Spectrum emulator, x128, ported by a Danish programmer, Thomas Ahn Kolbeck Kjaer. I went straight to the (http://www.daimi.aau.dk/~takjaer/x128-OS2/x128.html) home page and downloaded it...
...and the program has rarely been switched off since! In the league of my all-time favourite OS/2 apps, x128 OS/2 is already nudging up there with PMMail and Object Desktop--and only after a few days' usage. Briefly, x128 is a PM-based Spectrum emulator which uses DIVE for the video interface. It is capable of running programs written for the original 16K and 48K Spectrum models, as well as the slightly later Spectrum 128.
As one might guess from the name, x128 requires the EMX runtime to run (the necessary files are included in the archive though). It also needs a 486DX2-66 or better, Warp 3 or 4 and DIVE and DART-compatible video and sound hardware (most modern cards fall within this category). On my machine the program loads within a few seconds, and has not crashed once; considering the intensity of my usage of the program lately, this is most impressive, and a major plus point.
Software?
The inevitable question arises at this point: how does one get the software onto the PC? For those unfamiliar with Spectrum emulators, Spectrum software is loaded from tape into an emulator via a special hardware interface, and saved as what's called a snapshot. These files, which usually have the extension .sna or .z80, can be found all over the 'net and if you have a favourite 'Speccy' game and know where to look (see the FAQ!), chances are you should be able to find it.
For those concerned about copyright, many of the original game authors have given permission for their old games to be used this way (many are still in the business, now writing games for the PC or consoles). x128 can use both .sna and .z80 snapshots--as long as the actual files are sound they should present no problems. I've had no corrupted files to date, except for one which merely "rebooted" the Spectrum "inside" the emulator. Set up the program object to associate with .sna and .z80 files, and a double-click will take you straight into the game.
Watching the emulator in action is quite remarkable, because it's so eerily true to the "feel" of a Spectrum--sound, video, speed and all. I found snapshots of all my old faves (Manic Miner and most of the Ultimate Play The Game range like Jetpac, Trans Am and Lunar Jetman ) and all the memories and gameplay methods came flooding back instantly. For someone who spent many hours on the Spectrum in the early 80s, playing an original Spectrum game in a window on one's OS/2 Desktop is an experience which takes some getting used to.
Quirks
It's a tribute to the author of this program that I have very few complaints with x128, and those that I do have are largely cosmetic. I still have Warp 3, so the DIVE implementation is not perfect, causing a significant slowing of the mouse pointer whilst the emulator is running. I suspect this is my system rather than the program though. Also, the pitch of the sound isn't exactly matched with how I remember the original games, but again this could just be my system, and it's a very minor point. When I recently e-mailed Thomas (he welcomes views and opinions on the program), he replied within 24 hours, revealing that future versions will include bug fixes and, best of all, drag-n-drop of files.
In fact, just before publishing, a new version was released (it can be found on the x128 home page mentioned above). As promised, it has drag-n-drop and a few other refinements.
Conclusions
If you're a former 'Speccy' owner pining for those old games, someone who already owns a non-OS/2 emulator like Z80, or a fan of retro video gaming, then x128 is an utterly essential addition to your system. It's OS/2-native, rock-solid stable, and free... and it'll give you the chance to see if you can complete all twenty levels of Manic Miner, all on your OS/2 Desktop. A word of warning, though--some of these games can be fiendishly addictive, which goes to show you what a clever programmer can achieve with an 8-bit black box with rubber keys and 48K RAM.
And a little rainbow across one corner.
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* x128 OS/2 v0.5b5
by (http://www.daimi.aau.dk/~takjaer/x128-OS2/x128.html) Thomas Ahn Kolbeck Kjaer
download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/games/x128v05b5-OS2.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 250k)
Registration: Freeware
-----
(tawalker@dircon.co.uk) Tim Walker is a 24-year-old
non-programmer, living near London, UK, working in electronic publishing and running Warp at home... which marks him out as a pretty unusual OS/2 user. He finally got around to creating a Penguin Cafe Orchestra home page, except he doesn't have much time to update it.
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NetHead's Nook - by Brandon Fesler
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I send you greetings once again from my humble home in Oklahoma City, where I have been toiling night and day to create this, my contribution to this venerated electronic magazine.
Well, after a month's vacation from the excruciating task of finding a good thing or another to write in this column, I have taken it upon myself to try another month's vacation. For some strange, unexplainable reason, my editor didn't think this was a very good idea.
"You owe it to the people!" he pleaded.
Again, I tried to refuse. But then he uttered those two words that strike fear into the heart of every man and woman:
"Collection Agency!" he shouted.
Apparently, I owed so much to the people that he was going to send my case to the collection agents. Well, that was it. Do or die. It seemed that for better or for worse, I was bound to once again take up my pen and scribe away for long hours to bring you this labor of love, properly entitled:
Well, let's see... what in the world can we start with? If I am to start as usual, I have to find some horribly guilty party who has been caught red faced in some sort of greedy scam, or in the midst of gross incompetence. Hmmm, now who takes the cake...?
America Online, in efforts to alleviate the flood of lawsuits and complaints (not to mention a flood of refugees that makes Bosnia look like a picnic outing) has come up with a new rate plan. Yep, for only $4.95 per month, users get unlimited busy signals. The Microsoft Network was quick to match this offer and even up the ante--they'll even throw hidden routines in MSN software to crash your computer for only $2.00 extra per month. Experts in the computer industry are objecting to this pricing scheme however, saying that the system crash routines that are being offered are actually embedded in the Windows 95 operating system itself, and don't require an online service to activate. An interview of 100 random consumers seemed to support this theory.
Speaking of which, this month there's a slew of great material from Redmond, AKA Monopolis, which I just can't pass up! Just reading the news is enough to make one laugh!
Bill Gates stated that he was "confused" about Apple's operating system strategy. No kidding! Microsoft has just dumped Windows NT from every platform except Intel (and who knows, maybe it's next). Maybe Bill Gates is confused about his operating system strategy!
And once again, ActiveX, also known as CaptiveX and HACKtiveX, has shown its true potential. A group of German hackers demonstrated to the world how easy it was to use ActiveX to break into a bank and transfer funds, without even needing a PIN code. Oh boy! ActiveX has security along the lines of Microsoft "Bob", which would ask users if they wanted to change their password once they got it wrong three times! It goes to show that "Microsoft Money" was aptly named because with ActiveX, that's exactly what all money will become!
Say, did you hear that Microsoft is attempting to invade the minds of your children? Yep, sure enough, Big Bill is spending a pretty penny to create a computer which looks like Barney, runs toy CD-ROMs, and crashes just like Windows! Yep, it's good to know that your kids will be prepared for when they get older and use the "grown-up" Windows! Err, wait. Somehow I'm thinking that research and development isn't soaking up much of the budget on this idea! Did I spot one of the developers of "Bob" just now?
I'm sorry to report that Egghead software is closing its store here in Oklahoma City, because it's not profitable. Let's see, they cut off the OS/2 users, Linux users, and Macintosh users and now the Windows users don't buy enough for the store to turn a profit. It's fitting that Egghead has become known as Bighead (and their regional manager's nickname can't be printed here). The one thing they aren't is a-head. Perhaps they should learn a lesson from Indelible Blue, eh?
Let's hear it for Egghead!!! Thppppppt!
That, ladies and gentlemen, was NetHead's Raspberry of the Month.
Well, until next month, it's goodbye. But fear not! I shall return next month to further serve and enlighten!
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(nethead@okc.oklahoma.net) NetHead is a freelance mattress tester, a pupil of Doctor Strangelove and can be reached on the web at (http://www.oklahoma.net/~nethead/) www.oklahoma.net/~nethead.
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The Chronicles of (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) John Ominor - by (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) John Ominor, The Inhuman
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I am (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) John Ominor , The Inhuman. Today (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor will discuss several new issues plaguing the OS/2 user community.
First, the shift of the only OS/2 native tax application, Taxdollars from a commercial based product to shareware.
This product is worthy. It is small, extremely affordable (even to paupers) and has been used by the Avatar to prepare his taxes. All OS/2 users who must pay taxes and choose to do so, should download this product from (http://www.electriciti.com/bttech/) BT&T and evaluate it for themselves.
Next, (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor marvels at the resistance of some users to the free upgrade to Process Commander. Yes, it requires a registration code and entry of a single word from the manual. Yes it is "pirate protection". Now, upgrade or not, but end your whining. (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) John Ominor has applied the patch and moved on. You should, too. Or else...
And what of the OS/2 gaming market?
(dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor will not bore you with yet another rendition of why OS/2 would make an exceptional entertainment platform, nor will he engage in the constant assaults on IBM's apparent abandonment of the consumer market.
It has been stated that sales of even the mainstream Trials of Battle have been disappointing. Perhaps. "But why?" you ask The Inhuman, "How can this be? Surely it is not its inability to allow network play on a 28.8k modem, its most touted feature?" The Inhuman will explain all.
(dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor has entertained the thought that the OS/2 user base has shrunk over the past few months and has quickly dismissed such a thought as being unworthy. It is difficult to believe that such a large number of users have abandoned OS/2, in any incarnation, on a large enough scale to justify lower sales without reading about such an exodus in every computer publication in existence. If software sales have indeed become stagnant, it is more likely that lack of advertisement is the cause. After all, comp.os.os2.* can only absorb so many copies of software.
Knowledge... knowledge is the key. Knowledge of what OS/2 and its software has to offer must be disseminated from (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor to the masses. This has not been done. The Application sampler compact disc that was shipped with OS/2 Warp 4.0 would have been far more useful two years ago. In addition, The Inhuman can only conclude that the so-called 32-bit Alliance has failed. Despite its promise, despite its OS/2 Magazine appearances and rumored appearances in other magazines, any significant marketing strategy has failed to materialize.
The solution is obvious. Esther Schindler, an excellent freelance writer and phantom of Usenet has echoed the wisdom of (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor in her postings several times in the past, but even she has missed one basic point, the same point that seems to elude some OS/2 software developers. The success of their software is directly tied to the success of OS/2. OS/2 must be promoted even if it is through your own actions. But (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor will touch on this further in a moment.
Let us first address the issue of OS/2 developer abandonment for the Windows platform, for this subject seems to concern both OS/2 and Apple users. This idea does not warrant the consideration of (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor because it is nonviable. Several of the largest Windows vendors, for instance Borland and Quarterdeck are experiencing extremely difficult financial times as Microsoft struggles to exclude all third party developers from all facets of the software market. It is unfathomable that any OS/2 vendor that entered this market with an already acknowledged smaller financial base would make more impact there than in the realm of OS/2. Have many have heard of Family Tree Plus? Windows developers are truly a dime a dozen with little separating sheep from flock.
So, what is the solution? A retrenching is needed. OS/2 must go back to the basics. We all well the remember that inane OS/2: "totally cool" advertising campaign from the release of OS/2 Warp 3.0. Would it surprise anyone to know that it succeeded to some degree? There are still people walking around who were intrigued by that commercial but were not provided with enough information, enough knowledge. All OS/2 vendors must band together and revive the 32-bit Alliance. Only then can the resources be available to do what Ms. Schindler and countless others feel must be done. The level of awareness of OS/2 must be increased.
Software must be shipped out to journalist.
Calls must be made to request that journalists review OS/2 products.
OS/2 users must consider local commercials on cable television that actually utilize some of the better ideas born on the Internet.
The Inhuman knows that if his business were OS/2 software, others would know of this. Not just those who occupy the newsgroups, but those who control the print media.
Only when others outside of the OS/2 user community know of OS/2's offerings can OS/2 move beyond the narrow confines of human vision.
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The origins and current plans of (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor are known only to (dmccoy@mailhost.mnsinc.com) Ominor. He is indeed a mystery to all. Save The Inhuman.
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January's Top Selling Applications from Indelible Blue
Note: The following list represents only the top selling OS/2 applications. OS/2 Warp and OS/2 Warp Connect are not included in the rankings.
This Month Last Month Product Developer
1 -- SmartSuite Lotus
2 2 FaxWorks Pro Global Village
3 1 Partition Magic v3 PowerQuest
4 4 Process Commander Stardock Systems
5 10 BackMaster MSR Development
6 (tie) 5 IBM AntiVirus IBM
6 (tie) 7 System Commander V Communications
7 6 Colorworks SPG
8 (tie) 15 QuickMotion Practice Corporation
8 (tie) 3 Hobbes CD-ROM Walnut Creek
9 15 Trials of Battle Stardock Systems
10 8 BackAgain/2 Computer Data Strategies
11 12 UniMaint SofTouch Systems
12 -- Taxdollars '96 BT&T Technology
13 -- Sytos Premium Sytos
14 (tie) -- Object Desktop Professional Stardock Systems
14 (tie) 6 Avarice: The Final Saga Stardock Systems
14 (tie) -- Performance Plus Clear & Simple
14 (tie) -- Impos/2 & Scanmaker E6 Compart GmbH
15 13 DeScribe Voyager Plus DeScribe
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Compiled by (http://www.indelible-blue.com/ib/) Indelible Blue, Inc. - Your Single Source for OS/2 Solutions.
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January's Top Selling Applications from J3
Ranking Product Developer
1 Lotus SmartSuite 96 Lotus
2 Faxworks Pro v3 Upgrade Global Village
3 QuickMotion Practice Corporation
4 ColorWorks v2 SPG
5 MD+F Animated GIF Writer(1) Modular Dreams Inc.
6 MD+F Effects - Volume 1 (1) Modular Dreams Inc.
7 Partition Magic PowerQuest
8 MD+F Effects - Renders (1) Modular Dreams Inc.
9 NeoNGrafix 3-D v2 Lite (CD) Compo Software
10 System Commander V Communications
(1) Available exclusively at J3!
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Compiled by (http://www.os2store.com/) J3 Computer Technologies - Serving the Global OS/2 Community, large and small!
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January's Top Selling Applications from BMT Micro
Note: The following list represents only the top selling OS/2 shareware applications. The (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/cdrom.html) BMT Micro CD is excluded from the figures below to avoid distorting the results.
This Month Last Month Product Developer
1 4 InJoy F/X Communications
2 1 PMMail SouthSide Software
3 2 PMView Peter Neilsen
4 6 ZOC EmTec Innovative Software
5 -- ScreenSaver Siegfried Hanish
6 -- HomePage Publisher JBC Software
7 3 MR/2 ICE Knightware Software Co.
8 7 EmTec Network Suite EmTec Innovative Software
9 5 XIT CodeSmith Software
10 8 FTP Browser Jason Rushton
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This list is compiled by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro--Your Source for Over 100 Quality Shareware Applications--and represents their monthly registration figures.
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Corporate Sponsors of OS/2 e-Zine!
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(http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro
Your complete source for over 175 of the best OS/2 shareware applications available. Drop by today and check out our WWW catalog or download the .INF version.
(http://www.4ctc.com/) CrossTec Corporation
NetOp Remote Control Software for OS/2 with cross platform support to Windows (either direction). Free evaluation copies available.
(http://www.ChipChat.com/os2ezine) ChipChat Technology Group
ChipChat produces excellent 32-bit OS/2 software for wireless text paging and state-of-the-art multimedia Sound Cards for Micro Channel PS/2 computers.
(http://www.emtec.com/) EmTec Innovative Software
EmTec Innovative Software produces state-of-the-art OS/2 ISDN, modem and telnet communications software. OS/2 Magazine and Inside OS/2 1995 award winner.
(http://www.fx.dk/) F/X Communications
Home of the top selling (http://www.fx.dk/injoy/) InJoy dialer, ranked #1 in worldwide OS/2 shareware sales (Jan-97).
(http://www.hotinc.com/) House of Technology, Inc.
Your Canadian Source For OS/2 Applications.
(http://www.indelible-blue.com/ib/) Indelible Blue
Indelible Blue, a mail order company, provides OS/2 software and hardware solutions to customers worldwide.
Defend against desktop freezes with Ctrl-Alt-Del Commander and create online documents/help with the IPF Editor.
(http://www.prioritymaster.com/) ScheduPerformance, Inc.
Dramatically improve performance on your OS/2 system now with the patented priority scanning logic and visual priority identification of Priority Master II.
