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    India - Pentium Bug Fallout
01/03/95 NEW DELHI, INDIA, 1995 JAN 3
(NB) -- Those in the Indian computer
industry who assumed major hardware
products to be fault-free were in for
a shock, following Intel's disclosure
that there were problems in its
Pentium microprocessor. While a
number of them have decided to
suspend further deliveries of the
faulty machines, the major Indian
computer manufacturers have decided
to stand by Intel, and continue to
sell machines based on the Pentium.

    Sterling Computers Ltd. has
decided to withdraw all its Pentium-
based machines from the market. In
addition, it is contemplating suing
Intel for damages.

    Intel's spokesman in India, J.
Reghunath, said the company would
stand by its product. He added,
"There is no need to recall our
product from the market. We will work
with our customers and, if there is
anyone facing problems with the
machine, we are willing to rectify
it."

   According to Dr. Sridhar Mitta,
chief technical officer of Wipro
Infotech, which is continuing
supplies of Pentium-based machines
after getting an assurance from Intel
on the replacement of problematic
chips, "The defect in the chip could
make a difference only in
applications such as CAD/CAM
(computer-aided design/ computer-
aided manufacturing), and in other
floating decimal point-intensive
calculations. In all other
applications, the possibility of an
error is very remote." He said that
computer users in the country have
begun to expect hardware to be fault-
free, while in the case of software,
bugs are always expected. "This
problem can be rectified through
software, and Wipro was already
working on it," he added.

    Sanjay Rajdan, executive director
of Delhi-based Pertech Computers Ltd.
(PCL), also said that it had no
intentions of stopping any supplies
of Pentium-based machines, or
recalling any of those it had
installed in the last year since the
chip was introduced. He added that
PCL would carry on as usual with the
marketing of the machines.

    Abhishek Mukherjee, general
manager, India, of Compaq Computer
Asia Pvt. Ltd., said, "Intel has
already sent us a 24-page document
explaining why the problem is not
serious." For the time being, Compaq
has not made a decision whether to
recall Pentium-based computers.

    A similar opinion was from Anil
Khanna of PCS DG. Agreeing that
present deliveries might be
temporarily suspended, the company
said it was looking into the problem,
but had not taken a decision as yet
regarding recall of the Pentium-based
machines.

    While most of the Indian firms
have decided to back Intel on
Pentium, the controversy has more to
do with competition between Intel and
IBM in the international market.
Though IBM had been one of the
largest customers of Intel, it has
now developed the Power PC, which is
in direct competition with Pentium.

    (C.T. Mahabharat/19950103)

     Communica Scrambles To Handle
Interest In Bug Fix 12/23/94 CAPE
COD, MASSACHUSETTS, U.S.A., 1994 DEC
23 (NB) -- Every software developer
should have Matt Trask's problems.
After announcing a software utility
that protects against the infamous
floating-point division bug in Intel
Corp.'s Pentium microprocessor, Trask
is swamped with inquiries from
worried personal computer owners.

    Trask's firm, Communica Inc.,
develops system software and provides
development services to other
companies in the computer industry.
Since announcing early this month
software that intercepts error-prone
division operations and performs them
without using the Pentium's floating-
point unit, Trask told Newsbytes the
company of "24 engineers and one bean
counter" has been having a hard time
keeping up with the demand.

    Unaccustomed to selling directly
to end users, Communica has had to
order new toll-free telephone lines,
which are due to go into service
shortly with the phone numbers 800-
FIX-A-586 and 800-TO-FIX-BUG. The
company's Pentium-fix software, still
being tested, should be ready to
deliver in mid-January, Trask said.

   Communica said that while some
other fixes for the Pentium bug
simply disable the chip's floating
point unit entirely and emulate all
floating point operations in
software, its utility only intercepts
the assembly-language FDIV
instruction, which is the one in
which errors occur. The software does
add some overhead to all floating-
point operations, however.

    The Communica software not only
emulates FDIV in software but
notifies the computer user that it
has processed an instruction the chip
flaw could have affected, the company
said. This tells computer users if
the chip problem is relevant to their
everyday work, according to Trask.

    Trask said he tried to sell his
software to Intel, but the chip-maker
told him it had its own, technically
superior solution. Intel's fix is
technically better, Trask told
Newsbytes, but it is being
distributed to compiler vendors to be
built into their products, which are
then used to develop application
software. Thus it will take time for
Intel's fix to work its way through
to personal computer users, he said,
adding that many of them will still
have programs not redone with the
Intel fix. Communica's software, on
the other hand, just installs on a PC
and protects against the error
regardless of what program is
running.

    The initial version of the
software will work with Microsoft
Corp.'s Windows, Trask said, and a
version for IBM's OS/2 operating
system is planned.

    Trask said Pentium users can be
divided into three groups: those who
never do work that might be affected
by the bug, those who might
occasionally run into it, and those
whose applications use the floating-
point unit extensively.

    Those in the last group will not
want to rely on Communica's software
fix, Trask said, because it will slow
down floating point operations. They
will need to ask Intel to replace
their chips. Those in the first group
do not really need to do anything,
and those in the middle may find a
software fix is enough. Also, Trask
explained, because it notifies the
computer user when a vulnerable
instruction appears, the Communica
software can help users find out into
which group they fall.

    Trask said Communica is
negotiating with several personal
computer vendors interested in
supplying the bug fix with their
Pentium computers, and hopes to
announce its first deals soon.

    (Grant Buckler/19941220/Press
Contact: Tami Chamillard, Communica,
508-759-6714; Public Contact:
Communica, 508-759-6714, 800-FIX-A-
586, or 800-TO-FIX-BUG)

    Intel To Replace Pentiums;
Gateway Offers Support 12/21/94 NORTH
SIOUX CITY, SOUTH DAKOTA, U.S.A.,
1994 DEC 21 (NB)  -- Gateway 2000 has
announced it will join with Intel's
newly announced policy of replacing
any defective Pentium chip for any
reason. Gateway stated its support
for Intel by claiming that any errors
calculated by the chip are minimal
and will only occur in very rare
circumstances.

    Previous announcements from Intel
had stated users would need to show
proof of the error having direct
effect on their work. After a long
list of media coverage, citing
consumer displeasure, Intel decided
to make the across-the-board offer.
The company still maintains the
flawed chip is a minimal technical
error, but feels deeply troubled by
the concern of its customers and the
heights to which this issue has
grown.

    Gateway 2000 said it thought
Intel had taken the right position in
replacing any flawed chip for any
reason and applauded the chip
manufacturer for its move to correct
the problem. Intel's announcement
stated users are being offered a free
replacement for the lifetime of the
user's personal computer and Gateway
offers the same warranty to all of
its customers of Pentium-based
systems.

    Gateway announced a telephone
support line, 800-846-2000, for its
customers to call for chip
replacement questions. Intel as well
has its support line, 800-846-8686,
and Gateway customers are encouraged
to use either number. Newsbytes notes
that, after trying the numbers, both
lines are understandably busy.

    Speaking to Newsbytes, Wendell
Watson, corporate communications
manager for Gateway, said, "Prior to
all of the medi