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Text File | 1995-05-31 | 25.0 KB | 674 lines

WINNEWS NEWSLETTER The WinNews newsletter is Microsoft's semi-monthly electronic newsletter providing up-to-date information on Windows 95 developments. A typical issue will include recent press releases, internal white papers, information on Windows-related products from other companies and other sources of additional information. If you have e-mail connected to the Internet, subscribing is easy: Send an e-mail to: ENEWS15@MICROSOFT.NWNET.COM There should be no message in the subject line, and the text of the message should read: SUBSCRIBE WINNEWS Then you will receive your WinNews issue on the first and third Monday of every month (all WinNews issues are sent in ASCII text). A sample WinNews (from May 15, 1995) is below. ********************************************************* Microsoft(R) WinNews Electronic Newsletter Vol. 2, #7, May 15, 1995 ********************************************************* The Windows 95 World Tour kicked off its North American leg last week in Minneapolis and Louisville, and we have had extremely positive feedback on the demonstrations from attendees. If you have not have a chance to see a demo yet, the World Tour is a great way to see why Windows 95 is such an exciting product. This week the tour continues on to New York, Boston and Washington, DC. For more information on attending please call 1-800-685-0951. A complete list of North American cities is below. One minor change for WinNews: Rather than publish on the 1st and 15th of each month, and have to adjust for weekends, WinNews will be sent on the first and third Monday of each month. Look for Vol. 2, #8 to be sent on June 5. Included in this issue: 1. SPRINT AND MICROSOFT INTEGRATE SprintFAX(R)SERVICE WITH WINDOWS(R) 95 - is an announcement from last week's EMA Conference. Windows 95 users will be able to broadcast SprintFAX with graphics or text from their desktop. Plus, users will be able to send editable binary file documents using Microsoft Fax. 2. USABILITY ENHANCEMENTS FOR THE MICROSOFT EXCHANGE CLIENT IN WINDOWS 95 - is a Microsoft position paper from the Exchange product group which explains the current product features, and the reasons behind decisions that have been made on the product. 3. INFORMATION PROVIDED FROM THE INDEPENDENT WINDOWS 95 USERS GROUP NETWORK (WUGNET) ON COMPUSERVE - WUGNET monitors and supports Compuserve forums on Windows 95. They also offer shareware, support documents (like FAQs), resource guides and other products related to Windows 95 which are described below. To reach WUGNET on Compuserve, type: GO WUGNET 4. WINDOWS 95 LIBRARY OPENS ON ZIFFNET - the library contains an assortment of product applications, utilities, and games - each of which have been reviewed by Ziff-Davis writers. 5. WINDOWS 95 WORLD TOUR - a listing for the balance of North American World Tour cities and dates. 6. PERSOFT BETA SITES - Persoft, Inc. is looking for beta testers for their 16- and 32-bit products. 7. POSTINGS TO THE WINDOWS 95 SERVERS - This is an updated list of new files. QUICK-NOTES A. Unable to get onto the preview forum? Some people have had trouble connecting to the WIN95PRE forum on CompuServe. This has to do with the fact that there is a known bug in WinCIM that does not allow you to post messages on private forums if you're within WinCIM. The only way to do this is to go into ascii mode and then leave a message. Microsoft is doing it's best to get CompuServe and HMI to make the fix to allow you to leave a message while in GUI mode on the WIN95PRE forum. Meanwhile, the quickest way to get on to the forum is to type "go ascii" and leave a message for Microsoft's sysop with your full name and CompuServe ID while in ascii text mode. You should hear back within 48 hours in most cases. We get between 500 and 1,000 requests each day. Your patience is appreciated. B. Update: RNA Server to be included in Microsoft Plus! The single line Windows 95 Dial Up Networking Server, aka the RNA server, had been included as part of the Windows 95 beta test distrubution. During this same period of time, final features of Microsoft Plus! were moved into a seperate Plus! testing cycle. We regret any confusion that this change may have caused to our beta testers. The RNA server is now an integral part of the Microsoft Plus! product, and we are working to correct the errors in documentation that may remain in the Windows 95 documentation. C. Some outside sources recently have written some positive articles on Windows 95. A couple of them are: - "Getting Ready for Windows 95," PC Magazine, May 16. PC Magazine did some great in-depth coverage. They discuss support strategies, new software for Windows 95, multimedia and games, networking and remote communication and mobile use. - The May 1 INFORMATION WEEK has an article by David Fiedler which gave very positive reviews to Windows 95 corporate networking. This issue also has an article about various Microsoft support strategies for the launch of Windows 95. Jay Goldstein WinNews Editor ******************************************************* SUBSCRIPTIONS If you know someone who might be interested in WinNews, please instruct them to send an e-mail to: ENEWS15@MICROSOFT.NWNET.COM There should be no message in the subject line, and the text of the message should read: SUBSCRIBE WINNEWS You may also feel free to forward this document, provided you forward it in it's entirety, as per the copyright notice below. If you wish to stop receiving WinNews, send mail to enews@microsoft.nwnet.com with no subject line and have the text of the message read: UNSUBSCRIBE WINNEWS. WinNews is published twice a month, on the first and third Monday of each month. Special editions of WinNews may also be sent out occasionally. ******************************************************** 1. SPRINT AND MICROSOFT INTEGRATE SprintFAX(R) SERVICE WITH WINDOWS(R) 95 Broadcast editable documents from any Windows 95 PC NEW ORLEANS, May 9, 1995--Sprint and Microsoft demonstrated the integration of SprintFAX with Windows 95 during the Electronic Messaging Association Conference, May 8 - 11. This joint effort will enable users of Microsoft's Windows 95 to initiate SprintFAX broadcasts of text or graphic images and, for the first time, editable binary file documents using Microsoft Fax, the PC fax solution included as a core capability of Windows 95. SprintFAX is the first service to be integrated with Microsoft Fax. Users of Windows 95 will be able to receive SprintFAX registration information and use the SprintFAX Broadcast Distribution service from their PC desktops. This service enhancement is scheduled to be available in September 1995. "Our relationship with Microsoft to integrate SprintFAX with Windows 95 is part of our mission to provide both the wider access to our services from the desktop and the enhanced functionality required by our customers," said Chand Patel, assistant vice president, Messaging and On-Line Services at Sprint. "As the leading provider of desktop software, Microsoft will make SprintFAX available to millions of users, who then can easily take advantage of its robust capabilities to help their businesses run more effectively." "Microsoft wants to make the best services from leading companies available directly from the Windows 95 desktop. Our agreement with Sprint to integrate SprintFAX with Microsoft Fax gives our users access to the enhanced facsimile features they need, right out of the box," said Dan Steele, general manager, Microsoft Personal Systems Division. Once registered with Sprint, Windows 95 users can build lists of destinations in their PCs, then send a document to thousands of fax addresses simultaneously. With the unique binary file transfer feature, users can send documents that can be opened in the application in which they were created, and can be changed by the recipient before forwarding to another destination. If both sender and recipients are Microsoft Fax enabled, SprintFAX will act as an electronic document clearinghouse by transmitting editable documents. SprintFAX is used by businesses and organizations of all sizes to communicate to wide audiences of employees, members, customers or suppliers. SprintFAX applications include informing field sales of price changes, distributing press releases, sending product and drug recalls to retailers and distributors, making new product announcements and providing member updates for associations. Sprint is a diversified international tele- communications company with more than $12.6 billion in annual revenues and the United States' only nationwide all-digital, fiber-optic network. Its divisions provide global long distance voice, data and video products and services, local telephone services to more than 6.4 million subscriber lines in 19 states, and cellular services to more than 1 million customers in nearly 100 cities in 14 states. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. ****************************************************** 2. USABILITY ENHANCEMENTS FOR THE MICROSOFT EXCHANGE CLIENT IN WINDOWS 95 Since the shipment of Windows 95 betas 2 and 3 (October, 1994 and February, 1995), the Exchange product unit has been closely watching the feedback from customers on the Exchange client included with Windows 95. As a result of this feedback, we have decided to simplify the Exchange client and better target its functionality for the masses of Windows 95 users who simply want to send and receive electronic e-mail from Microsoft Mail 3.2, the Microsoft Network, CompuServe Information Service, and utilize the Microsoft At Work FAX functionality. EASIER TO SETUP AND USE The key point is that Microsoft wants to provide an easier to setup, easier to use universal inbox: Feedback from customers, testing within our usability lab, and feedback from the press all indicated that the client was too complex for its principle usage-- sending and receiving e-mail from Microsoft Mail 3.2, MSN, CIS, and Faxes from Microsoft At Work Fax. An overriding goal was that we could not simplify the client such that functionality already in the MS Mail 3.2 client was not available to the users of the Exchange Inbox in Windows 95. Therefore, all functionality found in the current Microsoft Mail v3.2 client (from the Mail Server v3.2 package and shipping with Windows For Workgroups v3.11) is available. The effort to make the client easier to setup and use resulted in improvements in three major areas: 1. Make the installation of the universal inbox easier. This was a very important area for many users. Since Beta 2 of Windows 95 we made several improvements to improve the setup experience users get with the universal inbox. - Based on user's feedback, we have significantly improved the way users select to install the services, such as MS Mail, CompuServe or At Work. - We simplified the profile creation process. - We improve the default settings based on beta users' feedback. 2. Simplify menus to focus on the majority of Windows 95 beta users. - Usability research showed that the more complicated viewing functionality is being utilized by a small minority of users while confusing the majority. The majority wanted us to make the client easier to setup and use. For example: - Creation and saving of custom views - Multiple pre-defined folder Views - Advanced View manipulation (e.g. Grouping and Filtering) - Mark All as Read - AutoText 3. Reduce user's confusion on functionality specific to the Microsoft Exchange Server. Some functionality only made sense when used in conjunction with the forthcoming Exchange Server. Users found this confusing; adding complexity to the user interface. - Composing a message as a "New Post to folder" - Composing a "Post-reply in this folder" - Compose "New Form" WHAT IF I WAS USING THIS FUNCTIONALITY? We recognize that there are users with more advanced functionality requirements who will want to utilize this functionality-- particularly in business and corporate messaging environments. We will continue to listen to these customers and address their needs. While final packaging and distribution details are still being worked out, Microsoft will provide an easy upgrade method to full Exchange client, besides the Exchange Server package. This delivery plan reflects our commitment to provide the right level of client functionality to the right user, and according to the back-end functionality available in the server. The more advanced capabilities of the Exchange Client are very appropriate to Microsoft Exchange Server. CONCLUSION Microsoft's vision for the forthcoming Microsoft Exchange family of products is to provide messaging capabilities that better meet the needs of all email users today. These needs include the single user, who wants to easily send and receive mail via messaging services, the corporate user who wishes to send, receive, share, and browse data from a single client, and the application user who wants to easily utilize powerful business applications based out of the Exchange Client. The forthcoming changes we're making to the Exchange Client in Windows 95, along with the plannedfull capabilities for the client that will ship in the Exchange Server time frame, will help to better meet these diverse needs. ******************************************************* 3. INFORMATION PROVIDED FROM THE INDEPENDENT WINDOWS 95 USERS GROUP NETWORK (WUGNET) ON COMPUSERVE A. New resources featured on the WINNEWS FORUM on Compuserve for the WPP and Windows 95 Beta Testers as provided by the Windows Users Group Network: The Windows Users Group Network continues to provide a variety of must-have resources for all Windows 95 Preview participants and beta testers. These resources are contributed and reviewed by the "Powered by Windows 95 Advisor" online staff of the forum. GO WINNEWS on CompuServe to directly access the following: - WINNEWS Windows 95 Shareware/FreeWare Library - Now featured on the WINNEWS Forum, an Information and Support Resource forum for Windows 95. New Windows 95 shareware pre-release editions are uploaded daily, including the latest: Barry Press Utilities for Windows 95, an assorted collection of full Win32 Windows 95 accessories and tools, that includes a simple monthly calendar, drag-and-drop ASCII file printer (also capable of spooling Postscript files to a Postscript printer), an icon for printer orientation control, an ASCII file comparison program, a shell extension to add a command line option to the Explorer (like the old File.Run), a digital clock, and a random multimedia file player. Registration is $20 and all WINNEWS forum members are invited to test drive this pre-release. TRACKIT 2.0 (TRACKIT.ZIP),a resource monitor for Windows 95, is now available exclusively on WINNEWS to all WPP and beta testers. This utility supplies all the Windows 95 specific system information and also includes a thunk to the GDI, USER and SYSTEM resources. With full color control, TRACKIT also includes user selectable percent-information and percent bars, and free diskspace information! - Third Party beta Driver Library updates for Windows 95 are now available - These include the latest Viper VLB & PCI drivers from Diamond (VIPERB.ZIP). Diamond support will be available on the WINNEWS Forum to receive feedback on their latest drivers. - Official WUGNET Windows 95 Frequently Asked Question Document now available - This is the first of many FAQ's, authored by WUGNET's Powered Windows 95 Advisors avaialable. The May 15 latest upload is Steve Scoggins "Windows 95 Internet SLIP/PPP FAQ". This document explains how to setup Windows 95 for connecting to your ISP (Internet Service Provider). It explains how to use Powered by Windows 95 Advisor Mark Gamler's RoboDUN utility to automate your PPP/SLIP login scripts, which is also available on the Compuserve WINNEWS Forum. - The WUGNET Resource Guide for Windows 95 - Now featured on the WINNEWS forum, the guie includes official press releases on third party Windows 95 products and technology from third party software and hardware companies. The library is uploaded daily, with additional announcements provided by Windows 95 developers. The most recent announcement includes The Blue Ribbon SoundWorks, pioneers of the music and multimedia marketplace. Blue Ribbon announced the availability of AudioActive(TM), a revolutionary technology and application programming interface (API) for Windows 95 that gives access to intelligent real-time music composition and performance capabilities. If you are working on a product or service for Windows 95, please contact: WUGNET@CIS.COMPUSERVE.COM to get your information distributed to Windows 95 beta testers and Windows 95 Preview Participants on the WINNEWS Forum. - WinNews Forum Msg base - The Powered by Windows 95 Advisors have archived weekly message bases from the forum, in ZIP format, for offline review. These message archives contain answers, tips and workarounds provided by both the Powered by Windows 95 Advisor online staff and other Windows 95 beta testers and preview participants. B. WUGNET(R) Third Party Sampler for Windows (R) 95 Shipping Date moved to Early July The shipping date for the WUGNET (R) Third Party CD Sampler for Windows (R) 95 has been extended for 30 days to allow the inclusion of new commercial applications including the Micrografx "Picture Publisher", Travelling Software's "Laplink", Digital Directory Assistance "PhoneDisc", Personal Training System's "Peter Norton Presents Windows 95 Made Easy Tutorial" and O'Reilly's "WEBSITE". The list is growing and WUGNET will keep you informed as new vendors are signed up. Participant vendors on this CD are putting their Windows 95 pre-release editions that exploit the Windows 32-bit multitasking of Windows 95, Windows 95 interface, LFN - Long File Name and OLE 2 features. The CD features special demonstrations and beta versions of commercial software, as well as shareware utilities for Windows 95. Categories include: graphics, diagnostics and utilities, training tools, programming tools, virus protection, installation, Internet and games. For more information on the CD Sampler contact 76702.1356compuserve or call 1-800-WINUSER. To reach the WUGNET forum on Compuserve type: GO WUGNET ***************************************************** 4. WINDOWS 95 LIBRARY OPENS ON ZIFFNET, May 9, 1995 With the continued growth in the number of Windows 95 beta testers, the demand for Windows 95 programs and utilities is growing every day. ZiffNet has corralled its growing collection of Windows 95 titles into one location: the Public Brand Software Utilities Forum's Library 13 - "Windows 95". Each of the applications, utilities, and games in this newly created library has been tested and rated by ZiffNet's reviewers - and is optimized to run under Windows 95. Titles you'll find here include the top-rated compression utility WinZip for Windows NT in the file WZNT.EXE, as well as the popular Web browser, Mosaic, in the file WMOSAC.ZIP. Other offerings include: - TextPad (TEXTPD.ZIP), a fully featured, 5-star text editor; - CLR BullsEye (BULEYE.ZIP), an investment tracker; - Bomb Squad (BOMSQU.ZIP), a variation on the Mastermind game; - A-B-C-D (ABCD.ZIP), a CD player and database. In addition, OS/2, DOS, and Windows 3.x users will find thousands of shareware titles in all computing categories throughout the seven Public Brand Software forums. To access the Public Brand Software Utilities Forum in ZiffNet, GO PBSUTIL. To access all seven Public Brand Software forums in ZiffNet, GO PBS. ZiffNet is part of CompuServe's extended services and carries additional membership fees. GO ZIFFMEM for details. ****************************************************** 5. WINDOWS 95 WORLD TOUR This is a quick reminder of upcoming cities, dates and times for the Windows 95 World Tour in North America. The World Tour will continue later this summer outside of North America. We will provide information once cities and dates are confirmed for all other countries. The World Tour features an exciting preview of Windows 95. Demonstrations will show the major new features in Windows 95, including the new user interface, performance and ease-of-use enhancements, Plug and Play, and dial-up networking. You'll learn the differences between Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 and have the chance to see some of the 32-bit applications that are being developed to run on Windows 95. This 2 hour event will be filled with demos and video presentation. There will also be drawings for prizes including a computer system from the sponsoring hardware manufacturer loaded with a pre-release version of Windows 95. Please call 1-800-685-0951 for more details and to indicate your interest in attending. Space for each event is limited. DATE TIME CITY OEM SPONSOR 22-May 8:00pm Dallas Compaq 23-May 7:30pm Houston Compaq 31-May 7:30pm Columbus Compaq 1-Jun 7:30pm Detroit Compaq 4-Jun 7:30pm Seattle Compaq 5-Jun 7:30pm Toronto Compaq 13-Jun 7:30pm Sacramento NEC 15-Jun 7:30pm San Diego NEC 19-Jun 7:30pm Orange County Compaq 22-Jun 7:30pm Chicago NEC 26-Jun 7:30pm Vancouver NEC 29-Jun 7:30pm Pasadena Compaq 10-Jul 7:30pm Oklahoma City NEC 11-Jul 7:30pm St. Louis Compaq 12-Jul 7:30pm Atlanta NEC 17-Jul 7:30pm Philadelphia NEC 19-Jul 7:30pm San Francisco NEC 24-Jul 7:30pm San Antonio Compaq ******************************************************* 6. PERSOFT BETA SITES Persoft, Inc., is looking for beta sites to test 16- and 32-bit Windows connectivity products. They currently have packages for VT340, VT420, DG470, and TN3270 emulation for 16-bit Windows, VT420 for NT, and they are in the development phase on other connectivity products for both 16- and 32-bit Windows. If you are interested in finding out more about beta testing for Persoft, please call the Persoft BBS at (608) 273-6595. Persoft, Inc. is an independent software company. ******************************************************* 7. POSTINGS TO THE WINDOWS 95 SERVERS Access to these servers is available from: On the Internet - (ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/PerOpSys/Win_News, On the World Wide Web http://www.microsoft.com On The Microsoft Network: Open Computers and Software\Software Companies\ Microsoft\Windows 95\WinNews. On CompuServe: type GO WINNEWS. On Prodigy: JUMP WINNEWS. On America Online: keyword WINNEWS On Genie: Download files from the WinNews area under the Windows RTC. The new files are: MSPLUS.ZIP Microsoft Announces Microsoft Plus! for Windows 95 GAMEPR.ZIP Microsoft Releases Beta Version of Windows 95 Games Software Development Kit at Computer Game Developers Conference INTUIT.ZIP Microsoft and Intuit Respond to Justice Department's Lawsuit TRAIN.ZIP Microsoft's Business Systems Division Announces Availability of Beta 3 "Supporting Windows 95" Training from Licensed Partners V2N5 WinNews Newsletter, Vol 2, Number 5 V2N6 WinNews Newsletter, Vol 2, Number 6 EOV2.ZIP Brief Overview of Windows 95 Logo Program (May Update) ******************************************************* This document is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to change in market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. This document may be copied and distributed subject to the following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and all pages must be included; 2) All copies must contain Microsoft's copyright notice and any other notices provided therein; and 3) This document may not be distributed for profit. Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.