SUBJECT: DOS 6 BETA TEST RPT
 
  This one falls in the "for what it's worth category" but I
read an article in "PC UPGRADE" that I thought was worth    
sharing with everyone. It is a Beta Test Report on DOS 6.0  
The following are some excerpts of the article.             
  "Based on beta test copies there appear to be some major  
problems in the offing for unwary users."                   
  "We see some major problems...the way MS is implementing  
DoubleSpace...will make the hard disk(s) of any user who    
installs this option incompatible with OS/2 and a number of 
otherwise compatible upgrade options such as Novell's DR DOS
and multiuser systems such as the Software Link's PC-MOS."  
  "Several developers...openly questioned the ethics and    
wondered out loud just who is next on MS's incompatibility  
hit list."                                                  
  "The preliminary documentation...gives explicit instruct- 
ions on how to remove OS/2 from your hard disk."            
  "Like DOS 5 before it...DOS 6 can restore your prior      
operating system if you want it. Once you let DoubleSpace   
take over your hard disk it's for keeps. Returning to your  
old system is not possible."                                
  "Another problem...appears when trying to create a        
bootable floppy after a hard disk is compressed. Transfer-  
ring the system does not automatically let you access the   
hard disk if it has been compressed with DoubleSpace."      
  "DOS INSTALL routine favors Windows users. Three of DOS   
6's new main features are an anti-virus program, all-new    
backup program, and a slightly different Undelete. If you   
accept the defaults when installing DOS 6-most new users    
will-and you have Windows on your hard disk, these new DOS  
utilities will be installed in such a way that you can      
access them only from Windows-where DOS intalls them in     
their own private little group. Of course, if you go the    
custom installation route you'll find that you can also     
access them from DOS, or from DOS and Windows both. Few     
users dare to opt for custom installation."                 
  "We've seen very little to recommend this DOS. We do not  
usually react so negatively to new products. But there are  
clearly some major dangers looming here. Unless things      
change drastically between now and the time DOS 6 is        
released there are going to be an awful lot of very unhappy 
users out there. We feel that wary users should adopt a wait
and see attitude until they can be sure that today's        
incompatibility does not become a major problem for them    
down the line."                                             


PRODIGY(R) interactive personal service         02/07/93         1:30 PM
 
                                                            
  Well, there it is "for what it's worth". If you want to   
pick up the mag and read the entire article, it is Vol.2,   
No.1 with a dark blue almost violet cover. At the very top  
of the mag are the words DOS 6.0---FIRST LOOK in white      
lettering.                                                  
                   Mel in Z'ville, OH