Copyright: Copyright © 1994 AH Publishing Company
Citation: Copyright © 1994 AH Publishing Company


Contents
Volume 1 Number 3
October 1994
Contents

News	Features
Describe Acts to Prevent Software Piracy	IBM's Workplace Strategy
IBM Clones Macs	OzWin - CompuServe's Latest Auto-Navigator
All Change	OS/2 Programming
Degree by Modem	First Look at CIM for OS/2
Online Happenings	Leisure
Describe Anew	'X' Marks the Spot
	Gill Bates
Editorial	Reader Survey


Page 6 - OzWin Review
Page 6

CompuServe's Latest Auto-Navigator
by Julia Hamilton

(Click on the left-hand margin icons to view the screen-shots.)

One of the nice things about CompuServe Information Service is that the user has a wide variety of choice in the interface used to access the service. From manual terminal mode to graphic interface, from DOS powerhouse to native OS/2 navigator -- there is something to suit almost everyone’s taste.

For the last few years, I’ve been doing most of my CompuServe work using a very powerful DOS-based navigator called OzCIS. Published by Ozarks West Software, Inc., this program has been through several iterations; is very reliable and incredibly efficient. OzCIS minimizes your online time, thereby keeping your costs as low as possible. When Steve Sneed (the founder of Ozarks), announced that he would be collabarating with Alchemy Intl, Ltd. to publish a new interface, a Windows-based navigator called OzWIN, I had mixed feelings. My initial reactions ranged from “I’ll never give up OzCIS!” and “I don’t like Windows!” to “Steve’s done a good job with OzCIS - maybe I should check out his new vision.” I admit to being impressed that OzWIN would be the first non-CompuServe-produced project using its preferred interface: HMI. Most of the competition is still using the ASCII interface, which CompuServe says has less power than HMI.

OzWIN Version 1.00 was released to his pre-order customers in August. As with many first release programs, this version had a fair share of bugs. Sneed immediately put his beta team (known as TeamOz) to work testing beta versions of  a “fix” release: 1.10.  Sneed also kindly provided OS/2 Personal with the 1.10 beta for this review. He hopes to have 1.10 into the hands of his users very soon, possibly by the time this issue is distributed.

Installation

OzWIN is easy to install. The product is supplied on two diskettes (or as two large self-extracting files which themselves expand to form the two installation diskettes). The installation process performs checks to see you have a copy of CompuServe's CIM installed - it does this because OzWin shares certain files with it. If you don't happen to have CIM, OzWin will create these shared files for you. All in all, the installation is as painless as it possibly can be.

Setup and Conversion

Converting from the DOS product I'm using, OzCIS version 2, is simply done, and with minor inconvenience, one can even switch back and forth between the two while maintaining the same forum message base. However, OzWIN does offer utilities for converting your forums over to OzWIN. These will convert your address books, forum and host configurations for you. I'd have preferred all the conversions to have been taken care of by one simple utility, rather than by three.

One of the first things you’ll do is set up your connections. Since several members in our home have CompuServe accounts, we set up a different connection name for each person. This is where you tell OzWIN your CompuServe account information, modem details, the dial-up number for CompuServe and what network you access through (CompuServe, Tymnet, Sprintnet, Mercury, etc.). You also make the selections of whether to run the online module full-screen or as an icon, and whether or not to process email on every pass.

Button-Bar Features

 OzWin makes accessing various areas of CompuServe as easy as one click of the mouse. Take a look at the the main screen, dubbed “OzControl”.

As you see, the forums take up a main part of this screen. Don’t let that fool you, though, OzWIN offers much more than just forum management. Some of the more commonly used services have been put into the button-bar; others are accessed via the menu.

The first three icons of the button-bar provide one-click service to read or write email, or to run an email only on-line pass. The next button pulls up your address book. Want the weather forecast? Click on the weather button and choose from over 70 major cities. When you run your next online pass, OzWIN will go collect the weather forecast you’ve selected and drop it in your mailbox. The Stocks button will give you the same type service. You’ll need to know the name and symbol for the stock(s) you want quoted.  After your pass has been run, look in your mailbox to find out the details.

The New 1st Pass button does just that: a standard first pass. You’ve a choice of how to set up your first pass; I scan message headers in several forums, read the entire message base in another forum, send and receive email, and occassionally pick up weather and stock quotes. Following this first pass, I’ll select from headers those messages I’d like to read, and click on the Send 2nd Pass button. OzWIN then will retrieve messages from forums with headers selected. If I have replies to any of the messages, I’ll run an additional second pass -- to post my responses.

Other Features

In addition to the power of the button-bar, OzWIN offers other choices through the menu. Sneed has provided a text editor and a graphics file viewer. He’s also offered automation for much of what CompuServe members are accustomed to doing in online sessions.

From the Services menu, you can order weather maps, stock quotes and trend charts, search the member directory to locate CompuServe addresses or use the IBM File Finder and Graphics File Finder. One can use these features under CompuServe’s Information Manager but must do so in an interactive session. It’s a great deal faster to let your navigator take control while you sit back to watch or head for the kitchen to brew a cup of coffee.

Other options include grabbing items from the What’s New List, downloading a current listing of all CompuServe’s forums, and downloading a list of U.S. access numbers. With the exception of the weather maps, forum list, and access numbers list, the results of will be placed in your mailbox. Weather maps and the two lists will be placed in the directories designated for downloads or GIFs.

Forums

To me, the best part of OzWIN, like OzCIS, is the power of automated forum management. Though I’ve met CompuServe members who don’t ever access forums, those who do will really appreciate Sneed’s insight to forum usage. In addition to automated message grabbing, OzWIN offers strong message base management features.

QuickScanning

A feature known to Oz users as QuickScan allows you to send your navigator online to grab message header information from chosen sections in one or several forums. You may then peruse the headers, to determine which message threads you’d like to download for offline reading. The nice thing here is that Oz is smart enough to grab only one header per thread. When you go into the QuickScan selector, it provides details to help make your selection.

 In the example shown, the Flags are all set to “R”. This tells OzWIN to Read that message during the next online pass. The Count tells you how many messages are currently in that thread. Once you’ve selected those headers that sound interesting, you run a 2nd (or Send) pass to pick them up. This feature can be a real money-saver, since it allows the user to be very selective in message-grabbing.

 OzWIN also offers quality thread management.

In addition to offering a choice of options on how to sort your messages, it also gives you the option to “squelch” messages posted by annoying people. Is there someone in your favorite forum whose messages you find continually irritating? Just enter their User ID in the squelch setting. Though OzWIN will still download these message, they will be hidden from view.

The Message Tree is another wonderful feature. Clicking on this icon [image] gives you an easy-to-understand display showing each message posted in the thread. I especially find this useful when I can’t remember (or don’t understand) what someone is talking about. Simply click on the tree, and get a display similar to the one shown.

 This particular example is small, showing only six messages. The tree, however, will give you information on any size thread. Should you be one of the participants, it will even highlight messages to and from you so that they stand out.

Another of the thread management functions is the ability to save or delete messages by thread. Say you have been following a thread on how to grow herbs, in the Gardening forum. You don’t want to lose any of those messages - even though you’ve got the forum set up to have a maximum of 1000 messages in the base. You can save those messages off to a separate file, to be referred back to at some future time.

Library Utilities

 Another convenient function of OzWIN is the ability to maintain a card-catalog (so to speak) of the items available in forum libraries. One can then choose files for downloading. Take a look at how OzWIN formats this information for you:

 To download a file on your next pass, merely click on the “out” icon. A window will pop up giving you the details of your request. Then, it’s your option to accept the download or to Cancel it.

Other library options include easy file uploading and file searching. For example, you may know that you want a file about using herbs medicinally. Fill out a search request, OzWIN will go looking for files that may fit your needs when you next go online.

Help!

 It’s obvious that a great deal of effort has gone into OzWIN’s help utility. In addition to an extensive Table of Contents and Index, there is a great deal of context-sensitive help available. From almost any area of the program, help is only a mouse click away. The help author has made use of hypertext to make the help screens easy to understand.

However, just as OzWIN is in the midst of change, so is its help utility. Some areas remain incomplete. It should be noted that as OzWIN undergoes change, the help author must scramble to change the help screens and topics accordingly.

What’s Missing?

Not much! What I do miss is a good conferencing feature. I’ll be holding onto CompuServe’s Information Manager (CIM) for now -- as it has a beautifully done online conferencing utility. One can only hope that Sneed will put together a nice conferencing utility in future releases of OzWIN. That item alone (in allowing me to delete CIM) would save me almost three meg of hard disk space!

What’s Wrong?

Putting together this project has been a massive undertaking, one that Sneed and friends have been working on for over 12 months. OzWIN is typical of 1.0 releases, in that it comes to the user in a near-final beta stage. However, most of the problems I encountered were corrected within a month of the initial release.

I’m still finding some duplications in message downloads, which is not only a waste of the time taken in reading them, but also a cost in online time downloading them. According to reports on the support forum, this is being worked. There is also the fact that the Help Utility is far from complete. Selecting the help button in many areas merely leads to the main help screen firing up and a pop-up message telling you that help is not available for that topic. This, also, is said to be in progress.

Some users have reported problems with connection, quickscan functions, and set-up -- but I didn’t experience any of those problems. Most of the problems I found were cosmetic as opposed to functional.

 For example, the word wrap feature wasn’t working right for arriving messages. Scrolling over to the right to read the text that hangs off the screen is a nuisance. There is an option to change the column at which word wrap occurs - but doing so makes for a lot of hanging lines.

Technical Support

Questions and problems with Ozarks’ products are handled on CompuServe, in the OzCIS forum (Go CIS:OZCIS). Sneed has a dedicated team of volunteers who so believe in him and his products that they donate hours of their time helping users understand the use of those products. At first, you might think that this would make for long delays in getting your questions answered. Not so! Although they are volunteers, the members of TeamOz take their responsiblities seriously. The longest I had to wait for an answer was one day. Most of the time, though, replies were posted within hours.

The TeamOz members are all pleasant and patient with the users. I found that they treated questions from obvious beginners and seasoned users respectfully and competently. Sneed’s following (both long-time users of his products, and members of the support crew) is fiercely loyal. There must be a reason for this loyalty - I’d say it was earned by hard work, long hours, and professional competence.

Conclusion

I’d strongly recommend that OzWIN (and OzCIS for that matter) are a good fit for the experienced user. They are powerful navigational programs - loaded with advanced features. A lot of what these products offer is beyond the range of a beginner. However, for a beginner with patience and a desire or need to become an in-depth user of CompuServe, OzWIN would still be well worth the time and effort.  As I mentioned earlier, I was provided with a beta of the forthcoming version 1.10 and I'm happy to say that most of the nasties have been found and eradicated.

OzWIN will soon be available from a special download area on CompuServe. Watch for the announcements in the OzCIS Forum.


$VOU - More information
If you would like to find out more about the Virtual Online University there are several routes to go.

•	For the course catalog and a look at their Virtual Education Environment, you can telnet to coyote.csusm.edu 8888.

•	The VOU Web Home Page is currently located at http://symnet.net/~VOU.

•	For a current course listing, contact the Registrar, Tara Painter, at c581646@mizzoul.missouri.edu, or the Vice President of Student Affairs, Tina J. Pitt, at tjpitt@unity.ncsu.edu.

•	Other informational requests can be directed to Robert Donnelly, at donnelly@coyote.csusm.edu and William Painter at billp@ccl.uca.edu.


Page 4 - Editorial
Page 4

Copyright © Allen-Hamilton Publishing Company, 1994. 10460 Roosevelt Boulevard Suite 134 St Petersburg Florida 33716, USA Publisher                      Jules Allen EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor-in-Chief               Mark Hamilton, MCIOJ Editor for Europe           Mike Magee Assistant Editor            Julia Hamilton Contributors                  Paul B. Monday                                    Timothy Sipples                                    Hershel Chicowitz                                    Steve Walker                                    Gordon Zeglinski Illustrator                      Jules Allen Researcher                   Sheila Londo ADVERTISING DEPARTMENT North America               Alan Philips Europe                         Jill Coomber SUBSCRIPTIONS Manager                       Sheila Londo EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES - NORTH AMERICA EMail          editorial_na@ahpub.com, or,                   100013,600 on CompuServe Telephone   +1 813 286 2079 EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES - EUROPE EMail          mmagee@compulink.co.uk, or,                   100034,1315 on CompuServe Telephone   +44 81 248 2800 ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES - NORTH AMERICA EMail          advertising_na@ahpub.com, or,                    70750,1431 on CompuServe Telephone    +1 813 824 7849 ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES - EUROPE                    Grant Butler Coomber ...................Dome Buildings ...................Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1DT ...................United Kingdom EMail...........gbc@cityscape.co.uk Telephone    +44 81 332 7022 Facsimile     +44 81 332 6540 The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the individual authors and are not necessarily those of the magazine, its editors or publisher. The magazine can not be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. If you'd like to write for OS/2 Personal, contact one of the editors for a copy of the Contributor's Guide. ————————————————— ® IBM, OS/2, Operating System/2, PS/1, Personal System/1, PS/2, Personal System/2 PS/ValuePoint and Win-OS/2 are registered trademarks or trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. ™ Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Other products, goods and services are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.	This month we welcome two new contributors. Steve Walker describes himself as an "advocate" and in a regular series of articles he attempts to de-mystify IBM's marketing strategies with regard to software products. Also new to these pages is the electronic pen of Gordon Zeglinski. Gordon is a well-known columnist within the electronic pages of Electronic Developers' Magazine ("EDM/2") and he will explain some of the programmatic aspects of OS/2. IBM is preparing for its world-wide launch on the 11th of this month. Satellites will link launch venues in New York, London, Munich and Sydney for the event which starts at 11am Eastern time. I'll be at the Mayfair Intercontinental Hotel - along with around a hundred other journalists - to witness the British version before catching the Virgin flight back to the US.  IBM has promised that copies of its new version of OS/2 for Windows (also known as Warp) will be in the shops on the 12th. This will be quite a feat if the company can achieve it. We are despatching one of our staff to a representative cross-selection of stores to test IBM's promise. We'll let you know in the next issue. Describe's decision to combat software theft by time-expiring copies of its word processor is a bold and daring move and one that might cause the company more problems than it currently has. Whilst sympathising with Describe's position - we certainly don't condone the actions of the copyright pirates - we don't consider that the company has chosen the best way to combat this disease of the ninties either. It might find itself in the unenviable position of having to defend its decision in a court of law. In the United Kingdom, organisations such as the Federation Against Software Theft (FAST) and the Software Publishers' Association (SPA) have had considerable success in bringing software pirates before the courts and the penalties handed down have been quite severe. The Open University - based in Milton Keynes, England  - has been offering degree and non-degree courses by a combination of correspondence course, radio and television programmes and short residential sessions for many years. Now we learn that a new non-campus based university has opened its "doors". You can now study for a wide range of subjects right up to degree level, electronically. The Virtual Online University has yet to gain accreditation but it sounds a great idea to us and we wish the "virtual" staff and students well with this venture. Details are emerging as to why Denver's new multi-billion dollar airport still has not opened nearly a year after completion. The problem all appears to centre around the automatic baggage transport system which seems singularly adept at breaking down. Baggage is loaded on to large bins on wheels which whizz around a series of tunnels between the various gates and the check-in desks and baggage reclaim. I hear that these carts have a propensity for derailing themselves and those that follow on behind. This system is controlled by computers, naturally. Guess which "industrial strength" operating system these computers run? Well according to an InfoWorld report, it's NOT OS/2! Mark Hamilton.


Page 3 - News 2
Page 3

A Degree by Modem - it's a Virtual Reality!
by Julia Hamilton

Soon, students will be able to obtain a college degree without leaving home by sitting in front of a PC and connecting into the Virtual Online University (VOU) which offers courses via Internet email and text-based virtual environments. VOU's purpose is to operate an accredited liberal arts instution solely over the Internet, serving an international audience. The fact that there is no facility to build or lease, and no equipment to purchase and maintain will help to make VOU a very affordable choice for students.

Founded in April by Robert Donnelly and Dr. William E. Painter, Jr., VOU incorporated in June as a non-profit, educational organization and has recently published its Mission Statement. Enrollment opened in August. Donnelly, President of VOU, is an Information Technician/Multimedia Specialist at the MiraCosta Community College in San Diego County, California. Painter, VOU's Executive Director, is a history professor at the University of Central Arkansas in Conway. Donnelly and Painter first met in February while online at the Diversity University (DU), another online learning environment. They also both volunteer time with the Globewide Network Academy (GNA). Their experiences with both DU and GNA brought them together frequently; they decided it would be worthwhile to pursue offering accredited courses through an online university. It was in April that they made the decision to start VOU. They put a lot of work into setting up VOU from April through August, but it was not until August, when they had a meeting with possible financial backers in Chicago, that they first met in person.

VOU has two target audiences: current college and university students in traditional educational paths who wish to broaden their opportunities with online education, and individuals with limited access to traditional education due to financial or physical restrictions, or with responsibilities which preclude traditional educational paths. VOU offers transfer credit for all courses, and has applied for candidacy for accreditation from the North Central Association of Colleges and Universities.

A Liberal Arts school, VOU emphasizes numeracy, literacy, and critical thinking. Currently, VOU has eight schools, each with a dean: Humanities, Sciences, Mathematics, Business, Information Technology, Education, Human Sciences and Behavior, and Fine Arts. Bucking traditional hierarchy, the schools do not divide the faculty into departments. Rather, the faculty forms into groupings called programs. Each faculty member may belong to several programs - possibly in different schools. Each program then offers a single major. So, instead of an English Department offering majors in Creative Writing, Technical Writing, Journalism, and Literature, VOU has four separate programs. In the future, possibly as early as 1995, VOU plans to include post-graduate programs.

Due to various setbacks, VOU did not meet its original plan to go live with classes on September 19th. Currently, the projected start date is early October. Donnelly says VOU is showing student enrollment in 18 courses, taught by 15 professors. The current cost per course is $200. There are plans to set a sliding scale to accomodate students in difficult financial circumstances.

One thing that has the staff of VOU excited, says Donnelly, is that their first student is slated to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts in September 1995. Transferring in with quite a few credits under his belt, this student will help set the trend with online education. Although the VOU is still awaiting confirmation of its candidacy for accreditation, Donnelly explained, all the courses it offers are transferrable to almost any other university or college under the rules of the North Central Association of Colleges. The graduation of this student will help VOU gain full accreditation for BA programs as it is not until VOU graduates a student that it can become fully accredited.

Online Happenings
Edited by Julia Hamilton

CompuServe Announcements

Special Area for New Members: At last, CompuServe has set up an area where newbies can get their feet wet. The New Member Welcome Center (GO WELCOME), includes a list of 101 great things to do online, access to the New Member Forum where one can post questions and download helpful files, and a New Member Help Desk option, which gives the user access to other informational areas on the service.

New Forum Covers the Game of Bridge: For Bridge enthusiasts, this new area includes coverage of results from tournaments and world championships, playing tips, and instructional bridge programs. To access this area, GO BRIDGE.

9600 Comes to Israel: CompuServe offers dial-up access through the IsraKav network, which is now providing 9,600 bps service.  For details, GO LOGON.

CompuServe speaks in tongues: The company is to offer a multilingual translation service which will enable users to share the same Forums regardless of language.

Online Shopping

With 7,000 customers in Chicago and California's Silicon Valley, Peapod (an interactive grocery shopping service) prepares to expand into Boston. The customer chooses from over 18,000 items and selects a 90-minute window for delivery time. In addition to the regular store price of the groceries, the consumer also pays a service fee to Peapod.

Free newsletter

Web Word is a new newsletter aimed at advanced Internet users. You can get the first issue simply by emailing innovation@euronet.nl with your email address and name in the body.

Microsoft Gopher

Microsoft's new Gopher server atgopher.microsoft.com is now up and running and complements its WWW server whose address is http://www.microsoft.com.

RTFM -- Radio on the ‘Net

We didn't know whether to laugh at the joke, or take this news bit which crossed our electronic desktop as a serious news item!  Slated to begin in January is the Internet's first radio station -- call letters are RTFM.  This is a non-profit, grant-supported venture put together by the Internet Multicasting Company of Washington.  Eventually, RTFM even plans an index which would allow users to search for sound bites (bytes?) as they now search for text.

DeScribe Anew

DeScribe has announced the final release of its DeScribe Word Processor version 5.0. which the company says is a robust 32-bit application setting new standards on a variety of different platforms, including Windows 3.x, Windows for Workgroups, and Windows NT, not to mention its native platform, OS/2. With over 100 new product enhancements and changes, DeScribe version 5.0 is a major upgrade to an already mature, professional word processing application. Included among its many new features are new graphic filters, REXX support via macros, support for revision marking, simple math capabilities in tables, automatic footnote definition, context sensitive menus, extensive support of typographical characters, and stretchy frames which grow and shrink with the text.

DeScribe 5.0 furthermore provides the ability to link and flow text through multiple frames as well as an Auto Lookup Glossary, allowing for immediate typo correction and abbreviation expansion. New DeTours online tutorials, new DeNotes online layout instructions, as well as enhanced Merge and Envelope interfaces make DeScribe now even easier to learn and to use. According to InfoWorld's Nicholas Petreley: "I felt most immediately comfortable with DeScribe -- more comfortable, in fact, than with WordPerfect for OS/2 despite several years of experience with WordPerfect for DOS. DeScribe was clean, fast, and configurable -- exactly what I like in a word processor."


$VOU - Mission Statement
Mission Statement

•	Virtual Online University is a non-profit institution founded to provide high-quality educational opportunities on the Internet.

•	VOU is committed to maximizing resources to control the rising cost of education.

•	VOU provides a forum in which students and teachers can pursue an integrated, interdisciplinary and transdiciplinary curriculum in the Liberal Arts.

•	VOU is a medium for the free exchange of ideas in a non-physical setting, placing emphasis on ability and achievement.

•	Since the development of critical thinking skills is emphasized, any vocational education will be complemented by a firm grounding in the Liberal Arts.

•	VOU recognizes that scholarly research and publishing is a necessary adjunct to quality teaching, but places priority on teaching and does not make research or publication a necessary condition for employment, job retention, or promotion.

•	VOU is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnicity, creed, gender, age, sexual or political preference, nationality, economic status, or physical disability.


Mission Statement

-	Virtual Online University is a non-profit institution founded to provide high-quality educational opportunities on the Internet.

-	VOU is committed to maximizing resources to control the rising cost of education.

-	VOU provides a forum in which students and teachers can pursue an integrated, interdisciplinary and transdiciplinary curriculum in the Liberal Arts.

-	VOU is a medium for the free exchange of ideas in a non-physical setting, placing emphasis on ability and achievement.

-	Since the development of critical thinking skills is emphasized, any vocational education will be complemented by a firm grounding in the Liberal Arts.

-	VOU recognizes that scholarly research and publishing is a necessary adjunct to quality teaching, but places priority on teaching and does not make research or publication a necessary condition for employment, job retention, or promotion.

-	VOU is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnicity, creed, gender, age, sexual or political preference, nationality, economic status, or physical disability.


Page 5 - Steve Walker
Page 5

The IBM Workplace Strategy
by Steve Walker

1981 saw the introduction of the IBM PC. It was IBM's entry into the PC marketplace that gave PCs credibility. This paved the way for their adoption by an increasingly large number of companies. And today, the workplace has been transformed by PCs. They have had an incredible impact on business as a whole, and have transformed the computing industry over the course of just over a decade.

And now, the software industry is bracing itself for a similar magnitude of impact over the course of the next five to seven years, which will lead to similar extremes of transformation. This is both bad news and good news. The bad news is that it'll be a painful, confused and potentially expensive process. (This should come as no surprise; transformations are always like this - ask anyone in the computer hardware business.) The good news is that business as a whole stands to gain immensely through it. This is the first in a series of articles intended to describe IBM's view of, and participation in, this transformation.

I'd like to cover what is a vast, sprawling story in four bites:

The Software Business Environment

Workplace and Operating Systems

Object Orientation

Migration to a Transformed Software Industry

Is the transformation for its own sake, or is there a real need? For an answer to that, simply ask the manager of any programming development shop, any Independent Software Vendor (ISV), or anyone that's frustrated by having to use an Intel 486-based PC to run DOS:

The nightmare in program development is trying to deliver applications to users in any kind of timely fashion. Companies need a competitive edge to stay in business. The swift flow of accurate and apposite information is key to this, and dependent upon having the right applications running on the companies' IT. The application development backlog runs into years, which has a heavy impact on companies' profitability

PC applications from ISVs are developing a degree of complexity that is verging upon the gothic. You can buy word processors that draw graphs, spreadsheets that check your spelling, and, for all I know, graphics packages that do complex algebra. The result is that shrink-wrapped applications are becoming increasingly large, monolithic and idiosyncratic. It takes ages to develop them, and even longer to update them with new function in the next release.

The first Intel 386-based PC, featuring a 32-bit processor capable of doing some really exciting things, hit the market in 1986. At the time, the operating system that people used on it was DOS, sometimes extended by Windows, but in any case unreliable, limited and slow. It took the industry years to come up with an operating system that could exploit the 32-bit processor, by which time DOS and Windows had become so established that not many people were prepared to change even for considerable productivity benefits. So, today, you are faced with the laughable situation of people using DOS and Windows to run machines five times as powerful and at one-fifth of the cost of the original 386-based PCs. And all because the industry couldn't bring to market the right operating system at the right time.

These are three important factors that place the software industry on the brink of change. The change must be in a direction that simplifies things to allow for swifter delivery of software that better allows people to exploit the hardware they have on their desks. However, it must also allow for a reasonable migration path - a change that involves people having to throw everything away and start again is not a change for the better. We are looking for some evolutionary way of getting through revolutionary times.

Evolution and Revolution. That's what will happen. And IBM has a vision of how to get from today's somewhat turbulent environment to the simpler environment of tomorrow whilst still allowing people the chance to protect any investment they may already have made in computing solutions.

Enter Workplace

IBM's Vision is called "Workplace".

So, this series of articles covers what Workplace is all about. Let's look at the major forces that drive those three communities that I talked about earlier:

Corporate IT Managers and Application Developers want to deliver programs to their businesses and their users quickly

ISVs want to deliver programs to the general marketplace quickly

Users want to be able to benefit from the power of their computers

So, broadly, we want to be able quickly to deliver software that exploits PC technology properly. That's what Workplace is all about.

So, there are two main issues here: the exploitation of hardware technology; and the speed of creating new applications. And Workplace addresses both of these issues:

Workplace begins with OS/2. Why? Because OS/2 today is an increasingly popular 32-bit Operating Systewhich really does exploit the power of 32-bit Intel processors (like the i486) properly. Amazingly, industry analysts agree with me that 32-bit operating systems are the key to the future of the PC. OS/2 is the only one that's available today that fully exploits the 32-bit nature of the processors while still allowing for near-perfect emulation of the DOS and Windows environment that the vast majority of the PC using population still depend upon.

When IBM came out with the 32-bit version of OS/2, it also (and for the first time) announced that it would support OS/2 on non-IBM equipment. And so it's the perfect platform for integrating the current array of 16-bit DOS and Windows applications with the emerging generation of 32-bit OS/2 applications such as Lotus' SmartSuite on a broad range of Intel-based PC hardware. However, today's OS/2 runs only on Intel-based PCs. More on this later.

Workplace also is tightly bound up with something called Object Orientation. Now OO is a real computer industry buzz word, which means that lots of people use it without understanding it. The result is that it means different things to different people. For the purposes of Workplace, Object Orientation is used in its programming sense . Use of Objects in business is set to have the same kind of cataclysmic effect for the software industry that the introduction of the PC had on the hardware industry. Its practical upshot is that proper Object Technology allows for an increased programmer productivity, not just by a few percentage points, but by ten- or one hundred-fold. This clearly will enable much quicker delivery of programmes to their relevant market. I'll talk more about OO in a later article. For now, suffice it to say that OS/2 is chock-full of Object Technology and this is a Good Thing.

So, in OS/2 we have an operating system which fully exploits today's 32-bit Intel processors on a vast range of PC manufacturers' products and includes critical object technology. You mean we need more?

Yup.

Programs written for one type of hardware (e.g. Intel-based PCs) won't run on another type (e.g. RISC System/6000 Unix-based workstations). Why is this a problem? It goes back to the onrush of hardware technology, and something called PowerPC.

There is an entire division in IBM, called Power Personal, dedicated to developing Personal Computers based on the PowerPC processor, which is RISC-based. These machines will be unleashed upon the marketplace around the end of 1994, and are set to create quite a stir. Why? Because they'll stand somewhat apart from the run of ordinary PCs. They'll be at the forefront of IBM's drive into what it calls "Human-Centred Computing".

What's "Human-Centred Computing"? I hear you cry.

My favourite example has actually nothing to do with PCs. Imagine you come home from a hard day at the office and you see that your video recorder is flashing 0:00 because there was a power cut and the clock has lost its setting. Today's reaction is to spend ages trying to find the instruction manual in order to be able to reset the clock. The Human-Centred version is merely to say to it, "Video: the time is 7.40pm", or whatever, and it will reset itself. Human-Centred computing is about doing things more people's way and not the computer's way, so the Power Personal machines will have lots of in-built technology, like touch screens, voice recognition, digital signal processors and the like, maybe even with built-in video cameras. And the technology has the possibility of delivering things called 'Intelligent Agents' - programs that reside on your machine and dispatch tasks to get answers to tricky questions that you pose them.

This technology is great and the machines will be really neat. However, it leaves two problems staring us in the face:

If this is RISC-based technology in a PC package, how are we going to run our PC applications on it to take advantage of all this extra processing power? As I said earlier, today's OS/2 won't run on these RISC-based machines.

Where is the software going to come from to exploit all this brilliant Human-Centred capability?

The combined might of Workplace and Object Technology will combat these problems.

In the next issue, I'll describe how an operating system needs to be built to answer these two key questions.


Page 7 - Introduction to OS/2 Programming
Page 7

A Quick Look at the OS/2 Programming Environment
by Gordon Zeglinski

In this article, we will look at some of the programming facilities unique to OS/2 and how they affect the programmer. This by no means will be a guide to programming OS/2 but should be interesting to both experienced and inexperienced OS/2 programmers.

The first thing a programmer will notice, when looking at programming for OS/2 2.x, is that it uses a "flat" memory model. When programming OS/2 2.x application, the programmer is writing for a 32 bit environment. In a 32 bit environment, memory is addressed by using a single 32 bit pointer. DOS, Windows and OS/2 1.x use a segmented memory model. In the segmented model, memory is addressed by using two 16 bit numbers. Much time is wasted dealing blocks of memory that span multiple segments. To maintain backwards compatibility with OS/2 1.x applications, each 2.x application is limited to using only 512 megabytes of ram. However since 1.x applications can still run under OS/2 2.x, those who like pain can still write 1.x and use segmented memory. Leaving the flat memory model behind us, we find that OS/2 provides a rich API for manipulating memory. The memory API provides the following services:

Private Memory

Sub allocation of Private Memory

Shared Memory

Sub allocation of Shared Memory

Exactly what is shared memory? To answer this, we must remember that OS/2 is a fully pre-emptive multitasking operating system. In OS/2, applications are composed of sessions, processes and threads. Figure 1 shows the relationship between these three.

Figure 1. The Session, Process Thread Relationship

A session is a set of virtualized output and input buffers. For example, each command prompt is a session. Each session is composed of one or more processes and each process is composed of one or more threads. Each process running within a session shares its IO buffers. This sharing is handled by OS/2. A thread is the fundamental object which OS/2 is able to pre-empt. Conceptually, one can think of a thread as being a "program within a program". Each thread runs simultaneously independent of the other BUT shares the private resources of the process (memory, file handle, etc.). Synchronizing access to these resources is up to the application programmer. Going back to our original question, "What is shared memory?". Shared memory is used to share data between components of an application designed to run in multiple processes. Private memory can only be accessed by the program that allocated it.

The synchronization mentioned above is usually accomplished by using semaphores. There are several types of semaphores, but their basic use is the same. They prevent a thread for executing until some event occurs. While a thread is being blocked by a semaphore, it uses to CPU time. Following is a list of semaphore types supported in OS/2:

Event Semaphore

Mutex Semaphore

Muxwait Semaphore

The event semaphore is used to block a thread until some "event" has occurred. The mutex semaphore is used to ensure that only one thread is accessing a resource at the same time. The muxwait semaphore is used to wait on groups of semaphores. For example, a single muxwait semaphore could be used to wait until several event semaphores are posted (unblocked).

In addition to shared memory, OS/2 provides support many other types of inter-process communication mechanisms. These include for named pipes and un-named local pipes, named network pipes, queues, and shared semaphores. This makes OS/2 a very flexible environment in which one can create very unique applications.

So far we have looked at the behind the scenes details. Those that only the programmer will care about. The Presentation Manager (PM for short) is OS/2's GUI. It has all of the basic window controls and whatnot that can be found in Windows 3.x, but has several unique controls that will delight both the application's user and programmer. My two favorite controls are the notebook and container windows. The most flexible and complex of these two, is the container control. It is capable of storing several types of information (text, bitmaps, and icons) and supports direct editing of text fields. Figure 2 shows a typical use of a container in details view. Of course, no look at containers would be complete without mentioning the WPS. Figure 3 shows a drive object in details view. A container control is capable of many more views, anyone who has seen the WPS has seen containers being used to their fullest potential.

Figure 2. Application Specific Container Control in Details View

Figure 3. Drives Object in Tree View

Notebooks like containers are currently used extensively in the WPS. They provide a convent way for programmers to present a series of windows. Typically these windows are dialogs used to modify application specific settings. Figure 4 shows a typical use of notebook controls.

Figure 4. Application Specific use of Notebook Controls

In addition to the new control windows, the PM also provides a drag and drop API. This allows drag and drop between applications. Note, container controls have specialized support for drag and drop to aid the programmer in processing the drag and drop events.

Now, we come to the end of our quick peek at OS/2's rich programming facilities. Hopefully we have whetted your appetite and you will come back for more. OS/2 provides the perfect development platform for truly unique applications.

Gordon Zeglinski is one of those way hip programming cats that has a life and an ability to explain complex issues to mortals. When he's not writing for OS/2 Personal and EDM/2, he writes OS/2 software. Gordon can be reached via email at zeglins@CC.UManitoba.CA.


Page 8 - OS/2 CIM First Look
Page 8

First look at CIM for OS/2.
by Jules Allen

It's CIMful. (Ouch) or maybe CIMply Divine?

Those taking part in the Warp II beta have had the opportunity to test drive CompuServe's latest offering in the multi-platform CompuServe Information Manager (or CIM -- pronounced "Sim" according to the nice people at CompuServe) series. For a lot of users, this is an important program and announces that OS/2 has really arrived as an operating system - there isn't, after all, a CP/M CIM, an Atari CIM or even a Unix CIM -- CompuServe has a high membership in all of these areas.

Installation

 The beta comes in one executable file and takes up about a meg and a half in disk space - as with other CompuServe software, I'm sure it will be split into two separate exe's in the release version. Installation is wonderfully brainless and looks just like the install for Windows CIM. The software offers your boot drive and a FAT 8.3 friendly folder called "cserve". Should you not have a CompuServe account, the option exists to copy the signup files. The signup process is confusing for non-technical types and CompuServe is rumored to be working on this.

OS/2 CIM will coexist happily with Windows CIM and other CompuServe products like CompuServe Navigator for Windows, sharing common file cabinet directories and files such as mail and address books. A big plus for those running dual boot systems and the need to keep real Windows apps around.

In Use

I'm using Windows CIM as a yard stick for OS/2 CIM. Why? Because it seems like a plain and simple port to me. OS/2 CIM doesn't take advantage of the multi tasking environment that OS/2 offers but I have a feeling that's largely to do with the host itself. Until the arrival of OS/2, there hadn't been an operating system that could pre-emptively multi task and I guess CompuServe itself isn't setup to deal with multi tasking clients. Understood, there isn't a great deal of multi tasking that can be done with only one modem and a slow connection like 9.6Kbps or 14.4Kbps but it would be nice to download a file, or perhaps multiple files from multiple locations while reading the news or chatting in a forum.

Design Flaws

Because it feels like it was directly ported from Windows, OS/2 CIM shares a lot of the design flaws with its sister product. The inconsistency in Alt Hot Keys is rather annoying -- if I can Alt O for OK in one area, surely I should be able to everywhere? -- and the menus sometimes show Control C, V and X instead of Control Insert, Shift Insert and Shift Delete. Personally? I like the C, V and X way of doing things but OS/2 CIM doesn't implement them everywhere. GO FEEDBACK and you'll see what I mean.

The CIM interface needs an overhaul and standardization. The CIM developers have listened in the past so I'm sure the OS/2 community will make their views understood. I'm sure a lot of this stuff is decided by committee - always a great way to make a so-so interface.

More and More.

 Here's a great idea that sadly misses the mark: the "Press for more text" button. For heavy mouse users it's a good idea but for keyboarders, it doesn't have a hot key and you can't tab to it. Great. I think the button is more of an annoyance than of use. GUI users are familiar enough with scroll up and down arrows to be confused by another button.

 CIM doesn't do a very good job of detecting when more text is required. As you can see this line of text is cut off half way though. If the "Press for more text" button is clicked at this point, rather than the text remaining in the same place in the window, it annoyingly jumps and you have to scroll back to find your place.

Don't resize them thar windows!

 When you resize a window and use the keyboard instead of the mouse, the highlight bar drops below the view area. This strangely doesn't happen when the mouse is used.

For the most part, these are minor user interface problems. They don't cause the program to crash but they are annoying when you use the program for any period of time.

SIO & SYS3175.

I tested OS/2 CIM with Ray Gwinn's SIO drivers and didn't get very good results. On many occasions, I'd get a SYS3175 error when trying to change services within CIM - such as GO to another fourm or even disconnect.

When I switched back to the regular OS/2 Comm drivers, this problem decreased but did not go away. I tried re-booting my machine and running nothing but OS/2 CIM and still occasionally got bombs.

I hope CompuServe fixes this as soon as possible - the SIO driver is vitally important for those seriously involved with OS/2 and communications.

Drag and Drop

OS/2 CIM supports font drag and drop -- for new OS/2 users this is not immediately obvious and the help file was rather unhelpful on the subject.

I normally run 800 x 600 screen resolution and sometimes have to do so on a 14" monitor. I want to have eyes when I get as old as some of the Editorial staff here at OS/2 Personal so I naturally went looking for the "Fonts" options under the special menu. It wasn't there. I wonder who's going to get the calls on this, CompuServe or IBM?

Once I found that drag and drop works, I dragged and dropped to my little heart's content -- window titles, scroll areas, and so on. Then I discovered drag and drop also works with colors. Oh happy day! I should get out more, I suppose.

When's it available?

 It think that says it all. If you go CISSOFT in mid October, you'll be able to get the production version of CIM. The OS/2 CIM kits are slated for early November and would make a very nice Christmas present, should your recipients like that sort of thing.

It's still very strange to me that CompuServe charges for its software kits. AOL doesn't, Prodigy doesn't, even GEnie doesn't (and Mosaic is free!). It's hardly like you're going to take the software and use it anywhere else. Normally, one downloads the software, is charged $10 and is then issued a $10 usage credit. There is no final procing at this time but I think it'll be a safe guess to say it's $10 like WinCIM and MacCIM.

In closing...

For those not intimate with other versions of CIM, it's a must have program for use with CompuServe. It's certainly not a good tool for forum messaging or any area where an offline reader could do the job, but it provides a great interface for conferencing, reading news and generally doing anything that needs a high level of interactivity. CompuServe now offers a USENET interface and browsing it with CIM is a breeze - although an couple of hours of CIM propelled USENET would probably pay for a month of access with most internet carriers.


$OZWIN - HMI
HMI or Host Micro Interface is an eight-bit packet-oriented protocol that provides for reliable communications between the CompuServe Host computers and remote micros. It is based around the CIS B+ protocol.


$OZWIN - CIM
CIM or CompuServe Information Manager is a program using which you can access CompuServe interactively. Versions are available for Dos, Windows, Mac and OS/2.

(We include a preview of the new OS/2 CIM in this edition. Ed)


$OZWIN - ozwin01.bmp


$OZWIN - ozwin02.bmp


$OZWIN - GIFs
GIF or Graphics Interchange Format is a graphics format capable of storing very high resolution images in a highly compressed format.


$OZWIN - ozwin03.bmp


$OZWIN - ozwin05.bmp


$OZWIN - ozwin06.bmp


$OZWIN - ozwin08.bmp


$OZWIN - ozwin09.bmp


$OZWIN - ozwin10.bmp


$OZWIN - help bitmap


$OS2CIM - CP/M
Don't laugh -- people are still getting a lot of mileage out of CP/M and CompuServe as well as the Internet has a lot of die hards who are still getting value out of that software they bought in 1979!

And critics claim OS/2 users are fanatics...


Page 9 - Games
Page 9

Games - What's New and "Doom" and "Tie Fighter" Reviewed
by Paul Monday

While there are, dare I say, hundreds of shareware games for OS/2 running around the net (see last month's article by...well...ME), a true gamer can't abandon the numerous DOS and Windows games which are around. Getting DOS and Windows games running under OS/2 sessions can sometimes prove painful. This month I will try to relieve some of this pain with tips on where to get information, and tell you about my own experiences setting up my own personal favorites, Doom 1.2 (by ID software) and Tie Fighter (by Lucas Arts).

Before we move to the Dark Side though (setting up DOS and Windows sessions), I will brief you on upcoming native OS/2 games. There are several major games which are waiting in the wings to be released at about the same time as Warp (October 11, 1994 according to the September issue of OS/2 Personal). The games and dates follow.

 Galactic Civilization - Boxed and in stores by October 10, 1994 GalCiv can be obtained at this very moment either through the internet or through AIMs BBS if you are willing to take care of the credit card charges and download time. The BBS can be reached at 801-572-6353 with settings 8-n-1 (2400 - 14,400 baud). Contact aimgames@xmission.com if you would like to order a copy via the internet.

Tensor - October 24th AIM is on the roll with their PM development efforts. From the descriptions I garnered off the net, Tensor is a game which has it's basis in various spatial relationships (ala Tetris?). I will keep my readers posted about developments here.

SimCity Classic - Date unknown (still in beta test) - DUX can be reached at 415-473-1800

SimCity 2000 - Date unknown - (Maxis Software is doing the development)

Doom/2 - Date unknown (IBM is displaying it at various shows though...stay tuned) - ID can be contacted via 1-800-IDGAMES, though since the OS/2 port is largely an IBM effort, the release dates are not necessarily in the hands of ID developers who are busily at work on Doom II.

If you immediately need an OS/2 game or you are going to have a coronary, you may want to check out the shareware Mile Bones. Last seen it was on ftp-os2.nmsu.edu in the /os2/incoming directory by the name of miles2.zip. Rumors are it's a great game, I'll test it out in the upcoming month and let you know the results; this month though I've been consumed with work and OS/2 settings.

Well, now to the meat (or to the 'protein substitute' for the vegetarians out there) of the article. Setting up your favorite DOS and Windows games under OS/2.

Whenever you're trying to set up your DOS or Windows games, always remember, chances are someone has already been down the path for you. This, of course, doesn't mean you should go out creating net traffic with email to various bulletin boards and usenet groups. First, consult FAQs or help files which were put out on the net specifically for this purpose.

Doom

Now, I'll test my own aptitude at setting up a few DOS games. First I'll start with the Doom 1.2 Shareware version which is available on the net. Always remember one thing when configuring a game like Doom (or Tie Fighter later in the article). Digital sound is considerably less than perfect. There are very good chances that you will never get sound running for games, or it will run for a while and lock up the first time digital sound effects are attempted.

Doom is a good case study in this. I started configuration with the sound enabled and a cross of the settings supplied in the Doom readme file and the settings supplied by the Doom Launcher (V1.1 is shareware available around town).

I locked up immediately on the title screen. My gut feeling was to disable the sound which I did. A lock up still occurred. Settings were tweaked, sweat appeared on my brow, the deadline loomed ever closer, the ashtray came out, a beer appeared in one hand. I disabled the joystick. Doom ran from a default DOS session! I started to restore settings to the original recommended. Here's the process which I ended up ironing out.

1	run Doom SETUP from a DOS session

Choose 'Select Music Card' = NONE

Choose 'Select Sound FX Card' = PC Speaker

Choose 'Select Controller Type' = Keyboard

2	exit SETUP, or run from there if you are in a DOS Full Screen session

3	Doom can now be run from a default DOS Full Screen Session.

Using DOS Doom as a perfect score of 10, Doom under OS/2 rates the following:

Setup: Difficult without experience

Performance: Speed = 9

Playability: 7 (no joystick)

Sound: 5 (cheers to ID for adequate PC Speaker sound)

Graphics: 10

Note that my major problem was with the lack of sound and lack of joystick. If you routinely play without these, you are in luck and will probably not notice much of a difference.

My recommendation, for the time being, is to dual boot into DOS if you use a sound card. In my experiences with Doom, the sound is 25% of the fun, and it often saves the day when the beasts are closing in. It can't be long now for the native version.

Tie Fighter

 With Doom running as well as possible, I turned to the dark side, Tie Fighter. Not much information was around on the net on this one, so I decided to start without any cheating with net help. I started by copying the Doom template to a new program object. Modifications were then made on it on a trial/error business. Tie Fighter was running within 10 minutes, sound and all. The only tweaking I did which had any effect at the start was increasing EMS memory, which Doom did not use, and changing some miscellaneous memory allocation.

The first version of the program object did run a bit choppily and the sound also tended to crackle. Although I can accept crackling comm links with todays technology, my inclination was to not accept that in this far away place; they couldn't get a good subspace communications system setup.

Back to the settings for speed and sound (my hope was that sound would follow if I could just tweak a couple more cycles out of my CPU). No luck. Well, a little. Tie Fighter is better than no Tie Fighter. One more attempt had to be made...Tie Fighter in a Window. It ran, but in a tiny little window. Well, it had to be tried. I've enclosed a snapshot of my desktop with my tiny little Tie Fighter window. One problem, on the first laser hit to a container, the digital sound locked me up. I told ya so!

Using DOS Tie Fighter as a perfect score of 10, Tie Fighter under OS/2 rates the following:

Setup: Easy

Performance: Speed = 7

Playability: 7

Sound: 7

Graphics: 8 (occasionally updates are not smooth, and pauses hamper playing)

If you have to have crisp sound and can't tolerate the occasional millisecond stop of the game, I'd suggest booting to DOS. Remember though, mileage may vary depending on your system. I'm running a 486 DX2 - 66Mhz machine with a Sound Blaster. Faster machines may give smoother results.

For me, Tie Fighter will remain on the desktop as a way to burn some time without dual booting.

Tie Fighter is available at your local software store from Lucas Arts - the price usually hangs around $50. Doom V1.2 is available from the net, addresses are enclosed to register your copy and get the remaining levels. Doom can also be found in software stores that carry shareware or some of those nifty compilation CD ROMs which are out now.

Finally, on a side note, while I was in England last month I snagged myself a copy of OS/2 for Windows which is free with PC Magazine in England. What a deal! Games and tools abound on the CD, in fact, a version of hobbes.cdrom.com is enclosed on the disc. Roids and Chomp are the 'featured games', but if you persist and hack around the disc one can quickly find the hobbes directory is excellent.

Until the next time, may the force...well, umm...never mind. It's about time I go take out some rebel scum.

Paul B. Monday is a programmer who is addicted to caffeine and becomes crazed when he does not have his espresso at lunch. Please do not feed him decaffeinated coffee if you see him out on the street.


$OS2CIM - Installation Bitmap


$OS2CIM - pre-emptively multi task
The ability to let the operating system control what is going on as opposed to the programs. Have you ever tried to format a disk on a Macintosh and get something else done? Or perhaps print something in Windows? It's not a lot of fun - the processes themselves grab as much of the processor time they feel like they need.


$OS2CIM - Control C, V and X
Once the Microsoft-Apple Look and Feel lawsuit was thrown out of court, Microsoft appartently decided that the Macintosh clipboard controls were groovy enough to include in Windows interface.


$OS2CIM - cserve6.bmp
In create mail ... <<cserve6.bmp>>


$OS2CIM - cserve7.bmp
...in the Feedback area. <<cserve7.bmp>>


$OS2CIM - cserve3.bmp


$OS2CIM - cserve5.bmp


$OS2CIM - cserve4.bmp


$OS2CIM - SYS3175 error
SYS3175: A program in this session encountered a problem and cannot continue.

EXPLANATION: An access violation exception occurred and was generated when an attempt was made either to load or store data in an inaccessible location, or to execute an inaccessible instruction.  This exception corresponds to both the Intel 80386 processor general protection fault (#13), caused by an invalid access attempt, and the page fault (#14), caused by an attempt to access an uncommitted page or a page with incorrect attributes for the desired operation.

ACTION: If you purchased this program, contact the supplier of the program. If you are the developer of this program, refer to the information in the register.


$OS2CIM - offline reade
Programs like OzWin, Golden Compass, NavCIS, or CompuServe Navigator for Windows allow you to retrieve forum messages and files in the shortest amount of time. Some experience with CompuServe is required before you attempt to use these programs.


$OS2CIM - cserve8.bmp


$Herschel - bookmark1


$Games - Galactic Civilisation BMP


$Games - Tie Fighter Bitmap


Page 10 - Herschel
Page 10

'X' Marks the Spot
The Chicowitz' Campaign '94 Analysis
by John Thornton

Last month, I presented a picture of ambiguity, murkiness, confusion, duplicity, and perhaps outright fraud and deceit. I described some of the practices and techniques of the controllers of the computer industry - you remember: that mideast cartel But if you think that was an isolated, independent, and merely cynical look at the world, then you mis-understand the mindset of this contemplative observer. Oh no, my friends; the ugly picture I framed for you last month was a carefully planned rehearsal for the real story of fraud and deceit: the political, mid-term campaign season. And if you are waiting for a tie-in to WordPerfect here - be patient. As always, I'll get there - eventually. But please be patient. After all, the campaign season comes along only every two years. (And what a blessing that is for all of us.)

On The Road Again

I have spent most of the last month doing my best Willie Nelson impersonation. No, I wasn't defrauding the government out of income taxes - as tempting a thought as that surely is. I was on the road again, soaking up the flavor of the '94 political campaign I travelled first to New England, where the senior senator pleaded with the voters about how critically important this election is to future of the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I have a feeling it is far more critical to future of the Kennedy clan than it is to the people of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Then I listened to that great orator of the 1984 Democratic National Convention, Mario Cuomo. In a passion only he can conjure up, Governor Cuomo claimed that he is the only person in the country that can lead New York out of the fiscal and moral troubles it faces. And he nearly had me convinced - until I realized that he has been governor of the State of New York for the last 12 years, while all these fiscal and moral troubles were festering!  Oh, what a tangled web we weave...

Winding my way through the Midwest, I listened to Democratic incumbent Tennessee Senator Jim Sasser talk about the need for real welfare reform; he suggested it was time to re-introduce prayer into the nation's schools. (Where was all this rhetoric when congress was in session, Senator Sasser?).  In Nebraska, a candidate for the senate had the nerve to proclaim, "The government is the most formidable enemy of all, sometimes They can put a family out of business; they can also ruin your life. It may be the thing you have to watch the most in Washington."  Powerful stuff!  The only problem is that the candidate saying that is incumbent  Senator Bob Kerry!  And in Ohio, retiring Senator Howard Metzenbaum is pushing to get his son-in-law, Joel Hyatt, elected in his place. I am interested in this race only because I went to school with Senator Metzenbaum's daughter. If memory serves me correctly (and it always does in these matters), Suzie Metzenbaum could lead me anywhere!

Out in Wyoming, I heard Kathy Karpan, Democratic candidate for Governor, say of her party leader, the commander in chief, "Why be cute about it?  Of course he's a liability."  Cute - no; honest - yes. Down in Texas, a spokesman for Governor Ann Richards said, "Ann Richards will not run from Bill Clinton, and she will not run to Bill Clinton."  What the heck is that supposed to mean?  In Georgia, Representative Don Johnson said, "Only if they are coming down to endorse my opponent," when he was asked if he would invite the President or Vice President to campaign for him.

And finally in California, Democratic Senator and candidate Diane Feinstein, an original co-sponsor of the Clinton Health Care Reform Act of 1994, asked that her name be removed from the bill. Indignantly, she claimed, "You mean we're going to be asked to vote on something, and we don't even know how much it is going to cost?!"  Ah, yes, it's fall once again. The pungent odor of hypocrisy rips through the land!

A Return to Normalcy

If all that disturbs you, and how could it not?  I remind you that all this is nothing new; and that in a few weeks we can all go back to what really matters in life. And it you're waiting for me to jump into a discussion on that, you'll have to wait till the nostalgic, New Year's Eve edition. Now is certainly not the time.

I have packaged the WordPerfect component of this month's catharsis into a tightly knit bundle. Because, if you're a longtime WordPerfect 5.1 user, there are a few small but extremely useful features of version 6 (both the DOS and Windows versions) that all by themselves, might make you decide to upgrade. How many times have you created a long document, and while editing it, spent what seems like an eternity flipping from screen to screen to find a specific place or reference in the document?

Of course, you can use the search feature (<F2>) to find specific text in your document. But version 6 offers a far better way Version 6 allows you to create placemarks (actually, WordPerfect calls them "bookmarks") in your document, and easily go to them. I am going to refer to the keystrokes in the DOS version for this discussion; but the concept is the same in the Windows version.(Click on the bitmaps to view the Windows versions.)

First, if there is only one place in your document which you continually go to, you can place what WordPerfect calls a QuickMark at that place in your documen.t Press <Alt>F5, and then 5 to display the bookmark dialog box:

Then choose Set QuickMark by clicking on the Set QuickMark button or pressing "Q."  Or, if all this is too confusing to you (and how could it not be?), you can bypass the dialog box and just press <Ctrl>Q at the edit screen. This places a hidden code at that point in your document. You can go back (or forward) to this place at any time by pressing <Alt>F5, 5, and then clicking on the Find QuickMark button or pressing "I."  Better yet, the shortcut here is <Ctrl>F from the edit screen In summary then, it's <Ctrl>Q to set it, and <Ctrl>F to find it It's just like the Toyota:  Who could ask for anything more?

The Plot Thickens

But what if you have several places to which you wish to refer   or go to?  No problem. But in this case, you'll have to give your bookmark a name, say for instance, "Cleveland."  This time, press <Alt>F5, 5, and then 3 to create a bookmark name:

Enter your bookmark name, "Cleveland," and press ENTER. Then, when you want to go to Cleveland, (I know it's a stretch, folks   but stay with me, please), press <Alt>F5, 5, highlight Cleveland in the bookmark dialog box, and press 1 Bingo; you're not in Kansas any more; you're in Cleveland. 'Tis a consummation devoutly to be wished   I think not!  But it gets the job done.

You can only have one QuickMark in your document. If you set a QuickMark a second time, the first QuickMark is replaced by the second one. But you can create as many named bookmarks as you need, and go wherever you want, without ever leaving your chair.

The Last Word - The Chicowitz Endorsements and Predictions

I'm officially off the campaign trail for this season. But next month I will be reporting to you from...you guessed it: Cleveland. You see, last July, when the Indians were in first place, I got a great deal on tickets to game seven of the World Series in Cleveland. And strike or no strike, I'm going to be there! (You have to be a diehard baseball fan from Cleveland to understand this, folks I am, but sometimes even I don't understand it.)

Last week, Senator Dole was asked if he thought he would be the Senate majority leader in 1995. The senator was evasive, but I look at it more objectively. There are two ways this could happen. The Republicans could pick up seven Senate seats or, Senator Dole could switch parties, and be elected by the Democrats to replace George Mitchell as their leader. Personally, I'd bet on the second before I'd bet on the first No, senator, I don't think so. Three seats in the Senate, maybe four. And 22-25 in the House.

Finally, I had planned to conclude this month's offering by endorsing a few candidates... but upon deeper contemplation, I decided I'd rather not. But I respectfully suggest that when your representatives come knocking at your door asking for another term on the public dole, you might just say the same thing to them that President Clinton said to General Cedras: Your time is up!  But in this case, you really mean it!

Hershel Chicowitz is the Director of Creative Services for Thornton & Associates, a computer auditing and PC consulting firm in Tampa, Florida. The firm offers a series of software training classes, and markets a complete macro command library (WordPerfect: Perfectly Simple) for WordPerfect. You can reach Hershel and his trainer on CompuServe at 74473,3532, or by voice telephone at (813) 273-8961.


Page 11 - Gill Bates
Page 11


$Herschel - bookmark2


Page 2 - News 1
Page 2

DeScribe Acts to Prevent Piracy

DeScribe has taken the unparalled step of programming automatic expiration dates into its word processor, the latest version of which has just been announced. Users will be now required to complete new license agreements up to two times a year. Jim Lennane, DeScribe's Chairman explains his decision:

"I believe one of the primary responsibilities of intellectual property ownership is to pro-actively protect the intellectual assets. I will admit my experience in the PC world is limited; however my experience in technology is not. I have worked on computers of all classes since 1959. I still program on a daily basis.

"After having invested $10,000,000 in DeScribe as a non-management investor, I could not understand how this very popular product could have so many users yet so little revenue. I was told copying was an accepted practice in the industry, that it couldn't be stopped. That we could not prevent or even trace illegal distribution on the "Information Superhighway". To that, my response is 'bunk!'

"Those of you who are users of DeScribe understand its worth and its popularity. Yet only 4,000 copies of 4.0 are registered in the US. If IBM has sold over 4,000,000 copies of OS/2 can you accept that less than 1/10 of 1 percent of the OS/2 base are registered users of DeScribe 4.0 in the US? I cannot.

"For myself, I reject this business model. I believe a vendor owes its loyalty, its products and its services to its legitimate customers and to no one else. I have never accepted theft as a way of life and I will not look away from it now, ever if it is in my short term benefit to do so.

"Software piracy is like a cancer. If only one rogue cell breaks loose in your bloodstream, death is only a matter of time. The place to halt piracy is at the front end, not in arrears. The DeScribe plan is intended to do just that. When formulating this plan we discussed many others including Dongels, Installation Locks, Anti Copying and others. As I mentioned in my press release I am interested in a second or better solution. Such a solution would best be proposed by Microsoft, Lotus, or WordPerfect but they are either too lacking in courage or, I will admit, possibly too wise to attack the problem head on.

"Every big vendor knows they are being ripped off on a major scale. It was easy to look the other way in the days when gross profits were based on $495 per unit sale prices. At that level, with a product cost of $15, your legitimate purchasers paid for a great many illegal users. This is no longer the case. When Microsoft products are being copied at 50 to 1 in some parts of Asia and, as someone facetiously told me recently, "WordPerfect is the standard of South America with seven copies sold", the problem will soon be addressed by the majors or their revenue curves will begin to decline.

"I am very concerned about the inconvenience the plan may place on our users. I give my personal assurance the updates will be made available on a timely basis and the escrow will be strongly in favor of our customers. The escrow and its instructions will be established and published before the end of October. As an individual I will give DeScribe's customers the assurance that, in the event of any inability of DeScribe to perform, I will personally pay for the distribution of Unlimited Expiration Date Disks.

"Large LANs are a particularly difficult situation. It is generally thought they are well managed. Yet one of DeScribe 4.0's most serious illegal distributions has taken place between two Fortune 100 companies. I appreciate the concerns of LAN Managers over the requirement to update. The proper method to resolve these problems is with a direct and explicit contractual arrangement between DeScribe and its LAN customers. DeScribe would welcome such discussions on a case by case basis.

"Many of the comments which have been electronically published over the last few days contain different methods of protection which DeScribe will consider as secondary methods. As we gain more experience and input we would consider a second method which the users could select as an alternative to the one instituted. Such a method would involve some other absolute technique other than the time lock. However, in no case will DeScribe return to the distribution of unprotected software.

"At DeScribe we attempted to fully formulate the Expiration Date plan prior to the time Upgrade solicitation notices were sent. This wasn't possible and I apologize. A buyer should have a choice before an order is placed. On the other hand, no credit cards have been processed as of this moment, with the first ones scheduled to be charged today (September 27, 1994).

"While I ask each of our customers to help us implement the new license plan, you may cancel your order now and your credit card will not be charged. Also if you take delivery of the upgrade you will have the opportunity to read the license material before opening the disk packet. Upgrades returned with unopened disk packets will receive 100% credit plus $3.00 to cover the cost of return Express Mail.

"I understand the implementation of this policy will result in a number of order cancellations which the Company regrets and can ill afford. This undesirable consequence has been weighed against the even more loathsome situation of DeScribe 5.0 being the finest product ever written for OS/2, in wide use, but DeScribe unable to earn the revenue to which it is entitled.

"We ask you to evaluate the situation we are facing and hope, on further consideration, you will see our decision as one you can support.

What do you think? Send an email to describe_yes@ahpub.com or describe_no@ahpub.com before the end of October 1994. We'll tablulate your responses, pass them on to DeScribe and publish the outcome in next month's issue. An email picked at random will win a free copy of KopyKat!

IBM Clones Macs

James Cannavino, IBM vice-president, has revealed that IBM is developing a Macintosh clone and is seizing the opportunity to license Apple's operating system, version 7.5. Cannavino was forced into making this admission during his speech to attendees at the Agenda '95 show in Arizona at the end of September.

Both companies have been co-operating in the development of the PowerPC chip at the cost of many millions of dollars. Apple has already released PowerPC-based computers but IBM's own PowerPC range has been dogged by problems and won't start emerging until sometime next year. "It is important to have a lot of technology in the marketplace", Cannavino stated.

All change

All Britain's phone numbers will change on 16th April 1995. On "Phoneday" all existing numbers will be prefixed by the numeral "1". If you're dialing from within the United Kingdom, the new code for Central London will be 0171 and 01865 for Oxford. If you're dialing a UK number from abroad, simply prepend a "1" after the country code. So, from the US, a call to Central London changes from 011 44 71 xxx xxxx to 011 44 171 xxx xxxx.


Page 12 - Survey
Page 12

Take part in our Readership Survey and You could win a prize!

OS/2 Personal will soon become a Controlled-Circulation magazine: although you'll still be able to read the magazine free, you do need to register. In this and future months, we'll be providing you with a combined Readership Survey and Reader Registration form which we'd appreciate you completing and mailing back to us.

When you unpacked the archive file containing this edition, an additional file was placed in the same directory called survey.txt. Load this file into your favourite editor (OS/2's and PC-DOS's "E", MS-DOS' "EDIT" or Windows Notepad are ideal) and fill in the blanks. When you've completed the form, simply email it to us at survey@ahpub.com to arrive by 20th October. After that date, a response will be chosen at random and the sender of that response will receive a copy of KopyKat with our compliments.

Do not send us the file as a MIME attachment -- due to the automated way we process surveys, our Surveybot will return your message to you.

Although the Readership Survey does ask you to complete your name and street address, this information is necessary for controlled circulation audit purposes only (and, of course, we need to know where to send the prize!) The information you provide in completing the Survey will not be divulged to any third parties.

Click here to view and complete the Readership Survey

Already Registered?

Even if you've filled out the survey from a previous issue, you can still win this month's prize -- email your name and address to me_too@ahpub.com.

Congratulations to last month's winner, Mr Harry Sheilds of Aberdeen, Scotland - Harry has won a copy of DeScribe 5.0!


RTF_TOPIC_781243601
Mission Statement

-	Virtual Online University is a non-profit institution founded to provide high-quality educational opportunities on the Internet.

-	VOU is committed to maximizing resources to control the rising cost of education.

-	VOU provides a forum in which students and teachers can pursue an integrated, interdisciplinary and transdiciplinary curriculum in the Liberal Arts.

-	VOU is a medium for the free exchange of ideas in a non-physical setting, placing emphasis on ability and achievement.

-	Since the development of critical thinking skills is emphasized, any vocational education will be complemented by a firm grounding in the Liberal Arts.

-	VOU recognizes that scholarly research and publishing is a necessary adjunct to quality teaching, but places priority on teaching and does not make research or publication a necessary condition for employment, job retention, or promotion.

-	VOU is an equal opportunity institution and does not discriminate on grounds of ethnicity, creed, gender, age, sexual or political preference, nationality, economic status, or physical disability.


KopyKat
KopyKat is an exciting new remote control
solution specifically for OS/2. KopyKat gives
you fast, reliable graphical remote control between
OS/2 1.3 or 2.x workstations on LANs with
NetBIOS such as Novell Netware and LAN
server. And Hillgraeve's hot compression
technology and built in support for 250 modems
make KopyKat the fastest, easiest solution
for dial-up remote control.

Hillgraeve, Inc.
Genesis Center,
111 Conant Avenue,
Monroe, MI 48161
(313) 243-0576


$OS2CIM - Windows CIM

OS/2 CIM is on top of CIM for Windows -- the products definitely have a similar look and feel.


$OS2CIM - Feedback

In mail...

...and in Feedback.