OS/2 Warp Newsletter Folded into IBM Software Web Space We're getting caught in the Web! Yes, it's true. In order to bring you a steady flow of up-to-date information on OS/2 Warp, we are suspending publication of this monthly online "newsletter" and putting much of its contents onto the World Wide Web. It's part of IBM's companywide recognition that the web is a growing force in communication. By using it more fully, we can get you the latest information on the subjects you want, as soon as we possibly can. Jeff Howard, OS/2 Warp Brand Manager, is very excited about making changes in both the OS/2 Warp and IBM Software Web Space. "Most of the in-depth product and support information that you have come to rely on in the OS/2 Warp Monthly will be available throughout the IBM Software Web Space," he says. "Plus, with new, improved design of the web space, it'll be easier than ever to find information." Consequently, this March issue is our last monthly collection of articles into a newsletter format. I think it's all for the best. Now, rather than wait a month to gather all our news together, we can post everything as soon as it comes in. Please continue to tell us what you want to see on our web sites by writing to the editor of the IBM Software Homepage at http://service.software.ibm.com/pbin-usa-demos/getobj.pl?/demos-pdocs/websurvey.html. What this change also means is that I will not be writing any more of these introductions. I had the feeling I might have gone a bit too far in last month's issue, trying to combine technology, ballet and the French word for dangle. Well, c'est la vie! ( I might as well get as much French in as I can before they cut me off.) In this last-but-not-least issue of OS/2 Warp Monthly, we cover a range of topics from OS/2 Warp Server, to the new Eagle Servers, to the upcoming SmartSuite 96 for OS/2 Warp. Our Tips section focuses on OS/2 Warp FixPaks and our Electronic 'Scapes article shows you around the OS/2 Warp Support Homepage. In our Shareware and Commercial Applications section, we look at Voice Pilot, a new application that exploits IBM's VoiceType Dictation speech engine. We also see how another application, Remote Services Management, solves support problems for one of the UK's largest frozen food store chains. In other articles ...we have a second interview with Jeff Dean on the client release of OS/2 Warp, a look at one of the newest OS/2 user groups and a review of FaxWorks Pro. I hope you enjoy this issue. Above all, keep visiting the OS/2 Warp Homepage for the latest and most complete news on the OS/2 line of products. Au Revoir, Jeri Dube SHAREWARE AND COMMERCIAL SOFTWARE FaxWorks Pro for OS/2 a Winner by Karla Myers Just imagine a fax program that's easy to install, easy to use and really works! No, I'm not imagining things. I've just been indoctrinated into the FaxWorks Pro for OS/2 fan club. (Global Village Communication, 1-770-984-8088) I've used a lot of different fax programs over the past few years. Without exception, they were more than just a little difficult to install. And after I finally managed to get them installed, they were hard to use or did not work as they should. I don't know about you, but I don't have a lot of time to sit down and master a complicated program, or spend a week reading a poorly written manual. I need a program that has a clear-cut, user-friendly graphical interface that allows me to edit, send, receive, view, print and log my fax activity. I found it. FaxWorks Pro for OS/2 is everything one could realistically hope for in a fax program. It installs quickly and provides the user with a wonderfully simple graphical user interface. The program allowed me to read a fax that I had received, underline "key" words, use a "pen" to draw a line to an especially interesting section in the fax and even make a comment about the section in the margin of the fax. It was great! I also found that FaxWorks Pro let me attach a memo to the fax, add a cover page to it, and send the changed document to a co-worker. Learning how to do this took me about 30 minutes! After I had the basics under my belt, I went back to the same document (that I was able to file for future reference) and added an illustration to it. I then had the option of sending it to someone or printing it. No problem. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that FaxWorks Pro even let me type directly onto a fax I had received. I was curious as to what made this work, and found that FaxWorks Pro supports the OS/2 fonts for text operation. You can change the program's fonts by dragging a font from the OS/2 Font Palette and dropping it in the log, in the phone book, on the message line, or in the status window. You can even drop the font on the fax page currently in view to select that font for editing. Interesting. . . . All of the standard Workplace Shell features of OS/2 work in FaxWorks Pro too. What a concept! The drag-and-drop feature works for printing and editing. It even allows you to drag-and-drop fax file objects onto any printer object, into an empty workspace to view it, onto the currently viewed fax to append the fax, onto the send toolbar button to send it, or onto the print toolbar button to print it. Faxes can even be dropped onto any of the View/Orientation toolbar buttons to change the view or orientation of the fax. If you don't want to view the fax at this moment, drop it onto the Log toolbar button to look at later. The pop-up menus in FaxWorks Pro were also a pleasant surprise. Clicking on the right mouse button brings up the pop-up menu. The contents of the menu change, depending on where the mouse is when the button is clicked. For example, if you right click while you're on a fax page, you'll get a page editing menu. If you right click while you're in the program workspace outside of a fax, you'll get a fax document menu. The online help for FaxWorks Pro is also exceptionally impressive (and it takes a lot for online help to impress me). There are more than 200 pages of integrated hypertext help available. The help text is extensive, clear, and easy to understand. It covers everything from turning fax pages and scrolling to a list of accelerator keys and how to use the graphic paste-up box. It describes each and every button and its function. There are handy cheat sheets and an easy-to-use search engine to look through the help contents. It's clear to see that the writers of this help did their homework and worked long and hard to make the help usable by the average person. Before I get off of my documentation/help text soapbox, I must mention one more thing. The online help even provides me with a list of possible error messages that could come up while using FaxWorks Pro. That is impressive enough, but then it goes a step further and gives me individual descriptions of the error messages and some basic troubleshooting I can do to fix the problem myself. That goes straight to my technician's heart and moves FaxWorks Pro to the top of the list of great fax programs. I guess by now you can tell that I was extremely impressed with FaxWorks Pro for OS/2. Just about anyone could use FaxWorks Pro in the first half hour after installation, and become proficient in the first week or so. When I started looking at the package, I really expected it to be like all the others. It isn't. It works. Enough said. OS/2 Warp Fuels Voice Pilot Takeoff by Rachel Adelson with Stephanie Rasmussen InfoWorld's Nicholas Petreley is "convinced [voice recognition] is the next step in personal computing." Voice Pilot Technologies Inc. of Miami Lakes, Florida, is taking off in that direction with its R&D work and beta-tested "applet" for personal information management, including calendar, to-do list, address book, memo and note pad functions. Voice Pilot uses IBM's VoiceType Dictation, a speech-recognition system for dictating text and controlling the OS/2 desktop using a microphone. Whereas many companies are doing speech-enabled research, superimposing voice commands on existing applications, Voice Pilot is doing speech-aware development -- writing applications from scratch to be responsive to voice commands. The result is totally hands free. Petreley says Voice Pilot has "incorporated some of the world's best tricks in using speech recognition technology. ... Look for some surprises to come from Voice Pilot in 1996 and beyond." Voice Pilot is fast becoming known as the premier speech development company for the OS/2 platform. Company President and CEO David Slachter says he and Chief Technology Officer Richard Grant chose OS/2 for two main reasons. "First, it's a very powerful operating system," says Slachter. "Richard fell out of his chair when he saw what IBM's Voice Type dictation software can do. And when he saw the combination of Voice Type and the OS/2 engine, he went nuts." VoiceType Dictation is a true speech engine, which means it can do anything a keyboard or mouse can do. Second, Voice Pilot knew that OS/2 was a growing platform that could help them dominate the voice market. Today, Voice Pilot is developing "true human-centered" technology to allow users to use whichever sense is most appropriate to the task at hand -- in this case, speaking out loud. The company is a development partner with IBM, and has a tutorial on the VoiceType engine. Voice Pilot is also working on OpenDoc development, creating development tools that will allow other developers to write human-centric applications on OpenDoc. VoiceType Dictation IBM's VoiceType Dictation software for OS/2 and Windows transforms spoken words into accurate text that is available within seconds -- without typing, and without the time-consuming, labor-intensive process of manually transcribing dictation. VoiceType Dictation can speed information handling in almost any paper- and forms-intensive office setting, or wherever people need to dictate while working with their hands and eyes free for other tasks. What's more, VoiceType Dictation can enable people who cannot use a keyboard to enter data, create text and run most business applications. This helps organizations meet the special needs of employees, plus make computer resources available to people who simply aren't comfortable with typing. VoiceType Dictation is pure IBM technology, based on more than two decades of IBM research and development. Developed in conjunction with IBM's Thomas J. Watson Research Center, VoiceType Dictation offers advanced speech recognition technology and high-accuracy language models. It can run on IBM-compatible desktop, notebook or sub-notebook personal computes with 486 or Pentium processors. It is an isolated-word, speaker-dependent system that uses sophisticated statistical language models and a speech-adapter card to rapidly analyze spoken input. To learn more about Voice Pilot, contact dslch@ibm.net or (305) 828-5600. To obtain more information about IBM VoiceType Dictation, call 1-800-825-5263. Remote Manager Melts Problems for UK Frozen Food Chain by Rachel Adelson with Stephanie Rasmussen Iceland, a chain of 755 frozen-food stores in the United Kingdom, has fought hard for leadership in the retail market -- using technology as a key weapon. Now it's putting in an OS/2-based remote management system to thaw out computer problems quickly. Iceland, whose computer systems are designed to give accurate information linking head office, depots and stores -- while keeping a tight check on stock and margin -- knows that time is money. If a computer problem prevents a store from opening, or forces the registers to be shut down, then the store risks losing not just revenue, but customer loyalty, too. Looking for ways to keep its systems running cool, Iceland investigated a short list of remote operations packages. The installations, backed by a central helpdesk, were hampered by the fact that helpdesk staffers were unable to see the stores' computer screens. They were, in effect, working "blind." As a result, even the simplest of problems could take an hour to solve. Iceland "shortlisted" a number of remote operations packages, including a new product from International Software Solutions (ISS) of Basingstoke, England: Remote Services Management (RSM). RSM allows the helpdesk to "slave" an end-user's screen -- to either quickly solve the problem or talk through a lengthier solution while both view the same screen. The client can use DOS, OS/2 or Windows platform. RSM's main advantage is its speed. In the past, remote-control products have not been commercially viable because they are slow and cumbersome. RSM can transmit many complex graphical screen images in around 26 seconds, compared with more than 14 minutes from conventional software. "After a trial of RSM, we bought a five-user license," says Darren Kay of Iceland's IS support group, "and tried it out in some of our key stores. We found it speeded up the average helpdesk call considerably." Given its impressive performance, Iceland decided to install RSM in all of its stores, in conjunction with its 1995 rollout of new OS/2-based systems. OS/2 is extremely popular in Europe, prized for its power and multi-processing. So far, more than 240 stores are using the system, and all the stores will be on board by year end. It's a mammoth exercise, particularly in view of the fact that Iceland continues to open about one new store every week. "If a store should have a problem that means it can't open," says Kay, "in the past this might have taken several minutes to fix. Now the helpdesk can save the screen, do the edit in seconds, and allow the store to open." Iceland has begun using other functions of RSM, moving from cure to prevention by using RSM for operator training. In its use of RSM, Iceland has reported only one software bug. Otherwise its users have asked for additional functionality, some of which has been incorporated in the current version, and some of which ISS will provide in its next release. While Iceland has pioneered the use of RSM's remote-management technology, its success has attracted attention from other retailers. Now the Europe-developed RSM has more than 300,000 users worldwide, and is unique in the market in terms of speed and functionality when handling multiple operating systems. "Along with its capabilities in "fire fighting" and user training, RSM is really a catalyst for new ways of working," says ISS Managing Director David Ross-Turner Hume. "For example, engineers trouble-shooting on site can use it. They can call up a detailed screen and the RSM support site can talk them through it, using a marker -- a kind of chalkboard -- to illustrate what parts they are discussing. Or it can be used for process control, such as in the water industry, where flow meters and other devices can be monitored and controlled remotely." For more information, contact ISS at 1-407-820-0802 or fax 1-800-820-0804 (West Palm Beach, Florida). In the U.K. and Europe, call 01256-817000. You can also find information on CompuServe at go isslp. EurOS/2: New London-Based User Group Formed by Rachel Adelson A new OS/2 user's group, EurOS/2, has sprung up in England to encourage contact among people who want to make their OS/2 implementations a smashing success. With monthly meetings in London, electronic exchange of information and a new online magazine, EurOS/2 is getting its bearings among committed OS/2 users, especially in the business community. "Despite OS/2's excellent technical quality, implementation always poses practical problems," says Martin Brampton, EurOS/2 chairman. "We can more readily solve many of these problems by sharing information with others facing similar problems." Brampton is head of the business technology group of Moore Stephens, Chartered Accountants, sponsors of EurOS/2. Moore Stephens chose OS/2 as its operating system of choice for its PC-based network in early 1994 and is making its strategy a reality across 10 offices and 350 users. Moore Stephens International Group is one of the 20 largest international accounting and consulting networks worldwide. Brampton's goals for EurOS/2 include monthly meetings in London, at least one meeting in Edinburgh this year, an annual conference in the United Kingdom and weekly electronic communications to members and interested organizations. First Night: February Meeting Covers Workplace Shell, REXX EurOS/2's first seminar was held on Thursday, Feb. 1 at the Moore Stephens Training Centre, 1 Snow Hill, London EC1A 2EN. Brampton outlined the function of the OS/2 Workplace Shell; Alan Chambers, IBM's architect of the Restricted Workplace Shell, explained how it was developed to meet some user concerns over the management and support of user "desktops." Brampton also overviewed the REXX programming language and its flexibility in building networking facilities. "After the formal part of the meeting, participants enjoyed refreshments and stayed on for another two hours of vigorous discussion," Brampton reports. EurOS/2's next meeting will take place on Thursday, March 7 at 4 p.m., also at the Moore Stephens Training Centre. Brampton is creating the agenda, which may look at OS/2 as a server operating system and other workstation topics. Speakers will also look toward the next major release of OS/2. There is no charge for the seminar; Brampton will fax a map to any interested party and asks that participants let him know in advance if they're coming. For the April 3 meeting, EurOS/2 will team up with the Netware Users Association to focus on network and server questions in an OS/2 environment -- technical strategies, new products and rival suppliers. EurOS/2 Magazine Distributed Online Brampton has launched an electronic "magazine" for EurOS/2, to "create an interactive medium that gives users both filtered information," he says, "and a voice of their own." The magazine will include Web references as links, so that subscribers can store it with an .HTM extension and view it with a Web browser, clicking on links to learn more. Recent issues have covered such topics as OS/2 Installation Techniques, Object Developments, Java updates, offers of collaboration and conference information. "Early editions are going to be experimental," says Brampton, who released Volume 1, Number 2 on February 15. "The more subscribers use it, and the more participants we can enlist, the more valuable information we will be able to carry." Apart from information exchange among EurOS/2 participants, the magazine will report on EurOS/2 meetings and selected news items relating to OS/2. It will publish what Brampton calls "genuine information about products and services that are likely to be of interest to OS/2 users, but no simple advertising or product promotion." To subscribe to the EurOS/2 magazine or get information about the user group's other activities (outside the U.K., please provide an Internet or CompuServe address along with your name, company, address, phone/fax and job title), contact Brampton in any of the following ways: Internet at euros2@ibm.net CompuServe to 100303,2007@compuserve.com Fax to Martin Brampton at Moore Stephens: 0171-246-6055 BBS Moore Stephens Infoline: 0171-334-0337 Mail to Martin Brampton, Moore Stephens, St. Paul's House, Warwick Lane, London EC4P 4BN. OS/2 Pointers on the Web EurOS/2 collaborates with the International OS/2 User Group, which offers subscribers a high-quality magazine, "OS/2 Pointers," as well as a Web site http://www.lunatech.com/os2ug. Martin Brampton on Why He Started EurOS/2 "For some time, I'd felt that we could have been helped by sharing our OS/2 implementation issues with other organisations that must have been doing similar things and facing similar problems. Our perspective was that of an organisation with 350 users being migrated from DOS to OS/2, plus the provision of services to the firm's clients. So we weren't so interested in the problems of the individual OS/2 user or the small group, as the situation where there are hundreds of users and a hard-pressed technical support team. "There is an International OS/2 User Group - but it has focused on producing a high-quality magazine and setting up a Web site. I wanted something more direct between organisations using OS/2. "Also, organisations that have made a conscious choice of OS/2 (rather than finding it the easiest route to maintain IBM compatibility across a range of systems) sometimes feel a little besieged by all the Microsoft zealots. Managements tend to hear only the general press stuff about Microsoft ruling the PC world. So I also felt that we could share thoughts on that kind of thing, and share success stories for that matter. We could also have the potential to have some impact with the press. "In the absence of a suitable organisation, it seemed simplest to start one ourselves. I'd obtained the agreement of our senior partner, but no significant budget, so we needed to do it cheaply. "The launch was done by committing to a meeting based on topics about which we could speak, publicising it through CompuServe and by a Press Release to spark some initial interest. That produced very positive reactions from a number of people, and encouraged me to commit further. "Various people, including IBM UK, are now helping to build things up, we're collaborating with the International OS/2 Users Group and the Netware Users Group (over common networking interests), and we're looking to collaborate with other European user groups. I'm trying hard to build up our mailing list, and we'll be printing some flyers shortly to help with that. "But all our main activity is electronic, centred around my own [OS/2] Warp Connect PC, linked to the outside world by modem, and using CIS, Internet and FaxWorks to try to develop interest. At the first meeting, I had a questionnaire about meeting topics, and feedback from that has been used to establish the themes for future meetings, which in turn are being used to generate interest." What Can You Expect? A Lot More These Days by Karla Myers Computer technology changes daily. Now there's a major understatement. Less obvious are the changes in our expectations of technology. We're all demanding more and more from engineers and programmers, who work hard to give us what we want -- and, when they do, raise our expectations just a little bit higher yet again. These days, what we want is graphics, power, speed and connectivity. Let's take a closer look at why changing technologies have changed our basic assumptions of what we want in our computers. Five years ago, the average operating system performed all of the typical command line functions such as creating directories, changing attributes, copying files, formatting diskettes, etc. It allowed the average user to create config.sys and autoexec.bat files, but that was about it. This started to change about two years ago. Now your "operating system" comes with so much more, allowing you to do so much more. Today, there are graphic user interfaces (GUIs) for everything from formatting the drive (fdiskpm in OS/Warp) to playing music CDs to getting on the World Wide Web. A Web browser has become an absolute requirement, as has basic connectivity. Today's computing consumer will not accept software that does not have a graphic interface. Gone are the days of command-line-only operation. Indeed, gone are the days when only a select few individuals could successfully load software, or you'd have to call a consultant for even the most basic software purchase. Most software is now exceptionally "user friendly" and installation routines are much simpler. Whereas the home PC was a rare occurrence four or five years ago, now home networks of multiple computers are expected to become the norm. We can look at the changes up close in IBM's desktop operating system, OS/2 Warp Connect. Its BonusPak comes with a built-in word processor, IBM Works. It also comes with the IBM WebExplorer, an easy way to access and use the Internet. And who would have ever thought that an operating system would come with not one, but five ways to connect to a network? OS/2 Warp includes IBM Peer, LAN Distance, IBM LAN Requester, Novell Netware Client, and TCP/IP. Five years ago, all of this computing power cost tens of thousands of dollars. Today, it's just $299 (suggested retail). And take a look at OS/2 Warp Server (http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/m9wsleap.htm)...what a package! It comes with OS/2 Warp, TCP/IP for OS/2, TCP/IP for DOS, Multi-Protocol Transport Service (MPTS), Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - Server (DHCP), Dynamic Domain Name Server (DDNS), Netware Client, Network Sign-on Coordinator, LAN Server Requester, LAN Distance Remote, LAN Distance Remote (for Windows), LAN Distance Server, LAN Server (Entry), LAN Server (Advanced), User Profile Management (UPM), System View, Personally Safe 'n Sound (PSnS), Print Services Facility (PSF/2), Mobile File Sync, and a WIN 95 agent. All of the pieces to accomplish this much would, again, once have cost tens of thousands of dollars -- not the substantially smaller amount that it did cost when it started shipping recently. The more that the software-buying public expects from software, the harder its developers find ways to make the software meet or even exceed those expectations. When word processors such as WordPerfect and IBM Works first came on the market (remember eight-bit processing?), their capabilities were very limited. Originally, these packages allowed users only to input information and do a little bit of formatting. . . and if they were lucky, maybe even columns. Now, word processors come with more typefaces, headers/footers capability, automatic indexing and simple tools for importing photos and illustrations -- all standard. As the users demand more of these products, new versions appear, costing less and doing more. This trend is quickly accelerating. Over the past two years or so, the concept of task-centered computing has also come into its own. With it, you can take a chart out of one piece of software and move it to another piece of software without worrying about format compatibility. Look at Lotus SmartSuite, for example. It allows you to take a chart out of Lotus 1-2-3 and place it into Lotus AmiPro. That feature in itself is pretty amazing, but realize that it addition to allowing the move, the Lotus Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) link can be created to automatically update the chart in AmiPro if it is changed in Lotus 1-2-3. Because this software was written for OS/2, it has 32-bit processing allowing multi-tasking, multi-threading, and the ability to drag and drop, thereby avoiding complicated menus. For those of us that have worked with the very limited versions of older software, this progression still boggles the mind. The "suite" concept in software is another idea that has evolved over the past 2 years. What a concept: Software programs designed to work together with the same icons in the same locations performing the same functions. The Help screens and menus are also similar in appearance and function. The Lotus SmartSuite for OS/2 is a good example of what "suite" software really is. The package consists of Lotus 1-2-3, a spreadsheet program; Freelance, graphics and presentation creation software; AmiPro, a word processor; and CCMail (client), a basic e-mail package. Once you learn the functions of one program, the others all work basically the same way. No more tedious, time-consuming learning curves. Clearly, software advances are snowballing. Functionality and connectivity keep going up as the prices come down. As I see it, everyone wins. The software companies sell more software and make a profit and the user gets better software for less money. So obviously, there's nothing wrong with having great expectations. Preview SmartSuite 96: Empowering Users with Technology by Jeri Dube At times it seems that the world's technology does more to complicate our lives than it does to make them easier. Technology brings more information to our fingertips in a day than we could possibly hope to digest in a decade. Technology changed the pace of the world so completely that transactions that used to take hours to complete are now done in nanoseconds and products that used to take years to develop are now at end-of-life in months. Technology often gives us tools that are supposed to make things easier, but they are so complicated and time-consuming to learn that we don't get the chance to take advantage of them. It's refreshing to see technology that does simplify and enrich our lives -- that makes the work we do significantly easier without taking us up a learning curve that is too steep to make it worth the effort. Lotus has harnessed technology in the SmartSuite 96 edition for OS/2 Warp, coming out soon in the beta version, with features that empower its users. SmartSuite is the only suite of desktop applications designed to leverage the power of the Internet. Word Pro 96 users can access information on the Web direct from their documents by selecting keywords from the document and clicking on the Web search SmartIcon. So if you are doing a market research report and you need the population of a town in eastern Europe, you can get the information you need as fast as your web browser can take you there. Lotus SmartSuite also makes it easy to send files over the Internet. You can send files directly from a SmartSuite application without engaging your e-mail package. SmartSuite also lets you route files to a list of people sequentially. And you don't have to send an entire file, you can just send a portion of it. Word Pro 96 brings all its word-processing power to the Internet. You can use Word Pro as the text editor for your e-mail package. And even more powerfully, you can publish directly to the Internet. With Word Pro 96, users can open files of any type from FTP and WWW servers, edit the files and then save to FTP servers. You can also import, edit and save HTML files directly in Word Pro. It supports HTML 3.0 and NetScape extensions, including tables and links. Word Pro also includes a Home Page SmartMaster that contains all the character and paragraph styles need to create a home page quickly and easily. Lotus Freelance Graphics 96 also lets users quickly and easily publish their presentations on the Internet. You can post presentations in GIF format so that anyone on the Internet can view your slides (even if they don't have Freelance Graphics). If you don't have Freelance Graphics on your PC , you can download the Freelance Graphics Standalone Screen Show Player free of charge from the Lotus Home Page at http://www.lotus.com. Freelance users can also easily view presentations live on the Internet or download them to their PCs for full "screenshow" viewings. SmartSuite 96 also provides one-click access to the Lotus support page, http://www.support.lotus.com. At this site, users can post questions or look them up the likely answers in the Lotus Knowledge base, an easy-to-use search engine that takes English commands like "I have a problem printing in 1-2-3 to my Laser Jet IV" and gives you the answer you need to make it work. Lotus SmartSuite 96 edition also empowers users with simple productivity enhancers. These enhancers are so practical that developers of competing suites will be left in the dust wondering why they didn't think of them first. (Maybe it's because the competition didn't spend 32,000 hours on a user-driven design effort and 20,000 hours doing usability testing.) One of SmartSuite's most compelling productivity features is the Task Sensitive Interface (TSI). TSI determines what the user is doing and provides only the tools that the user needs to get the task done right. For example, when you edit a chart, all Lotus Chart editing tools appear automatically. TSI helps confusing and overwhelming users with a menu items, icons and dialog boxes they don't need for the task at hand. And if a task gets more complex -- if, for example, you add a spreadsheet to your document -- the tools you need are provided automatically. Because flexibility is key to user productivity, the Lotus InfoBox provides a flexible, one-stop-shopping tool for changing the attributes of any selected item. When you select an item from a document, all the attributes of that item can be changed from one dialog box. This makes all editing dynamic. You don't have to open and close multiple dialog boxes or toolbars to make the changes you want. As you select different items to edit, the InfoBox display changes to reflect any changes in the attribute choices. It speeds up editing by letting you make all your changes with a single dialog box. Unlike products that bewilder users with technology for technology's sake, Lotus SmartSuite 96 edition will use technology to give users what they need. Technology has made it possible for Lotus to provide state-of-the-art productivity features as well as Internet integration. In fact, Lotus is doing its job so well with SmartSuite 96 edition for OS/2 Warp that users won't even notice the technology -- only the resulting empowerment. ENTREPRENEUR Sweet Synergy: Phoenix Programmers Rely on OS/2 Warp by Rachel Adelson with Stephanie Rasmussen The Synergistic Services Group (SSG) of Phoenix, Arizona uses in its logo a graphic of Rodin's sculpture, "The Thinker." "Mind Over Data," its motto adds. Yet SSG's choice of OS/2 was a no-brainer for developing mammoth data-management applications, most recently the cross-industry MK Parallel Platform, now in beta test. SSG got its start in 1992 by developing specific applications for large financial companies. At the time, all they had to work with was proprietary hardware. They became accustomed to handling large amounts of data on mainframes, using DOS, then the only available operating system. Then, in spring 1993, a downsizing bank approached SSG for help in moving off its proprietary hardware. "They wanted to go to non-proprietary hardware," says Shawn Houser, SSG's director of development, "and needed new heavy-duty software, capable of handling about 60 gigabytes of ongoing data in a transactional setting." Basically, the bank needed a massively parallel processing platform. To build it, SSG decided to put the processing on networked PC's. Its developers looked around for an operating system capable of rising to this challenge. It quickly discovered that OS/2 was (at the time) the only such system that could get the job done. Spurred on by the bank's requirements, SSG developed MK Parallel Platform, an OS/2-based software platform that uses the power of clustered processors and clustered storage to deliver unlimited speed, capacity and bandwidth. It provides an open data-storage interface to all of the latest client-server applications, including off-the-shelf solutions such as Lotus SmartSuite. More powerful than any mere data server, MK Parallel Platform can handle multi-terabyte data sets, full motion video and online transaction processing at truly unparalleled speeds. MK Parallel Platform makes extensive use of OS/2's advanced features, such as multitasking and multithreading. "If there's an advanced feature on OS/2," says Houser, "we use it. My favorite feature is the stability. MK is rock solid and that's because of OS/2." SSG will shrink wrap and release MK Parallel Platform early this summer. It also will ship an OpenDoc-enabled version, a decision support and analysis tool called Perspective, in June. SSG's main number is 415-577-0661. PRODUCT TIPS OS/2's Foxy FixPaks: What, Where and How by Brad Baron IBM provides fixes for the OS/2 Warp Family and OS/2 2.11 in bundles called FixPaks, which also are available for printers and updated video device drivers. Each FixPak contains all the fixes from previous FixPaks, as well as any new fixes. OS/2 FixPaks also have two "readme" files: The README.1ST file tells you how to install the FixPak and has other tips; the README2 file lists APARs, or problem descriptions. After IBM tests and verifies each fix in an OS/2 FixPak, it tests the package as a whole. OS/2 Customer Support then assigns each call-in customer a unique name and password for downloading the FixPak. It controls initial distribution in this manner to make sure that the FixPak is the right solution to the customer's problem. The procedure also allows Customer Support to gather additional information and analyze how well the fixes work in different environments. After IBM releases an OS/2 FixPak in this controlled fashion for at least 30 days, it may issue a public release. At that point, customers can download Public FixPaks from the following locations: Public FixPak Locations CompuServe Subscribers can download FixPaks from the OS/2 Support Forum (GO OS2SUPPO). IBM OS/2 BBS Subscribers can download FixPaks from the Software down load Library. U.S. customers who are not subscribers can call 1-800-547-1283 for information on how to subscribe. Internet Customers with access to Internet services can download FixPaks using the following method: Anonymous FTP to "ftp.software.ibm.com" (IP Address 198.17.57.66) FixPaks are located in the "/ps/products/os2/fixes" directory. World Wide Web (WWW) access via: IBM Software Manufacturing Solutions ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com Full path is ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes Prodigy Subscribers can download FixPaks from the OS2CLUB in the download Library, IBM Files, Fixes area. Files are updated weekly and are available on Friday. FixPaks Pack New Feature Single Input Queue (SIQ) The "SIQ" feature is new with FixPak XR_W017. It allows you to take the focus away from an application that is monopolizing the message queue, a move that helps you switch without delays between applications you are concurrently running. See the README.1ST in FixPak XR_W017 for more information on this new feature. Hot off the press IBM PSP Release and Service Levels This document offers a listing and description of service fixes for Personal System Software Products. You can find it on the Internet, CompuServe, and Prodigy as PSPROD.TXT. The document also points toward locations for obtaining the fixes.ELECTRONIC 'SCAPES Going Home: IBM Personal Software Services Now on Web by Linda Ianiello IBM Personal Software Services has an Internet home page available through the World Wide Web. Its Uniform Resource Location (URL) is http://ps.software.ibm.com. This home page supports all the software products included in the Personal Systems Support Family: OS/2, OS/2 Warp, PC DOS, LAN, Communications Manager, DB/2 and all the other applications running on the OS/2 and DOS platform. Use a Web browser or FTP to get help from the following areas: Browse and Search Technical Information: Customers can browse technical documents, or use a powerful search tool to do keyword searches against the technical hints and tips and closed APAR databases. This should answer many questions and forestall the need to call technical support. Technical Assistance: Many customers have asked for help via the Internet. Now this function is available to United States customers who have purchased a Personal Systems Support Family Support Line contract. Using their assigned customer number and Personal Identification Number (PIN), customers can submit requests for technical assistance directly to the support center for any of the products on the Personal Systems platform. Technical support representatives try to resolve the issues and respond to customers via E-mail. Support outside the United States varies by country; customers should check the technical support information that came with the product. Download Services and Other Sites of Interest: This provides Web access to our FTP site. (Direct FTP access to this site is at ftp.software.ibm.com.) The FTP site contains generally-available fix packages for the products on the OS/2 platform and an extensive device driver repository for OS/2. It also has IBM OS/2 product demonstration software. Also on this page are links to several other "sites of interest." Roadmap to IBM Software Services: A link to a home page -- http://pssc.dfw.ibm.com/roadmap/ roadmap.html -- that has the information you need about the support offerings and other services available from IBM. Lotus Customer Support Web: A link to the Lotus customer support home page, http://www.support.lotus.com. Since we created the page, customer feedback has been great. They've said things like, "Right on, IBM!" and "it is positively filled with great information." One wrote, "I had trouble installing a card. I did not know how to set it up. This Web site told me exactly what I wanted." Another reported, "I love the ability to electronically submit PMRs. It is an excellent time savings for me." And yet another said "it's great that we can finally enter, update and check our PMRs on Internet. Advertise your services more!" And so we are ... so why not go to this home page (http://ps.software.ibm.com) and enjoy all its features today. Six Great Reasons to Upgrade to OS/2 Warp Server by John Crane In last month's newsletter, we covered the many significant features and functions of OS/2 Warp Server. Catch up with them at http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/m9wsleap.htm. As we said then, OS/2 Warp Server is more than just a bundling of existing technologies. It offers breakthrough server function and the most up-to-date connectivity options. This month, I want to cover some ofthe OS/2 Warp Server features that make it easy to set up, service and maintain your client/server network. In sum, OS/2 Warp Server (which you can view as LAN Server Version 5.0) includes all the fixes for LAN Server to date, and installs them automatically. OS/2 Warp Server has all the latest server software. It's five major enhancements, along with new utilities and other components, give you a new flexibility in your client/server network. Together, they add up to six good reasons to upgrade. Reason 1: OS/2 Warp Server has an OS/2 Client/Server package. Now you can use a workstation as both client and server, something not possible with the client-only LAN Server. The Client/Server package offers graphical user interface (GUI) support for thousands of aliases. Users can also alphabetically sort GUI list boxes. For future referencing, the program saves settings in both audit and error log utilities. OS/2 Warp Server also has a DOS/Windows GUI application template that allows you to customize your DOS and Windows applications. The package also includes Remote Initial Program Load for OS/2 Warp. Reason 2: It has a DOS LAN Services (DLS) pack, with a new DLS client for Windows '95. Now, if you have more than one server on the network, they can communicate directly. The DLS pack gives you a direct connection between your LAN server and your DOS server. There's also a pure DOS TCP/IP stack, not just the OS/2 version of TCP/IP. Besides share-level security, the DLS pack includes user-level security for DLS PEER. The Full Redirector has a reduced memory footprint, which means that Warp Server can use all levels of memory rather than be restricted to loading applications to High Memory areas. CID Network install enhancements to DLS commands are also included. Reason 3: OS/2 Warp Server brings your server communications up to date with the latest version of MPTS (Multiprotocol Transport Services). It includes the latest drivers for Network Interface Cards supported by OS/2. The current level of MPTS is designed for multiple cards and can run different protocols from each one -- a more advanced and complex program than LAPS (the predecessor to MTPS) and far more flexible, even with the use of unsupported adapters. Reason 4: OS/2 Warp Server comes with the latest version of OS/2 Warp Connect. Not only is that good from a service standpoint, but it also enables you to use your server as a workstation. LAN Server came with OS/2, but you could only use your workstation as a client. Again, this expands your options dramatically. Reason 5: OS/2 Warp Server can "talk to" just about anybody's version of TCP/IP; it comes with Version 3.01 of TCP/IP. In technical terms, this latest version of TCP/IP is compatible with converged-stack TCP/IP as well as most other mainstream versions of TCP/IP. It also includes DHCP and DDNS, which let you centrally locate and dynamically configure network addresses, as well as add/update/delete names and resource records from your database, easily and securely. DHCP stands for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. DDNS stands for Dynamic Domain Name Server. Reason 6: OS/2 Warp Server has other important new components, which include: System View for OS/2, for monitoring network activity, plus processor and speed performance. LAN Distance Connection Server, for remote control of your server. Print Services Facility for OS/2 Warp Server, which allows the server to control all printing activity and monitor that activity across the network. Markvision, a print utility from Lexmark that lets you monitor the status of print jobs and even the printer itself -- telling you where the paper jams and more. JetAdmin, a print utility from Hewlett Packard. Either one can be used in a variety of ways to simplify printing jobs. Simple Network Management Protocols (SNMP), an application that helps administer networking operations. Desktop Management Interface (DMI), which simplifies routine desktop management through use of GUIs. This article provides only an overview of the enhancements and new components found in the comprehensive OS/2 Warp Server. More detailed information is available from World Wide Web sites such as http://www.raleigh.ibm.com, as well as http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/warpserver.html and http://www.ibm.com. The Eagle Flies with IBM Software Servers An Interview with Bill Reedy, vice president, integrated solutions marketing, IBM Software Group As many IBM-watchers know, the company is readying a new set of seven integrated software servers to manage seven key business functions: Internet Connection, Database, Communications, Transaction Processing, Systems Management, Directory and Security, and Lotus Notes. The servers will run on OS/2 Warp, AIX and Windows NT. Together, they'll allow customers, software developers and more to build new applications faster than ever, and also add the latest communication technologies to existing applications. IBM's modular approach can work with existing applications -- like those running on the Application System/400 and the System 390, and grow with customer needs. They'll also "interoperate" using industry-standard interfaces. Consultants and members of the media know these servers as "Eagle" and it will fly very soon. To get at its main attractions, we asked Bill Reedy three key questions about the servers -- officially called IBM Software Servers -- and their edge over the competition. The IBM Software Servers represent a big change in direction for the company. How would you compare them to IBM's previous server offerings? We're taking the best of previous offerings but also making several major changes. We're building the new servers on tried and true IBM and Lotus products -- for example, Database Server features DB2 for OS/2 2.11 plus additional products such as the World Wide Web connection for DB2, common client support, and more. But there are three key differences: First, we've integrated multiple products into single servers, thereby enhancing functionality and simplifying customer buying. Overall the seven Eagle servers combine the function of 57 earlier products. Second, we're making it much easier to combine different members of the set by providing common client support, common installation procedures and documentation, common support and services, simplified pricing and terms and conditions, and so on. The bottom line is this: We've made these servers easier to buy, install, support and service. Third, we've greatly enhanced the product testing so that we know these servers work together even better than before. In short, IBM Software Servers offer brand-new simplification, reducing complexity and making it easier for both our customers and our partners to do business with IBM. Please contrast Eagle modular design with the integrated design approach. The difference between "tightly integrated" and "modular, interoperable" is the freedom of choice we give our customers and business partners to run their applications on multiple operating systems and use standard interfaces to connect the servers and other products they buy. We may have integrated multiple products into each server for simplicity's sake, but we've left the buying decision to customers so that they buy only the modules they need, when they need them. How do these new IBM servers compare to those of other vendors? It boils down to these simple comparisons. First, freedom of choice with IBM versus tightly integrated systems that are proprietary and exclusionary. That lets IBM Software Servers work with our customers' existing systems, such as the AS/400 and System 390, and grow with them as they want to add new technologies -- again in a modular fashion. Second, we have the greatest breadth of application services and depth of functionality within each of our servers. The Lotus Notes Server, for example, supports workgroup applications. As another example, the Directory and Security Server is a full-function and open solution providing multi-vendor, multi-platform DCE networking. That adds up to superior products, put together in a superior way. The Future of OS/2 Warp An interview with Jeff Dean: OS/2 Warp Product Development Manager How is development going for the next OS/2 Warp, which many in the industry know as "Merlin?" The product is starting from a remarkably stable base. We are starting from OS/2 Warp Connect, integrating all of the fixes we shipped in FixPak 17. We've also integrated OpenDoc and Developer API Extensions, Security Enabling Service, and internationalization support from OS/2 for the PowerPC. Also, we're improving client support in the next OS/2 Warp Server. With this solid base established, we have moved well into some of the more complex pieces of development, such as updating many aspects of the UI, upgrading TCP/IP connectivity support and adding new Internet support such as a Java virtual-machine runtime environment. We are far along in making the newest OS/2 Warp Connect the most reliable, robust and usable version ever. And since we've been working on most of our targeted enhancements for many months, we are close to shipping our first beta. Who are your target customers? How are you addressing customer requirements? The primary customers for OS/2 Warp will continue to be any size business, small and large. No matter what their size, they all demand a robust and stable client with leading connectivity function and choice. These same users often need to have equal connectivity at home, as secondary customers; we consider these connected consumers to be another segment of our target market. Can you update us on the key functional enhancements we can expect in the forthcoming OS/2 Warp? Easily. It has a number of user interface improvements, including updated graphics and user interface functions, Security Enabling Services, OpenDoc, integrated WebExplorer, Developer API Extensions, integrated systems management, improved installation, multimedia features and enhanced support for Plug and Play. Will it be able to run the newest Windows 95 applications? The operating system will run OS/2, DOS and Windows 3.x applications. This means it will run many application that run on Windows 95 except those that exclusively run on Windows 95 (in other words, those that use the new Windows 95-specific APIs or are compiled for true 32-bit). Many of the applications that are shipping today can still run on Windows 3.x (e.g., TurboTax 95). For developers of Windows applications, the next OS/2 Warp will contain the IBM Developer API Extensions that allows on average, a significant percentage of an application's source code to be recompiled to run on OS/2 without any changes by the developer. When customers have Windows applications that they'd like to see as Native OS/2 applications, they should talk to their suppliers about this new option in OS/2. It's available today through our Developer Connection CD-ROM program. When can we expect the first beta? During the 2nd quarter. Are you still on target for a summer availability? Yes. However, as always, we rely heavily on our current customers to help us determine if a product is ready for shipment. We'll get that feedback from our beta and gamma programs. Will this next version of OS/2 Warp exploit the Pentium(tm) processor and the new Pentium Pro(tm)? Yes, in fact, we're building it for use on 486 processors and above. This is important because earlier versions of OS/2 supported 386s and above. In the move to 486s, we have chosen compiler options that balance 486, Pentium and Pentium Pro features. For example, in the future, OS/2 Warp will exploit the superscalar features of the Pentium where appropriate. Will the next version be called OS/2 Warp Connect, Version 4? While the operating system's name isn't final, I can say we're going to simplify the whole set of OS/2 Warp products. This next release represents an upgrade to both OS/2 Warp Version 3 and OS/2 Warp Connect Version 3. Final packaging and naming are not complete. How are the developers adjusting to their new home in Austin, Texas? I've talked to many of the programmers who have moved from Boca -- in fact, I'm one of them. I'd say the move is going very well. The climates of South Florida and Austin are not all that different, save the reduced humidity and occasional snow fall in Austin. I think these new Austinites are finding their new communities full of very pleasant surprises. And we see their sense of discovery transformed into enthusiasm on the job. How does the next release of OS/2 Warp fit into IBM's network-centric vision? With the inclusion of Java, continuing upgrades to OS/2 Warp's connectivity support (such as TCP/IP) and various functional enhancements for network-based computing, this system is the basis for mission-critical network-centric computing. How will the next release induce independent software vendors (ISVs) to develop more applications for OS/2? What are the preliminary reactions to it by ISVs? Probably the single most attractive aspect of this product is the inclusion of the Developer API Extensions. By analyzing more than 10 million lines of WIN32 industry code, we have been able to select a large sweet-spot of APIs that allow many programmers to simply recompile their Windows 95 or NT applications directly to OS/2. In addition, with the integration of OpenDoc and its ability to interoperate with OLE, ISVs can build powerful applications for OS/2, while maintaining connections to the past. In addition to the inclusion of Developer API Extensions, Java offers a new programming model for enterprising ISVs. By using Java, an ISV can build a truly portable application. This will generate a lot of excitement among our network-centric ISVs and customers. How do you expect the success of OS/2 Warp Server will affect the response to the next client release? OS/2 Warp Server, with its superior server and connectivity features, will further enhance OS/2's position as the premier 32-bit application server. As a result, OS/2 Warp will play a significant role in the overall client/server solutions that our enterprise customers use. This next release will be highly complementary to OS/2 Warp. WARP'D ETC. Getting Started with OS/2 Warp The new OS/2 Warp makes it easier to do more with your computer and your time, while other operating systems still keep you waiting. With OS/2 Warp, there's no need to wait any longer. Order OS/2 Warp and LAN systems products today by contacting your IBM Authorized Reseller or call IBM directly. Country Telephone number Argentina 319-6666 Australia 62-1-132426 Austria 43-1-21145-2500 Bangladesh 880-2-231-022 Belgium 02-225-3333 Brazil 0800-111426 Bulgaria 0035-92-731076 Canada 1-800-465-7999 Chile 800-203037 or 56-2-6332292 China 86-10-437-6677 Croatia 0038-51-624500 Czech Republic 00422/67106111 Denmark 45-45-93-45-45 Finland 358-0-4591 France 16-38-55-7055 Germany 49-1003-317131 Hong Kong 852-2825-7878 Hungary 00361/1654422 India 91-80-526-8344 Indonesia 62-21-523-8200 Italy 167-017001 Korea 822-781-6114 Malaysia 603-735-8828 Netherlands 030-383773 New Zealand 0800-801-809 Paraguay 595-21-444094 Philippines 63-2-892-3026 Poland 48-22-6251010 Portugal 1-7915900 Singapore 65-320-1234 Slovakia 00427-786-403 Slovenia 0038-661-1252-154 South Africa 0800-126126 Spain 900-100-400 Sri Lanka 941-440-810 Sweden 08793-1000 Switzerland 01436-7478 Taiwan 886-2-776-7658 Thailand 66-2-273-4286 United Kingdom 01329-242728 United States 1-800-436-2255 Uruguay 598 2 923617 For Developers: The Developer Connection for OS/2 The Developer Connection Device Driver Kit (DDK) Order Numbers North and South America: Brazil 0800-111205 (The Developer Connection for OS/2) (011) 866-3222 (fax - The Developer Connection for OS/2) 02-1-800-6120 (The Developer Connection DDK) Canada 1-800-561-5293 Mexico 91-800-00639 Mexico City 627-2444 United States 1-800-6DEVCON (633-8266) 1-303-330-7655 (fax) In Asia Pacific: The Developer Connection can be ordered in Asia/Pacific countries. Please ensure that you dial the international access code applicable to your country before the listed phone number. Note that 61 is the country code for Australia. 61-2-354-7684 (phone) 61-2-354-7766 (fax) In Europe: The Developer Connection can be ordered direct from the IBM Software and Publications Center (SPC) in Denmark if you live outside the US, Canada, Asia/Pacific, Brazil, or Mexico. Please ensure that you dial the international access code applicable to your country before dialing the appropriate phone number. This applies to both telephone and fax orders. Operators speaking the following languages are available. Note that 45 is the country code for Denmark. Dutch 45-4-810-1400 Italian 45-4-810-1600 English 45-4-810-1500 Scandinavian 45-4-810-1300 French 45-4-810-1200 Spanish 45-4-810-1100 German 45-4-810-1000 45-4-814-2207 (fax) Electronic Support for Developers is provided through CompuServe, OS/2 BBS, and the Internet. Obtain technical support or use the forums to exchange messages, ideas, comments, or concerns with The Developer Connection for OS/2 team or other members. The dedicated Developer Connection section on CompuServe is located in the IBM OS/2 Developer Forum 2. To obtain access to this section, please send a note with your subscription number to the Developer Connection Administrator at CompuServe user id 73423,2767. You will receive notification or access to the Developer Connection q section within 2 business days. To access the forum, type GO OS2DF2 at the ! prompt; then, select the Developer Connection section. For CompuServe membership information, call one of the following numbers: From Germany: 0130 37 32 From the United Kingdom: 0800 289 378 From other countries in Europe: (+44) (+272) (255 111) From the U.S.: 1-800-524-3388 From elsewhere: 1-614-457-0802 Ask for Representative 239. You will receive a special introductory membership for IBM customers. Staff Biographies Rachel Adelson is a communications consultant with a large portfolio of articles, newsletters, speeches, online content and press releases on information technology, software, TV shows and new media. She has worked for a diverse set of clients including A&E Television Networks, The History Channel, Bravo, IBM, AT&T, and Unitech Corporation. Her articles have appeared in Forecast, Data Communications, Crain's New York Business as well as a variety of corporate publications. You can reach Rachel online at rachelkat@aol.com or call her at 301-571-5577. John Crane is a software engineer working on IBM's OS/2 Warp Connect in the Personal Software Products division. He's worked on the product since its inception last spring, and he worked on OS/2 itself for about two years. John keeps in close contact with developers and says he's always trying to update the product with the input he gains first-hand from customers. Outside of work, John raises quarter horses and sometimes assumes the byline, .25horses. That's a little engineering humor, folks. Jose De Jesus works as a contractor for IBM, debugging VDM and (soon) WorkPlace Shell applications. He is the author of "Borland Pascal With Objects 7.0," published by MIS:Press in 1993. He can be reached at 73141,317@compuserve.com. Jeri Dube has been working for IBM for 12 years now. She is currently working as a Senior Marketing Support Rep, putting together communication vehicles for OS/2 Warp and LAN Server. She swears this is the best job she has had in a long time. Outside of IBM, Jeri spends time with her family, scuba diving, and practicing Yoga. Her favorite quote is: " Humanity has advanced, when it has advanced not by being sober, cautious and responsible but by being playful, rebellious and immature."Tom Robbins, Still Life with Woodpecker. Contact Jeri at Internet:jdube@vnet.ibm.com. Richard Hawes has worked in the PC industry for too long with a slight detour into IBM mid-range systems when he joined IBM nearly seven years ago. Richard is now working in Basingstoke, England as a LAN Technical Consultant in a European Project Office where he provides assistance to IBM support organisations. Richard's spare time mainly revolves around keeping his young daughter from wrecking the house. His other hobbies include swimming, cinema and juggling. Low ceilings in his house prevent him from juggling five balls; otherwise, he would have surely mastered it by now. He can be reached at Internet:juggler.vnet.ibm.com. Steve McNally develops promotions with Marketing Reps as the Editor for the IBM US Promotions and Price Actions Board. He spends his free time with his wife Kim and ten-month-old daughter, Olivia Hope, and tries to put in as much time as possible writing fiction of all shapes and sizes. A quote that came to mind while composing his bio was "It's like a sauna in here" -- Cosmo Kramer, in the sauna at a health club. He can be reached at smcnally@vnet.ibm.com Karla Myers is one of the original support technicians in the OS/2 Warp Connect group in the Austin IBM center. While her primary focus is technical support for OS/2, she has also written "how-to" faxes for customers and contributed to the latest revision of the Common Questions that is shipped with OS/2 Warp Connect. When she's not doing customer support, she spends most of her spare time raising and riding registered Appaloosas and Quarterhorses. She can be reached through the Internet at v$imyers.ausnotes@aussmtp.austin.ibm.com. Collin Summers' company has been contracted by IBM to help in central Illinois with OS/2 LAN Server and all those other PC Software type stuff. Before IBM took up all his time, he did independent computer consulting in many areas, but focused on OS/2 work (Guess that's how he ended up working with IBM). Collin spends his free time, when there is some, tinkering around and looking for new and better ways to use computers. Of course, he only runs OS/2 and OS/2 LAN Server on his business' LAN. Collin is available at Internet: summers@vnet.ibm.com or 73422,3364@compuserve.com. OS/2 Warp MONTHLY NEWSLETTER http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/newsletters.html Volume 10: March, 1996 USER POWER FEATURES