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Randys Rumor Rag 1992 11
RAndY's RumOR RaG
November 1992
NEWS IN YER FACE
In case you haven't heard, the contest within Intel for naming
the upcoming 586 chip is "Pentium". As you recall, Intel wanted a
name that could be trademarked, thus preventing cloners from using
the P5 or 586 designation.
---------------
RealWorld will be introducing a Mac version of their
accounting software at Fall Comdex. In the beginning, they'll have
Accounts Receivable and General Ledger. Due for release in
December is Accounts Payable with Payroll following in January.
---------------
Two new products are due soon from Media Vision. The CDPC+
will include the NEC CDR-84 drive in addition to the rest of the
CDPC package. The Pro Movie Spectrum will be a video capture board
capable of displaying an NTSC signal. Prices are unavailable, but
these should both be on the shelves in time for Christmas.
---------------
Grab your ankles again - our federal government is halting
imports of DRAM again and you know what that will do to prices. By
the time you read this, prices should have already taken a healthy
hike.
---------------
Windows for Workgroups is just Microsoft's opening salvo at
grabbing some of Novell's huge network base. The next step will be
converting existing NetWare servers to Windows NT. With built-in
E-mail and scheduling in Windows for Workgroups, expect lagging
sales for cc:Mail, WordPerfect Office, and OnTime for Windows.
It's all part of Microsoft's plan to "wash that LAN right outta my
hair".
---------------
I hear that the beta version of Windows for Workgroups had
problems running under Compaq DOS due to memory problems. They say
it will be fixed by the time the product ships.
---------------
Borland recently shut down their free BBS and switched to
electronic support via CompuServe.
---------------
Microsoft is giving away a free copy of Flight Simulator to
all who register the new Works for DOS Version 3. New to this
overdue for an upgrade product are WorksWizards, a personal
calendar, toolbar, and larger database.
---------------
NetWare 4.0 has been officially delayed until the first
quarter of 1993. Novell claims the delay is due to work they're
doing to strengthen their utilities. Industry analysts will be
surprised if the product ships by March due to its complexity.
After seven weeks of beta testing, Novell felt that
administration utilities needed improvement, although the server
component is stable. Software development kits have been shipped
and that's a good sign.
---------------
Hayes and Multi-Tech will meet in court on November 30th to
hash out their rivalry. Hayes is sticking to their claim that the
time independent escape sequence technology (TIES) used by Multi-
Tech is faulty.
---------------
Hewlett-Packard is now shipping version 4.1 of NewWave. They
say it's twice as fast as version 4 and installs easier with better
integration with DOS and Windows. Uh-huh, we'll see.
---------------
Beta testers are less than enthusiastic about preliminary
copies of MS-DOS 6. According to one, "It's DOS 5 with some window
dressing." Included are Storage Dimension's SpeedStor 6.3.1
compression technology, Central Point's Anti-Virus, and
DoubleDisk's "unerase" program and other utilities.
In an amusing footnote, one tester said that the documentation
included in an depth discussion on how to upgrade from OS/2 2.0.
---------------
In the category of software that won't meet announced shipping
dates, the nominees are:
NetWare 4.0 (promised by year's end), dBase for Windows,
FoxPro 2.5, and Notes 3.0. We all love to get anticipated shipping
dates from companies, then shove it down their throats when they
miss it.
---------------
Due to huge sales of 486-based computers, CompuAdd and Leading
Edge are discontinuing production of 386-based computers.
---------------
It strikes me as amusing that Microsoft chose the name Access
for their Windows database product (changed from Cirrus). I
remember an old copy protected telecommunications product from
Microsoft by the same name.
The product is expected to ship about the time of Fall Comdex
(November 16). The initial price will be $99, valid until January
31, 1993 when the price will jump to $695. Looks like Bill has
been watching Philippe.
---------------
By the time you read this, Hewlett-Packard should have
released their new line of LaserJet printers. The company has
vowed that HP will never again stand for "highest prices" with the
Model 4 retailing for $2,199. The printer has 45 built-in fonts
including 10 TrueType and prints with a standard resolution of
600x600 dpi.
Also debuting are new color DeskJet models 550C (and one for
the Mac). Instead of switching between a color cartridge and a
black one, there is now a tandem carrier that switches between the
two automatically.
---------------
Borland is reported to be working on a Mac version of Quattro
Pro, after abandoning the Mac market long ago.
---------------
WINDOWS SOUND SYSTEM
You probably saw the announcement in the newspaper like I did
and wondered what kind of sound hardware Microsoft was selling.
I've finally gotten some information, so here's what's happening.
The package contains a 16-bit sound card, a microphone that
looks like the Microsoft mouse with holes in it, headphones, and
the necessary drivers.
An application called ProofReader lets you highlight ranges of
numbers or words in your spreadsheet and it will recite them back
to you. The program is customizable and lets you add words to
dictionaries or create your own dictionaries. You can choose
whether numbers are read by rows or columns as well as have numbers
called back to you when you enter them.
Voice Pilot recognizes key words in application menus so that
you can speak the commands into a microphone. For example, you can
select an area of your spreadsheet to move and say "cut" into the
microphone, select the area you want it moved to and say "paste".
You can even create voice macros.
Applications compatible with OLE let you add sound
annotations. The annotation appears as an icon which the user
double-clicks to hear the message. The icon is, of course, user
selectable.
The Quick Recorder takes the Windows 3.1 sound recorder a step
further, allowing you to select the recording quality (I assume
that's the sampling rate), and represents your recording as an icon
which can be dragged-and-dropped into your document. Editing of
previously recorded sounds is also possible.
The Sound Finder is a browser which lets you find, preview,
and edit any sound on the computer. You can convert sound files
from Mac and NeXT and the package comes with some pre-packaged
sounds. A Guided Tour of the Windows Sound System is also included
in the form of an on-line tutorial.
As best as I can discern, this is designed for voice only.
There are no musical sounds in ROM as with other sound cards, nor
are there joystick or SCSI ports. I guess if voice annotation is
important, then you may want to check it out.
I remember back in my old TI days when we had some games that
used a special speech recognition thing. When you trained the
software, you could say any word (like a cuss word) and it didn't
know what you were really saying. Then when you'd go to play
baseball, you'd yell at the guy to "swing" and have to remember
which word you used for "swing". If other people were standing
around talking or yelling, it would confuse the system greatly. I
don't know what the suggested price is.
I think I'll pass.
---------------
NEW CD'S
I recently purchased a few CD's, so here are some impressions
of some old and new packages.
If you look at companies selling CD-ROM packages, you
frequently see The Bible Library either bundled or as an optional
add-in piece of software. I thought it would be neat to have 9
Bibles and a bunch of reference works on a CD. Since I don't have
the Bible memorized, it's often difficult for me to recall where I
read something.
You can search for a specific verse, or keyword or phrase.
The search is quite fast considering you're going through 9 Bibles
and 20 reference works. The results of your query can be saved to
disk or printed via an included utility called ClipIt.
The interface is non-intuitive, but on-line help is available.
The amount of reference materials on this disk is impressive, but
it takes too much work to get to it all. You can't read the books,
only search for information. I guess it's not bad for what it
costs, but the character-based interface just looks dated. Also,
it won't work right unless you install a portion of it to your hard
drive - it won't run stand-alone from the CD.
The next CD is called The San Diego Zoo Presents The Animals.
This is a multimedia experience that is certainly interesting. On
one CD, you get over 2 1/2 hours of audio, over 200 animals in more
than 350 exhibits, over 1300 color photographs and descriptions,
over 123 video clips with synchronized sound totaling over 60
minutes of motion video, and much more.
The main menu is actually a 3-D map of the zoo from which you
can visit any area or take a tour of selected portions. It's quite
impressive how well the program is done and it's definitely easy to
use.
The audio sounds like 8-bit 11k samples, but it sounds fine.
The worst part is the video. Images are dithered and the motion
video occupies a small windows in chunky, low-resolution. The
motion is smooth, though - just rough in definition.
Everything you ever wanted to know about a wide variety of
animals and habitats is here. It seems directed more toward
children, but adults should find it entertaining. It's definitely
worth the $75 or so this will sell for on the street.
Another CD product you may wish to check out is a CD-based
magazine called Nautilus. A yearly subscription is about $120 and
each month you get a CD filled with tons of stuff. On the sample
issue I received, there is information on what's happening in the
computer industry, both MIDI and WAV files galore, sample software,
games, Letters to the Editor in text and WAV formats, and much
more. My concern if I subscribed would be how to digest that much
information every month. There's a lot there and it seems to be
worth the price.
Aris Entertainment markets MPC Wizard, which has diagnostics
for VGA and CD-ROM along with sound samples and digitized images
and device drivers from a wide variety of manufacturers. Actually,
the diagnostics only check to see if you're running in 256 colors
and it will also test your CD's sustained transfer rate.
Included on the CD are 50 BMP images and 50 sound samples
representing a wide variety of subject matter. The idea is to give
you a sample of some of their other CD products. The software did
not recognize my audio card, so I could only get the slide show
without sound (don't know why).
The best part of the CD is the inclusion of Windows 3.1 device
drivers for virtually every video and sound card available. Since
the CD only costs $14.95, I think it's a decent buy.
Now let me get up on the soapbox for a minute. Here's my
complaint about computer CD's. Too often, the CD is shipped in a
cheap cardboard container of some kind without a jewel case.
Excuse me, but even the record companies that rip you off $15 for
an audio CD give you a plastic case. I'd think that if I paid $50
or more for a piece of software, they could at least include a
decent case for it.
---------------
BAD NEWS
I usually look forward to the mailman's visit. I get demo
disks, offers for inexpensive software, news of what's happening -
but the other day there was horror in the mailbox. I got an
upgrade notice for PC Tools Version 8.
A note within the flyer points out that this upgrade is for
DOS only, that the Windows applications of Version 7 have not been
updated, but it's in the works.
So, what did they change this time around? How could there be
room on the screen for anything else?
A new Anti-Virus is included which works against the newest
strains of viruses. RAMBoost is a memory optimizer apparently
along the lines of QEMM and others. DriveMap is a utility for file
management on a network. CPTask and Scheduler let you switch
between DOS applications and schedule backups, virus scans, etc.
They now support SCSI tape drives, Commute is supposedly faster,
and FileFix has been improved.
Remember, Central Point never gets it right the first time -
wait for Version 8.1 (I can almost guarantee there will be one).
In the meantime, I think I'll pass - I've only got about 30 megs
left on my hard drive. Look for a review/roast next month.
---------------
QUATTRO PRO FOR WINDOWS
Many of you have been waiting for this latest entry into the
Windows spreadsheet department. You can read the advertisements
for all of the many features, but I want to give you my impressions
and opinions rather than recite a feature list.
The installation screen has a dashboard with a desert scene
(mountains in the background) and the speedometer climbs as files
are installed to the hard drive. Several billboards appear along
the installation process which tell you about the product's
features, registration information, training videos, etc..
The obvious comparison of this product will be to Excel, so
here goes. Once installed, the program takes much longer than
Excel to load. Even when working with spreadsheets and graphs the
screen redraws seem longer than Excel's. I noticed that if I move
a range with the mouse (equal ease of use between the two
products), the screen flashes briefly while the screen is being
redrawn. This could be quite annoying after a period of time.
The SpeedFill feature requires you to highlight a range, then
click a button on the SpeedBar; Excel lets you fill an area by
grabbing a handle on the corner of your selected range - Excel wins
for ease of use.
The SpeedFormat feature uses the names of famous composers for
the different formats available (Chopin, Beethoven, etc.). There
seems to be more variety of pre-configured formats than Excel.
Quattro Pro for Windows will import an Excel Version 4 file
while other spreadsheets require that you save it in Excel Version
3 format.
Borland has made quite a ballyhoo over their Property
Inspector. Just click your right mouse button and you'll get a
context sensitive menu based upon whatever you're doing. Excel 4
has this feature, but it is said they stole it from Borland after
seeing a beta demo.
Borland's implementation of the Property Inspector is superior
to Excel's because Excel lets you make just one choice and the pop-
up menu is gone. With Quattro Pro for Windows, you can make
multiple selections before closing the dialog box. I did notice a
problem when changing fonts through the Property Inspector. The
font preview showed only the bottom half of the font being
selected.
Overall, they've done an excellent job. The notebook/tabs
feature is very useful and easy to use. Graphing is excellent.
For the first time out in the Windows spreadsheet market, Borland
has done a superb job. I still don't like the "look" of most
Borland products, but this one will give Excel a run.
It's still better than 1-2-3/W (but then, what isn't).
---------------
NETWARE LITE
I recently had the experience of installing a small network.
Since the customer was a church, I recommended going with a peer-
to-peer network like NetWare Lite. (This was my first experience
installing a network.)
I got the NetWare Lite Starter Kit which includes two 16-bit
Ethernet cards, two nodes of software, and the necessary cabling
and connectors.
Installation is quite simple. The documentation explains
things well. Once the cards are installed and the cabling hooked
up, you must decide which machines are to be clients and which are
to be server/clients. Again, the documentation explains it in a
manner that is easy to understand.
Once the software is installed, you use the Net utility to
create network drives, map the drive letters, and capture printer
ports. It's all very simple.
Since this is a peer-to-peer network, security is light. I
was able to get DOS WordPerfect and other DOS applications running
with no problems. Even getting Windows to run over the network was
easy.
So what are the drawbacks? As I mentioned, security is weak.
Curiously, when you logout, your drive mappings and capture ports
are lost. I would thing these would be saved in some type of
configuration. Instead, you can enter the command Net Save to
create a batch file with the necessary information which is then
used for subsequent logons. I guess this system is more versatile
if you have several people using the system with different
configurations for each person. Either way, it's all very easy to
automate and the speed of applications is very acceptable.
---------------
WINDOWS FOR WORKGROUPS
Also scheduled to be on the shelves as you read this is the
much awaited Windows for Workgroups. It's expected to be priced at
$249.95 with the upgrade price to be $99.95. The product will ship
on 10 5.25" disks or 8 3.5" disks (high density, of course).
This is not Windows 3.1 with networking features tacked on,
but a network version of the Windows core technology.
Novell refused to license or provide specs for their IPX.COM
client software, so Microsoft reverse engineered it. Compatibility
with the IPX specification ensured compatibility with NetWare.
The File Manager and Print Managers have been changed with the
addition of icon toolbars for assigning file access rights.
Passwords can be set for read-only and full-access and for access
to any printer connected to any PC running Windows for Workgroups.
Print jobs are spooled onto the system connected to the printer.
All of the networking software runs in memory above 1M, rather than
in conventional memory. DDE has been enhanced by providing cut and
paste capability as well as live links across the network with no
modifications needed to existing applications.
Included in the package are MS-Mail and Schedule+ products.
Both are linked and include a common addressee list. The mail
package allows you to create a local post office and personal
address lists.
Windows for Workgroups was designed to be "administratorless",
but management utilities are included. NETWATCHER.EXE lists users
on the network and lets users prevent others from accessing their
machines. WINMETER.EXE is a performance monitor that measures
whether CPU cycles on any computer are being devoted to an
application running locally or to a task invoked by another network
user.
---------------
PERSONAL NOTE
I understand that some of my readers have tried to contact me
via one of the online services in recent months. Due to outrageous
phone bills, I decided to remove the needle from my arm and lock
out long distance service for a while. Our area does not have a
Telenet node or local access to GEnie. If anyone out there can
pull some strings regarding local access nodes for any of the pay
services, I would be extremely grateful. Through the years, I have
had conversations with both GTE and GEnie (they use different
networks) with no luck. I don't understand why smaller communities
than this one can have a node and we can't. HELP!!
Finally, yes - that's my letter to the editor in the November
issue of PC World.
---------------
ENTERTAINMENT PACK #4
Microsoft finally sent me the Entertainment Pack #4 which
contains seven new Windows games. Of course, some of the games are
stupid, but there are some keepers.
One of the dumb ones is called Go Figure! which makes you
enter numbers and operators to create an equation which equals a
number generated by the computer. That's too much work for me.
There are two others I can do without.
JezzBall is an arcade game which makes you trap moving balls
into a portion of a large grid. Yeah, it's as stupid as it sounds.
The other one I don't like is called Maxwell's Maniac. You
maneuver a gate to swap bouncing balls from one side to the other.
It's similar to JeezBall and deserves the same DEL command.
There is a nice chess game included which keeps track of your
moves and includes a clock - Well done. You can have the computer
help you play blackjack with Dr. Black Jack. It's standard casino
style play with strategy lessons from the computer. Tic Tac Drop
is a Tic-Tac-Toe game where you drop balls into slots, they build
up, and you try to get four in a row. There are several options
for the grid, the number of balls that have to line up, etc. It's
well done and entertaining.
My favorite is Chip's Challenge. You run around a maze
collecting computer chips while avoiding hazards and solving
puzzles. The lower levels are relatively easy and will provide a
challenge in a game that's a little different.
There are no Idelwild screen savers included, and I assume the
price is the same as the other game packs. All of the games use
sound in some way and Chip's Challenge has a MIDI background track
along with samples sounds. It's cool.
---------------
MORE NEW CHIPS
IBM is scheduled to demonstrate a new high-speed 486 processor
at fall Comdex. IBM is developing several new chips, but this one
will certainly be of interest.
This new chip will feature a 99MHz internal speed and 33MHz
internal clock speeds. Think of it as a "clock-tripler" with the
equivalent power of a 100MHz processor. Also under development is
a 33/66MHz 486SLC.
This will be the first time that IBM will sell microprocessor
chips on the open market in large volumes. These chips will be
used in IBM products, but sales to the OEM market will be on module
cards. A licensing agreement with Intel permits IBM to sell the
chips only if they are module mounted.
Other plans include selling 386 and 486 processor technology
in combination with other chip technology such as ASICs, memory
chips, and network components.
Not to be left out, AMD is planning to demonstrate a 50MHz
486DX processor at Fall Comdex, but the chip won't be available
until December or early 1993.
Cyrix is expected to show a 25/50 486DX pin-compatible chip
with 2K of cache. They're still working on a 33/66MHz pin-
compatible 486 chip for release next year. Texas Instruments has
an agreement with Cyrix to manufacture their microprocessors and is
also working on a 486-compatible.
---------------
WORDPERFECT NEWS
There's lots happening at WordPerfect these days, but work is
proceeding slowly.
It will probably be third quarter of 1993 before you see
WordPerfect 6 for DOS. WordPerfect Presents (the updated
Drawperfect) will hopefully ship about the end of the year with the
Windows version following by about 4 months. An update to Office
is also in the works.
And, there is an update to WordPerfect for Windows (Version
5.2) featuring numerous new macros. Among the enhancements are
macros for smart quotes (typeset quality quotes) and a smarter
search and replace for both text and formatting codes. One of the
biggest features is that the product will be E-Mail enabled.
---------------
NEXT MONTH
Well, if Sierra ever gets their act together I'll be looking
at Pinball for Windows and Leisure Suit Larry I (on CD), both now
scheduled for shipment on November 10. But that's been known to
change before.
=================================
DISCLAIMER
RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH
COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various local BBS's, GEnie,
and America Online as well as in Modem News.
In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a DTK
386-33 with 16 megs of memory, Cyrix Fasmath co-processor, ATI VGA
Wonder+ card (1 MB), 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and
1.44 MB floppies, Hitachi 3750 CD ROM drive, Sceptre SVGA display,
Microsoft mouse, WordPerfect for Windows and transmitted through a
US Robotics HST Dual Standard modem.
Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should
be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America
Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
605 W. Wishkah
Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031
(206) 533-6647
GEnie Address: RAG
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