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Silicon Times Report Issue 1234
Silicon Times Report
The Original Independent OnLine Magazine"
(Since 1987)
August 23, 1996 No.1234
Silicon Times Report International OnLine Magazine
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08/23/96 STR 1234 The Original Independent OnLine Magazine!
- CPU Industry News - Corel News - MS Response to NS
- Sony Unveils DigiCam - BIG Screen PC - UPS Tracking Wares
- US Soldier a SPY - Poulsen FREE - Active X NOW!
- Build Power User PC - Internet Banking - Jagwire
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Florida Lotto - LottoMan v1.35
Results: 8/10/96: 4 of 6 numbers, 3 four number matches & 4 three number
matches
From the Editor's Desk...
Wouldn't you know it?? I thought I'd be a little adventurous and at the
same time, be fair to Netscape. So, I installed their latest offering
Version 3.0. It works quite well I thought to myself and I also noticed its
quite fast. I even got the certified signature thingy. This was all
yesterday. This morning, for some strange reason, I noticed a decided
slowdown in my system's overall performance. That all the graphical icons
for those filenames had changed to netscape icons, that the email and news
wanted to call netscape, that when I hit browse the web.. netscape came up
and finally, that the plugin for Activex was not working. I thought perhaps
something was munged and that a new install would fix things. After all the
system was working fine yesterday and the only two changes were the
installation of netscape and the active x plugin for netscape.
I un-installed both programs and re-booted. Now instead of a smooth
boot-up I wound up with a weird notice of a program trying to save a file to
my temp folder. In fact three files! Ok, I thought time to re-boot and
allow the system to stabilize itself. Upon re-booting, the dreaded Registry
File Error box came up. OK, let it re-boot and fix the registry file. NOT.
Both the backup and the file itself were the very same therefore it was not
going to fix itself. I had to go back to my system.1st (8/14/96 date) and
overwrite my system.dat and system.da0 files. I rebooted and all was fine.
Or, so I though. I had no Internet Explorer! I had the icon but that was
it! When those two other files (Netscape 3 and the ActiveX plugin) were un-
installed they took a few "shared files" with them that they should not have.
Now, after two hours of reclamation and rebuilding, my system is back to
its normal hi speed, sure footed performance. I made myself a promise a few
months ago that I'd never install Netscape stuff on my system again after the
un-install of 2.0 clobbered five different shared files. I thought that the
Netscape programmers had perhaps learned to be a little more considerate of
the users. I was wrong. Now, you can bet your bottom dollar that a Netscape
product will never live in, on or around any system I am responsible for.
This is an interesting issue, we have the Powerhouse article for you and
all the latest relative to the `browser wars". There are new games coming
out and a number of other goodies.. you'll fine here. Of course, as always
the very latest computing news too.
Ralph..
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Ralph F. Mariano, Publisher - Editor
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R.F. Mariano J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson
Portables & Gaming Kid's Computing Corner
Marty Mankins Frank Sereno
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Doyle Helms John Duckworth Jeff Coe
Steve Keipe Victor Mariano Melanie Bell
Jay Levy Jeff Kovach Marty Mankins
Carl Prehn Paul Charchian Vincent P. O'Hara
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David H. Mann Angelo Marasco Donna Lines
Ed Westhusing Glenwood Drake Vernon W.Smith
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STReport Headline News
LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson
Net Vandals Hit Justice Department
U.S. Justice Department shut down its home page on the Internet's World Wide
Web yesterday after it was infiltrated by Net vandals who altered the site
to include swastikas, sexually explicit pictures and verbal criticism of the
Communications Decency Act. Associated Press writer Jennifer Brown reports
the site was changed to read "United States Department of Injustice," next
to a red, black and white flag bearing a swastika. The text of the page was
written over a background of gray swastikas, and at the top declared in red
letters: "This page is in violation of the Communications Decency Act."
"The page included color pictures of George Washington, Adolf Hitler, who is
called the attorney general, and a topless Jennifer Aniston, one of the
stars of NBC's 'Friends.' Other sexually explicit images were shown," Brown
writes. Department spokesman Joe Krovisky told the wire service Justice
officials were not sure initially what statutes were violated by the
intrusion, but certainly would be against the law." Possibilities, he said,
might be destruction or defacing government property -- or perhaps
trespassing.
Krovisky added the department expected to have the page reconstructed and
running again by today or tomorrow. The agency web site (reached at Web
address http://www.usdoj.gov) is used to post public information, including
government news releases and speeches. AP says the intruders used the
majority of the web site to criticize the controversial Communication
Decency Act, signed in February, which makes transmitting sexually explicit
material in ways children might see it a felony, punishable by up to two
years in prison and a $250,000 fine. A federal appeals court declared the
law unconstitutional.
In its altered state, the page read, "As the largest law firm in the nation,
the Department of Justice serves to punish all who don't agree with the
moral standards set forth by (President) Clinton. Anything and anyone
different must be jailed." It said the new law takes away privacy rights and
freedom of speech, adding, "It is hard to trick hundreds of millions of
people out of their freedoms, but we should be complete within a decade."
The changed page also had links to other web sites, all unflattering, about
Clinton, Republican presidential nominee Bob Dole and conservative
commentator Pat Buchanan.
Justice Hack Shows Vulnerability
If there was any doubt of the continuing vulnerability of the Internet's
World Wide Web sites, last weekend's electronic vandalizing of the U.S.
Justice Department's Net site should put things in perspective. "The vast
majority of sites are vulnerable," analyst Richard Power of the Computer
Security Institute has told Aaron Pressman of the Reuter News Service. "The
Justice Department shouldn't be singled out." As reported earlier, the
Justice Department had to shut down its Web page (http://www.usdoj.gov) for
most of the weekend after intruders altered the site to include swastikas,
sexually explicit pictures and verbal criticism of the controversial
Communications Decency Act.
Justice officials told the wire service the compromised site was not
connected to any computers containing sensitive files. The site includes
copies of press releases, speeches and other publicly available information.
Spokesman Bert Brandenburg characterized the security breach as "just like
graffiti on the outside of the building." The site was fixed and back in
business by Sunday night. Reuters notes other organizations have been
targeted in the past. For instance, last year, the Nation of Islam's Million
Man March web site was vandalized. And, according to a General Accounting
Office report, electronic intruders make an estimated 250,000 attempts
annually to break into U.S. military computers.
In addition, Reuters notes Windows Magazine recently found security flaws at
web sites of a dozen major corporations, quoting editor Mike Elgan as
saying, "The Web is spectacularly insecure." Says the wire service,
"Relying on security holes that had been documented b software manufacturers
months earlier, the magazine's specialists were able to gain various degrees
of unauthorized access at the different sites."
Elgan says vandals who are exploiting some of the same flaws are motivated by
anger over the growth and commercialization of the Internet, adding, "A
common theme is that hackers are fed up with non-hackers on the Internet."
But the battle isn't lost. Power says, "There's all kinds of measures you can
take. Most corporations and institutions don't take them simply because
nothing bad has happened to them yet." He noted some sites are using
multiple layers of security, well beyond simple password protection.
White House Backs Net Commerce
A plan to persuade other countries to lower barriers to business transactions
conducted over the Internet reportedly will be unveiled this fall by the
White House. Electronic commerce is part of a larger program to promote
exports over the next five to 10 years, administration officials have told
Communications Daily newsletter. "One possibility under discussion," CD
reports today, "would designate (the) Internet as sort of (a) tax-free zone
in which countries would be encouraged not to levy tax on transactions or
services it carried, with (the) proposal covering such items as legal
services, movies (and) software."
The administration official told the newsletter the federal government wants
to establish a principle prohibiting duties on sales across the Internet for
those products because some world governments - primarily in Asia -- are
considering imposing such a tax. (CD notes Malaysia and China are among
countries discussing the tax, although nothing has been imposed.) In
addition, says the newsletter, the administration official says the White
House is trying to ensure that continuing international discussions setting a
framework for online business create a "uniform environment to make
transactions easy."
For example, there would be the same means of agreeing to contracts or
accepting delivery of items in all countries, along with adjudicating
mechanisms if a single uniform commercial code changes could be agreed upon,
officials said. CD says a United Nations agency already has started to work
on uniform commercial code principles for electronic commerce, and the White
House hopes to have guidelines finished and accepted in the next couple of
years.
The newsletter adds the administration "also is planning to look into
intellectual property rights, electronic funds transfer and related topics
with (an) eye toward allowing (the) marketplace, rather than governments, to
set (the) standard, officials said." In addition, privacy and encryption are
on the agenda, "and," says CD, "there are different views within (the
government) as to how those policies should develop because there are
different objectives to be achieved. Encryption in context of developing
commercial business is different from encryption in context of law
enforcement"
Law Limits E-Mail Seizures
A communications and computer law attorney says the Electronic Communications
Privacy Act may restrict the use of intercepted electronic communications --
such as e-mail messages -- in criminal prosecutions. Carl Salisbury, of
Killian & Salisbury in East Hanover, New Jersey, says the federal legislation
requires law enforcement authorities to obtain so-called "super warrants"
before seizing certain kinds of electronic communications. The failure to
comply with the law's requirements can result in exclusion of the seized
evidence at trial.
But Salisbury notes that despite the extra protection afforded by the law to
certain kinds of electronic communications, he is advising clients to use
what he calls the "New York Times standard" for e-mail transmissions.
"Anything that they wouldn't want to have published on the front page of the
New York Times," says Salisbury, "they perhaps ought not to be putting in
their e-mail."
Grants Seed Next Generation Net
Thirteen grants to U.S. universities from the National Science Foundation may
lead to development of new technologies that could dramatically improve the
Internet of the future. Each university gets $350,000 for research
projects and access to NSF's super quick computer network, the very high
speed Backbone Network Service or vBNS, reports Aaron Pressman of the Reuter
News Service.
"The latest research projects include improvements in basic networking
technology as well as creation of new multimedia applications that require
high speed connections," Pressman adds. "If the projects come to fruition,
Internet users around the world could someday meet in realistic,
three-dimensional environments that exist only in a computer."
NSF officials say that will require not only new software, but also
improvements in the basic infrastructure of the Internet, and such research
cannot be done on the existing overcrowded network. "The vBNS system can
theoretically transfer data at a rate of 155 million bits per second,
compared to 45 mllion bits on the Internet's major routes or a home modem's
speed of just 28,800 bits per second," Reuters notes. And at the end of the
year, vBNS will be upgraded to 622 million bits and to 2.2 billion bits in
another few years.
Astronomy professor Paul Woodward at University of Minnesota told the wire
service he will use a grant to hook up with computers at the University of
Illinois to model the behavior of fluid turbulence in the sun, large planets
and the oceans. Besides Minnesota and Illinois, other schools winning grants
include Baylor College of Medicine, Georgia Tech, Iowa State University, Ohio
State University, Old Dominion University, University of Chicago, University
of Houston, William Marsh Rice University and the universities of Colorado,
California and Pennsylvania.
N.Y. Times Wants Your Ideas
If you can coin a clever, pithy digital equivalent to The New York Times'
famous slogan, "All the News That's Fit to Print," you could win $100 in a
contest the paper is hosting. The Times says the new slogan will be used on
the newspaper's web site (reached at Web address http://www.nytimes.com).
Contestants are asked to summarize, in 10 words or less, the news mission of
The New York Times on the Web. Submit entries via e-mail to
INTERNET:slogannytimes.com. Entries will be accepted until midnight Oct. 1.
Incidentally, this is a repeat of history. After publisher Adolph S. Ochs
bought the Times 100 years ago this week and coined the famous masthead
slogan 100 years ago this week, it was decided to offer $100 to anyone who
could propose a better one. The Times notes today in a statement, "The
response was astonishing with thousands of entries including, 'All the News
That's Fit to Read,' 'All the News Worth Telling,' 'Free From Filth, Full of
News,' and 'News for the Millions, Scandal for None.'"
Although a winner was selected (D.M. Redfield of New Haven, Connecticut, for
"All the World News but Not a School for Scandal"), the original slogan
already had become ingrained in the public mind. The paper paid Redfield the
$100, but decided to retain "All the News That's Fit to Print."
Net Seen as Candidate Info Source
A majority of Americans (65.7 percent) responding to a recent AT&T poll are
interested in accessing the Internet to find out where candidates stand on
certain issues. Additionally, nearly half said they would rather vote by
computer than in person, if that option were available. Nearly a quarter of
those responding had ccess to the Internet, and of that group, 20 percent
planned to use it to follow the 1996 presidential election.
About 35 percent of that group said they felt such information could be
accessed more quickly through the Internet than other media. The telephone
poll of more than 1,000 respondents was designed to determine attitudes about
the Internet In relation to the upcoing elections. It was conducted by the
Princeton, New Jersey-based research company Bruskin, Goldring.
75 High-Tech Execs Back Clinton
From San Jose, California, comes word 75 high-tech business leaders have gone
on the record endorsing President Clinton for re-election, saying his
policies have helped their companies prosper and create jobs. Associated
Press writer Catalina Ortiz reports the executives, most from California's
Silicon Valley, also said Clinton understood the need to invest in the
future through fostering research and education. Venture capitalist John
Doerr, one of several executives who spoke with Clinton and Vice President Al
Gore by phone, told the wire service, "This administration really gets it."
Ortiz says some 20 of the 75 executives gathered at the headquarters of
desktop publishing software maker Adobe Systems Inc. Adobe President Chuck
Geschke and CEO John Warnock were among the executives acking Clinton.
Others include Xerox Corp. CEO Paul Allaire, Broderbund Software Inc. chief
Doug Carlston, Silicon Graphics Inc. chairman Ed McCracken, former
Hewlett-Packard Co. chief John Young and chairman Bill Hambrecht of
Hambrecht & Quist.
Also among the backers is Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple Computer and
currently head of Pixar Animation Studios, who told Ortiz, "Silicon Valley
doesn't traditionally look for handouts. What it looks for is a solid
business climate based on economic policy that makes sense. And I think we
feel we've had that over the last four years and we're looking for that to
continue."
Meanwhile, back in Washington, Dole spokeswoman Christina Martin said she
expected her camp to get "more than our fair share of endorsements from
technology leaders" across the country, adding, "The simple fact is that
Bill Clinton has been on the wrong side of Silicon Valley on the issues of
taxation, including capital gains tax relief, securities litigation reform,
product liability reform, relaxation of outdated export controls on hardware
and software, and a host of other mportant issues."
Karpov Challenges the World
Anatoly Karpov is ready to stare down the world next Monday. The Russian
chess veteran is challenging the rest of the world in an historic virtual
chess game on the Internet's World Wide Web. Reporting from Helsinki, the
Reuter News Service quotes Finnish host Telecom Finland as saying that after
every move by Karpov, the rest of the world has 10 minutes to enter moves
against him through the Internet. A server then will select the most
frequently proposed move and execute it.
Net surfers who want to play can visit the Web address
http://www.tele.fi/karpov before Monday for details. Karpov retained his
title as International Chess Federation world champion in July when he
defeated Russian-born U.S. grandmaster Gata Kamsky in a match held in the
former Soviet republic of Kalmykia. No. 1 rated Garry Kasparov did not
challenge because of a split with the federation.
UPS Launches Tracking Software
Free Windows-based software is being handed out by UPS that allows customers
to track packages using Invoice or catalog order numbers of shippers, not
just the UPS number. The software interacts with UPS' World Wide Web site
(http://www.ups.com) to find package drop-off points, request a package
pickup or compare shipping costs. It also can track up to 100 packages
simultaneously. According to a statement from the company's Atlanta offices,
the software displays an image of a receiver's signature, unlike previous
versions that just indicated a package had been signed for.
Big Screen PC to Hit Stores
Direct market PC maker Gateway 2000 says it is making its new Destination
big-screen PC available through select retail stores. Destination will be
available in Nobody Beats the Wiz stores this week, and in CompUSA stores by
mid-September. Destination will be the only Gateway product sold through
retail chains. The Pentium processor-based Destination system is designed
to let users spread out 10 to 15 feet from its 31-inch screen. The system's
computer and television functions are controlled through a touchpad-equipped
wireless keyboard and a wireless remote control/mouse.
Destination is compatible with consumer electronics components such as VCRs,
stereo systems and laser disc players. The system can take video feeds from
cable television systems, traditional antennas or other video devices. Audio
signals from the Destination system can be channeled through home stereo
systems to offer surround sound capability. "To explain this new category
of convergence technology, we need to allow people to experience
Destination," says Gateway 2000 Chairman and CEO Ted Waitt.
"In CompUSA and Nobody Beats the Wiz, Gateway 2000 has chosen two chains with
dominant positions in their markets, ones whose employees have the skill set
to properly maret and sell the product in a retail setting," says Stephen M.
Baker, senior analyst for distribution channels research at IDC.
Sony Unveils Digital Camera
Sony Electronics has introduced its first low-end digital still camera. The
$850 DSC-F1 features a 1.8-inch, LCD screen, 4MB of flash memory, wireless
infrared image transfer capabilities, a built-in flash, a rechargeable
lithium-ion battery and several recording modes. Sony says the DSC-F1's
charge-coupled device (CCD) provides a VGA-quality 640-by480-dot resolution
with 24-bit color. Depending on the resolution, anywhere between 30 and 108
JPEG images can stored in the camera's memory. The DSC-F1 measures 4 by 3 by
1.6 inches and fits into a pocket, briefcase or purse. The camera is set to
ship in October. "(The DSC-F1) is the first in a new family of imaging
products designed to enable business professionals -- from claims adjusters
to Web developers -- to become more productive and creative," says Neal
Manowitz, marketing manager for Sony Information Technologies of America.
Novell Introduces IntranetWare
With more companies adopting intranets -- corporate networks based on
Internet technology -- Novell Inc. has announced IntranetWare, a new product
that turns its NetWare proprietary network operating system into an intranet
and Internet access platform. IntranetWare builds on the distributed
services found in Novell's upcoming NetWare 4.11 (code-named Green River).
It includes a Web server and browser; a gateway between industry-standard
TCP/IP and IPX/SPX networking protocols; and a multiprotocol router for
wide-area network and Internet connections. Novel says IntranetWare will ship
in the fall at about the same time as NetWare 4.11. Pricing hasn't yet been
set.
"With IntranetWare, Novell opens our product line and 55 million customers to
the future of networking," says Robert J. Frankenberg, Novell's chairman and
CEO. "It was only a decade ago that Novell revolutionized networking with
NetWare. Now we have again reached one of thosewatershed points in the
development of our industry as customers evolve their networks into intranets
based on distributed network services and open standards. Once again, Novell
is driving the evolution of networking to give our customers' businesses an
enduring competitive edge."
Net Pioneers Face Bumpy Road
According to new research from International Data Corp., today's Internet
commerce pioneers face some bleak times before they harvest their first cash
crops. However, notes the Framingham, Massachusetts-based market researcher,
"merchants with fortitude and vision will survive and ultimately succeed."
IDC's key findings:
ú Currently, the Internet is best used to build relationships, increase
brand recognition and serve as a prospecting tool-- not as a source of an
immediate increase in revenue.
ú Commerce sites believe a significant Web presence will generate
increased sales in retail. Of Web shoppers, 25 to 35 percent say they bought
a product at retail based on information they obtained from the Internet.
ú Online commerce currently holds the most promise for products and
services requiring detailed explanation or satisfying the psychodemographics
of a specific class of buyers.
ú The Internet is still kin to its roots -- a communication medium.
Consequently, most consumers use the Internet for browsing, entertainment
and information retrieval.
ú Consumers remain uneasy about trusting sensitive credit information to
unknown commerce sites or transmitting credit information over unsecured
networks.
Softbank Takes Control of Kingston
Softbank Corp. says it will make a majority investment in Kingston Technology
Corp., the world's leading supplier of memory modules. Softbank will
acquire an 80 percent equity interest in a newly formed partnership that will
assume the business of Kingston. Kingston's co-founders will retain the
remaining 20 percent equity interest in the new partnership. According to
Softbank, the purchase price will be approximately $1.5 billion plus
earnings-related performance payments for 1996 and 1997. The investment
will be paid for in cash and $425 million of newly-issued shares of Softbank
common stock, amounting to slightly less than 5 percent of Softbank's
outstanding shares.
Kingston will operate as an autonomous member of the Softbank group of
companies. Kingston c-founders John Tu and David Sun will continue to manage
the company, retaining all of its current management, its current personnel
and its operating philosophies, says Softbank. "Softbank is committed to
providing essential infrastructure services through a network of key
'building block' companies that provide the growth tools needed by the
evolving digital information industry," says Masayoshi Son, president and CEO
of Softbank. "Memory is essential to achieving software and hardware
productivity and performance.
With the ever-expanding memory needs of today's PCs, workstations and other
digital appliances, the memory market opportunity is enormous. Kingston's
leadership position -- combined with its grasp of logistics management,
marketing, and design -- allows it to fill a critical market need." Softbank
has been expanding rapidly in recent month. The Tokyo-based company made
headlines last year when it acquired Ziff-Davis Publishing Co., publisher of
PC Magazine, PC/Computing and several other major computer publications.
Excite Inc. Buys Web Designer
For undisclosed terms, developers of the Excite search service on the
Internet's World Wide Web have purchased Go Media, a Web design firm based
in Austin, Texas. Reporting from Mountain View, California, Richard Bowers
writes for the Newsbytes news wire that Excite says all management and staff
of Go Media will be retained, and the operations will remain in Texas. This
is the second major acquisition for Excite recently. Earlier this month, it
bought the McKinley Group, developer of the Magellan Internet Guide. Bowers
writes that Go Media "will be working on internal Excite projects and they
have stopped work on outside projects." Go Media has developed Web sites
for Whole Foods Markets, the City of Austin, Del Webb Corp. and Dell Computer
Corp.
Chip Maker Sets Layoffs
National Semiconductor Corp. is reducing its work force by 170 people,
primarily at its Santa Clara, Ca., headquarters. The chip maker announced in
June it would takea restructuring charge in the current quarter, partly to
cover the costs of work-force reductions. "These reductions are in line with
several ongoing activities to reduce costs," says Dick Wilson, National
Semiconductor's vice president of human resources. Wilson also attributed a
portion of the current reduction to centralization of manufacturing and
consolidation of other activities, which had also been announced in June.
The work-force reductions in Santa Clara are mainly in general,
administrative and manufacturing support areas. "Today's action will
strengthen our competitive position," adds Wilson, "as we move in the
direction of providing highly integrated, leading edge systems for
information highway products, exploiting our analog and mixed-signal
expertise." National Semiconductor says employees affected by the reduction
are being paid for 60 days and provided with outplacement services and
severance packages (including benefits coverage) based on company service.
National Semiconductor has 20,000 employees worldwide. In fiscal 1996, the
company reported sales of $2.6 billion.
Intel Admits CPU Delayed
Delays and supply shortages for some of its 200MHz chips are hampering
chipmaker Intel Corp. as it grapples with an unprecedented large demand for
high-end microprocessors. Writing for PC Magazine Trends Online, Sebastian
Rupley says Intel has confirmed "an August/September supply shortage of
200-MHz Pentium chips,
which system manufacturers cite as causing 15- to 30-day waits for 200-MHz
Pentium systems."
Rupley says Intel also has decided "to delay its P55C chip -- the first
Pentium CPU to incorporate the MMX instruction set and multimedia extensions
-- until the first quarter of 1997." (Originally, Intel planned to make the
P55C available in the fourth quarter of 1996.) Intel's Frank Spindler,
marketing manager for Pentium processors, told the news wire, "If you
compare the rate at which buyers are moving toward the very high end of the
Pentium generation to the same move in demand toward the high end of, say,
the 486 generation, things are happening much faster now." He notes,
however, that demand for 166-MHz CPUs is not trailing off -- it is, in fact,
growing.
Rupley adds the delay in the P55C's shipment will mean the chip misses the
holiday buying season. "Intel has plans to follow the P55C with the
introduction of a low-cost version of the Pentium Pro chip for the consumer
market," he reports. "Code-named Klamath, the chip will incorporate the MMX
multimedia extensions and instruction set and run at speeds of up to 233
MHz."
Robotics Denies Price Cuts
Despite rumors to the contrary, modem industry leader U.S. Robotics Corp says
it has not announced any plans to reduce prices further on its modems. A
spokeswoman in the company headquarters near Chicago has told the Reuter
News Service the company cut prices this summer, but as a normal course of
business, adding U.S. Robotics also has not changed its outlook for the
growth in its business. "Nothing has changed," she told Reuters. "We see
good growth for the short and long term."
Reuters notes rumors circulated the modem maker would cut prices on its
remote access product line, but analysts said the talk was unsubstantiated.
Southcoast Capital analyst James McIlree told the wire service it dates back
to a discount program offered in April to small Internet service providers.
Meanwhile, investors have been jittery over another unsubstantiated rumor
that Motorola Inc. may plan to exit the modem business, "which in the short
term would mean a surge of price cuts but later would mean one less
competitor," Reuters said, adding Motorola emphatically denies the report.
CD-ROM Shipments Projected at 54M
New research suggests that in just four years, worldwide CD-ROM shipments
have increased from 2.5 million drives in 1992 to an estimated 54.5 million
drives this year. A study of optical disk drives by Disk/Trend Report Inc.
in Mountain View, California, also says:
ú Read-only CD-ROM drives are expected to provide 94.6 percent of all
optical disk drive shipments in 1996.
ú Writable CD format drives, such as CD-R write-once models, plus PD
drives that can use either CD-ROM read-only disks or rewritable disks, will
add another 3.6 percent to the worldwide total of 57.6 million optical disk
drives of all types.
ú Shipments of CD format drives for computer applications are projected to
be dominated by CD-ROM drives through 1999.
"Although shipments of the new DVD-ROM drives offering much higher capacities
combined wih backward compatibility for current CD-ROM disks are expected to
start at the end of 1996," says a statement from the researchers, "DVD-ROM
drive shipments are not expected to pass up CD-ROM drive annual shipments
until after 1999." Disk/Trend added the delay will be caused by the time
required to establish large-scale DVD-ROM drive manufacturing, will "bring
DVD-ROM prices down to levels competitive with CD-ROM drives."
Netscape-Microsoft Fight Widens
Broadening its anti-trust allegations against its rival, Netscape
Communications Corp. now alleges Microsoft Corp. offered improper payments
and other inducements to persuade PC makers and Net service providers to use
Microsoft's World Wide Web software. The Mountain View, California, Web
browser king is asking the U.S. Justice Department to determine whether
Microsoft's Web marketing tactics violate a 1994 antitrust settlement with
the government.
Writing in The Wall Street Journal this morning, reporter Don Clark says
Netscape's allegations are contained in an Aug. 12 letter to the Justice
Department released yesterday by a Netscape lawyer. For its part, Microsoft
"flatly denied the charges," Clark reports, "branding them a desperate
response by Netscape to counter Microsoft's momentum in the marketplace."
Microsoft Vice President Brad Chase added, "They are trying to divert
attention from their products with a PR stunt." Of course, the Justice
Department isn't commenting, but the Journal notes, "Even if true, some
antitrust attorneys questioned whether Microsoft's alleged tactics would be
regarded by courts as anticompetitive."
Still, Netscape's allegations "significantly escalate tensions" between the
two, "and," says Clark, "raise the odds that the agency will expand a
long-running investigation of Microsoft to include Web software." As
everyone breathing on the Net knows, Netscape and Microsoft are locked in a
fierce battle of competing Web browser programs. As reported earlier,
Netscape previous complained to the Justice Department about what it said was
Microsoft's attempt to place limits on the number of Microsoft Windows NT
Workstation software for competing Web server programs.
In the latest letter, Netscape lawyer Gary Reback of Palo Alto, California,
alleges Microsoft is using "clandestine" incentives and penalties to convince
PC makers to use Microsoft's free Internet Explorer
browser, and to make Netscape's Navigator program less accessible to users.
He sys PC makers trying to display the two companies' browsers equally have
been told by Microsoft that they must pay $3 more for a copy of Microsoft's
Windows 95 operating system than those that give favorable treatment to
Microsoft's software.
"Most weren't named," says the Journal, "but the letter says Hitachi Ltd. has
refused to bundle Netscape Navigator with a laptop computer because its
operating system license with Microsoft prohibits it. A spokesman for that
company's U.S. subsidiary declined to comment until it had consulted with
legal counsel in Japan." Reback alleges Microsoft has offered some
companies free hardware, free advertising and free software, adding that
some international services have been offered as much as $400,000 in
marketing funds on condition that they won't sell Netscape or other
competing Internet software. But at Microsoft, Chase denied any of its
marketing agreements discriminate against Netscape. He told the paper
Netscape has been manipulating Internet standards processes to hurt Microsoft
and other competitors.
Microsoft Apologizes to So. Korea
South Korea has received an apology from Microsoft Corp. because the software
giant erroneously drew the Korea-Japan border around a set of disputed
islets in its CD-ROM world atlas. The Associated Press notes Microsoft's
Encarta 96 World Atlas, which was put on the market late last year,
identified the islets and the nearby South Korean island of Ullung as part
of Japanese territories, triggering ire among some Korean customers.
Reporting from Seoul, AP quotes a company statement as saying, "Microsoft
sincerely apologizes for the inaccurate labeling of Korean territory,"
adding it will correct the mistake in its next version of the electronic
atlas, which will come onto the market in October. Microsoft said the islets
-- called "Tok-do" in Korea and "Takeshima" in Japan -- will be designated
as a disputed territory under the effective control of South Korea.
"The Encarta atlas also identified a crater lake atop Mt. Paektu on the
China-North Korea border as Chinese territory," AP says. "Korean mythology
holds the lake as a sacred place, and many Koreans consider it part of their
territory. Microsoft said it is checking documents to see if it has made a
mistake."
Student Named in Egyptian Fraud
A 20-year-old engineering student in Egypt's port city of Alexandria has been
charged with using his PC to forge 2 million Egyptian pounds, the equivalent
of $588,000. Reporting from Cairo, the Xinhua Chinese news service says
Mohammed Moustafa Abdul Moneim told police he had a high-powered portable
computer
and decided to use his computer skills to forge bank notes.
The wire service quotes the English-language newspaper The Egyptian Gazette
as saying the man allegedly printed the bank notes in collaboration with his
brother, Ahmed, and a friend named Adel M. Ali. "When I bought some items
with the fake note, the shop owner thanked me for giving him a brand new
note, and his compliment encouraged me to print more and more of this 'fine
print,'" he told the paper. The police arrested them after an informer
overheard Adel talking in a coffee shop about "a fake money deal," the paper
reported.
U.S. Soldier Accused of Spying
A soldier at North Carolina's Fort Bragg is accused of intruding into a
military's computer system and giving "secret computer passwords relating to
the national defense" to a Chinese citizen. Twenty-year-old Pfc. Eric O.
Jenott, a communication switch operator from Seattle, has been jailed at Camp
Lejeune since June 26, charged with espionage, damaging military property,
larceny and breaking into government computer systems, according to Army
documents quoted today by the Fayetteville Observer-Times.
The paper adds Jenott could be sentenced to life in a military prison if he
is convicted in a court-martial. Jenott lawyer Timothy Dunn said his client
is "not a criminal, just a computer hacker who happened to access a very
important and expensive, supposedly impenetrable system." In Graham,
Washington, Jenott's father, John Jenott, told United Press International
his son discovered an apparent weakness in the military's communications
system several months ago, and persuaded his superiors to watch him break
into the system to prove a point, adding, "If he would have never told them,
they wouldn't have known it."
The father said Jenott, a member of Fort Bragg's 35th Signal Brigade, also
told investigators he gave a friend from China an Internet access code that
is not classified. The paper quotes the Army documents as saying Jenott
gave secret passwords to "a citizen of a foreign nation." Fort Bragg
officials declined comment except to say the case is under investigation.
Jenott's father said his son was surprised when he was arrested and accused
of compromising the commuications system by accessing it. "He said, 'I'd
rather face the death penalty than confess to something I didn't do,'"
Jenott's father said.
Prosecutors have decided not to pursue the death penalty, the newspaper said.
A military court is scheduled to decide next month whether Jenott must
continue living behind bars.
Poulsen Free, But Job Hopes Dim
Famed computer intruder Kevin Lee Poulsen, imprisoned five years for his
cyberspace havoc, now is free, but his job prospects are dim because he is
under a court order to stay away from computers for the next three years.
In Los Angeles, the 30-year-old computerist has told The Associated Press he
fears selling cowboy boots at a Western store will be his only opportunity
to make some money.
Said Poulsen, "It's the only place where I've been greeted with a positive
attitude. I can't get a job that I am qualified for, basically. The only
thing I am qualified to do is computer stuff. Computer programming. Computer
administration." AP notes Poulsen was so adept at manipulating Pacific Bell
computers he was able "to spy on FBI agents while they spied on crooks." As
reported, before his 1991 arrest, he won a Porsche by using computers to rig
radio station phone-in contests.
"But now he's in a computer-less world," says the wire service. "He's even
had to ask his probation officer for permission to drive because most cars
these days contain tiny on-board computers that regulate the engine. His
parents had to get rid of their computer before he could live with them in
suburban North Hollywood." But he is hopeful he can talk the judge into
some leniency. He goes to federal court Sept. 3 in hopes of having some of
the computer restrictions relaxed. His motion says, "All of these
restrictions reach well beyond public safety concerns and are clearly
punitive."
Assistant U.S. Attorney David Schindler disagrees, telling AP, "Given the
havoc he wrought with computers, absolutely it would be irresponsible to
allow him to have untethered access to computers at this juncture." Poulsen
also will ask the judge to allow him to go to college and major in computer
science rather than work full time to make restitution to the three Los
Angeles radio stations that lost more than $20,000. Said Poulsen, "They were
giving it away anyway." That comment angered the radio station managers.
"Hearing that upsets me," KPWR general manager Marie Kordus told AP. "He has
that attitude after five years? Is this how he is going to continue to make
his living?"
Browser Wars Rage On STR Focus
Lawyers Doubt Netscape Charges Will Pass Muster
WASHINGTON, Aug 21 - Antitrust lawyers doubt the Justice Department will
decide Microsoft Corp <MSFT.O> has acted improperly, based on charges
leveled against the company by rival Netscape Communications Corp <NSCP.O>.
Netscape has asked the department to take immediate action against Microsoft
for "far-reaching anti-competitive behavior" involving the market for
software used to browse the World Wide Web portion of the Internet.
In an eight-page letter, Netscape charged that Microsoft offered improper
payments and various inducements to computer makers and Internet service
providers to entice them to use Microsoft's browser software. Lawyers
questioned whether the tactics described were unlawful and noted that in the
market for browser software, Netscape is the dominant player and not
Microsoft. "It's a bit of a stretch to call what Microsoft is described as
doing a violation of the consent decree or a violation of antitrust laws,"
said Robert Skitol of Drinker Biddle & Reath.
In 1995, a federal judge approved the Justice Department's antitrust
settlement with Microsoft, under which the computer software maker agreed to
modify its licensing practices. Much of the investigation centered on how
Microsoft achieved dominance in the market for operating system software.
By contrast, Skitol noted that in the latest dispute Netscape has a
commanding lead in the growing browser market, with a share estimated at
more than 80 percent. "In the browser category, Netscape is the elephant and
Microsoft is the mouse," he said. Netscape said Microsoft's inducements
were made on the condition that the parties involved would "make
competitors' browsers far less accessible to users than Microsoft's own
browsers."
"Absent some abuse of market power, it's hard to see how this is unlawful,"
said Phillip Proger of Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue. "If all Microsoft is
doing is giving consumers higher value and competing on a value basis, then
it's hard to say that's unlawful," he added. Meanwhile, lawyers doubted that
the Justice Department would follow Netscape's suggestion and turn the issue
back to the Federal Trade Commission for further investigation. They
suggested that the department will want to retain the case. A Justice
Department spokesman was not immediately available to comment on the matter.
Microsoft Responds to Netscape Letter to Justice Department
August 22, 1996
STATEMENT
It will come as no surprise that Microsoft is competing intensely with
Netscape and many others in the development and marketing of Internet-related
technologies. Coming from behind, we are devoting substantial resources to
developing a wide range of innovative technologies that are cross-platform
and based on open Internet standards. By working with many partners and
customers and delivering superior products to the marketplace, Microsoft
hopes to bring tens or even hundreds of millions of new computer users onto
the Internet and contribute to making the Web much richer, more dynamic and
more useful. We believe we took a great step forward with the August 12
release of Internet Explorer 3.0, our full-featured Web browser, which has
received an enthusiastic consumer response (more than 1,000,000 people
downloaded Internet Explorer 3.0 in the first week that it was available) and
has won very favorable reviews in head-to-head comparisons with Netscape
Navigator.
Netscape's August 12 letter to the Department of Justice--and its decision to
release the supposedly "confidential" letter to the media earlier this week -
is a transparent attempt to divert attention from our progress. The letter is
a calculated attempt by Netscape to enlist the government and the media in
its marketing campaigns.
Netscape's letter consists of a series of wild and irresponsible allegations
that have no basis in law or fact. The gist of the letter - that Microsoft is
seeking to "restrict consumer choice" in Web browsers - is bizarre in light
of Netscape's oft-repeated claims that its browser, Netscape Navigator, is
used by approximately 85% of all computer users accessing the World Wide Web
and is one of the most successful software products of all time. Navigator is
certainly very "accessible" to consumers: Netscape trumpets the claim that
every day another 150,000 copies of Navigator are downloaded from its Web
site.
Microsoft's progress is the result of hard work, product improvement,
mutually beneficial partnerships, and creative marketing. The vigorous
competition between Netscape and Microsoft has led to the availability of
better browsers, attractive promotions for consumers and improvements in the
Web experience at a dizzying pace - with no let up in sight. But now Netscape
is seeking government aid to protect it from the competitive challenge that
Microsoft poses to its position in Web browsers. That is exactly the opposite
of what the antitrust laws are all about.
As shown below, the allegations contained in Netscape's letter are without
merit. Microsoft adheres strictly to all legal requirements, including those
in the 1994 consent decree.
BROWSER DISTRIBUTION THROUGH PC MANUFACTURERS
Netscape claims that Microsoft offers OEMs a $3.00 discount on Windows 95 if
the OEM agrees to make competing browsers "far less accessible to users."
This is false. OEMs who license Windows 95 for installation on new PCs are
entirely free to ship any other software they like on those machines, without
any effect on their Windows 95 royalties to Microsoft. There is not and has
never been any $3.00 discount for making competing browsers "less
accessible." OEMs are free to place icons for other software products on the
Windows 95 "desktop" or on the Windows 95 programs menu, where they will be
easily accessible to computer users.
Also false is Netscape's claim that some PC makers are prohibited from
carrying Netscape Navigator under their license agreements with Microsoft.
Hitachi has publicly denied Netscape's allegations concerning the company.
Hitachi has explained that it has never "refused" to ship Navigator or any
other software product due to any provision in a Microsoft license and that
Hitachi is always free to choose the best software available to meets its
vision for computer users. Hitachi has confirmed that, in fact, it ships both
Netscape Navigator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer with its notebook
computers today.
BROWSER DISTRIBUTION THROUGH INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS
Microsoft is working hard to compete with Netscape in the distribution of Web
browser software through Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Although Netscape
still has a significant lead, we are making progress because of the widely-
recognized quality of Internet Explorer 3.0, the improvement in our Macintosh
and Windows 3.1 browser offerings, the development path we have set out for
future versions of Internet Explorer and related Internet technologies, and
our flexibility and willingness to enter into business arrangements with ISPs
on more favorable terms than those offered by Netscape.
Netscape complains that Microsoft is offering ISPs leads for potential new
customers in exchange for agreements by those ISPs to distribute Internet
Explorer to many of the customers who sign up ISP service as a result of the
Microsoft-provided lead. That is a strange allegation because (a) such
cooperative marketing is perfectly sensible and legal, and (b) Netscape is
doing it too.
To make it easy for computer users to get hooked up to the Internet, Windows
95 will soon include a feature that offers computer users the opportunity to
sign up with various ISPs who service their geographic area. The ISP will pay
Microsoft a small fee for each customer who signs up for Internet service via
this arrangement. Although the terms of the agreement vary, the ISP generally
also agrees to distribute Microsoft's Internet Explorer as its preferred
browser to customers who come to it through the Microsoft connection. In
other words, if Microsoft helps an ISP secure a customer, the ISP will
generally do likewise for Microsoft.
Significantly, however, these agreements do not obligate ISPs to distribute
Internet Explorer exclusively (although we know that many ISPs currently ship
Netscape Navigator exclusively). Thus Netscape's claim that Microsoft has
offered ISPs "side payments" "on condition that they will not sell any
Netscape or other Internet software" is false. ISPs may distribute competing
Web browsers, such as Netscape Navigator, even to customers who sign up with
them as a result of leads provided by Microsoft. Furthermore, these customers
can very easily switch to different browsers at any time, and switch again as
often as they like. Netscape Navigator is very easy to find and download on
the Web: literally tens of thousands of Web sites contain advertising that
solicits consumers to download Netscape Navigator. Microsoft knows well that
distribution over the Internet is a very effective means of distributing
browsers: as noted, more than 1,000,000 people downloaded Internet Explorer
in the first week that it was available on the Web. Consumers will choose and
use the browser--or browsers--that best serve their needs.
Netscape's complaints about Microsoft's arrangements with ISPs are not only
unfounded (because there is nothing wrong with such arrangements), they are
also hypocritical: Netscape itself has entered into the same types of
arrangements with ISPs. Netscape offers ISPs a chance to obtain customer
leads through the retail version of Netscape Navigator in exchange for
payments to Netscape (we believe) and promises to ship Netscape Navigator as
the ISPs' preferred browser. In fact, we believe that Netscape has recently
started to insist that ISPs who distribute Navigator pay financial penalties
to Netscape if the ISP later decides to ship Microsoft's Internet Explorer as
well.
There are literally thousands of ISPs in the world. Microsoft and Netscape
are vigorously competing now to enter into agreements with these ISPs to
promote their businesses. This is exactly what competitors like Microsoft and
Netscape are supposed to be doing under the antitrust laws - to the obvious
benefit of consumers. Indeed, many ISPs have told Microsoft that Netscape has
begun to offer better terms since Microsoft began offering its browser to
ISPs. In any event, the ISP channel is only one of many channels for
distributing browsers so there are many opportunities to distribute browser
software to consumers without using the ISP channel at all. Certainly
Netscape does not lack vehicles to promote its products - with 85 million
hits per day, Netscape claims that its Web site is the most widely visited in
the world.
WINDOWS NT SERVER AND WINDOWS NT WORKSTATION LICENSING
For customers seeking an operating systems on which to run server software,
Microsoft offers Windows NT Server, which is designed and tested for use as a
server platform. For customers seeking an interactive workstation operating
system that will also support limited peer services (such as file and print
sharing and peer Web services), Microsoft offers Windows NT Workstation with
these capabilities under a limited use license at a lower price point.
Netscape's apparent suggestion that Microsoft should not be able to offer
different versions of its products intended for different uses under
different licenses and at different prices is unheard of - this is standard
practice in the software industry and intellectual property licensing
generally. For example, Netscape's license for Navigator does not permit any
concurrent use of that product even though the software easily could be used
concurrently. And the Navigator license provides that Navigator may be used
on a network only if the user pays for each licensed connection, even though
unlimited connections are technically possible. Similarly, Netscape's license
for LiveWire Pro (its Web site management and applications development
product) permits only 32 connections to the Developer Database when it is
incorporated into a software developer's application, even though the
Developer Database could easily support more than 32 connections.
WEB SERVER APIS IN WINDOWS NT SERVER
Microsoft has not used "secret" APIs in Windows NT Server, and Netscape knows
it. Netscape is apparently referring to the AcceptEx API, a matter which was
discussed in recent correspondence between Netscape and Microsoft.
As shown in Microsoft's reply to Netscape (email dated August 15 from
Microsoft's Paul Maritz to Rick Schell of Netscape), Netscape is mistaken as
to the timing of the development of the AcceptEx API. The AcceptEx
functionality was created by developers at Microsoft working on our Web
server technology, Internet Information Server in the late summer of 1995.
The technology was not sufficiently developed in time to be utilized in the
first beta release of Internet Information Server (IIS), which occurred on
August 28, 1995. Following this beta release, the IIS developers decided that
it would be a good idea to implement the AcceptEx functionality as an API in
Windows NT Server API that all software vendors could take advantage of. This
was done in the fall of 1995, and fully documented publicly in the very next
release of Windows NT Server, which was Service Pack 3.0, released on
December 5, 1995. A representative of Microsoft telephoned Marc Andreeseen
personally to advise him of new functionality in Service Pack 3.0 that
Ne
tscape might want to utilize, and Microsoft delivered Service Pack 3.0 to
Netscape by overnight courier. (Microsoft's IIS first implemented the
AcceptEx functionality in its second beta release, which occurred on November
15--just three weeks before the functionality was publicly documented.)
Therefore, it is not true that Microsoft's IIS developers were "given" these
APIs "months" before the rest of the industry. Rather, the IIS team at
Microsoft were the developers of these APIs and, upon development, they
promptly shared them with the entire industry.
Microsoft develops and documents APIs for its operating systems products to
make those products more attractive to software vendors as platforms for
applications development---not because of any legal considerations. Antitrust
rules do not require companies to share technology with their competitors
(and we note that Netscape has refused to provide much basic information
about Navigator that would enable other software vendors to build Netscape-
compatible Internet products). Microsoft's understanding of its own operating
systems products and how new technologies can work with those products is not
"unfair," just as it is not unfair for Netscape to best understand Netscape
Navigator (which it bills as a platform for applications development) and how
new technologies can run on top of Navigator.
While Microsoft believes that Windows NT Server is the best operating system
for hosting a Web server, most Web servers today run on UNIX or other
operating systems. If Microsoft does not adequately develop and document APIs
for Web server use in Windows NT Server, Web server developers and customers
will turn elsewhere for their operating systems needs.
PRICING AND PRODUCT IMPROVEMENTS
Microsoft's free distribution of Internet Explorer is not in any way
"predatory." It is remarkable that Netscape could suggest such a thing since
Netscape pioneered the strategy of free browser distribution and used that
strategy to obtain its current wide lead in the marketplace. (In fact,
Netscape admitted recently that half of all Navigator users have not paid for
it.) Microsoft is just trying to compete by employing the same strategy. But
there is one difference: Netscape offered its browser free to all only until
it achieved a huge lead in browser usage; then it began to charge many
customers for the product. Microsoft has made clear that Internet Explorer
will be free forever.
Netscape's suggestion that Microsoft is somehow violating the antitrust laws
by building new features and functionality (such as Internet Explorer and
Internet Information Server) into its operating systems is preposterous.
Competitors are supposed to innovate. They are supposed to build better
products with increased features and functionality. They are supposed to seek
to deliver more value to customers at ever decreasing prices. That is what
Microsoft is doing by tightly integrating a wide range of innovative new
technologies into its operating systems to make them better platforms for
computing on the Internet. We believe that everyone should be computing on
the Internet and computer operating systems should provide the software
people need (like a TCP/IP stack and browser technology) to make the Internet
easy to use.
Netscape is also rapidly adding new features and functionality to its
products--bundling into Navigator, for example, a host of technologies that
other software vendors offer separately or might otherwise like to offer
separately (such as a mail client, an Internet newsgroup reader, and Internet
phone and conferencing capabilities). Similarly, although Netscape complains
that Microsoft is bundling tools for the Internet into other Microsoft
products, Netscape is doing precisely the same thing: Netscape has bundled
Web page creation and editing capabilities into Navigator and called it
"Navigator Gold," and it has bundled its LiveWire product into its principal
Web server products, Enterprise Server and FastTrack. There is nothing
anticompetitive about new features and functionality offered by Microsoft or
Netscape: this is competition at work and it plainly benefits consumers.
Netscape has stated publicly many times that it is developing Navigator into
much more than a mere browser. Netscape is positioning Navigator as a
platform for Internet development that will compete head-on with Windows and
other operating systems. Yet Netscape apparently believes that Microsoft
should be required to freeze development of its operating systems and stand
by idly while Netscape develops and brings to market new technologies for the
Internet in its Navigator "platform." That is not going to happen and it
certainly is not what customers want.
The intense competition in the burgeoning Internet software business has
greatly benefited consumers and the entire software industry. Microsoft
intends to focus on developing great software and widely licensing it to
consumers. Netscape would do well to do the same rather than devoting
resources to spreading false information about one of its primary
competitors.
MICROSOFT CORPORATION
E-Mail from Microsoft to Netscape
The following e-mail from Paul Maritz, Microsoft's Group Vice President for
Platforms, and Rick Schell, Netscape's Vice President for Product
Development, communicates how Netscape has not been providing the support to
ISVs (and Microsoft in particular) that is needed to enable non-Netscape
software products to work well with Netscape products, particularly Netscape
Navigator.
From: Paul Maritz
Sent: Thursday, August 15, 1996 6:44 AM
To: 'rick@netscape.com'
Subject: reply to your concerns re information from Microsoft
Rick,
I am sending this mail in response to your July 18 email about Microsoft's
support for Netscape with regard to our systems products. I will address the
examples you cited as instances where you believe Netscape received
inadequate attention from Microsoft. I think in each case we provided a lot
of help. This included giving Netscape direct access to Windows 95 developers
(whose job responsibilities do not include supporting ISVs) during the summer
of 1995 when they were extremely busy preparing for the commercial release of
that product.
ú We provided the RNA phone book and dialer APIs to Netscape just as fast
as we could stabilize and document them. Your statement that Microsoft did
not provide these APIs until October 1995 is incorrect - we provided
preliminary versions in July and August 1995, as we were creating them. We
also provided Netscape with access to alpha and beta code and the RNAPH.dll.
ú Our Windows 95 developers provided direct technical support to Netscape
in July and August 1995 to help Netscape use the RNA adaptor and TCP\IP
stack, and our Premier Support group helped with configuring dial up
networking. We received positive feedback in mail from Netscape at that time
on the support we were providing.
ú I don't understand your comment that Microsoft supposedly told Netscape
that it "would need" to implement Internet Shortcuts in Navigator. Internet
Shortcuts, like many other features of Windows, is technology that Microsoft
has made available to ISVs to take advantage of or not as they please. Your
statement that we failed to provide Internet Shortcut documentation is just
plain wrong. Internet Shortcuts are fully documented. In addition, to assist
Netscape further we gave Netscape a prototype .dll in late March or early
April 1995 and asked for feedback. Marc Andreessen thanked us in mail and
said he'd look at it. We received no further feedback on Internet Shortcuts
until June 1995, even though we had repeated our request for feedback from
Netscape in late April and Marc had again indicated that he would follow up.
In June Netscape began following up on Internet Shortcuts, and direct
technical exchanges between Netscape and Windows 95 developers followed.
ú Your claim regarding the Windows NT 3.51 Service Pack 3.0 and the
AcceptEx API is incorrect. We released Service Pack 3.0 to manufacturing on
December 1, 1995, releasing it commercially a few days later - not in
September 1995, as your mail says. Netscape was among the first to receive a
copy: on December 5, 1995 Microsoft sent Service Pack 3.0 directly to Marc
Andreessen via overnight delivery. J Allard of Microsoft telephoned
Andreessen personally to advise him that there were updates to Windows
Sockets that Netscape might want to utilize.
As for the AcceptEx API, your statement that the initial beta release of
Microsoft's Internet Information Server took advantage of it is also
incorrect. The first beta release of IIS, which was on August 28, 1995, did
not take advantage of the AcceptEx functionality. (AcceptEx functionality had
just been developed within the preceding few weeks; it had serious bugs,
caused crashes, and was untested.) IIS was redesigned to utilize AcceptEx
functionality for its next beta release, which was on November 15. Therefore
your claim that Microsoft's developers were not required to undertake
redesign work to make use of the AcceptEx API is wrong. The IIS developers
thought it would be a good idea to make the AcceptEx functionality a feature
of Windows NT Server of which all Web servers could take advantage. We did
so, and the AcceptEx API appeared in the very next service pack release of
Windows NT Server, that being the December release Netscape received just
three weeks after the second beta release of IIS.
ú I am pleased that you see the benefits of fibers in Windows NT Service
Pack 3.0. We do, too, but you should know IIS does not make use of fibers.
ú Finally, I would like to note that you had access to the beta releases
of the recent major release of Windows NT 4.0 long before that product was
released.
Microsoft has a clear track record in supporting the ISV community. We
recognized a long time ago that ISV support is critical to the success of our
company, and we have built the best ISV support organization in the world for
that reason. Netscape, like many other companies, has benefited greatly from
that support.
I found it ironic that you would send mail like this because we believe that
Netscape has not been doing a very good job of providing the support to ISVs
(and Microsoft in particular) that is needed to enable non-Netscape software
products to work well with Netscape products, particularly Netscape
Navigator. Indeed, Netscape is not living up to its many public
pronouncements that it would provide support to enable products from other
vendors to interoperate with Netscape products (and vice versa). There are
many legitimate business strategies along the spectrum from very
"proprietary" to very "open" that a software vendor may choose (and, of
course, there are many definitions of "open"). I have no doubt that Netscape
will pursue whatever strategy it believes is in the best interest of the
company and its customers, as it should. But Netscape appears to be
announcing one strategy and pursuing another that is diametrically opposite.
There are at least eight areas in which Netscape's actions flatly contradict
its claims of "openness" and support for ISVs that wish to build Netscape-
compatible Internet products.
1.Netscape Web Site. We find this hard to believe, but it's true: the
Netscape web site deliberately searches out and excludes non-Netscape
browsers from significant parts of the site. It also looks for and excludes
browsers that use JavaScript-compatible scripting languages, such as JScript
in Microsoft's Internet Explorer. Your site does not provide a work-around or
any choice for the user even if the user believes that JScript would work
just fine on the site; the user is stuck because of the deliberate lock-out.
Some areas of the Netscape site display a message (to users of Microsoft's
Internet Explorer and other browsers) saying, "Sorry, this demo does not work
for your version of Navigator." Other areas navigate users to a page that
says, "Sorry, you need JavaScript," followed by information on how to
download Netscape Navigator.
Netscape has a history of blocking non-Netscape browsers from accessing its
Web site. Last fall, you may recall, Netscape locked out Internet Explorer
and other browsers from its online "general store."
Searching for and locking out non-Netscape browsers is not a very "open"
thing to do, under any definition. Netscape's actions contradict its own
statements on openness, such as this one from your web site:
"Netscape was founded on the philosophy that open standards benefit customers
by ensuring superior technology and vendor interoperability. Netscape is
committed to continuing to deliver all of its products based on open
standards.
WHAT IS OPEN?
Open standards are defined as published specifications that enable multiple
vendors to create independent implementations of a given technology. These
implementations must interoperate on heterogeneous computing platforms. Open
standards-based products respond to a real user need for interoperability and
ensure that users have a choice of products from independent vendors.
(the emphasis is mine)
Despite your public statement, users don't have a choice of browser if they
want to use the popular Netscape web site, even though other browsers would
work fine (or at least as well as JavaScript, which we have noticed returns
various errors on the Netscape site). We believe Netscape should eliminate
the deliberate lock-out of non-Netscape browsers on its site.
2.JavaScript. Since December 1995 Netscape has been stating publicly that
JavaScript is "an open Internet scripting language" that would be proposed as
a standard to the IETF and W3C, licensed to anyone, and supported with
published specifications and a published source code reference
implementation. (December 4, 1995 press release) Marc Andreessen said in the
March 4, 1996 issue of LAN Times that Netscape "went out and got support for
[JavaScript] from Sun and 30 or 35 companies, publishing the specification
and providing the source code." On another occasion Marc said "We fully
publish all the information anyone needs to reproduce everything we do."
(Windows Watcher, March 1996)
Notwithstanding these statements, JavaScript has not been submitted to either
the IETF or W3C. There is no reference source code. As far as we know, no
licenses are available. And the JavaScript documentation is terribly
incomplete and almost always out of date. There are no interfaces to other
popular languages like C++ or Visual Basic.
Nevertheless, to promote interoperability on the Internet, Microsoft has
built a JavaScript-compatible scripting language, called JScript. Netscape
has said publicly many times that it invites development of "clones" of its
software products, yet Netscape has provided no documentation to facilitate
the development of JavaScript-compatible scripting languages, and, as I said
above, Netscape even locks users out of the JavaScript portions of its Web
site if they are running non-Netscape implementations of JavaScript, such as
JScript.
Netscape said that JavaScript would be "freely licensed . . . to the entire
Internet community." (December 4 press release) We would like a JavaScript
license. But if Netscape now intends to maintain JavaScript as a proprietary
scripting language, it should simply say so, and we and the rest of the
industry will pursue other means of achieving interoperability if
interoperability is deemed desirable under those circumstances.
3.Script Language Hosting. Microsoft would like to offer VBScript as a
Navigator plug-in. We have been unable to do so, however, because Netscape
has not documented the interface between Navigator and JavaScript. The
corresponding interface (ActiveX) is fully documented in Internet Explorer.
Using ActiveX any software product can host VBScript, JScript, JavaScript or
other scripting languages.
4.Plug in Hosting. The Navigator interface for hosting plug ins is
insufficiently documented and changes from version to version of Navigator
without notice. This makes it very hard to maintain compatibility for non-
Netscape browsers.
5.Control Hosting. We would like to offer ActiveX controls as Navigator plug
ins, but are unable to do so because the necessary interfaces are
undocumented. These interfaces are fully documented in Internet Explorer.
6.HTML Standards. HTML is the most basic format on the Internet, and Netscape
has said publicly many times that it will publish all HTML extensions and
cooperate with the open standard setting process through W3C. But it has not.
There have been many occasions where Netscape has ignored specifications
adopted by W3C or even introduced competing HTML tags. Netscape's lack of
support for the important W3C <Object> tag for inserting objects in Web
pages, for W3C's evolving frames specifications, for W3C stylesheet and
layout specifications and for PICS are just a few of the many examples.
Netscape has consistently indicated in W3C meetings that it will not submit
any proposed HTML extensions to W3C until after it has shipped
implementations in Navigator, which largely defeats the purpose of open
standard setting. By contrast, Microsoft has adopted the following policy:
every significant enhancement to HTML that we propose will be submitted to
W3C before being implemented in Internet Explorer, and shipping versions of
Internet Explorer will implement final W3C specs. Netscape should make clear
whether it intends to truly cooperate with the W3C HTML standard setting
process or drive HTML extensions unilaterally.
7.Private Keys and Certificates. Netscape's implementation of private key and
certificate storage, which should be an open standard if electronic commerce
is to become viable on a large scale, is entirely proprietary. Netscape has
repeatedly failed to respond to our requests that it publish the format of
its key and certificate databases. Netscape does not allow access to its
private key and certificate stores by any other application and there is no
documented way for a user to transport a private key or certificate from one
browser to another or from one machine to another. Since these keys and
certificates will be the property of users and contain personal information,
it is especially inappropriate that Netscape should attempt to prevent users
from accessing personal information if they are not running Netscape
software. Netscape should publish the format of its key and certificate
databases so that Web software can freely and securely exchange private keys
and certificates.
Microsoft has already published an open specification draft called "Personal
Information Exchange"(PFX) and has submitted it as a PKCS standard which
includes a transfer syntax and a set of API's for multi-platform, multi-
broswer exchange of this type of information. If Netscape chooses to
implement PFX, you may find it convenient to use CryptoAPI 2.0, which
Microsoft will be publishing on September 10. It contains security APIs that
may be of interest to Netscape (GenerateKey, AcceptCredential, and
GetCertsByIssuer). If you would like them sooner let me know.
8.LDAP. Netscape is planning to make extensions to the LDAP protocol. In the
interests of openness and interoperability, we ask that Netscape disclose
these and take these extensions in a timely manner into an appropriate forum
(such as the IETF) where others can participate, and we can collectively
ensure that a useful standard results.
Netscape's actions, as described above, contradict the company's insistent
claims that it invites third party development of software compatible with
Netscape software and that its "market advantage doesn't come from building a
proprietary interface that we don't tell other people about." (James Clark,
Communications Week, Sep. 25, 1995) Netscape should either live up to its
public pronouncements or, if it does not intend to document interfaces and so
forth, simply say that.
I understand that Netscape has requested a license to the Windows 95 dial up
scripting engine. I would be pleased to talk to you about that. I would also
like to discuss Netscape's refusal to allow more than a small handful of
Microsoft developers to attend Netscape developer conferences (we put no
limitation on Netscape attendance at our conferences), as well as Netscape's
refusal to allow Microsoft to purchase a license your Commercial Applications
Servers. We have been seeking to obtain a license for evaluation purposes
through a VAR but have been told that Todd Rulon-Miller has instructed the
VAR not to license us, even though the product is generally available in the
marketplace.
There are a lot of opportunities for our two companies to work together to
make sure that our respective products work well together. Since we are
competitors, however, working together can also lead to discord. We should
work hard to minimize problems and get on with the business of building
better Internet technologies.
Regards,
Paul Maritz
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STReport International Online Magazine
EDUPAGE STR Focus Keeping the users informed
Edupage
Contents
Battle Of The Browsers Escalates
NSF Bestows 13 Web Grants
Justice's Web Site Is Infiltrated
Softbank To Acquire Kingston Technology
New Software Needed To Run New Chips
Paying Parking Tickets Online
EchoStar To Deliver Data, Too
NC Will Change The PC, Not Replace It
AT&T President Reaches Out To Get Wireless Job
Sprint To Offer Internet Access
Network Solutions Seeks Domain Dispute Solutions
Deep Blue Ready For Chess Rematch With Kasparov
Growing Pains On The Net
Novell Does Intranets
If You Liked Slate, You'll Love Stale
NCR Server Is Pentium Powerhouse
Wal-Mart On The Web
Media Convergence Continues
Windows NT Requires Pentium Chip For Optimal Performance
Edupage In Greek
Netscape Broadens Microsoft Conflict
Gateway 2000's Destination - Retail Stores
Java Gets A Jolt
Calling From The Web
Saving The Telesat Deal
Franchising Hits The Net
Gartner Online
Internet Banking Service
Where Wizards Stay Up Late
BATTLE OF THE BROWSERS ESCALATES
With the recent release of version 3.0 of Netscape Navigator and Microsoft
Internet Explorer, the browser battle is heating up. Microsoft is
sweetening its Internet Explorer deal with the addition of free access to
some popular services that otherwise charge a fee, including the Wall Street
Journal Web site, ESPN's sports site, and the InvestorsEdge.com financial
advice site. In addition, the software giant has the advantage of bundling
Internet Explorer with all new PCs shipped with Windows 95, a strategy that
will net it 46 million potential users in 1996 alone. The next version of
Windows, scheduled for sometime next year, will have the browser built in.
Meanwhile, for the time being, Netscape still retains 85% of the market
share, and about 30,000 Web sites offer Netscape Navigator as a downloadable
option. But Netscape's director of technology has his sights set on higher
goals: "People assume that this is the highest hill, but we're not making
that mistake," he says. (The Economist 17 Aug 96) Netscape is offering its
own deal-sweetener with Navigator 3.0 -- its Netscape Inbox Direct feature
allows users to receive daily downloads of news from 26 content providers,
including the New York Times and c-Net. (Investor's Business Daily 19 Aug
96 A1)
NSF BESTOWS 13 WEB GRANTS
The National Science Foundation has announced 13 grants of $350,000 each to
U.S. universities for research projects aimed at developing technology to
improve the Internet of the future. In addition to the cash, each school
will have access to NSF's vBNS (very high speed Backbone Network Service).
Types of projects funded include improvements in basic networking technology
as well as creation of new multimedia applications based on high-speed
networking. (Investor's Business Daily 16 Aug 96 A14)
JUSTICE'S WEB SITE IS INFILTRATED
The U.S. Justice Dept.'s Web site < http://www.usdoj.gov/ > took on a quite
different look after crackers broke in this weekend and altered the page to
include swastikas, obscene pictures and criticism of the Communications
Decency Act. The site was shut down following the discovery Saturday
morning; the department expects to reconstruct the page and have it running
again by Monday, if not before. (St. Petersburg Times 18 Aug 96 A12)
SOFTBANK TO ACQUIRE KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY
Japan-based Softbank Corp., which has built an empire based on software
distribution, trade shows, publishing and Internet media ventures, has
announced its intention to buy 80% of Kingston Technology Corp., the world's
largest maker of plug-in PC memory boards. While some industry analysts
admitted they were mystified as to why Softbank would expand into a business
area that's currently flat in growth and notorious for cyclical price
swings, Softbank president and founder Masayoshi Son defended the $1.5-
billion deal as a good business strategy: "Through this investment, we are
spreading our risk so when the basket gets tipped, not every egg falls out
and gets cracked." (Wall Street Journal 16 Aug 96 A3)
NEW SOFTWARE NEEDED TO RUN NEW CHIPS
As chipmakers strain to find new ways of packing even more power onto tiny
wafers of silicon, an industry consultant notes that more transistors per
chip is not all that's needed for improved performance. The real boost in
speed will come from combining into a single chip functions that previously
required several processors, such as memory and logic circuits. "As we push
below 0.25 micron, the software tools available to design integrated
circuits are not going to be able to keep up with the added complexity," says
G. Dan Hutcheson. To avoid what it calls a "productivity gap," Sematech has
signed a multimillion contract with Synopsys for an advanced design system
that can handle circuits of 0.25 microns and smaller. (Scientific American
Aug 96 p33)
PAYING PARKING TICKETS ONLINE
The Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles has made paying speeding tickets
and renewing automobile registrations much easier - now motorists with
access to the Web can visit their site at
< http://www.state.ma.us/rmv> to conduct business. Other services, such as
ordering vanity license plates, will be available by fall. The state
anticipates the move online will eventually allow it cut back on the $6
million annual DMV allocation. (Business Week 19 Aug 96 p6)
ECHOSTAR TO DELIVER DATA, TOO
EchoStar Communications has successfully completed a public test of the
technology it will use in cooperation with Intel Corp. and Comstream to
deliver data via satellite to subscribers. Transmission rates could be
several megabits per second, says EchoStar's director of program management,
who adds that the opportunity to download Web content at higher speeds is
attractive to people hampered by slow phone lines. "If the download could be
made quickly and it could be stashed on their hard drive, that might be
something they'd be interested in," he says. In the recent test,
subscribers who use EchoStar's system to receive video and audio content
were given cards to install in their PCs, enabling them to receive data as
well. (Broadcasting & Cable 12 Aug 96 p86)
NC WILL CHANGE THE PC, NOT REPLACE IT
High-tech industry observer George Gilder says the PC will win out over the
TV as the dominant information source: "On the Net, the viewer gets his or
her first choice of information, instead of the lowest common denominator."
Gilder also sees the NC/PC controversy as a motivation to redesign the PC:
"There's a huge opportunity for new devices on the network in schools,
libraries, kiosks, homes and businesses. The NC won't displace the desktop,
but it will deeply influence the PC." (Information Week 5 Aug 96 p12)
AT&T PRESIDENT REACHES OUT TO GET WIRELESS JOB
AT&T president Alex Mandl, who had been the presumptive heir to the company's
top position when chief executive Robert Allen steps down in a few years,
has resigned to become chairman of Associated Communications, a small
company that offers wireless phone and data service. Industry analysts see
Mandl's decision as an indication of just how much deregulation has changed
the telecommunications business. (New York Times 20 Aug 96 C1)
SPRINT TO OFFER INTERNET ACCESS
Sprint Corp. is the latest entrant into the Internet service provider field,
announcing plans to roll out its Sprint Internet Passport over the next few
months. "I still don't understand what's taken them so long," says a
director at Forrester Research Inc., noting that the company has been
operating a major portion of the Internet backbone since 1992. Sprint's
gradual approach is a cautious response to some of the mistakes it saw rival
AT&T make in its WorldNet launch. "The reason we waited as long as we did is
to assure that the service we delivered was the best in the business," says
a Sprint executive. The company, which claims to carry as much as 60% of
the data traffic to and from the U.S., is hoping to snag 20% of the market
within a year. (Wall Street Journal 20 Aug 96 A3)
NETWORK SOLUTIONS SEEKS DOMAIN DISPUTE SOLUTIONS
Network Solutions Inc., which August 9 announced another round of revisions
to its Domain Name Dispute Policy, is imposing additional requirements on
the trademark holder who challenges a domain name registrant with trademark
violation. The trademark registration must be identical to the domain name,
and trademark holders must provide NSI a certified copy of its trademark
registration, as well as a copy of a written otification addressed to the
domain registrant of the trademark holder's prior claim. In an attempt to
avoid being named in any more lawsuits, the new NSI policy implements an
interpleader-like procedure, where NSI turns over control of any disputed
domain name to the court and will carry out all court orders without being
named a party to the suit. The new guidelines go into effect Sept. 9, and
text of the revised policy can be found at < http://rs.internic.net >. (BNA
Daily Report for Executives 19 Aug 96 A7)
DEEP BLUE READY FOR CHESS REMATCH WITH KASPAROV
The IBM computer "Deep Blue" that lost its six-game chess match with world
champion Garry Kasparov will get a second chance with another six-game match-
up May 3-10 in New York. Deep Blue has 32 parallel processors and can
attain computational speeds that allow it to analyze 200 million moves a
second. The Deep Blue project team is working to program more knowledge of
chess into the computer and to develop new programming tools that the
machine could use to help it adapt to an opponent's strategy between games.
Project manager C.J. Tan says: "We're not conducting a scientific experiment
any more. This time, we're just going to play chess." (New York Times 20
Aug 96 B1)
GROWING PAINS ON THE NET
The inadvertent shutdown of America Online a few weeks ago was only the
beginning, say some industry observers, who predict that outages at
overburdened Internet providers will become more common in the future.
"Maybe for the first time in the history of the Internet, the demand is
exceeding the supply that echnology can deliver," says the CEO of Advanced
Network & Services. Because flat-rate pricing is the dominant Internet
service provider business model, there is no financial incentive to conserve
the resource, warns the executive VP of Nynex Science & Technology. He
predicts that the Internet eventually will collapse under its own weight,
but will reemerge with "a lot more tollbooths on that highway than there are
now." (Business Week 26 Aug 96 p62)
NOVELL DOES INTRANETS
Novell Inc. has joined the intranet gold rush, unveiling a collection of
programs designed to run on corporate networks. IntranetWare, as the
package is called, includes a new version of Novell's network operating
system, a program that routes messages among networks, a new version of its
Web server program, and two programs for creating and managing Web sites.
The new product will be available November 1. Industry observers say Novell
faces an uphill battle in its fight for intranet market share, with Netscape
and Microsoft already claiming dominance, but one analyst at International
Data Corp. notes the company has a vast arsenal of independent distributors
and resellers that will use its product to set up intranets for client
companies that an't do it themselves. "This isn't revolutionary or earth-
shattering, but it's absolutely necessary for Novell to maintain any
credibility at medium and small-size customers." (Wall Street Journal 20 Aug
96 B4)
IF YOU LIKED SLATE, YOU'LL LOVE STALE
Just six weeks after Microsoft launched its online magazine Slate, some New
York writers have developed a parody called Stale. Stale writers Daniel
Radosh and Michael Tritter feel their alternative should serve to take
Microsoft down a notch from its proclaimed pinnacle of Web publishing: "They
come off as saying that they're on a mission to civilize the Web, as if
they're the only ones who can make it safe for America," says Radosh. And in
case you tire of the humor, each Stale spoof is electronically linked to its
Slate mate. (St. Petersburg Times 19 Aug 96 p12) < http:www.stale.com >
NCR SERVER IS PENTIUM POWERHOUSE
NCR Corp. has a $140 million solution to power computing. The company, a
unit of AT&T, developed a way to combine 32 200-Mhz Pentium Pro chips into
one server, and then link 128 of the servers together, giving them access to
the combined computing power of 4,096 Pentium Pro chips. (Investor's
Business Daily 20 Aug 96 A8)
WAL-MART ON THE WEB
Discount shopping has hit the Web, with the arrival of Wal-Mart on the Web,
an online shopping site for Wal- Mart and Sam's Club merchandise. The site
features electronic greeters, just like in the real store, and once inside,
you can fill up your virtual shopping cart, pay with a credit card, and have
everything shipped to you via UPS. < http://www.wal-mart.com >. (Tampa
Tribune 19 Aug 96 B&F5)
MEDIA CONVERGENCE CONTINUES
The value of mergers and acquisitions in the media, electronic and
entertainment sectors in Europe and North America jumped to $20.1 billion in
the first half of 1996, says a report issued by the mergers and acquisitions
group Broadview Associates, which predicts that the global battle over the
delivery of digital entertainment services by satellite "cannot fail to
drive M&A activity over the next few years. The opportunity is just too big,
and the risk/reward ratio too acute for even the most bullish to consider
going alone." (Financial Times 19 Aug 96)
WINDOWS NT REQUIRES PENTIUM CHIP
FOR OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE
Trade publication Byte Magazine reports that Microsoft's latest Windows NT
version suffers a slowdown when run on computers equipped with a Cyrix 6x86
microprocessor running at 150 megahertz rather than a comparable Intel
Pentium chip. The Windows NT 4.0 operating system ran 16% slower than a
previous release of NT on a Cyrix chip, and 24% slower than Windows 95.
Cyrix says the problem is a hardware malfunction, and is offering customers
a free software patch. (Investor's Business Daily 20 Aug 96 A8)
EDUPAGE IN GREEK
We are pleased to announce a Greek-language version of Edupage, prepared by
Leonidas Athanasopoulos in Athens. Welcome to our Greek readers of Edupage!
See < http://www.fnet.gr/edupage/ > Edupage is now translated from English
into Chinese, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Lithuanian,
Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak and Spanish.
NETSCAPE BROADENS MICROSOFT CONFLICT
Netscape Communications has stepped up its attack on Microsoft in the ongoing
browser battle, accusing it of offering improper payments and other
inducements to persuade PC makers and Internet service providers to use
Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser software. The allegations are
contained in an Aug. 12 letter to the U.S. Justice Dept. Microsoft has
denied the charges, calling them a "PR stunt," and accusing Netscape of
manipulating Internet standards to the detriment of Microsoft and other
competitors. "This is really the pot calling the kettle black," says a
Microsoft VP. Meanwhile, Netscape's lawyer counters, "Microsoft's enemy is
not Netscape, its enemy is consumer choice. They don't want consumers to
choose another way of getting to the Internet." (Wall Street Journal 21 Aug
96 B8)
GATEWAY 2000'S DESTINATION - RETAIL STORES
Gateway 2000 , which has made its name in mail-order sales, has lined up two
retail chains to sell its $4,000 Destination PC. The machine, which sports
a big 31-inch screen, will be available in about 200 Nobody Beats the Wiz
and CompUSA stores this fall. "We're creating a new product category and
they need to see how the elements... can work," says Gateway CEO Ted
Waitt.(Tampa Tribune 21 Aug 96 B&F8)
JAVA GETS A JOLT
Ten big names in high-tech have invested in the $100 million Java Fund,
designated to support start-up companies developing Internet software that
uses the Java programming language. The group includes Cisco Systems,
Comcast, Compaq Computer, IBM, Itochu, Netscape Communications, Oracle Corp.,
Sun Microsystems, Tele-Communications Inc., and U S West. "Nothing like
this level of adoption and endorsement has ever happened in computers," says
John Doerr, a partner in Kleiner Perkins Caulfield & Byers, which will
administer the fund. Java Fund sponsors hope to seed some 25 start-ups:
"We've got to jump-start the development of these applications," says Sun
Microsystems chief of technology Eric Schmidt. "The Java Fund will find the
next killer app." Schmidt predicts Java could be used to provide real-time
stock quotes via the Internet, or to send and receive e-mail via "smart"
cell-phones. (Wall Street Journal 21 Aug 96 A3)
CALLING FROM THE WEB
NetSpeak Corp., which makes WebPhone Internet telephone software, is working
with Rockwell International Corp. to develop Internet-based call centers on
the Web. The technology will allow electronic shoppers to browse a Web site
and place voice calls to the company by clicking on an icon. (Investor's
Business Daily 22 Aug 96 A6)
SAVING THE TELESAT DEAL
Canadian and American negotiators are scrambling to hammer out a deal in an
effort to reach a face-saving agreement that would allow Telesat Canada to
launch its $1.6-billion satellite program this fall. Washington is trying
to persuade Ottawa to model its policy on a new pact between the U.S. and
Mexico that allows direct-to- home satellite companies to use satellite
services from the other country to beam signals to their home markets.
(Toronto Financial Post 20 Aug 96 p1)
FRANCHISING HITS THE NET
The First Internet Franchise Corp. is selling franchises to set up service
businesses offering Web page design, Web page hosting, hardware sales,
leased-line sales and other Internet-related services. The company, which
has sold 15 licenses so far, has been approved in 41 states, and has
applications pending in the remaining nine. for $23,900, First Internet
provides business training, billing software, marketing and advertising
materials and access to value-added reseller programs. (Investor's Business
Daily 21 Aug 96 A6)
GARTNER ONLINE
Gartner Group Inc. is launching an online information technology education
service, building on its acquisition of computer-based training companies J3
Learning and Relational Courseware earlier this year. The Gartner Group
Internet Learning Center will offer courses in programming, operating
systems, systems management and other computer-related skills.
<http://www.gartner.com >. (Information Week 12 Aug 96 p84)
INTERNET BANKING SERVICE
The Bank of Nova Scotia and IBM Canada will be offering Canada's first fully
transactional Internet banking service this fall. Scotiabank's computer-
banking service will use the public worldwide computer network rather than a
private data network to offer a wider range of services than those now
offered by other Canadian financial institutions. (Toronto Star 20 Aug 96
A9)
WHERE WIZARDS STAY UP LATE
The New York Times praises the new book by Katie Hafner and Matthew Lyon
("Where Wizards Stay Up Late: The Origins of the Internet") for "rescuing
from oblivion the collection of geeks and nerds, bureaucrats and geniuses,
who changed everyday life for millions of people all across the planet." The
book is published by Simon & Schuster, and an excerpt appears in the current
issue of Educom Review. (New York Times 21 Aug 96 B2)
Edupage is written by John Gehl (gehl@educom.edu) & Suzanne Douglas
(douglas@educom.edu).
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Memory Lane
Last Week's picture was of Dave Small of Gadget's Fame. He designed the
Magic Sac and subsequent MAC Emulators for the Motorola 68000 CPU; 16 bit
Atari Platform.
He was correctly identified by Roger Goldman of New Mexico.
ú Each week, we'll present a different new photo for our readers to
identify.
ú Tell us who or what is in the photo.. then send us your answer to;
photo@streport.com
ú The first correct entry will be published in the following week's issue
along with the new photo to be identified.
For Immediate Release
Corel Announces the Release of CorelXARAT Upgrade
OTTAWA, Canada - August 14, 1996 - Corel Corporation today announced the
availability of CorelXARAT 1.2, a new upgrade to version 1.1. Customers may
download this free upgrade patch by visiting http://www.xara.com. The
original version became a popular tool for Web graphics due to features such
as smooth dithering and anti-aliasing, along with transparent and interlaced
GIF support. A number of Web specific improvements have been added to
CorelXARA 1.2 which Web designers will find invaluable.
These include:
ú Palette optimization for GIFs
ú Advanced diffusion dithering for GIFs
ú New support for two-color and 16-color GIFs with or without transparency
(16-color GIFs can take half the space of normal GIFs)
ú On-screen diffusion dithering option
ú Pixel unit type for measuring exact screen sizes
ú Animated GIF import and creation
ú Direct Netscape NavigatorT and MS Internet Explorer palette support
By combining palette optimizations with an advanced new diffusion dithering
technique, CorelXARA can be used to create near 24-bit quality GIF images.
In addition, support for frame by frame animated GIF import and creation
makes CorelXARA one of the first graphics programs to support this
increasingly popular picture format. Frame ordering management is included
via the bitmap gallery.
Corel Tops Retail Sales According To PC Data
OTTAWA, Canada - August 20, 1996 - Corel Corporation, an award-winning
developer and marketer of productivity applications, graphics and multimedia
software, has raced out of the gates to become the leader in retail office
suite sales in the United States. Only five months after finalizing an
agreement with Novell that catapulted them into the field of productivity
applications, Corel's office suites have leapt out in front of Microsoft's as
the most popular on the retail market.
Based on unit sales at the retail level for MS DOS, Windowsr and Windowsr 95
as compiled by PC Data, Corel's share of the office suite market stands at
50.9 per cent, with Microsoft coming in at 44.7 percent and Lotus trailing at
4.3 percent.
"The power, value and Internet connectivity of our Corel WordPerfect Suite
has made it the best selling office suite at the retail level in the United
States," said Dr. Michael Cowpland, president and chief executive officer of
Corel Corporation. "With the release this week of our professional version,
Corel Office Professional 7, we expect our sales momentum to get even
stronger in the office suite market."
Corel's office suites include Corelr WordPerfectr Suite for Windows 3.1x,
Corelr Office Professional for Windows 3.1x, Corelr WordPerfectr Suite 7 for
Windowsr 95 and Corelr Office Professional 7 for Windowsr 95. Three tightly-
integrated core applications - Corelr WordPerfect, Corelr Quattror Pro, and
Corelr PresentationsT - are the backbone to each package with a host of
additional features which offer ease-of-use, OLE functionality, open network
integration and Internet connectivity. Corel Office Professional 7 also
incorporates Corel's new BaristaT technology into all three core
applications, making it the first software package on the market to enable
users to publish documents directly to the JavaT Language.
Corel Corporation
Incorporated in 1985, Corel Corporation is recognized internationally as an
award-winning developer and marketer of productivity applications, graphics
and multimedia software. Corel's product line includes CorelDRAWT, the
Corelr WordPerfectr Suite, Corelr Office Professional, CorelVIDEOT and over
30 multimedia software titles. Corel's products run on most operating
systems, including: Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, MS-DOS and OS/2 and are
consistently rated among the strongest in the industry. The company ships
its products in over 17 languages through a network of more than 160
distributors in 70 countries worldwide. Corel is traded on the Toronto Stock
Exchange (symbol: COS) and the NASDAQ - National Market System (symbol:
COSFF). For more information visit Corel's home page on the Internet at
http://www.corel.com.
Corel, WordPerfect and Quattro are registered trademarks and CorelDRAW,
CorelXARA, CorelVIDEO, Presentations
and Barista are trademarks of Corel Corporation or Corel Corporation
Limited.
All product and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of
their respective companies.
Kids Computing Corner
Frank Sereno, Editor
Pandora Directive STR Review
The Pandora Directive
By Robert Satchwill
The Pandora Directive is an Interactive movie published by
ACCESS Software, also the publishers of Under a Killing Moon and Links LS.
The Pandora Directive allows for complete and unlimited control over the
character, Tex Murphy. In the game you start out looking for a missing
person, Thomas Malloy. Much to your surprise, you soon realize you are not
alone in your search for him. As you soon discover, Malloy is ex-military
officer who knows what happened at Roswell, July 6, 1947.
Pandora allows two levels of play, the Entertainment Level and
the Game Players Level. The Entertainment Level is for players who like to
take it slow or as fast as you want. It also gives you the option of a
complete hint system. The Entertainment Level allows you the option to skip
certain puzzles and move on. The Entertainment Level is a good level to try
when you first start. If you find it too easy, start over using the Game
Players Level.
The Game Players Level is for people who enjoy a good challenge, this
level of play does not allow you the hint system. It also has harder puzzles
and you cant skip over any. In exchange for The Game Players Level being
harder, you get extra locations and points.
In Pandora your choices determine what type of person Tex Murphy
turns out to be. There are three different paths with a total of seven
different endings. In each ending Tex's role in the game can turn out to be
positive, negative or even irrelevant.
ACCESS Software has a real winner with Pandora. I am enjoying the
game immensely. By making three different paths and seven endings ACCESS has
created a game that will provide you with many hours of enjoyment.
Build your Own! STR Focus
Build Powerhouse Computer on a Budget
As promised, here's the scoop on how to get there from here. If you
are the slightest bit mechanically inclined and have both a steady hand and
decent vision, you can do this. Computer prices for some may be either
affordable or, out of sight. They can easily be out of sight for most when
one desires a high speed, high storage, fast graphics, great sound type
machine.
Well Bunky, not any longer.
After doing my home work and burning up the phone wires. One place made
inquiries of was in New Jersey. we liked the prices and the promise of "two
day" delivery so we originally ordered from them. Ahhh the pitfalls of mail
order these guys were either smoking dope or simply had not been in this
country long enough to know that the customer comes first. On the third day.
I called them back and asked where the goods were. The "owner", speaking
with a very thick accent, told me all about how he was on top of the order
and that it would go out very soon. Needless to say, this guy is still
yapping at someone but its for sure its not me.
I then called the publisher of Processor Direct (great sourcing
publication) and informed him of the "Pro" in New Jersey. He promptly
apologized for the guy's weird behavior and recommended I call KREX Computers
at 800-222-krex. I did and they were top drawer all the way. Krex is
definitely consumer oriented and desirous to see you succeed at either
building your own "beast" or, upgrading your existing hardware to achieve
"beast" status. As an example, we took a very tired AST 486 SX25 turkey and
with a little effort, some time and some money transformed it into a 75Mhz
Pentium machine that would do anyone proud.
The new motherboard (from Krex) came with the CPU and Pipeline Burst
Cache already installed. I installed the motherboard the new case (easy) and
then began to remove the peripherals from the small AST factory case to the
new case one at a time. To make a long story very short. upon completion,
the newly transformed AST ran like a charm..
Below, I present the actual directions I used to carry out this feat.
They're well written and easy to follow. More pictures and diagrams are
available at the Krex WebSite. STReport and myself in particular, highly
recommend KREX for all your hardware needs.
Basic Instructions for Installing/Upgrading a Motherboard
Congratulations!
You are one of a special breed who knows that buying and installing a
new motherboard will give you all the advantages of a new machine but is far
less expensive than purchasing a complete new system. These instructions
are called "basic" because they are neither machine specific nor board
specific. There are simply too many various combinations. However, even if
you are VERY experienced at repairs, etc., please take a few moments to go
over this sheet before you start your upgrade.
1. KNOW YOUR CMOS. You must be able to tell the CMOS setup on your new
system what type of hard drive desk you have. Run your system setup to access
the information. If you don't know how to do this check your system
documentation, it should be there. Otherwise, most machines give you
instructions when you start booting up, such as "press Del", etc. Run this
and write down the types of drives, number of cylinders, heads, sectors,
landing zone, and other information. (PLEASE NOTE, IF THE CYLINDERS ARE OVER
1024, YOU SHOULD USE LBA MODE).
2. DISCONNECT THE CABLES. Shut off power and disconnect the power cord and
keyboard cable. You probably have lots of other cables connected. Why not
take a felt pen and mark which cable attaches to which board connectors. You,
of course, won't forget how and where things plug in, but others do. After
marking them all, disconnect them.
3. REMOVE THE CASE COVER.
4. MAKE A ROUGH DIAGRAM BEFORE disassembly. Give yourself a break. Just
take a piece of paper and make a drawing of where everything is located,
including where cables, etc. plug in. Mark each board and each cable as above
(2).
5. REMOVE ALL THE PLUG-IN BOARDS. You will probably have a number of
smaller wires that show the LED's. Mark them with masking tape for later
reconnection.
6. DO NOT SET SWITCHES AND JUMPERS ON NEW BOARD. Most suppliers have done
that for you. Your board and chip, IF SOLD TO You AS A PACKAGE, should have
been set to work together.
ú Put the plastic standoffs in the correct holes, then drop in the
motherboard, but don't tighten. You may find it easier to install RAM in the
board before attaching to the case. REMEMBER to check your new manual to set
the RAM in its proper configuration. OK, secure the motherboard to the case.
ú When you Install the power supply cables to the motherboard, be sure the
four black wires are in the center adjacent to each other.
ú THIS IS THE AREA WHERE THE BIG MISTAKES OCCUR. At this point, install
the video card and monitor ONLY (no other cards, modems, CD-ROMS, etc.!). You
should now have a powered machine with RAM, and with an installed video card
attached to a monitor. Do NOT power up any other devices with electricity or
data connections. Turn on the machine and let it test the RAM. When you get
through this successfully, install your components ONE AT A TIME-TEST-THEN
INSTALL THE NEXT COMPONENT. (PLEASE NOTE: THE NEWER, HIGHER CAPACITY CARDS
AND CHIPS SOMETIMES REQUIRE NEWER MEMORY. ALTHOUGH YOUR MACHINE TEST SAID THE
MEMORY IS OK, THAT TEST IS NOT SOPHISTICATED ENOUGH TO PICK UP THESE SUBTLE
CHANGES. IF YOUR MACHINE ACTS ODDLY, YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED TO SUBSTITUTE
NEWER, 70 NANO OR FASTER, PARITY MEMORY FOR YOUR PRESENT MEMORY).
8. Things should begin to work. You will need to set time, date, CMOS
settings, etc. All this is In your new manual.
9. IF YOU NOW RUN INTO PROBLEMS - IT'S PROBABLY A DEVICE CONFLICT. With a
little patience, you can fix it.
ú All computers must be compatible with earlier models. Therefore, most
PC's we are familiar with have 4 COM ports and this can be a problem. A COM
port is a unique spot inside the computer that can only be occupied by one
thing at a time. If two things try to occupy the same spot, strange things
occur. Each COM port is a unique combination of a port address - an IRQ.
Think of them as reserved seats at a theater. No two people can successfully
occupy that one seat. However, in a computer the problem may not be as
obvious. THIS IS THE PRIME SUSPECT IN SUDDEN BLACKOUTS OR VARIOUS LOSS OF
CONTROL TYPE SITUATIONS.
ú COM1 is always port address 3F8 and IRQ4
ú COM2 is always port address 2F8 and IRQ3
ú COM3 is almost always port address 3E8 and IRQ4
ú COM4 is almost always port address 2E8 and IRQ3
ú So, how do you get at this stuff to see if you have a conflict? First,
as you put in each component, check the device to see what "address" it
occupies. Try to get the port address and IRQ, not just the COM port.
Conflicts will be apparent. To change the port addresses via Windows 3.1; Go
to Main Group, click Control Panel, click ports, click Advanced and then open
the l/O port address and Interrupt Request Line (IRQ) lists and then select
or type in values. With Windows 95, go to Start, then Settings, then Control
Panel, then click on System, then click on Device Manager, choose View by
Connection, shade the various COM ports and click on Properties. Win 95 will
tell you if there is a conflict (you may then click Resources to examine the
exact address).
Installing Your NEW 486 or Pentium Mother Board
by Jesse Pakin, KREX Technician
Table of Contents
ú What you will need
ú Beforehand
ú Opening the system
ú Removing the old motherboard
ú Installing the new motherboard
ú Testing the motherboard
ú Conclusion
Today's sophisticated software requires speed at the heart of your computer:
the motherboard. While KREX technicians are ready and willing to install your
new motherboard for you, you may want to do so yourself. Not only to save
money on labor, but also to learn about the inner workings of your computer
system.
What you will need:
ú A drop cloth
ú Pencil & paper
ú Any extra screws and standoffs that came with or are compatible with
your system
ú Screwdriver (preferably electric)
ú Needle-nosed pliers
ú Scissors or pinchers
Beforehand:
Find a flat area to work, one that is completely dry and contains minimal
dust. There should be an electrical outlet with at least two open sockets
nearby. (A kitchen counter works well.) Put down a drop cloth to prevent
scratching. Some computer components are sharp and/or pointed, especially on
board bottoms where chips have been soldered in. Keep a couple of Band-Aids
nearby just in case. Also, keep a fire extinguisher handy-it's wise to be
prepared for an emergency when working with electrical objects. Before moving
your system, you need to retrieve some information located in the BIOS. It
can be accessed in most machines by pressing the DELETE key during boot-up
when the message is given. For other systems, the BIOS can be accessed by
pressing Ctrl+Alt+Esc or Ctrl+Alt+S. You'll find information for your hard
drive in the set-up section of the CMOS set-up. Copy the hard drive type and
parameters info down on paper. It will look something like this:
Type Cyls Heads Precom Landzone Sectors Mode
Drive C: x x x x x x x
Retrieve all information shown in the "x" areas above-you'll need it later.
Then turn off your system and unplug the power cables.
Next, remove all peripheral connectors from the back of your system (printer,
mouse, etc.). If the connection points and corresponding plugs aren't
labeled, you might want to do so now...or draw yourself a diagram...so you
can re-connect everything correctly later. Now move the monitor and keyboard
to your workspace. Next, bring over the monitor and main system power cables.
Finally, move your main system case and face the back toward you. Do not re-
connect the power!
Opening the system
Start by removing the case screws (usually located on the back of the system,
closest to the perimeter). Store the screws in a Maggie or on a piece of
sticky tape to keep them safe. Remove the case cover by grasping the sides
with both hands and pulling it toward you until it reaches the end of the
case. Then lift up and off and put it aside.
Without the case cover, your system is fully exposed and probably as
unfamiliar to you as the surface of Mars. The first thing you'll probably
notice is the jumble of wires and cables. Multicolored wires are usually for
power. Grayish, flat ribbon-style cables are usually for floppy and hard
drives. The perpendicular "cards" jutting up from the motherboard (the large,
flat board at the bottom of the case) are called expansion boards. They
manage your video, modem, floppy and hard drives, and printer. They are
pushed into expansion slots soldered to the motherboard.
Removing the old motherboard
Important: Static electricity is the arch enemy of computer components.
Before touching anything in the case, ground yourself to expel your body's
natural static electricity by touching the metal on the case near the power
cord. You should do this several times while changing the motherboard, and
always if you walk away and then return.
Start by removing all the flat cables connected to the expansion boards
(cards). Most of these will be connected to one of the boards, the HD/FDC
controller This is the card that controls your floppy and hard drives. Each
cable has a red "stripe" at one edge of the flat surface that is aligned with
pin 1 on the controller. All the stripes should be facing in the same
direction; and the location of pin 1 is usually designated by a small " 1 "
on the card. It's a good idea to make a diagram for yourself as to where pin
1 is located, as well as the locations from which cables were removed. This
will help you re-connect everything correctly later on.
Next, the hard drive LED (a smaller connector made up of two wires) must be
removed. Pin 1 for this connector is its colored wire.
Once all the cables have been removed, it's time to unscrew the expansion
boards. Again, it's best to make yourself a diagram of the location/order of
each board/card on the motherboard for accurate reconnection later. Remove
the screw at the top-front of each card and put it safely aside. Grasp each
card firmly at the front with thumb and forefinger, being careful not to bend
any pins, and pull in an up-and-back motion until the card pops off from the
expansion slot in the front. Applying a similar grip with your other hand,
grab the back end of the card, pull it away from the slot, and put it safely
aside. Repeat the process until all cards have been removed.
What you see now is a big, flat board at the bottom of the case: the
motherboard. [See Fig. 3.] The first thing you need to do is remove the two
multi-colored power cables connected vertically to the motherboard. Next,
you'll see a multitude of connectors plugged in vertically at one end of the
board. These are the case-mounted controls and indicators, including power
and turbo LED's, turbo and re-set switches, PC speaker, and key lock. They
are connected similarly to the way your cables were plugged into the
controller, with pin 1 being the colored wire. Don't bother diagramming these
as you unplug them, since the configuration will probably be different on
your new motherboard. (These wires are usually labeled for correct re-
installation...if not, consult your old motherboard ard manual.) Once these
connectors have been pulled, you're ready to remove the old motherboard.
Standoffs (plastic fasteners) hold the motherboard in place and metal screws
(usually two) keep the standoffs from moving around and popping out. Locate
the metal screws, unscrew them, and set them safely aside. Now try sliding
the motherboard left and right. Once you find a moveable direction, slide the
motherboard as far as possible and lift up, using as much jiggling as
necessary to remove it from the case. Be very careful when you do this, since
the edges and pins are extremely sharp. Remove all plastic standoffs from the
board, using needle-nosed pliers or your fingers. Squeeze the part of the
standoff showing on the top of the board while, at the same time, pushing
down. Try not to cut away the standoffs, especially if you don't have extras,
since you'll need to re-install them on your new motherboard.
Once you've put the standoffs safely aside, place the old motherboard on your
work surface. You are now going to pull out your RAM chips; but before you
start this, be sure to ground yourself again to protect the chips from static
electricity. Now, push outward on the clip holding each chip in place until
it falls backward to about a 45 degree angle. Gently push down if it resists,
then pull it out and set it safely aside. Repeat this procedure until all
chips have been removed.
Installing the new motherboard
Make sure you're grounded before touching anything. If you have a new
motherboard with a processor from KREX, all jumpers have been preset except
for the memory type jumpers. (Refer back to the manual for the memory
configuration that applies to your system.) If you've purchased a bare board
from KREX and a processor elsewhere, refer to the manual for jumper settings
for your chip. Remember that, regardless of processor, the chip should be
centered so that pin 1 (indicated by a dot or arrow) is facing the same way
as the pin 1 corner of the socket. In the case of a ZIF (Zero Insertion
Force) socket, lift the lever, orient the chip, and lock it in place by
lowering the lever.
Once the processor is installed, insert your old compatible RAM chip into
your motherboard. Hold the chip at a 45 degree angle to the socket, push it
in, then push it up until the clip snaps it in. Now you're ready to mount the
new motherboard inside the case.
First, determine which board holes are to be filled by standoffs (plastic
fasteners) and which by metal screws. Usually, the two top-front center holes
on the motherboard (the ones edged with metal) are for screws. Never use a
metal screw in a you hole that is NOT edged with metal shielding. Also, never
use more than TWO metal screws when mounting a motherboard. To do either of
these things could cause a short in the motherboard.
Once you identify which holes are for metal screws, insert brass standoffs
(left over from the original motherboard) into the corresponding holes in the
case. Now, choose the holes for plastic standoffs. Don't worry if you don't
have enough plastic standoffs to fill every hole. Hold the motherboard over
the case and determine which holes line up with the pre-drilled case holes -
put plastic standoffs in those matching holes. If you feel you don't have
enough standoffs in place to support the motherboard but you can't find any
more matching holes, snip the bottoms off one or two standoffs and push them
into available motherboard holes. This will prevent the motherboard from
touching the metal case and shorting out.
Now it's time to connect the motherboard to the case. Hold the motherboard
above the case with the standoffs over their corresponding holes. Push the
board down so the standoffs go into the wider side of the holes. Then, as
with a chain lock, slide the standoffs over so they are in locking position.
The two metal screw holes should now be lined up with their corresponding
brass standoffs in the case. Using the screws from your original motherboard,
secure the new motherboard to the case. Push the motherboard lightly on all
four corners and in the center to make sure it's even and secure. Your new
motherboard is now in place.
Using your diagrams, re-connect all cables to the controller board and any
other expansion boards. Using the new motherboard book as a reference tool,
as well as the labels on the connectors and board, plug the turbo and power
LED's, the PC speaker, etc. into the motherboard.
It's now time to plug the power connectors into the motherboard. This is one
of the most critical parts of installation. You must make sure that the black
power cord wires are facing inward toward each other and that you are not off
by any pins. Facing the cord wires incorrectly or missing a pin can harm your
motherboard.
Once you're certain the power connectors have been correctly installed, you
can plug in the expansion boards (cards) from the old motherboard in any
order you choose. Plug each card in by placing it above the corresponding
slot and pushing it in (first the back and then the front) until the entire
card is solidly in place, then secure it with the original screw. Repeat
until all cards are in place. You are now ready to test the motherboard.
Testing the motherboard
First, plug power into the monitor. Next, plug the monitor and keyboard into
the computer. Finally, plug power into the computer. Before you turn anything
on, ask yourself the following questions:
ú Are all my jumpers set correctly?
ú Is my processor aligned correctly?
ú Is everything plugged in that needs to be?
ú Are all pins aligned correctly?
ú Is my memory installed correctly?
ú Are the black wires from the power cable both facing inward where they
are connected?
When you can give a firm YES answer to all of the above, then you can turn on
your system. If everything is working correctly, the first message you will
see will be: DISK BOOT FAILURE, INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER. From
there, re-set and go into the system BIOS. Set up your hard drive and
floppies. The auto detect feature will usually put in the correct parameters
for your hard drive. If not, use the parameters you copied down when you
began. If you don't have them or couldn't find them, they're usually written
on top of the hard drive. If that doesn't work, consult your owner's manual
or call the manufacturer. Once the BIOS has been configured, you're ready to
go.
Conclusion
Congratulations on installing your new 486 or Pentium motherboard! You should
now see a marked improvement in performance. Should you have any problems or
questions, feel free to call the KREX tech support line at [708] 967-0275
during regular business hours Monday thru Saturday. Our technicians are
always ready to help. In the meantime, good job -- and enjoy!
Installing Your NEW CD-ROM Drive
First. you have to decide on the type of CD-ROM drive you want to purchase.
We recommend an internal drive, because they're more cost-effective than
externals, they don't take up extra desk space, and they don't require their
own power. Also. internal drives are generally IDE-controlled (Integrated
Device Electronics) and do not require separate adapter card. If you don't
have ready space in your case for an internal CD-ROM drive, then we recommend
you throw away your 5- l/4" floppy drive...you probably haven't used it in
two years anyway.
SCSI-controlled drives (Small Computer System Interface) cost about $100 more
and require special parts to run them in standard home PCs with enhanced IDE
controllers installed, driving up the price even further. In addition,
although the manufacturers boast that you can connect up to seven peripherals
to them, the truth is that you're probably never going to use more than four.
So why spend the extra money? In our opinion, IDE is definitely the way to
go.
Right now, the most popular CD-ROM drive on the market (particularly for
first-time buyers) is the quad-speed IDE. We recommend you buy the whole
multimedia kit, which includes drive, sound card, speakers, and software.
That way, you won't have to worry about buying separate parts that may not be
compatible. (Check the KREX DIRECT Wholesale Price List or call us at 1-800-
989-1022 for the very latest prices and info.)
Once you have your CD-ROM drive, it's time for pre-installation preparation.
First, make sure you have all the tools you will need to get the job done.
(At under $15, the KREX Computer Tool Kit will do just fine.) Next, you must
read through the instruction/installation manual included with your new drive
so you know what you're going to have to do. If you're unsure of anything,
call us -don't guess.
Finally, prepare a clean, flat, dust-free surface with close-by electrical
outlets to work on-one where you can lay everything out close at hand,
including your tools, and where you can work comfortably in adequate
lighting. (As you lay out all the parts, keep the interface board in its
static-resistant packaging to prevent damage.) Now you're all set to begin.
1. Unplug your computer from the electrical outlet. Unplug all peripherals
from the back of the computer. Now move the computer to your work space and
remove the cover from the case. Store all screws and/or clips in a plastic
bag or on a piece of sticky tape to keep them safe.
ú Important: Static electricity is the arch enemy of computer components.
Before you touch anything inside the computer case, ground yourself by
touching the metal on the case near the power cord. Do this several times
during the installation process, especially if you walk away and then return.
Before you begin working, take a few minutes to identify the parts and areas
in the case where you are going to be working. Different computer
brands/models may vary slightly in where these parts/areas are located.
2. Remove the plate covering the drive bay where you're going to install
your new CD-ROM drive. Remove the new drive from its plastic shipping wrap so
you can set the jumpers, located on the back of the drive. [See Fig. 2]. Most
manufacturers pre-set the jumpers to the proper ID at the factory; but you'll
want to check them against the installation manual just to make sure they're
set properly and avoid problems later on.
3. Now slide the new drive into the waiting drive bay. If your computer
also has a floppy drive, you may need to remove the screws holding it so you
can slide it forward a couple of inches (don't disconnect the cables) to give
yourself room to work inside the case. Move any cables out of the way so you
can slide the new drive in, making sure it's flush and aligned with the
floppy drive.
4. Now you need to hook up the cables. First, connect the DC power cable
to the back of the drive. This cable runs from the computer to the CD-ROM
drive and should be lying just beneath the hard drive. (If the hard drive is
in your way, loosen the screw that fastens it to the motherboard and move it
up and out of your way.) Next, connect the interface and audio cables that
came with your installation kit to the back of the drive.
5. Once the cables are attached, put the hard drive back in place. Make
sure the interface and audio cables run to the other side of the computer
between the CD-ROM drive and hard drive, not underneath it.
6. Now you're going to install the interface board in an empty expansion
slot, usually located at the back of the computer. (An expansion slot is a
socket inside your computer that provides a connection between your machine
and the interface board.) To determine if your board needs an 8-bit or 16-bit
slot, check the number of connectors on the bottom of the interface board. If
the board has two connector areas instead of one, you need a 16-bit slot.
(Note: Generally, with an IDE CDROM drive, you have a choice of hooking it to
the SoundBlaster or the hard drive IDE controller that's already in your
computer. Generally, our KREX techs install it to the on-board controller;
but in most cases, you do have a choice. It shouldn't hurt anything,
whichever way you go.)
7. In order to slide the interface board into the empty expansion slot, you
will first have to remove the metal plate that covers the opening on the back
of the computer. You'll be using the screw later to secure the board, so
don't lose it. (If there is no metal plate, don't worry; it probably was
removed earlier for some other reason. But you will need to find different
screws to hold the board in place.)
8. Ground yourself again and then remove the interface board from its
shipping wrap. Check it against your installation guide to make sure its
jumpers are set correctly. (These jumpers look like little black Legos on
gold connector pins.) The manufacturer probably pre-set them for you-but you
just want to make sure.
9. Now slide the board into the expansion slot, pressing firmly to get it
into place. If you have trouble getting the board into the slot, push one
side in at a time - but don't push too hard. It should slide in easily once
it's in the correct position. If it doesn't, take it all the way out and try
again.
10. Once the board's in the slot, replace the screw you removed earlier. You
should not have to force it into place; the board should actually stay in
position without it. All the screw does is keep the board from being bumped
out.
11. Now connect the interface and audio cables to the interface board. It
should be easy to do, because there's only one slot on the board that matches
the interface cable. The audio cable may take a little more time, because it
has three different ends that enable it to fit into different slots on
different boards. Only one of those ends will fit into your board; so just
have a little patience and figure out which matches. for cable connection
locations.] [Note: If you want to install a sound board - or already have one
- then the audio cable should attach to that board and not to the interface
board.]
12. Once your installation is completed, it's time to put everything back
into its proper place, tighten any loose screws, and replace the computer
case. Remember that it's okay for the interface cable to be folded and bent
underneath the case cover when the cover is replaced. When everything is
where it belongs and the case is back on, you can reconnect the monitor to
the computer and plug both of them into the electrical outlets. Now turn on
the computer and begin your software installation.
13. To install the software, just follow the directions in the instruction
manual. If you complete this step and the CD-ROM doesn't work, there are
several things you can check:
ú Are all the connections between the interface board, cables, and CD-ROM
tight?
ú Is the software installed properly?
ú Did you put the disk in the drive label-side up?
ú Are all the settings correct, both on the CDROM drive and the interface
board?
If you check all of the above and your drive still doesn't work, then call
our KREX tech support line at 708-967-0275 and one of our technicians will
walk you through it.
KREX Computers
9320 Waukegan Rd
Morton Grove, IL 60053
800-893-9597
847-967-0200
847-967-0276 Fax
Information Email: Krex800@aol.com
Tech Support Email: krextech@juno.com
WebSite: http://www.trcone.com/krexcom.html
Atari User Support
Jaguar/Computer Section
Dana Jacobson, Editor
From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
The party's over...
No-no, I'm not referring to Atari - that's old news by now. My second
summer vacation is all but history (awwwww...) and the summer is rapidly
coming to a close. It all seems a blur. The good thing about the upcoming
Labor Day holiday is that this is usually the time of year when people start
to wind down again and become more active online and computing interest is re-
generated. We hope that the same interest is reflected in these pages, as
well.
I haven't got back to all of the respondents who have offered to help
support this section of STReport. Unabashedly, I have been spending more
time this summer enjoying myself and doing a lot of things that I've been
promising myself. Even my golf game has started to significantly improve;
and I don't own "Mean 18"! So for now, I guess I'll take advantage of the
last few days of vacation and sit back, prop the feet up, crack open another
"Red Dog", and enjoy.
Until next time...
Oasis STR Infofile
OASES Operating System
From: Craig Carmichael <omen@oases.com>
Esquimalt Digital Logic Inc The Oases Company
820 Dunsmuir Road Voice: 604 384 0499
Victoria, BC Fax: 604 384 0575
Canada V9A 5B7 Email: omen@oases.com
Web: http://www.oases.com/~omen/
Press Release
August, 1996
Subject: OMEn becomes OASES, and Goes Multi-Media
* In Brief
* System name
* Macintosh/Power Mac Version
* Other Versions
* Programming
* Movies
* Interactive Textbook, the Multi-Media Literature System
* Download Oases
* Prices
* Availability
* In Brief
Many exciting developments have been taking place at EDLI, and it's about
time we told you what they are! We've made the operating system more
available and changed the name. Of course, we have been continually improving
it, and it's got some features that even Mac and Windows don't have. The
App-Launch program and directory "bookmarks", plus the ability to play a
sound or view a picture simply by clicking on the file, help users navigate
and find things easily, and behind the scenes, new calls such as picture
(RLE) encode-decode provide good support for new items such as movies and
shrinking large picture files.
And, at last, we have some software of value to end users as well as to
programmers: a means to create your own multi-media literature materials. If
our plan for helping people to distribute their creations workout, you may
even be able to make money writing such materials. Everything is on-line (or
about to go on line) at our web site (URL at top): the Oases system itself;
programming manuals and Eazy-Asm assembler; the premiere edition of
Interactive Author, the multimedia literature creation software; and more.
* System name
The OMEn (Open Multitasking ENvironment) operating system has been renamed
Oases Open Software Environment (how about "Open Architecture Software
Environment System", if you're hooked on acronyms). This is expected to make
the system more appealing to many English speaking users, as "OMEn" always
seemed to have a little black cloud over it in spite of many attempts to ward
it off!
* Macintosh/Power Mac version
The Macintosh version of Oases is on sale. It runs on all tested models from
Mac-512KE through Power PC 6100/60. The Macintosh version runs exactly the
same software as the Atari version, except for a couple of very
machine-specific programs like the Atari-ST VIDI-Recorder. The display, too,
looks virtually identical to other versions. Oases for Mac will make use of
any mounted Macintosh volume, including file servers and CDs. Currently
Supported displays are monochrome, 256 colour and 32768 colour ("Thousands"
setting).
* Other Versions
The PC porting is currently on hold owing to the range of other commitments,
but will certainly be completed at the earliest possible date, hopefully by
the end of the year. We expect the current range of products to generate
interest in a joint venture for completing the PC and other portings. We are
planning a joint venture with another company to create an inexpensive
single-board OASES "embedded control" computer based on MCF5202, Motorola's
new 68000 compatible RISC processor. Because Oases runs the same software on
any machine, users would be able to test their software on their Atari/Mac/PC
before trying it in the controller (except hardware dependent sections, of
course!). This system may later be made available in a general "PC"
configuration as well. Speed should be similar to the better 68EC040 systems.
* Programming
A design goal of OASES was to create a system inherently easier to write
application software for than other systems. Virtually all the applications
for Oases have been written using Eazy-Asm structured assembler. A program
can be as simple as opening a window with a call to the Display Manager, and
a loop where the program goes to the "postbox" and waits for an applicable
event. Shutdown is normally as simple as "_CloseTask". The OASES Programming
Reference Manual is only around 400 pages, and can be downloaded from our web
site.
* Movies
We've come out with a simple spec to define Oases movies containing animated
graphics, still-picture "slides", and sound. Movies are played in the
Interactive Textbook program, and other software can easily be written to
play movies. The movie spec allows creation of movies and slideshows from any
source of pictures and sounds. And, we've taken a VIDI-ST video digitizer
for Ataris and made the Atari-ST VIDI-Recorder program to create Oases movie
animation sequences with 8 different video frame rates and sizes in four or
sixteen levels of gray, with aspect ratios for most "normal" displays plus
two for "ST-Medium-Rez" mode, with its tall pixels. A 2.5 or four megabyte
ST or STE is demanded. The lowest frame rates and small sized pictures give
over a minute of recording time on a 4 megabyte machine.
The Picture-Condenser utility program helps to trim down movies with larger
pictures so they can better fit on a floppy disk. (Oases 3.38 and above
automatically un-condense pictures for display.)
* Interactive Author and Interactive Textbook
These are our "star" programs. The premiere version of Interactive Author is
now available on our web site (URL on letterhead). It allows its user to
create and use multimedia"interactive textbook" literature on any conceivable
topic, for reference works or educational curriculum. The "pages" of the
"textbooks" may contain text, pictures, sounds, slide-shows and movie clips.
Page-link buttons dynamically link pages, similar to hypertext.
And, as if that wasn't enough, "evaluation" items add the ability to use
Interactive Textbooks for self-paced studies and distance education: all the
teacher has to do is sit the student down at the computer. The student
cannot proceed through the book without correctly answering the evaluation
questions, and so when he/she returns having completed the "textbook", the
teacher will know the material in it has been mastered.
We hope to compile a catalog of interactive textbook multimedia literature
developed by other authors, and to offer distribution with
commissions/royalties for well-written, original-material-only works. Free
Interactive Textbooks are also available for download on the web site...
including "Using Interactive Author", which contains instructions for
creating your own Multi-media literature.
* Download Oases
The Oases system is "protected" by having a colour coded software licence. It
may, however, be run without the licence, and is available at our world wide
web site: http://www.oases.com/~omen Without the licence, it is possible
to save only small files, and not large ones, to disk. But, it is entirely
possible to use it, and to run Interactive Textbooks created by other users.
Distribution copies will run as licenced until the end of the month they
were released: i.e, OASES338 will save any files until the end of July.
* Prices
Oases system licenses, printed software development manuals and software
developer registration are the only items for which EDLI currently charges:
The premiere edition of Interactive Author and all our other items are free,
or available on disk for shipping & handling charges. Oases-for-Macintosh
costs $69.95 Canadian. Oases-for-Atari is $44.95; or both licenses for
$99.95. (approx. US$ equialents: $52.95, $33.95, and $74.95) Order by
August 15th and get 25% off any above item. Order Interactive-Author
Professional Edition for the special pre-release price of $69.95 Cdn/$52.95
US, with delivery late fall or early winter '96.
* Availability
Oases products are available from:
EDLI (Contact information at the top)
In the UK, Oases is also carried by:
Floppyshop
P.O. Box 273
Aberdeen, Scotland
UK AB9 8SJ
General phn., fax: (01224) 586208
Credit Card orders: (01224) 312756
We are interested in dealers... If you are an interested dealer, or know of
one, please get in touch.
Genie Sold ..AGAIN STR Infofile
IDT Acquires Genie Online Service
IDT Corp., one of America's largest Internet service providers, says it has
purchased the Genie Online Service from Yovelle Renaissance Corp. The deal's
terms weren't disclosed. Genie, the online service formerly owned by
General Electric, provides multi-player gaming, interactive chat, and
bulletin board services. Once a major player in the online field, Genie's
subscriber base has dwindled to about 20,000 customers in the United States.
The service currently has 20 employees in Rockville, Maryland.
Hackensack, New Jersey-based IDT says the acquisition will allow for the
continuance of the Genie Online Service and provides for long-term access to
General Electric Information Services' technical support. IDT has also gained
the rights to more than 100GB of Genie content. "The acquisition of Genie is
a home run all around," says IDT CEO Howard Jonas. "Genie's loyal users will
enjoy continued quality service. IDT gains valuable content infrastructure
for the new Genie Interactive offering. And IDT gains a profitable online
service within the framework of a profitable transaction."
MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, U.S.A., 1996
AUG 21 (Newsbytes) -- By Nick Gorski.
Twelve years ago this week these Newsbytes stories were filed:
Commodore's Coup; Apple Clones Creep In; Adam On The Comeback Trail; This &
That. These stories were taken from the extensive archives at the Newsbytes
Website at http://www.newsbytes.com
Commodore's Coup
In a move that signals a new "arms race" between Commodore and the rest of
the computer world (Apple in particular), the company has purchased Amiga
Corp. of Santa Clara, California. The new Amiga computer reportedly has
excellent graphics capabilities and runs on the same chip as the Apple
Macintosh. The move may have surprised Atari's Jack Tramiel. As one Commodore
insider reportedly told a Wall Street Journal reporter, "This is the high-end
machine Jack wanted. He knows it, we know it, and he's going to have a fit."
Commodore's newly acquired 32-bit machine is in direct competition with
Tramiel's plans to offer a Macintosh-like computer for "under $1,000." Nobody
is saying how much Commodore paid to acquire the small Silicn Valley firm.
Creeping Clones
More pirated Apple computers were the source of new litigation from Apple
this week. Three companies -- one in Louisiana and two in California -- were
charged with importing and selling fake Apples, mainly to schools in the US.
The difference between these suits and others is that they allege the
Apple-clones came, not from Taiwan, but from Korea. Meanwhile, 239
Apple-like computers were seized by Customs agents at a Kansas City
warehouse, while another 700 are reportedly being stored in an undisclosed
Los Angeles location. (Wendy Woods writes: This week I saw what Apple's
attorney Jeff Blatt confirmed is an illegal Apple in a San Francisco store
on Clement Street. It's called the DataVision, alias the Romar, alias the
Zeus, alias the Breeze. The computer is made by Sailing Industries of Taiwan.
Apparently they get around.)
Adam Gets Up Again
A $15 million advertising campaign by Coleco is gearing up to reintroduce the
Coleco Adam computer. Unfazed by $35 million in fourth quarter losses,
Coleco has spent more millions to redevelop the Adam. Coleco now feels
assured it has a marketable product. Children will be the market target for
Coleco's ads. The computer will be sold in Toys 'R' Us stores and other mass
outlets. While many remain skeptical the company can turn around its
reputation for building bug-infested home computers, the company is certain
its problems are over.
This and That
They Come, They Go, Some Stay: More magazines are running aground in their
attempt to remain afloat. Sadly enough, this includes a recent Newsbytes
subscriber, Peelings II. Among other deaths are SYNC, Software Supermarket,
Basic Computing, Professional Engineering, Softalk's ST. Game, and Atari's
Atari Connection. Among those still going strong, in order of subscription
list magnitude, are PC Magazine, InfoWorld, Byte, and Popular Computing.
(List: courtesy Computer Publicity News.)
The Birth of Smart TVs? General Electric has announced plans to introduce the
first television-based cntroller that regulates all your other appliances.
The HomeMinder, available by Christmas, will manage all your electrical
minions and even take messages. There are two versions of the system, one
priced at $500, the other at $1,300. Both require that every appliance be
hooked into a small module that connects to your electrical outlets. The
actual hardware details have not been disclosed. GE expects only a tiny
fraction of the public to buy the device at first. "But as people get
familiar with it, we think the market will boom," said Judy Ziegler of GE.
Jaguar Section
"Slam Racer"?! SuperCharger CD!
More Don Thomas Kudos!
And more...
From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
It's been how long since the last game for the Jaguar has appeared?
Wow! Can you imagine what it's going to be like this fall, and eventually,
the holiday season to not hear promises from Atari (and inevitable letdowns)?
I wonder how many of us will be looking forward to Sony, Nintendo, or Sega
systems instead? This will be weird!
We're all eagerly awaiting the release of Towers II. I'm still waiting
to get some formal confirmation on a date. As soon as I learn more, I'll
pass it along. We've also been hearing rumblings of Slam Racer from Sinister
Developments coming out, when finished. We also hope to learn of other games
that have a chance of making it onto the Jaguar scene.
I was hoping to get in some Jaguar time during my vacation. Summer
vacations, for me, usually mean that I can expect a good percentage of rainy
days giving me an excuse to stay indoors (and play the Jaguar). It didn't
happen this time around. I was fortunate by actually having some incredible
weather this year - and took advantage of it. I look forward to getting in
some time, however, and reviewing some games that never seemed to get covered
while the Jaguar was "a hot topic".
Former Atari all-around good guy, Don Thomas, continues to draw some
well-deserved praise after his recent announcement of going to Sony - we've
included a few of those snippets again this week. We've also included some
information on the SuperCharger CD that's almost due out. No, it's not a new
Jaguar CD game. It's a unique item for the old 2600 with a number of never-
released games. Check out the article and messages pertaining to this item,
especially if you're an avid 2600 person. I may even dust off mine if I can
find a spot for it!
Until next time...
Industry News STR Game Console NewsFile - The Latest Gaming News!
From CompuServe's Video Gaming Forums:
Sinister Developments News
Sinister Developments has met with the distribution company and is willing to
publish the Jaguar game 'Slam Racer' as long as Sinister Developments
finishes the actual game coding. Sinister Developments has also agreed to
look at one of their games which was to be converted to the Jaguar, Cricket
by Telegames. Sinister Developments should be receiving the original source
shortly and starting conversion work.
Slam Racer Information
Slam Racer is an overhead view car racing game (similar perspective to Power
Drive Rally, but a different type of game). The main features of the game
are:
ú Smooth animation all at 60 fps
ú Rendered car graphics
ú Intelligent computer cars
ú Track obstacles (like gates which raise and lower randomly)
ú Full Hidemasking (ability to hide behind any object with height). Looks
very cool when driving under suspension bridges.
ú 8 channel sound
ú Networking for up to 8 or 16 players (If we can manage it!!)
Release date is unknown at the moment but work is progressing well.
Jaguar Online STR InfoFile - Online Users Growl & Purr!
Fm: Daniel Skelton 73742,464
To: Dana P. Jacobson 71051,3327 (X)
Hi, Dana,
The Supercharger CD, which is titled "Stella Gets A New Brain" is a
combination Audio CD/CD-ROM containing the 12 released games for the
Starpath Supercharger, a device that plugged into the Atari 2600 allowing
enhanced gameplay. A 13th uncompleted game, Sweat, is included on the disc,
though it is not really playable, just of historical interest. There are a
couple of Beta versions of Starpath games (one of which is spectacularly
different from the released version!) and at least one surprise. All of
these games play on a standard audio CD player. Simply plug the Supercharger
into the CD player (instead of into a cassette player, as used in 1983). The
games load quicker than even the "fast" load side of the old Supercharger
tapes.
The remainder of the CD is devoted to a development system which allows the
creation of new 2600/Supercharger games including cross-assemblers, file
converters, and source code for several Starpath games; a comprehensive
archive of the output of Starpath, including box artwork, rule books,
enclosures, and ads; and a comprehensive archive of Vectrex materials
including brand-new cleaned scans of the rare color overlays, suitable for
printing on a color printer.
The package is accompanied by a manual which gives historical data on the
games, includes a foreword from one Starpath designer and an interview with
a second, and includes the entire content of all game manuals for all of the
Starpath games. My involvement with the project was the assembling and
scanning of the Supercharger/Vectrex game archives; layout of the user's
manual; creation of the cover artwork; and generation of brand new box
mock-ups for all of the included games that did not ship in boxes (or were
never released). That last part was a lot of fun, trying to adapt my artwork
to look like the classic game boxes.
The cost for the package is $18, which is designed only to cover or expenses.
Shipment is limited to 350 copies. To get on the list, you should mail to
Glenn Saunders ('krishna@primenet.com'). Shipment is imminent, with all
materials being complete and only a review of final CDs and manuals standing
between us and shipping the product.
Hope you have found this information useful and interesting. RETROGAMING AT
ITS BEST!
Dan Skelton
Antique Videogame Aficionado, Proud Jaguar Owner, and member of the
CyberPuNKS
The Supercharger is a device that loads special games into the 2600. While it
originally used audio cassette tapes to load the games, this CD is a
compilation of all the Supercharger games, plus some utilities to load
regular 2600 ROMs and I think a few programming tools.
A CD compiling all of the Starpath Supercharger games, originally sold on
cassette, on one CD, plus a CD-ROM portion with many goodies. All this for
$15 + $3 p&h, and fully legal too (ie we got permission to make the CD).
Most of the posts right now are asking where the CD is, and it has yet to go
to press. Once it does, we should have ours in 3 days and the booklet in 7
days, then they'll begin shipping. We had some last minute problems with
the images on the CD-ROM portion, and then our CD guy got sick. Hopefully
he'll find the time soon to send it to press. People are getting antsy.
THE OFFICIAL STARPATH CD ORDER FORM
E-MAIL ADDRESS (for list cross-referencing):
NAME:
ADDRESS:
CITY:
STATE/PROVINCE:
ZIP or equivalent MAILCODE:
COUNTRY:
One Starpath Supercharger CD & Booklet 15.00 US
Dollars
Shipping & Handling Continental US 3.00
International
8.00
TOTAL
More Reflections on Don Thomas' Leaving Atari:
Fm: SNAP347 103625,1027
To: Don Thomas 75300,1267 (X)
Well, you might be tired of hearing farewell but farewell, mein friend...
You've done so much for the whole Atari community and Classic Atari OnLine
and I thank for that. I could have never started CAO without you and I'm
sure this forum wouldn't have thrived as it did without you. Thank you for
putting in the extra hours that you didn't have to (you probably sold a few
Jaguars by doing that) and thanks for putting up with my flack for the last 6
mo. or so.
Now go kick some Nintendo/Sega butt with Sony!!!!
You will not be forgotten,
David Schmudde
Classic Atari OnLine
Sb: #116824-CATnips (epilog)
Fm: Ralph @ STReport 70007,4454
To: Ron Luks (SYSOP) 76703,254
>> I hope you remember to download and archive all these "farewell"
messages. Sure is one of the most positive testaments I've seen since the
forum opened 15 yrs ago. I don't recall anyone getting as nice a
sendoff. <<
And.... that doesn't even come close to reflecting the warm send-offs Don
received in E-Mail... I know of no other Atari rep more deserving. Don's
positive efforts through these last few years definitely neutralized and
overcame the hateful atmosphere generated among many of us during the
computer years by a few maligned Atari reps. Don has proven, beyond a shadow
of a doubt, that he is a true professional in every sense of the term. In
fact, he has more than simply "set an example" for the rest of us, he's lived
it. I can say he is one of the very special people I'll always be proud to
call a friend. I am confident Don Thomas will do quite well at Sony. He's one
of the "good guys".
Ralph Mariano @ STReport International Online Magazine
Fm: Michael Gribbin 105127,3327
To: Don Thomas 75300,1267 (X)
Don,
What can I say that everyone else hasn't already? You're the greatest. I
have poked around here for a few years now, and let's just say that my wife
and I have a great deal of respect for you and the way you have handled
yourself in this forum through good and bad.
Good luck at Sony, and I also hope to be 'seeing' you around CServe.
Also, I finally got an adapter and have my Jag running in a refurbished Atari
monitor and kiosk--it's excellent! All thanks to your (and Atari's) help--I
figure I've got one heckuva long-term collectors item in that setup! And
you know what?--there are probably two dozen games to play on it that I would
never part with. Thanks again for the help...
Michael Gribbin
Sb: Differing Opinion
Fm: Chuck Bertolino 70742,2444
To: All
I along with everyone else wish Don all the best, salute his place in Atari
history. I can't overlook Don's responsibilities as Public
Relations/Customer Service representative, and wouldn't have wanted to trade
places with him for anything in the world. But I'll be darn if I wasn't
frustrated at what appeared to be a glib attitude towards Atari's fumbling
of one game release after another...
The much ballyhooed Club Drive, god must we forget Checkered Flag, these were
the games if done right, I believe could have set Atari above the rest.
Instead what we got after all the glitter of the marketing hype, was not the
next generation of graphics that we had all longed for, but a look at entry
level polygon graphics, a snow job at best.
I would have preferred a more honest appraisal, a more critical view, maybe
that's what did Atari in more than anything else........I can't believe the
guys at Atari weren't looking at these games and saying the same things we
were........these games look like crap. Especially after AVP. It could have
been done right...........and it should have been!
The games made the difference.
b: #116777-CATnips (epilog)
Fm: Steve Bernhard 74134,2022
To: Don Thomas 75300,1267
Don,
All I can say is thanks. Thanks for all of your hard work and dedication.
When I needed a favor you were always there for me and I have appreciated all
of them. I may not know you on a personal level but I can sense that you are
a man with character. From the beginning I've always sensed that your
dedication to Atari and the online community not only resulted from your
fondness of Atari but also came from the heart. I've dealt with many
companies, big and small, and I can honestly say none of them gave me more
personal prompt professional help than yourself. Yes I believe character
matters and your character is something you can be proud of. Wishing you
only the best at Sony!
-Steve
Gameware Express
Microsoft Announces Utilities for Advanced Web Page Development
HTML Layout Control and ActiveX Control Pad Facilitate
Creation of Interactive Web Content for Users of Microsoft Internet Explorer
3.0
REDMOND, Wash. - June 10, 1996 - Microsoft Corp. today announced the
immediate availability of beta versions of the Microsoftr HTML Layout Control
and the ActiveXT Control Pad, complementary products that facilitate the
development of leading-edge, ActiveX-based Web content. ActiveX is an
umbrella term for Microsoft technologies that enable developers to create
interactive content for the World Wide Web. Support for ActiveX technologies
and HTML standards are key features of Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0,
released last week in beta form.
The HTML Layout Control, available for download at no charge from Microsoft's
Web site,
(http://microsoft.com/ie/ie3/layout.htm/),
provides frame-based layout for Web pages. It is based on the draft
Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) specification recently published by the World
Wide Web Consortium (W3C). The ActiveX Control Pad, also available for
download at no charge from Microsoft's Web site
(http://microsoft.com/intdev/), is an authoring utility that simplifies the
addition of ActiveX Controls as well as scripts written in the Visual Basicr
programming system, Scripting Edition , or JavaScriptT to HTML pages using a
simple point-and-click process. Together, these utilities will enable Web
developers to create a new generation of exciting, interactive Web pages for
users of Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and other ActiveX-enabled browsers.
HTML Layout Control Provides Greater Design Precision
for Web Page Designers
Until recently, Web page designers have been limited in their ability to
control the placement of features in Web pages and thus create sophisticated
user interfaces for their Web sites. For example, the current HTML standard
does not provide Web page designers with precise, 2-D coordinate control over
individual objects placed on a page, nor does it provide the ability to
overlap objects and frames to facilitate the creation of more sophisticated
pages with interactive designs.
The HTML Layout Control is a preliminary implementation of the draft
specification published by the W3C (http://www.w3.org/pub/WWW/TR/WD-
layout.html) for 2-D-style layout extensions to the HTML CSS standard.
Microsoft has been working closely with the W3C on standards for 2-D, frame-
based layout capabilities, including exact x and y coordinate placement, and
on creating pages with overlapped (z-ordered) objects.
"We are delighted to be working with Microsoft on extending the W3C Cascading
Style Sheet mechanism to support 2-D layout," said David Raggett, lead
architect for HTML at W3C. "The separation of document structure and layout
style will be critical to fulfilling the potential of the Web when sites are
rendering to graphic displays, PDAs or paper. The HTML Layout Control is a
valuable first step toward this goal. We look forward to continued
collaboration with W3C members in this regard."
Web page developers can immediately implement 2-D support with the HTML
Layout Control in Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 and other browsers
supporting ActiveX Controls. Over time, 2-D-style layout capabilities based
on the final W3C specification will be natively supported in other Microsoft
authoring tools and will become a standard feature of Microsoft Internet
Explorer.
ActiveX Control Pad Provides Integration
of Controls, Script and HTML
ActiveX Controls are language-independent and can be created using
programming languages such as C++, future versions of Visual Basic, or Java.
More than 1000 ActiveX Controls are available today from a wide variety of
software vendors. Using the ActiveX Control Pad, Web developers can easily
incorporate ActiveX Controls and scripting logic into HTML documents using a
simple point-and-click process.
"We're responding to developers who have told us they need tools to take
advantage of ActiveX," said Bob Muglia, vice president, developer tools
division, at Microsoft. "The ActiveX Control Pad does exactly that. With the
integration of ActiveX Controls, HTML and Visual Basic Script, developers can
create interactive Web sites that make the Web come alive for users of
Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0."
The ActiveX Control Pad consists of the following components:
ú A text editor for editing HTML document source code
ú An object editor for placing ActiveX Controls directly into an HTML
document, and for visually setting properties on ActiveX Controls
ú A Script Wizard for adding Visual Basic Script or JavaScript-compatible
scripting to HTML documents
ú A palette of ActiveX Controls that can be incorporated into Web pages
The development process is expedited by the Script Wizard, which guides
developers through the process of creating scripts that integrate the
behavior of multiple controls and add programming logic to respond to users'
actions. For example, using the Script Wizard, a developer can add code that
triggers the playing of a video clip when a user clicks a "play" button
embedded on a Web page. The ActiveX Control Pad also provides a WYSIWYG page
editor for creating rich, 2-D layouts within a Web page in conjunction with
the Microsoft HTML Layout Control.
Licensing Information
In addition to posting downloadable beta copies of the ActiveX Control Pad
and HTML Layout Control, Microsoft plans to make the final releases of both
technologies available to users and developers free of charge in the third
quarter of this year. In addition, the HTML Layout Control will be shipped
with Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.0 (both in later beta versions of the
product and in the released version).
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in
software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products
and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of
making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full
power of personal computing every day. Microsoft, ActiveX and Visual Basic
are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the
United States and/or other countries. JavaScript is a trademark of Sun
Microsystems Inc.
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Since 1987 Copyrightc1996 All Rights Reserved Issue No. 1234
