394 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
394 lines
20 KiB
Plaintext
RAndY s RumOR RaG
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April 1993
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WINCIM - WAOL
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I've never subscribed to CompuServe for a variety of reasons.
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Having watched people us it, it looks extremely complicated and
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confusing to navigate the system.
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A while back, they came up with a DOS-based front end which
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shielded the user from command prompts, similar to GEnie's Aladdin
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program.
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Windows freaks can now use WinCIM, a Windows-based version of
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the CompuServe Information Manager. Since I don't subscribe, I
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haven't been able to use the software but I have looked at it. It
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appears to be very well done. There are provisions for doing time
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consuming tasks off-line (such as creating or responding to mail).
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The program only costs $25 and you then get $25 of credit on the
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system. It's a good deal and will get one more piece of DOS
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software off your system.
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America Online subscribers also have new Windows software
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available for accessing the system. The America Online Windows
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version is quite colorful and offers similar functionality to
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WINCIM. You can write mail offline and even customize one of the
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pulldown menus for the areas of the system you visit frequently.
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AOL charges $3 for the software and it's certainly worth it.
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---------------
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NEWS IN YER FACE
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WordPerfect 5.2 for OS/2 is now in the beta testing stage and
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is scheduled for a second quarter release. This will have a
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feature set similar to the Windows product and will take advantage
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of multi-threaded background printing, drag and drop, and Workplace
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Shell integration. The company continues work on WordPerfect 6 for
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OS/2, which will be a 32-bit multi-threaded product that is highly
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integrated with the Workplace Shell.
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---------------
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In other WordPerfect news, word has it that they're going to
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kill off PlanPerfect. Domestic sales have slowed to a crawl and
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more than 40% of the user base is overseas. The company sees no
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need to upgrade the product but will continue to support existing
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users.
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---------------
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Microsoft is working on an update to Access already. Due out
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in the spring, the new release will feature an increase in the
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maximum database file size, direct connectivity to FoxPro data,
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direct access to Oracle and Sybase SQL Server databases, and
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improvements in Word for Windows mail-merge capabilities.
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---------------
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Subscribers of GEnie now have the option of 800 number access.
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For just $6 per hour, call 1-800-362-1296 and the number for 9600
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baud is 1-800-847-5260 (regular 9600 rates).
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---------------
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Looks like the Pentium will finally see the light of day. It
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is due to be released by the time you read this, but don't expect
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to see systems until early summer. Meanwhile, Intel is planning a
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$1 billion plant for "next-generation" microprocessors with the
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winning site to be announced in July.
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---------------
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Microsoft may be hot with Windows, but one of their DOS
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products needs help. Word for DOS sold only 289,000 copies in
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1992, behind #2 Wordstar with 335,000 and #1 WordPerfect with more
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than 1 million copies shipped.
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---------------
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Compaq is planning a multi-processor server with architecture
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that will accommodate up to SIX PENTIUM processors! It will start
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with four processors and be upgradeable to six by 1994.
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BIG DOS 6 ROLLOUT
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Microsoft is gearing up for the rollout of DOS 6 (as this is
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published) to the tune of $7 million. This will be the largest
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single product rollout in the company s history.
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A special "60 Days to Upgrade Your World" promotion will mean
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a suggest retail price of $49.99 until May 31. DOS 6 will ship in
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six configurations: an upgrade, a multi-license pack, and 3-, 10-,
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18-, and 100-pack units.
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Retailers are wondering if they can achieve the same success
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as they did with DOS 5 because it is not a technological leap from
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DOS 5.
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Although Microsoft and Stac Electronics remained engaged in
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litigation over disk compression technology, the integrated
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DoubleDisk technology will remain in the product (the dispute is
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over a compression optimization facility).
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MORE NEWS IN YER FACE
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The second beta version of Windows NT has shipped. New
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features include fault tolerance, built-in file, print services and
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user-level security. They've also added TCP/IP including 32-bit
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mail and scheduling based upon MAPI.
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Apple's John Scully recently announced that he is not
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available or interested in becoming chief executive for IBM.
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Media Vision has released an enhanced version of the Pro Audio
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Spectrum 16 card which adds voice recognition of 300 words, a
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microphone, and new bundled software. The voice recognition
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software, ExecuVoice, lets users control Windows through voice
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commands. Audio compression and decompression (4:1) has been
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added. MIDIsoft Recording Session (Windows-based sequencer) and
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Sound Impressions (professional digital editing package) are also
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being bundled with the card.
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WordPerfect and IBM recently decided to exchange technology
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and collaborate on development projects to improve interoperability
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between workstation products and operating systems.
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Who's designing the tasteless ads for computer stuff lately?
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Last year we saw the tacky Logitech advertisements with a urinating
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baby - now Video Seven is doing it.
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New advertisements for Video Seven's video accelerator show a
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side view of a computer urinating into a cup. The copy suggests
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that the card is so fast you may have to take a special test.
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It's not cute - it's tasteless. Enough already...
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Owners of Media Vision's new ProMovie Spectrum should contact
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Media Vision if they have not received an addendum to the owner's
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manual. Seems that the original manual had the wrong DIP settings
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and there are reports of hard drives being erased.
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The "586" designation is not dead just because Intel came up
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with the Pentium name. Both AMD and Cyrix will stick with the x86
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naming convention, using "586" somewhere in their names. Said Jim
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Chapman of Cyrix, "There's nothing wrong with continuing with the
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x86 [naming] tradition. We have a 64-bit superscalar processor in
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design".
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Who's playing with the numbers in Redmond? Microsoft will
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upgrade both Word 2.0 for Windows and Word 5.1 for Macintosh to
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Word 6.0 in one big jump.
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Software Publishing is pushing Borland to use their Multimedia
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Player technology in their products. Word is that they'll license
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Borland for a small fee and stick it to Microsoft for an exorbitant
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rate.
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The Commerce Department has backed off the stiff penalties it
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proposed in October 1992 against Korean DRAM producers for alleged
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chip dumping.
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After congratulating Bill Gates on his engagement, Lotus
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executive John Landry joked that Microsoft would do *anything* to
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upstage a Lotus event.
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WORD PROCESSOR WARS TO HEAT UP
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It's time for another round of DOS word processor wars. It's
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been three years since WordPerfect made any major changes to their
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flagship DOS product - and Microsoft will soon be upgrading Word
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for DOS.
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Due to be released June 22, WordPerfect 6 for DOS will include
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a graphical user interface, customizable button bars, and pull-down
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menus. WYSIWYG editing will also be available when the product
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finally ships. Other features include dialog boxes, on-screen fax
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capabilities, sound and voice annotation, new font options, and the
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ability to have nine documents open on-screen at a time. They will
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also include Grammatik which they picked up with the acquisition of
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Reference Software. The F1 key will now be help to more closely
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conform to industry standards (but you'll be able to specify a
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version 5.1 keyboard during installation).
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Microsoft will ship a new version of Word for DOS in either
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late March or early April. Look for fireworks.
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OS/2 2.1 SOON
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IBM is declining to set a firm release date, but sometime soon
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you'll finally see version 2.1 of OS/2.
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Included in this new release will be support for Windows 3.1,
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Multimedia Presentation Manager/2, advanced CD-ROM and SCSI
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support, support for more display drivers, an easier installation
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process, and the 32-bit graphics engine we've been waiting for.
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I have no idea of the upgrade price, but IBM promises to load
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the distribution channel before beginning massive advertising.
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SPREADSHEET WARS
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Look for another round of spreadsheet wars in the near future.
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Beta testers recently received Release 4 of 1-2-3/W (another big
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version jump). Included will be a new consolidated WK4 format
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containing data and formatting information. That means macros,
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charts, and multiple worksheets are stored together and can be
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embedded as an OLE object. Another feature is a pulldown bar for
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@ functions like Quattro Pro. This new version could ship in April
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or May.
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Meanwhile, Excel 5.0 is expected to ship in September. This
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new version will include a "pivot" feature that lets users see
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different data views. There will be a new macro language based on
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an internal project code-named Object BASIC. There will be a new
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query tool (replacing Q+E).
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Borland also plans to update Quattro Pro sometime in 1993.
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PENTIUM NEWS
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Intel is working on a version of the Pentium (for release in
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1994) which will be a plug-and-play solution on the desktop for
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less than $10,000.
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Intel plans to ship 10,000 Pentium chips during the second
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quarter. They're working on clock speeds ranging from 60 MHz to
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100 MHz along with developing a 3.3 volt version and a Pentium-
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based Overdrive chip (P24T) for upgrading 486-based computers.
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A chip code-named P54M will plug into a new Intel-specified
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socket and work in tandem with a Pentium processor. Vin Dahm,
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vice-president and general manager of Intel's Microprocessor
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Division said that dual processing on the desktop will come next
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and Intel is developing onboard multiprocessing features in a new
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Pentium chip.
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GOOD NEWS - BAD NEWS
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There's plenty of activity at WordPerfect these days. I guess
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I should start with the bad news.
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WordPerfect Corporation will soon unveil a plan to defray the
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cost of their toll-free technical support. WordPerfect executives
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recently revealed that they can no longer afford to provide free
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support to all customers. They're looking into a variety of
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alternatives including fax-back services and putting some of the
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burden of support on resellers.
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According to company president Alan Ashton, "Toll-free support
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is good for simple and intermediate users who have technical
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questions, but given the falling prices...can we afford to extend
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free support to everyone, including those setting up sophisticated
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networks?" Also being considered is weeding out unregistered users
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and those with pirated software.
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The good news is that WordPerfect 6 for DOS will ship in the
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early summer and the shape of Version 6 for Windows is becoming
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more apparent.
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The Windows product plans to include OLE 2, although
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developers are not sure it can be done in time for their self-
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imposed deadline of the end of 1993. They're also working on
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technology to allow networked users to work on single documents
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simultaneously.
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You'll see a customizable button bar similar to the Version 6
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DOS product. Also to be added are drawing tools borrowed from
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their Presentations package. They will also include table and
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calculating functions originally developed for the now defunct
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PlanPerfect. A WordPerfect executive recently said that
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WordPerfect 6 for Windows will have 80% of the functionality that
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spreadsheet users depend on.
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I hear you should expect an announcement soon of a Quattro
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Pro/WordPerfect bundle; details are not yet available.
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FASTER MODEMS
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Work on the V.FAST standard for analog modem speeds should be
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completed by the year's end with products reaching the market by
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early 1994.
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Under the current proposal, V.FAST would allow uncompressed
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data to be transmitted at 28,800 baud (28.8K per second). When
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used with data compression schemes, V.FAST promises to put analog
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modems on a par with some digital technologies when it comes to
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speed.
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Vendors warn that one potential drawback to high speed
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transmissions is that the modem can only run as fast at the serial
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port it's connected to - so make sure you've got a 16550.
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DIAMOND STEALTH
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I've recently sold a few Diamond Stealth VRAM cards to people
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hoping to speed up Windows. I finally had the opportunity to
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install one myself so that I could see the difference.
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This card is based on the popular S3 chip. There is only one
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set of DIP switches to set and the documentation is quite thorough
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both for that and setting up the software.
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The software is installed through a single command. Software
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is included for DOS applications that would benefit from faster
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video - Lotus, popular word processors, and CAD programs. A
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separate disk contains Windows drivers for various resolutions and
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color combinations. The Windows drivers were written by Panacea,
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the same folks that do Winspeed, so you know they re done well.
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So how does it work? Well, it depends upon what you're doing.
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Corel redraws were slightly faster, but scrolling text in a Windows
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word processor were definitely faster. The cards in Windows games
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really fly and moving things around on the screen is definitely
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faster.
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The question you have to ask yourself is "is it really worth
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it?". For me, I think I'll pass. I think a better bet is either
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an EISA card or, better yet, VESA local bus. If you have an ISA
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bus, this is a good card for displaying 32K colors in Windows.
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Expect to pay in the neighborhood of $250.
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DOS 6 HERE
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You've heard all the hype over this new release of MS-DOS, how
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about some facts?
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If you're expecting radical changes or some gorgeous graphical
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interface to DOS, you will be disappointed. If you want better
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Windows integration, improved utilities, and a bigger hard drive
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then this is definitely worth checking out.
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The manual that comes with DOS 6 is quite thin compared with
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previous DOS manuals. I had to laugh at one section titled
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"Upgrading from OS/2 to MS-DOS 6". They have a sense of humor
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after all in Redmond.
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Installation is simple and intelligent. You have the option
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of installing Backup, Undelete, and Anti-Virus utilities for
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Windows and/or DOS. Once you've shuffled the disks, the machine
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will reboot and you can make sure that everything works OK. Once
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satisfied that DOS 6 is working properly, use the DELOLDOS program
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to zap your old DOS files.
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If you install the Windows utilities, I recommend moving them
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into the Windows subdirectory. At the same time, move the
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MONOUMB.386 and VFINTD.386 files into \WINDOWS\SYSTEM and update
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the appropriate paths in SYSTEM.INI (and PROGMAN.INI for
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MSTOOLS.DLL).
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Next, you might want to move the expanded files onto floppies
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so you'll have them later if you need them. Then you can delete
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the unnecessary files like APPEND, SUBST, and the other stuff you
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never use. Now run MEMMAKER to optimize your memory configuration.
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The machine will reboot a few times and you'll be presented with
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information as to what has changed.
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All the executable DOS files appear to have been compressed
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with PKLite to further reduce hard drive space.
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Running DBLSPACE to compress your hard drive is also a simple
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procedure. You have the choice of an Express or Custom setup.
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Either way, it will take a little while for the files to compress
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depending upon how many files are there and what kind of files they
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are (some compress more than others). Once the drive has been
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compressed, it will run DEFRAG (Norton SpeedDisk) and you'll be
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presented with information about the compression. My 105MB hard
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drive compressed to 1.7:1.
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So, how does it all work? It works very well. The
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compression is totally transparent. I can't tell it's there,
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unlike running Stacker with Windows (which slows things down
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tremendously). The new utilities are much improved and I
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especially appreciate two of them. DELTREE deletes subdirectories
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and the files in them; MOVE will move files (rather than having to
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go through a copy and delete procedure and can also rename
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subdirectories). Windows seems to have a little more snap and we
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can certainly use that. Those using Stacker and SpeedStor can
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convert their stacked volumes to DOS 6 compression. A new option
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called Tools is added to the Windows File Manager which gives very
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basic information about your disk's compression.
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The installation routines are so stable that you can turn off
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your computer while it's compressing and it will pick up in the
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same place when you resume. Also, any Windows INI files that are
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changed are clearly REMarked so you know what changes have been
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made.
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Pressing F5 upon bootup lets you bypass CONFIG.SYS and
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AUTOEXEC.BAT to give you "clean" DOS. Pressing F8 will give you
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the option of executing CONFIG.SYS line by line. A new batch
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language lets you organize multiple configurations in CONFIG.SYS
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with provision for loading items common to all configurations (like
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always loading HIMEM, etc.). When using this feature, you'll get
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a menu before CONFIG.SYS processes and you can select which
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configuration you want to load.
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Also appreciated is the NUMLOCK=OFF command for CONFIG.SYS.
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The manual is less than half the thickness of a normal DOS manual
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because most of the documentation is on disk.
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What don't I like about DOS 6? I hate the default prompt of
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"$P$G". Fortunately it's an easy thing to get rid of.
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I think they should have called this DOS 5.5, but it's still
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a significant improvement if only for the disk compression. DOS is
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getting better even though it's a slow journey.
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GIMME A BREAK
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I had heard this was coming and it arrived just before the
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RaG's deadline.
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If you're a registered user of a Microsoft Windows product,
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you get a Focus on Microsoft Windows magazine from time to time
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(usually when they want to sell you something). Included with this
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issue is a disk containing the Upgrade Advisor. This software will
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examine your computer and check for current versions of a variety
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of software.
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Running this Windows-based programs suggested I buy some of
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their multimedia products as well as Word for Windows (since I'm a
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WordPerfect guy).
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Also included is a sample of the Visio program and the
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TetraVex game from one of their Entertainment Packs. You also get
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a special price for upgrades.
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Cute but extremely self-serving . . .
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=================================
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DISCLAIMER
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RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH
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COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various local BBS's, GEnie,
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and America Online as well as in Modem News.
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In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a DTK
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386-33 with 16 megs of memory, Cyrix Fasmath co-processor, ATI VGA
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Wonder+ card (1 MB), 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and
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1.44 MB floppies, Pro Audio Spectrum 16 running a Hitachi 3750 CD
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ROM drive, Sceptre SVGA display, Microsoft mouse, WordPerfect for
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Windows and transmitted through a US Robotics HST Dual Standard
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modem.
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should
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be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America
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Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
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AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
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605 W. Wishkah
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Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031
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(206) 533-6647
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GEnie Address: RAG
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America Online: RumOR RaG |