402 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
402 lines
21 KiB
Plaintext
RAndY's RumOR RaG
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November 1994
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NEWS IN YER FACE
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The next version of Quicken, to be released this month, will
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include a Tax Planner, Snapshot personal finance overview,
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improved forecasting, and the HomeBase program navigator.
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They're also enhancing on-line services despite company research
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that indicates that less than 2% of Quicken customers use
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electronic bill paying. Coming in future versions: improvements
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in electronic banking, credit card services, and checking
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accounts.
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---------------
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Microsoft continues to pump the Windows95 bandwagon by
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marketing a book by Adrian King called "Inside Windows95". How
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in the hell can they do a book like this when they haven't even
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gotten the second beta out yet?
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---------------
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Compaq's new ProLinea line is shipping with AMD processors -
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but Compaq is not advertising that fact. Said one Compaq
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marketing VP, "If we use Seagate or Quantum hard drives, it
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doesn't make any difference. The microprocessor, like the hard
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drive, is just one of the components of the machine." The move
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to use AMD chips instead of the customary Intel is seen by
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analysts as a blow to Intel.
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---------------
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Adobe pulled a good one. They put a time bomb in test
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versions of the Mac Photoshop 3, so that the program couldn't be
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used after January 1. The programmers forgot to take out the
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time bomb in release copies so they had to ship out remedial
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disks, apologize for the snafu, and assure users that the bomb
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wasn't lethal.
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---------------
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Maxi Switch will ship a keyboard which includes audiophile-
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quality speakers. Also on the keyboard are an omnidirectional
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microphone and a master volume control slider. There is an
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output jack for headphones or a stereo system, and an input jack
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for a second microphone.
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---------------
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At an OpenDoc conference, WordPerfect misspelled their name
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on some slides in a presentation.
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---------------
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Microsoft claims that Windows95 is an all-new 32-bit
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operating system, but the author of a new book "Unauthorized
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Windows" claims that it's just a new version of DOS with an
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improved interface. Andrew Schulman argues that the kernel uses
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some 16-bit code. Microsoft VP Brad Chase admits there's 16-bit
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code in the Windows95 but insists the kernel is 32-bit, saying
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"We're more 32-bit than OS/2 is."
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---------------
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December 7th, Pearl Harbor Day, is the date selected by
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Novell to launch NetWare 4.1 which will go head-to-head with
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Windows NT.
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---------------
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From the Mark of the Beast Department comes an item about a
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bank consortium called Mondex which wants to handle cash in a
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digital format. You'll carry a smart card in your wallet and
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"money" will be loaded into it at a bank, ATM, or over the phone
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- and paid out to anyone with a card reader. They're testing
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this thing in England next year. CEO Tim Jones admits "Mondex
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won't replace money." Why not just tattoo a barcode on our
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foreheads or the backs of our hands?
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---------------
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Corel is saying that Corel Ventura 5 is in production and
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will be shipped by the end of October.
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---------------
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You may remember that I mentioned a lawsuit filed by Carl
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Sagan against Apple for labeling a beta project BHA (for butt-
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head astronomer). A judge has thrown out the suit.
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---------------
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Microsoft will include an extensive graphical tutorial for
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users of Windows95.
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---------------
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P24T OVERDRIVE
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You've been buying motherboards with that special "Pentium
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upgradeable" socket - but where's the chip to go in it that we've
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been promised for the past year?
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Intel says that the P24T may be available by the end of the
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year. It will deliver performance in the 60-66mhz range of
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Pentium-based systems. The release of the chip has been delayed
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because the P24T is based on Intel's latest 3-volt design.
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Eventually Intel will release an Overdrive processor based
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on the next-generation Pentium chip, probably a 133 Mhz version
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that won't be available until 1995.
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---------------
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WORDPERFECT 6.1
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By the time you read this, Novell's WordPerfect Applications
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Group should have released WordPerfect 6.1 for Windows.
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This new version will have a new interface that is
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compatible with both their PerfectOffice suite and Windows95. It
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features their recently acquired PerfectSense technology which
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will find and change all tenses of a key word across files, even
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on a network. You'll also get Grammatik 6, a spell checker and
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thesaurus that replace words in their proper tenses.
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---------------
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MAD DOG MCCREE II
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If you liked the first one, you'll love the sequel. Expect
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more action and tougher scenarios. I've been playing at the Wimp
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level and find tough going.
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You're back with the old codger, riding a stagecoach through
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the desert. Suddenly the old-timer stops the wagon and there, by
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the side of the road, is a man riddled with arrows. In his dying
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gasp, he gives you the map to a treasure of gold. The adventure
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is on.
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This game has the same quality of video as the first one.
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Sometimes it's fairly sharp, other times it's just a blur that's
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shooting at you. As I said, the scenarios are tougher this time
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around. I had trouble just getting through the opening sequence.
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Along the way you'll have your choice of who you want to
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help guide you to the treasure; an Indian guide, a shady
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professor, or a colorful female companion. Of course there are
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bad guys just waiting to be shot so that they can fall off a
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balcony, tumble down stairs, and all the other Western clich<63>s.
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This time around they've even thrown in some sizable explosions
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and a train robbery.
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Mad Dog McCree II is everything the first one was and more.
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---------------
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WINDOWS95 UPDATE
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Starting with the Windows95 Beta 2, which will be shipped by
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the end of the year, will be tuned to take advantage of the
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Pentium's architecture.
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This is a move that will make the operating system and
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related applications run as much as 30% faster. Processors
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supporting Pentium-like functions, such as the NExGen Nx586
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series and the AMD K5, will be able to take advantage of a
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Pentium-optimized Windows95.
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Microsoft says that some features of Windows95 will look
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better on a Pentium - such as when a user drags a window across a
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screen, the windows will maintain its contents and not dissolve
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to a shadowy outline (this sounds promising - NOT).
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---------------
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WARP NEWS
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At the recent OS/2 Warp product announcement, Patrick
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Steward didn't show up (nor did Prez Lou Gerstner) but new
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Enterprise Commander Kate Mulgrew was there with Leonard Nimoy
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showing up only on video. The Beatles' "Any Time At All", the
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Stones' "Time Is On My Side", and Cyndi Lauper's "Time After
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Time" blared the message that Windows95 was still a ways off.
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Speaking of Warp, IBM is making a $15,000 migration tool
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available to developers for next to nothing. Members of IBM's
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developers program can get the SMART migration tool set (from One
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Up Corp.) for free. This tool will help migrate 16-bit Windows,
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32-bit Windows NT, and 16-bit OS/2 applications to OS/2 Warp.
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The Source Migration Analysis Reporting Toolset "will scan code,
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identify all areas with 16-bit dependent code, and tell you how
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to move them."
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---------------
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OS/2 VS WINDOWS95
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IBM recently issued a document which takes Microsoft to task
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over certain aspects of Windows95. If you've been following my
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comments regarding Windows95, you'll know that I have been
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skeptical and remain so. I use Windows about 95% of the time,
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but am still leery about Version 1.0 of an operating system from
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Microsoft. Anyway, here are some of the points brought forth by
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IBM.
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IBM claims that Windows95 is really an enhancement to
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Windows 3.1 as opposed to being a rewritten operating system.
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For example, with Windows 3.1, all applications as well as the
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operating system code share a single memory address space. This
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memory management model gives good performance, but an error in
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any single application can bring the whole system down. Under
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Windows95, this same single address space model is retained (the
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"System Virtual Machine").
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OS/2 eliminates this stability problem by letting you run
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Windows apps in their own separate sessions ("Virtual DOS
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Machines"), so if an application fails, the effect of the failure
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is limited to the individual session.
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We've all heard Microsoft tout preemptive multitasking as
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one of the great selling points of Windows95. Because Windows95
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relies heavily on 16-bit Windows3.1-era code, you won't reap the
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benefits of true preemptive multitasking unless you use Win32
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applications. Currently shipping Win16 applications cannot be
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reliably preempted during execution. Microsoft has a mechanism
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dubbed "Win16LOCK" which denies access to the older code when a
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16-bit application has called on its services. All other
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applications, including Win32 applications, are "blocked" from
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executing until the 16-bit application has finished and the
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environment has been made safe for the next task.
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In practice, the performance hit associated with this
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locking phenomena is minimal when running 32-bit applications,
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but becomes a major problem when you mix 16 and 32-bit
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applications.
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So, by using the serialization of subsystem access and
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Win16LOCK, you get what would be better described as a "semi-
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preemptive" multitasking environment. OS/2 has featured true
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preemptive multitasking of native applications since the
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beginning. Regardless of the mixture of applications, OS/2 can
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smoothly multitask concurrent programs without the need for the
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overhead of a Win16LOCK implementation.
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We've also heard that the Windows95 desktop is object-
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oriented. But the Windows95 GUI is static. In a true object-
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oriented environment, links between individual objects are "live"
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and updated automatically. Objects on the Windows95 desktop are
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merely pointers to files on the disk. If you create a link to an
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executable file, put it on the Windows95 desktop, then rename the
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original executable - the link will be severed. These links can
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be easily broken by novice users who are unfamiliar with the
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Windows95 interface.
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In the same vein, Windows95's ability to automatically
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convert long file and directory names into 8.3 abbreviations can
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have disastrous effects for a novice user who decides to
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"reorganize" their hard drive - and in the process break the
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important links with the desktop objects.
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Another aspect to consider is third party developers. The
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key to the success of any operating system is applications. New
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APIs from Microsoft appear on regular basis and it will be
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difficult for any independent software developer to keep up on
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the specs. Many independent software developers would like to
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write cross-platform applications, but because of the different
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APIs to support, they must poll the kernel, determine which API
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is available and write dual or triple path code. With the APIs
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still in a state of flux there is no guarantee that the multiple
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path code will work.
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These are just a few of the concerns expressed by IBM and I
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feel they're valid. Now, I realize that there is an ax to grind
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here on IBM's part. But after working with OS/2 for a little
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while now, I don't see how Microsoft can get the same
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functionality and stability the first time out of the gate.
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---------------
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MORE NEWS IN YER FACE
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By now you've likely heard about the acquisition of Intuit
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by Microsoft. You may be asking what will happen with Microsoft
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Money.
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During the last couple of months, Microsoft has licensed
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Money to Novell, who will include it in a consumer suite. Intuit
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had recently bought Parsons and ChipSoft. Bill Gates said "we
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eliminate that area of overlap. There is nothing here that we
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think should raise any concerns from a competitive point of view"
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by "transferring" Money to Novell.
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---------------
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"I don't think consumers understand that 25% of the PCs sold
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today don't work, and many of the companies that build them use
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components we reject." - G. Richard Thoman, IBM Senior VP and
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group executive, the IBM PC Co. I just thought you'd want to
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know.
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---------------
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A new CD-ROM called "Greening of the White House", designed
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to make eco-friendly changes to the White House was held up while
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passing multiple security checks due to the recent crash of a
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small plane on the White House lawn.
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What's the difference between the new Denver airport and the
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White House? You can land a plane at the White House.
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---------------
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As a result of the recent acquisition of Intuit by
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Microsoft, Intuit CEO Scott Cook will become Microsoft's
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executive VP of electronic commerce. Electronic commerce? This
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whole thing of banking by modem will never take off until banks
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stop charging for the service. Let me get this straight - they
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charge me money for doing their work?
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---------------
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CNN at Work is a joint venture between CNN and Intel which
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will transmit CNN's Headline News direct to users through a
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special hardware component, running over Ethernet networks. This
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technology is based on Intel's ProShare videoconferencing system,
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but must run on a network as opposed to a stand-alone machine.
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---------------
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Microsoft has released a tool for doing fast animation in
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Windows called WinToon. This is a design engine built upon Video
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for Windows which is targeted at C programmers who build
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applications or titles from scratch. It allows developers to
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digitize animated characters and includes a playback module for
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adding finished characters to the appropriate background.
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---------------
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The DOS version of AutoCAD 13 is being delayed to be
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released simultaneously with the Windows version around the end
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of November. The NT version is expected to ship in early 1995.
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---------------
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I hear that the people at Prah-duh-gee are working on a
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version of their software for OS/2 Warp.
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---------------
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Stealth Commie Mikhail Gorbachev will be pitching
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Macintoshes in Germany.
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---------------
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IBM halted production of OS/2 Warp at the last minute due to
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a "minor" bug in CONFIG.SYS. Some sources say it was an
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installation bug.
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---------------
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I hear that the Microsoft-Intuit deal was negotiated by
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Steve Ballmer and Mike Maples, not Bill Gates.
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---------------
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IBM CHALLENGES INTEL
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Did you know that IBM is developing a chip, called the
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PowerPC 615 processor, which combines the power of RISC with the
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ability to run software written for Intel x86 processors.
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This effort will likely be supported financially by Apple
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Computer and is expected to get to market in late 1995.
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This chip has the technology to run the x86 instruction set
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in both software and hardware. In theory, the chip will able to
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run DOS, Windows, and yes, even Windows95, at speeds equal to or
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better than today's Pentiums. This will be a 3.3-volt chip which
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actually runs the Intel instruction set rather than emulates it.
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It will also have a "huge" cache for performing x86 instructions.
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---------------
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COREL KICKING BUTT
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Corel has finally released Corel Ventura. Although it's
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five months late, Corel has some rather aggressive plans for
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1995.
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President and CEO Michael Cowpland said that Corel will
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produce 32-bit software from now on and will release games, a
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videoconferencing product, CorelDraw6, and an office suite next
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year. They're also looking at CAD technology.
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CDOffice is expected to be released in the third quarter of
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1995 and will be a CD-ROM only suite for Windows95. You may
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recall that Corel acquired the Windows version of WordStar2 and
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is working on acquiring groupware, mapping software, and data. A
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spreadsheet and two graphics products are being developed in-
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house. The spreadsheet is being derived from CorelChart; the
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presentation product combines Corel's Show, Chart, and Move; the
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business graphics comes from CorelDraw. The Draw product will
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not have some of the high-end features, such as color separation
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and color management.
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Also to be included with the suite will be clip art, photos,
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fonts, and other resources. Corel says it will be priced
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aggressively.
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The Corel SCSI team has been redirected to the
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videoconferencing product to provide full-frame, full-motion
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using telephony PBX architecture over a local area network.
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Corel CD Home brand will encompass 50 titles to be released
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in 1995, starting in the first quarter. The titles will be
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developed using Microsoft's WinG standard to run under both
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Windows95 and Windows 3.1. The first release is scheduled for
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February and is an educational game designed to teach children
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popular card games and more. The user sits at a table with
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cartoon characters, using talking cards.
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The next scheduled title is a 3-D high-end graphics game
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that supports Pentiums, slated for a late March release.
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---------------
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EVEN MORE NEWS IN YER FACE
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Intel is showing signs of weakness and slipping market
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share. IBM will drop the Intel Inside logo from their fall line.
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AMD has also announced that more vendors will be using their
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processors in the very near future. Acer, Canon, and Digital
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Research will use AMD processors and Packard Bell is thinking
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about it.
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---------------
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Look out for gray market CD software. Some firms in
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California have been unbundling the software that comes in
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multimedia kits, advertising the normal retail product, but
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selling jewel-cased OEM versions.
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---------------
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I continue to have reservations about Windows95, given
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Microsoft's track record for Version 1 software. I hear that
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their new motto is "At Microsoft, quality is job 1.1."
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---------------
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Microsoft is tossing about ideas of an encrypted CD-ROM
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which would include copies of applications and possibly Windows95
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- code-named Ali Baba. There may also be demos of multimedia
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software such as Encarta.
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---------------
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Doom II is expected to reach Id's goal of shipping 1 million
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by the end of the year, with an initial ship-in of about 600,000
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units.
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---------------
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Software Toolworks has changed both their name and logo,
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with the new name being Mindscape. In the future look for The
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Animals! 2, Revenge, Metal Marines, Legions, and Aliens.
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---------------
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NEXT MONTH
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Well, another month has gone by and Microsoft keeps
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extending their ship dates for those funky keyboards. I guess if
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I bought `em by the boxcar load I'd carry more weight. I hear
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that Microsoft's lawyers were thrown into a panic over the
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initial advertising on these things - when they said the
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keyboards wouldn't cause wrist and carpal tunnel injuries. You
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won't see that in their advertising any more. If I can ever get
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one here, I'll do a review on them.
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Other than that, I don't know what's coming up for December.
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=================================
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DISCLAIMER
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RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by RANDALL
|
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AINSWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY and is available on various local BBS's,
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GEnie, and in Modem News.
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In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a 486-
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50 with 8 megs of memory, 420 MB Connor IDE hard drive, 105MB
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Toshiba IDE hard drive, TEAC 1.2 MB and 1.44 MB floppies, Pro
|
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Audio Spectrum 16 running a Hitachi 3750 CD ROM drive, Sceptre
|
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SVGA display, Microsoft mouse, Word for Windows and transmitted
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through a US Robotics HST Dual Standard modem.
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. Feel free to
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distribute RAndY's RumOR RaG or post it as you see fit. Comments
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should be addressed to Randall Ainsworth Photography on GEnie,
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via phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
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RANDALL AINSWORTH PHOTOGRAPHY
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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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