620 lines
32 KiB
Plaintext
620 lines
32 KiB
Plaintext
RAndY's RumOR RaG
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July 1992
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VENTURA PUBLISHER UPDATE
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A couple of months ago, I blasted Ventura Publisher 4 for
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long load times and incompatibility problems. Ventura has always
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gone their own way in programming and still refuses to adhere to
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the Windows standards.
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By the time you read this, they should be releasing Version
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4.01 to registered users. This update will correct problems with
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the Word for Windows filter and GEM line art pictures. It also
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adds backward compatibility for chapter and style sheet files with
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3.x versions of Ventura. According to the company, it will also
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improve software performance and speed up load and print times.
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---------------
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NEWS IN YER FACE
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At the OS/2 rollout at Comdex, Borland's Philippe Kahn said,
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"I have done Windows. But I didn't inhale."
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---------------
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A notebook manufacturer recently got one of Dell's color
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notebooks to do a little competitive analysis. They ran some
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tests, let it sit for a few days, then restarted it. When
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restarted, reports are that the screen started to smoke.
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(Remember, this is a Dell competitor.)
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---------------
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Borland recently hosted a Paradox developers' conference with
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rumors abounding they would make a deal with WordPerfect to launch
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an application bundle which would compete with Microsoft's Office
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and Lotus' SmartSuite. No one's talking.
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Microsoft's spies were caught trying to copy database files
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from Borland's computer test room.
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---------------
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At the recent Apple PDA announcement, Microsoft multimedia
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guru Rob Glaser tried unsuccessfully to crash the event. After
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being turned away, he asked for a press kit and was rejected.
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Then, he got a cab and as the cab pulled up, he grabbed a handful
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of kits. An Apple security team intercepted him and Glaser left
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kitless.
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---------------
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Novell will soon ship a 1,000 user version of Netware 4.0 and
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will probably offer a package that supports 250-1,000 users. They
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will also soon announce a Windows-based application that reports
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management information about NetWorth LAN hubs to the NetWare
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Management System.
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---------------
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Intel is having difficulties keeping up with the demand for
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486-5- chips. They say it will be another month before they can
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get things under control, although it is meeting its contractual
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obligations. Demand is coming from uniprocessor servers, not
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stand-along PC's.
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---------------
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The US Copyright Office recently issued a new regulation which
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confirms that software for generating typefaces can be registered
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for copyright just like other software. Adobe has set up an anti-
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piracy hotline at 1-800-525-6111. You can call them for
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information as to what constitutes piracy and related issues.
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Compaq will be offering their new entry level computers with
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DOS and Windows pre-installed. Computer sold through integrators
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will not come with the software loaded unless requested.
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There's a few more bucks in Bill's pockets.
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---------------
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Borland will be soon shipping updates to C++ including the
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ability for developers to use TrueType fonts, drag-and-drop
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functionality, and multimedia extensions.
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There's a new 386 optimization technique which claims a 40%
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speed increase and smaller compiled file size. This is not a true
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32-bit compiler, but more of a code optimizer.
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Also included is WinSpecter, similar to Dr. Watson which
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pinpoints causes of unrecoverable application errors. (This was
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code-named "Dr. Frank" for Dr. Frankenstein because "it brings your
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apps back from the dead".
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A new release of Turbo Pascal for Windows which utilizes
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Windows 3.1 enhanced features is also due at the same time.
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Everybody's after Microsoft. Aiming at Excel's functionality,
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Lotus is announcing a free enhancement disk. Called SmartPak, it
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will include nine pre-defined style sheets, new GUI development
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tools, and the dialog editor from Ami Pro.
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Borland's Quattro Pro for Windows will let users access and
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perform operations on Paradox and dBase files from within the
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spreadsheet.
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The Software Publisher's Association along with the FBI
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recently busted a BBS in Millbury, MA for allegedly distributing
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illegal copies of more than 200 copyrighted programs.
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Did you know that Intel's new DX2 chips use 40% more power and
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there is an optional heat sink available for them?
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AMD is expected to announce a single-chip Ethernet controller
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designed to reside on a PC motherboard. The chip offers drivers
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for NetWare, LAN Manager, VINES, and LANtastic with a cost of less
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than $25.
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In other chip news, Cyrix is set to introduce three new 486-
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compatible microprocessors. The Cx486DLC is a 486-compatible chip
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that is plug-compatible with 386DX systems. The chips feature a
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full 32-bit data path and a 1K on-chip cache. It will work with
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your existing math co-processor and there are no plans to add an
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internal math unit. Replacing your CPU will give you the
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equivalent 486 performance (if you replace a 33MHz, you'll get 486-
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33 performance.) Pricing starts at $119 (OEM) for a 25MHz version.
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The 40MHz version is OEM priced at about $199, much less than
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Intel's 33MHz 486 which OEM's for about $400. The DLC series is
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available in 25MHz, 33MHz, and 40MHz versions. Cyrix tells me this
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will likely become a retail product (possibly bundled with a math
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co-processor) around the end of the summer.
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---------------
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Adobe is introducing a PCL5 emulator which will enable
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PostScript printers to mimic the Intellifont graphics supported in
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the LaserJet III series.
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They're also offering OEMs Adobe Intelligent Sensing software
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which will enable the printer to distinguish between PCL,
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PostScript, and text-based printing jobs without the user having to
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specify the file type.
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---------------
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Microsoft announced in May that IBM's contract to use Windows
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code in OS/2 runs out in 1993. Microsoft's Steve Ballmer said that
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IBM has not asked that the agreement be extended.
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The agreement in question allows IBM to use Windows 3.x code
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along with any other Windows code that Microsoft releases before
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the license agreement expires. Ballmer denies that Microsoft would
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deliberately hold up release of Windows NT until after the
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expiration of the agreement - so that IBM would not have access to
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it.
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According to an IBM insider, "if IBM can't use the Windows
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code, then in typical IBM fashion they will declare Windows dead
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and OS/2 the winner."
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---------------
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IIT, famous for inexpensive math co-processors, plans to
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produce a 486 compatible chip with integration of graphics,
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compression, and the main processor on one piece of silicon.
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Dubbed the Vision Processor, it will combine a programmable
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compression chip with an XGA compatible co-processor called AGX.
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Intel says they've been working on the same thing. Uh-huh...
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QuarkXPress 3.1 for Windows is scheduled for release August
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18. It will read Mac QuarkXPress files and an extension to the Mac
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product will allow it to read Windows files. (QuarkXPress is a
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quirky, but extremely popular desktop publisher in that "other"
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world.)
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---------------
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Microsoft hopes to start a beta program soon for their
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database project Cirrus. As it stands now, it is highly graphical
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application which allows users to set up queries through a series
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of simple menu selections using a mouse. It will reportedly handle
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mixed data types from dBase, Paradox, and Btrieve.
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---------------
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Seems that OS/2 has another problem besides the one I reported
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on last month. I hear that in the beginning, it will work fine on
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a LAN, but over a short period of time, the network performance
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will deteriorate and finally stop functioning completely.
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Lotus chief Manzi will soon make a public apology for racist
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images printed on a Freelance demo disk called the Adventures of
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Presentation Pete. This is an animated demo based on an African
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safari theme with images of white hunters and black tribesmen. An
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African American employee in the Freelance group was offended by
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the racist image but waited to complain until the disks were
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already shipping. Lotus has 750,000 of these things they're going
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to have to eat.
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---------------
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AUTOCAD 12
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Sometime before July, Autodesk is expected to release the
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newest version of the popular AutoCAD software.
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Included in the new release will be accelerated graphics
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performance, the ability to zoom in on a specific area of a drawing
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without waiting for the screen image to be repainted, new routines
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for selecting components of drawings, and the ability to store
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support for more output devices. There has reportedly been
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extensive modification to the graphical user interface, including
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programmable dialog boxes, cascading and pop-up menus, and the
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elimination of the text-based main menu which has been standard
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with previous versions.
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Grips, similar to handles in other graphics programs, let you
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manipulate objects quickly. Functions for modeling and rendering
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which were previously add-ins are now included. The new Region
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Modeler uses Boolean operations to add or subtract from regions.
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The new Render replaces AutoShade. Of course you've got backward
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file compatibility.
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Plans for a 16-bit Windows extension have been scrapped, but
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plans are proceeding to develop a 32-bit extension for release 12,
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expected to ship in the fourth quarter. The Windows extension
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developed for release 11 can be used with release 12.
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The suggested retail price has been raised by $250 to $3,750
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but upgrade prices are not available yet.
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WORDPERFECT NEWS
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Sometime in June, WordPerfect is expected to announce some new
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software packages including presentation graphics for DOS and
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Windows, an E-mail package update, new word processing,
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spreadsheet, and database packages.
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The E-mail package will be released later this year and will
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share a common mail engine across Windows, DOS, Mac, and Unix
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platforms. It will support industry standard interfaces as well as
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supporting mail-enabling of other vendors' applications. They're
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also working on a NetWare Loadable Module for mail, but no release
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date has been set.
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No word yet, but there are plans for a major word processing
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introduction later this year as well as changes to DataPerfect and
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PlanPerfect.
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The graphics package will replace DrawPerfect and has working
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names of WordPerfect Presents and Perfect Impact. The program
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should be in beta testing by now but more specific dates and prices
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are not being released.
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In other unrelated news, WordPerfect is pursuing legal
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remedies against companies that use "perfect" in their company or
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product names. WordPerfect officials won't comment on these legal
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matters, they do admit to sending out dozens of letters requesting
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that software companies change their names. There are more than 50
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companies that use "perfect" as part of their company or product
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names.
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The majority of small developers being sued requested
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anonymity, but some said they will come together to create a joint
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defense fund.
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WPCORP officials defend their actions saying this is not a Big
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vs. Small issue. "You either police your mark (trademark) or lose
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it," said R. Duff Thompson, vice president and general counsel for
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WordPerfect. "It's not fair for one company to trade on the good
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will of another. We are recognized as having a family of marks and
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under trademark law there doesn't have to be confusion - only the
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threat of confusion."
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Firms under threat claim that there is nothing for buyers to
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fear because most of their products are aimed at vertical markets
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and have little or no connection with word processing.
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Others say that WordPerfect has a right to defend its name.
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"WordPerfect as a whole is a nice company, but sometimes they are
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too nice and in the past they have let themselves be trampled,"
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says Will Fastie, an analyst with the Baltimore investment banking
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form of Alex, Brown, & Sons. "Every product WordPerfect has uses
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"perfect" as the post-fix, and the company is just defending their
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name."
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WINDOWS COMPATIBILITY
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Last month I talked about the [Compatibility] section of the
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Windows 3.1 WIN.INI file.
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This section is required mostly because of bugs in Windows 3.0
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which required applications code around the bugs to get their
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software to work. Some of these applications had problems under
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Windows 3.1 due to the bug fixes.
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The prefix "0x" specifies a hex number. Bit 0001 is a work
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around for the Microsoft C 6.x run-time installation library. This
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affects the setup programs in Microsoft Publisher, Money, Works,
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and other applications that were similarly compiled.
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Bit 0002 is a performance enhancement fixing applications that
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have a problem with the method used by Windows 3.1 for mixing text
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and graphics on printouts. Bit 0004 tells Windows to print
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landscape graphics in one large chunk.
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Bit 0008 fixes applications that can't handle other apps
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trying to remain visible at all times. Bit 0010 forces Windows 3.1
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to give applications a list of TrueType faces, indicating that
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those typefaces are actually resident in the current printer.
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Bit 0020 tells Windows 3.1 to print graphics in multiple
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bands. The new Universal Printer Driver tries to optimize printing
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by placing all text and graphics in a single, page-long band if
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enough memory is available. Some programs like Freelance's REM
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module are confused by this procedure.
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Bit 0040 makes Windows send window-repaint messages to every
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running application when a new windows is opened. Windows 3.0 did
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this, but 3.1 tries to gain performance by messaging only those
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windows it thinks need redrawing. But some applications use these
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messages for other purposes, so this is needed to restore the old
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behavior for Pixie, ObjectVision, and the CP module of Cricket
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Presents.
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Bit 0080 fixes a 3.0 bug which converted text to capitals when
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passed to an application's File Open dialog box. Windows 3.1 fixed
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this, but some applications compensated for the bug and may display
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the wrong extension in the File Open boxes without this work-
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around.
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Bit 0100 changes the allocation of 4 bytes in a memory
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structure that was accessible by 3.0 applications, but not by 3.1.
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Setting this bit helps applications like Aporia. Bit 0200 fixes a
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problem that exists because in Windows 3.1, a TrueType face can be
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represented on-screen by either a scalable outline or pre-installed
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bitmap. This fix eliminates confusion for certain modules.
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Bit 0800 fixes another bug in 3.0 dealing with serial
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communications on COM2, which applications such as Packrat and
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Microcourier depended on and are coded around.
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Bit 1000 is for applications that hard-wired the 3.0 font
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names Helv and Tms Rmn into their code. Microsoft changed the
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names in 3.1 to MS Sans Serif and MS Serif. Setting this bit lets
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applications like Excel, Guide, Spinnaker Plus, and others still
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"see" the old names until upgrades are available.
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Bit 2000 lets some applications recognize TrueType faces as
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scalable, even though the current printer cannot scale type. This
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affects programs like Charisma, PageMaker 4.0, Micrografx Designer,
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and others. Bit 4000 affects applications that display drop-down
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lists inside dialog boxes (to show a list of disk drives, for
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example). Setting this bit makes sure that such boxes overlap
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other boxes properly.
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Bit 8000 forces Windows 3.1 to print TrueType faces as graphic
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output (rather than downloadable fonts) for certain applications.
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Bit 10000 corrects a 3.0 bug which sometimes sent an
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application an invalid set of coordinates for rectangles that
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needed to be redrawn. Without this fix, some Draw objects ar not
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properly redrawn in Word for Windows. Bit 20000 affects a message
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that Windows sends to an application after its window has been
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moved by the user. Windows 3.0 always sent the application a
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message to recalculate its window size. Because this is more
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important when a window is created (not just moved), Windows 3.1
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usually doesn't send this message after a mere move. Some
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applications depend upon this message, such as Lotus Notes. This
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is one of the many ways that Microsoft slightly improved
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performance.
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Bit 40000 changes the way Windows 3.1 processes a mouse
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double-click on the System Menu icon. Bit 80000 alters the way
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Windows 3.1 calculates PostScript character widths for certain
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applications.
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All of this information was gleaned from several issues of
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InfoWorld and hopefully helps to clear up some questions. Do not
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mess with the [Compatibility] section of your WIN.INI unless
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instructed by an application's technical support department - or
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unless you know for sure what you're doing.
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For more technical information on the Compatibility] section,
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download the file COMPAT.ZIP from the WINSDK forum, Library 1 on
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CompuServe.
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KODAK PHOTO CD
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Very soon, you'll be able to have your slides and negatives
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scanned, converted to a digital photograph, compressed, and stored
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on a compact disc. The discs can then be played in new Photo CD
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players that connect to your TV set and in CD-ROM drives for our
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computers.
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As some of you know, my primary business is professional
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photography. Naturally, this idea has a great deal of interest to
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me.
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Kodak says that there are 50 billion snapshots taken per year
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by 250 million cameras, 15 billion snapshots with 100 million
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cameras just in the US. The potential is enormous to say the
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least.
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The images are compressed for storage, then decompressed as
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they're accessed. An uncompressed image would need about 18MB of
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storage space. You can store about 100 images on a disc with 2000
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line resolution - the finer the film grain, the more images can be
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stored. The images can be stored all at once or added to later.
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There will be small, numbered reproductions of the photos on sheets
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which slip inside the plastic case, serving as a visual index of a
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disc's contents.
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By the end of the year, there will be more than 100,000 drop-
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off in places like K-Mart, one-hour labs, and such. In 1993, Kodak
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will give photo processors a way to add audio and text to Photo
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CD's. In September, Kodak will introduce authoring software with
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simple methods for linking audio and text with pictures to create
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multimedia slide shows.
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If that's not enough, Kodak gives consumers the ability to
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enlarge and crop pictures being viewed on a TV with enough
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resolution for the next generation high-definition TV standards.
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Kodak claims that the writeable discs will last 50-100 years,
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depending upon how they're stored. Altamira Software in California
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is working on Windows-based composing and editing software which
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will work with Photo CD's.
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OK, so what are the disadvantages? The speed of writing to a
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disc only gets so good. It takes at least a half hour to fill a
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disc. It can't compare to photo finishing where machinery can
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easily process 25,000 images per day. Also, right now, the only
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way to get information onto a Photo CD is via 35mm slides and
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negatives. And, of course you can't edit an image and write it
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back on a CD.
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There's another thing to consider. If you have a Photo CD
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written to in one session (filled up the first time), the CD
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players now on the market for computers will be able to read it.
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If you return a CD to have more images written, you'll need a
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multi-session CD reader which will be released soon. Present CD-
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ROM units can only read the first write session.
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Here's the technical side. Creating a Photo CD disc requires
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a license from Kodak and software that only runs on a PIW (Photo CD
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Imaging Workstation).
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The PIW system costs about $100,000 and includes a fast Kodak
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scanner for input (five seconds per image), and a Phillips CD
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writer for output. In between there's a Sun Sparcstation with a
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RasterOps display card and a custom image compression card, and a
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dual SCSI card to keep data moving through the system. The PIW can
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scan, compress, and write images simultaneously. The PIW systems
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also include a CD-ROM player and a Kodak color printer.
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The 35mm film is scanned at 3072x2048 resolution. The system
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reads the film type from a bar code and stores the film type with
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each image on the disc. There are five different resolutions of
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the image stored. The compressed images require 4MB-7MB of
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storage, therefore you can store about 100 images on a 680MB CD.
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Oh yeah, you probably want to know what this technology will
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cost. It will cost about $1 per image or about $20 per 24-exposure
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roll. Players for your TV will cost $400-$650 depending upon the
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features desired. The high-end player will have a carousel
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allowing you to have 5 CD's online. Of course, the CD's are Kodak
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yellow, but Kodak tells me they have to be that gold colored to
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enable writing.
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---------------
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GREAT GAMES
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I need to put in a plug for some folks who make excellent
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games and sell them dirt cheap. I'm talking about Apogee Software.
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They're the ones who blew everyone away with Commander Keen,
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featuring smooth scrolling VGA graphics.
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One of their latest is called Wolfenstein 3-D. You're an
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escaped prisoner in a Nazi prison and your goal is to get out. As
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you move down hallways and go through doors, the 3-D effect is so
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real that it gives me a headache. The scrolling is very smooth.
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Sound card support is great with a suspenseful soundtrack, barking
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dogs, and Nazi guards yelling at you in German.
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Along the way you encounter Nazi guards, SS men, and patrol
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dogs, all of which you must kill to keep going. There are four
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levels of difficulty, but in all levels the violence is very
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graphic. When you shoot someone, you hear a yell and blood spurts
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out of your victim. The game is rated PC-13 which stands for
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Profound Carnage. It's another example of excellent shareware.
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Catch it at a BBS near you.
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---------------
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WINDOWS TIP & INFO
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Did you know that if you're using Windows 3.1, you can delete
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the WINA20.386 file that DOS 5 put in your root directory. If
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you're still using Windows 3.0, you can remove the file if you're
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never going to run in Enhanced Mode.
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This mysterious file is just a virtual device driver which
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resolves conflicts between Windows 3.0 and DOS 5 when both try to
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access the HMA.
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As you're surely aware, SmartDrive 4 is a delayed write-back
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cache. I've had some people ask what happens if they do a CTRL-
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ALT-DEL and there is still information in SmartDrive's cache.
|
|
When SmartDrive detects the warm boot key sequence, it takes
|
|
control and makes sure all data in the cache is written to disk.
|
|
You may see a box in the upper left corner of your screen that
|
|
tells you to wait while it's dumping the cache. If you use a
|
|
utility in a batch file to force a warm boot, include a line
|
|
reading "SMARTDRIVE /C" to flush the cache before your warm boot
|
|
program takes over.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
RIP
|
|
This is more of a personal note, but it shows what's involved
|
|
in developing and marketing a software product.
|
|
In my photography business, I use a package called Masterpiece
|
|
developed by Burrell Business Systems. It operates out of Windows
|
|
and is designed as a point-of-sale package for portrait photography
|
|
studios. It uses Novell's Btrieve for fast retrieval of
|
|
information and frees me from having to write customers' orders on
|
|
a piece of paper. Everything I sell has an easy to remember code
|
|
assigned, so when a customer comes in to order photographs, the
|
|
order is placed on the screen and an invoice is printed on a
|
|
customized form. Of course the program keeps track of income and
|
|
product sales.
|
|
I was recently informed by Burrell that as of this past
|
|
February they are no longer marketing Masterpiece. Cited as the
|
|
primary reason was the cost of product support. While Masterpiece
|
|
was produced for both the PC and the Mac, it is an extremely easy
|
|
to use piece of software. I can't imagine people having problems
|
|
with it. But according to them, their phones were tied up too much
|
|
and they couldn't afford to pay someone to do their Windows
|
|
programming.
|
|
Actually, I could see this coming during my conversations with
|
|
them over the last year. The bottom line is that it costs money to
|
|
produce software and it costs money to support it.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
MORE NEWS IN YER FACE
|
|
WordPerfect has been PO'd at Microsoft since the big M started
|
|
running aggressive advertisements suggesting that WordPerfect was
|
|
an inferior product.
|
|
WP President Alan Ashton said, "I personally spoke with Bill
|
|
and asked him to cease their misleading ads." According to Ashton,
|
|
Gates thanked him for the call. "We'll look at this and get back
|
|
to you", said Gates. Ashton is still waiting.
|
|
---------------
|
|
WordPerfect and Borland will soon be announcing a low-cost
|
|
migration path for users of MultiMate and Sprint. These two
|
|
companies are also considering a reciprocal agreement to move
|
|
DataPerfect and PlanPerfect users to Paradox, dBase, and Quattro
|
|
Pro.
|
|
The boys in Orem recently announced acquisition of a data
|
|
communications software house, licensed ATM, made a mutual support
|
|
and development pact with Novell, and announced a complete
|
|
restructuring of its corporate mission.
|
|
DrawPerfect for Windows, described by industry analyst Amy
|
|
Wohl as "breathtakingly elegant" will debut at PC Expo. In
|
|
development are a forms application package and a high-end document
|
|
management package.
|
|
WordPerfect has developed a "core engine" development policy
|
|
which will result in closely synchronized product introductions
|
|
across platforms.
|
|
---------------
|
|
Hayes is expected to show Smartcom for Windows at PC Expo.
|
|
The asynchronous package is available in five languages and
|
|
supports ISDN, Hayes ESP, LANs, and TCP/IP.
|
|
---------------
|
|
Novell is set to release a version of DR-DOS for hand-held
|
|
computers in July. It will be known as PalmDOS, based on DR-DOS 6,
|
|
and will work with hand-held computers and PDAs. It features a
|
|
small kernel that can be loaded in ROM for fast booting and has
|
|
disk compression capabilities.
|
|
Novell is expected to announce a strategy called NetWare
|
|
Desktop Systems which outlines how a variety of systems can connect
|
|
to NetWare LANs.
|
|
---------------
|
|
INGOLF Plaza recently purchased 126 large screen projection
|
|
systems to interface with a computerized golf simulator.
|
|
The system projects a realistic 18-hole golf course scene onto
|
|
a 10x12.5 foot screen. Once the ball is launched by the golfer, a
|
|
computerized simulator calculates its flight, distance covered, and
|
|
distance remaining. The ball lands and a new shot is presented for
|
|
the golfer. Price for the projectors, each with data, graphics and
|
|
video capabilities is about $10,000 apiece.
|
|
Here's the perfect gift for Dad.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
SUPPLEMENTAL DRIVER LIBRARY
|
|
The Windows 3.1 Supplemental Driver Library is now available
|
|
from Microsoft ($20), the Microsoft BBS, the popular online
|
|
services, and your local dealer.
|
|
Included in the seven disk set are drivers for printers not
|
|
included in the Windows 3.1 package (too many to list). Drivers
|
|
for sound cards such as Artisoft, Soundblaster, IBM M-Audio, and
|
|
Pro Audio Spectrum are there, too. A driver is included which
|
|
allows you to play WAV and MID files through the PC speaker. This
|
|
should prove useful for those without sound cards.
|
|
Drivers for ATI Ultra, DGIS, Tseng ET4000, and S3 compatible
|
|
cards are in the package. There are also drivers for CGA (wow) and
|
|
grayscale displays.
|
|
Two disks labeled Miscellaneous contain C and D printer fonts,
|
|
the old MS-DOS Executive, NetWare and IPX upgrade utilities, and
|
|
the Access Pack for handicapped users. Reversi is back, after
|
|
Microsoft left it out of the 3.1 package.
|
|
An updated UNIDRV.DLL is part of the set along with two new
|
|
additions for your SYSTEM.INI file. VPD.386 is used for LPT
|
|
contention management and MONOUMB.386 provides additional UMB space
|
|
for DOS-based applications.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
EXCEL 4.0
|
|
They say that it takes Microsoft at least until Version 3 of
|
|
any product to get it right. Well, they got it right and then some
|
|
with Excel 4.0.
|
|
Excel has been a favorite since it was first released for the
|
|
PC. Rather than go through a feature list, here are my
|
|
impressions.
|
|
I love the drag-and-drop editing. This cut-and-paste nonsense
|
|
was always cumbersome to me. Now, I can copy or move a range with
|
|
just a mouse click.
|
|
The same goes for the intelligent autofill. When setting up
|
|
a worksheet it's so much easier to just highlight a range and have
|
|
it fill with data. Lots of possibilities here.
|
|
I like the revised button bar. And the Workbook metaphor is
|
|
much improved over the Workspace idea.
|
|
So what's wrong with it. Well, I want to play with all the
|
|
features, but there's too much to read. I want to do it now! I
|
|
can't see anything wrong with it. If you presently use Windows,
|
|
this is THE spreadsheet (forget 1-2-3/W). If you're firmly
|
|
anchored in the character-based world, then I'm sorry.
|
|
This is state-of-the-art spreadsheeting for sure.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
CHEAP TRICKS
|
|
These two items come from PC Magazine and Aldus Magazine and
|
|
I thought you might find them interesting.
|
|
Using Windows 3.1, bring up the Program Manager. Hold down
|
|
Control and Shift, then select About from the Help menu. Double-
|
|
click one of the four panes of the Windows 3.1 icon in the dialog
|
|
box. Close the About dialog box. The second time you do this,
|
|
you'll see a flag waving. The third time, you'll see a scrolling
|
|
list of the people involved in the creation of Windows. One of
|
|
several figures announces this list, one of which is a bear and the
|
|
rest resemble certain Microsoft Executives.
|
|
(If you're still stuck with Windows 3.0, hold down F3 and
|
|
successively tap WIN3, release F3, and press Backspace. Your
|
|
desktop background will be replaced by a list of Windows 3.0's
|
|
creators. Click on the background to get rid of it.)
|
|
Have you ever wished you could get a piece of artwork into the
|
|
computer but you don't have access to a scanner? Photocopy the
|
|
artwork onto acetate and press it on the screen where you can use
|
|
it as a guide to trace it. Sometimes, static electricity will hold
|
|
the acetate in place on the screen. One useful purpose for this
|
|
technique could be for reproducing a map.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
NEXT MONTH
|
|
Coming in August, I hope to take a peek at Corel Draw 3.0.
|
|
I'm still waiting for Sierra On-Line to get on the stick and
|
|
release Pinball for Windows (either ship the product or stop your
|
|
advertising of it). Someday . . .
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
PEERSONAL NOTE
|
|
I'm sure there are readers somewhere out there who have left
|
|
me mail on GEnie or America Online, only to find it unanswered in
|
|
recent months. Since about mid-March, I've been having
|
|
difficulties with the local phone company and have been unable to
|
|
access the pay services.
|
|
If anyone out there has connections that will let us get a
|
|
local Telenet (or similar) node, please pull the strings. I have
|
|
badgered GTE since about 1985 with no luck. It's bad enough to
|
|
have to pay for the services, then tack long distance charges on
|
|
top of that. HELP!!
|
|
=================================
|
|
|
|
DISCLAIMER
|
|
RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH
|
|
COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various BBS's, GEnie, and
|
|
America Online as well as in Modem News.
|
|
In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a DTK
|
|
386-33 with 16 megs of memory, Cyrix Fasmath co-processor, ATI VGA
|
|
Wonder+ card (1 MB), 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB,
|
|
360K, and 1.44 MB floppies, Sceptre SVGA display, Pro Audio
|
|
Spectrum 16 sound card, Microsoft mouse, WordPerfect for Windows
|
|
and transmitted through a US Robotics HST Dual Standard modem.
|
|
Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should
|
|
be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America
|
|
Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
|
|
|
|
AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
|
|
605 W. Wishkah
|
|
Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031
|
|
(206) 533-6647
|
|
GEnie Address: RAG
|
|
America Online: RumOR RaG
|