331 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
331 lines
17 KiB
Plaintext
RAndY's RumOR RaG
|
|
August 1992
|
|
|
|
A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME
|
|
Intel is searching for a new name for their soon to be
|
|
released 586 processor. They are suggesting that vendors refer to
|
|
it as the P5 until the product is officially announced.
|
|
Intel recently nixed ads run by DEC which claimed that their
|
|
computers would be fully upgradeable to the 586.
|
|
Intel's senior vice president and general manager Dave House
|
|
said, "The problem we face stems from [a recent court decision]
|
|
that we couldn't protect the 386 name - even though Boeing is
|
|
protected with the 747." The courts have not yet decided if the
|
|
486 will be protected as an Intel trademark. House said, "there's
|
|
uncertainty and risk involved."
|
|
Intel competitors Cyrix and AMD are using the 486 name in
|
|
their product descriptions. Meanwhile, Intel has announced a
|
|
naming contest which will convey high speed and compatibility with
|
|
previous processors. At the same time, Intel has been counseling
|
|
vendors that have been using the 586 name publicly to cease.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
NEWS IN YER FACE
|
|
Here's a surprise (grin). Microsoft now says that Windows NT
|
|
will now be released in 1993. The original ship date was late this
|
|
fall.
|
|
Dwayne Walker, Microsoft director of Windows NT and network
|
|
products said, "We expect to go to manufacturing in December, with
|
|
the product being available to customers sometime in January or
|
|
February." Industry analysts say that schedule may be optimistic.
|
|
---------------
|
|
Mail-order king DAK Industries filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy
|
|
protection in US Bankruptcy Court. HAHAHAHAHA
|
|
---------------
|
|
In other Microsoft news, it seems like they're finally going
|
|
to do something with the long-awaited Windows database Cirrus.
|
|
Later this year, Cirrus will be introduced with a $99 price tag.
|
|
It will tap into dBase, Paradox, and SQL data from a Windows front-
|
|
end.
|
|
---------------
|
|
Virus experts McAfee Associates may go public soon with a
|
|
stock offering.
|
|
---------------
|
|
WordPerfect claims to have shipped the millionth copy of
|
|
WordPerfect for Windows about June 15th with two-thirds being full
|
|
packages rather than upgrades. They expect to take half of Windows
|
|
word processor new sales in 1992 overall.
|
|
---------------
|
|
Word is that Microsoft will release DOS 6 by March 1993. (I
|
|
hear it will incorporate Stacker technology.) I hear there will be
|
|
an interim release of DOS 5.x to fend off DR-DOS 6. Sources are
|
|
also waiting for a full 32-bit DOS that would be a better
|
|
foundation for future versions of Windows. YEAH!!
|
|
---------------
|
|
Noticed an advertisement for a new piece of software that is
|
|
definitely different. "Origins of Pre-History Vol. 1" features
|
|
adjustable speed animation, graphics, and a large database of facts
|
|
and theories. It's an introduction to early earth and dinosaurs
|
|
with subjects including plate tectonics, continental drift, and the
|
|
history of dinosaurs. It covers the time period from 4.6 billion
|
|
to 65 million years ago (the end of the dinosaur era). MSRP is
|
|
$79.95.
|
|
---------------
|
|
IBM now claims to have shipped "more than 1 million copies" of
|
|
OS/2 2.0 by the end of July. Now multiply that times the 20+ disks
|
|
in the package and you've got a LOT of floppy disks.
|
|
---------------
|
|
Microsoft was caught off-guard when they underestimated the
|
|
demand for Windows 3.1 in 3.5-inch format. Demand for the smaller
|
|
disks made up 80% of the demand.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
OS/2 UPDATE
|
|
This fall, IBM will announce an update to OS/2 2.0 that will
|
|
be delivered in modular 'Service Packs". Included will be Windows
|
|
3.1 compatibility, the 32-bit graphics engine, XGA and SVGA device
|
|
driver support, and miscellaneous bug fixes.
|
|
This departs from IBM's traditional Corrective Service Disk
|
|
updates of the past. Users will be able to select the features
|
|
they would like to update or fix. This approach was chosen to
|
|
avoid the "administrative nightmare" of shipping 20+ disks all over
|
|
again.
|
|
Users will be able to request what they want via a toll-free
|
|
number as well as online. A nominal fee is expected to be charged
|
|
and the update will also be available on CompuServe.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE
|
|
Microsoft's recent aggressive advertisements have Apple,
|
|
Borland, and WordPerfect considering a joint advertising or public-
|
|
relations effort.
|
|
None of the above mentioned firms are ready to file court
|
|
cases, but there has been discussion of a united effort to combat
|
|
Microsoft's marketing machine. Microsoft's vice president of
|
|
marketing strategy dismisses the allegations, calling them nothing
|
|
but "whining" unless they are backed up with litigation.
|
|
Borland has run some ads titled "Borland Exposes Microsoft",
|
|
focusing on inaccurate information in Microsoft ads.
|
|
Apple has challenged Microsoft's claim that 5,000 applications
|
|
exist for Windows, saying they can only find 1,380. Apple also
|
|
challenges Microsoft's claim of 10 million Windows users worldwide.
|
|
This suggests that Microsoft counts all copies shipped from the
|
|
factory, including those shipped to distributors and bundled with
|
|
hardware.
|
|
Normally quiet WordPerfect has gone so far as to call Bill
|
|
Gates personally to protest unfair advertising. Microsoft's
|
|
response was "There are courts if people think they've got a case."
|
|
One attender of the Microsoft Word Challenge completed a task in
|
|
WordPerfect for Windows quicker than with Microsoft's product and
|
|
the Microsoft people "told me I did it wrong and said I had to do
|
|
it the long way."
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
MORE MICROSOFT NEWS
|
|
At the recent Windows NT Developers Conference, Microsoft made
|
|
a strong push for 32-bit applications. "The message is that
|
|
developers should target the 32-bit environment," said one senior
|
|
Microsoft official.
|
|
Programs written to Win32, the 32-bit application programming
|
|
interface used in NT, will run under the 16-bit Windows 3.1
|
|
environment so long as the application includes Microsoft's Win32s,
|
|
a subset of Win32 that translates 32-bit system calls to their 16-
|
|
bit equivalent.
|
|
In another area, Microsoft admits that Windows font embedding
|
|
technology is flawed. They're working with typeface and
|
|
applications vendors to get things straightened out by year's end.
|
|
They will soon begin beta testing a DLL that greatly simplifies
|
|
font embedding. Microsoft officials also said that a future
|
|
implementation of TrueType will support special typographic
|
|
features such as multiple-weight typefaces and ligatures.
|
|
Under fear of font theft and the lack of comprehensible
|
|
standards, some changes have been presented to Microsoft. It has
|
|
been suggested to change the names of the two current levels of
|
|
embedding and add a third.
|
|
Read-only embedding would become "print and preview" which
|
|
more accurately describes its abilities. Read-write would be
|
|
renamed "installable" suggesting that the embedded font is
|
|
permanently installed when encountered by an application. The new
|
|
level, called "editable" would install the font to allow editing,
|
|
but purge it from the disk drive each time the document containing
|
|
the font is closed. To further aid security, the font would be
|
|
installed with a randomly generated file name not recognizable by
|
|
Windows' font manager.
|
|
"Editable embedding is a happy medium," said a spokesperson at
|
|
one major font vendor. "We want to make things easier for users,
|
|
but without pulling the rug out from under ourselves."
|
|
Microsoft recently released plans to announce more new
|
|
products. Forthcoming will be a multimedia encyclopedia and a
|
|
movie guide (known as Cinemania), both to be sold on CD for under
|
|
$100. Visual Basic for DOS will be introduced in the early fall
|
|
and no word on the CD's.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
A BRIGHT IDEA
|
|
I was just thinking (dangerous for sure). Instead of cranking
|
|
out more word processors, publishing programs, etc. for Windows,
|
|
how about a program similar to Banner Maker. How about a banner
|
|
program for Windows that will use TrueType fonts and let you
|
|
manipulate and print banners. Maybe Bitstream's Make-up or some
|
|
similar program has this capability and I don't know it. Anyway,
|
|
it was just a thought.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
COREL DRAW! 3.0
|
|
This graphics heavyweight has just gotten better. You can
|
|
read the specs and features in any advertisement. Combined with
|
|
the already excellent graphics program (and Trace and Mosaic) is a
|
|
24-bit color editor, CorelChart, and CorelShow.
|
|
Each is a separate module and installing the whole thing (with
|
|
samples) will eat up 29 megs of your hard drive.
|
|
It's great to finally be able to edit in preview mode - no
|
|
more wire frames (unless you want them). The speed is very good
|
|
and you finally have online help. They've also implemented the
|
|
common dialog box feature of Windows 3.1 so that all the dialog
|
|
boxes look the same.
|
|
I'm glad to see Corel get away from proprietary fonts and use
|
|
TrueType. The TrueType fonts bundled on the disks are pretty much
|
|
the same as the old proprietary ones. But there are over 100 more
|
|
on the CD that comes with the package (see below).
|
|
The Paint, Chart, and Show modules are all easy to use and
|
|
work well together. All feature online help and editing in color
|
|
preview mode. The Mosaic module lets you print out pages of your
|
|
clipart in a thumbnail type of view. You may want to keep your old
|
|
Corel clipart disks since most of the bundled clipart is on CD.
|
|
There's an old adage that states "software sells hardware".
|
|
Just as Windows 3.1 is selling sound boards, Corel will sell CD-ROM
|
|
drives. Whether you buy Corel as a new user or as an upgrade, it
|
|
comes packaged with a CD containing all the programs, more fonts,
|
|
and a ton of clipart. CD drives have come down drastically in
|
|
price since last year and there is now no excuse for not having one
|
|
(never thought I'd say that). But I'll stick my neck out and state
|
|
that this is the package that will finally make a difference in
|
|
selling CD-ROM drives. (Make sure you get one compatible with the
|
|
Kodak Photo CD's if you're interested in that.)
|
|
Whether you're new to Corel Draw! or wondering if you should
|
|
upgrade, this is the graphics package to beat.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
586 PRICING STRATEGY
|
|
In an uncharacteristic move, Intel is planning aggressive
|
|
pricing and early software support when it introduces the P5 chip.
|
|
Says Ron Curry, product line manager for Intel, "The first 486
|
|
systems were over $10,000. At the P5 launch, you'll see machines
|
|
in the $6,000 range."
|
|
The P5 chip is expected to be priced at just less than $700 in
|
|
quantities of 1,000 compared to the 486DX chip which is priced at
|
|
$536 in quantities of 1,000.
|
|
Early indications are that Intel is still on track for a fall
|
|
introduction of the chip. They've never produced a 3.1 million
|
|
transistor chip (the 486 has 1.2 million transistors). There are
|
|
reports of problems with the P5, indicating it does not run
|
|
reliably at 66 mhz.
|
|
Intel is also pushing software developers to support the chip.
|
|
It is developing a new suite of compiler programs for porting
|
|
applications to the new chip. Intel is also positioning the P5 as
|
|
a competitor to RISC and is actively recruiting RISC applications
|
|
developers to port their software to the P5.
|
|
Existing software packages are expected to run twice as fast
|
|
without modification, but when recompiled for the new chip, are
|
|
expected to run as much as four times faster.
|
|
As I write this, Intel has just announced a delay in the
|
|
introduction of the P5. What had been an expected ship date of
|
|
fourth quarter, Intel has now changed to first quarter of 1993.
|
|
While not a great surprise, this gives Intel and various vendors a
|
|
chance to work out ALL the bugs and be more prepared for the formal
|
|
introduction.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
NEW DRAWPERFECT
|
|
The new DrawPerfect is now in beta testing with no firm
|
|
release date set. The anticipated release of the DOS version is
|
|
September. It will be available in both DOS and Windows versions,
|
|
both of which will look the same. The DOS product will ship first
|
|
with the Windows product following by six to eight weeks.
|
|
The WordPerfect Button Bar will be incorporated into both
|
|
versions. All popular drawing tools will be included. You will be
|
|
able to contour text, blend colors and objects, and choose color
|
|
gradients. Included will be over 100 clip art images.
|
|
In the charting department, you will choose from 3-D bar
|
|
charts, surface charts, pie charts, hi-lo charts, and organization
|
|
charts. It has a split-screen mode where you can enter data and
|
|
see instantaneous changes in your chart.
|
|
The new DrawPerfect will support 20 popular sound cards and
|
|
includes over a hundred MIDI sound files.
|
|
There will be a combination of vector based tools and bitmap
|
|
tools in the same package. You can create and edit color bitmap
|
|
images or convert them to vector images using an auto-trace
|
|
feature. There will also be a Master Gallery feature giving you a
|
|
variety of templates for slide presentations.
|
|
The Outliner feature will let you create an outline or import
|
|
a WordPerfect outline and create a presentation slide with a single
|
|
mouse click.
|
|
Of course, you'll be able to create detailed handout notes and
|
|
speaker notes. The slide sorter metaphor is also employed for
|
|
rearranging slides and getting an overview of your presentation.
|
|
Finally, file formats will be identical between DOS and
|
|
Windows programs, the same as with WordPerfect.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
MORE WINDOWS NT INFO
|
|
Little details are slowly coming out about Windows NT. Of
|
|
course, you know that DOS is not required because this is a 32-bit
|
|
self-booting Windows. You won't need NetWare either because
|
|
network support is built-in (it will work in conjunction with
|
|
NetWare, however). Security is improved since you won't be able to
|
|
do a CTRL-BREAK to abort a batch file.
|
|
NT will come with a variety of network management tools along
|
|
with performance monitors. E-mail and scheduling are also built-
|
|
in. This is not a re-work of an existing product, it's new from
|
|
the beginning. They're saying that 8 megs will be the minimum
|
|
memory required.
|
|
Finally, the preferred distribution format for Windows NT will
|
|
be CD-ROM.
|
|
---------------
|
|
|
|
HIGH-SPEED MODEMS REVISITED
|
|
This past Christmas, my present to myself was a USR HST Dual
|
|
Standard modem that one of my suppliers had a great deal on (I
|
|
deserved it). I reviewed this modem back then and it continues to
|
|
perform well.
|
|
I recently had the opportunity to install a different high
|
|
speed modem in a client's computer and took advantage of the short
|
|
time to play with it a little.
|
|
The modem is a Practical Peripherals 14400 internal with
|
|
send/receive fax. The price is real tempting to begin with - it
|
|
should sell for under $400 on the streets. Of course it's got the
|
|
normal alphabet soup of transmission standards for compression,
|
|
speed, etc. I've sold Practical Peripheral 2400 modems for some
|
|
time and have found them to be excellent. (Hayes bought out the
|
|
company a couple of years ago.)
|
|
Well, this modem performed quite well. I was able to connect
|
|
with two different high speed modems, one at 9600 and with a Dual
|
|
Standard at 14400. The only difference I could see from my HST is
|
|
that it takes a little longer to connect, since each modem has to
|
|
figure out what features the other supports. In the area of file
|
|
transfers, it keeps right up with pretty close to an HST-HST
|
|
connection.
|
|
The half card is more like a quarter card with a daughter card
|
|
attached, making it a little on the thick side. The internal model
|
|
features a 16550AFN UART for the buffering you'll need with
|
|
Windows.
|
|
I was unable to test the fax software, though. The software
|
|
is DOS-based, not a Windows program. I really wish these fax
|
|
manufacturers would include a Windows fax program with their cards.
|
|
Every DOS fax program I've seen really sucks. (Well, they do!)
|
|
Other than that, this is an excellent value in a 14.4 modem.
|
|
All Practical Peripheral modems carry a lifetime warranty and since
|
|
Hayes owns the company, you know they're 100% compatible.
|
|
|
|
=================================
|
|
|
|
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, 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 |