Feedback from September 16

IBM's Committment

I would think the question of IBM's continued commitment to OS/2 would have been answered by their release of the Merlin Beta and scheduled release of WARP 4. In talking with the delvelopers of WARP 4, I am told they have 450-500 people employed working on this project. In any terms that seems a significant commitment to OS/2. When you look at what OS/2 will ship with, IBM Works 3.0, VTD and Navigation, TCP\IP and internet support, not to mention the CD sampler which will have WordPro for OS/2, it seems the commitment question would be answered.

The bottom line is that when WARP 4.0 ships in the next month or so, it will be a very stable feature rich program with many extras thrown in.

Bob


Netscape for OS/2

So, OS/2 is finally getting its own native version of Netscape Navigator. My instant response echoes the sage words of Meg Ryan: "Yes! Yes! YES! YEEEEEEEESSSSS!!!, etc." My more measured response: I wholeheartedly welcome it, and about time too. I've waited an awful long time for a frame-compatible browser for OS/2; even a frame-enhanced WebExplorer would've done nicely, especially if they'd thrown Javascript in too. A native Navigator was for too long the "dream option" for me: preferable, but unlikely. I'm amazed it's taken this long to see a Warp-native Netscape; OS/2 is practically the last major system (certainly on the Intel platform) not to have a version of Navigator. Even Silicon Graphics workstations have one, and surely there are more OS/2 users than SGI ones.

Whatever detractors might say about the proprietary nature of frames, I believe the feature can be an extremely useful enhancement to a Web site, and besides, so many sites now use them that poor old WebEx isn't much cop at viewing them. At last, OS/2 users will have a browser with features comparable with those on other platforms, and as a Web author myself I can only welcome that. (As for the idea of frames being proprietary, M$ Internet Exploder (sic) supports them too - like it or not, and I happen to like it, frames are a de facto standard on the Web these days, and I for one am pleased not to be a second-class Netizen any more...)

At this point, let me make this quite clear: I am not rejoicing in the imminent demise of WebExplorer. WebEx has proved a most capable stopgap for us (I think that was its purpose), and it boasts some features which no other browser can. Nor am I in any way saying I advocate producing Web sites which only work with one browser. On the contrary, I strongly believe that when creating Web sites and pages, as much care as possible should be taken to ensure that they work properly on as many browsers as possible. (Indeed, my own site has been designed with this in mind, and I will continue to make it backward-compatible as long as it's practical for me to do so.) The frames specification for HTML allows for building in page content for non-frame browsers; if pages don't use this feature, it's the fault of the page authors rather than the frames standard itself.

I'll be keeping WebExplorer on my system in parallel with Navigator, mainly to check if my pages are backward-compatible, but also in case Navigator's WPS integration isn't as complete. But in the main, I say the arrival of Netscape on our doorstep is the greatest present OS/2 users have had in a very long time; it's an industry-standard application, and it also serves as a sign that OS/2 is not only not moribund, but very much a viable computing platform. Personally, I'll leave the detractors to detract, and enjoy being able to visit the Cyberia cafe site without those "change your browser, stupid" messages...

Tim Walker


Personally, I don't like Netscape, and will use WebExplorer until I get Merlin (which is as soon as I see a copy).

The reason why I HATE NETSCAPE is because they are going about standards the wrong way. Instead of making frames and what-not non-sense, they should help out the W3 consortium and implement THEIR standars into HTML, that way, everyone has the benefits....

Just my opinion, but if we get hooked on program-specific web features, we are all losing the point which is that the WEB is not wysiwyg - Netscape has NEVER reformated my web page when I shrink/expand the window - WEB EXPLORER does this.. try it.. maybe you're used to it... but just do it and you'll realize what I'm talking about.. it reformats tables, text, graphics,...etc... netscape doesn't! Web != Wysiwyg, netscape thinks it does...

Bojan Landekic


I am running hetscape 2.01 under WIN-OS/2. I prefer WebExplorer. I have spoken to many people recently tossing Netscape for Microsoft's Explorer 3. Maybe IBM should have done a deal with Bill?

Steve Edmonds


I use both Web Explorer and Netscape (for Solaris) 2.0 - and would like to see IBM and Netscape combine the best of both:

I was wondering if by WPS integration that we will still be able to drag and drop web pages to create url references on our desktops and graphics to create graphic files. I find that to be much better way to collect url's into folders than to use Netscape's bookmark facility.

Also the implementation of frames in Netscape has its problems. For example, you can't bookmark a page that is displayed within a frame. Will we be able to drag a page in a frame and get a URL other than that of the frame?

Will there be plug-ins for shock wave? Real Audio?

Stuart Brown


- Good questions Stuart. Unfortunately, we'll have to wait and see what Netscape and IBM do with the finished product to find out.

September Q&A

In September Q-A there was a question about how to delete the assosiation for Notepad.

I might be wrong here, but maybe it has something to do with Add Programs database. And as a tip for other users: After I installed Borland C++ 4.0 for DOS, at every boot up OS/2 converted the type for all BCC exe files to OS/2 exe and Add Programs found only OS/2 version of BCC (I did not have OS/2 version installed).

Executing any EXE file only displayed some garbage scrolling on the screen. I could change this in the settings page, but on next boot up...

I resolved this by removing all references of BC for OS/2 from the Add Programs database, recompiled the database (see online help for info how to), I then run Add Programs (had to check checkbox scan for OS/2 apps otherwise it would not find BCC for DOS ??) and lived happily ever after.

C. Soderlund


VAC++ Review

In this review, Dr. Terrell makes the following statements:

IBM appears to have made a glaring blunder with Visual Builder. When you wish to compile your application, you save the file and generate the source code. But, there is no menu item for actually compiling the code! You have to open an OS/2 window and issue the make command manually. It's really not that big of a deal, but detracts from an otherwise polished piece of software.
Dr. Terrell appears to have made a glaring blunder in his review. By creating a Workframe project, you can edit, compile/link, run and debug your application all by clicking on the appropriate toolbar button or menu item. This provides a common development interface regardless of the type of project (visual, DLL, etc.). It can be configured to invoke other tools such as IPF editors, etc. Although you can create a Workframe project using a template, you can also do this more easily via a Build Smarts tool which will generate skeleton projects of various types for you.

Bob Loconto


- Thaks for the comments Bob. Yes, I know it can be done from the Workframe (in fact, I said so at another place in the review), but I was talking about from the Visual Builder itself, and I still think it is a "glaring blunder".

Dr. Dirk Terrell


I wanted to say that Dr. Dirk Terrell's review of IBM's VisualAge C++ 3.0 was well-written and very informative.

I would also like to add that reasonable educational pricing is available for the IBM VisualAge C++ product as well as for the various OS/2 Warp V3 products. Indelible Blue, as well as others, I'm sure, have a link to current educational specials. What's more, if your are a faculty member of a qualifying institution, you may be eligible to obtain at no cost the IBM Objects on Campus CD-ROM, which includes tools such as VisualAge C++, IBM Smalltalk, and DB2/2 to name a few. More information on this and other higher education promotions from IBM can be seen at http://ike.engr.washington.edu/news/promo.html.

Chad Nelson


Other Compiler Reviews

I'm really interested in a comparison between C/C++ compilers. What I keep seeing is individual reviews.

I have Borland's compiler and know that it generates slow code, can't create rexx .dll files that use memory properly, and has some other bugs too (that I don't remember). But, your review mentioned none of this.

I really like emx's compiler for speed and code generation, but the tools available for it to create PM apps are a bit limited (I haven't found any).

David Kunz


As a developer, I was interested in your evaluations of the C/C++ compiler options for OS/2, but I was lacking any kind of advanced (or even not so advanced) comparison between the code quality from the different compilers. As developer, the final code quality is a major factor when shopping for compilers.

In one very large project (2.5 man years) I had to dump the Borland C compiler for this reason, and go for the Watcom.

Mikael Wahlgren


- Good points, Mikael and David. We'll be more diligent next time.

Object Desktop Professional Review

It should be noted that Object Desktop Professional's desktop backup advisor completely cleans and repairs OS/2 INI files, far more reliabily and thoroughly (and easily) than any other OS/2 product out there including Unimaint or CheckINI.

Brad Wardell
CEO, Stardock Systems Inc.


Alex Bradley said "But when I went to a command prompt, I was able to get at the folder from there. The security seems to be mainly to protect power users and IT managers from end users" regarding Object Desktop Pro's security feature. Just put a lock on the "Command Prompts" folder and the user won't be able to access the files that way.

Jay Williams


UniMaint Review

I have just read the review on Unimaint, and I disagree.

I read:

Overall, UniMaint is a very buggy product. It also has a lot of rough edges, in terms of user interface, for a product in its fifth major revision. The inability to cancel operations once they've been started is inexcusable. Despite its problems though, UniMaint does have some valuable features. Of the entire package, the INI and EA editor is the most solid; for most people, however, it's simply not a tool that is typically needed.
I do not agree, and definitely do not agree that users should give it a pass.

I think that in a case where a program is gonna be given a dismal review, there should be an opportunity for the developer to have a rebuttal. Or for another user to be asked if they experience the same problems. As we both know, not everyone runs programs that 1000's of others use successfully.

Gary Hammer


In reference to SofTouch's reply to our review of UniMaint 5, James Turner wrote:

My congratulations to Michael Norton of SofTouch. It is highly refreshing to find a software maker who actually is willing to admit their mistakes and take responsability for them. UniMaint 5 may not be perfect but it sure beats other options. With this kind of attitude it can only get better and I for one am willing to give them an opportunity to improve.

James Turner

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