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Feedback from March 3

Warp for NCs

Warp in NC form will no more further the cause of OS/2 than OS/2 in ATM form has. It will be used as an appliance, by the unthinking drones, who will assume it's Windows, and the printed press will continue to ignore OS/2. But dream on, if you want.

Keith Price


I suppose you must have considered the irony of stating that OS/2 is not just a niche product while in the same breath saying how OS/2 warp is the ideal OS for a Network Computer (NC), which is a niche product.

Of course, there is Warp Server, the fastest server around, and the Warp Universal Client (the desktop version most people use) and the OS/2 in all those bank machines, but the thrust of IBM's plans with OS/2 seem to be towards the corporate NC niche. I would feel more comfortable if I was hearing how OS/2 is being ported to a PDA OS (like Windows CE, even given that it is a bad idea to try and fit the Windows OS in a PDA), to the Power PC, and that efforts are being made to keep OS/2 on the "kitchentop machine". Those efforts would speak volumes to the idea of OS/2 as a universal client. Although corporate decisions often decide what machine a person will have at home, it is a two way street and sometimes the home environment determines what the tools at work will be. For that reason, IBM should not ignore the home consumer market only for the corporate market.

In a word: I would be happy having OS/2 running NC computers, and by extension, all my appliances at home, but to become that ubiquitous, IBM has to continue to support development for the "kitchentop machine".

Peter MacDougall


Driver for digitizers

I would just like to add to your list the excellent rodent.sys universal mouse driver. Previously I used the Summa driver with my Summascetch II, but it was not really satisfactory. I tried rodent, but at first it seemed my digitizer was too old. After I contacted Michal Lee Finney, I got the newest (registered) version and much good advice on how to set it up. It has worked flawlessly for several years, and there were no problems when I upgraded to Warp 4.

Bjørn Vermo


SimCity 2000 Cheat Codes

I have the game Sim City 2000 and I got a code the other day while I was surfing the 'net to get a million dollars. I am going to give it to you and I would like you to put it on your Web-Site:

Load or create a new city. Then you go to the budget screen and go to the $ icon. First you hold L1 and press x, o, triangle, and square then release L1. Then you hold R1 and press x, o, triangle, and square and release R1. Next you hold L2 and press x, o, triangle, and square and then release L2. Finally you hold R2 and you press x, square, triangle, and then o. You should hear a cheer which indicates that you are either real popular or you are the richest man in the city with oh let's say... $1,000,000.

Anthony Holan


Not being a serious SimCity 2000 player, I can't vouch for the validity of the above. But I'd be happy to hear from other readers if this works or not!

- editor


Chris' Rant

The sky may not be falling, but it seems IBM keeps trying to pull large chunks down! Obviously, we who dwell on the internet and try to "keep the faith" relative to OS/2 live in a rarified world. But even the cloistered few of the OS/2 newsgroups and mail lists seems to be sensing troubled waters ahead for Warp. Will it become nothing more than ATM fodder and "thin client" ware? Will Java succeed with the Redmonians actively attempting to kill it with ActiveX? World domination is such an ugly occupation! IBM needs to toss the loyalist some sort of a bone to keep spirits up and keep them fighting to maintain their products in shops where they still hold sway. Too many are falling to the NT drumbeat, simply out of fear they'll be left with the CP/M of the '90's.

Chris Owen


I liked this article so much I read it twice!

I also agree that things are better than ever regarding OS/2 situation. But I can't help feeling a bit disappointed in the way some details are being managed, small things like the sound blaster drivers made a huge negative impact in the whole user community!

Anyway, the road ahead is looking brighter and brighter for OS/2! And we as a whole should have a more positive attitude regarding our operating system of choice!

Congratulations on a fine piece!

Shafik Mahomad


I couldn't agree more with what Chris has to say with the attitude of OS/2 users. The apathy surrounding the release of Warp4, as opposed to the unbridled enthusiasm surrounding the release of Warp3, was, however, predictable. But Chris should not be blaming the users for this apathy. The blame lies squarely with IBM for continuing to send out mixed signals about their future strategies for OS/2. The enthusiasm that was witnessed over the release of v3.0 was almost entirely the result of a comprehensive ad campaign (whether you liked it or not is immaterial -- it was, at least, comprehensive) introducing OS/2 Warp to a computer using public that was sick to death of Win3.1x.

Following the release of Win95, however, IBM has not responded directly to the Microsoft onslaught in any public way, and has led the myopic public to believe that IBM is no longer supporting OS/2 with any sort of enthusiasm. The impression seems to be that, if you run a [big] business running other IBM hard/software systems, that OS/2 will provide the best connectivity between PCs and the rest of the hardware and software. This is true, without question, but it shrinks the target audience by a dramatic amount. IBM even stated in their press release announcing Warp4 that it was intended for business and for power users. This is just another way of saying that IBM has decided not to compete with Microsoft anymore for the home market. This is a BIG mistake, and a tactical error, in my opinion, because I don't believe that one can successfully separate the "home" market from the "small business" market anymore. And IBM does so at its peril.

Following the almost silent release of Warp4, I got the impression that OS/2 users were feeling just a little "gut-punched" by the lack of publicity. Let's face it, we live in a world where we have been conditioned by advertising. And NOT to see ads promoting the latest and greatest causes the conditioned public to believe that something is wrong. I suspect IBM did not feel it was necessary to promote the release of Warp4 as heavily as it had promoted Warp3, since it was being targeted at business and power users.

But the resulting effect was confusion and chaos. I live in the Los Angeles area, and I *could not find* a copy of OS/2 v4.0 anywhere locally for 2 months after it was released. I finally ordered my copy from Indelible Blue. What was up with that? Was IBM so preoccupied with marketing their Win95/NT products that they couldn't even bother to push the new release of their own OS to the retail market?

And the fallout has spread, unfortunately. Several computer book publishers have *cancelled* planned books on OS/2. The only two that I know of right now are IBM's own redbook, _Getting to Know OS/2 Warp 4_, and the latest version of the _Unleashed_ book for OS/2, due out in March. But all the other publishers have scratched their plans for Warp4 tomes, and who can blame them? Microsoft is winning the propaganda battle and IBM isn't lifting a finger in response.

Michael McBroom


I just wanted to comment a little on Chris' Rant, regarding the lack of enthusiasm that has followed Warp 4's release. It's hard to be optimistic when yet more hardware vendors announce they are not loading OS/2, when Lotus slips from 4Q 96 to 4Q 97 on OS/2 versions of their products, when there's still marketing/advertising that I can detect. Database products are quite simply ignoring IBM's DB2 for OS/2.

In IBM's last teleseminar, I got the distinct feeling that they were being noncommittal in their answers. IBM has removed their support forums from Compuserve; they no longer have an Team OS/2 liason.

Warp 4 was on the shelf at CompUSA for a short while after it's release, but it is gone now, as well as all the other OS/2 applications. Even when they had OS/2 applications, it was an ancient version of WordPerfect for OS/2 and DeskMan to choose from.

Warp is a great OS. I use it at home. I use it at work, although the decision has been made to switch everyone to Windows NT. Both you and I know what a disaster that will be, but it's hard to fight the lack of mindshare that IBM has.

For OS/2 to succeed, there is simply going to have to be more to choose from in the application arena, and it will have to be more visible than it has been recently. Since this latest release, I've the distinct feeling that more vendors are pulling away. That's just disappointing.

Douglas Burger


Power Tips

Volume 2 Number 2: Great article on creating a shadow effect. It took me less that ten minutes to do one.

Q & A: Are there any fonts that can be used for ColorWorks? I am a little disappointed in the lack of fonts.

Jason Glithero


Jason, any font installed on your OS/2 system can be used with ColorWorks. Therefore, if you are using Warp 4, just grab any package of TrueType fonts at the local Wal-Mart (typically about $10) and you have instant fonts galore.

- editor

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