HyperACCESS for OS/2 is the next generation of Hilgraeve's popular modem program, HyperACCESS 5. That apparently obvious statement summarizes both its strengths and weaknesses.

Users of HA5 will understand what I mean. On the one hand, Hilgraeve has been a premier developer of modem software for 15 years. The company developed HA Lite for Warp and HyperTerminal for Windows 95, and HyperACCESS' different versions have at least a dozen awards. In fact, HA5 is so functional that, although text-based, it is still sold.

On the other hand, HA5 is designed within the paradigms of DOS. The OS/2 version slows when running in a window, and contains an escape hatch for issuing commands, which the windowed WorkPlace Shell clearly doesn't need. As a result, despite its functionality, HA5 has never been completely satisfactory for experienced OS/2 users.

First Impressions

That said, within its design limits, HA for OS/2 is elegantly laid out. From its redesigned logo and glossy manual to its 3D sculpted look, the program has undergone a major face-lift--and not just for prettiness. A quick look at the menus dispels that idea. Consistently, the commonly used features are positioned in the first level of the menu. When they aren't, the menu items are named precisely enough to navigate by. The layout is so easy to follow that many users may never need the manual or on-line help at all.

Features

But the most time is saved by HA's extensive use of the clipboard. Besides using the mouse to select text, HA for OS/2 also has popup menu items for selecting all the text displayed or the entire scroll-back buffer. The text can then be saved in a file, sent to the printer, or pasted to the host for an on-line reply.

Another handy use of the clipboard is HA's lists of major North American bulletin boards, whose entries can be pasted into the phonebook to make new listings. While only a single entry can be pasted at a time, this feature greatly reduces setup time. In less than ten minutes, I pasted twenty of my favorite boards into the phonebook, and only had to insert three or four manually.

These time-saving devices are second only to the speed which HA offers. And this speed is very real. Out of the box, HA for OS/2 dials twice as fast as any other modem program I've seen, and consistently transfers files, using Z-modem on a 14.4 modem, at speeds of 16,300 bps or higher.

In the interests of truth, however, I should stress that this speed is not due to multithreading, as the manual implies. If anything, HA for OS/2 is slow, taking 50% longer to boot than other OS/2 comm programs. The speed actually lies in HA's modem initialization strings which, if used with other programs, will often give them better performance too. Using the same modem string with RhinoCom 1.5, for example, I received speeds of 16,500bps. The catch, of course, is that users would be lucky to duplicate HA's performance for a single modem without days of trial and error. Yet Hilgraeve offers strings to optimize hundreds of modems.

These strings are not perfect (in fact, HA for OS/2 is the first program I've used which will not allow my 14.4 Supra FaxModem to run as a high speed Hayes compatible) but Hilgraeve is constantly refining them and posting updates on its bulletin board. And no wonder: with these strings, HA easily outperforms most modem programs.

Drawbacks

Admittedly, HA for OS/2 is partly integrated into both the desktop and OS/2. It supports file associations, allowing a phone book listing to be placed anywhere on the desktop, as well as REXX scripts, which can be automatically generated. Still, the integration has gaps--gaps all the more noticeable for HA's generally sophisticated design.

The lack of support for the font and color palettes is minor; many other OS/2 programs don't support them, either. What is more annoying is that HA mimics the desktop without some of its basic functionality. For example, icons cannot be dropped on the notebook for a phonebook listing; the icon has to be selected through HA's own mechanism. Similarly, for all the clarity of the online help, it highlights in three different ways, only one of which indicates a link, and had me constantly clicking for nonexistent hypertext.

HA's internal windows are another annoyance. When a settings notebook is open, no other HA Window can become active. Moreover, only one of the five main panels--which include the terminal panel and the phonebook--can be viewed at the same time.

Nor do the changes from HA5 help integration. Probably, the text-based remote control was dropped to avoid competition with Hilgraeve's KopyKat. Other choices, however, are harder to explain. HA5 has a built-in virus detector, which can even scan compressed files, but HA for OS/2 leaves it out. Probably, the reasoning is that there are no OS/2 specific viruses. However, some viruses can affect OS/2, so it might have been left in.

At the same time, HA5's text editor has evolved into a message pad. The manual argues that this feature is more convenient than starting an editor separately, but what would be wrong with a built-in link to whatever editor is preferred? Such decisions emphasize that Hilgraeve is still not designing specifically for OS/2--and, in fact, HA for OS/2 resembles closely HA for Windows.

It is mainly in this lack of integration that HA suffers in comparison with RhinoCom, its new rival among high-end modem programs. Otherwise, a comparison gives mixed results. In addition to greater OS/2 integration, RhinoCom is more customizable and usually offers more features. By contrast, HA for OS/2 offer more speed and functionality out of the box, and a more attractive price. Both have features the other lacked. In the end, HyperAccess' lack of WPS integration made me decide to keep to RhinoCom, but which program anyone prefers will be mainly a matter of priorities.

Conclusion?

letter to the editor.

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