the Beta File - by Ryan Dill

elcome back to the Beta File, your source for the latest breaking news in OS/2 beta development. Every month we scour the OS/2 world to bring you interesting news of OS/2 software in development. If you have a product that you're sure is going to be the next killer app, or you want a little free exposure for your beta test, drop us a note!

We'll start off this month with a few beta updates to programs e-Zine's already mentioned... IPAD, mentioned in July '97, has been updated (03/15/98) to beta 0.6.00 (ZIP, 601k). CUSeeMe/2, mentioned in last month's Beta File, has been updated (03/05/98) to beta 1.6 (ZIP, 135k), and its (European) web page now has a North American mirror at the Black Palace. XFolder, also mentioned in last month's Beta File, has been updated to beta 0.51 (ZIP, 153k) -- Additionally, InetPowerServer/2 (yup, you guessed it, last month's Beta File) has been updated to beta 0.65 (ZIP, 115k). Lastly, the program SysBar/2, first mentioned in September '97, now (03/01/98) has beta 1.1f (ZIP, 171k) available.

For those still using the international beta of StarOffice v4.0 for OS/2, StarDivision has made available yet another patch to allow users to use the office suite past its normal expiry date. This patch allows International Beta II to operate up to May of 1998, and can be downloaded from the OS/2 archive at Hobbes. (It will eventually be moved out of this directory, so if it's gone by the time you read this, use the search function on Hobbes' main page to find the file staroffice-patch.zip)

The folks at the OS/2 Netlabs project are ready to begin testing of the first beta version of GIMP for OS/2. GIMP is a photo-editing package originally for the Linux platform, often referred to as the "..Photoshop of Linux.." (meaning Adobe Photoshop) due to its power and array of features. The programmers at Netlabs have been working on porting the X-Windows version of GIMP to OS/2's own port of XFree86 (A fully native Presentation Manager version of GIMP is under development), and are looking for testers of their first beta version. Since it's released under the Gnu Public License, GIMP is free for all use -- When the OS/2 version becomes generally available, the GPL will apply for it as well.

To qualify for testing, you must have XFree86 installed (see the XFree86 web page for more information about this UNIX-ported window management environment), and it would be helpful (but not necessary) to know the LINUX version of GIMP. If you think you'd like to test GIMP/2, contact Adrian Gschwend at the OS/2 Netlabs for more info on the beta program. For the latest information about GIMP/2, keep in touch with the GIMP web page at the OS/2 Netlabs.

For those who have been anxiously waiting for any word from Cybercomm on the AccuCount/2 beta/demo mentioned in May 1997's Beta File (Cybercomm's web page, including 'Current Status' information on AccuCount/2, hasn't been updated in six months), Cybercomm's Robert Mauro announced this on March 9^th:

"In 2 weeks, our web site will be updated with a short questionnaire for all registered beta-testers (in short all pre-order customers), as well as anyone interested in purchasing AC/2. The questionnaire will request such things as sample charts of accounts, printer setups, etc., which will in whole or part make it into the first major beta files to be released by month's end.

By that time, we hope to have completed the transition of our web site to our own servers as well.

For now the URL remains http://www3.smart.net/~cybercom/.

Check for information on a slew of unannounced features as well... we've been delayed waiting on the final version of our development tools - but we've been very busy to make up for it."

Computing Solutions has released beta 1.0 of their program Domain Reporter/2, an application which gathers and displays information about an OS/2 LAN Server/WarpServer domain. Domain Reporter/2 allows an administrator using Warp Server or IBM's Workspace On Demand (WSOD) to easily show various information about their network, including servers, users, groups, and security features.

No information is yet available on when the final version is expected, but in the meantime the beta can be downloaded from DomainReporter/2's web page When downloading, it's requested that you also fill out a short survey to better allow Computing Solutions to serve you. For more information or feedback regarding DomainReporter/2, contact Jin Kim via betatest@cmpsol.com.

Ray Gwinn, author of the SIO (Serial Input/Output) communications drivers for OS/2, is busy developing version 2 of SIO, commonly called SIO2K. SIO version 2 "...has major design and philosophical changes differing from any previous OS/2 serial drivers...", including SIO v1.x. Beta version 6 is now downloadable from the SIO web page. This beta version doesn't currently include versions of SIO's Utility program (SU.EXE) or the Poor Man's Line Monitor (PMLM.EXE) which are included in SIO v1.x.

Due to its extensive design changes, the price of SIO2K upon release will be more than the US$25 price of SIO version 1.x -- However, Gwinn is offering recently-registered SIO v1.x users (those whose serial numbers' last five digits are 25400 or greater) a free upgrade to SIO version 2. (He also points out that if the copy of SIO v1.x you have isn't eligible for the free upgrade, if you're planning on buying SIO v2.0, it's actually cheaper to buy v1.x again, then use your new serial number to upgrade free to v2.0) For more information about SIO, including on-line registration, see its web page at http://www.gwinn.com/.

While officially alpha software, IBM's Bamba technology has been around long enough that it's considered the equivalent of beta software to many. Bamba is IBM's foray into the market of streamed media, such as RealNetworks' RealAudio and RealVideo. Streamed media is audio or video which can be played (through a web browser, for example) while it's still being downloaded from the Internet, resulting in less wait for the download to finish. Pages with examples of Bamba media can be found at the Bamba page of the Supersite Links Collection.

Available from IBM's alphaWorks development laboratories, Bamba is being developed in OS/2, Windows and Java versions. The OS/2 version has recently been updated to alpha 1.1, which includes a few bug fixes over previous version, as well as support for playing media as it's being broadcast live.

Note that the OS/2 and Java packages of the software include only the decoder, for playing Bamba media. To create your own Bamba files, you currently have to use the Windows-only encoding software. If you have a need for creating your own Bamba files under OS/2, post a message in the Bamba forum at the alphaWorks communityXchange to let the developers know that there's a demand for an OS/2 version of the encoding software.

Ryan Dill is a student in Computer Science at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS and e-Zine! 's assistant editor. He is reported to be relieved that, with the advent of Warp 4, talking to your computer is no longer considered a sign of mental instability.

Copyright © 1998 - Falcon Networking

ISSN 1203-5696