[Please note: this is a text only version of the on-line magazine, OS/2 e-Zine!.  OS/2 e-Zine! is a graphical, WWW OS/2 publication and, if possible, should be viewed in its HTML format available on-line at http://www.os2ezine.com/ or zipped for off-line reading.  Some graphically oriented articles have been removed from this document.]


OS/2 e-Zine!		January 16, 1998		volume 3, number 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1998		Falcon Networking  	ISSN 1203-5696

                  "Over Half a Million Satisfied Visitors!"


OPINIONS:

  Chris' Rant
  Winds of Change?
   
DEPARTMENTS:

  the Beta File
  News from the OS/2 World
  the REXX Files
  How Do I?


1997 READERS' CHOICE AWARDS

  Introduction
  Developers
  Internet
  Business
  Utilities
  Development Tools
  Games & Multimedia


REVIEWS:

Usenet News Clients

  Introduction		EmTec
  PMINews		NewsBeat
  Internet Adventurer	ProNews/2

Other Software

  BlueCad	- Pete Grubbs
  Seagate Backup	- Noah Sumner

First Looks and Nifty Gadgets

  Hot Scroll v0.52	Lens v0.9
  Dialog Enhancer v1.0


READER SURVEY

Results from our December Survey
    Find out what your fellow readers told us last month! 

Warpstock '98: Where and How Much?
    Answer these simple questions and find out how you compare to
    other OS/2 users.  Results will be printed next month!


END NOTES:

  Hot Sellers - the top 10 selling OS/2 apps from BMT Micro.
  Hot Sellers - the top 15 selling OS/2 apps from Indelible Blue.
  Hot Sellers - the top 10 selling OS/2 apps from J3 Computer Technologies.
  Hot Sellers - the top 10 selling OS/2 apps from Mensys.


ODDS & ENDS:

* How to Subscribe to OS/2 e-Zine! for FREE.
* How YOU can Sponsor OS/2 e-Zine!
* The Sponsors that Make this Issue Possible


Copyright 1998   -   Falcon Networking
ISSN 1203-5696

***********************************

Corporate Sponsors

(http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro
Your complete source for over 175 of the best OS/2 shareware applications available.  Drop by today and check out our WWW catalog or download the .INF version.

(http://www.ChipChat.com/os2ezine) ChipChat Technology Group
ChipChat produces excellent 32-bit OS/2 software for wireless text paging and state-of-the-art multimedia Sound Cards for Micro Channel PS/2 computers.

(http://www.fx.dk/) F/X Communications
Home of the top selling (http://www.fx.dk/injoy/) InJoy dialer, ranked #1 in worldwide OS/2 shareware sales (Jan-97).

(http://www.indelible-blue.com/) Indelible Blue
Indelible Blue, a mail order company, provides OS/2 software and hardware solutions to customers worldwide.

(http://www.kellergroup.com/) Keller Group Inc.
Developers of FaxWorks for OS/2 and PMfax, the fax and voice solution for OS/2, with versions for stand-alone, LAN and Internet Faxing.

(http://www.mensys.nl/indexuk.html) Mensys
The one place to go in Europe for all OS/2 Warp software.

(http://www.pcs-soft.com/) Perez Computing Services
Defend against desktop freezes with Ctrl-Alt-Del Commander and create online documents/help with the IPF Editor.

(http://www.prominic.com/) Prominic Technologies, Inc.
On-line sales & solutions for VisualAge, DB2, OS/2 Warp, Workspace on Demand, Notes/Domino, AIX Firewall, and Net.Commerce (design/hosting).  The best deals on IBM and Lotus software and hardware (PCs, Servers, and RS/6000s) -- with OS/2 preloads!

(http://www.prioritymaster.com/) ScheduPerformance, Inc.
Dramatically improve performance on your OS/2 system now with the patented priority scanning logic and visual priority identification of Priority Master II.

(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems
Providing quality software for the home and office.

(http://www.sundialsystems.com/) Sundial Systems Corporation
Productivity applications:  Relish - time management; Mesa 2 - spreadsheet; Clearlook - word processor; DBExpert - database.

(http://www.warpspeed.com.au/) WarpSpeed Computers
Developers of The Graham Utilities -- the largest, most comprehensive suite of disk, file and general utilities specifically written for OS/2.

***********************************

Chris' Rant	- by Chris Wenham

1997 Egg-In-The-Face Awards

This column only gets easier to write, for every year there seem to be more and more people who leap up at the wrong moment and bang their head on the low bridge.  In case you missed last year's column, the annual Egg-in-the-face Awards is my little way of saying "Thank You" to all the Einsteins that contributed absolutely Sweet Fanny Adams last year, and did it in the most public way possible.  To all these nominees; thanks for making my job easier.  <g>

Fiction's Facts

According to Arthur C.  Clarke, Will Robinson and Sarah Connor: 1997 was the year HAL was born, the year Jupiter 2 launched (only to get Lost In Space), and the year Skynet became self-aware and cooked everyone who wasn't wearing 2000 SPF sunblock.  

Not so, folks.  HAL is still struggling to sing "Daisy, Daisy" on a pair of $39.99 Lansing speakers and understand Dr.  Chandra's voice through a copy of Leonard and Haupsie's recognition software, the Jupiter 2 was downsized to a Martian rover with a dodgy modem, and Skynet's Pentium crashed under the F00F bug.  Ah shucks.

It was also the year Microsoft was supposed to ship the next greatest upgrade to its Windows line of washing machines... er... operating systems, the year USB was finally supposed to break into the mainstream, and the year Bill Gates was supposed to finally move into his new house.  Well, Microsoft met one deadline, and I hear the guest bedrooms are gorgeous.

Miffed at Davis

Oops, didn't I read this same (http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/zdnn/1124/245306.html) article last year already? No, last year was when IBM rearranged the seating in the staff cafeteria.  This time they rearrange a software division and OS/2 dies.  I think that after so many wasted hours at the keyboard predicting OS/2's death, the steamed vegetables at Ziff Davis have finally automated the process and written a Visual Basic script that alters the headline of any OS/2 related article to claim "OS/2 Is Dead(R)" in one form or another.

For 1998, I predict an editor at Ziff Davis will break a 10 year streak and actually make a phone call to IBM themselves, not "developers close to", before running a story on Warp.

Suffer, mortal fool!

Oh how the mighty have fallen.  Our favorite Demigod and once e-Zine! columnist, John Ominor, seems to have disappeared! And from behind the curtain at the (http://www.mnsinc.com/dmccoy/) City of OZ steps out a humble man instead.  Well for someone who says Microsoft should be "reined in" he's not helping much by switching to The Blue Screen of Death and giving them another statistic to club developers over the head with.  Ta-ta, John, and
have fun with the new "(http://www.wired.com/news/news/technology/story/9581.html) Bonk!" denial of service attack <g> 

Brad! Janet! Doctor Scott!

Reaping them in with a total of 3 awards this year is the company we hate to love, Stardock Systems.

For Process Commander, the utility whose (http://www.stardock.com/pc.html) web page has so many buggy (and useless) Java applets it actually causes you to have a crash rather than prevents one.

And for Stardock and Process Commander again, for harking back to the good 'ol days of Leisure Suit Larry and asking for "word x on page y" of the user manual whenever you wanted to apply a FixPak.  For me, the upgrade was just a case of pulling the box off the shelf again to check the manual, but think of all those poor pirate dudes who now have to whip out their Hex editors.  Sigh.

And Stardock once more, for running their web server (Stardock.Net) and news server on Windows machines.  Not even a token OS/2 box in that lot? Do you need the (http://www.slink.com/ApacheOS2/) URL for Apache?

Sociopolitical Goof-up.

Let's see...  (http://www.dadaware.com/) Dadaware have managed to make Windows 95 and OS/2 versions of their Embellish graphics software on par with each other.  (http://www.truespectra.com/) TrueSpectra has succeeded in doing the same with Photo>Graphics.  (http://www.neongrafix.com/) Compo has feature-par Win95 and OS/2 versions of their NeoN line.  I just recommended to a Windows 95 using friend that he should try the long-popular-on-OS/2 multimedia software (http://www.mainconcept.de/) MainActor.  And even the upstart (http://www.modulardreams.com/) Modular Dreams Incorporated is producing not just Win95 and OS/2 versions of products like SX Paint and WebAK, but BeOS versions too! Gee, it seems like the OS/2 graphics market is exploding, and all these wonderful companies have succeeded with cross-platform initiatives to boot!

Wow, now let's run this copy of ColorWorks 3...

Warp City

Yes, that's right! Everyone at OS/2 e-Zine! is blisteringly jealous and out to get you! We're going to pillage your women, rape your bridges, and burn your Java dart-boards! And while your subscribers try to make head-or-tail of a membership scheme that's more complicated than a long-distance calling plan, I'll be stealing all of your Hot Web Sites and putting them in my daily WarpCast mailing! Muahahahahahahaa! 

(Editor's Note: The above is meant as satire only and is not to be taken seriously.  Chris Wenham has had a troubled life and is currently undergoing psychological treatment and heavy medication.)

OS/2 e-Zine!

Unfortunately, my Editor-In-Chief prohibited me from publishing the full and unedited version of this column, which contained a few nasty remarks about a competitor of ours whose name I am not even allowed to subliminally refer to (Shave and a haircut, 32 bits?).  So instead I must pay homage to our own mistakes made in the calendar year of 1997.  The ones we're really ashamed of but must dutifully report to you, our readers, who provide us with a steady income of lunch money via the advertisers you see above.  Be nice and buy something from them, will you? <g>

To myself, for making a total botch up of the OpenChat/2 review and turning it into a sales pitch rather than an objective analysis.  (The thing is, you should have read the one we had to reject at the last minute.)

To myself again (I'm more familiar with my own work) for reviewing a copy of ExCal, that wonderful freeware PIM from Dan Kehn of IBM, that was a whole major version lower than the current one.  Consider this a correction of last month's piece: ExCal does have the ability to save events and address-book entries in its own, "high-resolution" backup file format that you can restore from should you have a wipe out.  Mucho apologies to Dan, and thanks for a great PIM that still shines even today.

And finally to the e-Zine! as a whole for failing to send one single representative to the first ever, grass roots, user sponsored, Nuttin'-But-OS/2 trade show in Diamond Bar, California; WarpStock.  No excuses here, we just dropped the ball.  

Um...  Sorry <g>

               *  *  * 

(chris@os2ezine.com) Chris Wenham is the Senior Editor of OS/2 e-Zine! -- a promotion from Assistant Editor which means his parking spot will now be wide enough to keep his bicycle and a trailer.

***********************************

The Winds of Change?	- by Pete Grubbs

As OS/2 users, we've become accustomed to being beat up on for not using Windows.  We've lost major applications, like WordPerfect, which gave us a certain amount of credibility when justifying our choice in operating systems.  We've seen print publications like OS/2 Magazine wither away and watched helplessly as IBM continues to mishandle the marketing of an obviously superior product while Microsoft soaks up billions in profits peddling what can be called, at best, a cheap imitation of the real thing.  All the while, we're treated to the continual chorus of naysayers who chant dirges celebrating the demise of an operating system which not only refuses to crash but also refuses to die.  It's a wonder we aren't all a bit schizophrenic.

Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I believe that we're entering an era that holds some miniscule hope for OS/2 and other platforms.  It wasn't all that long ago that a computer user trying to find any serious critique of a Microsoft offering in a print publication faced a thankless, herculean task.  (Wasn't it PC Computing that heralded MS Office '97 as the most important development for the PC since the invention of electricity?)  In fact, I often had the feeling that someone was manipulating the print media, particularly Ziff Davis publications, for a particular purpose that had nothing to do with honest reporting and evaluation and _everything_ to do with a well known company from Redmond.  (Please note:  I am not making any allegations nor am I implying that I have evidence to support an allegation that such manipulations did, indeed, occur.  I'm only expressing my feelings about this issue.)

Well, if such had ever been the case, I believe a new wind is blowing across the land, one that has a slightly different taste to it.

Here Comes The Judge

Like many of you, I have watched the United States Department of Justice proceedings against Microsoft with a certain amount of interest.  At first, it seemed like the Same Old-Same Old.  Then something rather fascinating began to happen.  Here and there on-line I began to find articles and comments that weren't from dedicated OS/2 publications which were actually critical of Bill "The Whole World Really Wants to Run Windows... Really!" Gates.

But the most astounding moment for me so far happened back on December 18 when I surfed this particular (http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/content/pcwo/1218/265023.html) Z(iff)D(avis)Net site and discovered that PC Week Labs had debunked Microsoft's claim that it is very difficult to remove Internet Explorer from the base (and, yes, that's definitely a pun you're looking at) operating system.  I was aghast, amazed.  Here, for the first time that I could recall, someone who wasn't using a Mac, Unix or OS/2 system was calling Microsoft out and making it stick.  I write this many weeks later and it still astounds me!

Perhaps it's just my foolish youth, but I can't help seeing a small ray of sunshine peeking through the Windows.  Almost as if to bolster this mood, a recent review of the OS/2 Workspace on Demand beta in LANTimes (December 18, 1997; vol 4, issue 26, page 16) was, on the whole, upbeat and encouraging, giving WSOD two "Good" and three "Excellent" ratings and ending with a reserved recommendation to buy.  Hell, the review even made the cover!  (Ok, it was a small piece of the upper right corner of the cover right next to the publication's logo and it didn't take up more than two square inches, but when was the last time you saw anything with OS/2 on it taking up any part of a cover on _any_ print publication that wasn't Indelible Blue's latest catalog?)

My friends, it appears that the Microsoft dynasty may have a few chinks missing from its Teflon coating and I, for one, believe that we should make the most of this opportunity.  How?  First, for those of us who live in the U.S., contact your elected representatives and tell them that you want increased support for the Department of Justice efforts.  Let them know how the Redmond monopoly has damaged the competitive nature of the PC market.  Back up your demands with hard facts.  Tell your representative that you resent being forced to buy a Windows '95 license just because you want to buy a new system.  Complain -- politely, of course -- till you're blue in the face.  You might also send some e-mail to Ralph Nader mentioning the dangers that a Windows-only world represents.  A note of encouragement will also further the cause.

Second, support your OS/2 vendors.  Splurge in January for some new OS/2 native software and show the people who have continued to support the end user that we appreciate their support.  If you have some OS/2 shareware that you haven't registered yet, pony up the bucks now.  Even if you only have $10 or $20, every penny counts.  If you're terribly strapped for cash this month, e-mail a note to a vendor who supports OS/2 and say thanks.  These people love to hear from us and we need to make sure they're aware of our appreciation for their efforts.

Third, if you've recently bought a system and had to pay for a Windows '95 license, fill out the necessary paperwork and get your money back.  You'll feel better, you'll look better (everyone looks better smiling and, hey, getting money back from Microsoft ought to put you in a great mood) and your machine will run better.  You'll also send a message to Microsoft in the one area that they can't ignore forever: their bank account.

Got some other ideas?  (peg5@psu.edu) Share them with me and we'll make sure they get posted here in a future issue.

Is There Life After Windows?

We all know the answer to this question, but for those who tuned in late, let me say, "Yes, definitely!"  Does this mean we'll see a huge revolution that has every box in the world happily Warping away?  Of course not.  The Windows installed base is too huge to be tossed out like last night's Kleenex and, frankly, I wouldn't want to see every PC in the world running Warp.  If that happened, I'm afraid we'd wind up with the same unacceptable situation on our hands that we have now; one hyper-dominant product that survives on marketing savvy, not performance.

In the end, we will all be best served on that day when the OS/2 piece of the pie widens enough to keep Microsoft's engineers -- not their lawyers and marketers -- on their toes.  We may have quite a wait ahead of us, however, optimist that I am, I believe that day just got a little bit closer.

               *  *  * 

(peg5@psu.edu) Pete Grubbs is a self-described OS/2 wonk, a doctoral candidate in English literature at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a part-time faculty member at Penn State and is currently developing a copy editing/creation service, The Document Doctor, which tailors documents for small businesses.

***********************************

the Beta File	- by Ryan Dill

Welcome 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, (feedback@os2ezine.com) drop us a note!

               *  *  * 

We'll start off this month with a few updates to beta programs e-Zine's already mentioned. 

Nick Knight's (http://nick.secant.com/newsbeta.htm) MR/2 Newsreader (mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n6/beta.htm) June '97), has been updated (01/08/98) to (http://www.apk.net/secant/nick/news44.zip) beta #44 (ZIP, 1M). (http://sdg.ml.org/) WarpAMP, the GUI MP3 player mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n8/beta.htm) August '97, has been updated (12/23/97) to (ftp://sdg.ml.org/ftp/pub/warpamp/wamp_b3c.zip) beta 3c (ZIP, 251k). Richard Castle's (http://www-student.lboro.ac.uk/~mcrsc/ostrans.html) Dialog Enhancer (mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n11/beta.htm) November '97) has had its PM install program updated (12/28/97) to (http://www-student.lboro.ac.uk/~mcrsc/de/download/pminstb2.zip) beta 2 (ZIP, 254k). The background changer (http://fm-net.com/pillarsoft/showtime.html) ShowTime/2 (mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n11/beta.htm) November '97) has been updated (12/21/97) to (http://fm-net.com/pillarsoft/pub/showtime.zip) beta 1.03 (ZIP, 116k). Pete Moylan's FTP Server (mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n10/beta.htm) October '97) has been updated (12/18/97) to (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/ftpser05.zip) beta 5. Lastly, Attribute Manager, mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n8/beta.htm) August '97, has been updated (01/01/98) to (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/attmn07b.zip) v0.76.50 (ZIP, 176k). 

               *  *  * 

Please also note that CUSeeme/2, a program mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n7/beta.htm) July of 1997, has also been updated since last time, but development has just recently been halted. Originally, the author reported at CUSeeMe/2's (http://inet.uni-c.dk/~deckkh/) former web site that the project had been "...terminated. There will be no more releases of it...", but a day later amended this statement with the current one, which implies that development could continue at some time in the far future. Any interested parties are encouraged to write the program's author, (deckkh@inet.uni-c.dk) Kim Kruse Hansen, to suggest he release the source code to the public -- someone else might be interested in picking up development where Hansen left off. 

               *  *  * 

(gi.costa@iol.it) Giorgio Costa is in the process of creating a PNG plug-in for OS/2's Netscape Navigator. (For those unaware, the PNG image format is the format which was intended to eventually replace CompuServe's GIF -- for more information see the (http://www.cdrom.com/pub/png/) PNG home page.) Having just reached beta 0.8, the plug-in is currently still limited to working when viewing files embedded in HTML with Netscape's <EMBED> tag. Additionally, saving of PNG images from inside the plug-in is still being worked on. 

The plug-in can currently be downloaded from (http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/npgpng09.zip) Hobbes' /incoming directory for testing. At this early stage, no word is available on intended price or date of final release of the plug-in. If you've ever needed to view PNG files through your web browser, check this gem out and send its author some feedback. (Note that once this plug-in has all its kinks worked out, it should work nicely with PM2Web, mentioned in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n10/beta.htm) October/97's Beta File.) 

               *  *  * 

(http://www.stardiv.com/) StarDivison, makers of the StarOffice office suite, have released an update patch which will allow users of the international beta version (see (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n9/beta.htm) September '97's Beta File) of StarOffice 4.0 to continue using the product until February 28th, 1998. The second international beta had a time expiry which prevented the suite from being run after December 31st, 1997. StarOffice had released a patch just _before_ the expiry date, but that patch wouldn't work if you tried running it after the expiry date had passed -- this second patch works fine after expiry. You can download it from StarDivision's (http://www.stardiv.com/download/betapatch.html) international home page. 

               *  *  * 

Daniel Steiner, the same person who brought you (http://npw.cgnet.de/dsteiner/OS2/ntfs-top.html) NTFS support to OS/2, has released the first public beta of his VFAT driver for OS/2. (VFAT, standing for Virtual File Allocation Table, is the new file system introduced with Windows 95, and is based on the original FAT file system used by DOS) Based on the (http://www-plateau.cs.berkeley.edu/people/chaffee/vfat.html) Linux driver for VFAT, VFAT-OS2 allows you to view the long file names on a VFAT disk partition while running OS/2. 

Current limitations in this first beta include read-only support (the final driver will allow both reading and writing), use of only one VFAT partition at a time (you need to reboot to gain VFAT access to another VFAT partition) and case sensitivity. More information about the program can be found at (http://npw.cgnet.de/dsteiner/OS2/vfat-top.html) its web page, where the latest version is always available, along with a listing of known bugs. Since it's based on the freeware Linux code, VFAT-OS2 will be also freeware when released. You can download the (http://npw.cgnet.de/dsteiner/OS2/vfat/vfat_001.zip) first beta of VFAT-OS2 from the web page. Steiner requests that users use caution with this driver; given that it operates in OS/2's privileged kernel mode, where there's no crash protection, "...if a bug occurs in the driver IT CAN CAUSE A HANG OR A SYSTEM HALT, AND THUS CAN CAUSE LOSS OF DATA." He recommends you make backups of all important data before installing the driver, whether the data is on a VFAT partition or not. 

               *  *  * 

IBM has once again shown their commitment to Java by developing a family of High-Performance Java Compilers. Knowing that the time a program takes to execute on an Internet server is often a very important usage consideration, IBM offers their Java compilers as a way to compile Java code into native object code. Since compilation need only be performed once before the code can be run many times, compiled Java code saves time and resources on the machine running it. 

Java's normal behavior is to use 'interpreted' code, called such because every time you run a Java program the Java Virtual Machine/Just-In-Time Compiler 'interprets' the source code on the fly. This method makes for extremely simple running of the program on other Java-supported platforms -- just take the Java code and run it without any changes, letting the JVM/JIT handle platform-specific worries. However, this 'interpretation' causes a performance hit, since it has to be done each time the Java program is run. 

The current beta version of the OS/2 high-performance compiler supports a subset of the Java Developer's Kit v1.1.1 APIs (Application Programming Interfaces), and can be downloaded from IBM's AlphaWorks development site: (http://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/formula) http://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/formula. (Using a browser which supports frames and JavaScript, select 'High Performance Compiler for Java' from the left-hand pane. If using another browser, you can also download the compiler files (http://www.alphaWorks.ibm.com/forum/downstat.nsf/b9c03948d7fe2d2a8825646800839ae1?CreateDocument&/forum\wwwdown.nsf/system/downloads/8192AD3F358D5F7988256561007B3A87/$file/hpj_os2_a10b.zip) directly. (ZIP, 16M) ) 

               *  *  * 

(http://home.fm-net.com/pillarsoft/default.html) PillarSoft, makers of the Enhanced E editor and the ShowTime/2 background enhancer, also produce a Zip management utility by the name of WarpZip. WarpZip uses (http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/) Info-Zip's Zip and Unzip software combined with a GUI interface which allows you to perform any number of operations on your Zip archives; search, extract, create, view, test, virus scan, make self-extracting archives, etc.. etc.. WarpZip also handles 'packed' files, the ones you see with an underscore (PACKED.TX_) in the extension. 

WarpZip is currently at beta 1.04, and can be (http://home.fm-net.com/pillarsoft/pub/warpzip.zip) downloaded (ZIP, 600k) from its web page. Normally it sells for $35 US, but for a limited time during the beta cycle PillarSoft is offering it for the price of $20 US. So it's in your best interest to download and try it out now, while the price is right, should you then decide to register it. For more information about WarpZip, see its (http://home.fm-net.com/pillarsoft/warpzip.html) page at PillarSoft. 

               *  *  * 

Lastly this month, (http://solo.lhg.hib.no/~bird/HumbleSoft/) Humble Software has released beta 0.36.1 of kBootManager, a system loader which is meant to supplement (or replace) IBM's own OS/2 Boot Manager. Some of the enhancements in kBootManager include the ability to boot any logical partition as if it were a primary partition, the ability to hide/unhide partitions on the fly, not needing its own partition as IBM's Boot Manager does, the ability to boot from up to 16 hard drives, two floppies and more. (The final release will actually allow booting from a CD-ROM drive as well) 

This beta version of kBootManager can be (http://solo.lhg.hib.no/~bird/HumbleSoft/BootManager/kbm36001.zip) downloaded (ZIP, 101k), and since the program is 'emailware', you can use it for free. You're encouraged to e-mail the author ((bird@solo.hg.hib.no) Knut Stange Osmundsen) and let him know your experiences, suggestions, etc. More information about kBootManager can be found at the program's (http://solo.lhg.hib.no/~bird/HumbleSoft/BootManager/) web page. 

               *  *  * 

(dill@os2ezine.com) 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.

***********************************

News from the OS/2 World	- by Ryan Dill

Greetings all, and welcome again to OS/2 e-Zine!'s monthly news update. This column is designed to go over certain topics that e-Zine!'s own (http://www.os2ezine.com/news.htm) News Folder might have missed, or only glossed over.

We still believe our News Folder can't be beat when it comes to up-to-the-minute, accurate information, but it usually contains more "official" things like press releases and such. This column will include a bit more detail about things we think are of interest to OS/2 users everywhere. Grass roots support, off-the-record news and updates -- stuff that other sources may have missed -- you name it, we've got it!

               *  *  * 

A bit of browser news... (http://www.operasoftware.com/) Opera Software has just recently (January 7th) completed negotiations and signed agreements with programmers to code an OS/2 version of their popular Opera web browser. An official press release (including expected release dates) is expected soon. Rumors from the German OS/2 magazine (http://www.os2-inside.de/) OS/2 Inside indicate that Communicator for OS/2 will now be ready by the third quarter of 1998 (July-September), and will include support for Java 1.1.6, which should also be released by that time. (You can find the (http://www.os2-inside.de/WEBSPACE/12112/WEB12112.NSF/69ce731284cdeda9c1256437005910a6/c12665847a7f0893c125656a00340c06?OpenDocument) original article in German here). In the meantime, IBM is still working on bringing Java 1.1.x support to the existing Netscape 2.02 -- A new beta copy of the updated 2.02 recently appeared on IBM's testcase FTP site, and is floating about the 'Net. Last but not least, the Internet browser/suite (http://www.inetadv.net/) Internet Adventurer has been updated recently, bringing it to version 1.2.1. This version includes bug fixes and enhanced PGP (Pretty Good Privacy, for encryption of e-mail) support. Adventure Software also reports that work on a Java version of Internet Adventurer is underway, in answer to customer's desires of seeing a cross-platform version of the software.

               *  *  * 

Any virus-conscious OS/2 user may be interested in learning that IBM is now giving away free trial copies of IBM Anti-Virus for OS/2. The trial copies run for 60 days before shutting down, allowing you a good chance to try out the latest version of the product to see how it performs. Those interested can download the trial from at IBM's (http://service2.boulder.ibm.com/dl/ibmav-trial/ibmav-trial-r/) Anti-Virus home page.

Note that (http://www.mcafee.com/) McAfee, one of IBM's competitors in the antivirus market, has offered evaluation of their products for a while as well. If you'd like to compare the two offerings, check out (http://www.mcafee.com/leads/evallead.asp) McAfee's evaluation offerings for OS/2, including VirusScan, GroupScan and GroupShield.

               *  *  * 

For those who use their computers to help with the Distributed.Net encryption cracking effort (see the (http://www.ionet.net/~colin/rc5.html) Team Warped page for more details on the effort under OS/2), some of Distributed.Net's recent actions may need some explaining. A new contest is being held by RSA (the organization responsible for encrypting the message we're all trying to crack), but it doesn't mean that the current RC5 effort is being abandoned, just that it's put on hold while the new contest runs. In the words of Team Warped's Colin Hildinger:

  Those who have been around since the DESCHALL days
  will recall working on the DES Challenge, one of the contests in
  the same set with the current RC5-64 Challenge. Well, RSA has
  issued a new and ongoing DES challenge. This time how _fast_
  we find the key will determine how much money we get. If we find
  it within 25% of the previous best DES cracking time (this time we
  need to do it in 22 days) we get the full $10,000. If it takes
  longer we'll get less."

The newest OS/2 client just released ((ftp://ftp.distributed.net/pub/rc5-64/v2.7001/rc5des380-os2-x86-cli.zip) version 2.7001 build 380) has the capability to process both RC5-64 blocks and DES blocks. Basically, by default it works on DES (because we're supposed to crack DES as fast as possible), but if your client finds that DES has already been cracked when it tries to fetch more DES stuff to work on, it goes right back to cracking RC5-64, picking up where you left off. In this way you don't need to run two clients for the two separate cracking efforts, and you never lose work you may have done on RC5 when your client switches to DES. A new DES contest will be held every six months, the object being to "attempt to produce obscenely low DES cracking times."

               *  *  * 

Magnus Olson would like to announce the availability of version 1.7 of his desktop calculator for OS/2, WarpCalc. Called a "serious calculator for serious OS/2 users", WarpCalc is just that; a full scientific calculator which can do pretty much anything a power user could want. The program allows you to save your own variables and symbols for later use, operate in various modes (normal, scientific, engineering or fixed point), use multiple statements per calculation, work with logarithms (natural or base10), factorials, trig functions in degrees, radians or gradians, and much more.

WarpCalc has been released as shareware through BMT Micro, so it can be downloaded for evaluation from its (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/warpcalc/) home page there. The registration fee of $20 US covers all future upgrades. Feel free to download and try it out.

               *  *  * 

(http://www.innoval.com/) InnoVal Systems Solutions took the wraps of its new e-mail client on January 14th. Company president, Dan Porter, visited the monthly meeting of the (http://www.bestofos2.com/nycos2/) NYPC OS/2 SIG to demonstrate their new Java e-mail app, J Street Mailer.

Porter called the demonstration a great success, saying that roughly half the members present signed up for InnoVal's J Street "Charter User Group" program. He also told us that the final release of J Street Mailer is right on schedule for the end of this month (January). In an industry where missed deadlines are the norm, Porter assured us that he was able to demonstrate all features at the meeting -- more than two weeks before the shipping deadline.

Surprisingly, Porter partially credits IBM with this promised timeliness. In a phone conversation he praised the help his company has received from IBM with the Java project saying, "I couldn't be more pleased with IBM's support on this." While there is still a nagging bug in the OS/2 Java Virtual Machine, Porter sounded convinced that IBM would have it fixed soon enough to make J Street mailer platform independent when it is released.

               *  *  * 

Lastly, you may recall Panacea Software's new news client, ProNews/2, being mentioned in e-Zine!'s Beta File in previous issues. No more -- ProNews/2 finished up its beta stages since our last writing, and is now Generally Available (GA) at level 1.0. You can download it as shareware for a 45-day evaluation, after which time registration is required, for $30 US. For full details as to ProNews/2's feature set, see its (http://www.program.com/panacea/ProNews/index.html) web page at Panacea.

               *  *  * 

That's it for this month. If you have a tip that you want followed up or a news item you think should be reported, don't hesitate to (feedback@os2ezine.com) let us know! 

               *  *  * 

(dill@os2ezine.com) Ryan Dill is a student in Computer Science at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS and OS/2 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.

***********************************

The REXX Files	- by Dr. Dirk Terrell

Last month we looked at some simple sorting methods. Now let's look at one that is much more efficient and pretty robust: the heapsort. Heapsort is much more efficient than the bubble sort or the insertion sort, which you will recall from last month, are N-squared algorithms meaning that they require of order NxN comparisons to sort N items. Heapsort is an Nlog2(N) algorithm where log2(N) means the base-2 logarithm. 

(For those that cringe at the faintest whiff of anything mathematical, don't let that fancy-sounding talk bother you. A logarithm is simply an exponent, the number written as a superscript on another number. The number on which the exponent is placed is called the base, so base-2 means that we are putting exponents on the number 2. Since 8 can be written as "2 to the 3rd power", meaning 2x2x2, the base-2 logarithm of 8 is 3.)

To illustrate how much of a difference there is between N-squared and Nlog2(N) algorithms, I've tabulated the number of comparisons required for each case in the following table:

	
N		NxN			Nlog2(N) (rounded)
10		100			14
100		10,000			665
1,000		1,000,000		9,966
1,000,000	1,000,000,000,000		13,815,511


As you can see, for large numbers of items, simple N-squared methods are just too inefficient to do the job. Sorting 100 items by an N-squared method will require, on average, about the same computational effort as sorting 1,000 items by an Nlog2(N) method. And the disparity grows rapidly as the number of items gets larger.

Heapsort is perhaps not as well known as Quicksort, which is another Nlog2(N) algorithm that in most cases is the fastest known algorithm. However, Heapsort tends to be more robust. There are (admittedly rare) cases where Quicksort can take as long as an N-squared method, but Heapsort doesn't suffer quite as much in its worst-case scenario for input data. Another advantage of Heapsort is that it is a so-called in-place algorithm meaning that it doesn't require any extra memory other than that required to hold the list of numbers, making it quite handy when sorting lists with large numbers of items. I tend to prefer Heapsort in general because of its robust nature and because it is simpler to code than Quicksort.

The name Heapsort comes from "heap" which is a set of N numbers (let's call the set "a") defined in a specific way mathematically. Since HTML is not at present very suitable for mathematical notation, I'll do it as an image:

        (image removed in ASCII version of OS/2 e-Zine!)

Don't click that "next article" button just yet. It's actually not as bad as it looks. Let's look at a heap graphically, and you'll see what that terse mathematical definition is saying. Suppose we have 15 numbers in our set. If we arrange them as a binary tree, starting with one element branching to two others, those two each branching to two more, and so on, a heap is pretty easy to visualize. I'll illustrate it as a table with the first element in row one branching to two elements in row two, which branch into four elements in row 3 and so on:


			a1
	   a2			           a3
    a4               a5                a6                a7
a8      a9      a10      a11      a12      a13      a14      a15


Now, what that formula above is saying is that if you start with a number somewhere in the table and move down the table, following the branching, the numbers will be getting smaller. That is, numbers on top of others are always greater than or equal to numbers below them. Note that there is not any ordering among the numbers in a row on the table. 

So, you can begin to see how sorting is done using this algorithm. If you arrange your numbers into a heap, then you know that the topmost number is the largest. You remove it from the top and move the larger of the branches below it to the top position. Then you move the larger of the two below that one up, and so on until you reach the bottom. Then you repeat the whole process until you have only one number left, which will of course be the smallest.

The trick to Heapsort is getting started, i.e. how to take our jumbled list of numbers and convert it into a heap. It's really pretty easy. Take half of your numbers and let these be the bottom of the heap. Now take numbers from the remaining half and assign them to the next row of the heap. Compare the number to the two below it. If it is smaller, then swap it with the larger of the two. Once the second row is complete, move up one more row and do it all over again. This continues until you have gone through all of the numbers. Once you have gone through all of the numbers, they will be in the form of a heap.

Below is code to implement the Heapsort method. It uses a REXX procedure that I called DownHeap and that procedure is the one that does the work of shifting items around in the heap so that it is in the proper form. It is noticeably more complex than the code we wrote last month, but a little experimenting will show that it is significantly faster. I did a test with 500 numbers and the results were as follows:

Bubble sort took 5.65 seconds.
Insertion sort took 3.29 seconds.
Modified insertion sort took 1.86 seconds.
Heapsort took 0.33 seconds    

Source code from heapsort.cmd:

 /* ------------------------------------------------------------------ */
 /* function: heap sort routine                                        */
 /*                                                                    */
 /* call:     HeapSort                                                 */
 /*                                                                    */
 /* returns:  Elapsed time for sort in seconds                         */
 /*                                                                    */
 /* notes:    You must save the elements to sort in the stem "STEM."   */
 /*           stem.0 must contain the number of elements in the stem.  */
 /*                                                                    */
 /* reference: Sedgewick, "Algorithms", 2nd ed., Chapter 11            */
 /*                                                                    */
 Heapsort: PROCEDURE expose stem.
   start=Time("R")

   M = stem.0
   N = M
 
   do k=M % 2 to 1 by -1
     call DownHeap k N
   end /* do */
 
   do while N>1
     t = stem.1
     stem.1 = stem.n
     stem.n = t
     n = n-1
     call DownHeap 1 N
   end /* do */
   end=time("R")
   elapsed=end-start
 RETURN elapsed
 
 /* subroutine of HeapSort                                             */
 DownHeap: PROCEDURE expose stem.
   parse Arg k N
 
   v = stem.k
 
   do while k <= N%2
     j = k+k
     if j < n then
     do
       i = j+1
       if stem.j < stem.i then
         j=j+1
     end  /* do */
 
     if v >= stem.j then
       signal label
 
     stem.k = stem.j
     k = j
   end /* do */
 
 Label:
   stem.k = v
 RETURN

The source code this month includes a "driver" routine that generates a set of random numbers and then calls the Heapsort routine to sort them.

               *  *  * 

(http://www.gnv.com/HTMLWizard/) Dr. Dirk Terrell is an astronomer at the University of Florida specializing in interacting binary stars.  His hobbies include cave diving, martial arts, painting and writing OS/2 software such as HTML Wizard.

***********************************
How Do I?	- by Eric Slaats

Hi all. It's been two months. I was so busy the last months of the year that I couldn't possibly make the December deadline (sorry). However, I had a great holiday period and I'm back again refreshed. I got involved in a really exciting project. When things evolve I let you all know more. Besides kicking off from working, I managed to release Smalled 2.00 just after New Year's. I'm rather pleased with this version. It contains some code that took a long time to develop and needed some experimentation. But then again it always feels good when you pull off something like that. 

What are we going to do this month? I guess I wrote enough stuff last year to make the regular reader a little more comfortable in doing something more worthwhile. We're going to make the (http://www.os2ezine.com/v3n01/sample14.zip) first application! (ZIP, 22K) Yep, in this article and some of the next months' articles we're doing a working application. After this month we'll have the basics. These basics will be working and functional though. 

I received a number of suggestions about applications (thanks). I'd like to use a number of them in the future, but for now, we're going for the easy controls. This month we'll start to build a simple calculator. (I miss that thing from OS/2 2.11.) You'll find that it's easy to build. It basically contains two types of controls, an Entryfield and a load of buttons. With an eye on next month's events we'll also include an MLE box. The whole will look something like this: 

After the previous lessons this should be easy enough to create. A calculator has a few nasty things that can give a programmer a splitting headache when dealing with it. A number of them can be solved by being Smart and Lazy (remember KISS?). We'll just let the dialog do a lot of the work for us. 

1) If we let the user simply type in the numbers he wants into the Entryfield, we've got to build all sorts of code in the WM_CONTROL message area. This to prevent him from entering letters or other unwanted characters. Well, how do we fix that? We simply won't allow the user to use the entry field. Make it read-only in the dialog editor. (Use the ES_READONLY style). 

2) So that was easy enough. But how is the user going to enter his data into the calculator? Also simple, use the buttons on the calculator for that. Hmmmm, not very satisfying. I like to be able to use the keyboard for entering data and starting the calculations. Let's assume the code is there that puts the numbers on the buttons in the entry field. The minus sign and the decimal dot are also handled. (We'll come to that in a minute). How can we let the user use a keyboard? Well, in an earlier article I've mentioned mnemonics. These are the letters underlined in a menu with which the menu can be executed. On a button we can do the same. Simply put a tilde (~) in front of the character you'd like to use as a mnemonic. If we do that for all the buttons on the calculator, the user can use his keyboard. This will activate the buttons, for which the code will put characters into the entry field. 

What have we achieved? A simple character filter. The user can only enter those characters into the entry field for which we've created buttons (so kiss good-bye to the code for filtering the user input.) 

Well, now we've made this move, we've got to build some code that handles the buttons. But before we do that, let's make some assumptions on how the internals of the editor will function. I've defined the following two simple rules:

1) The editor uses only two variables of the type double 

2) One holds the left member of the operation, the other the right one. 

Now on to the code for the number buttons. There are a few things that need to be considered when writing this code. First of all, every button does, in principle, the same thing. So what we want is to write the code once and apply it to every WM_COMMAND message that a number button generates. How to do this? Luckily the case statement we normally use to handle messages can take care of one part of the problem. 

If a case statement is constructed as follows: 

switch (number)
        {
        case 1:
        case 2:
        case 3:
                ACTIONS
        break;
        
        case 4:
        case 5:
        case 6:
                ACTIONS
        break;
        }

then if number contains 1,2 or 3 the same action is performed. The same goes for 4,5 and 6. So we can construct that part of the WM_COMMAND handler of the dialog so that for all the number buttons the same lines of code are executed. 

Before we can consider what the code must do, we've got to provide a simple way to detect which button is pressed. This is a slight problem because we just decided to let all the number buttons execute the same code. So we can't make custom code for every button. Again, being lazy and thinking simple comes to the rescue (as does the dialog editor). The trick is to give the buttons the same resource number as the value on it. So button 0 will have the ID 0, button 1 will have ID 1 etc. This is reflected in the define lines in the header file.

        #define BUTTON1         1
        #define BUTTON2         2
        #define BUTTON3         3
        #define BUTTON4         4
        #define BUTTON5         5
        #define BUTTON6         6
        #define BUTTON7         7
        #define BUTTON8         8
        #define BUTTON9         9
        #define BUTTON0         0

If the number buttons in the dialog use these IDs we can know which button is pressed. Having solved this we can start to think about how to handle things when a number button is pressed. Several things have to be taken into account.

1) First the typed number has to be added to the value displayed in the entry field

2) 1 isn't always true. If the current value in the entry field is a result of a previous computation, we like to empty the entry field before we add the number because we're starting to input a new value.

For 2 we make the following assumption; if a computation is executed, the result will be placed in the left member. So the following goes:

       RightMember (operation) Leftmember = Leftmember

This way a new rightmember can be added, subtracted etc. from a previous result. (And this is one of the things we certainly want in a calculator).

Let's solve these problems one by one. Add the currently typed number to the value presented in the entry field. Remember that what's presented in the entry field is a character-string. The value of the typed button is a number. How can we convert this? The simplest way to go is convert the typed number to a string and catenate it to the contents of the entry field. This can be done with sprintf. This is a standard C function that can create a string. Remember to include <stdio.h> in your C file for this. (I won't go any further into this because it involves using standard C). The string to contain the number must be 2 characters long. This is because a string always contains a NULL as terminator. So the value is the first char, the terminator the second.

After this we can merge the value from the entry field with the value in the number. At this moment we'll assume the value in the entry field is contained in the string achValue (we'll come back to this in a minute). To catenate the strings we'll use the strcat function. This is another default C function (remember to include <string.h> in your C file). 

    char achButton[2];
sprintf(achButton, "%d", SHORT1FROMMP(mp1));
strcat(achValue, achButton);
WinSetDlgItemText(hwndDlg, ENTRYFIELD1, achValue);    

Now we've taken care of 1, let's proceed. The second item isn't that hard to implement. We know that if a result has been computed, it resides in the left member. If this is true, the rightmember should contain 0. (This has to be taken care of further on.) So the second point is taken care of with an if statement:

if (flRightMember == 0)
   strcpy(achNumber, "");    

This way the newly typed number will be catenated to an empty string. So it will be the first number in the Entry field. Doing this means we've got to fill the rightmember with some value that it isn't 0. This way we know something is inserted. This leads to the following code for the number buttons:

//-------------------------------------------------------------
// Process number button
//-------------------------------------------------------------
case BUTTON1:   case BUTTON2:   case BUTTON3:
case BUTTON4:   case BUTTON5:   case BUTTON6:
case BUTTON7:   case BUTTON8:   case BUTTON9:
case BUTTON0:
        {
        if (flRightMember == 0)
                strcpy(achNumber, "");

        char achButton[2];
        sprintf(achButton, "%d", SHORT1FROMMP(mp1));
        strcat(achNumber, achButton);
        WinSetDlgItemText(hwndDlg, ENTRYFIELD1, achNumber);
        flRightMember = 1;      // Rightmember filled
        }
return(0);

There is one other point in putting values in the entry field (the minus sign will come in a minute). It's the decimal separator, the dot. We should only allow a dot to be added when there is no dot present in the current entry field. Again we can use a function of the string.h library. The strchr function. This function return a TRUE when a given character value is present in a given string. This gives the following code to handle the WM_COMMAND for the BUTTONDOT ID. 

if (!strchr(achValue, '.'))
        {
        strcat(achValue, ".");
        WinSetDlgItemText(hwndDlg, ENTRYFIELD1, achValue);
        }

Before we look at a way to process the action keys as '-', '+', '/' and '*' we take a look at how to process an action. Besides having to calculate it on an action button press, it also has to be calculated on an '=' action. Imagine the following. We enter 10, after that a '+', after that a 5, and after that a '-'. When the minus is pressed, we've got to compute the '+'. So the last action pressed should be remembered. For that we introduce the LastAction variable. So when a computation has to be performed we know which based on the value in LastAction. We can define a procedure based on this. We know the result has to be placed in the left member, which gives us the following procedure: 

//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
// Calculate the result of the last action and return it
//---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
void proceslastaction( void )
        {
        switch (chLastAction)
                {
                case '-': flLeftMember -= flRightMember; break;
                case '+': flLeftMember += flRightMember; break;
                case '*': flLeftMember *= flRightMember; break;
                case '/': flLeftMember /= flRightMember; break;
                }
        }

When an action button is pressed, we first have to see if the left member is empty. If so, we fill the left member with the value of the rightmember, clear the rightmember and store the action in the LastAction variable. This way when the rightmember is filled and '=' is pressed we can calculate the result.

When the left member is filled with a valid value and we press an action key, the result has to be calculated and put in the left member. Again the rightmember has to be cleared (remember the code in the number button handler!)

After processing the action key, we've got to store the new action in the LastValue. This leads to the following code: 

//-------------------------------------------------------------
// Process action buttons (+, -, /, *)
//-------------------------------------------------------------
case BUTTONSUB:
case BUTTONADD:
case BUTTONMUL:
case BUTTONDEV:
        {
        flRightMember = atof(achValue);         // Get value in Entry field

        if (flLeftMember == 0)
                {
                flLeftMember  = flRightMember;
                flRightMember = 0;
                WinSetDlgItemText(hwndDlg, ENTRYFIELD1, "");
                }
        else
                {
                //---------------------------------------------------
                // Process last action
                //---------------------------------------------------
                proceslastaction( );
                flRightMember = 0;
                sprintf(achValue, "%f", flLeftMember);
                WinSetDlgItemText(hwndDlg, ENTRYFIELD1, achValue);
                }
        //--------------------------------------------------------
        // Set new last action
        //--------------------------------------------------------
        switch (SHORT1FROMMP(mp1))
                {
                case BUTTONSUB: chLastAction = '-'; break;
                case BUTTONADD: chLastAction = '+'; break;
                case BUTTONMUL: chLastAction = '*'; break;
                case BUTTONDEV: chLastAction = '/'; break;
                }
        }
return(0);

There is one exception to the action buttons. When a '-' is pressed it can also be used to used to insert a negative value. This is only a valid action if the '-' is pressed as the first character. This means, inserting the '-' as only a character in the entry field and filling the rightmember with some value to make sure the number-button handler doesn't overwrite it. This gives the following code:

//--------------------------------------------------------
// Set negative sign
//--------------------------------------------------------
if (flRightMember == 0)
        {
        WinSetDlgItemText(hwndDlg, ENTRYFIELD1, "-");
        flRightMember = 1;      // Rightmember filled
        return(0);
        }

Remember we said earlier that the string contained in the Entry field is contained in the achValue string. Well, because almost every action performed on pressing a key needs this string, it is positioned on top of the WM_COMMAND event handler procedure. So before we handle the keys we fill the string like this: 

//------------------------------------------------------------------
// Query the value in the Entry field and put it in flRightMember
//------------------------------------------------------------------
char achValue[32];
WinQueryDlgItemText(hwndDlg , ENTRYFIELD1, 32, achValue);

We're almost done. What's left? The '=' key, and the 'C' and 'CA' keys. These last two I'll leave to your own vivid imagination (take a look at the sample). The '=' needs some attention. After an '=' the result should not be used in the next computation. (When we want to cascade computations, simply press one of the calculate actions keys.)

So after the '=' we need to purge all values contained in the calculator and display the result.

//-------------------------------------------------------------
// Process the = button
//-------------------------------------------------------------
case BUTTONEQ:
        {
        flRightMember = atof(achValue); // Get value in Entry field
        proceslastaction( );                    // Process last action
        sprintf(achValue, "%f", flLeftMember);
        WinSetDlgItemText(hwndDlg, ENTRYFIELD1, achValue);
        //-----------------------------------------------------
        // Reinit
        //-----------------------------------------------------
        flRightMember = 0;                              // Rightmember becomes 0
        flLeftMember  = 0;                              // Leftmember becomes 0
        chLastAction  = ' ';                    // No last action
        }
return(0);

Well, glad I explained that... It isn't that much PM programming, but we've established a nice platform to create the first OS/2 e-Zine! HOW DO I? application. Right now we've got a working calculator (with a lot to be improved!). 

Next month we'll take a look at how to improve the interface. This can be done a lot nicer, and remember, a nice interface gives a lot more fun to using the application. Next week we also provide access to the tally roll (the MLE control at the top of the calculator). 

Let me know what you think of this. Besides that, any ideas for improvements are welcome. Until next week... Oh yeah, have a happy new year. <g>

               *  *  * 

(eric.slaats@pi.net) Eric Slaats holds a degree in Computer Science and teaches computer technology in Eindhoven.  He is the creator of the (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/smalled/) Smalled utilities.

***********************************

1997 OS/2 e-Zine! Readers' Choice Awards

After a round of nominations, another round of 'official voting' and hours of tabulating results, here we are: the "1997 OS/2 e-Zine! Readers' Choice Awards".

As promised last year, these awards have become a recurring event here at OS/2 e-Zine!, with many of the suggestions made by our readers last year implemented this year.  After last year's inaugural event we gained a great deal of experience and ideas, thanks largely to you, our readers.

As always, there are some things you should keep in mind when viewing these results.  First and foremost, these results are not meant to be taken as an absolute indication of one program's superiority over any other.  These results represent only our readers' opinions, not any quantitative measure of performance or any preference on the part of Haligonian Media or the staff of OS/2 e-Zine!.

Also, as with any voluntary survey, these results should not be accepted as irrefutable proof of any program or developer's popularity or unpopularity.  There are many variables that may have affected our results.  Some (but not all) of these include:

1. Because readers were able to vote for any company or product in the nomination phase, some manual tabulation of results was necessary.  This manual sorting could have introduced errors into our results (although we don't believe it did).

2. There were no safeguards in place during our nomination or voting period to stop developers from being "proactive".  We did not directly encourage any users or developers to vote but it is very likely that some developers did (while others did not).  Obviously, if this did take place, it would skew our results.

3. While only one vote per category per person was allowed in our survey, it is possible that users "stuffed the ballot box" by sending us more than one vote using different e-mail addresses.  We are certain that no one in the OS/2 community would stoop to this type of low tactic but, of course, it is possible.

As a closing note, we are eager to admit that we realize this survey is not perfect.  While we've tried very hard to fix the problems pointed out to us last year, we realize we are far from done, and we welcome your suggestions on how we can make next year's awards even more successful.  If you have something to suggest, please use the Feedback link below.

Until then, here are this year's results...

***********************************


1997 Readers' Choice Awards: Developers


Freeware or Shareware Developer

(http://nick.secant.com/mr2ice.htm) Knightware Software Company

Knightware Software Company is back in the top spot for OS/2 Shareware developers for the second year running.  Founded by Nick Knight to develop and publish his shareware e-mail client, MR/2 ICE, Knightware Software Company has enjoyed great popularity from its very beginnings.  Along with steadily improving and updating MR/2 to make it a world class contender, a new Usenet news reader component has been added to the product over the past year.

Continued devotion to superior products and loyalty to his customers has earned Knight an equally loyal and vocal following which is, if anything, even stronger than last year.  So strong, in fact, that it earns Nick Knight our "Freeware or Shareware Developer" award once again.


(http://www.southsoft.com/) SouthSoft

Probably everyone in the OS/2 community knows the story of Southside Software, aka SouthSoft, Inc.  The company was created by the legendary Robert Novitskey and Evan Goldring (aka "BoB" and "Icon"), in response to a desperate need for a good OS/2 e-mail client.

Almost three years later, SouthSoft, Inc. is no longer only known for its PMMail e-mail client, but for its PMINews Usenet news reader as well.  BoB and Icon have shown that hard work and dedication to improvement can not only result in financial success, but also in user appreciation.  For the second year SouthSoft, Inc. is our Readers' Choice Runner-Up for "Freeware or Shareware Developer".

               *  *  * 

Commercial Software Developer

(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems

It's no surprise to anyone to see Stardock Systems back in the top spot as Readers' Choice for "Commercial Software Developer" this year.  Their huge loyal following has increased from last year and due to a full stable of products released in 1997.

Stardock's line of credits include the venerable Galactic Civilizations II, Object Desktop (standard and Professional), Trials of Battle, Process Commander, PlusPak: Themes and B.U.G.S., Entrepreneur and Links for OS/2.  With such varied and numerous OS/2 offerings, it's no wonder our readers see Stardock as the White Knight of the OS/2 community.


(http://www.stardiv.com/) StarDivision

The only new entry in this year's Developer awards is German upstart StarDivision.  With a plan that appears to include taking on the big boys of office suite development (Lotus, Microsoft, Corel), StarDivision may have the biggest dreams of any developer currently writing for OS/2.

Their suite, StarOffice, which includes a spreadsheet, graphics app, word processor and much more, is available in feature-equivalent versions for Windows 95/NT, OS/2 and Linux, in German and English.  It has long been out in "beta" form, but many OS/2ers are clamoring for a final release.  Whether StarDivision wants our money or not though, they are still popular enough to claim this year's Runner-Up award in the "Commercial Software Developer" category.

***********************************

1997 Readers' Choice Awards: Internet Applications


e-mail Client

MR/2 ICE
by (http://nick.secant.com/mr2ice.htm) Knightware Software

The winner in our e-mail category for the second year in a row, MR/2 ICE, is one of OS/2's best-known e-mail clients.  Its customizable notebook interface makes it easy for any user to adjust it to their own liking.  Many of its users have created conversion utilities to carry over address books and such from other popular Windows and OS/2 mailers.

With an extensive string of appearances on the "BMT Micro Top 10" list, it's no news flash that MR/2 is popular with Internet citizens.  But if anyone did need further proof, our Readers have spoken once again.


PMMail
by (http://www.southsoft.com/) SouthSoft

Once again hot on the heels of MR/2 ICE, SouthSoft's e-mail client continues to offer powerful and outstanding features, not to mention a degree of polish that makes it look great too.  Along with all the standard features, PMMail integrates PGP security, address-book management, and powerful filtering abilities for sorting or filtering out unwanted e-mail.

Also blessed with a long history on the "BMT Micro Top 10" list, PMMail is another OS/2 e-mail client that is wildly popular with our readers, helping it repeat as this year's Runner-Up.

               *  *  * 

Web Browser

Netscape Navigator
by (http://www.netscape.com/) Netscape Communications Corp.


Netscape Communications' Navigator for OS/2 runs away with this category, being overwhelmingly adopted and voted for by OS/2 users even more so than when it was selected in last year's awards.  In fact, Navigator/2 received almost _30_ times as many votes as its nearest competitor, StarOffice's built-in web browser.  While Microsoft's browser may be eating into Netscape's in the Windows market, it's clear that Navigator is still on a popularity wave in the OS/2 world.

Although technically the whole Web craze started with Mosaic, it was Netscape that first brought a high quality web browsing experience to the masses.  This OS/2 version, while called v2.02, has many of the features found in the 3.0 version of its cross-platform counterparts and has a growing collection of native plug-ins behind it too.


StarOffice Browser
by (http://www.stardiv.com/) StarDivison

StarDivision's new StarOffice 4.0 suite contains a variety of Internet integration, including its own built-in web browser.  Having access to the Internet without ever leaving the interface of your office suite is found to be a convenient option by some, as evidenced by StarOffice's position as runner-up this year.

Including support for Java and Javascript as well as for recent versions of HTML, StarOffice's browser is a good choice for anyone who doesn't want to use Netscape and could use a decent office suite as well as a browser.

               *  *  * 

News Reader

MR/2 ICE w/News
by (http://nick.secant.com/mr2ice.htm) Knightware Software

Although it's still only in beta stages, Nick Knight's newsreader extension for MR/2 ICE has many users interested, as evidenced by the product's first-place finish this year in the "News Reader" category.  Its tight integration with the existing MR/2 e-mail client is probably one of this reasons for this, as users used to the MR/2 ICE interface will have no problems getting used to the news reader.

However, the news reader also includes some features the competition doesn't; one example is MR/2 ICE's ability to interface with web-based news archives like DejaNews in order to read older articles a normal news server might have already expired.  With features like multiple news servers, 'virtual' news groups and grouping of news groups planned for the final release, MR/2 ICE's newsreader looks to only get better.


ProNews/2
by (http://www.panaceasoft.com/) Panacea Software

The newest offering from the company who brought OS/2 users the web development app HTML Studio, ProNews/2, promises to be a nice addition to the programs already on the market.  It has extensive filtering capability, automatic decoding of binary messages, ability to cancel Usenet messages and configurability all over the place, as well as all the normal features you'd expect from a decent newsreader.

Given that the first non-beta version was only recently released and yet it _still_ made it to second place in our Readers' Choice line up, many people seem to think a lot of ProNews/2.

               *  *  * 

FTP Client

OS/2's FTP Clients
by (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM

Warp 4 includes a new way of handling FTP sites, right from the WPS.  The old 'FTP-PM' program still exists, but now you can actually use templates to create an object for your FTP site and access it just as you would a folder on your own system.  This convenience combined with the already solid FTP-PM and command line FTP apps bundled with Warp (and the fact that they're free) make OS/2's built-in FTP clients our Readers' Choice this year.


FTP Browser
by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/ftpbrowser.html) Jason Rushton

FTP Browser is another good option for FTP-needful OS/2 users.  It's fast, doesn't take much memory, and has a low learning curve.  Additionally, its WPS integration makes file transfers as easy as drag-and-drop (much like Warp's FTP Hosts), while a variety of other features including directory caching, file searching, and 'quick paths' all combine to make it a nicely feature-rich program that many users seem to find indispensible.  All this and great looks too make FTP Browser this year's Runner-Up.

               *  *  * 

IRC Client

OpenChat/2
by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/openchat.html) Max Mikhanosha

OpenChat/2 is an extremely powerful GUI IRC client which boasts features such as WPS integration for drag 'n drop file transfers, blinding fast IRCII compatible script support and a colorful, fully configurable user interface.  The sample scripts included allow users to see colors generated by mIRC clients, right-click on URLs and send them to a currently running Netscape session, and automatically fill out lengthy commands with a few taps of the TAB key.

This is OpenChat/2's second year of being in the top two IRC clients.  While last year the top entry belonged to GammaTech IRC, this year the masses chose OpenChat/2.


GammaTech IRC
by (http://www.softouch.com/) SofTouch Systems

GammaTech IRC was one of the first GUI based chat clients for OS/2, where only character mode versions stood before.  It is loaded with features that make on-line chatting fun, such as CTCP sound effects support, string highlighting and support for nicknames up to 30 characters long.  GTIRC also has powerful REXX scripting support that allows for sophisticated command aliasing, filters and automation.  Like OpenChat/2, this is GammaTech IRC's second straight year in the Readers' Choice top two for "IRC Clients".

***********************************

1997 Readers' Choice Awards: Business/Productivity Applications


Word Processor

Lotus Word Pro
by (http://www.lotus.com) Lotus Development Corp.

As the first true "Team Word Processor", Lotus Word Pro 96 claims to revolutionize the way people create, review and edit collaborative documents. Its immense list of features includes, Internet Support; TeamConsolidate (display edits made by each team member); markup tools; TeamMail; SmartMasters; the legendary Lotus InfoBox; support for REXX and more.

If Word Pro for OS/2 Warp 4 (included in the upcoming SmartSuite for Warp 4) lives up to its hype once reaching final release, the other word processors in the market may have a real fight on their hands to keep up.


DeScribe
by DeScribe

Despite the fall of its parent company, DeScribe Inc., the DeScribe word processor still holds fascination for OS/2 users, as evidenced by its Runner-Up status this year.  Even though the product itself is no longer supported (or sold apparently), its technical aspects still impress users enough that those who have a copy of DeScribe (and there appear to be many who do) see no need to switch to another product.

With extremely powerful frames-based layout features and configurability enough for any level of user, DeScribe is still a world class word processor.

               *  *  * 

Spreadsheet

Mesa 2
by (http://www.sundialsystems.com/) Sundial Systems

The Mesa 2 spreadsheet is designed for users who want to combine the power and reliability of OS/2 with the flexibility and ease of use of object technology.  Mesa 2 takes full advantage of OS/2's advanced technology; every Mesa 2 file runs in its own thread, and the program supports multithreaded feeds that update data in real time based on changes in the stock market or other sources.

Sundial Systems purchased Mesa 2 from Athena Design a few years ago, intending to add it to Sundial's product line and bring a full office suite to their users.  Mesa 2's position in first place of the Reader's Choice "Spreadsheet" section seems to indicate that users approve of what Sundial's done thus far.


1-2-3
by (http://www.lotus.com/) Lotus Development Corp.

Lotus' 1-2-3 spreadsheet is another product climbing the ranks in users' minds, possibly influenced by the first availability in a long time of a native OS/2 version in Lotus' upcoming SmartSuite for Warp 4.  As Lotus claims, "1-2-3 works harder so you don't have to..."  Create charts easily, track changes to your spreadsheets, you name it.  One big plus to users of 1-2-3 no doubt is that it's part of a full suite of applications designed to work together.  Take tables created in 1-2-3 and easily publish them to the web, or import them into Word Pro documents, etc.

               *  *  * 

Database

DB/2
by (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM

For the second year in a row, our readers picked IBM's DB2/2 as their database of choice.  Still one of the most powerful pieces of software on any platform, IBM's DB2 family of products runs on OS/2, Windows NT, AIX, HP-UX, SCO, Solaris and more.  DB2 Server is a robust, full-function database management system that includes optimized SQL support, tools to manage data, and access to remote database servers. If you want power, DB2's got it.


Approach
by (http://www.lotus.com/) Lotus Development Corp.

Power's good, but so is ease of use, and Approach has got them both.  Just appearing on the scene in a native OS/2 form, Approach and its fellows in Lotus SmartSuite work together to give you an easier job.  Making the creation of reports, forms, mailings and analyses extremely fast and easy, Approach has already had quite an effect on OS/2 users, as evidenced by its Runner-Up finish even though the suite hasn't been "officially" released yet.

               *  *  * 

PIM/Scheduler

Organizer
by (http://www.lotus.com/) Lotus Development Corp.

Organizer, once again, part of Lotus' SmartSuite for Warp 4 (now in beta), has a large range of features and a really slick interface.  It allows you to do everything you'd expect with a typical Personal Information Manager such as schedule appointments, keep track of addresses, and set alarms to alert you at prearranged times.  Organizer's look and feel, when combined with its features and integration with the other SmartSuite programs, result in a package which readers have found to their liking.


IBM Works
by (http://www.ibm.com/) IBM

One of the often overlooked gems of OS/2 Warp is IBM Works and its included personal information manager.  This PIM offers integrated to-do lists, calendars, a monthly planner, appointment & phone/address books, and an event monitor for scheduling automatic reminders.  With power and flexibility right out of the OS/2 box, many users have found that his suite of tools is all they need.

               *  *  * 

Financial Application

InCharge
by (http://rampages.onramp.net/~landeck/) Spitfire Software

InCharge, Spitfire's personal and business financial system, allows a variety of accounting and finance features which make it a good choice; multiple sets of books and accounts, multiple currencies, the ability to print checks, pay bills, management of securities and insurance, and much more. Multithreaded architecture, combined with extras like notes, a calendar and a variety of clock functions all round out the package nicely.

The "Financial Application" category was left out of last year's voting (due to an oversight on our part), but when many readers complained, we made sure not to drop the ball again.  Many of those readers also told us that they would have voted for InCharge last year and, true to their word, they've made it this year's Winner.


Money Tree
by (http://www.Mount-Baker.com/) Mount Baker Software

Money Tree is another financial system that users find to be an excellent package.  In addition to all the regular features which allow users to keep track of which finances are where, Money Tree also has the ability to formulate sophisticated analyses and predictions based on information provided.  Adding to this Workplace Shell integration, the ability to import files in the popular Quicken format and more, its list of features is extensive.

Relatively new this year, Money Tree's Runner-Up status is a strong showing for a great new app.

               *  *  * 

Communications Application

InJoy
by (http://www.fx.dk/) F/X Communications

InJoy calls itself a 'dialer apparatus extraordinaire', and it's just that.  With more features than any other Internet dialer for OS/2, it's no wonder it claims first place in the "Communications Application" category this year.

With the ability to autolearn scripts for your Internet provider, IP masquerading (multiple computers on your LAN using the same Internet connection), and more ways to tweak your Internet connection for performance than you can shake a stick at, InJoy definitely deserves the tag 'extraordinaire' and our readers' nod as this year's winner.


ZOC
by (http://www.emtec.com/) EmTec Innovative Software

ZOC is a powerful communications application, raved about for many years by users of both OS/2 and Windows.  It features ISDN support for CAPI V1.1 (OS/2 only); TTY, VT52, VT100, VT102, VT220, AVATAR and ANSI emulations; English and German versions; ASCII, Xmodem, Ymodem, Zmodem, and CompuServe-B file transfer protocols; GIF/JPG display while downloading; an autodialer with autologin and learn mode; REXX language for scripting (same on all platforms) and more.

While it has slipped out of the top spot it enjoyed last year, ZOC is still popular enough to claim Runner-Up prize with our readers.

               *  *  * 

Graphics Application

PMView
by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/pmview/) Peter Nielsen

Not all image viewers are created equal.  PMView not only supports the widest range of image formats we've seen in any program, it also blows the rest away for speed and features -- on any platform.  It has drag 'n drop integration with the WPS, an amazing thumbnail browser, slideshow and image processing power and a lot more too.

This is PMView's second year in the finals of the "Graphics Application" category, and this year readers gave it the first-place thumbs-up.


Photo>Graphics
by (http://www.truespectra.com/) TrueSpectra

Photo>Graphics is an extremely powerful image manipulation tool, allowing the creation and retouching of images, digital effects, text effects such as 3D or floats, and more -- all loadable and saveable in the most common formats.  Its list of features makes the package useful for both home and business use, for designing Web content, and loads of other projects.  If you need to have people look at something and say "wow", you may want to check out Photo>Graphics.

               *  *  * 

Backup Application

BackAgain/2
by (http://www.cds-inc.com/) Computer Data Strategies

BackAgain/2 comes in three editions, Enterprise, Professional and Personal, offering a decent package for everyone's backup needs; as your organization grows, it does as well.  Fully multithreaded and integrated with the WPS, it makes backups a snap, even without a tape drive since it allows backups to hard disks, floppy disks and even removable media such as Zip Drives.  Including enhanced network support and disaster recovery tools, it's also ideal for network administrators.

Its position this year as our winner in this category proves that our readers feel it excels.


BackMaster
by (http://www.msrdev.com/) MSR Development

BackMaster is the Runner-Up in this category, but is by no means very far behind.  Like BA/2, BackMaster has a GUI interface (and a text-based disaster recovery program), and supports a slew of drives and backup devices.  It also includes enhanced data compression for tape drives and multi-drive backups and filtering features to allow for backup of only certain types of files.  All these features tie in to give quite a respectable program.

***********************************

1997 Readers' Choice Awards: Utilities/Tools


File or Disk Utility

Partition Magic
by (http://www.powerquest.com/) PowerQuest

OS/2ers will remember that Partition Magic is also PowerQuest's original product and one which was originally targeted towards the OS/2 market.  For years, Partition Magic has been allowing OS/2 users to manage their FAT and HPFS partitions safely and conveniently.

Now at v3.0, this classic utility also comes with IBM's Boot Manager (for those non-OS/2ers who want to use multiple OSes the right way) and features a bevy of updated capabilities.  While not much has changed as far as its OS/2 support in the past year, Partition Magic still works great with OS/2 and is now priced equivalently for the Windows and OS/2 versions.  Our readers approved and gave it the nod as this year's "File or Disk Utility" Winner.


GammaTech Utilities
by (http://www.softouch.com/) SofTouch Systems

Like any mature operating system, the OS/2 market boasts its share of data repair and recovery utilities.  One of the most popular with our readers, both last year and this, is SofTouch System's GammaTech Utilities which repeats at this year's "File or Disk Utility" Runner-Up.

The GammaTech Utilities for OS/2 are a suite of Presentation Manager and command line disk and system utilities that perform volume recovery, optimization and essential maintenance operations easily, often without extensive technical knowledge.  The utilities support both FAT and all HPFS versions, including HPFS versions 2.3, 2.4 and HPFS386.  All the utilities support long file names and extended attributes.

               *  *  * 

WPS Enhancer or Utility

Object Desktop Pro
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems

Object Desktop was such a success for Stardock Systems that it seemed they would have a hard time topping it.  But they have proven they were up to the task and wowed the OS/2 community with an even better version: OD Pro.  OD Pro adds universal file viewing, Object Security, Object Backup, an improved Object Navigator and more.

With all its strengths, Object Desktop Professional proved popular enough to take top honors this year in the "WPS Enhancer or Utility" category -- but just barely.  In fact, it just beat out its predecessor, Object Desktop, by seven votes!  Clearly our readers feel Stardock Systems has done the job right with this pair of products.


Object Desktop
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems

Last year we wrote about Object Desktop:

  Is it a third-party upgrade to OS/2 Warp or is it just
  Stardock?  Object Desktop is so smoothly integrated it's hard to
  tell where Warp ends and OD begins!

In the year that has passed, Object Desktop has become so common that practically everyone has seen or used OD by now.  With a bevy of features such as Keyboard Launchpads, Virtual Desktops, and Object Archives, it's no wonder why OD and its big brother OD Pro made a clean sweep this year in the "WPS Enhancer or Utility" category.

               *  *  * 

System Utility

UniMaint
by (http://www.softouch.com/) SofTouch Systems

UniMaint is SofTouch Systems' popular answer to OS/2 system management needs.  This versatile product offers users the ability to completely uninstall, archive and reinstall their OS/2, DOS and Win-OS/2 applications.  Additionally, UniMaint provides a unified suite of utilities designed to allow users to maintain their OS/2 Workplace Shell, including automated repair of INI files, facilities for displaying and editing EAs, Desktop backup, and portable Desktop backups.

Shipping in various versions for some time and now at v5.0, UniMaint was our "System Utility" Winner last year.  Just one of the many offerings from SofTouch Systems in this year's voting, UniMaint has held on to significant popularity to be named this year's Runner-Up.


Process Commander
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems

Stardock Systems continues to rack up Readers' Choice awards, this time with its system protection utility, Process Commander.  Developed by the original WatchCat team (which was also nominated in this year's voting) and published by Stardock, Process Commander improves system stability and allows users to recover from hangs, manage processes, and monitor system activities.

With both PM and command-line utilities, PC has become popular enough with OS/2 users to take the Runner-Up spot in this year's "System Utility" category.

               *  *  * 

Archiving or Encryption Utility

Zip/Unzip
by (http://www.cdrom.com/pub/infozip/) Info-ZIP

In the mainstream computer community, there is PKZip and PKUnzip by PKWare.  In the OS/2 community, there is Zip and Unzip by Info-ZIP.  Both sets of archive utilities are so ubiquitous that there is hardly a person with a computer who doesn't have a copy, but there is a significant difference between the two: Zip/Unzip are freeware.  Long the standard in the DOS/Windows world, PKZip was never able to claim similar marketshare with OS/2ers due to Zip/Unzip's great performance, compatibility and price!


Object Desktop
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems

What more can we say about Object Desktop?  With this being its third award in the "Utilities/Tools" categories it's clear that it's a winner!

Making it our readers' choice as the Runner-Up in the "Archiving or Encryption Utility" Runner-Up spot is its fantastic Object Archives feature.  Got a ZIP file?  No problem!  Drag and drop, double click, browse and manipulate it just like it was an OS/2 folder.  What about RAR, TAR, ARC and more?  Object Archives have them covered too!  With great WPS integration, Object Desktop's Object Archives are definitely a handy tool.

***********************************

1997 Readers' Choice Awards: Development Tools


Programming Environment or Compiler

VisualAge for C++
by (http://www.software.ibm.com/ad/visualage_c++/) IBM

IBM has a habit of producing some of the best developers' tools around, especially with its VisualAge line which now spans over a dozen different languages.  Winner of last year's Readers Choice awards too, this robust visual development environment is the successor to the popular CSet++ and contains a C/C++ compiler, linker, debugger, performance analyzer, visual builder, database access tools and IPF compiler.  VAC++ also features extensive class libraries and Direct-to-SOM support.


VisualAge for Java
by (http://www.software.ibm.com/ad/vajava/) IBM

And if it wasn't C++ our readers were clamoring for last year, it was the hot new programming language called Java.  It seems IBM can't lose!  VisualAge for Java is known not only for its support of the latest Java 1.1 standard, including JavaBeans and JDBC, but also for its ease of use, flexibility and power too.  Qualities that made it Runner-Up in this year's "Programming Environment or Compiler" category.

               *  *  * 

Text Editor or Programming Editor

EPM
by (http://www.software.ibm.com/) IBM

Winning this category for the second year in a row and included free in OS/2 itself is the Enhanced Editor, better known as EPM.  EPM is a do-all workhorse used for everything from simple text editing to program code editing to HTML editing.  Its programmability allows users to extend its basic functions with new, custom menus and features.  This incredible versatility and low price tag (free) keep its popularity high despite competition from third party products.


MED
by (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/Matthias_Pfersdorff/) Matthias Pfersdorff

Formerly known as Mr. Ed, MED is a great programmers editor that supports syntax highlighting for a staggering number of programming languages, including C, C++, Java, Rexx, HTML and even OS/2's CONFIG.SYS, believe it or not!  Not only that, but MED also comes with a number of other handy widgets that make programming life easier, such as a Window Monitor for keeping track of lots of open files, macro recorder, multiple compiler support and immense configurability.

               *  *  * 

HTML Editor

HomePage Publisher
by (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/clerin/) JBC

Runner up last year, HomePage Publisher was the first standalone "WYSIWYG" web page editor for OS/2, allowing users to create or modify HTML pages without knowledge of HTML tags or syntax.  With HPP, users can make changes by simply clicking toolbars, etc.  In short, HPP is a Web browser that offers all the possibilities of a word processor.  The latest version even supports frames.

These abilities have paid off with our readers, moving HPP up in the rankings to the number one spot this year.


HTML Studio
by (http://www.program.com/panacea/) Panacea Software

And completing the switch, last year's winner is this year's runner up in the same category.  HTML Studio from Panacea Software allows you to rapidly create and edit web pages without having to know HTML, just like HomePage Publisher (but it isn't "WYSIWYG").  The program features drag 'n drop support, a preview window (a fully functional HTML 3.0 web browser using WebExplorer libraries), printing, font and colour support.  Despite it's lack of WYSIWYG features, HTML Studio is still a solid contender with our readers.

***********************************

1997 Readers' Choice Awards: Games/Edutainment


Game

Galactic Civilizations II
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems

Phew!  The Galactic Civilizations saga continues as Stardock's biggest hit, earning winner's spot for the second year in a row (last year it was the original Galactic Civilizations that won).  Galactic Civilizations pits the user against alien races driven by a fiendishly clever artificial intelligence.  Colonize planets, develop new technologies, build ships and pick your destiny, from galactic peace to domination to annihilation.

This sequel adds even more to the original game, with more technologies, more ships, bigger universes and an even higher level of addictive gameplay than ever.


Links for OS/2
by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems

Stardock's port of Links to the OS/2 platform brings the world's most advanced Golf game to OS/2 users. Using DART and DIVE technologies in OS/2, Links lets you play on world famous courses and enjoy the stunning detail of each on your home PC.  Best of all, all those courses developed for Microsoft Golf and Links 386 (.CRH files) can be played on the OS/2 version too.

               *  *  * 

Edutainment or Multimedia Application

QuickMotion
by (http://www.practice.xo.com/) Practice Corporation

Last year's winner too, QuickMotion brings an ability to OS/2 that had been sorely missed by many: the power to play QuickTime movies (.MOV files).  QuickMotion accomplishes this not by creating a new application for users to install on their systems, but by seamlessly integrating QuickTime support into existing OS/2 multimedia software.

QuickMotion contains a complete QuickTime engine, with support for all QuickTime 1.0 video decompressors.  Plus the engine is completely transparent, so it allows the latest movie players (such as IBM's multimedia video plug-in for Netscape Navigator) to play QuickTime movies.  QuickMotion also provides seamless support for Windows-style AVI movies thanks to the free registration of AnPoCODEC it includes.


WarpAMP
by (http://sdg.ml.org/) The Software Developers Guild

WarpAMP, based on the AMP decoder engine developed by Tomislav Uzelac, et al., is a fast PM player of digital music files compressed using the popular MPEG technology.  WarpAMP has a compact interface, complete with a digital "CD Player" look, playlist (with the ability to edit song info and append them to your files), scrolling song titles and streaming support so you can play files while they're still downloading from the Internet.

The Software Developers Guild has some ambitious plans to improve the OS/2 market by writing high quality apps which it feels OS/2 users are lacking.  With WarpAMP as a first showing, it's definitely on the right track.

***********************************

PM News Readers	- by Chris Wenham

One could almost say that the OS/2 news reader market is nearing saturation, but who's complaining about a great selection to choose from?  In the past year, two major OS/2 news readers have entered the ring to contend against each other, with others in the wings which have been around for years longer.  In this review we cover the best Presentation Manager news readers for OS/2 only.  In a future issue we will also cover some of the excellent full-screen news readers that have been around for eons, such as SLRN and the Binary Newsreader.

Today, the "Greater Usenet Conglomerate" carries a staggering number of news groups to suit every taste and need.  In fact, some servers carry up to 30,000.  Not surprisingly, many of these are either frivolous or have died out completely.  The comp.os.os2 hierarchy is alive and well, however, with several hundred (or thousand?) new messages coming through daily.  Each of the clients reviewed here does a good job of keeping track of these, but undoubtedly most of us have lives beyond just OS/2 and like to keep abreast of everything from our musical interests to outdoor activities, sports, health, pets, cuisine and whatever else.  In these reviews we'll investigate which clients can best serve the broadest range of users. 

The first is EmTec Newsreader, part of the EmTec Network Suite (formerly the NeoLogic NetSuite) which was first reviewed by OS/2 e-Zine! in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v1n8/news.htm) June 1996 by Stephen Turk.  This time Dr. Dirk Terrell takes a look at it.

Second is PlusPak: PMINews from Stardock and Southside Software, first reviewed only just last year in (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n6/pminews.htm) June 1997, but having the ignoble distinction of being a wee bit too buggy for the reviewer's tastes.  We're happy to say that the product has undergone revision since then and is worth looking at again, if only for its excellent multi-server support and snappy looks.

Third is NewsBeat from Insomnia Software, a smaller newsreader that's easy to get around in thanks to its simple and fast user interface.  Christopher B. Wright gives us his views on it.

Fourth is Internet Adventurer, Adventure Software's suite of Internet applications similar to EmTec's, and one that has been gaining popularity lately.  With IRC, e-mail, News, Web, FTP, and Gopher all woven into one interface, it's almost all you need to be on the 'net -- besides a modem and an ISP.

OS/2 e-Zine! Editor's Choice

But the fifth news reader, and OS/2 e-Zine!'s Editor's Choice, is ProNews/2 from Panacea Software, the same company that brings us HTML Studio.  We were very impressed by ProNews/2, especially its unique flexibility in managing queued tasks and its outstanding support for binary attachments.  ProNews/2 has been in public beta for several months now, and it shows in its stability, features and speed.  Lief Clennon reviews this newsreader for us.

Enjoy!

               *  *  * 

(chris@os2ezine.com) Chris Wenham is the Senior Editor of OS/2 e-Zine! -- a promotion from Assistant Editor which means his parking spot will now be wide enough to keep his bicycle and a trailer.

***********************************

EmTec News Reader v4.6e	- by Dr. Dirk Terrell

The EmTec News client has been around for several years, originally as part of the NeoLogic NetSuite product.  Last year the suite of products, which includes FTP and Gopher clients, was transferred to EmTec, the makers of the very popular ZOC terminal program, and renamed the EmTec Network Suite.  The EmTec News client has proven itself to be a stable, full-featured product and is currently at version v4.6e.

Installation

The installation is done with the IBM installer, so there are no surprises lurking to cause problems.  If you have a previous version installed, you can update it and make a backup copy of the old version should any problems arise with the new version.  EmTec frequently creates updates to the news client, and makes them available on (http://www.emtec.com/ens/files.html) their web site.  

Configuration

The first step to using the EmTec New client is configuring it with all of the information pertinent to your system.  Configuration is done with a standard notebook interface.  Besides the basic configuration issues like your news and e-mail servers, you can also configure things like the sorting of messages, program toolbars, and window views (i.e., which fields are visible when viewing message lists).  

Jumping into the Usenet Circus

Once you have everything configured, you're ready to start reading and replying to newsgroups.  When you start the program it will try to connect to the currently selected news server and download the list of newsgroups that are available on your server.  This can be a time-consuming process when using a dialup connection as there are over 20,000 newsgroups these days.  But once you have all of them, you can subscribe to the ones you are interested in via the Available Groups window.  Given the large number of groups available, it would be nice to have them presented in a tree view
rather than having all 20,000 dumped into a list box and requiring scrolling through the list to find a particular newsgroup.  

Now that you are subscribed to the newsgroups you want to read, you will see the number of messages available in each newsgroup in the Current Subscriptions window.  (The program automatically downloads the headers of the new messages for all of your newsgroups when you subscribe and also when you start the program.) Double clicking a particular newsgroup entry opens the message list window that displays the titles, authors, etc.  for the individual messages.  The EmTec newsreader can group related messages (threads) together in
a tree view so you can expand and collapse threads (individually or all at once).  The messages can also be sorted in other ways: by subject, author, date, or message number.  You can also control which messages are shown: only unread ones, all messages, messages that have activated your killfile (by subject or author), and those that contain keywords you have defined in your configuration.  

Reading a message is a matter of double clicking a particular one in the message list, which opens the message window.  A click of a button on the toolbar toggles the view of the message header information.  With the toolbar you can also navigate to the next/previous message or the next/previous thread.  Unfortunately there is no way to launch a web browser or e-mail client by selecting an address in a message, as this program is completely ignorant of URLs and e-mail addresses.  One handy utility is the "Jargon Demystifier" which enables you to highlight expressions like "YMMV" and have them explained.  Posting a follow-up to a message is straightforward.  You can post the reply to the newsgroup, by e-mail to the author, or both.  

The alt.binaries hierarchy is very popular.  In these groups encoded binary files (software, images, audio files, etc.) are posted.  To make use of them, your news client has to be able to decode them.  The EmTec news client can decode messages encoded with UUEncode or Base-64 (MIME) encoding, by far the two most popular
methods.  If the encoded file is contained in one message, you simply select it and press D (or select "Decode" from the pop-up menu that appears with a right-click on the message).  For multipart messages, you simply select them in order and press Shift+D (or use the pop-up menu).  The message is then placed in the Decoder Window list and decoded.  You can, of course, specify the location where decoded binary files should be placed.  

Offline Features

Some people prefer to do their news reading offline to avoid online charges or having their phone line tied up for long periods.  The EmTec news client sports a variety of features for offline reading.  If you download the list of messages and then go offline, you can double click messages like you normally would to read them.  The program will mark that message for download when you go online.  You can also select messages by thread or select all of the messages for later downloading.  Replying to messages is done the same way.  You simply read and reply to messages offline, and the program queues your responses for upload when you go online.  Although I am now spoiled by a permanent connection, in the past I found the EmTec news client's offline features very useful.  

Conclusion

The EmTec news client is a stable and very configurable news reader.  Although its filtering and killfile support are not quite as sophisticated as some of the other OS/2 news clients, I find it to be quite adequate for my use.  What matters most to me is stability and responsiveness, and the EmTec client has both.  I have never had the
program crash even when reading groups that had thousands of messages available.  It is a well-designed program that makes effective use of multithreading.  It is available as shareware, with a very reasonable $30 price tag for registration.  

               *  *  * 

EmTec Newsreader v4.6e
     by (http://www.emtec.com/) EmTec
     download from the (ftp://ftp.bmtmicro.com/bmtmicro/ens46e.zip) BMT Micro (ZIP, 1.7 meg)
     Registration: US$30

(http://www.gnv.com/HTMLWizard/) Dr. Dirk Terrell is an astronomer at the University of Florida specializing in interacting binary stars.  His hobbies include cave diving, martial arts, painting and writing OS/2 software such as HTML Wizard.

***********************************

PMINews v1.01a	- by Chris Wenham

Last year we reviewed PMINews when it first came out, and if you remember, the verdict was not a positive one. Now that the OS/2 market has seen the introduction of another major newsreader, we thought it'd be fair to give PMINews a second chance, especially since the authors have done an admirable job of addressing most of the problems found in the (http://www.os2ezine.com/v2n6/pminews.htm) original review. 

Installation and Documentation

Distributed electronically, PMINews is available for instant purchasing and download from Stardock's own commerce server and the OS/2 Supersite. Using the familiar IBM Installation program, PMINews can be installed and uninstalled independently from PMMail if you already have it. PMINews will install to the same "Southside" directory where PMMail is kept and share your address book between the two programs. Documentation comes in the program's help files.

The Interface

PMINews still has a great interface, possibly the best of the bunch. It looks good and gets you around quickly. 

Its method of managing subscriptions is a little different from what you'd find elsewhere, and introduces the concept of Group lists - collections of newsgroups divided by categories you define, such as "OS/2", "Music", "Sports", and so on. Each Grouplist has its own settings, signatures and filters that are kept separate from the rest. 

However, there still does not seem to be a way of sharing signatures or filters between these group lists, or with PMMail. This could make it a real chore to copy a filter over from one group list to another if you wanted it to be truly global.

They say the best way to hide something is to make it as obvious as day, especially if people are used to searching hard to find it. That's the case with the newsgroup Filter/Search tool in PMINews. Right underneath the list of newsgroups in the left hand column is a text box for entering a search term or filter, such as "music" or "os2". This handy filter will then trim the list of newsgroups, from a monstrous 25,000 down to a manageable 10 or 20 containing your search term. Yet after the first release of PMINews there were an amazing number of first-time users who never noticed it and complained there was no search feature. Conditioned to looking through mazes of nested menus, they missed it time and time again. Well start de-conditioning yourself, because this is a great feature. SouthSoft have often come up with gems of user interface design and this is just one of them. I'd love to see this in more software like browsers and file managers.

Reading articles is handled simply and elegantly. With buttons similar to the ones you'll find in PMMail, you can dedicate a single window to the job of reading article bodies and click backwards and forwards through them easily. When composing articles, PMINews offers its own spell checker and access to the Address Book it shares with PMMail -- should you also have that installed. Right-click over the body text area and you can get quick access to any canned replies you've set up. 

Filtering and Scripting

In PMINews, filtering is both powerful and easy. In fact it had the most powerful filtering abilities of all the news readers we covered, extending far beyond the generic "killfile." While it didn't have the easy access and setup of the Filter Wizards in ProNews/2, it offered a complete Internet Communication Search Language (ICSL), identical to the one found in PMMail, in addition to a much simpler method for users not inclined to learn ICSL. This language, easy to learn but a bit heavy on the symbolic side, allows one to create complex filters that can search the header of an article. Once a result of "True" has been found (the article matches the filter's criteria), the user can then set the filter to perform a wide number of functions on it, anything from deleting it (like a killfile) to highlighting it with a color you drag-n-drop from one of Warp's floating color palettes. 

PMINews actually builds ICSL filters for itself on the fly, which you can edit later, to handle the 'killfile' and track replies to your postings.

Rexx scripting is also supported, with "exit" hooks available after an article is downloaded from the server, before a new article is posted to the server, or when the program itself starts or exits. These could be used to append a tag-line to your posts, for example.

Multiple Server Support

PMINews is also the best newsreader for multiple news server support. Its support for any number of servers is nothing short of outstanding, giving you an easy way of tracking local, specialty and niche newsgroups that aren't carried by the greater Usenet conglomerate. Master newsgroup lists are kept separate for each server, yet within group lists you can seamlessly mix newsgroups from different servers together and not have to worry. PMINews will handle the task of connecting to the right server in the background. 

Binaries

Sadly, Southside have done nothing to improve the horrible binary decoding system. Suffice to say, this is not the newsreader you want if you enjoy surfing for files in the binary newsgroups (regardless of the legal or moral value of the files you surf for ;-) While it can elegantly decode single-part attachments and display them in a frame of the read-article window (the same way PMMail does it) it is nothing but backwards when it comes to handling multipart postings. Don't expect it to find all the parts in a posting for you, don't expect it to even get them the right way around (you'll have to spend a few minutes shuffling their order around with 'Up/Down' buttons if you want the file to decode in one piece at all), and don't expect it to manage the dozens of different batch-job windows it'll sprout up all over the place if you work on more than one set of files. 

Database Performance

The performance of the database driving PMINews is questionable, and sometimes very problematic. In medium-high volume newsgroups like comp.os.os2.advocacy I noticed PMINews would freeze for a while and "think about" collapsing the tree for a long message thread in a newsgroup with lots of articles, sometimes taking as long as half a minute or more before responding to your mouse click (as an extreme example, on my K6-200 MHz machine with 1 meg of cache and 32 megs of 10 nanosecond Synchronous DRAM, it took PMINews 1 minute and 15 seconds to collapse a particularly long thread in this busy OS/2 newsgroup.) 

Very high volume newsgroups are an even worse case. On my news server there is one newsgroup that can have as many as 20,000 articles in it when you first subscribe (alt.binaries.sounds.mp3). Since PMINews has no means of restricting how many headers you download at a time, the program rapidly broke down and thrashed uselessly in the face of such volume. 

To confirm that these two problems were unique to PMINews and not a common problem with other readers, I went and tested the same load in ProNews/2 and Internet Adventurer 1.21 - both could collapse long threads in high-traffic newsgroups instantaneously, ProNews/2 handled the BIG newsgroups with remarkable ease, and while Internet Adventurer balked a bit, it recovered faster than PMINews and was able to display the article list.  I really do not enjoy giving such a negative opinion, but after many hours of laborious testing and several reinstalls, I don't see how I could come to any other conclusion. 


If you don't frequent such high-trafficked newsgroups, or your news server never holds that many messages before purging, it'd be safe to use PMINews reliably. Otherwise, I'd say the program's database cannot yet handle the initial surge of subscribing to _LARGE_ newsgroups.

Summary

Revising the verdict I gave in the first review of PMINews when it was still at the 1.0 level, I feel the product is now ready for prime time, but only for the casual user - for which it serves its purpose beautifully. But keep in mind, if binary decoding prowess or agility in high-volume newsgroups is important to you, you may wish to try something else. I strongly feel that SouthSoft should really concentrate their efforts on tuning the database that drives PMINews and squeezing more performance and tolerance from it. A more user-friendly approach to binaries would be appreciated too.

               *  *  * 

PMINews v1.01a
     by (http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems and SouthSoft
     download from the (http://www.os2ss.com/archives/hobbes/os2/apps/internet/news/reader/pmidemo.zip) OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 2.1 megs)
     Registration: US$34.95

(chris@os2ezine.com) Chris Wenham is the Senior Editor of OS/2 e-Zine! -- a promotion from Assistant Editor which means his parking spot will now be wide enough to keep his bicycle and a trailer.

***********************************

NewsBeat v1.0	- by Christopher B. Wright

Introduction

NewsBeat, a shareware news reader created by Dave Minogue and Vipin Bhargava, aka (http://www.cyberbeach.net/newsbeat/) Insomnia Software, is a very spartan program that is quite adequate for basic use but less than adequate for people who use news groups heavily.  While it is simple to use and there are parts of its interface that I really like, its quirks, lack of customizability and tendency to behave unreliably in large news groups won't endear itself to heavy Usenet lurkers or posters.

Still, it's a pretty good program for those who just want to check out a few groups now and then, and there are features that many people will like.

Installation

Installation is straightforward, but nonstandard: instead of using IBM's standard installer, NewsBeat uses a quick and simple (though attractively designed) dialog box that allows you to choose a path and install at the push of a button.  The installer program won't tell you how much free space you have on your drives though, and if you want to place NewsBeat in a nested folder, you'll have to type that in by hand (no "browse" functionality).  There is a check box, however, that will allow you to install the EMX runtime files with the NewsBeat installation (the EMX runtime is necessary for the program to function properly).

A nice feature of the NewsBeat installation is that, unlike some other programs, you don't have to reboot to use it.

When the program starts for the first time, it automatically opens its settings notebook, where you'll need to enter your Usenet server address and SMTP server address (the Usenet server address so it'll know where to look for news groups, your SMTP server address so it will be able to send e-mail replies).  After you do this, NewsBeat starts searching the Usenet server for news groups.

Using NewsBeat

NewsBeat is an attractive application with some interesting user interface design decisions, but ultimately I found it a frustrating program to navigate around in.  While the toolbar at the top of the program is attractive and its round, multicolored buttons are a refreshing alternative to the standard chiseled gray ones, it isn't the most intuitive thing in the world to use.  It does have a kind of a "bubble help" feature built into it, activated by pressing mouse button #2 over the toolbar button in question, but it would be more convenient if bubble help were activated after a few seconds of the mouse resting over the button.

There are only three viewing areas in the program, but they each serve double duty.  The first area lists all available news groups on the server -- until you click on that region's title bar, upon which it shows only the news groups you've subscribed to.  Likewise, the "Article List" window does double-duty as a killfile list, and the "Current Message" area is also used as the UUDecoding Queue.  This is very easy to use -- all views are right there -- but there's not much you can do to customize it.  You can't even move the position of the separator between the subscribed news groups and article lists, nor can you move the separator between those and the current article list.

NewsBeat also provides an alternate way of viewing your information.  Its "Zoom" feature turns NewsBeat into one big viewing area with six buttons at the top, each of which will take you to one "view".  This can clean up the interface considerably, but it can be confusing if you have a tendency to jump around news groups a lot.

The text defaults to System Proportional -- not an attractive font when you're reading large quantities of information.  This can be changed by dragging and dropping fonts form the font palette, but sadly this change does not seem to be permanent.  Each time the program is loaded, text reverts to System Proportional.

Also, while you can run any UUDecoder from within the newsreader, the only image viewer you can specify to link to is PMView.  If you're going to choose only one image viewer PMView is a good choice, but the lack of other options strikes me as somewhat inflexible.  And there is no ability at all to decode MIME encrypted messages, which is a serious drawback in most binary newsgroups since MIME attachments have become very popular in recent years.

Ultimately, I found that the interface was too simplistic for my taste, and the inability to change the sizes of the individual viewing areas was very, very frustrating.

Performance

NewsBeat's speed was generally very good, with a few notable exceptions.  NewsBeat shined when it was downloading all the available news groups from the server for the first time.  Usually this takes an interminably long time -- there are a huge number of available news groups on most servers, and they're all listed before you can choose which ones you actually want to subscribe to.  I was pleasantly surprised to discover that NewsBeat goes through this process relatively quickly, giving me a complete list of news groups to choose from in under five minutes with my ISP.  Once the list is complete, it's displayed in the first section of the application window.

Subscribing to a group is also very responsive -- until you start hitting the very large groups.  Comp.os.os2.advocacy took a fair amount of time to download 1,500 headers -- about six or seven minutes.  Alt.binaries.sounds.mp3 (which, according to NewsBeat, had roughly 3,500 messages on it) took more than 20 minutes.  This slowdown was noticeable in other large news groups as well (though no other group was able to top alt.binaries.sounds.mp3).  Large news groups not only seem to slow down NewsBeat, they seem to make it unstable as well.  On groups with over a thousand messages, I found NewsBeat had a tendency to close down without warning.  Reading a message in a news group also seems affected by the size of the news group itself -- again, larger news groups seem to slow down NewsBeat significantly.

Summary

NewsBeat's design makes it an ideal application for someone who doesn't know a lot about news readers, and who doesn't want to know a lot about news readers.  People who are fairly experienced with them, however, may find NewsBeat's lack of customization and limited choice of features restricting.  Also, NewsBeat seems to be unstable when subjected to high-volume news groups and has shut down, without warning, on my machine.

All in all, I think NewsBeat has promise as an application for novices, but it needs to be able to handle large lists more reliably.

               *  *  * 

NewsBeat v1.0
     by (http://www.cyberbeach.net/newsbeat/) Insomnia Software
     download from (http://www.cyberbeach.net/newsbeat/download.html) Insomnia Software
     Registration: US$25.00

(wrightc@dtcweb.com) Christopher B. Wright is a technical writer in the Richmond, VA area, and has been using OS/2 Warp since January 95.  He is also a member of Team OS/2.

***********************************

Internet Adventurer v1.21	- by Chris Wenham 

Internet Adventurer (sometimes called 'IA' for short) is a complete suite of programs for the Internet, all neatly integrated into one smart interface that includes web browsing (using either its own built in browser, or alongside a currently running copy of Netscape), Internet Relay Chat, e-mail, a web-site watcher, telnet and FTP. But even though each of these modules is worth talking pages about, this review will cover the Newsreader part of the Internet Adventurer suite only. 

Installation and documentation

Internet Adventurer comes with it's own installation program that gives a first hint at the colorful embellishments the author has sprinkled throughout the suite. Documentation comes as a set of HTML files that are viewed with its own built-in web browser (based on the IBM WebExplorer engine) or
with Netscape. Unfortunately the help files were not very complete at the time of writing and many sections were marked as being under construction. Perhaps as a helpful side effect of being in HTML format, they included links to the help pages section on the Internet Adventurer web site itself, but at the time of this review even they were not complete yet. 

User support could be considered differently, however, as Kim Rasmussen -- Internet Adventurer's author -- has a good reputation for timely responses to user queries. Indeed, Internet Adventurer installs with a shortcut to chat one-on-one with Kim through the program's own IRC (chat) module, and the toolbar of the Newsreader
has buttons for directly reporting bugs and making suggestions.

User Interface

Internet Adventurer is a little patchy here and there with regards to visuals. The intro screen has a nice set of thumbnail drawings that represent each module, but the icons in the toolbar that runs across the top look a bit scratchy, like they were pulled from a stock icon collection somewhere. But one note about this toolbar is that it is very easily configurable with a right-click over a button or blank area. You can set up a button to perform anything from launch a program or URL to several of Internet Adventurer's built in functions and modules. You can assign your own icons to buttons or use the built-in set.

For the Newsreader module, everything is set out in three windows similar to the Agent scheme, one for subscriptions, one for the article list, and another for the article body. Each window is independently resizable though, instead of being 'panes' that influence the sizes of adjacent ones. Click on
'Tile' from the Window menu and they're all snapped into an optimal arrangement. 

Decorative elements such as '3D' or graduated titlebars with scrolling text can be toggled on or off as the user pleases. 

Reading and Posting

Like ProNews/2, Internet Adventurer supports colorization and syntax highlighting of articles to make it easier to tell where quoted text begins and ends, what are valid e-mail addresses and URLs etc. When you double-click on an e-mail, Internet Adventurer begins composing a new message that can be sent privately or posted to the
newsgroup. Double-clicking on a URL will either open it in IA's built-in web browser or send it to the currently running copy of Netscape, depending on how you configured the suite. 

Threading of articles does not seem to be that intelligent, however, and doesn't go further than one level deep. Plus, at first appearance, there wasn't any option to download an entire thread automatically. However, if you collapse the thread first, and mark the root article for download, the remaining articles in the thread will be marked for download too and give you the same effect.

A unique and useful feature is the Search tool, which after specifying some criteria, will send Internet Adventurer searching through all or selected newsgroups for matching articles. Found articles will then be placed in a "Search Results" folder, which is kind of a virtual newsgroup. Regardless of which newsgroup
each article was originally found in, you can browse them all at your leisure. I didn't find anything like this in other newsreaders and was quite impressed by it.

Filtering

While not as powerful as the filtering capabilities of PMINews, Internet Adventurer is still quite strong in this area. Filters are easy and intuitive to set up, and each filter can support any number of criteria to match on. It was quite easy for me to create a simple "No Spam" filter that scanned for obvious giveaways (too many exclamation marks, occurrences of 'FREE!' etc.) and deleted the message before I could be bothered by it. It is also possible to detect and delete cross-posted articles with IA's filtering too.

While there did not seem to be any support for boolean operations ('AND', 'OR', 'NOT' etc.) the string matching and wildcard support was good.

Multiple Server Support

In Internet Adventurer, multiple news servers don't seem to be as elegantly handled as they are in PMINews. When you subscribe to a newsgroup from the master list you have the option of typing in a different news server to pull that particular group's feed from. But there doesn't seem to be a way to keep lists of newsgroups for each
server separate and instantly accessible. To get the list from a new server you need to go back to IA's master settings, change the server there and tell IA to refresh the list again. Since IA keeps server settings separate for each newsgroup, changing the server to get a new list won't affect your current subscriptions.

Binaries

Internet Adventurer will automatically decode any binary attachments it finds in a message and allow the user to save or view them later. But it cannot handle multipart binary postings yet.  

Summary

Internet Adventurer didn't originally start with a Newsreader and the lack of full maturity shows in its rough edges. It is, however, excellently integrated with the rest of the suite, supports multiple e-mail accounts (the interface for IA's e-mail and news reader is actually the same) and has intuitively assigned keyboard shortcuts (Ctrl + down-arrow or up-arrow keys to move back and forth through messages, for example).

Performance was a bit slow in places, with excessive disk activity after closing the master settings dialog, for example. But overall the newsreader works well, if still in a limited way, and gave no major hassles when setting up for the first-time user. 

               *  *  * 

Internet Adventurer 1.21
     by (http://www.inetadv.net/) Kim Rasmussen
     download from (ftp://ftp.bmtmicro.com/bmtmicro/inadv121.zip) BMT Micro (ZIP, 2.6 meg)
     Registration: US$40

(chris@os2ezine.com) Chris Wenham is the Senior Editor of OS/2 e-Zine! -- a promotion from Assistant Editor which means his parking spot will now be wide enough to keep his bicycle and a trailer.

***********************************

ProNews/2 v1.0	- by Lief Clennon

Panacea Software won the OS/2 e-Zine! Readers' Choice award in 1996 for their HTML Studio web authoring software; due to this, there are likely to be large expectations placed on them in terms of software quality. That said, ProNews/2, fresh out of a long beta cycle, is beyond all expectations.

Installation and Setup

Installation is a snap; ProNews/2 doesn't use the IBM standard installer, but their own is quite intuitive. You select a directory, whether to create program icons and install the spell-check dictionary, and click "Install." You can read the "Read Me" while it's unzipping itself.

When you first run the program, a simplified configuration dialog prompts you to select your NNTP (news) and SMTP (e-mail) servers. Enter your e-mail address and an optional "real name" description, and select whether you want ProNews/2 to immediately download the full list of newsgroups available from your server. If you do not enter at least the news server address in this dialog, ProNews/2 will not perform any actions until you go into the Settings and enter it (sometimes convenient, depending on how you work.)

In the actual settings notebook, you'll find a plethora of options. There are a total of 27 pages under 14 tabs, and very little space is wasted. Everything from colors and fonts, to language codepages (including Russian KOI-8R), to the standard sort-order of article lists, is controlled from this one concise dialog. All changes take effect globally the instant you close the window.

Group subscription

Once you load the group list from the server, the complete list is available under the All Groups tab. By default, though, it's not a simple list like in most browsers. The group list is set up like the Tree view of a directory or folder: initially, you only see the top-level categories (alt, rec, comp, etc.); click the '+' beside each category, and it drops down to the next level, and so on. This can be changed in the settings dialog: you can set a maximum branching depth, or you can turn off the 'tree' entirely. Double-click a group from this list (which has full "Find" functionality), or just enter a group name manually, and you're subscribed. Depending on your configuration, ProNews/2 will automatically retrieve all article headers, and can be set to immediately download the body texts as well.

On the Subscriptions tab, you will find a list of all the groups you're currently subscribed to, as well as special groups for messages you've sent and messages you've saved. (Normally, messages are purged after they're no longer available on the server. This can also be disabled.) There are indicators for whether a group has any new messages in it and whether anything is currently in the process queue for each group.

Reading articles

Double-click any subscribed group and it will pop up in a group window. This is a combined article list and article reader. The articles in the list are sorted into subject threads and subthreads and placed in a tree like that used for the group list. ProNews/2 can often place an article in the proper subthread even if its subject line has been changed from the rest of the thread. I don't pretend to know what in the NNTP header format allows them to play this trick, but I've never seen it before and I like it very much. 

Navigating the group window is quite easy. The tab key switches you between the article reader and the article list. In the list, the up and down arrows scroll to the next/previous article; Page Up/Down and Home/End work as expected. In the reader window the spacebar pages down the article body, and after it reaches the end, jumps to the next unread article.

MIME attachments and regular UUEncoded or Base64 attachments found in an article body can be, at your option, automatically decoded and placed in a directory of your choosing. ProNews/2 does an excellent job of handling large, multipart binaries: select any single part (for instance, 11 of 30) for decoding, and it will locate the other 29 parts, download them in order, and decode them as a single article. ProNews/2 will warn you if all the parts are not available, and give you the option of manually decoding what you can.

ProNews/2 has a very good highlighting scheme for article text. URLs, e-mail addresses, quoted text (in replies) and quotations (inside quotes) can all be assigned a different color. URLs and addresses can be clicked on, launching Netscape (or sending the URL to the currently running copy of Netscape) or composing an e-mail from within ProNews/2. Occasionally a weird reply-quoting format (like AOL's) will be missed, and 'smilies' sitting alone on a line are usually colored as quotes (because they start with a colon -- the second most common quoting character), and anything with an @ in it is thought to be an e-mail address. Otherwise I find the coloration quite useful. And like 99% of the program, they can be turned off if you don't like them.

Posting

When posting a new article or a reply, via newsgroup or e-mail, the same message editor is used. If you have a signature configured for attachment to all messages, it will already be shown in this window, below any quoted reply text. You can select any number of newsgroups and e-mail addresses to send your message to, and you can edit all of the user-defined header information with the Options button. The Attachments button allows you to add multiple files to one article or to split a file into several posts.

There is also a quick, efficient spell checker called Spell Guard included for use in the message editor. One thing I quickly discovered is that this is not a typo checker; I tested it on one of the most common typos, "teh" instead of "the," and it replied with "teach," "teeth," and "tenth" as possible corrections. Also, the included dictionary doesn't have things like "http" or "www" in it, which for this particular application is a rather annoying oversight. This is the only portion of the program that wasn't included in the beta tests, and unfortunately it shows.

Filters, toolbars, and the queue

No newsreader would be complete without a filtering system. Too many newsgroups, especially in the alt.* hierarchy, are rife with get-rich-quick and buy-my-porn spam, of which most people just don't want to deal with. ProNews/2, however, takes filters a step beyond. Using the filter wizard, you can not only specify a multitude of criteria for each filter, but you can also select from a wide range of actions, from the standard Hide and Delete to things like Highlight, Copy to saved, and Mark as unread.

Most applications these days have a button bar across the top of the window. ProNews/2 is no exception, and its toolbars have the added bonus of being fully configurable. There is a wide list of options available for any given button, and the selection changes depending on the window type you're creating the button for. Also, you're not limited to the built-in set of icons: a .bmp file of your own design can be used for any button.

One of the truly unique things about this program is that you have full control of the process queue. The Queue tab lets you move any given task up or down, to the top or bottom, suspend or kill it completely. Also, tasks are divided into four categories: Article, Binary, Miscellaneous, and Post. ProNews/2 will make multiple simultaneous connections for each category automatically, up to limits set by you, and optionally break those connections as soon as the current task is finished. The connections tab allows you to monitor and kill active connections. Plus, new connections can be made manually (regardless of limits you have set). This management is useful should you want to download an article immediately while all of the Article connections are still busy getting the headers for other newsgroups.

Important to note is that, for the average user, one does not need to worry about the queue or connections control tabs. Knowledge of their use is not necessary to enjoy the program.

Overview

As far as I'm concerned, only two major things are missing from ProNews/2. The first is seamless support for multiple servers: there are small, private servers that only carry their own hierarchies and it would be nice to have groups from those available alongside the regular Usenet groups. Second, is POP3 (e-mail fetching) support. Add an "e-mail" group, have mail threaded the same way as news articles, and I could get rid of my old e-mail client. Also nice would be the ability to create multiple user-titled "Saved Messages" groups.

With ProNews/2, Panacea Software has achieved that oft-strived-for state of software Zen which combines all the best features of Unix and Macintosh. It is both end-user-friendly and power-user-friendly; intuitive and configurable. And in the full spirit of shareware, the first 45 days of usage are nag-free and completely uncrippled. (But I don't see why anyone would wait a whole 45 days.)

               *  *  * 

ProNews/2 v1.00
     by (http://www.program.com/panacea/) Panacea Software
     download from (http://www.program.com/panacea/pn2_100.zip) Panacea's web site (ZIP, 1M)
     Registration: US$30

***********************************

BlueCAD	- by Pete Grubbs 

As any homeowner will tell you, making the monthly mortgage payment is only half the battle. The other half is maintaining what you're paying for. I've always preferred to do as much of the maintenance on our property as possible. Since I have an introductory background in drafting and design from college, I wanted a CAD package I could use for basic plans (a woodshed, doghouse, maybe an addition) that wouldn't break my budget or take months to become familiar with. For years I've used IMSI's TurboCAD, a Windows 3.1 application, with a fair amount of success. However, like many diehard OS/2 users, I wanted to get something on my machine that was native to my operating system. When OS/2 e-Zine! offered me a chance to review CadWare's BlueCAD, I jumped at it. I'm sorry to say, however, that I should've taken a long look before I took that leap. 

Installation

CadWare, BlueCAD's creator, recommends running their software on either an Intel 386, 486 or Pentium processor with 8 megs of RAM and 9 megs of free space on the hard drive. As you can see, this package isn't a hardware hog. 

BlueCAD comes on 3, 3.5" floppies. Installation is as simple as popping in the first disk and typing "A:\install" from an OS/2 prompt. The entire operation went smooth as silk and took just under six minutes. BlueCAD set up its own directory and seven sub-directories and put a folder on my desktop which included the program object, reference objects, and a URL for CadWare's home page (more on that below). From here I eventually found and downloaded a patch that upgrades the base product that I originally installed (v1.0) to the latest release (v1.008). This upgrade was as easy to install as the original product, but I can't say that I noticed any
great difference in product performance or capabilities.  

The Basics

Loading BlueCAD takes my machine (with a Cyrix 100mhz chip) 24 seconds and presents me with a large, clean work area. Users can access all of the application's commands from the Menu bar or from the Horizontal Tool bar below the Menu or the Vertical Tool bar at the left of the drawing area. BlueCAD also has two bars which display information. The Upper Status bar echoes drawing commands, displays line color, type and current layer and includes buttons to change various attributes. It also allows the user to toggle snaps. The Lower Status bar displays the cursor's location and messages from the program ("No selected entity" seems to be its favorite whenever I'm working). This area will also display basic command information when the user right clicks on any icon in the Upper Tool bar. No such help is available for the Vertical Tool bar. 

The Good

BlueCAD is tightly integrated with the WorkPlace Shell. Users can drag and drop different selections from the System Setup Color Palettes to choose colors for lines, grid points and the drawing area itself (which defaults, on installation, to a black background with white lines, a choice that I found a bit unusual). It is also possible to drag and drop fonts onto the BlueCAD Menu bar if the default font doesn't meet the user's needs. However, this capability doesn't extend to the fonts the application uses for dimensions or other text within a drawing and the font that I changed reverted back to its default setting after I closed and re-opened BlueCAD. 

Users can open different "windows" filled with tool buttons (think of them as moveable, mini icon bars) which contain all of the commands to draw and edit lines and polygons. These "windows" can be dragged about and dropped anywhere on the drawing area, making it easy for the draftsman to keep those tools immediately needed close at hand. 

Printing under BlueCAD is a breeze. It worked with my Canon printer the first time and produced a crisp drawing in about 2 minutes. Multi-tasking with BlueCAD loaded is also a snap. With many other programs running alongside, I have had no discernible system lag or conflicts. 

The Bad

All of the other drawing programs that I've used (Windows Paint Brush, Embellish, DrawPerfect, Generic CAD for DOS and TurboCAD) have supported rubber-banding for every basic line-drawing function. According to CadWare tech support, BlueCAD does as well, but I have yet to get it working whenever I draw a black line on a white background. If I work with any other combination (blue lines on a gray background), I have no problems, but I really don't like working in alternate colors. Maybe it's just my own quirk, but I'm more comfortable with a set up that feels a little more like my old drawing board. 

For that matter, I have not been able to change the basic color of my drawing space in the manner that BlueCAD's manual recommends. The procedure is quite simple: From the File menu, select "Settings," which pops open a notebook containing basic selections to set up the application. From there, choose "Color" and simply drag the desired color to the workspace and drop it. So far, though, I can't get it to work. I can drag and drop colors from the OS/2 Color
Palettes to the Color page in BlueCAD's "Settings" notebook and I can drag and drop from the Color Palettes to the BlueCAD workspace, but I can't change colors the way the manual suggests. I can offer one other observation: When BlueCAD rubberbands, it draws the rubberband in the opposite color as the final line, i.e., a blue line rubberbands in yellow; green rubberbands in purple. If this holds true for all colors, black must rubberband in white which, of course, would disappear against a white background. I tested this theory by selecting a dark gray background with black lines, but I still had no rubberbanding. If drawing black on white isn't important, or if you can live without rubberbanding, I suppose this becomes a non-issue, but I find it a definite weakness in the application. 

I have also found it a bit hard to adjust to BlueCAD's use of the grid layout instead of real world measurements. Other CAD programs, notably TurboCAD, allow the user to work in scale with real world feet and inches (or their metric equivalents) displayed on-screen. Depending on the type of line drawn, BlueCAD will display its length
dynamically as the user draws but only in terms of grid points. If there is a way to work with real-world units, I haven't been able to find it. 

As mentioned above, BlueCAD's installation program includes a URL inside the desktop folder. When I tried to surf the site, I was greeted with an error message in English and Italian telling me that the site I requested did not exist. Another URL ((http://www.cadware.it/) www.cadware.it) is listed in an ad on the inside cover of Indelible Blue's Spring and Summer '97 catalog. I surfed this site and found it to be up and running, however, it suffers from the same faults that haunt BlueCAD's documentation (see below). CadWare offers free tech support via e-mail from this page. I have contacted them concerning an issue that I'll deal with in detail below and found them to be courteous and dedicated. As of this date, we have not resolved my problem, but I am hopeful that we can. The greatest drawback that I see to this way of providing tech support (one that is endemic to the system and not a fault of CadWare) is the time lag. It has taken an average of 48 hours for me to receive an answer to a request. This isn't bad if one isn't working to a tight deadline, but could be catastrophic if one is. As of this date, the FAQ and bug report pages on CadWare's site were still under construction, another deficit which one hopes CadWare will address soon. 

Another feature that BlueCAD lacks is a working file history. The app does not track recently opened files so users have to constantly use Ctrl-O (or Alt-F, O) to access files. While this isn't an unforgivable fault, it is certainly a weakness that I hope CadWare will address. 

The Ugly

In my review of Lotus WordPro, I spent some time taking Lotus to task for not providing decent documentation for their product. After wading through most of BlueCAD's manual, I have a greater appreciation for the time and attention that Lotus put into their work. This is, without question, the worst piece of text that I have ever had the misfortune to deal with. It is awkward, misleading and, generally, awful. But don't take my word for it. Here are two excerpts from the instructions that accompany BlueCAD: 

  Updating installation serves for when the user
  wishes to have a more recent BlueCAD version than the currently
  installed one. This operation entails the overwriting of the
  program's files, while the macros and the executed designs found in
  \DRAWINGS and \MACRO are not cancelled. (p. 13)

  BlueCAD offers many commands to draw segments, other than
  obviously the 2 Points (ends given segment). In this way,
  many geometrical constructions, otherwise laborious, turn out
  immediately. (p. 35)

BlueCAD'S manual is filled with gems like these which makes it almost impossible to work with. In fact, I spent more time wading through 10 pages of CadWare's tutorial (33 - 43) to draw a very simplified picture of a bolt than I did following TurboCAD's tutorial for the floor plan of an office which included double-line walls, doors, furniture templates, a filing cabinet system and dimensions. In one case, I worked for 40 minutes to try to draw a simple rectangle according to the directions on page 33. Rather than draw the figure freehand, I meticulously entered the coordinates given in the instructions but could not produce a figure on my screen identical to the illustration in the manual. I finally realized that my error lay in not including a minus sign ( - ) before one of the coordinates. While the proper instructions are present in another place on the page, the particular section that I was following (a bit too closely, perhaps) had the minus sign separated from the rest of the number by a line break. If I had been in less of a hurry, I might have noticed the error sooner and corrected it. However, in a world where people need to be productive with their machines immediately, this kind of slipshod writing is unacceptable. 

And, lest the reader think that I neglected to check, I'm sorry to say that the on-line documents suffer from the same malady that afflicts the manual. For example:

  in [sic] the input field you can write numerical
  expressions up to 80 characters long. Given the small dimension of
  the field, if the expression is longer than that, it will be only
  partly visible. There are two ways to write in the window, either
  placing the cursor and clicking the mouse or writing the
  expression with the keyboard. In this window, you will read by
  default the last number you gave as an input, highlighted as
  wholly selected : any character you write will take its place.
  If you do not want to have it deleted, but you wish to modify it,
  you place the blinking cursor in the field at the position you
  like or with the mouse either with the left and right navigation
  keysor with the start-line end keys: in this way the number will
  not be highlighted any longer, so you can change it.

This document, like the manual, is in desperate need of serious repair. After reading a few pages, I developed the impression that it was prepared in a different language and translated into English by someone who either is not a native English speaker or has never successfully completed a college-level writing course. Whatever the real case may be, this product's strengths are so clouded by its dismal documentation that I cannot find them. 

I find this situation doubly frustrating. I am, by nature, a person who would rather find good in a product than trash it. There's little doubt in my mind that this program has some definite possibilities but these are buried under a manual that is impossible to understand. In the months (yes, months) that I have worked with it, I learned to dread loading BlueCAD. I never once found myself working comfortably. As soon as I began to get the sense that I was in control of the interface, I'd encounter another stumbling block. Turning to the manual or the on-line help only deepened my exasperation. I finally reached a point where I had to say that I simply was not being productive with my time and moved on to other work that I have pending. I know of nothing I could say which would more accurately convey my opinion of this product. 

Which Way the Wind Blows

In the same Indelible Blue ad mentioned above, BlueCAD bills itself as a package "designed and developed specifically for professional users and students" that's "quick and easy" to learn and use. I can't agree, but you, gentle reader, do not have to take my word for it. CadWare is offering a demo of version 1.008 for download on their web site. By all means, surf their site, download their files and put this product to the test. The total download is a bit less than 4 M (depending upon language version). Perhaps the fault lies with me and you will find BlueCAD to be everything you need in a CAD program. If that is the case, I'd appreciate hearing about it. 

It is my sincere hope that those at CadWare responsible will take steps to address the problems which plague their product. I would like to see a more mature version of BlueCAD which has a manual that doesn't require the wisdom of a saint to untangle and a tutorial that actually teaches something besides patience. Until then, I would only recommend this product to someone with a lot of spare time whose spirit of adventure is not easily daunted by the frustrating. Those of us with work to do and deadlines pending need something else.

               *  *  * 

BlueCAD 1.008
     by (http://www.cadware.it/) CadWare
     MSRP: US$185

(peg5@psu.edu) Pete Grubbs is a self-described OS/2 wonk, a doctoral candidate in English literature at Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a part-time faculty member at Penn State and is currently developing a copy editing/creation service, The Document Doctor, which tailors documents for small businesses.

***********************************

Seagate Backup Exec v3.0	- by Noah Sumner

Many of us have had the misfortune of finding out the hard way why regular backups are so important. Once upon a time you could backup your hard drive to floppy disks, sure it wasn't the easiest thing but a tape backup unit cost a fortune. But times have changed -- you simply can't backup today's large hard drives to those 1.4 meg floppy diskettes anymore. So today we are left with two basic choices; a zip disk (or something of that flavor), or a full fledged tape backup unit. If you only want to backup then I recommend simply getting a tape backup unit.

If you choose a tape backup unit you will definitely need special software, and if you choose a ZIP drive you will probably want something that handles the Extended Attributes that OS/2 keeps for each file. One of these many software options is Seagate Backup Exec for OS/2, which handles both jobs. 

The tape backup unit that I own is a Iomega Ditto 3200 with a parallel interface. In the past I have gone through two other tape backup software packages; Arcada Backup for OS/2 (Which has since been bought out by Seagate), and BackMaster 2.0. I was very happy with Arcada Backup until Warp 4 came along and Arcada backup wouldn't help in an emergency restore situation. I went and purchased BackMaster 2.0 and I only had problems with it. I didn't like the software itself, and when I had to do an emergency restore I ran into too many problems. Technical support wasn't very helpful either. 

After much consideration I choose to get Seagate Backup Exec for OS/2. I chose this package first and foremost because I knew it would work (Arcada Backup worked!). Secondly I really like its interface.

Seagate Backup Exec looks just like any OS/2 folder and is all just a case of dragging and dropping the backup definition onto the backup device. Okay, the first time you Seagate Backup it can be little more difficult then that; you have to choose what files to backup and make a few other small decisions regarding the type of backup you want. However after you have made a definition you're happy with, drag and drop is all that's left to making your daily backups. You can create as many backup definitions as you like, but I suspect most of you would simply want and need one backup definition.

The next thing I really like is the way file selection works. You have the option of choosing what to backup by drive, directory, or individual file. This is pretty standard and simple so there is no real point on elaborating on it. However, the feature I most like is when you select the whole drive and then deselect a few individual directories of files (like Netscape's cache), later when you create new directories or files they are still automatically backed up. If you don't select a whole drive but select individual directories or files, then no new items are backed up. Of course you can also select what files to back up by filer (e.g. *.exe). I have also found the time estimates it gives to be remarkably accurate, but when they were off they were usually slightly high rather than low.

One more crucial feature that, due to circumstances, I can say works well, is the emergency restore utility. It includes many of the regular features, plus the ability to format a drive if needed and FDisk partitions as well. Yet a couple of days after I installed Seagate Backup Exec, my OS/2 system went on the blitz. I thought I could relax; I had a two day old backup and no crucial data which I couldn't get back. However I was in for a surprise: my Emergency restore diskettes were, in effect, no good. It turned out that I was using a beta driver from IBM, which evidently contained a couple of bugs. I had to install a fresh copy of OS/2, create new emergency restore diskettes (without using the beta driver), and only then was I able to do a emergency restore and wipe out my fresh install. The moral of this story is, of course, to check and make sure YOUR emergency restore diskettes actually work.

Seagate Backup Exec for OS/2 supports both incremental (files changed since last backup) and differential (files changed since last FULL backup) backups. It also includes security on Backup sets, and of course verification of the backup. Seagate Backup Exec for OS/2 can support SCSI, IDE, and many external Tape Drives, but for a full listing of all supported devices see Seagate Software's (http://www.seagatesoftware.com/) web page.

               *  *  * 

Seagate Backup Exec 3.0
     by (http://www.seagatesoftware.com/) Seagate Software
     MSRP: US$99

(http://www.pr.uoguelph.ca/noah/) Noah Sumner is a member of TeamOS/2 and the Toronto OS/2 Users Group.

***********************************

First Looks and Nifty Gadgets

First Looks and Nifty Gadgets brings you reviews of the new and novel.  Each month we take a look at what's just hitting the streets and some tiny, but tried and true products that are still helping people be as productive as possible. 

This month we look at: Hot Scroll v0.52 | Lens v0.9 | Dialog Enhancer v1.0

Hot Scroll v0.52

Did you ever wonder what the Scroll Lock key was supposed to do? Have you envied users of the Microsoft IntelliMouse with that nifty little wheel between the mouse buttons, used for scrolling up and down pages? Well Hot Scroll is a new utility that can actually put that darn Scroll Lock key to some practical use, and does a fairly decent job of emulating the IntelliMouse's nifty scroll wheel on non-IntelliMice too. 

Give any window with a scroll bar the focus and toggle Scroll Lock on, the mouse is instantly 'locked' to the vertical scroll bar and wherever you move your mouse laterally (up and down the screen) the scroll bar will be sure to follow. Since the mouse (and keyboard) is still free to be used as normal, you can use it in Netscape and browse for hours with it. As you glide your mouse down to click on a link, the page and the link you're targeting scrolls up to meet it. Best of all, while Scroll Lock is still on, the mouse remains anchored to only one particular scroll bar -- meaning that not only won't it interfere with other windows, but you can minimize the locked program, go and work on something else for a while, and when you come back the mouse is still locked to that one scrollbar. Tap the Scroll-Lock key again to toggle it off and the scroll-bar is liberated, ready for you to 'lock' the mouse to another application. 

If using Scroll-Lock does not appeal, Hot Scroll can also perform the same function by either holding down the third mouse button (if you have a three button mouse) or holding down Alt-Ctrl-Shift. 

Hot Scroll works with most applications, including Netscape, OS/2's Workplace Shell folders, PMMail and others. An exception list is included with workarounds for applications that don't work, as tested by the author.  Overall it's a surprisingly useful and tiny utility. 

Hot Scroll 0.52
     by (http://www.cam.org/~guardia) Samuel Audet
     download from (http://www.cam.org/~guardia/archives/hots052.zip) Samuel Audet's Home Page (ZIP, 33k)
     Registration: Freeware

               *  *  * 

Lens v0.9

I found this the other day on Hobbes; some of the rest of you might know about it already, but it's a first for me...  Thing is, it's from, like, 1993.  It's a little program which magnifies the OS/2 desktop; eyes a bit bloodshot from indulging the night before, and squinting at the monitor simply hurts?  Simply fire up Lens and you can move your mouse pointer around the screen, enlarging the area your pointer is over.  It's weird, the fact that something can be close to 5 years old, and still be pretty cool...

I saw a screen saver like this on a Win95 machine the other day, more advanced, but the same principle.  The lens on the Win95 machine was circular (this one's square), and moved around the screen for more realism.  (This one shows the enlarged view moving in a stationary window.)

Great for people who have vision problems which might be bad enough to be annoying, but not bad enough to justify switching to a lower graphics mode.

Lens v0.9
     by (nedkonz@gate.net) Ned Konz
     download from (http://www.os2ss.com/archives/hobbes/os2/util/system/lens_09.zip) the OS/2 Supersite (ZIP, 10k)
     Registration: Freeware

               *  *  * 

Dialog Enhancer v1.0

Since it'll soon be out of its beta stages, this little jewel deserves mention... Dialog Enhancer is an application which improves the look of your OS/2 system by tweaking the fonts and graphics of many of the Warp 4 system dialogs and programs. When IBM designed Warp 4, they introduced a new font called WarpSans, which was much nicer than the System font used in Warp 3; unfortunately, IBM didn't take the time to convert all of Warp 4 over to the new font, so many places in Warp 4 you'll see a dialog with the old Warp 3 System font; after seeing WarpSans, the System font just looks ugly.

(r.s.castle-96@student.lboro.ac.uk) Richard Castle's Dialog Enhancer tweaks the graphics resources of much of Warp 4, one-by-one making dialogs use the WarpSans font. Additionally, Dialog Enhancer has shrunk the size of many of the dialogs so they don't look quite so bulky, and even added text and graphics to them in places where it would make them easier on the eye. Not just dialogs have been changed, either; Castle has attacked many of the programs that come with Warp 4 and improved them in a similar manner; programs such as the Dial Other Internet Providers app, and the OS/2 Icon Editor. Since only the programs graphical resources are changed, the actual executables are left alone, and worries about corrupting a program so it won't run are slim.

Anyone who cares about how their OS/2 desktop looks should really download this program and try it out. It's expected to be finished beta sometime early in the new year, at which time it'll sell as shareware for $15. Download it and try it out now! (Its install program is currently in beta as well, so you have to download the install program and the actual Dialog Enhancer files separately)

Dialog Enhancer v1.0
     by (r.s.castle-96@student.lboro.ac.uk) Richard S. Castle
     download from D.E. site: (http://www-student.lboro.ac.uk/~mcrsc/de/download/pminstb2.zip) Install program (ZIP, 249k) | (http://www-student.lboro.ac.uk/~mcrsc/de/download/depk1161.zip) Data files (ZIP, 503k)
     Registration: US$15 (free for duration of beta stage)

               *  *  * 

That's it for this month.  Tune in next time for more reviews of neat gadgets and first looks at new OS/2 tools.

***********************************

December '97 Reader Survey Results

With any piece of engineering as complicated as an operating system, problems are bound to arise.  This is even more true of modern OSes, which can take up hundreds of megabytes of hard drive space and which must run an enormous array of hardware and software simultaneously.  All this means that any operating system developer has to have a good system of finding and correcting these problems, and of distributing the fixes.  IBM's solution is the "FixPak".

Different readers have written to us alternatively praising and condemning FixPaks over the years, so last month we asked our readers to tell us exactly how they really feel about "FixPaks".

Answers to our survey were accepted from December 16th until January 13th.  We had a total of 1,827 replies to our questionnaire with 94 "spoiled" entries (replies were considered "spoiled" if they did not contain an e-mail address, if they were incomplete or if they were duplicates).  This left 1,733 valid replies.  The results were as follows:

What is the highest level of FixPak you have applied?

Two interesting things were revealed by the answers our readers gave to our first question last month.  First, it seems OS/2ers like to keep their OS/2 systems on the cutting edge.  Over half the respondents (50.9%) in our survey reported that they had most recently applied FixPak 5 in some language.  Secondly, only a handful (7.4%) told us that they had never applied any type of FixPak.  So much for the old saying, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."

How did you install your most recent FixPak?

The variety of methods that our readers reported using to install their FixPaks may indicate that IBM is doing a good job of distribution.  The results were fairly evenly spread out among our suggested answers, with installation from floppies being slightly more common (33.7%) than other options.  The significant number of people installing directly from the WWW (29.3%), as well as the fact that many probably download their FixPaks from the Internet to install from floppies or Hard Disk shows the significance of this channel.  However, the respectable portion of our readers (10.3%) that now install FixPaks from CD shows that this relatively new option is catching on.

Are FixPaks well made?

Regardless of how much we install them or how easy they are to find, the real measure of IBM's "cure for what ails our systems" is whether they solve our problems.  Finally last month we asked just that.

And apparently IBM knows what it's doing.  Almost half our readers (46.6%) said that FixPaks fixed all or most of their problems with OS/2, and more than four out of five readers (84.8%) said they fixed at least some of their problems.  Less than 10% (8.2% in fact) said they had no effect or made their systems worse.

               *  *  * 

That's it for this month.  Don't forget to fill out this month's questionnaire and check back in January for complete results!

     
    

               Complete December '97 Survey Results

What is the highest level of FixPak you have applied?

Category					Count	Percentage
FixPak 5 for Warp 4 (US English)		796	45.9%
FixPak 5 for Warp 4 (non-US English)	86	5.0%
FixPak 4 for Warp 4 (US English)		157	9.1%
FixPak 4 for Warp 4 (non-US English)	7	0.4%
FixPak 3 for Warp 4 (US English)		73	4.2%
FixPak 3 for Warp 4 (non-US English)	35	2.0%
FixPak 2 for Warp 4 (US English)		11	0.6%
FixPak 2 for Warp 4 (non-US English)	10	0.6%
FixPak 1 for Warp 4 (US English)		108	6.2%
FixPak 1 for Warp 4 (non-US English)	54	3.1%
Any FixPak for Warp 3			267	15.4%
I have never installed a FixPak		128	7.4%
I don't understand the question		1	0.1%
TOTAL					1,733	100.0%



How did you install your most recent FixPak?

Category					Count	Percentage
From the WWW				508	29.3%
From a CD				179	10.3%
From a hard disk				335	19.3%
From floppies				584	33.7%
I told you, I don't know what a FixPak is	1	0.1%
I can't remember				3	0.2%
I told you, I have never installed a FixPak	123	7.1%
TOTAL					1,733	100.0%



Are FixPaks well made?

Category					Count	Percentage
Yes, they fix all my problems		134	7.7%
Yes, they fix most of my problems		674	38.9%
Yes, they fix some of my problems		662	38.2%
No, they don't fix any of my problems	56	3.2%
No, they make things worse			87	5.0%
I still don't know what a FixPak is		3	0.2%
I don't know, I've never used a FixPak	117	6.8%
TOTAL					1,733	100.0%

***********************************

January '98 Reader Survey

Have you ever wondered what your fellow OS/2 users are doing with their computers and how they're doing it?

Each month, OS/2 e-Zine! takes the pulse of the OS/2 community on a different topic and presents you with the results.

This month's topic is: Warpstock '98: Where and How Much?

Just fill in the form at http://www.os2ezine.com/v3n01/survey2.htm and check back next month to find out how "normal" you really are!

***********************************

OS/2 Top Sellers Lists

Each month OS/2 e-Zine! gathers data from various OS/2 retailers on the hottest selling OS/2 applications from around the world and presents the findings right here.  Because of the unique on-line OS/2 community, these lists may represent shareware, commercial software or a combination of the two.

To view the best selling OS/2 software list from your favourite vendor, just select from this list:

o  BMT Micro

o  Indelible Blue

o  J3 Computer Technologies

o  Mensys

Note: These lists represent only the monthly sales figures of the respective retailers.  The list above is presented in alphabetical order.  It is not OS/2 e-Zine!'s intention to recommend one retailer over another.  Please see our disclaimer for more information.

***********************************

December's Top Selling Apps from BMT Micro

	
This	Last	Product			Developer
Month	Month		
1	3	PMView			Peter Nielsen
2	1	InJoy			F/X Communications
3	--	ProNews			Panacea Software
4	2	PMMail			SouthSide Software
5	5	Homepage Publisher	JBC
6	4	ZOC			EmTec
7	--	X-File			CodeSmith Software
8	9	FTP Broswer		Jason Rushton
9	--	OpenChat/2		Max Mikhanosha
10	--	PowerBoot		Bluesky Innovations

               *  *  * 

This list is compiled by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro -- Your Source for Over 100 Quality Shareware Applications.

***********************************

December's Top Selling Apps from Indelible Blue

This	Last	Product				Developer
Month	Month		
1	1	Smartsuite OS/2 Warp 4 Beta	Lotus
2	5	IBM AntiVirus			IBM
3	14	BackAgain/2 Pro			Computer Data Strategies
4	7	QuickMotion			Practice Corporation
5	4	Hobbes CD-ROM			Walnut Creek
6	3	Software Choice for OS/2 Warp	IBM
7	6	BackMaster			MSR Development
8	--	DeskMan/2			DevTech
9	2	VisualAge Java Pro		IBM
10 (tie)	8	Unite CD Maker			Cirrus
10 (tie)	9	Partition Magic			PowerQuest
11	14	UniMaint				SofTouch Systems
12	--	Trials of Battle			Stardock Systems
13	--	Galactic Civilizations		Stardock Systems
14	--	Drive Image			PowerQuest
15	--	Process Commander			Stardock Systems

               *  *  * 

Compiled by (http://www.indelible-blue.com/) Indelible Blue, Inc. - Your Single Source for OS/2 Solutions.

***********************************

December's Top Selling Apps from J3

This	Last	Product				Developer
Month	Month		
1	1	Smartsuite OS/2 Warp 4 Beta	Lotus
2	7	Getting to Know OS/2 Warp 4 	[Book]
3	10	BitStream Font CD			BitStream
4	6	FaxWorks Pro v3 UG		Keller Group Inc.
5	--	Crystal 32PnP Wavetable Sound Card	NewCom
6	4	VisualAge for Java Professional	IBM
7	--	Seagate Backup			Seagate
8	8	Partition Magic			PowerQuest
9	5	Sibyl v2				SpeedSoft
10	--	MD+F SX Paint II			Modular Dreams

               *  *  * 

Compiled by (http://www.os2store.com/) J3 Computer Technologies - Serving the Global OS/2 Community, large and small!

***********************************

December's Top Selling Apps from Mensys

This	Last	Product				Developer
Month	Month		
1	1	Smartsuite OS/2 Warp 4 Beta & More	Mensys
2	--	Hobbes CDROM Archive October 97	Walnut Creek
3	2	Partition Magic			PowerQuest
4	--	Process Commander			Stardock Systems
5	3	DriveImage			PowerQuest
6	--	WordPro/FreeLance for OS/2		Lotus
7	8	OS/2 Warp V4 US Upgrade		IBM
8	--	BMT Micro CD June 1997		BMT Micro
9	--	DriveCopy			PowerQuest
10	4	IBM Antivirus Desktop		IBM

               *  *  * 

Compiled by (http://www.mensys.nl/indexuk.html) Mensys - The one place to go in Europe for all OS/2 Warp software.

***********************************

Top Sellers Lists Disclaimer

Our "top sellers lists" represent sales figures compiled for OS/2 e-Zine! by (http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro, Inc., (http://www.indelible-blue.com/) Indelible Blue, Inc., (http://www.os2store.com/) J3 Computer Technologies and (http://www.mensys.nl/indexuk.html) Mensys.  Falcon Networking does not verify these lists and makes no guarantee of their authenticity.  All inquiries regarding products appearing or not appearing on these lists should be directed to the relevant retailer.

The publication of these lists is not meant to indicate an endorsement by Falcon Networking of any of these companies or of the products featured on the lists.

Readers should note that the rankings indicated in each of these lists represent only the sales of each individual retailer.  They do not, necessarily, represent sales across the entire OS/2 industry.

There are many different sales channels in the OS/2 industry and different software vendors rely heavily on some while other vendors rely more heavily on others.  Also, not all retailers carry all existing OS/2 products.  Readers should take these facts into consideration when interpreting the "top sellers lists".

The BMT Micro "top sellers list" represents only the top selling OS/2 shareware applications available through BMT Micro, Inc.  The BMT Micro CD is excluded from the figures to avoid distorting the results.

The Indelible Blue "top sellers list" represents only the top selling OS/2 applications sold by Indelible Blue, Inc.  OS/2 Warp and OS/2 Warp Connect are not included in these rankings.

***********************************

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* Corporate Sponsors

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For more information please e-mail admin@os2ss.com or phone at (800) 595-1974 (Toll free - US & Canada) or (352) 335-9693 (Outside US & Canada).

* Readers Can Sponsor Too!

If you feel OS/2 e-Zine! is useful, entertaining or educational, please send what you feel a one year subscription is worth.  Even sponsorship of a few dollars is appreciated.  Individuals sponsoring US$15 or more will be listed in our Sponsors Page (with an optional link to their home page).

Just send your cash, cheque or money order (made payable to Falcon Networking) along with:

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For more information or any other questions please (feedback@os2ezine.com) e-mail us or contact us at:

Falcon Networking
4302 NW 25th Terrace
Gainesville FL, 32605
U.S.A.

(902) 461-2266

***********************************

Corporate Sponsors

(http://www.bmtmicro.com/) BMT Micro
Your complete source for over 175 of the best OS/2 shareware applications available.  Drop by today and check out our WWW catalog or download the .INF version.

(http://www.ChipChat.com/os2ezine) ChipChat Technology Group
ChipChat produces excellent 32-bit OS/2 software for wireless text paging and state-of-the-art multimedia Sound Cards for Micro Channel PS/2 computers.

(http://www.fx.dk/) F/X Communications
Home of the top selling (http://www.fx.dk/injoy/) InJoy dialer, ranked #1 in worldwide OS/2 shareware sales (Jan-97).

(http://www.indelible-blue.com/) Indelible Blue
Indelible Blue, a mail order company, provides OS/2 software and hardware solutions to customers worldwide.

(http://www.kellergroup.com/) Keller Group Inc.
Developers of FaxWorks for OS/2 and PMfax, the fax and voice solution for OS/2, with versions for stand-alone, LAN and Internet Faxing.

(http://www.mensys.nl/indexuk.html) Mensys
The one place to go in Europe for all OS/2 Warp software.

(http://www.pcs-soft.com/) Perez Computing Services
Defend against desktop freezes with Ctrl-Alt-Del Commander and create online documents/help with the IPF Editor.

(http://www.prominic.com/) Prominic Technologies, Inc.
On-line sales & solutions for VisualAge, DB2, OS/2 Warp, Workspace on Demand, Notes/Domino, AIX Firewall, and Net.Commerce (design/hosting).  The best deals on IBM and Lotus software and hardware (PCs, Servers, and RS/6000s) -- with OS/2 preloads!

(http://www.prioritymaster.com/) ScheduPerformance, Inc.
Dramatically improve performance on your OS/2 system now with the patented priority scanning logic and visual priority identification of Priority Master II.

(http://www.stardock.com/) Stardock Systems
Providing quality software for the home and office.

(http://www.sundialsystems.com/) Sundial Systems Corporation
Productivity applications:  Relish - time management; Mesa 2 - spreadsheet; Clearlook - word processor; DBExpert - database.

(http://www.warpspeed.com.au/) WarpSpeed Computers
Developers of The Graham Utilities -- the largest, most comprehensive suite of disk, file and general utilities specifically written for OS/2.

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Copyright 1998   -   Falcon Networking
ISSN 1203-5696