1994

Newsletters

9401

With the loss of Richard Smiley as our Users Group Vice President we are also without a Computer Industry Liaison. Until I can recruit a suitable replacement, I will attempt to amuse you with a sampling of the collected wisdom of industry pundits, apologists, critics and anyone else who shoots their mouth off in the trade rags. I don't think I will ever fill Richard's shoes, but maybe I can fill this newsletter (about hip deep).

Windows 4.0 (aka Chicago) looks like another Microsoft success story, NOT. My planned spring presentation on the Win4 release will have to be delayed. The latest gossip has the production version of Win4 missing 1994 altogether. Microsoft is not making any specific delivery promises, and slipping the unspecific ones out rapidly.

So, enough about delivery, is Win4 worth waiting for? According to reviewers of the current pre-beta released code, no! Win4 will be a hybrid 16/32 bit operating system. Major portions of the operating system, including the graphics subsystem, will be 16 bit code to allow backward compatibility. The crash-proof multi-tasking will not work anywhere as well as OS/2. In general the reviewers were unimpressed.

What is Microsoft planning to do about this lack of excitement for it's new baby? What else, It will begin pushing Windows for Workgroups 3.11 (WFW) as the new desktop operating system of the future, until Win4 gets here, or WinNT gets lean. WFW is a local area network extension to Windows 3.1. It also provides enhancements to the way Windows runs, to help network performance. It turns out that these enhancements improve Windows performance even if you have no network. WFW will become the new computer fashion statement for 1994. Rumor has it that Microsoft will begin pushing computer vendors to sell computers with WFW 3.11 installed on the hard drive, much the way Windows is included now.

The DOS 6.2 upgrade is available for about $9 in stores or free from some BBS systems. All reviews I have seen are positive. If you have 6.0 then 6.2 is better. If you have 5.0 and didn't get 6.0, you probably don't need 6.2.

Microsoft has made the 6.2 upgrade much more user friendly than 6.0. The default settings for the new utilities are much less aggressive than those in 6.0. The ability to recover from trouble caused by the utilities has been greatly enhanced. In fact, you can now turn DoubleSpace off and de-install it without experiencing major system dysfunction.

P.S. The 6.2 number was chosen to leap-frog the IBM release of PC-DOS 6.1, which was probably chosen to leap-frog Microsoft's problems with 6.0. And so it goes.

Someone finally got smart and used Apple's marketing philosophy on an IBM platform. Although I have only seen their slick TV ads, the Compaq Presario seems to be a highly integrated, pre-configured, plug-it-in-out-of-the-box PC. It has some out-of-the-mainstream features like an integrated monitor and voice-mail that give it a state-of-the-art look, while under the hood it appears to be just another Compaq PC. I don't know how this one will do in the market, but with Apple's current troubles there is a good chance it will grab a number of low end buyers from the Apple camp.

There is a huge debate over the merits of the VESA 486 Local Bus vs. the Intel PCI bus for improving the speed with which computers can access their peripherals. The problem with peripheral access speed began when processor speeds rose rapidly above the 8 Mhz speed of the original ISA bus developed for the PC. The more recent Micro-Channel and EISA busses addressed some of the interfacing problems involved, but just couldn't keep up the raw throughput requited for modern GUI interfaces and virtual memory support.

The VESA Local Bus (VL-Bus) simply extends the native 486 CPU bus to allow two or three other devices, usually a video card and disk, to be accessed directly by the processor. The VESA standard has been developed to define how this should be done. It is fast, cheap and very easy to implement for computer manufacturers. In the short term it will do everything that needs to be done. Look for tons of VL-Bus machines to sell in 1994.

The compromises that allow the VL-Bus to be fast and cheap will also lead to it's eventual replacement with the PCI bus. The local bus allows only a few peripherals to be connected before it runs out of signal power. The local bus is by definition a 486 chip bus, so as Pentiums and other RISC chips begin to ship the local bus will not be as useful as it is in a 486 world. Last the lack of a controller on the local bus it is more difficult to allow the type of bus mastering and bus optimization that takes place on the MCA and EISA busses today.

PCI will arrive with the new Pentium based systems and will gain dominance with them. PCI will penetrate the 486 market only when a wide range of peripheral controllers are supported and the price/volume of the PCI controller chip set has hit it's stride. Look for PCI to make a big splash in 1995.

I don't know quite what to say on this one. With the introduction of OS/2 for Windows for $50 it looks like IBM has a winner. OS2FW is priced like a DOS upgrade, instead of the powerful 32 bit operating system it really is.

And the dual boot capability allow us to turn it on and off at will. The only questions on anyone's mind are: "When will someone learn to write GOOD 32 bit applications for OS/2?" and "How and when will IBM screw it up?"

I don't see anything on the Microsoft plate that looks even close to OS/2. Windows NT is not the system for the rest of us, by their own admission, and Windows 4 is not the system for 1994, also by their own admission. Maybe they will rename Windows for Workgroups 3.11 to Windows 3.3 and tell us that this was the real plan all along, yes, that's the ticket. Look for Microsoft and IBM to switch roles in 1994. IBM charging hard with the OS that's here, and Microsoft with vague promises for the future.

The long term winner: Microsoft. No matter what happens, short of a Justice Department break-up, Microsoft has cash and the marketing muscle to take advantage of any outcome of the OS wars.

Well, I did my best to capture some of the tidbits that have crossed my desk in the various trade journals. I don't think this analysis is up to the level that Richard provided, but practice makes perfect. I'll try again next month.

Mark Pendergast

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9403

The great turnout for our February presentation on the Internet showed me that many people are interested in this precursor to the Information Super-Highway. The main questions that people asked were: "Who owns it?", "How does it work?" and "How do I get on it?". The answers of course are "Nobody", "Magic" and "With the help of a provider".

The Internet, much like the Oregon trail, or a Caravan Trail before that, is not much more than a well worn footpath in the wilderness. It comes complete with trail markers, guides and wondrous things to see and do. Unfortunately, being in a wilderness, it also comes complete with bandits, drought, floods, disease and pestilence.

So, on to the first question: "Who owns the Internet?" answer: "Nobody". While it is true that all the pieces of the Internet are owned by someone, it is equally true that nobody "owns", or better yet "controls" the Internet. To understand how this happened we must look at where the Internet came from and how it grew up.

The Internet began it's life, as most good technologies do, as a weapon of war. It was conceived at the end of the Second World War and birthed in the Cold War. Near the end of the Second World War the Department of Defense (DOD) commissioned the Manhattan Project to build the Atomic bomb. They had no good way to have scientists in remote locations work together, so the just packed them all off to Los Alamos Laboratory and had them work together until the bomb was done. The DOD was very impressed with the progress that was made when the greatest scientific minds of the country were able to work together on a project. After the 'hot' war was over the cold war began. The DOD wanted to continue Manhattan style research, but with the war over the scientists were less eager to be herded up and treated like cattle. The DOD created DARPA to carry on advanced research. (I think DARPA stands for something like Defence Advanced Research Project Agency, or something like that.) Unable to herd scientists into group labs, DARPA conceived of a nationwide network of computers that would allow academic researchers to work together with DOD and Defence contractors even though they may be many miles apart. This network was called DARPA-net.

DARPA-net was composed of modem links over dedicated phone lines between DARPA and various colleges that did research for DARPA and also contractors that did work for DOD. Over the years the links were upgraded, TCPIP became the dominant protocol and the net began to be used for more and more functions other than DARPA research. As non-DARPA research began to dominate the DARPA-net, a non-classified section of the net was renamed the ARPA-net. As universities needed to collaborate on research they began to add links to the ARPA-net. Because of the Peer-to-peer nature of TCPIP the net could function even without any top-down plan for growth. The ARPA-net and it's children are the Internet.

Question two: "How does it work?" answer: Magic!". Magic is the only word that could describe how the Internet could keep functioning in spite of having no owner or operating plan. The secret to the magic is TCPIP along with a large pile of grant money to fund basic research.

TCPIP is a set of rules for getting data to the right place on a network. It allows for a 32 bit address space which gives room for just over 4 billion devices. The magic in TCPIP is that it doesn't need to know where the destination is to find it. Most nodes on the Internet know only a few hundred other nodes, but they all cooperate to get the messages moved to the right spot. So it your node knows someone who knows someone who knows someone who knows were the destination is, then the message gets there, magic.

Oh yes, the grant money. Well, when you pay taxes and some pork barrel congressman spends it to study "the mating habits of IBM hackers" or when you pay tuition to a major university that turns around and blows it on research, your money goes to a big lab budget somewhere. One of the items on that budget is computers and data communications. The data communications part of the budget is probably funding a leg of the Internet so this researcher can access data on IBM hackers and their habits or how to get more tuition money from students. This is how a good deal of the Internet gets paid for.

Question three: "How do I get going?" answer: "With a little help from a provider". As the uses of the Internet became more and more diverse the players became smaller and smaller. Likewise the budgets became smaller and smaller, until they couldn't afford to put in a T1 dedicated phone line and a TCPIP router. To the rescue came capitalism. A company was formed to provide Internet access and TCPIP routing to small companies and colleges that could only afford to dial in with a modem, but still needed access to the information on the Internet. Hence the term provider.

Well, what about me??? Depending on what level of service, features, cost and quality you can tolerate, there is probably a provider that meets your needs. I have heard that the DELPHI on-line service provides the best Internet connectivity that is available to the little guy today. Other on-line services like Compuserve, America On-line and Prodigy provide Internet mail and some data access. There are local BBS systems like the Hollingsworth BBS that download net-news and mail. In the future there will be more developments as the Information Super-Highway gets in gear. Stay tuned for more info.

Mark Pendergast

9404

I just bought Works for Windows 3.0. I've used Works all the way from DOS 1.0 to present and have been very happy with it's mix of low cost and acceptable functionality. I have thought, from time to time that I should upgrade to the full Microsoft Office package, but lacked the need or the big bucks. Well, Works 3,0 will delay my move to Office for another few years. I purchased the software from SAM's Club for about $75. It came with a free copy of Microsoft Money 2.0 and an upgrade ticket for Money 3.0 when it comes out later this summer. It also came with a $10 rebate for users of Works for Windows 2.0, which I chose not to use. I plan to downgrade my current version to DOS 2.0 and run it on my XT.

For those of you unfamiliar with Works I will give you an overview. Works is a combined Spreadsheet, Word Processor and Database that allows tight integration between the tools with very little work. The features have been limited, and the target audience has been small business users who could not afford Microsoft Office. Some of the biggest limitations have been lack of formatting control and import filters in all the tools, lack of text manipulation tools in the Spreadsheet, lack of sophisticated headers and footers in the Word Processor and lack of sophisticated reports in the Database. One flaw that was not fixed in the current release was the lack of a macro language.

The big news in Works 3.0 is formatting features. Lines, patterns, colors, wraps, etc. are available in all the tools. The Word Processor even does multi-column newsletter formats and will wrap text around a graphic image. This may not be a big deal for the big name packages, but it's close enough to rocket science for $75. The Spreadsheet allows text to wrap in a cell and does a best fit of the column width when you double click on the separator bar in the column header.

To get you started fast there is a huge number of templates for 'standard' business or personal documents. Just make a copy of these starter documents and fill in your details. The Works wizards now provide a 'jump-start' for over a dozen specialized documents. I had a blast making personalized letterhead stationary for the whole family with the letterhead wizard. Just start the wizard and select the options you want from the easy to use menus. The wizard then 'compiles' a custom document to meet you needs. You can then save this document as a template and have it available for use at any time. There also Cue Cards for people who enjoy being told what to do every minute of the day. These may be OK for a novice, but I turned them off instantly.

There are Wizards for: Address book, Business Contacts, Business Inventory, Customer Profile, File Organizer, Footnotes, Form Letter, Home Inventory, Letterhead, Membership Tracker, Quick Database and Student Profile. Most of the Wizards help you create a database to track various things. The file organizer is unique in that it does not create a Works document. Instead it allows you to do a directory lookup for files that match a wildcard name and a saved since date. This is handy when you know you just worked on something, but can't recall exactly what you named it.

A major New/Old feature is a Communications tool. This terminal emulator software was last seen in the DOS version of Works. It was lost in the transition from DOS to Windows, but has returned in version 3. The Communication tool seems to work well. I called the BBS with it and downloaded some files. It seemed significantly slower than my DOS version of Procom Plus, but it got the job done. It downloaded a few megabytes of files using ZMODEM and provided me with a nice graphical user interface. The emulator says it supports VT220. I have not had a chance to give it the acid test of calling into our VAX computer at work and running the keypad based text editor. I saw no menu to change the keyboard mapping.

The Spreadsheet has new power with a full set of text manipulation functions. In the past if A1 was "CAT" and B1 was =A1, then B1 was probably equal to zero. The spreadsheet had no ability to deal with text in formulas. The new Works allows full manipulation of text with functions like LEFT, RIGHT, MID, FIND, TRIM, STRING, VALUE, LOWER and UPPER. The spreadsheet graphics tool now has some cool looking 3-D graph templates.

The tools all support drag and drop editing. I haven't gotten used to this yet, but it grow on you. Just highlight an area and grab it with the mouse and drop it where you want it. Simple.

Each tool has a customizable tool bar. You get to pick which tools are available. You can not create new tools, but this is a major enhancement none the less. This enhancement does cause some problems if two people share the computer because there is no way to save toolbar preferences in named files.

Works 3.0 supports OLE! What does this mean? I have no idea, but I'll keep you posted.

Last and certainly least are Word Art and Clip Art. Word Art allows you to rotate and shape text to fancy patterns. This is useful in letterheads and newsletters for that eye-catching flair. Clip Art is available in the form of twenty or so icon-like scraps of clip art that, like word art, add a little flair here or there.

I am very happy with my copy of Works 3.0 for Windows and plan to use it as my main computer tool for office functions. I feel it is a great bargain for the price and would highly recommend it for novice and expert alike. This article was one of the first I've done on Works 3.0 and I'm sure there will be many more to follow.

Mark Pendergast

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Novel registers with the SEC to buy Word Perfect Corporation and Borland's Quatro Pro Spreadsheet business. This deal will make them the largest software company in the world.

Word Perfect has been looking for a partner for some time now. They teamed up with Lotus until they acquired Ami Pro, then Borland as part of the Borland Office. Their Word Perfect Office software and their presence on Unix will make a great fit with Novel's strength in networking and their 'Unixware' strategy. Quatro Pro has been floundering for some time. It will round out Novel's offering to be a full office suite suppler. It will be an interesting matchup over the next year between Chicago/NT, OS/2 and Novel's 'office'. Look for Novel's Unixware to be a major player in the 32 bit operating systems wars.

Stack beats Microsoft in court to the tune of 130 million dollars. Microsoft withdraws Doublespace from the market. Look for a long summer of lawsuits and counter-suits that end up with nobody able to ship any software anywhere. The ruling in the Stack vs. Microsoft case will no doubt cloud the waters on reverse-engineering to the point that everyone will be able to sue everyone else. The problem is the definition of 'shallow' reverse-engineering . 'Deep' reverse-engineering is when you take someone's code, dis-assemble it, figure out how it works and then write something slightly different that does exactly the same thing. This should be, and is, illegal. 'Shallow' reverse-engineering, as I understand it, is looking at someone's program that has a feature, deciding to add that feature to your program and writing some original code to implement a similar feature. This is how software progress is made, and is a long way from the kind of thing that patents are supposed to protect. Even the Lotus look-and-feel case did not go this deep. But, I guess the courts will have fun sorting this out.

Mark Pendergast

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I purchased the combo of Expert Home Design for Windows and Expert Landscape for Windows for about $15 at SAM's Club. I loaded Expert Home Design to get the kinks out of my plan for the addition I hope to build this spring.

The program was easy to load and is simple to operate. Unfortunately the real simplicity is in the program itself. There are almost no features. This is a simple paint program that has a library of clip art that sort of looks like furniture.

I tried to lay out the external walls to my addition. First, the wall thickness is not represented in inches, but in pixels. They give you some guesses as to how many pixels make a wall at various screen resolutions, but this is like planning in cubits.

Next, I tried to place my 9 pixel exterior walls and my 6 pixel interior walls into the correct positions to see how things lined up. No dice, the walls allow no control over placement by inside or outside edge. You can only set them down by center. This made it almost impossible to get the inside rooms aligned with the outside walls.

Windows were also a problem. I found no way to get an accurate window length, or to get two windows to be the same size. It was much like using Windows Paint to do the work.

I didn't get into furniture. I can't see how I would tell if I could fit two chairs in the space between the wall and the closet when nothing in the diagram was drawn to scale.

Needless to say I didn't even get Landscape out of the box. This is probably too bad because landscaping doesn't need near the precision that home design does. I expect that the Landscape package will provide a reasonable way to landscape the new addition when it is complete.

All in all I was disappointed with the package. The lack of control over wall size and placement made it unusable for my needs. I guess I would have to say it was worth the $8 I paid for it, but this is not much of a recommendation. I had hoped that the package would prove to be a jewel in the rough. Instead it was just another 'el cheepo' that tried and failed.

I would like to hear about all your software jewels and junk. Please write a newsletter article and let me know how your purchase worked out, before I toss another $8 of my hard earned money into the bit bucket. It is also a great opportunity to earn user bucks and get your 15 minutes of fame. Hope to hear from you soon.

Mark Pendergast

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9405

by Brian Livingston (InfoWorld 1993)

This is the book that saved my happy home. More Windows 3.1 Secrets gave me the tips I needed to 'kid-proof' my Windows. As you may have heard during my presentation on multiple configurations, my son found a new Windows 'game program' called Windows File Manager. He nearly scrambled my disk before I discovered what was going on. I used some tips from the book to set up a secure windows session for my son and now we can coexist on the same machine.

More Windows 3.1 Secrets also includes a disk of utilities programs and shareware that includes: A File Manager enhancer, a Program Manager replacement, an odometer for you mouse, some specialized edit or and even some games.

I was very happy with this book and would recommend it to anyone trying to get more out of Windows.

Mark Pendergast

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By Clifford Stoll (Doubleday 1989)

The Cuckoo's Egg is a very good book about computer espionage. The book describes how the author discovered and tracked down a hacker that was breaking into his computer. It helps to have some background knowledge of minicomputer operating systems like VMS and UNIX to understand some of the story's details, but it is written such that just about anyone with some knowledge of computers will enjoy it.

The author does a very good job of telling the human side of the story as well as the technological side. You can sympathize with the author as he tries to get someone, anyone, from the FBI, CIA or Military to take an interest in the case. You wait wondering when the hacker will strike again, and what will happen when he sees the bogus SDI-NET files that were planted to lead him on.

I highly recommend The Cuckoo's Egg. It was a well written and highly entertaining mystery story. And best of all, it's a true account of events that actually happened.

Mark Pendergast

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9407

Time and time again we hear people talk about not having enough memory on their computer to do something. The only trouble is we never know what kind of memory we don't have enough of. Sometimes it's RAM, next time it's disk. Just how many types of memory do we have on these stupid computers anyway?

Well, I have undertaken a small study of the various types of memory your computer uses. Even though this is a pretty long list, I have probably missed some and I have over-simplified others to save space. I will not go into the details of how to get more memory, but will just try to describe the various types. The major categories of memory are ROM, RAM, and Disk. Within these major categories are various sub-categories and even some like 'virtual memory' or 'ramdisk' that don't really fit well anywhere.

ROM is easy. You don't run out because you can't change it. ROM is where the manufacturer of your computer and peripherals store their hardware specific code. The most obvious example of ROM is your system's BIOS. Many peripherals have their own BIOS on the interface cards, for example Video BIOS. This is usually transparent to you the user.

An exception to the rule that ROM is easy is when the computer copies the ROM into RAM to make it run faster. ROM is slower than RAM so some computers use a process called 'shadowing' to copy the ROM into RAM. This of course takes RAM.

There are a number of types of RAM. You can run out of some of them and not others. Some will only slow your system down if you do not have enough.

System RAM

System RAM is the memory most people mean when they talk about memory. System RAM is where the operating system and program code are placed so the CPU can execute them. Most systems these days have somewhere between 4 and 8 megabytes of RAM. System RAM is divided into three major sections. (This is important because we can run out of memory in one section, yet still have gobs of memory in another section, and still be out of memory as far as the program is concerned.)

- Conventional RAM Memory (640K)

The Conventional RAM Memory area is where all the action happens on 16 bit operating systems like DOS and Windows. When the IBM standard for computers was developed IBM decided that 640K was all the memory anyone would ever need till the end of time. They defined this as the high limit of memory and allocated anything from there up to 1 M as room for device drivers. The advent of Networking and Graphical User Interfaces soon blew the lid off 640K and ever since we have had "Out of Memory" errors. When 32 bit operating systems become available this limitation will not go away, but it will move up to the 4000M line, instead of the 640K line, which should hold us for a little while. The only solutions available for 16 bit operating systems are memory managers like EMM386 that allow some TSRs to be loaded into the Upper Memory Area. MEMMAKER is a utility that can squeeze things into Upper Memory.

- Upper Memory Area (640K - 1M)

The Upper Memory area, as we said above, is the space that IBM set aside for device drivers and such. This space can be accessed by a 16 bit operating system, but was largely ignored because it was considered reserved. Since we began to run out of Conventional Memory, people have been dreaming up ways to get more memory. One way is to use the unused parts of the upper memory area. One way to use this area is to use EMM386 to move drivers and TSRs into the Upper Memory Area. A limitation of this strategy is that to use this area EMM386 must map it into addresses used by the last type of system memory, the Extended Memory area. Because of this we must trade off Upper Memory space gained for loading code vs. Extended Memory space lost for mapping Upper Memory space.

- Extended Memory Area (1M+)

The Extended Memory Area is all the RAM memory above one megabyte. It can not be accessed in 16 bit mode so we must use an Extended Memory Manager like HIMEM to access it. We can run out of Extended Memory if we run large programs like Windows applications without enough Extended memory. The first 64K for the Extended Memory Area is called the High Memory Area. DOS can load itself into the High Memory Area to make more Conventional Memory available for DOS programs.

Expanded Memory

Expanded Memory is an older way of getting more RAM memory on your computer. Few programs still use Expanded Memory, but those that do can still run out of it. Expanded Memory is provided on an external memory card and accessed through an Expanded Memory manager program that was supplied with the memory expansion card. Both HIMEM and Windows can simulate Expanded Memory by using Extended Memory.

CPU RAM Cache

You can not run out of CPU RAM Cache, but if you have more of it your system may run faster. RAM memory may seem fast when compared to your disk, but to your CPU it's still slow. Many processors have a little holding area of super-fast RAM to keep things they need handy. The CPU RAM Cache works on the same theory as a Disk Cache, but for your Base System Memory.

CMOS RAM

You can not run out of CMOS RAM and it has little effect on your system performance unless the battery backup goes bad. The CMOS RAM holds the configuration of your system so the operating system will know where to find things. It stores your disk configuration and a number of other parameters that vary from system to system.

Printer RAM

Most laser printers have Printer RAM that is used to hold the image of the page until it can be transferred to the paper. When you run out of Printer RAM you usually get only half a page of output, or two pages, one half each. Many laser printers are sold with 512K of RAM memory. This is good for text and simple graphics, but very dense graphical presentations require 2 to 4 megabytes of Printer RAM.

Video RAM

Video Cards have RAM Memory to allow them to store the image before transferring it to the CRT screen. You can not run out of Video RAM.

Ramdisk

Ramdisk does not look like memory at first glance, but under the covers we find that a Ramdisk is just System RAM masquerading as a disk. This means that it can eat into our available RAM and like RAM it goes 'poof' and disappears when we turn off the power. If you are using a Ramdisk and having 'out of Memory' problems you may need to stop using it.

Disk Cache

Disk Cache does not look like memory at first glance, but under the covers we find that a Disk Cache is once again just System RAM. This means that it can eat into our available RAM and like RAM it goes 'poof' and disappears when we turn off the power. If you are using a Disk Cache like SMARTDrive and having 'out of Memory' problems you may need to stop using it. If your Disk Cache is built into the disk controller card you will not eat up any System RAM.

Hard Disk

When people refer to Hard Disk as memory it usually just adds to the confusion. A better term is Storage. When you run out of Disk Storage you can not add any more files and you may lose your work if you try to save it. DOS 6 has a feature that if you MOVE a file to a full disk it just deletes the file. A full hard disk will not stop you from running a program, but it may not allow you to save your work.

Floppy Disk

Floppy disks act much like hard disks. They have the advantage of being removable and portable. Their main disadvantages are that they are slow and small.

CD ROM

You can not run out of CD ROM because, like real ROM, you can't write to it.

Virtual Memory (Swap)

Virtual Memory does not look like disk at first glance, but under the covers we find that Virtual Memory is just Hard Disk space masquerading as System RAM Memory. This means that it can eat into our available disk space. If you are using Virtual Memory and having 'out of Disk Space' problems you may need to stop using it.

Well, I hope these definitions of various types of memory are helpful. For more information on getting more out of your 'memory' look in your DOS Reference Manual under "Making more memory available" and "Freeing disk space".

Mark Pendergast

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(From the story "Waiting for Justice" by Wendy Goldman Rohm in Open Computing Magazine, July 1994)

There is a great story that really explains some of the fundamental changes that have taken place in how the government is looking at the Microsoft Anti-Trust case. I highly recommend that you get a look at the whole thing some time. For those of you only want the highlights, I will try to point them out.

The Federal Trade Commission looked at the Microsoft Anti-Trust case for almost three years. They were operating under the Regan-Bush 'hands off business' philosophy and wrestling with an enormously complex case in a very new industry. They decided to focus in on a very narrow slice of Microsoft's business policies in hopes that they could bring it to trial and win. This policy was the per processor licensing of DOS and Windows to OEM computer manufacturers. This tended to lock computer manufacturers into just one operating system, Windows.

Bill Clinton's choice for head of the Anti-trust division of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is Anne Bingaman. She took the case from the FTC as part of a major campaign of reviving anti-trust law enforcement. Sam Miller was hired as the head litigator for DOJ. By March Miller had decided that the FTC case was too narrow in scope, he decided to pursue the 'BIG' case against Microsoft. The big case is that Microsoft uses its operating system business to leverage its applications business. This unfairly shuts other competitors out of the market.

Miller plans to revive the same legal theories used against AT&T when they were broken up due to anti-trust violations. The heart of the case is the notion of an 'essential facility' that is required to do business. In the past this was some physical facility like a road, bridge or canal, for AT&T it was the Bell operating companies that controlled access to the long distance carriers, and in the Microsoft case DOJ feels DOS and Windows are essential facilities to anyone writing computer software. The law allows a company to have a monopoly on the essential facility, but it must make that facility available to competitors on an equitable and fair basis.

There is a four part test to see whether something is an essential facility. Control of the facility by a monopolist; competitors inability to practically or reasonably duplicate the essential facility, denial of use of the essential facility to a competitor; and the feasibility of providing the essential facility to the competitor. Microsoft's withholding of technology secrets from competitors, yet giving them to it's own applications developers is a violation of the laws regarding an essential facility.

DOJ hopes to bring their case by summer and go to trial within a year. They will probably offer Microsoft a chance to sign a consent order that would prevent the trail and require Microsoft to mend their ways, under court supervision. It is unlikely that this would happen because Microsoft has declared their innocence from the beginning. More likely, as the case goes to trial Microsoft will begin slinging mud at it's competitors that have testified against them and dig up all sorts of stories about anti-competitive practices in the whole industry.

Where this will all end up is anyone's guess, but from the view point of DOJ this is not only the right thing to do in the idealistic sense, it is the best thing to do for consumers, the software industry and Microsoft. With that attitude it looks to be a long hot summer.

Mark Pendergast

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9408

I have been using the Group BBS for a little while now and have developed some understanding of how it works. We have had a number of articles and presentations about how to log onto the BBS, but very few have covered what's up there and what can you do with it. In this article I hope to describe some of the pieces that make up the BBS and how to get it to do what you want.

First, The BBS is really just a computer with a modem and some software that allows you to call in through the modem and do BBS kind of stuff. The most important part of the BBS is the system operator that keeps it all going. The BBS is organized hierarchically into Conferences and Directories. Conferences may be restricted so that you can't access them. Directories are open to everyone in the conference and are simply used to organize files.

Second, what are the individual parts that make up the BBS?

SYSOPs, Menus, Conferences, Directories, Files, and Messages

The SYSOP or SYStem OPerator is the individual that provides the computer and modem and software for the BBS and generally keeps everything running. When you have problems or need assistance just contact the SYSOP. There is a special command on the system to send a message to the SYSOP. This is the 'C' command. Just press C and Enter to send a message to the SYSOP.

Menus are lists of option that are printed on the screen to help you navigate around the BBS. Some menus you might see are:

Main Menu - This lists all the BBS navigation commands

Conference Selection - This lists all the conferences you can join.

Directory Selection - This lists all the directories in a conference.

File Selection - This lists all the files that are available in a directory of a Conference.

A conference is a sub-set of the BBS that can be restricted from access. The Group BBS has a number of conferences. The main conference is open to everyone. There are also conferences for OS/2, X-rated, IBM Users Group, IBM Officers and CD-ROM.

Each conference has it's own private message database and file directory system. You must be a member of the Conference to access them. You can tell which conference you are in by looking at the prompt for the main menu. It will tell you which conference you are in and how many minutes remain in your session.

Directories are located in each conference. They work just like directories on your computer at home. They organize files into logical groups that allow you to find thins faster.

Files are the heart of the BBS. They are provided by the SYSOP or are uploaded by users of the BBS. To save space and transfer time many of the files are compressed. You must then use pkunzip, arc or some other utility to uncompress them once you get them to your system.

Messages are electronic mail messages. You can use them to communicate with an individual or to everyone on the BBS. The non-secure messages are posted so anyone can browse through them. The occasionally make interesting reading.

To get around the BBS and make things happen we use commands. The commands are all listed on the main menu. The main menu lists all the commands alphabetically, but we use them by what function we need to perform. I have reorganized the main menu to list the commands by function. See the boxed menu on this page.

============================[ Main Menu ]=================================

Setup Navigation Transfer Commands Message Commands

---------------- ------------------- ------------------ -----------------

I)nitial Welcome J)oin a Conference T)rans. Protocol Y)our Per. Mail

P)age Length Set A)bandon Conference FLAG for download R)ead Messages

V)iew Settings L)ocate Files(name) D)ownload a File E)nter a Message

W)rite User Info F)ile Directories DB Download Batch K)ill a Message

M)ode (Graphics) N)ew Files(date) U)pload a File C)omment to SYSOP

X)pert On/Off Z)ippy DIR Scan UB Upload Batch REPLY to Msg(s)

G)oodbye (Hang up) TS)Txt Srch Msgs

Misc. RM)Re-Read Mem #

------------------------------------- Q)uick Msg Scan

H)elp Functions USERS List Users

OPEN a DOOR O)perator Page

CHAT between NODEs S)cript Question

NEWS file display B)ulletin Listings

SELECT Conferences for Scanning or Reading

(45 min. left) Main Board Command?

The most interesting setup command is 'w'. It allows you to reset your password.

Use the 'j' command at the Main Menu to view the Conference selection Menu. Press enter to get the join command prompt. Then type the number of the Conference you wish to join and press enter. You will then be in the new conference.

Use the 'a' command at the Main Menu of the Conference to abandon the conference. You will be returned to the Main Conference - Main Menu.

To view the Directories in the Conference type the 'f' command at the Main Menu. This will move you to the Directory Selection Menu.

To view the files in a directory move to the Directory Selection menu. Then type the number of the Directory you wish to view and press enter. You will be moved to the File Selection Menu for that Directory.

To find files that you know something about use the following commands:

N - New (Find file by date)

L - Locate (Find file by name)

Z - Zippy dir scan (Find file by BBS description)

The most used transfer command is 'db'. The zmodem protocol automates much of the download process, so I recommend it. I leave my protocol set to none and select zmodem each time, sometimes if zmodem does not work for some reason I use xmodem-checksum.

I find it easier to use the flag command in the file list menu than it is to use the flag command in the main menu. In the file list menu you can see all the files.

To read all your new messages in a Conference use: R Y S

To read all new messages to you or ALL in a Conference use: R YA S

To read all new messages in a Conference use: R S

To read all new messages in all Conferences you have access to use: R ALL S

To read the reply to a message use: T+

To read all messages on the board use: R 1+

My usual command is R ALL S. This catches me up on all the gossip on the board.

The most important command on the BBS is the 'h' command. I have learned everything I know about the BBS by using help. Just type "h <command>" where <command> is a BBS command from the menu and it will list a full description of the command and many times it will include examples.

Well that is my summary of the BBS system and how to use it. I encourage all of you to give it a try. If you have any other ideas for presentations you would like to see or have your own idea for a presentation you would be willing to make to the Group please let us know. We love to share the spot light or hog it, which ever seems appropriate at the time.

Mark Pendergast

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9412

It looks like Intel made a boo-boo in the design of the new Pentium processor. The first two million or so chips had a design error in the processor. Intel is not issuing a recall. You must contact Intel and prove you might use the error prone instructions in your normal usage. They claim that only the most sophisticated math and science programs would ever encounter the error. They quoted all sorts of zillion to one odds of it ever occurring. (Did they compute these odds on one of the defective Pentiums???) Rumor has it that the error was reported by Senior Golf Tour Professional Chi Chi Rodriguez after he blew a two foot birdie putt in Microsoft Golf. ("There was no way I could have blown that putt" claimed Chi Chi, "It had to be the %$#@!* processor".)

Earlier this year a group on the Internet had a contest to determine what the '95' in Windows 95 stood for. The answer: 'The year it was due to ship". Microsoft took a big step towards making this prediction a reality in the current issue of Microsoft Magazine. They announced the availability of Win95 as the first half of 1995. This represents yet another slippage from their earlier predictions. To add insult to injury they also announced that Win95 would now run in 4 meg of memory. (And I thought they had even given up on cramming it into 8 meg???) I predict that Microsoft will do one of two things. Either they will release a late beta (and call it production) in 4th quarter 1995, or they will rename it "Windows Chicago V4" and release it in 2nd quarter 1996 (and claim that this was what they had planned all along).

Microsoft is planning to open a big on-line network to compete with the other on-line services. I would expect that they plan to build it around the financial services that are available to Quicken users. They plan to have forums, Microsoft support and e-mail. Look for a free introductory offer in Win95.

Mark Pendergast

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I am in the market to upgrade my computer, a Gateway 386DX/33 4M RAM 109M Disk, to multimedia. I am still learning the lingo, but I will try to pass on as much information as I currently understand. My goal is to get a good system that will take some abuse from my kids and has performance that will match my slower processor.

The elements of my upgrade will be RAM, Disk, CD ROM Drive, Sound Card, Speakers, and Software.

My CPU will probably work with most software available today. The next generation of multimedia will require a 486, but I hope to have a new computer, with all this stuff standard, by then.

I don't feel that 4 meg of memory will be enough for multimedia. The extra 4 meg of RAM will give me 8 meg total. This should be enough for reasonable performance. My system unit will accept 8 meg on the motherboard. This will also let me experiment with OS/2.

My 109 Meg disk is too small, even without multimedia. I plan to get at least 500 meg. It is still not clear to me how SCSI disks and SCSI CD ROMs fit into the picture. Can I get one controller and add both Disks and CDs to it, or should I stick to IDE for disks and let the CD ROM do it's own thing?

I plan to get a double speed CD ROM drive. I have heard about problems with the faster drives, and I don't think It will matter with my 386 processor. I know that random access time is an important variable. Most drives in upgrade kits quote 320ms, but 250ms would be nice. I still haven't decided if I need a 'caddie' or not. My kids are pre-school so they will be hard on the disks, but the price of caddies is pretty high. Another thing that concerns me is motorized vs. non-motorized loading. I figure my kids will burn out a motor by pushing and pulling on the disks, but most of the kits do not say how the mechanism works. In fact, my greatest frustration in purchasing a kit is the general lack of information that is available on the outside of the box.

I have no way to grade sound cards. I have pretty much taken the "big two" vs. everyone else approach. If it's not Sound Blaster or Pro-Audio Spectrum, then I don't really want it. On the other hand for the right price I could take some risk.

Speakers are speakers as far as I am concerned. A volume control would be nice. The external power supply is a pain, but I can see where it adds value. I would like to get some headphones, but I think the kids would just shred them.

Software is included in most complete upgrade kits. The quantity and quality of the software ranges up and down the scale. The best software bundle I saw was in a Creative Labs upgrade kit called "The Digital Schoolhouse". It had about 25 titles that my kids would love at a very low price.

On the whole I still have not decided on what level of investment makes sense to me. I hope to have this figured out by Christmas. I hope to spend around $600 - $700 for the whole thing. Some time next summer I hope to invest in a new 486 computer for myself. I plan to have full multimedia capability on it. The 386 will move on to my family.

If anyone else has some tips on picking a good upgrade, please let me know. I will be looking for the best mix of kits and individual components that meets my needs. If I find the 'magic' combination I'll let you know.

Mark Pendergast