OCT 1995

October 1995 £2.95 Overseas Price £3.95 FX Fighter - France 75 FF Germany DM 20,00 Italy 18,000 Lire Spain 1,225 PTS Malta Lm2.85c Virtua Fighter on the PC? Holland HFL 17,95 Belgium 364.00 BFr p248 Finland FIM 49.50 Canada CAN$12.95 VNU Business Publications Docking Notebooks PCMCIA round-up Britain's favourite personal computer magazine DockingDocking ● SOFTWARE: CAD / Visual Basic 4 RAM Doubler for Windows ● PC CARDS 4 DX4 100MHz PCs The ultimate NotebooksNotebooks portable PORTABLEPORTABLE DESKTOPS?DESKTOPS? accessories SOFTWARE INTERNETINTERNET CAD round-up SERVICESSERVICES ● Visual Basic 4 Buyer’sBuyer’s GuideGuide NENTSERVICE PROVIDERS INTERNET RAM Doubler for Windows

DX4 100MHz Fast and 4affordable PCs

ALL HARDWARE TESTED BY THE VNU LABS

VOL15 NO10 VOL15 NO10 Now with INTERACTIVE DOUBLE DISK SUPER PACK CD-ROM and 3.5in disk

PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK October 1995 PCW October 1995 Contents Group Test First Impressions 61 Regulars Hands On Docking 18 Newsprint Internet Service Providers 62 NEW! Gadgets Microsoft’s gamble in launching Windows notebooks A monthly round-up of quirky and 95 in the face of a threatened lawsuit pays useful devices to tickle your fancy. Computing on the move ● The first step in getting off; Universal Serial Bus could spell the end of the PC’s serial port; Dorling-Kinder- and power on the desktop wired is to choose your 66 Apple PowerBook 5300 sley launches CD-ROM titles for adults The highly desirable PowerBook note- — a notebook with a dock- service provider, but and children; Netscape hits the £38 million with so many to choose books could only be bettered by a mark; Prisoner banned from using laptop PowerPC processor. We look at the ing station can give you the from it’s easier said in jail; Windows 95 applications very first model with this speedy chip. announced; Fujitsu joins the super-floppy best of both worlds. Steven than done. Wendy M league; Acorn angst. Helstrip and the PCW team Grossman tries out 15 67 Panasonic PD System This be-all of storage devices takes put 15 through their paces and explains what to 40 News Analysis 253 Introduction 650Mb rewritable cartridges and dou- look out for. • William Poel on planned legislation to 254 NEW! Windows 95 bles as a quad-speed CD-ROM drive. control porn on the Net. 256 Windows PCW Cover Photography by David Whyte • Clive Akass on the goings-on in the 174 DOS 70 RAM Doubler for Windows world of PC ports. 260 152 An economical software utility which • Tim Bajarin reports on the industry. 262 32-Bit doubles your RAM sounds too good to 266 Word Processing be true, but this is a must-have product 43 Sounding Off by Michael Hewitt Cover Disk for Windows users. 270 Spreadsheets 45 Homefront by Tim Nott 274 Databases 72 Calera WordScan Plus 4.0 47 Straight Talking by Barry Fox 278 Graphics & DTP or CD-ROM The latest version of a veteran OCR 282 Multimedia package. 49 Business Matters by Nick Beard 286 Sound ● 52 Letters Cover Disk 8 74 Pioneer DRM-624X 292 Visual Programming Includes version II of that hit shareware, The return of this ground-breaking six- 298 Low Level Charm, PC Tax, which may save you disc CD-ROM changer in a new guise: 325 PCW Marketplace The best 302 Numbers Count better looking, faster, and cheaper. 304 Networks money, and Recorder, for learning and Ideal for games, large-directory users place to compare hardware and making music. and network sharing. software prices. 308 Macintosh 312 Computer Answers 78 3D Garden Designer 2 328 Buyer’s Charter 315 Beginners ● 9 PCW Interactive CD-ROM Don’t let Mother Nature ruin your 671 ChipChat 650Mb of software, demos, music and more plans. Order pesky plant life and sneaky shrubbery with CAD-like PLUS our cut-out-and-keep CD label. accuracy.

79 Pentax PocketJet Features Hardly pocket sized yet certainly CUTTING EDGE portable. It uses thermal technology to print on fax-like paper. 209 Introduction Computers and Cars 141 Windows 95 applications by SIMON ROCKMAN 116 81 Arc en Ciel address utility PCW Online Behind every successful motor- by SIMON ROCKMAN The genuine Royal Mail postcode 210 Net.answers database, with simple search tools. racing team there are banks of 214 Net.news computers churning away to get The first Win95 applications are hitting the 82 Adaptec APA-1460 SlimSCSI (incorporating the most out of the cars on the streets complete with 32-bit code and long- The EZSCSI setup utility says it all, Net.surf) track. We look at how the filename support. Visio 4, Works for Win- except that it’s a doddle to use and 218 Comms now available for mobile users. Williams team puts Adams dows and Xara Studio get a once-over. 225 Net.newbies Technology machines into 84 Vitec Video NT MPEG encoder PCW Futures action. Real-time MPEG video compression PC Cards 122 on a PC card for only £400. 226 Innovations by TERENCE GREEN 229 Horizons Visual Basic 4.0 98 PC Cards, better known as 86 Key Presenter for Windows 230 Bluesky Don’t let the high cost of good presen- 233 Retro Computing by TIM ANDERSON PCMCIA cards, are now the tation packages put you off; this is Are the changes to VB more than skin deep? We look at a late standard way to add extra fea- beauty on a budget. PCW Media beta of the Windows 95 version and ask whether it has what it tures to a notebook PC. We test 234 Books takes to face the Delphi challenge. 20, from hard disks to ISDN adaptors. 88 Rescue If your disks are sending out an SOS, 236 CD-ROMs Rescue will recover the files you thought were corrupted forever. PCW Fun DX4 100MHz 105 A chance for PCW readers to CAD Software Round-Up 198 241 Kids’ Stuff by NICK LAWRENCE 246 enter a unique competition at by TIM NOTT 248 Screenplay (with DX4s are the last hurrah of the 486 family, with Pentium-like the Personal Computer World Six CAD software packages to suit every pocket: from over Long Term Tests Leisure Lines, performance at an affordable price. We tested a few, together stand at Live 95. £3,000 for the latest version of the industry standard AutoCad, page 251) with DX4 overdrives designed to breath new life into ageing 92 HP DeskJet 320 Printer to as little as £69 for a copy of Drafix QuickCAD. 486DX 33s. 93 Corel Ventura 5.0

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ON THE CD different types of charm ranging from 100 to 1000 points in value. DOUBLE DISK Masses of shareware including: Mahjong, Poke_It Poker, To help you, you can collect and use SUPER PACK Postcode, Photovision On your CD-ROM and 20 sound effects, 25 Midi tunes, sticks of dynamite to destroy boulders 3.5" Disk this month: 25 Wav tunes and certain other obstacles, but take care Rosenthal utility collection: Cleaner, Master, Uninstall, — they also destroy orbs, charms, keys Virsim and even you! You can also set up chain MSCDEX reactions to blow up a large number of 3.5" DISK Updater of 2.22 to 2.23 ON THE DISK DEMOS obstacles. To detonate dynamite, press 1 CHARM II - strategy game Space Quest/ Reunion/ 2 PC TAX - UK tax package Flagtower/ Kingdom D. To set a stick of dynamite that you are 3 RECORDER - teach yourself to play GALLERY carrying on the ground, press S. October 1995 (100 pages) Run A:\PCW.EXE from Windows 60 high resolution photographs PCW Interactive Including Octobers’s cover disk Good luck, you’ll need it! Turn to page 8 for more details 4 SHAREWARE 1 CHARM II Mahjong, Poke_It Poker, PC Tax Advisor Straegy game [Minimum Requirements: 512Kb RAM, Postcode, Photovision 20 Sound effects Text mode] 2 PC TAX 25 Midi tunes UK tax package An excellent DOS-based tax advisor 25 Wav files which has been produced by HCS Ltd, a 3 RECORDER 5 MSCDEX Teach yourself to play software house specialising in PC-based Updater of 2.22 to 2.23 financial software, and Richens & Co, a the recorder firm of tax consultants. 6 DEMOS Windows Space Quest It has been designed to not need and DOS Reunion printed documentation and has sample Flagtower with 90Mb Mac Software data preloaded, along with extensive Kingdom Help screens. The program will prove For technical support call Robin Nixon on: 01233 665800 or email 7 GALLERY especially useful for readers who will [email protected] 60 High have to fill in self-assessment forms Resolution CD-ROM photographs under the government’s latest tax regula- See page 8 for details PCW tions, and could save you money. PCW Interactive CD-ROM Recorder Robin Nixon Cover Disk [Minimum Requirements: Windows 3.1] A great program that teaches you how to introduces this Another packed cover disk which, this month, play the recorder as well as the month’s software features version two of the smash Shareware hit fundamentals of music theory. It is very packed CD-ROM which PCW INTERACTIVE: OCTOBER 1995 Charm, PC Tax, an excellent tax advisor program easy to use, requiring no documentation. Entire Contents List Just click and follow the prompts. include the very latest that may save you money, and Recorder, a fun and CD TEST: Test your CDs for duplication errors, SysMon — System problem detector demos, applications, scratches or other damage Uninstal — Unwanted program remover educational music program for Windows. Shareware utilities, Shareware, COVER DISK: Charm II — Puzzle adventure game Un_Dup — Removes duplicate files Some of the programs on this month’s PC Tax Advisor — Calculate your tax VirSiM — Audits anti-virus programs this, you must collect all of the talismans cover disk are released as Shareware. demos, videos and Recorder — Learn to play the recorder WinLite — Shrinks Windows programs Installing and (golden crosses) to open the Level Exit This means that you are free to evaluate DEMOS SAMPLES CONTINUES ON 134 PAGE even several dozen Deadlock — File security system Effects — Sound effects Door. But it’s not as easy as that, as the software for 30 days. If you wish to MIDI — Selection of MIDI files running the PCW there are various obstacles to make your continue using the software you must pay megabytes of Mac Flagtower — Infotainment demos Kingdom — Animated cartoon adventure WAV — Same files but in WAV format task more dangerous and complex. the author a registration fee, normally a software. Reunion — Genealogy database program SHAREWARE & PD GAMES Cover Disk These include: Doors that require the modest amount, in return for which you Space Quest — Space adventure Accordion Solitaire — Card Game corresponding key to be opened; Stones will normally receive a copy of the latest GALLERY Charm 2 — Puzzle adventure Columns — Tetris-like game o install the programs, insert the disk that must be pushed around; Traps — if full release, and often a printed manual [Minimum requirements: 8Mb RAM Over 40 American photos 20 photos from reader Anthony Page Invade — Shoot ‘em up Tin drive A: or B:, and from Windows you walk over them you’re a goner; too, as well as other benefits such as (4Mb of this can be in a permanent Mah Jongg — Card/tile game MAGAZINE run the file PCW.EXE in the root direc- Gobbs, little nasties that follow you software support. swapfile), 386 SX/33 processor, Mother of all Battles — strategy game Dance — From the magazine Poke it Poker — card game tory of that drive. All the files will then be around and attempt to kill you; Stoppers, Windows 3.1. Users with less than Gauss — From the magazine Scram — Arcade action installed (by default unless you specify which are like stones but with a mind of this should still be able to run all the PCW Index — Reviews index Important Details SHAREWARE & PD UTILS otherwise) in subdirectories of a new their own; Crushers — heavy blocks that DOS programs on the CD-ROM Sound — Sound files If you have problems with the Cover Disk such as Winhands — Windows Hands on, including two front- Debt Analyser — Handy reckoner directory called PCWOCT95. Program fall from the skies (you must dodge them receiving a “Cannot read from drive A:” error, please using the program DOSMENU.BAT, ends for Windows Icon Manager — Useful utility plus various icons Manager icons will also be created for to escape); Fire, which will spread over return the disk to: TIB PLC (PCW), TIB House, 11 Edward though you may have to “clean” Invoice 90 — Powerful invoicing program MOVIES PC Tax Advisor — Calculate your own tax Street, Bradford BD4 7BH, together with a stamped you to run the programs. twigs lying on the ground, and can bar boot with no unnecessary TSRs or Country & Western — Digital music video Photovision — Graphic image editor your path (if you are standing over twigs, addressed envelope and two 25p stamps. Where it is a device drivers loaded. For best per- Rock ‘n’ Roll — Digital music video Postcode locator — Look up postcodes duplication fault, the postage will be returned along with Jazz — Digital music video Recorder — Learn how to play the recorder Charm II then fire can burn you to death); Dark Evil formance we recommend: 8Mb Buried in Time — Digital video trailer [Minimum Requirements: 25MHz 386, — be very, very careful! the replacement disk. installed RAM, 486 DX/50 processor, SUPERSCAPE However, if your problem is not due to a faulty disk, MSCDEX 2Mb RAM, 256 colour VGA/SVGA dis- You move your character (called Ino) Windows 3.11] Two more stunning virtual worlds and a phone number is shown for the publisher of the Latest CD-ROM Extensions from Microsoft SYSTEM SVGA256 play, SoundBlaster compatible card around the playing area using the cursor program in question, then it is usually quicker for you to ROSENTHAL SUITE Microsoft’s SuperVGA graphics drivers (optional)] keys or the keys on the numeric keypad. call them first. Alternatively, ring our hotline on week To run PCW Interactive, use either Cleaner — Program to help clean disks VIDEO FOR WINDOWS Master — Prepares duplication masters The aim of the game in Charm II is to On your travels, be sure to collect as days between 10:30a.m. and 4.30p.m. on 0891 715929. Program Manager or File Manager to Version 1.1e — the latest escape from each of the levels. To do many CHARMS as you can. There are 5 select your CD-ROM drive and run the Calls are charged at 39p per minute cheap rate and 49p at CUT OUT THIS LABEL AND KEEP WITH YOUR CD-ROM all other times.

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file PCWI.EXE version as it contains the latest drivers Left Trace your * Video for Windows installs fails in the root which deliver higher quality, a larger size family tree with If the Video for Windows installation fails directory of the and a faster playback rate. If you don’t Reunion and you receive an error such as CD-ROM. install the new version, some videos will Below Oh “XXXXXXXX.YYY cannot be updated as display the message “Cannot display this mother... a battle it is a shared file”, the answer is to delete Using the video”, or similar warnings. game for you to get the file “XXXXXXXX.YYY” (or whatever it CD-ROM There are also some extra buttons on embroiled in is called) and try reinstalling Video for from DOS the Video for Windows page, which allow Windows. If you don’t have you to fine-tune your PC’s performance * PCWI is slow to load or runs slowly Windows, or if without having to leave PCW Interactive You need at least you experience or restart Windows. In particular you can 4Mb of RAM and any problems choose to have digital movies played a 4Mb permanent running some of back on your PC at full screen resolution! swap file to use the DOS software That’s right, without hav- PCWI. You are from Windows, ing to recourse also advised to exit to DOS and to hardware enable read run the program add-ons such cacheing of your DOSMENU.BAT which you’ll find in the as MPEG CD-ROM by root directory of the CD-ROM. cards, you can adding its name to DOSMENU displays a simple menu, from have full screen the SMARTDRV which you can select any of the DOS pro- digital videos line in your grams and demos using either the cursor when you run This will then automatically install the AUTOEXEC.BAT keys and Return, or a mouse. the PCW Inter- new driver on your hard disk in the direc- file. You should also active CD-ROM. tory MSCDEX_2.23. Your allow MSCDEX to Using PCW Interactive But please AUTOEXEC.BAT file will also be modi- set up its own The magazine has been designed to look remember that fied. However, the old MSCDEX driver buffers by adding a and feel as though you’re reading a when you exit will remain on your hard disk should you line such as /M:10 to printed publication. For example, at the from PCW Inter- wish to return to it, while a backup copy the MSCDEX line, bottom left and right of each page you’ll active, if you of your AUTOEXEC.BAT file will be IMPORTANT — READ THIS! also in your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. Please find a page turn icon for turning leave the option saved as AUTOEXEC.SAV. * General Protection Faults refer to your manuals for full details. backwards or forwards a page. In addi- for full screen If you receive General Protection Faults * Windows NT, OS/2 and Windows 95 tion, there is a set of ten tabs which video selected, Testing your CD-ROM when running PCWI or playing any digital Unfortunately Macromedia Director, the appear down the left- and right-hand side Top From the Country & Western movie then all video in If you suspect your CD-ROM may actu- videos, it is probably because your program used to create PCWI, is incom- of each page. Clicking on any of these Above Relax with Accordion Solitaire other applications will also be full screen. ally be faulty or damaged, you can run graphics display driver may not be patible with Windows NT. However, you will take you directly to the page in the If you don’t want this, then re-run PCW the file CDTEST.EXE in the SYSTEM entirely 100% Microsoft compatible. The can run PCWI from OS/2 by simply call- magazine where the indicated section Interactive and select the “Windowed” directory of the CD-ROM (or from its answer is therefore to install one of ing up PCWI.EXE from the command begins. Mac Software option and quit again. page in PCW Interactive). The program Microsoft’s own drivers, as follows: line. Please note that we cannot guaran- Throughout PCW Interactive you’ll This month we have started including will then examine every byte of data on 1). Run “Windows Setup” from File Man- tee that PCWI will work with any of the have the opportunity to run or install pro- Mac software on the CD-ROM. To kick off MSCDEX the disc to see if it can be correctly read. ager, then select “Options” followed by beta versions of Windows 95, and we can grams, get further details on a particular there are three superb demos comprising Microsoft’s CD-ROM extensions (called The process takes up to 35 minutes and “Change System Settings”. only offer support to users of the final program, try out demonstrations of pro- over 50Mb of software. They are two MSCDEX.EXE) provide the interface generates a verification code if the disc 2). Scroll through the list of displayed release version. grams, play videos, listen to audio files great children’s interactive stories from between your PC and your CD-ROM passes the test. If the CD-ROM fails this graphic drivers until you get to the final and much more. When any of these Oxford Multimedia, “A Christmas Story” drive. There are two versions in common test, try cleaning it with a light solution of entry “Other Display (Requires Disk from Advice & Contacts options is available, an icon will be and “The Fish Who Could Wish”, which use, 2.22 and 2.23. If you are using 2.22 washing-up liquid and dry it with a lint- OEM)”, and select it. The PCW CD-ROM and cover disk are virus displayed indicating the fact. All you need we know your kids will love, and a stun- you’ll find that data is pulled off your CD- free cloth and run the test again. If it still 3). Insert this month’s CD-ROM into the checked at every stage of production. How- to do is click once on it to activate the ning trailer for “Deadalus”. To use them, ROMs much more slowly than with ver- fails, return your CD-ROM to the maga- drive and replace the “A:\” prompt with ever, neither VNU nor Ultimedia will accept choice. insert the CD-ROM in your Mac’s drive sion 2.23. Also, slightly faulty discs can zine for a free replacement. “D:\SYSTEM\SVGA256” (changing the liability for any problems arising from its use. and, using Finder, run the programs that be read using version 2.23, which 2.22 You are free to copy the D: to the correct letter if your CD-ROM is You are advised not to install software on a PC Tax Advisor interest you (remembering to read all (with less sophisticated error correction) CDTEST.EXE program to your hard disk not in drive D:), then press Return. networked PC before checking the disk. Please note that after duplication we dis- accompanying documentation first). often can’t read. in order to test other CD-ROMs, as long 4). Scroll through the new drivers until While PCW maintains a high standard of covered that the PC Tax Advisor Unless you have a PC emulator, you We recommend you upgrade to the as it is not distributed in any way. If you you find the ones beginning “Super quality control, floppy disks may be damaged attempts to write a temporary file to the should ignore all the other folders that new driver as it will enable you to run are running CDTEST from your hard VGA....” and select the one for the reso- in transportation. Check the disk’s shutter drive from which it is run. Therefore, it will you see. most CD-ROM programs you may have drive, you need to specify the CD-ROM lution you prefer to use. The driver will before inserting it in the drive by sliding it to not run directly from the CD-ROM as it had trouble with. And as an added bonus drive to test, as follows: then be installed and Windows restarted. the left and allowing it to spring back. will generate an error when the write Video for Windows Enhanced you should find that most digital videos CDTEST D: PCWI and Video for Windows should For technical support on the CD and the attempt fails. The easiest way for you to Setup are less jerky, while loading data and run- Note: We offer this tool “As Is” purely as then have no further problems. programs on it, call the Support Line on run this program is to run the file On the first page of PCW Interactive you’ll ning programs will be much quicker. an aid to diagnosing possible faults, If this works (which it should in 95% of 01233 665800. Initially this is a voice service \COVERDSK\PCW.EXE from Windows have the opportunity to install the latest To upgrade to the new driver using some of which may occur because an cases) you may wish to contact the sup- manned by technical support staff. All calls which will install all the floppy disk version of Video for Windows runtime, so this CD-ROM, run the PCW Interactive older version of MSCDEX.EXE is in use plier of your graphics card to see if they are charged at the standard rate. You can programs on your PC. You can then run that you can view the digital movies on front-end and step through the on-screen and not because of a faulty CD-ROM, have an updated graphics driver. If also email [email protected], or PC Tax from a new icon which is added the CD. If you haven’t installed Video for magazine until you reach the MSCDEX and disclaim any responsibility for any Microsoft’s drivers don’t work you will CompuServe: 70007,5547. to Program Manager. Windows from a PCW Interactive CD page. Then click on the Run button, and erroneous error reports that it may need to contact your graphics card sup- before, then you should install this new follow the simple instructions. generate. plier anyway.

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can the proportions and visual design be Superscape represented and edited, but any features, mechanical or electrical, can be simulated. Once you load the Watchman file, you will be presented with two default tapes and a prompt to select one. Both tapes

[Minimum requirements: 8Mb RAM, ON THE CD contain an animation; one is a lower reso- DOUBLE DISK Masses of shareware including: Mahjong, Poke_It Poker, 486or Pentium processor with SVGA- SUPER PACK Postcode, Photovision lution than the other to allow users with On your CD-ROM and 20 sound effects, 25 Midi tunes, capable graphics card, monitor and 3.5" Disk this month: 25 Wav tunes low memory systems to use this demo. Rosenthal utility collection: Cleaner, Master, Uninstall, mouse] Virsim MSCDEX

3.5" DISK Updater of 2.22 to 2.23 On this and next month’s CD-ROMs ON THE DISK DEMOS 1 CHARM II - strategy game Space Quest/ Reunion/ About the Rubik Cube 2 PC TAX - UK tax package Flagtower/ Kingdom 3 RECORDER - teach yourself to play GALLERY there will be four more stunning virtual Run A:\PCW.EXE from Windows 60 high resolution photographs This demonstration illustrates the ability worlds for you to explore, all created by Turn to page 8 for more details to interact with an object. Superscape’s VRT system, a virtual real- Foreground buttons ity authoring package. The six larger buttons in the foreground This month there are two virtual correspond to the centre face of the same worlds, and a program called a Visualiser colours on the Rubik Cube (except the which you need in order to explore these light green button which corresponds to worlds, or any virtual world created in CONFIG.SYS file and find the line that the cyan face colour). Click on one half of Superscape’s VRT. begins the button to rotate the face of the cube To use the Superscape system you SHELL= one way, click on the other half to rotate it will need to exit from Windows (if it is run- and look along it until you find an option the other way. ning) and change to the SUPERSCP such as /E:512, When you have found it, Clicking on the top right button (olive directory of the CD-ROM. Then run the change it to /E:1024 (or a number that is colour) toggles cube rotation — on off. program INSTALL.EXE which will copy 512 bigger than the previous setting). Clicking on middle right button (black) the visualiser and virtual worlds to your If you don’t have a SHELL= command generates a random move. Click and hard disk. or there is no /E: option, you should add hold mixes up the cube. Please note that this will require a the following line to the end of your CON- Click on the bottom right button (white) modification to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file FIG.SYS file: to solve the cube automatically. where a line similar to SHELL=C:\COMMAND.COM C:\DOS /P Rubik cube SET VIS=C:\SUPERSCP\PROGRAMS /E:1024 Clicking on a layer of the cube rotates it is added, which sets the environment The /E:1024 tells DOS to hand over in one direction only. variable VIS to point to the SUPERSCP 1024 bytes of space to the environment, directory. However, this means that you and the /P command tells DOS to make About Superscape will need to restart your PC in order for this new setting permanent for this If you would like to explore more Super- this change to take place, before you can session. scape Virtual Worlds, access their home run the visualiser. Remember to replace the two C:s with page at The installation program will update the correct letter if your boot drive is not http://www.superscape.com your AUTOEXEC.BAT file at the end of C:, also replace \COMMAND.COM with or contact Superscape on 01256 745745. the installation procedure, if you request it the correct command if your shell to do so when prompted. program is not the same, and replace the If the visualiser fails to run, it is likely \DOS with the correct directory if you do that you do not have enough environment not have DOS installed in \DOS. space free for the SET VIS= command to Your chance to win a copy work. Check that the directory containing The Watchman Virtual World of Superscape VRT the Superscape visualiser program is in The Watchman demonstration illustrates This month our special prize is Superscape your path statement within the how a product might be visualised or VRT, a complete suite of authoring tools for AUTOEXEC.BAT file. designed using Superscape VR. Not only creating virtual worlds. It comes with twenty You may need to edit your virtual worlds and two hundred virtual clip-art images. To win a copy of Superscape VRT, SUPERSCAPE COMPETITION ENTRY FORM: all you need to do is tick the boxes to the OCTOBER PCW INTERACTIVE correct answers to the questions below and send the coupon to the address shown. Answer 1 ______Answer 2 ______

Name...... Title...... The Questions 1) In the Watchman, what video scene can Company...... you see on the Watchman when you press the play button? Address......

...... (a) A battle (b) A windsurfer (c) A driver

Postcode...... Telephone...... 2) In the Rubik Cube, how many faces can you see on the Rubik Cube in the panel? Return To: PCWI Competition (October), Superscape Ltd, Cromwell House, Bartley Wood Business Park, Hook, Hampshire RG27 9XA. (a) 3 (b) 4 (c) 5

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Editorial Advertising Editor Ben Tisdall Group Ad Manager Paula Devine 0171 316 9194 Associate Editor Simon Rockman Ad Manager Pranav J Oza 0171 316 9466 News Editor Clive Akass Assistant Ad Manager Kevin Elderfield 0171 316 9303 Features Editor Chris Cain Senior Sales Executives Reviews Editor Gordon Laing Catherine J Russell 0171 316 9461 Technical Writer Eleanor Turton-Hill Richard Young 0171 316 9309 Staff Writers Steven Helstrip Jon Miles 0171 316 9302 Nick Lawrence Sales Executives Editorial Assistant Adele Dyer Nick O’Connor 0171 316 9304 Janaya Warren 0171 316 9305 Columnists Nick Beard PC Consumer Sales Barry Fox Beccy Carr 0171 316 9307 Michael Hewitt Kevin John 0171 316 9462 Tim Nott International Correspondent Tim Bajarin Micromart Sales Executive Ben Hedges 0171 316 9308 Contributors Sales Support Executive Susie Ross 0171 316 9306 Tim Anderson ● Nick Beard ● Paul Begg ● Chris Bidmead ● Ian Burley ● Stephen Caplin ● Credit Control Manager Michael Donlan 0171 316 9701 ● ● ● JJ Clessa Stephen Cobb Simon Collin US Sales Representative Global Media Representatives, Inc 0101 415 306 0880 Joanne Evans ● Jeanine Fox ● Tim Frost ● Panicos Georghiades ● Richard Gibson ● Taiwan Sales Representatives Grace Chu/Kent Lai 010 886 2717 7663 Terence Green ● Wendy M Grossman ● Gabriel Jacobs ● Nicola Kingsley ● AR Landall ● Production Frank Leonhardt ● Mike Liardet ● Bruce Mackie ● Mike Mudge ● Robin Nixon ● Chris Nixon ● Tim Nott Production Controller Melanie Thomson 0171 316 9481 ● Tim Phillips ● Stephen Rodda ● James Taylor ● Production Manager Adrian Brown 0171 316 9484 Jonathan Thaw ● Stephen Wells ● Mark Whitehorn ● Micromart Production Assistant Susie Ross 0171 316 9306 David Whyte ● Circulation Editorial Phone 0171 316 9000 Editorial Fax 0171 316 9313 Subscriptions Manager Leisha Bulley 0171 316 9712 Editorial Email first name-last Subscriptions Supervisor Joanne Nicholls 0171 316 9713 [email protected] Production Publishing Production Editor Lauraine Lee Founder Angelo Zgorelec Sub-Editors Mark Monahan Marketing Manager Juliet Parker 0171 316 9191 Patrick Ramus Marketing & Sales Co-ordinator Timothy Mickelborough 0171 316 9820 Portfolio Administrator Kyley Chapman 0171 9316 9183 Design Publisher Jon Ross 0171 316 9187

Art Editor Darrell Kingsley Test Results are based wholly or in part on methodologies provided by National Software Designer Jonathon Mason Testing Laboratories, a division of McGraw-Hill Inc, and licensed to Personal Computer World. Neither NSTL nor the Publisher guarantees the accuracy or adequacy of its testing VNU Labs activities and makes no representations or warranties regarding tested products. Articles Group Editor John Barnes or portions of articles translated and reprinted (or adapted) in this issue from PC Digest or Labs Editors Julian Evans & George MacDonald Software Digest Copyright (c) 1994, by National Software Testing Laboratories (NSTL), a Labs Assistant Paul Philip division of McGraw-Hill, Inc, 625 Ridge Pike, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania 19428, USA. Reproduction of the NSTL material in any manner or language in whole or in part without Lab Phone 0171 316 9067 Lab Fax 0171 316 9059 permission of NSTL is prohibited. Enquiries or complaints regarding any advertiser in this magazine should, initially, be presented in writing to: Anthony George, ‘Customer Relations Department’, VNU House, 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG. 157,544 VNU BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS JUL-DEC '94

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12 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 Editorial PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD

• “It’s only been in recent months that I’ve come to expect the Internet to become mainstream,” said Bill Gates in a recent column. If that’s what he’s Next Month said publicly, you can imagine the flame mail he might have sent to some of his senior VPs. Something along the lines of: “We have missed a multi-billion dollar opportunity by failing to launch an Internet browser. How has this happened?” And the cause of the imaginary mail is Netscape. Even by Californian start-up standards, Netscape’s rise has been extraordinary. Within hours of going public the share price rose from $11 to $28 a share, giving the company a market value of over $1 billion, and the price is predicted to carry on climbing. By using the Internet as the distribution method, giving away free evaluation software, and keeping the price to register the software low, Netscape shot from 0 to 6 million copies in just four months. • While Netscape looks set to prosper, at least in the short term, it’s unclear which of the many companies involved in the other net- related activities of service provision, Laser Printers network operation and supplying third-party content will still be around An in-depth look at the latest in a couple of years’ time. As our round-up of Service Providers (page lasers. And because we’ve 152) demonstrates, loads of companies have been hopping into divided them into three the service provision market, but most are probably feeling a little categories — budget, personal apprehensive at present as BT begins to lumber into position to and network, there’s one for provide a service of its own. BT has the potential to turn every exchange everybody. in the country into a POP (point of presence) and decimate the opposition in the process. And for companies like Compuserve who are also in the business of supplying Windows Databases third-party content, things will be just as tough. Microsoft Network is of Latest versions of the Windows databases course a major threat, but the openness of the ever-expanding reviewed, including Win95 versions of Internet is a worse one. It means that Compuserve’s traditional gravy train Microsoft Access and Lotus Approach. — reselling information — may not be around for a whole lot longer. Ben Tisdall Delving November issue Editor into Delphi — On sale Thursday 5th October Tim Anderson with December issue part one of a series — On sale Thursday 2nd November on getting the most • Back up devices from Borland’s • Accounts software Delphi.

9 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT PCW Newsprint NEWS Contents In the money 19 Battle of the You’re given a cheque for £80: would you remember to cash it? networks as Behind bars 20 Peer says prisoner’s laptop ban is a load of old tosh Win95 gamble Design for Win95 23 Developers of graphics apps among the first to announce Win- pays off dows 95 upgrades Acorn controversy 26 Acorn makes up-beat product icrosoft’s gamble in launching Windows 95 in announcements as MD leaves and Mthe face of a threatened anti-monopoly suit dealers rage appeared to have paid off last month. It risked hav- It takes two 27 ing to withdraw all copies to remove links to the Two-way wireless messaging for new Microsoft Network (MSN). Instead, the US portables is here Department of Justice, investigating claims of Modem madness 30 unfair competition, pledged to take no action before Motorola has problems with V3400 the August 24 launch. The DoJ was under pressure Pro modems from an industry poised to reap billions of dollars’ worth of business in new or upgraded 32-bit A sample from Labour of love 27 The Labour party gives partial applications. GSP’s backing to British Library online Still more was at stake: a slice of the burg- Designworks, one eoning online cash economy. UK banks are not of several graphics Software bestsellers 34 alone in fearing they may be sidelined, with the packages shaping MSN just a click away from millions of Win95 up for the new 32- screens across the world. bit Win95 world — And for our next trick… But the MSN faces stiff competition and the see page 23. The next version of Windows, charges it announced last month – £60 a year (£55 codenamed Memphis, is sched- to early signers, or £6 a month) plus £3.25 an hour push down connect charges. (This begs the ques- uled for 1997 under the name of beyond two hours a month – are attractive only for tion of why businesses should pay MSN a premi- Win97. It will marry Windows NT light users. Moreover, Web access will not be um when they can set up shop for free on the Web.) and Windows 95, and will have a available to British MSN users until next year. Compuserve responded by undercutting MSN, full 64-bit architecture. An interim Microsoft argues that its software is easy to use; slashing its basic hourly rate by nearly 40 percent Win96 will include network hooks but so is the latest software provided on signup by from £3 to £1.85 – with the first five hours free and and mail features left out of Win95 Net providers charging a flat monthly £10 to £20. no email premium. The monthly flat charge in order to get it to market in 1995, MSN product manager, Jeremy Gittings, points remains at £6.20. Heavy users can pay £15.60, say Microsoft insiders. It is out the MSN will be available at launch in 52 coun- plus £1.22 an hour after 20 hours. targeted to debut at Spring tries – a big plus for travellers. He said several UK Compuserve offers free membership with software and 10 hours Comdex in Chicago. companies plan to offer services on the MSN, and online on 0800 289378; Microsoft 0345 002000 Tim Bajarin income from these, and from advertising, may Clive Akass Serial killer could have a whirl in every port he PC’s familiar serial port It could also replace the par- per port. The new bus is more support of several relatively Tcould become a thing of the allel port, says Intel, which than 100 times faster (12 slow devices (up to ISDN’s past with the development of a stands to make money from new Mb/sec) and can be linked to up 128Kbps) rather than high- new fast connection, the final USB driver chips; but the stan- to 63 devices via a chain of speed peripherals such as video specification for which was due to dard is open and royalty-free for expansion hubs. displays. be published late last month. The third-party developers. The USB is Plug and Play But there are competing Universal Serial Bus stems from The old serial port is too slow compliant, allowing devices to technologies, including Apple’s Intel but has been endorsed by for fast modems and ISDN, and be “hot swapped” at will. It is Firewire port — see News major industry players.. is usually limited to one device designed for simultaneous Analysis on page 38.

18 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Check this out: £850 for the Netscape makes its £38m Mark taking…if you can be bothered! ● Mark Andreessen, who led the undergraduate team that developed the seminal f you were given a £850 pays a premium on each sale to That might be true for small Mosaic browser, has become Icheque, redeemable only over a a company called Homefield sums. But what about sums of a multi-millionaire at the ten- 30-day period five years from Insurance, which in turn is up to a memorable £850 from der age of 24 — just months now, would you remember to underwritten by three US IPC systems costing up to after leaving university. cash it? More than three out of offshore finance companies. £1,699? Alan Scott, director of a He formed Netscape four people would not, according The cash is invested but marketing company called War- Communications with Silicon to a PC vendor making just that earns nothing like enough to ranty Management which repre- Graphics founder Jim Clark, offer. cover the payback; the compa- sents Homefield in Britain, said who called him up out of the Singapore-based IPC (unre- nies bet that most people won”t confidently: “The redemption blue last year to ask if he lated to the publishing company) claim. “The people who do not rates are no different if the sums was interested in starting a company (see last month’s is offering people who buy select- claim are underwriting those involved are £500 or £2,500.” Personal Computer World). ed systems from one of its 75 who do,” said Trbovic. He said Homefield and its The Netscape browser is sales centres 50 percent of their He reckoned that at most 25 reinsurers had combined assets now by far the most used on money back in the year 2000. percent, and more likely around of around $430 million and that the Web. The company was Similar schemes are common five percent, will claim “even if the claim address for claims floated last month on the in the US and the Continent, they stick a piece of paper on would be valid in five years. New York stock exchange. according to sales director Stefan the wall and frame it to remind IPC 01282 618866 In a single day, shares Trbovic (sic). The deal is that IPC them.” Clive Akass rose from £17 to £37, netting Andreessen £38.5 million profit on his 2.7 percent stake. Clark made an Child and (very) adult CD-ROM estimated £383 million on the jump. titles from Dorling-Kindersley ● Ben Tisdall — page 13

orling Kindersley has animal. You can stop in front of with the author, herself a sex Ddemonstrated its Autumn exhibits then click on them to drill therapist and marriage counsel- CD-ROM titles. Due out in down for more information. Cat, lor. The CD will also include a October are Eyewitness Virtual for example, includes over 800 Sexopedia reference section Reality: Cat and Bird, Anne screens and pop-ups and nearly and password protection to pre- Hooper’s Ultimate Sex Guide 50 videos and animations. DK vent children getting their hands and the Dorling Kindersley plans to release Virtual Shark on it. What Gaul! Children’s Dictionary. and Dinosaur in ‘96, each of The Children’s Dictionary fol- ● Asterix the Gaul has fought Virtual Cat and Bird are based which will have its own floor. lows on from My First Incredible, his way on to a £39.9 CD- on the Eyewitness series of Anne Hooper’s Sex Guide, Amazing Dictionary and is aimed ROM called Caesar’s Chal- books. The CD-ROMs are innov- again based on a successful at 7-12 year olds. It has over lenge. It is a cartoon game ative because they use a virtual book, is an adult CD aimed at 45,000 definitions plus anima- for up to four players. world idiom and allow you to improving people’s sex lives. It tions, illustrations and sounds. Funsoft 0181 748 7565 wander around a virtual museum uses video and animation, some All four titles are expected to with a floor devoted to each quite explicit, to explain the sub- have a street price of between Re-markable! ject. The CD starts by giving you £29 and £39. ● A new brand of rewritable a sex questionnaire and mimics Dorling Kindersley 0171 836 5411 disk labels, on sale at major a real-life personal consultation Ben Tisdall stationers, will change your life, according to the publicity blurb. A packet of 10 Re- Mark-It labels will change your bank balance to the extent of £2.49. Live coverage ● The Live 95 electronics show will take place at Earl’s Court for six days from 19 September. Attractions include computer games and BT’s Internet café.

19 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Fax switch Prisoner’s laptop ban a turns on your PC ● One snag of fax-modem cards is that your PC needs load of tosh, says peer to be on all the time to moni- tor the phone line. Alltek has come up with what looks like computer-buff peer has The prison service refused to a relatively cheap, though Ataken up the case of a pris- comment on details of the case, not ideal, solution. oner who has been banned from but a spokesman said it was up The Autopower his laptop for three years. to the local governor to decide AP1000N device will switch The prisoner paid more than whether a prisoner was allowed on your PC (or any other £3,000 for a Toshiba 3200SXC to use a computer. device, such as an answer- in October 1992, using money It seems, however, that the ing machine) when you from an inheritance, after being governor feared the Toshiba’s receive a phone call and told that he could keep it in his Undelete facility might be used switch it off again after a cell at Long Lartin. to reveal hidden messages – a time of your choice. The But before the laptop arived line that would presumably logic can cope with Windows or DOS software. he was moved to Full Sutton, ban all mail for fear of invisible One problem is that the where he was told that as a top- ink. first fax call is lost. But security prisoner serving life, he “It is ridiculous. Prisoners in Altek’s Victor Roche said: could not use it. While we are (almost) on the other countries are allowed “Most fax machines are pro- Now Lord Avebury, chair of subject of law and order, clock PCs,” said Lord Avebury, who grammed to retry a number the Parliamentary Human this hot item from a display of is patron of the Buddhist Prison at least three times.” Rights Group, has written to the stolen antiques set up by Chaplaincy. As a knowledgable The device will cost about director-general of the prison Twickenham police at PC owner, he is sympathetic to £128, but the price is service, Derek Lewis, asking www.open.gov. the fact that the unused 20MHz expected to fall to less than him to explain the decision. His uk/metpol/tw/tw-home.htm 386SX-driven Tosh is a poor £70 if sales take off. letter, a copy of which he beast by today’s standards. Alltek 0181 662 0736 passed to PCW, concluded: glad to help solve any difficulties “Think what you could get for “Many computer users would be that might be foreseen.” £3,000 now,” he said.

The power of the P6 reflected in 3D

eal-time continuous speech recognition and bit applications, you should buy a Pentium. If you are Rincreased use of 3D will be among technolo- going to run 32-bit, you should buy a P6.” gies that mature with the power of the next-gener- But the company expects that the P6 will sell at first ation P6 chip, according to Intel. mostly to companies, designers and academics for Lindy tunes in “It’s a capability that will hit the mainstream in servers and processor-intensive applications. By con- ● The £44.99 Lindy sniffer is a couple of years,” said microprocessor market- trast, Pentium sales have been predominantly to the designed to fine-tune perfor- ing manager, Lewis Paceley. home and small-business market. mance on SCSI chains. The first P6 is due to ship before October. It “I think this was mainly due to the fact that the Pen- Lindy 01642 765275 will have a 150MHz version as well as the tium came at the same time as technologies like the 133MHz chip originally announced, Paceley CD-ROM hit the mainstream, turning the PC for the Tornado card revealed. Intel claims the 150MHz version will first time into a games machine,” said Paceley. ● The £299 Tornado video have a SpecInt92/fp92 rating of 220/215, com- • Intel will announce the name of the P6 at the Fall card supports up to 1600 x pared with the latest 133MHz PowerPC 604’s Comdex where it will be showing 133MHz and 150MHz 1280 in 256 colours, and 800 score of 200/200. On 32-bit applications it is systems, writes Tim Bajarin. x 600 in true colour. more than twice as fast as a 100MHz Pentium. Officials discounted speculation that the next-gen- Datapath 01332 294441 But, curiously, Intel cheerfully admits it is eration P7 will use RISC instructions, as in the Power- actually slower than the Pentium on many 16-bit PC, or the VLIW technology Intel is developing with tasks, because it gains some speed by anticipat- HP. The P7 is in the works for 1997 and will use tradi- ing instructions on the basis of 32-bit file access. tional CISC instructions. It seems that the VLIW-based Paceley said: “If you are planning to run 16- chip is unlikely to appear before 1999.

If heads comes up five times in a row, what are the chances that it will come up on the next coin toss? The answer is fifty-fifty, of course, but there are many who would argue otherwise: gambling is the last bastion of super- stition. Your opinion on the matter will dictate whether you trust the pre- dictive power of Lotto Win version 2.0, which urges you to “unleash the powerLOTTERY of your PC on the lottery.” But the package also helps you run lottery syndicates, so at £12.99 it is a good bet anyway. Blue Quetzal 0181 810 6500

20 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT

Win95 apps start to roll Short Stories

evelopers of graphics applications, More downmarket but looking good which will benefit particularly from value at £39.95, was GSP’s Designworks On the border D ● This design was 32-bit operation, were among the first to 3.0. This UK package will not have a 32- produced by a new pack- announce Windows 95 upgrades. Micro- bit version until next year but it is Win95 age called GraphicType grafx came out fighting with an tested. Included in the bundle is a utility Designer which builds up aggressively-priced suite bundling an for making bordered certificates, which borders and corner pieces entire range of studio apps optimised for GSP believes will be a big selling point from design elements held the new Microsoft Office. with the small clubs and groups among as fonts. The character- The ABC suite includes new versions its target market. based approach means the of Designer, Picture Publisher, Flowchar- Adobe announced version 6 of its required width, height and ter, and Media Manager. A CD preview is PageMaker desktop publisher, which thickness of a border can available for £9.90. includes facilities for creating Acrobat be controlled easily. The Corel announced that CorelDraw 6.0 and HTML Web documents. £39.50 is available for an would ship shortly after Win95 and would ● More applications, page 141. introductory price of £24.95. cost £495. It includes a new 3D modelling Corel 0800 581028; Micrografx 0800 626009; GraphicType 01275 333730 and rendering module. GSP 01480 496666

Peril of the booby-trapped letters Each-way bet ● Portable Add-ons has he belief that email presents no virus risk could “If you have a MIME converter, the files comes introduced a range of what it Tlull people into a false sense of security, warns through as a standard Word document which calls Trumcards — PCMCIA mail specialist Centreline 2000. many people might open without thinking. A virus cards that double as modems A virus, like any program, cannot be emailed program would not be able to detect anything and Ethernet connectors. without being translated (uuencoded) into a 7-bit suspicious.” Prices range from £439. format which has to be decoded by the recipient to He admitted that he had not heard of it happen- Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 present any threat. ing. “But it can be only a matter of time before But the increasing practice of sending fully- someone does it.” Soft bonanza formatted word-processor files, using a MIME or Centreline’s answer is to include with its mail ● More than 500Mb of uuencoding utility, presents a new danger: the systems a browser that enables a user to view the shareware is on the latest booby-trapped letter. file without launching the application. Night Owl 17 CD-ROM. It Centreline’s sales director, Stuart Hillston, The sender could hide the source by using an includes utilities, games, points out that a standard Word document can be anonymity server or by getting the macro to strip drivers and databases for set to launch a macro, or compiled Basic program, the information from the document, Hillston said. Windows, DOS and OS/2, when opened – and that can be made, say, to Centreline 2000, 01905 724080 and costs £19. reformat all the disks on a network. Clive Akass CD-ROM Distribution 0161 477 8848 Fujitsu joins the super-floppy league as it launches the ‘world’s smallest’ drive

ujitsu is the latest com- but SCSI, parallel-port and freely available this autumn. Iomega has a Fpany to entered the PC card versions are immi- 1Gb drive in the pipeline. “battle of the super- nent. The drive is available Syquest responded by announcing its floppies”, in which several as an option in Apple’s lat- 3.5in EZ 135 drive, which is faster than the technologies are competing est portables. Zip and takes 135Mb disks costing from for an emerging market in Maximum data transfer £12.50. The internal version costs the same low-cost high-capacity rate is a said to be as the Zip, but the standlone costs £179. It removable disks. 1.6Mb/sec – twice as fast should have been available last month but It has launched what it as a quad-speed CD drive Syquest said it would be delayed by about claims is the world’s smallest magneto- – and the average seek time is 65 milli- three weeks. optical drive, the £299 M2541, which is just seconds. Compaq has said it will be launch a true 17mm high and weighs 250 grams. It takes Iomega revealed a huge market in this “superfloppy” drive early next year which 3.5in 230Mb disks costing about £20 each. area when demand for its £150 Zip drive, will read existing floppies, as well as a new It is available now to PC and notebook which takes £15 100Mb disks, rapidly 100Mb format. But it is expected to be makers as an internal enhanced IDE drive; exceeded the supply. Drives should be more relatively slow.

23 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Acorn upsets its dealers and loses Back to school ● Education specialist 10/10 is offering two of its leading MD despite arrival of new machines products at an 80 percent discount to tempt parents in corn Computers has had a about his resignation,” said his to their hardware sales in the approach to the new Acontroversial month, mak- successor David Lee, “...but it various ways. Acorn has also school year. ing up-beat product announce- wasn’t due to the channel introduced an interest-free credit The company offers a ments but losing a managing changes.” Acorn’s line, accord- scheme to boost consumer series of £26 modules based director and enraging many of its ing to Lee, is that dealers with a sales. on the national curriculum; dealers. good reputation can add value Ian Burley each is said to offer First the good news: a new computer-assisted learning entry-level (from £749+VAT) for all levels between the A7000 featuring the latest ultra- acabre but ages of six to 16. Peter Davidson, integrated (audio, video, I/O, Mfascinating chairman of 10/10, said: memory management plus images from the “Packages like that can cost CPU) ARM3500 RISC chip. Visible Human £1,500 for one subject. We Acorn also upgraded its flag- project (see don’t have the same kind of ship Risc PC 600 range with a Newsprint, marking and assessment slightly faster ARM610 proces- February) are facilities but we are much sor, added an on-board 16-bit now available on cheaper.” audio and ATAPI CD -ROM CD-ROM. The He said the cut-price offer controller, and improved the images are of the had been made because Risc OS operating, including a body of Joseph experience had shown that parents who bought one secret new JPEG image decom- Jernigan, who module returned for more. pressor which is incredibly fast. earlier this year 10/10 Software 01132 394627 There is also a 40 percent was executed by faster Risc PC 700 featuring injection at the Olivetti in ATM ARM’s newest ARM710 RISC age of 39 in breakthrough CPU, also available as a £100 Texas for killing upgrade to 600 owners. an elderly man ● A breakthough in mobile The bad news: Acorn has during a burglary. multimedia communications appointed one third of its educa- His body, is being claimed by tion dealers as agents for a new which he left to researchers at Olivetti’s direct sales strategy aimed at science, was first Cambridge laboratory. They have built what they tackling Apple, RM and PC scanned for gen- claim is the world’s first radio schools competition. Sadly, the eral orientation system using Asynchronous deal undercuts all other Acorn and then frozen Transfer Mode (ATM) com- dealers. Education is 80 percent and sliced into munication which is particu- of Acorn’s market. Acorn’s 1,870 1mm sec- larly useful for multimedia. Usenet conference tions which were photographed in 24-bit colour at a resolution of The test system uses the (comp.sys.acorn) has been in 2048 x 1216 pixels. The result is a 42Gb set of 10,000 images 2.45GHz band with a raw uproar as dealers accused the which allow the body to be viewed from any angle. data transfer rate of company of stealing their The entire set has been compressed onto a single CD-ROM, 10Mb/sec. livelihood. with navigation software, and costs £495. Then Sam Wauchope, Floating Point Systems 01734 776333 ZSafe hides Acorn’s popular MD, unexpect- data on the fly edly resigned. “I can’t comment ● ZSafe for Windows and DOS is targeted particularly at portable users who fear sensitive information may RM goes back to school with Windows NT get into the wrong hands if machines are lost and corn’s major rival in schools unveiled its next- teachers set up the network for new classes – a stolen. Ageneration schoolkid-proof networking product. considerable task, with each child having specific Developer Zincom says Research Machines won a majority market share resources and rights and each PC having several the software encrypts and by going the mainstream PC route while Acorn users a day. The task is reduced to simple drag and decrypts hard-disk data ploughed its own RISCy furrow. drop operations; groups can be set up by copying transparently on the fly. It can also be used in desktop Its RM Connect involves a move to Windows lists to the clipboard. PCs. NT as the server operating system to facilitate RM consultant Steve Thomas said schools have Zincom 01565 650383 support of mixed Windows 3.x and Windows 95 more users and more sophisticated systems than environments. many businesses. The environment has been customised to help Research Machines 01235 826000

26 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT

Logitech beats dirty balls horror Short Stories Tim Bajarin in the US ogitech claims to have absolute positions, so the Lsolved the vexing prob- precise pattern of the Portable paging lem of dirty balls. Its new dots is not a factor and range of pointing devices marks do not upset the goes both ways ● The first two-way wireless include trackballs and mice calculations. messaging for portables is with no moving parts apart Moreover, the Swiss- hitting the market. Last week, from the ball itself. developed system, called Motorola introduced its $600 At the heart of the Marble Sensing Technolo- Personal Messenger PC device are a charge-cou- gy, does away with the card-modem, which works pled light sensor (CCD) usual wheels and rollers with its ARDIS FM service. I and two light-emitting which translate ball move- have been using one with an diodes (LEDs) mounted on a focused onto the CCD and is ments via optical or resistive HP 200 LX palmtop, and find piece of plastic (see picture). interpreted with the aid of a sensors and are very vulnerable it very useful. It has a con- The LEDs illuminate a ball splat- neural network to provide posi- to gunge. The first products nection to RadioMail, a great tered randomly with dots. tional information. This derives using the new systems are likely mail service optimised for The image of the ball is from displacements rather than to appear in September. wireless, and lets me send e-mail and faxes from almost anywhere. Two-speed mouse for the Mac Also useful is Motorola’s Envoy, a pen- based palmtop Hot stuff with a wireless modem built two-speed in. It uses General Magic’s on the AMac mouse Magic Link operating system. which allows you Skytel will launch a two-way to shift gear for paging system this autumn. Win95 long jumps or Companies like Ex fast scrolling may Machina have enabled PC keyboard be adapted for users to contact this type of pager with ease. However, PC use if it two-way pagers add a new proves popular, dimension. Instead of a key- indows 95 has says US mouse- board, they have four buttons Wrevealed the dark maker that can be used to respond secrets of Microsoft’s Microspeed. to messages with multiple- ergonomic keyboard — the The latest choice questions. They are one that looks as if it might Windows drivers expected to appear in swing back and clunk you provide a certain amount of ballistic control, moving the pointer further if Europe early next year. on the head if you throw it the mouse is moved quickly, but the effect is subtle, according to out of the window (as well Microspeed’s Daniel Mertens. The MacTrac 3.0 mouse can be config- Advisor checks you might, if you’re not a ured to switch gear instantly by clicking a middle button. for Win95 touch-typist). The board Mertens said the sister PC product could be made to do the same ● A program called Win 95 sports two extra Windows thing, but not with the normal Windows driver. A PC driver upgrade will Advisor, from Touchstone keys and an applications be provided if the feature proves popular with Mac users. Software, rates your PC for key, which we were The company has just set up a London office, and plans to launch a Windows 95 suitability. An promised would get up to Win95 version of its award-winning WinTrac trackball in September for installation planner lets you all sorts of tricks under about £75. It will also offer a sturdy £34 keyboard with the new Win95 pre-select options available Win95. function keys (see story, left). during Win95 installation and Users can now get a ● A new pointing device called the Felix AB is designed to improve the prepare for required entries. It free driver upgrade that accuracy and comfort of Win95 users, and reduce repetitive strain detects if your BIOS will pops up a shortcut menu injuries, writes Tim Bajarin. enable all Win95’s Plug and at the touch of the apps A handle operates a chip-controlled tracking system, providing very Play features. key. Hot combinations precise control of the cursor. I was sceptical at first, but quickly found Advisor even checks for using the Windows key will that it was easy to use, fast and precise. Developer Altra bills it as a free space and Windows 95 perform a variety of tasks mouse replacement, but designers and other users may find it a low- compatibility with current from logging off to cost alternative to a graphics-tablet combination. compression and partition mimimising all apps. The It should be in the UK by late autumn and has a street price of type, and benchmarks your system for multimedia perfor- keys are implemented on around $60. mance. A tutorial explains some third-party boards Altra 307 328 1342 (US) key Windows 95 options and (see story, right). Microspeed 0171 720 0592 requirements to help you Details on 0345 002000 avoid problems. It will sell for about $35.

27 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Motorola’s modem trouble

igh-speed modems seem Hjinxed. After US Robotics’ trouble with the 28.8k Sportster, Motorola is now having problems with the V3400 Pro modems New Nighthawk which come bundled with the printer sharer Internet Solution startup kit. Some early models can gen- ● Up to forty PC users can erate a very short spike of DC share printers and swap files (around 30-35 volts) when via the parallel port using switched on. If the PC is already new DFS devices from powered up, the spike may travel Nighthawk. Data can be down the serial lead and into the transmitted up to 500ft using PC’s serial port where it pops a Leave the power supply and disk drives where they are in the ordinary phone cable that chip. above diagram and switch the rest clockwise through 90 plugs in the back of the This only happens if the serial degrees, and you will get something roughly like Intel’s old devices, which cost £60 per cable is screened, because the Baby AT motherboard, which forms the basis of millions of PC and £50 per printer. screening creates a more current PCs. It will look a lot more awkward: longer leads, Nighthawk 01799 540881 efficient transfer path. Most expansion cards blocking memory slots, and the processor Time TV users will however not know and power supplier generating heat at opposite ends of the ● Time has launched a new whether their cables are board — often necessitating two fans. The layout pictured is range of PCs equipped with screened or not. The cure, now of Intel’s new ATX board, which PC makers from Compaq, cards that enable you to incorporated in Motorola’s Dell, Gateway, and IBM downwards will be using for the watch TV. Prices start at modems, is a pair of blocking forthcoming P6 machines. The wonder is that the board was £1,699 for a DX2/66 with a capacitors. If Motorola’s made like that in the first place. 540Mb disk and CD drive. engineers are satisfied that a Clive Akass Time 01282 777111 faulty V3400 is the cause of damage, the company will repair replacement. By then the serial a customer’s PC. port may not work with any US Robotics Motorola seems to be doing modem. modems speed up its best for customers, without Most of the faulty batch ● creating a panic reaction or trig- ended up on the US market, so US Robotics has become the gering opportunist claims. It says Motorola expects few claims in latest modem maker to offer it has warned the distribution the UK. Because of a complex speeds beyond 28.8Kbps – chain, withdrawn faulty product factory numbering system billed with the V.34 standard and “informed all relevant press”. Motorola cannot easily identify only last year as the fastest New printer modems would ever go. It is ● Mannesmann-Tally has Motorola’s Simon Boyle believes risky units by serial number. that anyone who takes a Motoro- Anyone with doubts can call offering free upgrades which launched the T711c colour push its Courier and Total Con- bubblejet, with a 300dpi res- la V3400 modem back to a shop Motorola on 01293 422600 for and complains that it does not advice. I called and got a very trol models to 33.6kbps. Point olution, for £269. your browser at www.usr.com. Mannesmann-Tally 01734 788711 work, will be fully advised of the quick response. problem rather than just given a Barry Fox USR 0753 811180 Big picture ● NEC has produced what it claims is the first plug-and- Postcode utility play 29in monitor. The Multi- Sync 4Pgplus supports up to with a nice price four sources simultaneously and costs £3,197. utility that provides Distributor NEC 0181 993 8111 Aaddresses for given Nildram claims postcodes is being offered for it can speed up Music online £42.50, a fraction of the cost of the typing of addresses as it will substantial reductions for multi- ● You can search for and some rival products. complete them down to street ple licences. QuickAddress basi- buy sheet music and MIDI Postcode, from AFD level once it is given the post- cally provides a front-end for files from http://www.music- Software, is also available as a code. income data compiled by The sales.co.uk, a new Web site shareware version that gives • The new version of Quick- Marketing Information Consul- set up by the Music Sales only the town and county to Address with Find from QAS will tancy with information on more Group. Also at the site are which a code refers. It is avail- generate estimated household than 13 million housewholds. sample files which change able at http://www.nildram. income from the postcode. It Nildram 01442 891331 periodically. co.uk/nildram/postcode.html. costs £3,000 for one user, with QAS 0171 498 7777

30 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Plan to put British Library online given OK by Labour party

plan to use millenium funds ● A government Web site Ato put British Library devoted to neural networks archives online, mooted in has been created with the Newsprint previously, has aid of the technology it was received partial backing from set up to promote. The site Labour. The party proposes to (at http://www. set up a Millenium Archive on globalweb.co.uk/nctt/) the Internet of major works from includes an online tutorial for the Library, as well as from other beginners and companies museums and art galleries. who may be considering Shadow Heritage Minister neural-net applications. Chris Smith said: “It would take The creation of hypertext most of the next century to put links between its 1000 everything in the British Library pages was part-automated online... But we could take all with the aid of a neural util- the important manuscripts and ity. The Web page is part of the Department of Trade some of the rare printed books and Industry’s three-year and put them into digital form.” Neural Network Technology The facilities would be free to Transfer programme, which schools and public-access facili- has prompted more than ties like libraries but there might 10,000 enquiries. be a charging mechanism for The programme has also “the use of creative material.” produced, with the Univer- Mr Smith was speaking at IBM is involved in digitising exhibits at several major museums, sity of York’s Electronics the launch of Communicating including the Vatican and (from last month) the Lutherhalle Centre, a four-module dis- Britain’s Future, Labour’s infonet Wittenberg. This wonderful sixteenth-century Aztec painting, tance-learning course on neural technology. It is avail- policy document, which also from one of the few written works surviving from the pre- able from the centre (01904 proposed giving a free rein as Colombian civilisation, can be downloaded from IBM’s Digital 432323) or from the Institu- soon as possible for British Library page at http://www.ibm.com/Features/Library/. tion of Electrical Engineers Telecom to compete with cable on 01438 313311. companies. network provided it is allowed to government says it will “review” This could lead to homes recoup the money with enter- this policy by 2001. Net censor to across the country receiving the tainment services. Mr Smith said Labour would protect kids broadband connections neces- It is banned from doing this limit this restriction to the first ● A robot censor has been sary to realise the potential of under a deal designed to allow seven years of a cable produced by US company the infonet. BT has promised to cable companies to make a company’s franchise. Surfwatch to prevent young invest £13 billion in upgrading its return on their investment. The Clive Akass netsurfers from being exposed to bad language or sexually explicit material. Upgrade kit takes 386 into 486 The software, which is available for both servers and surfers, keeps an updat- Technomatic is selling a kit claiming to upgrade able database of dodgy sites 386 and 386SX machines to 486 performance for to which it block access. It just £99. The kits, from Workstation Source, com- also monitors material for prise a Texas Instruments SXL2-50MHz chip sitting bad words. on a tiny daughterboard. This replaces a 386DX SurfWatch 415 948 9500 (US) chip or “piggy-backs” a 386SX up to 25MHz. Workstation’s James Gower said: “Our specialist dealers will be able to warn customers if their machines are unsuitable, and we give a money-back guarantee.” ● Portable Add-ons is offer- CAption Technomatic 0181 205 0190; Workstation Source 01734 ing this PC Card CD drive for 759292; Sunbelt (corporate enquiries) 0181 715 9913 £299. Tel: 01483 440777

32 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Infra-red networking for PowerBooks Power SCSI ● Adaptec has produced a fast SCSI2 adaptor, called pple has scooped the PC the AHA-2490W, for the world by incorporating infra- Apple unveils three new PowerMac 9500’s PCI bus. A red networking as standard into The company also says that PowerMacs its latest top-of-the-range Power- following its acquisition of storage specialist Trillium Book portables. Research, it will be develop- Users of the new PowerBook Three new PowerMacs were ing RAID mass-storage sys- 5300 will be able to connect to a unveiled at MacWorld in tems forthe PowerMac. network simply by walking within Boston last month. The 7200, Adaptec 01252 811200 two metres of a machine the 7500 and the 8500 com- equipped with an IR port plement the top-ranking 9500. Net benefit AirDock 230kbps costing about All feature fast PCI buses, ● WordPerfect 3.5 for the £59 street price from Farallon. enabling them to use cards Mac is now available for The IR link, which uses the benefiting from the high-vol- £125, or £60 to upgraders. Appletalk protocol, can sense ume prices of the Intel-based New features include an any other 5300 or similarly- market. HTML editor for creating equipped machine within range Prices start at £1,055, Web pages, and the and link up with them (there can which is also competitive with Netscape Navigator is bun- be more than one) as if they are the PC market. Pictured here dled with the package. Novell claims the new physically linked on a network. is the 90MHz 7200. version is the fastest and A software upgrade will also most “Mac compatible” make the port IRDA compatible lithium-ion battery and one of battery with a claimed life of up version available. for talking directly to IBM Fujitsu’s new magneto-optical to five hours. A 10.4in active- Novell 01344 7244600 machines, though this is not yet drives. It is designed to compete matrix SVGA version is available. Portable products with low-end Wintel notebooks available. Doomed Macs manager James Dingwall says — a mono version will cost Farallon faxback 01494 434 224; ● Virgin Interactive is selling Appletalk allows the machine to around £1100. Apple 0800 127753 Doom ll for the Mac in both connect with “foreign” networks ● The PowerDuo 2000 is basi- CD-ROM and floppy including Netware. There are cally a 100MHz PowerPC Newsprint welcomes your versions. three new PowerBook ranges: upgrade to the 200 sub- news, views, Web sites and Virgin Interactive 0181 964 8242 ● The 68LC040-powered 190 notebooks. The Duo 2300 with a graphics. Send them to replaces the old 100 series. A 9.5in active-matrix colour screen cakassa at CIX or Bit animation version with a 10.4in dual-scan will cost about £2530. clive-akass@ pcw. ● Bit UK is selling colour screen costs £1,490. ● The 5000 series replaces the ccmail.compuserve.com or ElectricImage Animation Options include an I-R port, a old 500s and use a lithium-ion [email protected] System 2.5, which it claims is the fastest and most pow- erful Mac animation produc- Top 10 Windows and DOS Last Top 20 Windows Last tion tool available. New Product Manufacturer month Product Manufacturer month features include inverse 1 First Aid for Windows RMG 1 1 First Aid for Windows RMG 1 kinematics, light rays and 2 MS Office 4.2 U/G Microsoft 4 2 MS Office 4.2 U/G Microsoft 4 network rendering. It costs £5995. 3 Sidekick for Windows RMG - 3 Sidekick for Windows RMG - Bit 01420 83811 4 The Business Plan Builder RMG 4 4 The Business Plan Builder RMG 4 5 Uninstaller v3 Microhelp - 5 Uninstaller v3 Microhelp - Express storage 6 Alpha 5 Home & Business Guildsoft - 6 Alpha 5 Home & Business Guildsoft - ● Micro Design International 7 Cleansweep Quarterdeck 3 7 Cleansweep Quarterdeck 3 has launched version 2.0 of 8 Smartsuite Lotus - 8 Smartsuite Lotus 18 SCSI Express, which 9 PCDOS Version 7 IBM 10 9 Quickbooks v3 Intuit 15 assists the installation of 10 Quickbooks v3 Intuit - 10 MS Office 4.3 Pro U/G Microsoft 9 storage devices in the Mac 11 Quicken v4.0 Intuit 6 Top 10 DOS environment. It supports 12 Truespace v1 RMG - both the HFS and NDR file 1 PC DOS Version 7 IBM 3 13 Solomon’s Anti Virus S&S 5 formats, respectively for 2 Flight Simulator V5.1 Microsoft 1 14 Encarta 1995 Microsoft - Mac-only and mixed- 3 QEMM v7.5 QuarterDeck 2 15 12,000 Clipart Softkey 20 platform environments. 4 Solo Payroll Pegasus 10 16 Form Art Tool IMSI - MDI 01454 614182 5 DOS 6.22 Microsoft 5 17 Magnaram Quarterdeck - ● Psion has reduced the cost 6 Gardeners World Europress 6 18 WordStar V2 Softkey 12 of its Gold Card V.34 fax- 7 The Last Dynasty Sierra - 19 CAD Graphics Converter GoldIMSI - modem PCMCIA card by 40 8 Turbo C++ V3 Borland 4 20 Gallery 2 Corel 16 percent to £299. 9 Sterling Payroll Sage - Our apologies for printing old figures last month. These figures from Software Warehouse are for July sales. Psion 01908 261686 10 Star Trek Microprose -

34 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWS ANALYSIS

Net sex? No thanks

Britain does not fingertips; technology has to explain the Internet to that Thank heavens that the BBC moved along. Big deal. famously daft old beak who won- has nailed its colours firmly to need any more The idea that service dered aloud if Mr Paul the mast of the Internet and is legislation to providers should be banged up Gascoigne was an “Association using email and the Web most control porn on for allowing bytes to cross their or Ruby Union” football player. effectively and positively. It may networks has also been mooted This is just another of the many not be every IT aficionado’s idea the Net, writes from time to time. This is of issues we have to face when of perfection just yet, but it’s a William Poel. We course absurd, and tantamount hauling the hierarchy of our whole lot more to the point than already have the to suggesting that the Post technophobic society into the the mindless and salacious Office be held responsible for information age. prattle of tabloid journalists and tightest laws in anything in the mail; but with our And from a parental control their obsession with online Christendom. legislators and that strange but point of view, firewall software of pornography and subversion. influential stratum of society all sorts is starting to flood out. often referred to as the “Great Smartcard access control will be he recent crackdown on and the Good” having the tech- here shortly, but the issue will Talleged purveyors of online nical education of the average boil down to kids being vastly paedophilia has again mountain goat, reality is still more computer-savvy than their highlighted the issue of pornog- some way from their grasp. parents. raphy on the Net. But Britain Britain has more anti- The bigger issue worrying doesn’t need more laws to cope pornography laws than any “authority” is the inescapable — it has enough already. other so-called liberal Western fact that the Internet encourages The British are a very democracy, and they can be individuality and makes strange lot where sex is applied quite readily to new devolved responsibility a reality. concerned. We display a curious technology without yet more People no longer have to be mixture of prurience and outrage tedious and expensive acts of herded together in large admin- that perhaps manages to keep parliament. istrative units. Authority might the whole subject more interest- Moreover, HM Customs and have chosen any handy excuse ing than the very matter-of-fact Excise, arguably responsible for to unplug the Internet, but obvi- approach adopted throughout anything imported into this ously it cannot now do this with- most of the rest of Europe. I country, including pornography, out taking down all Telecoms. It wouldn’t know, of course, but I’m has a wider and vastly more will be interesting to see how told that it’s easy to get very draconian remit than any other control freaks in China and in bored with too much easy agency of the state: access to pornography. police powers of entry So in keeping with our are modest by compar- national obsession, every few ison. Customs people months our beloved “peep- have extraordinary show” media manage to associ- powers when it comes ate the Internet with some sala- to looking for “illegal cious goings-on as rude pictures substances”. are seized, and there is a pre- They would not dictable chorus of baying from need to resort to ran- Westminster as various ignora- dom searches for muses start bellowing for the online pornographers. disconnection of the Internet Anything shipped and the castration of all comput- around the Internet er users as a precursor to the leaves a trail that the closure of libraries and burning average sleuth would of all books. find extremely useful. I am told, although I must There are obviously stress that I am not an expert, ways to conceal the origin of a Arab countries cope. Porn again… the that there are many prehistoric message, but the “fingerprints” I suppose it was inevitable Playboy Web cave paintings of “lewd acts”, left along the way are revealing. that the Internet would be used pages register which is only to be expected It’s a bit like a burglar catching first by mavericks and subver- 800,000 hits a considering the preoccupation his jersey on a nail on the fence, sive elements — “pervs of a month and pull in with sex that we have and unwinding the thread back feather stick together”, as some- advertising worth maintained through the ages. to his den. one once observed. But “normal tens of thousands We no longer rub squashed Courts could prove more of a society” is using it for more con- of dollars beetles into cave walls with our problem. I wouldn’t fancy trying structive pursuits. ANALYSIS

37 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWS ANALYSIS

Uncorking the latest ports

Things are he hullabaloo over Windows status information and facilitat- hotting up in the T95 has meant that moves for ing comprehensive control of a major change in the basic PC printers from the PC (not that world of PC have been little noticed. Intel, this has stopped printer manu- ports, with the backed by no less than IBM, facturers bewildering users with familiar serial Microsoft, NEC, Compaq and unreadable LCD displays, and Digital, proposes replacing the buttons with more permutations port about to give familiar serial and parallel ports than the National Lottery). 3M’s new C ports... under way to Intel’s with a new Universal Serial Bus. The latest parallel ports con- threat from the USB Universal Serial And, as nothing in the computer form to a standard called IEEE industry can be simple, several 1284. There are two flavours, each a star formation of Bus. Clive Akass rival ports are being touted. the Enhanced Parallel Port and secondary ports; a device can reports. The serial and parallel ports the faster Enhanced Capability double as a hub, so that a key- have changed little by compari- Port, which differ in how much board might link to a mouse and son with other PC components, hardware handshaking they pen as well as to another hub. mainly because they have only use. They can use a new, You would normally need recently become seriously smaller socket called a C port only one USB per PC and there stretched. The standard serial and can transmit up to 2Mb/sec, would be a single type of con- port was used mostly for or 8Mb/sec via a fast PCI bus. nector for all peripherals. USB modems and occasional direct Manufacturer 3M believes C data is transferred either asyn- PC-to-PC file transfers, and ports will become usual for chronously, when it is packeted began to be outpaced only when printer links, and has introduced and addressed with no regard to modem speeds and compression a range of suitable cables and time; or isynchronously, when it pushed data rates beyond connectors. Lindsay Powell, keeps exact pace with a steady 100Kb/sec. senior marketing manager for source such as a video link, Fast serial ports are avail- the range, points out that lead- which is guaranteed its required able, but even they perpetuate ing printer manufacturers bandwidth. the oddity of having a minimum Hewlett-Packard and Tektronix One major challenger to USB 9-pin connector (25 pins on the are already using them. is Apple’s Firewire link, based larger size) for serial data which, He sees two major advan- on another IEEE standard, given an earth, needs only two tages of 1284: it’s compatible 1394. This provides for transfers wires: to transmit and receive. with all existing parallel devices, up to 400Mb/sec in its most The extra pins are used, if at and it avoids the confusion of advanced form and backers all, for handshaking and status the rival SCSI parallel links. But include Microsoft (again) and monitoring: a “ready to receive” SCSI, though more expensive, SCSI specialist Apaptec. But signal, for instance, can toggle is as fast or faster and lets a Firewire, implemented on some an “okay to send” state in the number of devices be PowerMacs, is more complex linked port. This daisychained from one port. So and expensive than the USB hardware hand- an alternative scenario is for and may replace it only for very shaking is very SCSI to remain the choice for demanding tasks. fast but pushes up very fast parallel links, with the Dataquest analysts predict the cost of plugs new USB becoming the gener- that at least one in two PCs AMD has and cables; for all but the most al-purpose PC port. shipped late next year, and vir- been first speed-critical tasks it can be The USB transfers data at a tually all a year later, will have a to the replaced by control codes in the maximum 12Mb/sec (1Mb/sec USB. Whether they will also market serial data stream. being a working minimum for have a Firewire, an EPP, an ECP with this The parallel port theoretically video). At a physical level it is and/or a SCSI is anyone’s guess. USB port needs eight pins for sending hardly more complex than a • Full details of the USB eight bits of data simultaneous- mains lead: four wires, compris- standard, which is open and ly. In practice, parallel ports ing an earth, a twisted pair for royalty-free, can be obtained have 25 or 36; an unenhanced data in each direction, and a 5v from http://www.teleport. one can pass 100Kb/sec, power supply. As a result, the com/~usb/index.html. The server although most PCs drive it at first connector on the market refuses to believe that there’s a about 10Kb/sec. (left) costs just $1 in bulk. world outside America, so you The early design was unidi- Low-drain devices can be could try lying when it asks for rectional and used almost exclu- powered directly from the port; your address. The Firewire spec sively for printers. The 1987 others can have their own sup- is at ftp://ftp.apple.com/pub/ PS/2 parallel port was made bi- ply. One port will address up to standards/p1394. Both are very directional, allowing the return of 63 devices via a chain of hubs, long documents. ANALYSIS

38 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 NEWS ANALYSIS

The only way is up

WIth 4.7 million PCs sold in the US alone in the first are my predictions. three months of this year, a predicted growth rate of 20 • 3D is going to be big, percent for 1995, the PC industry in going from strength especially towards Christmas. Microsoft and many board- to strength. Tim Bajarin reports from San Francisco. makers plan to push the PC as a powerful games platform, and they need a graphics boost if ost market research copies by the end of the year. they are going to compete with, Mcompanies predicted a Perhaps 30 million will be sold and even out-perform Sega’s strong growth for the PC industry in 1996. Saturn and Sony’s Playstation. this year, but sales have never- The home market is the That is why Creative Labs, theless been astonishing. The fastest growing segment of the nVidia and others are rushing to PC industry is pinching itself to US, where 5.5 million market video graphics adaptors see if it is not dreaming. households bought a PC last that allow the PC to run 3D Last year was the best in year. Creative Strategies reck- images. many years, with the number of ons US home sales will reach • The entire multimedia PC units shipped growing at 8.4 million in 1995, and 11 mil- market will move over to quad- between 14 to 17 percent. lion in 1996. speed CD drives in 1995, and Creative Strategies predicts that At present, 35 percent of US jump to eight-speed early next the total annual growth rate homes have a PC, and I think year. worldwide in 1995 will be close that will be close to 55 percent • There will be quite a battle this to 20 percent. by 1998. Some will be upgrades autumn between Sony, Philips, PC shipments rose 23 per- or second PCs, but most will be Toshiba and Time Warner over cent in the US to nearly 4.7 mil- sold into new home settings. high-density CD standards. Both lion computers in the first three This strong growth is being are developing a format that will fuelled by cheaper boost CD capacity as much as and easier-to-use tenfold. Some of the CD drives multimedia PCs, in the works will hold up to with great edutain- 17Gb, giving software develop- ment CD-ROMs ers space to add full-motion featuring interactive video, 3D animation and other video, animation goodies for games, simulations and stereo sound, and new multimedia making these PCs applications. great for children. • By autumn, 16-bit audio will be The other US standard on just about every PC segment enjoying sold; 3D stereo will also be pop- explosive growth is ular since the surround sound that of the small effect adds a whole new dimen- office and home sion to PC games. office (SoHo) mar- • Hard drives will also gain ket — 85 percent of serious capacity even on low- Sea of the 20 million regis- end systems. Home PCs will possibilities... months of 1995, according to tered businesses in the US have at least a 350Mb hard drive 3D will be in International Data Corp. At that have fewer than 20 staff, and 75 and the trend is to offer 850Mb this year. This rate, some 20 million will be sold percent with fewer than five. in the mid-range home PCs. We picture was this year in the US alone, and Link Resources predict that the are starting to see 1Gb home produced by worldwide sales will be close to SoHo market will buy 20 million systems, but you still pay a pre- Autodesk’s NT 48 million. Dataquest reckons PCs in 1995 and some 26 mil- mium for them. version of 3D they will reach 100 million by lion by 1998. Most analysts believe that Studio using a 1999, barring a major local or If Bill Gates, Intel chief Andy unless there are some serious Glint 3D world downturn. Grove and other PC executives problems with the US economy, accelerator Windows 95 will provide fur- are smiling, you now know why. this Christmas will be the best board with ther stimulus. Creative Strate- The PC market is healthy and it ever. And that will help keep the drivers from gies estimates that Microsoft will looks like it will stay that way for smiles on the faces of Bill Gates 3D Labs sell 12 million copies worldwide some time. and Andy Grove, and just about (01784 470555) in the first 30 days of release So, what can we expect for everyone else who makes their and an additional 15 million the second half of 1995? Here living in the PC industry. ANALYSIS

40 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 PCW ● COLUMNS

hose fortunate enough to live in the Bromley area can Tnow take advantage of the latest concept in home shopping. Should you suddenly feel that there’s a void in your life because you lack, say, tinned ham, just email [email protected], put “H1: Princes Ham Tin 454gr” in the body of your message, and provided you post your order before noon, your desideratum will be delivered to you, COD, by 6.00 pm the following day. Not so much meals on wheels as spam in a van. Michael Hewitt The “Supermarket on Wheels”, as it Off Sounding bills itself, carries a complete range of the house will be to oblige the undertaker. foods, all prefixed with individual code Lots of people get off on this sort of numbers. Canned and packaged goods are thing, as I discovered recently, having delivered the next day. Fresh produce, written an article about online shopping however, such as meat and eggs requires (PCW, August). For the WWW anorak, it 24 hours notice to be given, while fresh would appear that Nirvana is the ability to milk has to be ordered two working days in browse a virtual Safeway, click on crisps advance (presumably to allow enough time and lager on the virtual shelves, and then for the cow to be primed?). have them delivered to the door. The con- The prices seem reasonable enough. cept (de-techified) would no doubt appeal Who can argue with “F297: 1 size egg to the ordinary family man and woman, (large)” for just 10p? Likewise “E18: Bur- too. After all, no-one enjoys trudging ton’s Wagon Wheel (choice of radial or round the average supermarket these cross-ply) is a mere snip at 13p. days, especially at the weekend when I’d imagine the idea is that you draw up there are more exciting things to do, such your week’s shopping list on the Saturday as defurring the kettle or worming the cat. or Sunday, log on and then sit back and Yet, because of work and/or family com- wait for the van-borne sustenance to mitments, most people don’t have much of appear over the horizon. Isn’t modern a choice in the matter. So avoiding the technology wonderful? In pre-Internet queues and saving time by simply clicking days, people often starved to death on iconic groceries from the comfort of because they weren’t able to order their your own living room, might seem the biz. baked beans via the PC. Think about what the reality would be, Actually, the only “modern” thing about though, given the current state of technol- this is the means by which the shopping ogy: according to the so-called “father of list is transmitted: simple email. Otherwise the Internet”, Vinton Cerf, network it’s a blast from the past. Those of you congestion has now reached what he calls evening meal. under 30 probably won’t remember that a “dangerous measure”. This is all the Nevertheless, I imagine home shopping in the pre-supermarket era, butchers, more worrying, he added, because the both for luxury items and simple groceries bakers, and candlestick makers routinely Internet is still “modest in capacity.” He will eventually arrive when they refine the made home deliveries like this. They didn’t has a strong point: consider how long it technology. And then, popping down to the charge extra for it, either: it was all part of already takes, especially at peak times, local shops will become as quaint a con- the service. You’d just pop along (or tele- just for one Web page to assemble itself. cept as milking your own cow. But to my phone) to the shop and drop off a list of So what’s going to happen when every- mind it will be something of a pity — yet your requirements. Said goods would usu- one who’s already hogging the bandwidth another example of computers deperson- ally turn up before the end of the day. My (by sucking down .gif images of Miss alising us. Where, for instance, would the local farm even made home deliveries of Whiplash and Brenda Bigjugs) suddenly Gold Blend couple be if, having discovered manure, subject to their horse’s ability to finds himself competing for that same herself to be coffee-less, Sharon Mugham produce in reasonable quantities. bandwidth with a million normal people had simply been able to type “G5: Nescafe Anyway, talking of horseshit, those who who just want to visit their online Tesco? Gold Blend 100gr jar” into her PC? Then espouse the Internet cause so enthusiasti- Browsing virtual supermarket shelves will again, the online supermarket does elimi- cally (and naively) appear convinced that become a virtual impossibility. In the time nate the risk of Danny Baker suddenly the human race is soon to take an evolu- it would take for one graphical represen- ambushing you as you buy washing tionary step and become footless and tation of a can of beans or a jar of Bovril powder. immobile (or should that be “lose an evo- to assemble itself on screen (let alone big- Anyhow, Luddite stick-in-the-mud that lutionary step”?). What other reason could ger things like Cornflakes or Sugar Puffs), I am, I nevertheless wish the “Supermarket there be for their assertion that within you’d be able to motor down to your local on Wheels” all the best. And if they ever about ten years, all of us will do all our supermarket, grab a shopping trolley, do start operating around my neck of the shopping online? What with this, and the rounds of the shelves, pay and pack, woods, I might even give them a try — teleworking, and teleconferencing, the perhaps even visit the local garden centre, out of curiosity’s sake, if for no other only time you’ll need to set stump outside and be back again ready to cook the reason. PCW

43 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD LATENT IMAGE 6 BALMORAL GROVE LONDON N7 9NQ. TEL: 0171 609 5952 / FAX: 0171 609 3553 PCW ● COLUMNS

nce upon a time, computers in fiction knew their place and Owriting about them was easy. Authors could feign profound knowledge while writing absolute rubbish, because the public per- ception of a computer was a vague and nebulous thing. Describe a room full of grey steel cabinets, winking lights and large spools of tape and you’d set the scene.

Populate it with a few acolytes in white coats and a pipe-smoking Scotsman with a beard and it would “only be a matter of Body Farm (1994) a character has to hours” until the hero or heroine “Re-partition the hard disk, reload the Tim Nott discovered the true identity of the serial whole thing because I keep running out Homefront killer, the flight path to Alpha Centauri or of space, allocate more, change a bunch their mortgage repayment schedule. of files.” This hardly bears detailed If the book actually made it to the big analysis and is really just an update on screen, there would be the obligatory the winking grey boxes school of writing close-up of the “results coming through”; — wisely, the author hurries on to the in green lettering on a tiny monitor, at safer ground of guns and autopsies. about one character per second. Complicity, by Iain Banks, is one of Personal computing has changed all the few books I’ve read that rises to the that, as more people have not only seen a technological challenge. The hero, computer but used one, so any credible Cameron Colley, is a handsome, hard- modern-day thriller protagonist is drinking young journalist with a expected to be similarly clued-up. penchant for illicit substances, exotic sex Faced with the twin challenges of fash- and giving up smoking. His prized pos- ion and technology, the pre-personal session is his computer. (An uncannily computer thriller writer had two choices. accurate profile of the typical PCW con- For a short-term profit (over one to three tributor, one might think.) But on page years, say) characters could be festooned 51 we learn that his PC is a 25MHz with designer labels and drive the latest 386SX with 2Mb of RAM, which, even sports car. More experienced writers, though the book was published in 1993, with an eye to film rights and pension takes an immediate two inches off his plans, would dress and transport their macho image. Goodness, Cameron — leading characters in timeless fashion: surely you don’t try to run Windows on you won’t catch James Bond tucking his that? Sure enough, by page 91, he’s Biba kipper tie into the waistband of his redeemed himself by buying a 486 laptop Mr Fish flares before leaping into a three- with a colour screen. But how long is this litre Capri. Consequently his dark blue going to last? I’ll bet, by the third or suits, Sea Island cotton shirts and vintage fourth reprint, this will have the techno- Bentley have, like the character, worn logical machismo of a Sinclair Spectrum. well. His hand-made cigarettes might The answer is obvious. Just as in the raise a quizzical eyebrow in today’s real world, with-it technonauts have to healthily-correct atmosphere, but then, upgrade their kit regularly, and so nobody’s perfect. should fictional heroes and heroines. So Neither of these traditional before each reprint, what’s needed is a approaches works with personal comput- quick run-through of the book, upgrad- ers. The “classic” approach is a complete ing as necessary. You might think this non-starter: “Bond slipped the 8in floppy could be done by lashing up a few word- boot disk into his trusty gunmetal-grey processing macros: replace “486” with IBM 8086. Within minutes its entire “Pentium”, “16-bit” with “32-bit”, 65,536 bytes of Random Access Memory “double-speed” with “quad”, and so on. were at his disposal. Tracking down Having taken a sample text through Blofeld would be easy…” This is about as two such upgrades, I can report that it is much-lengthened shelf life of their likely as his trading in his Walther PPK not that simple. This kind of task is too books, and the latter from a percent- for a yellow plastic bow and arrow with difficult to be left to the authors, who are age of the extended royalties. Success- rubber suction pads. anyway far too busy writing their next ful authors only, please contact The “state-of-the-art” technique fares best-sellers. It is, however, an ideal [email protected]. And if you little better. Some authors try to straddle chance for computer journalists to haven’t a clue what that means, the gap by chucking in a bit of suitably deploy their expertise. perhaps you’d better stick to historical vague jargon. In Patricia Cornwell’s The The former would benefit from a romances. PCW

45 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD LATENT IMAGE 6 BALMORAL GROVE LONDON N7 9NQ. TEL: 0171 609 5952 / FAX: 0171 609 3553 PCW ● COLUMNS

hen you switch off a PC, all the data stored in RAM is instantly Wlost. But the PC needs to store its basic system configuration when unplugged from the mains. So setup data, along with clock time and date, is stored in CMOS memory. CMOS needs only a very little power to keep it alive. The battery can be either a lithium long-life cell, or a NiCad rechargeable. But long life does not mean infinite life. Manufacturers of the early PCs recognised at the same time CompaqCare explained this problem and put an easily available that the motherboard battery is a NiCad battery into an easily accessible compart- rechargeable, and users who get error ment for user replacement. But no-one messages should try leaving the machine Barry Fox

does this any more. The CMOS battery is on for a few days to see whether the bat- Talking Straight now on the PC motherboard, often tery recharges and self-cures the fault. soldered to it alongside the control and After a weekend’s charging, the battery processor chips. was still as flat as a pancake — time and As sure as night follows day, the CMOS date evaporated as soon as the machine battery eventually begins to fail and the PC was switched off. loses its time and date when switched off, Compaq then made an important fouling up diary functions and automated admission: the company had found “a file archiving. Things get worse when the problem whereby on-board batteries were CMOS loses the system configuration, discharging prematurely.” The cure, I was including details of hard-disk type, the told, was to order battery part code number of cylinders on the disc and the 160274-001, open up the mainframe, fit correct landing zone. Once this informa- the new battery to the motherboard and tion has been lost, the PC is effectively re-set some jumper pins. But this is way dead. beyond the average small-business user’s If the owner is skilled, and has had the capabilities. foresight to make a note of the system No, Compaq could not supply a new details, then it is a reasonably easy job to battery direct. It had to be ordered from a run the BIOS setup program and re-enter dealer. Please confirm, I asked, that if I the vital details. But for most small-busi- can get the dealer to order the part, it will ness users, a dead CMOS battery means a at least be covered by the guarantee? dead PC and a service call. It is then easy Again, no: “Although the ProLinea does for an unscrupulous engineer to write the come with a three-year warranty”, regret- system off as being beyond repair. At best, ted CompaqCare, “this does not cover faulty batteries between November 1992 the engineer has to open up the PC to parts of a consumable nature, which is and March 1993. As a result, the warranty work on the motherboard, probably clock- what the battery is considered to be.” on affected machines had been extended ing up two visits because the replacement Anyone other than a hobbyist would to four years. Compaq had asked dealers, battery has to be ordered and takes a now have only two options: either junk an “pro-actively”, to track down ProLineas week to arrive. eighteen-month-old PC, or pay whatever with faulty batteries and offer to replace Why do manufacturers create this an engineer would charge to order and fit them. Customers who asked for replace- unnecessary obstacle course? Is it a new battery to the motherboard. ments, got them, too. ignorance or cleverly planned Switching from helpful husband to But hang on a minute: on the one hand obsolescence? By chance I was able to working journalist, I asked Compaq for we have Compaq’s desktop product man- check this out first hand, through my press comment: how could the company ager telling the press that the company has experience with a supposedly reputable possibly justify classing a key component been volunteering to replace batteries and manufacturer. on the motherboard as a “consumable” offering an extra year’s warranty, while on My wife bought a Compaq ProLinea in which is excluded from guarantee — the other hand we have Compaq’s October 1993. After a few days’ use it especially as Compaq already knew that customer relations department telling started to give “time and date not set” some of the batteries fitted to ProLineas real-world customers that their faulty bat- error messages. The dealer sent an engi- had been faulty? teries are not covered by the guarantee. neer who replaced the motherboard bat- It was like getting blood from a stone “The CompaqCare representative must tery under guarantee. But the same error as Compaq’s comments were issued have been confused between notebook messages recurred a year or so later. piecemeal: the Notebook Division, the NiCads and CMOS NiCads. He might have Compaq sells its products on qualities Desktop Division and the Consumer missed the note about the warranty exten- of reliability and offers a three-year guar- Division all separately reassured me that sion because it is buried in a five-page antee. So, providing proof of the date of CMOS batteries were covered by the main document,” Moore told me, following purchase, I asked Compaq whether the three-year guarantee. through with the written assurance that: ProLinea had a known design fault and So why is Compaq telling customers “In most cases these were subject to a whether they would supply a replacement that batteries are excluded? According to pro-active replacement programme… your battery. Compaq’s Care Centre phoned me desktop product manager, David Moore, model was the exception.” Pull the other to ask for the machine’s serial number — Compaq discovered that it had been fitting one, Compaq, it’s got batteries on. PCW

47 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PCW ● COLUMNS

ven the best made software is likely to suffer bugs. The E complexity of software means that exhaustive testing is impossible. Like proving that there is no life except on Earth: there might always be something in the one place you have not yet looked. So proving software to be bug free is also largely impossible, except for trivial applications such as PRINT “HELLO WORLD” and programs which are not much more interesting. Some software development methods are emerging where program Nick Beard specifications are represented in mathe- Matters Business matical formats, and about which people can reason with well tried and tested for- network glitches, or simply a mal methods. However, these are not yet misunderstanding about what the able to prove all programs to be bug-free. software was supposed to be doing at that Their applicability to commercial develop- particular point. So we track issues, not ment is limited — they are definitely of bugs. We do this using a simple Access value, though not in all circumstances. database with a custom-built front-end The business problem an IT team faces which enables us to log issues as they is persuading users to understand this. arise. Of course, some issues are bugs — Bugs are a real nuisance once known — it and some are very hard to find. is the background fear of unrecognised Each issue has a number of character- bugs which causes the greatest concern. If istics. It has a unique number, a date of a series of serious bugs crops up, people logging, a priority, an accession or code can begin to doubt the entire system. The number (assigned by the company respon- inability to guarantee that there are no sible for the software involved). It also has others makes it hard to instil confidence. a brief and a longer description, a history Companies making mass-market PC of efforts being made to resolve the prob- software have a slightly easier time of it, lem, and a named individual with respon- since they can usually enrol hordes of sibility for sorting out the whole thing. users in the testing process. Larger appli- Dates are set by which updates are due, cations vendors (such as hospital informa- and we then print reports each week so tion system or financial applications we can see where there are hold-ups providers) have a slightly harder job. The where issue resolution is behind schedule. total number of customers is often lower, These reports are vital for issue track- so the testing load is spread more thickly. ing. Careful documentation of what is Of course, software companies can and do being done, with deadlines and clear their own testing to varying levels of com- assignment of responsibilities, all make it petence. The problem with in-house test- much easier to instil confidence in the ing is that it is laborious, time consuming user population about what is being done and thus expensive. A balance must be to fix stuff. The danger is that unless struck between delivering code fast, and someone keeps an overall eye on the big delivering code which is properly tested. picture, lots of resource can be swallowed This balance is hard to maintain and cus- up fixing scores of niggling little problems, tomers (all of us who buy software) are of when the best solution would be to make course completely (and reasonably) unrea- one fell swoop and radically alter the sonable in our demands. We want bug-free approach to the problem. This is the software now, at the same price as code importance of the overall information sys- process) is increasingly to be the holder of delivered by companies which “out source” tems strategy, and the IT director’s job is process knowledge. This is not a simple all their testing to customers. This is a key to keep an eye on the whole thing: making technical function. Maintaining software, reason for my being against bespoke soft- sure the strategy is actually being imple- hardware and networks and delivering ware. Since writing bug-free code is so mented on schedule, and within budget. PCs, doing the odd bit of coding; all are hard, it makes sense to share the testing The other parts of the job are: important, but as systems are integrated, load as widely as possible — say, with understanding the business and determin- process becomes key to delivering benefit. other users of the same systems. ing the strategy in the first place; and Most users have, at best, a single depart- The analyst staff in the IS Department gaining support for the resources to ment’s viewpoint, often a single here at HCI are responsible for testing and implement it. individual’s viewpoint. Organisational implementing new code, and for liaison The IS role in a modern facility (as process implications of systems activities with the software vendors to get bugs opposed to old-fashioned ones where all are generally best understood by systems fixed. Often the problems turn out not to IT is decentralised to users who buy what- people. Users just don’t always realise it. be bugs at all but user errors, hardware or ever they fancy, spending far more in the • Feedback and abuse to [email protected]

49 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER1995 LETTERS

when I thought we were in the not have to like a particular No computer furniture I have decent job, but their products Send your letters to: “technical” era, there are still game or software because of yet seen fits against a wall, are well out of my price range. The Editor very sexist attitudes from peo- their sex. It actually becomes not without seriously compro- They don’t like small orders, Personal Computer World ple who should be very “open very handy when little boys mising cable integrity. and they tend to produce VNU House minded”. When I was a little and little girls care about tidying And all of it is ugly, it never things too large for a modern 32-34 Broadwick Street girl, I used to enjoy the chem- up! Let’s try it that way and we’ll has enough shelves, the sup- house with its pokey little London W1A 2HG istry set and meccano as end up with a better society. ports for the monitor are awk- rooms. much as the action men, Patricia Vazquez wardly placed (see the Please, Mr Hewitt, to save or email which unfortunately belonged [email protected]. Innovations catalogues, and the sanity of millions of PC [email protected] to my brother. I was never told go.jp others) and the space under users, tell us where you found or fax what to play or what was sup- the monitor support is never yours. Please? I know it’s 0171 316 9313 posed to be for girls. Cabinet shuffle large enough for my system advertising, but, dammit, if the I would like to think that I’ve been looking for a useful, unit. I’m amazed that no-one other guys produced good finding where the mouse is in sturdy and practical desk or in two decades or more has stuff, they would deserve it too. this software package and stand or cabinet for my PC for given any thought at all to this John A McCoy issue. Talking about the how to find the cheese etc is over a year. I fully agree with market. They just assume jamccoy@maurabrid. Dream Doll’s House software, as interesting for girls as it is Michael Hewitt (Sounding Off, we’re content to pay for over- win-uk.net he says: “I was especially for boys. Let’s try to change June) and everything I have priced, overweight tables pleased to see the Fisher- the female role (cleaning, tak- seen so far is ridiculously with shelves. Responses to the LettersPrice Dream Doll’s House as ing care of the house and overpriced rubbish. Places Making helpful suggestions new-look PCW Roles for children there’s very little software preparing the food, making the like Argos have no idea about to the companies concerned I have just bought reveal sexist attitudes available specifically for house “cute”) and make it what’s needed to support a meets with a prolonged, blank September’s issue of PCW I would like to comment on the young girls.” available for both sexes. PC and all the bits, and there silence. They never even and must say that I approve article by Paul Begg in the I am upset about this It is up to us to make chil- are never any grooves for the respond. There are, I admit, of your new layout. I don’t Kid’s Stuff section of your July remark. It seems that even dren understand that they do massive collection of wiring. office suppliers who do a half- know how your advertisers

Focus on Windows 95 Warp factor I wonder how long the current debates will last? Windows 95 vs Win- Windows on steroids dows 3.X, and Windows 95 vs OS2/Warp? I have been running a Point break I realise that journalism requires the use of catchy phrases and selection of releases of Windows 95 since early May and have been I have just read the Windows 95 articles in your September 1995 buzzwords to keep your audience attentive. However, your descrip- generally very happy with it. I recently had the “misfortune” to do issue and find one or two serious points missing. Firstly, let me begin tion of Windows 95’s “Explorer” application as being like “file manager some work on a Windows 3.x system; it was a simple test, yuck, help, by saying that Windows 95 is excellent and streets ahead of on steroids” is, to me, somewhat confusing. Does this description how antiquated! I didn’t realise how familiar I had become with 95, Windows 3.1: that’s a lot coming from me, as I have an aversion to mean that it is a powerful, well thought out tool? Or does it mean that and I just couldn’t wait to get back to it. GUIs for a number of reasons. it is a bloated, ill-proportioned application which seems powerful but I never did get to test my post-Christmas copy of OS2/Warp. After Now to the points. There is very little tape support in the backup could drop dead at any moment? six attempts to install it, and indifferent support from IBM, I threw it in program provided with Windows 95. There have been a lot of frus- Laurence Barker the corner in disgust. My first copy of Windows 95 installed in about trated users on MSN talking about this and the Microsoft answer is [email protected] an hour and, like subsequent copies, quite simply worked. that they are not going to provide support for all the drives, that it will I like the latest version of Exchange, especially since Microsoft be up to the manufacturers. PCW replies: We’ll come clean — the offending analogy was first have reduced its complexity, and am toying with the idea of In tandem with this are claims of similarity between the 32-bit used by a Microsoft employee during an early Windows 95 (then unistalling WinFax. Initially the task bar really annoyed me. However, environments of NT and Win95. I make use of a friend’s machine known as Chicago) presentation in Seattle, May 1994. We borrowed I changed the options to “Auto Hide” and “Always on Top”: it appears using Win95 that has a DAT drive and a very large hard drive that the phrase and shamelessly tried to pass it off as our own. As to its at the point where it should be, and now it doesn’t annoy me! My needs backing up regularly. There is no support for the DAT in true meaning, time will tell. Rumours that Windows 95 is currently scanner has a DMA conflict with my sound card, that’s now easy to Win95 but NT has DAT support, so why not Win95 if they are undergoing random drug tests are entirely unfounded. overcome — dynamically re-configure my hardware, use the scan- reasonably similar. ner, then reconfigure back to my defaults. Easy. And lastly, Win95 does not support an NTFS type file system. On schedule On the Office front, I have been running SmartSuite (minus Free- One of the major complaints about Win95, next to memory require- Thanks for the great review section on Windows 95. I noticed a ref- lance, in favour of Corel v5), for some time and liked it. Office 95 was ments, is disk space consumed. Windows 95 uses an FXT system erence in the section on Office 95 about Schedule+ saying: “...and it installed at the beginning of July more out of curiosity than need. I “similar” to DOS and on large drives consumes huge chunks just for is possible to link the software to Project for Windows 95.” How? I’ve find myself gradually converting Lotus files to Office files with the small files — as an example, each “shortcut” is on average 300 to been looking through Help in both applications and can’t find any exception of Approach. Office 95 just seems to be easier to use and 400 bytes. If an NTFS-type file system were available it would allo- clues on this one, though I’d love to be able to do it. hangs together better. Word is a definite improvement on Ami Pro, the cate by sector (512 bytes) and not cluster (clusters vary in size, get- Talking Win95, here’s a disappointment comment. Why couldn’t jury is still out on Excel vs 1-2-3, Schedule is probably better although ting bigger as the partition/drive size increases). So for instance, on Exchange’s address book be linked to Schedule+ (or vice versa), or I prefer the look and feel of Organizer. I’m using both PowerPoint (for a 2Gb partition, NTFS would consume 512 bytes for each “shortcut” some means of data import be provided for Exchange? simple presentations) and Corel (for complex presentations). where FAT consumes 32Kb, a big difference and a lot of wastage on But here’s a not-so-disappointed comment. I thinks it’s a brilliant On balance I think Office 95 is better and I really like Windows 95. the FAT system. I hear you cry, how many people have 2Gb drives? O/S. As a fairly seasoned Win3.x user, it may have taken me a while Given the features of both of these, I am absolutely certain that I will Well, most large drives up to 1Gb use 16Kb clusters and that is still a to get used to thinking “find document, do work” (as against “find start uninstalling some of my comparable software, and will see a sizeable chunk of unused and unavailable disk space. application, launch, find document, start work”), but no way would I gain, not just in performance, but in disk space as well. Mike Davies want to go back. This is much more intuitive. Now, how do I upgrade my DX2/66 to a Pentium...? Oxford Graham Smith Phil Sinclair 100125,[email protected] [email protected]

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will respond, but from a Waterstone’s and bought both reader’s point of view it’s a big of the (not obscure) titles she improvement in readability. sought. She won’t bother John Sollars again until online services Brignorth offer more, not less than an average high street vendor. I’d like to congratulate you on the Have you seen PC World’s September layout — excellent! I offering on CIS? You’d do believe that this makes PCW the much better to telephone easiest to access mag in the UK. them. And if you query stock Andy Hardy availability you get a reply [email protected] four days later. To succeed, the online vendors are going Congratulations, PCW, you have to have to try much harder. managed to cloud the issue and Just being online isn’t enough. fudge the solution (excuse mixed David Thorpe metaphors)! Your new-look mag- 100524.726@compuserve azine with the adverts moved .com towards the back of the issue does absolutely nothing to help Vanishing support your readers find a given adver- I’ve read with interest various tisement. Try it and see! Look in contributions to this page the (not so easy to find) index regarding the status of techni- under, say, Dabs Direct: you will cal support for hardware and see that they are on pages software. However, I now fear 460/465. Now try finding their that such support could disap- advertisement... Easy, isn’t it. pear altogether for some Page 361, then, er, 364, then users. As a case in point, I 371 to 375, and then... 562 — recently bought a Dell Pen- oops, I must have missed it. tium PC and had some prob- Steve Dyson lems setting up “Microsoft at [email protected] Work Fax“ (I had followed the instructions carefully). I called PCW replies: We’ve received a Microsoft, who told me that number of letters asking for more since the software was OEM page numbers in our advertise- installed, they didn’t provide ment section and hope to up the support. count soon. I called Dell who told me that they don’t support Online shopping “advanced features” of the Michael Hewitt’s piece on on- software and anything to do line shopping (Cutting Edge with networks in particular. Focus, August) was very This leaves me with a new PC interesting, but I felt he liked with several features which the idea of it more than the don’t work properly, Dell have reality. Thus far, it is a “lowest my money and show no inter- common denominator” form of est in fixing the problem; shopping. What’s available is Microsoft have my money and less than what could be show similar concern. bought at any bland modern In what other area would shopping mall on the way purchasers tolerate a situa- home from work. tion where blatantly faulty I thought I would be able to goods are sold by unabashed search Virgin’s database of vendors who then deny any available CDs, for example. responsibility for failure? If I Instead, I am offered a list of a buy a car, I don’t expect Ford few top 20 albums. I can get and Philips to both deny these anywhere. responsibility when the stereo When my daughter sam- doesn’t work. No-one would pled online shopping for a permit Nikon to claim that the couple of books, she could backlight feature on a camera find nothing she wanted. That was an “advanced feature” afternoon she walked into and was thus unsupported.

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It’s time hardware and soft- drive (and that was only three is likely that a machine that Hindsight ware manufacturers started to years ago) will know to stay can deliver a high Doom supply goods to the same in our box and buy the floppy frame rate will also provide a quality standards as washing- version? comparable advantage in machine manufacturers, and Otherwise, I love your future VR games. Doom can to take responsibility when mag. be made to display the things don’t work as Peter Brown current frame rate, in fact. advertised. Dublin I would propose the follow- John Stolz ing benchmark. Run the fol- 100115.2676@ Doom descends into lowing command: compuserve.com benchmarking DOOM2 -DEVPARM I would like to propose that Wait for the demo to start. PCW replies: For once we do you add a new component to Observe the maximum num- have some sympathy for the your benchmarking reviews. ber of illuminated dots on the suppliers. Providing technical As I once again reach for bottom right-hand side of the support for computer software magazine reviews to help me screen. The frame rate can be PCW October 1980 is extremely expensive, and choose my next machine, it calculated by “It hurts to admit it, but I even quite simple PC software occurs to me that one key 72/(N+1) can’t really say that my old has far more permutations benchmark that I really want This is most easily friend Graham Barrat has than the most sophisticated is never present. The count- observed by progressively picked a winner with his camera or washing machine. less DOS/Windows video, obscuring the row of dots with £4,500 microsystem from At best it will be several years disk, spreadsheet and such a finger as the peaks appear. Sanyo of France. His before PCs become as fool- benchmarks are commonly The highest peak should machine looks to stand com- proof as other consumer provided and have formed occur just as the demo starts. parison with the Intertec goods. In many cases, soft- the basis of my previous This gives a value of 9 for my SuperBrain which KGB of ware is OEM’d to manufactur- choices. However, although I DX/66 machine. Slough is now offering at ers at little or no cost as used my previous machines This example is probably £1,500 or so. For the extra software suppliers compete for substantial program not the best, as I am sure that money, the [Sanyo] Memory for market share. The development and will you have a Doom expert at System 7000 seems to offer hardware manufacturers continue to do so, I am not PCW who could provide a rather more disk capacity.” themselves work on small critically concerned whether better benchmark. If you margins and try to control one machine is five percent adopted this additional bench- ● R/E the Amstrad costs wherever possible. If faster than another for compi- mark, you could keep a step PCW8256: consumers want to pay low lation or general Windows ahead of all the other maga- “Could this be the ultimate prices, they will have to pay performance. It seems that zines that did not think of this accolade — a machine bear- extra for support. modern machines are good first. I am sure that with the ing our name? It’s the latest enough at running Windows increasing interest in such from Amstrad, the Personal The big issue and compilations that I do not games, one of the magazines Computer Word Processor, Some of us still think it’s pretty care enough to scramble for will do this sooner or later. which comes with 256Kb of cool to own a 486SX/25 with the last ounce of performance. Get there first! I would be memory, CP/M Plus, Logo, 4Mb RAM. Those of us who However, I do still care interested in your view on this, Basic, the LocoScript word have managed to get a nice, about performance. The most Jeff Rollason processor and a printer — cheap 16-bit sound card and critical application that I ever 100031.3537@ all for £399.” dual-speed CD-ROM drive want to run is one of the new compuserve.com may well feel we’re at the cut- virtual reality games. What I “At the PCW’s price level, ting edge of technology. It’s want to know when seeing a Panrix price change it’s hard to find any compe- pretty frustrating, then, to buy video card benchmark or The Panrix Micron 90 tition... this machine is spec- your first copy of Personal machine benchmark is the reviewed in September’s tacular value for money for Computer World with free CD- frame rate that they can 90MHz Pentium group test a small business or the ROM, stick it in the drive, and deliver for such games. A five was the fastest machine you home. Amstrad is betting discover that really you need a percent advantage in this tested under Dos, Windows there’s enough volume out DX50 with 8Mb RAM to run case makes a big difference. and Overall. I would like to there in the ‘serious’ market the damn thing. It seems to me that many inform you that the price you to support the low price, All I’m basically asking is, readers would also very printed, £2,465, was wrong. although I’m not sure how why can’t you put a nice, big, much welcome a games The correct price is £2,195, large this market is.” readable notice on the front grading system. effective from 1st August. We cover, saying “Don’t buy the The market has just hope your readers will Amstrad’s word processor one with the CD unless you’ve reached the point where welcome the news that The was the start of a very suc- got a great big, macho 1995 there is a dominant, Panrix Micron is now available cessful phase for the com- PC”, so that those of us faith- established game that could for next-day delivery. pany. Other PCW models ful who’ve been buying your be used for such a Siu Lam followed, leading to the mag since the days of the benchmark standard. Every- Sales Manager launch of the 1512, the first 8088 with one 10Mb hard one has heard of Doom and it Panrix cheap PC-compatible.

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Contents

66 Apple PowerBook 5300 67 Panasonic PD System 70 RAM Doubler for Windows 72 Calera WordScan Plus 4.0 74 Pioneer DRM-624X 78 3D Garden Designer 2 79 Pentax PocketJet 81 Arc en Ciel address utility 82 Adaptec APA-1460 SlimSCSI 84 Vitec Video NT MPEG encoder 86 Key Presenter for Windows 88 Rescue

First Impressions includes the irresistible “Gadgets” spread on page 62. Highlights include the Apple PowerBook 5300 notebooks— the first to use the PowerPC processor, Panasonic’s PD System, and 3D Garden Designer to show you just where to place that shrubbery.

VNU European Labs

Labs tests cover every kind time in minutes and seconds to print a page in a comparative test VNUof hardware and software of printers. including PC hardware, printers, network products, modems and software applica- tions. The tests are continually developed and enhanced to reflect hardware and software developments. Our tests closely simulate real-world use. For example, the suite of PC hardware benchtests uses complete versions of industry-standard applications like Microsoft Excel and Word for Windows, WordPerfect 6.0 (DOS and Windows), Lotus 1-2-3 version 3.4 (DOS) and FoxPro (Windows and DOS). Application tests are the backbone of all the VNU Labs system evaluations but it’s nearly impossible to pin an appli- cation result to a specific machine component. Only system-level tests (also known as low-level tests) can reliably tell the difference. VNU Labs’ system-level test suite is called Euromark. The tests, which are mainly Windows-based, quickly size up a hard disk, sound card, motherboard, display adaptor and printer, and give individual and overall figures. ● To make them easy to read at a glance, all the graphs in PCW are now drawn so that the bigger the bar, the better the result. Normally we’ll also include the original data we worked from: for example, the

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HARDWARE Maze Wars, Eric’s Solitaire, and the used to the Trackpad, although I did PCW Verdict puzzle-based Spin Doctor. Strangely, eventually master it after about a week. The old 540c looks better, but if you want the Apple PowerBook 5300 Apple’s standard business suite, Claris- Extended tests with the IR system could best notebook performance, the 5300 reigns Works 3.0, isn’t bundled with this system. not be performed because Apple had supreme. The best mobile Mac yet. In use, the 5300c/100 proved to be provided only one machine at the time of Price £3,200 (100 MHz 5300c, with 16Mb This new series of notebooks is the everything you’d expect from a PowerPC writing, but tests for file sending and RAM and 75 Mb hard disk) first to use the PowerPC processor. notebook and all our tests passed without receiving during an early demonstration Contact Apple 0181 569 1199 incident. The only problem was getting it went perfectly. Chris Cain takes one for a run and reckons it’s the best mobile Mac ever. HARDWARE

ith their sleek design, built-in net- Panasonic PD System magnetic active layer. A high-powered Wworking and stereo sound, Apple’s laser heats the material, resulting in a PowerBooks have always been a little With the latest craze for cheap drives and removable reversal of the material’s magnetic polar- smarter than the average notebook. This media in mind, Gordon Laing reviews Panasonic’s ity. Clockwise and anti-clockwise polari- month sees the launch of the first ties represent noughts and ones and are equipped with PowerPC processors — latest phase-change rewritable device and judges it read by a lower-powered laser, and these mobile Macs look destined to a veritable bargain despite some limitations. before any data can be overwritten the become the most desirable yet. The new relevant active area must first be returned 5300 series comes in four configurations, to its initial state of magnetisation. Conse- and PCW managed to get its hands on quently, overwriting on a magneto-optical the 5300c/100. torage, usually an inadvisable topic disk cartridge system. The 5.25in 44Mb system is a two-pass process. At first glance, the 5300c/100 is visibly Sto broach at a dinner party, has sud- or 88Mb versions in particular are the Panasonic’s PD system boasts the different from existing PowerBooks, with denly become quite interesting. I’m not industry standard in publishing for trans- company’s own patented Phase Change a new black casing that’s slightly suggesting that anyone launches into the ferring large DTP or graphics files from technology, very similar to that used by remoulded at the back. I do think that the pros and cons of RAID arrays or argues the desktop to the remote printers. phase-change WORM (Write Once Read look of the older 500 series was better, about the lifespan of CD-R while They’re quick and easy to use but are Many) such as CD-R. The difference but times change and it’s all a matter of surrounded by friends or family, good reasonably expensive: the current 3.25in with Panasonic’s system is that the active personal preference anyway. The food and drink, but in the safe techno- 270Mb cartridges cost around £55 each layer is made of a material with reversible keyboard is full size with a 19mm key haven of these pages I feel I can and an internal SCSI drive to read them properties. A very high-powered laser pitch, function keys and sizeable palm enthuse without fear of making an unfor- is about £275. heats that portion of the active layer rests for user comfort at the front. givable faux pas. SyQuest uses removable magnetic where data is to be recorded. This area Between the rests is the now familiar Storage is of course where you store hard disks. Another possibility is optical cools rapidly, forming an amorphous spot Apple Trackpad, and a small, single things — so far, no surprise. And few discs, currently available in numerous of low reflectivity. A low-powered laser speaker sits opposite at the bottom of the Ethernet has been more or less in notebooks. It differs from the 603 in would be shocked to learn that in the incarnations. There are magneto- beam detects the difference between screen (the old 500 series had a stereo replaced with support for PCMCIA or that it can run Apple’s software emulation realm of the computer, typical storage optical systems, using media these spots and the more reflective, pair). The whole thing measures 8.5 x “PC” cards, which offers the option for of the 68LC040 processor (used to run devices include hard drives, floppy discs similar to optical discs untouched, crystalline areas. 11.5 x 2.2in and weighs in at 6.2lbs. Ethernet networking along with plug-in non-native PowerPC Mac software) with- and CD-ROM drives. All have their pros but with a By reheating a spot, re-crys- The screen on our review model was a modems, hard disks extra memory, etc. out the need for an external cache. and cons: some are quick, slow, or tallisation occurs, resulting superb 10.4in 640 x 480 pixel active A port on the left-hand side has room for Machines ship with a minimum 8Mb of expensive while others are cheap, in a return to its origi- matrix colour device, but dual-scan colour two Type 1 or Type II cards, or a single RAM expandable to 64Mb, and either a rewritable, or removable; some are per- nal highly reflec- and 9.5in greyscale versions are Type III card. 500Mb, 750Mb or 1.1Gb IDE hard disk. A fect, but incompatible with any- available. There was a small grey patch Another change is a move from Nickel 1.4Mb SuperDrive is fitted as standard thing else. The list is in the top left-hand corner of our screen, Cadmium to Lithium Ion battery technol- and can be removed to allow other endless. One thing is but this apart, the overall display was ogy, providing between 3 and 5 hours of expansion modules to be connected, certain, however: like clear, with vibrant colours. The colour use from a single battery. such as a Magneto Optical drive (soon to RAM or other unmen- models support displays in both 256 and Another important addition is built-in be launched by Fujitsu). The drive simply tionables, you can never thousands of colours. Controls for bright- infra-red point-to-point LocalTalk commu- slides in and out once you release a have enough of the stuff. ness and contrast are on the right. The nication which allows these machines to small, sliding lock, so connecting other This is particularly true top-of-the-range 5300c/117 has a screen talk to each other, and send and receive peripherals is a piece of cake. Fitting with large multimedia files capable of 800 x 600 pixel resolution. files without a physical connection. With extra RAM however requires the release floating around, along with At the rear are connectors for SCSI, an infra-red receiver attached to a desk- of three screws and removal of the key- people merrily downloading Apple Desktop Bus (ADB), top Mac, and the right software, you can board (which slides off) before you play from the Internet. serial/LocalTalk, external video and 16-bit communicate with other desktop Macs. with the insides — probably not a job for The latest storage craze is stereo audio in and out. Annoyingly, the So in theory you can log into your office the faint-hearted. cheap drives with cheap removable video connector requires an adaptor plug network without the hassle of connecting The PowerBook 5300s come with media, and Panasonic hopes to solve which is not supplied, so you’ll have to leads. One such receiver is the AirDock, System 7.1.2, and Apple supplies a small everyone’s storage problems with its trot down to your local Apple dealer if you made by US Mac specialist, Farallon. selection of pre-installed software includ- patented PD system which uses remov- want to use this feature. Eagle-eyed Mac The processor inside the 5300 is a ing an eWorld starter kit, Apple Remote able optical media. readers will have noticed no mention of PowerPC 603e running at either 100MHz Access for controlling and talking to desk- Removable media is not a new idea: an Ethernet connector — the machine is or 117MHz, depending on the model. The top Macs while away from your desk, and SyQuest has made a comfortable living not supplied with one as standard. 603e is a new design specifically for use three games: the dated but fun Super over the years with its removable hard-

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CorelSCSI Pro. There’ll be an ATAPI version of the PD System, costing around the same price, by early next year. And the price of this wonderfully ver- satile piece of kit? Complete with one phase change cart, £549, or £599 with SCSI card — and remember, additional 650Mb carts are only £39 each. It sounds brilliant, but there are some limitations: most disappointingly it can- not be used as a boot drive so the possibility of having a different OS on each cartridge is out of the question. There’s also the competition, each coming out with alternatives of their own. Iomega’s Zip drive costs around £150, with 25Mb disks which fit 100Mb through compression, at £15 each. Then there’s SyQuest’s new EZ135 at about £150, with 135Mb 3.5in disks costing as little as £12.50 each. However cheap these are, they offer limited capacity and compati- bility with anything else. Panasonic’s PD System’s car- tridges may cost £39, but they’ll store 650Mb. Just as importantly perhaps, the drive can read normal CDs tive state. Laser temperature alone media problem; but what about compati- at quad speed. changes the active layer to crystalline or bility? Only the PD System will make any Each one of these manufacturers is amorphous according to the data sense of the phase-change optical disc hoping that its drive will become the new required, in a single pass. cartridges, but this PD drive does more. standard — only time will tell. I must Consequently, Panasonic’s single- At the bottom of the tray is a five inch cir- admit to being very fond of the PD Sys- pass phase-change system is quicker cular dip, just like in a CD-ROM drive, tem and would recommend shelling out than the two-pass magneto-optical (MO) and guess what? The PD System extra for the drive, especially if you don’t version. Panasonic believes that phase doubles up as a CD-ROM drive — and a already have a high-performance CD- change is simpler, using less quad-speed one at that. We measured a ROM drive. Never before has that spare components, and is easier to implement sequential transfer rate of 605Kb/sec and 5.25in drive bay in your PC been so hotly due to the higher degrees of reflectivity overall it performed similarly to other contested. involved: typically between 10 and 20 quads. percent (compared to less than 1 percent The same tray is used both for CDs with the MO system). and the phase-change cartridges The PD System is Panasonic’s latest (although not simultaneously), and only phase-change rewritable device. It looks one SCSI ID is required. Under DOS and PCW Verdict like an internal SCSI CD-ROM drive until Windows (or Windows 95 for that matter) you eject the drawer; then it turns out to two drive letters are required, and since Panasonic’s PD System costs more than the be quite deep, in order to take the you can’t fit a CD and a cartridge into the new Iomega and SyQuest drives but takes much larger 650Mb rewritable and remov- rewritable cartridges which look like CD- tray at the same time, you’ll find a few able cartridges. It’s a quad-speed CD-ROM ROM caddies. Each removable cartridge occurrences of “No disk in drive X, please drive too. A bargain. costs £39 and can store a substantial retry”. Under Macintosh, the desktop 650Mb. Performance is slower than a mounts whichever media is loaded. Price £549 or £599 with Adaptec SCSI card; 650Mb rewritable cartridges £39 each hard disk but not much below that of a Panasonic can bundle an Adaptec Contact Panasonic 0800 444220. 3.5in SyQuest. SCSI card if required, for an extra £50, Fax 01344 853706 So Panasonic has solved the cheap, but curiously didn’t license Adaptec’s removable, yet reasonably performing EZSCSI software, opting instead for

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SOFTWARE RAM Doubler for Windows

Double your program and data storage in Windows. Chris Cain did, and reckons that not only does the utility work well, it’s also a lot cheaper than buying extra SIMMs.

hen US-based utility specialist says on the packaging. dialogue boxes in Windows programs. It WConnectix launched RAM Doubler Minimum system requirements are a doesn’t matter how much memory you for Macintosh, it went on to become a 386 PC or higher with Windows 3.1, 3.11 have installed, once the total available “must have” product. Now the company or Windows for Workgroups, and 4Mb of resource space drops to around 15 per- has finally brought its memory manage- RAM. The current version will not work cent, Windows won’t let you load any ment experience to the PC and is hoping with Windows 95 but Connectix promises more programs. If it drops below 10 per- to continue its success with RAM Doubler an update as soon as it ships. It will be cent Windows will usually crash, taking all for Windows. interesting to see exactly what this does your precious data with it. As well as ensuring that resources are used efficiently, RAM Doubler cleans up the PC’s infamous under-1Mb area where DOS, network software and hard- ware drivers regularly waste space. It doesn’t give you more DOS memory, it’s not a product like QEMM or 386Max (although it does work well in conjunction with these), but it does help make sure Windows has enough space to work happily. Finally, RAM Doubler intelligently compresses data that’s in memory but not likely to be accessed again, and intercepts calls to your Virtual Memory swap- file to see if it can speed things up, by compacting information rather than paging it out to the hard disk. After using the program for a couple of weeks, RAM Doubler for Windows proved as transparent and essential as its Macintosh counterpart. At £69 it’s a lot cheaper than buying extra SIMMs, and with Windows’ System Wow, look at all that free memory — well, as Microsoft has already improved its Resource problems the addition of extra free memory, anyway memory management routines. megabytes doesn’t always help. This is Installation requires nothing more than simply a “must have” utility for anyone double-clicking on a setup program and currently using Windows 3.1 and with As its name suggests, RAM Doubler answering a few straightforward registra- plans to continue using it in the future. If doubles the amount of Windows tion questions. Once you’re done, you’re more interested in Windows 95, programs and data you can have stored Windows restarts and that’s it — there’s wait for the update later this year. If it in RAM. It doesn’t allow you to use soft- no swap-file configurations or changes to works as well as this one, it will be worth ware that requires more memory than Autoexec.bat. In most cases, as with the having. you physically have available, but it does original Macintosh version, there’s no let you open more applications at once on noticeable performance hit on your your existing setup. How many times machine when you start working. PCW Verdict have you failed to get Microsoft Word and RAM Doubler works by using custom- Connectix has done it again. A must for Excel running together, or had that patented techniques to compress data anyone running Windows 3.x. annoying “Out of Memory” error when and make the most of Windows’ System Price £69 you know you’ve got 32Mb? Install RAM Resources. These are reserved areas in Contact Computers Unlimited Doubler and your problems will be memory, split into 64Kb chunks, that track 0181 200 8282. solved; at least, that’s what Connectix items such as icons, menus, buttons and

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SOFTWARE

fact, up 50% fewer. The user interface Calera WordScan Plus 4.0 hasn’t changed almost at all since the last update, but there was little need for any change because in use the program really is child’s play. There are no changes to the interface of this veteran The improvements in speed and accu- desktop OCR package, but it is accurate and fast and racy are no doubt due to the program’s new recognition engine based on POWR does the job extremely well. Panicos Georghiades and (Predictive Optical Word Recognition). Gabriel Jacobs report. This 32-bit neural network technology extends OCR from character level to CR (Optical Character Recognition) last time we reviewed it, it was produced word level recognition. Similar technology Osoftware converts printed text and by Calera. Calera and Caere (the produc- has been used in speech recognition and numbers from a scanned bitmap image ers of OmniPage) have always competed DNA matching, but to our knowledge this to an ASCII or other text file format which for the Number 1 position in OCR is the first time it has been applied to can subsequently be read by a word software. Sometimes one product has OCR. processor or other application. Its uses been ahead, sometimes the other; a bit Attempting to recognise whole words are many and varied, ranging from pub- like MS Word and WordPerfect, or Excel as opposed to individual letters ought to lishing to setting up full document image and Lotus 1-2-3. However, in December be dreadfully slow because of the vast systems. 1994 the companies merged, so it looks number of possibilities. POWR, however, WordScan Plus is one of the top desk- like it’s all quiet on that front. uses sophisticated algorithms which top-computer OCR programs and a long- The last time we compared the two enable the program to home in on the standing workhorse in this field. Indeed, products, we found that WordScan was most probable interpretation, no mean PCW has reviewed several earlier ver- faster and more accurate, but that Omni- feat when you have a choice of 13 sions over the years, often comparing it Page had more features, including an languages (US and UK English, French, with its principal rival, OmniPage. The image editor and a training mode. That’s Brazilian, Danish, Dutch, German, Italian, still true, but Word- Finish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish Scan now offers and Swedish). even greater POWR also helps a great deal with the speed and accu- recognition of poor-quality documents, racy. As with all either those which have become OCR programs, degraded from multiple generations of results ultimately copying, or those which have started off depend on the in a pretty poor state such as standard- quality of your mode faxes and 9-pin dot-matrix original printouts. On documents of reasonable documents, but in quality, results are very impressive almost all our tests indeed, giving high degrees of accuracy, the new version especially on point sizes between 4 and has proven 28; WordScan is not too good with larger perceptibly faster point sizes. than before and There are OLE 2.0 links to the three has produced office suites (Microsoft, Lotus and Nov- fewer errors — in ell), as well as to email and fax software: you can simply carry OCR operations into Above A many packages using drag and drop. scanned page And you can work directly from an image with text and file or a fax card, thus entirely obviating image regions the need in such cases for printed docu- automatically ments. Again, you need only drag and assigned by the drop an image file onto the WordScan program Right icon for the recognition process to begin. WordScan’s The program can take input from a pop-up verifier: scanner in portrait or landscape modes, yellow marks upside down or the right way up. It can uncertain also happily handle documents skewed characters, blue by up to 10 degrees. This means that you is for words not don’t have to worry too much about lining found in the your documents up too accurately, some- program’s thing which used to be a major cause of spell-checker error when using OCR software. Over 35 models of scanner are supported, and if

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WordScan during the digitised image can’t be understood by a processing of a page word processor, spreadsheet or database. This is a truly professional program that will handle just about anything you throw at it, and any reservations we may have are minor. We did have a problem of over 40 file types, during installation, concerning the product including all the common serial number, but we’ve been assured word processor formats that this has now been sorted out. (keeping the formatting Minimum requirements are a 386 with of the original document 4Mb RAM, DOS 5.0 and Windows 3.1. — bold, italics, line spac- We recommend a faster processor and ing and so on), and more than 8Mb of RAM. The program about a dozen variations comes on 13 disks and takes 12Mb — of PCX, TIF and PDA twice the size of the previous version, you have a scanner with an automatic image formats. which shows that in this case an update sheet feeder, you can run the program in WordScan is able to save regions of a is really more of a re-birth. full batch mode. Otherwise, you can opt document which you designate as for deferred processing: scan a number of straight image files rather than text to be PCW Verdict documents individually, store the bitmaps, translated into machine-readable form. One of the top two or three OCR programs and do a batch recognition job. The pro- These image files can then be attached for the PC, often found to be the fastest and gram can handle double-sided to pages which have been OCR’d. So, most accurate of them all. The last version documents too. with the kind of DTP facilities offered by offers even more accuracy and speed but no After the OCR process has been car- modern word processors, it’s quite easy changes to the user interface. ried out, a pop-up verifier window displays to recreate electronically the full version Price £495 (SRP), upgrade £129 highlighted suspicious letters and words — text and images — of printed Contact KUK Information Centre for you to accept or correct. documents. A scanner without OCR soft- 0171 630 5586. Fax 0171 630 5587 On the output side, you have a choice ware will do that too, but the resulting

HARDWARE Pioneer DRM-624X

Pioneer revolutionised the CD-ROM market with its six-disc changer. Now it has bumped the speed up and the price down, says Gordon Laing.

everal years ago, Pioneer stunned allows you to locate the changing mecha- stacked three into one box, creating an Sthe computer industry with a ground- nism out of the way. In a car, you can 18-disc changer, then went beserk and breaking new product. The DRM-604X stick the changer in the boot. In the case converted an innocent-looking jukebox was the world’s first production-line SCSI of CD-ROM, you could pop it under your into a 500-disc changing monster. quad-speed CD-ROM drive. Quad-speed desk, or even hang it off a server, in a Where do you go from there? Several still commands respect and admiration different room. years on, Pioneer has given up charging today, so imagine everyone’s surprise If you do have a CD-ROM drive shared — or perhaps the consumers have given when the 604X turned up before even as a network resource, what disc do you up paying — the earth for its products. It’s double-speeds became widespread. load? With six to choose from, Pioneer’s not so much the changer that springs to As if it wasn’t enough to quadruple the changer proved to be a winner, particu- mind, but its single-disc quad-speed standard at the time, Pioneer fitted its larly in the case of large databases or SCSI drives whose prices held as every- speedy number into a shoebox-sized directories which span several CDs. one else’s tumbled. metal case along with a little inspiration Then there’s the aspect of security. Fortunately, Pioneer saw the error of from its in-car entertainment division: a Such discs may be worth a fortune, so its ways and recently dropped its prices six-disc CD-changing mechanism. Pioneer offered a lockable eject button – all round. In August 1995 we looked at Indeed, the 604X used the same six-disc no running off with precious goods if the the new 124X SCSI internal drive, boast- caddy as Pioneer’s popular car changers. the administrator wants to play god. ing not quad but 4.4 speed performance The whole idea of a changer is that The price for all this, was, well, price. and an Advanced Buffering System for a you load your favourite discs into the Pioneer wanted a hefty £1,280 for the very competitive £239. There is a caddy, then use a remote means to con- 604X but customers still queued round purpose to all this history, honestly, since veniently swap between them – this the block. So much so that Pioneer the new 624X reviewed here is basically

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a cross between the old 604X changer and the new 124X speedy drive. The really special part is that Pioneer has whacked the price of this new drive down to a remarkable £499. That about says it all. Beyond the above, Pioneer has streamlined the case so it’s a little shorter, with more curves. The two lights which indicated audio (single speed) or quad speed have been replaced with a single, busy LED. Despite being quad speed, the old 604X was a little slow on average access times, but both access and transfer rate have been improved by fit- ting exactly the same transport as the 4.4-speed 124X. Sustained data transfer rates exceed 670Kb/s (quad is around 600Kb/s), and average access one disc. times are around 150ms; net- Pioneer has no work configurations would immediate plans to swamp the also make more use of games and consumer press with ads for the Advanced the 624X, instead aiming it, like the 604X, Buffering as a shared network resource. If this System. was the prime intention, then I would The have liked to see an Ethernet 624X connection, IPX or even TCP/IP is a support as standard. Third SCSI- parties offer suitable 2 device, solutions, such as Microtest’s so you’ll Discport which allows any need a SCSI SCSI CD-ROM drive to be card to make it hung directly off a work. We say this network node. I have every time we review a just installed the SCSI device, but the best and most 624X and reliable cards we’ve used are from Discport Adaptec. These range from ISA adaptors on our like the 1505 costing around £50, to the Novell thin PCI-bus mastering adaptors such as the Ethernet 2940, costing £210. Any of these will network and it work with the 624X, which connects via seems to work like a two full-sized SCSI ports. dream – I’ll do a full review The software drivers are quite neat. next month. There’s only one CD-ROM drive reading Whichever way you look at it, the mechanism in the 624X, but under DOS the Finder. 624X is a winner, offering the same and Windows you’ll see six drive letters. Only the disc excellent performance as the 124X with Selecting one prompts the unit to swap currently under the the convenience of a six-disc changer, in a to the desired disc, which takes around scrutiny of the laser is mounted on the lovely box for the bargain price of £499. eight seconds. Sometimes it’s a little desktop. infuriating as you wait for it to change By more than halving the price, over but it’s quicker than doing it by hand Pioneer has opened its disc-changing on a conventional drive, particularly if the technology to the masses. I can picture PCW Verdict drive’s on the other side of the room or in many SoHo or even personal situations Pioneer has taken its original £1280 six-disc another one entirely. which would now consider the 624X CD-ROM changer, sped it up to 4.4 speed, If there aren’t enough drive letters instead of a single-disc CD-ROM drive. fitted it in a slighter smaller, better-looking available under DOS, an additional utility Many games players wouldn’t flinch at case, and dropped the price to £499. Hurrah! can assign the unit under a single letter the price after shelling out thousands on Price £499 with the help of extra switching software. a machine to run Descent that bit Contact Ideal Hardware 0181 286 5000. On a Macintosh the driver loads as a smoother – remember that games such Fax 0181 286 5056 special extension, offering the choice of as 7th Guest, Wing Commander III and six discs on a pull-down menu next to Creature Shock all run over more than

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SOFTWARE zoom only works in elevation rotation and button). But the photo collection is not depends on whether you’re inside or out- complete: for instance, considering the height, spread and colour of leaf, bark side your garden. Any movement is slow. extraordinarily large number of Acers 3D Garden Designer 2 and flower, as well as the plant’s shape Two other features make their own included, three photographs seems PCW Verdict and height in ten years’ time and when contribution to your garden design. The mean, and no photographs at all of Useful (and fun) landscape design and The grass grows as high as an elephant’s eye, as the plant is fully grown. You can add first is the “camera” which lets you record Wisteria is positively miserly. layout software. The concept is excellent, plants to the database, including shape, different views as you go, to refer to later, 3D Garden Designer runs under DOS the detail impeccable and there’s a high James Taylor digs in and attempts to bring order to his colour, season and all the other criteria and you can also use it to create a mov- or Windows, requires at least a 386 level of gardening expertise supporting it. personal jungle with the aid of this software needed for their selection. Additionally, ing video sequence. The second, avail- processor, 580K conventional memory, Price £29.99 inc VAT the database can generate a plant palette able only with the CD-ROM version, is a and a VGA colour monitor. To look at the Contact Europress Software 01625 859333. showing the current selection, and this collection of photographs of some of the photographs you need a CD-ROM drive Fax: 01625 879962 oftware that adds to your lifestyle graphics include trees, shrubs and flow- can be sorted by Latin name, common plants in the database (indicated by a and VESA-compatible display. Saway from the keyboard is all too ers which can be identified on the plan name, or height and spread. rare, and 3D Garden Designer 2 is one of and listed separately in an inventory. You When you first place plants in the gar- these rarities. One of the problems of can specify growing conditions (soil type den they will appear in size as ten-year- HARDWARE conventional garden design, on paper, is and temperature, aspect, latitude, and old plants. That’s useful enough, but your that you need to draw all your elevations minimum air temperature) to help refine garden can age before your very eyes, as well as your plan to be able to plant selection from the database. Both too, showing how big the trees and other Pentax PocketJet visualise the overall layout. If you get it inventory and garden design can be plants will be in another ten or even 20 wrong, you start again with a fresh sheet printed out, although the latter is not years’ time (a very useful feature to pre- of paper. But 3D Garden Design dimensioned. Pre-drawn gardens, of vent you placing a weeping willow three This little thermal printer provided overcomes this. various types, are supplied for inspiration feet from your door) and showing their You start with simple geometrically- and practice. changing colour throughout the seasons. reasonably good results, but Adele shaped plots. The landscaping graphics The plant database (over 600 plants) Not only this, but when you place a Dyer warns that you will have you add to these can then be viewed in allows selection by almost any criteria plant or object in your garden 3D Garden to dig deep into your elevation and 3D perspective. The imaginable. Each description includes Designer 2 checks against the informa- tion it holds about your garden and warns pocket to buy it. you (if necessary) about planting position and distance, soil acidity, temperature, matter how I adjusted sun and shade. This is a highly practical ike desktop print- the page setup. To be fair, program. Lers, portable ver- it only happened in Excel and As in version 1, the program allows sions have been could have been caused by you to position objects in plan with the getting smaller overlarge file sizes, but this was still automatic generation of a side view and and smaller over the disappointing and could be disastrous if the ability to rotate either view through years: from briefcase kept printing Excel spreadsheets were to be 360 degrees. Using virtual reality size, to notebook size, to a mini- your prime reason for choosing this techniques, you can then go into your and now to pocket-size. mum, but this printer. garden and look around it, viewing it from Although the Pentax name does mean having to There is an increasing number of any angle; or step outside and see how it may be more familiar in the pho- use thermal paper (nor- portable printers on the market using a looks from a distance. But this is where it tographic market, the company mal on one side and like fax variety of different printing techniques, gets tricky. has also been making computer paper on the other) which will from inkjet to thermal wax — the thermal All of 3D Garden Designer’s views are peripherals for some time. The PocketJet inevitably fade in time and is not as wax Citizen PN-60, for instance, which in fact your viewpoints. So instead of is its latest entry into the portable printer pleasant to use as plain paper. uses plain paper for around the same scrolling the image down the screen, you market. There is no paper feed, so you must price. move your Although the prefix “pocket” often carefully manoeuvre each sheet into the Considering the limits of the PocketJet Above The plant viewpoint up the raises doubts, the PocketJet is neverthe- printer individually and hold it there until — it is black and white only, uses thermal palette holds screen. This less small and light. Pockets the size of a the printer is ready to grab it. The instruc- paper and has no paper feed — its price your short-list of translates to small rucksack are usually needed to tion book suggests you hold it in place, in relation to those of its competitors preferred plants using the up transport anything that is so-called but I discovered it was quite happy to pull might prove to be a stumbling block. which can be arrow to move “pocket-sized”, and in the case of the through by itself. positioned to suit the garden PocketJet your pockets should be at As for the actual print quality, it is rea- in your design down the least a foot deep. However, the other sonably good. Simple text documents are screen, and the dimensions are modest: one inch high by clear, even in tiny point sizes, and Right The plant down arrow to two inches deep. It weighs only slightly spreadsheets are well reproduced too. database allows move it up the more than 1lb, including the While not specifically designed to handle PCW Verdict selection by screen. rechargeable battery. graphic images, particularly fine shading, Light and portable, but of average quality practically any Similarly, the The problem of fitting a large parallel it handled solid areas of black well, with- considering the price. combination of left arrow port to a small device is solved by using out banding. Price £399.95 including 100 sheets of criteria. Some moves the gar- an inch-wide connector at one end. Pen- However, not all Windows applications thermal paper entries, indicated den towards the tax supplies a suitable cable with this are easy to set up properly. When I tried Contact Europtech 0181 951 4665. by a button, have right, and vice plug on one end and a standard PC par- to print spreadsheets I hit an annoying Fax 0181 951 5857 associated CD- versa. The allel plug on the other. problem: the formatting constantly split ROM photographs As it’s a thermal printer the spares are away from the rest of the spreadsheet, no

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SOFTWARE

regularly updated. Arc en Ciel address utility The great thing about the Arc en Ciel application is that by using compression techniques, it manages to pack the entire You can’t get (ad)dressed without it — a postcode, that is. And PAF into just under 10Mb. The applica- in the wake of the Royal Mail’s Postcode Address File have tion comes on eight separate disks, each of which represents a different geographi- come numerous address and postcode utilities, of which Arc cal area, and the program allows you to en Ciel’s is one. Eleanor Turton-Hill looked at it. install as many or as few areas as you want. The address application itself comes in the form of a small dialogue box offer- ostcodes were introduced by the the speed of data access. The offering ing simple searching utilities. The main PRoyal Mail in 1966 to speed up the reviewed here, from Arc en Ciel, has sev- screen acts as a simple address retrieval sorting of mail. It took eight years to com- eral characteristics which make it easier system — enter the full postcode, click on plete the full postcoding system for the to install and use than the Royal Mail’s the “lookup” button, and the correspond- UK, finishing in 1974. Using sorting own system. ing address appears. If you don’t know machinery and OCR equipment, Firstly, it’s available on disk, unlike the the full postcode, a “search” button pro- postcodes these days allow letters to be PAF which is available only on CD-ROM. vides more sophisticated ways of retriev- sorted up to 20 times faster and more That’s not to say that it’s impossible to ing data. This requires the first letter of accurately than by hand, whether the get the data on disk from the Royal Mail. the postcode, which narrows the search address is hand-written or typed. You can; but there are over 120 disks down to a specific area, followed by the Although the postcode system was and the data takes up over 600Mb of complete or partial name of the street. A originally developed to make the postal your hard disk which is hardly a practical word contained in the street name will service more efficient, it’s obvious that a proposition. What really puts a damper often produce a lengthy list of results. complete listing of all UK addresses and on the idea is that the disk version, unlike The word “queen”, for example, produces postcodes is an invaluable source of the CD-ROM version, has not been all the street names within the defined information to area which contain that word, e.g. businesses. Queens Road, Queensway, Great About a year Queens Avenue . ago, the Royal As an independent utility, this applica- Mail wised up to tion works well. It sits in the corner of the this fact and pro- screen and acts as a reference tool when duced a you need to verify information. Retrieved Postcode data can be copied over to other applica- Address File tions using the “copy” button. But as well (PAF) on CD- as working independently, it also ROM. This con- integrates with MS Word and WordPer- tains postcode fect. Within Word, a macro is automati- and address data cally inserted during installation and can for the entire UK be invoked using a simple key combina- — that’s over tion like Ctrl-A, which allows you to type a 600Mb of data in postcode into a document and immedi- the form of 25 ately call up the corresponding address million UK addresses, 1.25 million business addresses and 1.6 million postcodes. The Above If you standalone version, Address Finder don’t know the National, costs £445, and a second ver- full postcode, sion, the Address Manager, costs a mas- you can search sive £1,200. The latter contains the database ordinance survey references and grid ref- using a distinct erences and has an export facility. letter Recently, a spate of address and post- Right code utilities based on the Royal Mail’s Comprehensive PAF have appeared on the market. help facilities These attempt to provide improved ver- are incorporated sions of the PAF by including facilities into the software which help to integrate the data more effectively with existing applications, pro- vide data correction utlities and improve

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which is written directly onto the of records is by setting up a loop which document. continually calls the “addressc” function. For programmers who want to The major advantage of this system integrate data into custom applications, over others is its price — just £149 with PCW Verdict there’s a separate executable file an annual charge of £98 for data updates. Compacts a vast amount of data into a very provided called addressc.exe. This is a Compared to similar products like the small space and incorporates simple function which can be called in code to ones from Hopewiser and QAS Systems, searching tools. Well worth £149. accept a postcode in the form of a char- the integration utilities on this application acter string and return an address. Unfor- are rather limiting. On the other hand, this Price £149 (£98 for annual updates) Contact Arc en Ciel 01273 721069. tunately, there’s no facility for searching is the only version of the Royal Mail’s Fax 01708 872389 the database in more sophisticated ways. PAF which fits neatly on your hard disk The only way of narrowing down a group into a space of under 10Mb.

HARDWARE Adaptec APA-1460 SlimSCSI

Installing the PCMCIA SCSI interface used to be tricky and confusing. The introduction of Windows 95, as Simon Rockman discovered, has made it effortless.

his was very nearly the shortest short Treview ever — the Adaptec PCMCIA SCSI interface worked. It worked because it was first tested using Windows 95. The prime reason for using the card was to install a newer beta onto a Dell Latitude which was already hampered by running Windows 95. Plugging the card PCMCIA transfer rates, into the slot triggered Windows 95’s Plug resulting in a throughput of and Play, which recognised the card and only 2Mb/sec. To be fair however asked for the right Windows driver disk. most people will want to use it for CD- That done, the CD-ROM drive appeared ROM drives, so speed is not too much of as drive D: and everything was tickety- an issue. The card and software will work boo. with multi-session Photo CDs. Installation under earlier iterations of The connector into the card and the drives, Windows is less straightforward. Adaptec cable itself are flat, leaving space for removable hard includes the EZ-SCSI software with the another adjacent PCMCIA card, so your drives and scanners card. When EZ-SCSI was launched, it only concern is power. Adaptec claims which the card definitely does seemed just a sensible solution to the that the APA-1460 is relatively low-power support. severe problems everyone encounters at 0.3w when running and 0.2w in All hard disks should work, but make when trying to set up SCSI devices. Over standby. Adaptec also claims that it is sure that you are not reading from or writ- the years, it has proved invaluable. rugged, and this seems true. The cable ing to the device when you remove the In a machine which has working card plugs into the PCMCIA end with a couple card. Windows 95 has special protection and socket services, setup is pretty of press-in clips and feels secure. for this – you can ask the software when straightforward: EZ-SCSI installs the soft- It uses a screened ribbon cable which it is safe to remove the card. Ignoring the ware after the socket service power-up. terminates in a standard 50 connector, warning will cause a crash. In a machine without the card and socket although a high-density version is avail- services, you have to deal with the prob- able. At 3ft the cable is a little on the short lems of memory areas and interrupts. side, which is fine if you have the first This used to be a common nightmare but device on a desk next to the notebook but PCW Verdict any recent notebook should not cause isn’t quite as convenient if you want to A good, reliable way to add SCSI to a note- problems. use the machine on your lap with a cable book, but a little pricey. From then on it’s plain sailing. The to the attached devices. The SlimSCSI Price £195 card will support the regulation seven should be compatible with any SCSI Contact 01252 811200. SCSI devices, providing they are device, but to be on the safe side Fax: 01252 811212 correctly daisychained. Being a SCSI-II Adaptec lists a handful of CD-ROM device it will run at 10Mb/sec, but this is drives, SCSI tape drives, magneto-optical

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HARDWARE Vitec Video NT MPEG encoder

It’s French, it’s flash, it’s a real-time MPEG encoder PC card for just £400. Video on the PC does come cheaper, says Tim Frost, but not at this quality.

rom a starting price of £150,000, pro- Video in view Ffessional MPEG encoding systems have rapidly dropped to an entry level of Right The original £15,000, and earlier this year ReelMagic video clip in AVI launched Producer, its PC MPEG format encoder card for just a few thousand. But a new Video NT capture card from the Centre The clip after French company, Vitec, simply capture by the Video astonishes in the way it has pushed back NT card at a high- the MPEG encoding barrier by producing quality MPEG setting a real-time MPEG encoder PC card for a mere £400. The card looks nothing much at all. It is half-length ISA with three main chips on it, a pair of Philips video in/out, and the VN422 video processor that does all the MPEG or AVI work. On the back is an S- VHS socket, a phono socket for compos- ite video and a 9-pin D for connection to a SCART socket. The card has got to be seen as an MPEG alternative to a standard capture card and will work on most 32-bit PCs, although the faster the PC, the faster the frame rate can be recorded. The Vitec NT is there purely to get video onto the hard disk; it is not a replay card so you will need an MPEG video replay card and a SVGA card as well (Reelmagic’s Rave combined Left The clip after SVGA/MPEG card was used on the test). capture by the Video NT The Vitec sends its data via the normal card at a low-quality PC bus, so additional connections, either MPEG setting internal or external, are not required. The software loads easily, although it does come in several sections which is a bit of a pain. As with all MPEG/video products, this is not bullet-proof and you may (or may not) have difficulties running the system properly on some setups. The whole suite of software has been software is on the way) then it is simply a consider this card as a VCR replacement, designed to either capture MPEG directly matter of defining the image size, the is that it only captures sound as a sepa- from a video source, or use AVI as an quality level and frame rate and setting rate wave file (using your sound card). intermediary editing format and then to the capture going. These files cannot be easily replayed at convert the final AVI movie to MPEG for One obvious limitation is that MPEG the same time as the MPEG images, so storage and playout. capture is at 384 x 288 resolution at the the Vitec should be considered as a “Imager” is the video capture software, best. But by using the best compression provider of mute images of decent which encodes the incoming video in quality, these MPEG images (at a maxi- quality. real-time as MPEG or AVI files. If you are mum of 15 frames/second) can be The MPEG image quality is a move- capturing in MPEG (which cannot be replayed quite acceptably full screen. The able feast with three variables: frame edited at the moment, although editing other serious limitation, if you wanted to rate, resolution and compression. The

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frame rate is user definable; you can nisable faces at a minuscule transfer rate frame rate, with no AVI jumping. even use it for security camera-type stop of 6Kb/sec. Running at 320 x 240 and at For MPEG encoding, the Video NT’s frame, with each frame recorded from 1 x4 compression produces acceptable £400 is stonkingly cheap; but at that price second to 18 hours apart. In the normal video-type results for quarter or half- it has a lot of competition with more tradi- video capture mode 15 frames per sec- screen replay, while consuming under tional capture cards that also offer audio. ond is possible in all image sizes up to 130Kb/sec. For the producer of video clips, with one 384 x 240 (providing your PC is fast The software suite includes Video eye on the near future when MPEG play- enough) and this rises to a full 24fps Clip, a neat AVI editing package to con- back cards become as common and when working at the smallest image size struct AVI movies (including morphing) cheap as sound cards — or you just want (160 x 120). which you can then convert to MPEG to be the first with your own MPEG files With MPEG you can blow the image using “MPEG Maker”. There is also the — then this Vitec is a must-buy. up to full screen, but of course, the lower software-only MPEG Player, which needs the resolution, the rougher the images nothing more than an SVGA card to play become when enlarged. The out MPEG files at a few frames per sec- compression ratio can be altered from x2 ond. This means that MPEG files can be PCW Verdict to x20 and each time you double the viewed (albeit rather jerkily) by anyone There are cheaper ways to capture reason- compression rate, you halve the amount with a PC who hasn’t yet invested in an able-quality video on the PC. But if you want of disk space required to record the file. MPEG card. MPEG, the Video NT is simply the only low- x2 gives the best quality, and x10 is In sheer image quality terms, the cost answer — and it works in real time. about as far as you can reasonably go MPEG file is noticeably better than AVI Price £400 before a larger image starts being lost while using at least a third less disk Contact Ideal Hardware 0181 286 5000. under the blocks that make up the MPEG space. MPEG hardware’s big advantage Fax 0181 286 5056 image. For small colour images, going is that it always plays back at the right down as far as x17 still produces recog-

SOFTWARE Key Presenter for Windows

Have you ever wanted to do a couple of presentations but been prevented by the cost of the software? Paul Begg presents his view that this product could be the answer.

resentation software is a strange Parea: if you do a lot of presentations, you will almost certainly be geared up with all the high-end state-of-the-art pre- sentation packages that provide the qual- ity glitz you require. On the other hand, if you don’t carry out many presentations but simply want to jazz them up, the price and complexity of the software will proba- bly have proved prohibitive. There have been a few budget-priced presentation packages, but generally you are looking at something in the region of £100 — still a lot of money for something you don’t use very often. To break into the presentation market, you need quality software priced below £50 and which is so easy to use that you can be up and running with it even when it’s been gath- ering dust for the past six months. Such an animal is Softkey’s Key Presenter for Windows. It is easy-to-use, has some fairly heavyweight features (it’ll double as a pretty neat drawing package) and will Key Presenter has the features you Good-looking presentations at a have a street price well within the budget would expect from a top-end presenta- great-looking price of many small businesses. tion package: there’s a full-screen editor

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for designing slides, an outline view of the design from any one of an excellent col- no provision for adding narration, music text, and a slide sorter. Each of these lection of templates supplied, or create or sound effects to your presentation, and “windows” offers different tools, all of your own (there’s a small library of clip-art you can’t do anything so glitzy as to add which are available from the Slide View to help you), and then add your text and animation. But these weaknesses aside, window. personal graphics. You can choose Key Presenter comes at a good price and Outline View displays a text outline of colours and fonts for your text messages, doesn’t gobble up system resources. It’ll all the slides in your presentation. This and you get a full range of charting fea- run on anything from a 386 with 4Mb of not only gives you an overview of the text tures too, including 3D rotation of charts. RAM and takes up only 6Mb of hard disk across multiple slides, but enables editing As well as this, there’s a spelling checker space. Overall, the price is persuasive. and cutting and pasting as well. With the to save you from embarrassment caused Slide Sorter you can see all the slides in by those nasty typographical errors that PCW Verdict your presentation, rearrange them and everybody notices. And when you’ve Easy to use, and produces professional rename them. Using the Speaker’s Notes done, you can output (use) the finished results This is unbeatable value for money. button, you can create notes to accom- presentation in many ways: as slides, pany the presentation — useful not only overheads, printed handouts, and so on. Price £46.95 (incl VAT) as a memory jogger, but also as a good The choice is yours. Contact Softkey 0181 789 2000. Fax 0191 789 5626 place to store names, titles and other Key Presenter doesn’t so much as nod facts and figures. in the direction of multimedia — there’s Creating slides is easy: just select a

SOFTWARE Rescue There is nothing worse than a disk disaster, except perhaps an omnibus edition of Eldorado. Paul Begg reckons Rescue could be your insurance in the event of the former. The latter — it’s too horrible for even him to contemplate.

tick a pencil through a floppy. Go on, files and directories. At the bottom of the recovered the data on the disk — except Smake a hole in it — that’s right. Now screen there are nine buttons that where the hole is, of course. So, in these try and read the disk... perform various functions such as brows- days of shortages, does anybody want to Florida-based company, AllMicro, ing sectors, searching for text strings, or buy a slightly damaged floppy disk? It’s describes Rescue as “the most compre- exiting the program. going cheap… hensive, user-friendly data recovery soft- All you have to do is highlight the ware available.” They go on to claim that file(s) or directory(s) you want to recover PCW Verdict it can recover data even from a disk the and — hey presto, Rescue does its thing. A to-be-considered insurance in the event of operating system can’t read. Of course, Rescue comes with Anyware Antivirus disk disaster, but it could do with being cut in to properly test this claim you must have which detects viruses during the boot up price by at least half. lost some data, hence the of the system; and a backup program Price £99.95 encouragement to stick a pencil into a called Backit Lite for Windows. Contact POW! Distribution 01202 718725. floppy. So did I stick a pencil through a floppy Fax 01202 715600 Rescue has its own operating system, disk? In the name of science, I did. I also that overrides DOS, to directly move the disk heads itself. This is different from most other data recovery software which tries to repair the damaged part of the disk, then reconstruct the data. With Res- cue, even if you are missing your boot sector (that’s the bit of your disk that con- tains all the start up or boot information) you can still attempt a recovery. It’s ready to run right out of the box. But you don’t have to install it to your hard disk — it can be run either from DOS or from Windows. At the top of the screen are three text boxes telling you the status of Rescue. The first describes the drive that Rescue is reading, the second tells you what Res- cue is doing, and the third refers to the sector being read. On the right-hand side is a scroll bar which you can use to view So simple to use — how to retrieve data following a disaster one sector at a time. On the left is a list of

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD FIRST IMPRESSIONS FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Wacom Graphic Tablet Pens

There’s nothing like a graphics tablet to clear those arty headaches, and there’s certainly nothing like tablet manufacturer Wacom’s new range of pens. Better ergonomics and easier handling are offered by widening pen barrels, while those disconcerted by the lack of marks left by tablet pens should check out ink ballpoint and lead-propelling pencil models. Last but not least is the new stan- dard pen which boasts an eraser at the other end of the barrel — tablet pens have never been more intuitive. Price POA Contact Wacom Computers Unlimited 0181 200 8282

Roland Sound Canvas Roland has managed to squeeze 364 instruments into a Type II PCMCIA card. However, there’s only enough room to play 16 of them at once. The SPC-55 also offers professional-quality reverb and chorus effects and sampling capabilites. Not only this, the card has an MPU-401 MIDI interface so you can make music whereever you go. Price £322 Contact Roland 01252 816181 Scoutmaster GPS

The ultimate handheld accessory for people who need to know exactly where they are. Trimble Navigation’s Scoutmaster is intended to do for the sextant what the guillotine did for the French aristocracy. It uses differential GPS (the most accurate kind) to pinpoint your location to within 10 metres. It’s small enough to fit in your pocket, light enough to carry anywhere and, with a suitable cable, you can even connect it to a PC. Price £702 Contact Trimble 01256 760150

Wireless Keyboards Virtual Pilot

Learn to fly any aircraft, car or even Not only does this wireless keyboard spaceship with Virtual Pilot from make your desk the tidiest in the Evesham Micros. It has been designed office, it increases productivity. This to provide ultimate precision amid the is because you can carry on working scariest of dog-fights and is compatible

Whyte while walking down to the coffee with the Thrustmaster Joystick range. machine — it works, we tried it. It It clamps securely to the desktop and works exactly the same as a requires no more than a standard standard keyboard and requires game port. no additional drivers. Photography by David Price £68 Evesham Micros Contact 01386 765500 Price £66 Gadget Contact Reed Cosine PCW

Gadgets 01929 550727

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD LONG TERM TESTS ogtr tests term Long PCW How You Can Contribute To The Long Term Tests Section

We welcome contributions from readers for our Long Term Tests section. If you’ve been using a piece of hardware or software intensively for some time, just write a 450-word article (for hardware) or a 750- word piece with screenshot — GIF format — for software and send it on disk, in MS Word (Mac or PC) or ASCII format, to: The Editor, Personal Computer World, VNU House, 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG. Mark your envelope clearly “Long Term Tests”. We’ll pay for any contributions we use.

HARDWARE YEAR HP DeskJet 320 Printer

1TEST Jonathan Thaw nyone who bought an HP inkjet have to be dithered (where colours are Aprinter back in the earlier months of combined to give a black effect), reduc- invested in a 320 this year would have been disappointed ing the life of the cartridge, but there’s the about a year ago, to see their “new” printer become obso- added hassle of constantly replacing the and has been lete overnight, as a whole new range of two cartridges. The biggest inkjets was introduced for superior qual- inconvenience is when you have a page reaping the benefits ity and value for money. The only printer full of black text with a thumbnail picture of clear, portable, that survived was the relatively new somewhere in the middle, and this sce- colour printing ever DeskJet 320. Some might be put off by nario should be avoided to conserve the the fact that it seems a little flimsy and life of the colour cartridges, which are since. may not look quite at home on their desk- very expensive. This, though, is the price tops, but over the last year of intensive you pay for the printer’s portability and use, it has proved an excellent machine. versatility, and HP are good enough to Despite a few minor limitations, the supply a special storage container for the DeskJet 320 is probably one of the best cartridges with the optional colour kit. printers around in terms of value for The 320 can print efficiently on spe- money. Its biggest advantage is its ver- cially coated transparencies and paper, satility — it will quite happily sit on your although this is expensive. (The glossy desktop or in a briefcase, and weighs paper gives the best colour output.) The only 1.96kg (4.3lbs). On the road, paper feeder integrates well with the printer and insertion is a little fiddly, but on the desk- paper jams are rare. top, the 60-page feeder handles paper Control of the printer is simple but by very efficiently. no means limited. The six buttons on the The printer offers 600 x 300dpi resolu- front panel provide access to the various tion and although this is still not up to the options by means of a clever system quality of the more expensive laser print- whereby the cartridge moves down a list ers, the colour option compensates for of options listed inside the printer. The this. The colour output is similar to that of print driver for Windows rarely encoun- the later DeskJet 500 and the newer 540. ters problems and gives many options But this is where you encounter the about the printer, print media and quality printer’s first snag: it won’t hold colour despite being a little slow with long The HP 320 — a paragon of and black cartridges at the same time. documents. portability and versatility Not only does this mean that blacks will A printer of this size would definitely not be suitable serving a small network and is more comfortable with a small workload. But it offers perfectly good black printing with the option of fine colour, and this, together with its portability and versatility, means that it’s well worth the low price.

PCW Verdict Good print quality, with real portability and versatility, make the DeskJet 320 a real winner. Price £229 (approx.) Contact Hewlett Packard 01344 369222

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SOFTWARE MONTHS Corel Ventura 5.0

After eight months’ use, AR Landall finds the latest incarnation 8TEST of Ventura “a brilliant product with some amazing flaws”. Intrigued? Read on.

’ve always had a love-hate also the ability to move files rather than to the idea. Irelationship with Ventura. I don’t use it just copy them. The spell-checker, But Ventura doesn’t go out of its way every day, but I do use it regularly though, is still caught out by Ventura’s to be helpful. Astonishingly, you can’t enough to have got used to many of its own markers! And there’s no UK English choose to print all odd or all even pages little foibles. In fact, it’s certainly easier to option either. for a multi-chapter publication; you’re use than its reputation suggests. I’ve But once past the shiny new interface, forced to do it a chapter at a time. This is always liked the frame-based approach, I soon discovered that, despite the delay a problem if you don’t have a duplex which allows easy and powerful integra- in shipping, this release was rushed out printer and want to print on both sides. tion of graphics and text. Version 5.0 is a too soon — there’s a definite incomplete Nor can you set the auto-numbering major upgrade and the first real step for- feel about it. For a start, certain illustra- feature to work automatically across a ward for years. tions in the manual don’t match what publication — the start number has to be A good deal of effort has gone into appears in the program and some of the set manually for each chapter, which is making the program competitive again, information is clearly inaccurate. For a pain. and it shows — it feels much more like a example, the manual says: “Tip: You can On a more positive note, one of my true Windows application. Many of the expand the Refs & Markers list by drag- favourite features is the booklet format. I facilities that users had demanded are ging the roll-up’s bottom border love it because it makes the production of now there: the ability to override downward.” Oh no you can’t. There’s no A5 booklets, which is the main reason I paragraph settings; a usable text flow re-sizeable border and the picture of the use Ventura, so much easier. It allows around graphics; vastly improved editing; roll-up is different from that in the actual me to choose an A4 base page and pro- program. (This is duce a folded A5 booklet. All the page also true for the numbers, headers and footers appear in Manage Publica- the right place. Laying out and formatting tion dialogue a booklet manually can be a real night- box.) Although mare — this is just the sort of thing com- not a major puters should be harnessed to do, and problem, it it’s a tremendous productivity boost. doesn’t inspire However — and this illustrates my confidence. And point about the incomplete nature of the annoyingly, package — where printing is concerned, although Ventura Ventura shoots itself in the foot. A booklet can import Word is printed in sheets rather than pages: 6.0 documents, it each sheet containing four different saves them in pages, two on each side. But you cannot Word 2.0 format. specify “print all back”, “print all front” or This can create “print sheet x”, and this is a serious over- problems if you sight. There are workarounds, but it’s far re-open them in from satisfactory. Word and save So the love-hate relationship contin- The Jekyll & Hyde Ventura 5.0 is them again. ues, but perhaps more love than hate good and bad in equal measure Ventura is also one of the most unsta- these days. It’s a brilliant product with ble applications I’ve got. This aspect of some amazing flaws. But at least Corel the program hasn’t improved much, and seems to have a vision for Ventura which rotation of text; the ability to move it falls over far too easily despite its vora- had previously been sadly lacking. objects onto the Pasteboard; the aboli- cious appetite for memory. I save my tion of width tables; and an up-to-date 3D work regularly. interface with tabbed dialogue boxes etc. The publication metaphor is PCW Verdict There has also been a general “Corelis- developed further in this release and Not perfect by any means, but a great ing” of the product, including a plethora you’re forced to use it, because all files package nonetheless. of useful roll-ups. are now saved in *.pub format. Every Many of the niggly things have been publication file contains one or more Price Full product: CD £349; Disk £395. addressed too, such as a Whole Word chapters (*.chp) and you can add or Upgrade £79 Contact Corel 0800 581028 Only option for Search and Find and an delete chapters as you wish. It works Undo feature that actually works. There’s reasonably well and you soon get used

93 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 VISUAL BASIC 4.0 VISUAL BASIC 4.0

Visual Basic 4.0

The long-awaited development tools, and developers have with the old Debug menu now part of language first found in Excel, and eventu- become frustrated by the slow Tools, an Insert menu for adding forms ally migrating to all the Microsoft Office Visual Basic 4.0 is here, performance of VB’s interpreted Basic, and modules, and a new Add-ins menu. applications. and with its lack of support for power fea- VB 4.0 comes in two flavours. The 16- VB 3.0 was extensible primarily having been delayed tures like pointers and call-backs. bit model runs on Windows 3.1 as well as through VBX controls. With Office 4.0 Borland’s Delphi supplies all this along Windows 95, and supports both VBX and came OLE automation, enabling objects along with Windows 95. with a true object-orientated programming 16-bit OCX controls. Since the standard in other applications to be assigned to language, leaving Visual Basic under edition of VB 4.0 doesn’t include the 16- variables in a VB application and Tim Anderson looks at pressure to compete. bit version, Microsoft clearly wants to pro- controlled through properties and meth- the latest beta and finds Delayed along with Windows 95, mote the 32-bit edition which runs only on ods. For example, an Excel spreadsheet Visual Basic 4.0 finally delivers Windows 95 or NT and uses 32-bit OCX could be opened, modified and saved. substantial new features. Microsoft’s answer. But those hoping for only; no VBX controls. It adds a number Visual Basic 4.0 takes OLE technol- a native code compiler, or fuller object of extra features including a toolbar con- ogy further, integrating it seamlessly into orientation, will be disappointed: instead, trol and a rich-text edit control for the dis- the development environment. A custom VB 4.0 majors on support for OLE 2.0 and play of formatted text. These encapsulate control dialogue lists all the OLE he original Visual Basic (VB) Windows 95, and provides new features elements added in Windows 95 and NT insertable objects and OCX controls Familiar through Excel and the Office introduced a new way in which for client-server database development. 3.51, so there is no chance of them work- available on the system, and those which Visual Basic and Objects Development Kit, the Object Browser to program. Those not won over At first glance, it seems that Microsoft has ing with earlier versions of Windows. are checked appear in the VB toolbox. VB has moved closer towards object by its captivating visual been more concerned to promote its new Versions of VB have proliferated to the Once you get over the thrill of seeing orientation but is still more accurately interface were wooed by its technologies than to provide what the VB point of confusion, with the old Excel sitting on your VB form, you may described as object-based. There is a polymorphism or operator overloading. In Tsupport for VBX components, on offer development community has been Standard/Professional split continuing wonder whether you really want to use a new kind of module, a class module, in one sense this leaves Visual Basic seri- from countless third-party vendors. demanding. But closer investigation and a new Enterprise edition for client- 4.5Mb custom control in your application. which you can create custom object ously behind the times when other When version 3.0 added a built-in reveals substantial technical advances server development. Despite the superfi- But the integration is impressive. Visual types with their own properties and meth- languages like Delphi, Visual dBase and database engine borrowed from Access, over VB 3.0. cial resemblance all these VB variants Basic’s development environment is itself ods (though not events). This certainly Microsoft’s own Visual FoxPro offer much VB’s momentum became unstoppable. On the surface, Visual Basic 4.0 looks are greatly changed from version 3.0, now an OLE automation object, which makes it easier to code well-structured fuller object-orientation. But there is a phi- But that was two and a half years ago. A much like older versions. But looking using Visual Basic for Applications tech- means add-ins and wizards are easy to applications, but as an object model it’s losophy behind VB — it is the philosophy VB-like interface is now commonplace in deeper, the menu structure has changed, nology to bring them into line with the create and will no doubt proliferate. feeble, with no support for inheritance, of components and of OLE 2.0. Microsoft

Creating an OLE Automation Server

OLE automation is VB 4.0’s big new feature. The project begins much like There is a new kind of module in VB 4.0, called a class module. This demonstration shows how easy it is to create an OLE server that will work with any a VB 3.0 application, with a Class modules enable custom object types to be defined in VB, OLE automation client application. At the form, a data control, and (new with their own properties and methods. They also support two moment these are limited in number, but since to VB 4.0) a data-bound grid. events, initialise and terminate. To make a class into an OLE Microsoft is making it a key feature of The bundled data grid is made automation object requires several steps. Each class has three Windows, it looks likely to be supported by by Apex, developers of True- built-in properties: Instancing, Name, and Public. The Instanc- most Windows applications and development Grid. By setting properties, ing property must be set to Creatable (either Multi use or Single languages before long. the data control is bound to use). Then, the Public property must be set to True. Finally, the Our Visual Basic 4.0 beta came supplied an SQL query (in this case, Name property determines the name of the resultant OLE with sample code to display an About box, but “SELECT * FROM CUSTOMER object. That done, any variables declared as Public in the class we thought we should give a more useful ORDER BY SURNAME”), and module become properties of the OLE object, and any Public example. The OLE server that follows is for any application that requires access to an the grid is bound to the data procedures or functions become methods. You can also define address database. It enables you to select a control. Code in the click private properties and methods to hide the internal workings name from a scrolling list, and returns the full event of the OK button of the object. This is encapsulation. The function shown address to the client application. The sample assigns the current address displays the data access form, and copies the current customer database contains around 10,000 names. to global variables, so it can details into public class variables, so they are exposed to client be accessed by other modules in the project after the form has been unloaded applications

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The Visual Basic interface is outwardly Now at version 3.0, Crystal little changed in version 4.0, but with OLE Reports for Visual Basic is automation far more extensible greatly improved over the old VB version argues that the main purpose of object orientation is reusable code, and that VB offers this reusability with its support for OCX components, OLE automation, and much improved performance now a new feature — native VB OLE through direct ODBC calls that servers. were arduous to program. The A common gripe among VB develop- direct ODBC route may still have ers was the inability to create DLLs. You advantages, but there are now still can’t, at least not in the old sense, but two other options. The Remote VB 4.0 offers an alternative which is to Data Control is an ODBC-based create an OLE automation server. This data control which bypasses allows you to expose properties and JET, but still works with all VB’s methods to any application able to be an data-aware components. Better OLE automation client (see panel, still, a new Remote Data Objects “What’s new...”, page 100). (RDO) interface is a wrapper for Since VB applications can be both the ODBC API, making it client and server, this opens up interest- substantially easier to program. ing possibilities for VB developers to cre- Microsoft describes it as “Perfor- ate specialist OLE components that can mance tuned for SQL Server 6.0 either be linked together, or with non-VB and Oracle 7.” RDO offers sev- applications, to form custom solutions. eral key features for client-server Unlike a C++ or Delphi object, useful only development such as control at development time and in its own native over server-side cursors, and the ability environment, an OLE object library is with serious question marks over its real- Existing VB developers will find DAO but easily applied to local databases. The the manual contains a helpful chapter to limit the number of rows returned from continually available to the entire world usefulness. familiar since the underlying model is new DAO means that old VB 3.0 code entitled “Writing SQL Queries”. Report- a query. The Enterprise edition also Windows environment — in some circum- similar to version 3.0 which had dynaset, will not run without changes. This can be ing is via an improved version of Crystal includes a customised version of Source- stances, even across a network. The Visual Basic and databases snapshot, and table objects. The new overcome through a compatibility add-in Reports which can now be bound Safe, and the ability to create remote argument has some force, although the Visual Basic 4.0 will delight database model is tidier, with a single recordset which allows the old code to work against directly to a data control, although OLE automation servers (see panel). old-style DLL offers much of this function- developers. VB 3.0 offered programmatic object that can be of any of the latter the new JET engine. But a better solution Microsoft points out that VB developers First impressions are that VB 4.0 is far ality together with the added speed of control of most of the features of the JET three types. Several new objects are is to rewrite those bits of code which no could also consider driving the new better suited to serious database devel- fully-compiled code. OLE imposes a per- database engine, but not all — the ability available, each with appropriate longer work — the changes are trivial to Access 7.0 report writer through OLE opment than its predecessor. formance penalty, and when you add the to set up security or enforce referential collections, properties, and methods: make. automation. further penalty of VB’s runtime integrity was missing. VB 4.0 introduces a DBEngine, Workspace, User, Group and Some long-standing niggles have VB 4.0’s Enterprise edition is aimed OLE with everything? interpreter, it is clear that a VB OLE new data access objects (DAO) interface Relation. been removed. For instance, the data at the client-server developer. One of the Visual Basic 4.0 has clearly defined server will not perform briskly. That would that overcomes these problems. Even DAO is great, and builds on VB 3.0’s control can now be pointed to a table and problems with Visual Basic 3.0 was that strengths and weaknesses. VB develop- appear to sum up VB’s new OLE capabili- new features of JET 3.0 (like database database capabilities to offer comprehen- has an index property that works; the it forced a choice between easy but slow ers who are not interested in either OLE ties: a hugely impressive concept, but replication) are supported in Visual Basic. sive data management based on SQL, bound controls include a data grid; and access to SQL servers through JET, or or database work will be disappointed.

Creating an OLE Automation Server (continued)

Using project VB 4.0 has two compilation options, “Make Exe” and “Make Over in Excel, the Finally, the OLE server is put to work: a button in Excel options, the OLE DLL”. Either can create an OLE automation server, the VB OLE Server has calls the VBA routine, and the VB form pops up over Excel. OLE server difference being that .EXE servers are out-of-process magically appeared Once selected, the address appears in the Excel spread- option is servers and .DLL servers are in-process, which run in the in the list of sheet. This is especially impressive when you consider selected. The same process as the client application for greater speed “References”, OLE that the VB application itself contains an OLE object; the project name, and efficiency. You cannot create DLLs with the 16-bit VB objects accessible data grid OCX. The ability to create OLE servers substan- new in VB 4.0, 4.0, although you can still create OLE automation EXEs from Visual Basic tially expands VB’s usefulness. will be the for Applications. library name When it was com- containing all piled, VB put the the OLE objects necessary informa- in the project. A tion into the Win- description can dows registry (a be entered, to appear in OLE class browsers. Note that OLE servers’ corrupt registry is the dread of OLE programmers). A short piece of projects are almost always set to start up from Sub Main, and not from VBA code in Excel creates the object, using the project name and class a form. This is done here, even though Sub Main is empty, so that the name set in VB 4.0. The routine gets a customer address and inserts it project compiles correctly into an Excel worksheet

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Performance is no better, the core lan- guage not much changed, and power programming features like inheritance, pointers and call-backs are still absent. It is primarily a product for 32-bit Win- dows, and judging by Microsoft’s half- hearted attitude towards 16-bit VB 4.0 (omitted from the Standard version), it Excel can literally be may be wise to stay with VB 3.0 for 16- treated as a VB bit programming and enjoy a runtime custom control if DLL one-third of the size. But Visual you don’t mind your Basic remains the easiest way to application running program for Windows, and that, like a slug combined with presumed strong third- party support for OCX components, endows version 4.0 with a substantial attraction. From the point of view of Database development, it addresses many of the frustrations of version 3.0. Although lack of object orientation is a disappointment, in every other respect VB stands up well as a database development tool against specialist products like dBase, FoxPro and PowerBuilder. Finally, there is OLE and the possibil- The Code Profiler is ity of creating universal Windows compo- both useful and a nents without stepping outside the safe good demonstration environment of VB. It’s a great concept, of what can be but one which depends on OLE becom- achieved by add-ins ing a dominant standard and which will only come into its own when and if 32-bit Windows becomes the norm. The ability to create OLE servers is likely to appear What’s new in Visual Basic 4.0 in competing products soon. There’s plenty of choice among Windows devel- ● New architecture uses Visual Basic for Applications engine opment tools, and Visual Basic is settling ● Development environment extensible via add-ins and OLE automation into a new niche, for database develop- ● Conditional compilation with #IF ... THEN ... #ELSE ment and as a high-level language to ● Line continuation character in code drive Windows. It has its place, but for ● Menu and toolbar negotiation for in-place OLE editing general development does not look as ● Class modules for custom VB objects good against the competition as it did ● OLE controls (OCX) replace VBX format two years ago. ● New Collection data type ● Property procedures ● Forms can have public properties and methods PCW Details ● Use insertable OLE objects as custom controls ● Data aware grid and list controls Standard Edition 32-bit Visual Basic with basic controls Professional Edition only. ● Separate 16-bit and 32-bit versions Professional Edition ● New Data Access Objects with full control of JET database engine 32-bit and 16-bit Visual Basic with ● Windows 95 controls, including rich text edit control additional controls and full database ● Create OLE automation servers programming. Enterprise Edition ● Code profiler The Professional Edition with remote ● Full programmatic control of JET automation technology, remote data ● Resource compiler works with standard Windows resources control and remote data objects, SourceSafe for team development. Enterprise Edition Prices Not available at the time of ● Remote Data Control writing. ● Remote Data Objects for fast SQL server access Contact Microsoft 01734 270001 ● SourceSafe for team development ● Create remote OLE automation servers

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD 486 DX4’S

Four FOUR SIGHT your Pleasure PCW Photography by Bruce Mackie o matter how much the desktop PC market Intel intends to end production changes and how fast computers become obsolete, it seems that there are always three of the 486 to make way for the price points dictating the performance a user Pentium, so there are DX4- will get. £2,500 will always buy somewhere based bargains to be had now. near the latest and greatest — usually involv- Ning a chunky mark-up for the privilege of owning such a cutting- But are they worth buying, or edge slab of silicon; £1,500 tends to be the right price for users can you upgrade performance who want something fast that won’t get left too far behind over the by adding the DX4 overdrive next couple of years, but who don’t want to break the bank. At the £1,000 point things become interesting for the home chip to your existing system? market. Compared to most home electronics such as videos and Nick Lawrence investigates. TVs, £1,000 is a lot of money to spend, even more once VAT is

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taken into account. But the latest speed demon is generally out of the price range of the average home user, and ironically, the kind of applications run in the home are often more demanding than standard office applications. The latest games and CD-ROM releases tend to need more power and memory than the average spreadsheet or word processor. Intel is starting to ramp down produc- tion of the 486 family, partly to make way for Pentiums and the forthcoming P6, and partly to try to kill off the market for its competitors such as AMD and Cyrix. By the beginning of 1996 Pentium is likely to be the entry level, but in the meantime there’s a great opportunity for users with an eye for a bargain to pick up DX2- and DX4-based PCs at rock-bottom prices.

Which 486 should I buy? In the current market we wouldn’t recom- mend buying anything under a DX2/66, and even these, though still serviceable, are not a very future-proof deal for those buying new. DX4/75s are not as good a compromise as they seem because their board speed is 25MHz, which means that your peripherals will run a little more slowly than they would if you picked a 66 or 100, which are both based on a 33MHz board speed. DX4/100s are the class with the performance required for games and business usage; their price tag of around £1,200 at the time of writing may well have dropped to the magic £1,000 mark by the time you read this. supply customers with L2 cache unless it P90 group test, has elected for a tilt at the If you choose to skip the 486 market is specifically requested and the budget end of the market. At £1,199, this and jump directly to a Pentium, go customer pays more, which makes its is the cheapest system here. straight for a P75 and miss out the P60 systems look particularly cheap but they The case opens easily with a thumb- and 66 processors. Partly because of the perform particularly poorly. screw, to reveal an ABIT motherboard on overheating problems that afflicted many For this reason, we have asked for the left which takes up a smaller space of the earlier P60s and 66s, but mainly what some may consider a high than many. It uses the SIS 85C496 because a well-specified DX4/100 will specification for the class of processor chipset, but despite having two EIDE outperform both of these in many involved: 8Mb RAM, 500Mb hard disk, channels on board misses out the other applications. You may also want to con- 15in monitor, 4X CD-ROM drive, 16-bit I/O functions. These are supplied on a sider AMD’s 120MHz 486, which we have sound card, and extras such as speakers separate card in an ISA slot. This uses a not yet been able to try out for ourselves and bundled software. We left the Winbond chipset to control the floppy but which looks like a good performer at a specification more flexible than usual, drive and serial and parallel ports. Adams reasonable price. with the proviso that the machine should has put the hard disk on one of the EIDE What many new users fail to realise is be suitable for games and light business channels on the motherboard rather than that it is not just the class of processor usage in the home, rather than it should using the controller on the card, which that makes a difference. The amount of match the specification exactly. would have been much slower. memory and L2 cache you have are per- For those with good overall systems An advantage of having three IDE haps two of the most important factors in but a lower-end 486 CPU, upgrading channels is that you could support up to the speed of your system, along with the could well be a viable option. We have six devices, of which three or four could type of graphics acceleration, the speed therefore also looked at two Overdrive be hard disks and the others, a CD-ROM of your hard disk, and a thousand other processors, one from Intel and one from and a tape drive. There is room for factors. A DX2/66-based system can out- AMD, to examine their respective another internal 3.5in device and another perform a DX4/100-based system if the performance. front-facing 5.25in device, although it’s components in the former are of much unlikely that so many devices would be higher quality than those in the latter. For Adams Accura Value 486MM needed on a machine intended for example, one vendor is rumoured not to Adams Technology, winner of our recent games.

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The graphics card, a Number Nine FX pack of five CD-ROMs, or Win OS/2 performance. EDRAM refers to (yet Vision 300 with 2Mb of RAM, will provide Warp 3.0 with the Bonus Pak and Lotus another) new type of memory which all the graphics performance required, SmartSuite for OS/2. Whether the offers 15ns performance in main and the 15in ADI monitor provides a clear former’s support for games is all that memory. In fact, it has been around picture with MPR II power-saving Microsoft would like it to be remains to be longer than pipeline burst synchronous features. Sound comes courtesy of the seen, but this system is well suited to the cache and EDO RAM, but has yet to hit Creative Labs SoundBlaster 16 Pro, games player ready to move up from the the big time in the same way. which is best suited to wave files rather Nintendo to a proper computer. EDRAM offers big performance than MIDI, and though the speakers are Price £1,199 increases over standard machines, but little 5 Watt Labtecs they can put out Contact Adams Technology there are penalties: a specific chipset is enough sound to keep the kids happy 0161 877 8822 required which restricts the choice of while playing Descent. motherboards; that chipset, the Opti The CD-ROM drive is an ever-popular Armari Rocket II EDRAM Blackhawk, supports only VESA and not Toshiba XM5302B, the quad-speed DX4-100 PCI. VESA cards are on their way out, model included with all four systems Armari is the only supplier we know of in and although it’s still possible to buy here. Read/write storage is provided with the UK with an EDRAM machine. They them, it puts a question mark over the the 500Mb IBM hard disk drive. are more widely available in the United system’s long-term prospects. Also, there Adams can supply either Windows 95 States and some more technical users are few suppliers for the RAMTRON with Novell PerfectWorks and a bundle are kicking up a big fuss over their memory this system uses; and there is no Pentium chipset which supports EDRAM, and there will be none until the end of the year. The system has two cards which use the VL-bus architecture: a Diamond Stealth 64 DRAM with 2Mb RAM, and the I/O controller. The latter is a CMD 604 with the ability to support up to Mode 5 EIDE on both channels, although Mode 4 is the highest speed of hard drive we have seen, with the ability to transfer 16Mb/sec in burst mode. A Quantum Fireball using Mode 4 is supplied as the 500Mb hard disk. A DTC 2278 will have been supplied instead of the CMD card by the time you read this. The other component which is destined for replacement is the Toshiba XM5302B, and this is due to become a Pioneer unit from the beginning of September. The Pioneer has a 150ms access time, rather than the 190ms of the Toshiba. A SoundBlaster AWE-32 is the best card for MIDI musicians because of its support for WaveTable sounds, and it has been included here. It is also great at playing sounds from games, which it can pump out through the Typhoon speakers at 10 Watts per speaker. Expansion is catered for with the single free VESA slot and the four free ISA slots for expansion cards. RAM can be mixed between EDRAM and FPM DRAMs (standard memory), which both come in 72-pin SIMMs. As supplied, one of the four SIMM slots is filled with an 8Mb SIMM. This system is one for the more adventurous and technical user on a budget. If that fits your description, this is well worth a look. Price £1,399 Contact Armari 0181 810 7441

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Compaq Presario CDS942 comes up with Compaq is the only supplier to put its a software system in a tower case; it is the same as setup screen can be found on the Prolinea we had for which asks you our P90 group test last month. Both sides for your name open with the aid of three thumbscrews, and company and a very neatly laid out interior awaits and then the user. proceeds to On one side there are five ISA slots, spend nearly two two EIDE connectors, a floppy disk con- hours setting up nector and a lot of empty space. On the your software for other is the main system board, contain- you. This could ing six unfilled SIMM slots (the 8Mb RAM easily make it very is soldered directly onto the frustrating when you motherboard), an empty cache-on-a-stick get home with a new socket, a Cirrus Logic GD-5434 graphics PC and promise the chipset and an AMD processor running at kids that they can play 90MHz rather than the usual 100MHz. Doom as soon as you There is also an ISA slot which has been set it up, only to find you slightly modified to take proprietary have to wait while the PC Compaq cards such as Ethernet. appears to go mad, flash- The sound is integrated onto the ing up images and board, using a SoundBlaster-compatible rebooting every cou- ESS chipset. It goes out through 4 Watt ple of minutes. Labtec speakers. The software sup- The Compaq’s setup is a little strange: plied is pretty decent when you turn it on, it however, consisting of Works for Windows, Money, the free upgrade to Windows 95. Microsoft Entertainment Pack, Unfortunately, this PC’s performance Encarta, Dorling Kindersley’s The was very poor indeed. Its lack of speed Ultimate Human Body CD, can be largely attributed to its lack of L2 Tabworks, and some proprietary cache, although the poor disk software to take care of the Presario performance is probably due more to the under Windows. There is also a small size of the hard disk (420Mb) and the inverse of the rule that the speed of the hard disk increases with its size. Compaq is a supplier of great repute so it is a shame that there are such flaws in the design of this home-based PC. Nevertheless, it will have a large and well- deserved market among those who value the security of the Compaq brand name. Price £1,361 plus upgrade from 14in monitor (around £100) Contact Compaq 0181 332 3000

Dan Premium 486 Dan Technology has risen in only a few years to become one of the foremost British PC suppliers, and one of the most recognised brand names around. In this desktop case there is an ASUSTeK PVI-486SP3 motherboard. The great oddity of this SIS-powered board is the combined PCI/ISA slot which features in the middle of the board; this is

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a proprietary slot that can be filled with from Dan, is clear with good resolutions. and good support contract. The Armari forthcoming cards from ASUSTeK. We If you use a lot of bundled software, Rocket II is much more suitable for those have heard about but not yet seen the Dan computers have a good offering. On who understand chipsets and first of these, a combined sound and top of the usual DOS/Windows motherboards and are willing to take the graphics card with an S3 Vision868 (the combination (which will have changed to plunge with something unusual. The same chip used in the Diamond Stealth Windows 95 by the time you read this) a Compaq Presario is for those who like to 64 VRAM) powering the graphics, the Lotus bundle and a Microsoft bundle play it safe, while the Dan Premium is a Creative Labs Vibra 16S audio chipset, a combine to give you SmartSuite and good all-round system. Yamaha OPL3 synthesiser, a Office together. It is unlikely that you will For those contemplating the upgrade WaveTable upgrade, Plug and Play need both, but it is good to know that you to DX4/100 from the 33 (or indeed from compatibility and 2Mb EDO RAM. have the option. Various other software, 25 to 75) the performance gains are The cards currently surrounding the including games, is thrown in. dubious. The price tags are pretty hefty AMD DX4/100 processor are a Diamond With a score of 3.58, this machine for the performance increase, casting the Stealth 64 DRAM graphics card using the comes in between its direct competitors benefits of the Pentium Overdrive (and S3 Trio64 chipset, and a SoundBlaster Adams and Armari. Its price tag of the P6 Overdrive for Pentium systems) AWE-32 sound card, at the top of £1,448 makes it expensive compared into even more doubt as the law of dimin- Creative Labs’ soundcard range due to with the other systems, but the ishing returns kicks in. Unless you have its support for downloadable MIDI components are high quality and the a particularly well specified system , you sounds to use with its WaveTable bundled software will make a big differ- will have to weigh up the performance capabilities. Two PCI slots and two ISA ence for many people. increase against the possibility of putting slots, as well as the proprietary slot which Price £1448 that money towards a more up-to-date can be used as a PCI, are available for Contact Dan Technology 0181 830 1100 system or even just more RAM, which for expansion. users with under 8Mb may prove to give The Toshiba XM-5302B 4X CD-ROM Conclusion better performance gains. drive has its own IDE channel, and the The four systems supplied here appeal Together, the systems and processor 80 Watt speakers should be more than to different sectors of the market. The upgrades here conspired to prove one loud enough for any game or audio CD. Adams Accura is best for the real budget point to us: the 486 may be wheezy, but A CTX 15in monitor, the usual offering end of the market, with its low price tag there’s life in the old dog yet.

Intel and Kingston Overdrive Chips

hat about those people with perfectly could have pushed it further, and we have so the Kingston packaging, makes for a perfor- Wserviceable but ageing 486SX and DX far been unable to get hold of one. mance of 1.89 against the Kingston’s 1.52 systems; is it worth the upgrade to 100MHz? The Intel chip comes in a simple flat pack, (the benchmark IBM machine scored 1.34, We took an Intel DX4 Overdrive and a with a heatsink adhering to the top and a and these results are all measured against Kingston Turbochip and slotted them into a couple of sundry chips between the chip and a a score of 1 for an Apricot XEN-PC with standard DX33 system. raised part of the heatsink. It fits easily into the 8Mb RAM). The system we used for benchmarking socket and requires no jumpers to be changed The only reason Intel’s competitors have was an IBM 433DX/sp, released from its on the motherboard. The Intel Overdrive set up is to supply the same type of chips at usual duties as one of our printer-testing Upgrade Guide provides a large quantity of a cheaper price, so it comes as a surprise machines, to make the existing setup as reassuring-looking charts measuring iCOMP to see the price of the Kingston at more realistic as possible. It features an on-board performance, but anyone with experience of than that of the Intel (a street price of £199 S3 464 chip with 1Mb RAM for the graphics, different benchmarks knows that these are against £180 respectively). Considering the 8Mb RAM (knocked down from the usual based more on Intel’s marketing strategy than relative performance and reputations of the 16Mb to make it more realistic), and a on real-life performance. companies, the Intel chip does look like a 500Mb hard disk on EIDE partitioned into The only difference in the installation pro- much better deal. three with the primary boot sector taking cedure with the Kingston model is the height The real question, though, is whether it 120Mb. The processor was in a ZIF 3 of the chip, which may cause problems if you is worth upgrading at all. Although the socket, which made releasing it as easy as have an expansion card which reaches over increase in performance of the Intel pulling a lever. The hard disk mounting the processor slot. For those people with ZIF Overdrive over our standard DX33 looks casing had to be removed from the comput- levers which reach right over the processor, small, it works out at a 50 percent increase er’s chassis before we could get to the which wouldn’t otherwise fit due to its height, in system speed while running everyday processor, but this is not an arduous task; there is a way around the problem with a pin business applications. Whether this is only requiring the removal of three screws. extender, which allows the lever to close, into enough of an increase to justify the price is If you have a 25MHz-based system which the processor can fit. debatable, and certainly it would be a good rather than a 33, you will not be able to get At least part of the height is due to a fan on plan to try hacking and slashing the amount 100MHz performance but will have to stick top of the processor, which some would argue of TrueType fonts in Windows, defragging at 75MHz by buying a different chip. The is not strictly necessary. Nevertheless, it is your hard disk, and other more mundane DX4, despite its name, is in fact a clock- good to err on the side of caution, especially if measures before forking out. tripler rather than a quadrupler. Luckily, our you intend to overclock. Price Kingston: street price £199. system was a DX33 so we were able to get The results of the performance tests are Intel: street price £180 the maximum potential out of the 486-class interesting. The Intel’s 16Kb cache, as Contact Kingston: Datrontech family: only an AMD 120MHz upgrade chip opposed to the 8Kb on the AMD chip inside 01252 303500. Intel 01793 696000

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Visio 4.0 will have a sibling, Visio what. Project timelines can be automati- Technical, which takes some of the more cally charted from Microsoft Project data, vertical applications of the software, such plus there are links making Visio useful as electronic schematics and process for developers who want to drive charts Windows 95: control, out of the mainstream and into a through OLE automation. This is relevant special version. This will be available in for process-control environments where the new year after a thorough programme graphics may need to change as By the time Windows of Europeanisation. The American machinery works on chemicals or a version of Visio Technical ships, over today’s there, with this new version. 95 launched on 24th All the major software houses claim to Visio 4.0 August, the first work closely with Microsoft, but more than anyone else Visio Corporation applications were seems to have the ear of the software specials giant. The result is a program which feels already starting to more like a Microsoft application in the Office mould than either Works or appear. In this article Autoroute; and similarly, Visio 4.0 offers more discoverability and a number of we preview some of the Wizards. There is a new spell-checker which first Win95 apps to uses the Microsoft-compatible dictionar- ies, and a number of changes which have arrive in the Personal come about as a result of an extensive Computer World Visio 3.0 wish-list. Freehand drawing has had splines added, layers replace the office. system of pages, and a user-definable snap-to grid replaces the system where Visio decided the size of the grid. With a nod to Visio’s capabilities as a presenta- tion graphics program, the colour palette icrosoft has bet the farm on has been extended and there is a format MWindows 95 and so the developer painter which gives a consistent feel to community has been stirred to produce pictures; the best way to do this however the widest possible range of applications. is to use stencils, the term Visio uses for Existing Visio owners will feel very much at home but new templates add a lot to the To promote those programs which fulfill the palette of shapes that some programs program the remit of being true Windows 95 pro- would call a template. In Visio 4.0 the grams Microsoft has instituted the “logo stencils are dockable, which makes them Works for Windows 95 programme”, whereby any program easier to arrange and speeds up compli- which is truly a Windows 95 program can cated designs where you might need be submitted to Microsoft, it will be tested access to a number of stencils. to ensure that it meets the criteria — Visio, the company, claims that it is long filenames, OLE 2.0 support, the not out to oust CorelDraw but there are correct presentation of icons and file file converters for Corel and Micrograpfx handling — and if it does, the manufac- Designer. These file filters are turer of the software can put the supplemented with a flowchart converter “Windows Compatible” logo on the box. which takes ABC Flowcharter and Corel- Microsoft has worked hard internally, Draw shapes and turns them into Visio producing compatible versions of nearly smart shapes. The smart shapes now all its own products including Works and have more attributes and there are a lot the newly acquired Autoroute. It has more of them: over 250 have been worked with friends like Visio and with old added, including Mind Maps for drawing rivals such as Philippe Kahn, formerly of ideas, and 3D shapes with shadows. Borland and now of Starfish. Even new These are defined by a vanishing point names on the scene like Xara have bene- which can be moved around. The end fited from Microsoft support. The result is result is a chart which looks as though it a well-rounded collection of applications is bursting out of the page. ready to fill your hard disk. Visio charts can be described as text: an Organisational chart wizard takes Visio 4.0 information from a text file or Excel Ten disks show how much Visio has spreadsheet. This is ideal for a rapidly grown since it was a simple drawing pro- growing organisation where people move Works provides a well-rounded selection of applications at a budget price PCW Shopping Basket Illustration by Stephen Caplin gram. In fact, it has grown so much that around a lot and need to know who does

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things Windows 95 brings. the discoverability but cuts down the Works is an integrated collection of amount of space available for actually applications: word processor, typing. The toolbar is customisable but spreadsheet, database, drawing program there is no macro language — although and communications software. The old of course, OLE 2.0 is supported so infor- Microsoft policy of being data-centric — mation from Office can be linked or you open files and work on them regard- embedded. The option for custom tool- less of whether they are word processor, bars is very much more restricted than spreadsheet, whatever — is well at home that offered by Word, although interest- manufacturing process. here. The software starts with a task ingly it includes a link to Microsoft For more mainstream users Visio has launcher and over 30 wizards for Network. The table options are run as a been made a little easier to use — there automating common tasks. separate program, linking in with the are now tool tips on the control points of Work in the Microsoft usability labs, spreadsheet, and it is here that (if you’ll shapes and the right-button menu is not where local people are asked to try out pardon the pun) Works excels. only supported but configurable. With new versions of the software while they The software is very well integrated features being added at such a rapid rate are monitored through one-way glass, within itself, but a lot of the research work it won’t be long before Visio sires a sib- have led Microsoft to place an emphasis done by the Office teams has not filtered ling for its technical offspring. on “discoverability”, where the software in, or has been omitted to provide some guides you to the new features. For product differentiation between a suite Works for Windows 95 Works this has been supplemented with a which will typically cost £100 or be bun- Works has always had an air of being a new manual which is designed to be dled free, and one which sells for £300. junior version of Office. It’s the software browsed through rather than read from There are no Intellitype features, none of you get with the computer so that you can cover to cover, and short tutorials which the nice scrolling when you insert text or do something — a bit like the trial pack of Microsoft calls “show me” movies. The guessing at what you are going to type. soap powder you get when you buy a software tracks you, and when you first The spreadsheet has most of the func- new washing machine. The idea is that use a new feature, such as embedding tions a typical user will want. Again, there once you are hooked on Works, you’ll objects, it offers to run a tutorial. are none of the advanced features such want to upgrade to Office. For many peo- Works has a slighty different feel to as Visual Basic or the mapping charts of ple this won’t apply, but as part of the other Microsoft applications, in that it Excel, and none of the new usability fea- bundling stratagem it was essential that guides you through tasks rather than tures, but for most people the facilities will Microsoft had a version of Works to run confronting you with a blank screen. The be more than adequate. It watches what under Windows 95. The old version buttons are bigger, but it manages to you are doing and provides help boxes would work, but the new one offers 32-bit avoid being condescending. and tutorial tours when you attempt protection, long filenames, right mouse- A comprehensive menu of options is something for the first time. button support and all the other good shown while you type, which helps with The biggest difference between the type of applications in Works and those in Works for Windows 95 Office is the inclusion of the database with Works and Access being an option for Office. The database is more compre- hensive than Cardfile but lacks any lan- guage or automated query support, although you can apply filters to searches in quite a sophisticated way. With a small database loaded it seemed quite fast, but ultimately this is not a program which will be used for high-power applications. Microsoft claims that it is designed for address books, lists and reports. It inte- grates well with the word processor, mak- ing it easy to produce mailing lists, and has good help when you’re unsure how to proceed. Setting up a database is com- plicated but Works does its best to guide you through. The last, and certainly the least signifi- cant part of the package is communica- tions. This seems a little pointless when Windows already has Hyperterminal, a reasonably good comms program. The communications section of Works adds Works provides a basic spreadsheet with an emphasis on guiding the naive user Kermit, Xmodem and Ymodem to through using the software Hyperterminal’s Zmodem, there is key- stroke recording and a button which

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Xara Studio

automatically logs you into the Works forum on the Microsoft Network, but beyond that there isn’t much more that you can do with a comms program with- out getting unnecessarily esoteric. Generally the software is a little slow: even on a machine with 24Mb RAM and a DX4 running at 100MHz there were noticeable delays, although as this was a late beta things may improve. Works 4.0 is a full 32-bit application, but the switch to 32-bit-ness alone does not automati- cally speed a program up. Works is a fine first taste of Windows This is the crudest view offered. Detail can be added by using the slider 95 software, and if you haven’t used the advanced features of more expensive programs you’ll be happy with it. depth of CorelDraw. depend on the availability of the compiler. Xara Studio But Studio is not designed to take on There is an infinite undo and redo In the November 1994 issue of PCW we the might of Corel head-to-head. One of buffer, and two types of handle on previewed Camelot, the 32-bit drawing the fundamental differences is that it has shapes to make Corel users feel at home. program from Computer Concepts. At the a dimensioning system. As with a CAD Camelot’s own method of manipulating time, Windows 95 was called Chicago program, shapes can be scaled in metric, shapes is there, too. and was going to be out in time for Christ- imperial or a scaling of your choosing. mas of that year. The delay in the operat- More impressive is the bitmap Conclusion ing system has been a mixed blessing for handling. The fill bitmap mode works There is an impressive diversity in the Computer Concepts, which has set up a astonishingly quickly, allowing the bitmap Windows 95 programs already available, new company, Xara, with which to take within a random shape to be stretched and not just from Microsoft. If you are on CorelDraw. It’s not the first time a soft- and skewed in real-time. unsure as to whether to upgrade you ware house has targeted CorelDraw with Perhaps the most impressive tool is should look hard at the applications a new program. SPC launched Harvard the transparent graduated tint. An arrow rather than the operating system: they all Draw specifically at the same market and tool allows the artist to specify the begin- offer significant benefits. There will come failed. ning, end, direction and rate of a time when you won’t have an option — The expertise which led to Xara was graduation. The transparency allows all software will be made this way. the Acorn program ArtWorks, but Studio great effects — stained glass windows is not a port. Xara realises that its major can be created with overlapping glass, PCW Details advantage over Corel is the lack of a for instance. There are two types of glass, legacy; the program can be optimised for reflective and transmissive, and both are Visio 4.0 today’s computers, leading to a faster supported. The tint is held as start and Price £169 Contact Visio Corporation program with a greater level of accuracy. end co-ordinates within the native file 01372 227900 ☎ The only advantage of the ArtWorks format, which makes some complex- legacy is a huge library of clip-art looking artwork surprisingly compact. Works for Windows 95 selected from drawing competitions. Xara can blend between one shape and Price £99, but look out for special price The performance edge is the result of another, which is ideal for creating com- of £80 inc VAT until the end of the year. Current users of Works 3.0 will be able 150Kb of hand-coded assembler — the plex highlights. to upgrade FOC until the end of the old-fashioned way of doing things is still The software is not multi-threaded so year. the best. The program is so fast that the will not take advantage of a multi-proces- Contact Microsoft 01345 002000 ☎ major bottleneck is the speed at which sor system. According to one the CPU can read from and write to RAM. programmer there was little advantage in Xara Studio Price £199. Upgrade from CorelDraw Being 32-bit helps in other respects. All this, since little of the software was £99 co-ordinates are held to 32 bits of accu- processor-bound. The bulk of the code is Contact Xara 01442 350000. ☎ racy, giving a resolution of 72,000dpi and written in Visual C++; ports to other sys- Fax 01442 350010 4000 levels of zoom — four times the tems — the Mac in particular — will

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Callunacard 130Mb GameCard II Kingston DataPak 260 allunacard his is a Type II his Type III PCM- Cmakes Type III TPCMCIA joystick TCIA hard disk is PCMCIA hard disks interface for games compatible with the of 130Mb and players. Supporting PCMCIA-ATA inter- 170Mb, and a 260Mb dual joysticks it has an face specification. device is due out soon. adaptor cable ending in a Our review item was Like all the Type III hard standard 15-pin D-type con- one of the newest 262Mb disks, the Callunacard works provided nector. To connect two joysticks for multi- devices, made in Singapore. A 170Mb you have card and socket services soft- player games you’ll need a two-way (Y) drive is also available. Expand ware configured for ATA drives. This adaptor which you must buy separately. The card comes with CardSoft PCM- often isn’t the case with PCMCIA- The dual-channel card supports multi- CIA card and socket services software. and enabled hardware and the ATA driver will function joysticks as well. Designed by JC ATA PCMCIA drives need an extra DOS make further inroads into your conven- Designs of Essex and manufactured in driver which allocates disk letters. Like tional DOS memory when it loads. the UK, the GameCard II comes with all PCMCIA hard disks, which are deli- Whyte Otherwise, the Callunacard works just installation software but requires third- cate pieces of equipment, it is provided fine. Included with the PCMCIA hard disk party card and socket services software with a protective slip-case. are a few useful additional utilities: which isn’t supplied. The GameCard II Type III drives require a PCMCIA slot PASSWORD.EXE and POWER.EXE. needs a 2byte I/O port which must start at 10.5mm thick which usually means that

Photography by David These allow the user to set the card’s 200h. they fully occupy standard twin-socket deliverPCMCIA cards have become an essential accessory for any self- default power-saving options If there’s a conflict with existing hard- PCMCIA hardware. A few notebooks

PCMCIA independently of the system’s utility and ware you will need to modify the PCMCIA separate Type III and Type II sockets,

respecting notebook. Terence Green looks at 20 leading devices PCW to enforce password security — well services software before the GameCard allowing you to use two PCMCIA worth having on a PCMCIA hard disk. II’s driver will enable the games port. devices simultaneously. and picks out some of the best. PCW Details PCW Details PCW Details PCMCIA Cards Contents ll new notebook PCs and hardware and software are never going Callunacard 130Mb GameCard II Kingston DataPak 260 an increasing number of 123 Callunacard 130Mb to work together no matter how hard you Price £269 Price £43 Price £399 desktops now have a 123 GameCard II pray. Contact Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 Contact JC Designs 01371 874478 Contact Datrontech 01252 303500 PCMCIA slot and there’s 123 Kingston DataPak 260 More intractable problems occur with 123 SunDisk ATA FlashDisk 10Mb a PCMCIA card to suit the operating systems. PCMCIA drivers SunDisk ATA FlashDisk 10Mb SMC EliteCard PCMCIA PAO Ethernet+ 123 SMC EliteCard Combo almostA every application, from hard disks take up too much memory and if you also ype II solid state Ethernet Combo he Ethernet+ net- 123 PAO Ethernet to Ethernet adaptors, SCSI adaptors and 124 IBM/DIP IR Wireless Card want to run network drivers, SCSI TATA FlashDisks he SMC Type II Twork adaptor fax-modems. Here we review 20 PCMCIA 124 SCM SwapBox Floppy Combo drivers, and CD-ROM drivers as well, have a hardware con- TPCMCIA Ethernet PCMCIA Type II card devices from the leading manufacturers 124 Grey Cell Ethernet II Gold Combo you will have trouble using troller and don’t need adaptor can be con- from supports ODI (we have omitted fax-modems as these 124 New Media Multimedia Combo DOS/Windows. Card and socket services special flash memory nected to either BNC and NDIS (Novell, were covered in detail in our May ‘95 125 WaveRunner ISDN Digital/Analogue suppliers such as SystemSoft, Award, file system software. (10Base-2) or a UTP Microsoft, LANtastic, issue). 125 NogaVision Digital Video NV-256 and Phoenix are doing much to reduce Smaller, and more (10Base-T) network Banyan, NFS) networks. It PCMCIA is the original plug-and-play 125 SecureData/PCMCIA the memory footprint, and although expensive per megabyte cabling. A module on the flexi- works well with Windows for Workgroups hardware, a small credit card-sized 125 ChaseCARDport ISA they’re not there yet, Award’s upcoming than conventional hard disks, ble cable houses RJ-45 and BNC con- and NetWare but, as yet, lacks specific 128 Cardwell PCMCIA SCSI-2 Card device which you can plug in and remove DPMS-enabled software looks FlashDisks are faster and more rugged. nectors; a third connector is for an OS/2 driver support. 128 Mitsubishi Melcard SRAM 1Mb at will — at least that’s the theory. In fact, promising. They have no moving parts and can sur- external power supply plus power and The installation routine is fairly easy to 128 Maxtor MobileMax 131Mb PCMCIA is a lot less hassle-free than the 128 Cardwell CardBay-AT Card Drive You can also escape the memory vive much greater shocks than PCMCIA transmission LEDs. work through but sometimes needs words plug-and-play suggest. When prob- 129 Elonex PC-500R/I crunch by moving to OS/2 Warp, hard disks. FlashDisks are sparing of While there could usefully be a few manual tuning. The card comes with an lems occur it isn’t always obvious who 129 SystemSoft CardWizard Pro Windows NT, or Windows 95. The power compared with hard disks except more LEDs on the cable module, the rest enabler which must be used in conjunc- might be responsible. Sometimes the 129 Table of features trouble is, OS/2 Warp’s PCMCIA support when they’re being written to. They are of the SMC package is neatly done with tion with card and socket services. PCMCIA card manufacturer may have cut 131 Conclusion is a little unwieldy and it won’t be easy to as fast as SRAM, yet don’t require a both SystemSoft card and socket SystemSoft CardSoft software is corners, leaving the card slightly off-spec 131 PCMCIA standards use with a wide variety of PCMCIA cards continual power supply to retain data. services software, and a decent manual supplied. The enabler also allows the and therefore impossible to configure until an update ships in October. SunDisk ATA FlashDisks appear to for the hardware and software. The war- system to be booted without the card. correctly. Or the problem may be with the ill-defined IBM PC standard. Windows NT 3.51 is just out and is the the operating system as hard disks: the ranty is for five years. The software sup- This takes you into the area of plug-and- card and socket services software that Fortunately most of these problems first version of Windows NT to support range runs from 1.8Mb up to 20Mb and plied includes an SNMP agent to which play, which requires perfect harmony supposedly enables automatic PCMCIA can be overcome by not always choosing PCMCIA devices. So it may be wise to is supplied with Stacker compression you can append a small amount of asset between all the various components, not configuration, or plug-and-play. the cheapest option, and by always ask- wait a while before placing your faith in software. This can double the amount of data about the local PC and video card. just the Ethernet+. Sometimes a PCMCIA card which doesn’t ing suppliers to state in writing that the either OS/2 Warp or Windows NT to data each SunDisk can store. The cost The SMC adaptor requires a 16Kb RAM 10BaseT and 10Base2 Ethernet con- work with one vendor’s software will work PCMCIA product they’re selling you will resolve the PCMCIA dilemma. of a FlashDisk may be justified by its address for a dual-ported memory buffer nections are supported via separate perfectly with that of another. work in your chosen configuration. Don’t Windows 95, of course, is going to robustness and by the value of the data which delivers better throughput than an cables. Properly set up, the card is fast The problem might even be the PC waste your time attempting to get it all solve everyone’s problems and no doubt you plan to store on the disks. I/O mapped card. and can be successfully hot-plugged. notebook. We had to upgrade one ven- going in the belief that you’re working reduce world aggression too. But it has dor’s card and socket services package with entirely compatible components only just come out and as OS/2 Warp PCW Details PCW Details PCW Details as it fell over the first time it encountered because they’re PC-standard. It’s just a and Windows NT demonstrate so well, it SunDisk ATA FlashDisk 10Mb SMC EliteCard PCMCIA Ethernet Combo PAO Ethernet+ a fast PC, a 75MHz DX4. Timing fact of life that the PC is a flaky piece of takes time for an OS to become a finely- Price £460 Price £175 Price £135 (10BaseT), £155 (10Base2) problems often occur on the woefully design and some combinations of honed object of desire. Contact Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 Contact SMC 01344 418800 Contact Portable Add-ons 01483 440777

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IBM/DIP IR Wireless Card SCM SwapBox Floppy Combo IBM WaveRunner ISDN NogaVision Digital Video nfra-red LAN adaptors manufactured by ou probably need a SwapBox if you Digital/Analogue Modem Model NV-256 IIBM and sold by DIP are PCMCIA Type Ydon’t have any spare storage bays in aveRunner is a PCMCIA Type II ogaTech’s digital video card is a II cards which can be used to establish your PC and you must have a PCMCIA Wcard with multiple communications NPCMCIA Type II card supporting wireless LANs. They employ diffused socket. The SwapBox is a single unit the modes. It is an ISDN interface, an ISDN video capture, frame grabbing, and full- infra-red signals generated by a small size of a standard 3.5in floppy drive but it terminal adaptor, and even an old- motion video at up to 25fps. Live video, infra-red transceiver attached to the end houses a Type III PCMCIA card slot plus fashioned 28.8K analogue modem with including stereo sound, can be displayed of a short cable. an ultra-slim 3.5in floppy diskette drive. V42 compression. IBM was still getting on screen and captured to file in Video With diffused infra-red there’s no need There are several SwapBox models, all the software together when we started for Windows AVI format. to have the networked devices in line of with up to four PCMCIA sockets per using it and it could only be used from The system supports PAL and NTSC sight but the system works better when it installation, in units which support two Windows and DOS, but the OS/2 standards and composite and S-Video can bounce the signal off the ceiling. Low rear-mounted sockets in the adaptor software should be ready by now. Two inputs. You can connect VCRs, ceilings are best if you want to backplates. However, the Floppy Combo separate line connectors are supplied for camcorders, TV or even laserdisk players communicate over a reasonable version restricts you to one PCMCIA ISDN and analogue modem access and to the card. However, to get the best dis- SCM SwapBox Floppy Combo distance, say 30 feet, so you might have socket. the software won’t initialise unless you plays you need a notebook with a colour to cosy up if you work in a high-ceilinged The adaptor is a 16-bit ISA card which are connected to the WaveRunner. You TFT active matrix LCD and good, reliable IBM WaveRunner ISDN Victorian building. requires minimal configuration. A pair of have to start a driver for each mode but 256-colour drivers as a minimum. Digital/Analogue Modem The card is supplied with software cables connects the adaptor to the you can do this in Windows without When tried on a second-tier notebook supporting most ODI or NDIS networks SwapBox unit mounted in its bay. A having to restart. SDN support is very with a passive matrix dual-scan colour for both server and client and it can be speaker is included for fax/modems. flexible, offering unrestricted basic rate LCD the video worked but the picture set up to bridge an infra-red system to a SCM supplies Award CardWare 2.0 (64Kb/sec) over one (64Kb/sec) or two was indistinct and the colours muddy. wired NetWare LAN. ISA and MCA infra- software for PCMCIA card and socket (128Kb/sec) B-channels as well as V.120 Make sure your notebook model is sup- red adaptors are also available. Setting services. rate adaption with or without V.42 com- ported; if it is, the kit installs without fuss up a small two-station Windows for Work- pression over one or both B-channels. and works well. groups LAN proved to be easy. PCW Details PCW Details PCW Details PCW Details NogaVision Digital Video Model NV-256 IBM IR Wireless Card SCM SwapBox Floppy Combo IBM WaveRunner Price £385 Price £299 Price £175 Price £541 Contact Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 Contact DIP Systems 01483 202070 Contact International MicroTech Contact IBM 0181 818 4454 01793 784480

Grey Cell Ethernet II Gold — New Media Multimedia Combo SecureData/PCMCIA Chase CARDport ISA Combo Type II PCMCIA card, the New anoteq’s Type II card uses the PCMCIA card drive for desktop rey Cell’s PCMCIA Type II Ethernet A Media Corporation’s Multimedia NCares encryption system to encrypt A PCs, the Chase CARDport Gadaptor supports twisted pair Combo combines a 16-bit stereo sound and protect data, on a notebook hard comprises a half-length 16-bit ISA (10BAse-T) and BNC (10Base-2) cabling adaptor and a SCSI-2 interface. disk, from unauthorised access. The adaptor, with a Type III PCMCIA socket SecureData/PCMCIA through a single Combo connector For notebooks without sound and PCMCIA card is part of a family of similar in the adaptor backplate, and a Grey Cell Ethernet II Gold — attached to the PCMCIA card itself. SCSI it is an excellent mix. The only fly in security adaptor products. front-mounting reader with another Type Combo Grey Cell has taken up the fixed the ointment is the rather cumbersome The card tested had early revision III slot which needs to go into a 3.5in connector as it is less fragile than the cable which carries the SCSI wiring and software which has some limitations in drive bay. usual “rat’s tail” cable adaptor for the audio connector module with head- respect of the flexibility of its security It’s less flexible than the Cardwell card PCMCIA network cards, which often phone, microphone, line in, and CD- options. The earlier version of the reader from Datrontech because you breaks at the point of attachment to the Audio jacks; it’s a hefty load for the truly software will only encrypt at the partition would have to add two Cardports to a card. mobile notebook user to tote around. level but there is new software on the system to get four PCMCIA sockets. On However, if placed in the lower The package comes with plenty of way, including a Windows utility, which the other hand, the CARDport expansion PCMCIA slot of a pair the adaptor blocks software including SystemSoft card and will allow partitions, directories and files adaptor is much smaller than the access to the upper socket. And it is not socket services, Microsoft Sound System to be protected. Cardwell and therefore more useful on a immune to accidental breakage: a little and Corel SCSI. Configuration is easy: The software also allows floppy disks cramped desktop. pressure on the adaptor exerts an enor- the card’s enabler driver simply and serial and parallel ports to be Like the other card readers the mous force on the point of interfaces with card and socket services secured against unauthorised access. A CARDport needs one I/O port address. connection to the PCMCIA card. as a client driver. Both sides of the single card can be used by several users Otherwise, apart from the remote The Grey Cell card is supplied with a combo will work side by side and the each securing their own files, directories possibility of an I/O conflict, installation is good range of drivers for DOS, Windows, sound system is compatible with Adlib or partitions on the same machine or on a simple case of fitting the hardware and OS/2, and Unix. FM audio as well as supporting the separate systems. It’s dead easy to set running the software install utility. Windows Sound System. up, easy to use, and very effective against access. PCW Details PCW Details PCW Details PCW Details SecureData/PCMCIA Chase CARDport ISA Ethernet II Gold — Combo New Media Multimedia Combo Price £199 Price £165 Price £169 Price £479 Contact SecureTeq 01376 500614. Contact Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 Chase CARDport ISA New Media Multimedia Combo Contact Grey Cell 0181 902 8998 Contact Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 Fax 01621 893599

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Chase CARDport ISA Cardwell PCMCIA SCSI-2 Card Mitsubishi Melcard SRAM 1Mb Elonex PC-500R/I SystemSoft CardWizard Pro he Cardwell SCSI adaptor is a Type he Mitsubishi Melcard PCMCIA Type esktop PCs with PCMCIA sockets, ardWizard Pro is the latest wheeze TII PCMCIA card with a SCSI-2 inter- TII SRAM card is mainly for handhelds Dthough not commonplace, are Cfrom a card and socket services face. The cable adaptor is available with and notebooks with no floppy disk drive. available from HP, IBM, Apricot, Escom provider. Basically a Windows front end a choice of Centronics or high-density Like FlashDisks, SRAM cards are and Elonex. for the configuration of the DOS-based SCSI connectors. solid-state with no moving parts. They’re The Elonex PC-500R/I is a compact PCMCIA software, CardWizard will prob- DOS and Windows support software faster and far more robust than PCMCIA desktop with two PCMCIA sockets, room ably end up bundled with most PCMCIA- including a Windows configuration utility hard disks. Like floppy diskettes, the Mit- for a CD-ROM drive, three internal PCI enabled notebooks because SystemSoft is included in the package . Support for subishi card has a write-protect switch. expansion slots, an NCR SCSI-2 has a big following among PCMCIA Elonex PC-500R/I Windows 95 and OS/2 Warp is RAM is particularly aimed at systems interface and a 100MHz Pentium CPU. OEMs in the US. promised. The supplied software also where low power consumption is vital; it Along with a Toshiba T2400CT, the Rival PCMCIA suppliers, such as includes an ASPI enabler which has a much lower power requirement Elonex was a test-bed for the PCMCIA Award and Phoenix, have also recently interfaces with the PCMCIA client driver than a Type III rotating hard disk and, cards. The card readers were installed in upgraded their card and socket services and ASPI drivers for SCSI CD-ROM, until 3.3V devices and notebooks turn up, a Compaq Deskpro. The Elonex runs software in an effort to make Mitsubishi Melcard SRAM 1Mb hard disk, optical, and removable drives. a much lower power drain than Flash Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 3.51, configuration of multiple cards easier by The card was very easy to set up and EEPROM disks which run 5V and IBM OS/2 Warp, and Microsoft Windows providing a Windows interface. Award’s put to work. The ASPI enabler only consume 12V while being written to. 95 (June Test Release), all of which CardWare is very easy to use but needs 5Kb of memory but as there isn’t a Mitsubishi has 20Mb FlashDisks but its support the PCMCIA 2.0 specification. SystemSoft’s CardWizard goes further in direct enabler it has to be loaded on top 4Mb SRAM card is the largest SRAM The CD-ROM and PCMCIA sockets the amount of information it provides and of card and socket services, which needs available. are housed on the right-hand side of the how it makes that information available to a lot more memory. The CardWell’s SRAM cards require a battery to system box with the CD-ROM at the savvy users who want to fine-tune the CardMaster utility installs the SystemSoft maintain the memory. It’s recommended front. This arrangement is awkward detail. While easier configuration is a card and socket services software and that the battery be changed annually. unless you have at least a foot of free priority for PCMCIA devices, the amount basic ASPI services. Corel SCSI You’ll need the miniature screwdriver space on that side. Apart from that this is of memory the card and socket services software, which is more fully-featured, is supplied and a battery from the jeweller’s, a conveniently small desktop with drivers require under DOS/Windows is as offered as an optional extra. costing a few pounds. expansion catered for via PCMCIA. important. Let’s hope that gets fixed next.

PCW Details PCW Details PCW Details PCW Details

Cardwell PCMCIA SCSI-2 Melcard SRAM 1Mb Elonex PC-500R/I SystemSoft CardWizard Pro Price £149 Price £139 Price £1,935 (100MHz Pentium, 16Mb RAM, Price £69 Contact Datrontech 01252 303500 Contact Mitsubishi 01707 278899 SCSI CD-ROM, PCMCIA, 15in SVGA) Contact Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 Contact Elonex 0181 452 4444 ESystemSoft CardWizard Pro Maxtor MobileMax 131Mb Cardwell CardBay-AT Card Drive obileMax hard disks are PCMCIA he Cardwell CardBay-AT is a PCM- MType III devices. Maxtor hasn’t yet TCIA card drive containing two released its 262Mb drive and has put PCMCIA sockets in a 3.5in form factor Type III developments on hold. We housing. A 3.5in fitting kit is supplied; but looked at a 131Mb drive. It’s a standard for 5.25in bays you’ll need a TABLE OF FEATURES PCMCIA CARDS ATA interface requiring the card and manufacturer’s mounting kit. The drive is socket services and the PCMCIA ATA easily mounted in a storage bay with driver. With compression software (not front access and cabled to a Cardwell supplied) you can increase the usable expansion card which requires one free Product Description Manufacturer Type Price Supplied by Phone Fax disk space; it’s usually OK to compress 16-bit expansion slot. Callunacard 130Mb Hard disk Calluna III £269 Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 01483 452304 these drives provided you have a good Some Cardwell adaptors, but not the GameCard II Joystick adaptor JC Designs II £43 JC Designs 01371 874478 01371 874300 backup system. one in the review kit, host a single Flashdisk 10Mb ATA FlashDisk SunDisk II £460 Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 01483 452304 Maxtor MobileMax Maxtor is holding back on Type III PCMCIA socket which is accessed via EliteCard PCMCIA Combo Ethernet adaptor SMC II £175 SMC 01344 418800 01344 418814 131Mb drives because it believes that Type II the backplate on the rear of the PC. Up to DataPak 260 Hard disk Kingston III £399 Datrontech 01252 303500 01252 303444 with single platters is the way forward. four PCMCIA slots can be added to a Ethernet + Ethernet adaptor New Media I £135 Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 01483 452304 Maxtor now has Type II PCMCIA desktop if a Cardwell daughterboard IR Wireless card Infra-red LAN adaptor IBM II £299 DIP Systems 01483 202070 01483 202023 single-platter hard drives at 85Mb and containing one PCMCIA socket is added Ethernet II Gold — Combo Ethernet adaptor Grey Cell II £169 Grey Cell 0181 902 8998 0181 903 4318 121Mb capacities which can run on 3.3V in an expansion slot adjacent to the SwapBox Floppy Combo Floppy Disk/PCMCIA drive SCM I, II, III £175 International MicroTech 01793 784480 01793 784470 power supplies. Future notebook design primary Cardwell adaptor. Multimedia Combo Sound/ SCSI-2 card New Media II £479 Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 01483 452304 is unlikely to favour increasing use of the The Cardwell PCMCIA drive also has SecureData/PCMCIA Security card NanoTeq II £199 SecureTeq 01376 500614 01621 893599 relatively large Type III cards. Also, one a speaker for fax/modem card support. WaveRunner ISDN Digital/Analogue modem IBM II £541 IBM 0181 818 4454 0181 818 5494 cannot insert another PCMCIA card into The software is installed via Cardwell’s Nogavision NV-256 Digital video Nogatech II £385 Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 01483 452304 the second socket of a dual-socket while CardMaster installer but appears to be CARDport ISA PCMCIA card drive Chase I, II, III £165 Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 01483 452304 a Type III hard drive is inserted. CardSoft software from SystemSoft. MobileMax 131Mb Hard disk Maxtor III £160 Maxtor 01483 747356 01483 751208 CardBay-AT PCMCIA card drive CardWell I, II, III £99 Datrontech 01252 303500 01252 303444 PCW Details PCW Details PCMCIA SCSI SCSI-2 adaptor CardWell II £149 Datrontech 01252 303500 01252 303444 MobileMax 131Mb Cardwell CardBay-AT PC-5100R/I PCMCIA-enabled desktop Elonex I, II, III £1,935 Elonex 0181 452 4444 0181 452 6422 Price £160 Price £99 Melcard SRAM 1Mb Battery-backed SRAM card Mitsubishi I £139 Mitsubishi 01707 278899 01707 278837 Contact Maxtor 01483 747356 Contact Datrontech 01252 303500 CardWizard Pro Card and socket services SystemSoft N/A £69 Portable Add-ons 01483 440777 01483 452304 Cardwell CardBay-AT Card Drive

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Conclusion

Picking an outright winner from such a easily. We were also impressed by the disparate range of items is impossible but SecureTeq security card; as notebook the group does include a number of storage is so vulnerable to thieves it’s interesting products. almost a necessity. First in line are the hard disks from Lastly, we picked out two excellent Maxtor, Datapak and Calluna. These just items manufactured by IBM: first the IBM work and although expensive compared to WaveRunner digital/analogue modem, desktop megabytes they do exactly what and second, DIP’s Wireless LAN they set out to. It is possible that PCMCIA adaptor. The WaveRunner bridges the removable media drives (just about to existing analogue dial-up world and digi- appear from SyQuest and others) will offer a tal ISDN, while the infra-red wireless better price-per-megabyte for infinite LAN adaptor cuts out amounts of storage, but in the meantime, the problem of deal- provided you treat them carefully, PCMCIA ing with cables hard drives are a great way to revive an when you need to under-resourced notebook. roam around. Of the network cards, we liked the SMC card best because it is so widely supported and easy to use. And among the card readers, the SMC Floppy SwapBox stood out because, like PCMCIA hard disks, it provides expansion for compact desktops, avoiding the necessity to buy a new PC. Not well known in the UK, SMC is big in Germany and has been involved in PCMCIA since the start. The NogaVision Digital Video card is another good piece of equipment. Unlike a number of oddball PCMCIA cards we tried, this one installs and works quickly and

PCMCIA standards

The road to PCMCIA started in 1985 Finally, PCMCIA cards had a standard which can control the I/O bus independent of when the Japanese Electronic Industry definition for physical, electrical, and the CPU. This will enable high performance Development Association (JEIDA) set its software requirements, but the rest of the PC PCMCIA cards to use DMA (direct memory first standard for 68-pin memory cards in world had moved on. PCMCIA cards are 16- access) transfers to speed throughput on 1985. bit and the bus width is moving to 32-bit via I/O-sensitive tasks such as networking, The Personal Computer Memory Card PCI (peripheral component interconnect). sound and video. International Association (PCMCIA) was PCs are also moving to 3.3V operation while PC Card 3.0 also specifies a standard formed in 1989 and in September 1990 most PCMCIA cards run at 5V and method for multi-function cards sharing a had arrived at the PCMCIA 1.0 standard. occasionally 12V. And PCMCIA card socket and tightens up the software PCMCIA 1.0 imposed some order on mem- manufacturers still manage to come up with interfaces so that the problem of plug-and- ory cards, but PCMCIA members started fairly loose adherences to the card informa- play cards which won’t configure properly coming up with non-memory applications tion structure (CIS); a data set embedded in should disappear in time. for cards. In 1991, PCMCIA standard 2.0 the card to inform the card and socket ser- Most of the benefits of PC Card 3.0 won’t laid down specifications for the large vices software of the card’s capabilities. appear for some time yet, however. The variety of PCMCIA cards we have today. The most recent PCMCIA standard as PCI-PCMCIA interconnect status will proba- One set of PCMCIA standards defines finally set in March 1995 (PC Card 3.0) is bly require adjustments to the PCI/PCMCIA three sizes: Type I at 3.3mm, Type II at supposed to deal with many of the remaining bridge chips. The software to support card 5mm, and Type III at 10.5mm. problem areas. At the same time the and socket services for PC Card 3.0 has yet PCMCIA 2.0 is a fairly loose standard PCMCIA took the opportunity to change the to be written. Operating systems need to be as anyone will attest to who has used more name to PC Card because most People provisioned with the revised PCMCIA stan- than one card or has had to configure them Can’t Memorize Computer Industry dard. And there are as yet few PC systems manually. A point update in July 1993 to Acronyms (such as PCMCIA). capable of supplying 3.3V to PCMCIA sock- the PCMCIA specification brought it up to PC Card Standard 3.0 introduces a high- ets and few cards that will run on 3.3V now. PCMCIA 2.1 with the addition of more performance 32-bit bus which can operate at The transition to PC Card 3.0 will take clearly defined interfaces between the user either 5V or 3.3V. Called CardBus, it adds to some time and it’s likely that the current application and the PCMCIA hardware via the 16-bit bus rather than replacing it. Card- muddled situation will get worse before it socket services and card services. Bus will support busmaster PCMCIA cards gets better; probably in mid- to late-1996.

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motor racing team is just that; a team. No …for Adams Technology, helping the Williams one person makes it but a poor link in the chain can break it. Everything must rep- Renault team to maintain the revs in its motor- resent the best possible solution to a problem, from the aerodynamics to the racing success. Simon Rockman outlines the engine,A suspension, braking, electrics and, of course, the electronics. The Williams racing team benefits of computerised data, and the link has expertise in all these areas but in others it looks to outside suppliers, a case in point being Adams between the team and its PC supplier. Technology, the Manchester-based PC supplier.

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Despite being based hundreds of miles (the setup of the suspension), and battery difference in lap time from Williams’ Didcot HQ, Adams man- voltage. Depression of the four dampers, — ultimately ages to work closely with Williams. acceleration, roll, gear and a number of perhaps, the differ- Williams recently branched out to run other criteria are also monitored from lap ence at the end of the Renault Laguna team in the British to lap. Statistics can be given for any the race between Touring Car Championship (the BTCC). point on any lap — a map of the circuit getting to soak No team can expect to win straight away, shows at which points the stats change. other people in and Williams has always said that it If one driver is faster than the other champagne or would be mid-season before its drivers through a particular complex, they can being soaked Alan Menu and Will Hoy could expect to compare what is going on and modify yourself. be regular visitors to the podium. Com- their driving to copy the quicker route. Adams puter systems play a vital role here and By monitoring the performance of all Technology while other teams use off-the-shelf these parts of the car, the engineers can has found it solutions, Williams uses hardware and look for those extra improvements which an interesting software developed in-house by the could make the fractions of a second challenge to build systems for Formula One (F1) team. In most respects the F1 and BTCC The BTTC car teams are run separately but Frank Being able to monitor the performance of Williams and technical director, Patrick ormula One racing cars are built from wheel. But regulations stipulate that the car important parts of the car affects the Head, both take an active interest and F the ground-up. BTCC (British Touring be fully functioning, so even the indicators split-second difference between a winner will soon see some of the work that Car Championship) cars are ostensibly the work — although indicating your intentions in and a runner-up Adams has done for Williams, filter into same as those available in your local car BTCC is about as likely as Van Halen doing the F1 team. They both attend the BTCC Above It is a challenge for Adams to sales showroom, except that they’re tuned an unplugged album. The extended dash- such a specialist customer and sees it, races whenever possible but if there is a build systems for a specialist up a bit before being let out on the track. board is made of carbon fibre. A row of lights additionally, as a way to hone its own Grand Prix taking place over the same customer The Renault Laguna production line in along the top of the dash provide other organisational skills: Williams works with weekend it’s Damon (Hill) and David Left Computer data helps racing team France is stopped while a special run of indications (including a speed of 80mph scrupulous efficiency, so meeting the (Coulthard) who get the attention rather mates to modify their driving bodyshells is made for the Williams team. which is the limit when driving in the pits). demands of such an exacting customer than Alan and Will. These are then stored at Didcot (and hope- The inside of the Laguna is blue painted has been good for everyone within The engineers fill the car with sensors fully not needed) — the team takes three metal and what distinguishes it from lesser Adams. and monitor such things as damping, The Datamill Windows software cars to the track and only builds up extras if racing cars is how neat everything is: all the There is also the opportunity to explore wheel travel, acceleration and g-forces. written by the Formula One team gives the rough and tumble of BTCC takes its toll. internal cables are neatly routed and there is new technologies. Motor racing is often a The engineers look at how the car a detailed breakdown of the informa- If a new body is needed it is sent back to a television camera on the roll cage. BTCC game of numbers and getting the teleme- behaves over different parts of the track tion gathered by the system. There are France to be seam welded and a races are not shown live but try information distributed around the pits and then tweak the performance. The 160 pins on the bus which can be roll cage built in (massive are taped using an helps everyone to learn what’s going on. rules prohibit the teams from using a attached to any kind of sensor but the steel pipes which buttress 8mm video recorder in At present data is carried from the pits to radio link for the data, so all the informa- software is set up to monitor speed the insides of the every car and the Frank Williams in the motor home, using tion is collected by a Williams-designed and distance, brake pressure and bias car). The cages are footage “sneakernet” (a runner in specially- and built device called the VCM (Vehicle far more substantial amalgamated branded Williams training shoes) on Control Module) which saves the data to than most racing car before broadcast. floppy but Marcus Adams is keen to a flash memory card. In the pits, this is roll cages, and The major experiment with WaveLan to provide a whipped out of the car and slotted into given the frequency change in BTCC 2Mbit link between the network in the pits one of the Adams Technology 486 with which since last year is the and the PC in the motorhome. All these machines in the pit garage. These have BTCC cars col- introduction of aerody- developments won’t directly make for a been installed in a unit called the lide with each namic aids. Touring cars now have a very race win, but then motor races are won Whirlitzer — a cabinet which springs up, other it’s a sensible precaution. At the end low spoiler on the front and a wing at the and lost by fractions of one percent and with the monitors and both machines in of the season the surviving cars are back, helping to make them faster through only by having the very best equipment one unit. There is a special slot on the scrapped, although one or two might be the bends. But because this makes them can you be sure that nothing will go front for the flash card. The design cur- in the German DTM: a no- used as mules for developing the following look less like road cars the move has proved wrong. rently uses a 64Kb card in a Fujitsu pro- holds barred equivalent of the season’s cars. unpopular with some fans who consider that A more immediate benefit for Adams prietary slot. There are plans to change BTCC where the cars are Inside, the car bears very little resem- the cars should look right, even if they are Technology is that the latest this to PCMCIA, although given the small substantially changed from blance to a standard Laguna. Apart from quite unlike the real thing in actual construc- advertisements from Renault show the amount of data means that this is not a the road-going versions. In the “climbing frame” decor there is nothing tion. The wings are all made of carbon fibre. race-winning Laguna with the Adams fig pressing need and the current system this application the VCM con- which isn’t needed. All the seats, padding They are expensive, and built to be light leaf to the fore. As the season has has proved reliable. But moving to PCM- trols the active suspension and panels have gone, the carpets, seat which makes them fragile and the front spoil- progressed, so the Lagunas have moved CIA will also allow a switch to notebook — a technology which has runners and anything which smacks of ers rarely last long. Limits to the overall up the rankings. Will Hoy started off badly PCs. been banned from BTCC creature comforts hasn’t just been dimensions and the advantages of adding a but is now finding his form, and Alan The same VCM is used in other forms and F1 partly on the basis removed; it was never there in the first wing have meant that the Volvo team has Menu is climbing up the points table. Next of motorsport. Williams uses it in Formula of cost. Whatever the data place. The single bucket seat is fixed, a had to switch from the estate version, which year will see the first car designed by One where wireless telemetry is allowed gathering mechanism, the couple of feet back from the standard proved reasonably competent, to the saloon Williams from the stage of initial develop- and this is what produces the statistics important information is fed position to give better weight distribution. cars of this year. ment work, through to the track — Adams you see on TV on a Sunday evening. into the computers in the Since no driver has arms two feet longer The whole lot is designed to be pulled apart is planned to be a more active part of that Keke Rosburg’s Opel team has bought pits in the shortest possi- than usual, the dashboard has a pod which quickly, not just for race-repair but because the project and the result should be heavier the Williams computer equipment for use ble time. extends the vital controls and the steering racing cars are mobile test-beds, too. computerisation of the pits lane. PCW

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The global shopping trip

World Wide Web offers the potential to turn our so- called nation of shopkeepers into international mail he Internet seems to hold many order traders. Fact or fantasy? Wendy M Grossman Tplatinum promises: not least of these is the vision that small companies takes a look at British and US online businesses will be able to find a worldwide market via this relatively new and inexpensive already up and running. medium. Just as desktop publishing turned, potentially, every laser printer owner into soon as CompuServe is moving to open but a lot of companies are just at the a small press the World Wide Web (in them up on the Web, giving those mer- break-even point.” theory) could turn every back room chants broader net accessibility than Like many involved in net commerce, business into an international mail-order they have now. It’s already facing Web- Arnold compares the costs and returns outfit at low cost — but not yet. It’s a com- based competition from Barclaycard’s with the many forms of advertising rather pelling fantasy for both vendors and con- “BarclaySquare” as well as the than to sales outlets: “We don’t have sumers. Particularly to an expatriate, like somewhat differently orientated “Britnet”. companies saying we’ll pull money out of, myself, the notion of being able to sit at a No one will release sales figures and and back way off, traditional advertising desk in London and have instant access CompuServe’s Keith Arnold, who runs and plough into online because the return to the familiar goods of home is a power- the US Electronic Mall, is no exception. is equal or greater. But we do see a lot of ful one. His assessment of the market is candidly companies saying that consumers are Moreover, anyone who’s fed up with mixed: “For all the hype that it gets, it’s changing — they’re not passive like they having 26 places in which to buy copies not exactly a medium that has many used to be. They want more control over of Pulp Fiction and Home Alone, yet huge success stories. I’m not saying their money and their destiny.” So many nowhere to find the much-loved and deli- people aren’t making money, but this is companies answer these perceived cate seventies cult film King of Hearts, or the wild, wild west. Although we’ve been changes by “driving into every possible who lives in a small rural town with no doing it longer than anyone else, it’s still channel.” good bookshop and a tiny grocery store in its infancy.” So: “A lot of companies Both CompuServe and Barclaycard’s that’s never heard of Gouda cheese, will make a nice profit on their online sales, BarclaySquare, launched at the end of welcome the idea of being able last May, aim at bigger to use the Internet to gain companies with nationally known access to a world of wider names. So CompuServe’s UK choices. But again; not yet. But shopping mall houses: WH like they always say, it’s com- Smith, Virgin, and Tesco (wine). ing Real Soon Now. BarclaySquare invites you into: People who are interested in Argos, Blackwell’s, Toys ‘R’ Us, becoming net.vendors have, Sainsburys and Innovations. essentially, two choices: to go it “We do strongly communicate alone, or join one of the that the Internet is not secure,” electronic shopping malls that says Sebastian LaPorta, the are beginning to pop up across commercial manager for Barclay- the net. CompuServe’s internal card’s Emerging Markets Unit, US Electronic Mall is probably adding that besides the Netscape the oldest online shopping ser- secure server technology vice: it’s been going for more Barclaycard has its own back- than ten years. The UK Shopping Mall, BarclaySquare has gone for big office security that authenticates however, only started up in May 1995. names like Sainsbury’s and Argos transactions and validates Both services are due to change fairly

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customer addresses and post codes. believes the opportunities This is something that many telephone are best for companies with ordering outfits don’t do, points out an existing mail-order infra- LaPorta. structure, although he CompuServe can claim a similar level admits it wouldn’t be that of security: it uses its own proprietary net- difficult to set up fulfilment work, so as long as you access arrangements for small CompuServe by direct dial-up, your businesses. transaction should be completely secure. The one exception to this Web users visiting the CompuServe site delivery problem is, of from outside, though, face the same course, publishing. The problems as any Web users. Economist magazine’s new Selling via both CompuServe and Bar- specialist electronic IT claySquare is priced to exclude small publication, d-Comm, says it businesses. Barclaycard, which believes Electronic publishing ventures like has a very low break-even its name will give online customers a feel- d-Comm avoid delivery problems point because electronic ing of security about the businesses with publication has done away which they’re dealing, didn’t charge the with the expenses of first raft of vendors rent, since the value note taped to his computer reminding him production and distribution. Higginson and demand were unknown. In mid-July, to “download this file every day and take it says he’s getting 15 to 20 calls a day it was still finalising its price structure for to Jane.” from companies who want to join the site. its full roll-out in 1996: roughly, says Britnet, a new service backed by the “Some of these people will be LaPorta, companies will have to pay to five-year-old Online Entertainment, aimed disappointed,” he says, “certainly the develop the site and there will also be specially at small British businesses, smaller ones,” with all the hype, “it’s varying rental levels, depending on posi- quotes much lower costs: as little as almost panic.” But for a small company, tion and prominence on the service. £5,000 to develop the site and do some “It’s painful if they set up and get no BarclaySquare doesn’t expect to impose marketing for it, plus a percentage that response for six months.” transaction charges. varies from five to 15 percent. The ven- Nonetheless, at least a few people are By contrast, CompuServe quotes US dors on its site so far provide travel insur- beginning to take advantage of the reach rates of $50,000 plus two percent of ance (you can fill out a form, get a quote of the Internet to start small online busi- online sales for joining its roster of and even a cover note online), London nesses. One example is Giftnet, a sort of merchants. This includes developing the theatre tickets and information on mort- brokerage service that rents space on site for a couple of hundred products, gages. “We’re slowly trying to bring some Demon’s web server and offers an online promotions, features in structure to British Internet trading,” says unusual collection of gifts, including CompuServe’s in-house magazine and Graham Higginson, Britnet’s managing helium balloons with your choice of so on. This may seem disappointing, but director. The company expects to have greeting, coffee, fruit cake, tequila, and Arnold and his UK counterpart, Paul 25 to 30 participants at its site by autumn cacti. The site’s owner, Denise Spreag, Stanfield, both say that the US this year, having installed a secure server says she’s set it up as an experiment to experience shows that the smaller last July. see what the hype was about and merchants simply don’t have the Concurrently, it’s undertaking a market whether it would work. She spent several available resources to devote to building research programme run by CMT, the months going to gift and trade fairs and up the online presence, in the way that’s company that carries out the national sampling merchandise. “Waddling home” needed, for the venture to be a success. shopper survey, to find out who really afterwards, she approached a few small Being a big name helps, he says, does visit the site so that it can provide its traders with what she believed were inter- pointing to the almost immediate success participants with detailed information. Like esting items and proposed the venture. of the US (and now UK) clothing direct his counterparts at Barclaycard and Com- Orders are taken by email or fax with no seller Land’s End. But it’s not enough by puServe, Higginson likens online market- credit card information. She then calls itself: “Slapping static Web pages up on a ing to a new form of advertising and back to confirm and arrange payment. server is not going to make you a true The traders then send the goods and interactive marketer. You have to under- pass on a small commission. stand the medium and know how to Spreag has managed to keep this to a create a site that’s engaging and all those low-cost venture. Space on Demon is things, and put the resources behind it inexpensive. The Web pages, which have and have people who really know it. been deliberately kept simple and text- There are so many projects where the only, were written by a friend, Simon vice-president and president of marketing Sherlock, who works in computing and are really excited, and then within 12 saw the experience as an opportunity to months you have a college intern running learn HTML. It’s low-cost for the retailers, the whole interactive show between mak- too, because it’s so experimental and ing coffee and photocopies.” There has to Computer Manuals takes orders by Spreag isn’t charging them rent. She has be one person who really “lives the busi- Internet but confirms by phone skipped some frills: for instance, the page ness”, rather than someone who has a has no graphics (for speed reasons) and

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Netscape 1.1 the product line is small enough that everything fits onto a single page. One of the reasons that we’re seeing a spurt the International Traffic in Arms Regulations Somewhat more expensively, but still in the growth of commercial services on the and the international character of the Internet, low-cost, is the approach taken by net is the release of the latest version of there are limits on the strength of encryption Birmingham-based Computer Manuals, Netscape’s World-Wide Web browser and that can be used. A US-only version of both one of the major retail and wholesale server software, which incorporates security the server and browser using 128-bit keys is suppliers of computer books. Like Giftnet, in the form of a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). planned. Computer Manuals’ Web server takes Netscape claims that this provides data Secure servers — which Netscape refers orders but confirms later by telephone encryption, server authentication, message to as HTTPS (for HTTP plus SSL) — use a and then takes details of payment. When integrity, and optional client authentication different protocol from insecure servers, and you’ve ordered once, you’re assigned a between applications like FTP, Telnet, and typically use different ports, too (443 instead customer number which you can quote Web software. The specification, developed of 80, for the technically minded). The upshot on email or form-based Web orders. The by Netscape, is available on the company’s is that a single server system can support company also accepts PGP-encrypted Web server both types of access. This is useful if, for orders, but says these are rare. (http://home.mcom.com/home.html) along instance, you want to allow any passing Nick Challoner, who handles online with relevant technical and reference material. browser to examine the shop window and sales for Computer Manuals, advises For the online shopper, it’s easy to tell if take a look at your product offerings, switch- those interested in setting up their own you’re interacting with a secure site or not: if ing to the secure server for ordering and pay- online sales presence to shop around for you are, the bars at the top and bottom of ment purposes. At the same time, the space, checking not only prices but the your screen turn to blue (or whatever colour difference in the protocols means that people speed of the provider’s own connection to you set in your configuration options). As using insecure browsers won’t be able to the Internet. Smaller providers, who resell Netscape’s information warns, this doesn’t transmit their public information over the net- larger companies’ services, often have mean you can believe what’s in the work: the connection will be refused from the relatively small bandwidth available which document, just that it was transmitted to you outset. has to be shared with all of the using encryption. A key icon at the bottom left Security on the net is still in development. company’s users — at popular times of corner of the document also shows whether There are other proposed protocols, and the day, this can slow your service to a the current document is secure: if the key is these are being studied by the W3C working crawl. Net users react like London drivers broken, it’s not. More importantly, Netscape group on security. More information on all who have just spotted an opening in will tell you if you’re about to submit a form, these topics is available via Netscape’s home traffic: they click, and then zoom possibly bearing credit card and other person- page. elsewhere. Even BarclaySquare experi- al information, insecurely. Both vendors and customers should be enced this as it went online with what You can get more information about the aware however, that security of data in LaPorta admits was too small a pipe to its encryption used, and the remote server, from transmission is only one part of a security site (managed by Jersey-based the dialogue box that comes up if you choose system: protecting your Web server won’t be Interactive Telephony), so last July the Document information from the File menu. enough if, at the same time, your accounting company upgraded to a two-megabit pipe From the vendor end, the HTTP server nego- system automatically spits out a statement to to improve the speed of service. tiates the connection with the browser, and go with each consignment that lists all the Every business is different, but based thereafter all information in both directions is credit card and personal information and then on his experience Challoner estimates encrypted in transmission — not just credit sends it to the delivery address instead of the 100 hours for developing a medium sized card details submitted via forms, but access billing address. No less a company than W.H. site from scratch. Most Web consultants authorisation information (user IDs and pass- Smith, in its first days on CompuServe’s UK charge approximately £500 a day, but as words), and even URL requests and the data Shopping Mall, sent out credit card slips he says, HTML is not difficult to learn and transmitted in response. The encryption used wrapped with books that had been ordered — at those rates there’s a lot of money to be is RC4 using a 40-bit key — as usual, due to as gifts to third parties. saved by doing the basics in-house. Computer Manuals’ site incorporates a search engine — a piece of freeware thinks it would start slowly enough so that tles down and is proven to offer the security sourced from the University of Edinburgh. a business could keep pace as the num- that’s been promised. That’s the key that will Installing that, and making it work, is bers grew. But smaller companies are still turn the Internet from a new kind of advertis- more complex than simple HTML format- at a disadvantage. The $2,000 to $3,000 ing medium into a genuine marketplace. ting: the sort of thing for which you could cost of Netscape’s secure server software Resources hire someone for a couple of days, to is a big investment for a small company carry out if you didn’t have the necessary — particularly for a medium which is still • BarclaySquare programming experience in-house. unproven. The smallest companies, like http://www.it.net/barclaysquare >Britnet: Challoner disagrees with the idea that Spreag’s Giftnet, have to hope that ser- http://www.britnet.co.uk only large companies, or those with an vice providers renting space will choose • CompuServe existing mail-order infrastructure, can to install secure servers, and sell secure http://www.compuserve.com succeed on the net. When you’re starting services, as part of their Web site. • Computer Manuals up, he says, “The volume is low enough, Medium-sized companies have to look at http://www.easynet.co.uk/compman.html compared with normal mail order, that if a setting up their own Web sites, which is >d-Comm: http://www.d-comm.com shop decided to sell products on the Web what Computer Manuals is planning. But it wouldn’t be inundated with orders it even then, the company will wait to install • Giftnet would be unable to fulfil.” Instead, he a secure server until the technology set- http://www.demon.co.uk/giftnet >

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GROUP TEST: INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS There are a couple of hardware con- the provider’s computer, and then send it and post or fax it back, and then have to siderations, too: gateway services tend to to your own. If you dream of an all-in-one wait for a set of disks to arrive by mail. be less demanding. For a direct IP con- package, it’s not there yet, although Web Most regular users we’ve come across, nection, get the fastest modem you can browsers like Netscape support both however, say they’re happy with the ser- afford, definitely no less than 14,400bps. FTP and Gopher. vice and that it’s reliable. To run under Windows you also need a Within these broad categories there Once you’ve filled out the application serial port with a buffer chip called a are fine differences between ISPs. Some and sent it back you’re sent an A4 guide 16550 UART in it. Most new PCs from services offer free trials — a good way to to getting online, two disks full of reputable manufacturers will already get your feet wet before making a final software, and two IDs and passwords — have one on the motherboard. Otherwise decision. Bear in mind, though, that no two, because one is for the IP service a serial board containing one is a fairly provider will do more than get you and the other is for the BBC’s own BBS, cheap upgrade. started: you will have to do some active Auntie. Like the Direct Connection and The various software clients don’t learning to get the best out of the net. some others, the BBCNC is really two need the fastest PC in the world, but it services: a login service for local confer- helps to have a reasonable processor encing, mail, and news, and an IP and amount of memory, so that Windows service. We were disappointed to see (or OS/2, Mac System 7, or whatever BBC Network- that the software supplied is another col- you’re using) itself runs smoothly. We lection of unregistered shareware; the Active service tested most of the ISPs’ supplied ing Club guide says that the BBC had expected to Active service software packages for this review on an deliver new software to its users in Febru- Which is the best way onto the Internet with the IBM Value Point Pentium P60 machine, The BBC Networking Club is part of the ary this year, at a cost of £5 to £6, along but we routinely access even the most BBC’s education unit, and its use is with a £35 offline reader for Auntie which plethora of service providers offering access? demanding part of the net, the Web, with restricted to home users and schools. It was still in beta as we went to press. Wendy M Grossman is your pathfinder, reviewing all types of software on a 486SX/25 with has the slowest procedure for opening We were very impressed, however, 8Mb RAM. an account of any of the services with the manual, which is a very good the established providers, scouting out the best By far the most common use for the reviewed here: you fill out an application guide to the software. You may have Internet is exchanging email. If that’s all newcomers and summarising the hardware and you want to do, any provider will do the ● The BBC Networking job at a reasonable cost; your primary Club is limited to home software considerations. consideration should be making sure and education, but PROVIDING THE BEST SERVICE you’ll have access to your email when its users seem happy and where you need it. with it t’s astounding just how much the lines, the Internet offers email, FTP, find on most gateway services. On top of A year ago, the second most common Internet services provider market has Telnet, IRC, and the Web. Each service that, direct IP services allow you to run use was electronic conferencing, either changed since our first round-up a requires a different piece of software, concurrent multiple sessions, so that you locally or worldwide on Usenet. Either year ago. Then, there were just known as a “client”. can browse the Web or Telnet to a way, conferencing is a way to interact seven services to review, but this There are two main types of Internet remote computer while a file transfer is in with people who share your interests and year it’s not even possible just to list access: direct or “IP” (Internet Protocol), progress. to find technical or miscellaneous help. If them all. For this guide we’ve picked and gateway. With a gateway service, However, gateway services still have this interests you, make sure you can get the established national providers, the various types of client software run a lot to offer. Unlike direct providers, an offline reader (OLR), as this is the plusI a selection of interesting on the service provider’s computer, and gateway providers typically offer a area where phone bills and usage hours newcomers. We have left out BBSs and all you need on your computer is a gen- coherent interface, online help, and local really add up. the smaller, regional services, most of eral communications package — even services such as access to the main com- By now, though, the second most which are resellers for larger providers Windows Terminal will do. With IP ser- mercial news wires (Delphi and common interest is probably the fast- already reviewed here. vices you run the client software on your CompuServe) or local conferencing (Del- growing World Wide Web. The Web is Forget the hype about the information own computer. phi, BBC Networking Club, CompuServe, pretty hopeless via a gateway, as superhighway — what you’re buying Until recently, gateway services were CIX, and Almac). CompuServe also sells typically the client software will be text- when you sign up for Internet service is a the simplest method for an inexperienced access to a wide range of information only; with a direct IP provider you can use communications tool. In most cases the user, as IP connections for direct IP ser- services at varying prices. far more attractive Windows software that Internet you gain access to is the same, vices were generally harder to configure. Because gateway services are all dif- can handle graphics, audio, and even just as you buy access to the same tele- This is less true now that most providers ferent, the trend now is for them to sell video. However, you need a high-speed phone network whether your service supply installation routines to do the software tailored to their systems that will connection to enjoy any of this. Even at comes from Mercury or BT. But a few tricky stuff for you. make navigation easier. Some such soft- top modem speeds the Web can be mad- services, notably Research Machines, Once you’ve installed the “stack” that ware, like Ameol for CIX or Apollo for deningly slow. the BBC Networking Club, and UK loads the Internet protocols onto your Delphi, automates logons so that you For most of the remaining commonly Online, specifically aim to block material computer, adding client software is spend the minimum amount of time used services — FTP, Telnet, and IRC — parents might find objectionable for their extremely easy: just unpack them into online and do the time-consuming work there’s little difference between gateway children. the directory of your choice and start of reading and writing messages offline, and direct providers, and the same is true And like the telephone network, the them up. This has definitely shifted the where there are no phone bills adding up. of Gopher servers. The exception, FTP, Internet is the conduit for a variety of ser- ease-of-use balance, since the Windows- The one disadvantage to this approach is is usually easier and more efficient via a vices. Just as the phone network offers based clients now available require you that if you subscribe to more than one direct service provider and a Windows the chance to talk to people, use fax to learn far fewer complex commands service you wind up with a different piece package; on some gateway systems machines and modems, and call up chat than the text-based Unix interface you’ll of software for each one. (CIX) you have first to retrieve the file to

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CIX is probably noticed there’s no newsreader in the All the packages are configured to log escaped the problems that have plagued Europe’s oldest service in the world. package; a sample FTP session in the directly onto the BBC’s site, especially the some other, larger, services. service. It’s nicely CompuServe’s information service can manual sends you to download WinVN — Telnet client, which takes you to Auntie’s CityScape’s package comes with a designed and busy, be accessed using either a standard the best way to learn, by doing something opening screen. This part of the service is streamlined installation routine that com- with a strong comms package, or one of useful. menu-driven; follow the numbers and let- pletely flummoxed us because we community feel CompuServe’s own navigation packages The setup procedure you follow asks ters to get to Auntie’s local conferencing. couldn’t figure out how to load our details. (CIM), or one of several OLRs. The ser- your user IDs, but not your password. It turned out that this window routinely vice provides you with mail, many Trumpet Winsock demanded this infor- BBC Networking Club opened with the OK button disappeared the facility that lets discussion and technical support forums, mation after a false start at logging on. Price Sign-up £25; £12/month off the bottom of the screen. Once you’ve users set up their and a shoal of information services Once we’d entered it, things went Contact BBC Networking Club 0181 576 7799 found that, it’s very simple, since all you own (even private) including British and American smoothly. Most of the software is straight- Good Points BBC content, on Pipex vPoP net- have to input is your user ID and conferences, and the encyclopedias, magazine and other forward, and the manual covers the con- work, inexpensive, good manual. password, plus details of your modem speed of its Usenet periodical databases, and the commercial figuration routines needed to troubleshoot Bad Points Delays in delivering OLR, adminis- and communications setup. Your IP num- feed. But the batch news wires as well as access to FTP, your connection. Anyone who’s been tration seems slow, not for business use, share- ber is allocated dynamically. files it creates to Telnet, and Usenet. around the net much will probably want to ware fees payable. Like several other services, CityScape download Usenet In addition, CompuServe gives away a Conclusion Users seem happy with this replace at least a couple of the supplied has required users to call in to change have a 2Mb size limit, NetLauncher package which includes a service, but it’s limited to home and education; components, particularly WinWeb, which their passwords. Recently, however, it’s Online help is available. so if you subscribe to many groups you dialler that takes the settings from your parents may like its attempt to block some news- although it’s a nice browser is somewhat groups. been working with the British Computer Most users access CIX with one of its may have to reconnect to get all the existing CompuServe setup, a Winsock, behind in development. Unfortunately, Society (BCS) on building BCSNet, and many offline readers — there is at least material down. CIX’s best feature, the and Spry Mosaic. CompuServe’s version the service has discontinued the Web- it’s changed its procedure in answer to one for almost every type of computer community feeling fostered by having a (the company bought Spry earlier this based shareware registration scheme it BCS specifications that users had to be imaginable. CIX’s own official OLR is large group of British users who log on year) includes customisable hotlists directs you to in the manual. You are CityScape able to change passwords at will. This is Ameol, which supports most Internet daily, is probably so far unmatched in the organised by subject. Once you’ve got all expected to register direct with the devel- good news in one way, since you can activities through scripts and also works UK. It’s mostly a techie crowd so if you this set up, there’s nothing to prevent you opers, whose addresses are in the man- Cambridge-based CityScape, which like change your password in a hurry if you via Telnet. The Ameol/CIX combination is want to mix with a wider variety, try adding FTP, Telnet, and other clients as ual rather than linked from the Web page. most services started up last year, has need to. But this puts the onus on you not probably the fastest way to handle Delphi or CompuServe’s UK forums. you wish. You are allocated an IP num- had a confusing relationship with Pipex, to choose stupid passwords like your Usenet downloads as CIX simply bundles ber dynamically each time you log on. for which it used to supply the consumer login, real, or company names, or a part up all your waiting messages into a single CIX Many of CompuServe’s nodes still run service. These days, CityScape’s IP Gold of your address. file for Ameol to swallow whole and digest Price £25 sign-up; £3.60/hr peak, £2.40/hour at 14,400bps; however, its entire network service competes directly with Pipex Dial; Like a number of services, CityScape into threaded topics. If you log on using off-peak; £6.25/month minimum is due to be upgraded to v.34 by May nonetheless, Pipex supplies CityScape’s gives users a free half-megabyte of Web an ordinary comms package you’ll find Contact Cix 0181 296 9666 next year. CompuServe lists a mass of Internet feed and network of PoPs. But space in which to express themselves, that CIX’s interface is confusing at first, Good points Wide range of OLRs, community access numbers; some of which are sup- CityScape has changed its software from and also hosts some outside folks like but quick, consistent, and flexible once feel, fast interface especially for Usenet plied by networks like Tymnet or Sprint- Unipalm’s Dial package to a more London’s ICA. It also has an interest in you get used to it. Bad points Unreliability problems in spring and net which cost extra in communications standard group of software. Britain’s first cyber pub, which you can CIX’s IP service was originally summer 1995 surcharges. In general, you’ll probably Conclusion Good, local service; business The £25 sign-up fee you pay includes get a look at via its Web server. planned for early 1995. It is still in beta as find it cheaper to pay the long distance users should have a back-up system for email a fully registered suite of software, as one Long-standing users seem generally of this writing, but due for launch in mid- phone bill to the nearest of of the company’s directors believes more happy with the service: but in our August with a £30 licensed software CompuServe’s own network nodes. people should realise when they compare experience the office tends to be very package. Pricing has been set at £15 per CompuServe’s strengths are its con- its sign-up fees unfavourably with those of busy, and getting help can be difficult. month for 30 hours off-peak, or 20 hours CompuServe sistent reliability, global access points, some other providers. With services like anytime. The £6.25/month minimum will the breadth of the information services, IBM and CompuServe supplying free, CityScape be waived for IP users. There are plans Overnight, CompuServe became the and the relatively easy to use software. registered IP software, even this price is Price Sign-up £25; £180/year or £15/month to introduce new PoPs. largest ISP in the UK when it launched its But you wouldn’t want to use its online beginning to seem high, especially if you Contact CityScape 01223 566950 The system has had reliability IP service in May, 1995. It started in newsreader to access Usenet on a daily later decide you prefer other packages. Good points Sign-up fee includes registered problems in 1995 — the worst was on a 1979 as a time-sharing company and is basis — it’s just too expensive and On the other hand, CityScape is a flat- software, reliable service recent Friday afternoon, when the system based in Columbus, Ohio. It is the clunky. rate provider and one of the trade-offs Bad points Staff tend to be busy went down without warning at 2pm and oldest commercial online information Just as we went to press, tends to be that free Conclusion A strong choice for UK-only access didn’t come back up for sign-up and nearly 15 hours. When it software often did, some conference presages higher, or CIX messages were missing. per-hour, connec- Some staff have blamed tion fees. Overall, Surbiton-based CIX, for Compulink the glitches on the efforts CityScape is very Information Exchange, is probably to get the IP service good value and Europe’s oldest conferencing system: it ready. seems to have has literally thousands of its own discus- CIX’s strong points are sion groups (conferences), as well as the many offline readers, gateways to Usenet and the Internet. The Internet gateway gives you access to Cityscape is good FTP, Gopher, Telnet, IRC, the various value and seems to Internet utilities, and the text-based Web CompuServe is the oldest have escaped the browser, Lynx. Most of this is nicely commercial on-line problems suffered by designed, so you simply type “gopher” or information service in the other, larger services “www” and you’re instantly in the system. world

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Delphi was the first nationwide US service newswire, headlines from the Times, and to offer Internet access, an airline reservation service, that also in November 1992. Its appear on CompuServe. Unlike the latter, new interface could Delphi segregates the US and the UK to make or break it some extent: to encourage its develop- ment as a British service in the early 1994 following the sys- days, the UK service didn’t appear on the tem’s purchase by US menus. Rupert Murdoch’s Delphi has stagnated somewhat in the News Corporation (in last year, but it’s clearly planning better 1993). The UK head- things: it has announced a new interface quarters are in (developed jointly with Netscape) and is London’s Camden due to be rolled out in the UK later this Lock and the US year. From the sounds of it, it may be headquarters has just somewhat like UK Online’s Web-based moved from Boston to service. New York. As we went to press, News Corpo- Delphi ration had just Price No sign-up fee; £10/ four hours or £20/30 announced the merger hours plus £3/ additional hour of Delphi and its inter- Contact Delphi 0171 715 7080 active games Good points Reliable, own conferences can be company, Kesmai, set up, mail can be stored online permanently CompuServe announced it was with the US phone company MCI’s Inter- Bad points Old interface, UK forums still under- completely revamping its pricing structure net operations. populated Conclusion Delphi’s new interface could make as of 10th September. From then on, Delphi’s naked interface is intended to or break the future of the service $9.95 a month buys you five hours’ use of be easy to use: it’s all text-based menus almost anything on the service, with extra from which you access your choice by hours charged at $2.95. A second pricing typing the first couple of letters. This is plan costs $24.95 for 20 hours, plus easy for newcomers but you get very Demon $1.95 per additional hour. There have tired of it, very quickly. Worse, the struc- been lots of complaints about this plan ture is so unpredictable that the one Internet because many users rely heavily on the shortcut feature of the service — type- unlimited access to basic services, that it ahead — is virtually unusable. The one Demon was the company that created wipes away. good thing about Delphi’s interface is the domestic Internet access market in CompuServe has also announced that the Internet services aren’t Britain and it set the price target that all plans for a new interface which will segregated; you can access them from other ISPs try to reach. It hasn’t raised its integrate the information service with the anywhere on the system. So if you ask prices since it started in late 1992, charg- Web so you can switch seamlessly for Sports, you get a listing of services ing a tenner a month. Traditionally the between them. Finally, the company that include the AP news wire, local trade-off for this low cost was surviving plans to launch a consumer-orientated sports conferences, the Usenet the experience of configuring its DOS online service aimed at less experienced newsreader, and a selection of other software; a cobbled-together group of users, sometime in early 1996. Internet resources all listed together. programs including a dialler (originally There are several packages available designed to let people send data over CompuServe to put a better face on Delphi including a packet radio), and an offline reader which Price Membership kit £29.95; monthly rates couple of navigator packages and an downloaded rather slowly. More recently start at $9.95/month (including five free hours — offline reader, Apollo, from Ashmount there have been evenings full of busy sig- no VAT added) Research. You can order these on nals: a victim of its own popularity. Its Contact CompuServe 01734 725 555 Delphi itself, to be sent electronically or worst troubles arrived this Spring when it Good points Reliable, global access, broadest on disk. Apollo’s functionality is also had problems with its news and mail range of information services available included in Ashmount’s multi-service servers. These have since been fixed, Bad points Can become expensive PowWow Professional package. and the system seems to be back to its Conclusion If we could have only one service, Delphi’s gateway includes the full reliable self. it would be CompuServe range of Internet services: Telnet, FTP, Evening access has also improved Ping, Finger and the Web, via a text- since the company signed a deal with based browser. Besides this, like CIX, Energis and acquired a lot of new phone Delphi Delphi has a range of local conferences, lines. Better than that, it’s come up with a some of them hosted by the same new Windows package which includes a Delphi was the first nationwide US people. Having initially been a US full set of Internet utilities, installs service to offer Internet access when it service, it has a large range of US con- smoothly, and brings Demon’s usability set up its gateway in November, 1992. ferences as well. And there are a few more into line with the other suppliers’. At The UK service was launched in early information services, such as the AP the same time, Demon hasn’t

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compromised: unlike almost all the others, The Direct a certain amount of self-reliance and commercial Web customers include the Easynet SeeMe — were originally developed on the Windows-based newsreader is an technical intelligence. Although the soft- Birth Control Trust, Computer Manuals’ Price Sign-up £25; £11.90/month or all those Macs that Apple sold cheaply to offline reader and the package is one of Connection ware package is almost the same as online bookstore, and Channel One. £118.80/year US educational users. Demon, IBMNet, the most complete currently available, Easynet’s (only the newsreader and Easynet’s software is supplied on two Contact Easynet 0171 209 0990 and CompuServe all have Mac packages even including implementations of Ping, This seven year-old company operates Telnet client are different) there is no disks with the best set of installation Good points Single-menu interface, great readily available, so Mac users should and Finger. two types of services: gateway (they call unifying menu. The installation routine instructions we’ve seen, including a per- setup procedure remember that the choices do exist. How- This means that Demon’s software it “login”) and IP. But the IP service is the simply unpacks the whole thing into a sonalised screen showing how to fill in Bad points Change password by calling office; ever, Apple says its high costs are almost remains more complicated than some more popular of the two and it’s the one window full of icons and then it’s up to your user ID, IP number and modem few PoPs entirely due to communications others, but this doesn’t reflect badly on the the company is promoting. In some ways you to do the configuring. information — you know it’s just fancy Conclusion Has to stay up and running or the surcharges, necessary to route UK users company since it’s offering a complete this is a pity as there’s a lot to be said for Direct Connection seems to have mail-merge, but it is very classy. whole world will know, because of Cyberia via Spring, MCI, and BT to the service’s service. For instance, the Telnet client, local conferencing, but as the company stagnated a little since last year. While it’s However, seeing the password written home in the US. If you already have IP which has been written by Demon staff, itself points out; people are now more a perfectly good service — in the early on a piece of paper raised an interesting service and you access eWorld via Tel- has scripting facilities — rare, and very used to graphical interfaces, while the part of this year, when Demon was busy, question: are you prompted to change it eWorld net, the price drops to $29.95 an hour. useful. And Demon is one of the few ser- login service is text-based. TDC (The you could almost always get through to when you log on for the first time? The vices that gives all its users their own per- Direct Connection) is a Pipex reseller. It’s connect in the evenings — performance answer is no — to change your password Apple’s Mac users-only service is due to eWorld manently allocated IP numbers. This a particularly good deal for Videotron seems a little slow, and the service on Easynet, you must call them and be opened up to the world of PC users Price No sign-up fee; $9.95/hour ($2.95 via Tel- means users can set their machine up so customers, who can call it for free during doesn’t seem to be growing as fast as request that they do it. For security some time towards the end of the year. net), free trial available (two hours) Contact eWorld 0800 896206 that other people can access it, or retrieve some off-peak times. some others. Unlike some of the larger reasons, this is a bad policy: it’s safest if Meanwhile, Mac users can tour around a files from it, from across the Internet. Joining TDC used to be a matter of providers, Direct Connection doesn’t no one knows your password, and a service that includes shopping, local Good points Beautifully designed Mac inter- Signing up for Demon involves phoning setting up your account and then logging seem to be making moves towards creat- standard protection is to change forums, and Internet access using the face, online news, shopping and events or faxing the company to choose a node on to the gateway service as a guest, to ing or buying in its own package. passwords regularly — and immediately, latest version of the client software 1.1. It Bad points Expensive, US-based with little UK name and password, and to get your IP download the software. However, the ser- if you think it could have been cracked. doesn’t take much of a Mac to do all this: content number. You can then either log on to the vice will send you a couple of disks con- The Direct Connection Immediacy is difficult in the middle of the we did our visiting on an old SE/30 with Conclusion Mac users should consider their company’s server and download the soft- taining a complete package — all Price Sign-up £7.50; £10/month and upwards night, since Easynet’s technical support 4Mb of RAM and a 40Mb hard disk many other options: if you need eWorld, sign up ware you need, or ask for it to be sent on unregistered shareware. It’s up to users Contact Direct Connection 0181 297 2200 hours are Monday to Friday 10am to attached by special cable to the same with an IP provider and go in via Telnet disk. You can have as many mailboxes to pay the fees for a legal license or 9pm, and Saturday and Sunday 10am to external Hayes Optima we used for the Good points Inexpensive, especially for per account as you wish, but there are switch to other packages after the share- 6pm. other reviews. (You need System 6.0.8 Videotron customers restrictions on how you use the Demon ware evaluation period is over. Bad points Extra fees payable for shareware, Once we had installed the software or later to run version 1.1). Frontier service on a network. Demon rents Web Direct Connection has some of the technical knowledge needed, voice mail system though, and tried running our first eWorld remains a staunchly US prod- space: it hosts The Electronic Telegraph. most helpful technical support people Conclusion Inexpensive, undifferentiated ser- connection, we discovered we couldn’t do uct. The menu system that guided us As if the Internet market weren’t confus- Demon’s strong points are low prices around — they even wrote us a little vice that needs better software and setup in anything. It turned out that we hadn’t through eWorld technical support (a ing enough already, there are two and a full service; it helps to be technically routine to let a single Winsock share order to grow compared the setup screen with the freephone number) routed us to an inept “Frontiers”: Frontier Internet Services literate, but its Windows package makes multiple configurations so our existing instruction sheet quite closely enough. A MCI operator who thought that York and specialises in Web design and sells Inter- this less important. ones wouldn’t get overwritten. But that’s mistake in the IP number meant that Aberdeen were in London. She was also net connections on the side; Frontier assuming you can get through to a Easynet although we were able to log on, we unaware that the 081 area code had Communications International sells Demon Internet human: Direct Connection has one of the didn’t register as a legitimate user. Tech- been changed to 0181. Back at the very videoconferencing capacity and UNIX Price Sign-up £12.50; £10/month. worst voice mail systems ever devised This is the company that supplies Internet nical support had no trouble figuring this busy eWorld help desk (also handled in connections. In the few months since the Contact 0181 371 1234 and its help lines are often too busy to let access for Cyberia, London’s cyber cafe, out quickly, and we had no problems the US), they found 9,600 and 14,400bps latter launched its PC-based Internet ser- Good points Cheap, full-featured, UK-wide you through to a person. However, the and is also a majority shareholder. Its thereafter, either with getting onto numbers — we then had trouble with vice it has installed PoPs all over Britain, access company’s business manager, Easynet whenever we tried, or with con- flaky connections. to the point where the company says its Bad points Has had some news and mail prob- Trevor Diamond, has sworn to throw nections (once we were on). But once you get on, the interface is ratio is as high as 15:1 in Truro — that is lems during 1995 away the voice mail and adds that Our only criticisms of the package are beautiful and what every online service modems to users, rather than the more Conclusion Good value, but periodically suffers TDC fully intends to push itself into two small usability points. Firstly, while should be emulating. The opening usual other way around. Its Gloucester from growing pains the ranks of the bigger providers. you can easily send mail from Eudora at screen is a little village: you click on the node is even worse. But Frontier believes The service as a whole demands any time it isn’t obvious how to get mail, “building” you’d like to enter; financial the market is there and in the meantime and it doesn’t just arrive. It turns out you services, computer centre, news-stand, on a busy night in Edinburgh, it can route Left Direct have to request it by picking a menu and so on. Each choice you make puts the excess traffic to Gloucester where the Connection is choice; when you do, Eudora asks you to up a selection of services: you click on ratio is 30:1 and sometimes there’s only inexpensive and type in your password before it will con- the ones you want — from Reuters one person online. has good techni- nect. Secondly, it isn’t obvious how to dis- news, to downloading the eWorld Web Frontier’s US parent is currently beta- cal support, but connect without exiting the menu system. browser as a prelude to moving into the testing a software package for the service overall it needs Since Trumpet Winsock can be fussy if wider net. which when it’s finished, probably some some attention you exit without hanging up properly, the But at $9.95, with only one hour of time in late September, will be given free Right EasyNet package would be far less trouble if this use included per month and additional to old and new subscribers. In the mean- supplies Internet were rectified so the “Connect to hours also priced at $9.95, the service is time, new users have the choice of sourc- access for Easynet” button changed to a expensive. Except for the service’s own ing their own software or buying a full Cyberia. It’s a “Disconnect from Easynet” button after Info Booth and software download area, suite of registered programs for £99. reliable service, logon. nothing is free — not even the shopping. Frontier’s cybersalesman, Justin Roger, with a classy set Overall (except for the password prob- Mac users should therefore bear in mind believes that distributing shareware of software lem) Easynet seems to be a good, that eWorld is not their only choice. Many unregistered for use on a commercial installation reliable, if undifferentiated service. Its of today’s graphical Internet packages — service contravenes the established con- instructions biggest limitation is that at present it only everything from Web servers to the Inter- ditions of shareware distribution. has PoPs in London and Edinburgh. net videoconferencing package, CU- What Frontier provides for your £25

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sign-up fee is a live human in Europe. Additionally, as we went to on the other end of the press IBM had announced a new product phone line who guides you to support Lotus Notes over the network. through installing and con- figuring your software via a IBM Global Network first, successful login. You Price No sign-up fee; £10/3 hours or £20/ 30 pay £4 extra per month if hours plus £3/additional hour Contact IBM 0800 973000 you want a permanent IP address; otherwise you get Good points Reliable, global access, great one dynamically assigned software to you when you log on. Bad points Hours above 20/month could add up Thereafter, Frontier Conclusion A strong choice, especially if you provides 24-hour technical want IP-only worldwide access support. We told our human we were a Demon user trying to change our software config- IBMNet offers reliable, global access uration to use it with Frontier, but we and has the perfect software for Pipex Dial weren’t sure we would sound anyone using more than one system convincingly inexperienced. In the end, Wherever you look in the UK Internet ser- we dealt with several humans. The first the same as several other services vice market, Pipex is there. It’s part of the sent us a full set of instructions, by email, reviewed here: Eudora, WinVN, and so software distributor Unipalm (now specifically geared to our stated needs on. But now it’s got a licensed package renamed Unipalm Pipex) which has including a script we could simply paste that’s much better, and it’s free. recently signed a deal to distribute into Winsock. A second called some What the company gives you is almost Netscape in the UK. It supplies the Inter- hours later to check we were getting on the perfect software for anyone using net feed for about 30 resellers OK. A third, we called, to let the company more than one system. The control panel nationwide, including several reviewed check we were logging on properly. All includes options for adding connections here: CityScape, the PC User Group, the were pleasant and helpful, and seemed to a wide variety of services including the BBC Networking Club and The Direct to be fully informed: Frontier’s tracking UK’s Demon and Direct Connection, and Connection. On top of that it made a deal system obviously works. That’s more you can add any extras you like. It’s all with Mercury earlier this year, to create a than we can say for Winsock, which took well-designed and attractive with big, fat, virtual PoP network to which it also sells several calls to trouble-shoot (not colourful, clearly labelled buttons. There’s access. Users get local call access via Frontier’s fault). no manual, but you don’t even miss it. the many numbers nationwide and Pipex The snake in this paradise is that you gets cheaper maintenance, since the Frontier can’t configure the software, so it doesn’t calls are re-routed to one of only two Price Sign-up £25; £8.50 or £12.50/month automatically close all your Internet appli- banks of modems. (dynamic or static IP address) cations when you disconnect. Have these Pipex Dial (launched late last year as Contact Frontier 0500 468376 people never heard of downloading a Pipex Solo) is Pipex’s consumer service. Good points Lots of PoPs, 24-hour 7-day top- large Web page and disconnecting to You get a package of Unipalm software quality technical support read it offline? If you could do that, and including a control panel-cum-configura- Bad points Relatively unknown then click on a link to reconnect, the soft- tion routine, Mail-It, and a couple of other Conclusion Cheap, well-supported, with good ware would be our choice for some kind utilities, but no FTP client or newsreader. coverage; all it needs is decent software and a of prize. Parts of it, particularly the mail While it’s nice to see a different software UK track record package, were bought from Netmanage, package once in a while, we weren’t too maker of Chameleon and other Internet impressed with this one. Mail-It is fussy software — the rest is IBM’s own. — it won’t send messages if it’s loaded IBMNet IBM is continuing to build its own net- before you connect. Pipex’s technical work, much as CompuServe has, rather support says that this is to enable your People first heard of IBMNet when OS/2 than sign a deal with outside companies writing messages offline, which is always Warp was released with a bonus pack to provide nodes. The intention is that by welcome, but it’s hard to see why you including all the software needed to log owning the network IBM can better con- shouldn’t be able to log on and send your on to the Internet. IBM also gives away trol speed and reliability. Instead of follow- output when you’ve finished. The Telnet Windows packages and has a deal with ing the typical Internet pattern of routing client has no facility for remembering Mac software publisher, Ventana, for a packets of data all over the place, IBM sessions. Mac package. Under OS/2, we found the aims to route them directly to the nearest All the software feels rather system somewhat frustrating as it point to your actual target destination “corporate”; as if it were designed for use seemed as if every time we dialled in, the before handing them over to the Internet by the technically literate. This software needed to be updated. Never- proper. If this actually works, the trade-off impression is reinforced by there being theless, regular users do not report such for the much smaller number of UK nodes no documentation — bad news for a con- problems and say the service is excellent (nine, as opposed to the 90 percent cov- sumer-oriented service. You could and reliable. erage promised by some other systems) replace it with something you like better Until recently, IBM was handing out a may be worth it. And you get global of course, but you’ll have paid £50 for it shareware package that was pretty much access, with 110 nodes already in place first. As we went to press, a new version

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Real-life cyber spaces

Mike H. peers at a screenful of actresses’ to the fact that he was selling email and time- shoulders and arguing about which site to names that he’s found, all by himself, on a sharing systems 15 years ago. But his visit visit next. The tables are full of people with server somewhere in America’s Bible belt. hasn’t been wasted as it’s only cost him £2.50 laptops, computer magazines, and £1 cups He hesitates among Nicole Kidman, (and a half hour) to find out that he doesn’t of coffee awaiting their turn. Audrey Hepburn (“she’s old enough to be want to be on the Internet, which his brief If all this sounds to you like an appealing grateful, but she’s dead”) and Liz Hurley. acquaintance with the Web leads him to way to try out the net without the expense of He goes for Kidman, even though by now describe as “about as user-friendly as a cor- buying hardware and fighting with Winsocks, his companion has ruined her for him by nered rattlesnake.” Most people have to Cyberia might be a low-cost way to try things mentioning that she’s married to Tom spend a lot more time and money to reach the out. The London cafe is not the only one: Cruise. The pictures that come up aren’t of same conclusion, so he’s doing well. If you there are others in Edinburgh, and Kingston great quality, but never mind, she still looks get hooked, Cyberia will sell you a training upon Thames, Surrey. During this year’s terrific. course for about £30. Edinburgh Festival, the Edinburgh cybercafe Mike, a long-term Mac user, seems At an adjacent terminal, a couple of Dutch is running a Web service that includes unimpressed when he’s told that the guys (who look like university students) Festival listings, reviews from the Guardian pictures are coming from a continent away: seem to be enjoying their time on the system newspaper, and tourist information. The “It looks like HyperCard.” Afterwards, he a lot more. They have seen Cyberia on TV, latter helps the disorganised find places to washes his hands with some distaste: they say. They haven’t got access stay in a city where the last bed was “When do you suppose that keyboard and themselves at home, so they have come to booked for the month sometime back in mouse were last cleaned?” Mike, 51, has see the place. April. discovered “Cyberia”, London’s cybercafe. It’s pretty well full at 7p.m. on a Monday. The latest addition to the roster of real-life Huddled in Whitfield Street, behind What’s interesting if you think of computing as cyber spaces is Cambridge’s cyber pub, London’s Goodge Street tube station, a solitary business, is that everyone perched Cybeeria as someone on CIX recently joked. Cyberia is cool, even if it didn’t appeal to precariously on the stools fronting the Mike H. would have preferred this approach Mike whose relative disinterest is partly due terminals has friends peering over their — at least he could have had a pint. of Pipex Dial, 2.6, had just been released who want the service. The company says need to exercise some supervision. (not quite in time for our review) with built- it has about 900 users so far, 700 of The software package is supplied with in filtering of email, improvements to which are schools. a streamlined installation routine that Telnet, and an FTP client added. One Because of this educational focus, RM gave no trouble — another day, another nice feature about Dial is that you can (Research Machines) is continually con- copy of Trumpet Winsock. There’s no check an option to have the software scious that no school principal wants to FTP or Telnet client, although you can notify you when there are upgrades, and be the one whose school gets written up source these yourself through the Web or you download these directly from the ser- in News of the World because its pupils via FTPmail. You have to register the vice. have been caught trading the URLs of software yourself: RM says educational Ironically enough considering its pornographic Web sites. Accordingly, RM users shouldn’t have to pay more than position in the industry, Pipex was one of is making more efforts than most to block £17 in total. Both the Gopher and Web only two services (eWorld was the other) such material: besides cutting its Usenet clients are set up to display some of the which gave us trouble with dropped lines. feed to eliminate groups like the alt.sex Internet’s many educational resources Once safely connected, however, perfor- and alt.binaries.pictures.erotica hierarchy, and RM itself is compiling lists of such mance seemed to be the best of the RM blocks some Web sites via its router. things: take a look at its Web site group reviewed here. As RM’s product manager Tim Clark http://www.rmplc.co.uk for examples. points out, the disadvantage to this is that RM’s biggest selling point is probably Pipex Dial you can’t block just part of a Web site; its generosity with Web space: ordinary Price £50 sign-up, £15/month you have to block the whole thing. So in users can have up to 5Mb, and schools Contact Pipex Dial 0500 474739 the days when the University of Delft had can have “almost as much free space as Good points Performance, source company for a pornography archive (it closed down they want”. A number of schools have other ISPs due to the burden it placed on network already started putting up Web sites Bad points Software, lack of documentation traffic), blocking access to that meant jointly constructed by pupils and staff. Conclusion Corporate focus persists, but it’s a blocking off its fine art archive, too. strong service But the system is secure, according to Research Machines Clark: “It can’t be gotten around — yet.” Price £25 setup, £120/year payable in advance Long-term, though, he says the company Contact Research Machines 01235 826868 Research doesn’t see itself acting as a censor; it Good points Strong educational focus looks towards products like the Bad points After initial troubleshooting Machines SurfWatch (currently Mac only) which will technical support is by email only, pay a year in block Web sites, and a virus checker advance, shareware fees Conclusion Best suited to educational users Abingdon-based Research Machines is (updated regularly), to do this sort of and parents who care about blocking access to known for supplying many machines to work. The one drawback to this approach parts of Usenet and the Web British schools. This year it’s moved into is that it’s difficult to block everything that offering Internet services to the same could possibly offend anyone, so parents clientele, as well as to parents and others who care about this sort of thing will still

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A guide to the software The packages that direct ISPs give or sell version has many more features. Named link library file. It does two things: it loads you generally contain one of a number of after American writer Eudora Welty. the Internet protocols, TCP/IP, on your sys- commonly available programs. Some are Ewan: Telnet shareware. Nice, although it tem, and it runs a script to log you onto your legally licensed copies; others are share- tends to crash; can memorise session set- service. There are a number of widely ware which you are expected to register for tings but no scripting facility. available Winsocks, of which the most com- an additional fee. So when you compare Free Agent: A commercial offline news- mon is shareware from Trumpet. In gener- setup costs between providers, you should reader; free for personal, educational, or al, you should stick to the one supplied by add in any such extra fees. Before you non-profit use. your provider, as configuring one of these pay, however, try the software: once you’re Mosaic: A Web browser. Supplied under things isn’t fun (although a number of ser- on the net you can get substitutes for soft- licence by some ISPs including vices now cover up the ugliness with an ware you don’t like; the list below should CompuServe, which in 1994 bought one of easy-to-configure face). Once Winsock is give you some idea of alternatives. A com- its publishers, Spry. installed on your system, you can run any prehensive selection of Winsock-compati- Netscape: Currently the most common compatible applications you like with little ble software is available from the Web site Web browser. Version 1.1 added security trouble. http://cwsapps.texas.net/. features which you’ll need for sites which WinVN: An online newsreader. have implemented secure transaction pro- WSFTP: Windows-based FTP client that Chameleon: A fully-featured commercial cedures. Netscape’s printing facilities are gives you a File Manager-style display of mail package from Netmanage. A cut- flaky, but it can run multiple sessions, so the file directories on a remote computer. down version called Sampler turns up on you can read one set of Web pages while WSGopher: Now that most Web browsers lots of cover and book disks. downloading another. can display Gopher menus, you probably Eudora: A freeware mail package News Xpress: An online newsreader. don’t need this client. But you may find it produced by Qualcomm. The commercial Winsock: WINSOCK.DLL is a dynamic faster and more convenient in some cases.

Glossary Archie: Archive server. An Archie search connected. gives you a list of files and locations. The PoP: Point of Presence. In other words, a main one for the UK is at local phone number you can dial to reach a archie.doc.ic.ac.uk. particular system. Finger: Utility for finding out who is a par- POP3: Post Office Protocol 3; an alter- ticular user on a given system, either from native to SMTP. Less flexible, but the either ID or a portion of their real name. available software is easier to config- FTP: File Transfer Protocol. You use FTP ure and use. to send or retrieve files from distant com- PPP: Point-to-Point Protocol. The puters. To log on to services that maintain most common type of direct IP public archives, type “ftp” or “anonymous” account. where it asks for your ID, and your email SLIP: Serial line Internet Protocol. address as your password. Older type of IP access replaced in Gopher: Menu-based, indexed informa- most cases by PPP. tion server, easy to use and search. SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. IP: Internet protocol. Alternative to POP3; more flexible but more MOO: Multi-User Object-Oriented environ- difficult to configure. ment. Essentially, a themed MUD; for TCP/IP: Transmission Control Protocol / example, Zen or post-modernist. Internet Protocol, the networking protocols in MUD: Multi-User Dungeon. Co-operative, common use on the Internet. To connect, UUencode: The routine for converting text-based role-playing games you access you need to load these protocols on to your program, or “binary” files into gibberish-like via Telnet. computer. text so that they can be transmitted across NNTP: Network news transfer protocol. Telnet: Lets you log on to remote comput- the Internet. To run the programs, you Used on Usenet servers. ers and operate them. Use Telnet to access must first UUdecode the file. OLR: Offline reader. Automates logging on certain types of games servers (MUDs and Veronica: Search facility for Gopher so you can read and write offline where it’s MOOs), library catalogue services, free- servers. cheaper. nets, and the Netherlands’ Digital City. vPoP: Virtual Point of Presence. That is, a Password: A good password is easy to Usenet: Worldwide bulletin board; individ- PoP you can call but whose physical remember but hard to guess. CompuServe ual conferences are called newsgroups. modems are located elsewhere on the net- and eWorld let you pick two words linked Some of these, particularly the alt.sex hierar- work. Demon claims to have invented the with a special character: most systems limit chy, contain material parents may find term. you to between five and eight characters. objectionable but services targeting families World-wide Web: A system of hypertext One good method is to pick a memorable tend to filter these out. links that let you jump from computer to word, capitalise a letter somewhere in the UUCP: UNIX-to-UNIX Copy Program. A computer with no more difficulty than fol- middle, and add a special character such dial-up computer-to-computer method of lowing the links in a Windows Help file. You as “%” or “?”. transferring mail and news that doesn’t access the Web using a browser such as Ping: Tests whether a site is alive and involve the Internet. Mosaic, Netscape, Cello, or WebExplorer.

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WinNET has very clear UK Online instructions and the system is set up to minimise the This is a new service, in beta at present amount of time you spend but looking very promising. Announced in online mid-1994, the service should be launched by the time you read this. The service’s main UK Online isn’t like any of the other interest, though, is the UK services on the market. Everything on the family market. To this end, service is managed through a Web every account includes four browser interface: mail, local mailboxes and parents can conferences, and Usenet access. The block Internet access for supplied software is a very simple pack- their kids or limit the age consisting only of a dialler and a Web amount of time spent browser called “Tiber”; both come from online. The service itself California-based Distinct Software cuts newsgroups it thinks (another unfamiliar name). You install the may be Joining the IP service is similar: you software, double-click on the UK Online objectionable, or about which there are send a mail message to a specific icon, and Tiber loads up and logs on for complaints. It’s also focusing on building address (included in one of the you, starting you off at UK Online’s home up a series of special-interest instructional messages), and you get page on the Web. To enter the UK Online clubhouses intended to promote a feeling back an attached file with Trumpet service itself, you click on the icon to take of community. Winsock, an installation routine, and you to your home page; the software WSFTP, for which you need to pay your prompts you for your user ID and pass- UK Online own registration fees. A selection on one word. Price £9.99/month 10 hours; £14.99/month of WinNET’s menus (“Detach file”) turns From there, everything continues to look unlimited inc VAT these files back into a zip file. You Contact UK Online 01749 333333 like the Web: mail, local conferences, unpack this software and run a setup Usenet and so on. Sending mail or post- Good points Easy interface, inexpensive, local routine that helps you configure Winsock. ing a Usenet message is done through conferencing, free trial The same method gets you a copy of forms which come up when you click on Bad points Untested under load Netscape and updates to the WinNET Conclusion A very good prospect the appropriate button. Conferences are software as well. displayed in threaded format on a Web Another message to the help desk, page. It’s less clunky than it sounds, even which you can either send separately or for very busy newsgroups like WinNET UK via the configuration routine, gets you a alt.religion.scientology, particularly in separate ID and password for the IP ser- early August, when the service was still (PC User vice. We were impressed: a request sent only being used by about 700 beta late one Sunday afternoon, was testers. It’s hard to predict how it will per- Group) processed within half an hour, with the form under a heavy load. The package you get when you sign up for account being active at one o’clock the Once you’ve got UK Online up and mail and news is WinNET, which is used by following morning. A welcome message running, it works like any other IP a number of other service providers around for the IP service gives you installation connection. You are free to load up the world. It’s easy to install and use and it instructions. Telnet, FTP, or other clients as you like, has folder facilities for filing messages. This all requires a certain amount of although you need to source the software Joining the service involves complet- self-reliance — it’s not as easy as getting yourself. So far, the service doesn’t sup- ing an on-screen form with details of your a whole package on a set of disks. ply hot lists of sites to visit. You do get name, hardware settings, and billing Nonetheless, we were impressed with the access to the Press Association information, and then waiting while the clarity of the instructions and with the way newswire. software logs on to the service and trans- the system is set up to minimise the mits it all. A few minutes amount of time you spend online. later, it logs back on to The PC User Group has made a deal receive confirmation and with WinNET in the US, to enable British downloads introductory travellers in America to access mail in the messages to get you UK via a 1-800 number. started. The service keeps you up-to-date on WinNET UK (PC User Group) new facilities by sending Price No sign-up fee; £6.75/month for mail and you an electronic news plus £8.25/month for IP Contact WinNET 0181 863 1191 newsletter. Good points Easy mail package, well designed UK Online isn’t like any service to maximise offline time, good instruc- tions, access deals with US WinNET services. of the other services on Bad points Shareware fees payable, two- the market. Everything is service structure. managed through a Web Conclusion An obvious choice if you’re already browser interface using the WinNET service.

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Editor’s Choice

ISPs divide into roughly three groups: direct look at these if you have old, slow hardware sistent reliability. The costs adds up rapidly, IP, gateways with local conferencing, and and are interested in local chat. even with the new pricing, so heavy users services intended to help parents control The one service with a foot in all should look at the cheaper flat-rate what their children see. In the latter categories is CompuServe: it’s a gateway providers, particularly Demon (assuming it category go for UK Online, BBC Networking service; it limits access to some adult areas can keep its capacity expanding in line with Club, and Research Machines. The Internet of its own system; it has information services its growth rate), or CityScape. Frontier is a is not as much of a sewer as they say but if and conferencing; and it also has an IP ser- very promising newcomer with excellent the prospect worries you, look at one of vice, albeit without mail handling. If money freephone technical support and by the these. were no object Compuserve would probably time you read this, a licensed, free software In the gateway category go CIX (until its be our choice for a single service because of package. For worldwide access, also look IP service is launched) and Delphi. Take a its global access, long track record and con- at IBM.

Miscellaneous services

There are many other providers worth Windows 95 users. You get no technical support or other consideration. Firstly, there are regional Also of interest is Tel-Me, particularly help: what you do is dial the BBS using a service providers — often resellers for for small businesses who need directory standard comms package, login as the national ones like Sussex’s Pavilion information, stock prices, CCN company “new”, and answer the questions. The Internet, a reseller for Pipex. There are profiles, Infocheck, and Thomson Direc- modem number is 01268 515441. already a surprising number of these in tories. Tel-Me combines a custom soft- Expect to see many more announce- areas as widely separated as Notting- ware package with a specially set-up ments in the coming months. America ham and Lerwick, Shetland. The Man- modem to give you fast access to just Online is said to have made a deal with chester service, Poptel, is widely used those things, plus Internet mail. When it the German publishing conglomerate, by the Labour party. For more was first launched in 1994, the service Bertelsmann, for a European information information about services in your area was rather expensively priced; the launch service, and Demon has announced a (if you are already on the Web or know of version 2.0 cut prices to affordable partnership with Europe On Line to someone who is), try levels. Sign-up costs £49.95 for the Tel- create a Europe-wide service. http://www.limitless.co.uk/inetuk/provide Me software, or £99.95 if you want a rs.html4. In the Irish Republic your best modem included. The FastConnect Cybercafés in the UK bet is Ireland Online, which has added a modem that Tel-Me supplies, can be number of PoPs to its original access used to access other services. But when Bath, Hub Intercafé (01225 427441) points in Dublin and Galway. used in conjunction with Tel-Me, connec- Belfast, Bytes (012332 242050) There is also a variety of special- tion is almost instant because it is pre- Birmingham, The Custard Factory interest services, of which GreenNet is configured for the service’s modems and (0121 604 7777) the most notable. This is a BBS, the handshaking sequence is eliminated. Brighton, Zap Club (01273 202407) focused on the environment, peace and Payment is per transaction for directory Cambridge, Six Bells (01223 566056) human rights which links to similar ser- inquiries, Press Association headlines Edinburgh, Cyberia (0131 220 4403) vices around the world. GreenNet, over two hours old, and so on. Internet e- Kingston upon Thames, Cyberia which is owned by a charity and keeps mail is free. Tel-Me is a much more (0181 974 9650) its prices low, offers its 2,000 users impressive service than you’d think. With Liverpool, Café Internet (0151 255 1112) email and fax services and 800 local directory enquiries, for instance, Tel-Me London W1, Cyberia (0171 209 0983) conferences, as well as PPP/SLIP accesses BT’s PhoneBase using parallel Manchester, Wet (at the Hacienda Club) access to the Internet and Usenet. techniques so that it can retrieve many (0161 236 5051) On a global scale, Microsoft Network records, per query of yours, using fuzzy New Mills (Stockport), Peak Art is due to launch with Windows 95 on matching techniques. The software takes Cybercafé, (01663 747770) 24th August. Although US customers up a lot of disk space, though. are expected to have Internet access Also worth trying, if only as a way of Cybercafé Web site is at at that point, it is not due to be offered seeing what the Internet is like, is Spud’s http://www.easynet.co.uk/pages/cafe in the UK until Christmas, and even Xanadu which is a completely free /ccafe.htm then it will be accessible only by service based in Canvey Island, Essex.

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD GROUP TEST: DOCKING STATION NOTEBOOKS What’sWhat’s up,up, Whyte Photography by David dock?dock? PCW A notebook equipped with a docking station can Gateway came without a docking station give you the best of both worlds — computing on but with IRDA capability and desktop receiver. Each system varies significantly the move andpower on the desktop. Steven in terms of build quality, usability, Helstrip rounds up the PCW reviewers to put features, size and looks. However, all are 15 dual-action systems through their paces. capable of comfortably running several Windows applications simultaneously so processing power should not be your only concern. More important, it now seems, all essentially perform the same job. is the quality of keyboard, screen and There’s the full-scale docking station that overall design. provides everything you’d expect from a Notebooks Contents desktop — ISA slots and drive bays for extra devices such as a CD-ROM drive 176 ACi 7600 Pentium and a hard disk, for example. Extra I/O 176 Adams Accura 5000 ports for video, comms and built-in sound 176 Compaq Contura 430CX are also not uncommon. 177 CTX Ezbook A port replicator, on the other hand, 177 Dell Latitude Xpi 177 Evesham Vale Voyager does only what it says: it has exactly the 181 Gateway 2000 Liberty same facilities and connectors as the 181 IBM 755 CX portable itself, including serial, parallel 181 NEC Versa P75/S and external keyboard/mouse connec- 182 Olivetti Echos 48 tors. For the mobile worker calling into 182 Rock Estima Sonata the office it has the advantage of saving 182 Texas Instruments 4000M time and effort expended on plugging 186 Toshiba Satellite Pro 400CDT n the corporate UK, note- and unplugging external units, plus it 186 Twinhead Slimnote 5100T Ibooks now account for reduces wear and tear on connectors. 186 Viglen Dossier P5 AS 35% of the number of PCs sold. Nearly Port replicators are much smaller than 187 The secret of longer life half of those are shipped with either a docking stations and rarely add expan- 187 What to look for in a portable docking station or a port replicator, mak- sion capabilities. 189 Mobile communication ing them good for both portable and For this round-up we asked over 20 189 Dual-scan and TFT compared desktop use. manufacturers to provide a highly-speci- 190 Performance results 191 The IRDA specification Just as notebooks come in all shapes fied notebook system with either a dock- 192 Top Ten buying tips and sizes, so do docking stations, ing station or a port replicator. Of those, 192 Table of features although there are two distinct types and 15 did, although the machine from

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ACi 7600 Pentium CTX Ezbook

ounded edges and sharp and high in contrast, par- als, or you can pay £99 and get Top Level he Ezbook DX4 shapes display the status of down, forming a desktop unit for an external Ra charcoal grey ticularly when displayed true Complete Works. T/100 has a stan- the main battery and the hot- monitor. A built-in amplifier enhances the finish make this one of colour. The Ni-MH battery sits This was a pleasant machine to use and dard system design, swap battery. audio signals from the notebook’s Sound- the more stylish note- under the wrist wrest and is despite the rather poor performance, for a with the keyboard con- Inside there’s a 524Mb Blaster card, and built-in multi I/O supports books on test. The removed by releasing two P90 it represents excellent value for money. densed towards the far detachable hard disk, 16Mb of basic serial and parallel ports as well as an docking station catches, although this can be • AJP offers what looks like the same end of the base leaving main memory and a local bus IDE hard disk drive, CD-ROM and network provides four ISA slots quite fiddly. Equally tricky to machine. It has a larger hard disk, however, plenty of wrist room, VGA card fitted with 1Mb video card. Eleanor Turton-Hill and two drive bays, remove is the hard disk, which at 520Mb against the 320Mb in the ACi, and and a trackball placed RAM. When using an external one of which is acces- requires you to use two hands the RAM has been doubled to 16Mb. The centrally near the front. monitor it is possible to display Ezbook sible from the front to undo the catches. Power price is £2,987. Adele Dyer The right and left resolutions up to 1024 x 768 at Price DX4100 16/524Mb TFT £3,048 panel. At the rear there management features a sus- mouse buttons are 60Hz. The built-in TFT display Contact CTX 01923 818461. Fax 01923 are ports for parallel, pend-to-disk option, letting you 7600 Pentium placed above and will manage 64,000 colours at 818643 Price P90 8Mb/320Mb TFT £2,768 serial and SCSI. power down completely and power up in below the trackball, which is awkward at first 640 x 480 and colours are clear and sharp. Good Points Designed for practicality rather Contact ACi 0181 830 1958 The keyboard is light to the touch and exactly the same place. but does become quite comfortable. Brightness and contrast can be altered using than style. Comfortable to use. benefits from a deep wrist-rest.The trackball The ACi is not supplied with software as Good Points Pleasant to use, good In between the screen and the keyboard four keyboard function keys. Bad Points Small screen (9.4 inches). Poor has buttons positioned either side and slant- standard, although McAfee VirusScan and expandability in the docking station. is a small indicator panel displaying the sta- A huge docking station provided allows performance results. ed inwards, making it easy to use and several audio applets were bundled with the Bad Points Smallish hard disk, no bundled tus of various system features in the form of you to transform the Ezbook into a complete Conclusion Not as stylish or as well specified software. steady to the touch. At 9.5in the TFT screen review machine. DOS 6.22 and Windows 3.11 small icons. A dripping tap denotes power desktop system. The entire notebook is insert- as some of the notebooks in this round-up, and Conclusion User friendly and good value. slightly overpriced for what you get. is modestly sized, but images do appear will cost you £75 for the disks and the manu- consumption for example, and two battery ed inside the docking station with its screen

Adams Accura 5000 Dell Latitude Xpi

he first thing you you think they have been Considering the functionality of the note- n typical Dell style, power conservation and the base of the machine leaving a comfort- Tnotice about this thrown down without much book design, the docking station was one of Ithis notebook comes password security as well as able amount of room for a wrist-rest towards notebook is how thought. the more attractive ones on test. The fixing with lots of “Getting remap port settings. the front. A port replicator fits neatly to the noisy it is when you In use the Adams is hard device, however, looked a bit tacky and Started” help including Inside there’s a P90 back, providing Ethernet or Token Ring con- power up. It sounds work. Both the trackball and didn’t look as though it would stand up to too a large chart explaining processor, 16Mb of memory nections as well as a SCSI interface. like a jet engine with a the keyboard are sticky in feel, much misuse. Unusually, the Adams had a how to unpack and (upgradable to 40Mb) and a Eleanor Turton-Hill stone in the turbine, especially the trackball whose flopppy drive and one free front-facing slot. assemble the various 810Mb hard disk. Despite an but since it is a fairly buttons are stiff. With its Inside, there are two expansion slots and parts. Another “Getting extra 256Kb of SRAM Latitude Xpi powerful machine, industrial grey and purely room for a hard disk. Started” facility appears cache, performance results Price P90 16/810Mb TFT £3,918 maybe that is appro- functional design, it feels as if Adele Dyer on bootup, offering the were not stunning but did Contact Dell 01344 720200 priate. you are using a piece of indus- option to make backup rank above average among Good Points Well designed and easy to use The display is a trial machinery rather than a Accura 5000 system diskettes, and the P90s. The XPi uses lithi- with lots of guidance for novice users and 12 10.3in quad-scan, although there are no notebook. Price P90 8Mb/720Mb Quad Scan £3,068 in Windows you’ll find an on-line user’s um ion batteries which take an hour and a Contact Adams 0181 877 8822 months warranty. dedicated controls for brightness and con- The on-off switch is stiff too, and it takes a guide containing tips on travelling with your half to charge and last a maximum of four Bad Points Heavy and expensive. trast; settings are altered using a special good jab to finally turn the machine off when Good Points Large screen, large hard disk. notebook and conserving battery power. hours on the road. You can change the bat- Conclusion This machine comes from a key combination. The wrist-rest is just as you go to power down. All very non user Bad Points Plain design, unpleasant Other utilities have been pre-installed in teries without having to power down as an reliable source, produced reasonable test deep as the keyboard. Within this area are friendly, you might think, but there are keyboard. Windows under the group heading “The internal battery has enough power to keep results and is well designed, but its high price Conclusion At the cheaper end of the market, built-in speakers, microphone and track- redeeming features such as the IRDA port Dell Control Centre”, which allow you to the system going while you swap them over. compares badly with similarly specified styling has been sacrificed to performance. ball, arranged in such a way that makes fitted as standard. configure the display, speaker volume, The XPi’s keyboard takes up only half of machines in this round-up.

Compaq Contura 430CX Evesham Vale Voyager

ompaq launched appearance is stylish, but the monitor or not. The docking base provides ne of the most irri- although a touch small for my around 10 seconds to complete. Cthe Contura 420 lack of a wrist-rest ultimately an Ethernet connection as well as a battery Otating aspects of liking. The build quality of the The docking station is much larger than it and 430 range of note- makes for some discomfort. charging facility and extra security features the Voyager is its on/off case is poor and unlikely to needs to be. Inside there’s lots of empty books in June this year. And as the indented mouse which allow you to lock the whole unit to the switch — or should I stand up to any misuse. space even with devices installed. There’s The 430CX sits at the buttons are stiff, it’s difficult to desk. say, the lack of one. The Voyager was the only room for three full-length 16-bit ISA cards, top of the range with a work smoothly in Windows. Eleanor Turton-Hill Two key combinations system in this round-up to be one 3.5in and two 5.25in drives. All are 720Mb hard disk and A status panel in between (which cannot be supplied with its maximum accessible from the front panel. The rear of 8Mb of RAM as the keyboard and the screen Contura 430CX changed) turn it on and 20Mb RAM. In Windows 3.1 the docking station has ports for video, Price DX4/100 16/720Mb TFT £3,560 standard. Our review provides indicators for vari- off. It’s virtually impossi- there didn’t appear to be a comms, mouse and keyboard. Contact Compaq 0181 332 3888. model was supplied ous system features as well ble to switch off acciden- noticable difference in speed Steven Helstrip Fax 0181 332 3409 with 16Mb. as a battery gauge. The bat- tally, though. when compared to those fit- The eye-catching tery itself is an industry Good Points Stylish design, nice big screen. There’s nothing strik- ted with 16Mb, although Bad Points Stiff trackball buttons and lack of curvy design of this notebook makes it standard Duracell which allows up to five ing about the Voyager’sf looks but its usabil- there would be some performance difference Voyager wrist-rest make the keyboard uncomfortable to Price DX4/100 20/528Mb TFT £2,957 stand out in the crowd. The trackball in the hours’ use when fully charged. ity is among the best. The keyboard is a running Windows 95. Power management use. Contact Evesham 01386 765500 centre front of the base is indented into the The docking station comes in two parts — Conclusion Overpriced for a DX4/100, even good size and laid out well, with key combi- features are plenty but can only be accessed Good Points Great keyboard and trackball. plastic, with right and left mouse buttons a base providing hardware connectors, and a when you consider that the standard model nations to adjust contrast/brighness and through the BIOS setup program. A nice fea- Bad Points Ordinary looks, poor build quality. above and below. The keyboard takes up cover which fits on top to support an external with just 8Mb of RAM and no docking station audio output level. Both the keyboard and ture is the ability to automatically suspend to Conclusion A great notebook for the serious about three quarters of the base, leaving monitor, allowing you to use the docking sta- costs £2,995. the trackball have a good feel, and the TFT disk when the battery level gets dangerously typist, but not for the enthusiast. little room for a wrist rest. The general tion whether you’ve got a spare external display resolves text and graphics clearly low. Since 20Mb is installed, this takes

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Gateway 2000 Liberty

lthough it’s the small- “enter” key and a little aspect of this system though, other than its Aest notebook in this trickier to use, and almost size, is its suspend-to-disk facility. It takes round-up, the Liberty has useless if you’re left- just about one second to dump the entire one of the largest and stur- handed. contents of memory to disk, leaving you to diest screens. It is dual- There is no docking carry on from where you left off when you scan with controls for station option; instead, return to work. Returning from a suspend, brightness and contrast to the unit comes with an again, takes only a few seconds. the right. It is possible to IRDA port and infra-red Steven Helstrip display resolutions up to receiver that connects to 1024 x 768 by creating a the serial port of a desk- virtual desktop, although top PC. The IRDA port you can only view 640 x can send print jobs to Liberty 480 pixels on screen at any one time. compatible printers, and copy or move files to Price DX4/100 8Mb/720Mb Dual Scan £2,499 Contact Gateway 2000, 0800 602000 The keyboard is slightly smaller than full- a desktop PC. size but is comfortable to use. The only irri- With only the standard 8Mb installed, the Good Points Compact, powerful and light, tating thing is having to use the Fn, or Liberty is capable of running just about any with IRDA and good suspend mode. function, key to get to the number keypad. application you throw at it. Switching between Bad Points Pointing device may not suit everyone. The pointing device is along the lines of Word and Excel was surprisingly fast, as was Conclusion The compact nature of the Liberty IBM’s ThinkPad nipple only it’s above the the overall speed. The most remarkable belies its performance and feature set.

IBM 755 CX

his is IBM’s latest gem button. The full-size 16-bit ISA slot and double-speed CD-ROM Tbased on a 75MHz Lexmark keyboard is drive. Stereo speakers are built into the base Pentium processor. The excellent. of the unit and are more powerful than those sound card is DSP-based The 10.4in TFT display in the notebook. IBM also offers the Port 1 and is SoundBlaster com- is superb and capable of for £80 that provides basic port replicator patible. It can also double resolutions up to 800 x 600 features; Port II adds further PCMCIA slots up as a fax-modem, in 256 colours. DOS and costs £220. although you will first need boxes, however, run at 640 The 755CX is a solid performer and has a to add the telephony kit x 480. The review machine wealth of upgrade options. If only it was which costs an extra £115. was supplied with a 540Mb cheaper. Steven Helstrip This can be fitted easily, or hard drive with two parti- so we’re told. tions for OS/2 Warp and 755CX The lid opens by sliding two catches Windows 3.11. You can select which operat- Price P75 8/540Mb TFT £5,580 either side of the notebook. Again, IBM has ing system to use at boot. If, like most people, Contact IBM 0345 727272 used the trackpoint, or nipple, pointing you only need the one OS, any partition can Good Points Just about everything. Most device. The buttons can be locked to pre- be deleted using the built-in utility. notably, the screen and keyboard. vent accidental operation by pulling them The 755CX was supplied with the Dock I Bad Points A bit on the expensive side. forward. This will be useful in Windows 95 docking station. This adds a further two type Conclusion The typist’s and power user’s since it makes extensive use of the right II PCMCIA slots (or one type III), SCSI, one dream.

NEC Versa P75/S

he NEC’s power floppy disks are MediaDock, so you have to plug them into Tswitch is a pull lever, removable, allowing you to the notebook. which pulls the same way plug in extra PCMCIA The docking station itself is of more stan- for on and off, and the cards, a hard disk or sec- dard fare. There are two free ISA slots and trackball is on the front of ond battery. three free front-facing bays, two of which are the machine, at 90 The MediaDock has half-height. If you put in an extra hard disk, it degrees to the usual posi- been designed to expand will have to go in one of these slots. tion. It is surprisingly com- the adaptability of the Adele Dyer fortable when typing as Versa and is obviously you can let your thumb meant to be portable, hav- Versa P75/S hang down and use the ing a handle on the front. Price P75 8Mb/810 Mb TFT £4,680 (with MediaDock) trackball without having to As a mulitmedia machine it Contact NEC 0181 993 8111 move your whole hand. comes with a double-speed CD-ROM and The keyboard was too clicky for my lik- four speakers, but there are a couple of nig- Good Points Adaptable due to the removable ing, but the keys themselves are large and gles. The MediaDock considerably raises floppy drive. Good screen. Bad Points No wrist-rest, mediocre docking well spaced. There is no wrist-rest. the level of the notebook, so each time you station. The 9.5in display can display resolutions plug in the notebook, you also need to con- Conclusion The adaptability is useful, up to 800 x 600. Graphics and text are clear- nect a mouse and keyboard. There are no especially with the MediaDock. ly defined and contrast is high. The hard and keyboard and mouse ports on the

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Olivetti Echos 48

he Olivetti stands out around. The trackball is The port replicator supplied with the There not only for suitable for both left- and Echos simply duplicates ports for comms, being the most radical in right-handed users. video, mouse and keyboard and has no terms of design, but for Round the back there expansion facilities. The Echos attaches its build quality. The cas- are ports for video, parallel easily to it by means of a connector beneath ing is solid, the hinge for and serial along with two the machine. the display is firm and the PCMCIA slots capable of The Echos may seem a touch overpriced trackball has an air of doubling up as one type III. at £3,307, but when you consider its stylish quality about it. The battery sits beneath looks, build quality and usability, you’ll agree The power switch is the palm-rest and is easily it’s worth every penny positioned beneath the removed. While working Steven Helstrip 10.4in TFT display and with Windows, I managed cannot be accidentally switched on while the to get a good three hours’ use from this Echos 48 lid is closed. To the right of this are five machine. Power-management facilities are Price DX4/100 16/540Mb TFT £3,307 LEDs to show drive activity, power and bat- good allowing you to power individual com- Contact Olivetti 0181 785 6666 tery status. The keyboard is a good size but ponents including hard disk, screen and Good Points Solid build, solid performance. the keys have a short travel. The palm-rest processor after a set period. A suspend-to- Bad Points No docking station or infra-red is reasonably sized and has a rubbery sur- disk facility allows you to save the entire con- port. face keeping your hands from slipping tents of RAM to disk. Conclusion Excellent.

Rock Estima Sonata

espite the oversized used when the Estima is in working on a flat surface. The power-saving Dlook of the Estima, it the docking station, the features are good, with the option of has one of the smallest machine tends to wobble, suspending to hard disk or RAM. There is displays featured in this but there is no danger of it also the ability to change power-saving set- round-up. But thanks to coming loose since it gets tings “on the fly” without having to reboot. the TFT screen, resolu- locked-in with a key. Melvyn Mildiner tion is clear and easy on The keyboard feels the eye. Drivers supplied springy and the Home, End are capable of displaying and Page keys are a touch up to 800 x 600 on a vir- too small. Unless the keys Estima Sonata tual desktop and 1024 x are hit precisely they tend Price DX4/100 16Mb/510Mb TFT £2,946 768 on an external monitor. to tilt, so you hit more than one key at a time. Contact Rock Computers 01753 567889 The docking station is large and inside This is especially noticeable with the “a” and Good Points Lightweight; trackball and power- it’s tidy with plenty of room for expansion; Caps Lock keys. The trackball, on the other saving features; the price. there’s room for three full-length cards hand, is comfortable and the buttons are well Bad Points The keyboard. together with a CD-ROM or hard disk. The positioned for right- and left-handed users Conclusion One of the best pointing devices, but the keyboard is awkward and uncomfort- stand for the external monitor is secure and alike. able. The specification is good and the price is removable. If the notebook’s keyboard is Underneath the machine are feet for rais- reasonable. ing the rear, thereby creating a tilt for typists

Texas Instruments 4000M

nlike every other a disk into the floppy drive headphones, and SCSI II port. It also came Unotebook in this test, is a little awkward because with its own mouse. the docking station for the it’s also necessary to insert • Before going to press, TI announced an TI4000M has the option of about 1cm of finger. updated model which incorporates a new being battery powered as The keyboard was 10.4in TFT screen. There will be no change well as from the mains. good on the whole, in price. The advantage is CD- although the cursor and Melvyn Mildiner ROM and sound portabili- function keys were too ty, though the combined small for my liking. The weight of notebook and IBM-style “nipple” was 4000M docking station means responsive, marred only by Price DX4/100 16/500 9.5in TFT £3,897 that you won’t be using the keys which were a little Contact Texas Instruments 01932 761599 the two together on your lap on the train. too close together and, again, a tad too Good Points Docking station, display, world- The screen on this machine is good. It’s small. wide guarantee, SCSI II. a TFT with just one control to adjust bright- The docking station is what really sets Bad Points Some keys are too small; limited ness. The maximum resolution is 800 x 600 the TI apart from the rest. It has a built-in power-saving features. in 256 colours on a virtual screen, but on an double-speed CD-ROM drive, 16-bit sound Conclusion Great docking station. A very external monitor the TI4000M delivers up to card, stereo speakers (with an option for a capable machine at a reasonable price. 1280 x 1024, albeit in 16 colours. Inserting wide or narrow stereo field), microphone,

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Toshiba Satellite Pro 400CDT The secret of longer life he Toshiba Satellite supplier will soon be turning replicator (with an RRP of £250) is set a little TPro 400CDT is no out 11.3in screens in pro- apart from other port replicators by its addi- ordinary notebook. It is duction quantities; because tional two Type II slots. the only current of the way TFT screens and Toshiba already has a vast share of the notebook to boast a Pen- CRTs are measured, 11.3in UK notebook market — somewhere around tium processor and a TFT screens will have the 40% mark — and this model looks set to CD-ROM drive as stan- almost the same viewing capture the market among those who need dard, thus it is designed size as a 14in CRT monitor. all the extras. It’s not cheap, but then, the If there’s one fundamental for the most demanding This TFT can display true closest notebooks offered by IBM are a good rule of portable computing, it’s that the of road warriors. colour, or on an external deal more expensive. batteries will always start to run out at the vital The CD-ROM drive is monitor the Chips & Tech- Nick Lawrence moment. Fortunately, you should be warned by the a quad-speed, the bat- nologies graphics chip can PC when time is running out and you should save what you tery is a top-of-the-range lithium ion, and the cope with up to 1024 x 768 x 256, thanks to Satellite Pro 400CDT are doing and quit. As portables adopt faster processors, bigger built-in sound system is fully compatible with its 1Mb RAM. Price P90 16/700Mb TFT £4,440 hard disks and better screens, battery life becomes more of an the SoundBlaster Pro. The RAM comes in The IRDA-compatible infra-red capability Contact Toshiba 01932 841600 issue. Thankfully the situation is improving as more effecient batter- the form of EDO for better performance, provides a convenient way of getting files Good Points All the extras. ies and power management software begins to appear, but the bat- although the cache is asynchronous, rather between machines, or you could use a PCM- Bad Points No ISA or PCI slots in the docking tery that combines high capacity, fast recharge, low weight cells and than synchronous which is faster. CIA network card thanks to the two Type II station. low cost to both wallet and environment is still a long way off. The TFT screen is 10.4in, and Toshiba’s slots (configurable as one Type III). The port Conclusion Excellent. Nickel Cadmium (NiCad) batteries have a number of factors in their favour. Voltage levels remain relatively stable throughout the stable. Li-ion batteries are lighter, and cells can supply up to three Twinhead Slimnote 5100T discharge cycle; repeated discharging and recharging does little times more power, display little voltage depression effect, and dis- damage; recharge cycles are short, and prices are falling. The main charge less when stored. They are greener than nickel-based batter- he Slimnote 5100T’s naturally be better with DX4/100 processor. 8Mb RAM comes as drawback for users is energy density. Size for size, they hold less ies when disposed of, and a longer life makes this less frequent. Tpointing device is external speakers. standard, and though the memory chips are charge than other types, which may mean carrying extra units All portables come with some form of power-management facility, made by Alps, is com- The screen is a TFT of proprietary design, the upgrade to 16Mb around. The constituent materials are also bad for the environment whether it’s built into the BIOS or controlled by software. These have pletely flat and operated model, and the Cirrus Logic (as this machine has) should cost you only when disposed of improperly. various ‘sleep’ settings to suspend processor, screen and disk activi- by moving your finger graphics chip has 1Mb £320. The hard disk comes in three sizes, Nickel-Metal Hydride (NiMH) batteries, on the other hand, may ty when the keyboard, mouse and serial port are not being used, along its surface. The RAM, sufficient to display 340Mb, 500Mb and 810Mb. Since the hold up to 80 percent more charge than NiCADs, but they charge which significantly extends battery life. In addition to this, processors keys are not too small, 1024 x 768 x 256 on an machine reviewed has the largest, its cost more slowly and cost much more. are now using less power than before. *** Although hard disks are with sufficient travel, and external monitor. If the works out at a total of £3,554. One drawback of both NiCADs and NiMHs is that they should be increasing in capacity, phsically they are becoming smaller. The there is a suspend-to- NiMH battery does not sup- Nick Lawrence fully discharged before reuse. Failure to do this reduces the charge result is smaller platters that need less power to drive. disk option. The Phoenix ply enough juice, you can capacity of the battery and its effective life and is known as ‘voltage If you intend to spend most of your time running a notebook from BIOS allows you to save swap the floppy disk drive depression’. batteries, it’s useful to know if the batteries can be recharged without the contents of RAM to for a second battery. Fur- Slimnote 5100T Other technologies such as Lead Sulphuric Acid have been tried being connected to the PC. Where portables are pooled, this allows disk and pull them out again when you turn ther expansion comes in the form of two Price DX4/100 16Mb/810Mb TFT £3,949 but none have succeeded. Now, Lithium-ion (Li-ion) batteries are separate charging of spare batteries and quicker re-issue times. If Contact Twinhead 01256 811366 the computer on, to carry on working where Type II PC card slots, which can be config- being promoted by prominent portable makers such as the industry you’re going to use the PC mainly off the mains, then batteries aren’t you left off. ured as a single Type III instead. The dock- Good Points All the extras; the trackball (for leader Toshiba. so important. For use on the move, though, close attention to weight, The built-in sound is fully SoundBlaster ing station allows you to put in three ISA most people). Lithium itself is highly dangerous but this Li-ion form is very recharge times, life and other factors is essential. compatible and the speakers and cards, though the design is rather poor and Bad Points The docking station is not too well designed; the trackball (for some) microphone are built-in as well, though for there is a lot of wasted space. Conclusion Well worth a look. presentations the sound quality would Raw horsepower is taken care of by the What to look for in a portable In general, one desktop PC is often just the same as Portables come with a large variety of pointing Viglen Dossier P5 AS the next. When it comes to portables, though, the devices in place of the standard mouse, such as track- range of models is far more diverse. For light use, balls, mini-mice and the IBM-style “nipple”. Of course, iglen, now owned by digital audio and MIDI files. configurable as a single Type III. almost any decently constructed portable will do. it’s largely a matter of personal choice, so you should VAmstrad, likes to The docking station has The pointing device is a trackball, which, When the notebook becomes your primary PC, try out a few types before you buy. Also, check that the play it safe with notebook stereo speakers built-in but despite a slightly dated look, does the job though, the keyboard layout, pointing device and portable has two serial ports; one for a modem and one design. This particular you can play sounds on the well. The keys have sufficient travel to be screen quality become more important. for an external mouse. As long as you have a flat sur- model has been move, although the built-in comfortable. The NiMH battery has power to Don’t let anyone kid you that screen size and qual- face to work on a standard mouse can make working designed and manufac- speakers aren’t sufficiently last a couple of hours, and is safer but not as ity aren’t important. The display is what you spend with Windows much easier. tured in Taiwan, and is powerful for group presen- long-lasting as the newer lithium ion. most of your time looking at, not the notebook itself, If there is one item that can make or break a similar to the notebooks tations. The infra-red port is Supplied software includes Lotus and therefore text, icons and graphics need to be portable (and its user) it is the quality and layout of the offered by Adams Tech- fully IRDA compatible and Organizer and Cardsoft utilities to manage clear. If you work with spreadsheet applications regu- keyboard. There is an automatic trade-off between size nology and Opti. capable of 100Kb/sec PCMCIA slots. This rounds off a safe but larly, it’s well worth considering one of the portables and keyboard usability, so it is important to determine The spec is good: a throughput. uninspiring package. Nick Lawrence capable of displaying 800x600 as this will allow you to the type of use beforehand. For writing reports on the P90 processor comple- The TFT screen is view more of your work on-screen. The majority of move, a larger keyboard makes more sense despite mented by 16Mb RAM and a 530Mb hard 10.4in and capable of displaying 640 x 480 Dossier P5 AS systems in this round-up will only display 640x480, the increased shoulder-ache. Subnotebooks are easier disk. The standard 8Mb memory is upgrad- in 256 colours, while viewing on an external Price P90 16/530Mb TFT £3,716 but drivers that provide a virtual desktop are becom- to carry but aren’t ideal for intensive typing. able to 40Mb through proprietary memory in monitor can be enjoyed up to 1024 x 768 x Contact Viglen 0181 758 7000 ing more popular. The range of possible viewing Another problem of keyboard use is that the base the form of two piggyback memory modules, 256. The docking station can take two ISA angles differs between screens and for group use this unit of the portable is often quite deep and this can Good Points Windows performance. of which an 8Mb upgrade will cost you £309. cards and contains a second 3.5in floppy is crucial. TFT screens, although often twice the price soon cause wrist-ache. Only one or two machines have Bad Points On the expensive side. The built-in sound is fully SoundBlaster disk drive. Further expansion comes with the Conclusion Unexciting. as dual scan, are better all-round and are worth the thin bases but this usually means sacrificing the floppy compatible and capable of playing both two Type II PCMCIA devices, also investment if your wallet can stretch that far. drive or some other component.

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Mobile communication

A mobile phone provides an invaluable link for the travelling busi- Vodafone system will receive these messages, but since linking digital nessman, so it seems logical that it should be the solution for the phones to computers is quite new it’s considered pointless to be able portable computer user. to allow phones to originate messages as that would necessitate typ- But it’s not quite that simple. Mobile phone links will never be ing messages, using combinations of keys on the numeric keypad. as good as bits of buried copper. Sending information — be it Links to computers mean that sending and receiving SMS voice or data — over a wireless link is always subject to interfer- messages is a good, cheap, alternative to real data. You can establish ence. The problem is also complicated by a lack of standards. a pretty reliable 9600bps link and use software compression. Not an There is no way to connect any mobile phone to any computer; it’s amazing speed but tolerable for most applications, such as updating always necessary to choose the right phone for the right computer. sales information or running an SQL enquiry. With the right hardware, Analogue, cellular and PCMCIA solutions work, but not that speeds of 57,600bps are theoretically possible. well. In practice, you’ll see an unreliable 2400bps — unlikely to Simon Rockman attract a flashing blue light as you steam down the digital super highway. More attractive are the digital networks. Current systems are oper- ated by Orange, Cellnet and Vodafone. Until recently, using digital mobile phones for data was great in theory, but duff in practice. Vodafone launched a special service in October last year, Cellnet a more comprehen- sive package in November with Orange follow- ing in June of this year. The Vodafone system has limited use, only allowing you to log into a remote computer. Cellnet, on the other hand, offers more advanced services, including the ability to send and receive faxes via your mobile phone. The Orange system is as comprehen- sive as Cellnet’s, only much cheaper. A standard known as SMS (Short Message Service) works like a pager. Even if you are on the phone a 160-character text message can be transmitted to the display on the handset. The

Dual-scan and TFT compared

The earliest portables used traditional (but small) less discernible. cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which had to be treat- More recently, additional layers of liquid crystal ed delicately. New technologies were clearly have been added to create dual and triple-scan dis- needed if portables were ever to catch on. A num- plays. These correct the original distortion to ber of other technologies were introduced but fell improve contrast, the number of greyscales and the by the wayside. viewing angle. The other side of the coin is that Scaled up from calculators, LCDs were soon extra layers mean greater thickness and weight. seen as the way forward, but even they had draw- Many companies have adopted Thin Film Tran- backs. The contrast was low, making outdoor use sistor (TFT) technology to improve colour portable difficult, and viewing angles were restricted, which screens. Microscopic resistors directly (or actively) stopped groups from seeing anything on the screen. control how each transistor works with the result that each pixel is Passive Matrix screens use a fine layer of crystalline liquid sand- independent of the adjacent ones, making contrast and clarity much wiched between super-thin layers of glass. A grid or matrix of elec- better and the colours rich and vibrant. TFT screens can be made trodes allows a current to be passed through lines on the screen. much thinner than LCDs and refresh rates now approach CRT Pixels are formed where two intersect. A couple of polarising filters speeds, making simultaneous connection to an external monitor control how light passes through the screen. When the current is possible. switched on, the crystals in that area change orientation and the fil- When choosing a screen type, it’s also important to look at the ters block out the light, making the pixels appear dark. size of the palette. Even if a screen can only display 256 colours To add colour, extra pixels and filters are needed. If you stare simultaneously, being able to choose from many more makes the closely at your domestic TV screen you will see that each dot of effective screen quality much higher. Palettes of 64K and 256K colour is made up of three pixels corresponding to red, green and colours enhance clarity enormously. blue (RGB). Combining these three colours produces the spectrum. TFT screens are hard to manufacture, and can cost up to £500 Unfortunately, the imprecise nature of the LCD matrix means more than their LCD equivalent. VGA screens need 921,600 transis- that it is impossible to turn a pixel on without affecting adjacent ones. tors (640 x 480 x 3) and each has to be perfect. Early production “Crosstalk” reduces sharpness and clarity. Contrast is much reduced techniques yielded only a 20% success rate. Today this is around and the viewing angle greatly restricted. Colours are muted and 80% — better, but far from perfect.

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Performance Results Editor’s Choice be that you have specific requirements — a patible audio. Although the CDT400 is one of network card, for example. These should the more expensive portables in this round- Overall also be weighed up before you make your up, it comes from the largest and most popu- purchase. lar notebook manufacturer. Excellent. When we were considering products for The IBM 755CX cannot go without a Each time we put a notebook group test Editor’s Choice, the five areas we paid most mention. Overall this system is superb and 7 together, the range of products increases attention to were usability, build quality, per- ideally suited to the power user. The 6 The calculate the overall substantially. This time around we looked formance, features and cost. As there isn’t a keyboard, as per usual, is the typist’s dream; 5 score, the results from only at those with docking-station options, system that combines excellent features in the display is stunning and capable of reso- Windows and DOS tests are but even so, we were presented with 15 all these areas, there has to be a trade-off. lutions up to 80 x 600, and the overall look 4 weighted according to their vastly different systems. Not just in the way The system that impressed us all (price and feel is polished. The 755CX is Highly 3 influence on overall system they look, but the whole thing: different dis- excepted) was the Toshiba CDT400, which Commended, although its £5,580 price tag performance. All results are plays, pointing devices, upgrade options... is our Editor’s Choice. It has one of the best could offend. 2 pitched against a score of 1 The list goes on. 10.4in TFT screens in this test (soon to be Another machine that impressed just 1 for an Apricot XEN-PC It seems the most important considera- 11.3in), that produces high-contrasting about everyone who laid eyes upon it was 486DX/25 with 8Mb RAM. tion when choosing a notebook PC is no colours and is viewable from wide angles. In the Gateway Liberty. Despite being subnote- 2.72 2.55 2.68 3.49 2.65 4.08 0 3.72 4.32 2.71 2.37 3.88 2.81 3.12 3.37 5.63 longer how fast the system performs: any true Toshiba fashion the keyboard is great, book in size, the keyboard and display were TI ACi Dell IBM CTX NEC Rock 486 system is capable of running a word and features a surprisingly usable “nipple”- surprisingly large and high quality. The point- Adams Olivetti Viglen Compaq Toshiba Evesham Gateway Twinhead processor, spreadsheet and database. style pointing device. As for features, the ing device proved to be a little awkward for More important is how comfortable you are Tosh just about has it all: quad-speed CD- some, but its size, price, excellent power when using it, so it is well worth trying a ROM drive; masses of expansion capabili- management and overall charm just about few out before parting with your cash. Pri- ties, thanks to four PCMCIA slots when outweighed this. The Gateway also walks marily you should pay close attention to linked to the port replicator; IRDA-compati- away with the much coveted Highly Windows the keyboard, display and trackball. It may ble infra-red port; and Sound Blaster-com- Commended award.

7 The IRDA specification 6 The Windows tests take Linking computers together makes them more powerful. It also ties them to tage of the standard is that there is no security. Irda relies upon the limited 5 results from macros run in one place. Infra-red communications has the benefit of communication distance and line of sight transmission to stop unwanted snoopers from 4 Word 6.0a, Excel 5.0, without the ties of a docking station or PCMCIA network card. In theory you reading your beam. If you are concerned you can add software encryption. WordPerfect 6.0a and can plonk your computer on your desk and instantly have access to your The invisible network is still a little way off, but infra-red printing is a real- 3 FoxPro 2.6, forming a network, printer and modem. No wires, no fuss. All this is done by having ity thanks to the Hewlett Packard LaserJet 5. This has an Irda port on the 2 result from their geometric the computer communicate by means of what is effectively Morse code. The front in addition to the standard printer ports on the back and is supplied mean. computer flashes lights at the network which reads them and flashes a with the necessary driver software. There is a 30° field of view, so lining the 1 response. The light is invisible and the flashes incredibly fast but that is the notebook up is not critical. Though it has an effective range of three metres, 3.82 4.52 2.89 2.55 4.00 3.00 3.22 3.35 3.73 0 2.93 2.77 2.77 3.65 2.90 4.52 principle. It’s still only theoretically possible, but we’re getting there. keeping closer is more reliable, and the specification for Irda says that you TI Of course, for this to work you need a standard. There is a standard for should be within a metre. The LaserJet 5 is a PCL or PostScript printer, nei- ACi CTX Dell IBM NEC Rock Adams Olivetti Viglen infra-red TV remote controls to make sure that changing channels doesn’t ther of which are particularly compact file formats, but in tests the slow Compaq Gateway Toshiba Evesham Twinhead stop the video or open the curtains. For computer communications the transmission rate did not hamper the performance, even on a page with a lot devices need a better level of compatibility than just ignoring messages of graphics. The software error-corrects so there is no degradation in image meant for another device. To this end Hewlett-Packard, which pioneered the quality. Serial Infra-Red standard, organised the Infra-Red Data Association (Irda) A peculiarity which seemed to hamper some devices was over-bright- which now has over 100 members, including chip makers, computer manu- ness. Getting too close could cause the transmission to break down. DOS facturers, and printer manufacturers. This initial specification was launched While print speed might not be affected by the slow serial transfer rate in March 1994 and is just beginning to spread in popularity. It works at the other uses for Irda will benefit tremendously from them. Chief among short range, and being light-based, is of course line of sight – with a speed these is file transfer. A number of manufacturers provide machine-to- 7 of 115k bps. Since infra-red LEDs are very cheap and the switching is sim- machine links by using the Tranxit, Laplink-like, software. This allows files to 6 ple, the cost of adding Irda to a device is tiny, and the power consumption be transferred from one machine to another as easily as if they were on the The DOS test are based on very low. It’s a standard which is bound to take off, and IBM, Apple, HP, Dig- hard disk of a single machine by dragging and dropping, but it does not have 5 WordPerfect 6.0b, Lotus 1-2-3 ital Equipment, Texas Instruments and Gateway 2000 have at least one some of the more advanced features of systems like LapLink. 4 Release 3.4 and FoxPro 2.5, machine with an Irda port in the range. So expect Compaq and Toshiba to Psion is working on a future version of the Gold Card modem which will with individual results follow. There are also adapters which allow a standard serial port to transmit have Irda in addition to the traditional cable link Adding an LED to a device 3 combined through a geometric Irda. Adaptec, Lexmark and specialist company Extended Systems have which already has many of the components necessary for a serial port 2 mean. such add-ons. Tulip even has a desktop machine with an Irda port. peripheral makes sense, but the major problem is one of the viewing angle – 1 Just as the new standards start to become popular, a new standard most PCMCIA sockets are not in the best position for pointing at the printer. which allows faster rates of transmission – 1.5Mbps and beyond – is being We are bound to see (or not see) more infra-red devices. It’s an inexpen- 2.87 2.84 3.39 4.37 2.80 4.33 0 4.95 5.49 2.90 2.55 5.19 3.04 3.72 4.69 4.70 written for the Irda specification. This is not quite as damning as it seems sive, flexible way of linking devices, which requires little power or board TI ACi Dell IBM since the new specification allows backwards compatibility to run at the old space. It’s ideal for pocket computers and works well in an environment CTX NEC Rock Adams Olivetti Viglen Compaq Toshiba speed. The first device to support the 1.15Mbps speed is the IBM ThinkPad. where a number of users want to share a printer without installing a network. Evesham Gateway Twinhead This can communicate with Irda devices at 115k and with devices like the It’s not a universal solution – it doesn’t replace the network just yet – but for Apple Newton and Sharp IQ using older standards at 9600bps. A disadvan- many people it will be a better bet than a docking station.

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TABLE OF FEATURES Top ten tips for buying and using portables 1. That old maxim “try before you buy” couldn’t be more true when it comes to Manufacturer ACI Adams Compaq choosing a notebook PC. The variety of Model Name 7600 Pentium Accura 5000 Contura 430CX portables, in terms of design and Phone No. 0181 830 1958 0161 877 8822 0181 332 3888 performance, is astounding. Fax No. 0181 830 1959 0161 877 8684 0181 332 3409 2. One of the best ways to test out a Price of Machine Reviewed £2,768 £3,068 £3,560 portable’s suitability for Windows use is SPECIFICATION also one of the simplest. Fire up the includ- Processor Type and Speed Pentium 90 Pentium 90 DX4/100 ed Solitaire and have a go. If you find it RAM Supplied (MB) 16 16 16 hard to move and position the cards in RAM Maximum (MB) 40 40 32 Solitaire, then it is likely to be difficult to Hard Disk Supplied (MB) 540 710 720 move blocks of text and graphics around in Floppy Disk (Int/Ext) Internal Internal Internal more general use. PCMCIA Slots Two Two Two 3. Don’t be seduced by that faster proces- Pointer Type Trackerball Trackball Trackball sor or that better screen unless you really CONNECTORS need them. If your needs simply involve Serial Port (Std/Enh) Enhanced Enhanced Standard word processing, look for the notebook Parallel Port (Std/Enh) Enhanced Enhanced Enhanced with the best keyboard and pointing device. IRDA Option? No Yes No If you are likely to be dealing with graph- DISPLAY ics, only then does the screen become a big Display Type TFT Quad Scan TFT issue. Screen Size (inches) 9.5 10.3 10.4 4. Make sure you choose a system with On-screen Colours @ 640x480 256 256 256 sufficient RAM. Although Word and Excel External Colours @ 1024x768 256 256 256 will run nicely with 8Mb under Windows POWER SUPPLY 3.11, native applications running on Win- Battery Technology NiMh NiMh NiMh dows 95 and OS/2 require 12 or 16Mb to Claimed Battery Life (Hours) 2.5 hours 2.5 - 3 hours 3-5.5 hours run at their best. Claimed Recharge Time in use) 2 hours 3 hours Not Supplied 5. Build quality is important. Notebooks PHYSICAL SIZE assigned to particular individuals for long Dimensions (WxDxH) cm 28.3 x 23.2 x 5.3 27.9 x 21.8 x 5.15 22.6 x 30.4 x 5.4 periods will generally be treated better Weight with Battery (Kg) 2.9 3.09 2.84 than those which pass through many hands DOCKING STATION regularly. In the latter case, it is important CD-ROM option Yes Yes No to buy portables that will take real Hard Drive option Yes Yes No hammering. This may be more important PCMCIA Slots Yes No No in the long term than a better screen or Network card, type No Optional Ethernet compatible bigger disk. Game port No No No 6. Removable floppy disks allow longer Sound Yes Yes No times between recharges by giving space to Physical size (WxDxH) cm 37 x 36.7 x 12.6 38.2 x 37 x 11.9 22.83 x 3.49 x 30.29 a second battery, and the absence of the SOFTWARE floppy can help avoid viruses and games Operating System version Not included Windows 3.11 Win 3.1 which clog the disk and reconfiguration of Business Applications None None None the setup. File transfer can be done by the Multimedia Titles None None None system’s administration staff centrally. Other Utilities Utilities Tabworks, Learning centre 7. With portables being so modular, it is SALES AND SUPPORT tempting to buy a base model and then Basic Warranty Length 1 year 1 year 3 years parts and labour upgrade later as funds allow. The On-site Service available (cost) No No See dealers drawback is overall cost. Nearly all the Extended Warranty Available Yes Yes Yes major components of a portable are propri- Sold through Dealers or Direct Direct Direct Dealer etary and considerably more expensive than their desktop counterparts. Look at TABLE CONTINUES ON NEXT PAGE the RAM prices, for example. You can be their own staff. Naturally, this will work 10. In the early days, many batteries expected to pay upwards of £100 per out more expensive than doing it yourself. could be recharged externally with a sepa- megabyte, compared with around £30/Mb It is also an important issue for anyone rate charger — a spare could be charged for standard SIMMs. Generally speaking, needing to upgrade a whole batch of up while the main battery was in use and it works out cheaper to buy the spec you machines because of shipping costs and the two later swapped over. The trend will need long term from the outset than the loss of equipment for several days. today seems to be against this as none of upgrade later on. 9. The display becomes very important if the manufacturers supplied external 8. Most of the models on test allowed the the notebook is to be used by large groups chargers. For anyone managing a large user to make the upgrade — sometimes of people. The viewing angle is very much group of portables, the logistics of keep- this was easy, other times hard. Many more restricted with a dualscan screen ing everyone supplied with power can eas- manufacturers insist on processor than with TFT screens, which allow more ily become a nightmare, so talk to your upgrades through recognised engineers or people to see the screen at once. supplier about this before you buy.

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TABLE OF FEATURES

Manufacturer CTX Dell Evesham Micros Gateway 2000 IBM NEC Olivetti Rock ComputersTexas Instruments Toshiba Twinhead UK Viglen Manufacturer Model Name EzBook Latitude XPi Vale Voyager Liberty Thinkpad 755 CX Versa P75S Echos 48CP Estima Sonata TravelMate 4000M 400CDT Slimnote 5 Dossier P5 Advanced Sound Model Name Phone No. 01923 818461 01344 720000 01386 765500 0800 60 2000 0345 727272 0181 993 8111 0181 785 6666 01753 567899 01784 212739 01932 828828 01256 811366 0181 758 7000 Phone No. Fax No. 01923 818643 01344 860187 01386 765354 010 353 1 848 2022 0345 727272 0181 235 4945 0181 780 8191 01753 567007 01784 212662 01932 852167 01256 811142 0181 758 7080 Fax No. Price of Machine Reviewed £3,048 £3,918 £2,957 £2,499 £5,580 £4,680 (With MediaDock) £3307 £2,946 £3,897 £4,440 £3,949 £3,716 Price of Machine Reviewed SPECIFICATION SPECIFICATION Processor Type and Speed 486DX4/100 Pentium 90 i486DX4/100 i486DX4/100 Pentium 75 Pentium 75 i486DX4/100 i486DX4/100 i486DX4/100 Pentium 75 i486DX4/100 Pentium 90 Processor Type and Speed RAM Supplied (MB) 16 16 20 8 8 8 16 16 20 16 16 16 RAM Supplied (MB) RAM Maximum (MB) 32 40 20 24 40 40 24 32 20 40 32 40 RAM Maximum (MB) Hard Disk Supplied (MB) 524 810 528 720 540 810 540 510 524 770 810 540 Hard Disk Supplied (MB) Floppy Disk (Int/Ext) Internal Internal Internal External Internal Internal (&removable) Internal Internal Internal External Internal Internal Floppy Disk (Int/Ext) PCMCIA Slots Two Two Two Two Two Two Two Two Two Two Two Optional PCMCIA Slots Pointer Type Trackball Trackball Trackball Nipple Trackpoint III Trackball Trackball Trackball Nipple Nipple Touchpad Trackerball Pointer Type CONNECTORS CONNECTORS Serial Port (Std/Enh) Standard 16550 UART Enhanced Standard Standard Enhanced Standard Enhanced Standard Standard Enhanced Enhanced Serial Port (Std/Enh) Parallel Port (Std/Enh) Enhanced Enhanced Enhanced Standard Standard Enhanced Enhanced Enhanced Enhanced Enhanced Enhanced EPP/ECP support Parallel Port (Std/Enh) IRDA Option? No No No Yes Yes No No No No No No Yes IRDA Option? DISPLAY DISPLAY Display Type TFT TFT TFT Duel Scan TFT TFT TFT TFT TFT TFT TFT TFT Display Type Screen Size (inches) 9.4 10.4 11 10.4 10.4 9.5 10.4 9.5 9.5 10.4 9.4 10.4 Screen Size (inches) On-screen Colours @ 640x480 64,000 16,000,000 512 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 262,000 On-screen Colours @ 640x480 External Colours @ 1024x768 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 256 External Colours @ 1024x768 POWER SUPPLY POWER SUPPLY Battery Technology NiMh Lithium Ion NiMh NiMh Lithium Ion NiMh NiMh NiMh NiMh Lithium Ion NiMh NiMh Battery Technology Claimed Battery Life (Hours) 3-6 hours 4 hours 2 hours 4 hours 3 hours 5 hours 4-6 hours 2 hours 3-5 hours 4.5 hours 3 hours 1.5-2 hours Claimed Battery Life (Hours) Claimed Recharge Time in use) 2 hours 2 hours 1.5 hours System off: 2 hours 2-3 hours 2.7 hours 1.5 hours 2 hours 12-16 hours 2-3 hours 3 hours (not “in use”) 8 hours Claimed Recharge Time in use) PHYSICAL SIZE PHYSICAL SIZE Dimensions (WxDxH) cm 28.4 x 21.8 x 4.1 27.9 x 22 x 5.1 26.8 x 22.4 x 5.7 25.4 x 20.3 x 4.1 29.7 x 21 x 5 29.2 x 23.3 x 5.5 28.6 x 21.6 x 4.4 28 x 23 x 5 21.6 x 27.9 x 4.9 29.9 x 23 x 5.5 30 x 39 x 10 27.8 x 22 x 4.9 Dimensions (WxDxH) cm Weight with Battery (Kg) 2.68 2.77 2.7 1.9 2.9 3.22 2.45 2.8 2.9 3.3 2.81 2.9 Weight with Battery (Kg) DOCKING STATION Port replicator DOCKING STATION CD-ROM option Yes No Yes N/A Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes CD-ROM option Hard Drive option Yes No Yes N/A No Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Hard Drive option PCMCIA Slots - No No N/A 1 x 16bit AT-Bus No No No Yes Two type III Two Type II No PCMCIA Slots Network card, type Optional No Yes N/A Optional N/A No Option PCMCIA Type II PCMCIA PCMCIA Optional Network card, type Game port Optional No Yes N/A Yes No No Yes Yes No Yes No Game port Sound 16bit No No N/A Yes Yes No Yes Yes No Yes Yes Sound Physical size (WxDxH) cm 30 x 10 x 14 - 34.2 x 42.5 x 14 N/A 410 x 250 x 102 43.6 x 41.6 x 13.4 - 41 x 34 x 16 19.9 x 11 x 7.3 29.9 x 23 x 5.5 32 x 40 x 13 38 x 36 x 14.5 Physical size (WxDxH) cm SOFTWARE SOFTWARE Operating System version Windows 3.11 Windows 3.11 Windows 3.11 Windows 3.11 Windows 3.11, OS2 Windows 3.11 Windows 3.11 Windows 3.11 Windows 3.11 Windows 3.11 Win 95 or 3.11 Windows 3.11 or Win 95 Operating System version Business Applications None Office (optional) None MS Office 4.3 Pro Organiser CCMail Mobile None Lotus organiser None None None None Works, Lotus Organiser Business Applications Multimedia Titles None None None None Screencam, VFW Runtime None None None Jazz sound system None None None Multimedia Titles Other Dos 6.2 None Utilities Windows 95 Audiofile Talk, Works None None Audio utilities Utilities Audio apps. None PCMCAI and Audio utils Other SALES AND SUPPORT SALES AND SUPPORT Basic Warranty Length 3 years 1 year 1 year 1 year 3 years 1 year 1 year 3 years 1 year 3 years 1 year 1 year Basic Warranty Length On-site Service available (cost) Standard £79 12.5% of RRP N/A 12 Months free £185 for 3 years On application No No No £39 : first year £149 On-site Service available (cost) Extended Warranty Available Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes No No Not from Toshiba Yes Yes Extended Warranty Available Sold through Dealers or Direct Dealers Direct Direct Direct Both Dealers Dealers Direct Dealers Dealers Dealers Direct Sold through Dealers or Direct

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and “Getting started” overviews, through switched back to centre-radius. Three-dimensional drawing is never a series of detailed tutorials, to a Another welcome change, and the sort easy, but view management has been Whether you’re just sketching outlines complete reference on the CD, comple- of thing that users of humble illustration made a lot easier by the inclusion of a menting several bookshelf-inches of packages take for granted, is that hatching simple visual protractor-style control for or mastering the art of serious 3D printed material. (pattern fill) is now associative. The hatch establishing the angle and elevation of modelling, there’s something here for you. The first pleasant surprise is that there command can now also automatically the view point. Boolean operations — is now a thumbnail preview option in the detect “holes” in an object without having adding and subtracting intersecting solids Tim Nott is hit for six. “File/Open...” dialogue. Although this to select the object and all its holes indi- — is now much easier, and rendering would seem a basic user right, consider vidually. Clicking on an object with no options now include Phong as well as that until recently DOS AutoCad veterans active tool selects it for editing, again a Gourod methods. Text can be handled in had to view a list of files, remember the Windows drawing de facto standard. paragraphs, there’s a spelling checker, filename they wanted, then clear the Other things haven’t changed. You and for real power drawing, multilines screen before typing in the filename. can’t have more than one drawing loaded can now consist of up to sixteen parallel There have been great leaps forward at once, and the arrangement of views is lines of various styles and colours. in toolbars. Version twelve heaped every- still most un-Windows like. And there are thing into one big messy palette. This still some aspects of the button-bar inter- time there are multiple, place-anywhere face that have a way to go: buttons don’t PCW Details toolbars for drawing, modifying, dimen- “stick down” to remind you of the current AutoCad Release 13 sioning, zooming and so on. They all selected tool, and the interface for object Price £3,150 have tool-tip bubble help, and can all be snapping is still rather awkward. You can Contact Autodesk UK 01483 303322 of the best customised by dragging and dropping snap to the end or midpoint of a line, for Good Points Vast improvements to Contents from a palette of available commands. example, on a one-off basis from a but- both the Windows interface and the AutoCad Release 13 198 Autodesk has also discovered fly-outs, ton bar. To set up running, multiple snaps online help with this release. Powerful, ast time we took a group look at Microstation 5.0 199 centre and radius, three points, and so — say you want to snap to ends of lines flexible and accessible to third-party CAD software, we covered almost on. An oversight here means the right and centres of circles until further notice development. L Microstation Powerdraft 5.5 200 mouse button, or digitiser “enter” button, — you have to open and close a dialogue Bad Points Expensive and complex — everything currently available. This time Visual CADD 202 which traditionally repeats the last com- box. AutoCad’s tiny sibling, Autosketch, still requires dedication and training. we’ve been more selective, limiting the Conclusion Undoubtedly the industry FloorPlan Plus 3D 2.0a 202 mand, reverts to the default, so if you’ve does this much better, with one button choice to just six applications chosen standard, but not for the casual user. Drafix Quick Cad 205 just drawn a three-point circle, you’ll be bar with active snaps shown “pushed in”. because they’re either new, important or Add-ons 206 interesting. Prices range from under Table of features 206 Microstation 5.0 £100 to over £3,000, so there should be 6something for everyone. ormerly distributed by Integraph, Microstation’s developers, Bentley AutoCad Release 13 FSystems, have now taken control over their own destiny. Though not a he big daddy of them all, AutoCad menus, it’s still essential to be able to of this article, so I’ll confine myself to con- native Windows product, the “Windows has been around since 1983, but type in precise co-ordinates, and the centrating on what’s new. Despite its Connection” enables it to run under Win- Tonly recently has it embraced the command-line window also provides a cumbersome heritage, this release is a dows 3.x. You get a choice of interfaces, Windows interface. This version comes 400-line scroll-back history of commands. vast improvement over version twelve in with either Windows-style buttons and with both DOS and Windows versions on AutoCad is a huge and extremely pow- terms of ease of use. There is a generous dialogues, or the more elegant Motif the same CD. Because of its longevity, erful 2D and 3D modelling package, and amount of on-line help and documenta- interface, which is surprisingly like Win- one of the most important factors to a full feature list would take up the whole tion, ranging from hypertext “What’s new” dows 95. The only radical difference for Autodesk is backwards compatibility — Windows traditionalists is that the menu ten years is several generations in terms bar and status line are enclosed in their of software development, but a short time own free-range window. Despite this in a large building or engineering project. eccentricity, the interface is superb. The Compatibility is not just a question of main toolbox has fly-outs, in the usual file formats: there’s the question of cus- manner, but these can be torn off and tomisation, scripts and programming lan- dragged elsewhere on the screen, so guages, and interface essentials, which is you can have the tools you want to hand why you’ll find — unusually in a Windows in the area you’re working. They also application — a command-line interface expand to show the options for the cur- at the heart of the matter. A time-trans- rent tool — the number of sides to a poly- ported visitor from the 1980s could sit gon or numeric input boxes for line down at this version and type “LINE 2,2 length and angle, for example. employed as a pattern fill, such as brick- Superb 3D visualisation and rendering in 2,3” and get the accustomed result. Much use is made of “cells” — usually work, or as line terminators. A special Bentley’s Microstation Though most, if not all, commands can referred to as blocks or symbols kind of cell is “dimension driven”: when be now accessed from buttons and elsewhere — that consist of small draw- you place one of these you have a list of ings grouped in libraries that can be used dimensions that you can change on the Release 13’s brand new Windows over and over again, such as nuts and fly, so one cell of a gasket, for instance, Microstation excels in 3D construction interface in action bolts or standard architectural fitments. could have a variety of hole diameters and visualisation. Although you can only Cells have other uses, too: they can be and spacings. load one drawing at a time, you can have

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up to eight views of it and switch between have a similar range of editing tools as in consideration is given to workgroups with them seamlessly. Say you want to draw a 2D, so you can trim surfaces to an inter- the use of reference files. Using these is truncated cone. You pick the appropriate section, cut holes in surfaces, or stretch like electronic tracing paper: you can draw tool from the 3D objects menu and define them to fit a new curve. Especially useful “on top”, and connect objects to those in the base centre and radius in plan view. is the fillet tool: with this you can round off the reference drawing, without modifying Move the pointer over to a side view and or bevel the intersection of two surfaces, the latter. So members of a team can you can click in the height, before moving to create, for example, a smooth joint work, for instance, on various aspects of back to plan to define the top radius. between a pipe and a flange instantly. a building project , secure in the knowl- There’s far more here, though, than For visualising a 3D design, the built-in edge that no-one has moved the walls. drawing simple primitives such as boxes, rendering features are superb. You can spheres, cylinders, cones, wedges and assign “materials” to objects, control nat- tori. Say you want to draw some ducting. ural and artificial lighting, and cast shad- PCW Details You draw the centre line, which can ows. You can even add bitmapped Microstation 5.0 meander in three dimensions, then extrude pictures to a model: the trees and figures Price £3,495 the cross-section of the duct along the line. in the screenshot are transparency- Contact Bentley Systems (UK) You can define surfaces from indepen- masked bitmaps projected onto simple 01344 412233 dent curves such as contour lines, weave transparent blocks. Further rendering Good Points Well-designed interface, a mesh between joined sections, or options include a stereoscopic effect and superb 3D modelling and visualisation extrude a skin between two different the creation of animated “fly-throughs”. features. shapes along a curve. There’s the essential facility to attach Bad Points Needs updating to stay with the 32-bit competition. Having created 3D objects and text or numeric data to objects for data- Conclusion Number two in the CAD surfaces, the range of things you can do base export, import filters for DXF, CGM market — but it does try harder. with them is also rather impressive. You and AutoCad 12 DWG files, and special

Microstation Powerdraft 5.5

Powerdraft’s Accudraw makes 3D drawing easier

bottom scroll bar. As with Microstation you can have 63 levels and you can turn off the display of things such as dimen- sions or construction lines. Every 2D drawing tool you could think of is here, including Smartlines. These let you switch between arc and straight seg- ments on the fly, much like polylines else- where, but also let you chamfer or round off vertices automatically as you go. Snapping to objects takes a little getting used to: you have to press the “Tentative button” (both mouse buttons) then con- firm, cancel or try again with a second click. You can either use the default or a one-off, and although you don’t get the AutoCad flexibility of multiple running snaps, objects have keypoints — ends of lines, quadrants and centres of circles — which can be further subdivided to include on the CD. It has a similar fly-out and midpoints and octants, for example. lso from Bentley Systems, Power- tear-off button interface, this time with Another great aid is Accudraw. With draft is not so much a cut-down bubble help, but the tool settings dialogue this active, you get a co-ordinate box Aversion of Microstation as a new is a separate, context-sensitive box, that automatically has the keyboard application in its own right, despite the which is somewhat more economical in focus, and the mouse is also affected — “5.5” tag. For a start, it’s a true 32-bit Win- terms of screen space. Like Microstation a cross appears and as you move to a dows application — according to the doc- and AutoCad you can also key in near-right angle the line direction snaps. umentation it runs under Windows 3.1, commands. You can have up to eight The really clever bit is that you can with the supplied Win32s extensions, and windows on the same drawing, and — a reset the axes of the cross on the fly to NT. It also ran under the beta Windows good touch — each has a set of zoom draw a series of lines at right angles to 95, and a DOS version is again supplied and pan buttons tucked in beside the each other but rotated to the main

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drawing axes. management is simple and efficient with PCW Details Compared with Microstation, the 3D interactive “cube” controls for rotating Microstation Powerdraft 5.5 facilities are somewhat spartan. You are the viewpoint and applying perspective. Price £1,895 limited to “primitives” — spheres, cones As with Microstation, you can start an Contact Bentley Systems (UK) and slabs created directly — or solids object in one view and finish it in 01344 412233 Good Points Ease of use, with some formed by extruding a shape in a straight another, and the Accudraw feature is clever drawing aids. line or round an arc. Although you can especially useful here. There’s a more Bad Points Spartan 3D facilities twist and scale the object along a line, limited rendering feature, and though it makes it look rather overpriced. you can’t create more complex surfaces doesn’t support the Microstation Devel- Conclusion Go the extra for such as one defined by four 3D curves, opment Environment, there’s a Basic- Microstation if you want more than the like a car roof. On the positive side, view style macro language. basics of 3D.

Visual CADD

Multiple drawings the line, which saves a lot of time drawing — but not views — and erasing construction lines. Backward and Visual CADD’s redraw is another time-saver: as its name nifty right-mouse suggests this reverses the order in which menus the screen is redrawn, and with this turned on, you can update the display of the last few objects created, press rectangles, Escape, and carry on working without where you define having to wait for the entire view to a line at any update. angle for the There are some surprising omissions. height, then Although this is a 2D package, I did stretch out the expect to see some aids for isometric width. Similarly, drawing; the ortho rotation helps a little the “ortho” con- here, but not as much as a proper straint can have isometric constraint or grid. A more seri- its origin ous failing is that although you can have changed, so you more than one drawing open, you can’t can continue have multiple, linked views of the same drawing lines at drawing. Finally, a strong selling point is ne of several CAD products from right-angles to each other but at an angle Visual CADD’s open architecture, FastCad, Visual CADD was devel- to the drawing. enabling third parties to create custom Ooped by the creators of Generic The secret weapon in the interface is add-ons in Windows-based programming CADD as a native Windows application. the use of the right mouse button context- languages such as Visual C++ or Visual It’s strictly 2D, and its price of £495 puts it sensitive menus. If you’re drawing a poly- Basic. firmly in the mid-range. The interface is gon, for example, this menu will include a superficially fairly conventional — a choice of the number of sides. When PCW Details “speedbar” at the top of the screen con- drawing lines, this gives options to undo Visual CADD tains buttons including saving and open- the last section, switch snaps and Price £495 ing, clipboard access, zoom, grid and line constraints on and off, zoom in and out, Contact FastCAD Europe style; and a tool palette at the left of the and so on. Another excellent feature is 01923 246427 screen expands into “flyouts” of related the “Track” command. This is rather like Good Points Open to third-party tools. These, and the menus, can be cus- drawing without ink. Say you want to start programming, good drawing aids and tomised, but only by editing a text file. a line at a precise but awkward spot, such interface. Some thoughtful touches rapidly become as on a circle, 2.5 units left from the top Bad Points Limited to 2D, no multiple apparent. For example, the rectangle tool quadrant point. With tracking on, you’d viewports on same drawing. has two sub-options — normal snap to the quadrant, enter the units from Conclusion Expensive for a general- rectangles, that you define by their oppo- the keyboard, then with ortho on, snap purpose 2D drawing package, but its programmability makes it attractive to site corners and which are at right-angles down to the nearest point on the circle. vertical markets. to the drawing, and three-point Turn off tracking and you’re ready to start

FloorPlan Plus 3D 2.0a

loorplan is a 3D application specifi- windows, furniture and fittings. All draw- wall and slide the door into place. An cally for architectural modelling. As ing is done in 2D plan view, a floor at a opening is automatically created in the Fsuch, as well as the regular draw- time. Create a floor slab, then place wall, and the same trick works with win- ing tools for lines, ellipses, rectangles walls — you have a choice of styles, dows — even arched ones. etc, it has tools for floors, walls, pipes which you can add to or edit. Next select Having completed the first storey, you and stairs, with symbol libraries of doors, the door tool, choose a door style, pick a can move upstairs: up to 20 levels are

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Floorplan — and around this, and at any time render choosing a the viewport to see a solid model. door, and right, Precision drawing is not intended to be the rendered 3D Floorplan’s strong point. There’s an view adjustable grid to snap to, and walls will join to the previous segment, but that’s about it — you can’t snap to other objects or enter precise X-Y co-ordinates for a point. It is, however, very easy to use, and an ideal way of creating quick visuali- add a roof. The sations of simple architectural or room- roof editor is a planning projects. You can export both separate module, 2D and 3D DXF files, but unfortunately, and here you get a not import them more traditional view, split into three panes which PCW Details can each be FloorPlan Plus 3D 2.0a supported, and the ground floor walls altered to top, front, side or isometric Price £149 show through as a guide but are not view. As well as being able to create Contact FastCAD Europe 01923 editable. Objects are arranged in prede- plane surfaces, you can place dormers, 246427 fined layers — walls, floors, dimensions, skylights and chimneys. Good Points Quick, easy and inexpen- and so on, so having drawn the next floor The final part of Floorplan is the 3D sive. slab, you can turn it off to see the walls viewer. Start this, specify a viewpoint, Bad Points Can’t import DXF files, below again. Having created each storey, direction and height, and you see a per- short on accuracy. and populated it with 3D fixtures and fit- spective wireframe model of the 3D parts Conclusion A remarkably cheap and tings from the symbol library, it’s time to of your drawing. You can move through cheerful way to produce 3D sketches.

Drafix Quick CAD

rafix CAD was one of the first 2D the title “Quick”: redraws CAD programs to appear as a true are encouragingly brisk and DWindows application, and background redrawing originally cost over £600. Over the years means you can continue the price has dropped but there has working as the screen been little change to the functionality, updates itself — a major except that this version doesn’t have frustration-beater. Both macro capabilities: for these, you need dimensioning and hatching Drafix professional version, at £199, are associative — changing which also comes with more extensive dynamically if the object is symbol libraries. moved or altered. There You can have multiple drawings open, are symbol libraries of com- multiple views of the same drawing and mon architectural, mechan- — rather redundantly — split a window ical and electrical into four panes. There’s a wide range of components, and an import filters, including DXF and AutoCad unusual feature at this price DWG. There’s but one toolbar, though is the facility to attach hid- this is available in “beginner, intermediate den numeric or text data to and advanced” flavours. Everything else objects. You could, for example, create Multiple files and a slick interface make fly-outs from here — zoom options, an office plan with the purchase date and Drafix Quick Cad a bargain selection methods, ways of drawing a cost of each computer, the length and shape, and so on. cost per metre of network cabling, and so A status bar at the top of the screen on, and export this to a spreadsheet for PCW Details shows the current layer, line width, colour costing the project. and style, and below that, a properties My only personal grumble with Quick Drafix Quick CAD ribbon shows the position and settings for CAD is the rather inflexible use of object Price £69 selected objects. With this, you can do snaps. Unlike most products, where you Contact Roderick Manhattan things such as change the number of can snap to a variety of points depending 0181 875 4400 Good Points Fast, well featured and sides of a polygon instantly. Though what’s in range of the cursor “catch box”, easy to use. strictly 2D, there are a fine array of tools here you can only have one snap active Bad Points 2D only, slightly awkward and drawing aids, including circular and at a time and you must use it. Another snaps. rectangular arrays, trimming, bevelling, area that could be improved is the lack of Conclusion Astounding value for offsetting, and more. And it does merit aid for isometric drawing. money.

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD CAD SOFTWARE

Add-ons

There’s probably no such thing as a typical CAD user. The require- Microstation Development Language (MDL). The future will see the ments of someone designing printed circuit boards are totally differ- development of Objective Microstation, with “intelligent” objects that ent from those of a heating and ventilation engineer or an architect. model more closely real artefacts and can conform to “rules” such as This is where the “open architecture” of the higher-end products is the automatic selection of a fastening to suit material thickness and important. AutoCad has an astonishing level of programmability, load. Powerdraft, too, though with limited MDL support and none for starting with basic scripts, through Autolisp routines, Visual Basic, MDE, has a Basic-style macro programming language. C++ and DDE, an example of the latter being a demonstration of an Despite its 2D status, Visual CADD is also dedicatedly open: its add- Excel spreadsheet that interacts dynamically with a drawing of a ons include “parametric” objects, where you can specify, for exam- shaft. There are numerous add-ons available from Autodesk and ple, gear wheels by the number of teeth and diameter. There are third-party vendors, ranging from document management to enhanced text-handling and waterways add-ons, and under development are 3D rendering, as well as libraries of symbols for all sorts of industries. extras ranging from dress pattern design to scene-of-crime investiga- Microstation, despite its number two status in terms of user base, tion. Drafix, meanwhile, will create databases and import symbol has a total of 600 independent developers with over 1,000 add-ons libraries, with a macro facility available in the Professional version, and available via the Microstation Development Environment (MDE) and Floorplan will import objects created in the budget 3D Design Plus.

AutoCad 13 Microstation 5.0 Powerdraft 5.5

Supplier Autodesk UK Bentley Systems (UK) Bentley Systems (UK) Telephone 01483 303322 01344 412233 01344 412233 Price £3,150 £ 3,495 £1,895 Min processor 386 +co-pro 386 +co-pro 386 +co-pro Min memory 16Mb 8Mb 8Mb 2D/3D 3D 3D 3D Layers Unlimited 63 63 Multiple drawings open N N N Multiple viewports Y Y Y Macro language Y Y Y Development tools Y Y Y Rendering Y Y Y Customisable interface Y Y Y OLE Server/Client N N DDE Y N Y Database export Y Y N Symbol libraries Y Y Y Export formats DXF, DXB, IGES, EPS, WMF CGM, DWG, DXF, IGES DWG, DXF Import formats DXF, DXB, IGES, EPS, WMF CGM, DWG, DXF, IGES DWG, DXF

Visual CADD Floorplan Plus 3D Drafix Quick CAD

Supplier FastCAD Europe FastCAD Europe Roderick Manhattan Telephone 01923-246427 01923-246427 0181 875 4400 Price £ 495 £149 £69 Min processor 386 386 386 Min memory 4Mb 2Mb 4Mb 2D/3D 2D 3D 2D Layers 512 13 (preset) 256 Multiple drawings open Y N Y Multiple viewports N Only for roof editing Y Macro language Y N N* Development tools Y N N Rendering N Y N Customisable interface Y N N OLE Server N Server DDE N N N Database export Symbol count only N Y Symbol libraries Y Y Y Export formats DXF, DWG, GCD DXF, WMF, Estimator DXF, DWG, IGES, WMF Import formats DXF, DWG, GCD 3D Design Plus DXF, DWG, IGES, WMF

*available in Professional version @ £199

206 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD On the CUTTINGCUTTING EDGEEDGE PCW Online PCW Futures elcome to Cutting Edge, 210 net.answers — We tackle the 226 Innovations — Tim Frost W vexed question of displaying on Nagra open-reel the section in Personal World Wide Web pages. And recorders. Computer World that does your screen saver slow combines our regular your downloads? Stephen Cobb 229 Horizons — The cathode lends a helping hand. ray tube has a serious rival. reviews of games, Simon Rockman reports. books and CD-ROMs 214 net.news — This month’s with features bringing mixed bag features the ongoing 230 Bluesky — In part one of a you the latest news campaign against porn on the two-part series, Nick Beard Net, and France Telecom has explores the realm of the about computing, and big plans for fibre optics. Plus, supercomputer. consumer technologies what’s new on the Web. and online services. Compiled by Joanne Evans. 233 Retro Computing — Oh dear: just what was wrong We now have the 218 net.comms — The watchword with the Apple III? Simon most comprehensive of today’s comms is Rockman thinks he knows. coverage of these topics “convergence”. Stephen Cobb available in a general takes a practical look at what’s happening. PCW Media computing magazine. Stay with us and we’ll 225 net.newbies — A shortened 234 Books — Ben Tisdall take the pain out of and simplified explanation of selects some of the new keeping on the cutting how to get online. batch of Internet books. edge. 236 CD-ROMs — The human body laid bare, the World Reference Atlas, a very Kids’Stuff: welcome wine guide, and the PB Bear immortal Marilyn Monroe. It’s all in a day’s work for our reviewers.

PCW Fun

241 Kids’ Stuff — Paul Begg goes to PB Bear’s birthday party, has an amazing art adventure, finds out how the CD-ROMs: leopard got his spots, and World Atlas takes a trip to Zoo-Opolis.

246 Competition — Top Screenplay: prizes to be won at the PCW Flight Unlimited Live 95 competition. 248 Screenplay — Fun with FX Fighter and Flight Unlimited.

251 Leisure Lines — Puzzles with JJ Clessa.

209 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PCW ● ONLINE PCW ● ONLINE

Labour party online for many online service providers such as Anyone hoping a change in the ruling party CompuServe or Microsoft Network. would mean direct government action to Some proposals could result in tighter develop the information superhighway in the control over the net before the arrival of uni- counteract attempts by Senator from the physical world.” UK will be disappointed by the publication of versal broadband networks. “We would seek Exon in the US to change the However, he said: “We think Labour Party’s policy on the information age, to set a framework within which companies Communications Decency Act. most companies should expect “Communicating Britain’s Future”. The 23- and consumers, public services and citizens, One of Progressive Networks’ to lose $1 per $1,000 of transac- page document insists: “Two-way could exchange content as they chose,” it backers is Mitch Kapor, founder tions to Internet-based fraud. broadband communication networks must says, but it does intend to change the law on of the Electronic Frontier Foun- When you compare this to other be made available as widely and rapidly as copyright freedom of speech and privacy. dation. Fears about pornography businesses a 0.1 percent loss possible” for Britain to keep up with other Citing concern over transmission and subse- on the net have been fuelled by rate is not bad. Cellphone fraud industrial nations and reap the rewards of quent copying of music across the networks, the arrest of nine men in the UK is running at an annual rate of becoming an information society. it proposes to extend the definition of issuing as part of a worldwide police close to $20 per $1,000.” Calla- However, it signals little change from cur- copies in existing copyright law to include CUTTING EDGE CUTTING EDGE operation, for swapping han believes that by 1996 most rent Department of Trade and Industry policy Other measures to reach potential infor- distribution through electronic networks and paedophillic images over the net. Internet applications will be of relying on industry to do the job aided by mation have-nots include insisting that ser- to establish a legal advisory to work on other Meanwhile, a survey by a equipped with authentication a regulatory framework aiming to balance vice providers automatically put a feed into legal solutions to copyright problems. researcher at Carnegie Mellon, and encryption technologies. industry incentive with consumer protection. every public library, school, health centre, As for freedom of speech, Labour says it the US university which became “Lotus’ Notes, Netscape’s Web It states: “We believe that the physical infra- hospital and Citizen’s Advice Bureau in the would not be restricted accept for legitimate embroiled in controversy earlier browser and server and structure of these new communications net- area they are networking. As broadcast and purposes: to stop racial hatred, protect net.news this year for censoring its stu- Premeno’s Templar EDI software works will and must be developed by the pri- telecoms services merge, the party would minors and prevent criminal activity such as dents internet access, has found are already encryption-equipped vate sector. The competitive and regulatory replace Oftel and the Independent Television money laundering which is clearly illegal that 83.5 percent of all image for the Internet, but we see a raft environment will therefore be crucial in influ- Commission with two new bodies, one to elsewhere. It does not support a clipper Joanne Evans has the very latest files on Internet newsgroups are of Net-secure applications to fol- encing how it evolves.” As well as releasing monitor both telecoms and television infra- chip-type solution for government agencies news from the Internet pornographic. low in the next year and a half,” BT from the ban on providing entertainment structures and one to regulate all content. It to gain access to private data but it would he said. “The threat of Internet- across its networks (see Newsprint), the also states: “We would also wish the regula- make decryption of data legal with a judicial based break-ins is overstated. Labour Party would demand a clear tor to take action over anti-competitive warrant. Communicating Britain’s Future is French fibre-optics The real problem is making sure timetable from all telecom providers for cre- exclusive deals established between content on the Labour Party Web site at In France, the state-owned that you know with certainty who ating a universal service, covering the whole providers and a particular network owner,” http://www.poptel.org.uk/labour-party/exec- Porn panic companies SurfWatch and Net France Telecom has announced is at the other end of the conver- country “as far as is practicable”. which could have far reaching implications summ.html The computer industry has Nanny. The Parental Empower- it is investing FFr500 million in sation, and that no-one can responded to the panic over ment Group aims to publish its fibre-optic networks that will snoop your data or change your across Unix, Windows and Mac. porn on the Internet by banding recommendation in a report by carry telephone, radio, images bits in transit.” The answer, he Netscape has published specifi- margins being squeezed by together to develop standards 31st December 1995 and incor- and data to more than 10,000 believes, is encryption so that cations for the protocol and fierce competition amongst and Wales that could prevent consumption before going for software to block access to porate them into software by homes by the end of next year. thieves cannot steal the data, plans to license the technology Internet access providers in the online service providers being ahead, but the information undesirable material. Netscape, 1996. Rob Glaser, president and and authenticated digital signa- to partners. A major demand for UK. “Every customer we take on sued for libel over the content of would be collected from road- Microsoft and Progressive Net- CEO of Progressive Networks Security update tures so users can prove they the protocol is home banking is profitable in their own right,” the messages they carry. The side sensors and cameras and works, makers of RealAudio and chair of the study group The Internet will be safe for gen- are who they say they are. across the net and Intuit and he said. ”But Pipex is going after Draft Defamation Bill proposes fed through a government com- audio-on-demand software for said: “We hope to move as eral commerce by next year MasterCard have already new business and so spending a an updated ‘defence of innocent puter onto the Web. the net, started the initiative quickly as possible to make our according to a report from Netscape protocol announced they will support it. lot of money on marketing, dissemination’ of defamatory called the Information Highway way through the issues so that industry analysts Forrester Netscape has introduced a new Netscape said it hoped to build advertising and infrastructure.” material to take account of new New net figures Parental Empowerment Group, we can come up with a stable Research. “That’s not 100 per- protocol for transactions on the the protocol into commercially Pipex provides access to technology. But it’s not clear if CompuServe is the largest online only to be joined by tens of other and reliable technical solution to cent. One hundred percent secu- Internet to extend security supported software for about 660 large companies, giv- services that moderate material service with 3.2 million members. major computer companies the legitimate issues that have rity can never be guaranteed,” beyond transmission of data to consumers, merchants, and ing it an 80 percent share of the would be deemed innocent dis- American Online is second with including IBM and DEC. been raised.” said Paul Callahan, author of the storage on its arrival. While financial service providers by corporate market, and hopes to seminators. They could be still 3 million and IBM’s Prodigy The group aims to develop a The formation of the group report. “Doing business on the secure channel protocols such the end of this year. Specifica- grow its dial-up service for indi- held liable as in the Prodigy case third with 1.6 million according system that will enable parents can also be seen as a move to Internet will not be that different as Netscape’s existing Secure tions for the Secure Courier pro- viduals launched earlier this year in the US earlier this year. to a report from Business to ensure their children do not Sockets Layer (SSL) encrypt tocol are available from the to 100,000 subscribers in two Copies can be obtained from Research Publications. Delphi unwittingly gain access to mate- data passing along the network Netscape Web site at years’ time. In a fast-growing 0171 210 8560 and comments Internet has just 140,000 and rial that parents deem inappro- Gates on the Internet between a client system and a http://home.netscape.com/news market the spokesman said: made until 23rd October. Apple’s eWorld 90,000 members priate. To do this it may have to Bill Gates has admitted in his server, the company said the ref/std/credit.html. “The best strategy is to grab as and this is before the launch of develop a method for both con- syndicated column: “it has only been in new protocol, Secure Courier, many corporate customers as Jams spread to the net the Microsoft Network. tent and service providers to rate recent months that I’ve come to expect delivers the additional security of Pipex makes loss you can because once you’ve got Realtime information and pictures the nature of the material in a the Internet to become mainstream. keeping the financial data The phenomenal growth of the them, they’re likely to stick with about roadworks and traffic The Telegraph online similar way to movies and This sea change is prompting us to encrypted, or in a “secure digital Internet in the UK has taken its you. Profitability is in Pipex’s jams in the UK could be The Electronic Telegraph is embed that information in code. critically reevaluate our plans - short- envelope”, when it arrives at a toll on Pipex, the country’s grasp. It depends on when it available on the Web early next claiming to be the busiest Web The group said it wanted to term and long-term. One of our highest merchant’s server or at other largest access provider. The wants to stop growing.” Profits year in an experiment conducted site in Europe with up to one design a system that “will max- priorities has become building Internet intermediate points on the net. company made a loss of £1.08m of £31.5 million at its parent by the Department of Transport million hits per day. Let’s hope imise the likelihood that it will support into Windows for example. The Secure Courier protocol during the financial year to 30 company Unipalm kept the whole and the CCTA, the government’s its news holds more surprises quickly become a standard part And the Microsoft Network is evolving builds on existing protocols April 1995, despite growing 10 group £442,000 in the black. computing agency. They are than the results of its Internet of Internet access systems”. to become part of the Internet.” including SSL and will comply percent a month and almost currently considering the secu- user survey, which tells us most Software able to block access with a forthcoming security tripling revenues to £3.76m. A New libel laws rity implications and the extent users are “male, under 40, intelli- to Internet material has already specification from MasterCard financial spokesman denied the The government has proposed to which the data would need to gent and computer-literate”. been launched by at least two and Visa and is compatible losses were a result of profit changes to libel law in England be interpreted for public http://www.telegraph.co.uk/

214 215 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL 216 is at: chip reputation.Itsdegreeshow while, hasaslightlymoreblue- ● pages areforlargegraphics. demonstrates howpoorWeb still viewit,althoughitreallyjust cock/degreeshow/html. Youcan http://vertigo.derby.ac.uk/hitch- July at degree showonlineinJuneand University ofDerbyhadits School ofArtandDesignatthe the netwithavengeance.The ● Championship atStAndrews. including theOpen gives youallthelatestgolfnews http://www.golfweb.com/. It check out ● trading units. hotel, multimediastudiosand complex includingtraining gies includingtheInternetin training inmultimediatechnolo- visitors ayear,wouldprovide would attract250,000 hopes centre, whichthecouncil the community developmentof lion tobuildanewcentrefor campaigning toraise£40mil- the WestMidlandsiscurrently Sandwell BoroughCouncilin New arts/ITcentre of size.Tel:01925633144. and £150permonth,regardless fees. ALancosts£150tojoin £80 tojoinand£40monthly PCs orLans.AsinglePCcosts an ISDNserviceforstandalone vice providerU-Nethasstarted Warrington-based Internetser- New ISDNservice new ontheweb. best ofwhat’s listing ofthe Our regular Net.surf Glasgow SchoolofArt,mean- Art collegesarejumpingonto If you’reinterestedinGolf arts andtechnology.The CUTTING EDGE PCW ● ONLINE cial webpageat You’ll findthePhishNetunoffi- takes placeonPhishNet. in thetapes.Mostoftrading fans torecordshowsandtrade Phish positivelyencouragetheir the band.Unlikemostbands contribution tothesuccessof Phish. PhishNethasmadeabig job ofifastheUSrockband ted butfewhavedoneasgooda ● http://www.mcny.com/hairloss/ with CuttingEdgeregulars. year-old maleitcouldproveahit the average be informedabouthairloss.As of menandwomenwhowishto cated tothecountlessnumbers Support GroupNetworkisdedi- ● df95/riders/indurain.html http://www.best.com/~bikiebob/t on Indurainisat well cateredforonthenet.Info consecutive time.LeTourwas the TourdeFrancearecordfifth ● pd/sig.htm http://www.mech.gla.ac.uk/~gsa quotes onthepriceofallUKsharesandthenbe the Internet.Subscriberswillreceiverealtime eventually createthefirstretailstockexchangeon ing AcornfounderHermanHauser,believesitwill which isbackedbyindustryheavyweightsinclud- on theInternetearlynextyear.Thecompany, service whichenablesubscriberstotradeshares stockmarket pricesontheWeb,islaunchinga based companywhichalreadypublishesUK Electronic ShareInformation(ESI),aCambridge- Shares hittheInternet Plenty ofbandsarenownet- The HairLossHandbookand Miguel Indurainhasjustwon PCW reader isa35- lent websiteat August 1945.There’sanexcel- Enola GayhitHiroshimaon6th of thefirstatomicbombs— 50th anniversaryofthedropping The summer’sbigonewasthe Second WorldWarmilestones. year hasbeenfilledwithvarious ● http://hws3.hws.edu:8000/Phish/ It seemslikethewholeofthis ● ● ● ● ● Net. and his“lusers”)—ProgenitorofCIX’sBOFHconference. Bastard OperatorfromHell(funnystoriesaboutasystemsmanager but theywillseemevenworsethanintended. you areusingatext-onlybrowser,canstillaccessthepages requires thatyouuseaWebbrowserwhichcandisplaygraphics.If which appearswhenyoufirstarrivethere—WorstoftheWeb less. Probablythefunniestthingaboutitiscautionarynotice Web: Mirsky’sWorstoftheWebreallyisprettybadandpoint- and magazinesontheInternet 1.2/crack.html —TheHackerCrackdown http://holodeck.infopages.com/cards/ —Greetingscardsviathe http://www.st.nepean.uws.edu.au/stuff/bofh/ http://mirsky.turnpike.net/wow/Worst.html Mirsky’sWorstofthe http://www.primenet.com/links/magazine.html —Newspapers http://www.ee.port.ac.uk/Online-Books/hacker-crackdown- http://www.esi.co.uk typing “sell,sell,sell”.ESI’swebsiteisat could bebadnewsifyourlinedropsjustasyou’re omissions andpausesinserviceprovision.”It medium andtheremaybearbitrarydelays Internet isnotacompletelyreliabletransmission Web sitestates:“Youshouldbeawarethatthe their sharedealing.ESI’scurrentinformation-only online forpuntersrelyingsolelyontheInternet tion technology.However,theremaybeproblems financial datawillbeaddressedbyusingencryp- information. other servicessuchassharetipsandcompany while subscribersarelikelytopayastheyusefor as 0.1percentontradesworthmorethan£35,000, vice willbemuchlowerthanotherservices,aslittle tions. ThecommissionontradesusingESI’sser- specialises inindividualclientsratherthaninstitu- expected tobeSharelink,abrokerwhich stockbrokers. able toinputtheirordersthroughtheInternet Concern overthesecurityofsharetradesand The firststockbrokertojointheserviceis CYAN PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA Try these... face ofastonebuddha. wounded horseandthemelted power ofthebomb,includinga demonstrate thedestructive Memorial Museumwhich photographs fromthePeace voices ofA-bombsurvivorsand information aboutthebombs, ex.html. Itincludesmassesof http://www.csi.ad.jp/ABOMB/ind • YELLOW •BLACK MICROMART PCW ● ONLINE PCW ● ONLINE MICROMART CLASSIFIED CUTTING EDGE CUTTING EDGE CLASSIFIED

5. When the setup process is complete Net Launcher uses its own version of you have the option to automatically start Windsock. Spry Mosaic, the browser owned and sup- The net effect, so to speak, is that you plied by CompuServe. If you accept, the pro- cannot launch your previous Web browser comm together gram will dial out to the primary without exiting Windows, renaming CompuServe access number you’ve been winsock.000 to winsock.dll, and renaming With the differences ity to send email, join newsgroups, use a using in WinCIM, and take you to the Net Launcher winsock.dll to between today’s online gopher, and possibly transfer files with ftp. CompuServe’s home page on the Web. winsock.000 (the files will be in different services becoming Now Web browsers can do all that, except 6. If you choose not to start Spry Mosaic directories — the Net Launcher version is perhaps for mail, but anyone can now send immediately after installation you can do so, normally stored in C:\WINDOWS, while the increasingly vague, mail to anyone else, whether they use a whenever you’re ready, by double-clicking previous version will be somewhere like choosing the right one BBS, online service, or Internet account (see on the CompuServe Internet dialler icon, or C:\NETMANAG or C:\NEWT). However, I can prove daunting. this month’s net.answers). by double-clicking on the Spry Mosaic icon found that it was relatively painless to use So how are you going to get on the (both of which are placed in the this renaming process to switch between Enter Stephen Cobb, Web? For the SoHo (small office/home CompuServe program group, and both of different browsers (a simple batch file who explains exactly office) user the traditional approach is to get which launch the Web browser). springs to mind). an Internet account, say with Demon or The whole process went very smoothly Why would you want two different how the comms world is Cityscape, install the appropriate TCP/IP when I tried it. As soon as you have Spry access methods? One scenario is the travel- converging, and gives software for their machine, then dial up on a Mosaic up and running you can start cus- ling user. If you have your Internet account some practical advice PPP connection and fire up a Web browser. tomising. For example, you can use the with a regional provider who only offers The cost of this depends upon several fac- Options/Configuration menu to change the local access in one area, you might find about getting yourself tors. There’s the monthly fee for the Internet home page that’s loaded at startup to some- yourself on the road with a very expensive online. account, plus the cost of the phone call thing like http://www.mpn.com/vnu/pcw/ long-distance call between you and your while you’re using the connection, which instead of the CompuServe page. You can normal Internet access. If you can switch to may be local or long-distance. Dialling long also use the Viewers button on the same CompuServe’s Web access while on the f the current revolution in computer com- distance to a high-speed node makes sense menu, which provides viewers for files such road you can use the very extensive range of Imunications has a watchword it is “con- when you’re using your account to retrieve as the WAV sound file that’s loaded when local numbers, which includes most major vergence”. Data, voice and fax are converg- messages and news to be read offline, but you click the Hunt button on the cities in the world. For users who don’t yet ing in multi-function modems while ISDN the economics of Web browsing are differ- CompuServe home page (the Hunt in ques- have an Internet account, the CompuServe and other technologies promise simultane- ent since you need to stay on the line to tion is a $1m treasure hunt-style competi- approach may well be the easiest option for ous data, voice, fax, and video. Bulletin browse from site to site. tion that involves visiting Web sites for instant access to the Web. boards are converging with the Internet, Now there’s an alternative to getting a clues). But what if you already have an Internet offering net services such as email and dedicated Internet account. If you’re on In fact, this button represents my only account and the economics of connecting to newsgroups. Commercial online services CompuServe already you can browse the problem with the whole project. As we went it are better than those for CompuServe or are merging with the Internet and the Web right now, or within 20 minutes, which to press I had not been able to get it to play the nearest decent bulletin board? You may World Wide Web. You can even access bul- is about how long it takes to get the neces- using Spry Mosaic. I can play it with not realise it but you can actually run Com- letin boards and online services from the sary software installed. In order to do this NetScape on the same machine — hopefully puServe and access bulletin boards over an Internet. you need to be running WinCIM and dialling I will have an explanation by the next issue. Internet connection (the BBS must be prop- In this month’s column we take a practi- into CompuServe at a speed of at least In the meantime my suggestion is not to get erly set up for this to happen — something cal look at this aspect of convergence, the 9600baud. If you go through the following hung up on sounds. Spend your time we’ll return to in a moment). As far as Com- blurring of the lines between online steps you’ll be browsing the Web through a exploring the hundreds of thousands of Web puServe is concerned, accessing your services, bulletin boards, the Web, and the CompuServe access point with online time sites that are out there. If you Internet. One of the immediate practical billed to your CompuServe account: encounter Web pages that implications for users involves deciding 1. Log on to CompuServe with WinCIM allow email input you’ll find which services to buy. Do you need an by using the Service/Go command and that Spry Mosaic is already online account, an Internet connection, and entering INTERNET in the Go dialogue box. configured to give your Com- bulletin board memberships? There are 2. At the CompuServe Internet Service puServe address as your email additional implications if you plan to provide menu double-click on Direct Internet address. So any replies will services. For example, if your company Access. appear in your regular WinCIM wants to provide online information, do you 3. Select Net Launcher for Windows and in-basket. create your own bulletin board, sign up for then select Download Net Launcher (this file space on a commercial service like is 1.2Mb and took about 15 minutes to Put a Windsock in it CompuServe, or publish on the Web? download over a 14.4Kb/sec connection). One other technical note. If By default the file is placed in the you go through the above Which Way to the Web? CSERVE\DOWNLOAD directory. steps on a system that is First of all we will look at two different ways 4. Use File Manager to locate the already configured for PPP of getting to the World Wide Web. In fact, CLN.EXE file in the CSERVE\DOWNLOAD access you may find that your the Web is what many people mean today directory and double-click on it. This existing Windsock file This is where you get to when you’ve when they scream “I want the Internet and I expands the file and runs the installation (winsock.dll) is renamed winsock.000 by installed Net Launcher; browsing the want it now!” Just 12 months ago “getting procedure. The default settings should work the installation procedure — it will warn you Web with Spry Mosaic via your the Internet” meant something else: the abil- fine so simply click OK to answer questions. if this is the case. This is necessary because CompuServe account

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PCW ● ONLINE PCW ● ONLINE MICROMART CUTTING EDGE CLASSIFIED

Virtual Vegas account over the net was possi- downloading files on this type of net-compatible you can get there dkeep.com. This board is a fun ble with earlier versions of connection is risky. This is a pity over the Internet. place despite the rather weird WinCIM but became official in because some people can get a So how do you find bulletin Dungeons and Dragons flavour Believe it or not, you can WinCIM 1.4. Here are the steps cheaper, faster 28.8Kb/sec Inter- boards that offer this example of (the prompts are liberally sprin- now place your bets in required: net connection than the nearest convergence? There’s one kled with “thee” and “thou”). Cyberspace. Well, in 1. From the Special menu 14.4Kb/sec CompuServe node. search tool on the net that To telnet without your Web Antigua to be exact, if you select Session Settings and click Mail comes through fine but specifically identifies “telnetable” browser, you first log on to your visit www.casino.org on New to name the connection — binary files seem to cause hic- sites. This is Galaxy at Internet account then load Tel- the World Wide Web. something like “Overnet”. cups. Apparently, CompuServe http://galaxy.einet.net/search.ht net, a copy of which comes with This is a trend that is like- 2. The Name, User ID, and is working on this. My impres- ml. Check the Hytelnet box and most Internet software suites. ly to take off like a rocket. password will be picked up from sion is that CompuServe, along the results of your search will all Then you issue the Connect Why? Well for one thing, yourCUTTING EDGE normal connection. In the with everyone else, yours truly be telnetable BBS sites. I did a command and enter the name of in many areas of the Connector field select WINSOCK included, has underestimated search based on com* which the board in the Host Name field World’s largest affluent (it’s on the list). the phenomenal rate at which includes computers and com- (for example dkeep.com). The country, the US, many 3. Select 115200 for the Baud interest in online communica- munications, and the hit list was next thing you should see is the forms of gambling are ille- Rate and Internet for the tions of all types has grown in 469 entries long. What’s nice board’s sign-in prompt. You can gal. There’s no way to put Network. In the Access Phone recent months. about this way of locating use the Telnet window like a nor- a fiver on the next Presi- field replace the phone number boards is the Web page that mal ASCII or ANSI online ses- dent, and you may have with 0. Click OK. Across the board appears when you click on any sion, but you may be limited in to go to the races to place 4. Now you can run your Many bulletin board operators of the entries in the hit list. This areas such as file downloading a bet on a pony: Internet connection, with Demon are determined to benefit from page displays a description of and session capturing due the telephone betting is explicitly outlawed in Behold the shrine of the for instance, and once you are the increase in Internet connec- the board and allows you to tel- particular Telnet program you many states. cyber-punter, as gambling comes to connected return to WinCIM and tions. By installing the right net to it by clicking a hot link on are using (some do not support So is it legal to gamble on the net? I’m the Web select any one of the commands hardware and software it’s pos- the page — you have to register downloads or capturing to disk). not taking bets on this one. The legal that initiate a connection, such sible for a bulletin board to allow your copy of telnet.exe with your issues are extremely complex. The only LAWSIG). I was really hoping to find what as Get Mail. users to access via the Internet Web browser for this to work. To Web or BBS? thing you can bet on is politicians attempt- the basic parameters would be for assessing Hey presto! The connection rather than a phone line. This Apart from this there are lists Providing “phone-free” access ing to regulate or tax it. The state of Flori- its legality (the casino at www.casino.org is is made, not by dialling a phone means that if you have an Inter- available in many places. Check over the Internet isn’t the only da is already looking into control quite clear that punters must resolve legal number, but by sending packets net account you can use the fea- out http://dkeep.com/sbi.htm for way in which bulletin boards are mechanisms: perhaps a chip inside issues with their local authorities). Well, my over the net. Unfortunately, you ture known as Telnet to visit bul- a file called sbimmyy.zip which keeping up with the latest in phones that blocks betting? It’s going to message must have struck someone as a might not say hey presto the letin boards over your Internet is the Select Bulletin Boards for cyberspace developments. The be a messy business for several years, criticism of gambling because I received a first time you try it: I’ve found connection. Of course, this a given month (for example, recently released bulletin board during which time the online betting shops very strident response defending gambling that connecting this way some- opens up a whole new world. SBI0795.ZIP for July of this software called WorldGroup, will probably make a lot of money. in all forms and venues. It was signed by times takes several attempts, Want to visit a speciality board year). I hope to post this list in from Galacticomm, gives any Just a side note about the implications “Guido”. I know that it would be politically and will report in next month’s in the US but can’t afford the the UKCOMMS forum on Com- bulletin board operator instant of cyber-gambling, upon which I have not incorrect to draw any conclusions from this column on the reasons for this. transatlantic phone call? No puServe (library search on sbi). access to a Windows-based yet formed any moral opinion. I asked a (see the section headed Globalisation). But And, I have to say that problem — if the board is Tel- Alternatively, telnet to online service look and feel. This question about online gambling in the it made me think very carefully about my legal forum on CompuServe (GO response.

program, which I will describe in more detail WorldGroup might be the way to go. You next month, comes complete with email, have greater control, more security, and the online surveys, file libraries, even system is arguably easier to set up than conferencing (another subject for next Web service (the installation of the World- month’s column). All this is executed in a Group client software is certainly a lot easier push-button Windows interface with great than getting an Internet connection graphics and even sound. While the free running). client software is rather large (2.7Mb) its If you’re hoping to make money by offer- capabilities are impressive. For example, it ing an online service, then a subscription or supports multiple simultaneous background pay-per-minute bulletin service is still a file transfers, so you can chat online while much easier model to deal with than the files are downloading. Web, which is fundamentally free and still Could WorldGroup serve as a corporate has no obvious toll-points for the people MART bulletin board, even an alternative to hosting who provide the content. Bulletin boards a Web site? The answer depends upon what still have an edge over the Web in terms of you’re trying to achieve. Some companies interaction and localised, niche interests. are bound to feel that they need a presence And by the time the Web becomes interac- on the Web if only to keep up with their tive, I think there will be seamless links to competitors. On the other hand, if your goal bulletin boards with more advanced Telnet is to serve up data and online services to a software so that they will continue to be in group of customers or employees, then on the action. CLASSIFIED MICRO

220 221 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD be abletoviewgraphicsonyour modem. Youdon’tevenneedto long asyoucanplugitintoa connected totheInternetas A PCofalmostanyagecanbe What doIneedtogeton? Wide Web. people haveaccesstotheWorld of justtext.Around15million pictures andmultimediainstead to pagesofinformationwith able free)togiveusersaccess special software(usuallyavail- vice ontheInternetwhichuses It isnottheInternet.aser- Web? What istheWorldWide year. this appearstobedoublingeach estimated tobe30millionand tronic mailmessagesis who canatleastexchangeelec- reasons, butthoseworldwide measure foravarietyof Internet usersisdifficultto a globalnetwork.Thenumberof of computersinter-connectedin The Internetconsistsofmillions What istheInternet? I net.newbies most oftheInternet. which willhelpyoumakethe reference guidetothetools paper mail)atPCW. “snailmail” (Internet-speakfor .co.uk [email protected] suggestions, pleaseemailmeat what’s writtenhereorhaveany will callyou. or newbie,ashardenednetters to theInternetfornovice— an easy-to-usereferenceguide These pagesaredesignedtobe Getting startedontheNet bie” is,youprobablyareone. f youdon’tknowwhata“new- Meanwhile, here’saneasy- If youdon’tunderstand , orwritetomevia CYAN PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA • YELLOW (V.34) modem. even moreona28,800baud would recommendspending as £100. few yearsandnowcostaslittle plummeted inpriceoverthepast vital. Fortunately,thesehave at least14,400baud“V32.bis”is modem whichrunsataspeedof services ontheInternet,a files, orusethemoreexciting sages, buttosendandreceive exchange electronicmailmes- it wouldbefastenoughto old 2,400baud“V.22bis”model you canafford.Ifhavean recommend buyingthefastest computer, soIwould modem thanbythatofyour limited bythespeedofyour things workismorelikelytobe Internet, thespeedatwhich that. Whenyouareusingthe baud tomorethantentimes different speeds,from2,400 municate withit.Theycomein puter withamodemandcom- puter todialinanothercom- (although ithelps). machine tolookaround dial) scatteredacrossthecoun- of presence”(thenumbersyou vice providerswillhave“points cable company.Thebiggerser- get freelocalcallsthrougha unless youareluckyenoughto costs ontopofanysubscription, will havetopayyourphone connection youhavesetup, to getonline.Whateverkindof to subscribeoneifyouwant provider” comesin—youhave to dial.Thisiswherea“service mation, ithastohaveanumber For amodemtobringyouinfor- Now what? Okay, I’vegotamodem. If youhavethemoney,I A modemallowsyourcom- •BLACK ter selectionofaccesssoftware. more personalserviceorabet- providers mayclaimtooffer although somehigher-priced offered islargelythesame, market. Thebasicservicebeing big enoughtodominatethe Internet access;noneofthem companies offeringthiskindof month. Therearedozensof service costs£8.50to£15per potential phonebill.Thislevelof limited onlybythesizeofyour services foranyamountoftime, you touseemailandInternet can eat”Internetaccessallows Delphi costs around£5amonthand only provideselectronicmail disk. placed onourCD-ROMcover much biggerlisthasbeen numbers isavailablebelow;a A listofprovidersandtelephone always chargedatthesamerate. physically located:youare mation youareaccessingis doesn’t matterwheretheinfor- Once connected,though,it pay long-distancephonerates. Internet access,youmayhaveto to yourhome,whichoffers local number. try soyouonlyhavetodiala subscribers haveaccess.These own towhichonlytheir large numberofservicestheir Internet access,butalsohavea CompuServe Britain atlocalcallrates. service thatcoversmostof launched aninexpensiveInternet Frontier Communications working Club( tor. TheBBCrunstheNet- known andmostpopularopera- Demon Internet Typically, asubscriptionthat If there’snocompany,near Major onlineserviceslike offers this.But“allyou or BBCNC Delphi is thebest ) and offer has PCW popular services. charges foraccessingthemore month. Therecanalsobeextra set numberofhoursinthat you areonlineformorethana month, plusanhourlychargeif cost between£6and£10per monthly subscriptiontendsto ness orconsumerinformation.A libraries anddatabasesofbusi- games, vastindexedsoftware ware byelectronicmail,online support forhardwareandsoft- services includeofficialtechnical acquired online,freeofcharge. thing different,mostofitcanbe and ifyouwanttochoosesome- this softwarewhenyousignup, vide youwithatleastsomeof Any serviceprovidershouldpro- specially-written onlinesoftware. is normallyeasiertouse access thesekindsofservices,it dows Terminalcanbeusedto magazines andotherservices. browse, plusaccesstoonline make itsaferforchildrento Internet, partially“censored”to offers unlimitedaccesstothe For £8.50to£12.75permonthit provider andanonlineservice. cross betweenanInternet ESNLCMUE WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL UK Online Although programslikeWin- email: [email protected] UK Online email: [email protected] 0500 468976 Frontier Communications email: [email protected] Demon email: [email protected] Delphi compuserve.com email:70006.101@csi. CompuServe email: [email protected] BBCNC ● PCW ONLINE is aspecialcase, 0171 7577080 0181 3711000 0181 5767799 OCTOBER 1995 01749 333333 Contacts 0800 289378 225 ☎ ☎ ☎ ☎ ☎ ☎ CUTTING EDGE is signalled by the Nagra ARES. is signalledbytheNagra anditsmove recorders, intodigitalaudio tape open-reel hasbeenthemake ofchoiceNagra for high-quality Even thing betterthanthereel OCTOBER 1995 WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL 226 W some whichhavemostofthe area andalthoughthereare made someinroadsintothis equipment onthefilmset. one ofthemostreliablebits alternatives andisprovedtobe against mostofthedigital means thatitstillholdsitsown of mechanicsandelectronics quality oftheunitbothinterms old, buttheincrediblebuild virtually aquarterofcentury open-reel tape.Thedesignis on old-fashionedspoolsof pure analoguerecorderrelying laptop PC(butabitthicker)is The Nagra,roughlythesizeofa capturesoundwhenfilming. to most regularlyusedrecorders Nagra IVS,isstilloneofthe film worldonetapemachine,the for professionalusers.Inthe truly portablerecordingsystems established. are beginningtogetthemselves recognisable computerformats not onDATtapebutmore change, asnewrecordersbased work. Butthisisaboutto quality soundforfilmandvideo reporters andforgatheringhigh- lantly intheportablemarketfor the studio,theyhaveheldongal- decks haveallbutdisappearedin

Portable DATmachineshave There isstillabigbusinessin CUTTING EDGE recorders andcassette hile open-reeltape PCW Innovations ● FUTURES tage isthatthesystembecomes is welcome.Asecondaryadvan- For areporter,anyweightsaving at aperfectlyregulatedspeed. hardware neededtomovetape mechanics andgeneral away withallthemotors, the reporter,AREScando solid towithstandthehardlifeof the outercasestillhastobe ory, andthefirstisweight.While in movingtosolidstatemem- storage. uses PCMCIAFlashcardsfor insteadofopen-reeltapeit but itsanaloguepredecessor, as and shapeit’smuchthesame the NagraARESportable.Insize new breakthroughcomeswith better-than-CD quality.Butthe labels usingthemtorecordat ing marketwithclassicalrecord very wellinthespecialistrecord- despite itsexpense,isdoing reel portablemachine,that, into digitalaudiowithanopen- they’re replacing. portable cassettemachines quality thantheprofessional use, stereoandbettersound DAT recorderscanoffereaseof the simplerandcheaperportable end oftheradioreporting.Here, success hasbeeninthequality TV peoplerequire,DAT’sbiggest additional facilitiesthatfilmand There areseveraladvantages Nagra madeitsfirstmove Tim Frost MPEG audiocompression)the sounding alternatives(suchas Despite therebeingbetter- moderate levelofaudioquality. dard calledG722whichgivesa telecomms compressionstan- compression. TheNagrausesa a considerableamountofaudio get ausefulrecordtimerequires to asmallenoughdatastream the reportermorecontrol. field shouldsavetimeandgive working ontheinterviewsin been receivedinthestudio,and tapes areeditedaftertheyhave to theradiostation.Normally them beforesendingback record theinterviewsandedit form, AREScanbeusedto recorded inrandomaccess re-recordings percard. rent estimateisaround100,000 sands oftimes;infact,thecur- damage andcanbeusedthou- span, Flashcardsaredifficultto which hasalimitedreliablelife 64Mb cardsarrive.Unliketape, this capacitywilltriplewhenthe minutes ofmonorecording,and cards whichcorrespondto40 was releasedusing20MbFlash tape transport. strenuous reportscanupsetthe ment, whichinsomeparticularly immune tovibrationandmove- To squeezetheaudiodown Because theaudiois The firstversionoftheARES reports. reports. CYAN PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA ing wouldmakeitamust-have. much easierandfastersearch- longer recordingtimesand problem, buttheadvantagesof the loweraudioqualityisnota ripe forsuchamachinewhere recorder marketisparticularly recorder business.Thememo breaking intothetop-endmemo PCMCIA recorders,possibly path thewayforlowercost sive toys,thesenewmachines would bothbesomewhatexpen- result. it canproduceahigher-quality rather thandata-reducedaudio, and workingwithlinearPCM sort ofrecordandeditfacilities, DART recorderhasthesame Using apairofharddrivesthis cards andPCMCIAharddisks. works withbothPCMCIAFlash duty reportingrecorderthat ica, isproducingasimilarheavy- organisation, MandozziElettron- Another Swissengineering working alongtheselines. awkward. before thedaysofsatellite,so make transatlanticinterviews, getting theanswerthatusedto between finishingaquestionand create thoseaggravatingdelays minal ratherdifficult,asitwill ing usingtherecorderasater- network, thismakeslivereport- delays generatedbytheISDN the blockprocessing.Adding due totheamountandnatureof which introducesa48msdelay, processor-intensive operation encoding anddecodingisa has itsowndrawbacks.MPEG ,which, whilesoundingbetter, compression versionlater the audio. that textcanbeloadedalongside network andaPCconnectionso for directconnectiontoanISDN age, theARESincludesanoutlet centres. Tocompletethepack- political andotheroutsidenews get reportsbackfromsports, codecs thatradiostationsuseto the ISDNdigitaltelephone that itiscommononmanyof advantage ofthisstandardis Although byhi-fitermsthey Nagra isn’ttheonlycompany There willbeanMPEGaudio • YELLOW •BLACK E discharge produceslight. at lowpressure.Theresulting passing avoltagethroughgas that price. specifications, isaroundtwice monitor, madetohigher can costunder£100;buta14in matter. Agood14inportableTV the mass making isfairlysimple,but display Producing aflat-screen replace. cost hasmadeitdifficultto ture qualitywithlowproduction piece oftechnology—highpic- ray tube(CRT)overtheyears. challenged thepictureorcathode various technologiesthathave be nomeanfeatconsideringthe Sony keepstoitspromise,itwill much asaconventionalset.If could costaroundtwiceas technology, Addressed LiquidCrystal(PALC) consumer marketnextyear. to launchflat-screenTVsforthe monitors. ButSonyisplanning found inmosttelevisionsand replace thebulkypicturetube of aflat-screendisplayto George Cole George ofSony’s flat-screenin theform PALC technology. found cathode tubehasfinally aseriousrival, ray The Flat hunting Plasma displaysworkby The CRTisaremarkable The newTVswillusePlasma for yearschasedthedream lectronics companieshave one that’s affordablefor CYAN market isanother and Sony saysthey PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA Horizons turns onandtunes in. turns • YELLOW represent pixelsorpointsoflight. arranged inamatrixofcellswhich displays, theliquidcrystalsare of lightpassingthrough. twist upright,alteringtheamount is passedthroughthemthey two electrodes.Whenavoltage layer ofliquidcrystalsbetween made bysandwichingathin technology. LCDscreensare (LCD) istheleadingflat-screen such asaeronautics. areas and tendtobeusedinspecialist times morethanaCRTdevice But plasmadisplayscancostten developed a50inplasmapanel. very thin,andFujitsuhaseven Plasma screenscanbemade High-quality LCDscreensuse But theliquidcrystaldisplay •BLACK For TV prepared topayapricepremium pocket TVs,whereusersare book computers,PDAsand used innichemarketslikenote- requiring clean-roomconditions. are difficulttomassproduce, tional setbecauseLCDscreens three timesmorethanaconven- TVs, buteventhesecostaround markets 12into15inscreenLCD launch commercially.Sharp currently it’stooexpensiveto a 21inLCDmonitor,but cheap. Sharphasdemonstrated the systemworkswell,it’snot pixels onandoff,although rows oftransistorstoswitchthe As aresult,LCDscreensare PCW ing wayforaTVset. on thewallcouldsoonbemak- the PCmarket.SothatPicasso to targetthenewflatdisplaysat 25in model,andthereareplans first PlasmatronTVwillbea to 50inflat-screensetsbutthe plans tolauncharangeof20in to bearound5indeep.Sony thick, thefirstsetsareexpected LCD panelsarelessthananinch Plasmatron name.Althoughthe year andmarketedunderthe will belaunchedinJapannext comparable toaCRT. quality isclaimedto be frame isfedintoit.Picture state untildataforthenext line), andeachpixelretainsits discharge sequentially(lineby crystals. Theplasmachannels display arefedintotheliquid single scanninglineinaCRT turns on.Signalsequivalenttoa the plasmachannel,switch discharge voltageisappliedto channel beneaththem.Whena insulation filmandtheplasma electrode, colourfilter, including atransparent are composedofseverallayers, of around450channels. with thewholedisplaycomposed controlled byaplasmachannel, LCD cell.Eachscanninglineis causes datatobepassedthe tem usesitasaswitch,which light source,butthePALCsys- displaythe dischargeisusedasa In aconventionalplasma volts, adischargeisproduced. By applyingseveralhundred gas that’sunderlowpressure. are placedinatubefilledwith act asaswitch.Twoelectrodes plasma inplaceofatransistorto technology. variant ofconventionalLCD the namesuggests,PALCisa clean-rooms forproduction.As the systemrequireslow-grade cheaper tomanufacturebecause portable computer. around athirdofthecost screen typicallyaccountsfor for acompactdisplay.AnLCD ESNLCMUE WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL Sony’s firstflat-screensets The pixelsinaPALCdisplay The PALCsystemuses Sony saysPALCsetsare ● FUTURES OCTOBER 1995 229 PCW CUTTING EDGE PCW ● FUTURES

some other bunch of stuff, then stop. Or, if a bunch of rules holds true: A is bigger than B, C is fatter than D, E is of higher frac- tional dimension than F — then do something; charge interest, Bluesky diet, shade in light blue until the rules no longer apply, then stop. If many processes (or proces- sors, painters, carpenters) are at CUTTING EDGE work, more gets done. If tasks can be split up and spread between workers who can solve them concurrently, the overall process should be faster. Strength in numbers Charles Babbage, the “father of computing,” knew this. “The division of labour can be Multiple processors are better than one when it comes to applied with equal success to providing the power that tomorrow’s computers will mental as well as mechanical operations, and it ensures in need. In the first of a two-part series, Nick Beard both the same economy of explores the realm of the supercomputer. time… The arrangements which ought to regulate the interior economy of a manufactory, are omputers will never be pow- sequential computer could be do whatever they are asked, not founded on principles of deeper Cerful enough. Today’s super- called an SISD machine (single necessarily in any sequence that root than may have been computer is tomorrow’s desktop instruction stream, single data links them together. supposed, and are capable of PC and tomorrow’s supercom- stream). This is akin to a single Newcomers to practical being usefully employed in puter will let engineers taste assembly worker who receives a supercomputing are always sur- preparing the road to some of computational feasts they can continuous stream of lumps of prised at how little of the the sublimest investigations of only salivate over today. The wood to work with, each theoretical power of high-end the human mind,” wrote boundary of practicable accompanied by different plans machines is actually exploited. A Babbage in his chapter On the computability is continually and instructions on what to do machine rated at 10 GigaFLOPS Division of Mental Labour pushed forward as new methods with it. (1,010 floating point operations (Economy of Manufactures and of programming emerge to pop- If multiple, separate proces- per second) will generally deliver Machinery, 1832). ulate the fertile terrain. In the sors operate on different data a sustained performance of Splitting tasks over many first of this two-part series, we items, doing the same thing to around 100 MFLOPS — a processors is a key step to high- take a rapid tour of the realm of all of them, the computer is an hundred-fold waste of power. performance computing. Next supercomputing and examine SIMD machine (single Part of the problem is that month, we shall look at specific the flora and fauna of the exotic instruction stream, multiple data software is rarely able to exploit hardware and software architec- engineering applications which stream). This would be like hav- all that power. Various flavours tures and the applications which are evolving there. ing a row of five carpenters, of UNIX exist for different com- are emerging to tap all this Building computers which each receiving a stream of puters, and latterly Windows NT power. race with the best starts with the (potentially) different bits of has increased the choice of work of the computational archi- wood, but each receiving the hardware types to more than tect. Increasingly, power comes same wood and the same Intel-chipped boxes, but extract- PCW Resource Guide from parallelism. Single proces- instructions at the same time. ing the maximum performance High-Performance Computing in sor architecture (only one thing They thus (simultaneously) pro- means matching software and Engineering, Volume 1: can be accomplished at a time) duce many times as many things hardware precisely. That can be Introduction and Algorithms causes a computational bottle- as the single worker. expensive. Bespoke software is H Power and CA Brebbia, neck and cannot compete in the The most complex approach expensive enough — but Computational Mechanics race against multiprocessor is the MIMD machine (multiple bespoke hardware? Publications. rivals. instruction stream, multiple data So, how do we make the The first of an advanced Parallel architectures are stream). Each processor has a most of the algorithm, the core two-volume set looking at the classified according to their control unit in addition to an of the computers’ power, on engineering use of the rapidly emerging power of instruction streams and data arithmetical logic unit and mem- multiple machines? supercomputers, especially in the streams. These are analogous to ory — each is a fully fledged Many computer programs numerically-intensive problems of varieties of production lines in computer. This is like a room full start as follows: take a bunch of engineering. A powerful and manufacturing. A conventional, of carpenters, each available to stuff, tweak it until it looks like specialist work.

230 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 and anewdialectofBasic,says hostilesoftware tamehardware, were problems The successfulpredecessor. withitshugely compared dampsquib IIIwas areal Apple unfortunate The One badApple S The have remainedsomemorable. must havebeenarealturkeyto much copthen,buttheAppleIII know thattheIBMPCwasn’t IBM PCandtheAppleIII.Weall yes, it dates backtoMay1982and, and adetachablekeyboard.But though ithadafixedmonitor tem, loadedfromfloppy. or SophisticatedOperatingSys- the newoperatingsystem)SOS, the ROMwasminimal(4Kbwith without theuseofextracards. could beexpandedto256Kb dard machinehad128Kbbut memory addressing.Thestan- horsepower butpossessedgood were justemerging.Itlacked a timewhen16-bitmachines machine usinga2MHz6502Bat The AppleIIIwasan8-bit ent enoughfromitspredecessor. Apple IIIhardwarewasn’tdiffer- margin thanhadtheAppleII. it offereddealersamuchbigger was boundtosellwellbecause said atthetimethatAppleIII fathers, isonrecordashaving The casedesignlookedas Paving thewayforfuture, But theproblemwasthat Steve Jobs,oneoftheApple- computer historyarethe tanding atthecrossroadsof PCW was CYAN review ofthemachine a turkey. PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD Retro • MAGENTA • YELLOW •BLACK port doubledasan interfaceto parallel port—thefirstjoystick colour video.Therewasno ports, anRS232port,monoand of connectors:twojoystick vided asolidbaseforthearray shielded RFemissionsandpro- alone hot. that itdidn’tevengetwarm,let the surfeitofaluminiummeant fan thecomputerwassilent,and learn alot).Sincetherewasno modern PCmanufacturerscould heat sink(somethingfromwhich pose ofwhichwastoactasa massive alloycasting”,thepur- described itinhisreview,“atruly was tank-like:asDickPountain which couldbeswappedover. which wasfixed,andthemonitor in practiceitwasthekeyboard The metalchassisalso Under theskin,AppleIII Simon Rockman board wasveryquiet, andthis Like thewholesystem,key- keys, andofcoursenomouse. numeric keypadbutnofunction least asecondharddisk. was wisetohaveaProfile,orat much spaceonafloppythatit operating systemtookupso disk, calledaProfile.The peripheral wasthe5Mbhard drives couldbedaisychained. capacity of143Kbanduptothree standard 5.25indiskdrivehada Apple IIstyle50-pinslots.The expansion wasthroughfour users fromopeningit.Theonly carried warningsforbidding so easytomodify.TheAppleIII success, inpartbecauseitwas the dedicatedAppleprinter. The keyboardhadaseparate The onlyreallyexciting The AppleIIhadbeenahuge PCW ● . RETRO COMPUTING allowed the ESNLCMUE WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL would doanything else. ing isthatAppleeverthoughtit Apple IIIdied.What £2,256. drive £385anda5Mbprofile cost £2,545,asecondfloppy floppy andthemonomonitor too: abasicmachinewithone people whohadtouseit. acrudesystemhatedbythe had spares shopinEssex,which in AppleIIIBasicwasatacar encountered aprogramwritten day. TheonlyplaceIever crude bythestandardsof to full-screenediting)were separate editmodeasopposed ity. Theeditingcapabilities(a vided forApplesoftcompatibil- although anemulationwaspro- move toanewdialectofBasic, thirteen yearson. in whichPCsarestilllacking, toemployandanarea continue sensible notionwhichMacs was putinanotherdrive:a like “ACCOUNTS”. was calledsomethingsensible put intothedrive,volume so whenafloppycalled.D1was name aswelladevicename, devices. Thelatterhadavolume and Profilewere“block” while biggerunitslikethefloppy VDU were“character”devices, written to.Thekeyboardand things tobereadfromand handled alldevicesasfiles; them, withlongfilenames. directories andaliasingbetween proper systemofhierarchical a as Esperanto.Unixalreadyhad glot; itwasaboutassuccessful being anoperatingsystempoly- and Unix,wasanattemptat (University CollegeofSanDiego) influenced byUCSDPascal Its designwasheavily may wellhavebeenprophetic. softwarewashostile.“SOS” the was thinking. buzz fromtheprocessorwhenit day tonoticethattherewasa It isnotsurprising The AppleIIIwasexpensive. A radicalchangewasthe This workedevenifthedisk As withUCSDPascal,SOS If thehardwarewastame, OCTOBER 1995 PCW reviewer ofthe is that the surpris- 233 PCW CUTTING EDGE PCW ● MEDIA PCW ● MEDIA

book is written in a slightly more adding pointers and hot links, informal style, which doesn’t and by chapter eight you’re jazz- grate. That and the bundled CD ing up your Web pages with give it the edge. transparent colours, pictures, BOOKS audio and video. The book Just as the bookshelves are groaning under the HTML for Dummies comes with a disk containing all Authors: Ed Tittel & Steve James the HTML files described in the weight of all those Internet books, along comes Publisher: IDG Books book together with a browser the next wave covering different aspects of the Pages: 450 called Winweb. I liked its direct, Price: £28.99 nuts-and-bolts approach. CUTTING EDGE CUTTING EDGE information superway. Ben Tisdall chooses a few. ISBN: 1-56884-330-5 HTML for Dummies is Rating:✒✒✑✑✑ thicker and more intimidating, perhaps because the words Creating Cool Web Pages with HTML and dummies sit uneasily Netscape Navigator with icons in the margin for tips, particular: just four chapters are HTML in the same sentence. It seems Author: Bryan Pfaffenberger things to remember and techni- devoted specifically to Netscape. Author: David Taylor to have been bulked out with Publisher: AP Professional cal details. All the books have But this makes it all the better as Publisher: IDG Books general material that doesn’t Pages: 361 different authors. a basic Internet primer. Chapter Pages: 244 belong in a basic HTML book. It Price: t/c Netscape’s Navigator has one explains what the World Price: £18.99 states, for example: “If your ISBN: 0-12-553132-X become the most popular way of Wide Web is, what speed of ISBN: 1-56884-454-9 goal is to persuade or Rating: ✒✒✒✒✑ accessing the Internet. The modem to buy and what type of Rating: ✒✒✒✒✑ sell, you’ll try to hook Dummies book about it will Internet connection to go for. readers with com- Netscape and the World Wide probably sell the most copies Chapter two explains the Web in Teach Yourself Web Publishing pelling visuals Web for Dummies but it already faces competition more detail; chapter three gets with HTML in a week and riveting Author: Paul E Hoffman from the just published Bryan into HTTP, HTML, hypertext and Author: Laura Lemay testimoni- Publisher: IDG Books Pfaffenberger’s Netscape Navi- URLs; and chapter four explains Publisher: Sams Publishing als as a way sites, for instance, but the Best Pages: 356 gator. The publishers, AP Pro- what to do before you get Pages: 400 to provoke of the Net lists only the bicycle Price: £18.99 fessional, may lack the branding hooked up. It’s not until chapter Price: £19.50 their interest, newsgroups and cycling on ISBN: 1-56884-373-9 of Dummies publisher IDG, but five that Netscape makes its big ISBN: 0-672-30667-0 and then follow Veronica (a Gopher search Rating: ✒✒✒✑✑ the author has impressive entrance. Rating: ✒✒✒✑✑ though with the impor- pages and email addresses for engine). sounding credentials: he com- Pfaffenberger’s book takes a tant details.” each category. For example, if Each topic gets two pages, nternet books seem to prolifer- bines an Associate Professor- different approach, wading or those who aren’t dummies, Teach Yourself Web Publish- you’re interested in cats you with the introduction and Iate almost as fast as pages on ship at the University of Virginia straight into how to get started FIDG produces other books on ing with HTML in a Week from could join the rec.pets.cats address listings on the left and the World Wide Web. The first with his other life as “an accom- with Netscape Navigator in comms, including BBS Secrets, Sams Publishing is another news group, take a look at the Net highlights on the right. The Internet books had titles like The plished Webmaster and chapter one and pressing swiftly which promises, among other crack at the same subject The Best of the Net http://www.ai.mit.edu/fanciers/ first 25 pages of the book are a Whole Internet and set out to confirmed late night hyperlink on with installing Netscape and things, Everything You Need to title is misleading as it will take Author: Seth Godin fanciers.html or mail the new-user’s guide to the Internet, cover everything, but the trend addict”. configuring Netscape helper pro- Set Up and Manage a Successful most people a couple of weeks Publisher: IDG Books [email protected] mailing including information on Net now is towards coverage of par- Netscape is the best-known grams. The helper programs are Bulletin Board System. It runs to just to read it. Although Pages: 430 list. The focus is more on news etiquette. It’s nicely put together ticular areas like HTML or browser; it decodes the symbols supplied with the book on a CD. 670 pages and looks as dry as published this year, the book is Price: £21.99 groups than on Web sites. but not very different from other Netscape. in Web documents to give them They include Winzip, an Adobe the Arizona Dessert but is no already showing its age. ISBN: 1-56884-313-5 Cycling has some great Web Net guides. This month’s crop includes their distinctive font and Acrobat reader and a selection of doubt worth a look for budding Mosaic, for example, is Rating: ✒✒✑✑✑ several from IDG Books, best graphic-rich appearance. viewers and players. There’s Sysops. described as the most popular known for its Dummies series. Browsers are also able to origi- nothing here that you can’t Rather more interesting is browser. DG’s Best of the Net is a Top ten books: October 1995 The three latest are BBSs for nate messages to find and download, but the CD Creating Cool Web Pages with But this book seems to have directory rather in the style of I 1 Microsoft Windows 95 Resource Kit Microsoft Press Dummies, HTML for Dummies retrieve documents each time conveniently puts them all in HTML. HTML stands for Hyper- a more structured approach a film guide. Rather than trying 2 Delphi Unleashed Sams and Netscape and the World you click on a hyperlink. The one place. Further on Text Markup Language, the lan- than the other two and seems to be exhaustive, like the Inter- 3 Inside Windows 95 Microsoft Press Wide Web for Dummies. These result is a program that is Pfaffenberger tackles some of guage used to create Web better suited to commercial pro- net Yellow Pages — let’s face, it 4 Delphi Programming Explorer Coriolis follow hard on the heels of The extremely easy to use but is the tougher topics in chapters pages. The rather slim Creating duction of Web pages. For a complete Internet listing is fast 5 Introducing Microsoft Windows 95 Microsoft Press Internet for Dummies, 2nd Edition doing a lot for you in the back- with headings like When the Cool Web Pages appears at first example it is the only one to become impossible — it offers 6 Teach Yourself Web Publishing Sams and More Internet for Dummies. ground. Netscape has success- Surf gets Rough, Digging sight to be competing head-on cover how to storyboard a a selection, generated by asking in a Week The Dummies books, which fully extended the feature set around in Gopher, and Surviving with the 450-page HTML for series of Web pages, just as you for nominations. 7 Teach Yourself More Web Publishing Sams have notched up 17 million sales that first appeared in the Telnet and 3270 Sessions. Dummies. Ironically, of the two might storyboard a movie or an The problem with books of in a Week to date, all have bold black and ground-breaking Mosaic, partic- There’s little to choose Creating Cool Web Pages seems advert. this kind is that they’re instantly 8 The Windows Interface Guidelines Microsoft Press yellow covers and cartoons by ularly in adding a decent Usenet between the two books. Both easier to follow. Early on it gives If you want to knock out a out of date. But it is useful as a for Software Design Rich Tennant to brighten up the client to allow easy access to titles have an American slant, and you a sneak preview of what fast and dirty home page, try ready reference, particularly for 9 Linux Unleashed Sams contents. Apart from the newsgroups. prices are given in dollars. The HTML actually looks like (ASCII Creating Cool Web Pages. If you those who are new to the 10 UK Internet Book, 2nd Edition Addison-Wesley cartoons, which are similar in Netscape and World Wide Dummies book is better for non- with a load of chevrons), and want to do the whole thing Internet. style to Gary Larson’s Far Side Web for Dummies. in fact has Netscape users, but non- explains URLs (uniform properly and have a couple of The entries are arranged in List supplied by The PC BookShop of 11 & 12 Sicilian Avenue, drawings, the illustrations are more information on the Web Netscape users probably won’t resource locators) and how to months to do it, Teach Yourself alphabetical order and there are London WC1A 2HQ Tel: 0171 831 0022 Fax 0171 831 0443 black and white screenshots, in general than Netscape in buy either book. Pfaffenberger’s use them. By chapter six you’re Web Publishing is worth a look. lists of newsgroups, Web

234 235 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL 236 I • TheUltimateHumanBody • Bodyworks4.0 • HowYourBodyWorks viewer. as theskeletonandX-ray scattered aroundthelab,such ing onthevariousitems can beaccessedsimplybyclick- with slides.Alltheinformation burner andmicroscopeloaded oratory, completewithBunsen main screenissetoutlikealab- the mostfunofthree.The tems andsoon. tive system,thedigestivesys- piratory system,thereproduc- and “systems”.Thatis,theres- describing thebody’sorgans cover thesamebasicground, CDs setouttoproveit.Allthree is amazing”—andthesethree health careadvert:“Yourbody n thewordsofprivate How YourBodyWorkswas CUTTING EDGE CD-ROMs Tinseltown approach. takes Monroe ofMarilyn theschmaltzy two, abiography while atlas reference couldshow world youyour The athingor bodyworks. how about andwhy Sit back you andenjoy ofwinewhile learn aglass PCW ● MEDIA tion onlifestyle, and thereare in detail,butalso includesasec- various bodyparts andsystems Not onlydoesitcoverthe comprehensive ofthethreeCDs. bad execution. is oneofgoodideasruinedby disks, andtheoverallimpression those offeredontheothertwo illustrations arenotasclear on well-presentedfacts.The micks insteadofconcentrating in theUS. the drawbackisthattheyareall numerous medicalconditions— which listsadvisorybodiesfor included isa“healthdictionary” dren. Theotherreferencebook have beenwrittenforsmallchil- dictionary” whichappearsto reflected inthe“medical up littlemovies. numerous animationstomake by audioclips,andthereare for minimaltextcomplemented sketchy. Theauthorshaveopted but theexplanationsare covered BodyWorks 4.0isthemost This simplisticapproachis A widerangeoftopicsis This CDispackedwithgim- pieces ultimate humanbodyto Below Bodyworks 4.0 spinning skullin Left body works,Igor” Above The exploding, You canpullthe “See howyour swallow? actions work?How doyou you blink?Howdo reflex with howthings work: whydo study. Thebodymachinedeals choose theareayouwantto click onmapsofthebodyto system, andbodymachine.You sections: bodyorgans, little andwantstolearnmore. to interestanyonewhoknowsa at thebeginner,buthasplenty Ultimate HumanBodyisaimed very differentapproach:The level teachingtool. the bestofthreeasahigh- explanations, itisundoubtedly together. see howthe29bonesfit explode theskullandspinitto from allsides.Youcaneven idea ofhowitactuallylooks that parttogiveyouabetter part oftheskeletonandrotate example, youcanlookatany various bodypartsaswell.For technical information. you cangettogripswiththe explanations fordifferentparts, Byclickingon diagram. pointers fromthetextto system isexplained,thereare clearer: aseachbodypartor during thoselessons. learnt allthetechnicalterms which requiresyoutohave there isaverytestingquiz various aspectsofthebody,and step bythrough excellent lessonstotakeyou text withafinetoothcomb. some timegoingthroughthe be confusingunlessyouspend densely writtenstyle,whichcan many technicaltermsusedina be quitecomplicated.Thereare and sotheexplanationstendto A-level studentsandabove), ground knowledge(probably who alreadyhaveagoodback- ical recordsinadatabase. chance tokeepyourownmed- lessons tofollow,aquiz,and It isdividedintothreemain Dorling Kindersleytakesa Despite thedifficultyof There are3Dmodelsof The illustrationscouldn’tbe Help isathandintheformof This CDisaimedatthose buy ofthethree. BodyWorks hastobethebest for thetruebiologystudent, extremely goodintroduction.But BodyWorks, itformsan Body isnotascomprehensive with isanemptyskull. and soonuntilallyouareleft then thenosebones,brain apart bytakingouttheeyes, pieces —youcantakethehead ishly pulltheseillustrationsto diagrams. Youcanevenghoul- excellent animationsandclear explanations arehelpedalongby body fitstogether. picture ofhoweverythinginyour jects soyouslowlybuildupa items linktootherrelatedsub- ates asawhole.Eachofthe explaining howyourbodyoper- work, itgoessomewayto individual partsofyourbody is thatitnotonlytellsyouhow Rating Price £59incVAT 0171 7533488 Contact DorlingKindersley The UltimateHumanBody Rating Price £39.95 Contact Guildsoft01752895100 Bodyworks 4.0 Rating Price £39.99 Contact Mindscape01444246333 How YourBodyWorks Adele Dyer is aimedatadultsaswell Kindersley’s othertitles,thisCD In contrasttomanyofDorling World ReferenceAtlas While TheUltimateHuman The straightforwardtext The greatthingaboutthisCD ●●●●❍ ●●●●❍ ●●●❍❍ late allthe information. map, itisquitehard toassimi- information you need isonone for instance.Even thoughallthe details ofthecountryboundaries maps donotprovideeasy-to-see which isashamebecausethese details ofaparticularcountry, this pointyoujumprightintothe and thenzoominagain.Butat more detail.Youcanpanaround zooming intoinspectanarea view theworldataglancebefore world mapsbothallowyouto physical features. ing topeople,placesand which classifiesentriesaccord- there’s acomprehensiveindex video andphotographs) “world inview”(acollectionof world, anAtoZofcountries,the the physicalworld,political ing package. erence workratherthanateach- children andisintendedasaref- The politicalandphysical There arefivemainsections: ures. For example,inasection grasp theimplications ofthefig- hard foranon-economist to explanation soit can bequite little inthewayofstatistical this information.Thereisvery section. on the“compare”buttonineach country measuresupbyclicking and text:youcanseehoweach Each includesgraphs,diagrams, rankings andtheenvironment. cations, socio-economicworld ethnic origin,politics,communi- ranging acrosssubjectssuchas included foreachcountry, and statistics:18topicsare there isawealthofinformation PCW ESNLCMUE WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL But therearedrawbackstoall Within eachcountrysection physical viewsareavailable Above photographs collection ofvideosand World ReferenceAtlashasa Top ● This sectionofthe MEDIA Political and OCTOBER 1995

237 CUTTING EDGE OCTOBER 1995 WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL 238 Monroe. Itistheresultofa Bernard’s bookaboutMarilyn This CDisbasedonSusan Bernard ofHollywood’sMarilyn come toexpectfromDK. type; justnotwhatwehave is allitneeds.Itgoodforits organised CDs.Butafewtweaks forinformative,well- reputation Kindersley hassuchagood than perfectwhenDorling discovered thisCDtobeless more imaginativeversions. country, andinsomecases, video clipandphotographper been goodtoseemorethanone of theColour.Itwouldhave included avideooftheTrooping Britain, DorlingKindersleyhas others aremorepedestrian.For Arctic isbreathtaking—but great —thevideoclipof in theworld.Someofthemare video andstillshotsofanywhere an areatolookatandpullup CD: youcanspinaglobe,pick is thereallyfunsectionof one countryatatime. you couldcomparemorethan all thestatistics)inoneblockso explanation ofthese(aswellas ful tohavehadsome Japan’s: itwouldhavebeenuse- compared Britain’sfigureswith fully comprehendtheseuntilI price index.Ifoundithardto charted againstitsconsumer (gross domesticproduct)is indicator” thecountry’sGDP entitled “economicperformance Rating Price £69incVAT 0171 7533488 Contact DorlingKindersley Adele Dyer

I wasdisappointedtohave The “WorldinaView”section CUTTING EDGE ●●●●❍ PCW ● MEDIA The wordsmightbeabitsickly, butthephotosarestunning book havebeenputontothe throughout hercareer. and continuedtophotographher when shearrivedinTinseltown, who tookMarilyn’sfirstpictures and herphotographerfather collaboration betweenBernard the BBC’s (wine authority,winewriterandco-presenterof with theinfectiousenthusiasmofhost,OzClarke and attractivewayinwhichit’spresented,linked favourites. Thewealthofinformation,theneat across —certainlyinmytoptenofpersonal This isoneofthebestCD-ROMsI’vecome Microsoft’s WineGuide that coverseverything:fromthevineyard, correct.” but wineissupposedtobefunbeforeit’s mug ifthat’sallthereis…Itmaynotbecorrect, says: “I’lldrinkvintagechampagneoutofatin drinking, butwineshouldbefun.AsOzClarke like that. where Iamwithabrownale.Butitneedn’tbe goodness sake,justgivemeabrownale,Iknow gled anddrunkfromspecialglasses…Oh,for to bepouredjustso,itmustsniffedandgar- have tobeopenedinacertainway,thewinehas ries certainconnotationsofsnobbery:bottles to useasitisinformative. adds uptoanattractivediscthat’sasenjoyable Great chunksofBernard’s So theWineGuideisafunwineencyclopedia It paystoknowalittleaboutwhatyouare A lotofpeopleareafraidwine,anditcar- Food andDrink programme) —all Bernard’s diary:buttrueMarilyn rated extractsfromBruno up toinanygivenyear,andnar- can findoutwhatMarilynwas video clips,atimelinesoyou other bitsandpieces.Thereare schmaltzy), alongwithafew disk (thetextisunbelievably glossary ofaround700wineterms. wines containingalmost2,000entries,anda to capitall,theWineGuidehasanA-Zlistof countries classifythequalityoftheirwines.And information, grapevarietiesandtheway maps, extensivegeographicalandhistorical wine-producing areas.Thereare57interactive There’s awineatlaswhichshowsthe12major varieties, howtoreadawinelabelandlist. the winery.Ittellsyouaboutclassicgrape to explaininconsiderabledetailthevineyardand diagrams, video,andinteractivecharts pictures, explaining whattolook,smell,andtastefor. and assessing18winesfromchampagnetoport, tour aswell.Ozhastheenjoyabletaskoftasting be neglected,howtospotabadwine. business ofactuallydrinkingthewineand,notto open thebottle.Thenmoveontoimportant decanting, corksandcorkscrews,howto and you’llfindalltheesotericaaboutglasses, For example,clickonthecategory“WineTasting” almost certainlyhavetheinformationyouwant. best featureiswhatwinetodrinkwithfood. glass it,sniffitandgargleit.Andprobablythe through thewinery,tobottle;andhow Rating Price £40 Contact Microsoft01734270001 Paul Begg The section“AllAboutWine”useswords, There isafunandinformativevideo-tasting In fact,younameitandtheWineGuidewill ●●●●● (street price) Rating press) available atthetimeofgoingto Price $69.95 Contact Corel0800581028 herself. Adele Dyer of thesoulwithinwoman do notevenprovideaglimmer tures orpublicityshotsthatthey latterareposedstudiopic- the are excellent.Butsomanyof and someofthephotographs the factsonthisCD. will alreadybeawareofmost with her,thechancesareyou the world’sgeneralfascination way ofarealbiography.Suchis there isnotverymuchinthe great detail,andunfortunately inner selfisneverexploredin too probing. fans shouldnotexpectanything The videoclipsarequitefun The darknessofMarilyn’s ●●❍❍❍ (£ Sterlingpricenot alright for some... upontheirFrench.brushed It’s and spotsandleopards, out about party, found donesomedrawing, 9)have(aged beentoabirthday Paul Begg I young childrenlikeandinfact mark againstPBBearbecause This isn’tnecessarilyablack reproduces thesameanimation. PB Bearscreensimply against boredom.Clickingona Living Bookswithaninsurance to happen,whichprovidesthe Books screencausessomething almost anywhereonaLiving ence isthatamouseclick Living Booksseries.Thediffer- pretty closetoBroderbund’s same namebyLeeDavis—it’s ling Kindersleybookofthe ROM —it’sbasedontheDor- Being abooktransferredtoCD- keep ayoungchildentertained. sounds goodandhasenoughto Bear’s BirthdayPartylooksand Puddleduck? plate same enthusiasmasatea young childgreetitwiththe worried me.Woulda fore Party utterlycharmingthere- That IfoundPBBear’sBirthday giously buyforsmallchildren. charming andwhichtheyreli- china thatgrown-upsthink of thestufffromnotepadsto and Beatrixusuallyadornmost than anice-cube.YetWinnie Beatrix Potterlefthercolder from theDisneycartoons)and liked WinniethePooh(apart children willlike.Siobánnever be certainaboutwhatyoung always finditalittledifficultto In thiscaseIthinknot.PB adorned withJemima CYAN Kids’ PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA and daughterSiobán • YELLOW as howtohandleamouse. them basiccomputerskills,such dren tothecomputerandteach be usedtointroduceyoungchil- encouragement andadvice. get involved,offeringsupport, also awayforthegrown-upsto shapes, andnumbers.Theyare ing conceptssuchascolours, and teacharangeofearlylearn- cake. Thesegamesarequitefun would needtobakeabirthday objects thosewhichPBBear choosing fromaselectionof to thestory,suchas simple gameslinked and spokenwords. tion betweenwritten objects andtheconnec- children tofamiliar frieze thatintroduces works likeakindofwall pronounced —PBBear you seeitspeltandhear Clicking onthepicturelets (generally) familiarobjects. spersed withpicturesof spell. Thesentencesareinter- young childrenlearntoreadand been speciallydesignedtohelp the LivingBooksinthatithas benefit fromrepetition. and Smitharethepeopleto and SmithInc?No?Well,Binney Have youeverheardofBinney Amazing Art On topofallthis,PBBearcan There aresome PB Bearalsodiffersfrom •BLACK

S and designingpackages(yawn Art Studioforages6to12. Adventure forages3to6and ware packages:AmazingArt two absolutelysmashingsoft- company Micrografxtoproduce forced withgraphicssoftware crayons. Magic MarkerandCrayola Smith manufactureSillyPutty, mark Cardspeople,Binneyand reach. AsubsidiaryoftheHall- the stairsthatyoucan’tquite stuck onthatbitofceilingabove and forthatlumpofSillyPutty oned additionstothepattern for havingwallpaperwithcray- blame

Both aredrawing,painting Binney andSmithhavejoined t

u of theseveraldesignsavailable dining tableplacematfromone ware. Youcanevenchoosea pages thatcomewiththesoft- colour oneoftheloadsbooks pictures tocolourin,oryoucan where. Youcancreateyourown an animationortakesyousome- almost anythingeitherproduces sitting-room whereaclickon Room, acomfortablyuntidybed are made. on-disc videoonhowcrayons while Iplayedandwatchedthe vanished withoutmynoticingit that thebestpartofanafternoon up withAmazingArtAdventure f ESNLCMUE WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL The openingscreenistheArt

f PCW cial. Igotsocaught really arequitespe- work?). Butthese ing fromthewood- going tostopcrawl- — aretheyever ● OCTOBER 1995 FUN great charm PB Bearhas and spoken— pictures, text are shownin way words We likedthe 241 CUTTING EDGE OCTOBER 1995 WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL 242 At firstglancethislookslikejust Rudyard Kipling’sJustSoStories. Leopard GotHisSpots,oneof New fromMicrosoftisHowthe spots probably holdsgreaterappeal! How theleopardgotits dren hittheageof12,Doom younger agegroup—oncechil- are especiallygoodforthe would say,andIthinkboth “meganeat”, asmydaughter banks. keep theirmoney?Insnow- teller —wheredoEskimos assorted gamesandafunjoke your ownanimatedcartoons), ture showmaker(toproduce maker, notepaperapic- certificate maker,badge a rather moregrownup.There’s year-olds, andisconsequently product butaimedat6-to12- pretty muchthesametypeof products withtheirchildren. ideas tohelpparentsusethe booklet thatincludesapageof ages comeswitha28-page Windows wallpaper.Thepack- stored intheArtGallery,as piece canbesaved,to as explodingit.Orthemaster- ture inanumberofways,such mistakes orgetridofyourpic- crayons. Youcanalsoundo markers and,ofcourse, as colourwithwatercolours, host ofspecialeffects,aswell fun animations,andadda add stickers,dropinsome shapes, createcrazylines, and colourithoweveryouwant.

Both packsare The CrayolaArtStudiois You canaddwords,draw CUTTING EDGE PCW ● FUN 2 the storyyourself.Amouse-click Weapon films,oryoucanread Gibson’s sidekickintheLethal haps best-knownasMel in TheColorPurplebutisper- Glover, whoplayedthehusband the storyreadtoyoubyDanny there ismeathere.Youcanhave Talking Bookslook-alike,but another Broderbund 3 1 narration. duced avideoandinformation example, clickingonazebrapro- graph, music,orvideo—for mation. Thismightbeaphoto- words takesyoutofurtherinfor- double-click onhighlighted gives youapronunciationand on anyword CYAN PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA its background. understand astoryandexplore and inschool—agreatwayto of EnglishLiteratureathome the world. which istheoldestballgamein Mancala, anAfricanstonegame there aresomegames,including presenters whoshout),and makers, (a lessonforchildren’sTV cartoon rabbitcalledPJ,isgreat distinctive; theguide,alaidback Lohstoeter areveryunusualand 1 tools makesforengrossing colouring withAmazingArt in artbegin—justclickand 2 something willhappen This sortofdiscisthefuture The illustrationsbyLori 3 begins withArtStudio A greatselectionofdrawing This iswhereyouradventures This iswheretheolderchild some friends.Youcanexplore mood forexploringthezoowith foot-tapper thatgetsyouinthe Zoo-Opolis Rap,acatchylittle up, inmyopinion. three andup,thoughnotveryfar tion toanimalsforchildrenaged New Media,Isaniceintroduc- Zoo-Opolis, fromCompton’s ware forveryyoungchildren, animals, butreturningtosoft- Not movingtoofarfrom Zoo-Opolis • YELLOW you don’t haveto The programstartswiththe •BLACK OCTOBER 1995 WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL 244 Mutant NinjaTurtles) andamong terson (whoproducedTeenage Lee Miller,producedbyBillPat- by afilmmakernamedDavid esting pedigree.Itwascreated the familywillprobablyenjoyit. and theyoungestmembersof achieved whatitsetouttodo quality. Butoverall,Zoo-Opolis video wasn’tofparticularlygood some children,andofthe ration willgoovertheheadsof the zoo.Ithinksomeofnar- young childrentotheanimalsof designed tointroducevery by ananimalfriendandeach games andvideos,eachhosted mals oftheirown. struct weirdandwonderfulani- and putthemtogethertocon- pictures ofanimals,mixthemup where youngchildrencantake puzzle, theotherashufflepuzzle puzzle games,oneisajigsaw Wally Wallabywhohoststwo Splash tellsajoke.Thenthere’s mal fromitssilhouetteand cation. Correctlyidentifyanani- and hisgameisAnimalIdentifi- Zoo-Opolis’ gameshowhost, what’s happening. ten toazookeepertellyou see avideoofananimalandlis- scenes ofarealzoo.Yougetto giraffe whotakesyoubehindthe eral friends.GildaGorgeousisa Machine. get toplayonaBubble enough oftheseandyou for hiddentokens;get always keepinganeyeopen by takingoneofninepaths,

Zoo-Opolis Alsohasaninter- There areseveralother Splash isapenguinandthe You explorewithoneofsev- CUTTING EDGE zoo forlittleones introduction tothe Zoo-Opolis isafun PCW ● FUN ingly. Thespeechrecognition speaker andscoreyouaccord- nunciation tothatofthenative software willcompareyourpro- can repeatthewordsand Speech Recognition. about thispackageisthatituses odd, butthemostexcitingthing ciation andaccentwon’tsound be certainthatyourownpronun- by nativespeakers,soyoucan phrases. more unusualwordsand everyday conversationtorather ing fromthoseyouwouldusein teaches over2,300words,rang- smashing littleprogramthat Vocabulary Builder.It’sa the samecompanyhaslaunched tion TutorfromHyperGlot.Now looked atwasFrenchPronuncia- benefit from. the wholefamilycoulduseand glad toseesomesoftwarethat response frompeoplewhowere and theseprovokedagood couple ofFrenchlanguagetutors A fewmonthsagoIrevieweda Zut alors! member HowieEpstein. Petty andtheHeartbreakers lis RapwasproducedbyTom Land BeforeTime.TheZoo-Opo- worked onAnAmericanTaleand artists wasMarkSwanson,who the animatorsand If youhaveamicrophone You hearwordspronounced One ofthebetterpackagesI planned value-addedtoolsarea requirements. Examplesof software tospecific cally tohelpteacherstailorthe introduce toolstoOfficespecifi- award, Microsoftisplanningto as aresultofthisprestigious British teachersorganisationand secondary schools.ACITTisa package inprimaryand best generalpurposesoftware Professional editions)asthe Office (boththeStandardand (ACITT) hasvotedMicrosoft nators andTeachersofIT National AssociationforCo-ordi- interested insuchthings,the German andSpanish. languages coveredareFrench, and readtheword.The one packageyougettosee,hear visual representation.Thus,in to giveeverysingleworda accurate “library”photograph) this hasnotbeenpossible,an original photographs(or,where software. genuinely innovativepieceof side wheneveryouwant—a language teachersittingatyour It’s likehavinganexpert which setsthepackageaside. native speaker,andit’sthis ciation comparestothatofthe demonstrates howyourpronun- software visually Finally, forthosewhoare The packagealsoincludes CYAN PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA for thehomecomputer. anyone wantingasoftwaresuite recommend MicrosoftOfficeto links withUKschools,seemsto Microsoft’s planstoforgecloser and apupildatabaseinAccess. lesson plannerbuiltintoWord, Rating Contact Price Vocabulary Builder Rating 0181 8381280 Contact Price Zoo-Opolis! Rating Contact Price How theLeopardGotHisSpots Rating Contact disk orCD-ROM) Price • ArtStudio • AmazingArtAdventures Rating 0171 8365411 Contact Price PB Bear’sBirthdayParty • YELLOW The award,togetherwith £49.95 incVAT £39.99 incVAT Under £30incVAT £29.94 eachincVAT(on £39 incVAT PCW ★★★★★ ★★✩✩✩ ★★★✩✩ ★★★★✩ ★★★★✩ Guildsoft 01752895100 Active Sales Microsoft 01734270001 Frontline 01256463344 Dorling Kindersley •BLACK Details OCTOBER 1995 WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL 246 speed CD-ROMdrivemakeit 16-bit stereosoundandaquad- gives itplentyofpower,while PowerPC 603RISCprocessor for thehome.A75MHz est andgreatestMacintosh Performa 5200isthelat- all-in-one-design, Apple’s A returntotheoriginal Performa 5200 Apple Macintosh C stands. next totheOlivettiandMicrosoft You canfindusonstand3076 win oneofthesefabulousprizes. entry formatthe petition. Youcanpickupan and enterthePCWLive95com- 19th and24thSeptember1995, Show atEarl’sCourt,between CUTTING EDGE World The Personal Computer down totheLive95 ome PCW C standand PCW ● COMPETITION management facilitiesyou’d than A4.Ithasallthepower desktop PCinaboxnolarger to useandputsthepowerofa portables we’veseen,it’sgreat only isitoneofthebest-looking expect inahigh-end to fightgetitback.Not Echos, Olivettiusuallyhas Apple MacintoshPerforma5200 chance toreviewthe Whenever wegetthe Echos 44c Olivetti level system. excellent entry- 5200 isan multimedia- options, the expansion of softwareand use withplenty ready. Easyto Creative LabsAWE-32 tracks. The editMIDIand digital audio and its own,allowingyoutowrite some excellentapplicationsof ever writtenandissuppliedwith about everypieceofsoftware have. It’scompatiblewithjust soundcardto The AWE-32isthe Creative LabsAWE-32 and a340Mbharddisk. (upgradable to24Mb) by 4MbRAM complemented and is a 50MHzprocessor The Echosisbasedon conserve batterylife. power downanydeviceto to diskandtheability notebook, includingsuspend i e 9 Competition Live 95 CYAN PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA in ROM. has 1Mbofinstrumentsstored General MIDI-compatibleand Its WaveTablesynthesiseris MIDI keyboardorsequencer. instruments tousewitha download yourown quality shieldedspeakersgood has alsogivenusapairofhigh- your stufftofriends,soYamaha and jazz. analogue throughtoorchestral eight drumkitsrangingfrom as 128instrumentsthereare fully GM-compatible,andaswell the beach.Thesynthesiseris just aboutanywhere—evenon can composeyourowntracks multitimbral synthesiser,you MIDI sequencerand16-part 95. Combininganeight-track new QY22togiveawayatLive Yamaha hasgivenusitsbrand Yamaha QY22 enabling youto • YELLOW Of courseyou’llwanttoplay sampling RAM 512Kb of card has

•BLACK Motorola Flare mobile phone mobile Flare Motorola CYAN PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD • MAGENTA • YELLOW provide 6Wattsperchannel or eventhePC.TheYST-M5’s for boththeQY22,Walkman •BLACK Olivetti Echos44c Yamaha Sound Edge SW20-PC Also brandnewfrom Yamaha istheSound controls forpresence, audio outputandhave for thePC.Aftereight Edge 16-bitsoundcard allowing youboosttreble years ofsupplying and bassfequencies. facturers likeCreative sound chipstomanu- Labs, Yamahahas The SW20-PCisbased released itsowncard. Yamaha QY22 Flare mobilephoneaspartofthe Motorola isofferingitsnew connection phone withfree Motorola Flaremobile PCW Live95competition. Yamaha SoundEdgeSW20-PC there achoiceofanalogueand DSPs. real timethankstotheon-board applied toanyaudiosourcein pitch shiftingandchorus,canbe Effects, whichincludedreverb, and built-indigitaleffects. with 32-notevoicepolyphony provides fullGMcompatibility on theOPL4chipsetand When itcomestochoices Flare range.Notonly is Flare 5 differentstylesinits Motorola’s ontop,offering PCW ● COMPETITION ESNLCMUE WORLD COMPUTER PERSONAL connection (subjecttostatus). provide thewinnerwithfree from. MotorolaTel.Co.willalso full paletteofcolourstochoose digital networks,butthere’sa prizes. alternative isavailableinlieuof judge’s decisionisfinal.Nocash Yamaha andMotorola.The Apple, Olivetti,CreativeLabs, VNU BusinessPublications, employees, andtheirfamilies,of Computer Worldexceptfor open toallreadersofPersonal The PCWLive95competitionis Rules ofentry OCTOBER 1995

247 CUTTING EDGE PCW ● FUN PCW ● FUN

FXFX FighterFighter Gloves on, fists raised, and left foot forward, Chris Cain While the characters and Screenplay backgrounds move smoothly, checked out this exciting new beat ’em up from Philips the level of design and artwork Media and GTE Interactive — and despite its slightly isn’t up to the standards of games like Virtua Fighter 2. In blocky graphics, he couldn’t help being impressed. fact, some of the graphics are downright blocky, and bad poly- NEWS espite being one of the others, whom you can choose to you don’t have to tackle yourself gon clipping leads to particularly CUTTING EDGE CUTTING EDGE Ddefinitive video game gen- tackle in any order. Each enemy at any stage, giving some credi- messy visuals at some points. res, fighting games (“beat ’em has over 40 attacks at their dis- bility to the storyline. The final For example, Jake’s arms and ups”) have never been big on posal, but naturally, some are stage is Rygil’s homeworld, a head seem detached from his ! the PC. Those which have easier to do away with than oth- dark artificial planetoid with dev- body when the camera zooms in U P appeared have been mediocre at ers. In true beat ’em up tradi- astating fire power. for a close-up. Strategic best, with Probe’s conversion of tion not all the moves for each Thanks to the BRENDER In contrast the sound is fine M Mortal Kombat II probably the character are printed in the engine, FX Fighter boasts with good in-game music, most impressive. This month, instructions — the idea is that smooth-moving 3D graphics, except for the “poppy” title tune, launch J he Lemmings are back, and Philips Media and GTE Interac- players experiment to find them and motion capture techniques and all characters grunt, groan C users who like to think about their games Tthis time they’re in 3D. Just tive are attempting to redress for themselves. Basic have been employed to provided and give a suitable taunt when Pare in for a treat with the announcement of when you thought it was safe the balance with FX Fighter. movements and punch and kick realistic animation. The polygon- they win. several new titles from strategy masters to turn on your PC, the green- FX Fighter is a one-on-one buttons are provided, but that’s based images are shaded and Where FX Fighter does score Mindscape and SSI. Together, the companies are haired horrors return to send beat ’em up, set in the style of about it. texture-mapped, with the level of highly is playability, and arcade launching a range of products boasting detailed 3D you further up the wall. 3D Lemmings follows the same style as the previ- current arcade hits such as Moves to discover include detail adjustable to suit your beat ’em up fans will feel right at graphics, fast action, and more challenging puzzles ous smash hits from Psygnosis, but the action takes place entirely in a 3D Sega’s Virtua Fighter 2 and jumping kicks, back-breaking particular setup. The box quotes home. The game is best than ever before. world. It may be more of the same, but judging from the demo we’ve Namco’s Tekken. It’s the first throws, multi-punch combina- a minimum 486DX/33 specifica- controlled with a joypad, such as First up is DeathKeep, a first-person-perspective received it looks like a winner. game to use BRENDER, a new tions and ground attacks. Siren tions, but it takes something like the Phase 9 Phantom 2 from Advanced D&D adventure billed as “a relentless 3D Lemmings is destined for release on PC and Sony Playstation in graphics technology developed will even kick her male a Pentium 90 to have all features Euromax, but the keyboard can slaughter on a frighteningly huge scale”. An evil Necro- September. by Argonaut software, famed for opponents in the goolies if you at maximum. As characters fight, be used as an alternative. It sup- mancer has escaped from his icy prison and is wreaking Psygnosis is on 0151 282 3290 the timeless Starglider series find the right joystick and button the camera angle on the action ports a two-player mode and havoc upon the surrounding lands. DeathKeep sends you and the Nintendo hit Starwing. combination. Some of the changes to give the player the none of your opponents are easy into the bleak, frozen wastelands to become a hero and As with other beat ’em ups moves are somewhat simi- best view. to beat, although some like put paid to his plans. Key features include a full 3D view, there isn’t much of a plot, and lar to those in Sega’s prod- Magnon and Rygil are especially over 25 detailed levels and a choice of three personas, Deadly deadlines FX Fighter’s revolves around an uct, and can sometimes tough, so the urge to including a powerful female elf-mage. rug running, prostitution, muggings alien conqueror named Rygil. be accessed with the discover hidden more Thunderscape takes the player into more traditional dank Dand murders — everyday events in Space-hopping Rygil has same combinations. powerful moves is dungeons on a quest to fight off dragons, gremlins and other New Arhus, the setting for Synnergist. entered a new solar system and Each opponent is strong. things that go bump in the night. Once you’ve dealt with that The latest from 21st Century has you assuming the role of Tim Machin, challenged the champions from fought on their home FX Fighter is a brave you might like to try Silent Hunter, an authentic action-packed an underpaid and overworked journalist (I know the feeling) investigat- different worlds, including you, world, which is attempt at boosting the World War II submarine simulator. ing the gruesome death of a valued informant. Check out the local drink- to meet him in a battle for destroyed in a spectac- PC beat ’em up scene, DeathKeep costs £44.99 for PC, £39.99 for 3DO. ing establishments, interview undesirables, and uncover dark supremacy. Win and you get to ular explosion if and those looking for Vir- Thunderscape and Silent Hunter are PC-only and both retail at secrets and cover-ups that will shake the claim his planet, the most awe- they’re beaten. Unlike tua Fighter-esque action £44.99. very foundations of the city. some weapon ever devised. other fighting games without nipping down to Mindscape is on 01444 246333 Synnergist will appear Lose and you and your species the arcade or the expense of on PC CD-ROM in are space dust. an additional game console October. Making up the combatants should be satisfied. It’s not 21st Century is on are human warrior and obliga- perfect, especially in terms of 01235 851852 tory hero Jake, a praying man- graphics, but it’s certainly the Brain drain tis, a cyborg, an alien priest, best of its type at the moment. Magnon the living rock and four lectronics Arts has announced the release of Fade to Black, intergalactic females. Each has System requirements: Ethe sequel to the highly successful French platform affair, their own agenda and fighting 486DX 33MHz PC, 4Mb RAM, Flashback. Set in the year 2190, it centres on a race of malevolent style, and after reading some VGA, SoundBlaster or compatible, single-speed CD- brain beings that have taken control of the solar system. Return- brief descriptions you must side ROM drive. Note that FX Fighter ing to the role of Flashback hero Conrad, you must confront the evil and bring freedom to the with one. I went for Cyben 30, a requires a maths co-processor. universe once again. mean machine if ever there was Price: £39.99 The plot sounds a little familiar, but with six levels, various missions and a cinematic feel one. His race is out to destroy Contact: Virgin Interactive (thanks to varying camera angles) Fade to Black should be fun. all organic life, but what the hell. 0171 368 2266 Fade to Back will eventually appear on PC CD-ROM, but no price or release date has To earn the right to fight been set. Rygil you must first defeat the Electronic Arts is on 01753 549442

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PCW ● FUN PCW ● FUN

Flight Unlimited Leisure Lines Flight Unlimited Brainteasers “Ladies and gentlemen, this is captain courtesy of Nicola Kingsley welcoming you aboard the JJ Clessa. virtual flight of a lifetime, during which we will change planes four times, perform extensive This Month’s Quickie we know there are more than aerobatics, and I will learn to fly. Those A brief puzzle to get your 20 solutions possible and brains going. almost 2,000 combinations of CUTTING EDGE CUTTING EDGE interested should consult the flight details I offered my grandson 9p 2-digit primes which produce below.” for every sum he got right in these solutions. So, as it his school test, with the pro- stands, things are a bit too t’s a clear sunny day. You’ve those ripe and lovely ther- suspended in air and using the viso that he gave me 6p for easy. Ichosen your aeroplane, mals from the mountains. flow of air over the wings to every one he got wrong. There However, it just so happens strapped yourself in and as you To enhance the sensa- manoeuvre. Moving the stick to were 25 sums and, in the end, that two, and only two, of these push back the throttle you feel tion of flying, each plane the right doesn’t necessarily we broke even. What percent- 20 solutions can be obtained by the surge and weight of the — the Bellanca Decathlon, result in a simple right-hand turn angles) of five different US air- age mark did he get? only one combination of 2-digit plane as you leave the runway. Pitts Special S-2B, Sukhoi as the program simulates real fields. This method enables the primes. So, to ensure that you This latest flight simulator, Flight flying conditions, which aren’t generation of a real 3D This Month’s Prize Puzzle earn your prize this week, we Unlimited by Looking Glass always perfect — the flight can landscape to fly in, complete We think this month’s problem are asking you for one of those Technologies and marketed in get a bit bumpy. Just when you with mountains and valleys. This is fairly difficult, unless you two solutions — either will do. think you’ve got the hang of it, is complemented by an efficient have access to some very pow- Answers on a postcard or the sun shines in your eyes and texture-mapping technique that things to shoot. That said, erful computing facilities. But, the back of a sealed envelope haze limits your vision. displays plenty of detail, but not there’s plenty of excitement to since every month there’s — no letters and no floppy Comments like “Next time we’ll at the expense of speed, so the be had. Well worth the money. invariably someone who sends disks, please. Then send it to: use your plane” and “Do you scrolling of the scenery is pretty us an entry with the remark PCW Prize Puzzle — October know how much these things smooth although you still need a System Requirements: “Done without a computer!”, 1995, P.O. Box 99, Harrogate, cost?” appear with alarming fre- fairly fast PC. (Even on a Minimum 486DX/33, DOS 5.0, so we could be proved wrong N. Yorks HG2 0XJ, to arrive not quency in your log book. DX4/100 there was room for 8Mb RAM, mouse, double-speed yet again. later than 20th October 1995. CD-ROM, 25Mb hard disk space, When you do complete a suc- improvement.) Three lads — Alf, Bert and Good Luck! VESA 1.2-compliant SVGA cessful landing, you certainly The relatively steep learning Cyril — run a small business graphics card feel as if you’ve been curve and level of skill required Price: £49.99 buying and reselling tropical Winner of July 1995 somewhere. And once you’ve probably makes Flight Unlimited Contact: Virgin Interactive fish. One day they go off to the Prize Puzzle mastered straightforward flying more suitable for the flying 0171 368 2266 local suppliers where Alf buys Just under 100 entries were you can move onto aerobatics, enthusiast than those looking for only goldfish, Bert buys only received for our permutation with nice realistic touches like angelfish, and Cyril buys only problem about the school simulated G-force which can guppies, with the proviso that sports — and, judging from the cause grey-outs and blurring of Charts the number of fish bought by many incorrect submissions, it occasional vision. any man must not exceed the must have been more difficult PC scrape with a tree top, SU31 and Extra 300S — has its Flight Unlimited’s rugged and price that he pays in pence per than we had originally 1 Ecstatica (PC/CD) Psygnosis you quickly pick up the own specific sound effects, interesting landscape has been fish. envisaged. In total, there were 2 Star Trek Final Unity (CD) Microprose necessary skills and which are actual recordings of created from aerial stereoscopic When they get back, they 420 ways in which the winning 3 Terminal Velocity Shareware (PC/CD) US Gold learn to handle the engine sounds made in the air. photographs (two photographs compare their purchases and score of 30 points could have 4 Ultimate Doom (PC/CD) Virgin plane effectively. Throaty engine noises are shot from slightly different discover that the numbers of been achieved. The answer to 5 Player Manager 2 (PC/CD) Virgin To help you, there’s replaced by the fish that each has bought and the problem was therefore 419, 6 Dark Forces (CD) Virgin the UK by Virgin Interactive, ground instruction and hands-on sound of air the price of each fish in pen- since we asked for the number 7 Full Throttle (CD) Virgin claims to be the most realistic flying lessons at all skill levels. rushing over the nies are all 2-digit prime num- of combinations possible other 8 Syndicate Plus (CD) EA available for the PC to date, and The Operator’s Manual is also cockpit of the bers, with all six 2-digit prime than the one given. 9 EA Sports Rugby (CD) EA it certainly does capture that excellent; well illustrated and Grob Sailplane, numbers being different. More- The winning card, as usual 10 Hi Octane (CD) EA feeling of really flying. entertaining with interesting bits capturing the over, the total money, in pence, drawn by our ERNIE (who still 11 DiscWorld (CD) Psygnosis But tighten those seat belts of information and insights into eerie quiet of spent by the three of them is a hasn’t come up with the lottery 12 FX Fighter (CD) Philips — these aeroplanes don’t fly the principles of flying. soaring through 5-digit prime — which also winners), came from Mr John 13 Simon The Sorceror 2 (CD) Adventuresoft themselves. This program is Flight Unlimited provides a the air. happens to be palindromic. Stephenson of Bolton, Lancs. 14 AIV Networks (PC/CD) Ocean strongly focused on the sensa- choice of four powerful single- Flying these How much did they spend Congratulations, John, your 15 Last Dynasty (CD) Sierra tion of real flight, as you soon prop planes, all of which are planes is very altogether? prize will be with you soon. 16 Virtual Pool(CD) Interplay learn while you struggle to get capable of aerobatics to different from Now, the problem above Usual pep message to all the 17 World Cup Year ’94 (PC) Empire the plane airborne, let alone keep challenge your developing skills. driving a car. For should keep your micros others — keep trying, it could 18 Transport Tycoon (PC/CD) Microprose it flying. But after a few crashes There is also a glider, a Grob once, you get the whirring for a while. However, be your turn next. 19 X Wing (PC) US Gold into nearby hills and the Sailplane, if you want to catch feeling you are 20 Colonization (PC/CD) Microprose

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Hands On Contents

OPERATING SYSTEMS Windows 95 254 Tim Nott has had plenty of time to get right into Hands On is the place where readers Win95 and tidy up his desktop. can contribute to PCW, and as always we’ll pay for anything we use. Macros, Windows 256 sections of code and hints and tips will Tim Nott takes a serious approach to system be rewarded with a £20 book or record security and bumps into Bob’s friend, Bubba. token (please say which you’d prefer) and we’ll pay hard cash for longer, more DOS 260 Cross-linked cluster error messages in involved pieces. Please include relevant CHKDSK come under Simon Collin’s scrutiny. screenshots in GIF format. All submissions should be emailed to 32-Bit 262 the author of the appropriate section or Monolithic applications? No thanks, says Chris snailmailed to Hands On, Personal Bidmead. But then, Linux-FT’s Xadmin is OK... Computer World Editorial, VNU House, 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A APPLICATIONS 2HG. Questions and short hints and tips Word Processing 266 can be faxed on 0171 316 9313. Some choice examples of keyboard shortcuts are demonstrated by Tim Phillips. We’re constantly working to improve the contents of Hands On. If you have Spreadsheets 270 any suggestions, send them to the Editor Stephen Wells enjoys some salted peanuts as at the address above, or email them to: he helps the RNLI with their “pay packets”. [email protected]

Databases 274 They’re ganging up on him! — gang-screens, that is. Mark Whitehorn wins the day.

Numbers Count 302 Graphics & DTP 278 Attention, please — Mike Mudge returns to that In holiday mood, Gordon Laing joins up the dots old favourite, the Smarandache Function. to reveal good, budget drawing packages, and indulges in some trickery with tracery. AND THE REST... Networks 304 Multimedia 282 Leave that Lottery Instant ticket alone — Panicos Georghiades and Gabriel Jacobs feel Stephen Rodda has Instant Internet to show you. that you may have to resort to the Pentium for reasons other than speed. Macintosh 308 Is your desktop looking dull and uninspired? Sound 286 Rekindle that old visual enjoyment, as Chris Get into the groove with Steven Helstrip as he Cain fans the flames of a facelift. sings the praises of Vienna and, er, is that Beavis and Butt-head on those Loopisms? Computer Answers 313 Frank Leonhardt presents his regular forum for PROGRAMMING your problems, hints & tips and solutions. Visual Programming 292 Tim Anderson tries the OCX in a calendar application and glances at Visual dBase. Beginners 317 New to the weird and wonderful world of the PC? Eleanor Turton-Hill guides you through the Low Level 298 minefield of jargon and confusion. Maths, anyone? Mike Liardet makes light work of some equation-solving techniques.

253 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● WINDOWS 95 HANDS ON ● WINDOWS 95 MICROMART CLASSIFIED

with it, so it looks for a file called Ten top tips for Windows 95 autorun.inf in the root directory of the CD and takes its orders from there. Usually, CD-ROM Holding down the Shift key when loading a disc disables Autoplay. the trick is to load a small program which Desktop You can minimise and restore all windows from the Taskbar right-click displays a screen saying something like: menu. If you’ve got a Microsoft Natural Keyboard, the shortcut is “To start the Wizzo Interactive Encyclope- WinLogo + M, adding Shift to restore. With a normal keyboard, the dia of Poisonous Fungi, click here.” By the shortcut (contravening the Trade Descriptions Act somewhat) is time the user has read this, the main pro- Ctrl + Esc, Esc, Tab, Shift + F10, M. gram has loaded in the background (multi- Recycle bin You don’t have to open this to see if there’s anything in it. The icon itself threading at work) and is ready to go, changes between full and empty. which, in the immortal words of Microsoft, Taskbar Letting the mouse pointer linger over a truncated Taskbar button pops “Significantly reduces the perceived load up a bubble giving the full title. Thanks to David Garstin for that one, Clearing the desk time”. which I’d been in too much of a hurry to spot… It appears that not all third-party devel- Taskbar …and lingering on the clock pops up the date. Tim Nott called time on the surfeit of icons opers have quite got the hang of this. I Open with... When I covered this recently I missed a brilliant shortcut: thank you, won’t name names, as the software in Mark Fletcher, for pointing out that holding down the Shift key when cluttering up his desktop and came up with a question was itself a beta, but it helps you right-click on a file adds an “Open with...” option to the menu. compromise solution. Plus he offers more hints, tremendously if the little program that Icons You can change icons for a file or shortcut from the Properties sheet. tips and observations on Windows 95. autoloads is capable of detecting whether Have a poke around the system files for new ones — there are some the application has already been installed. particularly jolly ones in pifmgr.dll. If so, run the main program. If not, run the Folders Backspace takes you up one level. he Windows 95 beta preview program else for a few hours. setup program. Get this wrong and you Control Panel If your Display icon changes into a joystick, don’t worry: it’s a commonly Tshould be history by the time you read Then there are all sorts of small but run the risk of seriously alienating the user experienced but harmless bug. this — at least in theory. But the combina- pleasant surprises. The first time I put a by trying to install another copy of the Copying disks Not with build 347 you can’t. At least, not in Windows — you’ll need to tion of publishing lead times, a French music disc in the CD-ROM drive, I was application every time the disk is put in the open a DOS box and use Diskcopy. postal strike, and Microsoft UK’s apparent startled out of my wits when it started to drive, unless they know the “disabling policy of making beta updates available to play, unbidden. Now the first autoplay data autoplay” trick (see the Ten Top Tips box, So, before you blow the dust off those 20- layout, but this is easily overcome: right- everybody but the press, means I’m still discs are starting to appear. What hap- opposite). odd floppy disks, try adding the old Win- click on the Start button, choose Open, lumbering away with build 347. pens is that Win95 makes the very rea- Other things I liked at first, I now find dows and Windows\System directories to and dig through the folders until you find I’ve got far more used to it now, to the sonable assumption that having stuck a annoying. Having shortcuts, folders or the Path statement in autoexec.bat. This the MSDOS icon — it defaults to the first extent that when I boot back into Windows CD in the drive you want to do something documents icons on the desktop was an trick has worked well for quite a few appli- level of the Programs folder. Although this 3.1 I get unbearably interesting novelty. Half way through my cations, and my initial fears that this might icon looks like a shortcut, it’s really a PIF frustrated when noth- second column of icons, I began to find it a confuse Windows 95 have so far been (Program Information File). Right-click and ing happens having pain in the neck — too much clutter, and unfounded. Make sure that the entry to the choose Properties — you’ll get a six-page right-clicked on a file. I they got buried under windows (but see old Windows path comes after that to the property sheet that combines options miss, too, the “kiss of the “desktop” tip in the Ten Top Tips box). new. You might also have to copy win.ini found in the former PIF editor and the old death” button (the X What they really need is a docking station, settings across — all I had to do to get the DOS box system menu. button at the top right of rather like the taskbar, and I’m sure some- mighty Corel Draw suite to run was add There’s a lot here and I’m not going to each window) — body will come along with one soon. But in [CorelGraphics5] attempt to cover it now, so when you’ve something I hated at the meantime, Win95 and I have come up Dir=C:\COREL50\CONFIG finished playing with the fonts, click on the first. with a compromise: I’ve stuck all my short- to the new win.ini. Program tab. In the Batch file box, type Most of all I miss 32- cuts into a suitably named folder in the root ukkeys.bat. Now create a Notepad file bit multitasking. It’s of drive C: — that way I can find it quickly In search of a pound consisting of one line — keyb uk — and great being able to on the taskbar, even when the title is trun- In other respects, this Path trick was a save it to your Windows 95 command copy files, do a long cated. There’s a shortcut to this folder in slightly retrograde step. I’m lucky in that folder as ukkeys.bat. This trick works on print job, or run Ameol the bottom level of the Start menu (right my CD-ROM drive and sound card are other PIF files too, so you can run the DOS (the CIX off-line reader and, from click, then “Open” on the Start button to recent models, recognised by Win95. So edit.com and have your £ signs where France, my lifeline to the English- add things here) and I’ve got it positioned goodbye to the real-mode (DOS) SCSI dri- they belong. (Windows rather politely cre- speaking world) in the background and sized to cover the compulsory desk- vers, sound card drivers and ates a PIF the first time you run a DOS without it sequestering the entire top icons. mscdexe.exe. Disk cacheing is handled by application from a folder or the Run... brain-power of the processor. And Windows, so cheerio Smartdrv, and my command.) as I type this sentence I’m defrag- The path to enlightenment Drivespaced hard disk “just works” without There’s been loads of feedback from menting my hard disk. As I implied in my first Windows 95 column anything in config.sys. Most of this stuff July and August’s columns. Thank you all This is admittedly slowing (PCW July ’95), there’s so much that is dif- was commented out by the Win95 installa- very much, and my apologies for not being things down somewhat — even at ferent, changing, and as yet undocu- tion routine, but in the interests of journal- able to reply to all the letters individually. my modest typing speeds the mented that I may well be talking utter istic research and reckless lunacy, I All tips will be credited, so please keep screen isn’t keeping up — but it’s codswallop. And I walloped a fine piece of removed config.sys and autoexec.bat to a them coming. still usable and doesn’t throw a cod in the July issue by saying that you place where the sun don’t shine and wobbly if I save a file (it just re- have to re-install your existing applications Win95 wasn’t going to find them. Every- PCW Contacts scans the drive and catches from where it Top Defragmenting drives under Windows at for them to work correctly if you’ve opted thing still worked. Everything. And free Tim Nott can be contacted by post via left off). It’s a welcome change from the last — now there’s no excuse not to do it for dual-booting. Several people pointed memory in DOS sessions is a respectable PCW or by email to days when you had to exit Windows, run Above Some of the jollier icons in pifmgr.dll out that this may not be necessary, but 597Kb. A minor inconvenience is that [email protected] Defrag, and go away and do something David Richardson was first off the mark. DOS boxes default to the US keyboard

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This, you’ll be pleased to hear, has only ATTRIB.EXE and then you have no way of two serious flaws: firstly, you can still add seeing the files yourself unless you carry a program items by dragging them from File copy around on a floppy. As will Hacker Manager; and secondly, anyone with a Harry. Then you can have clever batch text editor can remove the settings. files that copy standard sets of .INI files Another trick is not to use Program before Windows is started. Hacker Harriet Manager as the shell. Open SYSTEM.INI edits the batch files. And so it goes on. and add to the SHELL=c:\path_to So, basically the System manager \wordproc.exe (or whatever word (whether this is the office boss, a teacher processor your office slaves use) and or Mum) has two choices: either to use the they’ll be stuck in there without being able built-in Windows restrictions, and leave A sense of insecurity to run anything else. Unless they have the the PC wide open to anyone with the basic bright idea of using the word processor to literary and computing skills to operate a edit SYSTEM.INI, or knocking up a few text editor; or to restrict the functionality of To restrict users on a system, it is probably better to avoid the built-in macros to run other applications. the PC to such an extent that the users would be better off with a pencil and safeguards of Windows 3.x. There are various d-i-y security measures but a Losing control paper. more serious approach is sometimes needed. Tim Nott casts his private eye Control Panel has a similar feature: create Even though there are alternative Win- over the options before visiting Bob’s country cousin. a section in CONTROL.INI entitled [Don’t dows shells, such as Central Point Desk- load] and add entries such as desktop=1. top that offer some degree of protection This will stop the desktop icon loading you might quite understandably not want indows 3.x security” is not a Mum and Dad’s work files and personal new software, you can add a Restrictions when Control Panel runs. This might be to shell out (sorry) the money or invest the “Wphrase that trips comfortably off correspondence. section to PROGMAN.INI. This one has fine for discouraging the half-hearted or learning time. the tongue — rather like “underwater Although Windows does have a few been in previous Hands On Windows accidental meddler, but once again, there Secgroup, a freeware utility, makes a cycling” or “acid house tranquillity”. For built-in safeguards they aren’t really any columns before, but just for the record are two ways around this: edit slightly better stab at Program Manager mission-critical security (say you run MI5, good. Take the password-protected here it is again: CONTROL.INI; or use the “control panel” security. First you must set yourself up as or the Bank of England for a living) you screensaver — well, don’t bother actually, [Restrictions] tip shown in the Ten Top Tips box (on the system administrator and issue your- need Windows NT. But there are a whole because all that’s needed to get around EditLevel= 1 — can’t create, delete or page 259) to File/Run the item. Unless, of self a password. Next, you decide which host of situations in which you might want this is to turn off the PC and restart rename groups, 2 — nor program items, course, some spoil-sport has disabled program groups you’d like to protect. Then to restrict users in some way. (possibly losing some of the victim’s data 3 — can’t edit item command line, 4 — File/Run in which case go back a para- you set up user groups, each with their Administrators might want to stop users in the process). And although the pass- can’t change any item properties. graph or do it from File Manager. own password and decide to which of the messing up their carefully crafted word itself is stored in encrypted form Restrictions are cumulative. At file level, you can either hide protected groups that password will allow installations or installing unauthorised soft- (hah, that’ll fox ’em), you can get around NoRun=1 — disables the File/Run... directories and files, or make them read access. Any group that’s minimised can’t ware. Teachers might want to prevent their this by disabling the password protection command only. But then File Manager has an option be opened without a valid password so pupils from installing SAMFOX.BMP as in Control Panel or by deleting the NoFileMenu=1 — removes the “File” menu to “Show hidden/system files” and the there are three levels of security for each Windows wallpaper. Small-business encrypted password from CONTROL.INI. completely facility to unprotect them again. You could, group of users: free for all, password pro- users may want to keep junior staff away You don’t even have to be in Windows to NoClose=1 — can’t close Program of course, remove File Manager from the tected, and access denied. The System from the more intimate details of the com- do the latter — any DOS text editor will Manager system or make it hidden, in which case administrator has quick access too, via a pany’s financial affairs. Parents might do.If you want to stop people messing NoSaveSettings=1 — can’t save Hacker Harry would have to use the DOS dialogue box, to the Program Manager want to prevent their kids having access to around with Program Manager or installing settings. ATTRIB.EXE command. Remove restrictions settings. The search for security

Pretty poor security...... getting better...... and much better

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Ten Top Tips for Windows It’s a fairly handy way to keep File Man- reach of small children and casual users. requires SECGRP.EXE to be loaded in ager or Control Panel, say, out of the But again, it’s terribly simple to crack as it the [windows] section of WIN.INI. And Starting Windows It is an old chestnut but everyone forgets how to do it: so to change the the idea of a group password is extremely Windows start-up screen, first catch your bitmap. It mustn’t have more Bob’s your uncle — Bubba’s his country cousin insecure — I reckon half a Mars bar would than 16 colours, or be more than 50K, and must be saved in RLE be about the going rate for a school pupil format, so you’ll need a shareware utility such as Paintshop Pro. If you in class 5c to get the password out of have a DOS badge on the sleeve of your anorak, exit windows and class 5b. But if you want to give it a whirl type: it’s in the Windows/Files topic on CIX copy /b win.cnf+vgalogo.lgo+newlogo.rle c:\windows\win.com (SECGRP.ZIP — 20,794 bytes), on this adjusting paths to suit. If you can’t be bothered with all that, save the month’s cover CD and you can new logo as VGALOGO.RLE (back up the old one first), then use contact the author, Andreas Furrer, at Setup (from DOS) to change your Windows configuration, then change [email protected]. it back again. This automatically rebuilds WIN.COM. File Manager To tile panes vertically, press Shift + F4. Latch 22 Sounds Assigning sounds to events can be fun but has its problems: it slows For a more serious approach I’ve been down program loading and can cause “Device in use...” problems when looking at the commercial program a multimedia application needs the soundcard to start. ,Latches for Windows. This comes in Control Panel You can save time by going straight to any item of Control Panel with three versions: for home, professional or the command line (or Progman Icon) control.exe abc.cpl xyz where network use. Looking at the professional abc is the name of the .CPL file (e.g. MAIN), and xyz is the name of the version, the range of what can be done is sub-section, if any (e.g. DESKTOP). formidable. Not only can it apply restric- Program Manager You can create an icon for Program Manager in itself — whatever title tions to Program Manager and Control you give, it will replace “Program Manager” in the title bar when Panel, but it gets its hooks into File Man- launched. ager too. Settings and restrictions can be Task Manager If you don’t need this, you can get any program to run when you double configured user by user. Each user, who click on the desktop or press Ctrl+Esc. Add taskman.exe=myprog.exe has to log in with a password when Win- to the [boot] section of SYSTEM.INI and restart Windows. dows starts, can have their own set of Write You probably know that double clicking in a word selects the whole It’s Bubba’s place! This friendly Windows front-end is simplicity itself, and fun, too GRP and INI files too. So you can have a word. But move the pointer to the left of the screen and it changes into whole different desktop, and levels of an arrow: one click selects the line; a double click selects the You may have heard of Bob, the easy-peasy Windows shell for those who find Program access for everyone from the managing paragraph. Hold down Shift, and the text from the insertion point Manager too much of a challenge. I haven’t seen this but I have seen Bubba, a multimedia director to the janitor’s dog. Although (flashing vertical bar) to the end of the line, or paragraph, is selected Windows front-end for those who find Bob too taxing. You’ll be pleased to hear that this is there’s no individual directory protection instead. Control + click selects all. freeware and (if everything has gone smoothly) should be on the cover CD-ROM. It’s also as such, the system manager can disable File Manager With the focus on the right-hand pane, typing a forward slash selects available on Compuserve GO OSOSOFT, and you’ll need VBRUN300.DLL for it to work. “File/Properties...” and “Show Hidden all. Although you never actually get to meet Bubba in person, you soon gain a clear mental Files” so, for instance, the user can’t First Aid Kit When you first install Windows on a PC, take a floppy copy of the main picture of the guy: he’s a good ol’ boy with a heart of gold and a head of hickory. He drives a change a read-only file. .INI files before installing extra hardware or software. Subsequently, if ’77 Chevy pick-up whose colour scheme is rust and filler, buys his groceries at gas stations, It’s all very impressive, and offers sim- things go terribly wrong, you can return to an “out the box” Windows and the loves of his life are shotguns, dogs, beer an’ wimmin, in that order. ilar facilities to Windows 95 for multiple installation by using the DOS commands to move the existing .INI files Opening the Readme file gives a good indication of the ambience of this interface: “This users, but with a lot more security. For a to a temporary safe haven, and using the originals. here file ain’t got much in it.” Start the thing up and you’re in Bubba’s shack. The moon is start, you can’t get around it by editing Setup files Sysedit.exe, located in WINDOWS/SYSTEM, loads WIN and shining through the window, silhouetting the john in the backyard. On the desk in front of you CONTROL, PROGMAN or WINFILE.INI. SYSTEM.INI, CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT (and more with Mail is an ancient sit-up-and-beg typewriter (Windows Write), a pencil (Notepad), a hand of cards In a very clever bit of chicken-and-egging enabled) for simultaneous editing. (Solitaire) and a few other things such as an ashtray (cough-cough), a can of Burpo beer it rebuilds the INI files from an encrypted (fart-fart) and a slice of ageing pizza (wait and see). Over yonder, sitting on the trash bucket, copy only after the relevant executable developers, I’m told that by the time you was any way of disabling it, short of is a big, untidy pile of papers — yep, you guessed it, File Manager. Cue the kickin’ country has started to load. It also pre-empts the read this they will have cracked this prob- physical surgery. Well, I have good news banjo music (crack the other can of Burpo) and crank up Terminal on the old wind-up tele- screensaver so that only the logged-on lem on stand-alone machines as well. and I have bad news: the good news is phone (how apt). user and System Administrator pass- He wouldn’t tell me how (well, would that there is such a beast; the bad news is Then there’s the television. I must confess I couldn’t get this to do much, but it could have words are valid. you?), but basically, Windows will refuse that you have to buy a Microsoft Natural something to do with the bullet hole. The babe on the calendar gives a cheerful wave and a At present, there is one fatal flaw — but to start if SYSTEM.INI has been tampered Keyboard to get it. One of the options in wiggle, and the armadillo (don’t ask) in the corner dispenses useful “Bubba sez” tips for I’m not going to blow the whistle as that with. Many of you will doubtless have Control Panel is precisely this, and you everyday life. Personally, I found these far more enlightening than Microsoft’s Tips of the would be unsporting, and besides, as noticed that Windows is quite capable of have to double-tap the key to turn it on. It Day: “Don’t fool with no snake nor no drunk”; “The richest man on earth don’t wear but one Latches is currently undergoing trials with refusing to start without any meddling on is not perfect, because you have to go pair of trousers at a time”; and, “They ain’t no computer thet kin make a stupid man smart.” the Ministry of Defence, I might be com- the user’s part, so harnessing this great back to Control Panel to disable the thing All have a certain philosophical ring, and frankly, “You can quickly switch to other open promising National Security. Let’s just say natural force seems a step in the right again, but it is useful. applications by pressing CTRL+ESC to open the Windows Task List dialogue box”, misses that anyone computer-literate enough to direction. For more information, get in by miles. be reading this column should be able to touch with Rhea International (see PCW PCW Contacts And there are the bookshelves (Bubba reads books?). Here you’ll find tomes like DOS disable the whole shooting match in a Contacts on page 259). Prompt and Ctrl Panel, as well as some for your own applications. Though somewhat limited matter of minutes. However, in a secure Doing a little cross-pollination from the Tim Nott can be contacted either by in features, I found it a refreshing change from my usual shell. As Bubba sez: “Tired of the networked environment SYSTEM.INI column at the posh end of PCW (Letters, post c/o PCW or by email on same old pizza? Y’all try our cheese wiggles. They ain’t good, but they’s handy.” (whoops, sorry, there goes the country) August issue), a letter from Alan Cox reas- [email protected] When you’re tired of Bubba, y’all click on the Exit sign and watch a rather unusual (but would be kept behind a “firewall” so this sured me that I was not the only one Rhea International, Devonshire harmless) way for a Windows application to close. wouldn’t be a problem. Furthermore, hav- clumsy enough to HIT THE CAPS LOCK House, 60 Station Road, Addlestone, ing talked to David Biggins, one of the key by mistake. He asked whether there Surrey KT15 2AF. Tel 01932 830551 ☎

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same method to control any standard peripheral such as a printer or even your Getting cross with DOS monitor. The trick is to use the redirection symbol “>“. Normally, I’ve given tips on Simon Collin opens his postbag to reveal pressing how to use the redirection symbol for processing files, but in your case you can problems with cross-linked cluster error use it to send data to your stubborn messages in CHKDSK, controlling a modem, and modem. sorting out the SORT command. Make a note of the COM port that your modem is using: even if it’s an internal modem it will be set to one of the four standard PC serial ports — COM1 to 4. If Checking out 3. Run CHKDSK to make sure that the the modem is a Hayes-compatible model, Dear PCW: My PC developed a new error message no longer appears. and almost all are, it will respond to the error message when I last ran CHKDSK. 4. If the files are data files, open them standard AT command set used to con- I try and run CHKDSK once a week, and and check for missing data. If they are trol modems. To turn off the auto-answer on the last occasion it reported that there application files, try and run the function of a modem, the AT command was a cross-linked unit. The message programs. If all seems okay, copy them is: included the names of two filenames, of back to their original locations. ATS0=0 data files that are important. I have tried The disk utilities I mentioned will try To get the modem to respond, you to run CHKDSK with the “/f” switch to get and fix the problem rather than just get rid might need to send it a series of three ‘+’ it to mend the problem, but it keeps of the message as I’ve described. To do signs first (this is the usual way to tell the reporting the same error. So far, I seem this, the disk fixer utility looks at the two modem it’s in command mode so that it to be able to access the two files without copies of the FAT (luckily, DOS keeps will respond to AT commands). The full any major problems, but would like to two copies of the FAT, just in case) and sequence is: either get rid of or solve the problem. tries to work out which is correct and so +++ATS0=0 spot the missing cluster. Once it’s found To send this to the modem, use the PCW Your error message is quite com- the missing cluster, it can re-write the ECHO command, which can work with mon. It occurs because one cluster (one FAT and so both files regain their original text characters, and follow with the text part of the disk) is listed as belonging to full complement of clusters. string (above) and the redirection symbol. two separate files. This normally happens The full command is: because the FAT (file allocation table) Modem muddle ECHO +++ATS0=0 > COM1 that stores details of where files are Dear PCW: I have been frustrated by an If you include this in a batch file, run stored on the disks, has been corrupted. annoying, if trivial problem that I hope the batch file when you get in to the office Unfortunately for you CHKDSK cannot you might be able to solve. I use a and the modem will be switched to nor- solve this problem, which is why you’re bulletin-board software program to pro- mal mode. You can equally easily use the not gettting anywhere, even when you vide a way for me to call into my office same technique to send any other setup are running it with the “/F” switch that PC from home. I start the program when I string to your modem or to any other ser- would normally fix errors. leave and the modem is then set to auto- ial device. You will either need to use a disk matically answer the telephone. In the utility, such as Norton’s Disk Doctor or mornings, when I quit the program, it On the right path PC Tools, or you can sort out the problem doesn’t seem to properly reset my inter- Dear PCW: Is there any way of extending yourself. However, you are likely to lose nal modem and it remains in auto-answer the storage capacity of the PATH state- data if you try and tackle the problem mode. Since I cannot switch off the ment? I switch between Windows and yourself: another case for keeping good modem (it’s internal), I have to creep DOS and so have different applications backups! under my desk and unplug the phone scattered around my hard disk. I have To get rid of a cross-linked cluster lead. added a new DOS accounting program error message, do the following: Is there an easy way to control a and this needs an entry in the PATH, but 1. Copy both files to a floppy disk or, if modem from DOS? it’s already full. you don’t have a floppy drive, copy them both to another separate directory on PCW There’s a neat and simple way of PCW PATH is an environment variable your hard disk. controlling your modem from the DOS that is used to store the names of the 2. Delete the original files. command line. In fact, you can use the directories and drives where you want

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Out of sorts

Dear PCW: I have been trying out one of your ideas, sorting data using the DOS SORT command, but I cannot get it to work properly. I experimented with the results of the DIR command with great success, and could sort the output on any column. What I want to use the command for is to sort a text file of addresses that I’ve exported from my time-organiser program. The SORT program just goes haywire and sorts the file into no particular order at all.

PCW The SORT command is a useful little command-line tool that comes with DOS. It lets you specify any text file or input stream and sort the lines by the first character or by any column. For example, to sort a text file called “address.txt” on its 30th column (perhaps the surname of the entry) you would use the command SORT /+30 < ADDRESS.TXT I suspect that your text file has been formatted using tab characters when it was output. This will look fine if you display it on screen (for example, using the TYPE command), but it will fool SORT. The problem is that the tab character is a single character, so if you try and sort on a particular column that you’ve calculated from the display, the effect of the tab character is lost and SORT treats it as any other single character. The solution is to export the file without tab characters and SORT will work fine.

DOS to look for an executable file once it Path, you need only redirect it to a file: has looked in the current directory. PATH C:\ > PATH > OLDPATH.BAT has a maximum capacity of just 127 char- Now you have a batch file that, when acters which soon becomes a limitation. run, will re-set the Path variable to the You could set up a new path just original. Now you can go ahead and before you want to run your accounting change the path to point to the utilities program, but by using the PATH= com- and, finally, run the accounting program. mand you would simply delete the exist- For example, to run your accounting pro- ing settings. An alternative would be to gram, set up a batch file with one line: use the APPEND command. Although it PATH = C:\ACCOUNTS; C:\DOS; can be useful, the APPEND command C:\APPS\TOOLS has a mass of possible switches that This resets the PATH to point to the generally make it a pain to use. accounting program along with DOS and The big advantage of APPEND over any essential tools. Once you’ve run the the normal PATH command is that it lets application, to return to your original path, you set up separate search paths: one just run the OLDPATH.BAT file. set for executable files and a second set You mentioned that you also use for data files. This is unlike PATH which Windows. This could help improve things sets up a search path for an executable. (for once): attach the two little batch files APPEND doesn’t normally use an envi- above, OLDPATH and ACCOUNT, to two ronment variable, but you can force it to separate DOS icons. Now, if you want to write its search path to a variable called run a utility, double-click on the Account APPEND. For your use, you won’t gain icon and you have a DOS session with anything by using the APPEND the correct path. For normal use, start the command (since you’re dealing with other DOS session with your usual, full executable utilities). path. Perhaps the simplest, if not the most I explained how to attach a batch file elegant, solution to your problem is to to a Windows icon a couple of months temporarily replace the PATH completely. ago, but if you’ve temporarily forgotten, I described how to do this when covering do the following: Create a new icon and the redirection symbol last year: If you in its Properties box, add the command want to run the utility, delete the path, “C:\DOS\COMMAND.COM /K” followed substitute the new path, run the utility, on the same line by the name of your exit the utility and retrieve the original batch file. path. The trick to making this far simpler than it sounds is that if you enter the PATH command by itself, it displays the PCW Contacts existing path in the form of a real PATH= statement: If you’ve been delving into DOS and C:\ > PATH want to share your experiences, write PATH = C:\; \DOS; \APPS care of PCW or via email to [email protected] or C:\ > CompuServe 72241,601 If you want to temporarily save this

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More Fun with WPS Objects I like OS/2’s WPS for the neat, simple things you can do with it. Here’s something I knocked up the other day that may be of some use to you. I’ve said before that it’s not smart to work directly from the icon of an executable file in its home directory. Instead, create a program object and put that in a folder, then work from a shadow of that object which you keep somewhere convenient. Or work with data objects that have been A monolithic connected to appropriate program objects via SOM, using Type in the data object and Associate in the program object. (If app… and tickle the WPS doesn’t provide a ready-made type that fits the bill, make one up and write it in. I prefix all my new types with Chris Bidmead doesn’t approve of monolithic CHB so I can recognise them.) The advan- applications but shows that the Linux-FT tage of a data object is that like a folder it has a menu setting with which you can package’s Xadmin, written in Tcl, is the exception. mess around. He has some fun with WPS objects and reviews If you’re like me there will be a number the latest Linux support issues, too. of icons floating around on your desktop that belong in groups. Maybe one icon is for editing a batch program and the other for running it. Or one icon n the past, I’ve whinged not just about launches a comms package Ithe shortage of OS/2 applications, but like Ameol and another about the difficulty of getting hold of those inspects the download direc- few that are out there. It seems only fair, tory. The WPS offers several then, to report the good news that a UK ways of dealing with this. An company has heard my plea and is now obvious one would be to put delivering a product for review. related icons into the same I wish I could get a little more excited drawer of the Launchpad. I’ve about the first two packages that One Stop already described another in Software (talk to [email protected]. this column: create a folder for co.uk) has sent me so far, but that’s hardly Ameol and put the Ameol their fault. In any case, I’ve never believed launcher icon, and a shadow in the “killer app” scenario that says OS/2 of the download directory into needs to come out with an application that it. Then — and here comes everybody will clamour after, and to which the neat bit — drop the Ameol no other platform can do justice. In my Partition Magic is just the utility you launcher icon into the Open settings of the humble opinion, OS/2 is the killer app — a need if, say, you decide you want folder, and make it the default action. somewhat brash statement, the truth of OS/2’s Boot Manager on a disk that’s Round the whole thing off by giving the which will emerge (or not) over the coming already fully partitioned: just shrink folder the Ameol icon. Thus, the download year when we see (or don’t see) wondrous one of the partitions by 1Mb to make directory is effectively hidden inside things happening with OpenDoc. room. Unfortunately, once it’s on, Ameol. But you can always get to it Actually, I’m being a little unfair to Boot Manager doesn’t take kindly to through the Open menu. Partition Magic and Impos/2, because subsequent movements of partitions, they do what they do rather well. Impos/2 which is just one more reason I’m Getting to Verity’s Topic is a modest but subtle bitmap manipulation putting off using the thing for real I get to my text retrieval package, Verity’s package for creating images or touching Topic, through a pair of program icons: up pictures. It’s hardly going to make a contracting and moving partitions. It can one for evoking the program, and another dent in the sales of Windows products like also convert FAT into HPFS on the fly. I’m for doing its indexing and general mainte- Picture Publisher, but for OS/2 users it’s proceeding cautiously with it because it nance from the command line. Why would fully 32-bit (although it uses 16-bit stuff to assumes a world of OS/2 and DOS, and you need a program object to launch a read Kodak PhotoCD images) and inte- seems to know nothing about NTFS ext2 command line utility? Well, the program grates with the WPS through drag ’n drop. Linux partitions and NeXTStep, and most object actually opens a tailored OS/2 win- It comes with a comprehensive manual of my machines carry a veritable tutti- dow, with its own distinctive Window Title translated from the original German and is, frutti of different operating systems. If I and background colour and a custom built in places, almost totally impenetrable. take the bold step, I’ll let you know what PATH that points to the nest of special Partition Magic is a utility for expanding, happens next month. Topic directories where I keep my Topic

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binaries and batch files. concerned are very good friends of mine: When I began to take the Launcher one of them is in hospital, and the other seriously, I realised it would be nice to put only manages to recover at home, at the the pair of objects into a single icon. The end of the day, with the aid of five or six Ameol Folder solution came to mind. I run bottles of beer.” Topic more often than I maintain it, so the So the utterly great idea of distributing logical thing would be to make running a major operating system for free is under Topic the default double-click action, with serious threat. Ian calls the technical sup- opening the maintenance environment as port issue “The biggest Achilles’ heel in a secondary action accessed through the the free software revolution”. In theory, menu. Unfortunately, a folder has Icon you download the software for nothing View, Tree View and Details View as irre- over the Internet, and turn to the Internet movable menu items, and all I really for support when you need it. But because wanted was the choice of Run or Maintain. your modem isn’t fast enough and you The solution was to use a data object don’t have the expertise to install raw instead of a folder object. A data object Linux, you probably get it as a ready-to-go doesn’t have to have data: it can be empty distribution from a CD-ROM distributor and merely used as a launcher. Drag a instead. Money changes hands. That’s new object off the Data object template, perfectly within the spirit of the GNU open the Settings and remove Plain Text licence, but it tends to change the expec- from the Type window. (When you close tations you have about support. As will the Settings again this will remove the your experience of the Internet if you’re a unwanted System Editor from the Menu raw beginner. As Ian says: “What you get options.) Then put the Topic program on the Internet is not tech support, it’s object into the Open menu as default, and opinion. Some of it happens to be good, the Maintenance program object as the and some is awful. The average Joe has other Open menu option. Stick a fancy no way of telling the difference.” icon on the front of the data object, and lo Linux was developed by, and for, people and behold, you have a program object who care about Unix. They are prepared that knows two tricks instead of just one. to invest time in it, and that includes sort- You could use this technique to combine ing the genuine information from the junk ZIP and UNZIP, or give yourself a choice that gets handed out over the Net. But of text editors. I’m beginning to think that Linux has grown up since these ideas the rule should be to drive everything were formulated. A modern distribution though WPS data objects. like Linux-FT is pretty well as ready to run as the copy of Windows NT 3.51 I installed Linux: the nightmare continues… this afternoon, and is ending up in the …But not for me, I hasten to add: I’m very hands of the same kind of people who buy happy with the Linux-FT distribution that shrink-wrapped operating systems. These Ian Nandhra, of Lasermoon, sent me for people will almost certainly need outside review and you’ll be reading about it soon. help at some stage, and that means But last month, I mentioned the prob- somebody’s time being devoted to their lems Ian was having with the free support problems. Time is money. The bits may be he offers. “Linux Tech Support is a night- free, but the bods always cost. The pre- mare,” he says. “There is a hard core of sent ambiguities of the “free software” idea non manual-reading users who don’t want are leaving some users frustrated, and to think for themselves, and demand you turning distributors into screaming wrecks. drop everything until they’re sorted. It only It can’t go on like this. Linux is in danger takes three of those ringing you up on the of collapsing under the weight of its own same day to completely wipe you out — at success. Or Caldera could save it by which point everything else gets stacked eventually replacing all other Linux distrib- up. The people who call up have paid vir- utions (I doubt this). Neither of these are tually nothing, consider they are entitled to welcome scenarios in my opinion. free support, and have no reason to mod- erate their consumption of this free thing. A new approach We manage to stay sane (ish) here by One way around this is the robust yah- confining tech support to the hours boo-sucks approach taken by software between 2.00 and 6.00 in the afternoon.” developers like Peter Childs (pjchilds Ian has had to do this because he’s @apanix.apana.org.au). He’s written a seen the effects on other vendors of what utility that converts OS/2 .INF help files to he calls “Linux Tech Support Stress”. He HTML, either as a one-off effort or dynam- tells me: “There’s an outfit in the US who ically so that a Web server can serve up will remain nameless, because the people .INF files directly. He gives it away free as

263 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● WORD PROCESSING

Here’s one I had forgotten: Shift+Ctrl+End selects from the cursor to the end of the document — substitute Home for End and you select to the top. Use Shift with Home or End to select the rest of the line, either before or after the cursor. Not surprisingly, Shift+Ctrl+Cursor key selects the letter to the left or right of the cursor.

3. Copying and pasting You know this — well, you should: Ctrl+C copies, Ctrl+X moves, Ctrl+V pastes, Ctrl+Z undoes.

Taking shortcuts 4. Windows Write Turn off your Num Lock and Write has a few extra goodies. Use the numeric key- For word processor users, knowing the right pad to select text: 5+Left, 5+Right moves keyboard shortcuts can be a real godsend. to the next or previous sentence. Use the 5 key with the down and up arrows to Tim Phillips demonstrates some choice examples, move to the next and previous para- introduces you to his very own macro club, and graphs. Finally, if your Write document has even finds time for some DOS advice. pages, use 5 plus the Page Dn or Page Up to move to the next or previous page.

DOS hanks to all those who replied to my move the cursor around, so it strikes me Let’s get right back to basics with DOS Tcall for participation in our macro co- that a quick revision course on the key- advice this month. I was shocked, nay hor- op. By now I should have turned you into board shortcuts available to Windows rified to find that a colleague was still edit- a mailing list and set you a few challenges. users would be useful, not least to me. So ing in DOS using the execrable EDLIN The more the merrier, though, and if you’re here we go: program. Don’t tell me — you do it too. I competent in any macro language or think I’m off to have a lie down. Visual Basic (or if you just fancy having a 1. The simple stuff If you have DOS 5.0 or 6.0, and I hope go), email me and join the club. In your dialogue boxes, Alt+the underlined you have, then why don’t you use EDIT for Many thanks as well to those who have letter of an option selects that option. To short word processing jobs? It’s twice as written and emailed me with queries. move forward and backwards one word at good for batch files and is a respectable, if These have snowballed in the past few a time, use Ctrl+the appropriate arrow key. not overwhelming, text editor. But there weeks, and as I deal with your enquiries in The beginning and end of a line is Home are a few things we can do to immediately batches, my reply might occasionally be and End, and Page Up and Page Dn go up make it better: if you have an EGA card or delayed. I’m very pleased to be getting so and down one screen. better, type EDIT/H rather than EDIT and much feedback, but please bear in mind you get 50 lines of text on the screen. that there’s only me to do the admin. 2. Selecting text You can fine-tune it using the Options One line (exactly) back from the cursor is menu. It won’t let you set a font, but it does Windows Shift+Up, one line forward is Shift+Dn. let you set the screen colours and the Lionel Kremer’s macro to cycle through spaces that separate tab stops. open windows caused a lot of fuss. My Fancy new colours, more lines, and it’s Next, get your DOS mouse driver replies via email were along the lines of: now looking for *.* working, and Edit is mouse-enabled. It’s “Yes, I know you can cycle through win- dows using Ctrl+F6, but I keep forgetting, and when I’m cutting and pasting between documents, using the keyboard is a pain when I can put a button on the toolbar.” Nevertheless, the keyboard shortcuts in Windows are more useful to word processor users than to anyone else, because we have our fingers stuck to the keyboard a lot of the time. I personally prefer to whack in all the text I can and then do the fiddling around with a mouse and a toolbar later, but that’s a comment on my typing. All you recently converted WordStar and WordPerfect DOS users will be getting itchy fingers, and anyone recording macros needs to know how to

266 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● WORD PROCESSING MICROMART CLASSIFIED

quicker using the menus and scrolling. If you can’t use a mouse, learn the cutting and pasting shortcuts. Edit is not at all quirky, in fact it is extremely well-behaved, and if you want to start someone off in simple DOS word processing it teaches good habits. You will find a list of shortcuts in the Help menu under Keyboard. I admit to having learnt the last tip initially from the excellent DOS 6.0 Tech- niques, published by Ziff-Davis Press, which I highly recommend. EDIT defaults to looking for *.TXT files, which is a pain. To make it default to *.* you have to hack QBASIC.EXE with DEBUG. Big, big fonts — don’t let your word I cannot stress enough the importance processor tell you it isn’t possible of making a backup copy of QBASIC.EXE. Please do this. Don’t mail me if you 3. Just a quickie: I’m interested in macros haven’t and everything goes wrong. that provide some sort of billing function. So copy QBASIC.EXE to QBASIC.TIM For example, if someone bills by the word, or similar to back it up. Then: or for the time spent on a document, I’d REN QBASIC.EXE QBASIC.PRG like a macro that automatically generates DEBUG QBASIC.PRG an invoice for it, or some type of report. You get a “-”as a prompt. Type: Nothing too complex, please. R DS As a reminder: the macro club offers and it comes back with excellent prizes but operates by email DS 0DAA only. You join by emailing me to tell me Note this number (that is, the last four you’re interested, and every so often I’ll digits). If you’re in DOS 6.0, add 2 to the mail you all a challenge. Mail back your left digit — that would be 2DAA in this efforts (uuencoded if it’s Internet mail) and case; if you are in DOS 5.0, add 3, to make the best ones will win prizes and get into 3DAA. print. All macro languages, Visual Basic Now type: (sometimes) and even simple E xxxx: DD70 “*.*”, 0 workarounds (if they’re very clever) will be (For DOS 6.0, xxxx is the number you accepted. Please note: by sending the got by changing the old number), or type: macro to me, you thereby agree that I can E xxxx: C76F “*.*”, redistribute it or publish it in this column, (in Dos 5). Then: but you will be credited at all times. W If you don’t have email, by all means Q have a go at answering the problems by REN QBASIC.PRG QBASIC.EXE post, but the time lag between when I write If it doesn’t work, and be warned there this and PCW’s publication date means are many cases in which it doesn’t, at least that you’re unlikely to win anything. This you have your backup to rename to section will be used for reporting the QBASIC.EXE. Don’t you? results of our little competitions and pub- lishing the macros if they’re short enough. Tim’s Macro Club Welcome to the introductory session of Top tips Tim’s Macro Club. Members were set More macros this month. A few of you said these interesting problems: there’s no point in writing a macro to flick 1. John Lea, of Highgate, wants a macro through open windows, as Windows so that both his document windows in provides Ctrl+F6 specifically for this pur- Word 2.0 will scroll simultaneously (he’s a pose. You’re right, but if you put the macro translator). I’d like this too — any package, on your toolbar it means you can keep any solution. hold of your mouse while cutting and 2. David Harris of Easynet Cyberspace pasting between documents. would like to enhance MarkCitation Another shorty macro, from Dave because he doesn’t want to mark the Symington of Edinburgh: a simple four- same citation more than once on the same liner that reverses two characters if you’ve page. To elaborate: if he has text that gen- made a mistake. This is WordBasic but erates a footnote, and this text appears you can record it as a keystroke macro in twice on the same page, he doesn’t want any word processor. Give this macro a the same footnote to appear twice. shortcut key, because when you mis-type

267 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● WORD PROCESSING MICROMART CLASSIFIED

you just want to hit the shortcut key immediately and carry on. Sub MAIN CharRight 1, 1 EditCut CharRight 1 EditPaste End Sub You can record versions of this in almost any package. It’s a good introduction to macros. Phil Knight, of the School of Science and Technology at the University of Teeside, has noticed that the toolbar on his word processor only offers fonts up to 72pt. He Auto-numbering — as sophisticated as wants something bigger. you like Don’t believe everything you see, Mr Knight. Just type in the bigger size in the Chart 1.0? box which shows font size, and providing This is another example of the applet you have chosen a software font, you get problem that we’re all going to have to get it. The 72pt size seems just a stylistic used to. Unfortunately for Sharad, his thing, not a restriction on fonts which you chart was prepared using PowerPoint, previously didn’t have. then embedded — it’s PowerPoint’s Org TrueType fonts, the standard in the Chart applet and has been available since Windows environment, will effectively PowerPoint 4.0. You must find a user with scale as large as you want. If there are PowerPoint if you want to see it, because limits, I haven’t met them, apart from in you can’t get the applet separately. Write (see screenshot on previous page) This will be a feature of all our lives if which establishes an upper limit of 127pt. OpenDoc catches on. The idea of Open- They will also be as small as you want. Doc, which is IBM’s, Apple’s and Novell’s The pick boxes commonly offer only sizes version of OLE on steroids, is that all between 8 and 72pt, but click in the box documents will be composed of “parts”, and type any number, and you’ll get a font and one part will generate text, another in that size. Note that smaller than 6pt is will do the spell checking, another will illegible and bigger fonts need kerning generate a table, and so on. If you want to (adjustment of the spaces between letters view the document, you need to own a manually) if they are to look good. copy of the part, or a “part viewer”. What’s the point? Firstly, it means an Problem solving end to monolithic applications. You’re all Simon Parmenter’s wife Mo hacked into struggling to keep up with the range of his CompuServe account to ask about features in word processors (I know I am), auto-numbering paragraphs. Does Word and you don’t use them. The idea is for support numbering 1(a), 1(b) and so on or you to buy only what you need. Secondly, just 1, 2, 3? she asks. OpenDoc will be cross-platform, and Yes, like Ami Pro or WordPerfect or, as should spell an end to tedious convertors she is accustomed to, WordStar 6.0, for file formats. It’s a neat idea, but Word’s implementation is quite powerful. idealistic, and not slated until 1996 at the In the Format menu, find bullets and num- earliest. I’ll report in more detail when I bering, and you get one of those multilevel have something to show you, although the dialogue boxes. Click on the Multilevel tab, previews I’ve had are impressive. and you have a variety of styles for multi- The idea with OpenDoc is to give away level numbering. If you want to change the Viewers that correspond to each part these, click on the Modify… button, which (which means you can look but not edit) controls style, font, indent and gives you a for free. So in an OpenDoc environment, preview. This goes nine levels deep, and if Mr Patel could have got a viewer and you need more — I’m not reading your looked at his chart for nothing. document even if you pay me. When Sharad Patel, at Xerox.com, PCW Contacts tried to double-click a chart in a document, And that’s that for this month. Surface or “Cannot open Microsoft Organisation airmail to PCW, otherwise I’m on email Chart 1.0” was displayed. But what did this at [email protected] and mean? Where could he find Organisation CompuServe 100436,3616

269 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● SPREADSHEETS

balance is in column Q. Q5=+O5-(P5*5). This series continues logically to the right with the number of £1, 50p, 20p and 10p coins shown in columns R, T, V and X, respectively. The balance columns change, so cell S5=(Q5-R5)*100, U5=+S5-(T5*50) and W5=+U5-(V5*20). Salted peanuts Further down the sheet, he sums each column so he knows the total number of Making up ‘pay packets’ for the RNLI was far from each type of note and coin to get from the bank. plain sailing. Stephen Wells smooths the waters. Now, in Tony’s example, everything works out fine in rows 5 and 7. It’s row 6, based on an amount of £24.70, that’s mak- s a relative of mine is the helmsman will get the driver home, but it’s also impor- ing him seasick. The answer should be two A of our offshore lifeboat, I felt a twang tant to understand what is happening so £10 notes, four £1 coins, one 50p coin and of empathy when I heard from Tony Nixon the problem is circumvented in the future. one 20p coin. Yet As-Easy-As is telling him of the Isle of Anglesey. He wrote: “I was Firstly, I would clarify that the work of he doesn’t need any 20p coins, but one recently asked by the local secretary of the most lifeboat crew is voluntary. The “pay 10p coin instead. No, there’s nothing the RNLI to assist him in computing the mak- packets” referred to hold nominal honorar- matter with the software. The PCW July ing up of ‘pay packets’, and providing a iums. Secondly, Pentium paranoia should issue cover disk provided version 5.5F, a summary for the treasurer to draw the nec- not be allowed to deter us from suspecting mature, fully-featured, DOS spreadsheet. essary from the bank. I thought this would simple programming shortcomings. The first thing is to dig in and examine be a simple task, eminently suitable for the Here’s what Tony has on his work- what is happening. If you go to cell N5 and shareware As-Easy-As spreadsheet sheet: column B holds the pay packet enter which you included in your July cover disk. amounts, B5=£34.70, B6=£24.70 and / Range, Format, Science, 7 (decimals), “I include a working version of my pro- B7=£4.70. From there on out, rows 5 N5..X7 gram and a printout with some notes. You through to 7 have the same formulae with you’ll turn everything into a load of aster- will see that it did not give the expected only the logical row number changing. isks. Now enter results in all circumstances with regard to Column N calculates the number of / Sheet, ColWidth, RAnge, N5..X7, 15 the number of 20p and 10p coins. I don’t £10 notes required. Cell N5 has Column S displays think I’ve done anything wrong. It seems @INT(B5/10). Column O gives the bal- 7.0000000E+01 that the program maths has rounding ance, calculated in O5 as +B5-(N5*10). in rows 5 and 7, but row 6 shows errors somewhere. I use a 486DX33, not a Column P calculates the number of 6.9999999E+01. Pentium. I would be grateful for an expla- £5 notes. P5=@INT(O5/5). And the new So, although all three rows show one nation of what is going on and perhaps a warning to users with similar errors.” Fig 1 I returned Tony’s disk with an instant An alternative solution to get him in business using his solution to the present worksheet. This was to go to any pay packet cell which had an unhelpful formula and problem using press F2, F9, Enter. What this does, in this Excel and most other leading spreadsheets, is replace the existing formula with the cal- culated value as seen on the screen. It’s one thing to get a vehicle going so it

Panel (a) Converting currency to coinage

A4 ENTER AMOUNT I2 £1 coins A6 =SUM(C4*50,E4*20,F4*10,H4*5,I4,K4*0.5,L4*0.2, I4 =IF(G4>5,G4-5,G4) M4*0.1,O4*0.05,P4*0.01) J4 =VALUE(MID(RIGHT(B4,3),2,1)) B4 =DOLLAR(A4,2) K2 50p coins C2 £50 notes K4 =IF(J4>=5,1,0) C4 =IF(A4>99.99,MID(RIGHT(B4,7),2,1),0)*2 L2 20p coins D4 =IF(A4>9.99,MID(RIGHT(B4,6),2,1)) L4 =INT(IF(J4>2,(J4*10-(K4*50))/20)) E2 £20 notes M2 10p coins E4 =INT(IF(D4>4,(D4/2),0)) M4 =(J4*10-(K4*50)-(L4*20))/10 F2 £10 notes N4 =IF(RIGHT(B4)>0,RIGHT(B4),0) F4 =IF(D4>2,D4*10-(E4*20),D4)/10 O2 5p coins G4 =INT(RIGHT(B4,4)) O4 =IF((VALUE(N4)>=5),1,0) H2 £5 notes P2 1p coins H4 =IF(G4>5,1,0) P4 =N4-(O4*5)

270 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● SPREADSHEETS MICROMART CLASSIFIED

Panel (b) Financial analysis template listing

A40 GEARING RATIOS (%) A41 Debt to Equity B41 =Total_Liabilities/Stockholders__Equity*100 A42 Fixed Assets to Long-Term Debt B42 =Net_Plant___Equipment/Long_Term_Debt*100 A43 Long-Term Debt to Working Capital B43 =Long_Term_Debt/Working_Capital*100

50p coin, the balance in pence in cell sheet works in every instance, but I’ve U6=1.9999999E+01, a sliver under the tried numerous random entries from £0.99 single 20p coin mark, but more than to £999.99 and the final version shown enough to provide a 10p coin in column X. here always gave correct answers. The best solution is to use the ROUND function. To solve the immediate problem, Financial analysis if you edit cell O6 to read @ROUND(B6- Last month, we looked at the Liquidity Ratios (N6*10),2) the 10p coin disappears and a in the financial analysis template for service 20p coin surfaces. As insurance, you companies. We now come to the gearing could use the ROUND function in all section. It’s what they call “leverage” in the formulae in the balance columns. US. Both terms communicate the same As-Easy-As also offers the MOD func- idea: using someone else’s money to tion. This returns the remainder (or modu- finance the company’s expansion plans, lus in number theory) after a number has albeit at a cost. been divided. It is a variation of the INT Panel (b) shows the listing for the three function and it just depends on how you Gearing Ratios. Rows 39 and 44 are want to construct your worksheet. blank. Column A gives the definition. Col- As the subject of translating spread- umn B gives the formulae. They are the sheet-calculated currency to coinage is of same in columns C through F because interest to more people than those making we’re using the Names created in the July up pay packets, and as so many readers issue Spreadsheets column. use Excel, Fig 1 (page 270) shows one Column G holds the average results for solution for doing it in that spreadsheet. the company’s industry for any ratio which I’ve only entered one line but you can is commonly collected. As the example we see how it would continue down the page. have been using is an advertising agency, The total numbers of each denomination and the majority of agencies typically don’t would then be added at the bottom. The carry much Long-Term Debt, here the only amount to be converted to coinage is average available is for the Debt to Equity entered in cell A4. The figure in A6 is a ratio: everything the company owes com- simple cross-check. That formula multi- pared with everything the company’s plies the number of each note or coin by its stockholders own through the company. size, and adds them all up. Fig 2 (page 272) shows the results if The layout is shown in Fig 1. The for- you use the sample Balance Sheet and mulae are listed in Panel (a). Columns B, Income Statement figures from the July D, G, J, N have been set to zero width and August issues. As trends are more (using the shortcut Ctrl 0, zero). They hold easily recognised with a chart, we’ll make intermediary formulae. another here. To eliminate potential rounding prob- Of all the ways to make a chart in lems, I started by converting the entered Excel, here’s the easiest in this instance: amount to text using the DOLLAR func- open the worksheet we’ve been creating, tion. Then I’ve referred to individual digits SERVICE.XLS. Because many people in the amount with functions like MID and like to print out all the ratios on a page, the RIGHT. Fortunately, Excel is generally labels of the years are on line 34 in the smart enough to recognise a number in template which you can obtain on disk. To text when you want to calculate with it. save a bit of work later, simply copy these After some entered amounts gave Excel headings from B34:G34 to B40:G40. They pause in columns J and O, I popped in a are not shown in Fig 2 because this is just VALUE function to give it a nudge. It was a working procedure. You can get rid of probably because of this that I had to the headings later by closing the work- throw in two or three INT functions here sheet without saving it. and there when Excel occasionally came Now select the range, A40:G43. Select, back with a result of one and a half for the Edit, Copy. Then select, File, New, Chart; number of one denomination. and then Edit, Paste Special. In the dia- I wouldn’t want to swear that this work- logue box choose Values in Columns.

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Fig 2 & Fig 3 ratio is high or rising from year to year, it indicates a shrinking dependence on Long-Term Debt to finance major invest- ments in items like buildings or perhaps information technology hardware. It also indicates that less of the company’s capi- tal is used for plant and equipment and more is available for current use. A low or decreasing ratio indicates some loss of protection to long-term cred- itors. And it shows that more of the com- pany’s capital is used for plant and equipment and less is available for work- ing capital. To summarise: This is a useful indicator when deciding whether to invest in new plant and equipment. Fixed assets which may appear to be a good investment are no bargain if they tie up working capital. However, a very high ratio may suggest an under-investment in plant and equipment. In the example, the position has been more stable than the chart would suggest. But because the relatively small Long- Term Debt of the company halved over the five years while the investment in Plant and Equipment rose 13%, the ratio rock- Fig 2 (top) Example results for the Gearing Ratios portion of the financial analysis eted from 325% to 733%. Nothing there to template for service companies get the wind up about. Fig 3 A chart of the results shown in Fig 2 If the Long-Term Debt to Working Cap- Accept the default selections of Series Gearing ratios measure the use of debt ital ratio is more than 100%, the company Names in First Row, and Categories in by a company. The lower the Debt to can find that much of its capital is locked First Column. Equity ratio, the more the company may up in relatively fixed assets, and manage- Select, Chart, Add Legend. Select be reducing its debt and increasing its ment will need to borrow even further in Chart, Attach Text and choose Chart Title. ability to repay. order to operate. A low or declining ratio is In the Formula bar, enter an equals sign If this ratio increases from year to year, usually the better position. and select Window, SERVICE.XLS, cell reflecting a higher percentage increase in To summarise: This is a ratio which A40. Delete the word “Title” on the end of Net Worth, then the annual interest may not be recorded in many industries, the line. charges will add to the overhead — even if one reason being that the ratio is so As the x-axis legends are extra long, bank loan interest rates don’t rise. Man- closely related to the Fixed Assets to Net their last lines may not appear on the bot- agement can find itself spending more Worth Ratio. This latter is among the Activ- tom of your screen. Simply choose For- time with bankers than clients. ity Ratios which we’ll come to in a later col- mat, Text, Horizontal Orientation and But a low ratio can indicate that man- umn. When the Fixed Assets to Net Worth they’ll sort themselves out. You should agement is too conservative and not capi- ratio is exactly 100%, the Long-Term Debt now have the chart shown in Fig 3. talising on the potential of the business. to Working Capital ratio will also be 100%. Advertising agencies typically carry To summarise: The ratio compares the However, this third Leverage Ratio is huge Accounts Payable because on the investment in the company by all creditors included in the template because it is a books they can have multi-million pound and the amount invested by the share- useful measurement of the amount of media bills to pay for their clients. It all bal- holders. It is an indicator of whether the Long-Term Debt that a company can ances out because their Accounts Receiv- company is carrying too much or, in the comfortably handle. able are higher still, but it tends to inflate case of too conservative a management, Next month: Activity Ratios. their perceived debt. However, it is not too little debt. Ideally, the ratio will not Long-Term Debt (i.e. more than a year). change much from year to year and be That’s why on the chart, the Debt to Equity comparable with the company’s industry. PCW Contacts ratio peaks at over 350%, and although In the example, shown in Figs 2 and 3, the Stephen Wells welcomes questions on the Fixed Assets to Long-Term Debt rises company dropped below the industry spreadsheets, and solutions to be to more than 700%, the Long-Term Debt average for three years but then in ‘93 and shared, via PCW Editorial at the usual to Working Capital is way down there ‘94 started climbing. That the ratio not only address or at [email protected]. between 7% and 15%. exceeded the industry average but also compuserve.com. For the financial The latter ratio is included on the tem- climbed for two years may not necessarily analysis Excel templates for service plate, though, because in other service mean trouble, but it’s important for man- companies and those which carry stock, businesses it can be quite significant, par- agement to find out why it happened. send a formatted 3.5in disk and a ticularly if they own real estate. If the Fixed Assets to Long-Term Debt stamped, self-addressed envelope.

272 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● DATABASES

Wizard simultaneously. I was lucky: the fault was obvious to me because I was teaching a class who were working in sync, but this is the sort of problem that could plague you for months. How many person-hours have been spent attempting to sort this problem, for which a fix (albeit an untidy one) has been known for nearly a year? How many Microsoft-hours would it have taken to fix the problem, the install routine, or to slip a note into the manuals? Does Microsoft Join the gang actually care one way or the other? Microsoft’s answer to my complaint is as follows: firstly, very few people actually Mark Whitehorn finds another variant of the gang- install the software on a network, so it isn’t screen, struggles with Access, and covers more a major problem. Secondly, two of the of Ted Codd’s rules for running a tight database. .MDA files have been fixed and are up on CompuServe (LIB 15 - Wiznet.EXE) so people can download them. s there no end to the gang-screen were enjoying lunch, I went hungry, logged The first seems an odd response from Iwars? Having reported last month how in as Supervisor and gave every user their a company which professes so much to find the gang-screen in Paradox for own copies of the *.MDA files. After altering interest in networking. The second is really Windows, and some time ago the gang- the [Libraries] section of their MSACC20.INI no answer because everyone still has to screen in dBase 5 for Windows, I came to point to the new sub-dir, I was able to con- discover the problem first (which is where across a sub-variant of the dBase one. If tinue the course. the time is wasted), and since you open up the Help-About dBase 5.0 for At the end of the day, I contacted WZTABLE.MDA hasn’t been fixed, you Windows screen, and press ALT-28 (hold Microsoft. It transpired that I had followed still have to mess around with sub- down the left-hand ALT key, and then the installation instructions perfectly, but directories, .INI files and the like. press the 2 and 8 keys, above the normal they happened to be wrong. Three of the keyboard), the number 28 strolls across *.MDA files (WZLIB, WZTABLE and Input masks the screen. This was apparently inserted WZBLDR) contain Wizards which modify I used to like input masks, but now I’m not into the code by a former Borland the library database they reside in and can’t so sure. Having thrashed the phone employee called Kevin Brown as a tribute run concurrently. The solution Microsoft has number version to death two months ago, to racing driver Davey Allison, who died in found for this problem is the same as the I thought I was safe, but no. As David 1993. Presumably Allison drove car 28? one I used; namely to give each user their Probett has pointed out, the input mask for own copy of these files and alter their Access which I suggested (>LL0a\ 0LL) is No Access for groups MSACC20.INI to point accordingly. You can unsuitable for postcodes like B1 2BC. Having installed Access 2.0 as a net- even get a document (REF Q121662) from Arghhhh! In this electronic age, why don’t worked version a couple of weeks ago, I Microsoft which details the changes. the committees which design entities like was able to run Access from a variety of Now, I accept that software is likely to postcodes ever think about databases? different workstations, create tables and have bugs, but going by the date on the doc- David kindly suggested (>LA9a\0LL;0_) run Wizards, and foolishly assumed all umentation of the bug fix, Microsoft has which will allow all of the correct forms, but was well. I discovered I was wrong when known about this bug since 13th October allows mutants like D23 4HN as well. trying to teach Access to a class of ten 1994 at the latest, and has neither fixed it This isn’t David’s fault; the problem is people. I demonstrated the table Wizard nor amended the documentation. Instead, the variability of the codes themselves. I and invited the participants to have a go. all over the world, individual network still think the only real cure is to use Only one managed to run the Wizard, supervisors are expected to install the soft- Access Basic. while the others received the error mes- ware incorrectly (as per sage: “Another user or instance of instructions) and then Microsoft Access is currently using the suffer an intermittent fault Table Wizard or the Field Builder.” as different users on dif- I found this impossible to contradict; ferent parts of the network after all, I had just told ten people to use it occasionally clash in their at the same time. But I also suspected that attempts to use the same an attempt by multiple users to use the same software simultaneously shouldn’t Fig 1 Paradox treats have come as a major surprise to an appli- nulls as equal during a cation installed for use on a network. I join, not something I assumed that I had fluffed the installation would like to explain to in some way, perhaps failing to set the cor- the relatives (or next of rect access rights to the *.MDA files which kin) of some of these contain the Wizards. While the participants patients

274 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● DATABASES MICROMART CLASSIFIED

Fig 2 Access treats nulls with the respect they deserve, and doesn’t treat them as equal in a join

patients are new, so we haven’t yet dis- covered their blood types. In other words, some of the information is unknown, so quite correctly it is represented in Does anyone out there have any code the tables with null values. Given this they would like to share? example, do you think nulls should be treated as matching? If so, you get the job Codding about of explaining to the relatives of patient 5 Following on from last month’s list, here why he was given un-typed blood. are some more suggested rules for mod- 6. Joins on non-identical field types must ern, PC-based RDBMSs: not be allowed. 3. The RDBMS must ensure that any field Lotus’ (sorry, IBM’s) Approach breaks declared as a primary key, or part of a this particular rule and serves as an primary key, is not allowed to contain null excellent example of what happens. values. I was told by a Lotus person that it is a The main point here is that a null value “feature” which makes life easier for the means: “We don’t know the value which users. You see, some users are unable to should be inserted here.” A null is not the distinguish between text and numeric fields same as a zero or space character. Since because they can put numbers into both the value in the primary key field is used to types. Thus a user may have a text field in provide a unique identifier for the record, one table and a numeric field in another, we have to be sure what value it has, so both of which contain numbers. When they null values are highly inappropriate in a try to join these fields, they become dis- primary key field. gruntled because the RDBMS refuses to 4. Every piece of information in a table sanction the join. The solution, according must be accessible by using a combina- to Lotus, is simple: remove the restriction tion of the table name, field name and and allow the RDBMS to join them. primary key value. However, let’s have a look at why the This excellent rule is essentially Codd’s restriction needs to be in place. The two Guaranteed Access Rule (see PCW May tables in Fig 3 are clearly meant to be ‘95). joined by their respective ID fields, but 5. Null values must not be treated as equal one is a text field, the other is numeric. The in joins. problems which arise if the RDBMS Some RDBMSs, like Paradox, treat allows you to join them is clear from Fig 4. nulls as if they were equal in joins, which, Approach is unable to distinguish as Mr. Spock would have said, is illogical. between the person with the ID of 3 and Values which are known can be said to the person with an ID of 3A. The result is match; so 2 equals 2 and 3 equals 3. How- that both of them end up responsible for ever, an unknown value cannot be the orders attributable to person 3. This will said with any certainty to match another delight Sarah Jones and infuriate Jerry unknown; so one null value cannot be said Ferish. to equal another null value. 7. When joins are performed on tables What happens if they are allowed to containing existing data, the referential “match”? Have a look at Figs 1 and 2, integrity of that existing data must be showing the results of a query on two checked and the join must fail if the data joined tables in Paradox and Access. We violates the proposed join. are matching blood in a blood bank, to If an RDBMS imports data, we cannot patients. Some of the blood in the bank expect it to be responsible for the prior has yet to be typed, and some of the integrity of that data. However, as soon

275 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● DATABASES

Tips and tricks

Fig 3 Here are Forms in Access two tables in In Access, I often construct several forms Approach which are similar, but subtly different. For which have example, I might have two forms: one for been joined by entering data and the other for viewing the the Identity same data. Both contain the same fields but Field (ID in they have different labels and colours, and JOINS.APR and the latter would be read only. Clearly it is a PersonID in waste of time to build both forms from JOINS2.APR). scratch, so from within the database window However, ID is Access allows you to select a form and treat a text field it just like any other object. Thus you can cut while PersonID or copy it to the clipboard and then paste it is a numerical back. field Access is quite smart about this. If you paste a table, for example, it will ask if you want to paste the structure, the structure and data, or append the data to an existing Fig 4 Both table. The same trick can be performed with Jones and Queries, Forms and Reports. With some Ferish end up imagination, this trick can be used for more responsible for than just copying objects. For example, orders 3 and 6 suppose that you have a relatively complex because query which works well, but needs Approach seems improvement. If you take a copy before you unable to distin- start the improvement process, should any- guish between 3 thing go wrong and you end up destroying and 3A in a join. the original rather than improving it, you I’ve had to fiddle have an instant backup. This is a really this screenshot useful technique. to get both records onto the Paradox for DOS screen together, “I have a MASTER table of Users like this: but the effect is User ID A1 just as shown Address 12 The Cottages etc… Fig 5 The result User ID is the key field. of pasting a Periodically, an ASCII delimited text file table, complete is created which includes all the users. I with data, in import this into a TEMP table and then I Access. Note need to add only the new users (i.e. those that the two for whom the User ID is not in the MASTER tables must table) into the MASTER table. What I have have different been doing is performing a delete query to filenames remove those that are in the first table and then inserting those that remain. Is there a way to perform this sort of query in one step? I have tried various combinations of sets, NOT and NO with no luck.” You just need to perform an ADD of the TEMP table to the MASTER table. All the “key violations” should drop out into a KEYVIOL table which you can then ditch. The steps are: TOOLS{More}{Add} type as we use that RDBMS to, say, establish product, very few people import existing in "TEMP" type in "MASTER" referential integrity between a pair of tables of data. Odd that, especially as we SELECT {New Entries}. tables, we have every right to expect the are also told that Approach used the RDBMS to check that the existing data dBase file format just to be compatible conforms. Many RDBMSs make this with existing datafiles. However, as long PCW Contacts check, but here again Approach falls short as you are sure you will always create Mark Whitehorn welcomes readers’ of perfection; it doesn’t check. data from within Approach, and never correspondence and ideas for the “Why might this be?” you ask. Accord- import it, you need not worry about this Databases column. He’s on ing to Kevin Harvey, the designer of the problem. [email protected]

277 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● GRAPHICS & DTP

tember issue’s First Impressions, but the most impressive I have seen recently is Join up the dots… SmartSketch, by FutureWave Software (available from CGS ComputerBild for a giveaway price of £49.99 on Mac or Win- …to reveal good, budget drawing packages. dows). Gordon Laing fills in the detail on paint packages The really nice thing about paint pack- ages is that they’re dead easy to work with: that are easy to work with, remarks on bitmap just wave the mouse around with a suitably tracing applications, and uses an unusual cordless sized brush and you get your desired tablet pen. shape. The problem is that they are bitmaps of fixed resolution, which either means huge file sizes to counteract the blockiness, or poor enlargements and henever I write a group test of soft- well extolling the virtues of high-end draw- prints. Wware or hardware, I always try to ing packages such as Macromedia Free- The answer is drawing packages which provide lots of boxes on related technolo- Hand, Adobe Illustrator and, to a certain describe shapes with device, and hence gies or concepts. Judging by the amount extent, CorelDraw, but for most users resolution independent vectors… but hang of feedback we get at the PCW office, it they’re far too expensive, sophisticated, on, that’s a bit of a mouthful. The idea is would seem that these information boxes and difficult to use. It’s easy to forget that that instead of painting a line of jerky dots, are sometimes more popular than the these apps are supposed to allow you to a drawing package says: “Join two dots actual buyers’ guide feature within which draw on a computer, and should therefore here and here, with a line this thick.” This they have been included. Two topics feel as natural as drawing with a pen. message is then interpreted and displayed which always seem to generate interest or printed as best the device can, whether it are: “pens and graphics tablets” in the Get smart be a low resolution screen, mid-resolution paint and photo-retouching features; and As far as painting packages are con- laser, or high resolution image setter. “bitmap tracing” in the scanner group cerned there are some brilliant low-end The beauty of this is that the same vec- tests. This month, I’m going to examine products, but good budget drawing apps tor file is used for all devices: its suitability both subjects in more detail. are much thinner on the ground. There’s ranges from low to extremely high resolu- Before going any further, it’s all very Serif’s DrawPlus 2 reviewed in our Sep- tion. Better still, vector files are usually quite compact thanks to their basic geometric descriptions. If this were a bitmapped file from a paint or photo retouching applica- tion, a high resolution version would be huge due to the greater number of pixels required to describe finer detail. But the reason we don’t use vector drawing applications all the time is twofold: firstly, they don’t handle continuous tone photographic images very well, and sec- ondly, they’re not that easy to use. A vector shape is made up of at least one bezier curve, passing through or between at least two points. The shape is defined by the nature of the points and the direction of the curve as it passes though them. In simpler terms, if you want to mod- ify the shape, you must manually adjust each point, forcing the line which passes through it to twist and turn until it’s just right. These are known as path operations and were covered in much greater detail in an earlier Graphics & DTP column (PCW

278 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● GRAPHICS & DTP

Tracing photographic images often produces interesting posterised effects

Below Fig 1 Adobe Streamline importing a bitmapped TIF and tracing the outline Above Fig 2 The traced image in EPS format opened in Macromedia Freehand Top Fig 3 The traced EPS placed directly in Quark Xpress — look, no snaggies!

April ’95). Suffice it to say that you can’t casually doodle in a drawing application in the same way as a paint package. Until, now that is. I recently met up with the Wacom people, who demonstrated their latest pens and graphics tablets with numerous software packages, including the aforementioned SmartSketch. What really appeals to me is how easy it is to sketch and doodle away in SmartS- ketch, just as you would with a paint pack- age. The important difference is that, as with any other vector drawing application, you can stretch and reshape the images .

279 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● GRAPHICS & DTP

The really clever part is that you don’t Font of the Month have to select suitable points in the path, then drag and modify the handles to cre- ate the desired effect. Instead, with SmartSketch, you grab anywhere you want on the path and drag away. Bell Gothic There’s an eraser tool as well, pretty much unheard of in most drawing apps, which works in exactly the same way as in ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ a paint package. Just rub away, and SmartSketch will rejoin the broken paths abçdéfghijklmnöpqrstuvwxyzß&1234567890 automatically. Finally, I must mention the optional shape recognition facilities which, as their would when using a pen or pencil. Very All tracers offer options to vary the name implies, recognise your quick cunning. Take a look at this month’s Gad- accuracy of the outlining process, and a sketches as common shapes and corrects gets spread (on page xxx) where, fair amount of trial and error may be them. Draw a rough circle, polygon or line amongst other goodies, are three new required before the desired effect is and SmartSketch will neaten it up for you. Wacom pens: the ink nib, pencil nib and achieved. In most cases, it should be as We’ll be doing a full review of SmartS- eraser models. accurate as possible but not to the extent ketch in the near future, but I felt I had to that every step of the bitmap is recorded. let you know in advance about the usabil- Tracery Whereas in other circumstances, a rather ity of this package, which is remarkably If imitation (or copying) is the sincerest pleasing effect may be produced with a simple and intuitive. form of flattery, then I would say that loose outline. bitmap tracing applications are some of The more sophisticated tracers are Putting pen to tablet the nicest around. Every time I mention able to detect a user-defined number of Returning to the subject of Wacom, the tracing, in the information boxes I include colours, resulting in a posterised effect. launch I mentioned earlier was concerned with scanner group test features, I get Continuous tone colour photographic with some neat new pen and tablet prod- loads of enquiries. So here’s something to images do not trace well most of the time, ucts. If you thought that pressure sensitiv- satisfy those whetted appetites. but very interesting results can be discov- ity was the be-all and end-all of tablets, As I have mentioned, vector descrip- ered with a little experimentation. think again. Wacom has come up with the tions have several advantages over The best results are achieved with sim- UltraPoint Eraser, a cordless tablet pen bitmaps, like scalability, device indepen- ple bitmaps such as basic logos or signa- which actually has a rubber on the non- dence and small file sizes. However, tures, preferably in few colours (or only pointy end — an electronic rubber, that is. bitmaps are the raw output of scanners one). PCW needed to trace a hand-drawn It looks like a pencil with an eraser on the and that’s what is used to digitise original logo. The original bitmap was subse- end, which seems a little silly, but is in fact artwork. quently traced in StreamLine (Fig 1). The really rather good. By original artwork, I’m referring to vector shape is shown in FreeHand (Fig 2) Whereas previous models carried elec- paper-based illustrations such as signa- as a screenshot, and finally the EPS itself tronics only in the tip of the pen, Wacom tures and company logos. If you want to (Fig 3) which, barring disasters, should be has fitted electronics into both ends of this use these in electronic documents like nice and smooth. Notice how StreamLine new pen. When it is turned upside down, DTP pages, you’ll need to scan them at a has spotted the gaps and created white suitably equipped software notices the sufficiently high resolution. Although this vector shapes to represent the holes. change in ends and reacts accordingly. will work, sometimes the file size becomes Conventionally, you would have it select too large, or you may want to modify the Just my type the erasing tool, but there’s no reason why shape without losing quality. Simply, you Probably the last of the new PCW fonts is it couldn’t be assigned to anything else, want to convert it into vector-based form. Bell Gothic, seen above in Roman face. very much like pressure sensitivity. I had The process of converting a bitmap to a This is a classic face, ideal for a style that been sceptical, until I saw it demonstrated vector is known as tracing, and is per- will be respected. It was designed by CH in Adobe Photoshop 3 (version 3.04), formed by a variety of applications with Griffith in 1938 and is on the BitStream Fractal Design’s Painter 3, SmartSketch, this facility built-in (such as Macromedia books. Contact the usual suppliers. and even Microsoft Word and Excel, FreeHand). Under Windows there’s the where it was used to delete unwanted CorelTrace module of CorelDraw, which PCW Contacts words or cell contents. has now been present for several ver- It really is intuitive to use, and works sions, the most sophisticated of which is Please do let me know if you have any well. This UltraPoint Eraser should be the StreamLine 3 by Adobe (sadly, for the comments — write to the usual PCW address, or those suitably equipped can standard pen with all Wacom tablets by Macintosh only). email me as the time you read this, including the new They all do the same thing to varying [email protected]. 4in x 5in ArtPad II. degrees of complexity. At a basic level, the compuserve.com Another clever idea of Wacom’s is to fit bitmap is usually opened in TIFF format. Faces 01276 38888 an ink or leaded pencil nib onto some of its Then the application traces the outline, ☎ FontWorks 0171 490 5390 ☎ pens: this way, you place a sheet of paper ignoring the very small steps inherent in CGS Computer Bild 0181 679 7307 ☎ over the tablet’s surface and draw natu- bitmaps. By the end of the process, a vec- Adobe 0181 606 4000 ☎ rally, leaving a mark behind just as you tor outline of the original shape remains.

280 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● MULTIMEDIA

Time to plump for Pentium

WIth more manufacturers developing products specifically for use with Pentium processors, Panicos Georghiades and Gabriel Jacobs reckon it could finally be time for multimedia fans to invest in an Intel. There’s also a new CD-ROM for Macromedia Director, and more on MPC standards.

lthough high-end 486-based PCs released a year earlier but now opti- Acan run multimedia quite accept- mised for the Pentium. Version 2.0 ably if fitted with 8Mb RAM or more, it offers features not available in cur- seems that if you want a multimedia rent 3D-graphics Windows software, playback PC with a future, you should and will help multimedia, virtual real- seriously consider a Pentium processor. ity, CAD and games applications by This may sound like the kind of providing better image quality and sales hype you normally have to be transparent scalability. Software wary of. After all, there’s always some- libraries include a general lighting thing faster than what you’ve got, model, matrix operations and cam- either here and now or just round the era model, texture processing and corner. It’s obviously in the interest of user interface kits, a comprehensive manufacturers to try to convince us geometric mathematical library, and that we can’t expect good results for support for Visual Basic. multimedia without the extra speed of Another Intel technology, NSP the Pentium chip — the higher we set (Native Signal Processing), devel- our sights, the more money we spend. oped in conjunction with other manu- But you may have to consider a facturers, enables realtime Pentium for reasons which go beyond multimedia tasks such as audio sig- its raw processing speed. Over the last nal processing or video file capture year, despite Pentium’s bad press and compression to be done on the over floating point calculations, a num- Pentium. A second developers’ kit, ber of multimedia-related manufactur- Native Audio, was released last May ers and developers have been as part of NSP. This enables func- introducing products which specifically tions which otherwise require spe- make use of Pentium features to cialised dedicated co-processor achieve improved performance. hardware, such as WaveTable MIDI For instance, one of the leading multi- Test your PC’s performance with the synthesis, 3D audio and special effects, to media companies, Macromedia, has MPC Wizard. Individual components be delivered using software only and the recently released a minor upgrade to and complete systems can be checked Pentium. Some of the most important ben- Director 4.0 for Windows. This new ver- efits of this will be digital mixing of multiple sion (4.0.4) is optimised for the fast perfor- audio tracks, simultaneous record and mance and graphics capabilities of the available at £25 to all registered users playback, and advanced compression Pentium. On a Pentium, the new version from Macromedia (01344 76111). algorithms including MPEG sound. can display twice as many frames per sec- Having other firms make use of the Intel isn’t the only company providing ond as the older version. Other improve- Pentium’s native operations is what Intel is software-only solutions with the Pentium. ments include DIB support, embedded aiming for, as is evident from the number Xing Technologies, pioneers in MPEG QuickTime compressed PICT files, and of tools it provides free to developers. At compression/decompression software, mixing sounds that use different resolu- the end of April this year it unveiled ver- have recently been working in conjunction tions and sampling rates. The upgrade is sion 2.0 of its 3DR technology, first with several graphics card manufacturers

282 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● MULTIMEDIA MICROMART CLASSIFIED

Media Book CD

If you’re developing multimedia using Macromedia Director (Mac or PC), you’ll be interested to know of a new CD-ROM containing information and development tools provided by pro- fessional dedicated users. There are over 100 royalty-free XObjects, as well as re-usable Lingo code. With this, not only can you save development time but you can also learn more about Director’s not-so- friendly Lingo programming language. The CD contains a Lingo directory with all known and some officially undocumented Lingo keywords including syntax, results, functionality and cross-platform considerations. Each keyword is accompanied by interactive examples, illustrations, and some by QuickTime movies. The Lingo library contains contains more than 200 ready-to-use Lingo handlers and func- tions for string, data and file manipulation that you can copy and use in your applications. A general reference library contains 100 articles on topics such as using the FileIO XObject and optimising load times when reading from a CD-ROM. There’s also a collection of Mac and Windows XObjects, including some for printing, file management, memory management, and system analysis. Most of these are royalty-free. On top of all that there’s the Toolbox, a suite of development aids including score, cast, sprite and movie-in-a-window management tools, and Lingo analysis, debugging and formatting tools. Finally there’s a resource directory of where you can get even more tools and further information. The CD-ROM is rather slow, but we were very impressed with many of the techniques. Media Book CD is manufactured by Grey Matter Designs and sold by Computers Unlimited (0181 200 8282).

to deliver software-only MPEG video play- change a configuration in order to max- back on Pentium machines. imise performance when running a particu- XingMPEG Player is bundled with a lar application. For example, you may want graphics card from Miro: the MiroVideo 12 to alter the screen resolution and colour- PD. This ordinary S-VGA card for PCI and depth so that a particular multimedia appli- VLBus slots costs only £99 and can scale cation’s video clips run better. AVI files to full screen. But if you have a To find out how a system will behave Pentium 90 or higher you can also play- you have to carry out the right kind of tests. back full-screen MPEG video. At £99 it’s If you dabble in programming, you could over £100 cheaper than the cheapest ded- devise your own tests, but it usually takes icated MPEG playback card on the market. far less time to use existing ones. On the other hand, £100 is nowadays There’s a plethora of benchtest pro- more or less the difference between a 486 grams around, some of them bundled with and a Pentium. So you may find that by various pieces of hardware such as SCSI paying the extra and investing in a Pentium adaptors, co-processor chips and graphics instead, you’ll save money on dedicated cards. But most of these tests are inade- multimedia peripherals such as video play- quate for testing multimedia, since in their back cards and audio cards with DSP. efforts to be accurate and independent, And, of course, you get all the other they tend to test in the kind of ideal condi- speed advantages of that faster processor tions few of us meet in the real world. we’re told we can’t be without. There are, however, a few programs specifically written to test multimedia Testing for performance machines or functions. One we use often, Last month we described the specifica- and which has proved accurate and reli- tions of the MPC standards. But manufac- able, is MPC Wizard. Unlike most other turers’ quoted specifications can be Wizards it doesn’t come from Microsoft, but presented in ways that suit them rather from Softkey, and it tells you all manner of than us, and can often be found inade- revealing little things. quate in real-life situations. Using it is simple. You run it, and it Therefore, whether you’re a profes- informs you how well your computer per- sional multimedia developer, or just your forms several multimedia-related tasks. common or garden user, you really need The tests are divided into four sections: ways of testing individual multimedia com- CD-ROM Drive, Graphics, Sound, and ponent peripherals as well as complete Video. systems. It could be for the purpose of Many of you will no doubt remember buying a system, or developing an appli- those test programs you could buy a few cation, or simply because you need to years back which told you how well your

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PC was doing compared to an IBM AT. able to draw 1-, 4-, and 8-bit-per- You got an overall figure which made pixel DIBs (Device Independent you feel good because it was rather Bitmaps) on the screen, at a rate of hard for any PC clone not to outper- at least 358,400 pixels per second form the IBM AT. while using 100 percent of the CPU Well, you’re unlikely to get the same time, and 143,360 pixels per second feeling automatically with the Wizard at 40 percent of CPU time. tests, since it shows you not how Most graphics subsystems can your machine stacks up against the handle that kind of speed, but MPC competition, but against several of Level 2 specifications are far harder the MPC Council’s requirements and to meet. Here, we’re talking of a recommendations. minimum of about 1.2 million pixels For example, the CD-ROM tests per second using 40 percent of the check out the MSCDEX version you’re CPU time, which is the kind of value using, the access time of the drive, and necessary to ensure that video at 15 its real (as opposed to its theoretical) frames/sec in 256 colours and 320 x transfer rates on your system. It may 240 resolution plays back as it come as a surprise to some readers should (the calculation is 15 x 320 x that this latter figure will depend on 240 = 1,152,000). how much of the CPU (Central Pro- The Wizard test loads 18 1-bit, cessing Unit — the main chip) is used 4-bit or 8-bit images into memory, during the transfer process. CPU time then measures how fast it can draw is critical in assessing performance of those images at either 40 or 100 multimedia elements, as we shall see. percent of the CPU time. The written specification of your The program also carries out double-speed CD-ROM drive will be tests for CD Audio, Wave Audio, around 300Kb/sec, but you’ll find that if MIDI and loudspeakers. In the case your PC devotes all its processing of audio, the recommendation is that power to read from the drive, this value will Media Book provides over 100 royalty- it shouldn’t involve more than 15 percent be higher, whereas if it devotes a low per- free XObjects and re-usable Lingo of CPU time. centage of CPU time to the operation, the code. A must for the budding The test for Video for Windows, which transfer rate will fall well below the theo- Macromedia Director developer will be important to many people, counts retical value. In fact, if your processor is the actual number of frames displayed for too busy doing other things, the transfer maybe no. It depends on the resolution two frame sizes and three compression rate from your double-speed CD-ROM and colour depth you’re using — and formats (Video 1, Intel Indeo, and Cinepak). drive can fall below single-speed values. again, on how much of your CPU’s power The program will also perform a test on This kind of thing is important. The is devoted to graphics. MPEG hardware if you have it fitted. MPC Level 1 minimum specification for In addition, even though your system In addition, MPC Wizard lists all the CD-ROM transfer rates is 150Kb/sec for a may be capable of displaying more than MPC specifications, and has a selection of sustained period of time, during which it 16 colours, the Windows display driver drivers for various multimedia peripherals. should command about 40 percent of your software you’re using may not be taking We don’t suppose many readers will CPU’s time. If the rate drops significantly advantage of this capability. have access to a large range of machines below 150Kb/sec, the result will be that MPC Wizard tests the colour depth and to test them all out and compare them, but video, animation and sound will break up if resolution that your currently installed it might not be such a bad thing to wander they’re played directly from the CD. Poor driver is capable of, and also carries out into computer shops with Wizard in your lip synchronisation in video clips of talking bitmap display speed tests. hand, to see if the claims made by manu- heads is a typical example of too low a Now back to those talking heads, since facturers are real. transfer rate, though there may be other the problem of synchronised audio and Or maybe not. Salespeople might get causes. motion video is obviously also related to quite upset at that, especially if you don’t MPC Level 2 specs require the CD-ROM graphics capabilities, and in particular the buy anything after tying up their demo drive be able to read data at a sustained pixel-write speed of the adaptor. machines for hours. Anyway, shops take rate of 300Kb/sec at a recommended CPU This is something which is often virtu- note: have your own copy of Wizard (at usage time of 60 percent maximum, so ally ignored, with spatial resolution (the £19), or a similar program, ready running that the CPU can get on with other things number of pixels displayed) and colour on your best machine. and give an impression of real multitask- resolution (the number of bits per pixel) ing. MPC Wizard tests transfer rates at 40, taking pride of place. In fact, pixel-write PCW Contacts 60 and 100 percent of CPU usage. speed can be just as important as the Panicos Georghiades and Gabriel Another set of tests that may reveal other two parameters, since if the pixels Jacobs will be glad to answer your interesting results is for the graphics adap- can’t be drawn rapidly enough, even the questions. Either write to PCW, or email tor. You might well imagine that if you fastest transfer rate from a CD-ROM won’t [email protected] bought a machine with a 32-bit SVGA be of much use. Softkey 0181 789 2000 ☎ local bus graphics adaptor, it would satisfy MPC Level 1 specifications recom- Xing Technologies 00 1 805 473 0145 ☎ MPC requirements. Well, maybe yes, mend that the graphics adaptor should be Miro 01494 510250 ☎

285 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● SOUND HANDS ON ● SOUND MICROMART CLASSIFIED

pitch of another. This works well when Fig 1 keyboard. For example, you applied to percussive, or analogue effects, can have an acoustic bass particularly when a filter is applied. There’s over the lower keyboard also MIDI echo built into the software and and a piano covering the an auto-chord facility. Grooves can be rest. Layering of sounds is saved in standard MIDI file format, allow- also possible: you could ing them to be loaded straight into a combine a piano, choir and sequencer. The package comes with a a string pad, for example. video tutorial and costs £76. This is quite easy to do and there are plenty of other Play your cards useful features. An absolute GAS There have been plenty of sound card Before loading samples releases recently. The most interesting is into Vienna it’s worth from Roland, which has announced a spending some time editing Steven Helstrip grooves with an analogue PCMCIA card. Based on Roland’s tried- them first in WaveStudio. sequencer, samples a new sound card from and-tested Sound Canvas technology, the Make sure they are at their Roland and finds a cheap way to upgrade it, SCP-55 has 354 multi-sampled instru- optimum level, or volume, ments and ten drum kits along with DSP- Fig 2 and that they start and finish and sings the praises of Vienna. based reverb and chorus effects. Those exactly where you want familiar with the SCC-1 can expect a simi- them to — more audio than lar range of high-quality, General MIDI- you need will only take up he problem with sequencing is that is just like using an analogue sequencer. compatible sounds in addition to two memory. Tunless you have plenty of musical The idea is to manipulate up to ten soft- mono, or one stereo, channel for sampling Samples are loaded via ideas, there’s very little you can do other ware-generated monophonic parts, which audio up to 44.1kHz 16-bit. The card is the sample manager dia- than play through the sounds on your can be on as many MIDI channels. Each expected to cost around £320. An optional logue box, which can be synth or sound card. Unlike a word proces- part can contain up to 16 notes and has its MIDI interface is available. found in the instrument sor, which gives you a template on which own sliders for pitch and velocity. Because drop-down menu. Clicking to base a document, a sequencer offers no of the random nature of the program, not Making waves the import button will allow starting points. everything will sound musical, so there’s a A cheap and easy way to improve your you to select wave files from To remedy this, Intrinsic Technology scale correction utility to ensure each part sound card is to add a WaveTable your hard disk, CD-ROM has written an application that enables you is at least playing in the same key. upgrade to your existing card. Easy to and the card’s ROM chips. to create grooves and musical parts simply There are quite a few nice features, like install, this sits on top of your sound card Fig 1 shows seven samples by sliding a few faders, pressing a few but- the ability to copy the velocity and connects via a standard plug. which were loaded from var- tons and generally having fun. It’s called of one part to the Orchid has recently reduced the price ious libraries. There are six GAS, or Grooving Analogue Sequencer, of all its upgrade boards and you can now percussion samples and and can run alongside a sequencing pack- have WaveTable quality for as little as one drum loop which will be age such as Cubase . £66. The WaveBooster 2 has 2Mb of sam- Fig 3 used to demonstrate how to The main screen is daunt- ples on board, providing 263 General build a new drum kit. The ing at first, to put it MIDI-compatible instruments. Even better final sound bank, and the mildly. But once value is the 4Mb version for £90, which accompanying MIDI file, you’re familiar with the has 514 instruments and effects including have been placed on this myriad controls it really reverb, chorus and digital delay. Both month’s cover CD-ROM. are supplied with Cubase-Lite. Once the samples are loaded they have to be Top Upgrading to Held in AWE given a keygroup. To do this, WaveTable now costs as If you have an AWE-32 sound card, click the “add sample” but- little as £66 with Orchid’s chances are you also have Vienna, which ton followed by the sample WaveBlaster plug-in is used to create banks of samples. If to be grouped. The sample board Vienna wasn’t supplied with your card, will appear beneath the on- then it’s well worth getting hold of a copy screen keyboard mapped to Right GAS allows you from Creative Labs. It allows you to take every key on the keyboard. to create sequences any mono 44.1kHz wave file and create an In most cases, or at least with an analogue touch. sbk file, or new instrument, that can be for non-percussion instru- You can then import played over MIDI, usually from a ments, following the above them into your sequenc- sequencer. With 512Kb of on-board sam- will produce an instrument ing software, such as pling RAM, up to six seconds of audio can Fig 1 Vienna’s import dialogue enables you to use patch. But more often than Cubase or Cakewalk be downloaded to the card — that could samples from the card’s ROM not, further tweaking is be a new piano sound, a selection of per- Fig 2 When assigning a single percussion sample to required. When dealing with cussive instruments, vocal samples or an area on the keyboard, you may need to transpose more than one instrument, even a combination of these. the sample by adjusting the coarse tune for example, keys have to The software enables you to create Fig 3 Give short percussion samples a long release be mapped individually. In multiple keygroups, which means more time using the envelope shaper Fig 2, the 909 kick drum is than one sound can be assigned to the mapped only to C2, the key

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD HANDS ON ● SOUND

D-Zone Loopisms Vol 4 — Huh-huh, hmm, yeah...

I wasn’t quite sure what to think when I saw Beavis and Butt-head on the front of this CD. In fact, it isn’t full of “Huh-huh, yeah” and “These guys rule” samples. It does, however, have some pretty cool drum loops and samples taken from the TB303, Juno 106 and Matrix 1000. As in the rest of D-Zone’s sampling CDs, you are presented with 24 drum loops, not just one or two bars of each, but around 90 seconds of the same loop over and over. The loops have been recorded both dry and with stereo effects. If you have an Akai s3000, you’ll also find the digital backups for each loop. The loops, like D-Zone’s other CDs, vary dramatically in style and tempo — from 116bpm funk patterns to 160bpm jungle rhythms. The quality of the recordings are excellent. The much sought-after TB303 is captured in true style on this CD — great fat bass the on-screen keyboard is a drop-down sounds, through to acid-style bleeps. More analogue patches, but mainly strings and pads, menu that lets you select the active pro- have been taken from the Juno 106. Unsurprisingly they are just preset patches, but are gram number. There are 128 to choose worth having in your collection. The samples have only been recorded at middle C so from and on program change number two cannot be multisampled. For just £12.50, though, you can’t grumble. This is probably the you will find a drum loop which was best value sampling CD around. grouped in exactly the same way as the There’s one drum loop on this month’s cover CD as a .wav file and sound bank for the other instruments. To access more than AWE-32. one program from your sequencer, you Price £12.50 need to “talk” to each program on a sepa- Contact D-Zone 0181 651 2222 rate MIDI channel. On this month’s CD-ROM (d:\maga- used for kick drum in the General MIDI the end when you press a key on a MIDI zine\hands_snd\) you will find the sound specification. You can specify the limits of keyboard, the release time of that sample bank along with MIDI files in standard MIDI the keygroup by dragging the handles needs to be set to 127. This can be found file format and as a Cubase arrangement. beneath the on-screen keyboard. When on the envelope section within Vienna. In For this to work, you must first load the you want the sample on just one key, the this example, I have also set the reverb for sound bank into bank one. This is done highest and lowest keys must be the each instrument to zero, enabling you to from the AWE-32 control panel. same. use external effects instead of the built-in Having the right instrument on the right ones. You can turn the reverb on again key is only half the battle. You must then either from Vienna or from your PCW Contacts change the pitch, or transpose, that key- sequencer’s mixer module. Readers‘ contributions — hints & tips, group. By default middle C (C4) is set to Once each percussion instrument has suggestions, information — are music to play the original pitch of the sample. As the been assigned to a key group, transposed our ears. Send them in to the usual kick drum is positioned two octaves below and panned (given a position in the stereo PCW address, or to [email protected] middle C, the “course tune” has to be set field), it can be saved as a sound bank. ☎ to +24 semitones. It should now sound the But first you can add further instruments to Intrinsic Technology 0181 761 0178 ☎ same as the original sample. the sound bank and assign them to a dif- Roland 01252 816181 ☎ To enable the sample to play right to ferent program change number. Above Orchid 01256 479898 MICRO MART CLASSIFIED

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD HANDS ON ● VISUAL PROGRAMMING

Calendar confusion

It is disheartening when the sample code supplied with a product fails to run. This was the case with Datepad, a simple PIM exam- ple in Calendar Widgets. The reason was a problem with international date formats. The code that failed was like this: sMySql = "select * from appoint where date = #" & sSelDate & "#" Data2.RecordSource = sMySql Data2.Refresh where sSelDate is the date returned from All in a day’s work a calendar control, converted to a string. Because my PC is set up for UK dates, the The OCX is designed as a universal Windows calendar control was correctly returning a date in dd/mm/yy format. But JET's SQL component. Tim Anderson tries it in a calendar expects a date in mm/dd/yy format, whatev- application, explores DLLs in Delphi and glances er the international setting in Windows. So the application failed with an error: “Syntax at Visual dBase. error in date in query expression." VB and Access store dates internally as a double-precision number. You can take ancy constructing your own PIM (per- our late beta versions. advantage of this to overcome the above Fsonal information manager)? The main benefit of OLE controls is problem. The following code works on both Sheridan's new Calendar Widgets makes compatibility. The VBX standard is a way sides of the Atlantic: the job easy. Calendar controls that show of extending Visual Basic, and to make Dim dDate as Double a month at a time are two a penny, but VBXs work with other environments such dDate = DateValue(sSelDate) Calendar Widgets also offers yearly and as Delphi or Visual C++ requires emulat- sMySql = "select * from appoint daily view controls. The daily view control ing VB. By contrast, OCXs use OLE 2.0 where date = " & str$(dDate) is what makes PIM construction so easy communication. There is a price to pay for Data2.RecordSource = sMySql since it provides an editable grid of this application-independence. Some Data2.Refresh appointment slots complete with a time aspects of performance may be improved, selection bar, and a facility to define over- especially in 32-bit OCXs, but other things surface to present the illusion of seamless lapping tasks. The monthly and yearly will be slower: for example, there is a integration. But once the OLE object is up controls can be bound to a table in an noticeable pause when inserting a and running, performance should be as Access .MDB. There is also a date combo Calendar Widget OCX into Access or good or better than a VBX. Processors are that drops down a graphical calendar, FoxPro, and again to display its property getting quicker, and the concept of univer- enabling users to enter dates by point- page, compared to the snappy perfor- sal components has great appeal, so I and-click. It’s just the thing for applications mance of the VBX equivalent in VB 3.0. It guess it’s worth it. like project management, scheduling, or is like working with embedded OLE Another area of doubt is over compati- presenting date-related information. objects in documents: you sense that bility. You would have thought that OCX Calendar Widgets is useful, and inter- Windows is running very fast under the support would be all or nothing, but in fact esting for the new tech- OCX containers vary in niques it demonstrates. the level of compatibility Sheridan has hedged its they offer. For example, bets by supplying three Visual FoxPro does not control types: version 3.0 support the VBXs for compatibility ISimpleFrame interface, with VB 3.0 (but not which means that you Delphi), 16-bit OCXs for cannot embed one con- the likes of Access 2.0, trol in another. In prac- and 32-bit OCXs for VB tice, while all OCX 4.0 or other OCX contain- controls should work in ers such as Visual FoxPro, and in other FoxPro. Since Calendar OCX container environ- Widgets plopped onto my desk before the final ver- sion of either FoxPro or Build your own PIM VB 4.0, Sheridan has with Calendar Widgets. shown a touching faith in This VB 3.0 application the stability of the OCX demonstrates the standard. All was well with DayView control

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Using OCXs in other applications

To use an OCX in Access 2.0, first place an Object Frame on a form. From the dialogue which opens, select Insert Control. Then you can choose from all the OCXs registered on the system. Note that Access 2.0 can only use 16-bit OCXs, which are likely to be less common than the 32-bit variety

Next, the control can be customised by setting properties at design-time. The Property Sheet is a dialogue created by the OCX control itself, normally accessed by right-clicking on the control. That is one reason why OCXs are larger than VBXs: they contain their own user interface. This example adds a user- defined styleset to the control. A styleset in Calendar Widgets defines the appearance of a date cell

The form at runtime, showing some highlighted date cells. The code which does the work refers to the OCX control, laboriously, as Embedded0.Object. Access 95 supports the With ... End With construct to tidy up code like this

Using a Calendar Widget in Visual FoxPro requires painting an OleControl frame on a form, then inserting the control from a list of available OCXs. Right-click brings up the property page; and xBase code addresses the control in much the same way as Basic

293 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● VISUAL PROGRAMMING

ments, they do not all offer the same func- tionality. As another example, OCXs in FoxPro have no data-aware capabilities. A final problem is that Visual C++ in its cur- rent version (2.1) has no integrated sup- port for OCX controls. Expect this to change soon. Borland also intends to sup- port OCXs in future versions of Delphi, dBase and C++. In the meantime, don't assume that an OCX control is really plug- and-play and check before purchase that it will do what you need. At worst, a particu- lar OCX could be next to useless; at best, the vendor will have developed with each of the main supporting environments in mind.

Not just Delphi Following the discussion of floating point rounding in the August issue, thanks to John Plumbley for the following email: “This does not seem to be banker's rounding — Borland (or the company that Above John Plumbley's does the tech support for them) must have demonstration that VB been wrong when it said it was. has rounding problems It is caused by the way computers store too fractional floating point numbers and is a well known problem for the unwary. To see what's going on use FmtStr with %.15f and you will see that: 1.505 is stored as 1.504999999999200 (which %.2f rounds down to 1.50); 1.515 is stored as 1.514999999999418 Left Prospero's (which %.2f rounds down to 1.51); PSPNUM is a VBX to 2.505 is stored as 2.505000000001019 handle fixed-length (which %.2f rounds up to 2.51); precision numbers and 3.505 is stored as 3.505000000001019 arrays (which %.2f rounds up to 3.51). A similar thing happens in C, and it also MICRO MART CLASSIFIED

295 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● VISUAL PROGRAMMING

the forms in the application. I came to use a DLL called INPOUT.DLL with Delphi, and after much searching in both the on- line help and Delphi manuals I came up with the following declaration: From this procedure Out(Port, Value: integer); dialogue you far; external 'D:\DLLS\INPOUT'; can build an “This seems to work fine, but only if executable in placed in the implementation part of a unit. Visual dBase, As soon as it is placed in the interface part, although in which is where a declaration has to be in dBase order for other units to access it, an error “compiled” is occurs. Does this mean a DLL procedure just another has to be declared in every unit in which it word for is used?” interpreted You can declare a .DLL in the interface part of a unit. For example: unit CallDll; happens in VB, not only in Delphi. should stick with 8.3 names until the interface In my opinion this behaviour is not a release of 32-bit versions of these prod- procedure Out(Port, Value: integer); problem, as anyone doing this kind of work ucts. OLE automation is now supported, function DiskSpaceFree(DiskID: byte): should not be using fractional real num- but not OCX controls. There are few lan- longint; bers. They should scale all numbers to guage changes but two are particularly avoid fractions (i.e. work internally in pen- welcome: class definitions can now implementation nies, or tenths of a penny, instead of include protected properties (without procedure Out; external pounds).” which true encapsulation is impossible), 'D:\DLLS\INPOUT' John includes listings in Delphi, VB and and at last SQL queries can be executed function DiskSpaceFree; external C to prove his point. So if you are rounding on local tables without the need for any 'SETUPKIT'; matters in your application — you have special SQL mode of operation. end. been warned. I've also received a VBX Borland has long been rumoured to be I've included a function (from the intended to overcome exactly this kind of working on a dBase compiler that would SETUPKIT.DLL distributed with VB) problem from a small company called create true executables in the style of alongside your procedure. Remember, Prospero. PSPNUM.VBX is a masked edit Delphi or C. Sadly, the project seems to that even though you declare the function control which allows you to work with have been abandoned, as the compiler in the interface section, to make it fixed-length precision numbers; a more now released for Visual dBase is no more public you still need to make an entry in flexible version of VB's Currency data than a runtime version. It's nicely the implementation section to show that its type. It's a specialist tool which could be integrated into the product and comes with implementation is to be found externally. valuable for accounting and business an Install Builder for creating distribution Another point is that procedures in the applications. disks. Overall, Borland has plugged many interface section are implicitly far; you of the gaps between dBase and don't need the “far” keyword. dBase gets Visual Microsoft's Visual FoxPro, arriving on the The most common method is to stuff The word "visual" is beloved of marketing market at about the same time. Borland's DLL declarations into a unit on their own. departments worldwide, judging by the product has a snappier, less cluttered Then, any units in your application which way it pops up in new product versions. interface and slightly more modest system need to call these functions can simply The latest casualty is dBase, now at ver- requirements. add the unit name to the “uses” clause. sion 5.5 and called Visual dBase. The Despite the new features this is an That is how Delphi handles the Windows xBase language is about as non-visual as interim release, although likely to be the core functions, which are defined in units you can get, but both Microsoft and last 16-bit version, and the dBase to watch called WINTYPES and WINPROCS. Borland have added object-orientated for will be the 32-bit version for Windows language extensions which, combined 95 and Windows NT. It's strange how it with visual design tools, lend some always seems to be the next version that PCW Contacts credibility to the “Visual” tag. promises to deliver the goods. I looked at a late beta of the product. Tim Anderson welcomes your Despite the change of name, Visual dBase Calling DLLs in Delphi feedback, tips and suggestions. Contact is not a major upgrade, but adds signifi- Alan Bontoft sent the following query: him at the usual PCW address or as cant enhancements to the original dBase “I am a recent convert to the world of [email protected], or [email protected] for Windows. It is not a 32-bit product, Delphi (from VB of course) and am trying although it does recognise Windows 95 to write software which involves the use of PSPNUM: Prospero Software Products with limited support for long filenames. third-party DLLs. 01624 681090 ☎ Since neither the IDAPI database engine “When used with VB, one simply has to Calendar Widgets: Contemporary Software 01727 811999 ☎ nor the Crystal Reports report writer sup- declare the procedure/function in a .BAS Visual dBase: Borland 01734 320022 ☎ port long filenames, dBase developers file and it can then be accessed by any of

296 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● LOW LEVEL HANDS ON ● LOW LEVEL

Fig 3 Ten rules of thumb for solving equations method. A symbolic solution generally 1. To be solvable the number of equations should equal the number of unknowns. provides 100 percent accurate answers, 2. Equations involving powers of 2 (e.g. x2 - 7 x = - 12) have two solutions (x = 3 or 4 in this whereas there is always an error factor case). With powers of three there are three solutions, and so on. with a numerical method. Neither 3. Equations can be shuffled into any order without affecting their solution. approach guarantees a solution in every 4. Sub-expressions within an equation can be shuffled and re-arranged in various ways, case — symbolic manipulation can get controlled by mathematical rules and identities. overloaded by the complexities of symbol 5. A value, or expression (possibly including unknowns) can be added to or subtracted from manipulation, and numerical methods both sides of any equation. can miss the mark either because of 6. A value or expression can be used to multiply or divide an equation. This is done by accumulated rounding errors, or else applying it to both sides simultaneously. because the underlying iterative method 7. The left- and right-hand sides of an equation can be swapped. Equal opportunities diverges away from the theoretical solu- 8. Two or more equations can be added (or subtracted) to make a new equation by adding tion instead of converging onto it. (or subtracting) the left-hand sides of each, giving one side of the new equation, and Outside of the Artificial Intelligence performing the same operation on the right-hand sides of each for the other side of the new Mike Liardet investigates some equation-solving techniques, using both laboratories there is comparatively little equation. equation-solving software that uses sym- 9. Two or more equations can be multipled together (or divided) to make a new equation by symbolic and numerical methods, and includes a practical and efficient bolic manipulations; Wolfram’s simultaneously applying the appropriate operation to the respective equation, adding (or Basic implementation of a numerical method that can be applied in a large Mathematica is one notable exception. subtracting) the left-hand sides of each for one side of the new equation, and the right-hand Most other equation-solving software sides of each for the other. number of problem areas. uses numerical techniques. There are a 10. When an unknown is isolated on one side of an equation, it can be eliminated from all number of reasons for this, not least the equations by replacing its every occurence in the other equations by the expression that because most of the common program- it’s equal to. The original equation need play no further part in the solution process. ming languages (e.g. C, C++, Cobol, For- tran, Basic) are better equipped to handle ost computer programs are based the unknowns. In this context these are that a VAT Inspector may want to know, numbers rather than symbols. Fig 4 Solving the equations in Fig 1 Min part on theories that include the values for which the equations must and the only way to provide it with a con- In this month’s Low Level we will Divide (C) by 3 some mathematical equations. For exam- be solved. With the aid of a trivial manip- ventional program is for the programmer explore some of the equation-solving x2 - 10 x = -25 (C1) ple, financial applications encode the ulation of the first equation and some to code another routine to provide this techniques, using both symbolic and Add 25 to each side of (C1) equations for profit, loss, compound inter- straightforward re-ordering of the equa- functionality, working with the same set of numerical methods, and finish off with a x2 - 10 x + 25 = 0 (C2) est, and so on. Many games and graphics tions themselves, the VAT calculations equations as before, but using them in a practical and efficient Basic implementa- Rearrange LHS of (C2) programs use the equations of projective can be (pseudo-) coded as: different way. tion of a numerical method that can be (x - 5)(x - 5) = 0 (C3) geometry. Scientific software typically bor- Sub VATCalc(Goods_Value,VAT_on_Goods, For the small set of VAT equations applied in a wide number of problem So x = 5, substitute in (A) and (B) rows the equations of physics, with any- Invoice_Total) above it is simple enough for the areas. 5 y z = 450 (A1) thing from an elementary Fahrenheit to Set VAT_Rate = .175 programmer to hand-solve them and then To get a flavour of what’s involved we 5 y2 + 25 y = 250 (B1) Celcius formula through to the equations Set VAT_on_Goods = Goods_Value * implement all the necessary routines to will start work with a set of three simple Divide (B1) by 5 of atomic theory and beyond. Even a sim- VAT_Rate support the application. For more compli- simultaneous equations (Fig 1), which y2 + 5 y = 50 (B2) ple accounting program must encapsulate Set Invoice_Total = Goods_Value + cated situations this may not be feasible. are to be solved for the three unknowns: Subtract 50 from each side of (B2) the equations for VAT. VAT_on_Goods Either the formulae may become too x, y and z. To solve these equations sym- y2 + 5 y - 50 = 0 (B3) In many cases it’s possible for the pro- End complicated for reliable hand solution, or bolically by computer, it is essential to Apply identity grammer to solve the equations while the This may be enough for most account- the “direction” of use may not be known first represent them in an appropriate a x2 + b x + c = 0 => x = (-b +-sqrt(b2 - 4 a c))/ 2 a program is being written, hard-wiring his ing software, but it’s interesting to note in advance — for example, spreadsheet data structure, such as the “nested list” solution explicitly in the code with the that this simple little routine does only half systems often have a “back-solver”, which is a standard construct in program- to (B3) appropriate formulae. Experienced pro- the job of the original equations, since it where the user can specify any combina- ming languages like Lisp or Prolog. Fig 2 grammers do this almost sub- can work in only one direction. tion of variables in a formula as input, to shows how these equations can be con- y = -5 +- sqrt(25 + 200) /2 (B4) consciously, forgetting that they are Specifically it can only determinine derive the remainder as output. verted into lists. actually implementing something that’s VAT_on_Goods and Invoice_Total when In these situations the program itself Once held in list form it’s much easier So y = 5 or y = -10 (B5) based on a firm mathematical theory. For given Goods_Value, but it is unable to needs equation-solving capability. There to operate on the equations, but this begs example, the equations for VAT might be determine, for example, Goods_Value, are two ways of tackling the problem: by the question of what operations can use- Substitute in (A1) written in this form: given Invoice_Total. This is something symbolic manipulation or by a numerical fully be performed on them. There are VAT_on_Goods = Invoice_Total - various rules which are commonly used 25 z = 450 or -50 z = 450 (A2) Goods_Value when attempting to solve equations. Fig 3 VAT_on_Goods = Goods_Value * VAT_Rate Fig 1 A set of three simultaneous equations, with three unknowns: x, y and z outlines the common manipulations, Divide one equation in A2 by 25 and the other by -50 VAT_Rate = .175 (at present!) x y z = 450 (A) although we have glossed over some of For a typical invoicing system it is 5 y2 + 5 x y = 50 x (B) the mathematical niceties: for example, So z = 18 or z = -9 likely that, when the program needs to 3 x2 - 30 x = -75 (C) you have to be careful not to divide equa- work with these equations, the tions by zero. To show how these rules Solutions: (x = 5, y = 5, z =18) or (x = 5, y = -10, z = -9) Goods_Value is already known (it is sim- are used in practice the solution process ply the sum of the prices of all the items Fig 2 A Lisp-like internal representation of the equations in Fig 1, using list structures for the equations is given in Fig 4. on the invoice, which were presumably (= (* (* x y) z) 450) (A) Using rule 1 we can see that there are leave the problem under-constrained, some redundancy (such as one of the typed in by the user) and that the (= (+ (* 5 (^ y 2)) (* (* 5 x) y)) (* 50 x)) (B) three variables and three equations, so with not enough information to reach a extra equations being a trivial variant of VAT_on_Goods and Invoice_Total are (= (- (* 3 (^ x 2)) (* 30 x)) 45) (C) it’s likely that it will in fact be possible to solution. More equations would over-con- another equation) there is likely to be an reach a solution. Fewer equations would strain the problem, and, unless there was inconsistency with no solution possible.

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Fig 7 Gaussian Elimination in action. Fig 9 A subroutine in Basic, that performs Gaussian elimination Rule 2 tells us that there may be multi- as a part of the solution process. For The technique systematically manipulates Sub Gauss (N As Integer, A() As Single, xans() As Single) ple solutions for x and for y as well. Most example, the user may have to provide a the array representation of the linear equa- ‘Do Gaussian elimination on a(1..N,1..N) where RHS is in a(1..N,N+1) of the other rules are used in the solution first guess for the solution, and if the tions to obtain the solution ‘Answer is given in xans(1..N) process itself. With an appropriate pro- guess is a bad one then the method may [ 6 6 12 54] Dim i As Integer gramming language, such as Lisp or Pro- fail to arrive at a solution, or if there are [ 3 2 4 19] Dim j As Integer log, each rule can easily be encoded as multiple solutions it may only find the one [ 2 3 4 20] Dim k As Integer an operation that can be performed on a nearest to the guess. Pivoting on the x coefficient in the first Dim mx As Integer list structure. For example, adding a With a numerical method it is also equation, eliminate x from the the Dim t As Single quantity Q to each side of an equation (= sometimes necessary for the user to dif- equations below... LHS RHS), converts it to the form (= (+ ferentiate the equations by hand and then [ 6 6 12 54] ‘Eliminate... LHS Q) (+ RHS Q)). List processing lan- write a function that calculates the differ- [ 0 -1 -2 -8] For i = 1 To N guages can easily manipulate lists in this ential. This is a pity because it’s not too [ 0 1 0 2] mx = i fashion. difficult to implement a symbolic differen- Pivoting on the y coefficient in the sec- For j = i + 1 To N Notice that, contrary to expectations, tiation routine that could do the job auto- ond equation, eliminate y from the equation If Abs(A(j, i)) > Abs(A(mx, i)) Then mx = j the equations produce only one solution matically, but the programming below... Next j for x (x = 5). Equation C3 shows why — languages commonly used to implement [ 6 6 12 54] For k = i To N + 1 there are in fact two solutions, but they numerical methods cannot readily be [ 0 -1 -2 -8] t = A(i, k): A(i, k) = A(mx, k): A(mx, k) = t are both the same! used in this way. Firstly they are not very [ 0 0 -2 -6] Next k With a symbolic solver it’s not enough good at symbol manipulation in any case, The last equation now gives z = 3 For j = i + 1 To N simply to implement the equation manip- but the main problem is that programs immediately. Eliminating z from the equa- For k = N + 1 To i Step -1 ulation rules. The solver needs some written in languages like C and Pascal tions above, and eliminating this equation A(j, k) = A(j, k) - A(i, k) * A(j, i) / A(i, i) strategy to guide the solution process are compiled before they are used, and from further consideration... Next k and apply the rules in the right order and cannot then create new compiled [ 6 6 0 18] Next j in the right way. This is the hardest part routines dynamically; they simply cannot [ 0 -1 0 -2] Next i to implement, and the area in which sym- be used in this way. The last of the remaining equations now ‘Substitute... bolic solvers are most likely to fail. There is one special area of equation- gives y = 2 immediately. Eliminating y For j = N To 1 Step -1 We won’t go into the strategy in much solving, where a numerical method works from the equation above... t = 0# detail here, but in general a good overall particularly well. This is the Gaussian [ 6 0 0 6] For k = j + 1 To N aim is to isolate any one variable on one elimination technique, which can be The last remining equation gives x = 1 t = t + A(j, k) * xans(k) side of one equation so that it can be applied to systems of linear equations. A immediately. The equations are solved Next k substituted in all the other equations, linear equation can contain any number xans(j) = (A(j, N + 1) - t) / A(j, j) effectively reducing the number of vari- of unknowns but these can only be com- Next j ables by one. If all goes well, after bined in a very simple way. There are no operations on the equations (or rather, End Sub repeating this process several times, a unknowns multiplied together and expo- rows in the array) are covered by one or single equation in one variable is left, and nentiation, trigonometry or other awkward other of the rules we mentioned earlier, hopefully this is solvable directly, and its expressions are not allowed. but because linear equations are so solution can then help get solutions for Fig 5 shows a typical set of simultane- highly structured the solution process moves forward very methodically. Notice can then be used. If all the potential pivot the other remaining variables. This may ous linear equations, with three that at the third stage, when we are at elements are zero then there is no solu- not always work out as planned — for unknowns: x, y and z. These equations the point of deriving the value of z, all the tion to the equations. example, there’s a well known could be solved symbolically, using the Fig 8 array values below the array diagonal So much for the theory. The code to mathematical result that there’s no gen- rules given in Fig 3, but Gaussian elimi- After a minor rearrangement of the equa- are zero. This is the so-called “triangu- perform the Gaussian elimination is eral solution method for polynomials of nation formalises the process, so that the tions there are problems with pivoting, lated” form, from which the solution tum- given in Fig 9. It can work on any num- degree 5 or more (e.g. equations like x5 solution, if it exists, is found quickly, effi- when a zero element is found in the critical bles out, in a straightforward fashion as ber of variables/equations, although the +.. = ..). ciently and accurately. position. shown in the example. solution process inevitably slows down Numerical methods are less likely to Because of the simple structure of lin- 6 x + 12 z + 6 y = 54 There is only one major complication as the problems get bigger. This is a founder in this way, but often require ear equations they do need to be held in 2 x + 4 z + 3 y = 20 (see Fig 8) with the method, which we result of the execution time being some complex participation by the user list structures and can easily be 3 x + 4 z + 2 y = 19 have so far glossed over by carefully proportional to the cube of the array size represented by arrays containing the The equations have been rearranged, constructing the problem in the first (notice the three nested loops in the essential coefficients. The unknowns but their solution is the same. The array place. But suppose the second and third routine). Fig 5 Three simultaneous linear don’t need to be mentioned at all. For representation is: equations are swapped, and the order of equations example, the equations in Fig 5 can be [ 6 12 6 54] variables is changed to x, z, y. The solu- 6 x + 6 y + 12 z = 54 adequately represented by the array [ 2 4 3 20] tion method is in danger of breaking PCW Cover Disk 3 x + 2 y + 4 z = 19 shown in Fig 6, on the understanding that [ 3 4 2 19] down here, because when working on The full code for this month’s Low Level is on the cover disk given with this issue of PCW. 2 x + 3 y + 4 z = 20 each row represents an equation, with As before, pivoting on the x coefficient the second variable (z) the pivot element the first three columns in the array giving in the first equation, eliminate x from the turns out to be zero, and it cannot be the coefficients of the x, y and z the equations below: used to eliminate the elements below. unknowns, and the last column giving the [ 6 6 12 54] There’s a simple work-around for this: Fig 6 An array representation of the right-hand side values of each equation. [ 0 0 1 2] search for the most appropriate pivot ele- PCW Contacts linear equations Gaussian elimination systematically [ 0 -2 -1 -8] ment, looking down the column from the Mike Liardet is a freelance programmer [ 6 6 12 54] manipulates this array representation Pivoting on the (second) z coeffi- diagonal to the bottom and swap the and writer. He can be contacted via the [ 3 2 4 19] until it uncovers the solution. Fig 7 shows cient in the second equation is not positions of the equations so that the PCW editorial office or on email as [ 2 3 4 20] roughly how it works in practice. All the now possible as it is zero... best pivot element is in the frame and [email protected]

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/pub/math/freelip directory in source code. But, Paul warns: “An hour’s thought will often make more progress than a month’s computation.” Complete or partial responses to these Smarandache problems, along with work on prime k-tuplets and related problems Base Solution may be sent to Mike Mudge, 22 Gors Fach, Pwll-Trap, St Clears, Carmarthen, Dyfed. Tel: 01994 231121, to arrive by 1st The Smarandache Function revisited, plus a January 1996. Any complete or partial reader’s miscellany, by Mike Mudge. solutions received will be judged using suitable subjective criteria and a prize of a £25 book token or equivalent egular readers of Numbers Count are prime, how many are perfect powers? overseas voucher, will be awarded by Rwill be familiar with the definition of (In particular, perfect squares and perfect Mike Mudge to the best solution arriving the Smarandache Function. But it is cubes.) e.g. 101 in Smarandache Prime by the closing date. reproduced here in recognition of the Base 1,2,3,5,7,11… is equal to ● Stop press! A communication from widespread interest that it has attracted. 1.3+0.2+1.1=41 and is therefore not Roger Tirtia of Waremme, Belgium The Smarandache Function, S(n), is prime in The Smarandache Prime Base, requests a proof (assuming it to be defined for positive integers, n, as the but is prime in the decimal base. correct) of the result that: all integers that smallest integer such that S(n)! is divisi- Note: Academic Press will publish The are not the sum of less than four squares ble by n. Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences by are given by the formula, 22n(8k+7) Note: n!, read as factorial n, denotes N.J.A.Sloane and S. Plouffe in 1995; where n,k = 0,1,2,3… Can anyone help? the product of all positive integers up to a disk with the sequences will also be ● Review of Numbers Count 143, March and including n: further 0!=1 by definition. available. 1995, Beginners Lesson One, (GCD) Wang Tiles and Dr Reg Silvapulle’s problem. Problem A Feedback — positive and The latter problem was solved most Due to Charles Ashbacher, Cedar negative elegantly, using Fermat’s method of Rapids, IA 52401, USA. ● Prime Pairs: i.e. n±1 which are both descent and the well known formula for For what triplets n, n+1, n+2 does the prime, have attracted much attention representing a Pythagorean Triple as Smarandache function satisfy the recently. Tony Forbes of Surrey, using a 2k(r2+s2), 2k(r2-s2) & 4krs, by Michael Fibonacci reccurrence: 33MHz 486 microprocessor, upgraded to Behrend of Cambridge. Details on request S(n)+S(n+1)=S(n+2). 100MHz, programmed in a combination to MM. The introduction of a Beginners Charles has found the solutions: of Yuji Kida’s UBASIC and PC assembler Start Here, with an investigation of Great- n=9,119,4900,26243,32110,64008,36813 to discover a pair of the order of 104662 est Common Divisor of a set of 8 and 415662. (20th July 1995) — a result worthy of positive integers produced a mixed His comment: “I am unable to discern a publication in the “learned journals”! — he response. Many found the whole idea too pattern in these numbers that would lead has also made a study of prime k-tuplet simple to be worthwhile… one respondent to proof that there’s an infinite family of patterns up to k=14, details from M.M. returned to the recursive Euclid’s Algorithm solutions.” Perhaps another reader can? ● Email Addresses. I would like to thank as he had learnt it at school c.1920 and George Sassoon for the following: “A list programmed it in Pascal as a Function. Problem B of email addresses of people interested The Wang Tiling Problem produced Due to I M Radu, Mathematical in computational number theory compiled responses at many levels; worthy of Spectrum, vol 27, no 2. by Andrew Odlyzko is available on mention is that of Fred Nooitgedacht Show that, except for a finite set of [email protected] or from George of Apeldorn in The Netherlands. His numbers, there exists at least one prime at New Farm, Tytherington, Warminster, interest began when he met “an old man number between S(n) and S(n+1). Wiltshire, BA12 7AA. Tel: 01985-840205.” in 1986, who had been trying to trace all Among the finite set of numbers referred ● Factorisation of “LARGE” Integers. 2,339 ways in which the 12 petominos to above are: Paul C Leyland of Aylesbury wishes can fill a 10 x 6 rectangle”. He uses “back- 224-225, 2057-2058, 265225-265226 and PCW readers to know (4th June 1995) tracking” and invites mail at Pallietergaarde 843637-843638… that the Cunningham files are available 219, 7329 HC Apeldorn, The Netherlands. Factors of the last two pairs of for anonymous ftp at ftp.ox.ac.uk in Fred’s second mailing solves the numbers incude prime pairs: directory/pub/math/cunningham. His problem as posed. The prizewinner is (103,101) & (151,149) email address is [email protected] Gustaaf Lahousse, of St Donatuslaan, respectively… does this provide the clue and he would be pleased to hear from 4B 1850, Grimbergen, Belgium. in the search for additional values? other people interested in factoring. Sam Wagstaff’s address is [email protected]. PCW Contributions welcome Problem C LIP multiprecision package written in Mike Mudge welcomes correspondence Due to A Stuparu, Valcea, Romania. C and supporting arithmetic on integers from readers on any subject within the areas of Consider numbers written in of arbitrary size, written by Arjen Lenstra, number theory and computational mathematics, Smarandache Prime Base or is available at no cost for non-commercial together with suggested subjects and/or specific Smarandache Square Base: how many use from ftp.ox.ac.uk in the problems for future Numbers Count articles.

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LAN to using TCP/IP protocols rather than The Arcada IPX/SPX (in the case of Netware) over the Backup Exec LAN. This would entail changing the saw the shared server’s protocol stack as well as that in drive although use on every workstation. Having done not the Agent, that, you would have to get and maintain a which hosts file in order for the workstations to proclaimed have somewhere for the Internet services itself as running to look up domain names — those names which follow the commercial version of “at” (i.e. @, such as cix.compulink.co.uk in the Internet in an instant case of cix) in an Internet address. reasonably easy; Now all you have to do is connect. This all I had to do could take up to half an hour per was share out Instant Internet simply plugs in to a Netware or workstation, and perhaps an hour in the the other case of a server. Regarding the standard machine’s hard PowerLAN network — configure your software number of workstations (50) at which this disk. and, as Stephen Rodda discovered, you’re ready to unit is targeted, this could save about 26 Now, my part- go in no time at all. And, there’s something man-hours. A name server would have to that anyone else can access your ner’s getting into World Wide Web page be running, which could take more time machine, or in extreme cases your whole design and he wanted to use Word 6 with interesting you can do with a Scotchbrite pad, too. and hardware too. LAN. If you’re running a dial-up link, they the Web Author package from I configured the server in about a would have to target you from a dedicated Quarterdeck, so I ended up walking from minute. The program is well-designed and Internet link and check every so often that one end of the flat to the other (where his have downloaded Windows 95 (build and the mains, and you’re ready to go. performs efficiently. The package comes you were or weren’t on the Internet, as the machine now is) to set up the recalcitrant I490) from the Microsoft Network Software configuration is less simple, but with WinWeb and Eudora — an SMTP case may be: in the case that you had con- backup agent. I certainly lost weight. I (MSN). Although MSN seemed to think thanks to the comprehensive list of British mail package. But for those of you who nected to the Internet, then the snooping must have walked the distance at least that it would take 18 minutes per file (there and European services it’s easy to prefer, say, Netscape or Mosaic (since the program could fire off a login sequence or twenty times. were 19 of them), in actual fact the files connect to any Internet supplier’s point of unit supports the Winsock socket inter- manipulate packets directly. Certainly, we know that these took around 25 minutes each to download. presence. It allows distributed Internet face) you may use whichever software you conditions, although they work, are not Averaging it out, I took around ten and a access for up to 50 concurrent users, desire which utilises Winsock sockets. Preventing snoopers ideal: I wondered what others would do to half hours (file 19 is a fairly big one) to without the hassle of having to set up The whole operation was completed in A firewall prevents all this simply by enable the wretched thing to work. The download the whole shebang. Having fin- TCP/IP for each workstation on the LAN. less than no time. I took another minute to erecting an Internet barrier between the advantage is that the agent type share is ished, I was impressed: it was very stable. If you are going to have that number of configure a second PC to attach through TCP/IP packets on your side of the net- special and other users can’t attach to the The Microsoft Network, on the other people using it at the same time, the the Instant Internet unit. It was simple, and work and those on the Internet side. On a drive and slow the machine down. I even hand, is about as unstable as a pyramid supplied 28Kb 8-baud modem would worked within minutes of plugging it in — small system where data might not be installed the version (not provided with on its tip. Due to this lack of stability it took probably be woefully inadequate, although I like hardware like that. sensitive, this would be unnecessary: the Windows 95) but the one on the me two late nights to download the soft- for my own smaller LAN it was quite good An Internet firewall is included straight chances that someone would be snooping installation CD from Arcada. Despite this, I ware update. Now, I presume that enough. In this case, you would probably out of the box. For those who don’t know on your Demon connection are highly still find Arcada to be one of the better because of this release being down- want to use a dedicated Internet feed from anything about the Internet; once you remote. But where a large proportion of backup solutions. loaded, the MSN is almost impossible to your supplier. have a connection you immediately have time is spent connected to the Internet, use. Its response times are a joke: it can For those who know about Internet the problem of packets which can go both and the network is of a large or sensitive Scotchbrite and suckers take around three minutes just to open a connections, you will see that this is a con- ways. Of course, you will want to send and nature, then you should be aware of the I’ve been getting lots of support calls from few windows. Once you get there you find siderable amount of work saved. For receive your own packets, but while you necessity of using a firewall. Instant my clients lately. Admittedly, we’re in the that very little has changed — sometimes others, I shall describe the work that would are connected (even through a telephone Internet accomplishes this feat because it middle of a heatwave as I write and most it just hangs while trying to log in. If normally be needed. First, you would have line) you immediately have the problem just translates directly between TCP/IP of these calls are due to the fact that their Microsoft is going to try to compete with to get a currently and IPX/SPX. Since your machines have machines are overheating. So remember, the likes of CIX and Compuserve, then it is unused Internet no complete Internet address, nobody out- get a vacuum cleaner and use it to take all going to have to pull its socks up. address range from side can manipulate your data. The the dust out of the fans in your server and the authorities (to simplicity is impressive. workstations. It’s a better bet (if you feel Instant Internet allow you to have a you are capable) to reverse the fan, so I’ve had a play with Instant Internet (from complete domain Arcada that it blows air into the machines, rather Performance Technology): it simply plugs where your network I’ve eventually managed to get hold of the than sucking it through the floppy drives. into a Netware or PowerLAN network to allocation numbers full version of Arcada Backup Exec for Many’s the floppy drive in a server which provide direct Internet access. The unit is won’t interfere with Windows NT, and although I’m still waiting failed to load a disk simply because of the housed in a standard computer case with anyone else), then for the various Backup Agents which allow accumulated dust. keyboard and monitor connections. you would have to the executive to talk to networked comput- A good move would be to tape a The one I tested had a built-in network convert the whole ers, I’ve tried (unsuccessfully as it turned Scotchbrite pan shiner over the fan intake. connection and modem, although a bridge out) to use the Windows 95 agent. This will filter out most of the airborne version (for a permanent Internet connec- Although the installation file said that I detritus which would otherwise circulate tion) exists with two network interface Setting up the had to have IPX/SPX networking, the only over your hardware. So, all you’ll have to cards. This acts as a networking router. Instant Internet way I managed to get the thing to back up do is replace the pan shiner (or wash it Physically, the installation is simple: plug unit from a remote a remote Windows 95 machine was to use out, making sure you dry it thoroughly) to the box into a telephone point, the LAN PC the file-sharing method. This was achieve effective filtration again.

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Questions & Answers Printer sharing under Netware the rest of the drive space. Bear in mind that when you do this, you In a recent Networks column, in the “Questions & Answers” section, can decrease the hot-fix area, since SCSI already has one allocated. referring to memory problems you said: “Remember that under Net- Now mirror the old drive and the first new Netware partition. Go away ware, printer sharing to and from a Windows workstation can be for as long as it takes to establish the mirror — at this point, lunch problematic to say the least.” might be a good idea. I am presently studying Novell Netware 3.12 and 4.1 to achieve Once the mirroring has taken place, make sure there are no the CNI certificate. I am using a simple network consisting of three users connected, nor open files, and break the mirroring computers: two clients and a server. I have tested printing with a arrangement. dedicated print server and the PSERVER.NLM for a period of six Now, down the server and remove the 1Gb disk, remembering for months with Netware 3.12 and have encountered no difficulties the sake of tidiness to reallocate the SCSI to device 0 on the new whatsoever, either with Windows for Workgroups or with standard disk. Then boot the server with the floppy disk you prepared earlier. Windows 3.1. As I am a novice Netware student, it would be a great help if you Run FDISK and mark the DOS partition on the new drive as active. could explain the problems in Netware print sharing. Since Netware Remove the floppy disk and reboot the server. is widely used, I think it would be of interest to other readers of your Your system will now start as normal. Once the server has very rewarding column. started, all you have to do is use what’s commonly known as drive Kalevi Nyman, Norrtälje, Sweden spanning (actually partition spanning) to add the extra unallocated Netware partition on the new disk to the first, original partition. And Thanks for the compliment, Kalevi. Actually, what I was getting at in bingo! — you now have a 2Gb Netware drive. my reply to the letter which you read, was the fact that although using a Netware printer is simplicity itself (whether it is run from the Wiring up a LAN file server, acting as a print server, or from a dedicated print server), I’ve been asked to specify a network wiring system for quite a large it isn’t the easiest thing in the world to service a print queue from a LAN (probably about 30 users). How should I do it? Windows workstation by loading RPRINTER on top of DOS and SimonT@Cix under Windows. Fortunately, people can now escape this problem simply by Firstly, you need to consider where the desks are going to be in a upgrading to Windows 95, which contains a Novell-type print server. couple of months’ time, and the answer to that is: just about For those not lucky enough to be running under WIndows 95, there anywhere. So put in LAN cabling (Unshielded Twisted Pair since is a new version of RPRINTER which, although a little slow, will run nobody’s using thin ethernet for larger installations any more) and under Windows 3.x. pluggable points behind where you think the plants, filing cabinets, SCSI drive replacement coffee machine and such like are going, as well as behind the desk I need to move a 1Gb SCSI drive out of a Netware 3.12 server in positions — even put one or two in the kitchen. order to replace it with a 2Gb SCSI drive. I have enough memory to Make sure that you don’t penny-pinch and connect only four of do this. The old 1Gb drive already has a new home, but I want to get the cables in each connector. Do connect all eight because in future, the data off it as simply as possible. What method would you you could use 100Mb/sec networking for no extra outlay in cabling recommend — preferably the easiest way possible? over certain segments, if you subsequently discover data transfer to TonyG@cix be slow. While you are wiring the network cabling, remember that you can get the telephone wiring installed simultaneously, by the Back up: not once, not twice, but three times. I always recommend same people. this many backups whenever you’re going to do anything which If you’re really circumspect, you might plump for an integrated might just possibly have an affect on your data. wiring system so that a given cable could carry either telephone or Now, add the drive to the SCSI bus (say it’s drive 1, with the data communication at any specified time. This means that you original as drive 0). Using FDISK, partition some of it into a DOS should neither run out of telephone nor data points since any partition to take all the Netware DOS files, and DOS itself. Remem- connection can do either job. ber that it is not possible at this time to make this partition active, Try to arrange for the same generous spread of mains outlets. since the drive is recognised as the secondary drive. Now format the And don’t forget that the trend is no longer to plug a monitor into the partition with the /s switch to add the DOS system files, making sure that you have a copy of FDISK on the floppy. Now format a floppy system case: they tend nowadays to be plugged directly into the disk with the /s switch so that you have a bootable floppy. wall. Don’t forget desk lights, printers, modems, possibly other Start netware so that the server comes on line, and at the external devices like tape drives and removable cartridge drives. I’d console, load the install module. suppose that each desk should have a minimum of four or five power Partition the new disk so that you have a partition of exactly the sockets available. And add to the specification from there. same size as the old drive. Now, since you are using SCSI (which Remember too that the server will need a few extra sockets, and includes its own hot-fix area) create another partition which uses up budget for a good UPS so that the server will work continuously.

Machines in sunlight can cause prob- because the mice are optical and sunlight PCW Contacts lems, too. Apart from the heating consid- leaks through the cases, giving false Arcada 01628 771299 ☎ eration and the bright light flooding out signals to their optical detectors. Move the Stephen Rodda is an independent screen images, you may find that users mouse out of the sunshine, or paint the computer consultant specialising in DTP with graphical user interfaces find their inside of the case (black), or change the and networking. He can be contacted as mice performing erratically. This is mouse. This should solve the problem. [email protected]

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The Mac desktop — before and after Manager, incorporating native PowerPC PowerMacs. The difference between it code, has arrived. Sound Manager is that and version 3.0 is noticeable, particularly The standard part of the Mac OS which deals with audio on Marathon which seems to move more Mac desktop recording and playback in all its forms. The smoothly than before. I highly recommend (Mac) features a new version 3.1 provides better perfor- it and you can download it from Apple’s clean design, but mance all round, and there are vast Web Servers. its plain system improvements when it is used with Power- Another impending new addition to the icons and back- Macs. Mac OS is a native edition of SCSI Man- ground are Sound Manager’s first notable new fea- ager. I’ve been running a beta release of somewhat drab ture is support for two additional audio- this too for a while now, and have enjoyed by today’s stan- compression formats: IMA and µLaw definite performance gains with it installed. dards. Using a (pronounced “mu-law”). The IMA format is This SCSI Manager, plus Sound Manager few simple Face facts based on a standard proposed by the 3.1 and other system refinements, are shareware pro- Interactive Multimedia Association and likely to make up the next System 7.5 grams and can compress 16-bit sound with a ratio of Update disk. extensions you The look of your desktop can greatly enhance the 4:1. IMA is particularly good at compress- Finally, news just in reveals that there can add new life ing CD-quality music for integration into may be compatibility problems with some with a multi- enjoyment you get from using your machine. QuickTime movies. third-party Quark Xpress extensions run- coloured Chris Cain shows how to give your Mac a facelift. The µLaw codec is an international ning on a 9500. Due to the nature of the tectured back- standard for compressing voice-quality 604 and its use of cacheing, any exten- drop, new icons audio, typically 16-bit at 8kHz, with a 2:1 sions which use self-modifying code (a for your hard ratio. It’s often used in telephony applica- bad programming habit) may break when disk, a 3D menu ne of the best things about Windows between three and five hours of use, and tions and on the Internet as the encoding run on the new system. Apple UK says bar, windows O95 is how much better it makes the there’s even AppleTalk-compliant infra- format for .au sound files. that during tests only three of some 40 and matching PC look and feel. But so as not to let us red communication built in. Perhaps the most significant change is additions caused problems and all used trashcan as seen Mac users be outdone, especially by For those who don’t quite need the the inclusion of more native PowerPC 68k code. However, if you rely heavily on in the screen Microsoft, I’ll show you how to give your power of the 603e, a new 680LC40-based code. Previously, Sound Manager was such an extension and are thinking of below Mac OS a facelift: there are hundreds of PowerBook, the 5300, has been unveiled. written entirely in 68000 code and ran upgrading, it may be wise to contact the commercial, shareware and public- For a full review, see this month’s First under the 680LC40 emulation on Power- manufacturer to check that it will run. domain programs to brighten up your Impressions (page 61). Macs. This could drastically slow the desktop. But first, let me bring you up to machine down during a sound-intensive The right image date with the latest developments. Sound Manager 3.1 task, and the effect was especially notice- While Microsoft has been steadily improv- The biggest recent event in the Mac Existing Mac users will be pleased to learn able in multimedia applications and ing the look and feel of Windows, it’s fair to world was the arrival of the first range of that the new version of Apple’s Sound games with music soundtracks that say that Apple has neglected the Mac’s PowerPC-based played through the on-screen appearance. It’s true that Sys- PowerBooks. Com- Sound Manager 3.1 CPU Usage action. With its tem 7.5 is one of the best-looking GUIs prising both full Playback on 6100/60 Emulated 68k Native PowerPC improvements, the around, but it’s nowhere near as cus- PowerBooks and new version is tomisable as the competition. All you get is backdrop until you decide to change it. An interesting piece of shareware for PowerBook Duos, 8-bit, mono 5% 1.6% between four and a small selection of desktop patterns and Newer versions of Desktop Textures fea- customising the look of the user interface they offer the highest 8-bit, mono, w/sample rate conversion 12% 2.2% seven times more the option to change the system font — ture a Texture Randomiser, which will is Greg’s Buttons. Now on version 3.7.2, level of power and 16-bit, stereo 13% 1.9% efficient, enabling there’s no standard way to install a proper change your background every time you this often-updated Control Panel lets you portability yet from 16-bit, stereo, w/sample rate conversion 26% 2.3% applications to do backdrop or change the way the windows restart. change the colour and appearance of Apple. 16-bit, stereo, w/sample rate conversion, IMA 41% 6.6% much more while look. For those who want a picture rather dialogue boxes, menus and windows. Specifications sound is playing or Apple is aware of this and will be than a repeated pattern, Berkeley Sys- Options include a 3D bas-relief metallic include either a Utility of the Month recording. addressing many points in the next tems, of After Dark fame, makes a product look for buttons, and a choice of colours 100MHz or a Thanks to a release of the Mac OS (codenamed called Screen Posters. There are two ver- for window frames, menu bars and menu 117MHz 603e This month’s award would have gone to Greg number of bug- Copland). But there’s no need to wait — sions currently available, Marvel and Star text items. Five minutes with Greg’s But- processor, making D. Landweber’s wonderful Aaron extension: fixes, this system several public domain, shareware and Trek, which will fill your screen with comic- tons can transform your system’s them faster than installing it has totally transformed the look of extension is more commercial utilities are available to help book heroes or images from the Final appearance, but beware: going over- many desktop Macs, my desktop and it’s amazing what 3D shaded robust too, and Mac dress up your desktop. Frontier. Screen Poster images are JPEG- board with the colouring can produce including the new buttons and windows can do. But as it’s not OS alert sounds will The right background image can make compressed to provide maximum quality truly horrible results. 5200. Each comes really a utility, I’ve given the award to the no longer freeze the all the difference to your desktop, be it a with the minimum of RAM requirements. The author of Greg’s Buttons, Greg with a minimum Stuffit Expander from Aladdin Systems. machine while it’s simple pattern or a work of fine art. One of Although the images are in full 24-bit D. Landweber, has also recently 8Mb of RAM, 500Mb Downloadable from eWorld, Aladdin’s playing — Sound the best ways to change it is to use the colour, Screen Posters will apply dithering released a new extension called Aaron hard disk, and either Internet Home Page and any other good Mac Manager 3.1 sup- popular shareware package, Desktop to make them presentable at lower bit (presumably named after Copland, the a 9.5in greyscale or bulletin board, Stuffit Expander can be used to decompress archived files in the popular Stuffit ports asynchronous Textures Suite. This comprises a Texture depths. You can even use your own American composer). Dropping it into a 10.4in colour and Compact Pro formats. It will unencrypt Internet files that have been “encoded” using Bin- alert sounds. Installer and one or more data files filled images by saving them as JPEG files and your System Folder and restarting will screen, supporting Hex and MacBinary formats, and when combined with another product called DropStuff with I’ve been run- with pretty patterns. dropping them into the Screen Posters give you a chance to see what Copland 256 or thousands of Enhanced Expander (also available from the Internet) it will additionally cope with AppleLink, ning a beta test ver- To install a new texture you double- folder. will look like before it ships. Greg has colours, depending Zip, Arc, Gzip, Unix .Z compression and unencoded files. In short, it’s the best drag-and-drop sion of Sound click a data file, which loads the installer Other desktop pattern programs worth taken all the new OS elements seen in on the model. compliant decompression util available. Manager 3.1 for the and allows you to browse though a collec- a look include BackSplash, an extension preview screenshots, such as a 3D Lithium Ion battery If you’re keen to find these shareware programs and try them for yourself, the address of last three months tion of textures. When you find one you that places a PICT file in the background, trashcan, new-look window frames and technology provides Aladdin’s Web Page is http://www.aladdinsys.com. on two different like, clicking “Install” sets it up as your and Before Dark. smart standing folder designs, and put

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CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD HANDS ON ● MACINTOSH

Giving your Mac a makeover

Freshen up the look of your dialogue boxes, menus and windows with the shareware Greg’s Buttons them into a small program. The result is a much improved interface. It’s surprising what a modest alteration can do — check out the before and after screenshots [page 309] to see what a difference it makes.

Icon do that Backdrop textures and colourful windows are important but they are only part of the visual desktop experience. Icons are another main desktop feature, and there are plenty of well-drawn ones to be found on bulletin boards and public-domain disks. Popular icon collections include characters from The Simpsons and Looney Tunes cartoons, and faces from old and new generations of Star Trek. Adding a custom icon to a program or your desktop is easy. Once you’ve chosen the icon you want, select it and call up its information box using Command I or Get Info (from the Finder File Menu). Now highlight the picture of the icon in the box and copy it to the clipboard in the normal way. Bring up the Info box for the icon you want to replace, then paste the new one over the picture inside. Simple. Users who want to create their own, original icons can use a package such as Photoshop and paste in other icons in the same way. This is not always successful though — Apple’s ResEdit is a much better bet. Desktop Textures is one of the most popular ways to bring your desktop into the Another way to bring the personal nineties touch to your Mac is to assign sounds to functions, such as emptying the trash and ejecting a disk. If you like the idea, check out a little package called Kaboom, avail- able from Softline.

PCW Contacts

Chris Cain welcomes all comments, questions and suggestions from Mac users. He can be contacted via the usual PCW address or by email as [email protected]. com, [email protected] or [email protected] Apple 0181 569 1199 ☎ Berkeley Systems’ Screen Posters costs £10.99 and Kaboom £39.99. Both are available from Softline on 0181 401 1234 ☎ Sound Manager 3.1 is downloadable Popular replacement icons for your favourite programs include characters from from the software section of Apple’s Web Star Trek: The Next Generation, and The Simpsons Page on http://www.apple.com

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Any questions?

If you’ve got a PC problem or think you could help other readers out, contact Frank Leonhardt.

Getting the boot several ways. I’ve never known this to fail, COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT A:\BACKUP There is one problem about which I get but you can improve your chances still COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS A:\BACKUP more calls than any other: the desperate further by making a recovery disk which This collection of files isn’t exhaustive, soul on the other end of the line has been contains important setup information. but it should be enough to get you started locked out of their hard disk for some rea- This is achieved using the RDISK.EXE if the worst should happen. son or other. The machine won’t boot. utility which can be found in Once you have created your boot disk, Their files are inaccessible and they are \WINNT3x\system32. write-protect it and keep it in a safe place. not very happy about it. Windows 95 has a utility for creating a If you find you are locked out of your hard The problem is nearly always due to traditional boot floppy, but it is well hidden. disk, it will help either you or someone else something in the machine’s operating sys- From the Control Panel select the to repair your system. If you haven’t got a tem having been changed (either deliber- Install/Remove Programs icon. The far boot floppy to hand, an engineer will have ately or accidentally). So the machine’s end tab is labelled “Startup Disk”, and to turn up with one, in person, which gen- operating system, thus amended, is termi- when selected you just follow the prompts. erally costs somewhat more than instruc- nally confused. Anyone still running plain old MSDOS tions over the phone. A PC’s operating system is normally (with or without Windows) will have to stored on the hard disk (although it can be create a boot disk manually. This is how: VLB card doubts stored on a floppy). What generally hap- 1. Insert a blank disk into drive A. It is “I have just upgraded my system with a pens is that the PC searches its floppy important that it is drive A, because your new 486DX2-80 motherboard with 16Mb drive for a disk containing an operating machine will not be able to boot from B. of RAM, replacing my original trusty system, and if it finds one it will run it. If the 2. At the command prompt, type 386SX with 12Mb of RAM and a Cyrix floppy drive is empty, it will attempt to run FORMAT A: /U /S upgrade chip. Naturally, all my existing I/O an operating system from the hard disk. If it complains about the /U parameter, expansion cards are the traditional 16-bit This sequence can often be reversed by omit it when you try again. The /U para- type but I decided, after a successful editing the BIOS configuration. The meter only applies to recent versions of transformation, to change my standard 16- method for achieving this varies between MSDOS. This process will format the bit multi I/O card for an all-singing, all- machines, so you should check your com- floppy disk, erasing anything which may dancing (so it claims) VLB multi I/O card puter’s manual for details. already be stored there. It will then transfer (CMD chipset). The first step in repairing a corrupted important system files to the new disk. I ran Wintune 2.0 and the PCtools sys- operating system on a hard disk is to boot 3. Using the DOS copy command, copy tem consultant before and after. Imagine a working operating system from a system the following files to A:\. They are normally my surprise on finding that the data trans- floppy disk. This is often referred to as a found in C:\DOS. fer rate is lower with the new 32-bit card boot floppy — it pays to have one handy. CHKDSK.EXE than my old 16-bit card. The normal way to get hold of a boot EDIT.COM I have two WDCaviar drives on my sys- floppy is to make one using the method QBASIC.EXE tem: the Master reports to be a Mode 3 appropriate for your operating system — DEBUG.EXE drive, and the slave reports Mode 1. and they are all different. For OS/2 (3.0) UNFORMAT.COM you should run the program “Create Utility FDISK.EXE Diskettes” which is found in the System FORMAT.COM Setup folder under the OS/2 System icon. SYS.COM Just follow the prompts and have a supply XCOPY.EXE of blank disks ready. UNDELETE.EXE For Windows NT users, creating a boot Older versions of MSDOS don’t include floppy disk is not that simple. Neverthe- some of these programs. If QBASIC.EXE less, Windows NT has many features does not exist, copy EDLIN.COM instead. designed to make recovery easy. In the Other missing files can be ignored. If there first instance there is a boot-up option to is space on your disk, copy revert to a previously known working ver- SCANDISK.EXE too, if you have it. sion of the system. If this fails, because the Next, make a directory on drive A: and hard disk is corrupted, you will have to copy AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS boot from the installation diskettes. Before to it. The sequence to do this from DOS Data transfer problems caused by a video re-installing everything you will be given would be: card like this one could be down to driver the option to repair a damaged system in MD A:\BACKUP software

312 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● COMPUTER ANSWERS

Fonts found In July’s Computer Answers we published Although the system feels faster (wish- a letter from B.G.Joyce- address space on a VESA local bus card ful thinking perhaps), the above reports [email protected], who was suffering at 33MHz, the CPU can transfer and differently. The readme file with the card from a mysterious loss of printer fonts manipulate data at four times the speed of claims that it selects the optimum transfer when installing Word 6 for an 8MHz ISA bus. In most instances this rates for both the master and slave drives, Windows. can only help, so don’t be put off. VESA independently of each other. Since then, several readers have con- video boards can be considerably faster I am naturally dubious about buying tacted me, all suggesting the same solu- than ISA ones. any other VLB cards for video and such tion. If you don’t have a like if there is to be no perceivable perfor- graphics-compatible printer connected to Play cache or check mance increase. your system, Word won’t allow you to use “I have a 486DX2 66MHz PC with 16Mb of I would be interested to read your graphics fonts in your document, but this is standard RAM. My machine also has a VL thoughts on this.” easily cured by installing a graphics print- Bus and 128Kb of cache RAM. I would like Barry Higginbottom er, or at least telling Windows that you to know whether it is worth buying another [email protected] have one. 128Kb to make a total of 256Kb, or even Paul Fitzgibbon (Paul.Fitzgibbon@ upgrading to 512Kb? Would system per- If it’s any consolation, your 16-bit ISA card p11.f302.centron.com) had a different formance be improved significantly for the was able to transfer data at a rate which idea: apparently WIN.INI is limited in size. use of DOS-based games? (This is its pri- was well above average, but it is difficult to When Word installed it might have added mary use.) For example, some graphically see why a local-bus Enhanced IDE adap- too much and pushed WIN.INI over the intense programs appear to run slightly tor should be any slower. This probably limit, thus making its font definition lines slower than I would have expected. Is this has a lot to do with the driver software you inaccessible. The solution would be to related to the size of the cache RAM? Or is are using. remove unnecessary entries. it related to the speed and memory of my Windows 3.11 32-bit disk access Thanks to all those who wrote, mailed, 1Mb VLB Cirrus Logic 5424 graphics (which replaces the drivers which came faxed or phoned. card.” with your cards anyway) is not able to take Andrew Little full advantage of Enhanced IDE, as yet. improve matters dramatically. If this delay 100633,[email protected] I’m sure that this is one of the features isn’t enabled, the processor can spend which will appear with Windows 95. If you ages fumbling around while it transfers It isn’t really possible to say whether extra are thinking of switching to Windows 95; data from the card. cache RAM would help with your configu- wait and see what it can do. With a PCI bus, an IDE adaptor has the ration or not. According to the academic There are many problems you may option of transferring data through DMA. theory on cache sizes, going from 128Kb encounter running VLB cards with a This is actually around 20 percent faster to 256Kb should only make a marginal dif- processor speed in excess of 33MHz, and than the 11Mb/sec which can be achieved ference to the machine’s performance. yours is running at 40MHz in real terms. using the CPU to read data from an E-IDE However, some cache controllers like Some VLB cards have jumpers to set a VLB card. to have a block of cache for each bank of delay for high-speed access which can Given unrestricted access to the SIMMs, so having half your cache missing could be significant. How do I get on the Web? The graphics card you are using should not be causing any bottleneck. Lots of people want to know how to make a fortune by becoming Internet service providers. The CPU itself is one feature which can I never tell them of course, but it does help to be a networking expert; if you aren’t one of make a huge difference to the perfor- these, you will have to hire someone who is because I’m not explaining it here, or over the mance of graphics-intensive games, and phone. It also helps a lot to have started ten years ago. 3D simulations in particular. Regular read- A more reasonable request is for details on how to get your own personal World Wide ers will probably notice that this isn’t my Web page. There are two versions to this story. Firstly, it is actually free if you can persuade usual tack, as I normally stress the impor- anyone with a machine permanently connected to the Internet to let you have a bit of space. tance of fast peripherals before the Most pages belonging to individuals and non-profit organisations are found on space loaned processor for most applications. Games by a college or university. and graphics are the exception. You could Secondly, if you have some commercial use in mind, or have a lot of data you want to always start saving up for a P6. make available, then you will probably have to pay for space on a bureau computer. There are wild stories about large Internet providers charging well in excess of £500 per annum for PCW Contacts this service — unfortunately they are true. But there are others offering 5Mb of space at Frank Leonhardt is an independent rates of around £25 a month or less. I don’t dare list companies and prices here as anything computer boffin who can sometimes be to do with the Internet is, by nature, volatile. Just try shopping around. contacted on 0181 429 3047 or via Once you have your file area, it is actually very easy to publish pages: type whatever you email as [email protected] or want with a text editor using a special mark-up language, called HGML, to identify the spe- [email protected]. Letters may be cial formatting you require. HGML, which is similar to SGML, is not difficult to use. If you pre- sent to PCW at VNU House, 32-34 fer, there are several editors available which allow you to format your documents on-screen Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG, and will produce the HGML-format text file for you. but individual replies are not normally The final stage is to upload your file using FTP or some other file transfer mechanism possible. Please do not ask about cover and tell all your friends where to look. disks or CD-ROMs.

313 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 HANDS ON ● BEGINNERS

A Word in your ear

The simple word processor is now more akin to a multifunctional app, so many novice users are put off exploring a program’s really useful functions. Eleanor Turton-Hill comes to the rescue, focusing on particular features and shortcuts to help you get the most from Word 6.0.

ord processors have changed Customising the icon bars toolbars at the top of your screen, as each Wbeyond all recognition during the One of the first things you’ll need to do one you add makes the working area pro- past few years. They used to be simple, when you start Word is to set up your tool- gressively smaller. To get the ideal combi- easy to understand programs with basic bars so that the functions you use most nation of buttons simply right-click (use the screens and a small selection of typefaces will be readily available. right-hand mouse button) anywhere on the and layout functions. Now they’re massive It’s annoying having any more than two toolbar at the top of the screen, and a multifunctional applications which let you create and combine graphic images, tables and text. Shortcuts In many ways, word processors are now easier to use than ever before. The Selecting text interface, thanks to Windows, has made • Double-click anywhere on a word to select it. most common tasks far easier to grasp, • Triple-click within a paragraph to select that paragraph. and there’s more online help in case things • Place the cursor at the beginning of an area of text to be selected, hold down the go wrong. Ctrl key and use the four arrow keys to highlight an area manually. The major stumbling block for begin- • Use Ctrl+Shift +End keys to highlight all text from the current point onwards. ners, however, is the sheer proliferation of • Use Ctrl+Shift+Home keys to highlight all text before the current point. functions to be found in a modern word • Use Ctrl+A to select all the text in the document. processor. Common procedures may be • To select a sentence, hold down the Ctrl key and click anywhere within that easier to use, but you’ll find they’re sentence. embedded in a massive quagmire of com- • Hold down the Alt key and at the same time select an area of the screen using the plex features and utilities. In short; word mouse. This allows you to select irregular shapes, which is useful for deleting processors are now much, much, bigger. graphics from the screen. But to the uninitiated, this vastness can be so daunting that much of the application Other shortcuts can remain unexplored. • Capital letters — Place the cursor on any word and press the Shift and F3 keys. If The Windows word processor market is you hold down the Shift key and keep pressing F3, you’ll see the word toggle divided between three main packages: between three modes as shown below: Microsoft Word for Windows, WordPerfect (1) example for Windows, and Lotus Ami Pro. By far (2) Example the biggest seller is Word for Windows (3) EXAMPLE (currently at version 6.0). • Place the cursor anywhere in a paragraph and use Ctrl+2 to create double- This month, I’ve taken a look at a spaced lines. range of features in Word, which ought to • Use Ctrl+1 to turn a double-spaced paragraph back to single spacing. come in handy no matter whether you • To add end-notes (appendices) to a document hold down the Alt and Ctrl keys, and use Word daily or are completely new to press E. For footnotes, use Alt, Ctrl and F. the package.

315 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD HANDS ON ● BEGINNERS

Getting to know Word edge of the page, or even run right off 1 1 Text into the distance. enlarged It’s easy to set up for a letterhead or using poster design: just place the cursor where WordArt you want the text to go and select Object from the Insert menu. Then scroll down 2 Autotext the list of object types and select saves you Microsoft WordArt 2.0. Click OK, and a having to small box appears on-screen. Enter your retype long text in the box and click on the Update names Display button. The selection of icons on the left-hand 3 Outline side of the toolbar allows you to provides a manipulate the text in various ways. Fig 1 ready-made shows text which has been enlarged, structure for slanted and shadowed. When you’ve making notes finished playing with the text functions, simply close down the small box and click anywhere on the screen to get back to the normal document view. The box contain- ing text now has handles and can be 2 resized across the page, or even deleted if Creating letter- you want to start again. heads One of the most com- Autotext mon and useful word If a certain group of words is to be processor facilities is repeatedly used in a document, the auto- the ability to create text function (see Fig 2) can save you templates. In Word, having to continually re-type them. these are saved as For example, if you need to refer files with a .dot exten- repeatedly to an organisation with a long- sion. The most useful winded title such as “The Association of application of this is in London Street Musicians”, the name need the creation of docu- only be typed once. Then, all you need to ment headers, which do is highlight the words and select Auto- are used repeatedly text from the Edit menu. A dialogue box when writing letters. appears, allowing either an acronym or For a simple short word to be substituted for the 3 illustration of this, organisation’s full name. In this case you create a new document could use ALSM. Now, all you have to do and type your address when you refer to the Association is type at the top left-hand side “ALSM”, then press F3, and the full title will of the page. Go into the be inserted. File menu and select Save As. In the Save Outlines File As Type box, If you need to draw up a plan for a speech select Document Tem- or project, the outline view in Word (Fig 3) plate and enter a name provides a ready-made structure for this. such as “lethead1”. Go into the View menu and select The new template is Outline. When you begin typing, the font then automatically defaults to Heading 1 — the largest of the placed in the winword three heading styles. You can toggle directory as a .dot file, between them by holding down the Ctrl and the next time you and Alt keys and pressing the number create a new docu- keys 1, 2, or 3. Each type of heading is menu appears. Select Customise and a ment, “lethead1” will appear as a choice indented from the margin to a different dialogue box pops up displaying a list of template beneath the familiar Normal degree, as shown in Fig 3. PCW available menus with their relevant button default. icons alongside. You can browse through PCW Contacts the menu categories to find whichever but- Playing around with text tons you need — just select the ones you The WordArt feature (see Fig 1) allows Eleanor Turton-Hill would welcome any want to use by clicking on them and drag- you to play around with text so that it can feedback and suggestions, on: ging them over to your existing icon bar. be made to sit on its side, climb up the [email protected]

316 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995

CYAN•MAGENTA•YELLOW•BLACK PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD BUYER’S CHARTER Buyer’s Charter

MAIL ORDER PROTECTION SCHEME

ello, I’m Anthony HGeorge, your Customer Services Manager. Personal Computer World My job is to assist you when Buyer’s Charter things go wrong or when you have a complaint about When you purchase goods as a private individual advertisements in Personal reader from an advertisement appearing in this Computer World. If you magazine and pay in advance of delivery, and that encounter a problem, write to supplier ceases to trade and subsequently goes me with details of the into Receivership, Liquidation, and/or Bankruptcy, complaint and I will contact you may be protected under our “Buyer’s Charter” you. providing you have: 1. Not received the goods for which you have paid Ten rules to buy safely or had your money returned. 1. Always use a PERSONAL 2. Followed all our guidelines when placing your COMPUTER WORLD order order. form. 3. Retained a copy of the magazine’s original Order 2. Keep a copy of the original advert. 4. On large orders obtain a written form and the original advertisement, together with 3. Keep copies of all quotation. comprehensive proof of payment. correspondence, and if you speak 5. Wherever possible pay with a 4. Submitted a detailed claim in writing to the maga- on the phone make a note of who personal credit card. All transactions zine’s customer services manager not earlier than you spoke to. over £100 should be 28 days and not later than three months from the covered by the card official on-sale date of the magazine from which the company’s insurance goods were ordered. For example, by the end of scheme. June for the May issue (which is on sale at the 6. Does the price quoted beginning of April). include everything dis- cussed? Is VAT extra? The following limitations apply: 7. Check how they will 1. Personal Computer World’s liability under the deliver and if times are Buyer’s Charter will not exceed £2,000 in respect of guaranteed. any claim submitted by any one Private Individual 8. Is telephone support Reader or more than £100,000 in respect of claims or on-site maintenance in any one calendar year. Any additional payments included in the price? are at the sole discretion of the Publisher. If a return to base 2. The Buyer’s Charter only applies to goods warranty can be advertised in this magazine.It does not cover goods extended, how much depicted in classified advertisements, loose inserts, does it cost? catalogues or any other sales material obtained 9. Check that all from any relevant advertiser, or products that have branded components not been advertised even if they are from the same are genuine. supplier. 10. Is the supplier 3. The “Buyer’s Charter” will not safeguard any reputable? Do they commercially orientated outlet, neither will it cover comply with BS5750 goods which are purchased outside Great Britain or or ISO900? If in any goods which are obtained for resale. doubt, ask to see customer testimonials. ORDER FORM

328 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 RE FORM ORDER

ALWAYS

Use this form when you order by phone, fax or post. KEEP A COPY !

SUPPLIER'S DETAILS CUSTOMER DETAILS

COMPANY ...... NAME ......

SALESPERSON'S NAME ...... COMPANY ......

ADDRESS ...... ADDRESS ......

......

......

...... POSTCODE ...... POSTCODE ......

DATE OF TELEPHONE ORDER ...... / ...... / ...... DATE OF TELEPHONE ORDER ...... / ...... / ...... TIME ...... ORDERED BY: ❏ TELEPHONE ❏ FAX ❏ POST

ORDER REFERENCE NUMBER (IF QUOTED) ...... ADVERT APPEARED IN PCW: DISPATCH REFERENCE NUMBER ...... ISSUE DATE ...... PAGE ......

QUANTITY DETAILS OF ORDER UNIT COST £ TOTAL £

SUB TOTAL METHOD OF PAYMENT DISCOUNT ❏ PERSONAL CHEQUE ❏ PURCHASE ORDER ❏ CREDIT CARD ❏ C.O.D ❏ CHARGE CARD ❏ OTHER (SPECIFY) ...... CARRIAGE CREDIT CARD COMPANY ...... START DATE ...... / ...... / ...... SURCHARGES CHARGE CARD COMPANY ...... START DATE ...... / ...... / ...... VAT CARD NUMBER EXPIRY DATE ...... / ...... / ...... ❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ TOTAL

DELIVERY DETAILS AGREED DELIVERY DATE ...... / ...... / ...... ❏ TERMS OF WARRANTY ❏ MONEY BACK DELIVERED TO (ADDRESS) (IF DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE) ...... ❏ RETURNS POLICY ❏ COST OF EXTENDED WARRANTY ❏ HELPLINE ...... Details: ...... POSTCODE ......

SIGNED ...... DATE ...... / ...... / ...... DAYTIME TELEPHONE NUMBER ......

329 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD OCTOBER 1995 ChipChat 671 CHIPCHAT OCTOBER 1995 ). It’s not “a good, PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD : First Impressions Gripes and gremlins Chipchat • In last month’s group test of P90s we included a few wrong contact numbers. These should have read: Hi-Grade 0181 591 1586, Carrera 0171 830 0286, Compusys 01296 395531. • Some readers, and particularly the people at Corel, were probably a bit perturbed by the verdict of Paul Begg’s review of the Corel CD Office Companion (last month’s solid workhorse which has proved reliable under adverse conditions” as we reported, but “a worthwhile collection for home or business users”. It costs £99 from Corel on 01703 814142. Hi! What of imperious granny? Hi! What of imperious At your whimpering fashion Whip a train, you fishmonger thing As when I aim for your pot Sham figure now in hairy infinity! Harrow mouse — graph With no umpiring of hearsay Fumigation? Why hire parson? O trip away, home furnishing! Whip your man sore in a fight I whisper of human gyration Your wife harmonising path So writhe in agony, fair hump O forum! A shiny writing heap Show Mary our infinite graph I, Murphy, wrote on fish again Further moaning is how I pay Pure hogwash or infamy in it intosh in the picture running a Motorola Processor? entitled “Home Benefits”. Could that be an Apple Mac- Systems”. But jaded hacks were puzzled to see a slide of using a “Pentium Overdrive Processor to Increase Enjoyment of Games on Intel486 Processor-Based • Intel recently informed the press of the many benefits • The normal reaction when the world’s most reaction when the • The normal Superhighway” “Information overused buzzword there’s a whole is to grimace. But is mentioned, who prefer to sit down crowd of people out there or perhaps a computer, with a pen and paper, anagram from and work out every possible letters. Roy Fear sent in those 23 all too familiar the Internet Top 10 from this list of 18 to go with August’s office PCW Later still, the implanted in my earlobe, implanted is and the microphone in this fake embedded that neat?” tooth — isn’t the The others nod, and meeting continues. discussion is again inter- a rupted when Jerry emits thunderous fart. He looks at up at the others staring some- him and says, “Uhh, of body get me a piece a paper… I’m receiving fax.” • In the middle of the August heatwave, conver- sation in the turned to swimming, and features editor Chris Cain revealed that he’d never learned how to. “But it’s just like riding a bike,” said one of the subs. Chris looked slightly fazed before admitting that he can’t ride a bike either. emergency beeper” he

my

Quickly turn off the computer and be sure to tell your mom! your tell to sure be and computer the off turn Quickly

ROM.

Then you have to flash your memory and you’ll want to RAM your RAM to want you’ll and memory your flash to have you Then

And the microcode instructions cause unnecessary risc, unnecessary cause instructions microcode the And

When the copy of your floppy’s getting sloppy on the disk, disk, the on sloppy getting floppy’s your of copy the When

’Cos as sure as I’m a poet, the sucker’s gonna hang! gonna sucker’s the poet, a I’m as sure as ’Cos

Then you may as well reboot and go out with a bang, bang, a with out go and reboot well as may you Then

So your icons in the window are as wavy as a souse, a as wavy as are window the in icons your So

And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss gauss of effects side the by distorted all is screen your And

That’s repeatedly rejected by the printer down the hall, the down printer the by rejected repeatedly That’s But your packets want to tunnel on another protocol, protocol, another on tunnel to want packets your But

Five minutes later, the discussion is Says the network is connected to the button on your mouse, mouse, your on button the to connected is network the Says

If the label on the cable on the table at your house, your at table the on cable the on label the If

Another game sir: game Another

We’ll find you find We’ll

What a shame sir! shame a What

You can’t say this? say can’t You

Then your situation’s hopeless, and your system’s gonna crash! gonna system’s your and hopeless, situation’s your Then

And your data is corrupted ’cos the index doesn’t hash, doesn’t index the ’cos corrupted is data your And

And the double-clicking icon puts your window in the trash, trash, the in window your puts icon double-clicking the And

If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, a by followed item menu a finds cursor your If

says. “Excuse me, gentlemen, this must be an important call.” Andy taps his ear- lobe and begins talking into thin air. When he completes the call, he notices the others staring at him and explains: “I also have an emergency communication system. But my earpiece is actually report! to error an has pocket packet socket the Then again interrupted when Andy starts beep- ing. “Oh, that’s Bill Gates, Andy Grove, and Jerry Bill Gates, and of Microsoft, Intel, Sanders (CEOs in a high-powered business AMD) were tense meeting. During the serious, noise is suddenly discussions, a beeping is sitting. Bill emitted from where Bill emergency beeper. says: “Oh, that’s my I really need to Gentlemen, excuse me, lifts his wristwatch take this call.” So Bill talking into the end to his ear and begins the call, he of his tie. Having completed staring at him — notices the others are is my new emer-Bill explains: “Oh, this system. I have an gency communication watch and a micro-earpiece built into my phone sewn into the end of my tie. That way, I can take a call anywhere.” The others nod, and the meeting continues. • New technology…

And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort, abort, disk floppy your makes memory the of address the And

And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort, last very a as interrupted is bus the And

If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, port, a on socket a on pocket a hits packet a If

Here’s an easy thing to say: to thing easy an Here’s

Here’s an easy game to play. to game easy an Here’s • What if Dr. Seuss did technical writing? technical did Seuss Dr. if What •