JULY 1995 Personal World

July 1995 £2.50 Tim Nott on Overseas Price £2.95 France 58 FF Germany DM 17,00 Italy 13,400 Lire Spain 925 PTS Holland HFL 14,25 Belgium 272.00 BFr Finland FIM 39.50 Page 628 VNU Business Publications

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9 770142 023052 July 1995 PCW July 1995 Contents Features First Impressions Regulars Hands On Pentium 357 Newsprint ISDN explained 448 Compaq, Iomega and Syquest in battle of Notebooks by TERENCE GREEN the 100Mb-plus superfloppies; First cable Does the fabled Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) live up presence on Internet; Escom launches High Street revolution and endorses Warp; to its promises? 627 Introduction Portables go for Windows 95 on schedule for August as 628 NEW! Windows 95 focus shifts to Cairo; Comdex round-up; top performance Windows Microsoft takeover of Intuit hangs in 630 with Pentium 398 NEW! Gadgets balance. 634 DOS power A monthly round-up of quirky and useful 636 32-Bit devices which might take your fancy. 375 News Analysis Jack Schofield on the return of the Amiga. 640 Word Processing 402 Dell Dimension XPS P120c Tim Bajarin on Win95 and portable 644 Spreadsheets Dell’s first 120MHz Pentium boasts computing. 648 Databases advanced internals. John Lettice and Mike Magee on Microsoft 652 Graphics & DTP strategies. 656 Multimedia 403 Adobe Acrobat 2.0 438 381 Sounding Off by Michael Hewitt 660 Sound The latest version of Adobe’s portable PCW Cover Photography by Bruce Mackie Interview: Nigel Seed, SGI 496 document world takeover bid is no circus 383 Homefront by Tim Nott 666 Visual Programming by WENDY M GROSSMAN act. 385 Straight Talking by Barry Fox 670 Low Level With hardware that can bring dinosaurs back from extinction, 676 Numbers Count 387 Business Matters by Nick Beard Silicon Graphics is the name in high-end graphics. Find out why 404 Plextor PX-63CS Six-Speed 678 Networks Cover Disk CD-ROM drive 391 Letters UK MD Nigel Seed thinks other computer companies are boring. Not double or even quad, this six-speed 682 Buyer’s Charter demon is the fastest CD-ROM drive yet. 690 686 Computer Answers or CD-ROM 695 ChipChat 688 Beginners 406 Microsoft Project 4.0 for Mac ● Cover Disk 12 The black art of project management is brought to the non-specialist. The PCW Back Issues Index, As- Group Tests 412 Panther 2000 Easy-As spreadsheet, Intel brigade getting you down? Check ESP contacts utility, Trolls action out the first of the next-generation NexGens. arcade game, and more 415 NEC monitors ● 14 If your eyes can’t take the strain, look PCW Interactive CD-ROM no further than NEC’s new range of 650Mb+ of software, demos, monitors.

animations, video and music 417 Dean Database for Windows An affordable database that’s easy to use and great for record keeping.

CUTTING EDGE 420 Kamco Picasso Flatbed scanners 460 Gordon Laing explains all about scanners, then tests 18 of the latest colour 557 Introduction The fine art of customisable PCs, as Interview: Mark Skapinker 504 pictured by Kamco. flatbeds from £299 to £3,495. PCW Online by GEOF WHEELWRIGHT 558 Focus: Web servers Mark Skapinker, head of Delrina, reveals his views on software 422 Opcode Overture for Mac Opcode’s dedicated score writer will help 578 Net.answers success, Internet security and the rapidly expanding consumer Stats software 512 you compose your musical thoughts. Maths man Eric Adler rounds up the latest in vital statistics software, and 580 Net.surf market. ● CD-ROMs: figures out which, if any, is worth an Editor’s Choice. 582 Net.news Borders and 425 Sage TeleMagic 1.05 for Creating a gateway 534 Windows 586 Comms Backgrounds 592 Net.newbies by RICHARD WYLDE Keep tabs on any number of contacts Set up your own stable Internet gateway with freeware, with this powerful manager. PCW Futures shareware and public domain software. 597 Innovations 426 Maxtor MobileMax PCMCIA hard drive 599 Horizons (with New Horizons, page 600) 171Mb of portable storage for your 602 Bluesky Programming in Access 2.0 542 notebook. 605 Retro Computing by IAIN SUMMERS & ANGUS MACKELLAIG 428 Specular Collage 2.0 The second of a three-part series on getting the most out of PCW Media For the perfect collage of bitmap images, 607 Books Microsoft’s leading Windows database. Specular has the answer — now in 610 CD-ROMs improved version two. PCW Fun Procomm Plus for Windows 552 614 Kids’ Stuff by STEPHEN RODDA Long Term Tests Competition: Win a Hewlett Packard colour printer, 619 Learn how to extend Procomm’s fax capabilities in this third a Psion 3a or a copy of LapLink for Windows 434 A310 and final part of our tutorial. 435 LetterPerfect 1.0 621 Screenplay (with Leisure Lines, page 624)

6 7 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD

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 Cutting Edge Editor David Brake Senior Sales Executives Features Editor Chris Cain Catherine J Russell 0171 316 9303 Reviews Editor Gordon Laing Richard Young 0171 316 9309 Technical Writer Eleanor Turton-Hill Jon Miles 0171 316 9302 Staff Writers Steven Helstrip Sales Executives Nick Lawrence Timothy Mickelborough 0171 316 9463 Editorial Assistant Adele Dyer Nick O’Connor 0171 316 9304 PC Consumer Sales Columnists Nick Beard Beccy Carr 0171 316 9307 Barry Fox Alex Hole 0171 316 9306 Michael Hewitt Tim Nott Micromart Sales Executive Ben Hedges 0171 316 9308 International Correspondent Tim Bajarin Credit Control Manager Michael Donlan 0171 316 9701

Contributors US Sales Representative Barbara Gough 0101 415 306 0880 Eric Adler ● Azeem Azahr ● Tim Anderson ● Jonathan Taiwan Sales Representatives Grace Chu/Kent Lai 010 886 2717 7663 Barnes ● Paul Begg ● Chris Bidmead ● JJ Clessa Stephen Cobb ● George Cole ● Simon Collin ● Mike Collins ● Karl Dunkerley ● Jeanine Fox ● Tim Frost ● Production Rick Gould ● Terence Green ● Wendy M Grossman ● Production Controller Melanie Thomson 0171 316 9481 Cliff Joseph ● Frank Leonhardt ● John Lettice ● Mike Production Manager Adrian Brown 0171 316 9484 Liardet ● Angus MacKellaig ● Bruce Mackie ● Mike Production Assistant Susie Ross 0171 316 9486 Magee ● John Millar ● Mike Mudge ● Chris Nixon ● Tim Philips ● Stephen Rodda ● Jack Schofield ● Nicole Segre ● David Simpson ● Iain Summers ● Ian Circulation Waugh ● Stephen Wells ● Geof Wheelwright ● Mark Subscriptions Manager Leisha Bulley 0171 316 9712 Whitehorn ● David Whyte ● Richard Wylde Subscriptions Supervisor Joanne Nicholls 0171 316 9713 Editorial Phone 0171 316 9000 Publishing Editorial Fax 0171 316 9313 Editorial Email first name last - Founder Angelo Zgorelec [email protected] Marketing Manager Juliet Parker 0171 316 9191 Production Portfolio Administrator Kyley Chapman 0171 9316 9183 Publishing Director Peter Goldstein 0171 316 9000 Publisher Jon Ross 0171 316 9187 Production Editor Lauraine Lee Sub-Editors Mark Monahan Test Results are based wholly or in part on methodologies provided by National Software Patrick Ramus Testing Laboratories, a division of McGraw-Hill, Inc, and licensed to Personal Computer Design World. Neither NSTL nor the Publisher guarantees the accuracy or adequacy of its testing activities and makes no representations or warranties regarding tested products. Articles Art Editor Darrell Kingsley or portions of articles translated and reprinted (or adapted) in this issue from PC Digest or Designer Jonathon Mason Software Digest Copyright () 1994, by National Software Testing Laboratories (NSTL), a division of McGraw-Hill, Inc, 625 Ridge Pike, Conshohocken, Pennsylvania 19428, USA. VNU Labs Reproduction of the NSTL material in any manner or language in whole or in part without permission of NSTL is prohibited. Group Editor John Barnes Labs Editors Julian Evans & George MacDonald Labs Assistant Paul Philip Lab Phone 0171 316 9067 Lab Fax 0171 316 9059 Enquiries or complaints regarding any advertiser in this magazine should, initially, be presented in writing to: Anthony George, ‘Customer Relations Department’, VNU BUSINESS PUBLICATIONS VNU House, 157,544 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG. JUL-DEC '94

REPRINTS SUBSCRIPTIONS We offer a full reprint service for reproduction of all or part of any current or Annual subscription, £19.95 (floppy), £24.95 (CD). One year Europe only, £30. previous articles. Minimum order, 1000. For details contact Melanie Thomson Rest of World, £60-£80. P&P included. (0171 316 9000). Call 0171 316 9715/9716. Credit card orders welcome. USE OF EXTRACTS BACK ISSUES We are delighted for people to use quotations and segments of articles for We keep a stock of past issues and can provide individual copies at a charge of internal or promotional purposes. For clearance contact Juliet Parker £5. Call Tom Costin (0171 316 9714). (0171 316 9000).

VNU House, 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG. Main Switchboard Tel 0171 316 9000. No material may be reproduced in whole or in part without written consent from the copyright holder © VNU Business Publications 1994. Advertisement typesetting by Typematters, London N1. Origination by Latent Image, 6 Balmoral Grove, London N7. Printed and bound in the UK by St Ives plc, Plymouth. Distributed by Comag, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, Middlesex (01895 444055).

8 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 Editorial PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD

After a shaky start, the Pentium processor is emerging into the mainstream. This month’s cover story show how much progress Intel has made with the chip. The latest Next Month Pentiums are smaller, cooler and lower voltage than before, at last allowing them to be built into notebooks without overheating or battery life problems. The six Pentium Colour notebooks reviewed on page 438 still aren’t cheap but I’m prepared to bet that prices will drop below £1,500 before the end of the year. Printers • Five years ago there weren’t any flatbed colour scanners. The only way to get colour scanning done was to fork out tens of thousands of pounds on a drum scanner. Once the image 21 colour printers from as little as £209 had been scanned, it had to be manually planned into the film that was eventually sent to the printing plant. Using colour photographs, even in magazines like PCW, was very expensive. That’s why the flatbed colour scanners reviewed in this issue of Quad Speed PCW (page 460) are such a huge step forward. Armed with a PC, a DTP package, a colour scanner and an inkjet printer, it’s now possible to IDE CD-ROM knock out professional-looking colour artwork at very little cost. We’re currently testing colour inkjet printers for our August issue and we’ve been staggered at the quality of the output. Drives • Until now I’ve resisted the temptation to add my contribution to the millions of words already written the new budget standard about the Internet. But a conversation 4 the other night has driven me to it. Somebody was talking about an online discussion and said “it’s just Software like real life, lots of people adding their contributions, discussing a packages topic”. I’m sorry, but that’s exactly OW round-up what it’s not like. If I go to a pub, I L C don’t sit and talk to hundreds of F H people simultaneously waiting for one elusive entertaining, interesting or Software A informative comment to crop up. The R G Web Browsers reviewed on page 558 packages TIN have made using the Internet much round-up easier. What they still can't do is filter out the dross. August issue — On Sale Thursday 6th July September issue — On Sale Thursday 3rd August • 90MHz Pentiums • Anti-virus software

9 Ben Tisdall PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD Editor JULY 1995 COVER DISK NOTES COVER DISK NOTES Diskevery wit PCW issue Cover Disk Chris Nixon introduces this month’s program-packed cover disk, which includes a spreadsheet, the PCW Above Your chance to win a top-flight PC Back Issues Index, an electronic Above Right Will you be able to protect X Fortress? reader survey and the files from this with your clients and prompts Right Trolls should keep you amused for hours month’s Low Level Gomoku article, a you when you need to make starts it displays the Windows timely follow-ups. the part of a rather angry troll being constantly bombarded business PIM, and two superb File Open dialogue box, and Primarily intended for who’s faced with the unenvi- by falling asteroids, attracted games. you will be asked to select a business users, ESP is equally able task of rescuing stolen by the high gravitational field database to load. There will suitable for personal and club baby trolls which, by some surrounding the station. Luck- already be one showing, so use, working on standalone evil piece of trickery, have ily your hull is made of pretty Installing and boasts features still not to be double-click on this and the PCs, networks or notebooks been scattered throughout this strong stuff, and can take the found on many high-profile data will be read in before the synchronised to an office- colourful Toyland world. titanic strain as ton after ton of running the Windows applications costing main screen appears. Full based system. In your search for your space debris piles up outside. ten times more. instructions can be displayed We suggest you check missing relatives you must But if the accumulation of For example, on the chart- by clicking on the Help button whether the Data Protection defeat all manner of beauti- rocks grows high enough, PCW Cover ing front, Bar, Line, Pie, once the program has loaded. Act applies to you for any data fully-animated nasties, from even your massive defences Disk Stacked, Strip, Wall, Radar, you store using this program. tin soldiers to pulsating Delta and Polar are just some • ESP mounds of slime! The many Important details will fail and you’ll pop like a o install the programs, of the graph types available in [Minimum requirements: 286 • PCW Reader Survey power-ups scattered around grape. Don’t worry! If you can Tinsert the disk in drive A: the registered version. Having processor, DOS 3.2, 640kb [Minimum requirements: 286 the level are a real bonus, and If you have problems with the cover disk, such as receiving a “Can- rotate your ship so that the or B:, and from either DOS or said that, As-Easy-As has RAM] processor, Windows 3.1, 1Mb you’ll need every one to com- not read from drive A:” error, please return the disk to the duplicator: falling rocks fit neatly into Windows run the file always offered more function- ESP stands for Electronic RAM] plete the game. TIB PLC (PCW), TIB House, 11 Edward Street, Bradford, BD4 7BH existing gaps in the growing SETUP.EXE in the root direc- ality in its Shareware form Sales and Prospecting. Nail- Complete and return our The main game keys are: (who may be contacted on 01274 736 990) together with a stamped pile, then each time you fill a tory of that drive. Please note than virtually any other pro- ing down sales is probably the unique computerised survey Left arrow — move left addressed envelope and two 25p stamps. Where it is a duplication complete ring it will disperse that this is a Windows gram. In fact, in many ways, most crucial activity a small form and win a fantastic top- Right arrow — move right fault, the postage will be returned along with the replacement disk. into so much space dust, giv- installer, and does not run the As-Easy-As could be renamed business will undertake. It of-the-range PC. Filling in the Up arrow — jump However, you should note that if your problem is not due to a ing you some much needed programs directly from the “Better-Than”. can be costly, and the results survey is so easy and you can Esc — quit faulty disk, and a phone number is shown for the publisher of the breathing space. disk. can critically affect the either print out the complete Featuring smooth 256- program in question, then it will probably be quicker for you to call The game keys are: • PCW Back Issues Index health and profitability of survey and mail it to us, email colour graphics and a stunning them first as they will be able to provide direct assistance on their Left shift — rotate left • As-Easy-As [Minimum requirements: 286 your business. the survey back to us, or just soundtrack, Trolls is one of the own programs faster than might otherwise be possible. Alternatively, Right shift — rotate right [Minimum requirements: 286 processor, Windows 3.1, 2Mb However, ESP may just send the disk back to us once very few games good enough ring our hotline on week days between 10:30 and 4.30pm on 0839 processor, DOS 3.2, 640kb RAM] give you a competitive edge the survey has been saved. See to take on the likes of Zool and 715929. Calls are charged at 39p per minute cheap rate and 49p at RAM] Since its early days PCW has by converting more prospects the program’s Help file for fur- Jazz Jackrabbit, and give them all other times. Shareware This software first appeared as been your constant guide into actual customers, and by ther details. a good run for their money. The PCW cover disk is virus checked at every stage of produc- Shareware as far back as the through the fast-changing improving existing customer (Electronic survey format is tion. However, neither VNU nor PCW will accept liability for any Some of the games on this mid- to late-eighties, when few world of personal computing. loyalty. Pinpoint for Windows. For • Low Level source code problems arising from the use of the disk. Installing or running any of month’s cover disk are released had even heard of the concept. Throughout this time our It maintains comprehen- sales support call Longman [Minimum requirements: 286 the programs on the disk indicates your agreement to this condition. as Shareware. This means that Today, As-Easy-As is still the exclusive articles and unbi- sive contact details, produces Logotron on 01223 425558, or processor, Windows 3.1, 2Mb You are advised not to install any software on a networked PC you are free to evaluate the spreadsheet of choice for many ased reviews have been a val- automatic correspondence see page 556 for more details. RAM] before checking the disk. While PCW maintains a high standard of software for a certain period, computing professionals and ued source of information for (mail merge), tracks activities For your full working version This is the documented source quality control, disks may be damaged in transportation. Check the normally of 30 days. If you wish hobbyists alike, because of its amateur computer users of Pinpoint for Windows, code for the games featured in disk’s shutter before inserting it in the drive by sliding it to the left and to continue using the software uncompromising power and and professionals alike. see next month’s CD- this month’s Hands On “Low allowing it to spring back. after this time you must pay the low cost. It is now the standard Now you can use the ROM.) Level” column. If you have received the cover disk but would prefer the CD- author a registration fee, nor- by which other Shareware is latest PCW Back Issues ROM, please write to KP Mailing, Block D, Unit 15, Barwell Business mally a modest amount, in measured. Index to quickly locate • Trolls • XFort Park, Leatherhead Road, Chessington, Surrey, KT9 2NY enclosing return for which you will The latest version of As- any review in your collec- [Minimum requirements: [Minimum requirements: 386 a cheque for 80p made payable to VNU Business Publications Ltd to normally receive a copy of the Easy-As still looks much as it tion, using any keyword or 386 processor, DOS 3.2, processor, DOS 3.2, 2Mb cover postage and packing. Please allow up to 14 days for the latest full release, and often a did seven or eight years ago, topic you like. Searching 4Mb RAM, sound card RAM, sound card optional] receipt of your CD-ROM. printed manual too, as well as belying its sheer power and is fast, and the information optional] X Fortress is a compulsive Alternatively, why not subscribe and save money at the same other benefits such as flexibility. Definitely not a clearly presented. In this exciting arcade game of strategy set in deep time? See page 354 for details. software support. DOS application to sneer at, it When the program platform game you take space. Your space fortress is

12 13 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 COVER DISK NOTES COVER DISK NOTES

CD-ROM advice & contacts versions in common use, 2.22 to see if it can be correctly and 2.23. If you are using 2.22 read. The process lasts up to The PCW CD-ROM is virus checked at every stage of production. you’ll find that data is pulled 35 minutes and generates a However, neither VNU nor PCW can be deemed liable for any prob- PCW Interactive off your CD-ROMs much verification code if the disc lems arising from its use. You are advised not to install software on more slowly than with version passes the test. If the CD- a networked PC before checking the disc. 2.23. Also, slightly faulty discs ROM fails this test please For technical support on the CD and the programs on it call can be read using version contact the support hotline as Advice by Telephone on 01708 641 454, or email them at 2.23, which 2.22 (with less you may need to send for a [email protected]. CD-ROM sophisticated error correction) replacement. To give feedback on the CD-ROMs or cover disks you can email usually can’t read. the PCWI team at either: [email protected] or To enable you to upgrade • Getting help CompuServe: 70007,5547 (Please note that these are not the cor- Chris Nixon introduces this to the latest version, from the Detailed help on most of the rect email addresses for technical support or subscription enquiries.) MSCDEX directory of the CD- programs is available when month’s packed CD-ROM, including • Using PCW back rate. If you don’t install ROM, run the file you run them. For further the very best of the latest demos, Interactive the new version, some videos RUNME.COM. This will auto- details on using the magazine won’t, so you may prefer to instability of Windows, after animations, videos, music, and a The magazine has been will display the message matically install the new pro- itself click on the Help side quit from Windows and (if you using several of the programs designed to look and feel like “Cannot display this video”, or gram on your hard disk in the tab at the top right of any have DOS 6.0), use in a single session, any unex- whole lot more. you’re reading a printed pub- similar. directory MSXDEX2.23. Your page. MEMMAKER.EXE to increase pected problems can gener- lication. For example, at the We strongly recommend AUTOEXEC.BAT file will also the free base RAM. If you ally be corrected by simply bottom left and right of each you install this every time you be modified. However, the old • Troubleshooting don’t have DOS 6.0, try exiting from and restarting page you’ll find a Page Turn use a new issue of PCW MSCDEX driver will remain on * The videos are jerky removing all TSRs and Windows. Installing and icon for turning a page back- Interactive as we always try to your hard disk should you If you have a single-speed unused drivers from your * PCW Interactive runs for Windows if you wish to wards or forwards. In addition ensure the very latest wish to return to it, while a CD-ROM drive consider AUTOEXEC.BAT and CON- slowly running view the movies). All you need there’s a set of 10 tabs which programs and drivers are on backup copy of your upgrading to a double-speed FIG.SYS files by placing a We are now using Macrome- to do is select your CD-ROM appear down the left- and the CD-ROM. AUTOEXEC.BAT file will be or faster drive. You could also REM command in front of dia Director as the multimedia PCW drive and run the file right-hand side of each page. Throughout PCW Interac- saved as AUTOEXEC.SAV. try selecting Control Panel | them. Alternatively, you could engine for PCWI as it offers a PCWI.EXE in the root direc- Clicking on any of these will tive you’ll have the opportu- We strongly recommend Drivers | Video for Windows. boot up from a backup of your speed increase of several Interactive tory for PCWI to run. take you directly to the page nity to run or install programs, you upgrade to the new driver Then uncheck the “Skip DOS System disk, which will hundred percent over the pre- in the magazine where the get further details on a partic- as it will enable you to run frames if behind” entry. We give you just about the maxi- vious system. However, to [Minimum requirements: • Using the CD-ROM indicated magazine section ular program, try out demon- most CD-ROM programs you would also suggest that see- mum amount of free base achieve this speed it requires 4Mb free RAM (swapfile from DOS begins. strations of programs, play may have had trouble with ing as the very latest version RAM possible without using a 4Mb free RAM. So, if you acceptable), 386SX/33 If you don’t have Windows, or videos, listen to audio files and you’ll find that if digital of Video for Windows is on memory manager. Note that have 4Mb or less RAM you processor, Windows 3.1. experience any problems run- • Video for Windows and much more. When any of videos play jerkily, they this month’s disc (version there is now a DOS menu to may experience delays when (Users with less than this ning some of the DOS On page 1 you’ll have the these options is available an should become much 1.1d, released less than 10 access DOS programs on turning pages as up to half should at least be able to software from Windows, you opportunity to install the latest icon will be displayed indicat- smoother, while loading data days before the CD-ROM was each CD-ROM. It’s called this RAM may already be in run the DOS programs on can run the batch file version of Video for ing the fact. All you need to do and running programs will be pressed), you should install it DOSMENU.BAT and you’ll use by Windows and DOS. the CD-ROM using the batch \DOSMENU.BAT from DOS, Windows, so that you can is click once on it to activate much quicker. over your old copy in order to find it in the root directory. The solution is to add extra file DOSMENU.BAT.) but don’t try running it from a view the digital movies on the the choice. gain higher quality playback * The computer crashes or RAM to your PC (which will Recommended: 8Mb Windows DOS prompt. It will CD. If you haven’t installed • Testing your CD-ROM with less jerkiness. hangs also make all your other CD- installed RAM, 486DX/50 then display a menu from Video for Windows from a • MSCDEX If you suspect your CD-ROM * DOS programs will not run * Sound effects and music ROMs run faster) or, at least, processor, Windows 3.11] which you can select any of PCW Interactive CD before, Microsoft’s CD-ROM exten- may actually be faulty (i.e. You must have at least 575kb stop playing to ensure you have a perma- the DOS programs and run then you must install this new sions (called MSCDEX.EXE) damaged) you can run the file free RAM in a Windows DOS Neither of these should hap- nent swapfile of an additional o run PCW Interactive you them, using either the cursor version, as it contains the lat- provide the interface between CDTEST.EXE in the SYSTEM box in order to run all the soft- pen. However, with the huge 4Mb RAM. Also, make sure Tno longer need to install keys and Return, or a mouse. est drivers which deliver your PC and your CD-ROM directory of the CD-ROM. The ware on this CD. If you have amount of software supplied you read the section about any part of it to your PC (other higher quality, a larger size drive. There are two program will then examine less, much will work but some on this CD and the inherent MSCDEX in this article. than Video and a faster play- every byte of data on the disc

14 15 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 PCW Newsprint Cable company crawls onto Net major UK cable company has presence across Britain. The first will be They have the hardware and financial A jumped into the Internet business, at its franchise areas in West Surrey, resources to dominate Net access in promising access at local phone rates for Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, South Wales, Britain, and with a combination of strong 90 percent of the population within a year Glasgow and Yorkshire. local and global links (they are largely US – but at only 28.8kb/sec, a tiny fraction of Several cable companies have been owned) would appear to be obvious can- cable potential. experimenting with Net access and Web didates to do so. But they are undergoing CableTel, the fourth largest cable com- server provision, but they have no coher- a crisis of confidence, facing stiff competi- pany in Britain, has set up Cable Online, ent strategy for national provision beyond tion from wireless providers, and under which will establish up to 80 points of talking about a UK backbone. heavy criticism in the US. So they are wary of stepping into unfamil- iar territory. Cable Online director Philip Compaq joins battle John said people would prefer his service to others because of its breadth and quality. CableTel and other of the super floppies companies have been experi- menting with broadband ser- ompaq made a surprise entry last month vices but he could not say in the battle for supremacy in a potentially C when they would be introduced. huge market for a new type of device – the super “The techniques people are floppy, offering random-access read-write stor- looking at vary widely. I don't age of 100Mb or more. think they need to be stan- Iomega has got in first with its £150 Zip drive, dardised. One cable company now available here and said to be walking off can use cable modems, ano- the shelves in the US. It takes 100Mb disks ther can use a mixture of ATM costing about £10, and comes in parallel-port and Ethernet. What’s needed and SCSI versions. First impressions, from is a standard for connectivity.” PCW tests are favourable. In fact, cable companies Syquest was expected to counter late last are loathe to provide a cheap month with a 100Mb version of its popular broadband service because SQ3270 drive, which takes 270Mb cassettes. they make so much money Now Compaq has said that it is joining with from high-bandwidth private Matsushita and disk maker 3M to launch a networks. Phone companies 120Mb floppy drive this year. It will be slower are also worried about under- than a quad-speed CD, but faster than a stan- cutting their own voice dard floppy. Its big selling point will be that it networks. Clive Akass will also read and write standard floppies. Kevin Bohren, vice-president of desktop mar- NEWS Contents keting, admitted that the announcement was Amiga friend 358 timed to head off Iomega, but denied that the Escom revives Amiga – and drive was vapourware. “This has been under launches 100 High Street shops development for two years. We are shooting for the fourth quarter.” Cheaper modems 359 Syquest's European sales director Pierre Win95 on for August New approvals process will cut price of modems Esnau dismissed both the Iomega and Com- This is Bill Gates giving his keynote address paq drives as “too slow. Our drive will have an at Spring Comdex , which looked very much a Family web 368 access time of 12ms. You can use it like a hard launchpad for Windows 95, with a host of UK Online offers family Net deal developers showing applications. Gates did disk, but swap disks like a floppy.” not guarantee an August launch but repeated Intuit doubt 370 ● Nine major companies have backed a Philips Threat to biggest-yet software deal that no major bugs remain. UK sources say plan for a re-writable CD format. CD-E (for era- Win95 day is August 24. Full story page 358. Going NTs 373 sable) drives will be able to read existing CDs, NT “spells victory for PowerPC” but old drives will be unable to read CD-Es. More Comdex news pages 362 and 363

357 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 NEWSPRINT NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Short Stories Win95 ‘spy New rules ring change Dixons launches virus’ shock Countdown starts for schools aid plan ● Beta versions of Windows ● Dixons is running a scheme 95 include a virus-like prog- to help schools buy IT equip- ram called Registration Wiz- Windows 95 (at last) to cheaper modems ment. Parents who buy com- ard which interrogates every indows 95 is unlikely to bugs “but they are a lot of little have invested millions in puters can collect points for machine on a system and their children’s schools. The slip far from its project- things — nothing we cannot developing Windows 95 new approvals procedure could notes what software is being W schools then cash in the ed August shipping date. The sort out in a day.” applications. lead to cheaper modems within a run on which machine, A points in the form of according to a story in the US Spring Comdex show in Atlan- The general feeling seem- In the UK, upstart retailer year – and ultimately to a much-needed discounts. magazine Information Week. ta showed an industry and a ed to be that Microsoft can Escom sounded a warning note standardisation of European telecoms. For every £1,000 spent by The program reports this market primed for its arrival. hardly delay the release much by announcing that its PCs will The slow and costly procedure of parents, Dixons are offering information to Microsoft as Microsoft chairman Bill beyond autumn, even if it has be sold pre-loaded with Warp getting BABT approval made UK 30 points, which translates as soon as the user signs on to Gates, in a keynote address at to ship an imperfect product. OS/2 (see story below). modems much more expensive than £30 off equipment for schools. the Microsoft Network, which what was co-billed (so to User impatience, reflected in And Brad Chase, general near-identical models in the US, lead- Dixons 0181 449 9965 is due to open this year, says speak) as the Windows 95 defections to IBM’s OS/2 oper- manager of Microsoft's per- ing to a multi-million “grey market” in the magazine. show, repeated his warning ating system, is not the only sonal systems division, said unapproved models. Asterix stars Customers must actively ● that the new factor. that only a major problem Costs were pushed up further for Asterix the Gaul has won disable the routine if they don’t EuroTalk the Queen’s Award will not ship until it is bug free. Delay may whet the mar- would prevent Microsoft from manufacturers by the need to get sep- want it to run, according to the for Export. He appears on CD- He later told reporters that ket’s appetite but it is costly for hitting a 24th August deadline. arate approval for each European Jeremy Hunt celebrates the victory of the modem makers story which broke as we went ROMs teaching English to, to press. beta-testing was still turning up third-party companies who News analysis, page 378. country. Other telecoms equipment varies PSL, Racal Datacom, Rockwell International among others, Spanish, Chi- Microsoft product manager widely from country to country, reducing poten- and Tricom. MAG chairman Jeremy Hunt said nese, French and Hungarian Andre Lee said: “All we done tial economies of scale. the rules were “a vindication of the long cam- speakers. Two-CD packs of is to give users the option of The new set of rules, the first of a series of paign we have been fighting to secure a better Apprenez le francais avec le registering online.” Scanners redefine the office new national technical regulations (NTRs), were deal for UK modem manufacturers and suppliers.” fils d’Asterix, and Aprende announced last month by Technology Minister He said the NTRs could have been simpler espanol con el Hijo de Asterix New IBM Bundles of scanners and soft- Fujitsu M2512a magneto-opti- Ian Taylor. They will be an alternative to BABT still were it not for the need to get all the Euro- are both £76. notebooks ware are challenging the idea cal drive that takes 230Mb approval rather than a replacement of it. pean countries in line, but they are expected to EuroTalk 0171 371 7711 ● IBM has launched three of the basic office needing a disks costing £25 each. A They are something of a victory for the be ratified by the EC. “Basically the European new notebooks in its Think- telephone, fax, copier, printer bundle of the software and Modem Approvals Group, which includes BT Commission have been getting a lot of stick Video tool ● Asymetrix has launched Pad range. The 755CV has a and PC. the scanner costs £800. The Datacoms, Cray Communications, Faxback, because they failed to liberalise telecommuni- Digital Video Producer (DVP), see-through screen that lets Delrina’s Winfax scanner, MO drive with free Claris- Microcom, Modular Technology, Motorola- cations. They see it as a start in getting modems you view it using standard a digital video capture and announced at Comdex and Works costs £699. Other Codex, Pace, Penril Datability, Psion Dacom, liberalised.” Clive Akass overhead projectors. It comes editing tool. It has a drag and due to ship here shortly, bun- options include the PaperClip with an infra-red mouse drop interface and an intuitive including 22 special effects dles Winfax Pro 4.0 and Xerox Textbridge document management package. timeline to make assembly The high-end 755CX has a text-reading software with Fujitsu's ScanPart- A humbler package comes from US-based easier. It costs £279, or £129 SuperVGA TFT screen and a ner Junior. It acts as an ordinary fax machine Visioneer. It is a scanner called the Paper- Prepare to overdose … Hollywood before July. 75MHz Pentium processor. and can be connected to a printer to act as a Port, designed to fit between a keyboard and Asymetrix 0171 712 9363 The 370C has a 10.4in copier. But it has the added advantages of PC a PC; bundled software includes a contact has gone bats over cyberspace! TFT colour screen. fax management. The US price is $299. manager that reads information off business D-I-Y editor ● Fujitsu is offering bundles with the same cards. UK price is £369, from The PC is becoming the star of Bullock, of Speed fame, as a on the FBI’s most wanted list. Visual Tools has released two packages for software EXE show scanner, with an emphasis on document Unlimited — see the review in next month’s Hollywood, which is rushing systems analyst whose identity F2F is a thriller about a killer developers. VisualWriter Pro ● We printed the wrong management. Options include Textbridge, PCW. out a host of films about com- is wiped out after she discov- who stalks his victims online, number for the EXE software lets you build text editing into Watermark document imaging and manage- Delrina 0181 207 3163; Fujitsu 0181 573 4444; Computers Unlimited puters, virtual reality and ers a classified program. and A Perfect Husband is a your applications; Formula developers show: the ticket ment software, simple fax facilities and a 0181 200 8282 cyberspace. Part of it was shot at last love story about a woman and hotline is 0181 710 2190. One 32-Bit, builds in a spread- Johnny Mnemonic, starring summer’s MacWorld in San her ideal program. sheet component which can Keanu Reeves, is described as Also in the pipeline is a read and write Excel 4.0 files. a cyberpunk action story movie entitled Catching Both cost £195. Escom backs Warp in shops launch about a courier smug- Kevin, which focuses Visual Tools 01892 834343 gling information on the hunt for the Escom opened 100 High Street computer credited. The German vendor already has advertising campaign stressing its staff that has been alleged cybervil- Compaq boom shops throughout Britain last month in 27 shops in the UK and will open a further training, which Escom sees as its big downloaded in- lian Kevin Mit- ● Compaq’s sales shot up 30 what could be the biggest shake up of PC 100 by the end of this year as it completes advantage over vendors such as Dixons. to his brain. Vir- nick (see per cent to $3 billion in the first sales in years — if its claims are to be the conversion of the Rumbelows chain, The launch was a big boost for IBM tuosity, starring Newsprint, April quarter of this year. Compaq 0181 332 3000 bought in April. because Escom will pre-load all its PCs Denzel Washing- 1995). Escom points out with OS/2 Warp. Asked whether this ton, is about a killer And that’s only … and makes Amiga possible that only 15 percent might not confuse first-time buyers with who springs to life the beginning. On their Easy going ● EasyCad has entered the Escom will continue making and selling Amigas after buy- of homes own a PC, Win95 on the horizon, Escom chief Man- from a computer and is due way are The Matrix, Fatal Windows environment with and only 17 percent fred Schmitt said: “It is Microsoft that is out in August. Hackers, star- Error, Phreaking and Cyber- ing the “intellectual property” of Commodore in the US. version 4.0. New ease-of-use President Manfred Schmitt said they would be targeted at of these are bought confusing buyers. Warp is an excellent ring Lorraine Bracco, is about a Francisco. The Last Hacker is Jack. features include descriptive ● families who want their children to have a computer but in shops. It aims to 32-bit multitasking operating system and gang of teenage computer a story about Kevin Lee The film Batman Forever layer names and context- cannot afford £600 for a PC. See News Analysis page 375. attract first-time it is here, now. Microsoft has yet to come whizzes tracking down a cor- Poulsen who played so many has its own Web page (inset) sensitive help. It costs £125. buyers using a £6m up with Win95.” porate. The Net stars Sandra online pranks that he wound up at http://batmanforever.com. FastCadd 01923 246427

358 359 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 COMDEX SPECIAL NEWSPRINT COMDEX SPECIAL NEWSPRINT

Comdex Shorts Comdex Shorts Pilot’s eye view of the future Low-cost video Media focus shifts to Smallest ever PC authoring kit This is how a pilot sees an air- Bert C Roberts, in a keynote ● Sigma Designs, which port before landing, with the address in which he announced fits on a card pioneered PC video with the aid of a virtual-reality display the vBNS, set to operate ini- ReelMagic MPEG board, object-oriented Cairo from the US Centre for Atmos- tially at 155Mb/sec but soon to pheric Research. The yellow be boosted to 600 Mb/sec. offered what it claimed was blob is an area of wind shear. Curiously, some of the vid- the first video authoring sys- Above it is some turbulence. eo links with which he illus- tem for less than $4,000. onvergence was the buzz- word at Comdex – and not in The family Data to build up the picture trated his talk were jerky and The ReelMagic Producer C is carried by a new, “very fast out of sync, despite using the the fashionable sense of converg- system includes a 32-bit PCI album goes Backbone Network Service” new data highway. Like Bri- audio/visual MPEG encoder ing computing, line and broad- (vBNS) set up by US phone tain’s SuperJanet it will be ● This may well be the board, a frame-accurate casting technologies. multimedia comms giant MCI. It was one used as a testbed for the Info- smallest Windows-class PC recorder controller, Adobe It was the convergence of still- This shows the opening of the uses cited by MCI chief bahn of the future. in the world. The Cardio Premiere video editing soft- to-emerge Win95 and its sibling screen of a CD which US pundits predict will 386, from S-MOS, is the size ware, and the Caligari 3D ani- Windows NT that cropped up mation and graphics package. be a big success for of a type 3 PCMCIA card, repeatedly in reporters’ ques- The system uses the AVI developer Delrina. Echo and is now available in a tions. The answer could radically Lake is a redesign of the Utility vendors strain at 486 configuration. The i/o editable MPEG format which allows easy addition of titles change the future of the PC, traditional family album, except that you are not limited to storing pins are on the long edge, and animation and produces because NT is not tied to the Intel words and pictures in it. Video and sound clips can be included; so unlike a normal PC card. an MPEG1 data stream. platform (see page 373). can password-protected diaries. And every member of the family the Windows 95 leash The cards are designed for embedded applications. Sigma Designs (US) 510 770 2998 Microsoft chairman Bill Gates can join in with contributions which can continue from generation to went little further than to say NT, generation. The style is North American kitsch, but Delrina (0181 tility developers at Comdex were buoyant computer work under Windows 3.x could be S-MOS (US) 408 922 0200 Small CD jukebox launched as a rival to the corpo- 2073163) plans to Anglicise sections before selling it over here. Uabout the imminent arrival of Windows 95 done in the background under Win95, Eubank ● Regal announced what it rate workhorse Unix, would get a even though the new operating system said. To prove his point, a Win95 version of Thanks for claimed was the world's small- similar look and feel to Win95. manner of subtexts into official Even IBM, steadily plugging bundles features traditionally provided by third Norton Utilities was shown at the Microsoft the memory... est 5-disk CD jukebox. The This is set to happen in a statements, and the message Warp at Comdex, took up the parties. stand defragging a disk in the background. ● Two companies were offer- quad-speed CDC-4X is just hybrid release this year. Gates they got was that Gates sees NT theme. David Barnes, senior per- Gordon Eubank, head of Symantec, which Similarly Mark Epley, chairman of LapLink ing utilities claiming to effec- 75mm high and swaps CDs in was quoted shortly before the and not Win95 as the operating sonal software products manag- now owns the rival PC Tools and Norton utility developer Traveling Software, pointed out that tively double available a maximum of 5.5 seconds. show as saying that this release system of the future. er, made a witty assault on packages, told a Comdex press conference comms could be done reliably in the memory. Ram Doubler for Regal (US) 408 988 2288 would bring a step closer the goal NT needs 16Mb of RAM and, Win95, which he described as “a that Win95 offered many opportunities for utility background (see below left). Windows, from Connectix, of making NT the core of future as yet, lacks Win95 attractions band-aid to hold the market until developers because it provided a solid base for Symantec is offering an alternative file- uses several tricks to do this, Just the job including minimising the use ● operating systems. like plug and play, but is other- they fix NT.” their work. handling system for Win95, to be called Norton Winway is preparing a UK by Windows of memory below He said the problems with version of Resume 3.0 for Microsoft watchers, like Krem- wise more efficient and versatile, And he warned: “I think people have Navigator. It is a successor to the one in the critical 640kb DOS limit. It Windows, designed to help lin watchers of old, read all and almost certainly more robust. Win95 went deeper than minor seriously underestimated the demand there is Norton Desktop for Windows. costs $99. Gamma Research jobseekers with CVs and bugs: they were architectural, going to be for Windows 95.” ● Symantec warns users of old PC Tools or offered MoreMem 4.0, a $49 letters. The $40 package inc- stemming from Microsoft’s att- Improved multitasking meant that many Norton Utilities, not to use them under Win95 device driver that forces DLLs ludes a simulated interview. Meeting of giants boosts NT empt to reconcile the 32-bit oper- operations that involved suspending normal as their low-level actions can trash your files. into extended memory. Winway (US) 916 965 7878 Windows NT got an extra endorsement at Comdex at a ating system with its 16-bit prede- Computers Unlimited 0181 200 8282; meeting of the two self-made giants of software: Bill Gates cessors. Also, Barnes said, Gamma Research (US) 205 533 7103 New Uninstaller and Charles Wang. The latter is head of Computer Associ- Win95 is not truly object-oriented. Novell homes ● Microhelp showed a new Long and short ates, which is second only to Microsoft in sales revenues, One result is that pointer icons version of Uninstaller. It can Big picture in on BMG ● move and archive packages though most of its money is made in unsexy and unsung can lose a file if it is moved. of LapLink 95 Epson showed its new en bloc as well as delete them. backroom code for enterprise systems. The two men A beta release of an object- Novell has joined forces with Stylus ProXL, due to ship in Microhelp (US) 800 777 3322 announced a port of CA Unicentre management software oriented version of NT, called he new version shows the kind of European entertainment com- August, which offers claimed to NT, which was seen as a signal that the latter has come Cairo, is slated for February. Tversion problems thrown up for third- pany BMG to produce titles for photographic quality colour Faster serial of age as a mainstream corporate operating system. Clive Akass of the PC- party developers by the con- the home market under a new printing of images up to 12.7in x 18.3in for an expected street ● Hayes announced a driver to-PC comms package, tinuing delays to Windows 95 PerfectHome brand. price of less than $2,000. enhancement that can push LapLink for Windows, can per- Traveling Software chair- They will include a new Epson 01442 61144 up to 9.216kb/sec through its form the tricky task of reconcil- man Mark Epley, while not version of PerfectWorks, an enhanced serial port. Comdex coming to London ing long Win95 filenames with criticising Microsoft, pointed integrated suite which includes Hayes 01252 775500 the classic 8.3 format used by out that the LapLink code features normally found only in Smart move ● The latest version of UnIn- could not be finalised until that Comdex is coming to London next year. It will two forays into Europe before, with little Windows 3.x and DOS. fully-fledged applications. staller, announced by Micro- SVGA card be take place at Earls Court on four days from success. But, according to Shaw, the English Win95 filenames are trunc- of Win95 was finalised. Novell claims it is more ver- ● Colorgraphic showed a help, will intelligently move 23rd to 26th April. market is now mature enough for the show. ated when viewed from a Win- So the present release is satile than any product of its PCMCIA card providing a and archive a suite of program It will be aimed at “computer professionals, Softbank chairman Masayoshi Son said he dows 3.x PC, but LapLink can called 6.0a, with a b version to kind. Other Home products in- SuperVGA port for portables. files as well as uninstall them. people who come to buy and make purchasing also plans a “year-round, online Comdex” as preserve the long name when follow if necessary when the clude a learn-to-read CD and MicroHelp (US) 404 516 0899 Colorgraphic (US) 404 455 3921 decisions” rather than the general user, says well as real events in the US, Brazil, Canada, a file is passed back and forth. Win95 is “set in stone”, said a detective game based on Peter Shaw, English-born marketing vice Mexico and Singapore as well as Britain. It is now a fully-fledged Epley. the death of Marilyn Monroe. Master disk High-res TFT ● ● Computer Dynamics president of Softbank Comdex, the Japanese- More than 100,000 visitors attended the Windows package, though it Other new features include BMG is part of the Bertels- ● Dynatec offered a dual- offered a 1024x768 colour owned firm that has bought up the show. Atlanta show to see exhibits from more than can access DOS machines. support for network pooling of man Group, which includes speed CD mastering system TFT screen that can be driven Oddly, in a world where the biggest tends to 1,000 companies, according to Softbank. Next New features include remote modems and of various infra- RCA Records, and publishers including DiskMaster software from a standard SVGA signal. be American, Comdex is actually smaller than year, when Atlanta stages the Olympic games, control of Windows 3.x, Win95 red devices. Bantam, Doubleday and Dell. for just $1,695. Computer Dynamics (US) 803 877 8700 the European trade show, Cebit. It has made the Spring Comdex will be in Chicago. and DOS machines. The new Traveling Software 01753 818282 Novell 01344 724000 Dynatec (US) 902 832 3000

362 363 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Virus attacks Bubba meets Bob more common Bubba, a take-off of Microsoft’s “social Interface” ● Computer virus attacks called Bob, comes from tiny US shareware pub- have doubled in the past four lisher Ososoft. Like Bob, it allows you to run pro- years, says Price grams by clicking on familiar pictures. Click on Waterhouse. Six percent of the ancient-looking typewriter and Bubba starts 200 top financial houses have been affected in the past up Windows Write. Bubba often offers little bits year, compared with only 28 of drawling advice. Ososoft’s excuse is that percent in 1991. Only one in there is not enough humour in the PC world. five companies knew the ori- You can download Bubba from CompuServe gins of the infection: two main using the command Go Ososoft. sources were staff-owned disks and those from outside the organisation. The latter are thought to be responsible Microsoft gives away for a third of virus attacks. Sources included banks, con- sultants, auditors, customers, and educational institutions. software to beat pirates Adele Dyer Fifty percent of companies see designed to enhance the look Internet gender the eradication of illegal soft- and performance of the new ware copying within their operating system. Microsoft gap narrows organisations as a major Plus! will ship within 60 days ● The gender gap among priority, according to a Spikes of Win95 and will run only on a Internet users, long believed Cavell survey conducted on PC with a 486 chip or better. to be about nine men to one behalf of Microsoft. It also adds 40Mb to the woman, has narrowed to a Touched by their concern 70Mb taken up by the full ratio of less than two to one, for its lost revenues, Microsoft Win95 suite, and requires at says a survey from Matrix is offering a free training and least 8Mb of RAM to run it. Information & Directory software package called Legal- It includes a new version of Services. Ware. Drivespace which will It found that only 64 per- This shows how companies compress up to 2Gb at a ratio cent of commercial account holders were male, and the can keep track of the software of up to 3:1. A system agent ratio was only 59 percent (not only Microsoft’s) used on utility can launch programs at among users in educational their PCs. specified times, and a utility Microsoft is not the only com- establishments. It also points to tools and called Desktop Themes allows pany concerned with keeping services available from you to alter the cosmetics of track of assets. Hardcat has Board modem approved third-party audit Win95. The suite is expected launched a Windows version of specialists such as fPrint UK. to cost less than £40. its system for tracking all kinds ● US Robotics’ Sportster Microsoft has also LegalWare response line 0117 9447790; of hardware, using software 28,800 faxmodem is now announced a companion fPrint 0181 563 2359 management and barcodes. available as a halfcard for package for Windows 95 ● News Analysis page 378 Hardcat 01276 675566 £299. US Robotics 01734 228200 File converters Cheapest PC Macromedia ● Two new file conversion graphics suite packages are now available: DataViz has launched camera yet Macromedia has gone into the version 3.0 of Conversions Connectix showed at Comdex what suites business with a bundle Plus for about £90; Word for must be the cheapest camera yet for of leading graphics software. Word v7.0 from the Software the PC. The QuickCam looks rather Graphics Design Studio, ann- Compatibility Centre is £39. like a glorified golf ball. It can take ounced at Comdex, includes DataViz 001 203 268 003; Software stills or handle 6-bit greyscale video, Freehand, Macromodel, Fon- Compatibility Centre 0181 319 1478 at up to 15 frames per second, at a tographer, Pixal’s Renderman resolution of 320x240 pixels. The and Fractal Design’s Painter Delphi translator for a US price of $995. ● Visual Basic MAK, FRM US price is $99 (the UK price was The company also announ- and BAS files can be not available at the time of going to ced a full 32-bit Windows ver- converted on a “best fit” basis press). The QuickCam connects to a standard PC parallel port and to Borland Delphi so can be easily used with portables – at a fraction of the price of at sion of Freehand 5.0, the files equivalents, according to least one similar product on the market. The QuickCam comes com- of which will be binary compat- distributor, Softwerk UK. plete with software that can save images in BMP or TIFF formats. ible with their Mac equivalents. Macromedia 01344 761111 Softwerk 01462 832244 Computers Unlimited 0181 200 8282

366 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Clock this New net service offers ● Atomstyle has come up with a PC add-on version of the attendance clock, which records when employees start cheap deal for families and finish work. Prices start at £1,495. K Online, the Olivetti- Atomstyle 0181 801 1838 Ubacked project to create a mass market, family- Dead safe orientated British-centred ● Security Intelligence is online service, has announced readying a product, provision- prices and technical details. ally called Deadlock, which It will be based entirely on encrypts and decrypts files to standard Internet protocols, and from a logical drive on the giving advanced users a broad fly, hiding them even from choice of access tools. Access hackers who read disks at the Some of the options on UK Online's home page byte level. to the wider Internet can be Security Intelligence 0171 589 4567 restricted if necessary. Easynet poaches Davies There will be two basic Easynet, the Internet dial-up provider linked with three British prices: £9.99 a month (includ- Technomatic sold cybercafés, has greatly increased its national coverage with a ing VAT) will buy ten hours’ ● Connecticut-based Micro tie-up with British Telecom, and has poached Graham Davies worth of individual access; the Warehouse has bought the from Demon Internet. Davies, who becomes managing director UK Technomatic computer family account, at £14.99 per of Easynet, co-founded Demon, a pioneer of Internet in the UK. dealer for an undisclosed month, provides unlimited Under the new deal, BT customers who request dial-up sum. access and an email account access will be referred to Easynet; and Easynet customers who for up to four people. ISDN want a leased line will be referred to BT. BTnet, and through it New Reunion access will be available at no Easynet, plan to provide access at local rates to 80 percent of ● Reunion 4, from S&N extra charge as will a commer- the population, rising to 95 percent by the year end. BTnet still Genealogy, includes new cial Windows Web browser plans a consumer service of its own — probably starting in the features such as the ability to and support. Downloadable produce illustrated family his- autumn. games and financial informa- tories. Demos are available ● A fourth UK franchise of Cyberia’s cybercafé design is tion will cost extra, and other from S&N. planned in Manchester, for the middle of June. David Brake S&N 011252 378054 or 01252 510486 premium services may be added. But as many services Cap that! as possible will form part of Pipex boosts coverage ● Capscan claims that its the basic package. Pipex, one of Britain's biggest commercial Internet provi- Capscan Zapcode is the only An initial dial-in point in ders, has signed a deal with Mercury which allows it to UK rapid-addressing software London is scheduled to go live offer a local-rate service to eight in ten of the population, to pass the Microsoft Office in August, depending on how via 170 new points of presence (POPs). The network will compatibility test. the beta test goes. By the end also benefit customers of a number of Pipex resellers, Capscan 0171 267 7055 of the year the company including CityScape and the BBC Networking Club. The hopes to offer broad national deal, as with Demon's tie-up with Energis and Easynet's Cheaper Toshes coverage like that of Demon with BT (see above), allows Pipex to make better use of its ● Toshiba has cut the prices and Pipex. David Brake modems because they can be concentrated in one place of its notebooks by between UK Online 01749 333333, fax 01749 333310; and calls from any of the POPs can be routed to them. 12 percent and 17 percent. http://www.ukonline.co.uk/ Pipex 01223 250120; http://www.pipex.net Toshiba 01276 675566 MO offer ● Elonex has launched a Electronic stationery ‘saves a fortune’ range of Pentium machines, fitted with Fujitsu’s magneto- Companies could save millions a year by as the information that is to go on it, with the optical drive, which take £25 printing stationery on the fly, claims Hewlett added advantage that different paper is not 230Mb disks. Prices start at Packard. Pre-printed forms and letterheads needed for different tasks. This can be done £1,385 for a 60MHz model. cost up to eight times as much as plain paper, with a standard setup, but flash memory allows Elonex 0181452 4444 and that is not counting the cost of storage and both a network and a printer to be used more distribution, nor of stationery which has to be efficiently by storing the stationery data at the SCSI converter scrapped because of outdated information. printer — the point at which it is used. ● Data Design Cables is Many businesses can benefit from electronic HP has just announced 2Mb and 4Mb flash offering kits to add an external stationery; forms and logos stored in printer flash SIMMs for its LaserJet 4 series (not the 4L) and port internal-only SCSI board, memory modules, says Ian McRae, develop- the 5P and 5MP; recommended prices are or to double up an existing external port. Prices start at ment manager of HP’s JetCaps service, which £399 and £599 with software, but a £250 1Mb £7.99. aims to help clients implement such systems. SIMM would suffice for most needs. DDC 0116 2341222 Stationery can be printed at the same time Hewlett Packard 01344 369222, fax 0171 735 5565

368 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Intuit megadeal hangs in balance

The fate of the biggest software deal in his- The deal would place Microsoft chairman Bill tory will be decided by a US judge at a hear- Gates up to his neck in online banking; an ing starting on 26th June, in San Francisco. area set to explode. (One US bank is already The merger deal between Microsoft and charging customers for talking to human Intuit, publisher of the Quicken range of assistants.) Now, somewhat ironically, the accounts packages, was worth an estimated US Justice Department is trying to block the QIC solution $1.5 billion when it was announced last deal having been criticised as being too ● The Panther Mini tape year. That estimate has since climbed to $2 easy on Microsoft over allegations of system, from Tanberg Data, billion due to the increase in the value of monopoly abuse. The hearing is expected to backs up 1Gb of Microsoft shares. last about 20 weeks and Microsoft is push- uncompressed data to a sin- But much more than software is at stake. ing for a speedy decision. gle QIC minicartridge and supports major operating systems. Prices start at £500. Leasing scheme Games writers look to PCs ● ICL has teamed up with Sorbus Business Systems in a scheme to lease PC systems, in confusion over platforms with a 24-hour help desk and 24-hour replacement service. Nintendo has held back the TIM BAJARIN at looks at the various fish; The ICL-Sorbus scheme, release of its 64-bit Ultra 64 the E3 show another takes a close look the aimed at executives, costs games machine which had reef as a habitat. Using the between £125 and £200 a been expected to make its date of its Saturn to late May research submarine, a viewer month for systems built round début here, at the first Elec- (see Screenplay, page 621). can see the reef through either a Panasonic CF-41 tronic Entertainment Expo, This has left games develop- Cousteau’s eyes. notebook, or an ICL Ergo Pro better known as the E3 show. ers in a quandary over which Also showing was “Flight D5/90P desktop machine. This has left Sega’s Saturn machines to support; almost Unlimited”, from Looking ICL Sorbus 01734 634830 and Sony’s Playstation, 32-bit all are hedging their Glass Technologies. This Laser aid games machines, to hog the bets by creating is by far the best flight ● The Third World charity limelight at 3DO. games for simulator I have ever Actionaid has launched a Nintendo boss Howard the PC. played. It uses scheme to recycle some of Lincoln, in a keynote address, actual aerial pho- the £28m worth of used laser said the next big battle for tos and 3D tex- printer cartridges that are games makers will be ture mapping thrown away each year. The Christmas 1996 when (left) to pro- charity will arrange for many more games for vide land- cartridges to be picked up, the new systems should scapes and sells them on to the UK be available. rendered in real Cartridge Recyclers Associa- Sega and Sony hope to time. It also simulates tion for up to £5 each. gain valuable ground in the actual flight conditions, using Actionaid 0117 9298818 $6 billion games market this real time fluid-dynamics com- Remote chance year. But the 64-bit games The putation that lets the plane react to wind conditions and ● Version 2.0 of the remote system, coupled with poor Enteractive control package Netsupport response from games devel- company, which stress in flight. The program now offers dial back, dial opers to the new Sega and is based in New York, offers 30 hands-on lessons request, and database con- Sony systems, could allow showed a CD-ROM, entitled with digitised speech to teach nectivity. It supports DOS Nintendo to leapfrog the pack. “Jean-Michel Cousteau’s complex maneouvres such as machines and does not Sony is shipping its Play- World. Cities Under The Sea”, spins, loops, and the notorious require a memory-hogging station in September for $299 about coral reefs in Fiji. It uses Immelman turn. It will ship TSR under Windows. ($100 less than expected). seven different laboratories to soon for less than $60. Interface Business Resource 01223 234233 Sega has countered by explore various aspects of the Enteractive (US) 212 221 6559; Looking bringing forward the launch ecosystem. One laboratory Glass Technologies (US) 617 441 6333 Wild Oscar ● Adamson Computers is A British firm has developed a system that distrib- offering the 100MHz Pentium- utes high-bandwidth signals such as video, to a Low-cost net video system based Oscar AC-P100 PC, with 16Mb RAM, 64-bit PCI local network. Mediagate, from a startup called access its resources. Mycom (0171 711 1000) is 2Mb S3 Windows accelerator, Mycom, cuts the per-user cost of conferencing looking for dealers interested installing Mediagate CD drive, sound card and systems by placing expensive items such as ISDN systems, which it believes will be of particular inter- 540Mb hard disk for £1,795. links and codecs in a central hub. This needs only est to companies with international links. A 16-user Adamson 01707 391392 one conection to the outside, yet any net user can Mediagate costs £3,650, plus £735 per PC.

370 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 NEWSPRINT

Short Stories Native Windows NT ‘opens window for port rumoured ● SoftPC developer Insignia PowerPC to beat Intel’ Solutions is working on pro- jects to get Windows 3.1 and split between Microsoft Win95 running native on Pow- Aand Intel and the conver- Picture this erPC processors, according to gence of Windows 95 and NT National Instruments is offering a ClieNT Server News. will see PowerPC chips grab- free demonstration disk of its The company is being helped by Microsoft, which bing a lion’s share of the mar- Mac-based HiQ software for had previously dismissed the ket, says a bullish Motorola. numerical analysis and data visu- “Microsoft and Intel are not idea of porting Windows to alisation. The program has its non-Intel platforms because of in a marriage; each is jealous own programming language the need to rewrite machine- of the other one siphoning called HiQ Script to help scientists specific code, the online publi- money from the pockets of and engineers. Minimum require- cation claims. their customers. We’ve got an ments are a Mac with a floating David Angwin, Insignia’s opportunity to drive a wedge points unit, 6Mb of disk space, European marketing between them. PowerPC is 5Mb of RAM. Freephone 0800 manager, said: “Over the that wedge,” said Jack 289877 for details. years we have developed a Browne, director of marketing. number of relationships with Eight in ten of the 55 mil- the World Wide Web, both of pany is in a win-win situation,” major industry players. I can- lion PCs set to ship this year which will need the power says Browne. Meanwhile, the not comment on projects.” Insignia 01494 459426 will have Intel processors. IBM offered by the PowerPC.” PowerPC group expects and Motorola aim to grab a 30 Browne says most people many Win95 applications to percent share, while their care more about their be ported to Windows NT in New Quicktake PowerPC partner Apple looks software than the hardware the PowerPC because recom- gets in close to increase its share from they run on it. PowerPC all pilation is relatively simple. ● Apple is shipping its Quick- eight percent to 25 percent. major operating systems Browne has no illusions take 150 digital camera, an “Remember that PCs are except Windows95. about the task the PowerPC upgrade of the model 100, in only in 4 percent of homes The PowerPC group is group has set itself: “It’s going the US. It can be used with worldwide. Look where the banling on the advent of to take to take five to ten Macs, PowerMacs and PCs. market is heading. Most Pen- Cairo, which will combine years to break the market and It offers WSYIWYG close- tiums have been bought by Windows95 and NT. “I don’t it’ll be a case of taking ups with the aid of a snap-on consumers and not business.” think it matters to Microsoft customers one by one. But lens, 640x480 base resolution says Browne. “The killer appli- whether its software runs on we’ve got deep pockets.” and the ability to store 32 standard quality or 16 high- cations are multimedia and X86 or RISC chips. The com- George Cole quality colour images. The US price is $739. UK pricing and shipping date is Top 10 Windows and DOS Last Top 20 Windows Last not yet known. Product Manufacturer month Product Manufacturer month Apple 0181 589 1199 1 MS Office 4.2 U/G Microsoft 2 1 MS Office 4.2 U/G Microsoft 2 2 Cleansweep Quarterdeck 1 2 Cleansweep Quarterdeck 1 New Stylewriter 3 First Aid for Windows RMG 3 3 First Aid for Windows RMG 3 ● Apple has also announced 4 Quicken 4.0 Intuit - 4 Quicken 4.0 Intuit - the StyleWriter 1200, a $269 5 MS Office 4.3 U/G Microsoft 8 5 MS Office 4.3 U/G Microsoft 7 enhancement of the 6 Delphi Borland - 6 Delphi Borland 11 StyleWriter ll. 7 QEMM 7.5 Quarterdeck 6 7 WincheckIt S&S 18 Apple 0181 589 1199 8 WincheckIt S&S - 8 Smartsuite U/G Lotus - 9 Smartsuite U/G Lotus - 9 The Perfect Office U/G Novell 4 NEWSPRINT Feedback 10 The Perfect Office U/G Novell - 10 CorelDraw 3 CD Corel 5 11 Ventura v5 U/G Corel - Email your news and views to Top 10 DOS clive_akass@pcw. cmail. 12 Quickbooks v3 Intuit 16 compuserve.com, or to 1 QEMM 7.5 Quarterdeck 1 13 Encarta 1995 Microsoft 8 cakassa on CIX. Please note 2 DOS 6.22 Microsoft 2 14 Quicken 4 Delux Homepack Intuit - that we cannot monitor all 3 Sterling Payroll Sage - 15 Family Tree Maker RMG 14 Usenet groups, so if you see 4 Anti Virus Monthly Dr Soloman’s - 16 Applications Trade In Microsoft - anything we might be inter- 5 Gardeners World Europress - 17 Business Plann Builder RMG - ested in, do drop us a line. 6 Pegasus Solo Accounts Pegasus 5 18 Visio 3 Shapeware - We are also interested in 7 MS Flight Simulator Microsoft 3 19 OS2 Warp 3 IBM - good screenshots or other 8 Turbo C++ 3 Borland 8 20 Quicken 4 Business Pack Intuit - pictures. Any email will be considered for publication 9 PC DOS Version 7 IBM - Figures, supplied by Software Warehouse, relate to unless you request otherwise. 10 WordPerfect C/U Novell - bestsellers for April 1995.

373 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 NEWS ANALYSIS

he history of computing is Tlittered with corpses. selling it off. Not drowning but Names like Dragon, Exidy, Confusion reigned for a Ohio, Oric, Osborne, Sinclair year as a variety of potential waving and Sol. Each had its moment suitors picked over the of fame and then died. But not remains. They included Amiga, which has been twice , Philips, Samsung rescued — first by and Creative Equipment Bernard van Tienen, the man- Amiga has been Commodore, a decade ago, International of Miami (which aging director of Escom’s UK saved from going and now by Escom. later teamed up with Dell). But operation, which recently under a second time. Escom AG is a German Commodore UK seemed the made headlines by taking assembler and retailer of PCs, favourite, with its over the leases of former Its saviour on this founded by Manfred Schmitt management buy-out attempt, Rumbelows shops. Van occasion is German in 1987. The company has and at one point sent out invi- Tienen used to work for Com- company Escom AG, paid more than $10m for tations to a victory party. Pre- modore, and was responsible Commodore’s intellectual maturely, as it turned out. for sales of Amigas in the which plans to put properties, which were auc- Christmas came and went, Netherlands and Benelux Commodore and tioned by a US bankruptcy and lots of new systems were countries. The other key fig- Amiga machines back court. Earlier, Escom had paid launched. With the CD32 ure at Escom is Dr Peter about $1.3m for trademarks stalled and ageing, Kittel, who spent 11 years at on the market for sale and other rights, sold by a Commodore’s value was Commodore; he has been put mainly to Russia and court in the Bahamas. Owner- declining every month. in charge of worldwide ship of other assets, including Escom now has to get engineering. China. Commodore UK and a factory machines back onto the Much may also depend on in the Philippines, remains shelves. To do this it will form what happens to Commodore unresolved for the moment. a new company, perhaps UK, run by David Pleasance In the aftermath of dreadful called Commodore-Amiga. and Colin Proudfoot. They losses, Commodore started The existing range of Amigas abandoned their buy-out its “orderly voluntary liquida- is being put back into produc- attempt having seen the size tion” in April 1994. There were tion, as is the venerable Com- of Escom’s cheque-book. But hopes that the firm would be modore 64, mainly for sale to having kept the Amiga alive in sold off quickly, so that users Russia and China. The Com- the UK, while all the other and software developers modore brand name, which national distributors have would remain loyal, and so was popular in Germany, may that new machines — already also be used on a range of on the drawing board — could Pentium-based PCs built by be manufactured in time for Escom. Amiga manufacturing Christmas. Creditors who will be carried out as a joint were owed more than $100m venture with Tietsin Trust & might then have recouped Investment Co (which has a more than $20m. factory near Beijing), but Alas, the sale proved more Escom is keen to license chip- difficult than anyone had sus- sets and boards to anyone pected. Commodore UK’s who wants them. joint managing director, David Escom says its first Pleasance said: “To say that Amigas will use the same the situation with Commodore electronics as before, though and all the subsidiary compa- it may develop new cases. nies is complex, is a major While it does not yet under- understatement. All the com- stand the technical details panies have cross-sharehold- well enough to make ings and trading decisions, it knows it must arrangements.” produce new systems to stay been liquidated, the company Amiga — Commodore UK, for exam- competitive. It wants to put an hopes to be taken over as a given a third ple, was owned by a Dutch Amiga on a card for PC users, going concern. It argues that chance by company, Commodore Hold- and also hopes to produce to do so would give Escom a German ings BV, which was in turn RISC-based versions of the flying start. company owned by Commodore Amiga that will run a 32-bit Manfred Schmitt wants his Escom AG International, and its operating system; probably Commodore-Amiga business subsidiary Commodore Elec- Microsoft’s Windows NT or to achieve $1billion worth of tronics, both registered in the IBM’s OS/2, as well as re- sales revenue in three years. Bahamas. That might have compiled versions of current To manage that, he’ll need all been efficient for tax Amiga software. the help he can get. purposes, but wasn’t ideal for Much may depend on Jack Schofield ANALYSIS

375 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 NEWS ANALYSIS

icrosoft’s long Remote networking is built On the trail of the Mawaited Windows 95 directly into the core of should be of interest to all Windows 95's network archi- mobile user mobile computer users. tecture. With current To make Win95 more implementations you need to mobile friendly, Microsoft leave your computer alone Win95 is the first mainstream A study of mobile believes it must offer an oper- while it’s carrying out network operating system where computer users and ating system which allows operations. mobility has been designed users to get the most out of With Windows 95, a PPP directly into the base product. their needs has their portable PC hardware. connection gives you a “pipe” This type of integration shows enabled Microsoft to For the past three years, to the remote network, just up in Windows’ network archi- make Win95 more Microsoft’s large staff of tech- like a physical LAN. Since tecture and in its hardware nical and marketing personnel everything is in 32-bit support. It is also evident in mobile friendly. Could have been examining mobile protected mode, it’s fully multi- the messaging architecture, the major innovations users and what they need to tasked. Networking recedes with remote mail support pro- which have been make them more efficient on into the background just as if vided via Exchange, and in the road. you are on a physical LAN. the user interface, with Brief- included eventually Perhaps the major new You can use your case and networking. result in the portable feature built into Win95 for computer for “real work” while It is even evident in the mobile users, is plug and play. file transfers proceed in the virtual memory system, where PC becoming a This is an architecture that background, and you can you can tell the paging/swap- primary computing was co-designed by Intel, even multitask network opera- ping subsystem that you are device? Microsoft, Compaq and tions, such as downloading a running on a portable PC. Phoenix Technologies. The file and sending email over Microsoft has provided an problem with current operat- the same network link. operating system that will vir- ing systems and portable PCs To help keep you organ- tually allow a user to view their is that existing systems don't ised, Microsoft has created portable PC not as a second The heady early handle configurations very well. “Briefcase” — a feature which class citizen, but rather as one eighties, when Today, it is very difficult to the company claims breaks that could very well be a the only thing change from a docked config- new ground in terms of primary computing device. larger than uration to an undocked config- usability and functionality. And, who knows, with portable PCs uration, or to set up different Briefcase is important for portable PCs becoming more were their video and network configura- two reasons: first, it simplifies powerful all the time, it may users’ trouser- tions for “in the office” or “on file synchronisation only be a matter of time bottoms. Win95 the road”. procedures and exposes before they take over the could well bring Windows 95, by virtue of them in the base operating desktop anyway. a smile back to plug and play, is a dynamic system. More people can take Tim Bajarin this man’s face operating system. It can load advantage of the software to and unload drivers and other help manage their files in the system-level components on mobile environment. the fly and can even detect Secondly, Briefcase intro- and adapt to hardware config- duces an OLE interface for urations. So, rather than hav- file synchronisation. This lets ing to manually re-configure software vendors have a con- your system’s settings when sistent, documented method you un-dock, or switch periph- of adding file synchronisation erals or PCMCIA cards, the to their applications. system does it for you. Since Win95 provides an Another addition to Win95 OLE interface for all Win95 for portable computing is dial- applications, that type of up networking. Mobile com- cross-application updating puting research reveals that will now be automatic in file staying connected is a big synchronisation. user need. What Microsoft With Briefcase, Microsoft has tried to do with Windows makes it easier to stay organ- 95 is to enable remote network ised, whether you’re working access always to be available on a desktop or a portable when users need it. And if you machine. Just hook them up, try to access a network server push the file synchronisation to which you don’t have direct button and the files will access, Windows 95 walks always be the same. you through the process of Most important, in terms of making a dialup connection. mobile computing, is that ANALYSIS

377 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 NEWS ANALYSIS

Microsoft and the users looking elsewhere in and therefore they’re the meantime. In late 1994 it standard; whereas everybody movable f-word got renamed Windows 95 else’s open standards are and slipped to the first quarter proprietary, because nobody of this year, but there still owns them, and they can From a recent Bill mid the reports from wasn’t much point in users vary. Microsoft has, in the Gates quote, it could A Comdex, in Atlanta, looking elsewhere. past, tried to assert rights to stating that Bill Gates had If Microsoft pulls this undocumented aspects of its be inferred that we said Windows 95 was still on stroke again in 1995, people products that other may not now see a target for August, there was might well start to notice companies have used, as final version of an interesting little quote: His something. We have argued happened in the case of the Billness actually appears to that it might not matter if disk-doubler Stacker. But with Windows 95 until have said “on target to be Windows 95 never shipped Windows 95 it’s trying to November. What lies finalised by August”. anyway, a scenario which is make this policy official. Now, it may be possible plausible only if Microsoft’s But it's only games, right? behind Microsoft’s that this was a slip of the antics don’t become Wrong — all sorts of stuff latest strategy in tongue, but company chair- sufficiently obvious to cause goes a lot faster in less hard- announcing the men have to be careful what amusement. A dud product in ware if you hit the silicon they say in public, so it is also November that doesn’t ship direct; the audio-video hooks Win95 companion possible that it wasn’t. Bill in volume until 1996 might available through the SDK will package, Microsoft knows the differences start them off; pulling it and come in very handy for multi- Plus? between “announced”, renaming it would probably media networking. They’ll also “finalised” and “shipped”, make people laugh harder. end in low-resource set-top even though it may Meanwhile, we have a boxes which will almost cer- sometimes sound as if he special announcement from tainly turn out to be doesn’t. So, if the f-word had Microsoft personal systems proprietary to Microsoft. The been carefully selected, he group general manager Brad SDK looks like a serious was evolving his position Chase: “Microsoft Plus is assault on open systems. significantly from the one he’d mag wheels and chrome trim And Microsoft Plus? Taken apparently held in previous for Windows 95.” with the SDK it helps you weeks. Microsoft has two such build a picture of the classic This implies that there “vehicular” improvement Microsoft approach to might be some slippage that programs for Windows 95 construction: you put together could mean Win95 going gold under way: Microsoft Plus a base operating system, in July rather than June, but and the Windows 95 Game adding things that look neat, that this wouldn’t interfere Software Developers Kit kick holes in it to make parts with it shipping in August. (SDK). The SDK is probably of it run at an acceptable We’d reckon that Microsoft most interesting because it speed, then bolt more stuff needs between six to eight provides game developers onto it, eventually making it weeks’ production from gold with access to a standard set impossible for the user to to shipping date to be able to of direct hooks into the hard- figure out what broke. get products to users, so July ware. Win95 on its own Microsoft Plus will add is tight, and “finalising” in clearly isn’t a great games 40Mb to the 73Mb install at August probably means development environment which we clocked Windows November in actuality. after all; it might just suffer 95. Microsoft’s strategy Finalising in August means from something similar to the seems to be run by hyper- dealing with the beta soggy steering that Windows active magpies. feedback on a very tight 3.1 imposed on games which schedule, and it’s quite possi- lead developers to continue ● This article is an abridged ble this will be exceeded. A hitting the hardware through version of one that appeared big push at Comdex in DOS. in The Register, a free online November is vital, so we But hitting the hardware newsletter edited by John might well see what is, effec- isn’t generally viewed as a Lettice and Mike Magee. All tively, a pre-release version good thing these days. There rights reserved. The Register 1.0 shipping gently in Novem- are implications for stability, is 1995 Situation Publishing. ber and an improved version and for open systems. To subscribe: 1.1 shipping in January ’96. Microsoft is offering the SDK [email protected] So we have a crime-count as a royalty-free development Home page: that runs approximately as fol- environment. This means that http://www.cityscape.co.uk/us lows: in late 1993, Microsoft Microsoft owns it, and is still ers/ac70/index.html announced that Chicago (as it resolutely on its old kick of Snail address: 18 Grafton then was) would ship in 1994, defining its own standards as Road, Harrow, Middlesex so there wasn’t much point in open because it owns them, HA1 4QT, UK. ANALYSIS

378 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PCW ● COLUMNS

ast week, while up a tree, I successfully contacted CIX Lusing a Psion 3a/3Faxmodem combination, a standard cellphone, and an acoustic coupler. “Big deal,” you yawn, and yes, I agree: I don’t for one moment believe that my example is going to inspire others. I simply did it to prove to myself that it could be done, in much the same way as I once cooked an M&S ready-meal in a dishwasher. The impressive thing here isn’t the tree — it’s a rather nondescript sycamore which I climbed only to overcome lousy reception at ground level. The main point is that I didn’t use a Michael Hewitt cellular interface as advised, yet never- off Sounding theless achieved a fairly respectable including the computer, its modem, 1,200bps connection. and plugs, will fit comfortably into my A couple of years ago, I would regu- jacket pockets. And if previous experi- larly bore for England on the subject of ence is anything to go by, they won’t how difficult “comms” was, and how even set off the metal detectors at the those difficulties were compounded if airport. you tried to get your modem to The acoustic coupler is my chosen exchange pleasantries with a foreign fourth most significant improvement telephone system. over days gone by. Three years ago, I Back then, it was genuinely difficult; would rather have subscribed to an like attempting to persuade two pan- Internet magazine than admitted to das to mate. So if I succeeded, I was relying on one of these — people used wont to give myself a well-earned pat to throw parties if they ever achieved a on the back. But not so today, as four durable connection much over 300bps things have changed. using one. With the new generation, Firstly, the front-end however, 19,200bps isn’t just communications software has largely something to aspire to, like an Aga become so cuddly and “intuitive” that cooker or a five-door hatchback, it even a PR person can operate it. tends to be a fact of life. Secondly, more and more hotel So, God forbid, if my room at the rooms worldwide have become Grand Hotel, Verona, has no phone “modem friendly”: when, three years socket, then rather than rip the place ago, I first visited the Hotel Borg in apart and try to hard-wire as was once Iceland, for instance, it still had bake- my custom, I'll happily strap an lite phones, hard-wired into the wall. acoustic coupler to the receiver. You When I returned last year, the place can even use them relatively transpar- had been restored to its thirties splen- ently with programs such as Ameol or complain. So if it can handle that sort dour — every room, bathroom WinCIM, notwithstanding extraneous of thing and still work, crackly phone included, was equipped with an Art noises outside your window. lines and parties in the room next-door Deco RJ-11 socket. If that’s the way the While on the subject of noise, are going to cause it no problems frozen north is going, I should imagine although I realise that most PCW whatsoever. the majority of what used to be data readers would probably baulk at tak- Comms is getting very easy and “arid zones” have already gone, or if ing an acoustic coupler into a free-fire soon, it will get easier still. Within ten not, will soon go the same way. zone, I’d like to climb back up my tree years I imagine that every hotel room, The third, and to my mind equally for a moment: on the day of my CIX airport lounge, and bus station will important change, concerns hardware: cellphone connection, the locals were have dedicated data sockets. His Bill not so much what it does or the way in out in force shooting rabbits. A crowd Gatesness will most likely be growing which it performs, but that it now does of them, armed with a variety of even richer on a global computer data it without putting its owner in traction. firearms, was advancing in my general network, accessible from all parts of Portable computers and their periph- direction — each (very loud) gunshot the civilised world and operating erals have largely followed the trend made only a minimal impact on my transparently from within Windows set by catwalk supermodels. In the data throughput. Only occasionally 2005. And international businessmen Claudia Schiffer heyday of the early were there a couple of dodgy blocks in scattered throughout different nineties, PCs were mostly rather large my X-Modem download to indicate continents will, no doubt, routinely and inclined to spill out all over the that there was one less bunny in the send themselves memos via their place. But now that the Kate Moss look world. The CP+ coupler is so well satellite-linked, Pentium-based, VGA is the norm, laptops and their insulated, and the volume control so colour palmtops. appendages are equally svelte and finely adjustable, that you’d probably And a good thing, too, because by petite. When I go to Verona next week, have to detonate a small grenade next then, I will be too old and decrepit to for instance, all the essential items, to it before it really started to go tree climbing any more. PCW

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short history of the PC is littered with significant milestones Afor the end-user: graphic interfaces, WYSIWYG word process- ing, scalable fonts, drag-and-drop editing and file management, for instance, have helped to make PCs easier and more intuitive to use. Now, the arrival of 32-bit operating systems and plug-and- play has freed us from the legacy of the DOS 640kb memory limi- tation. Gone too is the hassle of messing about with interrupts and jumpers and such amateurish bodge-ups as having to remember to exit Windows to check the health of the hard disk. Running out of resources, with Tim Nott plenty of memory to spare, or having to Somehow, Sholes’ absurd layout, Homefront sit and twiddle our thumbs while files rather like the 640kb Intel/DOS limita- are being copied are further examples tion, became an industry standard. of the “bad old days”. Even though others have tried to Maybe I’m jumping the gun a little improve on the layout — notably here, but let’s take an optimistic sce- August Dvorak, who took the nario. In a few months’ time you’ll be revolutionary step of putting letters able to buy a state of the art PC, with used in frequent patterns next to each full plug-and-play capabilities, shove other — no alternative schemes really in a sound card, and it will work. Just took off, and the Sholes tradition was like that. Plug your portable into a carried over reverently from the docking station, and the screen resolu- mechanical typewriter to the present tion will adjust itself. Just like that. computer keyboard. Carry it into a room containing an IRDA The computer giants have done (Infra-Red Developers’ Association) their best to preserve the madness of printer and it will be ready to print the original layout, while adding some without loading drivers or having to special, proprietary, touches of bad- make a physical connection. ness. The numeric keypad was a won- But wait: drop your eyes for a derful breakthrough, but irritating as moment from the splendours of the hell for the spreadsheet user; the SVGA display and look downwards — equals sign is still back with the main what do you see? Yes, it’s our old array. Other keys, such as the Scroll friend the keyboard, and as Lady Lock, SysRq and the thing that Caroline Lamb said of Lord Byron, it’s produces an “L” on its side are “Mad, bad and dangerous to know”. seemingly long obsolete. Mad? Well, let’s consider the origins More useful would be dedicated of the layout. In a saga of backwards- keys for left- and right-handed quotes, compatibility that spans more than 120 for instance, so we don’t have to rely years, the QWERTY layout was invented on Smartquote software or remember by Charles Latham Sholes in 1872. The arcane Alt+ number combinations. 52nd inventor to attempt the task of And why is the key that deletes the last constructing a typewriter, Sholes pro- character known as the “backspace” duced the first really workable proto- key? And logically, shouldn’t it be sited type. The only problem in the beta so as to mirror the forward delete key? shoulders..? Hardly reassuring, is it, version was that the mechanical And why have they made it so that only that a technology which can process arrangement of keys, levers and type- a contortionist can comfortably man- millions of instructions a second can’t bars couldn’t keep up with the speed age a Shift or Ctrl+ function key sin- offer a more comfortable way of of a competent operator: keys would gle-handed? And why is it so inputting those instructions. jam together, resulting in the machine damnably easy to hit the caps lock key Apple’s split keyboard and grinding to a halt. Indeed, Sholes by mistake? Microsoft’s Natural Keyboard do go should also be credited as the inventor Dangerous to know? Ask an RSI some way to addressing the problem. I of the “general protection fault”. As he (repetitive strain injury) sufferer, use one of the latter and find it far was unable to improve on the rather than a judge or company more comfortable than a flatty. But hardware, he decided to solve the lawyer: it is estimated that there are both of these are too little, too late. problem from the interface end, and more than 150,000 sufferers in the UK Notwithstanding advances in speech make the layout so bizarre and so diffi- alone, so it shouldn’t be too hard to recognition, finger-powered input cult that it would slow the user down. find one. Or just try putting your hands devices are going to be around until we He thus inaugurated another fine pro- on a standard keyboard: note how can plug the brain straight into a PC. gramming tradition — the ingenious your hands are bent outwards. Feel I don’t want to wait that long before kludge that doesn’t actually address that little twinge of discomfort in your having a keyboard that is logical, good the real problem. wrists..? In your forearms..? In your and safe to know. PCW

383 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PCW ● COLUMNS

f, like me, you have a cupboard full of modems which cost a Ifew hundred pounds each a few years ago and now have no resale value at all, and in any case crawl along at a snail’s pace, you will very reasonably be asking the same questions: where will it all stop? When will it be safe to buy a new modem? The answer is that it will not stop until practice catches up with the information theory formulated by Claude Shannon, of Bell Labs in the US. But this will never happen, just as hi-fi designers can never achieve carrier modulation techniques to carry "perfect" reproduction. megabit streams. But they only work Barry Fox Shannon's theory explains that there over runs of a few kilometres between Talking Straight is a finite limit on the amount of infor- home (or office) and the local mation that can be carried by a trans- exchange. mission channel. This limit is governed The exchange gets its megabit feed by the channel's bandwidth, its suscep- from a server by fibre optic link, much tibility to unwanted background noise like the ISDN system which uses a and the strength of the required infor- twisted pair of ordinary copper phone mation signal. So far, all telephone wires to carry 64kb/sec streams over data systems have fallen a long way the last leg into the subscriber's short of the Shannon limits. premises. Fifteen years ago, electronic mail Current thinking is that existing modems had a signalling frequency of modem technology on POTS (plain old 300 baud. Using warble tone modula- telephone system) can be pushed to tion they sent 300 pulses per second 31,500bps or perhaps even 33,600bps. down an analogue phone line. Each on- The next step is for the telephone net- off pulse conveyed one bit of informa- works to open up their filters a bit more tion, so they could drive only 300 and use a new technique which digital bits of data per second. The synchronises the bits as they pass Shannon limit was a signalling through the exchange. If the data frequency of around 2400 baud. But streams are always in step with each 2400bps modems were too expensive other, it is easier for the modem to for consumer use, and we were very detect very subtle changes in the bit happy to get 1200bps. pattern. Details are still under wraps Modem designers developed circuits but this trick should push the data rate which could recognise two different to 50,000bps, which is right on the levels for each pulse, between the Shannon limit. new buildings. This then branches off extremes of on and off. This enabled a So, within a couple of years we horizontally with copper wires into the 1200 baud signalling frequency to should be able to communicate by rooms. In the UK, cable TV companies deliver 2400bps, and raised the domestic POTS lines at data speeds are already laying coaxial feeds into Shannon ceiling to 4800bps. which are close to those currently subscribers’ homes. These feeds are In the mid-eighties, the telephone available only with ISDN lines. You can intended to carry analogue video but networks modified their line filters. bet that when this happens, BT will they can equally well carry megabit These had been limiting the bandwidth reduce the absurdly high installation data. Once homes, as well as offices, to 3kHz, to reduce noise during speech. cost and quarterly rental charge for start to consume megabit streams, the But as digital trunk lines spread, the ISDN lines. This in turn should encour- telephone network lines and call rout- network grew quieter and bandwidth age hardware firms to increase produc- ing switches will creak, groan and crash could be opened up to 4kHz. This tion of ISDN interface cards, and make under the load. pushed the Shannon limit to a them affordable for home use. Metropolitan telephone exchanges in signalling frequency of 3500 baud. Like computer memory or hard disk the US are already using 5 or 10Gb Modems can now recognise eight or space, these data rates will never be streams. Once they start switching even nine step changes for each pulse. enough. The merger of communications video, instead of digitised speech at So the data rate has risen to and entertainment creates the need for 64kb/sec, the number increases by a 28,800bps. megabit streams into the home which factor of 100. The Web is growing by a The much higher communication can deliver sound and pictures to a PC factor of around 100 a year. And it is speeds sometimes quoted rely on text in real time. Ask anyone who has spent dealing with calls from throughout the compression: matching modems send an hour downloading a few minutes of world, not just local traffic. short codes to represent commonly music from the Net; or waited while But I now feel safe to buy a used words, rebuilding their dictionar- some pointless illustration lumbers 28,800bps modem. We are close ies as a document is transmitted. The down the line and onto the Web screen. enough to Claude Shannon’s limits to Video on Demand systems, which In the US, architects are specifying know a 28.8 box won’t be obsolete British Telecom is testing, use multi- optic fibre in the vertical columns of before we get it home. PCW

385 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PCW ● COLUMNS

hen is software development not software Wdevelopment? When it is prototyping? When it is database configuration? This month, I have been pondering these questions as I try to explain to myself why I have broken one of my own rules by having commissioned a piece of in- house software development. Although it is small, and may be temporary, it is happening — I confess. In general, it is better to buy off-the- shelf software and work with it; chang- the system, and so will need some Nick Beard ing processes and work-practices to involvement to ensure a good feeling Matters Business complement it. towards the new approach such as one Custom software and software of “ownership”. developed in-house are generally bad The key lies in this new approach: ideas. The bigger the system, the worse people will be working differently. This the idea. Software development should is a core notion in business process be left to software companies (prefer- re-engineering (BPR). Although the ably those making packages) rather term, BPR, is already becoming a little than bespoke systems people. Sadly, jaded and over-used, it is still relevant. this is a lesson the NHS still has to This tiredness merely reflects general learn, along with many other misuse like: “open”, “client/server” and institutions labouring under the “object-orientated” — terms which arrogant fantasy that their particular seem to have fallen into that hallowed requirements are so unique, they can- category of the unqualified “good”. not possibly work with any currently So, building a system around available packages. Mabel’s particular approach to work- This type of thinking generally costs ing (even one which is open, client/ a lot of tax-payers’ money and to date server, object-orientated and runs there is precious little to show for it. under Unix) is a good way to spend a Most big bespoke development lot of money, firmly embedding old, projects end up late and over budget. probably inefficient practices into the Often, the resultant systems are simply fabric of the company. Design of infor- scrapped as unusable. mation systems is too important and The fantasy goes like this: it starts too specialised to be left to filing clerk with the IT fairy story of the seventies supervisors. and eighties; “the user always knows Good off-the-shelf software is flexi- best”. At the time, IT or IS departments ble, well tested, and well supported. often consisted of programmers and And I am talking here about applica- computer operators (VAXherds and the tions more complex than word proces- like) labouring away in glass-walled sors and contact managers. But there spaces or basements. In this tale, user is no reason why word processors departments are computerised by should not be flexible. Of course, there automating existing processes — that are packages out there which are not is, by automating the way in which staff all of these and they should be identi- currently work. fiable by reference checking before According to this view, when purchase. automating a filing area, you ask So, why is my company taking this Mabel, the filing clerk supervisor who step into the dangerous realms of soft- should take no longer than a month. has been in the post for 30 years; she’ll ware development? Because we have Being written in Microsoft Access, the know. Rubbish. This is a good way to a very simple, short-term need, which whole investment will be fairly small. waste money: implementing a system can only be met by off-the-shelf soft- Maybe these are the rules: if it can which makes no improvements. At ware costing much more than the sim- be done in a clean, well-supported best, it wastes an opportunity for real ple solution we need. Moreover, our database, supporting “compiled” run- improvement. requirements are not entirely clear, so time versions; if the whole thing can be Good packages change the way in we are using a design based on a completed in less than two months; if it which people work, making business requirements specification inferred by includes documentation and a firm processes more effective and more the IS Department’s study of the specification developed halfway efficient. Of course, you have to ask process being automated. This will through (if it is not developed before- Mabel what she thinks. She and her serve as a prototype to be tested and hand), then it might be safe to do in- team (assuming they are not being refined, after which a firm specifica- house development work. But I am fired or moved) will have to work with tion will be agreed. The whole process still not convinced. PCW

387 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 LETTERS

Have your say about he mean that they love to Europe deride them and call them Send your letters to: I enjoyed the Cutting Edge school toys? Thanks to your The Editor “Focus” about political parties magazine, one of only two PC Personal Computer World online (PCW May). The Euro- magazines to report on Acorn VNU House pean Parliament’s Socialist and ARM developments and Group is the first and, at pre- products, maybe your readers 32-34 Broadwick Street sent, only pan-European polit- are more enlightened and do London W1A 2HG ical group to be online with the not think of them as toys. or email, on: intention of using email to Ken Dulieu [email protected] bring Europe closer to the Skegness or people. We are making docu- 71333,[email protected] ments available by email. We Now dis-Organized are also actively consulting I read, with great anticipation, the public, via email, on priori- Geof Wheelwright’s review of

ties for the 1996 Intergovern- Lotus Organizer 2.0. And Letters mental Conference to revise there, in the same post as my setting up my planner for the the EU treaties. May issue of PCW, was my year, and all the special dates The 221-strong group’s upgrade of Organizer from I entered in the anniversary initial position on the 1996 version 1.0 to the long- section, was wasted. It will no conference is available for awaited version 2.0, so I longer print out in my diary — downloading, in English, from read the review while loading something it did quite usefully CompuServe’s UKFORUM the upgrade onto my system. in the previous version. In politics library and from the At first glance the upgrade fact, Lotus has completely international library of the looked great, and I was eliminated the “WYSIWYG” Politics Forum. It is available particularly pleased with the facility of Organizer, previ- in French and Spanish in the enhancements to the address ously so useful in version 1.0. Europe Forum (Go book section. It looked like When approached, Lotus Euroforum), and in German Geof’s review was right on the UK was supportive; yes, the on the Spiegel Forum. mark. I then spent several company was aware of these We invite PCW’s readers hours updating my calendar problems but had no idea how to send us their views on what for the year, along with the the Lotus masters in the US they think the 1996 Intergov- year planner and anniversary were going to fix it. My com- ernmental Conference should section. plaint would be passed on. do. All serious contributions All finished, it was then I don’t feel I’m asking a lot. will be referred to our 1996 time to print out the year in Most of the enhancements are monitoring committee, which the same old format I had fine, although mostly bells and includes such Euro MPs as always used: a week’s view to whistles, especially for stand- it? — films. The reproduction Elisabeth Guigou (the former two pages. That is, Monday to alone users like myself. But is superb, and the technology French European Affairs Wednesday down the left- Organizer has always been is well proven and reasonably Minister who negotiated the hand page, and Thursday to touted, rightly or wrongly, as priced. Maastricht Treaty on France’s Sunday down the righthand being Filofax friendly. There In most computer maga- behalf). page. But there is no option to are still many of us out there zines, I see details of compa- The Socialist Group wants print this. I have always who carry those bits of leather nies urging us all to buy a the European Union to be far assumed it to be the most around and who depend on brand new CD player that will more open and responsive to useful view one could have — Organizer to get them through play films on a tiny PC screen, its citizens’ priorities. The especially for a Filofax user. the week. Sometimes an which is not very good quality decisions of 1996 will be In fact, the only options upgrade can be an improve- anyway. And they want me to important and the people approximating to this were: a ment-or-three too many. listen to music through speak- must have their say. week to a page (too cramped Larry Trachtenberg ers on either side of that Tony Robinson and unreadable); or a day to a [email protected]. screen. Why should I use my Spokesman, European page (too many pages for a co.uk computer for these things Parliament Socialist whole year). when there is an infinitely Group And then came the final Horses for courses better arrangement, blow. Lotus has trumpeted On one side of the room there elsewhere in the room, which Stunned by Acorn the enhanced ability of is a computer; small and old leaves my computer free for I read with interest Ian version 2.0 to show through by today’s standards with a that purpose for which it was Burley’s review of the new all the details of other CD and a 14in screen. On the designed: letters, RISC PC 486 card in the June sections into the diary (some- other, there is a hi-fi system spreadsheets and the odd issue of PCW and I confess to thing you could already do in with a CD player and speak- game. Who’s kidding who? being a bit gobsmacked at the version 1.0). But what Lotus ers. Next to that is a very large Frances Dare revelation that PC enthusiasts didn’t tell us is that you can’t television. Using this ancient Eastbourne love . Or did print them. So all my work in gear I can play — dare I say

391 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 LETTERS

Free Corel be interested in hearing from experienced. Firstly, regard- dismay that Paradox was maintenance a former WP/Novell fan who ing the AppWare CD in the supported by only one man- I read June’s letter from HG is now more than a little dis- Professional version. ual, the User’s Guide, even Harris (“Nice package, shame gruntled. The so-called Pro- Appware is a high-end devel- though the real benefit of about the service”) with inter- fessional version is composed opment tool. Research has Paradox is the facilities pro- est. In an ideal world, software of the same applications as shown that the typical App- vided by its integrated bugs would not exist. But as in the standard version but Ware customer does have a programming language, reality they do exist, Corel includes Paradox 5.0 and CD drive. This is indicated on ObjectPal. The only reference takes a reasonable approach AppWare. the front of the PerfectOffice to ObjectPal in the User’s and provides free My first grumble is that Professional Package, “all Guide refers you to the maintenance releases to although most of the suite, applications are provided on ObjectPal documentation. In registered users on request. including Paradox, has been 3.5” diskettes except fact, the User’s Guide says Often, the problem lies in supplied on disk (35 AppWare which is provided the documentation included finding out about these main- altogether) as advertised, on CD-ROM. See the Up and with the package includes a tenance releases, and it is in AppWare has been supplied Running Guide inside for “Guide to ObjectPal” and the this area that a user group on CD, which was not men- information on Optional “ObjectPal Quick Reference”. such as the CVU comes into tioned in any of the advertise- Media.” We do however have There was no such docu- its own by informing its mem- ments. Since none of my AppWare on 3.5in disks and mentation included. I bers of the availability of main- computers has a CD-ROM will be happy to supply them. contacted Novell and tenance releases. Mr Harris drive, I cannot use the With regard to the integra- explained that their advertise- has been unfortunate with the software. The installation sec- tion of the product, our inte- ments gave no indication that problems he has encountered tion of the AppWare User’s gration among applications in the documentation was with CorelDraw 5.0 but I note Guide speaks of seven disks, PerfectOffice is well incomplete and it was reason- that he is using version E2. and gives no mention of a CD. documented and has been able for me to expect full doc- For two or three months the My second grumble is that the result of numerous indus- umentation. It was, after all, CVU, which provides support although this is supposed to try awards. The installation the “professional” package for CorelDraw, Ventura and be an integrated suite, neither procedure to include Paradox and the version of Paradox PhotoPaint, has been publicis- the standard nor custom and AppWare were not 4.5 I had previously bought ing the availability of the F2 installation setup procedure added due to the limited time came complete with all the maintenance release for includes or even mentions and resources before ship- manuals. Novell was not CorelDraw to all its members. Paradox of AppWare, so that ment. However, our area of overly concerned, saying that We have done this through neither of them appears on emphasis in integration has this was how the package TAGline, our 32-page colour the Desktop Application been on the interoperability was supplied by Borland, the newsletter sent to all Director. It’s almost as if Nov- of the applications. problem was between members ten times a year, ell has used the same docu- Paradox and AppWare Borland and myself, and I through our regular meetings mentation and just chucked in can be easily added to the should call them myself (they (six per year in London) and seven separate Paradox disks Desktop Application Director gave me the Borland various local group meetings, and a CD without any thought (DAD) including any other number). Borland were not as well as through our mem- of telling customers how to applications currently on impressed with my argument, bers’ helpline. install them so that they are users’ hard drives. This is and offered to sell me the The maintenance release, fully integrated with the rest of outlined in the Up and documentation. which is free to registered the suite. None of the Running Guide. I encountered the same users of CorelDraw, can be Readme files cast any light on Our customer support problem with Microsoft Office obtained by calling Corel this. After two lengthy phone department is constantly try- Professional. The macro customer service, free, on calls (10 minutes each in the ing to keep fully trained on writer for Word has no docu- 0800 581028. queue) to Customer Support I our fast-moving new technol- mentation either, although the If Mr Harris or any other have got no further because ogy, and we apologise if you manual refers you to the user of Draw, Ventura or it’s obvious that Novell’s UK spoke to someone who you Microsoft Word developer’s kit PhotoPaint would like further staff have not been fully feel was not fully briefed. should you want to do any information on the CVU they briefed. more than record a macro. should contact Anne Gray, Considering this amateur- Manual matters I find this policy objection- CVU, 49 Olney Road, Ember- ish performance, the product I am rather concerned about able. If you buy a full profes- ton, Olney, MK46 5BU (tele- should be called Imperfect the way integrated packages sional package it should phone 01234 241234). Office UnProfessional and be are being marketed. I have include complete relevant Ed Brown described as a Disintegrated recently taken delivery of documentation. If a package TAGline, CVU newsletter Suite. Novell PerfectOffice Profes- doesn’t, the adverts should 100042,2271@ Terry Hart, Lincoln sional and Microsoft Office say so and give the buyer an compuserve.com Professional. I need to keep opportunity to work out the David Bennie, Brand Mar- up to date with these complete cost of acquiring the An imperfect solution keting Manager Perfect- products to support my software in a usable form. In view of all the pre-launch Office, replies: We are most clients’ applications. Peter Beard hype about Novell’s Perfect- concerned to hear of the When I explored the 100555,537@ Office 3.0, I thought you might problems you have Novell box I discovered to my compuserve.com

392 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 LETTERS

Maths group test doesn’t add up Hindsight Work it out in your head As an inveterate and long term user of mathematical software packages, I was drawn to Eric Adler’s group review in the June issue of PCW. At last, a comparative review of the dazzling systems that will play a significant part in the mathematical education of present and future generations of science and engineering students. I didn’t expect to agree with the Editor’s Choice, nor did I. I am in the fortunate position of having access to all these packages, so I simply choose whichever is the most appropriate to the job at hand. There really is no best overall bug-free package: even the modest Derive sys- tem can do things that Maple cannot. However, what really disappointed me, as a teacher and researcher, was the lack of any sense of the profound revolution that these systems have brought about in mathematics. The reviewer’s approach was rather too matter-of-fact and constrained for my taste. Aside from the exciting work being done in mathematical research and applications, there are challenging implications for the teaching of mathematics. Surely it is significant that an engineer no longer has to invert a matrix, solve a linear differential equation, or invert a sim- July 1979 ple Laplace transform. Instead, he only needs to know how to pose these problems in his I was looking for a low-cost micro- favourite maths package and an answer pops out as if by magic — that is, until he comes up computer that wasn’t just a toy with a problem it cannot solve. It is surely a concern that many GCSE, A-level and university and which would give sufficient mathematics examination questions can be easily solved using the comparatively small Derive. facilities for expansion to a full When these systems are employed in black-box mode, there’s an analogy with the use of diskette system via an S100 bus electronic calculators for simple numerical calculations, and the decline in our ability to per- (when finances allow). Already form mental arithmetic. I am sure that many other readers will be concerned about the implica- having a TV and cassette recorder tions of the use of such powerful packages in education and the applications of mathematics. I in the house, I did not see why I would welcome any correspondence on such matters. should pay for duplicating these Dr Nigel Backhouse items. The Sorcerer seemed to fill [email protected] my requirements, offering a Z80 processor with 32kb user RAM, all The wrong answer for £859 plus VAT. As makers of Mathematica, featured in June’s maths software group test, we were frustrated by the review’s inaccuracy and wish to correct a few of its unfounded statements. Update In the introduction, Eric Adler puts Mathematica “under the heading of numeric computa- The Conservative government had tion and visualisation for pure mathematics”. At best this is five percent accurate, this being only been in power for a month the fraction of users who are pure mathematicians; most are in engineering, finance and com- and VAT remained a modest eight puter science. Moreover, surveys show as great a use for symbolic calculations and program- percent. Even so, the same amount ming as for numerics and visualisation. would now buy you a fully-featured Adler deems Mathematica less suitable than other products for education despite its PC with all the things the Sorcerer greater use in this area. Educational resources include 53 books, a journal and several UK didn’t have, like a monitor, hard government-funded courseware projects. disk and floppy drive. On a technical note, Eric Adler asserts that command line input is primitive, failing to realise that fixed menus are not convenient for operating large numbers of functions or size- July 1984 able programs. This perhaps explains why all products in his review with over 500 functions At last, from desktop to lap and no or programming use command line input. We entirely refute the other attacks on Mathemati- compromises. In recent months, ca’s ease of use and will explain the reasons to anyone who enquires: space here does not per- Hewlett Packard has accelerated mit. its move into the personal But the omissions dwarf even these misunderstandings. Applications to real life problems, computer market. It now presents vastly differing programming facilities, reliability of symbolic results and quality of support the HP110, a particularly well- are not examined but are crucial to users of maths software. In these areas Mathematica endowed micro which features the excels. Finally, the price is £795 and not £995 as Eric Adler reported. biggest screen yet available on a Conrad Wolfram portable micro and which is fully Wolfram Research Europe, Long Hanborough, Oxfordshire compatible with its predecessor.

Eric Adler replies: Compared to every other similar package, Mathematica is difficult to use, and dif- Update ficult to learn to use. One can forgive Derive having a cheap interface, it is not an expensive program. At the time, no compromises Mathematica, at £795, is not a cheap program. In order to run the PCW tests I found I needed techni- meant an Intel 8086 processor cal assistance from Wolfram on several points which took the Wolfram helpline over half an hour to running at 5.33MHz, 272kb RAM sort out; the equivalent question from Maple took less than two minutes, Mathcad and Macsyma and a blurry 80 column by 16 line required no helpline on the questions, the answers being quite obvious from the program. This is not display. Although Hewlett Packard because Mathematica helpline personnel are untrained, but because the language of Mathematica is was soon to dominate the personal difficult. computer laser printer market, it’s Again, the problems arose running the factorisation tests: neither the handbook nor the help files only recently that it has begun to pointed to the “correct routine”, and it took the helpline over forty minutes to find it. make much impact on the PC and notebook market.

395 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 First Impressions

Products Reviewed

402 Dell Dimension XPS P120c 403 Adobe Acrobat 2.0 404 Plextor PX-63CS Six-Speed CD-ROM drive 406 Microsoft Project 4.0 for Mac 412 Panther 2000 415 NEC monitors 417 Dean Database for Windows 420 Kamco Picasso 422 Opcode’s Overture for Mac 425 TeleMagic for Windows 1.05 426 Maxtor MobileMax PCMCIA hard drive 428 Specular Collage 2.0

Welcome to our new-look First Impressions, including the absolutely fabulous “Gadgets” spread on page 438. Full review highlights include Dell’s first Pentium 120, the world’s fastest production CD-ROM drive, and the latest version of Adobe Acrobat.

VNU European Labs

Labs tests cover every kind of the original data we worked from: for example, the time in minutes VNUhardware and software and seconds to print a page in a comparative test of printers. including PC hardware, printers, network products, modems and software applica- tions. The tests are continually developed and enhanced to reflect hardware and soft- ware 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 application result to a specific machine compo- nent. 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

397 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Dukane's MagniView 864

Dukane’s MagniView 864 multimedia projector Logitech MouseMan Sensa does for overhead projectors what Dualit did for the toaster. It sports a built-in TFT LCD panel, Phwoar! Guaranteed to perk up your pointer, Logitech’s high-intensity metal halide lamp, and folds MouseMan Sensa range shows just how sexy a PC neatly away into a 30lb portable package. mouse can be. Its ergonomic textured body fits neatly ☎ £4,995 from GB International on 01908 504500, into most hands, and a smooth ball rolling mechanism fax 01442 874 006. is great for fast or slow wrist action. A MouseMan that is truly a man’s mouse and costs £42 from Logitech on 01344 894300, fax 01344 894303. ☎ Gadgets

Alps Glidepoint Alps’ Glidepoint isn’t a new idea. The Psion MC200 pioneered the idea back in 1990, but this latest iteration will plug into a desktop PC. It’s not pressure sensitive, takes a bit of get- ting used to, and costs £62 inc VAT from Alps Electric on 00353 29 70677, fax 00353 29 70603.

☎

Swatch Beep

The Swatch Beep claims to be the world’s smallest beeper. You can carry it with you everywhere, and once you’ve paid for it you’ll never have to spend a AlfaCrystal Trackball Gadgetspenny more on rental. It’s just a shame that it’s about 50% larger than an ordinary watch and it’s largely No space on your desk for an unwieldy mouse? Want made of plastic, which makes it look rather tacky. something a little different? How about the AlfaCrystal Unlike a regular beeper, it only has one, rather fiddly trackball from AlfaData. Its crystal globe glows with the control — the crown on the side. £119.95 inc VAT hue of mahogany or emerald when either button is ☎ from Swatch on 01703 237779, fax 01703 224455. pressed. Guaranteed to impress fellow pointing devices and brighten up any confined space. Yours for £39.95 from Golden Image on 0181 900 9291, fax 0181 900 9281. ☎

PCW Photography by Bruce Mackie

398 399 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS FIRST IMPRESSIONS

HARDWARE SOFTWARE Dell Dimension XPS P120c Adobe Acrobat 2.0 An amazingly fast 120MHz Pentium computer with a high April issue for details), but at least the David Brake judges the performance of this latest version of you can prevent people from printing, EIDE bus, provided, can support two copying or adding and editing notes internal specification. Nick Lawrence delves into its innards to channels to get around this. Acrobat, highlighting the new bits of its act. (unfortunately, you cannot set several reveal its advanced features. The Dell 21F monitor supplied was a different passwords for different levels of back-breaking 21in monster: a flat screen access). and good contrast were its strong One of the most interesting new fea- points; its lack of controls were crobat is one of the few packages driver, specify a filename and it creates a tures in Acrobat 2.0 is the ability to create he Dimension XPS P120c is only the weaker ones (only horizontal Awhich created a new product PDF file. This provides a more limited hyperlinks within documents. You can Tthe third 120MHz Pentium we’ve and vertical size and positioning, category when it was launched. Adobe number of options and may result in draw a rectangular box around any fea- come across (see the Viglen/Gate- with degauss). But those who are had started with PostScript, the leading larger files than the Distiller produces. ture on a page and when people click in way shoot-out, in PCW’s May issue, serious enough to consider image platform-independent way to print, and in Users with a large number of existing that box, it will either go to another area for information on the other two). quality and are prepared to shell retrospect it was only a matter of time non-PostScript document files will find of the document or open a different one This is still a cutting-edge technol- out the money for a 21in monitor, before it produced the first mainstream the job of batch translation has not been altogether. It can even be used with a ogy and in fact our review model will probably want to choose the product designed to enable information improved in version 2. The printer driver new plug-in (in beta testing at the time was a prototype. Although the brand. distribution in purely digital form. insists on being given a filename by the PCW went to press) to link to an Acrobat 120MHz is Intel’s fastest x86-com- Unfortunately, this machine did At the time of Acrobat’s launch, the user, so it is not possible to set your word file on the Internet via the World Wide patible chip yet, NexGen, manufac- not complete the NSTL tests, col- biggest drawback to its acceptance was processor or DTP program going Web. But the feature has a few turer of the P90-compatible Nx586, lapsing under WordPerfect for the fact that no component of it was avail- overnight to print multiple documents to limitations: links cannot be labelled, so is rumoured to soon be launching Windows. Because it is a pre- able free of charge. As a result, everyone PDF format. You can’t edit the file that unless your original document has text in an equivalent to the Pentium 120. release system with a new likely to use an Acrobat document had to results, either, but you can copy format- it called “link to marketing document The standard-sized tower case is motherboard chipset (and thus a buy a copy of the reader software — ted text or pictures from it into other doc- here” or something similar, they can be easy to release with a thumbscrew new BIOS), this is understandable sharing Acrobat documents with people uments and now in version 2 you can difficult to set up. Links to external docu- at the back, and inside there is a although rather a shame. outside a company would be next to use OLE 2 to embed the whole file. In ments are not dynamic, so if the linked standard array of peripherals. The Certainly from a subjective view- impossible. Fortunately, Adobe quickly version 1, you were able to add “sticky file moves, the link will break. motherboard takes up the bottom point, just playing around with the spotted the error of its ways and allowed notes” to the file: the handling of these The initial version of Acrobat half of the case, with four ISA and system, it seemed an amazingly a limited version of its reader to be made has been improved in version 2 and you contained a simple “find” function to four PCI slots (one shared). One of fast computer. Under File public. This allows reading, copying and can consolidate all the notes about a locate text within a file, but clearly this the former is taken up with a Sound- Manager I searched for *.* across printing of documents but little else. document, automatically, into a separate needed enhancement if users were going Blaster 16 card, and one of the latter with three clock cycles and the following reads all directories from the root down (of Acrobat normally works by saving Acrobat document. Notes can be labelled to use Acrobat as the main storage a Number 9 Imagine 128 with 4Mb of take two) it typically has a 3-1-1-1 pattern. which there were quite a few) and the layout information, compressing any pic- and coloured to make it more obvious mechanism for documents. Acrobat VRAM. The maximum resolution with this It is able to do this through being clocked results came back within two or three tures in a document using standard algo- who is making contributions (users of the Search in version 2.0 is a feature specification is 1600 x 1280 in 256 and therefore operating synchronously seconds; the fastest I’ve experienced. rithms, and substituting special “multiple free Reader can’t make annotations). licensed from Verity, a company special- colours non-interlaced, or it can achieve with the processor. Mode 4 PIO timings Although this particular operation covers master” fonts for those in the document. The first version of Acrobat allowed ising in text search engines. It is an 1024 x 768 in 16m colours (24-bit) at are another feature of the Triton chipset, only hard disk performance, this These special fonts are designed to you to password protect a document, but indexing tool which allows some users to 100Hz. It is also expandable to 8Mb for allowing, in theory at least, up to reflected the machine’s very high internal match as closely as possible the size and the new version offers more flexibility — search indexes which span several PDF real power users who want true colour at 16Mb/sec transfer from the integrated specification. shape of the originals for which they are files using a variety 1600 x 1280. bus-mastering EIDE controller. PCI The price of the unit, as supplied, is substitutes. The resulting file can be sent of criteria, and is The motherboard itself is a new bridge support is the other high-spec £3,359. With a 15in monitor instead of the anywhere as a 7-bit ASCII file and can be one of the most design, being an Intel Triton chipset on component in the chipset, providing more 21in supplied, the cost would be £2444 read on Mac, Windows, even DOS and powerful such tools an Aladdin board. The chipset consists of efficient data transfer between the 32-bit which is not at all a bad price for a system some Unix machines. Because of the we have seen, four chips to control the system memory, PCI bus and the 16-bit ISA bus. of this quality that includes a quad-speed size and sophistication of Acrobat’s soft- although it doesn’t the data path bus, and the I/O bus. It has The PSU is situated at the top left of CD-ROM drive, a 1Gb hard disk and an ware, users cannot create self-viewing always work as been designed specifically with the Pen- the case and there are two spaces for Imagine 128 PCI graphics card. No doubt documents, with the viewer embedded in expected. It can tium in mind, and has advanced features hard drives by its side, one of which is this system will appeal more to the the file. handle “stemming” which will eventually become the norm. filled with a 1Gb Western Digital Caviar corporate user, who should probably also Portable Document Format (PDF) (search for “run” and The main features of the Aladdin 3100 hard drive. This is connected to the consider Compaq’s excellent revamped documents can be created in two ways. it can find “running” board are: support for EDO memory (of onboard EIDE interface on the PCI bus. range of DeskPro XLs for ease of The “professional” way is to use a Post- as well); there is a which 16Mb is supplied); and for pipeline At the top right are the bays for drives that network usage. But as a standalone Script printer driver and save the results thesaurus (search burst SRAM on the motherboard-level need access to the front of the case: system, this looks like a very good deal. to a file, then use Adobe Distiller to cache (of which there was 256kb on the there are three 5.25in bays and one 3.5in. process it. Distiller is part of Acrobat Pro, test model, but shipping versions will The top bay is unusually filled with a com- PCW Verdict which costs £485 and is designed to work have 512kb). The former is a slight modi- bination 5.25in and 3.5in floppy drive, and unattended. Just drop a PostScript file Another fine product from the Dell range. fication to standard fast page mode RAM, the one directly below has the quad- into the “in” box and Distiller will analyse The Verity search Just make sure there is 100 percent com- but with an average reduction of wait speed IDE CD-ROM drive; an NEC 271. it and create a PDF file in the “out” box. engine in Acrobat patibility in the release version. states from three to two. Pipeline burst It’s a shame that such a high specification For individual users, the “quick and dirty” 2.0 offers a variety cache is much like an ordinary (asynchro- machine has been fitted with a cheap IDE Price £3,359 (£2,444 with a 15in monitor) way is to use the PDF Writer, a printer of powerful ways to Contact Dell Computer Corporation nous) cache, except that instead of a 3-2- CD-ROM drive together with its associ- driver in Windows or the Mac. This is find the document 01344 860456. Fax 01344 860187 2-2 pattern of reads (where the first takes ated problems (see page 438 of PCW more straightforward: print using the you seek

402 403 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

for “destroy” and it can find “remove” as To create an index, you need to buy index: anyone wishing to distribute a lot well); and it has a rather erratic “sounds Acrobat for Workgroups, which costs of Acrobat-format data and planning to like” feature (“create” sounds like “card” £1,300 and comes with Acrobat Distiller provide an index will need to buy a according to this). Rather than letting it and 250 licences for Exchange (the full license to distribute “Exchange LE” (a suggest substitutions manually, it is bet- reader and writer software). Users of the Reader which can also handle searches). ter to use Word Assistant to display sug- free Reader won’t be able to use an The “Acrobatting” of corporate infor- gestions for keywords. Searches will mation will not be complete until tons of display a list of matching documents in The hypertext link feature will allow paper documents are turned into PDFs. rough order of relevance and you can you to link your Acrobat document Fortunately, that day is approaching: add additional keywords to narrow down with others across the Internet Adobe Capture, which we intend to the searches even further. review next month, is supposed to allow users to scan in paper documents and automatically turn them into PDFs.

PCW Verdict The new version of Acrobat Exchange adds vital features for group working and docu- ment management, but still needs improve- ment before it will replace paper altogether. Price Acrobat Exchange £160, Acrobat Pro £485 (includes Distiller), Acrobat for Work- groups £1,300 (includes Catalogue, Distiller and a 250-user Exchange license) Contact Adobe UK 0181 606 4000. Fax 0181 606 4004

HARDWARE Plextor PX-63CS Six-Speed CD-ROM drive

In the race for CD-ROM performance, Plextor is the latest the external version, is available for £571. contender to be in pole position on the grid. Gordon Laing Both drives are SCSI-2 devices but sup- takes this fast CD-ROM drive for a spin. plied without a SCSI card. Anybody who thinks that one CD- ROM drive is the same as any other ast April, PCW published a group is unaware of several factors, one Ltest of CD-ROM drives. We wanted of which is clearly performance; to cover doubles, triples and quad two figures are typically mea- speeds but discovered that the vast sured and quoted. The first majority of manufacturers had aban- figure is average access doned the slower drives in favour of time, measured in mil- quad. So did this mean that all CD-ROM liseconds, which repre- drives would be expensive? No way. With sents how fast the the acceptance of IDE as the bus to use drive’s head can at the budget end, the cost of such quad access a speeds has plummeted to around £150. requested piece So what is the new high end of the of information. market for CD-ROM? As quad speed The second becomes the budget standard, we now have to rely entirely on Plextor to push forward CD performance by releasing what many manufacturers have left on the lab bench: not yet eight-speed, but nevertheless a highly respectable six- speed drive. We looked at the internal model, costing £420. An identical drive, in

404 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

figure is sustained data transfer rate, found that the latter variety, in particular, sentative said the market isn’t ready and measured in per second, and mercilessly hammered the processor. If doesn’t yet need faster than quad speed. represents the typical throughput of infor- such news can be described as good, the But then, this was the company that mation. They’re the same measurements Plextor Six-Speed was no worse than any released quad speed about two years as applied to hard disks, but usually sig- of the quad IDEs and SCSIs we tested — before anyone else even thought about it. nificantly slower. and initially, this was on an Adaptec 1510 So the next units down the line in this part Compact discs started out as carriers ISA budget SCSI controller. Switching to of the market are the (slightly above aver- of digital audio. When CD-ROM was first a bus mastering Adaptec 2940 PCI SCSI age) 4.4 times speed SCSI drives, avail- introduced, the data transfer rate was the card significantly improved the results. able right now from Toshiba and Pioneer. same as for CD digital audio. Surprising Physically, one internal CD-ROM drive The former scored highest in the PCW as it may seem, this rate was (and still is looks pretty much like any other and this April group test and the latter is reviewed for audio) a paltry 150kb/sec; also known Plextor isn’t much different: like most in next month’s First Impressions. Both as single speed. With improved disc han- pioneering high performance CD-ROM sustain 670kb/sec, and Pioneer quotes a dling, error correction and general raising drives, it’s a caddy loading device. There price of only £220. of quality control, it became possible to are two audio transport control buttons at But you make the choice: Plextor’s spin the disc at twice the speed, resulting the front, the usual Walkman-sized head- Six-Speed is currently the fastest CD- in a transfer rate of 300kb/sec; known as phone jack, and a rotary volume dial. Of ROM drive available, and in use it simply double speed. course, you’ll need a spare 5.25in drive flew: opening big Photo CD files — no Guess what? Quad speed spins at bay to slot it into. problem; zipping through databases and four times normal; a rate of around Plextor’s manuals are always amus- encyclopedias, circle elements, CD ver- 600kb/sec. Sounds almost good until you ing, although I’m certain this can’t be sions of games — all brilliant. And it is, of put it into perspective: your basic IDE deliberate. Each section is headed by a course, White Book and multi-session hard drive will achieve between 1Mb/sec box containing three statements: your compatible. But if you can’t afford the and 1.5Mb/sec; and remember how task; your objective; and your method, very reasonable price, you’ll still get fabu- infuriatingly slow your floppy drive is? below which is a wad of helpful text. It’s lous performance out of the recent 4.4 x Well, that’s doing around 150kb/sec. In always better to have more help than no SCSI drives from Pioneer and Toshiba. theory, Plextor’s Six-Speed should turn in help at all but the first page, describing a rate of around 900kb/sec — fast transportation, is perhaps a little too approaching the transfer rates of low end much. Your task: save your box. Your hard disks. objective: have a secure container in And the good news? Our lab results which to ship your drive back to Plextor if PCW Verdict measured the Plextor’s sequential trans- necessary. Your method: find an empty It’s official. The fastest CD-ROM drive we fer at just under a mighty megabyte per space in your home or office — fill it with have ever tested, boasting a transfer rate of second (910kb/sec). Random access the Plextor box. Hmmm... just under 1Mb/sec; not far off the results were very strong too. One aspect When you consider the price of SCSI performance of an average hard disk. If you feel the need for speed, this must be your that few labs test is the hit on the proces- quad speed only a year ago, the Plextor only choice. sor — the amount of strain a peripheral, Six-Speed represents remarkable value such as a CD-ROM drive, puts on your for money and is indeed a totally unique Price £420 internal, £571 external precious chip. Our labs tested a number product. I quizzed Pioneer (a company Contact Tekdata 01782 577677. Fax 01782 823881 of CD-ROM drives, connected through which, as its name suggests, is at the SCSI, IDE and sound card interfaces. We cutting edge of technology) but a repre-

SOFTWARE Microsoft Project 4.0 for Macintosh

The latest version of this software aims to bring the art of project management within reach of the non-specialist. Cliff Joseph tries it out.

Project 4.0’s roject management programs have main view is a Pnever enjoyed the mass-market Gantt chart that acceptance of word processors and combines a task spreadsheets, largely because the jargon list and a graphi- is only understood by people who have cal time-line for had special training in that field. But the entire project

406 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Microsoft is attempting to change all that with version 4.0 of Project. The focus of this upgrade (which although still in beta version is nevertheless stable and fast) is on usability to make the program accessible to anyone who needs to plan projects and meet deadlines. The first step in the development was to modify the program’s interface: Project 4.0 uses the same toolbars as other MS Office products, so anyone who has used Word, Excel or PowerPoint will recognise many of the features provided by Project. Other Office features, such as sup- port for OLE 2.0, have been added as well so you can drag and drop information from Word or Excel straight into Project, and even embed objects such as QuickTime movies into the program. The main view that is presented when you launch the program is of a Gantt chart — a split screen dis- play that contains a list of tasks down one management experience to make sense The same project (see previous page) side of the screen, and a graphical time- of the Pert chart, but the calendar view is can also be viewed in other ways, such line (that looks like an office year planner) much simpler to understand. Even so, the as the new Calendar view added to this on the other. latter can get pretty cluttered if you’ve got version The task list is a cross between an a lot of tasks to cram into a relatively short outliner and a spreadsheet: you enter time scale. information, such as the name of the task The key to mastering Project is the ings, will certainly benefit from Project’s itself and its start and end dates, into toolbar, as it allows you to call up versatility. However, there are lots of peo- cells similar to those on a spreadsheet. additional sets of tools that can be used ple whose daily workload consists of The tasks can be grouped into headings to manage different aspects of a project. many small, often unrelated tasks rather and sub-headings, and then collapsed or These can be used to track the progress than a single large project. These people expanded to show different levels of of your work, marking the percentage of would probably get all the help they need detail as required. tasks completed, or to assign resources from the To Do list of a decent personal As you fill out the task list, each task is (such as members of staff) to specific information manager — and at half the automatically added to the graphical view tasks. Additional options, such as cost price. Personally I’m a great fan of on the other side of the screen. Tasks are listings and report printing, are also avail- Symantec’s outliner, More III, and I can’t placed in their correct time slots and able at the click of a button. see Project usurping More when it comes shown with any relevant links to others. If Microsoft’s IntelliSense technology has to helping me manage my work. you’re uncertain how to proceed at any been used to provide the program with a That’s not to say that Project 4.0 is a time, you can now call up Cue Cards, degree of intelligence. If two or more poor project management program: on which provide an interactive tutorial, to tasks are linked so that one must be com- the contrary, it’s very good at what it guide you through the various stages of pleted before the others can begin, the does. But despite Microsoft’s attempts to planning a project. You’re given a lot of Planning Wizard will automatically warn widen the program’s appeal, its features flexibility to modify a project as you can you whenever you make any changes to still seem more suited to projects involv- alter details either by using the keyboard one task that might affect the others. If ing tasks spread over several weeks, to edit the task list, or by dragging the you still want to make those changes, the rather than the daily mish-mash of small tasks around the chart using the mouse. Wizard will adjust the schedule accord- tasks with which most of us have to cope. Like Excel, Project includes a wizard ingly, altering dates and moving tasks that can be used to guide you through around as required. the process of creating different types of All these features do achieve the PCW Verdict charts. If you’re not used to Gantt charts desired result, which is to make Project Dedicated project management program for you can switch to either a standard 4.0 simple to use, but they don’t alter the large projects; will be too much for the more calendar view or an alternative type of fact that a dedicated project management modest everyday workload. chart, called a Pert chart, that presents program such as this will be too much for Price £350 your project as a flow chart rather than a many people. Large projects that involve Contact Microsoft 01345 002000 time-line. You’ll need some project many tasks, varied resources and cost-

408 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

HARDWARE Panther 2000

This budget priced machine performed well enough to make Nick Lawrence purr with contentment.

anther Computers should not be con- ing to NexGen’s Mar- Pfused with Carrera’s range of Panther keting Manger. computers: the former is a company in its We reviewed the own right. Founded two years ago, it 2000 inside a employs nine people and has a turnover minitower case — it is of £1.2m per annum. MD, David also available in a Hemming, says that Panther is NexGen’s desktop version, with guinea-pig in the UK and as such is build- no difference in price. ing a unique relationship, with favoured Four drive bays allow prices and technical support. room for disk expan- The Panther 2000 machine reviewed sion, and with the here has a NexGen 586 processor; a 3.5in floppy and the Aztech 2X CD-ROM with 4.29 under Windows and 4.60 under chip that has been the subject of a great drive, there is one of each kind remaining. DOS. This compares favourably with deal of controversy, for its alleged lack of An OEM version of the SoundBlaster many of the machines in our recent P90 full compatibility for 32-bit applications 16 fills one of five 16-bit ISA slots, and group test, but no doubt the 16Mb RAM and operating systems. Early PCs using one of the two VESA slots is occupied by had something to do with this (most sup- this chip were unable to utilise Photoshop a Diamond Stealth 64, 2Mb DRAM. The pliers charge around £200 for the 8Mb 3.0, due to the latter’s need for the other is taken up with a multi-purpose I/O upgrade). Having made a quick call to a Win32s extension, but this has been put card, featuring Enhanced IDE selection of the budget PC manufacturers down to troubles with the BIOS on the connections for four IDE devices (two of in PCW, we found that the next cheapest early machines. Equally early 486 chips which are used by the Quantum Maverick equivalent was around £1,800. Although — and currently Pentiums — had 540Mb hard drive and the CD-ROM some did offer minor improvements over teething troubles and it is likely that Intel drive), and support for two the system supplied here, the Panther Slower clones will also have problems and that drives. Two of the six SIMM slots are 2000 is a remarkably good deal. Even they won’t be restricted to NexGens only. filled, to make 16Mb RAM. better is the price of only £1,503 for a Certainly, the problems I had heard about The monitor is a CTX 15in FST; a Diamond Stealth 64 with VRAM instead did not occur on this machine and when I common OEM model. It is of good quality, of DRAM, 16550 UART chips on both ran PhotoShop extensively I only had one with the kind of controls you would expect serial ports, and a hard disk upgrade to a GPF that was almost certainly one of on a monitor of this type. A combination Western Digital Caviar 850Mb model. those “random” problems that pop up of the monitor and graphics card supplied Even if this particular model is not to with any application every once in a yields resolutions of up to 800 x 600 x your taste, Panther is worth watching for while. 16m with no discernible flicker, though the We have seen few NexGen PCs at latter reduces Windows resources to a Labs Report PCW and it is worth looking into the exact quivering wreck. Performance Graph nature of the chip. NexGen is a company With a system this cheap, however, which makes clones of Intel’s x86 range there are drawbacks: there is VESA local Panther 2000 of processors. The Nx586, as its rival to bus instead of PCI, and a lack of speak- 4.60 the Pentium is called, differs in that the ers — although are supplied 90MHz version really runs at 83MHz and instead and 80-watt speakers are an 4.29 has no floating point processor as the optional extra for £30. The Nx586, in 4.01 Intel chips do. It is therefore slower than a place of a Pentium, results in less speed Pentium 90, particularly for applications but this is not too serious and in general 3 4 5 Faster that can use a maths co-processor, but use seemed no slower than a Pentium 90 DOS Windows Overall makes for good value among the lower- with applications that do not use the co- end machines. Its main feature is cost: processor. Only the need for a co-proces- PCW Verdict although new chip pricing for Q2 hadn’t sor and/or a mistrust of Intel clones in yet come into effect when the system was general, or NexGen in particular, would A great deal for those who want good speed and multimedia at a rock-bottom price. supplied, by the time you read this, Intel encourage the average user go for a P90s will have dropped from $546 to product with Intel inside. Price £1,470 $377, and Nx586s from $399 to “around Performance was very respectable, Contact Panther Computers 20% less than the current price,” accord- turning in an NSTL score of 4.01 overall, 01442 253811. Fax 01442 250657

412 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

HARDWARE 768 at 80Hz. The XP range also comes with Monitor Manager Software which lets you customise and store an unlimited NEC monitors number of monitor settings. Calibration with colour printers is provided by the Colorific Color Enhancement System. A top-quality monitor does not have to be based around a Adjusting either monitor is a cinch. Press- Trinitron tube, as the new NEC range proves. Ben Tisdall ing the curiously named “proceed” button describes his viewing pleasure. on the front of the monitor brings up a menu (see photograph) which allows you to adjust size, position and basic and EC has revamped its entire monitor it’s fast becoming the NEC standard for advanced geometry. It also allows you to Nrange into three ranges all incorporat- monitor-to-system communication, as no move the menu itself around the screen, ing plug and play: the budget XV range, other manufacturers have yet produced though why anyone would want to do this the intermediate XE and the professional any access.bus devices. NEC has appar- beats me. XP range. Prices start from just over ently consulted Microsoft over the new Round the back of the XP17 is the £300 for the 14in MultiSync 2V to two and standard, and the standard itself was access.bus connector, which looks like a a half thousand for the 21in professional developed by DEC and Philips. Compaq, phone socket, a set of BNC connectors model. I tried out two 17in models: the Dell, IBM and Logitech are among the and both PC and Mac D-SUBs. These MultiSync XP17 at £1,299 and the mid- companies expected to start shipping mean you can have your monitor range MultiSync XE17 for £989. access.bus compatible devices and sys- connected to two PCs, perhaps a desk- All the new models use NEC’s tems by the end of the year. Access.bus top and a notebook or a Mac and a PC, Opticlear surface which, as NEC claims, also aims to simplify the business of link- and switch between the two. The cheaper does virtually eliminate glare. All comply ing devices to your PC. For example, you XV lacks the Access.bus or the BNC con- with European power management stan- could put your system under your desk nectors and has a single captive lead with dards. The plug and play support means and plug your keyboard into your monitor a standard VGA D-SUB connector on the that your system can automatically iden- and your mouse into your keyboard — end. tify and configure the monitor attached to something like a sophisticated version of Both monitors passed all the standard it, provided your system is fully plug-and- Apple’s ADB. benchmarks of monitor performance with play compatible. The top of the range XP So what else do you get for the extra flying colours. At their top resolutions the monitors also use Access.bus which is, to three hundred pounds that separates the screen images were pin sharp, which quote the manual, “fast becoming the two models? The XP17 supports a means that the three electron guns were industry standard for device communica- higher vertical refresh rate of up to 76Hz hitting the spot and eliminating what are tion” for monitors, keyboards and mice, at its highest resolution of 1280 x 1024. known as convergence problems. Image and the system. Well, so far it seems that The XV and XE can only manage 1024 x geometry was also good with straight edges to the whole image and black screen borders which could be cut down to just a few millimetres. Contrast was good, colours were bright. In short, both monitors demonstrate that a top quality monitor doesn’t have to be based around a Trinitron tube.

PCW Verdict NEC has got just about everything right with its latest range of monitors and I was sorry to see the XP17 go. At £1,299 list though, it’s fast approaching cheap 20 inchers. Prices MultiSync XV Value Series: 15in £399 17in £799 MultiSync XP Professional Series: 17in £1,299 21in £2,499 MultiSync XE Efficiency Series: 15in £559 17in £989 21in £1,899 Contact NEC 0181 993 8111. Fax 0181 992 7161

415 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

SOFTWARE Dean Database for Windows

Paul Begg doesn’t like databases, so he seemed just the or press F10. person to try out Dean Database for Windows. And guess The database is fairly basic, data entry what? He liked it! being on the right of the screen and a list of entries given on the left; but there are some fairly sophisticated tricks behind the simple remember the first time façade. II saw a fully-featured A Find Globally option database. It baffled me available from the Find menu completely. That was in is used to find a piece of data the antediluvian days anywhere in any field of any when Windows was but record. In other words, if you a gleam in Bill Gates’ are looking for London and eye, and since then I’ve don’t know where it is, just not only gained more use the Find Globally option experience but and Dean Database will databases have become search for any occurrence of easier to use. Neverthe- the word London and display less, I continue to have the first one it finds. You can this deep psychological use the Find Next and Find fear of databases — a Last buttons to look for any feeling similar to the one other valid records. Or you I have about dentists. can search by giving Anything that claims to conditions such as less than make starting a database or greater than, or by search- easy is therefore a Good Thing in my Fear of databases? Dean Database ing within a specified criteria such as opinion, rather like anything that makes a helped Paul Begg overcome his between specified dates. And there’s a filling painless. Quick Find feature. Dean Database for Windows is the Dean Database for Windows offers flagship product of Dean Software’s new menu or select the New File button on some pretty nifty printing features. Load & Go range of software, and Dean the Open a Dean Database screen, then There’s a label printing facility which lets say it’s so easy you’ll be up and running name the file (for example, “Books”). you select your own label style and in under 90 seconds from opening the There are a couple of minor details, such design and print one or more labels, plus package. as selecting a drive and directory which you can designate the font and size. A I’m not sure I agree with the 90 is easiest achieved by accepting the simple letter production facility lets you seconds, but installation certainly isn’t a defaults. Then you give the file a descrip- take data from one or more records in a slouch and the database was indeed up tion, choose an icon from the selection file and insert it into a letter. You can copy and running quite quickly — though I provided, and choose how many pages the information to the clipboard or use the must say the Help screens ran like glue you want. One page equals ten fields, so Export Data function on the Advanced and seemed a little buggy (I couldn’t you can have up to nine pages/ninety Menu to transfer data to a word proces- switch from the Help screen to my word fields. Then click on OK. It’s that simple. sor. Best of all, you can produce Reports. processor without minimising the Help I was going to say almost that simple, This is simply a list of pre-selected fields screen first, for example). because you have to name the fields. with, if required, column totals. Once you Dean Database for Windows is other- But Dean Database for Windows does have defined the report, you can print all wise a fast, flat-file database which not force you to do this. It is pretty essen- or a selection of records. includes 90 fields per record and 99,000 tial, however, and I would strongly advise As I say, Dean Database for Windows records in a file. And frankly, I didn’t like it it. The Change Field Names option in grew on me. If you have simple database at first. After a while, though, it began to the Layout menu allows you to name or needs, it’s worth looking at and is at an grow on me, so much so that I began to rename the fields. You simply type in the affordable price. seriously consider using it for various little name of the field — or the new name if record-keeping jobs I do. Certainly it you are changing a name — in the boxes PCW Verdict made a very serviceable address book displayed on the lefthand side of the Affordable, easy to use, good for basic and would handle a record of my video screen. If for some reason you decide record keeping jobs. tapes and books: there’s even a long field not to carry on, you can abort the opera- Price £49 (inc VAT) for making fairly extensive notes. tion and abandon changes by simply Contact Dean Software 01594 544588. Creating a new database is easy. You clicking on Cancel or pressing the Esc Fax 01594 542643 first select Create New File from the File key. To save the changes, click on OK

417 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

HARDWARE Kamco Picasso

For a totally customised system without the trouble of putting it together yourself, Picasso might be the answer. Chris Cain assesses whether or not Kamco has got it down to a fine art.

amco is based entirely in the UK and to this on the review Kspecialises in supplying highly model, together with customisable PCs direct. Its machines a high performance are available in various sizes, offer seem- Adaptec PCI 2940 ingly infinite RAM, video and storage SCSI controller. One options, and customers are free to mix notch down from the and match components to suit their pock- top-of-the-range 2940W version, ets. The company’s most expandable this card offers one internal and one product is the Picasso, designed specifi- external 8-bit interface and supports up to were some video CDs too for testing the cally with the power user in mind. seven SCSI devices. Its custom MPEG option (although these are not Supplied in a cube case measuring PhaseEngine technology can deliver data supplied as standard). The unit did 340 x 440 x 340mm, the Picasso could rates between 3Mb and 10Mb per second extremely well in the VNU Labs tests easily be mistaken at first sight for a depending on your setup. The 2940 was and scored an outstanding 5.75 under small fridge. The overall build quality is connected to a 2Gb Seagate hard disk, a Windows routines and a healthy 5.31 solid and the casing looks as if it could Toshiba quad speed CD-ROM drive and overall figure. easily take the knocks of day-to-day an HP 35480A DAT drive. A Picasso with the configuration sup- usage. A DAT drive is ideal for backing up plied here will set you back £6,999. A top- Our review model was supplied with a large quantities of data, especially on a of-the-range version costs approximately Cherry Softouch 102 keyboard and a network, and can store approximately £9,300, and a low end expandable basic Sony 17in SE Trinitron monitor. It is capa- 8Gb on a single 90 minute cassette. HP specification model is priced at around ble of displaying a maximum resolution of claims a maximum of 11Mb/sec sustained £3,400. These figures are guidelines only 1280 x 1024 pixels at 74Hz and offers a data transfer rate to and from the tape. — the prices obviously vary according to pin sharp picture. It worked well with all The video in our machine was handled specification. All machines carry a one graphics modes tested. Should the pic- by a VideoLogic PCI Movie. The Weitek year on-site warranty. ture need adjusting, a full set of easy-to- 9100-based board is a great all-round If you want a totally customised sys- use controls at the bottom of the display solution and supplies SVGA resolution up tem without the hassle of putting it allows you to correct it from just about to 1280 x 1024, and improved AVI play- together yourself and you don’t mind any angle. Kamco also offers a range of back in Video for Windows applications. It spending that little bit more, then Kamco Idek monitors with its systems, but once provides a VESA Media Channel connec- you’ve seen the Sony you probably won’t tor, to which a VideoLogic MPEG adaptor Labs Report want anything else. was fitted on our review machine. This Performance Graph Our machine was built around a allows the Picasso to play White Book 90MHz Pentium motherboard, with three Video CDs and any PC software with Panther 2000 PCI and five full length ISA slots. Only MPEG1 video sequences. 5.57 four of the latter were accessible, but the Setting up the Kamco ready for use 5.75 test configuration had both a PCI and an took no more than five minutes, with most ISA slot spare for future use. of this time spent plugging cables into 5.31 Along with 16Mb of RAM and a hefty appropriate connectors. Both Windows 3 4 5 Faster 250-watt PSU, the Kamco was fitted with and OS/2 Warp were installed, and DOS Windows Overall a Creative Labs AWE-32 sound card. An switching between them was just a matter expandable WaveTable synthesiser of rebooting and selecting from the OS/2 delivers excellent sound and is a current boot manager. PCW Verdict favourite with multimedia authors, PC The PC came with a good selection of A well made, if expensive, customisable musicians and games players. Creative pre-installed applications including: the solution. Labs bundles a range of utilities and PCW award-winning Microsoft Office 4.2; Price £6,999 (for review specification) demos with the hardware which shows Encarta 95; WinFax Pro from Delrina; Contact Kamco 01734 820088. off its capabilities. Systos backup software; and a whole raft Fax 01734 810969 A 28.800 internal faxmodem sat next of programs from Creative Labs. There

420 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

SOFTWARE Overture for the Mac

Ian Waugh composes his thoughts to bring you his impressions of Opcode’s dedicated score writer with a Allotment Tables and Beat Charts which wealth of features. are used to set the amount of horizontal space used by the notes. You may not need to use these but it’s nice to know they’re there. uring the past few years, sequencers are various functions to realign notes and There are a dozen tool and symbol Dhave not only become increasingly adjust the bars should you make a pig’s palettes which you can tear off and place powerful but more complex as well. Many ear of it. Dig a little deeper and you’ll find anywhere on the screen. You can also now include sophisticated scoring facili- ties and most users find these quite ade- quate for their printing jobs. However, if your main requirement is to produce scores rather than MIDI sequences, you may find you need a more flexible solu- tion such as a dedicated score writer like Overture. The manual says the minimum requirements are a 68020-based Mac, System 7.0 or later, 2Mb of RAM and 2.5Mb of hard disk space. But let’s be sensible: there’s a lot of graphics work here so you need a fast Mac and you’ll need at least 4Mb of RAM, preferably more. A large colour monitor is nice but not essential. Copy-protection uses a hard disk authorisation system and you get two installs. Opcode sets out to make operation easy and succeeds remarkably well. There are three excellent manuals which will get you up and running and entering a score in no time at all. Once you’re familiar with the basic functions, you’ll find the interface quite friendly. That’s not to say that it’s completely plug-in-and-go: the program has a wealth of features, so give yourself a while to check them out. You can enter notes by clicking them into the score with the mouse or from a MIDI keyboard in real-time or step-time. You can also import MIDI files. All meth- ods work very well, particularly if you activate the Auto Position function which automatically places the notes in the correct position in the bar. You can move them afterwards if you wish, and there

Top Overture’s score window with the track list and some detachable palettes Right Overture’s score window, graphics editor and chord input window

422 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

select note durations, for example, from by the program. There is a grid editor and a controller the Mac’s keyboard and this further There is no problem if you want to editor should you wish to tweak the MIDI speeds up note entry. The palettes write a lead sheet: play a chord on a data. The MIDI facilities aren’t as compre- include all major music symbols as well MIDI keyboard and the program will hensive as a dedicated sequencer — as ornaments, articulations, dynamics, analyse it and put the name above the which is fair and to be expected — but bar lines, alternate note heads, tablature bar. There’s a chord library containing they provide good control over the music and note groupings. You can import PICT some horrendously complex chords output. You can export the score as a files to create your own symbols, too. You which you can drag to the score as MIDI file if you want to tweak it in a dedi- can insert text and there’s a dedicated required. The program uses the Aloisen cated sequencer. lyrics editor available which makes it easy font for the music and the printout on a Inevitably with such a large program, to align the words with the notes. laser printer is excellent. You can save there are niggles, but these are few and Anything you insert can be easily part of the score as a PICT or EPS file to limited to minor items. They don’t detract adjusted. When you move the mouse export to other programs. from what is a most accomplished pointer over a symbol, the pointer So far, we have a pretty comprehen- program; enjoyable, easy to use, and well changes to a drag cursor which can be sive score writer but Overture handles suited to the production and printing of used to move the object. MIDI playback well, too. It can link with high quality music scores. The program is supplied with 15 tem- the Opcode MIDI System which is sup- plates for brass, ensemble, vocal and plied (along with a very detailed manual) orchestral scores although it’s fairly easy and with which many sequencers are PCW Verdict to create your own. Each stave can sup- now compatible. You can assign each A comprehensive score writer with lots of port up to eight voices which you can stave (and even each voice in a stave) to nice touches and a pretty intuitive interface. It either edit individually, or all together. a MIDI channel, a program change num- has good MIDI facilities for both recording Before printing, Overture can check ber, and a volume level. and playback. If scores are more important to whether or not all the bars have a full A particularly interesting point is that you than MIDI sequences, I think you’ll like it. compliment of notes and will notice if any MIDI playback follows music instructions Price £449.95 parts contain notes beyond the range of such as the dynamic markings, Contact MCMXCIX 0171 723 7221. the instruments for which they have been ornaments and trills. Some instructions Fax 0171 262 8215 written. The parts written for transposing are ignored but perhaps they will be instruments are automatically transposed included in the next update.

SOFTWARE TeleMagic for Windows 1.05

Keeping tabs on your contacts can seem like a full-time beyond the understanding of mere occupation without a good contacts manager. Paul Begg has mortals. TeleMagic falls between these been looking at the latest version of Sage’s TeleMagic. extremes, veering towards the latter. TeleMagic isn’t out-of-the-box usable. You’ll need to sit with the manuals, which age is best known for its accounts cards. Others are very complicated, include a 200-page Quickstart Guide Ssoftware, but some years ago the some being so sophisticated as to be and a Master Reference manual that company recognised the potential of con- tacts management as a not particularly obvious related add-on and in 1993 TeleMagic is bought Remote Control International, a an impressive California-based company which had piece of soft- authored a contacts manager called ware that will TeleMagic. provide sales- A contacts manager is a database people in designed to record information about particular with people and the companies for which they full customer work, as well as keeping track of all one’s histories at dealings with them — that includes their fingertips appointments, meetings, phone calls, letters, and assorted information that you might want to have to hand, such as price lists. There are several contact managers available. Some are very simple comput- erised versions of a Filofax or rolodex

425 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

runs to over 500 pages. One reason for The Activity Manager is fully integrated have to manually dial the number, but this complexity is that TeleMagic is with the Contact Manager database, clicking on “Dial” while dialling will link the highly customisable. You can get it to which means that meetings, calls to your schedule, store information in almost any way you appointments, and to-dos with your con- Installation was painless. The seven want. You can even include the company tacts are automatically transferred to your disks and hefty documentation are safely logos of your clients. diary and updated. Calendars come in stored in a sturdy slip case. TeleMagic If you’ve never heard of TeleMagic, daily, weekly and monthly views and requires Windows 3.1 or later (it seemed don’t worry. In my opinion it lacked the there’s a separate to-do list manager. to work well under a beta of Windows attractive ease of use of Act! and the So much for what TeleMagic is. Exist- 95), but otherwise demands quite a high multi-functionality of Tracker, two of the ing users will be most interested in what specification machine — a 486SX and competitors in TeleMagic’s price range. this new upgrade has to offer. The 8Mb RAM. The Network version will run However, TeleMagic is distinguished answer is: nothing of massive on any NetBIOS system. A DOS version from the competition by being designed significance. But this is not to say that this is available. with salespeople in mind, particularly isn’t a significant upgrade. It is jam Overall, while I value TeleMagic’s telesales people. This makes TeleMagic packed with user wants! customisability, and its power is impres- ideal for people who make all or most of The primary introductions are seam- sive, I still feel that a contacts manager their contact work from their desk and less links to Sage Sterling Accounts, and must have out-of-the-box usability. want a full customer history at their improved word processing support for TeleMagic isn’t immediately easy to use, fingertips with a keystroke or two. mailmerge using Microsoft Word, Lotus which perhaps wouldn’t be such a prob- TeleMagic combines the two main Ami Pro and WordPerfect 6.1. There’s a lem if the product was less expensive. areas of contact management, a contact much needed Activity Browse screen This said, it is a very impressive piece of database and an activity manager (in which lets you review completed and/or software that will almost certainly handle simple terms, a glorified address book uncompleted activities, and Quick Report anything you can throw at it. Existing and appointments diary), with word gives you speedy access to information users might have wished for some “light processing links and report generation. needed for individual customer analysis. up the sky” features, but should be very The Contacts Manager Database is a Finally, there’s a system for internal happy with the large number of three-level relational database. This electronic mail. enhancements. enables you hold in a single record the Other changes are largely cosmetic, details of multiple contacts: for example, though existing users will find some when you may deal with various people changes to previous versions. within a single company; somebody in The Contact Manager has undergone PCW Verdict sales, somebody else in accounts, some- some interface changes and there’s a A powerful contact manager with a hefty times the MD, and so on. simplified Goto screen with additional fea- price tag, but if your business depends on How you choose to record information tures such as the ability to change data- your contacts it is certainly worth taking a and what you choose to record is largely bases on the fly. The Activity Manager serious look at. up to you. You can add or delete fields, has a few changes too. A status bar has Price £595 (the DOS versions are TeleMagic change their order, design new screens been introduced telling you the name of and TeleMagic Professional costing £299 of information, record and date stamp all the current open database and informing and £595 respectively) business activities, and automatically you who the current user is. If you don’t Contact Sage UK 0191 201 3000. transfer commitments to the activity have a modem and therefore can’t use Fax 0191 201 0308 manager. You can also attach external the automatic dialling feature, you can letters, spreadsheets and graphics using now select “none” when choosing a com- OLE (Object Linking and Embedding). munications port. This means you will still

HARDWARE Maxtor MobileMax PCMCIA hard drive

This tiny package holds four disks, together storing 171Mb of data. It’s an impressive technical achievement, says Simon Rockman, but at a price.

he idea that you can get a hard drive around. Inside this tiny box are four tiny Tinto a space no bigger than a credit disks spinning at 4464rpm. The intricacy lot weighs only 65g yet it will store card and 10.5mm thick is still, even after of construction is much greater than any- 171Mb. The best things really do come in you’ve had one for a while, something thing Fabergé dreamed of, and it’s all small packages. which takes a while to get your head done in class 10 clean rooms. The whole The only people who think that

426 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

PCMCIA works easily are those than any modem. The transfer rate who have never used it. We have to and from the PC isn’t spectacu- a variety of cards and machines lar: at 750kb/sec it isn’t up to the which pass through the labs at speed of an internal hard disk but PCW, and getting any individual it’s still better than most ways of notebook to work with any individ- transporting data. The seek times ual card is always hit and miss. — 16ms — are similarly poor by The problem usually lies in the the latest disk standards, but then, socket services. Some notebooks, this isn’t a drive for heavy use. If like those from Toshiba and Dell, you really need to thrash a seem to work with pretty much database hard on a notebook, you everything, and as manufacturers’ should use the MobileMax to move experience improves, the quality of data from machine to machine and drivers and the ease with which copy to the local hard disk. new PCMCIA devices can be Using the drive noticeably added, increases. But you often need to affected the battery life of my notebook. resort to updating the socket services or The spin-up uses 3W and idle consumes downloading new software from a bulletin need to be installed from the PCDOS 560mW, which seemed to shave about board to get a system working, so it’s disks and this leads to a lot of messing 20 minutes off the three and a half hours surprising that the MobileMax does not about. a Dell Latitude usually runs for on a come with a driver disk. Once installed, the device works charge. It is equally surprising that the manual, seamlessly. It appears to Windows as a The MobileMax is ideally suited to and the instructions on installing the card, floppy drive, albeit a 171Mb floppy, and applications where you have to do a lot of is so thin, with only generalised informa- can be inserted and removed with the presentations. 171Mb is a lot of Power- tion for most brands of card services. same forethought as a genuine floppy — point slides, with each presentation held Equally surprising is that this coped with you shouldn’t try while actually reading on a separate disk. This is of course most circumstances, the only problem something from the drive, but otherwise expensive — the drive costs £344 + VAT. being a minor memory conflict which was it’s OK. This makes it an ideal transfer rapidly identified with a call to customer medium. I wanted to move some large services. Ideally, PCMCIA should be bet- files from one notebook to another and PCW Verdict ter sorted and it would not need a call to the Maxtor drive would have been ideal if Technically stunning and easy to use, but tech support or for the config.sys to be the second machine had not been an expensive. edited, but the PC is still growing up and IBM. Price £344 needs the occasional nursemaiding. The Sending a 171Mb disk across a town Contact Maxtor 01483 747356 Available from Amber Systems situation is far more complicated if you might take an hour. This equates to 01296 311300 have an IBM ThinkPad, as the drivers nearly 400,000bps, substantially faster

SOFTWARE Specular Collage 2.0

This latest upgrade of the create complex compositions for brochures, adverts, and general graphic aptly named Collage design projects by importing those represents a significant images into Collage, just as you would improvement over the import your text into PageMaker to com- bine with graphic elements and work on previous version. Mike your layout. There are no painting tools, Collins sketches in the no colour-correction tools, and no photo details, leaving you to draw retouching tools — Collage just focuses on bitmap image assembly, and as such, your own conclusions. is a great complement to software like Photoshop. Collage handles each element on the ollage is an image composition pack- page as a separate object, so you can Cage which, loosely speaking, aims to move, add effects, or change the angle of do for Photoshop what PageMaker does one object without affecting the others. for Word. The general idea is that having You can manipulate elements directly by prepared bitmap images using your clicking and dragging on screen, or by favourite graphics software, you can then entering values numerically into the

428 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 FIRST IMPRESSIONS

Information Palette. You can easily create drop shadow or feathering effects, use masks or filters and apply various transfer methods to the images on your “canvas”. You can even vary the opacity of different elements to achieve more effective blending of one image into another. The image types supported by Collage are RGB PICTs, RGB and CMYK TIFFs, RGB and CMYK Adobe Photoshop 2.5 files — all with or without alpha channel information. Specular Infini-D and other 3D programs usually export images in PICT format, while scanners export TIFF, so all the most common Macintosh graphics file types are catered for here. The program is designed to let you work with imported images that have high resolutions, without sacrificing processing speed or using up large amounts of memory. A magazine or brochure graphic typically needs 300dpi to print a clean image, but most computer screens can only display 72dpi. For instance, a 5in x 5in 300dpi image needs 1500 x 1500 pix- els, which is more than any typical com- puter screen can display. To display such evening’s work preparing a similar The Collage user interface an image at a 1:1 ratio onscreen, its reso- example image to the one shown here. lution must be reduced enough for it to fit. Specular Collage has just been To avoid the problem, Collage produces upgraded to version 2.0, so existing users a proxy of the image and this is used for will want to know what’s new. Firstly, Table filter found on the master diskettes. on-screen work. Once you have assem- Collage 2.0 is now Power Macintosh So, a screen display in Collage can be bled a composite image to your liking, native, and runs up to 300 percent faster made to match the colours displayed in you render this to a high resolution PICT, than its 680x0 counterpart. Collage 2.0 Photoshop. There is also a new colour TIFF 6.0 or Photoshop 2.5 file. The use of ships as a fat binary application so users picker which is more intuitive and easier proxies means that operations which with either type of machine will benefit to use than Apple’s standard HSB colour might otherwise take minutes in a high- from the new changes, and users of picker and allows the user to work in resolution file, can be completed in sec- Power Macs will see a dramatic speed CMYK colour with complete precision. onds on the proxy. Additionally, you can increase. Aside from speed optimisations The previous version of Collage was lay out images at a 1:1 ratio even if they gained from Power Macintosh support, designed to handle images no larger than have very high resolution. Collage also has enhanced type composi- 140 x 140 at 300dpi, whereas the latest The Collage screendump, above, tion routines that speed up the program version can handle much larger images; shows the details of the user interface overall. A new blurring function, used for up to 530 x 530 at 300dpi — or approxi- with floating palettes displaying the soft shadows, feathering, gaussian blur mately 16,000 pixels x 16,000 pixels. manipulation tools at the left, Information and unsharp mask, is now between three Other useful enhancements allow you to Palette along the top, Element Palette at to eight times faster than the previous change the document size having first set bottom left, and the Effects Palette on the version of the program and this dramati- up the project; selectively remove filters right. A composite image has been cally reduces rendering times for Collage applied to images within Collage; or assembled from various graphic images 2.0 users. Another optimisation, for users export images as Photoshop 2.5 files imported into the Elements Palette. The with large amounts of RAM installed, when rendering a high-resolution image. Skew tool was used to change the orien- allows Collage to do all the transformation tation of various copies of the red and work to the elements and hold them in blue bevel gears. The Subtract transfer RAM, so the program does not have to PCW Verdict method was applied, and the feathering re-do unnecessary work. This means that effect was used on the brick wall and most changes can be carried out within With this upgrade Specular has significantly improved on the initial release of Collage, architectural images to make them blend seconds. and the software is now worthy of a place in more effectively into the backdrop image. Collage 2.0 now supports both RGB every graphic designer’s set of computer Most features of Collage are pretty intu- and CMYK colour models and enables tools. itive to use, especially if you already have users to work directly with CMYK scans. Price £270 some familiarity with other graphics soft- Users can create their own CMYK Contact Gomark 0171 731 7930. ware — users could feel pretty much at Display tables, from settings in Adobe Fax 0171 736 1215 home with the software after one Photoshop, using the Collage CMYK

430 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 LONG TERM TESTS ogtr tests term Long SOFTWARE

PCW How You Can Contribute To The Long Term Tests Section YEAR We welcome contributions from readers for our Long Term Tests section. If you’ve been using a piece LetterPerfect 1.0 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) LetterPerfect must be one of the few pieces of vintage software never to have 5TEST 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. needed or received an update, reckons Rick Gould. He continues to enjoy using it

HARDWARE for its qualities of flexibility and its range of essential features. YEARS

Write on! Acorn Archimedes A310 hat do Hollywood portable and office PCs. The film directors and core of the latter is a 486 7TEST W software developers have DX33 clone with 8Mb of in common? The answer is RAM coupled to an NEC Jonathan Barnes is cannot be one of the computer desktop publishing. The operating that they are never satis- 17in screen. Ninety-five per- happy to continue Iindustry’s favourite sons; my desktop system, RISC OS, is likewise in ROM: fied with their creations, so cent of the time I use it to run machine remains the Acorn Archimedes when you switch on, the machine is within a year or two they my writing tools: LetterPer- using his seven-year- which I bought from Watford Electronics almost immediately ready to use. Among come up with bigger, fect, WordPerfect for old Archimedes and in December, 1987. the other goodies in ROM is a handy, punchier sequels. An Windows and MS Office. If I I hope I am not noted for my structured Basic with a built-in assembler example of this is have to produce a finished sees no reason to parsimony as I am just as prone to and full access to RISC OS. Highlander III and report or manual, then Letter- change, as it suits his techno-lust as the next person, hence my A second, 5.25in disk drive was PerfectOffice respectively. Perfect can cope with most purposes admirably. choice of the Archimedes: the first mass- included by Watford Electronics as part of Both are similar to the pre- of the formatting functions produced RISC computer (Apple, please the deal; except for a RISC OS upgrade vious versions, except that and produce something quite He finds it simple, acknowledge). and the addition of a hard disk and fan- there is a bit more magic presentable, including charts reliable and However, I do not believe that the silencer, the thing remains (like myself) and some extra sharp bits. and figures. If I start a project unobtrusive while he software which would be applicable to my entirely unreconstructed. Its monitor is a I’m sure I’d enjoy them using WordPerfect or Word, needs, has yet evolved to the stage Hitachi green-screen, handed down to me both equally, although then I can still work on it is working. where a hardware change would make by my brother when he junked his Apple PerfectOffice would be using LetterPerfect although sense. Being an author, I need something II. The display is crisp, clean and rock- more useful, bearing in it will not recognise some that allows me to produce and reproduce solid. The Archimedes is robust and well mind that the pen is Who needs Word for Windows? Not me, writes Rick Gould codes such as tables. As a text with ease, and this the Archimedes designed. True, the Caps Lock key mightier than the sword. rule, I start by writing nearly does. Because it is simple, reliable and stopped working in 1991, but otherwise Meanwhile, being a bit all of the text using unobtrusive in use, the computer does the machine has been entirely trouble- of a minimalist, I’ll keep LetterPerfect and then edit not get in the way of the creative process: free. Software crashes have always been writing with PerfectOffice’s sibling, Letter- emboldening, subscripts, italics and and work on embedded graphics using text composition is as “transparent” as it my fault. Perfect for DOS. This must be one of the special characters such as Greek. It has WordPerfect or Word. used to be on my typewriter. Acorn has made little impact on any few pieces of software which has not graphics facilities for incorporating charts LetterPerfect does not handle tables The Archimedes has its own multi- but the education and hobbyist markets, gone beyond version 1.0 since its incep- and pictures, as well as a conversion or columns although the codes for them tasking GUI in ROM, which is ideal for and I think that this is a classic example of tion five years ago, unless you consider a utility for converting and importing .WPG are retained if I flip between LetterPerfect our national failure to exploit our own new box to be an upgrade. Does this files. In fact, it has all the necessary fea- and a Windows word processor. But the technologies. Inept and prejudiced cover- mean that the WordPerfect Corporation tures for most writing tasks in a package simplicity aids efficiency: the LetterPer- age in certain areas of the press (but not got it right when it streamlined WordPer- which makes few demands on hardware fect screen presents the writer with the PCW) hasn’t really helped. But proselytis- fect 5.1 to make LetterPerfect 1.0? I think — a significant advantage for power- blank page familiar to millions of Word- ing Acorn owners have become the pub so. It was designed to complement Word- mobile users. Perfect 5.1 users. Even Word 6.0, replete bores of the nineties. Yet I must say, that Perfect 5.1, especially for mobile users, LetterPerfect is not merely a simple with its graphical gems, has copied this were I a self-employed person looking for considering that in those days many text editor; it has many useful features. minimalist feature. It allows the writer to a very fast machine today, I would not portables did not have hard drives. But For example, many scientific reports I focus on the most important part, the text buy a Pentium. But I would buy an they do now and LetterPerfect has still write are full of complex chemical com- and the subject it portrays, without being infinitely upgradable and versatile RISC not been left behind — so why not? pounds and technical jargon, so the distracted by screen buttons and bars. PC: this is about the same price and is Despite its age, LetterPerfect is a subscripts, Greek characters and macro Yet LetterPerfect still has a WYSIWYG served by lots of excellent and affordable flexible piece of software which spans facility are indispensable. print preview. native-mode software. With the PC emu- many generations of hardware and soft- One of the major problems with old I regard LetterPerfect as my most lator or an on-board 486 processor, a ware. It will run happily on an XT with one software is that it goes stale as other important piece of software. It is easy to RISC PC would also run Windows, should floppy drive, and will work seamlessly software evolves. But relative antiquity learn and use and has more than justified you wish it to. with most of the major word processors. does not hinder LetterPerfect: it saves the relatively small sum I paid for it in the And if I couldn’t afford a RISC PC, I’d It is even fast on an XT — a tribute to its files in ASCII and WordPerfect 5.1 format middle of 1990. Eureka! The Archimedes buy a second-hand Archimedes. compact programming. (a common standard which is the lingua is still going strong in the As a word processor it offers many franca of word processing). My associ- PCW Verdict Barnes household essential features such as mailmerge, ates and industrial clients mostly require PCW Verdict spell-checker, macros, thesaurus, files in WP 5.1 format. Some want them If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it: this is still an excellent package. As good today as it’s always been. outliner, search-and-replace, headers, in Word format, but I can always load a Price £35 (street price) Price The A310 is no longer in production footers, word count, cut-and-paste, foot- WP 5.1 file into a Windows word proces- Contact WordPerfect 0800 177277. Contact Acorn 01223 254254 ers and endnotes. It also has the neces- sor and convert it that way. Fax 0800 525321 sary features for formatting text, such as I use LetterPerfect on both my

434 435 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 PENTIUM NOTEBOOKS

PENTIUM NOTEBOOKS

the new tape film type. The problem magnesium case and the floppy disk of how to cool this in a confined drive is external, as is the power supply. space has led to an innovative heat- While most manufacturers are seeing sink consisting of a large, flat, metal processing power in their Pentium plate. This became a little warm dur- machines never before dreamt of, ing testing but nothing like as hot as Tadpole is used to more MIPS than you the Tadpole. can shake a stick at. Viglen bundles sound recording The company has been making RISC and editing software with all its notebooks for a while now and they use sound-enabled machines. A 90MHz the same case for portable Unix stations. mixing desk might only have limited The battle-hardened case also serves as applications but the ability to a heatsink but this means the power of record your own .wav files and the Pentium is transferred straight Pentiums on take audio notes makes it through your trousers when you use the both fun and useful. P1000 on your lap. The three-button The Viglen is trackball was designed for running Unix undoubtedly a good on the Tube, and you will need the man- Pentium notebook machine. It’s blis- ual dexterity of Richard Clayderman to theroad teringly quick cope with the Trackpoint nipple and three computers certainly and, for a Pen- separate mouse options. tium-based Solaris really needs chock-a-block deliver the power, if you machine, good buttons. Under Windows, where you per- value. Any reservations haps don’t need more than the left-hand are willing to pay the PCW Photography by Bruce Mackie we might have are hard to quantify button, the trackpoint is excellent price. Simon Rockman ntel chips are not the only — some notebooks are used in offices or although even this is overshadowed by things that run fast: the com- at home as substitute desktops, but this the wonderful Lexmark-sourced keyboard puts six portables on the pany itself now has a faster represents quite an easy life compared which was easily the best in this test. development cycle than ever with notebooks which often get used in The 2000mAh Nickel Metal Hydride rolling road to see how Ibefore and new processors Num Lock and Caps Lock keys, and airplanes, trains and hotel rooms and are battery pack is lightweight and custom are appearing with increasing when the disk is being accessed. The therefore more likely to get knocked and made for the machine. The they run. frequency. But with the emphasis on hard disk in the review machine was battered. Without long-term testing it’s manufacturer’s estimate of two hours’ life desktops and getting chips out into the 340Mb; bigger disks are available to cope difficult to tell; but the Viglen doesn’t seems generous — we achieved little mainstream, the notebook always trails with fatter software. There is a compre- appear to be as robust as the Toshiba or more than half that time without over- a little way behind. Just as 120MHz hensive selection of ports and connectors the Dell. High-end machines such as working it. In common with the more Pentium-based computers are begin- including audio jacks for the these are usually cherished and don’t mundane models in this ning to break cover, the Pentium SoundBlaster support and two speakers have to put up with abuse; the Viglen Notebook is becoming a realistic built into the keyboard. There is a type III certainly offers proposition. PCMCIA socket which can be used as the performance Intel’s processor of choice for note- two type II sockets. Extensive use failed but possibly not books is the 75MHz version, but power to expose any weakness here. the durability. users will always want more, so the machines we review here use The area between the keyboard and If the Viglen the 90MHz and 100MHz variants as well. The 75MHz chip is avail- the front of the computer is flat and large were a car it would able in a special thin-film package designed to ease heat dissipation enough to provide support for your wrists be a Sierra in the close confines of a notebook. But it was the move from 0.8 as well as an area for the trackball. The Cosworth: very micron to 0.6 micron designs, when the 90MHz and 100MHz Pen- hard disk controller is supplied by West- quick for the price, a tium processors were introduced, which really made notebook Pen- ern Digital and sits on a local bus to give little brash, but tium machines possible. When the voltage requirement dropped fast 32-bit access. The video display something most peo- from 5v to 3.3v, increased battery life was another benefit. The processor is a Chips & Technologies ple secretly lust after. biggest achievement in this area is the Ergo: it will be a while before 65545. we see 120MHz Pentium-based notebooks in the mainstream, since The chip inside the Viglen is a Tadpole P1000 the newest Intel chip runs at 3.45v and requires some motherboard standard PGA ceramic package and not If you feel that you re-engineering. should get your Improvements in battery life, a result of better power money’s worth when Viglen Dossier management and better battery technology, are a contributing factor you are spending almost too. But designing a system which delivers the performance to jus- Performance Graph the price of a Ford Fiesta tify the price is still a significant engineering problem. The six Hard Disk: 540Mb CPU: 90MHz on a notebook, then a RAM: 8Mb Screen: Active machines here show how the first manufacturers to approach the Tadpole P1000 is for you. problem have gone about it. 4.96 At first glance it’s a 4.45 machine which, at 3.4kg, Viglen Dossier P90 seems a little heavy for its This machine is part of the family of Viglen Dossier notebooks and 4.70 class. A second look reveals shares the usual comprehensive list of features including an LCD 3 4 5 Faster that it is very heavy indeed, panel which shows battery charge, sleep mode, the settings of the DOS Windows Overall when you realise that it has a

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test, there is a PCMCIA type III video using the Chips & Technologies slot which can accommodate 655DGX video chipset for the first time (in two type II cards. the past, Toshiba favoured Western Digi- The screen is large and tal) runs blisteringly quickly. clear. At 10.4 inches it’s one of One of the strange things about the the biggest available, and of T4900CT is that it borrows so much from course quite power-sapping, but the IBM Thinkpad (unfortunately not a 640 x 480 display is only ade- available for this test) and yet feels better. quate for Windows and it is too The keyboard feels great, despite its small for X-Windows. A colour reduced depth. The pointing device is a active matrix is good to look at but Thinkpad-style trackpoint nipple. The not as quick as you’d expect in hard disk is the IBM device and this view of the Western Digital varies its size depending on how WD90C24 video display processor, many bytes you have in a on a local bus, to the Pentium 100. megabyte, but which is often Unusually for a notebook, the inter- called 810Mb. The screen is nal drive is an 810Mb SCSI. Although from the IBM/Toshiba this is great for expansion, it is not so joint venture IDT, and good for keeping the price down and yet this Toshiba feels doesn’t seem to do anything for perfor- more solid. The mance. But for big transfers, and the trackpoint has its but- kind of activity in which big database ton at the front of the users are involved, it is superior. case — great if you are typing Surprisingly, the Tadpole has a good at a desk, but on your lap, particularly in choice of docking stations: a simple port a car or train, it tends to knock against replicator which adds SCSI-2, and a full- your body, causing the cursor to wander. blown system which has a CD-ROM The T4900CT is unusual in having drive, two ISA slots and an Ethernet separate type II and type III PCMCIA connector. The bells and whistles extend Toshiba T4900CT ports. This is not only ideal for reducing to built-in sound. There is bundled soft- The Toshiba T4900CT is currently the battery life, but great if you want to copy ware for MIDI and .wav manipulation, standard issue notebook at Microsoft and data from a network using one PCMCIA microphone, speaker and jacks if you are it’s a flash workhorse. The software, par- slot, to a PCMCIA hard disk, using a little more serious about sound, but an ticularly the Maxtime power management another two. You cannot fit three type II internal floppy disk would be a better software which ties in with the LCD cards. It all works seamlessly, just as option. above the keyboard, gives an air of PCMCIA should but rarely does. The Performance is pretty much what robustness, and the suspend mode is computer has high speed serial ports with you’d expect from a machine with a rock-solid. 16550 UARTs. processor which is ten percent faster than The Toshiba has a 50MHz The T4900CT has excellent built-in a Pentium 90, but you have to wonder motherboard and addresses its RAM at sound. It uses the Microsoft sound sys- whether or not this is worth a price delta the full 64-bits wide of a Pentium. This is tem and can deal with both .wav and .mid of 30 percent, plus. A significantly no ordinary RAM either; it’s EDO files. But there is only one speaker, so cheaper option is to buy the version of (Extended Data Out) RAM which, having you may need to plug speakers into the the same machine badged by Adams a little cache built into the RAM chips, jacks at the side. The battery life is a reli- technology: this has a smaller hard disk should make each access very much able two and a half hours but Lithium Ion (a 540Mb drive) but costs £5495, repre- faster. The result is a system, which batteries are unavailable. senting a considerable saving. according to the champions of EDO If the Toshiba were a car it would be a If the Tadpole were a car it would be a RAM, doesn’t need a second level BMW: expensive for what you get but Bristol: an oddball, hand-built using very cache. The 8Mb review machine was a robust, sporty and quick. Something you expensive components, but discreetly slightly strange configuration. Most know makes sense but which your peers fast. Only for the gentleman who is going potential customers would not choose a may think an extravagance. places. Quickly. machine with just 8Mb of RAM: if perfor- mance is important, they will opt for at least 16Mb even though, for the moment Toshiba T4900 Tadpole P1000 at least, only the first 8Mb will be EDO. Performance Graph Windows offers 32-bit acceleration for Performance Graph Hard Disk: 810Mb CPU: 100MHz those machines with a Western Digital Hard Disk: 810Mb CPU: 75MHz RAM: 8Mb Screen: Active RAM: 64Mb Screen: Active hard disk controller. In tests, this has a 6.04 huge effect: Windows 3.11 does not work 4.32 optimally with the T4900CT but Windows 5.58 3.38 95 is more likely to make the best possi- 5.80 ble use of specific features, which makes 3.82 3 4 5 Faster the T4900CT a good bet for the future. 3 4 5 Faster DOS Windows Overall Windows tests show that the local bus DOS Windows Overall

441 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PENTIUM NOTEBOOKS

Ergo Pentium 120 NEC Versa P75 maximum life of five hours. This machine nearly didn’t make the The Versa P75 has an 800 x 600 LCD — The rest of the machine is less inter- deadline for review and perhaps it would to anyone used to a CRT, this may seem esting but well finished. The keyboard is have been best if it hadn’t. This is a mundane. But to those who understand good, although not up to the standards of 120MHz Pentium and was supplied with the significance of doubling the number of the Toshiba or the Tadpole, and there is the maximum 40Mb of RAM, so it is sur- transistors on a panel, it is a significant the standard set of features. There are prising that the performance was worse development which really sets the Versa two PCMCIA slots which double up as a than that of the 100MHz Tadpole and apart from the rest. Bigger LCD panels single type III, proper audio with jacks for amazing that it failed to live up to the have been available in the Japanese sensible sound, and a microphone. The abilities of the 90MHz Viglen. We had market for some time now; the demands CPU is a 75MHz Pentium, using the film much higher hopes for it; the Ergo 120 of Kanji and Katakana characters means carrier packaging. The machine does get proved to be only a little quicker than the that it is awkward to fit any meaningful a little warm but not excessively so. The 90MHz machine. (The machine isn’t text into a 640 x 480 display. trackball and associated buttons are made by Ergo: the company just badges Although a screen which has twice as mounted at the front of the machine, and sells the unit.) many transistors is more expensive to leaving them rather exposed and vulner- It’s a well featured machine, supplied buy, the effect of using the higher resolu- able if you are using it on your lap. The with Windows sound system, a tion screen is amazing: in comparison it build quality seems good — better than microphone and speakers (albeit pretty makes using other machines’ screens the Viglen and the Opti but not as indus- low-fi ones). It is also SoundBlaster com- seem like peering through a porthole. trial as the Tadpole. patible. The local bus hard disk is a 32-bit Using Windows at anything other than full If the NEC were a car it would be a EIDE device using Toshiba drivers. The screen capacity becomes possible, and Lexus: the executive’s choice. All the 1Mb VRAM video display processor also this is particularly useful if you need to power you need, with plenty of Japanese sits on the local bus, which is based on a see Windows Help while working with a innovation to conquer the dominant VL design. This is simpler than the PCI program. makes. technology utilised by the Toshiba and Physically, the screen is no bigger: could explain some of the benchmarking just 9.5ins. As all the pixels are that test results. While a PCI bus is buffered NEC Versa P75 much smaller, the definition has to be so that the processor can run full tilt, VL is good enough to cope with the smaller Performance Graph not. Under ideal circumstances, the lack size — a problem the NEC handles with Hard Disk: 810Mb CPU: 75MHz of anything between the processor and RAM: 8Mb Screen: Active aplomb. The hard disk controller is a the peripheral will lead to better Picopower PT86C78: 32 bits wide but on 4.92 performance, but in the real world — and a local bus, and the video display 3.80 that’s what NSTL (the VNU Labs testing controller is a Chips & Technologies system) tests — the video and the hard 65545. The battery should give a reliable 4.33 disk both want a look-in at the processor. hour and a half or perhaps two hours, 3 4 5 Faster Without a buffer, one must stop to allow depending on what you are doing, with a DOS Windows Overall the other access. Causing a peripheral to

443 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PENTIUM NOTEBOOKS

wait is Not A Good Thing. It seems that a tested; a sensible 90 min- machine originally designed to be optimal utes. The maximum RAM at 90MHz has reached the top and has limit is a little meagre at had to stop. Intel charges 50 percent 24Mb. This may sound like more for a 120MHz Pentium than it does a vast amount of headroom for a 90MHz one, and in this case, the but it wasn’t long ago that extra expenditure would be wasted. 4Mb was beyond the dreams There didn’t seem to be any heat of many. problems. The computer ran happily all Build quality is not a con- day without causing concern. To do this, cern and you don’t get the of course, it had to be left plugged in — Video for Windows puff for the Nickel Metal Hydride battery proved Viglen, which comes with its to only be good for less than a couple of stablemate. Ultimately, the hours, despite APM. hardware is the same. What you The rest of the machine is equally don’t get is the Viglen customer unstimulating. The keyboard is okay, but service or documentation. What that still makes it the poorest of the you do get is the performance at a bunch, and the trackball is a little low price. It’s more likely that you awkward. It’s also larger than A4. The fun will find the Opti wearing a number software, including Icon Hear-it which of other badges, but with reference machine to buy if you squawks at you when you do something to the British importer rather than plan to upgrade early, and silly (like exit Windows) does only a little the Taiwanese manufacturer. It’s frequently, to keep ahead in the power to redeem this system. Ultimately, a better to know where a machine came race. But the Viglen performance and the machine that we wanted to like and which from so that you can be sure of spares Toshiba build quality are both surpassed had a sexy specification, failed to deliver. and service — if the company which by the metal menace from Cambridge; the If the 120MHz Ergo was a car it would badges the Opti stops selling it, you can Tadpole is a real heavyweight and eats be a Dodge Viper. Loads of potential continue to obtain bits like batteries. MIPS for breakfast. The money problem power but with the inability to use it. The manual claims that Nickel Metal can be alleviated somewhat by buying Hydride doesn’t suffer from “memory from Adams Technology, but it is still Opti Pantera effect”. Leaving aside the argument that expensive. Déjà VDU strikes the notebook. If the what people call memory effect is really The NEC notebook came top of the Opti has a familiar feel it’s because it’s voltage depression, this statement is not test. Performance may be disappointing from the same Far Eastern source as the true. NiMH is very much better at dealing but the screen is a real breakthrough. Viglen. It similarly has a 90MHz CPU and with irregular charging but is not immune Even when it is physically small, the 800 x exactly the same build quality. to it — all batteries will curl up their toes if 600 display is seductive and will make you The better quality of the Viglen screen mistreated. more productive. You pay a premium for might be attributable to tighter quality If the Opti was a car it would be a this: the SVGA machine costs £5,445 and control or better preparation of review Nissan 300ZX. A quick oddball which the 640 x 480 version is a mere £5,145, machines but is probably down to the offers a lot of the features and but both machines have the 810Mb hard random variance of build qualities. It performance of a Ferrari or a Porsche but disk and both are highly desirable. stretches the definition of A4 at 279 x lacks the ultimate pose value or quality. Whichever one you take away, you’ll be 216mm and is 51mm high, but the extra making great tracks. depth allows room for the trackball. This Conclusion works well enough but isn’t as good as This proved to be an interesting test. At the nipple on the Tadpole or the Toshiba. the start it seemed as though the Toshiba PCW Details The video chip story is much the same as would have it all its own way — it may be Viglen Dossier P90 elsewhere with the Chips & Technologies the most sensible buy and is what compa- Price £3,619 655DGX, but as with the Viglen it’s the nies buying in bulk should go for, but it’s Contact Viglen 0181 758 7000 ☎ disk performance which shines thanks to not the best in any one field. In terms of Tadpole P1000 the excellent enhanced IDE system. value for money, the Viglen Dossier is the Price £4,860 (8Mb), £7,310 (64Mb) Battery performance is as winner; well up in the performance stakes Contact Tadpole 01223 428200 ☎ unspectacular as any of the machines with good sound and backup, it’s the Toshiba T4900CT Opti Pantera Price £5,395 Ergo Pentium Contact Toshiba 01932 828828 ☎ Performance Graph Performance Graph NEC Versa P75 Hard Disk: 773Mb CPU: 120MHz Hard Disk: 360Mb CPU: 90MHz Price £5,445 RAM: 40Mb Screen: Dual scan RAM: 8Mb Screen: Passive Contact NEC 0181 993 8181 ☎ 4.31 5.57 Ergo Pentium 120 4.28 4.46 Price £2,450 (8Mb), £3,455 (40Mb) Contact Ergo 0115 9452565 ☎ 4.89 4.38 Opti Pantera 3 4 5 Faster 3 4 5 Faster Price £2,450 DOS Windows Overall DOS Windows Overall Contact Opti 0181 507 1818 ☎

444 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 ISDN: STANDARDS, TECHNOLOGY & APPLICATIONS

ISDN: STANDARDS, TECHNOLOGY & APPLICATIONS ISDN Technology A single ISDN channel delivers 64kb/sec, twice the devices such as PSTN telephones, modems, and Group 3 faxes. bandwidth of the fastest possible analogue modem. ISDN They can only be connected, however, if the ISDN device service is supplied via the carriers through either Basic Rate provides an analogue port and digitising circuitry. A fourth or Primary Rate interfaces. This article concentrates on mode, B-channel aggregation to give 128kb/sec (2xB), is not ISDN Basic Rate interface (BRI), which provides two available from the majority of service providers and must there- 64kb/sec bearer B-channels, and one 16kb/sec data D-chan- fore be implemented in the software application or ISDN device nel, per physical ISDN line. This is delivered via a single pair driver. of copper cables which already exist at one’s premises. Packet-mode services, which provide compatibility with exist- With 30 B-channels and two 64kb/sec D-channels, ing X.25 packet-switched services, can be carried over either B- Primary Rate interface (PRI) delivers up to 2Mb/sec channels or the D-channel. In most countries, these services are (1.5Mb/sec in the US & Canada) for intelligent PBXs and not yet provided and the D-channel is used solely for signalling. bandwidth on demand for high-bandwidth applications. PRI France is the exception, where the D-channel is widely used for is available from BT in packages starting with six bearer packet switched data. channels, and running up to 30. It is believed that BT will open up the D-channel for data in ISDNexplained Call charges are per B-channel. When both B-channels are the near future. In addition to X.25 access it could be used for in use, each is racking up call charges. Within Britain, these low-bandwidth applications, such as credit card enquiries, by The Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a technology that has spent ten charges are the same as for the PSTN but international calls shops and small businesses. The physical ISDN installation con- attract a premium. sists of a BT network terminator with two RJ-45 sockets for the years waiting to fulfil its promise as a digital highway. But if its benefits are to be Under the ISDN specification, several bearer services for B-channels to which the two incoming copper wires are attached. capitalised on, greater attention needs to be paid to its support and promotion. the transmission of data are defined, as is a range of supple- Thanks to the RJ45 socket, ISDN can be patched into and mentary services such as Caller Line Identification. Both have distributed via standard Category 3 and 5 premises’ wiring sys- WAITING IN THE WINGS Terence Green goes into detail, and presents a selection of currently available products. priority subsets which most ISDN providers now deliver. A tems. An ISDN device can either be connected to each channel full implementation of all defined bearer and supplementary and used simultaneously, or the two channels can be aggregated services is being rolled out during 1995 and 1996. (sometimes called inverse multiplexing) to give 128kb/sec he Integrated Services Digital existing copper cables, ISDN extends the banking, educational, leisure. Home- Most ISDN users will use circuit-switched bearer services, throughput. Network (ISDN) has the reputation of digital trunk network right into your office users can attach to remote LANs but packet-mode bearer services are provided for compatibili- Although ISDN service is delivered via two wires, it is distrib- being inaccessible and expensive. It premises using wiring that already exists but only incur call charges when they’re ty with X.25 services. Circuit-switched B-channels handle the uted by an eight-wire bus called the S-Bus. This supports up to Tis, but the changes already underway outside your front door. accessing LAN services. Businesses can transmission of data, speech, video and the like which support eight attached devices, any two of which may be in use simulta- could see ISDN becoming the digital Providing higher bandwidth than a attach branch offices to the network with- circuit-switched speech, 3.1kHz audio and unrestricted neously. There are various signalling schemes available which highway it has always promised to be modem and charged on a usage basis, out paying the fixed cost of a leased line. 64kb/sec. will route an incoming call to a particular device and these during the last decade. ISDN is equally appropriate to business Intended as a worldwide upgrade to The 64kb/sec mode is basically a raw ISDN B-channel schemes form part the basic set of defined supplementary Today, interoperability between ISDN use, home or home-office use. Home full digital status for the Public Switched pipe, but speech and audio modes are also carried over B- services. They include calling line identification, direct dialling devices is minimal. And it’s expensive to users get multiple lines for voice and data Telephone Network (PSTN), and as a channels. While speech mode supports digital telephones, inward (DDI) and multiple subscriber number (MSN). In the UK, install and rent the lines from BT. services, for instance: telephone, home platform for advanced digital services, the audio mode provides backwards compatibility for analogue British Telecom charges for all supplementary services. Vendors complain that BT makes ISDN ISDN Applications too expensive but the manufacturers first standards for ISDN were established by limited applications and hardware ISDN will ship in the first release with have been slow to move away from pro- ISDN applications have been slow to develop because there have been few generally over ten years ago, but provision has interoperability, expensive hardware, more complete support to follow early in prietary standards. However, a co-ordi- accepted non-proprietary standards. That is not to say that there isn’t a choice of standards grown very slowly. ISDN has been hang- and for British users, BT’s high installa- 1996. Many ISDN vendors are working nated move towards open standards, by — in fact, there are lots. However, even within ratified and de facto standards it is possible to ing around as a niche market for leased tion and rental charges. Mercury’s call on providing support in Windows 95, and hardware and software vendors, could create interoperability problems by supporting different levels of a standard. line backups and bulk file transfers for charges are significantly lower but BT BT will itself be releasing a set of its own see ISDN becoming really useful in 1996. The original ISDN application, if it can be called that, was leased-line backup and it’s still years. According to BT, over 20 percent owns the copper up to your front end-user packages, designed to take the The standard is virtually in place, interop- quite popular because an ISDN call can be set up in less than a second. As soon as a failure of ISDN traffic consists of data transfer, doorstep and sets the entry fee with its mystique out of ISDN. erability testing is beginning, and fully is detected, the ISDN line recreates the connection. ISDN is also widely used in conjunction with LAN interconnection and remote standard £400 installation charge and British Telecom takes a fair amount of compliant products should begin to with a leased line to provide on-demand bandwidth, so if one user starts a megabyte file LAN accounting for 12 percent each. line rental costs which are twice that of a stick for its charges, and rightly so, but emerge later this year. Of course there download, for instance, the ISDN line pops up and everyone else gets to carry on as normal. standard phone. Mercury will cable you another significant disincentive to ISDN are still two standards that match this Another very popular application at present is LAN interconnect via an ISDN bridge or Pros and cons at some expense in city-centre locations is the fact that it is a hard task master. To description (see “ISDN Applications”) but router. Both allow LANs to be connected at speeds of 64kb/sec or higher and have the ISDN provides significantly greater for Primary Rate ISDN, but offers an be successful, ISDN applications must heck, at least it’s progress. advantage over leased lines in that you only pay for the time you’re actually transferring data. capacity for data communications but it indirect Basic Rate connection via an fully integrate hardware and software; If BT then acts as expected and prices Most bridges and routers will allow you to filter out status and keep-alive broadcast pack- also enables existing analogue existing BT ISDN line. mixing and matching ISDN equipment ISDN less like a premium service and ets so that the link is only activated when data is being transferred. The trick is in ensuring equipment, such as faxes and BT says the charge reflects actual too often leaves you tweaking arcane closer to ordinary telephone charges, this “spoofing” works properly on your network so that you don’t end up with a permanently telephones, to be used alongside ISDN installation costs for which they are command line entries, only to discover who knows? We could, like the Germans, active ISDN line. devices. This allows for a phased transi- obliged to charge by Oftel. But charges some obscure incompatibility between have 500,000 ISDN lines instead of the The amount of time you can spend online via ISDN (before call charges become uneco- tion from the analogue telephony world to should fall by the end of this year thanks different vendors’ software or hardware. 50,000 that exist in Britain today. nomical) as opposed to a leased line, varies with the call charge band: currently, it can be as an all-digital communications network. In to new exchange equipment. It may hap- True shrink-wrapped ISDN applica- little as three hours or as much as eight hours, according to whether the call destination is theory, this means a single carrier over pen even earlier if BT’s forthcoming end- tions, for anything other than simple file Promises, promises local, national or international. Many ad-hoc LAN interconnects and remote LAN nodes which existing voice, data and fax appli- user Internet access service supports transfers, are as rare as hens’ teeth. ISDN promises much — a single digital would find ISDN more effective and also less inflexible than a fixed point-to-point leased line. cations can be integrated with new appli- ISDN access. This is a fair bet: Unless you live and breathe ISDN you’ll Mackie pipe into your premises for all communi- Some applications are obviously suited to ISDN’s ad-hoc connections because they cations such as Group 4 fax, video CompuServe has said it will provide want to be very sure that the hardware cations with a potential 144kb/sec avail- transfer data on an intermittent basis. For example, Microsoft is hoping to use ISDN for conferencing, remote networking for ISDN access, and BT is also involved in on both sides of any connection comes able in its basic two-wire configuration, Microsoft Mail. For roaming mobile remote LAN nodes, which cannot always rely on finding teleworkers, and home banking and providing the Microsoft Network that will from the same manufacturer, and that and up to 2Mb/sec over four wires. an ISDN line, the situation is less clear, but there are moves afoot to implement solutions via shopping. be delivered with Windows 95 and will you’re running software that’s explicitly

Specifically designed to be delivered over ISDN’s X.25 packet-switched bearer service. Photography by Bruce In reality, ISDN is today characterised include ISDN access. Basic support for supported by that hardware. PCW

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ISDN Interoperability Bleak as things may seem, this is not to say that ISDN is not useful today, One of the trickiest problems facing filtered out, these informational packets will standard method for implementing because it is: it’s just poorly promoted potential ISDN users is discerning keep the ISDN line active even though no operating system-independent multi- and poorly supported by the industry. The whether the equipment and software data is being passed. protocol routing; and CAPI 2.0 which signs are that a change is underway and they purchase will interoperate with simi- ISDN bridges are internal PC adaptors, provides a device dependent API layer that the industry will actually capitalise on lar ISDN devices. Some manufacturers or external boxes, which may be used to link for ISDN applications. In time, CAPI 2.0 the benefits of ISDN rather than extract a have taken steps to ensure that their LANs with LANs or to allow remote users to interfaces for DOS, Windows, OS/2, premium for delivering a service that cur- devices interoperate, but others leave it attach to a network over an ISDN line. For Novell NetWare and Unix will be rently disguises most of the potential to the customer’s software to handle small workgroups and lightly-loaded LANs, a available. advantages that ISDN could make avail- such issues and this can lead to tears. bridge is cheap and easy to use and can be able to all. implemented using a relatively inexpensive CAPI Terminal adaptors ISDN adaptor which simply presents an eth- CAPI originated in Germany and has Integration skills Terminal adaptors typically support ernet interface to the network across an been proposed to the IETF as an ISDN In general, ISDN still requires too many V.110 or V.120 rate adaptation; a ISDN link. standard. Much ISDN software and integration skills to be seen as a serious scheme devised to allow existing ISDN routers are more expensive, gener- hardware originates in Germany and end-user proposition. This is ironic communications software to control ally include onboard processing capability supports CAPI. Unfortunately, the sup- because the basic aim is to provide a the terminal adaptor as though it and can handle multiple network protocols. port is spread between CAPI 1.1 and single communications pipe into one’s were a modem. Terminal adaptors Routers may also obviate the need for spe- the latest CAPI 2.0 specifications which premises, at the same time supporting are not modems; they emulate a cial software because they have the ability to are incompatible so it is still possible to existing analogue equipment if necessary modem for the benefit of modem filter out extraneous packets which would have a CAPI-supporting application and to allow users to make a staged PCIMAC board can be used in client or communications applications such as keep the ISDN line active even though no an ISDN card with a CAPI driver yet still transition. server configurations with Microsoft Hayes Ultra ISDN 64K ProComm and CrossTalk. External data was being transmitted. find them to be incompatible. Windows NT Remote Access Server and System Adaptor TAs connect to a PC’s COM port, For the most part, bridges currently use Nevertheless, CAPI is big in Novell NetWare. It is supplied with DOS The Hayes terminal adaptor supports B- while internal TAs include a COM proprietary device drivers but the Common Germany and supported by both Novell Selected ISDN ODI and NDIS PPP drivers for NetWare channel circuit switched data and packet port in the same way as an internal Applications Programming Interface (CAPI) and Microsoft. But Microsoft will initially and Windows for Workgroups clients, switched data and D-Channel packet modem. This allows communications allows some ISDN software to work with only ship CAPI support with German products with client and server drivers for switched data. An X.25 PAD is included. applications to talk to the TA using a several vendors’ ISDN bridges. Most propri- retail Windows 95. The latest PPP soft- Windows NT and with NetWare server The Hayes Ultra TA supports standard asynchronous modem con- etary software automatically handles spoof- ware will go into WIndows NT first (later DigiBoard drivers for ODI or Novell’s Multiprotocol synchronous connections to 64kbps and trol set such as the Hayes AT com- ing and channel aggregation but a proposal on this year) and thereafter into Digi International’s PCIMAC is an internal Router software. asynchronous links with rate adaption for mand set. currently underway for the Point to Point Windows 95. PC adaptor which provides an ISDN net- With appropriate software such as V.110 (up to 38,400bps), V.120 (up to This is fine in theory but each Protocol (PPP) is being adopted by most of Novell’s server-based ISDN multi- work interface with PPP support. The Windows for Workgroups’ 32-bit TCP/IP 115kbps) and X.25. It does not include vendor’s TA implements the system in the industry and should foster ISDN applica- protocol router supports CAPI and the stack, NetManage Chameleon etc, any hardware-based compression. subtly different ways: some support only tions which work seamlessly with any simi- company is putting the finishing touch- ISDN terminal adaptor can dial into a Housed in the same case as Hayes V.110 which has a maximum speed of larly-endowed ISDN bridge. The same es to a CAPI Manager NLM for Windows NT RAS server with a modems, it connects to a PC via a COM 19,200bps, or 38,400 if the TA supports proposal will also lead to less proprietary telephony applications. Novell also PCIMAC. Digi also sells ISDN hubs for port and can be used for LAN intercon- data compression which is usually routers. supports ISDN connectivity via Hayes multiple connections and ISDN Ethernet nection, remote LAN nodes, and file through the V.42bis standard. This In summary, terminal adaptors emulating AT commands. LAN bridges. transfers. hardly makes use of the potential COM port modems and bridges and routers When used for asynchronous file 64kb/sec in a B-channel. using CAPI or PPP represent the way PPP PCW Details transfers, ISDN terminal adaptors running Other manufacturers support V.120 forward but as yet neither CAPI nor PPP are The Point to Point Protocol is defined Digiboard PCIMAC at 57600bps without compression provide which has a maximum speed of completely implemented in ISDN software by a series of IETF RFCs (Request for Description ISDN BRI terminal similar throughput to V.34 modems with 57,600bps (more with compression) and and hardware. Researching hardware that Comment), some ratified, some still in adaptor/network interface V.42bis compression, about 5,700 char- may or may not support V.110 in addi- will interoperate using either of these stan- draft. In theory, only one should be able Price £770 acters per second. However, for Contact Westbase Technology tion. External TAs are also limited by the dards is something of a moveable feast. to use PPP-supporting software to set compressed files and binaries which 01291 430567. Fax 01291 430 484 serial port of the PC while internal TAs Drivers may be updated if the supplier has up connections between any two PPP- V.42bis does not compress, the through- are free to go as fast as their vendor committed to support CAPI or PPP interop- capable ISDN devices. In practice, pleases. Most TAs use only one B- erability, and hardware with flash ROM can there are several issues concerned with channel of the pair in a BRI, but there is be similarly updated. whether the ISDN devices present as Left and top DigiBoard a Bandwidth On Demand (BonDing) pro- network (ethernet) or serial (COM port) Right Hayes Ultra ISDN 64K posal for V.120 which will overcome this PPP and CAPI 2.0 interfaces. Network interfaces System Adaptor deficiency once it has been widely imple- Currently, most applications rely in part on (commonly bridges and routers) use mented. Less easy to overcome is the proprietary solutions and this limits flexibility fewer CPU resources than serial port variety of V.110/V.120 implementations when choosing hardware or software. Hav- (terminal adaptors) interfaces. and users are best advised to have the ing recognised this problem, the industry is Additionally there are issues same kit at either end. engaged in a widespread exercise to surrounding security authorisation, the improve interoperability and working solu- use of multiple ISDN B-channels, and Bridgers and routers tions can be expected later this year, or early compression which are still being Bridges and routers present an Ethernet next year. worked out. Once these are finalised network interface and should be able to The two leading contenders are: the and the driver software ships, you spoof unnecessary broadcasts such as Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) should be able to connect using PPP- watchdog packets. Unless they are Point to Point Protocol (PPP) which is a supporting devices from any vendor.

452 453 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 ISDN: STANDARDS, TECHNOLOGY & APPLICATIONS

having to maintain a PSTN line for their analogue devices. The Desktop Diamond operates with regular communications software via the Hayes AT command set. The company plans to ship in due course a Windows 95 driver which will support the full 64kbps per channel capability.

PCW Details Dataflex Desktop Diamond Description ISDN terminal adptor with two analogue ports Price £699 Contact Dataflex 0181 543 6417. Fax 0181 543 7029

The Hayes Ultra ISDN 64K at work over ISDN to other analogue devices. This is particularly useful for home and PictureTel PCS/100 small business users who want ISDN Video conferencing is an emerging ISDN put falls back to under 3,000cps for V.34 speed and reliability without the hassle of application only in the sense that it is now modems while an ISDN TA maintains 5,700cps. The digital link is also more reliable than an analogue modem which rarely maintains its rated speed due to fluctuating analogue line conditions.

PCW Details Hayes Ultra ISDN 64K Description ISDN terminal adaptor Price £799 Contact Hayes UK 01252 775577. Fax 01252 775511

Dataflex Desktop Diamond The Dataflex Desktop Diamond is a desktop terminal adaptor which connects to the PC via a COM port. The Desktop Diamond supports synchronous links up to 64kbps but it only sup- ports asynchronous V.110 rate adaption up to 38,400bps, making it not much faster than a V.32 modem. On the positive side, the Desktop Diamond does have two ana- logue ports so you can attach analogue devices such as ordinary telephones, fax machines and modems, and make calls

being developed to work on desktop PCs at a reasonable price. Group conferenc- ing is already commonplace using ISDN in addition to other transmission technologies. Standards for desktop video conferencing such as the ITU T.120 standard for sharing applications data are still being defined. PictureTel is the leading supplier of Above Parts of the group conferencing systems and it is now PictureTel PCS/100 system bringing its technology to desktop Left The Dataflex Desktop systems. The PCS/100 is expensive but it Diamond includes a camera, a digital telephone,

455 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 ISDN: STANDARDS, TECHNOLOGY & APPLICATIONS

3Com-Sonix Arpeggio PC ISDN for Workgroups ISDN for Workgroups is a software addi- tion to Windows for Workgroups devel- programmed directly though its API. oped by Acotec, a leading German ISDN Sonix provides drivers for use as an company. IFW is available in single-user NDIS client to a Microsoft or IBM and multi-user versions. Multi-user IFW server and for access via NETX to acts as a gateway and must run on a PC an Arpeggio ISDN Bridge on a with a supported ISDN adaptor installed. Novell NetWare LAN. CAPI 2.0 Users running single-user IFW can drivers are in preparation. access resources on another WFWG net- In terminal adaptor mode work via the multi-user gateway in a num- the Arpeggio PC supports ber of ways. If they’re dialing in from a V.110 rate adaption with remote PC they need an ISDN adaptor V.42bis compression, installed. If they’re in the same workgroup and has a Sonix pro- as an IFW multi-user gateway, they don’t prietary mode which need an ISDN card as they can call out to supports speeds up a remote WFWG network or to a remote to 115kbps and a WFWG PC via the gateway. throughput in Soon to appear in a Windows NT ver- excess of sion too, ISDN for Workgroups can 10,000 charac- bridge NetBeui, TCP/IP, and IPX traffic ters per second while keeping the ISDN line active only using V.42bis when data actually needs to be passed compression on a over the ISDN link. 64kbps B-Channel. PCW Details PCW Details ISDN for Workgroups 3Com-Sonix Description ISDN remote networking Description V.110 terminal adaptor and add-on for Windows for Workgroups 3.11 network interface card Price Groupgate single-user £295; multi- user £695. Basic ISDN card £395 two PC adaptor cards (one for the video, Price £1,095 Contact 3Com-Sonix 01285 641 651. Contact PPCP 0181 893 2277. one for ISDN), and software for applica- Fax 01285 642 098 Fax 0181 893 1182 tion sharing. The PCS/100 complies with the inter- national H.320 standard for video-confer- ISDN for Workgroups encing which allows calls to be made between systems from different manufac- turers if their equipment is H.320-compli- ant. PictureTel recently introduced a cut-down ISDN-only version of the desk- top system called the PCS/50 which retails at £2,500.

PCW Details LIVE PCS 100 Description Desktop video-conferencing software and hardware package Price £3,495 Contact PictureTel 01753 673000. Fax 01753 673010

3Com-Sonix Arpeggio PC — Remote LAN Workstation Sonix, recently purchased by 3Com, has a range of ISDN terminal adaptors, LAN bridges, and routers under the Arpeggio name. The Arpeggio PC is at the bottom of the range, an internal PC card terminal adaptor which can operate as COM1 through COM4. It also has an analogue port for attaching a telephone, modem or fax. The Arpeggio PC may also be

456 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

Scanners Contents

470 Microtek ScanMaker II 470 Mustek MFS 6000CX 470 Mustek MFS 8000SP 472 Trust Imagery 1200 How scanners work 472 Trust Imagery 2400 472 Umax Vista T-630 476 Agfa StudioScan II ll scanners work on blue primary. Some scanning heads con- higher bit rates down to 24 bits for use in 476 Canon IX4015 the same principal of tain a single fluorescent tube with three an application, so any tonal or colour cor- 476 Epson GTx 8500 reflection or transmis- filtered CCDs, while others have three rections should be made at this point Epson GTx 9000 477 sion. The image is coloured tubes and a single CCD. The where there’s a larger range to play with. 477 HP ScanJet 3c placed before the former produce the entire colour image in All scanners in this group test were pro- 477 Nikon ScanTouch AX-1200 a single pass, while the latter will have to 479 Panasonic FX-RS308C scanning head, con- vided with TWAIN compliant drivers for 479 Sharp JX-330P sistingA of a light source and sensor; in the go back and forth three times. Older Windows. Macintosh scanner drivers are 479 Umax Vista S8 case of a digital camera, the light source three-pass scanners were slow and usually provided as Photoshop compati- 480 Agfa Arcus II could be the sun or artificial lamps. The used to suffer from registration problems, ble plug-ins. TWAIN is not an acronym, it 480 Microtek ScanMaker III amount of light reflected by or transmitted but modern three-pass units are much is a very important standard in image 480 Umax PowerLook through the image is picked up by the improved and sometimes even faster acquisition, developed by Hewlett sensor, then converted to a voltage pro- than today’s more common single Packard, Kodak, Aldus, Logitech and 461 How scanners work portional to the light intensity: the brighter passers. Caere. With TWAIN, only one driver file is 462 Other types of scanners The range of colours or shades cap- 463 TWAIN annotated the part of the image, the more light is required for each device. Developers 467 Digital photoretouching reflected or transmitted, resulting in a tured by a scanner is down to the need only make applications TWAIN 467 OCR and tracing higher voltage. This is finally converted dynamic range of the analogue to digital compliant to be able to access and con- 468 How we did the tests by an analogue to digital converter into converter, along with the purity of the illu- trol any TWAIN devices. 484/486 Colour results information the computer can minating light and any system noise. In In practice, you would select the 488 Line art results understand. theory, a 24-bit scanner offers an 8-bit Acquire option in the File menu of an 490 Performance graphs The sensor in many scanners is a range of 256 levels for each primary application such as Photoshop. The user 491 Editor’s Choice charge coupled device (CCD). A CCD colour, a 30-bit scanner offers a 10-bit would be prompted to select a suitable Table of Features 492 consists of many photo-sensitive range of 1,024 levels, and a 36-bit scan- TWAIN source, after which Acquire would elements, arranged in a grid in the case ner stretches to a 12-bit range of 4,096 launch the device’s own driver, all without of a video or digital camera, or in a long, levels. leaving the main application. After scan- thin line in the case of desktop scanners. The human eye is said to be ning, the driver automatically closes, The more photo-sensitive elements per incapable of discerning more than 256 leaving the scanned image open in the unit length, the higher its resolution. grey levels, while most printers would be main application. There’s no unnecessary A desktop scanner claiming a horizon- hard pushed to produce anything like quitting, launching, or saving of tal optical resolution of 300 dpi and a that number. However, in practice, a few potentially large and possibly useless maximum document width of 8in will have of the least significant bits are lost in files. Not all TWAIN drivers are the same. 8 x 300, or 2,400 usable elements on the noise, while any subsequent tonal cor- It is up to the device manufacturer to CCD. The CCD itself is usually around write a driver and decide what options it 4in wide, so an optical system in the should offer. All scanner drivers offer a Scantastic scanning head focuses the light down to preview which quickly displays a small the correct size. representation of the image to be The vertical resolution of a desktop digitised. From here the scanning area Original Many of the ffordable desktop the scanner manufacturers are making scanner is dictated by the degree of fine- may be adjusted along with the resolution

Mackie latest scanners are no huge claims in terms of resolution, inter- ness with which the head can be physi- and pixel depth. flatbeds are longer merely devices polated of course, where numbers often cally directed over the image. In the case Better TWAIN drivers offer a high getting close to get images inside a appear to have been pulled out of a hat. of a flatbed scanner, the head is driven degree of overall image adjustment such computer. As One thing is certain: nothing can hide by a stepper motor; a device which turns as brightness, contrast and colour. In to the publish- standards have from the results of our tests presented a pre-defined amount and no more, every Mirro addition, several offer Gamma correction. Photography by Bruce Light source able quality improved,A superior units are being touted over the following pages. We put 18 time an electrical pulse is fed. It’s This allows adjustments to be made to produced by as serious alternatives to expensive drum colour flatbed scanners in the labs and hit common that the maximum vertical reso- Mirro specific ranges of tonal values, either as Scanner expensive, scanners. them with the toughest tests yet seen at lution may exceed the horizontal resolu- a whole, or to each primary colour in turn. PCW Monochrome line art requires only 1 bit professional Particularly noteworthy is the new PCW. tion thanks to the stepper motor being breed of 30-bit and 36-bit flatbed We grouped the flatbeds into three highly geared; an optical resolution of 300 per pixel: on or off, black or white. An 8- drum scanners, claiming not paltry millions, but price ranges: budget at less than £700 x 600 dpi is not unusual. Lens bit greyscale image is eight times larger RGB-coated scanners. billions of discernable colours. This mas- RRP; the highly competitive mid range The optical resolution represents the CCD chip at the same resolution. A full colour, 24- Gordon Laing sively expanded range is said to be differ- from £700 to £1,400 RRP; and those maximum resolution of the CCD and the bit file is 24 times larger than a 1-bit file at ent from the old breed, and closer to the over £3,000 which should perform noth- stepper motor as described above. It is, To A/D the same resolution. Line art is best puts you in converter fabled drum scanners necessary to pro- ing short of miracles. Here we give the however, possible for the apparent reso- and output scanned at very high resolutions, while the picture duce professional quality, publishable results of our comprehensive testing, lution to be increased using a technique rections reduce the range further still. most colour or greyscale images are fine and reports images. explain how scanners work, what differ- known as interpolation, which under soft- Consequently a 30-bit or 36-bit scanner scanned between 100 and 200 dots per on the results Many of the scanners tested here are ent types of scanners are available, what ware or hardware control guesses inter- stands more chance of capturing the printed inch. If your original is going to of rigorous playing the numbers game of 30-bit and you can use them for, and also discuss mediate values and inserts them between subtleties in highlights and shadows appear twice as big in print, double your 36-bit colour depths. Others claim they colour management and correction. real ones. Some scanners do this much which can be later enhanced, while still scanning resolution. If it is to be tests on 18 can match this performance by fine tuning Whether you have £299 or £3,495 to more effectively than others. ending up with at least 24 usable bits to reproduced at half the size, halve the popular conventional 24-bit engines. spend, we have a colour flatbed recom- Colour scanners have three light play with. scanning resolution. models. Some things never change; most of mendation for you. sources; one each for red, green and The scanner driver usually filters the

460 461 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

cheapest way to get high quality magazine reproduction. Other types of scanners scans onto your computer. With At the high end, Hasselblad and Rollei suitable software they can be read offer very high resolution CCD backs for on any platform. Colour manage- its medium format cameras. This exam- Hand scanners sonic. Umax has just announced its ment applications such as Binus- ple is studio based with a direct SCSI The budget route to reasonable quality PageOffice greyscale document scanner, can, distributed by IMC and tested connection to the computer. scanning is the hand-held unit. Most offer ideal for SoHo users at £399; contact in this month’s Hands On Graph- optical resolutions of up to 400 dpi and IMC. ics & DTP, do a good job of colour Barcode scanners 24-bit colour depth, although cheaper correcting, sharpening and sepa- As the name suggests these are used for greyscale models may still be available. Drum scanners rating Photo CD images for pro- scanning barcodes, using a variety of They get Drum scanners offer the highest quality of fessional printing. means from pens to those devices used around the high all the devices mentioned here. Unfortu- at supermarket checkouts. Call Paradigm cost of flatbeds nately their high price and sometimes Digital cameras or Scanner Technologies for more by requiring the equally high learning curve has seen Digital cameras are like other details. user to drag the them used exclusively in high-end pub- cameras except for a matrix array whole device lishing. Most good bureaux have access CCD where the film would usually manually over to a drum scanner and offer the service at go. Numerous still digital cameras the image. An a cost which reflects the quality. exist, varying vastly in price and quality. PCW Contacts additional sensor Drum scanners consist of a cylinder Photo CD Most digital cameras contain some kind oping, in a matter of minutes. Logitech 01344 894300 ☎ detects the into which the image is placed and curved The cheapest and easiest way to scan of storage system like a PCMCIA hard At the low end of the spectrum are Kodak 01442 61122 ☎ speed at which to fit. For this reason, they are not ideal film is to have a Photo CD made. Devel- disk on which several images may be models from Logitech, Canon, Kodak Canon UK 0181 7733173 ☎ the head is being for scanning thick or unbendable oped by Kodak, Photo CD is a standard held before transfer to a computer. and Apple, available for between £400 Apple 0181 5691199 ☎ dragged and originals. Reflected or transmitted light is for storing around 100 high-quality photo- Unlike a scanner, a digital camera can and £1,000. Kodak offers several digital IMC 01753 830999 ☎ compensates for split and fed to three photo multiplier graphic images on a multi-session spe- capture an image of any size larger than versions of the Nikon F90 and Canon Panasonic 0500 404041 ☎ Western Systems 0181 8458383 ☎ varying speed. tubes (PMTs), one each for red, green cial recordable CD. A4, and is mobile. One obvious applica- EOS-1 SLR cameras between £7,000 Evesham Micros 01386 765500 ☎ The higher the and blue. PMTs offer a very wide range of tion is in international photo-journalism, and £25,000. The space where 35mm 35mm film is scanned at a resolution Nikon UK 0181 5414440 ☎ resolution, the levels, far surpassing any CCD-based of around 2,000dpi in 24-bit, resulting in a where a picture could be taken and sent film normally lies is replaced by a high Paradigm Technology 01235 862400 ☎ more slowly you scanner. 18Mb file. From this, four smaller down a phone line direct to the resolution CCD capable of producing Scanner Technologies 01734 770808 ☎ must drag. IMC distributes a relatively cheap versions are made, each half the resolu- publisher’s DTP package, without devel- colour images suitable for newspaper or Another cost saving comes in the scan drum scanner; the Scanview-Scanmate tion of the last; these five versions window, which in most cases is only 4in Magic, from £10,350. together total around 24Mb. Kodak then wide. Software is often supplied to stitch feeds this information to a workstation together several small scans to make up Film scanners Anatomy of a twain driver a whole one, with varying degrees of suc- Film scanners are designed to digitise cess. In practice, 4in is not all that limiting transparency film. The scanning process Scanning mode Manual highlight select and the scans themselves are up to the is transmittive rather than reflective, in Select Manual shadow same high standard as many flatbeds. In that the film lies between a uniform white reflective or transparency select addition, a hand scanner is small and light source and the scanning head; oth- mode convenient. erwise the process is exactly the same. Handhelds are available from For this reason, many flatbed scanners Logitech, Mustek (Evesham Micros) and have optional transparency adapters Reveal (Western Systems). which are little more than alternative lids with built-in illumination. Flip image Sheet feeding scanners Film images are usually smaller than Sheet feeding scanners have a fixed paper-based pictures. Since the resolving Image dimensions scanning head over which the image is power of the flatbed does not increase which compresses the 24Mb to around fed. A fax machine is a low resolution, magically with the attachment of a trans- 6Mb, using a visually lossless system. Rotate monochrome sheet-fed scanner. In addi- parency scanner, you must be prepared With 680Mb available on a recordable image tion, many flatbed scanners offer a sheet for a loss of quality when scanning film; CD, more than 100 images may be Cleans moire feeding option (ADF, or automatic docu- unless of course your flatbed offers an stored. Being multi-session, all 100 do patterns from ment feeder) extremely high optical resolution, or the not have to be recorded at the same time. half tone for multi- film to be scanned is medium format or Each blank disc costs around £5, originals page OCR larger. while individual images cost from 50p to work. Dedicated film scanners exist which £3 each, depending on where you get High-end offer optical resolutions of up to 4,000dpi; them done and how long you want it to Tone adjusters Colour document ideal for even 35mm transparencies. take. A later extension is Pro Photo CD preview image scan- Nikon offers a 35mm film scanner small which offers a highest resolution twice as ners, enough to fit in a standard 5.25in drive large as normal Photo CD, ideal for stor- designed to bay. Kodak produces a high quality and ing medium format film scans. This high- Auto exposure and adjustment scan around extremely fast film scanner for it’s Photo est 72Mb file obviously reduces the Display 40 pages per CD process. Film scanners of this quality number of images per disc. tone curve minute (ppm) in black and white, are can cost thousands of pounds. Any multi-session CD-ROM drive can available from companies such as Pana- read a Photo CD, which makes it the Display Make final histogram scan

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Digital photo retouching

igital retouching is the process Buy any of the 18 scanners reviewed full and cut down, known as LE. This light of manipulating a here and you’ll be in luck, since every one version lacks the more sophisticated pro- photographic image with a of them comes with a photo retouching fessional publishing options, but is still Dcomputer. This could be to application capable of producing any of highly usable and a great introduction to brighten or darken an image, alter the the effects described earlier. Of course the genre. It may be upgraded to the full overall colour balance, sharpen or blur version for £179. it. Any of these effects may be applied Colour photographic images look globally or to selective areas. best displayed in more than 256 You can be more specific and actu- colours. Most modern graphics cards ally paint over the original image, per- have the ability to do this but you may haps to remove scratches or have to reduce the screen resolution. If undesirable marks on the original. In your graphics card offers a resolution of advertising, photo retouching is used 1,024 x 768 pixels in 256 colours (8-bit), routinely to whiten bloodshot eyes or it should be able to handle the lower smooth away spots and wrinkles. It resolution of 800 x 600 pixels in 65,536 may also be used scientifically to colours (16-bit), or even 16,777,216 emphasise subtle details by applying colours (24-bit), at 640 x 480 pixels; it’s false colours, or representing the image all about sharing the resources of your as, say, a three dimensional map of graphics card between resolution and tones. some are better than others. Generally number of colours. In short, it is a digital darkroom where accepted to be the best around, and Edi- Remember that 24-bit files are 24 you can work in the comfort of your own tor’s Choice in our April photo retouching times bigger than 1-bit, or three times big- home or office, without the red safe light group test, is Adobe Photoshop. ger than 8-bit files at the same resolution, and smelly chemicals. All you need is a Version 3, currently out for both Win- so make sure you have lots of spare disk scanner to capture your images and a dows and Macintosh, was bundled with space if you get into it. suitable photo retouching application. many of the scanners in one of two forms: Adobe 0181 6064000

OCR and tracing

hen used correctly, an output varies between basic text files, or copies of large faxes, forms and such Optical Character Recog- formatted documents. Either way, the like. At PCW, we use OCR techniques to nition (OCR) package bring readers’ letters into Microsoft Word W can save hours of typing. for editing. Current packages feature impressive A good scanner is essential for “adaptive recognition” algorithms. Adap- reliable OCR. Typically they scan in line tive recognition is based on complex and art mode at between 100 and 200dpi custom designed neural networks that depending on the original type size and have the ability not only to translate quality — trial and error is a big factor. whole characters from paper to screen, Some flatbed scanners have the but to recognise badly presented or option of an ADF, which sits on top of the incomplete symbols. Before release the scanner and feeds the pages through like network is exposed to thousands of fonts a photocopier or fax. There are even and typestyles, on everything from faxes scanners dedicated exclusively to scan- to laser printouts, and it then creates its ning large numbers of pages very quickly. own generalisation as to what characters These are not so much for OCR as for should look like. Some even learn as they digitising records for databasing. Instead work, and correct commonly found mis- of sifting through paper-filled cabinets, takes without constant interaction from you search for the documents electroni- the user. Allowing the software to make technology has not reached the extent cally and view them on-screen. up its own mind about character shapes where you can happily save the file with- In a similar vein to tracing the outlines works far better than trying to lay down out editing at all. The question of whether of characters for OCR, it is also possible specific rules as not every document to OCR or not depends on the quality of to scan a logo, use a tracing application looks the same. your original document and the accuracy such as CorelTrace or Adobe Most OCR packages take columns of your scanner and software. StreamLine, and end up with a scalable, into account, while some recognise and Common uses for OCR software device-independent EPS; handy for all retain various styles or formatting. OCR include scanning and storing electronic those signatures at the bottom of letters.

467 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

How we did the tests

bjective colour testing PCI SCSI host adaptor was used to con- reasonable. High quality colour correction of scanners is nect all scanners; the 1Gb Seagate hard requires that a full, smooth and unclipped difficult. Many reports disk was connected in the same SCSI range is present and this is immediately only consider the on- chain. We also tested all the scanners for obvious when looking at the histogram. screen, side-to-side compatibility with the significantly We looked at the histograms of the IT-8 appearance of digi- cheaper Adaptec 1510 ISA SCSI host target and the colour photograph. Otised colour photos. Unless you are work- adaptor. All but the Mustek and Trust The results of colour correction and ing in a highly calibrated environment, scanners worked with both adaptors, calibrated separations are presented in on-screen colour bears little resemblance while these required the use of the sup- this month’s Hands On Graphics & DTP. to what you see on the printed page, and plied 8-bit card. (Histograms were discussed at length besides, comparisons made in this way All scanners were left on for at least last month). are always subjective. 60 minutes to warm up before any tests Selecting the greyscale portion of the With this in mind we developed a new were carried out. IT-8 and making a histogram reveals the set of testing methods in an attempt to We scanned a 5in x 7in colour print at number of levels resolved, how well they remove as much subjectivity as possible. 100dpi in 24-bit on all scanners, with the are defined and how much noise is pre- Much of the continuous tone greyscale TWAIN driver set at its default settings. If sent. We counted the number of well- and colour analysis can be made using there was a simple one button or defined, separate levels, and commented the histogram facilities offered in photo taggable “auto-exposure/adjustment” on any poor or outstanding results in the retouching applications. We used Adobe command, we used it. The aim was to reviews. Photoshop 3 running under Windows 3.1 test the quality of raw scans made with Line art resolving power is much eas- and Macintosh System 7.5, both in 24-bit the least effort. ier to test and subjective opinions rate colour depth. Next we scanned the Agfa IT-8 colour highly. Last year we printed the scans of All original scans were made on the reference target, again using the default a six-point letter g made at each Windows platform, using the provided settings. Selecting the colour squares scanner’s highest interpolated resolution. TWAIN driver, acquiring images into portion and analysing the histogram This year we scanned the same charac- Adobe Photoshop 3 for Windows. Our reveals exactly which colours have been ter, but twice: first at the highest optical test PC was a Western Systems Pentium captured, how full the range is, and resolution and again at the highest inter- 90 with 16Mb RAM. A fast Adaptec 2940 whether any undesirable clipping has polated resolution of each scanner. A occurred on the high- character around 2mm high may be Below, the Agfa IT-8 light and/or shadow unfair for OCR, but it is a good test for reference target. It was areas. resolving power. scanned on each unit and Comparing raw While all the scanners tested offered the histogram analysed. scans can prove either 300 x 600, 400 x 800 or 600 x Left is a typical histogram, highly subjective, but 1,200 optical resolutions, the variety of revealing an uninterrupted comparing claimed interpolated resolutions was range but rolling off at histograms of raw enormous. Don’t take the advertiser’s each end scans is perfectly word for it: turn to the page of g’s and see straight away which scanners do the best job of interpolating. Below each result is the resolution at which the manufacturer claimed it was made: notice how some of the highest claims are more than ambitious. Speed is an important factor. The proper speed of a scanner is the time it takes to make a final, usable scan. If you have to make several attempts, then the scanner is slow. Since this is difficult to measure, we timed how long it took to make a colour A4 preview, an A5 100dpi colour scan, an A4 mono preview, and an A4 150dpi mono scan. The results are presented on the same page as the num- ber of greyscales resolved, and should be treated with caution. We also placed emphasis on the quality, ease of use and facilities offered by each TWAIN module; this is your interface with the scanner and there’s usually no alternative.

468 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

Budget scanners

Microtek ScanMaker II

shipping with Photoshop 3 LE, Omni- five times as much, before and after colour Page Direct 2 and a SCSI card. The XE correction. version comes with full Photoshop. Once a frequent winner, the ScanMaker It’s a 24-bit, three-pass scanner with an II offers no competition to the Umax T-630 optical resolution of 300 x 600dpi, interpo- which costs only £30 more. latable to 1,200 x 1,200dpi. The colour pre- view is slowest on test, taking a seemingly eternal three minutes; so opt immediately for the greyscale preview, requiring a far more reasonable 36 seconds. The ScanMaker II scored below average on line art, and clipped both ends of the colour range, especially in shadow areas. PCW Details he veteran Microtek ScanMaker II has Despite this, raw colour scans were reason- Microtek ScanMaker II Tnow appeared in three PCW scanner ably accurate, if a bit soft. Check out this Contact Computers Unlimited group tests and is looking a little tired. month’s Hands On Graphics & DTP to 0181 200 8282 We looked at the ScanMaker II package, judge it against the Agfa Arcus II, costing Price RRP £665

Mustek MFS 6000CX

the 8000SP reviewed elsewhere in this test. Moving on to colour; the 6000CX turned in a The 6000CX produced a pretty slow clean, unclipped range with good definition. colour preview — switch to greyscale Not complete to the extreme edges, but cer- straight away. Unusually the final colour tainly usable. scan was 25 percent quicker than the colour Distributor Evesham Micros doesn’t preview. quote RRPs, but the 6000CX’s street price is This 24-bit, optical 300 x 600 scanner the cheapest in this group test and an excel- ships with iPhotoPlus and WordLinx OCR. lent introduction to budget colour flatbed An 8-bit SCSI card is supplied, which as with scanning. the 8000SP was the only means by which we could get the scanner to work. As with last year’s Mustek scanners, no communica- PCW Details hile there is a newer single-pass ver- tion was achieved with any of our Adaptec Mustek MFS 6000CX sion of this unit, we’re looking at the cards. W Contact Evesham Micros old, three-pass version. Anyone considering OCR is possible with the 6000CX, but 01386 765500 the single pass 6000SP should upgrade to don’t look for good line art performance. Price (Street price ) £299

Mustek MFS 8000SP

SP stands for single-pass and the 8000 all the colours were present to be corrected if turns out an optical resolution of 400 x desired. Magic Calibrator was included to do 800dpi, interpolatable to a somewhat ambi- the deed. The line art result was not good tiously claimed 6400 x 6400dpi. Retouching and demonstrates how claimed high interpo- is supplied by the dubiously titled ImagePals lated resolutions are often meaningless. Go!, while OCR is covered by WordLinx. An 8-bit SCSI card is fortunately included as standard since the 8000 refused to com- municate with any of our Adaptec SCSI cards, despite claimed compatibility. Inter- estingly this seems to happen with all Mustek scanners, including those we tested he latest model from Mustek is the last year. PCW Details Tcheapest 30-bit scanner in this group The 8000 is a reasonably quick unit, turn- Mustek MFS 8000SP test. Distributor, Evesham Micros, doesn’t ing in a full colour range with a little clipping Contact Evesham Micros quote RRPs, but the 8000’s street price is in the shadows. The auto settings produced 01386 765500 pretty low. one of the most discoloured raw scans, but Price (Street price) £499

470 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

Budget scanners

Trust Imagery 1200

appear to refuse point blank. However, the very good, but better than the Mustek 6000, 1200 experienced subsequent difficulties while colour scans displayed a similarly wide and was far happier with the supplied 8-bit range, missing only the darkest shadows. SCSI card. Raw colour scans lacked ultimate vibrancy, The 1200 is a three-pass 24-bit unit offer- but were certainly workable. ing an optical resolution of 300 x 600dpi, And look at the price, the 1200 comes interpolatable to 1,200 x 1,200dpi. The stan- highly recommended for anyone wanting a dard package ships with iPhoto Plus, budget colour flatbed. WordLinx OCR, and of course, that SCSI card. Curiously the 1200 was a bit faster than t looks like a Mustek 6000 and indeed it is, the Mustek 6000 in all but the A4 line art PCW Details Iidentified for all to see, on a SCSI ID scan. tests; more importantly it was faster than the Trust Imagery 1200 But the 1200 did communicate with our slightly more expensive 2400 model. Contact Aashima Distribution Adaptec SCSI card, when all Musteks The 1200’s line art quality results weren’t 01376 501146 Price RRP £375; street price £309

Trust Imagery 2400 rebadge, actually worked with our per cent of levels, but otherwise smooth. Adaptec card — although it Raw colour scans were lacking vibrancy, but experienced some later difficulties. An fairly accurate. 8-bit alternative is provided, as with the The 2400 is very slow, in fact slower than Musteks, just in case. its cheaper counterpart, the 1200, which you It’s a three-pass 24-bit unit with an optical could consider instead. resolution of 600 x 1200dpi, interpolatable to 2,400 x 2,400, and very cheap at a typical street price of £429. This includes Photoshop 2.5 LE, WordLinx OCR and a reasonably equipped TWAIN module bear- ing a remarkable resemblance to the Mustek 12000s. t looks like a Mustek 12000 and indeed Interpolated line art was well below par, PCW Details Iwhen your SCSI bus scans the IDs, there although at the optical maximum, it scored Trust Imagery 2400 Contact Aashima Distribution 01376 it is: Mustek 12000. So what’s different? For similarly to other 600dpi units. The colour 501146 a start, the Trust unit, paradoxically for a range was missing the top and bottom five Price RRP £499; street price £429

Umax Vista T-630

appearances put you off: this scanner colour scans are accurate, bearing a great is wonderful. resemblance to the originals and easily cor- A modest 300 x 600dpi optical reso- rected. lution is offered, interpolatable to 1,200 x This is our budget best buy, putting many 1,200dpi. Photoshop LE, great TWAIN more expensive scanners to shame. module and a SCSI card are supplied as standard, but no OCR software. We had to use the supplied SCSI card, because despite claimed compatibility, we couldn’t get it to work with any of our Adaptec cards. It’s not as quick as the speedy three-pass Nikon, but at half the price you’ll be able to wait 33 seconds for a colour preview. Inter- PCW Details he T in the name of the cheapest of the polated line art is not brilliant, but good for Umax Vista T-630 Tthree current Umax Vista scanners the price. Like the other better-than-average Contact IMC 01753 830999 stands for three-pass. It’s a 24-bit model budget scanners, the T-630 scores well on a Price RRP £695; street price £449 and a little boxy looking, but don’t let wide and unclipped colour range. Raw

472 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

Mid-range scanners Mid-range scanners

Agfa StudioScan II Epson GTx9000

where the similarities end. resolved, and despite missing the top few It’s a 30-bit, 600 x 1200dpi unit, shop and colour correction. A street price of around £650 buys a highlight levels, the raw colour results were interpolatable to 2,400 x 2,400dpi. The Epson GTx 9000 is an excellent 30-bit unit with an optical resolution of excellent. Shipped as standard are an Adaptec package with everything you could want 400 x 800dpi, interpolatable up to 2,400 x The StudioScan II stood an excellent 1510 SCSI card, Photoshop LE and apart from legal size scanning area and a 2,400dpi. Software includes Adobe Photo- chance of a Highly Commended award until OmniPage Direct 2; you can also connect small case. A clear winner. shop 3 LE, OmniPage Direct 2, and the light we learnt of the forthcoming StudioScan IISi, it through a parallel port if required. version of the superb FotoTune colour man- which will be five times faster thanks to Raw colour scans are highly accurate agement package, upgradable to the full ver- improved firmware. Certainly one to look out and contain a full range apart from the top sion for £250. for. highlight levels. Interpolated line art results The StudioScan II ships with the same are with the best of the rest, and everything highly competent TWAIN module, FotoLook, happens very quickly. as the Arcus II. Speed of previews wasn’t the Best of all is that a day’s free training quickest, but acceptable and final scans PCW Details worth £299 is on offer to anyone buying an PCW Details nother replacement from Agfa, this were a little slow. Agfa StudioScan igher resolution and slightly quicker Epson scanner at the moment. Training Epson GTx9000 A time for the original StudioScan. Interpolated line result came fourth, join- Contact Agfa UK 0181 2314200 Hthan the 8500, the Epson 9000 is a takes place at Epson UK in Hemel Hemp- Contact Epson UK Model II looks like the original, but that’s ing the best of the rest. Grey levels were well Price RRP £995; street price £650 superb scanner let down only by its huge stead; it’s a hands-on class, for a maximum 01442 61144 size and maximum A4 scanning area. of eight people, covering OmniPage, Photo- Price RRP £859

Canon IX4015 Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c £699 buys a single pass 24-bit unit with There are units costing the same which edges. line art was up with the best. It’s very quick an optical resolution of 400 x 800dpi, outperform the Canon by far, but it’s easy to The 3c boasts 30 bits and a high too. interpolatable up to 1,200 x 1,200dpi. It fall for its smallness. optical resolution of 600 x 1200dpi, A hot contender for the top prize, but is shipped as standard without OCR interpolatable to 2,400 x 2,400dpi. slightly better results and a package deal software, but does come with Ofoto and a Included as standard is a SCSI card, from our winner knocks the ScanJet 3c into SCSI card. Ofoto has its moments as a Calera WordScan and the curious choice of its, highly recommended, second place. photo retouching application doing neat the standalone Corel PhotoPaint 5. A colour tricks like automatically rotating the image photocopy utility is included offering an until it is square. excellent partnership between the 3c and, The Canon is quick, turning in 10-second say, the new HP DeskJet 850c printer. colour-only previews; final scans don’t take The TWAIN module is perhaps a little too much longer. Interpolated line art wasn’t the easy to use, sometimes hand holding a little best, but certainly good enough for most sit- too often, but great for beginners or those he Canon IX-4015 is tiny: the footprint uations. Colour scans contained a smooth PCW Details uperseding the highly successful IIcx who don’t want to mess around. PCW Details Tis just larger than A4 and it measures unclipped range, only falling off at the top Canon IX4015 Swhich won last year’s scanner group Raw scans were a little bright, but con- Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c Contact Canon UK 0181 7733173 Contact Hewlett Packard 01344 369222 less than 8cm tall. If desk space is at a pre- five percent of highlight levels, while raw test, the 3c looks similar in styling with the tained a full range. Greyscale performance Price RRP £699 Price RRP £839; street price £660 mium, this is the only scanner to go for. scans were quite accurate. same unusual slotted effect around the was excellent with superb definition, while

Epson GTx 8500 Nikon ScanTouch AX-1200

The 8500 offers 30-bit depth and class, for a maximum of eight people, cover- It’s a well built 30-bit unit, with a high opti- auto adjustment option. an optical resolution of 400 x 800dpi ing OmniPage, Photoshop basics and colour cal resolution of 565 x 1,200dpi, interpolat- Unsurprisingly, the ScanTouch is most at interpolatable to 1600 x 1600dpi. The correction. able up to 1,200 x 1,200dpi. Nikon quotes home with continuous tone photographic standard package ships with an Adaptec The 8500 is a brilliant package, bettered 565dpi, claiming honesty when others con- images. In line with the rest of Nikon’s pric- 1510 SCSI card, Photoshop LE and Omni- only by the 9000. The only downside is its veniently round up to 600. ing policy, the ScanTouch is slightly Page Direct 2; parallel port connection is maximum A4 scanning area. If it cost a little The scanner ships with Photoshop LE, overpriced. offered. less, it would have cleaned up in our budget OmniPage Direct 2, an excellent TWAIN dri- The 8500 is quite nippy, with 10-second group. ver and an Adaptec 1510 SCSI card. previews and reasonably timed final scans. Curiously the ScanTouch is a three-pass Raw scans are accurate, with a full range unit, but speeds along with the best of them. bar the top couple of levels. Line art perfor- There are certainly no registration worries. mance is above average too. Interpolated line art was average, As with the 9000, a day’s free training PCW Details although grey level performance was excel- PCW Details atest in the Epson flatbed range, the worth £299 has been available for anyone Epson GTx8500 oming from probably the most respect- lent. A full range of colours was captured Nikon ScanTouch AX-1200 L8500 is a lower resolution and slightly buying an Epson scanner since the begin- Contact Epson UK 01442 61144 Ced 35mm SLR manufacturer in the with only the slightest clipping. The raw Contact Nikon UK 0181 5414440 slower version of the 9000 also reviewed in ning of this year. Training is given at Epson Price RRP £729 World, the first flatbed scanner from Nikon is result was good despite being perhaps a lit- Price RRP £1,195 this feature. UK in Hemel Hempstead; it’s a hands-on certainly something to look forward to. tle over-brightened by the TWAIN module’s

476 477 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

Mid-range scanners

Panasonic FX-RS308C

package. Throw in a Future Domain SCSI corrections. interface and you have the Panasonic Busi- Panasonic is selling this Business Pack- ness Pack. age at an overpriced £873, and even consid- Our greatest surprise was the speed at ering its street price this scanner has had its which this old-timer produced its results. It day. beat every other scanner in this test by com- ing up with a colour preview in an unbeliev- ably quick eight seconds. Normal scanning was quick too, with the colour test taking a highly commendable 14 seconds. Sadly, the 308 shows its age with a poor interpolated line art result and very noisy his veteran of two previous PCW scan- scans, resulting in random dots and PCW Details Tner group tests is a single-pass, 24-bit, confused details. It did turn out a reasonable Panasonic FX-RS308C 300 x 300dpi unit with PhotoFinish, range of colours, but the level of noise pre- Contact Panasonic 0500 404041 TextBridge OCR and the DeCarte archival sent would not encourage the user to make Price RRP £873; street price £650

Sharp JX-33OP

RRP of £1,395 is the highest in this were up with the best of the rest, but colour section. scans came across as dull due to the lack of You get a 24-bit scanner with an the top ten percent highlight levels. If it were optical resolution of 600 x 600dpi, a 30-bit scanner, correction would be viable, interpolatable up to 2,400 x 2,400 and an but for 24-bit it is overpriced and should only Adaptec 1505 SCSI interface. The 330 is be considered for fast document scanning. unique in that both ADF and one of two transparency adaptors may be fitted simulta- neously, if perhaps a little precariously. Sharp supplies a variety of software options: a standalone application, TWAIN module and even Photoshop for Windows plug-in. Curiously, Sharp supplies the 330 PCW Details he Sharp is the only scanner in our not with Photoshop, but the now discontin- Sharp JX-33OP group designed to be used turned 90 ued Aldus PhotoStyler; Adobe will upgrade T Contact Sharp Electronics 0800 262958 degrees clockwise, so you’ll need wide this to full Photoshop for a bargain £155. Price RRP £1,395; street price £1,099 deskspace. Build quality is excellent, but its The 330 is extremely fast. Line art results

Umax Vista S8

single pass and the S8 boasts an optical res- However street prices are very promising at olution of 400 x 800dpi, interpolatable to £750. Combined with high speed and perfor- 1,600 x 1,600. mance, the result is another winner from The S8 ships with Photoshop LE, Magic- Umax. Match colour calibration and a SCSI card, but no OCR software. The TWAIN module isn’t as good as the PowerLooks, but is still brilliant, putting most others to shame. The S8 is extremely quick, but in no way compromised quality. Colour range was full and smooth with no clipping and the raw result was excellent for a 24-bit unit. Interpo- his is the top of Umax’s recent Vista lated line art was remarkably good, second PCW Details Trange. The other two models are the only to the stunning PowerLook. Umax Vista S8 mid-range 300 x 600 dpi S6 and the budget It is quite expensive at an RRP of £1,195, Contact IMC 01753 830999 T-630 which is reviewed elsewhere in this especially since the standard lid is thin Price RRP £1,195; street price £750 test. All three are 24-bit, but S stands for enough for the light to be seen through it.

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High-end scanners

Agfa Arcus II

II is the highly anticipated replacement Excellent correction was provided by Foto- for the once dominant but now dated Tune light, upgradable to the full version for Arcus plus. £250. Interpolated line art was excellent, At an RRP of £3,250 it’s one of the beaten only by the unusually good Umax most expensive units we’ve looked at, but Powerlook and S8. consider what you get for your money: a Early criticisms of speed are quashed by built-in transparency adaptor as standard, the updated FotoLook TWAIN driver, well full Photoshop 3 and OmniPage Direct 2. equipped and much speedier. High optical resolution of 600 x 1,200dpi, A flatbed with superb build and interpolatable up to 3,600 x 3,600. Perhaps performance. most interesting of all is that the Arcus II is only one of two 36-bit flatbed scanners avail- able — the Microtek ScanMaker III is the PCW Details asily the biggest and most substantial other. Agfa Arcus II Escanner in the group test, looking like a Raw colour scans were about as good as Contact Agfa UK 0181 2314200 slightly scaled-down stadium, the Agfa Arcus they can be, with a full, unclipped range. Price RRP £3,250; street price £2,600

Microtek ScanMaker III

The very solid ScanMaker III has a The ScanMaker III would be a great 600 x 1,200dpi optical resolution, and scanner if we didn’t have the Agfa Arcus II ships with full Photoshop, OmniPage and Umax PowerLook with which to Direct 2, a SCSI card and colour cali- compare it. For around the same price, bration package, DCR. Given the fact that these outperform it in every respect. the transparency adaptor costs £450 extra, the ScanMaker III spec and package is very similar to our Editor’s Choice Agfa Arcus II (and indeed the Umax PowerLook) differen- tiated only by its 30-bit range. Sadly the similarities end there. It’s slow- er than the Arcus II and produced a disap- pointingly over-saturated raw colour scan. PCW Details The full range was present but was clipped Microtek Scanmaker III he world’s first 36-bit colour flatbed at both ends. Greys were well defined, while Contact Computers Unlimited 0181 200 Tscanner comes from established line art was good, but again beaten by the 8282 manufacturer Microtek. other two. Price RRP £2,995

Umax PowerLook

package. This retails at £3,495 and comes turning out an extraordinarily good result with transparency adaptor, full Photoshop 3 with its 600 x 1200dpi optical resolution, and trial copy of the superb Binuscan Color- unbeatably interpolated to 2,400 x 2,400dpi. Pro colour management package. There’s It’s super quick too, and comes highly rec- no OCR package in this configuration. ommended to anyone who doesn’t demand You do get one of the best TWAIN mod- the ultimate top colour quality of the Arcus II. ules around, named MagicScan, offering everything you could wish for including a great autocorrect. A competent calibration utility, MagicMatch, is also included. Surprisingly for the most expensive scan- ner in the test, the PowerLook is only 30-bit. Our tests, however, showed its colour range PCW Details ou can buy the PowerLook without to be complete, with only the slightest clip- Umax PowerLook Ythe transparency adaptor, but for fair ping on the highlights. The Arcus II only just Contact IMC 01753 830999 comparison with the Arcus II and beats it on colour. Price RRP £3,495 ScanMaker III we reviewed it as the Pro In line art, the PowerLook rules supreme,

480 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

Colour result

Agfa Arcus II Agfa Studio Scan II Canon IX4015

Epson GTx 8500 Epson GTx 9000 Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c

Microtek Scanmaker II Microtek Scanmaker III Mustek MFS-6000CX

Here are the raw scans made with each driver’s default settings. If there was a single button to auto expose or adjust, we used it. All scans were made at 100dpi in 24 bit of a 5 x 7" original photograph. This is not a completely fair test of each scanner’s capabilities, since all could

484 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

Colour result

Mustek MFS8000 SP Nikon ScanTouch Panasonic FX-RS308C

Sharp JX-330P Trust Imagery 1200 Trust Imagery 2400

Umax Powerlook Umax T-630 Umax Vista S8

be corrected. It does however display the results made with the least effort. Results of colour correction can be found in this month’s Graphics & DTP column in the Hands On section.

486 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 GROUP TEST: SCANNERS

Line art result

Agfa Arcus II Agfa Studio Scan II Canon IX4015

600 x 1200 3600 x 3600 400 x 800 2400 x 2400 400 x 800 1200 x 1200 Epson GTx 8500 Epson GTx 9000 Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c

400 x 800 300 x 600 600 x 1200 2400 x 2400 600 x 1200 2400 x 2400 Microtek ScanMaker II Microtek ScanMaker III Mustek MFS6000 CX

300 x 600 1200 x 1200 600 x 1200 1200 x 1200 300 x 600 1200 x 1200 Mustek MFS8000 SP Nikon ScanTouch Panasonic FX-RS308C

400 x 800 6400 x 6400 565 x 1200 1200 x 1200 300 x 300 600 x 600 Sharp JX-330P Trust Imagery 1200 Trust Imagery 2400

600 x 600 2400 x 2400 300 x 600 1200 x 1200 600 x 1200 2400 x 2400 Umax PowerLook Umax Vista T-630 Umax Vista S8

600 x 1200 2400 x 2400 300 x 600 1200 x 1200 400 x 800 1600 x 1600 The same 6 point letter g was scanned twice for each unit. Left are the results at the true optical resolution, right are the results at the highest interpolated resolution of each unit. Below each result is the manufacturer’s claimed figures

488 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 SCANNERS GROUP TEST: SCANNERSTEMPLATE

Results ● Grey levels Agfa Arcus II 19 Agfa Studio Scan II 19 Editor’s Choice Canon IX-4015 16 Epson GTx 8500 17 Epson GTx 9000 18 e considered Mustek’s old 6000CX represented much 1,200dpi GTx 9000. The former would Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c 20 the 18 scanners better value at a street price of £299, but have cleaned up the budget priced group Microtek ScanMaker III 19 in three distinct we preferred the Highly Commended, if it had been slightly cheaper and should Microtek ScanMaker II 16 RRP categories: rebadged, Trust Imagery 1200 version. be seriously considered. However it was Mustek MFS-6000CX 18 below £700; For a tenner more it was a tad faster and the GTx 9000 which impressed us Mustek MFS-8000SP 13 between £700 happier with our Adaptec card, and also enough to award it Editor’s Choice: an Nikon Scantouch AX-1200 20 and £1,400; and top-of-the-range models better than the more expensive Trust excellent package deal offering superb Panasonic FX-RS308CU 17 W above £3,000. There is a big difference 2400 model. results. Sharp JX 330 18 from last year’s group test: last year all Our Editor’s Choice in the budget At the high end, we looked at three top Trust Imagery 1200 19 the scanners were 24-bit models, section is the Umax Vista T-630. It just models. Since the 36-bit Agfa Arcus II Trust Imagery 2400 17 whereas this year we have 30-bit and squeezed into this section at an RRP of comes with its transparency adaptor fitted Umax Powerlook 19 even 36-bit models; indeed the former £695, but its street price of £449 gets you as standard for an RRP of £3,250, we Umax Vista S8 18 have representatives in all three price a superb all-round performer. A mention considered its two competitors with their Umax Vista T-630 18 brackets. must go to the Canon IX-4015 for being adaptors included. The Microtek Scan- In theory, a high bit scanner should so tiny, and nippy too; the only choice for Maker III, also 36-bit, costs £3,449 RRP, 0 15 Grey levels resolved 20 capture a larger range of shades and small desks. Officially, it sits on the while the 30-bit Umax PowerLook will set ● Colour preview time ● Colour time colours, giving it much more to work with. boundary of our budget and mid sections, you back £3,495. All three are 600 x Every time any tonal or colour correction but the price will probably fall soon as 1,200 optical units and come with full Agfa Arcus II 20 Agfa Arcus II 76 is made, let alone mode changes, several the announcement of a new model is Photoshop 3 and some kind of colour Agfa Studio Scan II 20 Agfa Studio Scan II 100 levels are permanently lost. If you want a imminent. management software. Canon IX-4015 10 Canon IX-4015 11 good 24-bit range after all manipulations, The middle section, between £700 The ScanMaker III would be impres- Epson GTx 8500 10 Epson GTx 8500 38 it pays to start with 30 or 36 bits. It’s and £1,400, was the most competitive sive if it weren’t for the other two, which Epson GTx 9000 10 Epson GTx 9000 26 rather like buying a car with a top speed with no less than nine models battling it are in a different class. But how to Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c 12 Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c 24 of 120mph so that it will perform well at out. Panasonic should either stick to choose one? The PowerLook is quicker Microtek ScanMaker III 46 Microtek ScanMaker III 85 70mph. making its super-efficient document and offers the best interpolated line art Microtek ScanMaker II 200 Microtek ScanMaker II 100 If you want to pull out details in high- scanners or reduce the price of its ageing result in the whole group test. The Arcus Mustek MFS-6000CX 85 Mustek MFS-6000CX 65 light or shadow areas, then the extra FX-RS308C. Sharp’s new JX 330 is very II with its 36-bit colour depth captured a Mustek MFS-8000SP 15 Mustek MFS-8000SP 44 range claimed by high bit scanners well built and extremely quick, but its wider range, but only just. The Nikon Scantouch AX-1200 20 Nikon Scantouch AX-1200 22 should help too. Our results proved that average colour performance and RRP of PowerLook came with a demo copy of Panasonic FX-RS308CU 8 Panasonic FX-RS308CU 14 the best ranges tend to be achieved by £1,395 recommends it only as a Binuscan ColourPro colour management, Sharp JX 330 17 Sharp JX 330 9 the high bit scanners, but not in every document scanner. which does an excellent job, but then so Trust Imagery 1200 65 Trust Imagery 1200 58 case. We saw some 24-bit models that Nikon’s ScanTouch was a good colour does FotoTune light, shipped with the Trust Imagery 2400 110 Trust Imagery 2400 165 clearly outperformed certain 30-bit units. performer, but overpriced compared with Arcus II. The latter is much cheaper to Umax Powerlook 11 Umax Powerlook 19 Still on the subject of colour, most other models in this range. The Agfa upgrade to the full version. Umax Vista S8 33 Umax Vista S8 25 manufacturers have recognised the StudioScan II stood a good chance of Umax TWAIN drivers are always Umax Vista T-630 9 Umax Vista T-630 21 potential problems and produced some winning something until we heard about excellent and the PowerLook’s is no the forthcoming IISi version, said to be different. Agfa’s FotoLook was also very 0 25 Seconds 50 0 50 Seconds 100 superb TWAIN drivers with very effective auto-correct facilities. Others included five times faster. good, but additionally offered handy ● B & W preview time ● B & W preview time colour calibration and management soft- At the more expensive end, the Umax colour management and CMYK separa- ware, some of which produced excellent Vista S8 impressed us in every respect tions within the driver, negating the need Agfa Arcus II 18 Agfa Arcus II 140 results. and is a Highly Commended choice for for Photoshop altogether if desired. Agfa Studio Scan II 13 Agfa Studio Scan II 80 Resolving power has improved, with anyone with a little more to spend. Its edge on colour work and its Canon IX-4015 10 Canon IX-4015 14 many relatively cheap units boasting high Hewlett Packard has once again cheaper price tag swung the balance to Epson GTx 8500 9 Epson GTx 8500 13 optical resolutions of 600 x 1,200dpi. produced a wonderful scanner with it’s the Arcus II, which wins Editor’s Choice, Epson GTx 9000 10 Epson GTx 9000 12 Sadly, some absurdly high claims of new ScanJet 3C, which was a potential but there’s not much in it. Unless you Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c 12 Hewlett Packard ScanJet 3c 14 interpolated resolutions are still to be winner. As it is, it earns itself a Highly absolutely need the colour accuracy and Microtek ScanMaker III 24 Microtek ScanMaker III 52 found — don’t be fooled. Commended second place. range of the Arcus II, go for the quicker Microtek ScanMaker II 36 Microtek ScanMaker II 40 At the budget end, below £700 RRP, Epson has impressed us this year with Highly Commended PowerLook with its Mustek MFS-6000CX 19 Mustek MFS-6000CX 19 we had six contenders. The Microtek its superb products; difficult to choose better line art performance. Mustek MFS-8000SP 15 Mustek MFS-8000SP 26 ScanMaker II was showing its age, but its between. Both Epson scanners came More importantly, both flatbeds attain Nikon Scantouch AX-1200 5 Nikon Scantouch AX-1200 10 colour performance was certainly usable with Adaptec SCSI cards, Photoshop LE such a level of performance that when Panasonic FX-RS308CU 8 Panasonic FX-RS308CU 19 and the £665 XE package did get you and best of all, a day’s free training worth used with colour management, they rep- Sharp JX 330 6 Sharp JX 330 8 Photoshop LE. Mustek’s new 8000SP £300. The GTx 8500 is the cheaper £729 resent a serious alternative to expensive Trust Imagery 1200 16 Trust Imagery 1200 30 was our cheapest 30-bit unit with a street RRP 400 x 800dpi version, while £859 drum scanning when reproducing Trust Imagery 2400 23 Trust Imagery 2400 38 price of £499, but failed to impress. RRP gets you the slightly faster 600 x anything other than full A4. Umax Powerlook 8 Umax Powerlook 15 Umax Vista S8 8 Umax Vista S8 9 Umax Vista T-630 6 Umax Vista T-630 10

0 20 Seconds 40 0 25 Seconds 50

490 491 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 TEMPLATESCANNERS

TABLE OF FEATURES SCANNERS Yes ● No ❍

Manufacturer Agfa Agfa Camn Epson Epson Hewlett Packard Model Arcus II Studio Scan II IX-4015 GTX 8500 GTX 9000 ScanJet 3c Bits 36 30 24 30 30 30 Passes 11 11 11 Optical resolution 600 x 1200 400 x 800 400 x 800 400 x 800 600 x 1200 600 x 1200 Interpolated resolution 3600 x 3600 2400 x 2400 1200 x 1200 1600 x 1600 2400 x 2400 2400 x 2400 Retouching software Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop LE Ofoto Adobe Photoshop LE Adobe Photoshop LE Corel PhotoPaint 5 OCR Software OmniPage Direct 2 OmniPage Direct 2 mne OmniPage Direct 2 OmniPage Direct 2 Calera WordScan SCSI card ❍● ●Adaptec 1510 Adaptec 1510 ● Transparency Adaptor included £ 400 n/a £ 545 £ 545 £ 550 ADF n/a £ 450 £ 269 £ 435 £ 435 £ 400 Weight 16.1kg 9.2kg 6kg 8kg 12kg 9.9kg Dimensions 600 x 410 x 200mm 545 x 386 x 143mm 405 x 286 x 79mm 575 x 332 x 132mm 595 x 383 x 170mm 585 x 368 x 105mm Reflective scan area 210 x 355mm 216 x 356mm 216 x 297mm 216 x 297mm 216 x 297mm 216 x 356mm RRP £ 3,250 £ 995 £ 699 £ 729 £ 859 £ 839 Street £ 2,600 £ 650 n/a n/a n/a £ 660 Contact Agfa UK Agfa UK Camn UK Epson UK Epson UK Hewlett Packard Telephone 0181 231 4200 0181 231 4200 0181 773 3173 01442 61144 01442 61144 01344 369222

Microtek Microtek Mustek Mustek Nikon Panasonic Model ScanMaker III ScanMaker II MFS-6000CX MFS-8000SP Scantouch AX-1200 FX-RS308C Bits 36 24 24 30 30 24 Passes 13 31 31 Optical resolution 600 x 1200 300 x 600 300 x 600 400 x 800 565 x 1200 300 x 300 Interpolated resolution 1200 x 1200 1200 x 1200 1200 x 1200 6400 x 6400 1200 x 1200 600 x 600 Retouching software Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop LE iPhotoPlus Image Pals Go! Adobe Photoshop LE Photofinish OCR Software OmniPage Direct 2 OmniPage Direct 2 WordLinx WordLinx OmniPage Direct 2 Textbridge SCSI card ●● ●● Adaptec 1505 Future Domain Transparency Adaptor £ 450 £ 450 £ 299 tbc £ 495 n/a ADF £ 475 £ 475 £ 299 tbc n/a £ 525 Weight 11.2kg 7kg 7kg 7kg 12kg 7.8kg Dimensions 610 x 376 x 128mm 513 x 343 x 117mm 551 x 340 x 135mm 551 x 340 x 135mm 599 x 376 x 159mm 516 x 343 x 130mm Reflective scan area 211 x 356mm 216 x 297mm 216 x 356mm 216 x 356mm 216 x 356mm 216 x 356mm RRP £ 2,999 £ 665 n/a n/a £ 1,195 £ 873 Street n/a n/a £ 299 £ 499 n/a £ 650 Contact Computers Unlimited Computers Unlimited Evesham Micros Ltd Evesham Micros Ltd Nikon UK Panasonic Telephone 0181 200 8282 0181 200 8282 01386 765500 01386 765500 0181 541 4440 0500 404041

Sharp Trust Trust Umax Umax Umax Model JX 330 Imagery 1200 Imagery 2400 Powerlook S8 T-630 Bits 24 24 24 30 24 24 Passes 13 31 13 Optical resolution 600 x 600 300 x 600 600 x 1200 600 x 1200 400 x 800 300 x 600 Interpolated resolution 2400 x 2400 1200 x 1200 2400 x 2400 2400 x 2400 1600 x 1600 1200 x 1200 Retouching software Aldus PhotoStyler SE iPhotoPlus Adobe Photoshop LE Adobe Photoshop Adobe Photoshop LE Adobe Photoshop LE OCR Software none WordLinx WordLinx none none none SCSI card Adaptec 1505 ●●●●● Transparency Adaptor £ 995 n/a £ 229 included £ 595 £ 595 ADF £ 499 n/a n/a n/a £ 395 £ 395 Weight 13kg 7kg 7kg 9.2kg 8kg 8kg Dimensions 560 x 387 x 155mm 551 x 340 x 135mm 551 x 340 x 135mm 539 x 334 x 138mm 526 x 336 x 131mm 526 x 336 x 131mm Reflective scan area 216 x 355mm 216 x 356mm 216 x 356mm 212 x 297mm 216 x 297mm 216 x 297mm RRP £ 1,395 £ 375 £ 499 £ 3,495 £ 1,195 £ 695 Street £ 1,099 £ 309 £ 429 £ 2,349 £ 749 £ 449 Contact Sharp Electronics Aashima distribution Aashima distribution IMC IMC IMC Telephone 0800 262958 01376 501146 01376 501146 01753 830999 01753 830999 01753 830999

000492 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 INTERVIEW: NIGEL SEED, SILICON GRAPHICS INTERVIEW: NIGEL SEED, SILICON GRAPHICS

Then you hear him talk about the £2m plans to add another 100 people in the Reality Centre downstairs and he turns next 18 months. Internationally, the com- into “Mr Wheeler”: “It’s the world’s best pany has three factories: one in Mountain video arcade game. The adrenaline View, California, where the company is starts pumping. I’ve flown that thing, and based, one in Switzerland, and one in I’ve been chasing tanks along the ground Japan. The British desktop machines are and shooting at them and getting a real made in Switzerland, but the high-end buzz when I’ve hit them and they’ve stuff comes from California. blown up. It’s a very sad thing to admit, Seed thinks people tend to underesti- but I am only a man.” mate the overall usefulness of the com- Clearly, the man has far better toys pany’s technology. He remembers with than the rest of the world: just try, once, great fondness, for example, the Sun sitting in the fancy, joystick and button- manager who five years ago described laden leather chair in the middle of the the company as a little niche company, room with the screen wrapping all around “into boutique graphics”. Since then, he you, and you’re liable to find yourself says: “We’ve seen a deployment of hooked. graphics and high-performance multime- Silicon Graphics (SGI) is the company dia applications across a wide spectrum on whose workstations the liquid- of applications, to the point where we’re metal man in Terminator 2 and now defining the ground rules.” Products the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park of all kinds, from new Walkmans to the were created by the legendary Boeing 777, are being visualised and Industrial Light & Magic. Its designed on computers. In fact, he says, machines are covered in strange the Boeing 777, which was designed on colours, like teal and purple. And it a variety of computers (not just Silicon bundles video cameras and libraries Graphics’) never even went to a of complex, graphical routines to prototype: it went straight into production speed the techniques needed for off the “electronic drawing board”. computer animation. All this explains “In the very near future” says Seed, why, as far as Seed is concerned, “you will see surgeons doing things like there are two kinds of computer com- virtual surgery and planning operations panies: the “boring” ones, and the on workstations.” He adds that hospitals one he works for. and universities around the world are Seed’s career started normally experimenting with techniques to allow No (and boringly) enough in the mini- surgeons to work with a scanned-in 3D computing world. He joined Sun representation of a human being so they Microsystems in 1985 because can plan, and even practice such he was intrigued by the possibili- elements as where the incision should be ties of networking workstations. He and how far in they’ll need to drill. “It’s fun had what he calls “four fabulous years” at to be involved in,” says Seed. “It’s not Sun, and then wanted to become a coun- about gas bills. It’s about leaving our limits try manager where he would have profit mark on society.” and loss responsibility. He had two options: Silicon Graphics and Solbourne. That’s entertainment Fresh from the resounding success of the Jurassic Park/Terminator 2 special Solbourne looked attractive, and Seed In fact, Seed claims that what drives effects created on its workstations, and the launch of the Reality Centre last thinks it wouldn’t have failed if Sun hadn’t technological development at SGI is the hit a plateau in its own growth. entertainment industry, even though the year near Reading, Silicon Graphics has its sights set firmly on the future. But he chose Silicon Graphics for a capabilities requested are typically dis- variety of reasons. First of all, there were missed, at first, as unnecessary for gen- Wendy M Grossman talks to the company’s UK MD, Nigel Seed, about how he internal warnings at Sun that SGI was a eral use. So, four years ago, ILM wanted company to watch out for — it had good not only transparency for the water crea- plans to make the best, better. technology and was winning some deals. ture in The Abyss; it wanted reflectivity, A bigger factor, though, was “getting my both for that and for the liquid metal man hands on the technology; just that came after it. Now, for example,

Millar understanding fundamentally what SGI is engineers using CAD/CAM find translu- trying to do, which is change the way that cency useful, as they can design a gear by John people use computers,” a phrase he box and then hit a button to turn the merican high schools teaching aimlessly out into the street with all the Similarly, there’s Nigel Seed, manag- some of his employees would probably cheerfully admits is an industry cliché. So casing transparent to see the machinery Nigel Seed A“driver’s education” used to show time in the world to spare; then he’d get ing director of Silicon Graphics UK. He disagree with this assessment. His office Seed joined SGI in 1989. Since then, the inside it. an animated film starring one of those into his car (now, as “Mr Wheeler”) and seems a quiet and pleasant “Mr Walker” is sparse and not particularly fancy — UK company has grown from 12 people A couple of years later, ILM was ask- human-sized brown cartoon dogs. It was turn into the sort of person who rears up while talking about having to think in mul- there’s just one of the company’s desk- and £5m a year in revenue to 150 people ing for realtime texture-mapping, which

Photographs of a Jekyll and Hyde scenario: as a pedes- behind you at 100 miles per hour and tiple currencies when he visits the US to top machines sitting on his desk with the and £70m in this fiscal year. He expects was needed for Jurassic Park’s

PCW trian, the dog (“Mr Walker”) would amble runs you off the road. exchange reports, although he says inevitable video camera perched on top. next year’s revenue to top £100m, and dinosaurs, and now it’s moving into

496 497 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 INTERVIEW: NIGEL SEED, SILICON GRAPHICS

CAD/CAM. The difference in hardware the surface and feel the texture. Beyond polygons, the blocks which define the 3D terms, says Seed, is several orders of that, visualisation techniques and graphic surface of a graphic image. “PCs can’t magnitude of computing power. “If it modelling are moving into areas like handle that throughput. Silicon Graphics takes you 30 minutes to render one frame financial trading. You could, for example, can.” The same problem exists with ren- of the liquid-metal man, it would take you have a three-dimensional graph of the US dering. Arc Development has a five hours to render one frame of a dollar versus the Japanese yen, versus Challenge machine that sits in a corner dinosaur.” And, as he agrees, there were copper prices. Spot the wrinkles, and and churns out graphics all day; he does a lot more frames of dinosaurs, and a lot take advantage of the opportunities they not believe a PC can be beefed up more dinosaurs in a given shot. He won’t represent. enough to handle this kind of volume. say what ILM is asking for now. “If I told “It’s in the near future,” Seed says, The one problem with Silicon Graphics, you, I’d have to kill you.” adding that most of this type of develop- he says, is the cost of the machine: a ment is secret. “Some of the trading Challenge machine costs upwards of houses are beginning to develop £100,000. really cool algorithms and visuali- sation techniques.” It may be gam- Graphics giants bling, but: “In terms of market Lack of competition may be the simple opportunities in the short-term of reason for this. Seed says: “There’s no- SGI, we can provide the gamblers one today selling computers that have with ways of cheating.” The point to the graphics power of our top-end remember is that SGI is first and systems.” He’s not the only one saying it; foremost a hardware company. Its Williams agrees with him, and so does technology rests on two things: spe- Ian Turnbull, development manager for cialist hardware that can do the , the company that heavy number-crunching required by created the games based on the movies techniques like rendering — the Jurassic Park, First Blood, and Batman. process of calculating exactly what Williams does say that the power of colour every pixel in a frame should PCs is beginning to approach that of be, based on the colour, reflectivity, SGI’s bottom-line machines, though like texture and shape of the object cou- Turnbull, he says the software available pled with the colour, direction, for PCs doesn’t have the image quality or intensity, and beam of the light. SGI’s versatility. top-of-the-range machine, the Power Seed agrees: “We respect Microsoft Challenge, uses up to 18, 64-bit RISC and we can’t question its achievements, processors, and up to 16Gb of memory; but by buying SoftImage and essentially peak performance is claimed to be 5,400 trying to shoehorn such a broad package megaflops. The heart of the graphics, as SoftImage into this tiny little space that though, lies in the company’s proprietary exists within the PC...” Words fail him for Reality Engine subsystem, which adds in a moment, then he starts again and specialist graphics processors, coupled names what he thinks are two with software library routines that can be “fundamental road-blocks”: Intel chips called on by software developers for the don’t have the power and won’t have the platform. power in the near future; and while Paul Williams, director of Arc Develop- Microsoft has been moving into the enter- ment, which used Silicon Graphics tainment business, so has SGI. Not long machines to create all the graphics in its after Microsoft’s acquisition of SoftImage, current World Cup of Golf game, says the SGI announced it was to merge with software available for the platform is the Alias and WaveFront, the two other But he’s happy to give examples of key. (He adds later, though, that without biggest names in computer animation how realtime texture-mapping can be the SGI hardware the software wouldn’t software for the SGI platform. On top of used in the real world. He starts with even exist.) These packages aren’t avail- that, SGI has a series of alliances that designing airplane engines, but moves on able on the PC or on any other platform. bring it into the mass entertainment busi- quickly. “You need it to design a Sony This may change: Microsoft bought Soft- ness. SGI has a joint venture with AT&T Walkman,” says Seed, taking a Image at the end of 1994, and specula- called IDS, which is providing the set-top convenient example from the table in tion in the industry is that the company boxes and media servers, plus the ATM front of him. “Without realistic texture- will now try to convert it from Silicon switching capability for Time-Warner’s mapping, you could not show what this Graphics’ Unix-based graphical operating interactive television pilot scheme in thing really looked like. You want the system to Windows NT. But even then, Orlando, Florida. SGI collaborated with image to be so real on-screen that you says Williams: “If they do, I don’t think Walt Disney to produce a virtual-reality can reach out and touch it. You need to they’ll be much of a competitor. PCs just ride based on the animated film Aladdin. be able to prototype reality.” In the near aren’t geared up to moving high-polygon SGI has joined up with Nintendo to future, he adds, it should be possible to models around.” He explains that one develop a 3D, 64-bit interactive entertain- put sensors inside a data glove so that scene may have as many as 100 models ment machine. It has a deal with Japan’s you could run your fingers virtually across in it, each taking up 100,000 to 180,000 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT)

498 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 INTERVIEW: NIGEL SEED, SILICON GRAPHICS

to create an interactive information ser- they’re big number crunchers.” They also personal risk I ever took, because I knew vices system. And finally, its most recent use scalable parallel processing, so, exactly what I wanted to do with it, but announcement is an alliance with “Here in the UK and particularly in North couldn’t persuade my European NetScape, the company behind the lead- America, we’re getting involved in the colleagues to join in on the funding of it.” ing World Wide Web browser, to bundle newly emerging science of data mining.” In the end, he built it and prayed that Netsite server software with SGI’s own You take, he says, 15 years’ worth of when the European managers came to new Web authoring tools to give users corporate data and comb it for trends. see it they would be so impressed that secure communications and, Seed fore- In such areas, SGI has a variety of they would agree to help fund it. casts, the ability to pull down 3D models. competitors; even PCs in some cases. Fortunately for him, they did: it was a The idea, he says, is that technology will “You can struggle along with a Pentium, £2m investment. The idea behind it is to be designed into NetScape so that the or get a man-sized computer and do the demonstrate, to people who are image you pull down is defined by calls job properly,” Seed half jokes. In mechan- interested, what the technology can do, on your own system rather than the way ical engineering (CAD) even if they’re not prepared to shell out we do it now, by pulling there’s HP and Sun; in oil £200,000 for an Onyx machine. The and gas, there’s IBM. centre, he says, has been so successful Almost everyone, DEC, that they’re thinking of building a second Sun, HP and IBM, one somewhere; next door, or in London competes in education or perhaps even Paris or Frankfurt. and research. In the area Technically, Seed says the company of database servers, it isn’t facing any major barriers. “There are depends on the applica- peripheral things we need to clean up, tion: SGI could be com- like the display technology that all com- peting against anyone puters use — it’s like fifties TV tubes. from Kendall Square We’re just about to roll out a new flat- and nCube to Sequent, panel display; it has glorious colour and and Sun, HP, and wonderful quality and doesn’t take up the IBM. space. You can take the back off and put Some of SGI’s it on a projector. In five years’ time you recent visibility in the won’t see any of these antediluvian Silicon Studio and things” — he waves his hand generally at visual simulation his desk, where an Indigo sits under an fields has come ordinary monitor. “You’ll probably see from the Reality them on PCs, but not on real systems.” Centre, which Other than that sort of thing, he says, opened in June, “There is no theoretical limit to the 1994, in Reading. amount of computing power we can It was, Seed squeeze out of our existing chipset. The says, “the biggest architecture and manufacturing techniques are all there. Everything scales. There is no 64K limit and no glass ceiling.” He estimates that the RISC chips SGI uses are about a third as complicated as the Pentium; that makes them simpler, smaller, and faster and easier to down an image file and running a make. viewer: more detail, but less to There are software download. In fact, there was improvements, of already a connection between course: “The next goal Silicon Graphics and NetScape, is to make the user since the two companies share interface even more a founder; James Clark. intuitive and easy to Seed calls this overall area use, to put artificial “Silicon Studio”. It’s not SGI’s intelligence into the only focus, but it’s the most operating system so obvious. Forty per cent of the that if it spots you mak- company’s revenues are from ing the same mistake manufacturing, particularly mechan- three times it taps you on ical engineering; other key areas for the shoulder and suggests the company are education, research, a new way of doing things.” oil and gas. Overall, though, “There is no Besides, says Seed: “Our machines technology stopping us. We just are actually great database servers — have to execute well,” says Seed. PCW

500 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 INTERVIEW: MARK SKAPINKER, DELRINA

INTERVIEW: MARK SKAPINKER, DELRINA ware for free, how could we compete? We were concerned about what would happen to our mar- ket,” he admits. “But the functionality that Microsoft is adding to Windows 95 is about the same as that provided with the fax soft- The man ware that people get any- way when they buy a fax modem today.” Skapinker says that although this may make from some impact on Delrina’s OEM (original equipment manufacturer) business — selling cut-down versions of WinFax to manufactur- ers for inclusion with their modems — it is unlikely to affect the bulk of the com- pany’s business; those demanding high- Delrina performance fax manage- ment software. He says that in terms of value, only Mark Skapinker, boss of software success story Delrina, ten percent of WinFax sales passes through the rightly holds no claims to false modesty. Here, he happily OEM channel and even so, many users nevertheless reveals his personal business philosophy and the secrets of upgrade to WinFax Pro. But Delrina isn’t just his company’s success to Geof Wheelwright, and outlines resting on its laurels with fax software. The company his plans for the company’s future in the Internet and has also entered the fax consumer markets. service business with fax broadcast and fax mailbox enterprises. Employing the broadcast service, users year-old communications software house company from industry giant Microsoft: can request Delrina to per- is also a company on the fast track. It has last year Microsoft announced that it form a mass fax broadcast ark Skapinker has some achieved a compound annual growth rate would build base-level fax send and on their behalf to a preset advice for anyone intending of more than 100 percent in each of the receive capabilities into its forthcoming mailing list. The mailbox Mto pursue a career as an past four years. Last June, it hit the new release of Windows 95. Industry service allows users to pick entrepreneur in the highly-competitive PC Can$102m mark. So, with more than 600 analysts suggested that this would pose up their faxes by dialing in software business. And it’s probably employees and offices in Toronto, San a serious challenge to Delrina’s flagship, to a central point from any- worth listening to, as Skapinker appears José, Washington, the UK, France and WinFax Pro, product line. where in the world. to know his stuff. He is the co-founder Germany, this once small Canadian com- Skapinker says that his initial fears For a monthly charge of and president of Delrina, the company pany is now receiving lots of attention. were dissipated after a face-to-face Can$10 Delrina provides a fax mailbox to at the low end of the fax products mar- Skapinker enthuses. “And we will have which is an archetypal software success Skapinker is happy to capitalise on conversation with Microsoft’s Bill Gates, which all the subscriber’s faxes are sent. ket.” Skapinker intends to launch this two versions: one will be for business and story. His company spotted a gap in the that attention and dole out advice to any- whom he met at a formal industry trade The first 20 pages received are included product at Spring Comdex ’95 in Atlanta. the other will be a more consumer-based software market and just kept filling it until one hoping to emulate his success: “Find show dinner in Las Vegas two years ago. in the basic fee after which a charge is Delrina continues to diversify its non- version. We are currently working it achieved the biggest market share, a category of software that fits a niche He says that Gates was very up front with levied per page. fax product lines as well, and Skapinker towards a new product line which we are then set about diversifying. with huge potential for mass market him about his plans for fax capabilities in Skapinker also revealed that Delrina has lately been taking a great interest in calling Delrina Communications Suite. It The gap which had existed in the mar- acceptance,” he advises. “Create a future versions of Windows. This will shortly begin shipping a low-cost the Internet and how to make it more will be aimed at the mass market and will ket was for communications software that product that defines this market and has convinced him that the way Microsoft was scanner to make it easier for WinFax secure. comprise of WinFax, a telephony compo- allowed PCs to send and receive fax doc- the potential to establish itself as a mar- setting up those capabilities would not users to send paper documents using nent, some online aspects of the Internet uments. Delrina is probably best known ket leader, and then wait for that market conflict with Delrina’s plans or seriously WinFax. “We are in the process of Get the message and will additionally have a web browser. as a purveyor of the PC fax software to explode." take away market share from either launching a small personal scanner,” he “Messaging will be the first Internet area We are working on the basis that we package called WinFax which enables Delrina’s formula for success stood WinFax or WinFax Pro. says. “It will be sold as an add-on for on which we will concentrate. We want to need a combination of front-end and fax messages to be sent directly from Skapinker in good stead when it came to “Our initial reaction was that if WinFax with a price of less than $300. It develop a method of receiving messages back-end services because it is not just PCs using a faxmodem. But the seven- allaying fears of a potential threat to his Microsoft was going to give away fax soft- has been designed to compete strongly that is just as easy to use as WinFax,” one or the other that is needed to ensure

504 505 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 INTERVIEW: MARK SKAPINKER, DELRINA

the success of Internet products.” maintain the company and achieve sales Dilbert screensaver collections. Skapinker’s plans for the Internet are growth within those areas on which we In developing these businesses, born of his frustration with its current have focused. And, we have managed to Skapinker says the key has been to iden- state: “You only have a 90 percent guar- attract many people from technical, man- tify and understand the trends that would antee that your messages will get agerial and sales backgrounds to main- have the greatest impact on PC comput- through,” he warns. “As for security, it is tain the level of sales.” ing. “Today, we strongly believe that not secure to communicate on the Inter- But Skapinker was not always so sure there are four dominant trends likely to net — someone else can read your mes- of himself or his co-founders. Earlier this have such an impact. Our existing prod- sage.” Skapinker says he is worried that decade, he actively considered a merger ucts are well positioned, not only to take many Internet newcomers will get the with a pioneering player in the PC soft- advantage of the emerging technologies impression that it is safe to do such ware market. “There was a time when we but also to continue appealing to the things as give out credit card details over thought the company needed to attract mass market,” he says. “These four the Internet to make online purchases. outside expertise,” he recalls. “A few trends are: the increasing popularity of He suggests that early, unfortunate expe- years ago we thought of merging and Windows; the widespread adoption of PC riences with a non-secure Internet envi- had a long-running set of discussions communications; the growing use of com- ronment would leave consumers feeling with WordStar. The merger would have puters in the home; and the maturation of extremely disatisfied and so retard the meant a major management reshuffle for the PC industry.” growth of online commerce. us and we realised that it would be better “In the area of banking and to maintain our management positions, Crossroads commerce, many electronic banks and so the deal didn’t go ahead. It built our So Skapinker's next big area of develop- traders are opening up for business,” self-confidence and convinced us that we ment is in the consumer market where he says Skapinker. “But while they are ask- had the wherewithal to run a software expects to draw heavily on his pioneering ing for your business, you must experience in the satisfy yourself as to how safe they sector. “This is not the first time we are. The Internet is hacker city, lit- have been through an uncontrolled erally a nerd's haven. It is just like “We started with explosion of home software,” he the Wild West — a haven for out- recalls. “In the early eighties, the laws and outcasts. Last year, when only a few people prices of the so-called home com- a hacker cracked a previously puters of the day fell to such a point unbreached security code, the and we four that they entered the mass market. solution was out on the Internet The marketers of these products within a day, throughout the world.” created the renowned software guilt If Skapinker sounds as though founders are still the ads; ‘if you don't buy this new home he has a feeling for the issues that computer for your children, they will concern the consumer market, it seniors in the not succeed in school or in life’. The should come as no surprise that only problem was that most of the his roots belong in the Commodore company. It has software of the day was extremely 64 consumer software business. In low quality and much of it required the early eighties, Skapinker was been exciting for all specialist hardware to run.” director of product development Skapinker warns that manufac- at a Canadian company called four of us” turers and dealers must beware of Batteries Included. Among other this happening again. “The word on things, this company produced the the street now is that about 30 per- well-known Commodore 64 word cent of CD software is being processor called PaperClip until the busi- company of this size. We are now proba- returned because users cannot get it to ness was acquired by US-based bly around the tenth largest business PC work,” he says. “All the new computer Electronic Arts. software company in North America.” users are now sitting in front of their new Although Delrina is best-known for computers and the same rot is beginning Outside expertise WinFax, the company has actually been to set in — the same story as in the mid- Following the sale, Skapinker got built around three key elements. The first eighties. I believe we are at the together with fellow Canadians Bert element is WinFax and its associated crossroads of the consumer market: Amato and Dennis Bennie, along with applications, including the either the software market will stabilise American Lou Ryan (head of sales at WinCommPRO communications suite and provide its customers with a way of Borland at the time). In 1988, these four released towards the end of last year. being comfortable with their choices, or jointly established Delrina and managed Second is the PerForm and FormFlow we will have a similar implosion of the to persuade many of the brightest and electronic forms software applications market as we had ten years ago.” best employees of Batteries Included to that allow people to design, complete And he should know. There are many work with them on developing products and route forms electronically. thousands of hard-working people who for the new company. Thirdly there is Delrina's screensaver suffered shrapnel wounds from events in “We started with only a few people business, which has been built around its the market of the eight- and we four founders are still the seniors Intermission proprietary screensaver ies, and Skapinker doesn’t want to dodge in the company,” he says. “It has been engine. Intermission is used to deliver yet another major commercial catastro- exciting for all four of us to be able to the company's Opus ‘n’ Bill, Far Side and phe. He barely escaped the first. PCW

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Stats Software Contents

513 Arcus Pro Stat v3.23 There can be so many 514 Microfit 386 v3.21 variables involved in 518 S-Plus for Windows v3.2 who is supposed to use it? Further nstalling a statistics package on your choosing a statistics 520 SPSS for Windows v6.1 Icomputer will no more turn you into considerations in your choice of 521 Statgraphics Plus/Windows v1.1 a statistician than installing a word package that buyers package are the output quality Statistica for Windows v4.5 522 processing or accounts package need to be really sure required, whether analyses will be 524 Unistat 4.0 for Windows make a writer or an accountant out of graphical or numerical, and the user’s

Mackie you. But while most word processing of what they want from likely level of expertise. 526 Programmability packages offer similar basic features, All the statistics programs tested 526 Editor’s Choice the software. Eric Adler the range of available statistics soft- reviews the field but here are high quality precision ware is far broader. So it is far more products featuring a range of distribu- important to know exactly what you finds no clear winner. tion functions, parametric and non- Photography by Bruce require from your statistical software parametric tests. All offer ANOVA in order to be certain of choosing the facilities, except for Microfit, so package that is most likely to suit the final choice is made — are you consider whether a basic ANOVA your purpose. interested in predicting future events would be sufficient or whether you

Statistics Software Statistics is the collection, classifi- or analysing past events? Will you be might need three-way analysis of vari-

PCW cation and interpretation of quali- analysing data by categories or ance. All the packages offer regression tative data. The choice of a discerning factors? How much data do routines as standard, but do you really statistics software package you have, and in what form is it held? want regression diagnostics, or would should begin with the question of Do you require SQL connectivity? a set of ARIMA routines be more use- what type of data is likely to be Because spreadsheet packages ful? available: does it concern patient such as Excel, Lotus 1-2-3 and Quattro Finally, you must consider carefully records, pharmaceutical treatments, Pro offer a range of basic statistical whether your need for statistical data a customer database or sales functions, the role of the specialist processing is likely to grow and if you records for example? statistics package is no longer clear. If want a general purpose package with Thereafter, a host of other factors this specialist software is a tool, then many procedures and routines. You needs to be taken into account before what is it supposed to be used for and might find it is better to start with a base and add more modules as the need arises. Arcus Pro Stat 3.23 ince its incep- tion analysis, survival analysis is now regression facility which allows investiga- Stion, Arcus has available with a choice of routines includ- tion of the relationship between one or been an easy-to- ing Kaplan-Meier, Simple Life, Peto’s more predictors and a binary outcome or use statistical pack- Log-Rank with trend test, Wilcoxon test, response; and the principle component age aimed squarely and the Wei-Lachin analysis. There are analysis module which helps to identify at those who are two other welcome additions: the logistic the most important variables when a nor- neither mal regression is not applicable. statisti- This is a package designed for med- cians nor computer experts. ical researchers who are more While so many programs concerned with the quality of the analysis seem to sprawl over the hard than whether it was processed on a Win- disk and require increasing dows package, for instance. Arcus is well amounts of RAM, it is documented, and has online help refreshing to find one which screens: there is a section on statistical is able to reduce its require- method selection and another on experi- ments without sacrificing mental design. usability or range of Last year when PCW reviewed Arcus functions. Pro Stat 2.0, we commented that Arcus Using a spreadsheet and was probably the first and only package database manager, Arcus will Arcus includes advanced survival analysis most researchers, and especially those import data files in a variety in medical fields, would ever need. This of formats, and as it has its still holds true today. own pop-up calculator as well (which now includes logit and PCW Details antilogit functions) Arcus is Arcus Pro Stat 3.23 better equipped than many of Price £139 its more expensive rivals. Contact Medical Computing 01695 In terms of statistical func- 424034. Fax 01695 424645 tion features, the Arcus suite Good Points Well featured. is now almost complete and Bad Points DOS. Poor graphics. has all the expected features. Conclusion Might leave enough money And, as well as the cross Arcus can be run in a DOS window in your budget for a laser printer. tabs, chi square and correla-

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Microfit 386 3.21

icrofit is a fully-functioning PCDOS It can create seasonal dummy specification, the program will point it Mversion of the Unix program used variables, measure trends, and calculate out. If there is an omitted variable, this by the Bank of England and the Treasury a variety of regressions. By making com- will also become apparent. Microfit has a to predict and control the UK economy. parisons of actual and predicted values it vast range of diagnostic procedures and As the ultimate linear multiple regression can perform upon the residuals. Variables will produce confidence intervals for the package, Microfit offers a vast range of can be added or omitted, data series can explanatory variable coefficients, as well procedures and diagnostic tests. be lagged, and if there has been a mis- as for the regression line, and supply a wide range of checks on the form and strength of the correlation. The key point about Microfit is that it offers a wide range of sophisticated ana- lytical routines which are not provided by less specialised programs. And these advanced procedures are made avail- able without sacrificing ease of use. Microfit 386 is well documented and the handbook tutorial provides lessons in data analysis as well as a description of each of the tests included with the package. Although the program is easy to use, being entirely menu driven, the lack of online help may be seen to be a disadvantage. There are various levels of Microfit, ranging from the student version (£40) to the full version which is able to run regressions with 42 variables and 3,000 observations per variable.

Microfit is a very precise analytical tool

PCW Details Microfit 386 3.21 Price £375 Contact Janet Caldwell, Oxford Electronic Publishing 01865 267979. Fax 01865 267990 Good Points Advanced facilities yet easy to use. Bad Points No online help file. It can only import ASCII files. Conclusion Excellent for business people as it uses the same routines as Seen here running in Windows, Microfit is menu driven the Treasury.

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S-Plus for Windows 3.2

f you are looking for a simple, quick and the statistics packages tested in this with the Maple Kernel. Ieasy-to-use Windows statistics pack- review. With the exception of high level Potential users of S-Plus would be age with click-on options, then forget S- econometric diagnostic functions to be those with experience of using other statis- Plus. But if you want one package which found in Microfit, S-Plus can match virtu- tical packages and who are familiar with will do everything and are prepared to ally every routine, or the equivalent, object oriented programming languages. invest the time to learn new methods, offered by any other package tested here. Despite this being a Windows program, then you might find that S-Plus is right for It even produces a binary response tree there are no pulldown menus, no toolbars you. equivalent to the gains chart of the and not much to click on. S-Plus is purely S-Plus is a rich graphical data analysis CHAID (chi square automatic interaction a command line driven package, even system. It is the result of more than 15 detector) module, and it can map index more so than Mathematica, and is closer years’ research and development at data with a brush option. to Matlab than to the other Windows statis- AT&T’s Bell Labs, plus a further four Other functions include cluster analy- tics packages reviewed here. years’ product development. The result- sis and many modern regression meth- The reason is that the ten pulldown ing package takes up over 20Mb of hard ods. The range of variance analyses, time menus, each offering ten features, covers disk space and comes with six volumes series and survival analysis is equally less than ten percent of the available 1,600 of documentation totalling over 2,000 impressive. functions. The existence of multiple menus pages, and more than 1,600 functions. The command set is a functional lan- also gives rise to problems of navigation, S-Plus claims to set new standards of guage which evaluates each function call hence the strict adherence to the data analysis and this is not a trivial in an expression, in a separate frame of command line interface. claim. The package offers functions such memory. The package is supplied with a Such gripes aside, this is a powerful as least median regression fits, which library of development tools which can package which will take everything you others don’t seem to have heard of, and interface with Fortran or C to produce can throw at it, if you take the trouble to facilities for handling complex numbers, object oriented specific applications within learn how to use it properly. StatSci offers vectors, matrices and other aspects of the Windows environment. training courses at the Department of Sta- mathematical computing not normally There is even a developer’s toolkit and tistics at Oxford University, provides a tele- found in a statistics package. a 450-page Programmer’s Manual with phone help line manned by a PhD Although S-Plus is not easy to use, its routines for loading dynamic link libraries. statistician, and copious online help files. strength lies in the breadth of features Although there are no additional statistical The excellent documentation supplied is available. The range of statistical routines function modules, there is an interface pitched at a reference level rather than a and functions is impressive by any stan- module to run the package on a Novell tutorial level. dards and is by far the broadest of any of network with a module to interface S-Plus MathSoft, which produces Mathcad, has taken over the S-Plus project, so hopefully future versions wil reflect the MathSoft approach of combining multiple toolbars and pull- Right S-Plus has routines not found in other programs down menus with Below An advanced spline smoothing routine command driven operation. The appeal of S-Plus 3.2 in its present form seems lim- ited to statistical specialists or to those who have experience of C+ programming.

PCW Details

S-Plus for Windows 3.2 Price £1,195 Contact Statistical Science Europe 01865 61000 Good Points Vast range of functions and routines. Bad Points Poor interface, command line instruction set. Conclusion Not for beginners.

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SPSS for Windows 6.1 Statgraphics Plus for Windows 1.1

or as long as anyone can remember, SPSS 6.1 provides full 32-bit data mary or frequency data ready to be mong those normal, exponential, extreme value and choices for data plotting routines — all FSPSS has been one of the top statis- processing and makes extensive use of pasted into a word processor or presen- Astatistics Weibull. Having selected the distribution give the user the option to click on and tical software packages for professional toolbars. There are large, clear, easy-to- tation package. The Professional Statis- packages function, a click on tabular options, with identify individual points in a graph which use. With the accent firmly on survey use dialogue boxes and a click-on facility tics module provides descriminant available for Win- the selection of “all”, gives chi square makes it easy to identify outliers and analysis, the SPSS slogan “Real Stats, to recall the previous 12. Files of data can analysis, factor analysis and procedures dows PCs, this is and Shapiro Wilkes tests for normality, important clusters. real easy” does indeed describe the phi- be imported and exported in a range of such as logistic regression. The the most easy to goodness of fit, tail areas and critical The ANOVA routines allow for either losophy of this program in which many of formats including Excel, Lotus.wk, dBase, Advanced Statistics module includes use. There are values, formatted and ready to print for single factor or multi-factor designs. The the most advanced up-to-date tests are and ASCII field and tab-delimited. routines for medical and social science clear dialogue the previously selected distribution func- multiple regression reports produce cor- rendered as click-on options. In addition Together with the SPSS developer’s kit data analysis such as MANOVA. The boxes, simple menus and fast graphics. tion. This certainly represents easy-to- relation matrices, procedure summaries to survey analysis, the package seems to module, it offers full OLE2, DDE, Survival Analysis methods include imple- A few mouse clicks will produce perfectly use, high quality output, but are five including conditional sums of squares, be oriented towards database market Windows API, ODBC and SQL connec- mentations of life tables, Kaplan-Meier, formatted output of every basic statistical distributions sufficient? There is no facil- and ANOVA of the regression, in addition research, analysis of customer mailing tivity. Other modules are applied to this and Cox's regression with the option of routine. For example, when working with ity to plot them all at the same time on to the detailing of unusual residuals and list response rates and other aspects of Windows shell as seamlessly integrated time dependent co-variance analysis. a column of data, the drag and drop and one histogram of the data. There is much influential points. The click-on graphics consumer behaviour. building blocks. The CHAID (chi square automatic click-on graphics features enable descrip- to be said for goodness of fit tests but options include component effects, The basic system consists of a shell The range of modules covers many interaction detector) module is used to tive histograms, scatterplots, symmetry there is much to be said for the compara- observed or residuals versus predicted, with everything necessary for data input, aspects of advanced data analysis and identify database subgroupings as an plots and such like to be produced in an tive evaluation approach as well. Ease of row number and x, and interval plots. preparation and manipulation, coding and document presentation. The tables mod- alternative to regression analysis and is instant. A mouse click will select the dia- use and simplicity has its price and in this There is no compromise on the num- analysis, and there is a facility to analyse ule, for instance, is almost completely self particularly suitable for use with categori- grams to be examined, discarded, edited case it is at the expense of available ber of features in the quality control and multiple response data. The graphics fea- explanatory and allows the generation of cal non-parametric data. Using CHAID, or saved and printed. functions and flexibility. time series analysis modules. The former ture includes more than 50 types of chart. automatically formatted, tabulated sum- up to 64,000 variables can be analysed, Having selected distribution fitting for This same click and easy approach has almost every conceivable quality with results presented in a GAINS chart example, clicking the right mouse button applies to other functions of the base control method with 16 forms of analyses format — another advanced feature of will provide a choice of five distribution module, such as analysis of variance, ranging from X-bar and R-charts through SPSS 6.1 which enables data results to functions: in other words, normal, log- regression, categorical analysis and process control, OC charts, to tolerance be interpreted and implemented at a analysis and more. Left SPSS has strategic marketing level. Both modules are extremely well large, easy-to- The Mapinfo module presents a way documented with their own handbooks use dialogue of displaying direct marketing or survey Statgraphics for arranged as tutorial reference guides. boxes analysis data which includes subjects’ Windows offers Someone with only a passing knowledge Below post codes on a map. Data can either be clear statistical of forecasting or quality control could use Mapinfo displayed symbolically or by colour codes graphics these works to form the basis of a work- provides a on maps displaying boundaries, urban ing familiarity and knowledge of the tech- graphic way of areas and street names. niques described. At the top end, the displaying Although the idea is that each user listing of available features takes several analytical can choose which modules he or she pages and only an experienced quality results needs, the knowledge of which modules control or forecasting specialist would be to actually choose requires a certain able to evaluate such a combination of degree of expertise. SPSS is most helpful analytical tools. The computer interface, in running seminars to enable potential like the base module, is quite excellent users to determine their exact needs. The and the integration is seamless. company also provides two and three- In terms of “click-on-ability” day training courses; the two-day courses The quality con- Statgraphics is one of the best Windows (£445) cover usage of the base module trol module is applications in any category. But the lim- and the three-day courses (£595) most impressive ited range of functions would be a disad- promote familiarity with various modules. vantage unless you had the good fortune to be a quality control consultant or were involved in forecasting. PCW Details PCW Details SPSS for Windows 6.1 Statgraphics Plus for Windows 1.1 Price £695 base, £1,385 base plus Price Base system £540, modules from £320 three modules Contact Bloomsbury Software Contact SPSS UK 01932 566262. Company 0171 436 0524 Fax 01932 567020 Good Points Fast to learn and easy to use. Good Points Good range of routines. Bad Points Limited range of distribution Bad Points Pricey. functions. Conclusion The top package, if you can Conclusion Well worth considering. afford it.

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Statistica for Windows 4.5

his is a package can also be used to enable other aspects of group homogeneity). In the Tfor professional packages, such as MS Word or Lotus graphical aspects of the fit analysis it is statisticians. Its Ami Pro, to call specific module routines possible to plot a non-linear fit on to box floating module con- using the Statistica command language. plots of time series data. Categorical data struction means that The advantage of its independent module can be represented as vertical slices you can have six or construction is that a module can be (panes) which display the relative data more open at the called without the base, thereby reducing spreads on a spectral graph. same time, each memory overhead and permitting DDE Another unusual feature is that with a separate spreadsheet, each with a access to other programs, for example distributions may be fitted to multiple different data set, or each with some Excel from Ami Pro, without exceeding an histograms on the same graph. All these alternative aspect of analysis. These can 8Mb RAM limit. graphics options are fully customisable. be layered, tiled or iconised. The comprehensive range of statistical Edited formats can be saved as Statistica is widely used in US Govern- functions range from correlations and templates, and graphics can either be ment statistics departments and one can crosstabs, to non-parametric distributions, saved in a choice of formats or used as well imagine a user of this package to multiple and non-linear regression and embedded objects — for instance, Statis- informing 12 different callers to the from canonical to process analysis and tica provides OLE2 linkage to Microsoft department that he has their data “on experimental design. With 19 distribution Word 6. Most of the statistical information screen right now”. Additionally, this fea- functions and the instant probability cal- obtained can be arrived at by purely ture enables on-screen comparisons to culator (included in the free demo), this numerical methods but the advanced be made between different data sets package is no slouch and the capacity for graphical options of Statistica enable the running the same procedures in different multitasking facilitates the background user to actually see what is happening. windows. The Probability Calculator, a printing of graphs and charts. There are times when a visual portrayal feature unique to Statistica, is especially Statistica is justly famous for its range of the data may be worth more than a useful for such comparisons — the whole of graphing and charting functions and collection of numerical results. package can be personalised to suit the features over 600 graph types. These The package is well documented with style of the user. Menus, floating menus include rarely seen features such as four volumes of handbooks totalling more and toolbars can be edited, hot-keys hanging histobars (which provide a visual than 3,000 pages. There is online help defined and redefined, or used in test of normality) and categorised normal which, in addition to the usual files, fea- conjunction with macros. These macros probability plots (which examine normality tures a statistical advisor to suggest which methods to use. In addition to the full Statistica pack- age, Statsoft also dis- tributes Quick Statistica for Windows which includes the basic statistical func- tions with full data management and graphics capabilities, at a cost of £395. Statsoft offers monthly training seminars and for registered users provides a freephone help line, manned by a professional statistician.

PCW Details Statistica for Windows 4.5 Price £745 Contact Statsoft 01462 482822 Good Points A well featured package. Statistica’s floating modules permit several independent screens to be Bad Points Not the easiest to use. open simultaneously. (Inset) Statistica’s 3D graph option, here illustrating a Conclusion Try out the free demo. multiple regression

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Unistat for Windows 4.0

nistat version output can be automatically formatted into Unistat main menu, which traditional Uni- U4.0 features Word 6 or Excel-type tables. Graphics stat users will be pleased to note remains OLE2 access to and charts can be exported to MS appli- as a click-on alternative at the far right of Excel 5 and MS cations where MS editor tools can be the toolbar. The main menu ribbon in ver- Word 6 as a means used for the final formatting, or all graph- sion 4.0 includes an undo and repeat of achieving format- ics editing can be carried out from within function, and the choice of output control ted presentation the drag-and-drop Unistat graphics edit- is a simple Microsoft-style item adjacent output. The main ing environment. There is also the possi- to the main menu on the toolbar. advantage is that the user no longer has bility of calling Unistat from Excel to High quality documentation is included to send statistics output to a fixed-width perform advanced analysis upon a data with full details of all algorithms. There is font text editor, as in an old mainframe. In object, with output formatted directly back online help as well as a telephone help the past, results printouts were often into Excel as the host application. line. Unistat 4.0 can, as the previous ver- included in a folder at the end of a New procedures in version 4.0 include sion, be used as a compact standalone presentation. But what if you needed to enhanced experimental design options, program in Windows 3.1 on a 386 with include a summary of the data, with comparison of regression slopes and 4Mb of RAM. OLE2 implementation out- charts and tables, in the main body of the intercepts, non-parametric multiple com- putting to either Word 6 or Excel 5 runs document? These would require pasting parison tests for Friedman two-way effortlessly on a 486 with 8Mb of RAM. and formatting, and even packages offer- ANOVA, Quade tests, and multiple com- Full OLE2 implementation outputting to ing OLE2 import facilities would require parison tests for medians and variances. Excel and Word simultaneously requires the chart to be named and saved in And there is a feature for interactive 16Mb of RAM. advance, which can be more time selection terms for unlimited factor Unistat version 4.0 features 19 distrib- consuming than the actual data analysis. ANOVA multiple. Other new features utions, to permit data histograms to be With Unistat 4.0, however, selected include the option of spreadsheet selec- plotted with fitted distributions such as tion of data “normal” or “students” superimposed over columns for analy- the histogram. In this way, six distribution sis and redesigned functions can be plotted and Left Unistat 4.0 output dialogue boxes in superimposed on the original histogram, to formatted Word 6 the style of MS providing a visual check on best possible tables Wizards offering fit. The 150-plus procedures include mul- Centre Unistat 4.0 intelligent prompts. tivariate and cluster analysis, descrimi- multiple distribution For users of other nant analysis, principle components plotting output to spreadsheets and factoring and a range of multivariate Excel 5 editors, the data plots. The time series analysis uses processor retains ARIMA with Browns, Holts, and Winters Top right This toolbar its menus and routines, while the survival analysis is used to direct out- allows data to be includes life table, Kaplan-Meier analysis put from Unistat pasted from Lotus and Lee Desu comparison statistics. 1-2-3 or any other There are 15 types of control chart and Windows spread- the package even offers Fourier sheet, and through transforms. It all makes for excellent DDE (dynamic value for money for both beginners and data exchange) experienced statisticians. permits a two-way interchange of data PCW Details with other Unistat for Windows 4.0 programs. An Price £595 online database Contact Unistat 0181 964 1130. connectivity mod- Fax 0181 964 0531 ule is included. Good Points Wide range of functions All statistical and features, Choice of output options. routines can be Bad Points No single click-on graphic of accessed either via observed “v fitted” values. a choice of pull- Conclusion A value-for-money down Windows package which does not require menus or from the additional modules and will produce great-looking output.

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Editor's Choice

Although the programs reviewed here offer the most advanced On the basis of value for money and statistics features, we were mathematical statistical routines, not one of them would have made left with a showdown between Statistica 4.5 and Unistat. These are it to the PCW Editor's Choice column had they been an equivalent both well-featured programs, providing a full range of routines, with spreadsheet or word processor package. Statistical software users a choice of functions and customisable graphics. And as they both are entitled to expect the same assurance of overall quality, com- offer free fully-functioning demos, the reader is advised to try them pleteness and value for money as any other. Unfortunately, this both before buying. assurance is not apparent. As a Windows application, Statistica 4.5 is showing its age and SPSS 6.1 gets a PCW Highly Commended award. It is an excel- does not make sufficient use of the GUI. Unistat 4.0 makes the best lent program with a wide range of functions; but at £3,560, for the use of the Windows environment and is a considerable base plus a full wardrobe, it cannot be seen as offering sufficient improvement on Unistat 3.0, which itself offers excellent value for value for money to deserve the ultimate software accolade. money. Unfortunately, the Editor's Choice cannot be awarded on Statgraphics Plus 1.1 also merits a Highly Commended award the basis of an undocumented beta version or without the full docu- for its ease of use. Unfortunately, this fast, easy-to-use Windows mentation for version 4.0 being available (prior to its official release application has not enough modules available and this restricts its on 1st June), so Unistat achieves only the rank of Highly Commend- range too much to put it in the running for first position. ed on the basis of a well-documented review copy of Unistat 3.0. Although Arcus 3 and Microfit 3 provide specialist routines at down-to-earth prices, they both feature DOS interfaces reminiscent of the late eighties.

Minitab for Windows Unfortunately Minitab for Windows was not available in time to meet our dead- line. We’ll be reviewing the 32-bit Release 10 version when it ships this summer. Minitab is available from Clecom on 0121 471 4199.

With the imminent release of Unistat V4, seen here outputting to MS Excel, statis- tics packages will begin to look up

Programmability in statistics programs

There is a welcome tendency for statistics programs to include Statistica 4.5 has its own command language (SCL) and suites of developer’s tools. These are often installation options includes a development environment as standard. It provides a offered in addition to their own programming languages, which can library of procedures with source codes in C, Fortran, Pascal and be used to create macros and to call up routines from other Quick Basic which permits the design of custom procedures to programs. The Windows version of S-Plus, for example, offers all interface with Statistica modules, each of which can be called the connectivity of its Unix parent. As an independently of the base. object-oriented language, S-Plus com- In addition to its own command language, SPSS 6.1 provides bines a programming language with full programmability via the SPSS Developer’s Kit. Available as an add- function statistical and graphics tools for on module, the kit provides software components which enable the the development of statistical end-user developer to build applications in S-Plus applications. The base package includes C/C++, Visual Basic or OLE2 a 400-page Programmer's Manual, an API Excel applications. interactive debugger, and a library which can interface with Fortran Unistat offers OLE2 and DDE or C/C++ to produce object oriented specific applications. As an connectivity and even includes interpreted language, S-Plus has the advantage of incremental an ODBC (online database con- development which makes it ideal for prototyping. The tools devel- nectivity) application oped may then be compiled in C and the compiled code incorpo- development disk free with the rated into the S-Plus application. program. Unistat

PCW 526 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 LAN INTERNET COOKERY

LAN INTERNET COOKERY impressed with the solidity of Linux. It just works, in a way that luck. Replace it for perhaps £30 if you want your modem Windows, with its fairly frequent General Protection Faults, connection to run at much faster than 9600 baud. does not. A CD-ROM drive will be necessary (mine is a Panasonic So how is it done? Basically, with the Linux box connected to CR562B at about £100 or so), as will an Ethernet card: I chose a both the LAN and the Internet via a modem. Linux collects and 3C309 from 3COM, but Linux will drive most standard cards. sends out the mail to both the local users on the LAN and the You will need a modem. I use a Zoom 14.4, costing about rest of the world. The solution outlined here is not a unique one, £140. A total outlay of about £1,200 (plus VAT) should acquire and no doubt can be improved by people with a deeper the whole shopping list, but it is worth befriending someone who networking knowledge, but it works. I make no claim to be a is getting fed up with his old 386. TCP/IP or Unix wizard as my “C” is non-existent. A copy of Linux completes the list. I got mine from Having said that, you should not expect to put it together in Lasermoon, about £40 for the CD-ROM. I have the Slackware an afternoon: a week or two’s work will be required to collect the 2.0 version, which is now out of date but that’s the nature of software, load it up and debug it. Expect a few mishaps on the Linux. In biological terms, it’s evolving quite fast. The latest ver- way as well. In addition, a reasonable knowledge of computing sion will run on a Pentium and support the PCI bus, but such a is required: if IRQs and CONFIG.SYS files leave you cold, and machine is not required for email, though X-Windows will fly. you want an Internet/LAN connection, then your cheque book At the PC client end, I use NDIS drivers to allow me to run will be required. both my LANtastic NETbios and TCP/IP protocols together. The The “ethics” of the Internet is such that most people will help TCP/IP collection in Windows is provided by Trumpet, a $25 The right mix and answer your queries if you are polite and show that you shareware program, and the front-ends by Eudora for email and have put some effort into solving the problem youself. A request WIN/QVT for Telnet and FTP. Details of how to obtain these are for general help: “My machine don’t work” will have much less in the “PCW Contacts” panel on page 538. effect than “the widget driver is giving me a XYZ error: My Here’s one he prepared earlier — Richard Wylde gives his budget recipe hardware is ...... ”. Setting up Linux for cooking up a stable Internet link using inexpensive ingredients. Begin by assembling the hardware. Run DOS and check that it The right ingredients all works: that the modem dials out; that the CD-ROM can read A number of ingredients are necessary for this piece of Internet a disk, and so on. I had to play around with the address of the cookery. You will need a PC to run the Linux. Any 386 or above CD-ROM interface card so that it did not conflict with the Ether- will do, but 4Mb of RAM is necessary and 8Mb will help. You net card. Although this may be quite familiar to some people, or some time now, I have wanted to provide an freeware/shareware/GNU Public Licence domain. The pieces don’t need a fancy screen; in fact, some modern accelerated the next step is a jump into the unknown. In fact, the Linux inexpensive link to the Internet for colleagues already exist, they just need to be put together. Running costs cards may get you into trouble. Avoid Diamond cards if you installation and Getting Started Guide (by Matt Welsh), which working on a small (10 machine) NETbios Ethernet- should be a few hundred pounds a year to the Internet service want to run X-Windows, MIT’s graphical front-end for Unix. you should certainly read, opens with the quote from Crowther based LAN. The primary aim is to provide email as provider and the phone company. Ideally you should have a 100Mb disk, although you could and Wood’s “Adventure”: “You are in a maze of twisty little pas- well as allow FTP/Telnet access to the Net. Auto- The Internet was built around Unix machines talking to one get away with 40Mb. A good serial port is required, and by this I sages, all alike...” and it will feel like that at times. This book and Fmatic collection and distribution of mail was a another, and the core of this solution is based around Linux, a mean one equipped with a 16550A UART. The program MSD in the general FAQs in the distribution should be studied before requirement and the current operation of the network version of Unix which is free and runs on a PC. I have been very MSDOS will tell you what you have. If you have a 16450, bad starting on this. could not be disturbed. I profited from reading Serial HOWTO, Linux One can obviously go to Microsoft, Lotus or System Administrator’s Guide, Network Adminis- Novell, but their email programs and gateways trator’s Guide, Linux NET3 HOWTO, CD-ROM are quite expensive (for example, US$3,319 HOWTO, MAIL HOWTO, and XFree86 for MS’s Mail Gateway for SMTP) and there HOWTO (for X-Windows), which can be will either be gaps in them — only email, found on the CD-ROM. with no FTP — or a big bill from Com- Decide how you want your hard disk puServe. partitioned. I had a large enough disk My aim here is to demonstrate to allow a DOS partition as well as that, with a little effort and a bud- two Linux partitions: the main one get of less than, say, £1,500 for and a swap partition. You can software and hardware, a sta- forgo the DOS partition (which ble Internet link can be cre- can be read from Linux) but I ated using solid software think it’s worth having.

HOW TO BUILD AN INTERNET GATEWAY from

530 531 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 LAN INTERNET COOKERY

Fig 1 Partition table I chose to use this method of booting, 899 CLY, 15 HEADS, 62 SECT: 428.1 MB total rather than LILO, a hard disk booting routine, but that is a matter of choice. If /dev/hda1 set to 1 to 282 131099 6 DOS 16bit>=32M the floppy disk is not in place, then DOS /dev/hda2 set to 283 to 865 271095 83 Linux native boots up. /dev/hda3 set to 866 to 899 15345 82 Linux swap You should be left with a number of files in /etc and /etc/rc.d which control the operation of Linux. In /etc/rc.d, for exam- Fig 2 ‘rc.local’ in /etc/rc.d ple, my ‘rc.local’ was as shown in Fig 2. The serial port should be instructed to #! /bin/sh operate at up to 57600 bps with the # Put any local setup commands in here command /etc/rc.d/rc.serial echo ‘Loading keyboard map “uk.map”...’ setserial /dev/cua1 spd_hi /usr/bin/loadkeys /usr/lib/kbd/keytables/uk.map in ‘rc.serial’, assuming the modem is on If you have the space, using a DOS address is given in the PCW Contacts COM2. floppy boot disk, run FDISK to create a panel, and you can email him to obtain a My ‘rc.inet1’, which contains the DOS partition on the hard disk. Format form to request an IP class C address TCP/IP information, was as shown in this partition using Format C: and reinstall and register your chosen domain name. Fig 3. DOS. Then create two boot disks to load “Setup” will produce a final bootable My rc.inet2 which starts up a series of an initial kernel and installation root floppy disk from which Linux will start up. daemons, including the important inet image. Then use fdisk to set up two Linux partitions on the hard disk — a Linux Fig 3 ‘rc.inet1’ containing TCP/IP information native (type 83) and a Linux swap (type #! /bin/sh 82). # On my (albeit excessively big) disk, I # rc.inet1 This shell script boots up the base INET system. was left with the partition table in Fig 1. # Now make the Linux swap file by # Version: @(#)/etc/rc.d/rc.inet1 1.01 05/27/93 issuing the command #

mkswap -c /dev/hda3 15345 HOSTNAME=`cat /etc/HOSTNAME` from the command prompt. # Attach the loopback device. I decided to use the recommended /sbin/ifconfig lo 127.0.0.1 ext2fs filing system so ran /sbin/route add 127.0.0.1 # IF YOU HAVE AN ETHERNET CONNECTION, use these lines below to mk2fs -c /dev/hda2 271095 configure the # eth0 interface. If you’re only using loopback or SLIP, don’t include as well to finish formatting the hard disk. the Run the Linux setup program “setup” # rest of the lines in this file. to load as much or as little of Linux as you want. You will need the base system # Edit for your setup. and parts which deal with TCP/IP. I also IPADDR=”999.999.124.1” # REPLACE with YOUR IP address! loaded parts to do with X-Windows, NETMASK=”999.999.255.0” # REPLACE with YOUR netmask! which provides a very nice front-end but NETWORK=”999.999.124.0” # REPLACE with YOUR network address! is, for a mailserver, unnecessary. I gave BROADCAST=”999.999.124.255” # REPLACE with YOUR broadcast address, the games a miss. if you Assuming you are using a CD-ROM, # have one. If not, leave blank and edit below. you will need to load parts which give a #GATEWAY=”” # REPLACE with YOUR gateway address! kernel which boots the CD-ROM. “Setup” also asks you to give information on the # Uncomment ONLY ONE of the three lines below. If one doesn’t work, machine and domain name, IP numbers try again. and netmask you wish to use. I have # /sbin/ifconfig eth0 ${IPADDR} netmask ${NETMASK} broadcast ${BROAD- taken the trouble to register a domain CAST} name (gigahertz.co.uk, in this article, /sbin/ifconfig eth0 ${IPADDR} broadcast ${BROADCAST} netmask although for security reasons not my ${NETMASK} actual domain name) and have been #/sbin/ifconfig eth0 ${IPADDR} netmask ${NETMASK} given a Class C address by someone called a Hostmaster (say 999.999.124 for # Uncomment these to set up your IP routing table. what follows). The Class C address sbin/route -n add ${NETWORK} netmask ${NETMASK} allows for about 250 machines on a sin- #/sbin/route add default gw ${GATEWAY} metric 1 gle domain. The UK hostmaster’s email # End of rc.inet1

532 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 LAN INTERNET COOKERY LAN INTERNET COOKERY

Fig 4 ‘rc.inet2’º with active parts Fig 5 Message confirming PPP support and the cost of the service is £15 a shown in Fig 8. #! /bin/sh month. Swansea University Computer Society NET3.014 I arranged the default mailing address # They use PIPEX to give them their IP Protocols: ICMP, UDP, TCP to be a mailserver in the University where # Constants. POPs (Points of Presence, the place PPP: version 0.2.7 (4 channels) NEW_TTY_DRIVERS OPTIMIZE_FLAGS I work part-time, but service providers will NET=”/usr/sbin” where they have a room full of computers TCP compression code copyright 1989 Regents of the University of also provide a mailserver. IN_SERV=”lpd” and modems waiting to take your call). I California smail should be linked to sendmail, LPSPOOL=”/var/spool/lpd” have found their service very reliable: I PPP line discipline registered. runq and mailq, using the Unix command hardly ever fail to connect, even at ln: running ‘mailq’ will tell you what is # At this point, we are ready to talk to The World... 14.4kb. Fig 6 Chat script ‘dialer’ waiting in the spool area waiting to be echo “Mounting remote file systems...” The service provider will give you a shipped out and ‘runq’ activates this sbin/mount -a -t nfs # This may be our /usr runtime!!! phone number for your modem to call, an ABORT BUSY ABORT “NO CARRIER” “” ATZ OK AT&C1&D2S0=0 OK process. account number and a password. These ATDT9,0223576101 CONNECT “” ogin: cisxxx word: yyyyy ocol: PPP Once this process is finished, you echo -n “Starting daemons:” will all be entered into your login script so (cisxxx is where my account number is placed and yyyyy where my password should be able to email internal accounts # Start the SYSLOGD/Klogd daemons. These must come first. that the connection is made sits) with a Unix email front-end such as Elm. if [ -f ${NET}/syslogd ] automatically. You should also get the IP If you address someone outside your then number of the service provider’s Domain Fig 7 The contents of ‘Config’ LAN, it should wait in echo -n “ syslogd” Name Server (DNS, in the jargon), a ${NET}/syslogd machine which resolves — i.e. converts hostname=Newton.gigahertz.c.uk /var/spool/smail/input. echo -n “ klogd” — Internet names into IP addresses if the visible_domain=gigahertz.co.uk ${NET}/klogd Linux box does not know their address. more_hostnames=Newton.gigahertz.co.uk When a PPP connection is active, fi There are a couple of protocols avail- smart_path=boris smail (which is run as a daemon from able to make connections to the Internet: smart_transport=smtp rc.inet2) will ship the mail out. # smail is started here SLIP (Serial Line Internet Protocol) and a smart_user=${user}@r.wylde That deals with the process of sending /usr/bin/smail -bd -q30 subset called CSLIP, for Compressed postmaster=r.wylde out mail. It also needs to be collected. I SLIP. The alternative is PPP (Point-to- smtp_accept_max=10 use the POP (Post Office Protocol) to # Start the INET SuperServer Point Protocol) which is a more recent collect mail. Linux comes equipped with a if [ -f ${NET}/inetd ] development. I gather there are some a chat script ‘dialer’ found in /usr/etc, resolved into their IP addresses through POP client and one can write script files then technical differences between them: for using /dev/modem as the device. The the Domain Name Server (DNS), to instruct the client to collect the mail. My echo -n “ inetd” example, PPP can support dynamic IP connection rate should be 38400 baud. /etc/host.conf should contain script file ‘POPxxx’ is at Fig 9. ${NET}/inetd allocation. I chose to use PPP because I The other comments ensure that the Here the -3 indicates POP3 protocol, else read that there were plans to support phone line is dropped after the connec- order hosts, bind xxxx is my account number and yyyyy my echo “no INETD found. INET cancelled!” ISDN (Integrated Services Digital tion is finished and that the provider multi on password. /var/spool/mail/r.wylde is the exit 1 Network) connections, which I would like should issue two IP numbers, one for destination of the mail and boris the Uni- fi to use in the future. I also had a general each end of the connection. My Chat and my /etc/resolve.conf was versity’s mailserver: Popclient finds the IP feeling that being more modern, it was script ‘dialer’ is shown in Fig 6 . address of boris from /etc/hosts. likely to be better constructed. Chat scripts are basically of the form domain gigahertz Running POPxxx while a PPP # Start the various INET servers. I obtained a copy of PPP2_1_2b.tar.gz ‘output’ followed by ‘expected response’. nameserver 999.999.244.5 connection is ‘up’ should collect any mail for server in ${IN_SERV} (the b version is important — the ‘a’ ver- So, after the ABORT section to deal with and place it in /var/spool/mail/r.wylde. do sion has a bug in it) and unpacked it dialing failures, I initialise the modem with Linux email connections The PC client logging on extracts the mail if [ -f ${NET}/${server} ] using ‘gunzip’ followed by tar xvf into a the standard Hayes ‘ATZ’ command and Having set up a connection, I added user from here. then directory /usr/rjw. wait for the Response ‘OK’. Other accounts for all the local LAN users who echo -n “ ${server}” PPP support is built into the kernel. modem parameters are set up to deal wish to make use of the service. The Automating the process ${NET}/${server} You can confirm this as Linux boots with the lines and disable auto answer. program “adduser” will do this for you. It is now possible to tie some of these fi because you get the messages, shown in The number is then dialed and a return Another tricky part looms: setting up processes together to automatically ship done Fig 5, flashing across your screen. sent after the ‘CONNECT’ string is “smail”, the mailing daemon. The out and collect mail. A shell script, I then studied the FAQ and HOWTOs received. program itself is supplied as part of the ‘collectXXX’ (Fig 10) does this for me. on PPP written by Michael Callahan and The chat script then sends out the Slackware 2.0 distribution. You need to It sets up the link using scapefast and superserver, had the active parts shown Linking up Al Longyear. It outlines how PPP uses account number followed by the edit a couple of files in /var/lib/smail to waits 50 seconds to make sure it is up. in Fig 4. A good book on TCP/IP, the glue which another program, ‘Chat’, to make the password and finally the required proto- tell smail where to deliver mail. smail will Assuming that it is, it runs ‘runq’ to ship My HOSTNAME file in /etc is set to holds the Internet together, should be phone call and tell the service provider col, before returning control to PPP. PPP deliver internal mail to directories the mail out and runs a series of popxxx’s Newton. It is often quite fun to look at the digested before starting on setting a link that PPP is desired. Then I started work. then negotiates a link and collects the /var/spool/mail and put outgoing mail for to collect my and my colleague’s mail. A header of email to see what odd names up. A knowledge of IP numbers, The modem port, in my case required IP numbers. the Net into /var/spool/smail/input to wait script ‘holdlink2’ ensures that the link people have chosen to name their netmasks and the like is likely to be very /dev/cua1, was linked to /dev/modem. A Assuming all of this works, you should for a PPP connection to come up. remains up while there is still mail to send machines. Star Trek and The Hitchhiker’s helpful. I used Teach Yourself TCP/IP in null file ‘options’ was placed in /etc/ppp be able to Ping, Telnet and FTP to other After a little hacking, the two important out, and shuts it down when there is no Guide are popular sources, but more 14 Days by Timothy Parker. directory. A script file ‘scapefast’ to call machines on the Net. Problems here can smail files, ‘Config’ and ‘routers’, were more mail to be sent. exotic ones exist: for example, Wolfram An Internet service provider needs to PPP had the following text: often be diagnosed with the Unix left with the following active text: My ‘holdlink2’ is at Fig 11. Here, a Research (the suppliers of Mathematica) be chosen and an account purchased. commands ifconfig and netstat -nr. couple of temporary files, ‘holdlinkfile’ and seem to use insect names, like Dragon- There are now a number of providers. I /usr/etc/pppd connect ‘chat -v -f The Hosts file in /etc should be set up I have to say I am not sure why, ‘mail_queue’, are created whose aim is to fly. Being patriotic, I am sticking to British chose to use CityScape because they /usr/etc/dialer’ /dev/modem with the names and IP numbers of regu- but the art of computing is the ensure that all the mail is shipped out physicists — Newton, Faraday, Dirac, were running a month’s free trial at the 38400 defaultroute noipdefault larly required machines on the Net. The science of how not why. It works. within a specified time. This specified Boyle. time, and I used that time to confirm that I crtscts modem list should include the DNS server and time, some 240 seconds in could make the connection work. Their the mailserver you will use. See Fig 7 for what ‘Config’ had in it. ‘removeholdlinkfile’ address is in the PCW Contacts panel This instructs the PPP daemon to run To allow Internet names to be And a section of my ‘Routers’ file is

534 535 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 LAN INTERNET COOKERY

Fig 8 A section of ‘Routers’ file entry looks like

# If the smart_path attribute is not defined, this router is ignored. 37 7-18 * * * >>/var/log/messages smart_host: 2>&1 /usr/etc/collectXXX driver=smarthost, # special-case driver transport=smtp; # by default deliver over SMTP At 37 minutes past the hour between path=boris.qmw.ac.uk, # alternate, set path in this 7am and 6pm ‘collectXXX’ is run. file Standard messages are placed in /var/log and error messages in /var/adm/syslog. There is nothing special about the choice Fig 9 ‘POPxxx’ script file of the 37 minutes. It is worth avoiding an #! /bin/sh obvious time like 0 or 30 minutes past the popclient -3 -v -u xxxxx -p yyyyy -o /var/spool/mail/r.wylde boris hour which other people may choose.

Fig 10 ‘collectXXX’ shell script The PC client end All of this Unix stuff is fine, but the users sit on PCs with Windows. They can talk to #!/bin/sh the Linux box using TCP/IP and the Linux cd /usr/etc box can be made to act as a POP3 server sleep 2s to the PCs. /usr/etc/scapefast To make the Linux box do this, uncom- sleep 50s ment the following lines: if [ -f /var/run/ppp0.pid ] then # Pop mail servers /usr/bin/runq # /usr/etc/popxxx #pop-2 stream tcp /usr/etc/popxxx2 nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd ...... /usr/sbin/in.popd /usr/etc/holdlink2 pop-3 stream tcp else nowait root /usr/sbin/tcpd echo “ppp link not set up” /usr/sbin/in.popd fi #

Fig 11 ‘holdlink2’ in the ‘inetd.conf’ in /etc to run a POP3 server when required. #!/bin/bash Now the PCs: Collect together the touch /tmp/holdlinkfile MSDOS/Windows software — NDIS /usr/etc/removeholdlinkfile & Ethernet card drivers, pkt_drv.dos, mailq >/tmp/mail_queue Trumpet, WinQVT/Net and Eudora. while test “`cat /tmp/mail_queue`” != “” -a -f /tmp/holdlinkfile; do Trumpet provides the Windows echo “going round loop”; WINSOCK environment which many runq; Windows Net programs require. sleep 10; Now move to a PC which is to act as a mailq >/tmp/mail_queue; Client. Start by getting the current network done software to run with an NDIS driver. In my case with LANtastic, I added the following /usr/etc/stop.ppp lines to my config.sys file:

if [ -f /tmp/holdlinkfile ] DEVICE=C:\LANTASTI\PROTMAN.DOS then /I:C:\LANTASTI echo “unsent mail awaiting next connection” DEVICE=C:\LANTASTI\AEXNDIS.DOS else mv /var/spool/smail/input/* /var/spool/smail/stuckmail and added a PROTMAN.INI file with exit 1 fi [PROTMAN] sleep 3; DRIVERNAME = PROTMAN$ DYNAMIC = YES sleep 240; The script file ‘stop.ppp’ is shown in [AEXNDIS_NIF] rm /tmp/holdlinkfile Fig 12. DRIVERNAME = AEXNDS$ I use a crond daemon to run IOBASE = 0x300 makes certain that any ‘rogue’ mail can’t ‘collectXXX’ once an hour between 7am INTERRUPT = 15 hold the link up and increase the profits of and 6pm. The crontab file can be edited the phone company significantly. using vi with the command crontab -e. My In my ‘startnet.bat’ file,

536 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 LAN INTERNET COOKERY

Fig 12 ‘stop.ppp’ script file PCW Contacts

#!/bin/sh • Teach yourself TCP/IP in 14 Days # stop.ppp: kill the PPP connection and hang up the telephone. by Timothy Parker is published by SAMS Publishing, 1994: # Where is the pppd pid stored? ISBN 0-672-30549-6 pidfile=/var/run/ppp0.pid • Linux can be obtained from Lasermoon [email protected], # Kill pppd or complain that it’s not running. tel 0329 826444, fax 0329 825936. ☎ if [ -f $pidfile ]; then They also have an FTP server, /bin/kill `cat $pidfile` ftp.lasermoon.co.uk, which should else carry Slackware. echo ‘PID file not found - “pppd” is not running.’ • PPP2_1_2b.tar.gz can be found in fi the Networking section of the CompuServe (CIS) Unix forum. Acknowledgements • AINDIS.ZIP can be found in the Patches and Drivers section A number of people have helped me connect all these pieces together. In particular Adrian ARTISOFT forum on CompuServe, as Bateman of CADlogic helped me with Linux, Michael Callahan of the Maths Department at well as on their BBS 001 602 293 0065 Oxford got PPP going, and the Computing Services department at QMW improved my • Artisoft UK tel 01753 554999, ☎ knowledge of TCP/IP and introduced me to Eudora and WinQVT/Net. I use a 486/66 clone fax 01753 551325 supplied by RTM Systems Ltd (0161) 743 9333 with 8Mb of RAM, a 16550A UART and a • The NDIS packet driver can be Panasonic CR562B CD-ROM. found in oak.oakland.edu (141.210.10.117) in /simtel/msdos/ AEX IRQ=15 IOBASE=300 VERBOSE is then possible and we use it to transfer pktdrvr as dis_pkt9.zip large CAD drawing DXF files across the • Both Eudora and Trumpet can be was replaced by world. WINqvt’s FTP extracts downloaded found in the PC Internet S/W section of files on the Linux box to the PC. the INETRESOURCE forum. LOADHIGH AI-NDIS NO_BIND Eudora is a very good Windows email • WinQVT can be obtained from BIND_TO=AEXNDIS_NIF front-end. The quality of the front-end is biochemistry.bioc.crwu.edu important if email is to be used by people (129.22.152.44) and lies in /pub/qvtnet: Having checked that it still worked, I who are not interested in computing but just qvtne394.zip is the Windows 3.1 ver- added a NDIS to Packet driver shim to the want to use the service. Nicknames, mail- sion I use. Trumpet can also be found “config.sys’“ file boxes and automatic collection of mail from there, in /pub/trumpwsk. the Linux box are all there. I set my collec- • The suppliers of WinQvt are QPC DEVICE=C:\WINSOCK\NDISPKT.DOS tion time to a mail check every five minutes. Software, PO Box 226, Penfield, NY MIME support is also present, which 14526, USA. Tel 00 1 716 377 6010, ☎ and the following lines to the allows the emailing of files themselves fax 00 1 716 377 8305. It’s shareware PROTMAN.INI file through the Net. MIME involves the coding and costs $40 a copy. of files into ASCII before transmission and • Trumpet is shareware at $25 a copy, [PKTDRV] the decoding on reception. This is Trumpet Software International DRIVERNAME=PKTDRV necessary as email messages can only be GPO Box 1649, Hobart, Tas, Australia BINDINGS=AEXNDIS_NIF made up of ASCII characters. 7001. Tel 00 61 02 450220, ☎ INTVEC=0x60 fax 00 61 02 450210. Conclusion • Eudora 1.4 can be found on ftp.qual- and got ‘startnet.bat’ to load the Trumpet You should allow two to four weeks of work comm.com (192.35.156.5) in the quest packet driver: to put all of this together, depending upon directory. It is postcardware — you luck and your interest and knowledge of need to send Jeff Beckley a postcard Winpkt.com 0x60 Unix. Technical revolutions are driven by to register it: falling costs and, as this article shows, the Jeff Beckley, QUALCOMM Inc, After checking that LANtastic still cost of connecting a set of people to the Net 6455 Lusk Blvd, worked, I loaded up Trumpet by running and allowing seemless email is not high. San Diego, CA, 92121-2779, USA TCPMAN in Windows. It demanded a Join the revolution. • The UK hostmaster, to obtain a Machine IP address, netmask and name- registered IP number, is server gateway addresses, as well as the Biography [email protected] domain name. Richard Wylde splits his time between Duncan Rogerson and Kevin Hoadley, Once Trumpet was operational, the two academic work as a senior visiting research tel 0171 405 8400 and ask for JIPS ☎ front-end packages, WINQVT to give FTP fellow of the Physics Department, QMW, NOSC. and Telnet operation, and Eudora to give University of London, and running two small Fax 0171 242 1845 Attn JIPS NOSC email, could then be installed. toolmaking and scientific instrument • CityScape is at WINqvt/Net provides Telnet and FTP businesses. His research interests lie in the [email protected], CityScape operation. Telnet allows one to log on to design of MM-Wave and Far Infrared optics for Internet Services Ltd, the Linux box as a user and then make an plasma fusion diagnostics, astronomy and tel 01223 566950, fax 01223 566951 ☎ Internet connection. FTP from within Linux earth remote sensing.

538 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 ACCESS 2.0 TUTORIAL

ACCESS 2.0 TUTORIAL

Fig 1 Setting properties on various parts of the form

Click here to edit the Click here to edit the header properties form properties On top form In the second part of their series on Microsoft’s popular Windows database, Access 2.0, Iain Summers and Angus MacKellaig explain how to set form properties, add more buttons and write Basic code modules.

Click here to ast month we started to create footer by selecting the Form Header/ so these will not be required. select the form a database application. We Footer option in the Format Menu. Since a good deal of effort usually detail for editing created the three tables The standard form layout produced by goes into the design and creation of a LAddressBook, Category1 and the Form Wizard is displayed in Fig 1, form, you should prevent others from Click any object to Category2, together with forms EditAd- which is the familiar EditAddresses form ruining your layout. By disabling the edit its properties dresses, EditCat1 and EditCat2 to edit displayed in design mode. As shown, Borders, and the Minimise and Maximise each. We modified the EditAddresses you can set properties such as scroll buttons, we can prevent anyone from form, adding “Combo Boxes” to assist bars or records selectors, as well as its resizing the form, so we can also discard Click this line to data entry for the Title, Category1 and header, footer and main section (form the scroll bars. Setting these and similar pull down the Click here to edit the Category2 fields. detail) and the individual objects by click- properties allows the programmer to con- form footer footer properties The database is supplied on the cover ing on the relevant parts of the form. trol exactly what the user can do with a disk as ARTICLE1.MDB, which is at the The property sheet shows only the form and its underlying data. stage where your own database should properties specific to the object or sec- Let’s demonstrate this by editing the have been at the end of the first article. It tion selected. As you can see, there is no properties of all three forms. Load each also allows new readers to pick up the footer on the form produced by the Form form in design mode, set each of the form series at this point. Wizard, so open the EditAdresses form properties as shown below, toggling This month we’ll study setting form in design mode and pull down the footer between Design mode and Form View properties: giving further functionality to by dragging the line shown in Fig 1. mode to see the effect. the form by adding extra buttons; and Some of the changes will take place writing Access Basic code modules. Form Properties only when the form is saved and These activities are all interlinked, as Several parts of the form enable you to reopened in Form View. Fig 2 Elements of a form whose properties can be set buttons require you to both edit form modify its appearance or access records properties and hook them to Access in a table/query that the form uses. Fig 2 Property Value Basic functions. The buttons and their illustrates these. Views Allowed Form associated routines are designed to be The Control Box, Title Bar, and Scroll Bars Neither Minimise/Maximise reusable so you can add identical func- Minimise and Maximise Buttons are the Record Selectors No Control Box Title Bar Buttons tionality to any other form in any same as those for all windows, for exam- Modal Yes database application by a simple cut-and- ple a document window in Word. The Navigation Buttons No paste operation. Title bar is the only mandatory compo- Border Style Thin The code module is supplied on this nent which cannot be disabled as it con- Minimise Button No month’s cover disk as the text file EDIT- tains the title of the form. If the form is too Maximise Button No Record Selector FORM.TXT. Since various references will small to display all the form detail, then it be made to the code, load the file into will require either a horizontal scroll bar, See the completed form in Fig 5 for Vertical Scroll Bar Windows Notepad and print it before you a vertical scroll bar, or both. an example. start following the steps in this article. The navigation buttons are used to select a particular record for display/edit- Border Setting form properties ing and to move through the records in Access Basic modules A good deal of the work of creating forms the table. The record selector is used to There are two possibilities for adding in Access applications involves setting select the entire record, usually for dele- functionality to forms: macros or Access properties on the form and its underlying tion. Lastly, you can resize the form by Basic code. Navigation Buttons Horizontal Scroll Bar objects. Form Wizards automatically using the form border. These Many of the objects, as well as the create headers and footers for a form. If components can be configured in the forms themselves, have configurable you create your own form using the New form’s properties dialogue. properties tied to events. Events are trig- Form option in the Form Wizard and wish We will be adding buttons to the form gered by actions on the form, or an object to use the routines supplied here, you will that will replace all the functionality of the in the form (e.g. loading/closing the form, ACCESS 2.0 PART TWO: BUTTONS AND BASIC! need to manually add a form header and navigation buttons and record selectors, clicking on a button). These events can

542 543 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 ACCESS 2.0 TUTORIAL

Save Button Object Box Procedure Box Previous Procedure Next Procedure

New Procedure

Run Help

Undo Compile Step Into Reset Build Calls

Fig 3 The Access Basic Step Over Breakpoint Immediate window toolbar

be set up to run a macro or an Access Fig 4 The properties sheet for a Basic function automatically. Command Button Microsoft’s recommended method of incorporating Access Basic code to han- dle these events is to use event procedure or function. It then writes the procedures. In the properties dialogue of procedure/function header, speeding up the associated object is a list of possible the process of creating new routines. events that can occur for that object, e.g. Run, Compile, Step Into, Step Over, On Click, which is activated when the Reset, Breakpoint, Immediate Window object is clicked with the mouse. and Calls are tools to assist debugging. Clicking on the event’s selection field Undo and Help are self explanatory. Build in the Property Sheet presents a list of is a very useful tool for constructing com- macros and Event Procedure. Select plicated expressions, such as referring to Event Procedure to use the event proce- objects in forms. dure facility. Clicking on the ellipsis [...] at We will now load the text file supplied the right of the property allows you to on this month’s cover disk as a Basic create/edit the event procedure. The module. Select the Modules tab in the event procedure’s name will comprise of Database window, then click the New buttons to a form, they can be placed in the object name and the event name, button, to create a blank module window. the main body of the form itself, or they e.g. ExitButton_Click. Select Load Text... from the File menu; can be placed in the form’s header or Personally, we prefer to write stand- select EDITFORM.TXT in the Load Text footer. alone Access Basic modules as they can file selector, then click the Replace com- In our three forms we will be adding be accessed by more than one form, are mand button (this replaces all the code in command buttons to the headers and easier to find and maintain, and can be the currently loaded module). Click the footers, so that when a user is editing exported to different databases. Save button on the toolbar, and enter the data in the form, the command buttons name EditForm in the dialogue box. can’t be accidentally selected using the Creating a module Experience has shown that it is easier TAB key: they have to be specifically From the Database Window, click the to design a form on paper, write the selected by clicking on them with the Module tab, then Click the New button; Access Basic code to handle all the mouse. The disadvantage is that clicking Access displays the Access Basic tool- events the form will use, then create the on a button makes either the header or bar, shown in Fig 3, and a text window form. This will become clear as the form the footer the active part of the form, so which allows you to enter Access Basic nears completion. you have to click on the main body code. This window only displays one before adding or editing records. function or procedure in the module at Adding buttons to the form To add a new button to the form any one time. Whenever a new control is added to a header that will allow us to exit from the The Save button allows you to save an form, Access will run a Control Wizard to form, click on Command Button on the updated module. The Object Box lead you through the creation process. toolbox, then drag out the button on the presents a list of event procedures for the The wizard will prompt you for various righthand side of the form’s header (see currently selected object on the form. The attributes in a user-friendly manner, then Fig 5). Procedure Box presents a list of proce- automatically set the control’s properties dure and functions in the module, allow- for you. Since we know the properties we Button properties ing you to select the procedure or wish to set for each control, it is quicker to The attributes of a command button are function to be edited in the text window. disable the Control Wizards. set in the command button property The Previous Procedure and Next Load the EditCat1 form in design sheet. Ensure the property sheet is Procedure buttons cycle backwards and mode. If the toolbox is not visible on the visible on the screen, and if it isn’t, click forwards alphabetically through the avail- screen, click the Toolbox button on the on the appropriate button on the toolbar. able functions and procedures. New toolbar. Click on the Control Wizards If required, also display the Palette tool Procedure asks the programmer for the button on the toolbox. It should not on the screen. Edit the command button name of the new routine and if it is to be a appear to be depressed. When adding

544 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 ACCESS 2.0 TUTORIAL

properties as detailed below. (Object

Property Value Name ExitButton Caption E&xit Status Bar Text Exit to Main Menu On Click =EditExit() names are case sensitive, so pay particular attention to capitalisation.) jumps to a particular record in a form. It Fig 5 The completed EditCat1 form, Adjust the Exit button to an appropri- requires the name of the form to act upon with added buttons, and unwanted ate size and position. as there may be several forms loaded at properties disabled The On Click property “traps” the the same time. event of a mouse click on the button. The A typical line in a Basic module might prompts the user for confirmation of the property value can be set to the name of be: deletion. The EditFind() function selects a macro, Event Procedure, or as in the GoToRecord A_FORM,“EditCat1”, the Find option from the Edit menu which above example the name of a Basic func- A_PREVIOUS is form independent. tion (not a procedure). The “=” specifies which skips to the previous record in the that a function is to be used. The paren- form “EditCat1”. Using the same buttons on theses must be included, even if the This function would need to be dupli- other forms function has no formal parameters. In this cated with a different name for each form You can use these buttons in other forms case, clicking the button with the mouse where we wished to have the command by copying them (and their associated will run the EditExit() function from the button. The different function names properties) into the clipboard and then

Property Name FirstButton PrevButton NextButton LastButton Caption &First &Prev &Next &Last Status Bar Text Goto first record Goto previous record Goto next record Goto last record On Click =EditFirst() =EditBack() =EditNext() =EditLast()

Property pasting them into other forms. This can Name SearchButton DeleteButton AddButton be done in a different database, providing Caption &Search &Delete &Add each one has the EditForm Module in it. Status Bar Text Find a record Delete current record Add a new record If required, open the EditCat1 form in On Click =EditFind() =EditDelete() =EditAdd() design mode. Select the Exit button in the form header. Hold down the Shift key and EditForm module. would need to be set in the On Click entry select all the buttons in the form footer. We will be investigating different event for the button on each form. Type ^C, or select Copy from the Edit types in next month’s article. Our function refers to the form as menu. You can now close the EditCat1 To save some time and effort, we can Screen.ActiveForm.Name which asks form if desired, and open the other form create the remaining controls by copying Access to supply the name of the in design mode (e.g. EditCat2). If the Exit one, then modifying their proper- currently active form. As a result, we can required, drag down a form footer; click ties. Select the Exit button and type ^C, use the same routine in any form, as it on the form header; type ^V, or select or select Copy from the Edit menu. Select does not refer to any specific form name. Paste from the Edit menu. the form footer (dragging it down if there The On Error Resume Next in All the buttons should now have been is no footer); type ^V, or select Paste EditBack() prevents the function being pasted into the header and footer as in from the Edit menu seven times, once for aborted if the current record is the first in the original form. You may need to adjust each button to be used in the footer. Set the file. All the other “navigation” functions the position of the objects in the main part the properties for each button from left to use the same method to move through of the form to make it look acceptable. right as detailed above. (See Fig 5 for the records in the form. We now have a database with forms that details.) Click the Save button on the There is similar reusable code for allows you to create and edit records in toolbar to save the form. deletion of a record — examine the various tables. EditBack() function in your code listing. Next month we’ll look at extracting Writing reusable code The function references Screen.Active- information from the database via reports. The code in the EditForm module is Form and uses the RecordsetClone written in such a way that it can be used property of the form to access the table PCW Contacts for any form. Examine the EditBack() edited by the form, again allowing the Iain Summers and Angus MacKellaig function in the code listing you printed at function to be used with any form. are both lecturers in Computing Science the start of this article. This is run by the When a record is deleted, each field at an Edinburgh college, specialising in On Click event for the Prev button. The contains #DELETE, so the MoveNext part operating systems, hardware, systems DoCmd executes an Access action — of the code onwards skips to the next analysis, programming and applications essentially a built-in command, such as record and forces the form to redisplay software. They can be contacted as you might see as a step in a macro. this “new” record. The entire routine is [email protected] or [email protected] The GoToRecord A_FORM action enclosed within an if statement that

546 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 TUTORIAL: PROCOMM PLUS FOR WINDOWS, PART 3

TUTORIAL: PROCOMM PLUS FOR WINDOWS, PART 3

dlgevent 0 Event string ret_var string dpath2 switch Event string T_ext case 0 string fax_str proc main endcase integer faxnum Initfile = “*.FAX” default Initdir = “C:\PROWIN2\faxrecv” strlen ret_dir Check proc main destinit = “C:\PROWIN2” if Check < 1 T_ext = “*.FAX” m_Caption = “Source file” exitwhile dir T_ext ret_var dpath1 = “C:\PROWIN2” Stretch else endproc dialogbox 0 82 95 198 85 2 m_Caption new_dir = Drive pushbutton 3 104 55 40 14 “OK” ok strcat new_dir cpath In the code fragment above, ret_var default strcat new_dir “\” contains the name of the file (e.g. pushbutton 4 150 54 40 14 “Cancel” strcat new_dir ret_dir recv0000.fax) which we chose. Another cancel usermsg “%s” new_dir method of checking whether the file dirlistbox 1 13 17 80 58 Initfile the fax mkdir new_dir name returned is valid (or null) is to use single Sourcefile usermsg “%s” Result the nullstr function. dirpath 2 12 3 129 9 dpath1 endif We may use it simply in an “if” enddialog exitwhile statement: while 1 endcase if nullstr ret_var dlgevent 0 Event In the third and final part of his series on endswitch exit switch Event endwhile else case 0 Procomm Plus for Windows, Stephen Rodda uses dlgdestroy 0 CANCEL strright ret_var fax_str 7 endcase the scripting commands to extend fax endproc substr fax_str ret_var 0 3 case 1 capabilities. atoi fax_str faxnum endcase There are a few important points about faxlist RECEIVED faxnum fax_str default this ASPECT script. The first is that we faxview fax_str exitwhile have built up a dialogue box simply to ask endif endcase ast month we looked at a CIX script missing in the fax management routines string new_dir for the name of a directory to create. We endswitch Lfor Procomm for Windows; this was a method of organising faxes by cat- string Drive could do this by adding a list box of direc- Now I appreciate that this coding may endwhile month, in the third and last of this series egory — business folders or directories, string cPath tories, but that would be too complex for be somewhat tortuous; but we do want to dlgdestroy 0 CANCEL of articles, we’ll see the ways in which we perhaps, so that you can group send and string Result this tutorial. Note the use of an OK box extend the routine to the filing of sent dpath1 = Sourcefile can extend Procomm for Windows’ fax receive faxes by work category for exam- and a Cancel box. faxes too, so this depth of checking is Initfile = “*.*” capabilities. ple. Our routine will first look at the direc- proc main We check the size of the string necessary as we need to know whether m_Caption = “Destination” Meanwhile, I’ve installed Windows 95 tory structure of the received fax area. To Caption = “Create New Directory” entered where we check the length of the a fax has been sent before filing it. If dialogbox 0 82 95 198 85 2 m_Caption on my machine and I was expecting to do this, we shall be using the filing func- Drive = “C:\” string entered into the box. Although incoming faxes were only to be filed, we pushbutton 3 104 55 40 14 “OK” ok have to reinstall Windows 3.11 or to write tions which Procomm for Windows pro- cPath= “PROWIN2” Procomm for Windows does not support should merely have had either sdlgfopen default this article on a machine with Windows vides. These are: mkdir, copyfile, dialogbox 0 30 44 198 85 2 Caption names larger than eight characters, or dir “*.FAX” ret_var as the search pushbutton 4 150 54 40 14 “Cancel” 3.11 on it, since Procomm for Windows deletefile and dir. text 1 18 9 159 23 “Type the name Windows 95 will. command. cancel does one of the most difficult things under The first thing we shall do is to code of the directory you wish to create” You could always limit the size of the We now need to build the copying and dirlistbox 1 13 17 80 58 Initfile Windows: it uses the communications the directory creation handling routine, center directory string to eight characters by fol- deletion commands, so that we may single Sourcefile port. The only thing I found I had to do to which simply consists of a dialogue box editbox 2 28 36 126 12 ret_dir lowing the editbox . . .ret_dir entry with move the fax files from the received or dirpath 5 12 3 129 9 make Procomm for Windows work was to asking which directory to create: pushbutton 3 28 57 40 15 “OK” ok the number 8, which will limit entry in an sent directories to their destinations. enddialog reinstall the dstask.386 driver into the default editing box to the number of characters We shall do this by using the copyfile while 1 (386Enh) section of Windows. integer Event pushbutton 4 114 57 40 14 “Cancel” typed in the command. and faxremove commands. dlgevent 0 Event Straight out of the box, Procomm for integer Check cancel Once we have created the directory, There is, unfortunately no way in switch Event Windows has a reasonable fax system, string Caption enddialog all we have to do is actually use it. But which we can keep the note which Pro- case 0 although it lacks some of the more com- string ret_dir while 1 that may be more of a problem than you comm attaches to the fax, so it may be endcase plex features which we have come to think. First of all, we will have to create a worthwhile to keep a note of the number case 1 expect from dedicated fax packages. It fax viewing script (using the fax viewing of pages each fax contains, just for secu- endcase does, however, support simple faxes and program included with Procomm for Win- rity’s sake. We shall be building a time default management of these reasonably well. dows) so that we can be sure that the fax and date display, so that we know when exitwhile The scripting commands can be used to at which we are looking at is the correct each fax was sent or received. endcase increase the functionality of the Procomm one. Then we shall build the browse The first part of the code to do the endswitch for Windows fax applets. boxes for the directories and copy and copying of the files might look like this: endwhile As it stands, Procomm for Windows then finally delete the copied fax file dlgdestroy 0 CANCEL comes with automatic fax and data automatically. integer Event dpath2 = Sourcefile recognition (assuming you have a Class Now we shall use a combination of dir, string m_Caption endproc 2 fax modem) and allows voice call faxlist and faxview. Faxlist requires to string initfile recognition if the modem is also capable know first whether the fax has been sent string Sourcefile But this is repetitive and although it will of voice functions. We shall be looking at or received; and secondly, the number of string Initdir work perfectly well, I shan’t let you the programming of the underlying con- the fax in which we’re interested (the string destinit develop untidy methods. We shall trol of these fax applets. sequence number displayed by the file- string destdir condense all of this into a procedure, The first thing I thought Procomm was Dialogue box for the entry of a directory name to create name of the fax). string dpath1 which we can call whenever we want a

552 553 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 TUTORIAL: PROCOMM PLUS FOR WINDOWS, PART 3 TUTORIAL: PROCOMM PLUS FOR WINDOWS, PART 3

dirlistbox by specifying its box number to available from the file’s own time and the dirlistbox command; we also have to date stamp which is certainly more easily ignore the change of directory event that accessed. The code I wrote for the dirpath generates, in the lines “case exploration of the log file follows: 2/endcase”, so that we have the complete directory path returned to us in string log_file the variable dpath2. string fdata[5] The script is incomplete; we are doing integer filnum nothing with the variables once returned. integer recurse We shall have to use the copyfile and integer pages deletefile operators in order to do the integer first_char actual file move. Put simply, we only have to use: proc main dir “*.log” log_file copyfile dpath1 dpath2 fopen 0 log_file READ dialogue box, allowing us to choose from The file open dialogue box we have deletefile dpath1 while 1 some files or directories. There are two created fread 0 fdata[0] 6 types of procedure: that which simply car- There is one problem here: a multi- fdata[0] = “Null” ries out a series of specified actions and paged fax is a collection of files; the fread 0 fdata[1] 7 that which does all of that and returns a *.FAX and a *.nnn where nnn is the page fread 0 fdata[2] 1 value. Since we require a result — that of default number. This means that we have to use fread 0 fdata[2] 1 when accessing them (that means it The directory open box we used for the selected file or directory — we shall pushbutton 4 150 54 40 14 “Cancel” Procomm for Windows’ string handling strgetc fdata[2] 0 pages starts at zero). the .LOG file use the latter. cancel capabilities to parse the file name into itoa pages fdata[2] This is called a function. We can enddialog “RECVxxx.*” where xxx is the fax number fread 0 fdata[3] 97 Usermsg structure it like this: while 1 (not the page number). All we want to do strspn fdata[3] “ “ first_char There are a few built-in functions which dlgevent 0 Event is to remove the last three characters and first_char = 96 - first_char are used to display error messages, user suggest counting the number of faxes integer Event switch Event replace them with an asterisk. strright fdata[3] fdata[3] first_char messages and so on. These take C-like and saving that number into a file; the string m_Caption case 0 Procomm’s available string operators fread 0 fdata[4] 18 formatting strings as well as simple vari- new array may easily be dimensioned string Initfile endcase which we shall use are strlen, substr and fdata[4] = “Null” ables. Usermsg is quite a useful little from the number of faxes held and the string Sourcefile case 1 strcat: for recurse = 0 upto 4 function, especially for debugging. Note contents reload whenever we want to string Initdir endcase usermsg “Data %s” fdata[recurse] above that the format of the command is access them. string destinit case 2 string dpath1 endfor used either with a string or without. It would make a lot of sense here to string destdir endcase string delfax endwhile write only the data that we know about, string dpath1 default integer len_string endproc Repetition becuase it is pointless to store the redun- string dfile exitwhile In the above example I have also used a dant data. And we could write a string dpath2 endcase proc main Notice that here, I took the easy option for . . . next type of loop (used in procedure to do this from the following string fChosen_file endswitch strlen dpath1 len_string and used “dir” which allows a directory Procomm as for . . . endfor) which code fragment: string Chosen endwhile len_string = len_string - 3 listing and returns a file name. This would enables us to define a certain number of dlgdestroy 0 CANCEL substr delfax dpath1 0 len_string not have been available when choosing repeats so that the program can be told PROC FAXARRAY proc main return Chosen strcat delfax “*” the destination directory for the file copy only to carry out a set of instructions a fopen 0 faxlog CREATE Initdir = “C:\PROWIN2\faxrecv” endfunc endproc above, since the dir command doesn’t finite number of times. You have proba- fwrite 0 numfaxes destinit = “C:\PROWIN2” return a value when only a directory is bly already come across this construction for count = 0 upto numfaxes m_Caption = “Source file” This will make the previous script more As far as the annotation of the fax is selected. There are also a few other bits in BASIC, so there is no need to labour call ritecontents(count) dpath1 = “C:\PROWIN2” elegant. Note that in the second call the concerned, we have to look at the log file and pieces which I haven’t explained the point here. endfor m_Caption = “Source file” script has been given the parameter “*.” which is generated by the fax sending before; mainly the use of arrays, usermsg endproc Initfile = “*.FAX” In order that it might choose only directory and receiving applets. After some exami- and the other functions. Date and Time call Get_filename with m_Caption, names, we have also used the function nation using Norton’s Utilities, I found that We access this with the fileget operator. proc ritecontents : integer Initfile into dfile calling method of “dpath2 = Get_filename the contents of .LOG files correspond Arrays All we need to supply is the file name, param integer index usermsg “File = `”%s`”.” dfile (m_Caption, Initfile)”. This is more com- roughly to the table below. Arrays can be defined to hold any form of what we require and the name of a vari- strlen faxarray(index) no_chars m_Caption = “Destination” pact and elegant. It is also totally compati- The dates and times of the faxes are data type, but unlike some implementa- able in which to store it: fwrite faxarray(index) no_chars Initfile = “*.” ble with the original function call. Note probably also stored in the portions which tions of the array data type, the whole endproc dpath1 = Get_filename (m_Caption, that the dirpath operator is deceptively I didn’t decode, and I didn’t bother doing array must be of the same data type. fileget faxfile DATE dattim[0] [num] Initfile) simple. We have to link the dirpath to the so, since the same information is also They may also have up to 12 dimensions, fileget faxfile TIME dattim[1] [num] This example is the most compact and usermsg “Path = `”%s`”.” dpath2 although the brain tends to go fuzzy when elegant method I could find. You might be endproc Inside the log files dealing with more than three, since that is Note above that we are using an array able to do better, though. all we can visualise. You will note at the called dattim to hold both the date and func Get_filename : string Index into file Length Data top of the listing I defined an array with time; this may be saved to disk within our PCW Contacts param string fCap, fInitfile 1 6 Not known seemingly six elements, but only own log file, since Procomm’s own will be dialogbox 0 82 95 198 85 2 m_Caption 7 7 Fax Name (e.g. RECV000) appeared to acess five of those. This is updated when we execute the faxremove Stephen Rodda is an independent dirlistbox 1 13 17 80 58 Initfile 14 1 Space because Procomm for Windows uses the command. networking and DTP consultant. He may single Chosen 2 15 1 Number of pages (hexadecimal digit) human-readable number when defining The rest of the programming can be be contacted as the_bear@cix. compulink.co.uk. dirpath 2 12 3 129 9 dpath2 16 98 Details (Telephone Number) the number of elements in an array, but completed using standard commands pushbutton 3 104 55 40 14 “OK” ok 114 18 Not known uses the computer’s numbering method which we have gone through already; I’d

554 555 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 On the

CUTTINGCUTTING EDGEEDGE PCW

elcome to Cutting PCW Online PCW Futures Edge, the section in W 578 net.answers — Stephen 558 Focus Personal Computer World Cobb looks at a way to read A “group test” of the top that combines our regular through Web pages while you’re seven Web browsers you can offline, and starts a detailed look download from the Internet. reviews of games, books at how to market your product or and CD-ROMs with features service on the Internet. 597 Innovations — Tim Frost bringing you the latest on a sound performance. news about computing and 580 net.surf — Time Out and several other reviews and 599/ Horizons — Virtual Reality consumer technologies and listings magazines online, plus 600 for the home, and two new online services. an online yellow pages for all of Web technologies. We now have the most North America. comprehensive coverage of 597 Bluesky — Nick Beard on 582 net.news — Free electronic the Top Trendy Technical these topics available in a mail is coming for anyone in Topic of the mid-nineties — general computing magazine. North America by early next fuzzy logic. Stay with us and we’ll take year, plus the closest thing yet to shared virtual environments 601 Retro Computing — the pain out of keeping on for the masses. Simon Rockman remembers the cutting edge. the Amstrad CPC 464. 586 net.comms — Stephen Cobb takes a long, hard look at PCW Media SATAN. 607 Books — How to Make a 592 net.newbies — A longer, Fortune on the Information updated and improved guide to Superhighway, and Delphi getting online. programming guides.

610 CD-ROMs — This month’s quality assortment includes the Encyclopedia Brittanica, and Virgin’s One Tribe and CD-ROMs One World. ● The electronic version of the entire PCW Fun Encyclopedia Brittanica 614 Kids’ Stuff — Fisher Price goes multimedia, and Inside Screenplay the Dream Doll’s House. ● Marathon: A Doom-alike for 619 Competitions — the Mac Win a HP DeskJet 660C, a Psion 3a 2Mb, or LapLink for Windows.

621 Screenplay — Jungle Strike, a shoot ’em up Retro Computing suitable for less powerful machines, and Marathon, ● A look back at the the long-awaited Doom Amstrad CPC 464 substitute for Mac owners.

624 Leisure Lines — Puzzles with JJ Clessa.

557 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PCW ● FOCUS PCW ● FOCUS CUTTING EDGE

beware: Mosaic Beta 4 will See Run only run with the very latest release, namely v1.25 with OLE2 v.2.02. After having downloaded w32sOLE.zip, it must then be unzipped with the d switch to create two installation disk images. Win32s can then be installed using the normal file/run

CUTTING EDGE setup. Installation on Windows 95 Weaving through the web or Windows NT doesn’t require Win32s. Before Alpha 8, there was no setup provided for Mosaic. As well as being a whole lot of fun, the Internet can also be frustrating. Installation was simply a mat- David Simpson helps you avoid the furrowed browse with a review of the ter of copying the mosaic.ini file to your Windows directory main tools you can use for successfully surfing the Web. and creating an icon in Pro- gram Manager to point at mosaic.exe. More recently, Mosaic has o you want to browse on Mosaic. In the two years since based on standard 7-bit ASCII project to create an interface to provided a Windows installa- Sthe World Wide Web? Mosaic became widely avail- files with formatting codes to the World Wide Web. This was tion program which creates There are currently no less than able on the Internet, there have contain information about lay- based on NCSA’s mission to aid the Program Manager icon and seven significant graphical been nine alpha and four beta out (text styles, document titles, the scientific research commu- prompts the user for personal browsers, available for Win- releases in addition to the paragraphs, lists) and hyper- nity via the creation of widely information, email address, dows, from which to choose. many other browsers available, links. The new formatting lan- available, non-commercial soft- news server, and so on. In rough chronological for just about every platform. guage, known as HyperText ware. So NCSA’s Software The user interface of Beta 4 order of appearance there is The Web was initially Mark-up Language (HTML) is Design Group developed a is little different from that of Mosaic, Cello, NetScape, Inter- developed, in 1989, at the loosely related to the Standard multi-platform interface, the late Alpha versions. net Works, WinWeb, Spry Air CERN nuclear laboratory in Generalised Mark-up Language known as Mosaic, which Beneath the familiar menu is a Mosaic and Quarterdeck Switzerland. The proposal was currently in use on the Internet. became available on the Net in toolbar to access the more use- for a new HyperText Transmis- Three years after CERN’s 1993. ful functions. Below this, Mosaic 2.0b4 provides the sion Protocol (HTTP) to pro- original proposal, the National Although the source code is there’s a box with the address best graphics and has a new vide a client/server solution for Centre for Supercomputing available for many different of the current document dis- Hotlist Manager document retrieval. This was Applications (NCSA) began a platforms, we’ll concentrate played as a URL (Uniform here mainly on World Wide Resource Locator). It is this Web (WWW) browsers for that provides the browser with Windows on a PC. the information needed to read the document. It includes the NCSA Mosaic type of document (the first Mosaic was the first of the part of the URL), as well as its widely available WWW location and name. The box browsers available for Win- also allows you to type in a dows, X-Windows and the URL if you have an address to Macintosh. It’s now available hand that you want to try. in Version 2.0 Beta 4. To the right of the toolbar Mosaic Beta 4 can be down- and URL box is the usual loaded from a number of FTP Mosaic globe. The globe spins sites including NCSA’s. It’s a while Mosaic is talking to a 32-bit application which remote server; typically when Top Cello has a default yellow background and a useful local help file requires the Win32s sub-sys- you open a new URL. This Above NetScape provides a nicely designed interface for its newsreader tem to be first installed under provides a very important Windows 3.1 and 3.11. visual feedback to let you moved across a hyperlink on is likely to be very slow). The There are 15 buttons on the Microsoft makes this freely know that Mosaic is still with the displayed document, it dis- second role of the status bar is toolbar, two of which are Open available to all registered Win- you and that the machine is plays the URL of that hyper- to provide information con- and Save. There are also Print, dows users and it can be down- active — very important when link. This provides an indica- cerning document retrieval: Print Preview, Copy and Paste loaded from most sites holding dealing with Windows 3x. tion of where the link will take what’s being transferred, how options and two arrowed but- Mosaic. The status bar at the foot of you and allows you to avoid much of it has been trans- tons for moving through docu- However, if you already the screen fulfils two roles. links to America, say, in the ferred, and how much ments. Reload allows you to have Win32s on your system, Firstly, when the mouse is middle of the afternoon (which remains. reload a document from the

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Top NetScape includes its own sound player Bottom GIF and JPEG images are a breeze in Paint Shop Pro 3

server and Home takes you to the home page defined in the mosaic.ini. This is initially set to NCSA’s home page but can

CUTTING EDGE be altered to your local server. The Find button is probably used to locate text within the active document but it wouldn’t work for me. The News and Mail buttons are for accessing newsgroups and email. Add To Hotlist provides a quick method of retaining hyperlink information by stor- ing the URL and document title for quick retrieval using the Open URL menu. This is a par- ticularly handy feature that is implemented in most of the browsers. One new feature available in the Beta 1 version is the ability to dynamically change the font size in the current document. Pressing the plus and minus keys increases or decreases the point size.

External viewers From the outset, one of the great design features of Mosaic has been its use of external programs to deal with certain types of data. Mosaic itself provides sup- port for showing inline images in GIF and, with effect from Beta 1, in JPEG format. Play- back of audio files in the NeXT AU format is also supported. This audio format is used by the vast majority of Unix sys- tems and is hence the de facto standard for audio on the Internet. However, for these and other data-file formats, Mosaic allows you to set up viewer Media Player. JPEG, and it’s freeware. See the path. This has been superseded applications that are called There are a number of “Where To Find Them” panel in Beta 1 with a well imple- automatically when data of viewer applications that have on page 572 for a list of major mented dialogue, complete that type is received. A num- been designed for use with viewers. with Microsoft-like tabs. ber of these are set up in the WWW browsers. For example, Previously, setting up addi- The problems with FTP mosaic.ini file by default, so, Lview31 has become the pre- tional viewers used to require URLs, apparent in earlier ver- for example, audio files in ferred external viewer for mosaic.ini to be edited so as to sions of Mosaic, have now been WAV file format will be graphics files. It supports virtu- set the MIME type and the ironed out and there was no loaded into the Windows ally all file formats including external application name and problem using FTP with the

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A historical aspect others in addition. Neverthe- less, I have had little trouble with Alpha 9 through to Beta 4 running on both Novell Lan Workplace with Windows 3.11 and Microsoft’s TCP/IP under Windows 95 (beta 2). Mosaic, like most of the other browsers reviewed here, does some quirky things from

CUTTING EDGE time to time. So, it must be remembered that these are still beta software releases, although one has to suspect that there never will be a full release. The continued release of beta ver- sions often provides the devel- opers with a cop-out clause for any bugs which occur.

Cello — an old tune Cello, produced by the Cornell Legal Information Institute, has not been updated since April 1994. Although there has been talk of a version 2 release in the near future, it has yet to materialise. The original interface is now somewhat dated in comparison to the other browsers available. There’s no button bar, for example, but there is a rather strange-looking status bar. Nevertheless, Cello does provide a number of interesting features. It was the first browser with local HTML documents to provide up-to-date information and a staging board for further exploration on the Net. Internet Works has further developed this feature to provide a very attractive user interface. All the fonts can be independently configured for the screen and the printer, in typeface, size and colour. FTP implementation works well and has not experienced the difficulties suffered in this area by other browsers — Mosaic for instance. It also pro- Top The rather plain interface of WinWeb vides a local Windows Help file Above Quarterdeck’s unusual interface with the history window open on the left which is a significant bonus as it overcomes the annoyance of Beta 1 version. WWW. Newsgroups: comp. bles with the Win32s OLE all help for Mosaic being online Although Alpha 7 proved infosystems.www is an excel- implementation, poor image at NCSA — its site is irritat- itself as a pretty stable piece of lent source of browser informa- handling, excessive disk ingly slow at most times of the software, there were problems tion, tips, and new WWW access, and a failure to release day. It also provides a docu- reported with Alpha 9. There is sites. resources when exiting the pro- ment search facility, and book- a great deal of discussion on Reported problems with gram. Beta 4 claims to have marks. These are favourite sites this topic within the Usenet Alpha 9 included GPFs, trou- fixed all these bugs, and a few on the WWW that you can save,

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Browsers — Where To Find Them eyes firmly fixed on NetScape’s home page for further develop- ● Mosaic Beta 4 ments. Anonymous FTP from ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu in directory PC/Mosaic. NetScape is provided free of Or from src.doc.ic.ac.uk in directory packages/Mosaic/Mosaic/Windows/mos20b4.exe charge for academic use and for (1.1Mb) and win32s version 1.25 from same directory w32s125.exe (2.3Mb). evaluation by individual users. ● Cello No evaluation time period is Anonymous FTP from ftp.law.cornell.edu in directory /pub/LII/cello cello101.zip (290kb). specified. The registered ver- ● NetScape sion costs $39 (version 1.0 Anonymous FTP src.doc.ic.ac.uk in directory /packages/Netscape/windows ns16-100.exe only) and provides software (ver. 1.0) (706 kb). support. It also includes an Or http://www.netscape.com/Netscape’s WWW home page — you need to go here to find out upgrade to the full release of just what is the latest version (1.1 beta 3 at the time of writing). version 1.1 when this becomes ● Internet Works available. anonymous FTP from ftp.booklink.com in directory /lite/ NetScape 1.0 is a 16-bit beta7.exe (2.2Mb) application and does not ● WinWeb require Win32s. Version 1.1 Anonymous FTP from ftp.einet.net in directory /einet/pc/winweb winweb.zip (600kb). Beta 1 comes as a 16-bit appli- ● Spry Air Mosaic cation for Windows 3x and as a Available from the Spry home page http://www.spry.com/wmosdemo.exe (1Mb). 32-bit application for Windows ● Quarterdeck Mosaic 95 and NT. The 32-bit version Available from the Quarterdeck WWW page on http://www.qdeck.com/qmzip3.exe (1Mb). won’t run on Windows 3x with ● Microsoft Internet Assistant Win32s as it uses API calls spe- Available from ftp.microsoft.com in directory /deskapps/word/winword-public/ia/wordia.exe cific to the 32-bit operating (1.1 Mb) system. The 16-bit version provides a program which installs so as to gain immediate access using forms for search tools was a number of Alpha ver- NetScape to the desired direc- later. and feedback. sions which culminated in tory and creates a Program The downside of Cello is its NetScape 1.0. This year, three Manager group. (There is no age. Being an older browser, it Navigating with NetScape beta versions of version 1.1 setup facility provided for the does not support newer HTML In 1994, Marc Andreesen left have followed — keep your 32-bit version.) functions such as Forms and NCSA (along with a number of Improvements in the 1.1 Mailto. Lack of support for other Mosaic developers) to Spry’s Air Mosaic provides beta 3 release are mainly in the forms is now a major defi- start NetScape Communica- a folder-oriented Hotlist area of bug fixes and perfor- ciency, with so many sites tions. The result of this move structure mance. However, 1.1 now sup- ports a number of extended HTML formatting tags, includ- ing tables and dynamic docu- ments: web pages that update themselves. The user interfaces for all three versions are virtually identical and very similar to Mosaic. But the first thing that strikes you is the replacement of Mosaic’s spinning globe with a rather less fetching upper-case N which moves in and out of relief as NetScape retrieves a document. The other obvious differ- ence is the row of buttons that appears below the URL loca- tion box. These are particularly powerful since they all initiate links to important sites on the Net. For example, Guided Tour is an online hypertext manual held at NetScape’s main site; and What’s New provides tips on some of the latest and hottest sites to have appeared

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on the Internet. ment followed by the images. including the date it was added and non-proportional text. The handles unknown data-file Booklink, along with Navi- The thing that strikes you viously loaded documents. The Questions button takes Although Mosaic Beta 1 does and the date it was last visited. sizing of headers is left to types. If Mosaic receives a file Soft, another AO-L subsidiary, when you fire up this package Each document is assigned a you to the program’s FAQ (fre- this too, those who have used The bookmarks are stored in an NetScape. This is different it doesn’t understand, it are also developing a VBX/DLL for the first time is the ele- tab key at the base of the screen quently asked questions) and older versions will remember ASCII file in HTML format, and from Mosaic where the font and merely attempts to display it version of Internet Works to gantly designed interface and above the status bar. Clicking acts as a supplement to the resenting the need to wait for the dialogue offers the option to size of every header level can on the screen; something provide core functionality into initial home page. This latter is any of the tags jumps you online manual. Net Search is inline images to be down- load the bookmark file as an be independently set. The which usually results in a other products. This is already the term given to the first page directly back to that document. the most useful button as it loaded, before being able to HTML document. You can also NetScape method simplifies screen full of garbage. But being used in AO-L’s Windows that auto-loads as the browser Scroll arrows are provided to links you to all the main search read the text or select another import and export bookmark setup, of course, but the greater NetScape pops up a dialogue client as well as in Microsoft’s is started. move through the vast number engines for the WWW — a real link. Well, with NetScape you files, and create new menus for degree of control provided by box to inform you of the Internet Assistant for Word 6. Internet Works makes of tabs you might build up in necessity given the thousands can jump to the next page them in a similar manner to Mosaic is preferred by many received data type. You then Internet Works is presently extensive use of the HTML one session. One tab, available

CUTTING EDGE of sites currently available. before the current one has fin- NCSA Mosaic. professional Net surfers. have the option to select a in beta 7 and can be down- files stored on your hard disk from the outset and labelled Net Directory provides a ished loading, and this is a real Other features of NetScape On the negative side, viewer, save the file to disk, or loaded from Booklink’s site — to provide a slick, professional “Card Catalog-All”, displays all comprehensive list of impor- plus point. include the ability to save a NetScape doesn’t handle in- cancel the operation; so, view- it is preferable to do this early interface to external links on the current tabs in the main tant hypertext links around the Bookmarks are imple- page to file after it has been line images as well as Mosaic, ers for all the different data in the morning, before the the Net. The home page uses window. Further Card Catalogs world which provide good mented particularly well in downloaded. The design of the the main problem being that of types can be set up on the fly whole of America wakes up. an attractively designed can be created to list favourite starting points for further NetScape. Adding a bookmark Preferences section, on the colour. With many inline in NetScape. The dialogue also Internet Works’ FTP server is hotspot graphic to provide stop-off points. exploration. The Newsgroups for the current document is Options menu, allows you to images, the colour map doesn’t displays a message indicating currently running on an NT access to many topics: News, Internet Works is clearly button changes NetScape into a simply a case of selecting that configure NetScape using dia- correspond to that of NetScape the type of file being sent machine which can’t handle Arts, Literature, Sport and designed as a commercial fully-functional newsreader. function from the menu. But logue boxes — no more editing and this leads to some psyche- from the HTTP server — this is large volumes of network traf- more. Each of these leads in product. It has a slicker, more Although other browsers pro- NetScape really scores with of .ini files. This allows you to delic colour effects, especially a particularly useful debug- fic. This is a particularly turn to a local file with greater professional interface than the vide news-reading facilities, the Bookmark editor, accessi- set the viewer fonts, email with faces. NetScape must be ging tool. important point because Inter- detail. other available browsers and NetScape goes one step better ble via the View Bookmarks address and server informa- switched (via an option in the net Works is all the rage at pre- For example, choosing the seems squarely aimed at the in providing an excellent news menu. tion, and external viewer Preferences dialogue) to dither Internet Works sent. It took me a few tries to News item on the home page home user. It is clear that the interface. Selecting Edit from the applications. its palette, although this leads This WWW browser is a rela- get the thing downloaded, and brings up another with links initial links on the home page Another noteworthy feature View dialogue extends the In the case of fonts, the dia- to grainier pictures. tively new item from Booklink I succeeded only when I started inviting you to choose either are entertainment based, with of NetScape is its ability to first dialogue to allow editing of logue box only lets you select By default, NetScape builds in the USA. Booklink was the transfer at 8.00am GMT. magazines or newspapers. little reference to information load the text of a WWW docu- all aspects of each bookmark, the base font for proportional up inline images as it down- acquired by America On-Line Internet Works has an excel- Selecting the latter provides a retrieval or WWW search tools. Security on the Web loads. Many people like this (AO-L) last December, in its lent setup program which list of some 30 home pages for Further evidence of its home effect but it can be rather irritat- bid to enter the Internet jungle. installs two icons in Program various newspapers around user market aspirations can be Initially the Internet, and later the World is susceptible to interception. In essence, the ing — luckily it can be At present, the latest beta Manager. In addition to the the globe. gleaned from the installation Wide Web, were designed as open access Internet does not provide built-in security switched off. version is available for evalua- browser, there is the Messager Internet Works uses a rather instructions: these concentrate academic systems for the sharing of infor- as it was designed as an open system. NetScape’s support for the tion free of charge, but it is Application; essentially a self- nice tab system to access pre- on connection using Serial mation around the world. There are no This shortcoming has been addressed by advanced features in HTML 3.0 anticipated that the full contained email and news- Line Internet Protocol over a restrictions or written rules, no policing or two of the browser companies, namely is much more comprehensive release will be a commercial reader application used by the Internet Works with its modem. management. It is this openness that has NetScape Communications and Spry. Each than Mosaic’s. Format com- product with a price tag of browser to access news and messager application When I first downloaded the made the Internet so popular. provides a method of data encryption from mands, such as those affecting around $99. email. running on Windows 95 previous beta 6 version, I Commercial organisations have been the browser to the respective server. font size adjustments and vari- couldn’t get Internet Works to using the Net for quite some time, but until NetScape’s system, SSL (Secure Sockets able width horizontal lines, are work with my Lan Workplace the present only as a means of providing Layer) works between NetScape Navigator used in many up-to-date WWW TCP stack. Interestingly, Book- information — a form of advertising for the and the Netsite Commerce Server. It is pages. Ignored by all the other link provides telephone and company. Rather than provide free services, based on a 40-bit key RC4 algorithm devel- browsers, these are neverthe- email support for all the beta which cost them money to create and main- oped by RSA Data Security. A number of less read and interpreted by versions, and an email to Book- tain, the companies would prefer to make higher grade security codes are available NetScape which leads to more link confirmed my fears that money directly from the Internet. from the US version, but these are not aesthetic page layouts. This Internet Works wasn’t compat- Two different approaches can be used: licensed for export and so only the RC4 support has been further ible with Lan Workplace. The the first is to provide subscription services encryption is available in the UK. NetScape extended in 1.1 Beta 1. new beta 7 is compatible how- over the net — for example, web servers claims the average time to break this code is NetScape performs in a very ever and the installation pro- that require user validation before access is a year using a 64mips processor. SSL is an similar manner to Mosaic and gram sets up everything auto- allowed. The second is to use the net for open specification so other developers may in terms of its speed there is matically from the start. It even home shopping, which requires the ability implement the technology, and as a result it little to choose. On a 486 DX50 recognised our news server and to send credit card or electronic cash seems likely that SSL will become the de local bus system Mosaic just email system. details across the Net. facto standard in the future. shades it, but on others The ability to check user validation on Spry has also developed an encryption NetScape outperforms it. On Spinning with WinWeb the Web was written into the specification system between its browser and server. You my system, I run the Novell Lan WinWeb is produced by EINet, for HTML 3.0. This feature is effectively are invited to register for the full version of Workplace TCP stack and this part of the US firm Microelec- supported by all those browsers that Air Mosaic by submitting a form, with your seems to favour Mosaic. Using tronics and Computer Technol- support forms. The greatest security risk credit card details, to Spry using S-HTTP Windows 95 with the Microsoft ogy Corporation. Currently in lies in the transfer of sensitive information (Secure HTTP) which it calls “SafetyWeb”. TCP stack, Mosaic won out: it version 1.0 alpha 2.2, it pro- across the Net, such as the dissemination of The server is in beta form at present and is started up somewhat faster vides a similar interface to all credit card details. Information travelling not yet available outside the US. This sug- than NetScape and decoded the other browsers. between your computer and a server uses a gests that they are using one of the more inline images faster. Being a Visual Basic appli- routeing process that can extend over many secure encryption keys which is not for Another feature of NetScape cation it requires vbrun300.dll computer systems. At each point, your data export. worth mentioning is the way it in the windows\system

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directory which is supplied in bar is used, along with virtu- other packages. This will dump web page creation tools as well the ZIP file. As a result, the ally the same menus. Instead the source into, say, Notepad, as the more mundane applica- interface is a little less respon- of the spinning globe, there is a where it can be viewed, edited tions such as FTP. sive than that of the other version with a 360-degree or saved. Quarterdeck Mosaic is cur- browsers reviewed here, but it wiper which moves around Air Mosaic performed well, rently in Pre-Release version 3 does feel reasonably good to like a clock hand to indicate although it was not as fast as and is available from the use overall. And, it does document loading. the 32-bit browsers. Function- Quarterdeck Web server. How- include the majority of features The Hotlist is an improved ally, although it is almost iden- ever, by the time you read this applicable to other browsers. version of that in NCSA’s tical to NCSA Mosaic, the it may have finished beta test- One serious omission Mosaic which gives you fold- improvement in the Hotlist ing and become a commercial

CUTTING EDGE though is its lack of support for ers with documents (URLs) manager is a real advantage. product for which you will news articles which cannot be inside. Each folder can be have to pay. The pricing policy accessed from the current beta assigned to the menu bar and Quarterdeck Mosaic for Quarterdeck Mosaic is yet to version of WinWeb. saved as a file. Air Mosaic has Quarterdeck, better known for be revealed. EINet also produces a number of hotlist files of use- its memory manager products, The interface of Quarter- MacWeb, a favoured viewer for ful topics providing a similar has now ventured into the deck’s browser is a little differ- the Macintosh. But the PC ver- range to Internet Works. Internet race. Mosaic is the first ent from that of the others sion is not quite in the same Air Mosaic also supports of a promised suite of Internet reviewed here in that it uses league as Mosaic and drag-and-drop of URLs into applications which includes an MDI (multiple document NetScape. Viewers — Where To Find Them Air Mosaic fit and Spry Air Mosaic is one of a number ● LView31 (freeware) of Internet software packages, An excellent freeware graphics file viewer which supports all common file formats including produced by Spry, which JPEG. Anonymous FTP from ftp.ncsa.uiuc.edu in directory PC/Mosaic/tools. includes “Internet-in-a-Box”. Or from unix.hensa.ac.uk in directory /pub/mosaic.comm.corp/windows/viewers. The company was bought Or from ftp.sunet.fi in directory /pub/pc/windows/viewers/image. recently for $100m by Com- ● LView Pro (shareware; $30) puServe and this is an indica- Extended and improved version of LView. tion of just how seriously Com- Ftp from src.doc.ic.ac.uk in directory packages/Mosaic/Windows/viewers/lviewp1a.zip puServe is taking the Internet (305kb). boom. Additionally, Com- ● Wplany (freeware) puServe is seriously side-step- Stands for Windows Play Any file. An audio file player that supports both WAV and AU file ping any potential threat from formats. Once the file has been downloaded it is just played; i.e. no window is opened, and America On-Line (AO-L) with hence there are no editing or file save facilities. its acquisition of Booklink and Ftp from src.doc.ic.ac.uk in directory packages/windows3/sounds/wplny11.zip (300kb). Internet Works. Spry provides ● Ghostview (freeware) competitive upgrades from A Windows interface for Ghostscript which allows viewing of PostScript files in Windows. AO-L software in the US. Particularly useful if you download a lot of documents which are generally in PS format. Air Mosaic is available as a Available from micros.hensa.ac.uk in directory micros/ibmpc/win/i/i012/gsview10.zip fully functional demo version (180kb). from Spry’s server. It is limited Also, you will need ghostscript from the same site in directory however, to six external URLs. micros/ibmpc/win/c/c132/gs261win.zip plus other associated files. By this, the company means six ● MPEGPlay (shareware; $25) URLs not on its server or held An MPEG movie player for Windows. MPEG is the most widely used movie standard on the as local files. After the sixth Internet. URL you are invited to register This is a 32-bit application and thus requires Win32s. for the full version, via credit Ftp from src.doc.ic.ac.uk in directory packages/Mosaic/Mosaic/Windows/ card over the Internet, at a cost viewers/mpegw32h.zip (640kb). of $29.95. This is carried out ● Paint Shop Pro (shareware; £49) using Spry’s Secure Encrypted The best shareware graphics viewer and manipulation tool there is. Currently on version 3.0, Transactions system (a rival it is available from most software archives including Cica, SimTel and Hensa in the UK. system to NetScape’s SSL). ● GoldWave 2.11 (shareware; $25) Air Mosaic is provided free This is the best shareware program I have found for audio manipulation and playback. It to members of CompuServe, so supports a large number of file formats inluding AU. account holders can now Available from many sites including: src.doc.ic.ac.uk in packages/windows3 access the Web. /sounds/gldwav21.zip.0. The interface of Air Mosaic Or garbo.uwasa.fi in windows/sound/gldwav21.zip (280kb). is suspiciously similar to that ● Wham 1.33 (donationware; $15) of NCSA’s Mosaic Alpha 4 Another Windows audio application that supports AU. (Mosaic’s last 16-bit release). Adequate, but Goldwave or WPlany are the better choices. The same interface design, Ftp from src.doc.ic.ac.uk packages/windows3/sounds/wham133.zip (140kb). including an identical button

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A Word in your ear interface) format. All the other Into the future browsers are of SDI (single doc- At present, Mosaic and ument interface) design — only NetScape are the only 32-bit one document is present in WWW browsers. They both each window — though install directly onto Windows NetScape has a New Window NT and Windows 95 and will menu item. Internet Works pro- run on these systems as fully vides its tabbed card system; pre-emptive applications. This two methods of circumventing holds some important implica- the limitations of an SDI inter- tions for the serious web surfer,

CUTTING EDGE face, but only Quarterdeck’s something to which anyone Mosaic is truly MDI. who has used Mosaic on a Quarterdeck is thus more decent X-Windows system can akin toapps like Microsoft attest. Word, where each document Picture the scenario: you’ve has its own “child window” (a just got onto that elusive Amer- window within the applica- ican site and have started tion’s main window). This for- downloading what you hope is mat allows you access to all the a glorious JPEG image. It looks previously loaded documents like it could take a long time, in a session, though there has to but you dare not switch the be a limit on the number of focus away from your browser child windows that can be cre- in case the server times you out ated — Windows eventually while waiting for a response as runs out of resources. you lock up the system using The usefulness of this fea- another application. ture is questionable. Users This won’t necessarily hap- tending to browse the Web pen often but I always used to will, of necessity, create many get really nervous starting up child windows. Most of these Word, with Mosaic in the back- are useless for reference as they ground. And a Visual C++ com- are merely steps in a path taken pilation was an absolute no-go to reach a goal which does area. With a pre-emptive sys- interest you. In practice, a his- tem such as NT, Windows 95 tory list is of more use to the Microsoft’s Internet Assistant allows you to use Word to create Web documents with point-and- or any Unix system, this browser than a collection of click ease doesn’t happen — you can sim- child windows. ply switch away from Mosaic A number of features are not especially if you are involved which are all-important for Nevertheless, Mosaic still and get on with something else. implemented in this beta in creating HTML documents. extended browsing of the net. retains favour, mainly due to In fact, Mosaic for X-Win- release, such as Mailto, News, It perhaps provides a glimpse Firstly, the browser should its superior handling of graph- dows provides an additional Telnet, and View Document into the future of Web allow scrolling of partly loaded ics; plus the fact that it’s free- function not found on its PC Source, as well as security browsers as they become inte- documents. It should also offer ware, even for commercial counterpart. The Clone feature methods. But these are all grated into the computer desk- the ability to interrupt a docu- users. immediately creates a replica promised for the full release. top. Web connectivity is to be ment load with a new docu- It would be worth trying at of the currently running Quarterdeck Mosaic organ- built into Windows 95, and ment request — that is, being least these three mentioned, if Mosaic, complete with the doc- ises documents using a Filing Novell also plans to produce able to click on a hyperlink not all the browsers — after all, ument. This allows you to send Cabinet which is a system sim- something similar to Internet before the current document they are currently free for eval- one copy off on a new hyper- ilar to Spry Air Mosaic. The Fil- Assistant for WordPerfect. has finished loading. Both uation. It’s rather like being link while you read the docu- ing Cabinet icon contains any NetScape and Internet Works able to download Word 6, ment showing in the other number of information folders, Which web browser? can do this. WordPerfect, Ami Pro and version. each containing URL links to There is no clear winner but NCSA Mosaic 2.0 Beta 1 PageMaker for free, try them all So, we can all look forward various sites. Like Spry, Quar- the three main contenders, in was the first version of Mosaic out and keep them afterwards. to the imminent release of Win- terdeck comes with a large Now, there are many HTML change between browse and Top The way NetScape our opinion, are Mosaic, with this ability, although issu- How long this opportunity will dows 95 (probably August). selection of predefined links to assistants, but what makes edit mode — this makes it provides multiple windows NetScape and Internet Works. ing a new document request continue is anybody’s guess, as The benefits of true multitask- start you on your exploration. Microsoft’s worthy of consid- extremely easy to plagiarise can be confusing Spry Air Mosaic is a good during a document load was a the Internet starts to become a ing are highly desirable while eration here is the inclusion of someone else’s Web document. Above Internet Assistant can browser and perhaps a good somewhat flaky process. Beta 4 commercial concern. surfing the biggest waves of the Internet Assistant the Booklink Internet Works As a browser, Internet be run as a browser but allows choice for those with Com- performs significantly better One final point though: Internet. Meanwhile, those of Although not a WWW browser DLL. This effectively turns Assistant falls some way the option of switching to edit puServe accounts. Which one but is not completely free from each of these browsers tends to us lucky enough to be running as such, Internet Assistant Word into a fully functional behind the best of the other mode to use is a difficult decision. problems. It works fine most of have a new alpha/beta release a Windows 95 beta version can should be considered for the WWW browser. The Internet browsers. Its visual appearance Judging by the newsgroups, the time but occasionally every two or three months. So, sit back with a browser, down- sake of completeness. It is a set Assistant template adds the is stark and it’s also somewhat decoding speed in the macros. NetScape is certainly the most ignores your request, so you it’s important to stay abreast of loading junk in the background of Word 6 macros designed for item Browse Web into the File slower than other browsers, Internet Assistant is cer- popular viewer. must click on the spinning the latest releases when decid- while appearing to be really writing HTML documents. menu. Word also lets you due to the lack of HTML tainly worth consideration, There are some key features globe to kill the current load. ing which browser you prefer. getting on with our work. PCW

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Note that once the NetScape and surf the net” book. For firewall product. Whether you participate this way during the first two months it net.answers cache has been processed, the example, it is one of the few in a discussion of Internet firewalls in the was on the Web. contents can be deleted. Also general Internet books to NCSA Information Security Forum on Next month we will discuss the vari- Cache of the day note that there may be missing devote more than a paragraph Compuserve, or in the firewalls discus- ous options you have if you chose to images — not a fault of Net- to security and there are several sion group hosted on the Internet by Great establish a presence on the Web, from sing NetScape to browse be loaded from your local hard cache, but a result of occasion- very useful chapters on doing Circle, you are not permitted to make pages on someone else’s server to a Web UWorld Wide Web pages disk, not the remote server. ally erratic online activity. If business on the net. The only overt plugs for that product. In this situa- site of your own. can be addictive, eating up con- This dramatically reduces traf- this happens, NetScape will Internet-related subject where tion you can, and probably should, men- nect time and, consequently, fic on the net and speeds up attempt to retrieve the file from the book is a little light is the tion that you work for a company that Here is the news bank balances. Of course, if you response time for users. You the server. If NetScape is World Wide Web, for which sells a firewall product, but you cannot Another commonly asked question is: Do

CUTTING EDGE come across a page that is par- can adjust the size of the cache offline, it will not be able to SAMS offers a companion vol- plaster the discussion with digs at the you need to be on the Internet to get ticularly interesting you can using the Cache and Network contact the server and thus will ume, The World Wide Web competition or quotes from your sales lit- Usenet newsgroups? use the Save As command on setting in the Preferences dia- appear to hang. In that case, Unleashed. Bear in mind that erature. If you do, you will find that the The answer is no. Since Usenet news- the File menu to store the file in logue box, accessed from click on NetScape’s Stop button the Internet is not the only old marketing maxim “there is no bad groups are one of the most popular Inter- html format (the special format- NetScape’s Options menu. to abort the connect. online option for businesses. publicity” no longer holds true. You will net resources, there are many ways to get ting language that combines The contents of the cache Netcache is a great utility to You might also want to con- also find that your postings are zapped at them. There are at least 11 “ordinary” text, hypertext links, and are constantly changing while have and the documentation sider your own bulletin board by the forum sysop or newsgroup mod- bulletin boards across the UK that carry images on Web pages). When you are online, as older data is contains interesting technical (see Bulletin Boards for Busi- erator. some or all Usenet newsgroups — so do you are offline you can load deleted to make way for new. information about the way ness, Wood and Blankenhorn, Something like this happened recently CompuServe and CIX. You can even get any html file into NetScape When you are offline you can NetScape manages data files. Wiley). when a person who sells an anti-virus some Usenet newsgroups delivered to you with Open File and view the use the Back command to view ftp://ftp.demon.co.uk/pub/ibm From the way you ask, we product started responding to every new via electronic mail. Not all ways of read- contents. However, the .htm some of the recent pages, but pc/netcache/netcache.zip detect that you are already question in the Anti-Virus section of the ing Usenet are created equal, though. In format only saves the text and there is no easy way to access aware that marketing on the NCSA Forum with a canned sales pitch some groups, the volume of contributions layout of the page, not the all the pages in the cache. Business on the Internet Internet is somewhat contro- for his product. The sysop simply zapped is massive — hundreds of messages a day. graphics images. Or at least there wasn’t until “I run a small business and versial. In part, this is because the salesman’s messages, but not before If you receive them as email or using an While html preserves point- Netcache came along. This is a have several questions about commercial use of the Internet they had annoyed several potential cus- unsophisticated interface like Com- ers to pictures, referred to as in- clever piece of Freeware from using the Internet. What mar- is a relatively recent phenome- tomers. Similarly offensive is collecting puServe’s, it can be a chore reading line images, it does not store Neil Mottershead (nmott@cix. keting can I safely do on the non. As you probably know, email addresses from a discussion group through them to find the ones you want. them. They reside in separate compulink.co.uk). The pro- Internet? What would it cost? the origins of the Internet can and doing a mass emailing touting your Terminal-based access, which is the usual files that are not downloaded to gram copies all files from the How difficult would it be? be traced back to the sixties, product or service. approach for BBSs, is more powerful, but your computer when you use NetScape CACHE directory What results could I expect?” and during the seventies and In short, there are some areas of the net can still be difficult to use. the File Save command. As a into a separate directory of These are good questions, eighties it was an academic and where marketing activity has to be subtle Both of these approaches are particu- result, what looked like a cool your choosing, then renames and you are certainly not the government entity. Indeed, it to say the least. However, there are other larly limited when it comes to download- page of pictures and text online them with DOS names. The only small-business owner who was only in 1990 that the Fed- areas where you are free to blow your ing binary files. Some Usenet groups con- appears offline as just text and program then parses all the is asking them right now. They eral Networking Council, part horn as loud as you like, the most obvious tain pictures and programs, and down- some boxes containing the html files and converts page deserve fairly lengthy answers of the Internet’s “governing being the World Wide Web. In this case loading these using the systems described “broken image” icon. and image references to file ref- and so we will make a start this body”, dropped the require- you are creating a new patch in cyber- so far can be a difficult and time-consum- The first time you see this erences. It does this very intel- month and continue next ment that organisations apply- space and you get to call the shots. This is ing process. phenomenon it might come as ligently, generating a report of month. A complete, in-depth ing to be connected to the net quite different from visiting areas that CIX’s interface is also terminal-based, a surprise. After all, you know missing and orphaned images treatment of commerce and the obtain sponsorship from a US other people have created and scattering a but fortunately CIX also has a powerful there is a whole lot of disk plus a NetScape history file of Internet takes hundreds of government agency. This her- bunch of sales brochures. Essentially, you and easy to use offline reader, Ameol. You drive activity each time you all available cached pages. pages. Here are several useful alded the “commercialisation” hang out your shingle and if people want have to download all the messages in the jump to a Web page when you Once configured, Netcache books that you might want to of the net and the rapid growth to visit you, it’s their choice. It is up to you groups you are interested in, but it batches are online. It certainly looks can be run by entering the pro- check out, listed by title, of .com sites, as opposed to to make your Web presence as interesting them all together into a single file before like NetScape is downloading gram name at the DOS prompt author(s), and publisher: Doing .edu and .gov and so on. as possible in order to attract visitors and downloading, which makes the process those GIF images to your (you do not have to close down Business on the Internet, Some of the people who got hold their attention. faster; and once you have downloaded machine. This is, in fact, what Windows to do this, as Net- Cronin, Van Nostrand Reinholt; onto the net before 1990 resent How many visitors will you attract? We them, it makes it easy to avoid reading happens. NetScape downloads cache will run in a DOS win- The Internet Business Book, this change and resist what talked to American Motor Works whose uninteresting messages or to extract files both the html data and the in- dow). The program will then Ellsworth, Wiley; The Internet they see as “creeping commer- Web pages were featured in a previous from the messages. Both CIX and Com- line images to your computer, process all files in the CACHE Business Companion, Angell, cialisation”. In fact, the main column. This is a relatively small com- puServe charge by the hour for Internet but it places them in a sub- directory, modifying them and Addison-Wesley; The Internet practice to which they object, pany in Florida that is hoping to become access, though, so reading a lot of mes- directory of the NETSCAPE copying them to the Netcache Business Guide, Resnick, flagrant advertising within the next Harley-Davidson. They calculate sages can become expensive. directory called CACHE. And it directory. To view the results SAMS. news and discussion groups, is that their Web pages average about 1,000 For the ultimate in Usenet news-read- doesn’t give them handy file switch to NetScape — you For a responsible and busi- also discouraged on commer- “hits” per day. A hit happens when the ing pleasure, there is no substitute for a extensions like GIF and HTM. don’t have to be online. Now ness-oriented treatment of the cial services such as Com- Web server registers a request from full TCP/IP connection at a flat rate. You It uses MOZ. use the Open File command on Internet as a whole, consider puServe. You can do your com- another computer to display a Web page. will still have to pay for the cost of a call There is a reason for this. the File menu (shortcut investing in The Internet pany a lot of good by making This information is logged by the software to a local service provider, but you won’t The primary purpose of the Ctrl+O). Select the Netcache Unleashed from SAMS. Don’t positive and informative con- on the server. There is no way of knowing have to pay any more for the time you CACHE directory is to hold directory to display a list of be intimidated by the size — tributions to group discussions, whether the person who requested the spend reading news. Sophisticated tools recently viewed pages, includ- available pages and select the regular readers of PCW should but you must stop short of ask- page actually read it, but the AMW pages which make it easy to read only those ing inline images, so that when one you want to view. The be in excellent shape to heft ing for business. have a form which browsers can use to messages you want or to extract files, are you skip backwards through page will be displayed com- this 1,400-page tome. It is not Suppose you work for a request a catalogue. AMW received available now, too. recently viewed pages they will plete with inline images. just another “Let’s get wired company that sells an Internet “several hundred” catalogue requests in Stephen Cobb

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Best of British music and photographs. Individual Inc. It receives City Island in the fictional country of net.surf E-zines do have a place, but 15,000 stories a night from 460 Mellanta is an attempt to create a they will be hard pressed in the sources (PR newswires, maga- mesh of Web links with a British A good Time Out future to compete head to head zines and newspapers, mainly flavour. To get onto the site you can with major television and radio out of the US) and sorts them rent space, and you then show up on companies once they bring into 1,000 topic pages. Between the map of the city with the picture of he Time Out group now E-zine does it their vast resources of talent eight and 10,000 people per your choice. When other users click Thas a Web site, Time Out The Internet has spawned and material online. In the case day access the server. on your icon they will be transported net. The index page appears to hundreds of “e-zines” — maga- of London Calling and Muse, By 15th July NewsPage to your Web page on City Isle or else- weight London equally with zines that exist only, or primar- they are up against Time Out. expects to start charging for the where, or can send you email. You

CUTTING EDGE the six other cities Time Out ily, in electronic form. The London Calling: full text of articles, but a brief can use the Web to construct your has information for, but Lon- base cost of publishing online http://www.demon.co.uk:80/ summary of each item with own “virtual building” on your don is the city with the greatest is very low, but producing a london-calling/content.html citation will continue to be depth of information. magazine which is of interest Muse: available free of charge, paid Above If something goes wrong anywhere Selected reviews are avail- to a broad public still tends to http://www.hyperlink.com/ for by sponsors of each page. By in the world, IDIN is where to look first able from most of the categories require a serious investment of muse/ that time, keyword searching of Right Be something in the city... the paper magazine offers, from time and a staff with a variety If all you buy a listings mag- the database should also be art to television. The film sec- of skills. azine for is to find out where a possible. Individual also offers available elsewhere on the Internet, tion listed five 200-word While most e-zines are film is playing, CINEASC may First!, a customisable delivery which is still predominantly accessed reviews and the television sec- American-based, a few British be what you need. Run by vol- of news from a larger pool of by people from developed nations. ones have begun to unteers, it provides a compre- sources to corporations for a fee IDIN: emerge. London hensive guide to films playing that starts at £5,500; Headsup, [email protected] Calling and Muse are in London and selected cities which costs $40 per month and http://www.disaster.org/ two leading ones, across the UK. delivers up to ten NewsPage both run by people CINEASC topics by email; and iNews, Gisajob from journalistic, http://www.gold.net/users/ which is similar, but costs VNU, which publishes 18 magazines in music and comput- ae37/cineasc/index.html $9.95 per month and only the UK, including this one, and has var- ing backgrounds. For draws from five broad-ranging ious media interests across the globe, the moment they are Yellow means business news sources. has launched its first official British free and contain lit- American Business Informa- Individual Inc 01491 638 123 venture on the Web. Job.net is a spin-off tle advertising, but tion, which publishes business [email protected] from Computer Contractor, a fortnightly their goal is to directories across the USA, (blank message) free magazine. It offers a searchable become self-financ- plans to put its database of http://www.newspage.com/ database of around 1,500 IT positions, “plot” — making the “sales office” link to ing once there are more than 11 million business plus a selection from the editorial content the email address of your sales director, enough readers to telephone numbers onto the Crisis management of the magazine. There’s an email service while the “main building” links to some make them attractive World Wide Web by the time After the Oklahoma bombing, which will allow subscribers to receive all marketing information about our product. to advertisers. you read this. ad-hoc Web pages and usenet the daily updates every morning. Some useful info is already available: Time Out’s listings bring you London Calling has a fairly YellowNet is translating the discussion groups sprang up Messages containing “subscribe” to: the British Embassy includes links to the world (but mostly London) comprehensive set of cursory database into online form, and offering information and dis- [email protected] some British political sites and the casino reviews of films, some music will be looking for similar part- cussion, just as they did with Messages containing “get assignments” contains an interactive blackjack game. At tion had five programme and and book reviews, a small art ners across the world. An entry the Kobe earthquake and other for today’s assignments only to: time of writing, free space was available three TV film reviews. There’s gallery and features about Lon- giving a company’s name, disasters. [email protected] in the apartments at One King Street. also tourist, dining and shop- don; recent issues included a address and telephone number The haphazard nature of the (http://www. vnu.co.uk/vnu/cc/ City Isle: GX, or ping information. tour of Portobello Road market is free of charge. Making an response inspired an Arizona http://www.demon.co.uk/gdx/50007000/ Opportunities for feedback, and an article on loft living. entry bold costs $45 a year, Internet provider to create the London Mall gx.html to give it its full name. discussion and submission of The Muse is one of several adding a fax and freephone Internet Disaster Information You don’t have to be global on the Inter- http://www.demon.co.uk/gdx/50007000/ listings and reviews are scat- Web publications being run by number costs $90, a full-screen Network (IDIN), a non-profit net. The London Mall, as its name sug- index.html tered around the pages, though Information Hyperlink in advert linked to an entry costs storehouse of information gests, has information about an eclectic The English are often reticent to invite at press time they were not yet Covent Garden. It draws from a $360 a year. about the Oklahoma bombing selection of retail shops and services in even friends into their own homes, but it operational. pool of 16 writers it shares Yellownet: 001 303 781 6121 and any future catastrophes. the London area, including the Comedy seems our manners change on the Inter- The listings are just a subset with four other publications http://www.yellownet.com/ When we went to press, Store, a golf club, Hampton Court Palace net. A group of Oxford students may be of the whole content of each and has a full-time editor. IDIN had pointers to informa- Festival and some financial software. It the first people in the world to give any- week’s issue, so the Web pages At present it is a straightfor- The latest news tion from 29 different sources adds to this a limited amount of (not terri- one on the Net a guided tour of their are no substitute for purchasing ward, fairly highbrow maga- Dozens of newspapers and in the Internet, including Time bly good) creative writing. The London house at 19 Museum Road. Not particu- the magazine each week. But zine, with reviews of books by magazines are now online, giv- magazine and two local televi- Mall intends to address this weakness by larly useful, but fun. this is still one of the most Hanif Kureishi and Martin ing samples of text or even all sion stations, and digests of recruiting writing talent from the Internet 19 Museum Road: valuable Internet resources Amis, jazz, opera, dance and of it away. Even services which information from these and at large. Would-be famous columnists http://www.linc.ox.ac.uk/~musrd19/ available in the UK. art reviews and a feature about intend to charge eventually are other sources (including the should submit their work by 15th June to Finally, for up-to-date information, Time Out: Prague. In future, its editor giving their services away to Sunday Telegraph). [email protected]. check out the new address for PCW’s 0171 813 3000 intends to generate custom beta testers now — and usually Of course there will be many London Mall: remarkably successful Best of British Web http://www.btimeout.co.uk/ Web pages for subscribers anyone who wants a look can disasters which IDIN will be 0171 356 0871 or page. [email protected] based on their interests and be a beta tester. The latest qual- unable to cover, as it is primar- [email protected] Best of British: wants to add more sound, ity freebie is NewsPage from ily an index to information http://www.micromedia.co.uk/ http://www.vnu.co.uk/vnu/pcw/ bob.html PCW

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FTP and gopher. This month, I is downloadable from Worlds’ 1,000 Internet users and 500 $250 and $3,000 per month. £2,495 to £8,440, depending Web browsing software, uses a ran Worlds Inc’s Worlds Chat web server. users of online services. The I/Code should ship in the third on their configuration. “Secure Sockets Layer” or SSL software, which threatens to Contact Worlds Inc techsup- bad news is that the survey quarter of this year. For further information call approach, which can provide net.news have the same effect on the vir- [email protected]://ww will initially only cover the Fewer details are available 0800 127753 or email abs.net- security for a broad range of tual worlds of the MUD. It is the w.kaworlds.com/ US, and only the sponsors will about Digital Planet’s Net- [email protected] Internet applications — not compiled by David Brake closest I have yet encountered receive the full results, which Count, but it claims that its ://abs.apple.com/Products/Int only Web browsers, but also to the kind of VR environment Internet Profiles, should be ready by mid-June. testers include MCA, ernet.solution/index.html. telnet and other programs. It you see in movies. NetCount O’Reilly A European and Asian MGM/UA and Young & Rubi- has the backing of Apple, Free Market Communica- will not be a “piggy-back” ser- Players of DOOM and other One of the difficulties in pro- study is expected to follow, cam, all of them large corporate RealAudio Microsoft and Novell, amongst tions — free email vice like email — you don’t get games featuring 3D environ- moting commerce over the towards the end of the year. customers in the US. Progressive Networks, a US others.

CUTTING EDGE In about nine months’ time, anything free in exchange for ments will find it familiar. It Internet is that statistics of any But different polling methods For information, call 001 company, claims to have EIT (maker of WinWeb), millions of people throughout looking at marketing info, allows the same kind of interac- kind are hard to come by. will be used because many 707 829 0515 or email O’Reilly developed software that will Spry (maker of Spry Mosaic) North America will be able to except whatever discounts the tion with people that you get Nobody has a firm idea of how European countries forbid ran- on [email protected] allow users to listen to sounds and several other companies exchange electronic mail for marketers choose to give. with MUDs, but instead of typ- many potential customers there dom dialling. or [email protected] as they download them from have backed Secure HTTP (S- free, if Free Market Communi- Testing of the service by a ing “move north” and reading a are. Considering the World The Internet Profiles Cor- http://www.ora.com/survey/ the Internet, rather than having HTTP) from Terisa Systems, cations’ project succeeds. small number of users is due to screenful of text describing Wide Web, which was not orig- poration has launched I/Pro, Email Digital Planet on to wait until a sound has been which is only applicable to the The company will be giving take place this summer, and what you see next, Worlds Chat inally designed for commercial which measures the popular- [email protected] downloaded, before loading it Web. away email software which mass marketing will begin in puts the virtual world on your use, it is difficult to gauge how ity of Web sites more accu- http://www.digiplanet.com/ into a player program. The Each approach doubtless picks up messages from a cen- the first quarter of 1996. screen and lets you move many people have looked at rately, and gives companies an Call Internet Profiles on 001 RealAudio player will be built has its own merit and NetScape tral server via a toll free num- For more information call 001 around it using the cursor keys. what you have to offer, let opportunity to compile infor- 415 322 9600 or email into future versions of pledged to support S-HTTP. ber. The cost of sending and 617 492 6600, or email At the moment, when you see alone who they are, where they mation about people who [email protected] http:// NetScape and other web But the resulting confusion has receiving mail will be paid for [email protected]:// someone you still have to type are and how much money they view their sites. I/Pro comes in www.ipro.com browsers or downloadable free led to worries that users might by advertising. Each time a www.productview.com. your “hello” and read their have to spend. two versions: I/Count, as its of charge. The company plans need several different browsers message is sent, received or response, but software to trans- Three companies, O’Reilly, name suggests, keeps track of Apple sells Web servers to make its money by licensing on their machines, depending composed using the software, Worlds Inc mit speech digitally already Digital Planet and Internet Pro- who has contacted a site; and Apple is following the lead of the server software which on which “shops” they want to an advertisement will be dis- Virtual reality has commonly exists, and will be available at a files, are working on separate I/Code allows servers to ask Sun Microsystems and Silicon sends the sounds out over the visit on the Internet. played somewhere on screen. been viewed as something for later date. projects to solve some of these those who connect, to answer Graphics and offering a range Internet. Now NetScape, IBM, Com- The ads will not all be the the far-off future, but limited questions about themselves, of “shrink wrapped” Internet In order to deliver sound puServe and America Online same: users will provide demo- “Virtual Worlds” were devel- putting the results into a data- servers based on Macintosh “real time” over V.32bis have bought stakes in Terisa, graphic information about oped by the British, have been base for analysis. servers. While most Internet- modem links, a lot of sound and the company plans to themselves, and the messages available to the public for 15 The I/Code software will ters would agree that Unix is quality is lost. Its focus is on incorporate both security meth- that are displayed will vary years, and have been available make things easier for users as the “top dog” when it comes to delivering speech, not music, ods in a single development depending on the type of user on the Internet since 1988. well, allowing Web informa- support, Apple has some key and when we tested the beta package. the advertiser wishes to target. Known as MUDs (Multi User tion offered to be filtered to advantages. Its machines are software, it was only just good Because the initial mail Dungeons), MUCKs and meet their needs, and saving famously easy to use (Unix enough to allow you to discern Mariner package works by direct MOOs, these are a collection of users a lot of re-typing of per- machines tend to be notori- accents and tone of voice. NCD, a company better known dialling instead of via the Inter- text descriptions of individuals sonal data as they move from ously difficult to use but they Nonetheless, some of the for making X terminals and X net, it cannot easily be adapted and environments. site to site — they just say are improving). They are also biggest sites on the Internet software, is branching out into for use in the rest of the world. Moving around them will “yes” to the server’s request considerably less expensive have committed to using the provision of shrinkwrap But Free Market Communica- remind some of the kind of for information and the soft- than a workstation. RealAudio’s software, includ- Internet software. The package, tions (FMC) hopes to find part- text-based puzzle and adven- ware automatically returns the The machines are no differ- ing HotWired (the online mul- which should be available ners and expand internation- ture games that were popular information they have entered. ent from ordinary PowerPC- timedia spin-off from Wired shortly, will include a wider- ally, once its formula has in the early days of personal Users can choose what data based Apple Workgroup magazine), Global Network than-usual range of Internet proved successful in North computers. they wish to make available. Servers: the key to the package Navigator, Metaverse (which is applications — FTP, Usenet America. It has been endorsed The difference is that in Because the I/Pro approach is a CD-ROM of Internet soft- a music-oriented web page run News, email, gopher, telnet, by leading American advertis- addition to pre-programmed relies on its customers elec- ware which includes the by an ex-MTV employee), and Internet Relay Chat and, ing agencies. “robots”, you can run across As PCW went to press, the Free email will be available tronically sending back infor- NetScape Web browser (for Hollywood Online. Under- inevitably, the World Wide Despite the fact that a freely and converse or interact with software was still being tested across North America mation on their accesses to reading Web pages), MacHTTP standably, some big American Web. available service is open to other users around the world and the motion was jerky. It Internet Profiles for analysis, it server software for publishing radio networks are also using NCD claims that the pack- abuse at any time, FMC doesn’t who are connected at the same needs at least a 50MHz 486 to problems. will also allow the company to Web pages to the Internet, and this technology, including age will use a File Manager plan to limit its use. It is count- time. Most of the environment work (a Mac version is due this O’Reilly Associates and assemble a large database of BBEdit for creating and editing National Public Radio and metaphor which will allow ing on the fact that it will be tar- around you is described (and spring), and the initial environ- business partners are employ- information about Web use in Web pages. Also included is ABC. users to store all the informa- geting the 15m to 20m modem- therefore “created”) by the ment up for testing is just a suc- ing Trish Information Services general. This will be used to Adobe Acrobat Pro, Apple- For more information: Web tion gathered from a variety of owning Americans, rather than “wizards” of the server to cession of empty rooms and to produce the first survey that allow companies to compare Search 1.5 which indexes local http://www.realaudio.com/ Internet sources together in one the heavy mail users of existing which you connect, but skilled corridors, but wandering attempts to gauge the size of the the popularity of their site to files for retrieval by network place, and it has been designed services. The software is not programmers who have been around it is fascinating and Internet with some statistical others in the same location or workstations, and can be Security row defused to work offline. Versions for expected to support automatic given permission can create gives you an idea of the shape rigour. To back up traditional industry. I will also enable the linked to Web pages for access Two main kinds of security for both the Macintosh and Unix file attachment. their own “domains” within of things to come. polling techniques across the company to provide general by the Internet, and Apple transactions across the World should be available by the end The company is also work- these worlds. It is being tested on Com- Internet, it will be calling up information about the indus- RAID software. MacDNS, a Wide Web have been proposed of this year. A 60-day trial ver- ing on a Web-like free interac- A year ago, I saw the World puServe with plans to release 20,000 or more people at ran- try, to the media. domain server for the Macin- — each backed by powerful sion should be available for tive brochure service for North Wide Web, whose graphical in July — more details are avail- dom to find out whether they I/Count should be available tosh, is expected to be available companies. It now looks like a downloading in June. America which will follow in interface is gradually sweeping able by typing GO AWAY are connected, and will collect by the time you read this, and by mid-summer. truce has been called. When it ships, Mariner will the middle of next year, but this away the text-only worlds of while online, and the software statistical information about its price will vary between Servers vary in price from NetScape, the leading maker of cost $99, until September

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or email [email protected] KidMail puserve.comwebhttp://www.c There have been drawing pro- ompuserve.com. grams and even word process- France Telecom ing packages aimed at children: The French, who were the first now the first electronic mail to come up with a mass-market package for kids has been online service, Minitel, are launched. KidMail Connection also the first to implement a has three “communication cen- system for encrypted online tres” from which to chose — banking. Dinosaur, Secret Agent, and The new “Magis” models of Outer Space. If your child is a France Telecom’s Minitel ter- slow typer (or just lazy) it minals feature a built-in smart comes with a choice of 50 pre- card reader. Many French peo- written messages, and parents ple already use smart cards for can limit the amount of online banking and other services. time the child can have. At the They cost FF10 (£1.28) a time of going to press, it only month more than existing ter- worked with CompuServe, minals to rent, and so far there MCIMail and Prodigy (not are only 40,000 terminals available outside North Amer- online (compared with 6.5m ica). An Internet version is in Minitel terminals). the pipeline, though. Only a few French compa- KidMail costs £30 for the CD when its price is scheduled to A unified interface, from Mariner nies online take advantage of version and £35 for the floppy. rise to $125. the new capabilities for secure TSF 2000 Ltd 0181 880 4088 For further information call transactions: the state railway http://www.connectsoft.com/p 001 800 416 1956 or email additional hour. and airline companies, and roducts/kidmail.html [email protected]://www For more information, call some book, record and flower .ncd.com/. CompuServe on 0800 289 378 shops. India gets the Internet India’s state owned monopoly Spry Internet in a Box Shopping from home long distance telephone com- The purchase of Spry, a lead- pany, VSNL, is offering full ing Internet software house, by Internet access this month for CompuServe, the leading as little as £10 per year for stu- online service, has provided dent dialup access. Initially, an unexpected bonus for the service will only cover prospective British Internet Bombay and Delhi. users. Not only has it enabled French Game net CompuServe to offer free, pre- The first European experiment configured software to its in transmitting computer members, but Spry plans to games online, for rental, is tak- offer its Mosaic in a Box soft- ing place in France. Game Net ware, as well as an Internet has been available in 500 Paris subscription bundle, to people homes since the beginning of in the UK using CompuServe’s April: for FF90 (£11.55) a access nodes. CompuServe has launched its UK home shopping service. month on top of an existing The Spry bundle consists Household names like Dixon’s, Tesco, WH Smith, Virgin and cable television bill, sub- of: Spry Mosaic, a Windows Interflora will all offer a range of products to CompuServe scribers can download games Web browser based on NCSA members. But at launch, the range of products is extremely lim- provided by Sony, Sierra and Mosaic; a mail package that ited. Virgin’s CD selection runs to just 13 disks, WH Smith’s Virgin to their own PCs and should be downloadable free book-list includes just 250 well-known titles, and Tesco’s contri- then play for several weeks. of charge for Spry customers bution is for wine only. The games are protected from by the time you read this; and CompuServe’s Shopping Mall has been available in the US piracy as they will only work connection, for a monthly since 1984 and has not been a big success. CompuServe still while the computer is con- charge, to one of Com- refuses to release its sales figures.It is clear that the large nected to the network. puServe’s dialup nodes. retailers are using CompuServe as a way of testing out the via- Payment is made via the Pricing has not yet been bility of home shopping. “Visiopass” decoder, which is decided for the UK, but Spry’s However, CompuServe expects to sign up another 15 retail- already in use for pay-as-you- new North American sub- ers by the end of this year and some of the existing ones intend view movies and premium scription is $9.95 per month, to expand their range. WH Smith expects to offer its entire movie channels. The service is including seven hours of free range of 1,500 titles soon. To try out home shopping just log being tested until the end of access, plus $1.95 for each onto Compuserve and type Go. September.

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subdomain, it probes for weakness in each administrators who have failed to bring responding system. The vulnerabilities their systems up to scratch, simultane- uncovered are then reported to the user.” ously making it easier for them to do so Released in April, at no charge, and easier for hackers to find systems that SATAN is the joint work of Farmer and are still under-protected. Comms Wietse Venema of Eindhoven University While SATAN is very helpful for the of Technology in the Netherlands. Dan system administrator, the program also All part of the CompuService Farmer was working for Silicon Graphics has a clearly documented exploratory shortly before SATAN was released, but mode that allows it to probe hosts other by Stephen Cobb SATAN is a private project not connected than those within the administrative with SGI or EUT. Farmer and SGI parted domain of the person running it. In fact, company last March because of differing you don’t have to specify a particular host opinions about the distribution of at all. You can define a range of hosts, y now most CompuServe sub- connect Telnet to Internet hosts using full SATAN. based on the IP addresses. Indeed, the Bscribers will have received the free VT100 terminal emulation. I have found There is no doubt that Farmer and program default is to scan all hosts on the copy of WinCIM 1.4 that was included this new connection much more reliable. Venema want to improve the overall secu- Internet. According to CERT: “SATAN is with the May issue of the CompuServe What WinCIM 1.4 does not provide is rity of the Internet. Like many other Unix also likely to be used to locate vulnerable magazine. This is the most significant any enhancements to the Filing Cabinet. experts they have been warning for a long hosts for malicious reasons.” CERT points upgrade of the last two years and all users There are no commands for searching, time that the Internet, which is expanding out: “It is also possible that sites running of older WinCIM versions should upgrade archiving or indexing the contents of the at a phenomenal rate, is built upon shaky SATAN for a legitimate purpose will acci- (to check the current version number use cabinet. For the heavy duty WinCIM user ground. Unix can be a very secure operat- dentally scan your system via SATAN’s the Help, About WinCIM command). The the Filing Cabinet becomes a critical and ing system, with some versions certified exploratory mode.” top level menus and icons remain pretty often voluminous collection of data. Bet- for top secret government systems, but it Many people feel that tools like much the same, but there is more flexibil- ter tools for organising and accessing this require proper installation and adminis- SATAN should have only limited distrib- ity in the use of fonts. You will notice this information are urgently needed. Fortu- tration. Straight out of the box, Unix has a ution to legitimate users such as system right away because the default font for nately, the next major upgrade, described lot of holes. Although Farmer and others administrators. However, this goes against WinCIM dialogue boxes is different from by CompuServe as “a new generation of have been providing security tools for the grain of much traditional Unix think- previous versions. CompuServe Information Manager”, will administrators for some time, it is obvious ing which favours “full disclosure” and Don’t worry if you don’t like it, as you address these issues. It should appear that many systems are still being operated the free and open exchange of ideas. can now change font settings for each of around November this year. without sufficient safeguards against There is a strong scientific case for saying the following: dialogue boxes, list boxes, hacking attacks. SATAN was designed as that no networked computer system can editing boxes (fixed and proportional), The mark of SATAN a security tool for system administrators. ever be 100 percent secure. Consequently, and printing (fixed and proportional). About the middle of March, Unix security SATAN not only reports vulnerabili- people who want to protect their systems, WinCIM no longer attempts to determine expert Dan Farmer brought to the Internet ties but also gathers general network infor- as well as the people who use them, have whether or not the text in menus and arti- a program provocatively titled SATAN. mation such as types of hardware and a right to full knowledge of the current cles is column data, so you can switch to Farmer’s face appeared in newspapers all software being used on the network, its state of play. a fixed font by pressing Ctrl-T if you get over America, alongside a highly magni- topology, and the services being run. By Those who subscribe to this view tend column data that does not line up prop- fied program icon portraying the devil releasing the program, which was pre- to see encryption and authentication erly (Ctrl+T lets you toggle between your himself and the following comment: announced within the Unix community schemes, such as digital signatures, as the fixed and proportional font choices). “Unfortunately, this is going to cause almost 12 months ago, Farmer and Ven- preferred approach to information secu- Also new is CompuServe Hypertext. some serious damage to some people.” ema have forced the hand of systems rity. For example, if you pick up a copy of The release notes suggest: “You can enjoy So what is SATAN? According to interacting with... hypertext documents.... CERT, the Computer Emergency Response Get thee behind me, SATAN full of colour, fonts, graphics, and hot Team at Carnegie Mellon University, links.... read them online or save them in SATAN is “a testing and reporting tool Not long after SATAN was launched, a program called Courtney was released to defend the filing cabinet to read later.” Not many that collects a variety of information about against SATAN and other similar tools. Courtney monitors the connections to the ports probed are available at the moment and the sam- networked hosts.” Basically, a networked by SATAN. When an attack by SATAN takes place, the offending host will be reported. Court- ples provided by CompuServe (Go ESM) host is an Internet site, typically a Unix ney was developed by CIAC, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Computer Incident Advisory are not exactly impressive if you’ve computer providing Internet access. This Capability. browsed the World Wide Web. However, does not include PCs connecting to hosts Established in 1989, shortly after the Internet Worm, CIAC provides various computer look out for CompuServe sections such as using dial-up PPP. security services free of charge to employees and contractors of the DOE. It is located at What’s New to feature this hypertext When Farmer started getting a lot of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, and is a part of its Computer approach in the near future. negative feedback he was able, with a sim- Security Technology Center. CIAC is also a founding member of FIRST, the Forum of Incident Response and Security Teams, a global organisation established to foster co-operation and WinCIM 1.4 takes a big step forward ple search and replace, to alter the pro- co-ordination among computer security teams worldwide. for those who want to log into Com- gram’s name to SANTA. The original Another response to SATAN is Gabriel, released by security specialists Los Altos Technolo- puServe via the Internet. In previous ver- name, SATAN, stands for Security gies. Gabriel is a free SATAN detector which gives the system administrator an early warning sions the connections were not always Administrator Tool for Analysing Net- of a possible network intrusion by detecting and identifying unauthorised network probing. reliable and tended to rely on third-party works. Essentially it is a tool for investi- Gabriel is complete and ready to run software that does not require Perl or any other public products like ComT. The new Internet gating system vulnerabilities. Here is how domain programs. It contains a built-in mechanism to send real-time alerts via pager, phone network connection uses WinSock, which John Fisher of CIAC (the U.S. Department call, email, or online displays. The company states: “By combining SATAN with Gabriel, a is already installed on any PC that con- of Energy’s Computer Incident Advisory system administrator can get all the benefits of running authorised SATAN scans without the nects to the Internet from Windows, either Capability) describes SATAN: “Systemat- risks of unauthorised and undetected network probing.” via TCP/IP or PPP dialup. You can also ically moving through a given Internet

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It's a fair COPS the excellent Network and Language (HTML) documents, results in the Reporting & Data usage, most of SATAN’s tech- ble service, or placing a fire- relatively short time. Many Internetwork Security by The idea of using software to search for system vulnerabilities is not C code, and Perl scripts which Analysis link. SATAN is niques can be countered, or at wall around the vulnerable set Unix network daemons do not William Stallings (Prentice- new. COPS, also written by Dan Farmer, has been around for a while generate HTML code dynami- highly customisable and least detected. Unfortunately, of hosts. provide sufficient logging to Hall, 1995) you will see that it (the name stands for Computer Oracle and Password System). It cally. It requires an HTML extendible. Through configura- complete protection is diffi- One indication of attacks by determine if SATAN is probing contains a lot more about cryp- reports many common vulnerabilities on a single system, by viewer (Mosaic, NetScape, or tion files, numerous default cult. Some vulnerabilities do SATAN, and other tools, is evi- the system. TCP wrappers, the tography than it does about analysing the system on which it resides. Tools which probe for vul- Lynx), a C compiler, and PERL values can be modified. New not have satisfactory solutions, dence of a heavy scan of a TAMU tools, and Swatch can physical locks and keys or even nerabilities on remote systems are not new either. The Internet version 5. The user simply probes to be performed on each short of stopping the vulnera- range of ports and services in a provide the logging you need. access controls. A book called Security Scanner (ISS), written by Christopher Klaus, has been interacts with a WWW client, host may be added by writing a Cryptography by Seberry and available in both public and commercial versions for several years. entering necessary data into program (or script) with the The public version of ISS was not particularly powerful. It lacked a Where to find further documentation Pieprzyk (also Prentice-Hall) is forms. The control panel for proper input and output, and user interfac, and provided a limited set of attacks. SATAN is consid- CUTTING EDGE actually subtitled An Introduc- erably more powerful, and uses a World Wide Web client to provide a SATAN provides four hyper- naming it with an extension of SATAN documentation is available from ftp://ftp.win. COPS and ISS can be used to check for vulnerabili- tion to Computer Security. friendly, graphical interface. Extensive information is provided that text options: Target Selection, “.satan”. This will allow users tue.nl/pub/security/satan_doc.tar.Z. Additional docu- ties and configuration weaknesses. COPS is avail- explains what vulnerabilities are being identified, and how those Reporting & Data Analysis, to write their own attacks tools, ments on SATAN are available through a mail server able from ftp://info.cert.org:/ pub/tools/cops/*. ISS is Diabolical liberties vulnerabilities can be removed. Documentation, and Configu- and add them to SATAN in a set up by Wietse Venema, one of its authors. Send available from ftp://ftp.uu.net:/usenet/ Unfortunately, it is possible to ration & Administration. plug-and-play manner. mail to: [email protected]. Put the following comp.sources.misc/volume39/iss. CERT advisory extend this Unix-centric, full Through Target Selection, Here is a summary of vul- text in the body (not subject): CA-93:14 and CA-93:14.README contain informa- get satan mirror-sites tion about ISS. Courtney info from http:/ disclosure perspective to the uninvited exploration of some- tools countering security tools, the user can enter a machine or nerabilities that SATAN get satan release-plan /ciac.llnl.gov/ciac/ToolsUnix NetMon.html#Courtney. point where it almost coincides one else’s machine as long as just as we have in the war a domain of machines to exploits, taken from the get satan description TCP wrappers can provide access control and with the prevailing hacker you don’t copy or damage any against viruses. The overhead attack, and the extent of the SATAN documentation: get satan admin-guide-to-cracking.101 flexible logging to most network services. These fea- ● creed: “Any system which can data, is like saying it is okay to in terms of transmission data attack (Light, Normal, Heavy). Unprivileged NFS Access The last document contains Improving the tures can help you prevent and detect network be broken into deserves to be walk into people’s houses at required to assure the confi- A Light attack will simply ● NFS file systems exported to Security of Your Site by Breaking Into It, a 1993 attacks. This software is available by anonymous ftp broken into.” But in my opin- night and look around while dentiality and integrity of report what hosts are available, arbitrary hosts paper in which the authors give their rationale for from ftp://info.cert.org:/pub/tools/tcp_wrappers/*. The ion, and that of quite a few they are asleep, as long as you information passing between and what Remote Procedure ● NFS file systems exported creating SATAN. TAMU security package includes tools to check for other people in the industry, don’t touch or take anything. systems will soak up band- Call (RPC) services they offer. via the portmapper The following documents are provided by CERT vulnerabilities and system configuration weaknesses, there has to be dramatic change And it is no good saying that width and retard response A Normal attack will probe the ● NIS password file access to offer guidance on improving security: and it provides logging and filtering of network ser- in attitudes towards what we “computers are different” times. The progress of the targets by establishing finger, from arbitrary hosts ftp://info.cert.org/tech_tips/security_info vices. This software is available by anonymous ftp ftp://info.cert.org/tech_tips/anonymous_ftp from ftp://net.tamu.edu:/pub/security/TAMU/*. might call “inter-computer because they are not. Like Internet will stall. It is possible Telnet, ftp, WWW, gopher, and ● REXD access from arbitrary ftp://info.cert.org/tech_tips/packet_filtering The Swatch log file monitor allows you to identify ethics”. This position has a every other new technology that companies who carry data SMTP connections. These will hosts CERT advisories and bulletins are posted on the patterns in log file entries and associate them with ● problem with SATAN’s lack of that has become widely avail- will start charging by the establish what the operating Arbitrary files accessible via USENET newsgroup comp.security.announce. Past actions. This tool is available from ftp://ee.stanford. safeguards against abuse. It able, computers will eventu- packet and the net will become system is and the vulnerabili- TFTP advisories, CERT bulletins, information about FIRST edu:/pub/sources/swatch.tar.Z. The Security Profile holds that making uninvited ally have to conform to the the playground of those who ties available. A Heavy attack ● Remote shell access from representatives, and other information related to Inspector (SPI) from CIAC provides a powerful suite visits to other people’s comput- underlying ethics of our can afford the high rates will additionally search for arbitrary hosts computer security are available for anonymous FTP of security inspections, using a straightforward menu- ers is impolite. It is trespassing, society. required to assure security. other known vulnerabilities, ● X server access control dis- from info.cert.org. based interface. More information about SPI is avail- an unauthorised use of some- If this shift in attitudes does such as writable anonymous abled You can get Gabriel via the Web: http://www.lat. able from http://ciac.llnl.gov/cstc/CSTCProducts. one else’s computing resources not happen and the hacker How SATAN works ftp directories or trusted hosts. ● Writable anonymous FTP com or ftp://ftp.best.com/pub/lat. Alternatively via ftp html#spi. The Network Intrusion Detector (NID) pro- and a violation of the integrity ethic prevails, then computer The following detailed Once the targets and extent home directory at ftp.lat.com. To join the Gabriel mailing list send vides a suite of security tools for detecting and mail to [email protected] with the command analysing network intrusions. More info from of their system. systems will eventually turn description of SATAN comes of probing are established, a By configuring a system cor- “subscribe gabriel” in the body of the email message. http://ciac.llnl.gov/cstc/CSTCProducts.html#nid. Arguing, as some hackers into armed camps. We will see courtesy of CIAC. SATAN is simple mouse click will begin rectly, installing all the latest do, that it is okay to conduct a steady escalation of hacking made up of HyperText Markup the analysis. The user finds the patches and monitoring system

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offer you some kind of gateway into the Sample providers: Internet for electronic mail (email) — it is The Direct Connection 0181 317 0100 the “lowest-common-denominator” ser- [email protected] vice. The standard way of addressing Inter- Exnet 0181 244 0077 net mail is [email protected] net.newbies [email protected] thing.something, but the way you send PC User Group 0181 863 1191 info@ mail out from a local system varies from ibmpcug.co.uk system to system. On CompuServe, to send a message to Getting started on the Net TCP/IP me at CIX you’d type The “lingua franca” of the Internet is the “internet:[email protected]” in

CUTTING EDGE TCP/IP network protocol. The best way to the address field. To send a message from access the Internet... in theory. Also, often the Internet to my CompuServe account f you don’t know what a from £10,000 a month). You £7 a month, “all you can eat” Disadvantages: the cheapest if you plan to use it a lot: you (70007,5442), you’d send to I“newbie” is, you probably are will be relieved to hear that Internet access for £10-£15 a • You can’t use any of the can get unlimited TCP/IP access for as “[email protected]”. one. These pages are designed you can get a perfectly ade- month, and access to the Inter- graphical tools emerging for little as £10 per month. Because many users are limited to elec- to be an easy-to-use reference quate connection for a good net plus connection to a large navigating the Internet. Long- Advantages: tronic mail-only access to the Internet, a guide to the Internet for the deal less money than that. For online service’s own informa- established services like CIX or • Once you’re set up, you can use any of number of ways have been devised to allow novice — or newbie, as hard- starters, some businesses, a tion tends to cost £6-£10 per CompuServe put a graphical dozens of sophisticated Internet applica- email-only users to read newsgroups and ened netters will call you. few schools and most further month plus around £2 per hour. “gloss” on some of the services, tions, including graphical World Wide search for and download files. These meth- If you don’t understand education establishments On top of this, you obviously though, and Delphi is working Web browsers (the sexiest Internet tool ods tend to be clumsy, though, and are not what’s written here or you have already have a full-time direct have to pay your phone costs on one. around), Internet Voice Chat (using the to be recommended unless you don’t have any suggestions, please don’t connection to the Internet unless you are lucky enough to Sample providers: Internet as a telephone), and even rudi- any choice. hesitate to mail me at available to their members (see get free local calls through a CIX 0181 390 8446, mentary video-conferencing applications. One of the most commonly asked (and [email protected], or TCP/IP later). Even if you cable company. If you do not [email protected]. Most of these are given away free across understandable) questions about the Inter- via “snailmail” — Internet- aren’t connected, there are have a company offering Inter- uk (optional TCP/IP service the Internet. net is “how do I find a person on the Inter- speak for paper mail — at PCW. many organisations which will net access near you, you may planned) • The normal way to access it is using PPP net?”. There are at least ten different ways Meanwhile, here’s an easy- connect you for a price. have to pay long distance CompuServe 0800 289 378, or SLIP which allow you to connect using of doing this, none of them particularly reference guide to the tools A personal computer of phone rates. Once connected, [email protected]. a modem via a host, but if you are willing reliable. It is a subject in itself: to get a mail which will help you make the almost any age can be con- though, it doesn’t matter where Also see TCP/IP. to pay for it (or if your company or univer- message giving some of the options, send most of the Internet. nected to the Internet as long the information you are getting Delphi 0171 757 7080 uk@ sity supplies it) you can connect at mail to [email protected] with as you can plug it into into a comes from — you are charged delphi.com Ethernet speeds. Already some cable TV “send usenet/news.answers/finding- What is it? modem. You don’t even need at the same rate. Xanadu 01203 361599 — free! companies in the US are offering this as an addresses” in the body of the message. The Internet is a global network to be able to view graphics on add-on service through set-top boxes, It is hardly surprising that finding of computers which share a your machine to look around Service Providers UUCP and cable companies here look like pro- people is tricky, since there is no central common method of communi- (though it certainly helps). If you are connecting using a This stands for Unix to Unix viding similar services in future (see authority with which every user has to reg- cation. Not everyone on the You will need a fast modem, there are three main Copy Protocol (though these Newsprint May and June 1995). ister to get online, the population of the Internet has access to the same modem, though. A 2400 baud ways to get onto the Internet: days you can use it to connect • CompuServe is now offering three free Internet is growing incredibly quickly, and communications tools. The V.22bis model would be fast almost any machine to hours of Internet use per month via many companies and individuals don’t best-connected people can use enough to exchange electronic Terminal-based another). It isn’t used much any TCP/IP, and CIX plans to offer TCP/IP as want their internal electronic mail the Internet to talk to one mail messages, but to send and You dial a bulletin board and more, as the tools for offline an option as well, perhaps by the time you addresses listed. another, view film clips and receive files or use the more access Internet resources by TCP/IP connection have read this. Mail was Tool of the Month in last “surf” through connected data- exciting services on the Inter- typing commands to the host improved. • If the software you are using allows it, October’s Internet column. bases of text illustrated with net, a modem which supports machine. Advantages: you can do several things at once when pictures. The simplest connec- at least 14,000 baud (V32.bis) Advantages: • The protocol is very simple using TCP/IP — read your mail in the fore- Newsgroups & Mailing Lists tions only let you send and is vital. Fortunately, these have • Works with any communica- and robust, and the software ground while downloading a file, and The ability to read and post to these is receive mail electronically, as plummetted in price over the tions software, avoiding setup that uses it is well established, search for a document in the background. probably the second most popular service plain, unadorned text. last few years and now cost as hassles. making for hassle-free Disadvantages: after mail. They are the equivalent of The population of the Inter- little as £100. If you have the • Gives text-only access to connection. • Can be difficult to set up, though this is forums or special interest groups on bul- net is difficult to measure for a money, I would recommend almost any services. • It works “offline” — you call getting easier all the time as software is letin boards, and cover every special inter- variety of reasons, but the num- spending even more on a • Using a local BBS this way and get all of your files in one more advanced. est imaginable. ber of those across the world 28,800 baud (V.34) modem. can be your cheapest route go, which saves on phone bills. • The access software can be unreliable, In both cases the idea is simple: any sub- who can at least send an elec- When you are using the Inter- online. The BBS or online ser- Disadvantages: even when it is commercial software. scriber can post queries or comments tronic mail message is esti- net, the speed that things work vice often has its own local • UUCP gives you access to Sample providers: which can be read and replied to by all mated at 30 million, and this is more likely to be limited by community and local files, newsgroups and elec- BBC Networking Club 0181 576 7799 other subscribers across the globe. It can number appears to be doubling the speed of your modem than resources, as well as providing tronic mail (anything that can [email protected] also be used to broadcast files, though it is annually. by the speed of your computer. access to the wider world. be batched together and sent as Cityscape 01223 566950 clumsier than other methods. For a modem to pull down Because it is difficult to charge a file) but not to Telnet or other [email protected] A mailing list, as the name suggests, What do I need to get on? information, it has to have a for information on the Internet, “interactive” services (anything Demon 0181 349 0063 uses email, which has the advantage that The best possible choice for number to dial. This is where you will often find that valu- where you and the host com- [email protected] anyone with mail can use it; accessing accessing the Internet is a Unix- the third element you need able information is only avail- puter interact “live”). Some ser- newsgroups requires a newsreader program based workstation connected comes in — the “service able through online services vices allow you to combine ter- What can I do once I’m connected? and access to a “news server”, usually pro- directly to the Internet through provider”. Typically, you can like CompuServe, CIX and minal-based and UUCP-based Mail vided by your service provider. Some ser- a “leased line” (such lines cost get limited access for around Delphi. connection. Almost every BBS and online service can vice providers will censor your news feed,

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as this is one of the most com- clips on the Web. A large num- Anonymous FTP & Archie keyword — it’s called “whatis” mon ways to send erotica ber of the more interesting Both these services are all about — but it isn’t very well kept. and/or pornography. resources on the Net are arriv- files — how to find them and Archie is supposed to pro- Specialist newsgroups such ing on Web servers, so it’s how to get them. FTP stands for vide a complete index of pub- as bionet.molbio.embldatabank worth knowing that a much File Transfer Protocol. It is licly accessible files, and each of (discussion about the EMBL faster, if less glamorous, con- “anonymous” because FTP the several available servers nucleic acid database) generate nection to the Web is available servers require a username and should have the same data. a manageable number of mes- via telnet (see the telnet entry password before you can con- This is not the case in my sages each day. But a popular later). nect to them, but often allow experience. Each night, the newsgroup like rec.arts.movies CompuServe subscribers you to connect to parts of them servers index one thirtieth of the

CUTTING EDGE generates thousands of mes- now have WWW access (three by giving them a login name of files on the Internet, so they sages a month from its huge free hours a month, plus more “anonymous” and your email should be a maximum of a readership, estimated at if you pay), and most other address for a password. month out of date. Unfortu- 100,000 in May last year, BBS-based services like Delphi Once you are connected, nately, the Internet is growing which means it could be twice and CIX offer at least text-only looking around the server for a so fast that being a month out of that now. Reading through a access. For full graphical file usually works much like date can exclude many files. couple of newsgroups of that WWW access, you need a DOS. DIR or LS tells you the Also, not every publicly accessi- size without sifting through TCP/IP connection (ask for it contents of your directory, cd ble file archive is indexed. them beforehand could be a by name). directoryname puts you into Demon, a service provider for full-time job and run your that directory. personal and small-business phone bill into the stratos- Gopher & Veronica There are several graphical use, maintains a 5Gb archive of phere. Gopher, designed in 1991 at interface programs available to useful software at the University of Minnesota, is make FTP easier to use. ftp.demon.co.uk. Because of a WWW — the World Wide Web called that because it “goes for” Many files stored on other technical problem, Archie used This tool was designed at information and because the servers are compressed or to be unable to index Demon’s CERN (the European Labora- football team at the college is encoded in various ways, indi- files, but it now can. tory for Particle Physics) in called the Golden Gophers. cated by an extension at the end Lastly, each server seems to Switzerland. It is by far the sex- It resembles the WorldWide of the file name. .HQX, .TAR, have a slightly different data- iest interface to the Internet, Web in that it provides a way .ZIP, .SIT and .ZOO each indi- base, so if you’re sure a file is and if someone wants to pro- of linking together different cate a different kind of file out there somewhere but you duce an impressive Internet information resources. While requiring one or more utility don’t find it on one of the UK demo, nine times out of ten the WWW provides links in programs to convert them. servers, try one in the US. they’ll use WWW to do it. the form of “hot buttons” on Finding the file you want on The good news is that it can pages of styled text with pic- the Internet is not as hard as Telnet provide a graphical front-end to tures, Gopher takes the form of finding the person you want, This is probably the easiest almost any Internet resource, a series of menus and sub- but it is still not straightforward command to understand. Telnet and like Gopher (next column) menus on each server, some of or dependable. to a site by running one of the it provides links to information which lead to other Gopher There are several tools avail- many available telnet programs all over the Internet. The bad servers. able to help you find specific (in many cases, this is as easy as news is that unlike Gopher, it CIX and some other service documents, but Archie is, as far typing telnet from the lacks mature search tools to providers allow you to run it as I know, the only tool which prompt of the computer you allow you to find just the item from their systems, but if your helps you find the file you want normally dial into) and you will you want. Instead, it encour- provider doesn’t have it set up from the 2.5 million or more be confronted by the login ages you to browse from link to you can download your own binary files in its database. You prompt of your target computer. link. This is a good way to learn Gopher client software and use can use it via mail (send mail to Whatever you type will be and have fun, but a poor way to it, or telnet to gopher.ebone.net [email protected] to find out transmitted directly to the get things done. to try it out. how), via telnet (to remote computer as if you were There are many WWW Rather than wander through archie.doc.ic.ac.uk or one of 23 typing on its keyboard, and its searching tools you could try — the maze of menus to find the other Archie servers), via the replies are sent back to your the best one is probably the information you are interested WWW (http://src.doc.ic. screen. Yahoo search page at in, you can use Veronica to ac.uk/archieplexform.html) or Normally when you log in http://www.yahoo.com/search. search through all the menu using one of several pieces of like this, you either have an html. If this doesn’t find you entries on all the world’s front-end software. account on the target machine what you want, there is an Gophers (in theory) for the If you know the name of the already or it is set up to give you index of indices at information you want. To use file you are looking for, your access for specific tasks. To see http://home.mcom.com/home/ it, direct your Gopher software task is fairly easy. Archie what you can do, try telneting to internet-search.html. to info.mcc.ac.uk and select allows you to search for exact telnet.w3.org (a computer in The WWW’s graphical inter- the Veronica menu item. file names or files containing a Switzerland). This gives you face requires a lot of speed. Gopher and Veronica were set string. text-only access to the World Unless you have a V.32bis featured in the Internet column If you don’t know the name Wide Web. The Web program modem, you may as well forget of PCW August 1994. and it isn’t obvious, life gets runs on the Swiss machine, but about the pretty pictures, allur- more difficult. There is a data- you can manipulate it from the ing sounds and even video base which indexes files by comfort of your chair. PCW

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Innovations

Sound proofing

Loudspeaker manufacturer Bose has developed a package for predicting exactly how a sound system will perform in a given venue — if necessary, before the venue is even built. Tim Frost likes the sound of it.

ntil the start of the nineties, predicting what the Auditioner package which as a service rather than a product Uthe acoustics of a new hall would be like combines the acoustic ray-tracing and the first major UK venue to was a fairly crude business, and sound systems models with digital signal process- benefit from it was the recent were installed by engineers on the basis of their ing hardware, all run on a Mac. installation at Tottenham Hot- experience and instinct. Information about the venue’s size, spur’s White Hart Lane football Recently, however, the understanding of how shape and surfaces is fed into the ground. This was designed sound works has leapt forward, as computers program in the same way as before, using the graphical Modeler sys- have given acousticians and theorists the tools but instead of just producing an tem and run through Auditioner they need to test their ideas. The result of all this on-screen graphical display of the in the US, before the design was activity has been the creation of several PC and result of the calculations, Audi- finally confirmed and installed. Mac packages — mainly by the large loud- tioner feeds the information to a Without Auditioner, the speaker companies like Bose and JBL — that DSP card which then has a pure graphs and diagrams produced help the installers predict how a sound system recorded signal played through it by the acoustic consultants in will perform. from the computer’s hard disk. such a situation would help the By creating mathematical models of the way This signal, which can be any- experts design a better sound loudspeakers radiate sound and the way a par- thing from a voice to a full orches- system, but would require a lot ticular hall will reflect or absorb the sound, these tra, will have been recorded in an of interpretation by the non- modelling packages help predict loudness and anechoic chamber — so-called, expert people who have to make intelligibility, the two primary requirements of because it absorbs all the sound the decision actually to buy the any sound system. The user loads the computer hitting its walls. The recording is system. Even though the clients with a plan of the hall and details about the type therefore just of the sound coming are about to write a cheque for of surfaces used. Speaker systems are placed in from the instrument with no other many thousands of pounds for a various positions in this virtual room, which can sound being reflected off walls, so new sound system, with the be an existing venue or one yet to be built, and the sound being fed into the sys- graphical modelling systems the program uses techniques not a million miles tem won’t carry the imprint of any they are really none the wiser as away from ray-tracing to get a graphical and text other existing room or hall. The to what they are going to get at printout of the way the system will behave in Auditioner card overlays the addi- the end of it. that space. tional reverb and frequency With Auditioner, they can The end result has been a general improve- response changes, created by the listen to it first and evaluate its ment in the performance of the new sound sys- virtual room under test, onto the performance long before the first tems in these basic areas. It is now unusual to audio track. So, by listening speaker is ever installed. The have a new, large installation with areas where through headphones, and placed software system already seems the sound cannot be heard, and speech is usu- anywhere you like within the vir- sufficiently mature for the man- ally delivered with clarity. Even so, there’s a tual room, you will hear a realistic ufacturers to have the confi- problem: these software systems tell engineers impression of the sound of that dence to offer a money-back how loud and clear the sound will be, but they source in the hall being played guarantee. If the real building give no clue as to how good it will sound. through the proposed sound system. doesn’t sound as good as the Enter the new generation of hardware/soft- Auditioner is not a home-user virtual one, the clients don’t

ware modelling systems. Bose has come up with system. At the moment it is offered have to pay for it. PCW Tim Frost

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Horizons Get real

For some time, virtual reality has been more the preserve of Hollywood blockbusters than domestic entertainment. But this Christmas should finally see the arrival of VR in the home, writes Simon Rockman.

echnologies, like rock stars, often take virtual reality to become a mass- much a virtual reality system, as a Tseveral years to become overnight suc- market product it needs to be stereoscopic GameBoy. The cesses. But the day of virtual reality is nearing. cheap and aimed at the high-street player looks into a hood which Most of the major toy companies have looked at shopper. Until now, the problems contains two monochrome LCD the commercial possibilities of systems and the with doing this have been techno- screens giving a 3D image, but the arcade machines are well established. logical; the necessary components device is not attached to the head. Just as the term “multimedia” has become have been too expensive. Some head-mounted displays corrupted to mean anything with a sound card VR systems use LCD screens of avoid the cost and complication and CD-ROM, the term “virtual reality” has the type employed by pocket tele- of motion-tracking altogether, but taken on the meaning of anything where a vir- visions. These don’t give a good the greatest saving from the man- tual world exists within the machine — a defin- enough resolution for a realistic ufacturers’ viewpoint has been ition which could include 3D Monster Maze on feel. If a person’s eyesight was as the elimination of the stereo- the Sinclair ZX81. A more sensible view of vir- poor as that through a VR headset, scopic view. In tests it was found tual reality is not one which models a world, that person would be legally blind that the benefits of a separate but one which models a world with you within and would qualify for a disability image for each eye were not worth it, and which takes in enough information about allowance. Higher-resolution dis- the vast processing overhead. you to provide some immersion. plays are prohibitively expensive. Users were quite happy with the These total immersion systems consist of a The motion-tracking technol- same view in each eye. This could headset usually providing stereoscopic vision ogy which has been tried so far be translated into a system which and some other form of input — a joystick or often fails to track accurately. The just had one screen and split the glove. The headset not only contains separate systems use infra-red, radio, and vision for each eye optically. We eyepieces but provides motion tracking so that the interference between magnets will see systems which do this in the software knows the orientation of the head. mounted on the headset, and time for Christmas, and we will The best systems track all three axes. Good there are also externally mounted also see add-ons for consoles from sound helps cover up the limitations of poor systems, but they all lag behind Sega and Atari, both of whom visuals, so most headsets also contain head- the movement. This might only be have demonstrated prototypes. phones. The problem with the other form of a couple of frames behind the One major problem with head- input is providing something which is easy to actual positioning of the head but sets is the weight, and this has been monitor and feels natural. the brain is quick to spot such dis- tackled in the two-screen system Total-immersion virtual reality will become crepancies, and the lag, known as from Virtual I/O, a company mainstream over the next year. Systems such as latency, is disconcerting. Engi- funded by Paul Allen, co-founder the W industries arcade machine, originally neering systems which eliminate of Microsoft. This device has a based on a Commodore Amiga with a custom latency have proved expensive. sunglasses-type headset but is graphics card for each eye, cost many thousands The new generation of headsets intended for serious use. The real of pounds. The Sense8 system, designed for use which will hit the market later this benefit for PC users will come with workstations, allows architects and year don’t solve these problems — when the toy-market products are designers to build virtual worlds, and a number they circumvent them. The mass-produced. When they are of medical imaging systems provide 3D envi- cheapest system will be the Nin- established we’ll see VR for the ronments; but these are all niche markets. For tendo VirtualBoy. This isn’t so home at under £300. PCW Simon Rockman

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and WebSpace will have simple a tour of the fictional town of Fair- their properties online, ready for prospective buyers to interfaces — you just use a mouse mount. WaxWEB, an interactive vet them from the comfort of their own PC; and online to move around the world. In movie on the Web featuring more shops could provide more interesting environments for WebSpace, objects connected to than 90 minutes of video and visitors, and better product information. hyperlinks flash when you hold sound, and the Internet Under- In the future, VRML specification will be developed the mouse pointer over them and ground Music Archive have both to allow improved interaction, so that visitors to a will act just like hyperlinks in gained a third dimension. How- world can affect it by moving, destroying or creating New Horizons HTML pages, downloading text, ever, VRML isn’t just about being objects in it. More excitingly, if you and I were looking sound or video, or taking you to a able to visit imaginary worlds and at the same world we might be able to see one another new location on the Web. enjoy a hypermedia movie; it has (providing our line of sight wasn’t blocked by a build-

CUTTING EDGE Like all things on the Internet, tremendous commercial potential, ing), or talk to each other. VRML will be best enjoyed on a according to Pesce. Addtionally, VRML may gain the latest features of high bandwidth link to the Inter- His Community Company is a computer animation, such as objects that appear and just means that to achieve an net (rather than via a telephone member of CommerceNet, an interact to move according to the laws of physics. Pesce Worlds of adventure acceptable degree of visual real- connection). Nevertheless, Pesce organisation trying to drive busi- believes that VRML is a stepping stone to a “collabora- ism, designers will have to work a claims that he has “tried to opti- ness on the Internet. Businesses tive shared virtual reality” or “consensual hallucina- little harder to make objects look mise [VRML and Labyrinth] for attempting to trade over the Inter- tion” — phrases which science-fiction buffs will recog- The development of virtual reality modelling realistic. 14.4kb/sec connections” that are net will be able to provide accurate nise as being synonymous with “cyberspace”. VRML is language means that we will soon be visiting and Gavin Bell, one of the authors of common in the home. This means examples of their products if they the solution to the problem that the Internet is com- interacting with 3D worlds on the Internet. The Open Inventor, explains: “A high- that when you access a VRML use VRML, says Pesce. Rather than puter-centred (“http://www.demon.co.uk/ pcw/ level ambiguous instruction such world you will be able to choose relying on a couple of pictures and bob.html”, for example) rather than human-centred first VRML worlds are already available for as ‘put any old chair at this point an appropriate level of detail for a description, customers will be (“I’d like to see PCW magazine’s Best of British exploration by net surfers with the right software. in the scene’ makes about as much your connection — for example, able to “fly” around items. The Awards”). It allows us to visualise the Internet, which sense as trying to describe a para- you might choose not to download possibilities are endless: estate according to Pesce, is simply a spatial object exhibiting Azeem Azhar gets you ready for the trip. graph in a text document as ‘insert texture maps or objects below a agents could put 3D models of all a boundary and content (defined by the hosts). VRML a paragraph about parakeets certain size. But VRML worlds are Java jive allows us to locate ourselves with here’.” nonetheless enormous: typically reference to this spatial object he star of the World Wide Web conference at tives — cubes, spheres and other The current specification for in the range of hundreds of kilo- “HotJava is here and it rocks” claimed dozens of Net rather than as a computer address, TDarmstadt, in April, was the virtual reality polyhedrons. These primitives are VRML allows for primitives to be bytes. Although this would mean posts throughout April — and they were right. Hot- and lets us acquire data in terms of modelling language (VRML) which was show- to VRML what letters and numbers combined to make more complex several minutes’ downloading via Java, from Sun Microsystems, is the first of a new what and where it is, rather than cased by Silicon Graphics Incorporated (SGI), are to HTML, the language that objects, so several hundred poly- a modem, once completed, a breed of worldwide Web browsers. Whereas most new on which computer it resides. manufacturers of high-end 3D computing systems. describes ordinary Web pages. hedrons might be pulled together VRML world may be explored at browsers send clever tables and lurid backgrounds as Pesce’s cyberspace protocol is VRML is a low-level, platform-independent, 3- All that a VRML document to make a chair. You can map leisure. well as pictures and text, HotJava sends whole applica- still several months away, so we Dimensional, interactive modelling language needs to describe a world are sim- images onto objects to give realis- There is a further concern for tions to the browsing machine. These applications can will have to content ourselves which sits on top of the Web. To you and me, this ple instructions such as “place a tic textures, or place multiple light potential visitors to VRML worlds do practically anything: they could be a video confer- with isolated worlds. But this is means we will soon be able to wander around a red box two metres to the left sources in a scene. In the future, and that is the issue of processing encing tool, a 3D visualisation package or a game. Sun nevertheless a good deal better realistic 3D world whose data is stored on the with a green pyramid sitting on libraries of common shapes, rather power. Traditionally, 3D rendering has already demonstrated a HotJava application that than blinking text and a couple of Internet, and be able to interact with it naturally top of it”. But this doesn’t mean like clip-art libraries, will be avail- has taken seconds (or even min- retrieves up-to-the minute stock quotes, as well as a inline graphics. by using the objects we find there. A VRML scene that VRML worlds are going to able which could be stored on your utes) to produce only a single disembodied head that bounces randomly around a might contain books, televisions, radios or com- look as if they are made from local machine to allow quick frame; for VRML to be even Web page. puters as well as neatly arranged potted-plants Duplo bricks. Being such a low access. vaguely realistic, it needs to pro- At present, Web browsers simply take text and pic- and seductive lighting. Clicking on a book might level description of a 3D scene, it Entering a VRML world takes duce several frames or more per tures and throw them around in a particular way on the load up an ordinary document in the hypertext two steps. Using your normal Web second. SGI avoids this problem page. Modern desktop machines are barely stretched mark-up language (HTML) already used on the This was sent as a description, not a browser you click on the hyperlink with its WebSpace viewer because by formatting such documents so HotJava exploits this Web. Touching the television might download an picture, so can be manipulated freely in a normal Web page that leads to it runs on SGI’s blindingly fast processing power by sending small pieces of software MPEG video for us to watch. the world (or jump straight to its desktop machines. Labyrinth uses to run on the client computer. These programs are then Although VRML was uniform resource locator, or technology from the British firm interpreted on the client computer, and because they demonstrated by SGI at address); then your browser will Rendermorphics (now owned by are interpreted rather than compiled, they are Darmstadt, it is nevertheless launch a VRML viewer, which will Microsoft) to generate each frame: platform-independent and so will run with any Hot- an open standard developed allow you to navigate the scene. an efficient code produces excel- Java-compliant browser. by a loose group of program- Unfortunately, the only browser lent results, even on a 486. But the Although this may sound like a recipe for an mers, led by Mark Pesce of available at the moment is SGI’s best results would be achieved by epidemic of viruses and dangerous programs, it isn’t. the Community Company. WebSpace which only runs on its reducing some quality settings in a Since the downloads are interpreted by HotJava, it can The heart of VRML is SGI’s high-end computers. However, scene. put strict limits on what it will and won’t understand Open Inventor standard, a WebSpace is being ported to Win- The first VRML worlds are — you won’t find an application that will wipe your scene-description language dows and Macintosh platforms by already available for exploration. hard drive (yet). already used to create 3D Template Graphics, with an Net surfers with the right software HotJava is only available on Sun’s Sparcstation PCW Contacts computer models. Open expected release date of mid-May. can enter over a dozen, ranging series at the moment, although ports to MacOS and The Community Company is at Inventor, and its relative, Mark Pesce is working on a from a model of the US Holocaust platforms are under way. You can http://www.net.org/~tcc/. The main VRML, are simply ASCII browser called Labyrinth which Museum, to VirtualVegas, a casino get further information from http://java.sun.com. VRML discussion group is at text files which describe a should be available for Windows that features a 3D fruit machine; Azeem Azhar Above right Through Java, these http://vrml.wired.com/. Another scene in terms of basic com- and Macintosh platforms by the and from models of organic chem- stock market indices are all updated VRML repository is at Azeem Azhar ponents known as primi- time you read this. Both Labyrinth icals that you can “fly” around, to at once in real time http://www.sdsc.edu/vrml/.

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Having introduced predicates with more than two values, the sec- fuzzy sets to fuzzy sets, and, PCW ond step is the bigger one: introducing a vagueness to the very just as humans use many differ- Resource Guide notions of truth and falsehood. Both steps are important, but it is ent mechanisms of reasoning, Fuzzy Thinking the second that is by far the most controversial. the inference engine may incor- Bart Kosko, Harper Collins. Introducing vague predicates produces a non-fuzzy many-val- porate many inference tech- A provocatively written and Bluesky ued logic. This can be called the base logic. To fuzzify the base niques. The defuzzifier maps accessible backgrounder in logic, the meta-linguistic predicates (so-called because they are the output fuzzy sets to crisp fuzzy logic, its motivations and ultimate concepts, which transcend any specific language or rep- numbers: the clear answer that applications. Big but readable. resentation) are themselves fuzzified. Truth and falsehood switches and computers like to become less exclusively defined. “How can this be?” you might achieve. Engineering Applications of

CUTTING EDGE ask “...and how can this apply to the precise world of engineer- Fuzzy logic, like any other Fuzzy Logic: Special Issue of ing?” Well, here’s a highly fuzzy yet apparently precise engineer- aspect of mathematics, comput- Proceedings of the IEEE, March 1995 ing concept: bandwidth. Yes, the meaning of a 19.6 baud line may ing or engineering, is not a solu- A collection of papers on model- be precisely definable, but is that a high or low bandwidth line? tion to all remaining problems That is illogical, captain ling, fuzzy control, hardware, Yes? Rubbish — think of a T1 line. No? Rubbish — just try getting — it is another tool in the soft- industrial applications and other even a reliable 9.6 out of some countries. ware engineer’s toolbox. There topics. In practice, fuzzy logic is built into fuzzy logic systems (FLS). are constraints to consider. In a In general, an FLS is a non-linear mapping from an input data vec- classical logic, the semantics of Logics for Artificial As products increasingly attempt to emulate humans, tor to a scalar output. Once an FLS has been developed, it can the logic guarantee that each Intelligence engineers are abandoning classical logic in favour of fuzzy usually be expressed as a mathematical expression — as a combi- sentence generated by the lan- Raymond Turner, Ellis Horwood. nation of fuzzy basis functions (details of which are beyond the guage of the logic will be asso- A survey of non-standard logics, thinking. Nick Beard traces the concepts which help to blur scope of this article — for details, see the IEEE Special Edition in ciated with a specific element including a critical look at fuzzy logic, and the applications of the Resource Guide). It is a non-linear function approximator, a of the set {True, False}. Simi- the boundaries. non-standard logics in expert characteristic it shares with feedforward neural networks. This is larly we would like each sen- systems development.

Fuzzy Computing: Theory uzzy logic has been a big in the fields of pattern recogni- ring (usually demanding) explanations in black and white. State- Hardware and Applications Fhit in engineering. The tion, communication of infor- ments are either true or false: it is the Law of the Excluded Mid- MM Gupta and T Yamakawa list of appliances, gadgets and mation and abstraction.” In dle, dating back to the ancient Greek philosophers. Yet the prob- (eds), North-Holland. products which include some another paper, he stated the lem is that the world has a middle, and a mathematical law A collection describing theoreti- fuzzy widget or other is grow- Principle of Incompatibility: which excludes it is a problem for maths, not the world. Einstein cal fuzzy logic results and appli- ing constantly. Arch-postulant “As the complexity of a system wrote: “So far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are cations such as decision support and image processing. of Fuzziness Bart Kosko lists increases, our ability to make not certain. And so far as they are certain, they do not refer to real- more than 30 products or precise yet significant state- ity.” The same can be said of classical logic. The tightly defined, groups of products in his book ments about its behaviour constrained notions of classical logic require reality to be sible conclusions are generated Fuzzy Thinking. These range diminishes until a threshold is “squeezed” to fit into the available categories. from it). For example, the infer- from air conditioners and anti- reached beyond which preci- Consider “tallness”. To define tallness with precision is not ences proven for one fuzzy lock brakes through dishwash- sion and significance (or rele- easy. “A person is tall if that person is male and over 6ft high.” logic system might not apply to ers and tumble-dryers to rice- vance) become mutually exclu- Probably true. 5ft 10in? 9in? Female and 5ft 9in tall? There is no another, since the sentences cookers, shower systems and sive characteristics.” Or put reasonable definition of tallness which has any numerical preci- might not be associated with video camcorders. another way: “The closer one sion. One approach to this difficulty is to supplement classical truth values in quite the same There is a pleasing com- looks at real world problems, logic with an additional feature: degrees of truth. Truth can then way. This makes it harder to pleteness in the efforts of strug- the fuzzier its solution.” vary between absolute falsehood, and absolute truth. It can be use research results from the gling lawyers to find ways of So Zadeh offers two main represented by attaching a number to the truth value. This gives automated theorem proving tightly defining fuzzy systems reasons for adopting fuzzy us in effect a many-valued logic, which can be further developed community, for example. to enable patents to be granted logic. First, he argues that it into a fuzzy logic. There are, of course, a num- (pleasing except for the avoids some of the inordinate In a many-valued logic, the set of truth values is represented The diagram illustrates the basic tence of the fuzzy logic to be ber of detractors from the fuzzi- amount of hot air being gener- complexity that can be by a set of points on the interval between (0,1). Zadeh does not structure of an FLS, which consists of four components. The associated with an element of fiers, and this is one of the ated, highly inefficiently and incurred when trying to regi- allow for an infinite number of values in this continuous range to rules come from experts, or are taken from available data the set TV. It is not the way of grounds for detraction. In fuzzy at great cost). Why have so ment informal argument. Far be used as this could lead to unmanageable complexity. Instead, fuzzy logic to be so precise. No logic, the validity of an argu- many products been invested more radically, though, he he employs a set of fuzzy subsets of the interval, which are very powerful — it enables the underlying basis of the FLS to be such association can be guaran- ment can only be characterised with fuzzy capabilities? The claims that this is the proper referred to as linguistic truth values. This set (let us call it TV) is derived from numerical data or linguistically expressed knowl- teed by the syntax of the logic. semantically, that is by refer- basic reason is simple: it way to acknowledge that the countable, which means that it has a finite number of values. It is edge, and cast in the form of a series of IF-THEN rules. Instead, each element in the set ence to the meanings of the works. values true and false are impre- of the form: TV = {true, false, largely true, largely false, rather The basic structure of an FLS is made up of four components: TV has associated with it symbols it employs, not syntac- The first publication on cise and fuzzy. true, mainly true, substantially true...}. This set is generated from a fuzzifier, a rule base, an inference mechanism, and a defuzzifier. another element, its so-called tically as in classical logic, fuzzy logic, often cited as sem- This is certainly in keeping the term “true”, and the definition of truth from which the set is The system is assumed to take crisp inputs (specific values, but- linguistic approximation. This where the symbols can repre- inal, was a paper by Lofti with day-to-day human experi- generated is motivated by the specific topic under consideration. ton presses), and return crisp outputs (“Do I turn that dial or not? means that the traditional ideas sent almost anything. Zadeh, who wrote in Informa- ences. Many aspects of our This is important: fuzzy logic is not merely a multi-valued Do the lights go on now or not?”). The rules come from experts of consistency and complete- Of course, there is a simple tion and Control some 30 years lives are not readily expressed logic. The move from classical to fuzzy logics is a two-step (“When the pink light comes on and the room feels muggy, hit the ness are “peripheral” to fuzzy existence proof of the utility of ago: “The fact remains that ... in a crisp fashion. Reasoning in process. The first step involves introducing (or allowing) vague green button. Don’t ask why, it just works that way”) or are logic (a system of logic is con- fuzziness, and this is the great imprecisely defined ‘classes’ human style is therefore hard predicates (a predicate is a quality, a notion, an attribute that can extracted from available data. sistent if it is not possible to array of products which are play an important role in to imitate with computers, be either true or false when applied to some situation). Like tall- The fuzzifier maps crisp number inputs to fuzzy sets, in order generate a contradiction from today successfully using it in human thinking, particularly which are logical beasts, prefer- ness in the example above, they are rarely precisely true or false. to activate the rules in the rule base. The inference engine maps it, and it is complete if all pos- the real world. PCW

602 603 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 PCW ● RETRO COMPUTING CUTTING EDGE Didn’t they do well! In 1984 the Amstrad CPC 464 was the young pretender of the home computer market, yet the machine which set Amstrad on the road to £1billion status had a shaky start. Simon Rockman looks back.

lan Sugar decided that with them was a set of contacts. with 16kb RAM: the 232, a Athe way forward for Roland had been at University medium keyboard with 32kb Amstrad was to do for the with Richard Clayton who RAM; a 264, the same key- computer market what he’d went on to found Locomotive board with 64kb RAM; and done for audio tower systems: Software, and they had all been the top of the range would provide something which to school with Mark Eric Jones have been the 364 with an looked the part and performed who worked on circuit design, extended keyboard and adequately at a price which his eponymous company being 64kb RAM. Calling the would attract the mass market. MEJ Electronics. Amstrad the 464 was He recruited some computer The three companies probably an attempt to designers and set the in-house embarked upon a tight sched- outwit Commodore, but people about the task of work- ule. They decided that the in the end such moves were ing on the case and keyboard. work which had already been unnecessary since Commodore The launch was scheduled for done was scrappable, and shot itself in the foot with initial games were to feature the summer and the first pub- worked from the ground up. those machines. characters called Roland. lic showing was to be at the The only limitation on the The development of the When the machine was PCW Show in 1984. design was the need to use the Amstrad machine was frantic. launched, the press assumed From its inception, the keyboard which had already Most of the logic was com- that deliveries would be late. machine was to have a moni- been commissioned. bined into a single MEJ- Every major machine had been tor. It had to look the part, but The new design was a Z80, designed . To pro- late, but William Poel was bet- the rest of the initial specifica- chosen partly because Locomo- duce development machines ter informed and announced tion was poor. Very much tive had produced BBC Basic and give the leading software that if they were late he’d eat modelled on the VIC20 it had for the BBC Micro Z80 second houses something to work one in Trafalgar Square. The a 20-column screen and a 6502 processor, and partly because it with, 50 machines were built CPC 464 was on time, although CPU. But the designers had provided a low level of com- with the gate array simulated the disc (sic) drive which problems. They couldn’t get it patibility with the Spectrum, in conventional chips. Modern arrived the following Christ- working and eventually they which despite Mr Sugar’s later gate arrays are so complex this mas was in very short supply absconded. “pregnant calculator” taunts would be impossible now, and for quite some time. The This left Amstrad with a was very much the dominant even then the GAS boards machine, with its built-in tape healthy order book for the new system at the time. The choice were very precious. The 50 unit, was complemented by the machine, and a smart case of a Z80 also left the way open machines (I have number 13) 664 with a built-in disc drive with nothing to go inside it. for future CP/M compatibility. were used to ensure that the the following year and the 6128 The company was based in Amstrad initially wanted the likes of Quicksilver and Soft- (with 128kb RAM) a little after Brentwood, and in the past machine to have no expansion, ware Projects could produce that. Plans for a true sequel, had used the skills of the men but the designers realised that games ready for the launch. Arnold Number Two (or ANT) at the local electronics com- the nominal cost of an edge This was all shrouded in were shelved when it became pany. They hoped the people connector would help extend secrecy — the machine was clear that a PC clone was the there could pull the computer the life of the machine. codenamed Arnold to give the way to real fortunes. project out of the mire. The name was chosen at a impression that Arnold Wein- Roland Perry, William Poel time when Commodore was stock, chairman of GEC, was expected the machine to sell and Chris Anstey were replacing the Commodore 64. behind the project. This later around 10,000. The moulds recruited to form AMSOFT, The new Commodore led to rumours that Amstrad which were used were good for the computer division of machines had three different was to be bought by GEC. The 700,000 machines. The CPC Amstrad Consumer Electron- keyboard types and three RAM codename also happened to be broke the mould twice — well ics, but perhaps the most configurations. The 116 would an anagram of Roland, and as a over a million machines were important thing they brought have been a cheap keyboard nod to this a number of the produced. PCW

605 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PCW ● MEDIA CUTTING EDGE BOOKS

How to Make a Fortune can citizenship into groups dis- deliver 4.4m households, a use. It has several useful sug- on the Information cussing everything from pro- leased line, full-time connec- gestions for businesses which Superhighway gramming to fishing) should tion to the Internet would cost lend themselves to promotion Author: Laurence A Canter not be banned because free $1,000 and could be used to across the Internet and it even and Martha S Siegel speech is protected under the get a message to a potential provides good summaries of Publisher: Harper Collins constitution. In their words, audience of 30m. the Internet’s “codes of prac- Price: £6.99 “in true communist countries, If nobody balked at unso- tice” while encouraging you to ISBN: 0-0-638678-4 advertising is not allowed licited advertising on the Inter- ignore them. The authors pub- Rating: ✒✒✑✑✑ except by the government, who net it would quickly grow out lish their own suggested guide- owns everything. Maybe it’s of control. It’s true that ignor- lines for advertising at the end had some difficulty in worth more of a fight than you ing a few advertisements ran- of the book. Ideciding how, or indeed, thought.” domly inserted in one’s elec- Being laymen, they occa- whether to review this book. Junk mail and junk faxes are tronic mail and discussion sionally get things wrong, and Its authors, Canter and Siegel, not illegal, they say, and view- groups isn’t costly, but if mil- because they are writing for have become notorious across ing unwanted ads lions of businesses, small and Americans, the prices they the Internet as the proponents large, were to join the Inter- quote can give British readers of intrusive digital advertising, net and fill up people’s only a rough idea of costs. thanks to their repeated post- screens with ads that cost Because the book was written ing of an advertisement for next to nothing to send, last year, it is short on informa- their legal services across most weeding out useful infor- tion about the World Wide of Usenet, the Internet’s main mation would be almost Web. If it weren’t for its cynical discussion area. impossible. point of view, it could be a use- This book was written to That is not to say ful book to the would-be Cyber- justify their actions and to there is no place for space salesman. explain to the non-technical business promotion on David Brake business person how to follow the Internet at all. As in their footsteps. As such, it is Canter & Siegel point Surfing on the Internet: viewed by many as an irre- out, the common A Net-Head’s Adventures sponsible, even wicked book. and approved way Online Canter and Siegel in their turn to advertise is to Author: JC Herz do little to endear themselves monitor discus- Publisher: Abacus to their critics — the book sion groups rele- Price: £9.99 repeatedly refers to regular vant to your business ISBN: 0 349 10614 2 users of the Internet, even and comment or answer ques- Rating: ✒✒✒✒✒ those they turned to for help in tions, bringing your product or putting their business online, costs the recipients just a few service into the public gaze in lthough PCW tries to as “geeks” and “smart Alecs” pennies worth of online time; the process. Those who want A include information and those who opposed them much of the Internet is full of to find out more about your about fun resources on the as “vandals” and “self- “junk” chatter in any case. company can then easily email Internet as well as useful ones, appointed dictators”. They claim that by spending a representative or check out a there are a few which we have I am naturally reluctant to $10 worth of online time send- public information archive on yet to cover. On a notional map give such an inflammatory ing their message, they had the Internet. So on the Internet, of the world of the Internet, book any further publicity, but 20,000 enquiries and received advertising defers to marketing they would be marked “Here inevitably there are many who $100,000 worth of new busi- and public relations. Be Dragons”. will be tempted to buy it ness, thereby demonstrating Leaving aside the justifica- Now the curious can get a regardless, attracted by its gar- that the “silent majority” tion of indiscriminate advertis- taste of what they are missing ish title, its trendy subject or doesn’t oppose advertising. ing, the core of the book; without turning on their com- the notoriety of its authors. Unfortunately, their very explaining the Internet and puters. J C Herz’s extraordinary Canter and Siegel’s case, success is the reason that their how to exploit it commer- virtual travel book gives a vivid simply put, is that the Internet approach is wrong. As they cially, is well-written and guided tour of the wild side of is not a community whose point out, advertising on the informative. It explains in lay- the Internet, taking in such codes of practice one should Internet is “the business bar- man’s terms how to get your things as gender confusion and adhere to: it is just a medium gain of the century.” While a company connected, what online sex, UFOlogists and of communication. Advertis- 30-second nation-wide advert each of the main Internet ser- conspiracy theorists, flame ing on it the way they did on a top-rated soap opera in the vices are and how each of them wars, the virtual worlds known (touting help in getting Ameri- US would cost $45,000 and can be adopted for commercial as MOOs and Internet Relay

607 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PCW ● MEDIA PCW ● MEDIA CUTTING EDGE

Chat. The book is a lively first- is one of the first women to how it feels to stay online all few months online, visiting for Dummies is aimed at the books have beginners merrily which prevented proper termi- help, but the printed manuals person narrative, with numer- stray into this predominantly night, fuelled only by stale cola LambdaMOO, propping up the hobbyist programmer and placing components on forms nation on exit. contain more detail. In particu- ous chunks of text captured male domain and stay to and noodles. #IRCbar, and following alt.reli- insists that Delphi is really but give them no real idea of A sample database applica- lar the last eight chapters of the from online sessions and a describe it. It is written in the Although hackers and crack- gion.kibology but why bother? J easy. It’s a good-humoured how to write the code that will tion is equally poorly designed. language reference have no keen understanding of the best “new journalism” tradi- ers make their appearance, the C Herz has done it for you, and approach with large jaunty sub- drive the interface. That The book is aimed at beginners, direct online equivalent, and online counter-culture. Its tion of Tom Wolfe and Hunter focus is on the online slackers from it has distilled a thor- titles, icons and cartoons. The doesn’t excuse Delphi by and covers a sensible range of cover topics such as using null- author also brings an unusual S Thompson; as you read it, who have created bizarre sub- oughly entertaining read. snag is that you know and I Example for being so dry, or topics, from Pascal basics to terminated strings, writing perspective to the story — she you will learn something of cultures. You could spend a David Brake know the underlying premise for failing to communicate the forms, graphics and database DLLs, memory issues, and opti- is false: good programming is significance and possibilities work. With four chapters on mising strategies. Professional Comparative Reviews: Internet Guides never easy, and Delphi does of component-based visual database programming it is bet- developers need these books,

CUTTING EDGE not completely protect you programming. As for the Bor- ter balanced than the other which really should have been from the underlying complex- land Database Engine, it gets titles here, although it adds lit- part of the basic package. ity of the Windows API. But no coverage at all. But Delphi tle to the Database Developer’s Overall this first wave of Rubenking does a good job of by Example is a good Pascal Guide supplied with Delphi. Delphi books is disappointing. getting beginners started with primer and complements the Beginners would be better Two points stand out. First, programs that work, the idea printed manuals. served by the Dummies title. despite Borland’s positioning being that they will be encour- Devra Hall’s Teach Yourself The most valuable Delphi of Delphi as a database tool, aged to tackle the more serious Delphi got off to a bad start. books to date are available not there is nothing here that will stuff when they feel ready. The first half of the book is from third parties, but from assist the serious database There is an emphasis on illustrated by a simple applica- Borland. Two supplementary developer. Second, nobody has interface-building and using tion which displays pictures, books in particular are on offer: grasped the opportunity to components, partly, one sus- and the program is supplied on the Object Pascal Language write a tutorial that treats Instant Delphi pects, because these are easier an enclosed disk. The program Reference and the Visual Com- object-orientation as the norm, Programming and more fun to explain than uses hard-coded directory ponent Library manual. Both rather than as a tacked-on extra Author: Dave Jewell grappling with code. Non- names, and seems to have been are likely to be essential for feature of the Object Pascal lan- Publisher: Wrox beginners will find it verbose created with a pre-release ver- advanced Delphi developers, guage. If OO really makes pro- Pages: 472 + Disk and shallow, although there is sion of Delphi, so did not com- although only the former was gramming easier, Delphi Price: £22.99 plenty of good common sense pile on the first attempt. When available in time for this should be an ideal platform for ISBN: 1-874416-57-5 beneath the chatty prose. Data- finally running, it displayed a review. There is considerable a suitable introductory book. Rating: ✒✒✒✒✑ base programming gets only a crude interface and had a bug overlap with the Delphi online Tim Anderson brief outline. Delphi for Dummies Publisher, Que, places Blake Top Ten Books: April 1995 Author: Neil J Rubenking Watson’s Delphi by Example Publisher: IDG Books halfway between “casual” and Author Title Publisher Price This Last Pages: 400 “accomplished” in its user- Jewell, Dave Instant Delphi Wrox £22.99 1 3 Price: £18.99 level thermometer. The title Programming ISBN: 1-56884-200-7 suggests something like Instant Lemay, Laura Teach Yourself Web Sams £19.50 2 2 Rating: ✒✒✒✑✑ Delphi’s series of small pro- Publishing with gramming projects, but in fact HTML in a Week Delphi by Example the “examples” are usually Minasi et al Inside OS/2 WARP, New Riders £37.49 3 — Author: Blake Watson here is a an expert on Windows inter- drawing application. small snippets of code rather Version 3 Publisher: Que Thungry market for Delphi nals, and it shows: he slides The emphasis is on driving than working applications. (book, CD-ROM) Pages: 536 books. A cost-conscious Bor- easily into the Windows API, Windows through Delphi, Blake Watson takes the Minasi et al Mastering Windows Sybex £40.99 4 6 Price: £27.49 land decided to ship the prod- and even in the first chapter rather than the Pascal lan- opposite approach to Delphi for NT Server 3.5 ISBN: 1-56529-757-1 uct without a language refer- has you programming an guage itself, although there is Dummies, playing down the Ethington et al Introducing Microsoft Microsoft Press £11.99 5 4 Rating: ✒✒✒✑✑ ence, an especially odd deci- owner-draw listbox, rather an appendix for Visual Basic visual side of things and con- Windows 95 sion given that Pascal is than the standard Delphi programmers switching to centrating on the Pascal lan- Getz et al Microsoft Access 2 Sybex £41.17 6 1 Teach Yourself Delphi unexplored territory for the item. The book veers between Delphi. There is a skimpy guage. He assumes nothing, Developer’s Handbook Author: Devra Hall many Delphi users switching elementary and advanced pro- chapter on database program- and the first two chapters (book/disk) Publisher: MIS Press from Visual Basic or C/C++. gramming, uncertain of where ming, making Instant Delphi explain the fundamentals of Orfali et al Essential Client/Server VNR £21.50 7 — Pages: 320 + Disk The product itself has been its readership lies. Programming unsuitable for computing, from machine lan- Survival Guide ISBN: 1-55828-390-0 well received, and this inter- That said, there is a large database work. One gripe is guage to objects, in a few pages. Jennings, Roger Database Sams £41.67 8 5 Rating: ✒✑✑✑✑ est combined with Borland’s amount of useful material, that it has hardly heard of This is the nitty-gritty of pro- Developer’s Guide scrimping creates an instant covering all the main ele- object-oriented programming. gramming: loops, data types, with Visual Basic 3 Object Pascal Language readership for third-party ments of Delphi and with Since object-orientation is one procedure and variable scope, (book/disk) Guide books. Here’s a look at the first valuable asides on subjects of Delphi’s best features, it is conditions, sorting data, file Welsh & Kaufman Running LINUX O’Reilly £18.50 9 — Publisher: Borland few contenders. like maintaining portability strange that this and other handling and the rest. Schofield, Sue UK Internet Addison-Wesley £19.95 10 — International Instant Delphi Program- between 16-bit and 32-bit tutorials make so little of it. Depending on your point of Book, 2nd Edition Pages: 296 ming by Dave Jewell takes a Windows. Along the way you There are apparently 17m view, Delphi by Example is (book, disk) Price: £19.00 (with Visual tutorial approach, dealing by create several working utili- “Dummies” books in print, either a sound basis for pro- Component Library turn with the interface, ties, including an icon viewer, which must say something gramming or hopelessly old- Prices include VAT on Disks/CD-ROMs. Manual) menus, graphics, error-han- a task manager, a doodle pro- about the computer book mar- fashioned. I incline to the for- List supplied by The PC Bookshop at 11 & 21 Sicilian Avenue, London WC1A 2QH. Rating: ✒✒✒✒✑ dling and more. The author is gram, and a more elaborate ket. Neil Rubenking’s Delphi mer view, since too many rival Tel: 0171 831 0022. Fax: 0171 831 0443.

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Price Borders and Backgrounds £14.99; CD-ROMs Business £14.99 Rating ●❍❍❍❍ each Some more or less useful business clip art, plus a heavyweight encyclopedia and two geography lessons find their way into this month’s round-up. Inspiration Contact Provektor (+44) 46 31 40 15 57; fax (+44) 46 31 40 56 26 • Borders and Price 395 Krone

CUTTING EDGE Backgrounds Rating ●●●●● • Business • Inspiration Britannica CD-ROM

lip art is much derided in Cmany quarters, and in some instances, rightly so. These three CDs represent the best and the worst of their kind: two of them are distinctly sus- pect and the third is a real gem. Borders and Backgrounds and Business, from VCI Soft- ware, are both composed entirely of poor-quality car- vance to the query, with the The text data itself is split In a class of its own: the toons with a seventies feel. The There are several encyclope- most relevant placed at the top into two different databases, Britannica CD has a vast title of Business is quite mis- dia CD-ROMs already on the of the list. one called Micropaedia which amount of information, including leading. If you want your work market and many are thrown This front-end search sys- gives short descriptions on cer- up-to-date political articles to be taken seriously, you in free when you buy a new tem allows you to get to infor- tain topics, and another called would do well to avoid only £14.99. this CD is redeemed by being PC. The best ones are Grolier, mation in many different ways. Macropaedia which contains this package. Borders and Backgrounds cheap, but it could be fun for Comptons, Hutchinsons, and You can enter just one word, a longer articles on larger sub- The 97 images on the reminds me of the kind of writ- those with a penchant for of course Microsoft Encarta. combination of words, a phrase jects. The dictionary included Virgin’s One World Atlas CD could only be of use in a ing paper that was popular kitsch. All are glossy, well-presented or even a question and the is based upon the Merriam- and Virgin’s One Tribe document sending up the busi- when I was a wee girl, with a Inspiration, by contrast, is a multimedia products, packed input is matched up against Webster’s Collegiate Dictio- ness world. Between dollar border so large (and so unutter- blessed relief. The whole pack- with information, pictures and every instance in the encylope- nary and also includes related Virgin’s One World Atlas is a bills that have sprouted ably tasteless) that you barely age is infinitely superior in moving images. dia. With a volume of this size, reference works such as a the- comprehensive tour of the wings and a janitor who had room to squeeze in the quality, both in the profes- The Britannica Encyclope- a badly specified search can saurus, foreign word and world, a CD-ROM gazetteer has stepped in a bucket, address. The cartoons feel out- sional look of the images them- dia CD-ROM does not really fit lead to hundreds upon hun- phrase dictionary. with a few additions you can’t you would be hard pushed to dated and somewhat sexist. selves and in the quality of the into the same category. The dreds of references, and a This is not the cheapest CD- get from a book. Sadly, the find anything that would The so-called “angel” is a reproductions. There are 114 space on this CD-ROM has not search which is too narrowly ROM encyclopedia around — additions are probably be of any real use. It is at brazen hussy with a passion for illustrations and backgrounds been used for whizzy moving specified can lead to nothing. but then, it’s in a different class insufficient to make it a least relatively cheap, at seventies retro, surrounded by and four striking alphabets, all pictures, but instead is filled However, you get better at to anything else on the market. replacement for a book unless twinkling stars. The “bouquet” of which you could use in busi- with pure text. This is the elec- searching when you’ve used The full book version costs you want your geography Left Borders and Backgrounds border is in delightful shocking ness and still look your MD tronic version of the entire the system for a while, and the £1,438; the CD-ROM costs served up with baby food fails the taste test Below and pink and bright blue. The pack- straight in the eye. Encyclopedia Britannica. It resulting information makes it £695. In terms of content, the digestibility. above right Handy images age seems to have undergone a The images are marketed as contains 82,000 articles, 16 well worth the effort. I tried only difference is that the CD- The Atlas interface does not from Inspiration taste bypass operation. Again, powerful and symbolic, and million references and 70,000 searching on a variety of ROM version is missing pic- conform to the usual Windows coming from a Swedish com- definitions. Essentially, this obscure philosophical subjects tures and illustrations, but in menu bar at the top of the pany some of the illustrations, CD-ROM combines the entire and found a complete and com- terms of finding information, screen. Instead you navigate such as the photo-negative text from the paper version, prehensive history of meta- the CD-ROM searching tool from the opening or “Finder images of trees, do have a cer- with a search and retrieval sys- physics, philosophy of lan- gives you lots of advantages Screen”. This screen is domi- tain Bergmanesque moodiness tem to help you extract the guage and cognitive science over the normal paper system nated by an open book contain- about them. Others however, information you need. complete with references to of indexes and tables of con- ing the names of every country such as the technology mon- The main screen called modern researchers. There’s a tents. If you need a serious aca- and continent. Just find the tage, have a usefulness which IDEA SEARCH is simply laid vast amount of information demic reference tool, this is the country you want and a double far outstrips anything to be out and easy to use. It consists available on practically any best encyclopedia CD-ROM on mouse-click on the name will found on Business. of a series of windows; one to academic subject, and there are the market. take you there. You first go to a Adele Dyer enter your search criteria, one up-to-date articles on recent Eleanor Turton-Hill full-screen map of the location: to display a list of article titles political events. A thesaurus click on the United Kingdom Borders and Backgrounds/ and one to display the actual and dictionary are also Contact Brittanica and you are shown a map of Business text of the article currently included which are invoked by 0181 669 4355 Britain with a few major cities Contact VCI Software highlighted. The search results double clicking on any word in Price £695 inc VAT indicated. Click on a place 01923 255558 are ranked in order of rele- the resulting text screen. Rating ●●●●❍ name and you are taken to a

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pop music channel) which gives you some idea of the “feel” of the disc (both discs, in fact). Clicking on various objects around the room takes you to much the same information categories as are available with One World: photographs, satellite images, a database of

CUTTING EDGE information, the biggest, the smallest. There’s music, mainly obscure and in my opinion again unrepresenta- tive of the countries or geo- graphical areas to which it is supposed to belong. Finally, I found both discs slightly buggy. Installation proved a problem. I received an error message to the effect that a .dll file could not be loaded. This may have been the cause of various problems with the One Tribe disc. The problem even happened with a Above One World replacement CD-ROM. More serves up geogra- annoying, however, was the phy with baby food program’s failure to exit prop- digestibility Left erly. After running, I received One Tribe zooms in “out of memory” messages on London every time I tried to run another program, such as my word processor. Now, I have lately been having a spot of bother with my computer, so maybe the cause of the problem rests with my machine (I haven’t had the opportunity to run a test on another machine), but it is per- haps better to be warned of possible problems. Otherwise, while both discs try, and to some extent succeed, in pre- senting geographical material series of full-screen pho- A click on the photographs gazetteer can provide all the in an interesting way, neither tographs — Tower Bridge, a red takes you, logically enough, to important database informa- exploits the medium of CD- London bus, Buckingham a series of photos; a click on tion, but can’t explore the ROM and therefore disap- Palace. You can access a data- the sunglasses takes you, for social features of a country as point. I’d rather buy a paper base of information such as some reason, to satellite photos fully as is possible on CD-ROM. gazetteer. land area, currency, life of the Earth. A handful of pictures and a few Paul Begg expectancy and infant mortal- There’s also a collection of scraps of music don’t exploit ity, relevant to the country. music and sound effects. These the medium fully and this One Tribe Around the book on the play automatically, although detracts from the overall value Contact Virgin Sound and Finder Screen are a number of they can be turned off. How- of the disc. Vision 0181 960 2255 pictures. Clicking on these ever, the music is disappoint- One Tribe is somewhat dif- Price £59.99 takes you to various areas of ing. There isn’t very much of it; ferent. This is really a kind of Rating ●●●❍❍ special interest. You can look it represents only a few coun- interactive video. Here you One World up the highest mountains, tries; and it doesn’t even truly navigate from a living room Contact Virgin Sound and deepest lakes, largest cities, represent the music of the where a documentary presenta- Vision and so on, for the selected place countries it features. tion is given by Pip Dann (a pre- Price £44.99 name. This is a pity. A paper senter on MTV, the satellite Rating ●●❍❍❍

612 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PCW ● FUN CUTTING EDGE PCW ● FUN

I was particularly pleased to see the one of the problems your child will have Fisher-Price Dream Doll’s House as there’s to solve — there are others such as looking very little software available specifically for books to replace on a bookshelf. And for young girls. This is designed for the you can invent games to play with your three to seven-year-old age group. But child to develop language and counting although it will entertain across the stated skills as well. age band, its main market should really be pre-school children. Easy as ABC u An on-screen doll’s house provides six I took a look at the Fisher-Price ABCs for Kids’ t f rooms to explore. A mouse click on some the pre-school age group, which has been CUTTING EDGE f S objects activates special sounds or anima- designed to introduce young children to tions. Others can be moved around with letter sounds and shapes. the cursor and placed anywhere on the This is achieved through a variety of screen. Some, like a toy box, grocery sack, games. For example, in the Letter Hip Hop or hamper can be unpacked. game, clicking an on-screen alphabet key Pictures of Friends appear at the foot of causes that letter to be spoken. Upper and the screen and they will come and play at lower-case images are shown, together the click of a mouse. Or there are the with an object name using that initial let- Sprites: Sparkle, Flora, and Turnabout. ter. Additionally, the name of the object is Visits to a doll’s house, an American They can change some objects, such as a then spoken. Older children can switch to kitchen carpet, into a giant pizza. And the harder, Challenge, mode in which a diner with cherry pie, and Britain in Inside The Dream Doll’s House when your child has finished playing, a picture is displayed and the child is asked the 1930s were on Paul Begg’s click on the vacuum cleaner icon will to click the initial letter of the object. restore the room to the way it was in the My chief criticism of both programs is schedule in this month’s foray into first place. that the accents, language and environ- the fast-growing world of children’s Additionally, there are the Mice. Chil- ment are strongly American. This applies software. dren must first find the mousehole, then especially in the case of the Fisher-Price click on it to go inside and explore. Do ABCs software, which is set in a US diner, mice like asparagus ice cream? Inquisitive complete with chocolate malted drink children must go down the mousehole to and cherry pie. Apart from this critiscism, he educational and infor- While on the subject of chil- find out. I would say that both programs have the Tmational entertainment dren’s classics, Disney Interac- Finding the holes from a clue provided potential to fulfil their promise. markets for children are cer- tive has signed a deal with the by mouse-clicking a piece of cheese is just tainly boom areas this year. Media Station company to Past Pictures Even the major manufacturers bring Hundredacre Wood to Last month, I mentioned a disc from in the business have entered the computer screen. The cho- HMSO Electronic Publishing called Cocoa the kids market. sen tale is Winnie the Pooh and Not too much going on to detract from Both Microsoft and Novell the Honey Tree and from what the learning, but enough to keep a have a growing range of chil- I’ve seen, it looks just like the young child interested dren’s and family titles. Disney video and even has the Another large corporation, voice of Paul Winchell as Dis- Fisher-Price Dream Doll’s House: explore one of these rooms Electronic Arts, has its own ney’s Pooh. In addition, Disney kids “edutainment” division, and Media Station are collabo- EA Kids. And Mindscape has a rating on the tie-in with the newly-created division called next big Disney animated Mindscape Kids. movie, Pocahontas. Maxis, a publisher perhaps Increasingly, toy manufac- best known for its SimCity soft- turers have been lending their ware titles, has announced a names to software products: new range of children’s enter- Etch-a-Sketch and Fisher-Price tainment software called Soft- for instance. The latter has ware Toys for Kids. The new leant its name to a new range of Maxis range kicks off with Sim- software titles produced by a Town and a science teaching California-based company, title called Widget Workshop. called Davidson & Associates, Mindscape has signed a deal which specialises in software with Frederick Warne and for kids. UK distribution is Company to create a collection handled by ABLAC, who pro- of children’s interactive CD- duce children’s and educa- ROM titles based on Beatrix tional software. Given this Potter’s Peter Rabbit books. combination one would expect Both companies are part of the the Fisher-Price range to be The kitchen: explore, help, learn Penguin Group. good, and so it is.

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British history in words and pictures and Corsets. Although the But behind all the clever- series of discs called Picture- ness, excellent voices, music, Base is produced along similar and super script, there is a solid lines, the difference is that this body of information. I spent isn’t simply a collection of pic- time with The Solar System. tures with accompanying cap- Here you join in with an explo- tions. Instead, the captions ration of the sun, our neigh- form a sequential narrative. For bouring planets, satellites and instance, the section on World asteroids. The idea is to find Ms War II on the disc Britain Since Frizzle, the teacher, who inex-

CUTTING EDGE 1930, provides a snapshot view plicably vanished at blast-off. of life in Britain during that Each visit to a planet is accom- time. panied by a game and a science The pictures are closely experiment. linked to the text and have The programs are designed been carefully chosen to con- for six to ten-year-olds and are vey the atmosphere of the bulging at the seams with fun period. A picture speaks a and learning. They suffer only thousand words and these Pic- Evacuees — a picture speaks a thousand words from showing non-European turebase discs can be used by units — miles instead of kilo- teachers and parents to accom- with a book, but the advantage mends for use in primary metres. This suited me just fine, pany all kinds of projects to of using this disc is that your schools. Last year it selected but does not meet with the help children acquire the feel child could transfer pictures to Victorian Britain. This year it needs of today’s children. of a period or event in history. a word processor document has selected Britain Since Apart from this one gripe An example of this is that on and then produce an illustrated 1930. The discs conform to these are great discs, and if you the day the discs arrived, my essay. Study Unit 3a and 3b respec- are looking for something spe- daughter had visited a local The text is brief but informa- tively in the History National cial to occupy your children’s museum with her school, as tive and narrated in an English Curriculum. hours during the summer holi- part of learning about World accent to help children with days, check these out. War II. She and her classmates the pronunciation of unfamiliar It’s Magic! had to go on the trip dressed as words. For some time now, I have PCW Details war evacuees. When she The PictureBase series of been meaning to tell you about Fisher-Price Dream Doll’s arrived home, I was able to use discs is available on floppy two great programs from House the Britain Since 1930 disc to disk or CD-ROM. It runs under Microsoft: The Magic School Fisher-Price ABCs show her some photographs of Windows and there is an Acorn Bus Explores the Solar System Price £34.95 each real evacuees and this led to version available, but you’ll and The Magic School Bus Contact ABLAC Learning Works Ltd 01626 332233 looking at some other pictures need RISCOS 3.00 or higher. Explores the Human Body. Fax: 01626 331464 — including some movie As a footnote, every year These are too good to keep Rating Fisher-Price Dream footage. She then told me what the Department of Education, back any longer, so here's a Doll’s House ★★★★✰ she’d learned and I told her in conjunction with the brief idea of what they are Fisher-Price ABCs ★★★✰✰ what I knew of those times. National Council for Education about. I’m not saying that this Technology, chooses a few Based on a series of books, PictureBase: couldn’t have been achieved software titles which it recom- these discs owe a lot to the Victorian Britain Living Books from Britain Since 1930 Broderbund series: Price £99 (other titles clicking anywhere on available) Contact AVP 01291 625439 the opening screen (a Fax: 01291 629671 classroom) produces a Rating ★★★✰✰ response. But that is where the similarity The Magic School Bus ends. What you get Explores the Solar afterwards is as much System. a cartoon as anything The Magic School Bus else, especially when Explores the Human you click on the Body school bus and it Price £45 Contact Microsoft launches into space, 01345 002000 or even into the Rating The Magic School Bus human body. Explores the Solar System ★★★★✰ The Magic Bus goes to The Magic School Bus Mars Explores the Human Body ★★★★✰

616 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JUNE 1995 PCW ● COMPETITION CUTTING EDGE Win a HP colour printer, a Psion 3a or LapLink for Windows

Psion 3a 2Mb Hewlett Packard DeskJet 660C Hewlett Packard is The Psion 3a has been the best choice in pocket replacing the world’s computers since its launch over a year ago. With a best-selling colour built-in Word-compatible word processor, a printer, the DeskJet spreadsheet, database and stacks of optional 560C, with the brand software, what more could you want? Extra RAM, of new DeskJet 660C, course. So that’s what Psion has done — made a 2Mb and we’ve got one of version. the first to give away. It still has an 80 hour battery life and the best Although it looks screen we’ve seen from a PDA in its class, boasting a pretty much the 480 x 160 resolution. Backing up your data is a breeze same on the outside, with PsiWin, a brand new Windows applications that HP has re-worked lets you move files between the 3a and your PC. It also the bits under the cover to include a new four-colour ink has compression utilities for storing data in flash cartridge, a faster processor, twice the memory and memory cards. improvements to software. All of this means you can print near To win this deadly desirable piece of kit, just tell us photographic images at astonishing speeds, but at half the cost what Psion’s previous PDA was called. Was it: per page of previous models. Since the 660C has a four-colour cartridge, there’s no need to (a) Psion Series 3 change the ink should you only want to print a mono document. (b) Psion Organiser 3 Resolutions up to 600 x 600dpi can be achieved in mono, and (c) Psion Portable 3 there’s the ability to apply HP’s Resolution Enhancement tech- (d) Psion Pocket 3 nology, or REt. The new DeskJet has been designed for hassle-free use so you don’t need a degree in computer science to operate it. There’s no complicated control panel to get your head around and the software installation is just one simple step. To win this fabulous new printer, simply tell us what REt stands for. Is it:

(a) Resolution Engineering technology LapLink for Windows (b) Resolution Enhancement technology We’ve got three LapLink for Windows kits to give away, thanks (c) Random Edge technology to Traveling Software. Since the release of the Windows ver- (d) Something else? sion, LapLink lets you do a whole lot more than transfer files between two PCs. It now has extensive remote features allow- ing you to access files and use applications from a remote PC. This can be done using the standard parallel link which is part of the kit, or, more likely, over a modem. It is also possible to view several machines when using a modem. Another new feature is SpeedSync. This increases modem How to enter file transfer speeds by up to eight times. Instead of transferring entire files, it recog- To enter any or all the competitions nises any changes and updates only the modifications. For example, if you need to simply call 0839 777722 to leave update your database from a remote server, you don’t have to copy the whole file, your answers. Calls will be charged just any changes. This can save a lot of time and keep call costs down. at 39p per minute cheap rate and To win a copy of LapLink for Windows, tell us when Traveling Software was 49p at all other times. founded. Was it in: (a) 1973 (b) 1929 (c) 1982 (d) 1983

Rules of Entry The competition is open to all readers of Personal Computer World except for employees, and their families, of VNU Business Publications, Hewlett Packard, Psion and Traveling Software. All entries must be made by 20th July 1995. The Editor of PCW is the sole judge of the competition and his decision is final. No cash alternative is available in lieu of prizes.

619 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 PCW ● FUN CUTTING EDGE screenplayNEWS

I bet he plays.. Saturn runs rings Virgin has announced a new budget range called the White Label Collection, and its first bargain release is the Temptation around the competition compilation. Priced at £44.99, this com- prises big hits The 7th Guest, Lands of Following massive success in Japan, Sega is set to release its next- Lore, Hand of Fate and Indy Car Racing generation CD-based console, known as Saturn, in the UK. The new — four classics currently still selling out hardware will be launched first in the US on “Saturnday” 2nd September, at full price. and a slightly restyled European version will arrive here shortly after. Look out for more bargains soon. Despite fierce competition from the new Sony Playstation, Sega claims Virgin 0181 960 2255 to have already shipped 750,000 Saturns. Even more impressive is that at time of writing, Virtua Fighter is the only big title available for the machine. Other Sega coin-op conversions on the way are the smash hit race game Daytona USA, and Virtua Fighter 2. For the technically minded, Saturn boasts twin 32-bit RISC CPUs, 2Mb work RAM, 1.5Mb VRAM and a double-speed CD-ROM drive with 512kb cache. Graphics resolutions range from 320 x 224 to 704 x 480 pixels, and a 32-voice Yamaha sound chip is provided for true arcade sound. Spread your Wings Sega 0171 373 3000 Just when you thought your PC was powerful enough to run the latest games, Origin is rumoured to be working on Wing Commander 4. Despite needing at least a Pentium to run at a decent speed, Wing Commander III was one of the biggest sell- Games on the Mac attack ing games ever. This latest follow-up promises to be even better. Following a small but possibly profitable explosion in the Mac games Rumoured features include more SVGA market, leading PC players Interplay and Virgin are set to convert their graphics, an enhanced combat engine and latest hits for Apple users. Interplay is about to launch the 3D network- a sharper, more realistic flight model. The able blaster Descent, while Virgin is currently converting Dark Forces, project has apparently been given top pri- a Doom-style CD- ority over everything else, and could well ROM designed by see the return of Mark Hamill, aka Luke LucasArts and Skywalker, as front man. based on the Star For more info call Electronic Arts on Wars universe. 01753 549442. For full reviews of the PC versions see PCW June 1995. Virgin 0181 960 2255 Interplay 01235 821666

621 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JUNE 1995 PCW ● FUN PCW ● FUN CUTTING EDGE

their bases to prevent them which you use to destroy a vari- submarines, anti-aircraft guns), Jungle Strike will not win from building atomic weapons. ety of targets, needs to be re- the names of the things you any awards for originality or Though you spend most of fuelled and re-armed by pick- have to pick up (nuclear power sophistication, but like the best your time in a helicopter, you ing up objects strewn en route, plants, scientists, green berets) Hollywood “B” movies, it is Screenplay will from time to time have to and can rescue (or capture) var- and the scenery. certainly an entertaining way leave it and make your way ious people you come across. Nonetheless, I found myself to pass the time. around on a hovercraft, stealth Eight campaigns are variations drawn into the game; the System Requirements: 386 or 486, fighter or “assault motorcycle”. on the same theme: you have to graphics are well drawn, and 2Mb of memory, four free Mb of These look and perform dif- destroy some things and pick the missions are difficult hard disk space. ferently, but are controlled in up other things. All that enough to be interesting, but Price: £34.99

CUTTING EDGE much the same way. Each vehi- changes is the kind of enemies not so difficult that you give up Contact: Jungle Strike cle has three different weapons you are fighting (tanks, nuclear in despair. 0114 275 3423

It has no fancy graphics, but this fast and furious fight to save the US At last, you too can enjoy colourful president will exert a strong pull explosions and the scream of over even humble 386 owners, says Marathon flying bullets. Chris Cain hails a Graphically Marathon is chopper pilot David Brake excellent, with fast panoramic gripping adventure for Mac users scrolling, smooth moving with destructive leanings sprites and colourful explo- sions. The game can be run in t is clear that most game both eight and 16-bit colour, Idesigners are provided with hile PC users have been opponents — just don’t expect to get that far. with differing amounts of the very latest PCs on which to Whappily blasting away in As you wander around looking for trouble detail, and supports high or produce new titles, and they Eight exciting 3D for over a year, Mac people the ship’s computer can provide maps to low resolution displays to suit quickly grow to rely on the missions are are starved of death and help you explore and pass on clues about the power of your machine. power these machines offer to variations on a destruction. It’s as if some various puzzles that need to be solved on Extensive shading techniques bring increasingly sophisti- theme — only the games world top dog has each level. Unfortunately, thanks to some create a real 3D environment cated graphics to the public. names have been decided that Apple users only sneaky alien programming, it has a split per- and five-way movement really This is particularly evident in changed like flight simulators and sonality and its other half has decided to puts you there. the case of shoot’em up games weird adventures. Thankfully back the opposition. It will attempt to thwart The game is one of the first like Doom. Even owners of US based Bungie is having your plans with masses of disinformation, titles to make use of the new 486SX machines with 4Mb of none of it and has come up broken doors, moving platforms and gener- audio facilities in QuickTime RAM, mid-range computers with the goods. ally user-unfriendly behaviour. 2.0. Plug in stereo speakers and only last year, find they cannot Marathon is a fully texture run state-of-the-art games like mapped 3D scrolling game in a Magic Carpet and Tie Fighter at similar vein to Doom on the all, or only with all the “gloss” PC. As usual the player is cast features turned off. as humanity’s last hope; the Fortunately, one company at idea is to retake control of an least has not forgotten how to interstellar spacecraft invaded pack fast and furious action by aliens. All you have on your into a package which even 386- side are your wits, a motion owners can enjoy. Gremlin tracker and big guns. Interactive’s Jungle Strike is a On arrival you’re sent in straight port of a SNES video armed with a simple pistol, game, even down to the rather extra ammunition for which drab introduction screens to can be found scattered around each mission. You almost the craft. Further exploration expect to be asked to insert 10p may lead to the discovery of before you can play. Though it much bigger weapons, includ- lacks 3D rendering and full ing a mighty rocket launcher, motion video clips, it is addic- grenades and even an alien tive. gun. Obviously the better As in its predecessor, Desert armed you are the more likely Strike, you play a helicopter you are to succeed, but you’ll pilot who must single-hand- need to take care as there’s a edly protect the President of the limited supply of bullets. If the United States from terrorists, worst comes to the worst you then destroy a succession of can resort to punching your

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you’ll hear bullets fly in all Packed with alien blasting directions, as well as MIDI action, with great graphics and music and atmospheric alien sounds, Marathon is a treat sound effects. The sound qual- that really satisfies ity can also be tailored to suit your hardware, but while the Power Mac version runs in tive as Doom and can be native mode the audio side still played across a LocalTalk or uses 68K emulation. This slows Ethernet network with up to the action down in some cases. eight players. Rumour has it

CUTTING EDGE Gameplay is the main thing, that this has gone down partic- and this is where Marathon ularly well at Apple HQ, with really shines. It’s just as addic- meeting rooms being booked to

Charts

PC 1 Bio Forge (CD) EA 2 First Encounters (PC/CD) Gametek 3 Dark Forces (CD) Virgin 4 DiscWorld (CD) 5 Lost Eden (CD) Virgin 6 Star Trek Final Unity Demo (CD) Microprose 7 Super Karts (CD) Virgin 8 NBA Live 95 (CD) EA 9 X Com Terror From Deep (PC/CD) Microprose 10 Temptation (CD) Virgin

MAC 1 Marathon (CD) EA 2 Myst (CD) EA 3 SimCity 2000 (CD) Maxis 4 Rebel Assault (CD) US Gold 5 Stalingrad (CD) US Gold disguise a quick session. kind of entertainment most 6 Links Pro Golf Access Gamepads and some VR head- Mac users want. 7 Peter Gabriel Xplora (CD) Real World sets are supported for that System Requirements: Mac, 68020 8 Sim City Classics (BMG) Mindscape extra interaction, but sadly we or faster, 13in monitor, System 6.0.5 9 3D Atlas EA were unable to test this feature. or higher, hard drive, 3Mb RAM. 10 Another World Kixx Packed with alien blasting Price: £49.99 action Marathon really satis- Con tact: Softline 0181 401 1234 fies, and finally delivers the

Leisure Lines

Brainteasers tions and combinations. coming third and fourth which had all its digits and courtesy of A certain High School for respectively in the shot and which had the greatest number Boys was holding its annual javelin. In how many other of different prime factors. Sev- JJ Clessa sports day. There were ways could this score have eral of you managed to solve it seven field events: shot, dis- been achieved? without computer help — Quickie cus, long jump, high jump, Answers on a postcard or smart Alecs! What perfect square when javelin, pole vault, and hop, the back of a sealed envelope The required answer is turned upside down gives step and jump. — no letters and no floppy unique and is made up of 9 dif- another perfect square? For each event, the win- disks, please. Send to: PCW ferent primes: (For example, 81 is a per- ner scored five points, the Prize Puzzle July 1995, P.O. 857, 146, 290 fect square and when turned runner-up scored four, third Box 99, Harrogate, N. Yorks (=2,3,5,7,11,13,17,23,73) upside down gives 18, which place took three points, and HG2 0XJ, to arrive not later Our winner for this month unfortunately, is not a perfect fourth place was awarded than 20th July 1995. comes from Ireland and is Mr square.) two points. All the rest Christian van der Bosch of scored zero. Winner of April 1995 Ballincollig. Congratulations, The PCW Prize Puzzle The winning boy scored Prize Puzzle your prize is on its way. This month, we have a prob- 30 points altogether by There were about 130 entries The ussual message goes lem that is slightly out of the being first in all four jumping to our prime factor puzzle. You to all the also-rans: keep trying ordinary. It relates to permuta- events and the discus, then had to find the largest number — it could be your turn next.

624 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JUNE 1995 HANDS ON Hands On Contents

OPERATING SYSTEMS Windows 95 627 New to Hands On this month is the The start of a new column. Tim Nott tackles a Windows 95 column, making Personal preview version. Computer World the first UK computer title to include regular Windows 95 cov- Windows 630 erage. Tim Nott will be tracking the path Tim Nott shows you how to update your hard- ware in preparation for Windows 95. of Win95 from final beta to shipping product in August or September or November...... DOS 634 Simon Collin slips into SmartDrv, and a reader Hands On remains the place where is the butt of an April Fool “joke”. readers can contribute to PCW, and as always we’ll pay for anything we use. Macros, sections of code and hints and 32-Bit 636 More on awk with Chris Bidmead, plus he tips will be rewarded with a £20 book or investigates Deskman/2. record token (please say which you’d prefer) and we’ll pay hard cash for

APPLICATIONS longer, more involved pieces. Please Word Processing 640 include relevant screenshots in GIF Tim Phillips shows you how to share data with format. someone with a different word processor. All submissions should be emailed to the author of the appropriate section or Spreadsheets 644 snailmailed to Hands On, Personal Stephen Wells on the value of Names (no, not Computer World Editorial, VNU House, the Lloyds kind) in business spreadsheets. 32-34 Broadwick Street, London W1A 2HG. Questions and short hints and tips Databases 648 can be faxed on 0171 316 9313. Mark Whitehorn shows you how to recover mangled or corrupt data files.

Numbers Count 676 Graphics & DTP 652 Gaelic mathematics and other interesting Gordon Laing gets in a spin with scanners, as problems, posed by Mike Mudge. he tries to recreate something like an original picture. AND THE REST... Networks 678 Multimedia 656 In search of the networking advantages of Karl Dunkerley’s farewell column concentrates Windows 95, Stephen Rodda dived under the on Astound 2.0’s screen effects. desk...

Sound 660 Macintosh 682 Steven Helstrip spent a weekend getting Chris Cain on Apple’s unofficial strategy for Windows 95 to work, and found something to combatting Windows 95, and the history of like in the MIDI capabilities of Windows 95. QuickTime.

PROGRAMMING Computer Answers 686 Visual Programming 666 Frank Leonhardt provides his usual forum for Tim Anderson on re-using objects in Delphi, your PC problems, hints and tips. and testing your VB skills with a new exam.

Beginners 688 Low Level 670 New to the weird and wonderful world of the Gamers get going with Go-Moku, as Mike PC? Eleanor Turton-Hill takes you through the Liardet strengthens play and extends the code. shark-infested waters.

627 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● WINDOWS 95 HANDS ON ● WINDOWS 95

Top ten frequently asked questions the old SYSTEM.INI when it first loads, throwing up an extraordinary quantity of Q What’s that cross where the Maximise/Restore button was? error messages stating that it’s unable to A That’s the kiss of death. It closes the window instantly with one click. You still get prompted find a file. to save any open files, though. Having done this, and backed up what- Q Where have the window borders gone? ever is dear to you, follow the instructions A They’re still there. You can grab them with the mouse as before, but they are now for preparing your disk and start installa- cosmetically integrated into the colour scheme. tion. I found it coped well with my rather Q OK. I want to change the colour scheme. Where the hell is Control Panel/Colours? strange hard-disk setup. Drive C: is A It’s in Control Panel/Display, or if you want to be flash, right-click on an empty bit of desk- uncompressed, but a second hard disk, top and choose Properties. Click on the Appearance tab and just look what fun you can have. D:, has a DoubleSpaced partition on it as E:. It replaced DoubleSpace with the later Q How can I close a folder and all its ancestors at one go? An early dip DriveSpace, but apart from a brief moment A Hold down the shift key as you close the folder. of panic when this stopped loading “high”, Q Where has the system menu button gone? everything worked. A It’s still there. Click the jolly little icon at the top left of the window, or right-click anywhere As the final release of Windows 95 glimmers on Dual booting, as mentioned earlier, on the title bar. means you have a short time in which to Q I’ve got a lot of windows open and the taskbar only shows me the first few letters of each the horizon, Tim Nott starts a new series by press F4 and revert to your previous instal- title. How do I know which is which? diving straight in to the preview version. lation. The relevant boot files are renamed A Resize the taskbar by dragging one edge. to suit; the new ones get the .W40 exten- sion, the old the .DOS extension. If, per- Q How do I remember which key to press when dragging a file to copy, move or create a y the time you read this, the Win- chance, pressing F4 has no effect, then short-cut? Bdows 95 preview programme should either you’re not hitting the button quickly A Don’t bother. Right drag and you’ll be presented with a choice. be well under way, with the official beta enough or dual booting is not enabled. In Q How do I rename a file? sites being swelled by another 40,000 UK this case, don’t panic. Let Windows 95 A Use the File/Rename menu command, or right click/Rename. To be really flash click once users who have paid their £35 to join the load, find Notepad and edit the on the icon, then once on its title. In all three cases you type the new name right there, not in programme. They are using release M8, MSDOS.SYS file in the root directory of a dialogue box. also known as build 347, which though the boot drive. You will need to remove the generally stable, still needs some finishing Read Only attribute by double clicking on Q How do I really, really delete something, rather than sending it to the Recycle Bin? touches. the My Computer icon, then the icon for A Shift + Delete Windows 95 is a huge jump from 3.x. It the drive. Right click on MSDOS.SYS, Q Whoops. How do I undelete it? has been designed to make life easier for choose Properties from the pop-up menu A Sorry, you can’t. new users, but it’s also going to cause a lot and clear the Read Only box. Yes, this of confusion for more experienced DOS came as rather a shock to me too, having Now a text file, MSDOS.SYS holds the key and Windows hands. This new column is, always considered this to be an inviolable to dual booting for the first few issues anyway, going to be binary part of DOS, but it’s now a text file. rather a case of the visually impaired The entry BootMulti=1 needs to be in the cated, but at least you’ll be able to run your leading the visually impaired. Options section. You can also add the line application from either environment. To begin at the beginning, what do you A dabbler’s delight, changing fonts as Bootwin=0. This reverses the behaviour, I was worried that re-installing my old do when the CD-ROM or 24 disks arrive? well as colours so you default back to your old ways or apps might overwrite some of the new sys- The first step is to clear out enough disk press F4 to load 95. tem files, but so far, so good. I didn’t make space. Windows 95 is huge, and installing to the familiar world of 3.x by pressing the Once you have Windows 95 up and it any easier for myself as I just stuck the everything in sight from the CD-ROM took F4 key as soon as the “Starting Windows running, the only thing to do is to jump in disks in drive A: and ran A:\SETUP.EXE. up 80Mb. 95” message appears during boot-up. My and start splashing about. Click on any- Well, you don’t do that. Go to Control The second question is whether to opinion is that it would be not so much thing and everything you see, with both Panel and click on Add/Remove programs install over your existing Windows 3.x or to brave as simple-minded to overwrite an mouse buttons. If it all gets too much, you and follow the Wizard’s instructions. One a different directory. The installation rou- existing 3.x installation on which one can still dig out the comfort-blankets of very useful tip if you’re reinstalling tine tries very hard to persuade you to do earns one’s living. Program Manager and Minesweeper. Microsoft Office is to first edit WIN.INI and the former; indeed at one point it seems Make sure you read the Readme file Sooner or later, however, you’re going insert the following: that there is no other way. This is not the (and any other text files) before you do to want to do some real work, using your [MSAPPS] case: you can keep your existing Win- anything else. There is a lot of system- existing applications. Some may work, just MSAPPS=Path to existing location dows/DOS and “dual boot” between that specific information it would be impossible by clicking on them from Explorer or an If you don’t do this, Office will insist on ordinary ISA display cards. My thanks to and Windows 95. to cover here, but I will mention my open folder, but many won’t, as they will duplicating all the shared stuff, such as Guy Gascoigne for pointing out that you If you upgrade your existing Windows, favourite: “If your system is configured for be looking for components (such as Graph, WordArt, the spelling checkers and can re-enable this by adding ILOVE- then your installed hardware, applications Iceland, do not use DriveSpace to com- .DLLs) that are still in the old Windows filters into a subdirectory of your Windows BUNNY32=1 to the Windows section of and relevant settings such as Program press or uncompress your drive.” directory. You’ll get a rather confusing 95 directory — I mean, folder. WIN.INI. The option will appear as a Manager groups (though not as we know Another proviso, not in the Readme error message about the path being And now, here’s the first unofficial checkbox in the Display properties sheet. them) will be inherited. And you will save file I have, is that if you have a WINDIR invalid. You need to re-install the applica- Windows 95 secret. Earlier beta builds Next month, when I’ve had a little time on disk space. But you have to delete Win- environmental variable set in tion from 95 into its existing directory — or had a display option for full window drag- to get over the shock of the new, we’ll take dows 95 and reinstall DOS and 3.x to go AUTOEXEC.BAT, you must REM it out folder, as we must all learn to say. Then ging. M8 reverts to the old way — as you a more philosophical look at the interface back. Installing in a separate directory before installing. The setup routine copies all the relevant bits and pieces will be move or resize a window, you just see its and try and demystify it. Until then, get the means you will have to reinstall most of this to the new version with the conse- installed into the new system. Obviously, outline. Apparently this was removed as a feedback flowing in, by post to PCW or by your applications, but will be able to return quence that Windows 95 tries to process this means a lot of .DLLs will be dupli- standard feature as it didn’t work well on email to [email protected]. PCW

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of Windows, and what is the most cost effective method of upgrading a Windows PC? Referring to that fount of knowledge, the Microsoft 3.1 Resource Kit, we find that Windows will run in standard mode on a 286 computer with 1Mb of RAM, and in 386 enhanced mode on a 386SX with 1.6Mb. But “run” is perhaps some- thing of an exaggeration, as the delays suffered while Windows pages memory passes in and out to disk can be Now you see it, extremely frustrating. Windows loves memory. It devours the now you don’t stuff. Adding more, at almost any level, will improve performance and this should be viewed as a first line of attack. No matter Tim Nott thinks it’s a real pane waiting for what the processor, if you have less than 4Mb of memory, then believe me, life Windows 95, but shows you the most economical doesn't have to be like that. An honourable way to update your hardware in readiness for its exception should be made here for some arrival, how to increase your memory, and catch notebooks that have Windows and appli- cations stored in read-only memory. the PCI or VL bus. For most desktop machines, adding memory is a straightforward matter of plugging in extra SIMMs (single in-line o say that things are rather quiet at October 1994). memory modules). Some manufacturers Tthe moment would be an understate- “Microsoft said that shipping of the have proprietary memory expansion sys- ment. It has been a while since we saw an product may be delayed until August.” tems, in which case it remains a simple exciting new Windows application and (Financial Times, 21st December 1995). matter but becomes more expensive. If even the shareware authors seem to have “...Windows 95 is going to ship this you are really unlucky, you might have an gone into temporary retirement. There are August, I guarantee you that.” (Microsoft old motherboard that can only accept still one or two traditionalists sitting on their spokeswoman quoted in the Independent, extra memory via an expansion card. In back porches whittling away with Visual 5th March 1995). this case it would probably be more cost- Basic, though. “We are still on track to meet our qual- effective to replace the motherboard (a The reason for this quiet time, of ity goals and ship in August.” (Yusuf subject to which we’ll subsequently course, is Windows 95 — or rather, the Mehdi, product manager at Microsoft's return). lack of it. Though applications such as personal systems division, quoted by Four megabytes should be considered Claris Works 3.0, which comes with Win- Newsbytes, 28th March 1995). the absolute minimum for running Win- dows 32-bit extensions, give us a taste of It may be mere cynicism but I detect a dows with any degree of comfort. For gen- what’s to come, few developers are inter- slight difference in spin between these two eral business or graphics use with current ested in teaching the old dog new tricks latter announcements, with the hint of a applications then an 8Mb memory is really when there’s a 32-bit, pre-emptive multi- potential “but” in the second. So how the entry level, despite what the adverts tasking greyhound on its way. But the about: “What we meant is that it will be an say. For instance: Excel 5 has a 4Mb .EXE question is, when? august occasion when Windows 95 even- file; WordPerfect 6.1 needs 6Mb to run; Both users and developers are getting tually ships,” instead? and 8Mb is now the minimum for drawing twitchy, like children on the run-up to My personal view is that they're going packages such as Corel 5 and Micrografx Christmas. But unlike this remarkably to make it. There may be a hiccup or two Designer. Doubtless, in a year or two’s stable product which has shipped an with the Microsoft Network but my money time I would be able to update this para- annual update bang on schedule for is on shrink-wrapped Windows 95 on UK graph by doubling those figures. nearly 2,000 years, Windows 95, formerly dealers' shelves by 31st August. eight modules. These are arranged in four Top The Windows 2 view of your known as Chicago, is a more movable One over the eight banks on a 386, and in two banks on a computer... feast. Perhaps this can best be illustrated Hard-wearing hardware Unlike the cost of processors or hard 486. Bottom ...and the Windows 95 view with a few historical quotations. Meanwhile, back in the real world of Win- disks, memory prices have failed to tumble One entire bank at a time must be filled “Chicago is scheduled to ship in the dows 3.x, life goes on. One thing unlikely during the past few years. But for any with the same type of SIMM. So if all eight you trade in surplus SIMMs. second half of 1994” (Microsoft document, to be lessened by Windows 95 is the 386SX or better, upgrading to 8Mb is nev- slots on a 486 board are occupied by 1Mb Another caveat is that the classic 30- Chicago Q & A, December 1993). demand that Windows places on hard- ertheless the single, most cost-effective SIMMs, then the next step up is to remove pin SIMM is rapidly becoming unfashion- “Windows 95 is scheduled to ship in the ware. Microsoft has pledged that it will run improvement you can make to a PC. four of these and replace them with 4Mb able in favour of the 72-pin variety. And first half of 1995” (Microsoft document, as well, or better, as Windows 3.x on a There are, however, a couple of SIMMs. This will give a total of 20Mb, plus this brings us neatly back to the subject of Windows 95 Q & A, September 1994). 386DX with 4Mb of RAM. caveats to watch out for, particularly if you four redundant 1Mb SIMMs. So if you motherboards. Whereas a memory injec- “...we have moved our date one time; This brings us to the question of what intend going beyond 8Mb. On most were originally hoping to go to 12 or 16, it tion will boost the performance of a PC, from the end of 1994 to the first half of constitutes a sensible base from which to middle-aged machines which use 30-pin is going to be rather more expensive than any further upgrading of an older machine 1995...” (Microsoft document Dmyth.doc, run the current and subsequent versions SIMMs, there is room for a maximum of anticipated. However, some dealers will let will almost certainly mean replacing the

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processor. If you've got a 386, then it you're stuck in 640 x 480, you might want makes sense to upgrade to a 486. It is pos- to work at a higher resolution to get more sible to do a straight chip swap (using information on the screen at once. But it’s Cyrix upgrade chips) to go from a 386SX vital to check first that your monitor will 20 to a 486SX 40 for example. But support this: ideally it should be capable of although this is an extremely easy-to-fit displaying the required resolution at a solution, it's not terribly cost-effective when non-interlaced refresh rate of no less than compared with fitting a new motherboard. 70Hz. The ISA bus is becoming an If your existing board doesn’t have a local increasingly lonely vehicle for graphics bus, then you're still stuck in the upgrade cards — most now take advantage of the cul-de-sac because you won't be able to extra speed available from the PCI or VL take advantage of the latest variety of buses. graphics accelerators and other goodies. It is possible to find a motherboard, fit- Retro Windows ted with a 486DX 66 processor with both Older readers may remember PCI and VESA local buses and standard MSDOS.EXE. This was the Windows 2.x ISA slots, for less than £200. Additionally, shell which was rather like a simple File Write rules OK — with a little help from Fortunately it's possible to get around you should get onboard enhanced IDE Manager. It didn't have a split tree/con- Paintbrush this by loading CorelDraw, running Ven- hard disk control on the PCI bus, which will tents structure but merely listed all the files tura from this, and then closing Corel- speed up disk performance. As well as in the current directory, with optional Draw. But you'll be pleased to hear that this, you should have floppy drive control, details. You could copy, move, rename, or to perfectly well-behaved applications that the story has a happy ending: the latest COM ports — the latter with 16550 UARTS delete files, and create new directories as install genuine, latest model Microsoft-all- build of Ventura 5 (known as F1) fixes the for fast external modem performance — well as run programs. Navigation was the-way-through files. problem and should be available by the and a printer port, so you don't need a sep- accomplished either by clicking down into This is usually the stuff that isn’t time you read this. arate I/O card. The catch, however, relates a subdirectory on different drive icons, or included in the standard Windows pack- back to the last caveat. up along any part of the current path age, such as the Video for Windows Paintbrush rules OK beside these. So, if you were in player or the OLE 2 files. These have a The latest, tiny but perfectly formed, Paint- Get on the bus, Gus C:\DATA\WORDS\LETTERS\ development life of their own and get brush + Write trick revolves around the There are two popular local bus standards: BUSINESS\INSURE, clicking on updated independently of the main thrust image attributes recently examined in this VESA (aka VL) was the first on the scene; LETTERS would take you straight to that of Windows. Video for Windows, for column. but the current favourite is the newcomer, level. example, is now at version 1.1 and strictly Windows Write has no drawing tools, PCI. Although it's possible to find a VESA Although it struggled through to version speaking we should be referring to OLE so apart from underlining it’s impossible to local bus board that takes 30-pin SIMMs, 3.0 for old time's sake (much as Program 2.01. put a ruled line into a document without (or a mixture of 30 and 72-pin), PCI boards and File Manager are still lurking in Win- Great pains are taken to ensure back- some outside help. With a little cunning, seem to deal exclusively with the 72-pin dows 95), it was finally pensioned off in wards compatibility — if, say, a Pigs In though, and the help of Paintbrush, you variety. So it may once again be a matter version 3.1. It may just be sentimentality Space CD-ROM, bought in 1993, came can achieve the effect seen in the screen- of finding a friendly dealer who will trade in but I've still got a copy on one of my with run-time Video for Windows 1.0, shot shown here, using only the standard the older type. But the 72-pin variety does machines and although you can't do any- which was later updated to 1.1 by the Windows equipment. offer more flexibility — typically you'll have thing like drag and drop, it does work with installation of a new Acme Multimedia Call up Write, turn on the ruler from the room for only four on the motherboard, but the [extensions] settings in WIN.INI, so Workshop bought last week, then the Document menu, and note the distance each of these can range between 4Mb to you can double click to launch an associ- video clips in the former will still run. between the margins. Start Paintbrush 32Mb. ated file. The beauty of it is that wherever It should be common sense really, but and go to “Options/Image Attributes...”. Changing a motherboard is not actually you set the working directory in Program it doesn't always seem to work out that With the inches or centimetre option but- as daunting a task as it may first appear. It Manager properties, then that is the direc- way. When CorelDraw 5 was released last ton selected, enter the Write margin dis- means, for example, that you could trans- tory you're in when you start year, it included a bundled copy of Ven- tance as the width. Switch the form an ancient 16MHz 386SX with 2Mb of MSDOS.EXE. Thus, you can have one tura Publisher 5 — or rather, it contained a measurement to “pels” and enter two as RAM into a very hip 8Mb 66MHz 486 for icon pointing to C:\...\BUSINESS virtual copy of Ventura in the form of a the height. Set the black and white option, around £400 (plus VAT). But having com- \INSURE, another to C:\...\BUSINESS voucher that could be exchanged for the OK the dialogue, then set the background pleted the task, you'll probably start to \TAX, and so on. Because you can run real thing when the programmers had it colour to black and start a new file. You'll notice how infuriatingly slow the screen multiple instances of MSDOS.EXE, it's ready. have a black rule, two pixels high — save performance has become. And this is the rather like having shortcuts to folders on When it eventually did arrive, patient this as rule2.bmp and then repeat the problem with upgrading — it's hard to your desktop. This, of course, is one of the punters started to find that Corel's reputa- operation for other measures. The files will know when to stop. salient features of Windows 95, and goes tion for bugginess, and Ventura's for be tiny, and you can then load these into Windows makes enormous demands to show that what goes around, comes bloody-mindedness, had conspired in an Paintbrush and copy and paste into Write. on the graphics display but “accelerated” around. extra special way. It seems that Ventura 5 As the latter can't manage the feat of hav- display cards, which sub-contract a lot of has a deep and abiding affection for the ing graphics and text on the same line, you the work involved from the central proces- Devious DLLs original OLE 2 files. If something updates can only use this for horizontal rules but sor, make a great deal of difference. Since previous months’ mentions of dupli- these with later versions — for example, it's better than nothing. Additionally, if this is an old standard cate .DLLs, the plot has thickened some- the latest versions of Word, WordPerfect VGA-only device that's limited to 16 what: some applications will update or Microsoft and Claris Works — then colours, you're missing out on a lot. Nearly existing .DLLs when installed. Ventura gets a severe attack of the sulks PCW Contacts all multimedia applications need a 256- I’m not referring to the rogue installa- and won't load from Program Manager. Tim Nott can be contacted either by colour display and for serious image-pro- tion routines that overwrite these with ear- The hard disk will make all the right post c/o PCW or by email on cessing work even more is required. And if lier versions (Hands On, June 1994), but noises, but nothing will actually happen. [email protected]

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As you have probably already discov- DOS commands to any short name; you Switching on to attributes ered, the PATH command overwrites any can then run a whole list of commands In the previous section on PATHs, you’ll existing PATH each time you enter a new with a simple command. For example, if see that I used an example that lists files path. Although rather irritating, this offers you need to regularly check up on which that need to be backed up all through the the byproduct of being a useful way to files in a subdirectory have not been DIR and DOSKEY commands. I covered clear the Path variable by simply entering archived recently, you could assign the the DIR command thoroughly over a year PATH = ;. If you enter the PATH command following: ago, but there are a couple of tricks that by itself, you’ll display the existing contents DOSKEY CHK=DIR \FILES\SIMON\VITAL\*.* are worth remembering and the /A switch of the variable. /A:a is one of neatest. This lets you list files To switch between two PATH configu- One of the most efficient ways of using according to their attribute bit. For exam- rations, you can save the contents of the DOSKEY is to assign PATH statements ple, if you want to view all the files that current PATH variable to a batch file which with it. Instead of including the search path need to be backed up (those that have and write-caches hard drives, but only can then be run to initialise the PATH: entry within the PATH variable, you could their archive bit set), use the command: read-caches floppy drives. If you want to : replace the whole lot with a simple DIR /A:a All present and correct check how your copy of SMARTDRV is set To save the Path, redirect it to a file: DOSKEY command to start the applica- This can be used in reverse. If you want up, enter the command SMARTDRV /S C:\ > PATH > OLDPATH.BAT tion. This way, it’s faster to run the pro- to check all those files that have been and you’ll get a screen of statistics show- You can now enter your new path and gram and you save space in the PATH backed up (that do not have the archive bit Checking the state of files copied onto floppy ing how efficient it has been, together with can restore DOS back to its original state variable. For example, if you’ve just set), use the following: leads Simon Collin into SmartDrv territory, an a list of the drives and how they are by running OLDPATH.BAT. installed a new application, called DIR /A:-a April Fool “joke” is the cause of some alarm, and cached. If you need to temporarily add a new APP.EXE, stored in \APPS\UTILS\BIN, The letter following the colon defines To set up SMARTDRV to read and entry to the PATH, rather than edit the then your PATH statement might look the attribute bit to be used: ‘h’ for hidden he turns on to the /A switch. write cache a hard drive, use the drive+ AUTOEXEC.BAT file line that defines the similar to: files, ‘s’ for system files, ‘d’ for subdirecto- switch, to remove both types of cacheing PATH variable, you can add to it from the PATH=C:\;C:\WINDOWS;C:\DOS;C:\APPS\UT ries, and ‘r’ for read-only files. use the drive- switch, and to enable only DOS command line using the following ILS\BIN In MSDOS 6.2 you can do a similar need to make sure that the files I copy your AUTOEXEC.BAT file or just typing it read cacheing use just the drive letter. For trick. Create a batch file called The DOSKEY way would be to assign trick with less effort. If you type just the Ionto a floppy disk are correct and un- in at the C:\ prompt. From now on, com- example, if you want to disable cacheing ADDPATH.BAT that contains the following a short name APP the full path that points plain vanilla DIR command you won’t see corrupted. I have tried to use the verify mands like COPY, XCOPY and MOVE will on your floppy drive A: and have only read line: to the executable file, APP.EXE: any hidden or system files. If you type DIR, switch with the DOS COPY command, but verify what’s been written to disk. The ver- caches on the hard drive C:, you would @SET PATH = %PATH%; %1 DOSKEY APP=C:\APPS\UTILS\BIN\APP (that’s a comma directly after the DIR) this always says the file has been correctly ify process works very simply: the sector use the following statement: It might seem rather peculiar, but this If the application needs command-line you’ll see the system and hidden files. The saved — even when the disk is faulty. that has just been written to is read and SMARTDRV A- C works, trust me! For example, to add the parameters, you can use DOSKEY to pick comma works, but you’ll find it more flexi- Short of accessing each file from the the data compared to the original. An alternative to setting each individual C:\APPS directory as a new entry to the them up by adding the characters $* after ble to use the correct switches that I’ve floppy disk, how can I be sure that my data Where I suspect you are going wrong is drive is to use the /X switch which dis- PATH variable, just type in ADDPATH the DOSKEY command. This will pass on described above. gets copied accurately? that you have a disk cacheing program ables write cacheing on all drives. Either C:\APPS and it will be added to the end of any command-line characters: for exam- running. Most users have SMARTDRV way, if you enter one of these commands the existing PATH statement — subject to ple, if APP.EXE needs a filename entered Any DOS command that writes data to installed and, if this caches disk writes as the VERIFY routines should now work the size constraints mentioned at the start. on the command-line in order to work, you PCW Contacts disk can be set to verify what it’s just writ- well as read operations, then the verify correctly. If you do exceed the size limits of the can modify the DOSKEY statement to ten. This doesn’t mean that it will check the process will be carried out in RAM and variable, you can use the DOSKEY com- read: Write care of PCW or via email to accuracy of what’s in the file, but DOS will won’t test the disk. To solve the problem Paths to success mand as an alternative way of setting up a DOSKEY APP=C:\APPS\UTILS\BIN\APP $* [email protected] or CompuServe 72241,601 check that the disk sector has correctly and ensure that verify is working correctly, Over the past few months I have had series of PATHs. DOSKEY lets you assign stored the data. The simplest way to disable the write cache operation of your many letters about the PATH environment enable verify is to issue the command cache software. variable. I’ve dealt with some questions in VERIFY ON either by adding it as a line in By default, SMARTDRV read-caches the column, but have never covered all the April Fool! options to the PATH variable and how you can make it work more efficiently. I’ve just had a rather unpleasant April Fool joke played on me, which I thought I would pass The PATH variable holds the names of on to other readers. Not so that they can do this to unsuspecting colleagues, more as a use- subdirectories and drives where DOS can ful tip! The DOS command used to carry out this act is SET DIRCMD = 0. This returns the find an executable file once it’s finished very worrying message that there are no files found when the user types in the DIR looking in the current directory. The PATH command. variable has a maximum length of 127 characters — in practice, this is actually I covered the DIRCMD command several months ago, but I didn’t go into details about its 122 characters once you’ve used up the misuse! In fact, the poor user can still list files in a directory after this command’s been PATH= sequence — and this could pose a entered, but only if he specifies the full directory path. For example, if you’re in the root limit especially if you have several disk directory, typing DIR won’t work but typing DIR C:\ will list all the files. drives or volumes. If you want to set up a The purpose of the DIRCMD environment variable is to set the default switch configura- Path, you use the PATH= command; you tion for the DIR command. For example, you could use it to set the DIR command to display can enter this from the command line or the file listing one page at a time, equivalent to using the /p switch with the DIR command. from within a batch file. By setting DIRCMD to zero, you are removing the default switch parameters from the DIR To set the path to include the root direc- command and forcing it to respond only if a full path is included. tory of drive C:, the \DOS directory and the Three months ago, I had a letter from a user who wanted to secure his PC during coffee \APPS directory, use the following com- breaks. This DIRCMD statement that you’ve described would be one way to stop users mand with each separate search path sep- snooping around. Of course, it’s not as good as the CTTY > NUL command that I described arated by a semicolon: then, since programs can still be run and files copied — if you know their names. PATH = C:\; \DOS; \APPS

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more complex to deal with this possibility. Then, every time you click on the WebEx- drop from the remote directory onto your But I have a confession to make. Last plorer icon, you open a new instantiation of local disk. But like a lot of simple GUI week I was caught up in a lot of intensive the program. You can usefully do this for applications it’s strong on interaction and work involving research culled from the most of the other TCP/IP objects like weak on automation. I haven’t even fig- Web, a few pages of which I wanted as Archie and FTP-PM. ured out how to make it do an MGET (mul- ASCII. I should have knocked up a couple FTP-PM is the Presentation Manager tiple file transfer) without stopping and of lines of Awk, but I could see myself get- version of two File Transfer Protocol appli- asking for confirmation with each file. Nor- ting hooked on the delights of testing and cations that come with Warp. If you’re puz- mally you can switch this on and off with refining it, and time was pressing. So what zling about Archie, don’t hunt around for it the Prompt command, but FTP-PM seems I did (don’t laugh) was just print out the on your Warp CD-ROM because it isn’t not to understand this. If I’m missing pages from Web Explorer (IBM’s there. It’s one of the options among the something, please do write in and set me NetScape equivalent for Warp) and OCR software updates that IBM offers when straight. them with Caere’s Omnipage Pro. This is you first log in to your Internet connection. You might want to forget FTP-PM and Vintage Portage an extended mode Windows application Click on the “Software Update” object that use the command line version that gets that is supposedly tricky under OS/2, and appears in your SuperHighway folder installed automatically from the Bonus- running it full screen is to be recom- when you install the BonusPak and the Pak. Just open an OS/2 window, or full- Portage, Unix’s subsystem, aims to make Unix an mended. I run it seamless and it works just update process will be automated for you. screen session, and type “ftp integral part of Windows NT. Chris Bidmead as well as it does under Windows (which is Your Archie client works in conjunction ”. Type “help” to get a list of to say, yes, it bombs out a couple of times, with any one of a number of Archie servers commands, and “help ” for guides you through it, and investigates but not often enough to be more than an out there on the Net. The servers collect further details. It seems to me a much Deskman/2, but begins with another look at the occasional irritant). archive information about the names of more flexible FTP environment than the great Awk. files and directories that can be accessed PM version, but you can go one better if Warp’s Web via FTP. “Archie” is the name for the com- you get hold of NCFTP from any of the Having used the WebExplorer, I lamented plete system of co-operating Archie usual FTP sites. have received some correspondence Well, I’m glad to see other people make for weeks the fact that it “isn’t re-entrant”. servers that share information about the This is an OS/2 port by Steve Willer of Ifrom a reader on the subject of AWK: he the same kind of mistakes in Awk that I Actually, I hadn’t really sat down and file archives distributed across well over a Mike Gleason’s generic freeware improve- thought the language might be a useful make. The reason the wider catch pattern thought about it properly, but I’d the vague thousand FTP sites worldwide. ment on the vanilla FTP, and after using if way of cleaning up HTML stuff uploaded /<.+>/ produces blank lines is because it’s impression that although it’s multi- The only Archie I’d used before yester- for a couple of weeks I’m devoted to it. using NetScape. When you look at an doing exactly what Bill is telling it to. He threaded, you can’t run multiple copies. I’d day was the one available from CIX. This Like the standard FTP it allows you to HTML file as ASCII it’s full of this kind of has widened the catch pattern too far. Awk been impressed with the way the Gopher does a good job, in a simple, text-based keep your regular site names in a resource thing: is always looking for the largest string that client can visit several different sites, sort of way. You type “archie ”, file called netrc, paired against the appro- A Nice Title Like This fits the pattern, so if you have an input line downloading files simultaneously. You can and this creates a text file of files and priate username and password. NCFTP

A Nice Subtitle Like This

like

Blurb

the /<.+>/ pattern run the WebExplorer alongside the directories whose names contain The Author catcher will catch the whole line, because Gopher, but only one WebExplorer at a tern> together with the full names of the you only need to type “open lasermoon” to

Blurb

that’s a pattern that begins with “<” and time was usable. respective sites. open the ftp.lasermoon.co.uk site. 
 ends with “>”. But hang on — why would you want to Useful stuff, but the OS/2 Archie does Just typing “open” by itself is even more So, we need to exclude the possibility run multiple copies of the WebExplorer? much more. If you open the “IBM Internet fun. This gives you a menu of all the sites Article. that the pattern can also include other “<” The answer is that the PPP or Slip serial Connection for OS/2” directory that the in your netrc file with a number against characters. Here’s my attempt at it. You’ll connection you have with your Information BonusPak installs you’ll find an object each site. Just type the number to open
notice I’ve also tried to improve the read- Provider isn’t always the bottleneck. I often called Retrieve Software Updates. Run the site. Better still, the menu also includes Just the job for Awk. My correspondent, ability and make the pattern self-docu- find myself sitting there waiting for a slow this through your Internet connection and a list of recent sites you’ve visited, whether Bill, came up with the following program menting. server at the other end of the line to deliver you’ll then be connected to or not you bothered to include them in your for this: #Removes HTML markup from WWW files its information. While you’re waiting, why updates.gopher.ibm.com, which contains netrc file. And, there’s more — when you { #CHB Jul 95 not go off exploring other links? You can newer versions of the software you’ve revisit a site, days or weeks later, NCFTP gsub(/<[A-Z0-9]+>|<\/[A-Z0-9]+>/,””) do that within Gopher, but not with a single already installed, and some new applica- remembers which directory you were in } BEGIN { copy of the WebExplorer. tions like this beta version of Archie. last time and puts you back there. // html_on = “<[ -;=-~]+>” Once I’d re-addressed the problem in The OS/2 Archie is a PM application No, it’s not pretty, and it hasn’t got a The gsub statement strips out the html_off = “\/” html_on this way, the obvious thing to do was to fix that lets you do pretty well everything by bunch of buttons and icons. But NCFTP unwanted marking and the “//” pattern sub- } the WebExplorer object so that it could point and click — including downloading has every hallmark of a program written by sequently prints every line. But the pro- { launch multiple copies of the program. By the files once you’ve tracked down their someone who really uses this kind of stuff, gram needs some refinement. The catch gsub(html_on,””) default, installed objects run a single whereabouts. If your search returns the and knows a thing or two about design. pattern isn’t wide enough, because the gsub(html_off,””) instantiation of themselves — once you’ve name of a directory, double-click on the WWW markup language, HTML, doesn’t print double-clicked on an object to open it in a Associated Directory icon to re-connect to DeskMan/2 just use letters and numbers within its } window, a second double-click on that the Archie server to query the directory I’m in the process of moving my compli- angle brackets. It can put a ton of different This is better, and will do the job with a object will return you to the same window. contents. Ironically, I found this sometimes cated WPS desktop from old Red Warp to things in there including “=” and “!”. lot of HTML text. But it assumes, like Bill’s But if you open the Settings notebook for makes it easier for me to root among the new Blue Warp that comes with built-in Bill continues: original program, that the open angle the object and turn to the Window tab 200Gb or so of files out there than to hunt WinOS/2. They’re both installed on pri- “When I experimented with removing bracket and the close angle bracket of a you’ll find you get two options under for a particular file on my own modest net- mary partitions on the same drive, so anything within “<>” regardless of internal particular HTML annotation is going to be “Object Open Behaviour”. As well as the work — and certainly a lot easier than either becomes drive C: depending on my pattern, by using /<.+>/, Awk behaves hor- on the same line. Judging by HTML files default behaviour “Display Existing Win- restoring individual files from backup. choice from the Boot Manager, and they ribly and replaced the entire line with nulls. I’ve inspected this isn’t always the case. dow” you can alternatively “Create New Having previously mentioned FTP-PM, can’t communicate directly with one I can’t really explain why.” The program would have to be quite a bit Window”. Click the radio button instead. it’s a nice “get you started” application another. However, they do share the which allows you to shift files by drag and same set of network drives, so the trick is

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debuggers to put Unix applica- lets you mix DOS devices with Unix utili- tions together. Using the Portage ties like this). I used cp to create a file SDK you can even build hybrid called ElBid and another called elbid in the Unix/Windows NT applications same directory. If you look at the directory that play to both the Unix API with with ls, the files show up as you might the Win32 API. expect. But use the DIR command in a One example of this is the Win NT command line window and you Portage Windows NT interface, a see that the first file is called elbid~y. This Windows application that oper- is how Portage avoids the problem that ates as a glorified gateway to Win NT can’t live with a pair of files called Unix for interactive use. Open it ElBid and elbid in the same directory. and up pops a shell window and a Now, here’s the problem: if you want to separate window full of buttons, get rid of the file you named in lower case each marked with the name of only, you can either “del elbid~y” or “rm DeskMan/2 builds a description file for Unix utility. Click on the utility of your elbid”. But if you get mixed up and try to any object you drop onto its icon, allow- choice and you get a dialogue box tailored “del elbid” you’ll lose the wrong file. ing you to reconstruct the object, even to that particular utility, with a list of tick There are one or two other inconsisten- in a different version of the operating boxes corresponding to the various cies to which you’ll need to adapt. For system. Optionally, DeskMan/2 can arcane parameters. Each tick box carries example, Portage keeps all the Unix utili- create a Rexx program for any object, the name of the parameter together with a ties in a single file, bin, off the directory it is so you don’t need DeskMan/2 on the textual memory jogger about what it does. using for its root. In ordinary Unix systems target system These memory joggers are great for some of these utilities will be distributed the not-quite Unix guru who’s still con- among other directories like /etc, so if somehow to write out the defining infor- fused about the difference mation about my Red Warp desktop to a between the -1 and - l parame- network drive. Then I should be able to ters to LS. For the more lowly of power up Blue Warp and reconstruct the us, every dialogue box comes desktop from that information. with a Help button. Click on this The utility DeskMan/2 offers a few and you get the Unix manual ways to do this. I’m experimenting with it at pages for that utility, laid out in the moment and I’ll let you know how I get Windows Hypertext help format. on next month. The combination of Unix and Win NT works well, with a few Portage hairy exceptions that add much Last month I briefly mentioned Portage, needed interest to the rather dull the Unix subsystem for Windows NT sold Win NT user interface. One obvi- by the Canadian company Consensys. ous bone of contention between Consensys is a repackager and reseller of the two operating systems is the Portage (pronounce it the French way) Novell’s UnixWare, and Portage is one of casing of filenames. Windows is case- offers a pushbutton interface to Unix the fruits of this relationship. The product insensitive, and Unix preserves case dis- utilities. As you select options, they get adds an almost complete version of S5R4 tinctions and won’t delete ThisFile if you written into the Input window at the top to the Microsoft operating system, allowing ask it to “rm thisfile”. As I say, you can of the dialogue box, so you can learn as you to run Unix shells like the C Shell choose between a Portage shell window you go along much as if you were in a standalone Unix and the Win NTcommand line to run a environment. mixture of NT and Unix commands, and in But there’s much more to it than that. either environment “del thisfile” will delete you’re trying to run a shell script written for Portage aims to make Unix an integral part the file. If this inconsistency worries you, another Unix you’ll need to check any path of Windows NT rather than a sort of though, there’s an easy way to fix it. You references it makes. ghetto. The utilities that Portage brings to can switch off the Unix case-sensitivity by The one serious problem I had (and I the party interoperate with Windows NT setting the environmental parameter need to investigate this further) is that from files and directories created by Windows CASENAMES to n. inside Portage’s Unix shell my NetWare NT programs, and vice versa. The two Unix users will probably want to work directories seem to be inaccessible, con- Unix shells Portage provides, ksh and csh, with CASENAMES=y, but there’s at least fining the shell’s operation to files and can be used to launch Windows NT appli- one rather nasty surprise in store if you do directories on local drives. The way cations or utilities, and the Unix tools can this. I was investigating the case sensitiv- around this, if you want to run fgrep, say, be run equally well from the Windows NT ity by creating files with different names, on a remote directory, is to do so from Command Prompt. and the easy way to do this is “COPY within the Win NT command line window. The same synergy applies to applica- CON ” (which creates a DOS- tions development. As an alternative to the type filename) or “cp con ”, PCW Contacts standard Unix ar, cc, ld and make com- the Unix equivalent which preserves the Chris Bidmead is a consultant and mands that come with the Portage SDK, case. (Okay, just testing you Unix hackers: commentator on advanced technology. Consensys claims that you can use the real Unix equivalent is “cp /dev/tty He can be contacted at Microsoft Windows NT compilers and ”, but the Portage symbiosis [email protected]

638 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● WORD PROCESSING HANDS ON ● WORD PROCESSING

Caring and sharing

Translation filters have improved, but you may still have problems showing your Windows documents to someone with a different word processor. Tim Phillips has some answers, as well as consolation for DOS users and some nifty shareware.

in four or five word processors using RTF, LED, a handy little text editor that t’s one thing to put a whole bunch of as one of the rivals upgrades, the filters but there is a downside of course: it is stor- programmers might enjoy Ifonts, styles and pictures into your word are out of date. ing the look of the thing, rather than its processor document. It is quite another to Statistically the biggest problem for structure. let someone else see the document if they Windows users has been in mixed Ami Interestingly, this is the Microsoft Dos or Unix versions from the Software don’t own the same word processor. Pro and Word for Windows sites. This has advice for users who want to translate Compatibility Centre on 01344 885224. While the standard of translation filters not been remotely amusing for Ami Pro between Microsoft Works and Word. SCC claims more than three pages per has risen dramatically over the last three 3.0 users who are faced with WinWord 6.0 2. Previous versions second batch conversion speeds and 130 years, as well as the number of filters every day, and can’t do anything with it. Save in WinWord 2.0 rather than WinWord file formats. which word processors have as standard, One solution is to upgrade: version 3.1 6.0, and the document is available in Ami 6. Adobe Acrobat 2.0 there are still a number of problems, to has the filter you need. Pro 3.0. Again, laborious, and you miss The real thing: write your files in Acrobat’s judge by your letters. Part of the problem For you, and many others in the same out on WinWord 6.0 features. But then, if Page Description Format, and anyone is that when a new piece of software predicament, here are a few pointers: you wanted those you’d have standard- with a reader on any platform will be able comes out, it can contain all the filters for 1. The slow way ised on version 6.0 anyway. to read them. They even look alike. The all current editions of all its rivals. As soon Save your documents in an intermediate 3. Get on your supplier’s nerves Acrobat reader is freeware, and following file format. If God had meant us to be pro- Pestering technical support will occasion- a tie-up with NetScape, PDF format looks The Word for Windows viewer. Down- prietary, he wouldn’t have invented Rich ally produce a surprise. For example, like it will have the same effect on the Web load it, give it to your friends and be Text Format. I have had little trouble get- Microsoft has a filter that will translate Ami as its ancestor PostScript had for printing. instantly popular ting accurate visual replicas of documents Pro 3.1 documents. If you’re publishing documents with a lot of 4. More interesting solutions formatting for distribution online or outside If you’re a WinWord user and you want to your company, then sending the docu- lord it over your colleagues, consider giv- ment with an Acrobat reader is the ing them the Word viewer that Microsoft answer. supplies as freeware. You can get this from CompuServe (GO MSWORD) or DOS from Microsoft’s FTP site For users looking for a new product, ‘what- (ftp.microsoft.com), or try contacting ever happened to..?’ is becoming a bit of a Microsoft direct. DOS user’s lament. Like naming ten The viewer fits on one floppy and famous Canadians, it’s a good game to allows you to view, print or copy, but not play on long car journeys. I’ll admit I was edit, the document. Depending on your stumped recently, when someone asked point of view this is either a useful me what the plans were for Locoscript. resource or Microsoft’s dastardly attempt Now I have the answer. There will be to infiltrate your PC. It’s probably a bit of no new versions, but the company will both. continue to sell Locoscript Professional 2+ 5. Custom-built software for DOS, which is beginning to look a little Anyone with a major file translation pricey at £99. If you are looking for cheap headache needs Word for Word, one of and cheerful, then the cut-down PC Easy the best-kept secrets in file conversion. It’s is still available too, at £19.95. like a whole bunch of viewers in one pack- The company is not making any secret age, and you can get it in Windows, Mac, of the fact that no new word processor

640 641 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● WORD PROCESSING HANDS ON ● WORD PROCESSING

Type: WINWORD6.INI Impossible equations Click OK. This opens Notepad and the Nigel Watson at the Heriot-Watt University WinWord initialisation file. Immediately Physics Department has a problem with below the line which says [Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0: Word], insert a line: “We are constantly producing scientific Bitmapmemory=512 documents which rely heavily on equa- Save the file and restart WinWord. tions. After a while we noticed that every 5. Another tricky one: you can increase the time you edit an equation your resources size of WinWord’s 64K text cache, reduc- go down by about five per cent, so after a ing the number of disk reads it requires. short time you have to reboot Windows Open WINWORD6.INI again, and immedi- and reload your document.” Not surpris- ately below the [Microsoft Word] line, add ingly Nigel calls this “A PAIN” and has a line: some advice for Bill Gates which I won’t Cachesize=128 repeat, but in this case agree with. Save the file, restart Word. Either of It isn’t just a word processing problem, these lines can be edited out of the .INI file but a Windows problem that WordArt or if there’s no improvement. the Equation editor, or quite a few other word processor applets, can cause. Win- Useful lesson dows has four 64K resource heaps which Any teachers out there? I was intrigued, fill up according to Windows usage. One is while mining CompuServe for the answer full of menus, another is full of dimensions, to a technical question, to find a group of and so on. The one with the least free The two caches that you can change pulink.co.uk, or 100315,665 at Com- Ami Pro users whose problem was that resources is used as the ‘free resources’ which might speed up WinWord 6 in a puServe. they couldn’t print some of the text in a figure. 4Mb PC Although I doubted the idea of share- document, while making other parts of the Unfortunately the GDI heap stores all ware text editors under Windows last text ‘invisible’ to the printer. All the avail- the graphical objects you use: icons, but- software is being developed. Instead it has month, I am now eating my words, able solutions involved marking the text, tons, fonts, cursors and so on. There are a set sail for the Internet, where in the next because this is an excellent and profes- printing only a ‘form’, and then finding that lot of these in the Equation editor, but few weeks you will see Locomotive Soft- sional implementation. I’d recommend it your printer wouldn’t print the graphics on when you close it, the GDI heap doesn’t ware subsidiary, Turnpike, launch soft- for programmers who need the find and the page either. empty them out. Instead it fills up a bit ware with the same name. It’s an offline replace function as well as the ability to cut The solution was suggested by a more when you re-use the editor, and so reader for Internet mail, targeted at dial-up and paste large text buffers. That’s the teacher, who writes her test papers with on until it is full and you have to restart users, and it will contain a text editor (they best use for LED, although its font han- the answers included. She used one para- Windows. There’s no fix for this, except to have the code knocking around after all). dling could stand some improvement. graph style, let’s call it ‘Para_1’, for the wait for Windows 95. The way to conserve “It’s a whole new venture for the com- Of course, you can also use it to edit questions, and another, ‘Para_2’, for the GDI resource is to minimise the number of pany,” said a spokeswoman, adding that it .INI files, so useful for tuning up Word for answers. Both styles are the same. All you fonts you use, make sure you are not wouldn’t be a DOS program. It’s Windows Windows (see below). do to print is set the text colour for ‘Para_2’ using a screen saver that leaks resources from now on. to white. If you want to do it more ele- (some do), don’t use wallpaper and leave Don’t worry, though, you will not be left Quick Word gantly, record a changing-colour-printing- program groups iconised when Windows high and dry when you want to move to a Following my general recommendation of and-changing-colour-back-again macro. starts up. And that’s about it. PC and take your files with you. In sympa- Word 6.0. I have been asked by several Meanwhile, another Lotus Ami Pro thy with this month’s theme of document Word 6.0 users to come up with some Problems query — it has been a big month for them. conversion, the lack of a Windows version ideas to make it work faster if you have While we are on the subject of filters, Eric Having now seen the new release of Ami of your favourite software needn’t be a dis- less than 8Mb of RAM. Young of Newbury laments: “Every time I Pro, I can honestly say that it’s worth stick- aster if you buy Locomotive’s transfer util- I can do no better than to repeat try to save my Ami Pro 3.1 documents in ing with. The new version’s a cracker. ity called LocaLink for Windows. For £99, Microsoft’s advice: WordPerfect format, I get a GPF.” A quick Janet Russell of Northfields wants to you get the software, the cables, and the 1. Disable the expanded memory use by follow-up call to Eric helped me to estab- use find and replace to find multiple car- chance to convert your documents to stan- EMM386.EXE, unless you are running lished the crucial fact: he has been trying riage returns, but leave single ones alone. dard Windows word processor formats. software that needs it. Run MemMaker to convert documents with numbered This has me stumped. Ami Pro doesn’t under DOS to do this. pages. find more than one special character per Hints 2. Set the upper and lower cache sizes for There’s no special reason why putting search, so it will find every example of a If you’re looking for a cheap and cheerful SMARTDRV.EXE to 2048 and 320, page numbering into your document carriage return and strip it out if you search word processor which can handle multiple unless you are running Windows for Work- should cause a crash; it just does, and for two together. (You enter a paragraph files under Windows, record and play key- Groups, in which case the small figure will very messy it is too. As always, there are mark in the dialogue box by typing stroke macros with a natty find and be 128 already. Leave it at that. Your DOS two ways around this: either remove your ). Finding exactly two carriage replace, then I have a little gem for you manual tells you how to configure Smart- page numbers, which is at best half a solu- returns? Not possible. I’m sure there must that I turned up during a snuffle round on Drive. tion because numbered WordPerfect doc- be a way to achieve this, but it defeats me. CIX. It’s called LED, it’s shareware 3. Create a permanant Swapfile. ument will still crash the system if you try (£34.95 if you decide to keep it), and the 4. Here’s the tricky bit. If you don’t use and import them; or call Lotus technical PCW Contacts current version is 1.3. many graphics, you can reduce the size of support and request a bug fix. Funnily LED is copyrighted by systems integra- WinWord’s graphics buffer. In Program enough, just before we went to press a And that’s that for this month. Surface or airmail to PCW, otherwise I’m on email tors Logica UK, and you can find out more Manager, pull down the File menu and new version of the filter became available. at [email protected] and about it by mailing [email protected] click on Run. It’s also on CompuServe. CompuServe 100436,3616

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The key shortcuts to remember with The first financial analysis Names are based on the F3 function key. template automatically F3 offers a pick list of Names available to converted to use Names paste in when you need them. It also has a Paste List button so you can paste a list of your available Names and their definitions Carry_forward in a corner of your worksheet. Year_2+Hardware Ctrl+F3 offers a list of the Names in the Year_3-Returns Year_3. worksheet and lets you edit their defini- In other words, every tions. It also allows you to add new Names cell gets its own cross- with their definitions entered manually. referenced name and you Shift+Ctrl+F3 is used to create names can spell it all out if you What’s in a Name? automatically. You just highlight a range want to. which includes labels in the top or bottom Lotus 1-2-3 for Win- Quite a lot, where spreadsheets are concerned. rows, or the left or right columns of the dows confines its use of block. Names to ranges only. They make for surprising flexibility when you’re The F5 function key is even more use- Now, if you choose Options, Display Appropriately it calls them Range Names. working with your software, and have a variety of ful with the inclusion of Names on your Formulas, you’ll see that Stock Turnover, But you can still have them automatically uses. Stephen Wells whets your appetite. worksheet. The Go To box offers a pick list for instance, is given as Cost_ named by including labels in your high- of all the Names in alphabetical order. You of_goods_Sold/Average_Stock, Fig 2. lighted selection, above, below, to the left can just zip down to the Name of your Where a row was excluded from the or to the right of the block of chosen cells. choice. Name-making process, then the cell You can also press F3, choose from a raditionally, a businessman would Just to show how easy address is given. That’s why =$B$1 drop-down list of available names, and Tsay that the Assets of his company it is in Excel to convert a appears in cell B41 and B54 in cell B62. paste them into a formula instead of a equalled its Capital plus its Liabilities. It’s traditionally entered work- Excel is smart enough to figure out which range address. the classic Balance Sheet equation: what sheet to one which uses cell addresses should be absolute and To go to the first use of a Name, you the company owns always equals what it Names, I’ll use as an which not. can take advantage of 1-2-3’s Navigator owes, either to creditors or to its owners. example the template for Where a value was shown, like 100 (to button at the left of the edit line. It displays Then for a decade or so you’d hear financial analysis of com- form percentages) or 365 (to divide a year a list of Range Names in the worksheet. people muttering, A64=A45+A30. But with panies which carry stock into days), then it stays that way. Where 1-2-3 primarily differs from the introduction of the Name (the spread- that many readers now Now you may take such things for Excel is that it doesn’t offer all the optional sheet one, not the Lloyd’s one) we have have. granted, but what tickles me is that without variations for displaying Names in formu- gone full circle and once more people can Select the range A3: reference to column headings, Excel las: a negative perhaps for the whiz at call a spade a spade. G38. Press Shift+Ctrl+F3. assumes that, say, the Stock Turnover for debugging spreadsheets, but a blessing In Excel, a Name can be up to 255 Accept the default of Cre- any year is based on the Cost of Goods for the tiro as it’s one less thing to worry characters including spaces, so you could ate Names in Left Column. Sold and Average Stock for that year, about. write a paragraph describing the item if Go to cell A2. Choose For- even though the replacement formula you wanted to. What you’re identifying can mula, Apply Names. All the using Names is identical across the Financial analysis be a single cell, a group of cells, a value or It’s the work of a moment to make and names are listed in alphabetical order in a columns. When I started this series on financial a formula. apply Names in Excel box and marked ready to apply, Fig 1. But what about those options, you ask? analysis last September, I mentioned that Some people just use Names for fre- Accept the defaults of Ignore Don’t worry about them. Oh, well, if you there would be two templates to build up. quently used items, like a discount rate. Relative/Absolute and Use Row and Col- insist. All they do is control what is shown We now come to the second one, for the That’s fine. Wherever it applies on a work- formula which is not actually entered in a umn Names. Also accept the default when you display or print out formulas. analysis of companies which do not carry sheet, you can just insert the Name, say, cell. You simply press Ctrl+F3, enter the options of Omit Column Name if Same Your results, numbers-wise, are unaf- stock. Professional_Discount, in formulas. If later new Name in the Define Name box, and a Column and Omit Row Name if Same fected. In the last few years, it is the service you want to change the discount, you just number or formula in the Refers To box. Row. Also leave the Name Order option as Here’s an example. Enter the mini- segment of the UK economy which has edit the Name’s definition. Excel will go Discount could be the Name and =15% Row Column. worksheet at the bottom of the opposite shown the most growth, particularly through the worksheet and update every the entered value. In the Reference area of the formula page. Highlight the whole thing and Create among small businesses. So we leave use of the name. Other people use Names To use this Name you might enter the bar, you’ll see the cell addresses tick Names with the options Names in Top behind the manufacturers, wholesalers simply for navigation, like bookmarks in a amount to be discounted in cell B5. In C5 over as Excel works its way through the Row and Left Column checked. and retailers and move on to businesses word processor document. you’d enter =B5-B5* then press F3, select template. If you now highlight the range B2:D2, like architects, radio stations, chiropodists, Names can be used as utilities. When the Name, Discount and bang, it’s pasted Once the job’s done, it is in this area you’ll see that the Name, Hardware estate agents, solicitors, security guards... you set the print area under Options, it is in. Very useful: like having a multi-paged where you can also see any Name if you appears in the Reference area of the for- all selling something which you can’t store saved under the Name, Print_Area. In fact, Clipboard. The number of Names avail- select the appropriate block. If you select mula bar. Highlight D2:D4 and you’ll see on a shelf. all similar built-in Names such as able to you is limited only by the available B35:G35, the Name, Working_Capital will the Name Year_3. Again there is an example set of fig- Print_Titles, Sheet_Title and memory. appear up there. Now click in an empty cell and choose ures, Fig 3. These are provided so that if Crosstab_Range are recognised in any Formula, Apply Names and select every you enter the template from the listings, national version of Excel. Even better, if Mini-worksheet for options option available. The displayed formula in you can check that you get the same you enter one of these names in the ABCD D4 becomes =Year_2+Hardware-Returns. results and your formulas are correct. English version of Excel, not only will it 1 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 But if you had unchecked the options to The example this time is an advertising work in, say, the French version, but Excel 2 Hardware 15,125,000 13,750,000 12,500,000 Omit Column Name if Same Column, and agency. It is traditional in agencies to carry will translate it into French! 3 Returns 11,343,750 10,312,500 9,375,000 Omit Row Name if Same Row, then the the costs of production of advertisements As I say, a Name can refer to a value or 4 Carry forward =B2-B3 =B4+C2-C3 =C4+D2-D3 displayed formula in D4 becomes and commercials until these are billed to

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the client, and this is sometimes referred Listing of initial formulas in the Service template to as an inventory. But it’s a minor part of the business, typically only 10 to 15% of Quick Current Assets =Cash_and_Securities+Accounts_Receivable bills, and therefore it isn’t measured as an Other Current Assets =Current_Assets-SUM(B5:B6) inventory here. (Media buys — broadcast Other Assets =Total_Assets-Net_Plant_Equipment-Current_Assets time, publication space and billboards are Current Liabilities =Accounts_Payable+Other_Current_Liabilities pre-billed as a security measure and to Total Liabilities =Current_Liabilities+Long_Term_Debt safeguard cash flow.) Stockholders’ Equity =Total_Liabilities_Equity-Total_Liabilities Many service companies carry equip- Total Liabilities & Equity =Total_Assets ment and supplies (information technol- ogy, medical, stationery) which can be quite valuable. They may appear on the The Balance Sheet Balance Sheet as an asset and be portion of the Service expensed (written off) at intervals. This template showing stock, however, is not viewed as inventory example results for the purposes of financial analysis. It is not the stock in trade of the business. skill of its employees I must also prepare you for some terms which the company is which will appear in the Income Statement selling. portion next month. Because many ser- Overhead here is vice companies are also agents, the Ser- synonymous with vice template format refers to sales as Operating Expenses Billings. (An agent is a firm which is autho- less labour costs. rised to handle and spend the funds of Beyond these another.) In advertising, Billings means the terms, the definitions I total of all the client’s media and produc- have provided in preceding columns will numbers on the financial statements are tion budgets. To an insurance agent it help you decide how to divide up any ser- the critical ones, they’re the ones entered. would mean the value of all the policies vice company’s Balance Sheet into the 16 The smaller numbers can be calculated to sold. items shown this month. make up the slack and ensure that every- Commissions which are traditionally As before, row 2 has no effect on the thing balances where it should. 15% in advertising are some fraction of calculations. It is simply a reminder to you, The Balance Sheet happens to be laid these billings. Fees are other income as you enter figures, whether you’re enter- out with the most liquid assets first. It also earned apart from the commissions. ing in hundreds, thousands, or millions. uses the terms Accounts Receivable and For some purposes (Accounts Receiv- The Industry figures are not current but Accounts Payable rather than Debtors and able for instance) it’s the Billings figure at one time were the median for large Creditors. But as the American terms have which is relevant. For others (Profit, for advertising agencies. come over with accounting software, they example) it’s the Commissions and Fees The Service template is a little shorter will be familiar. The financial ratios them- — the real Gross Income of the company than the previous one because there are selves are used internationally. — which is significant. no entries referring to inventories, and Next month, we’ll add the Income In advertising agencies, Compensation because there is no price sensitivity Statement section of the template and is the major category of expense: staff section. You can send for this template then we can start creating the tabular and salaries and benefits. And this is usually (see below) but for those who wish to charted results. true of most service businesses as it’s the enter it for themselves, there are two short I must mention that I’m most gratified adjacent listings. The one by the interest that has been shown in this Listing of initial Names in the alongside defines the Names series. Not only have I received numerous Service template used; the one above gives the requests for the first template on disk but Accounts_Payable =$B$13:$G$13 simple additions and subtrac- with them many kind notes making Accounts_Receivable =$B$4:$G$4 tions. Apart from the amper- favourable comment. These have come Cash_and_Securities =$B$3:$G$3 sands (&), Excel has from an extraordinary spectrum of read- Current_Assets =$B$8:$G$8 automatically created the ers, geographically and demographically. Current_Liabilities =$B$15:$G$15 Names from the labels in col- These spreadsheeters recognise the use- Long_Term_Debt =$B$16:$G$16 umn A. The first 20 rows are fulness of financial analysis for manage- Net_Plant Equipment =$B$9:$G$9 primarily for data entry although ment, investment, education and — a Other_Assets =$B$10:$G$10 half the figures are calculated. surprise to me — local government. Other_Current_Assets =$B$7:$G$7 This block gives a précis of the Other_Current_Liabilities =$B$14:$G$14 company’s Balance Sheets for PCW Contacts Pre_Paid_Expenses =$B$6:$G$6 five years. Stephen Wells welcomes feedback on Quick_Current_Assets =$B$5:$G$5 The blocks marked in yellow spreadsheets via PCW Editorial at the Stockholders Equity =$B$18:$G$18 are the data entry cells. As with usual address or at stephen_wells Total_Assets =$B$11:$G$11 the template for companies @pcw.ccmail.compuserve.com. For the financial analysis template for ser- Total_Liabilities =$B$17:$G$17 which carry stock, it’s not the vice companies, in Excel 4 format, send Total_Liabilities Equity =$B$19:$G$19 totals which are calculated in a formatted 3.5in disk and a stamped, some instances. As the bigger self-addressed envelope.

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I started to get an error message upon in the normal way. This rule says that not work as before. The only difference users opening a table. It is simplicity itself to use: only querying, but also inserting, updating should see is a faster response time. the only problem I find is that it fails to tell and deleting multiple records should also you what the problem was in any detail. It be possible with a single command. In Logical Data Independence will also give the smug “Repair of data- other words, if you want to delete all the Rule 9: Application programs and terminal base xxx completed successfully” even if invoices which are older than five years, activities remain logically unimpaired you run it on a perfectly sound database you don’t have to locate each one and whenever information-preserving changes that has no errors. otherwise, it works fine, delete it individually. You should be able to of any kind that theoretically permit unim- Internal affairs however. I have only encountered one eliminate them all with a single command. pairment are made to the base tables. database it was unable to fix. The same applies to inserting and If this one sounds rather like Rule 8, It is a good idea to acquaint yourself updating, so you should be able to issue that’s because it is; the two are often con- Mangled or corrupt data files can be hell to with your own brand of recovery proce- one command which, for example, alters sidered as a pair. As an example of what restore, but most modern RDBMSs come with dure now, before tragedy strikes, so that the discount rate from 5 to 10 percent on this rule means, suppose that you have a some sort of recovery procedure. Get to know you know what to expect in time of trouble. all items the stock level of which exceeds table of CUSTOMERS that for perfor- the weekly usage by a factor of ten. mance reasons you want to split into two, yours, says Mark Whitehorn, who also puts more Codding around This rule is important, not just because CUST_ENGLAND and CUST_REST. This of Ted Codd’s rules to rights. Continuing our search for perfection in all it makes your life easier, but also because allows you to search more rapidly through things relational, here are some more of it has far-reaching implications as soon as the customers in England, but what hap- Ted Codd’s rules. you start to use a system where the data- pens to all your existing programs and he internal structure of modern data- So, what do you do if anything goes base engine is divorced from the front- users? They are used to interacting with Tbase files is complex. It would be con- wrong and the data file does become cor- High-level insert, update and delete end. The ability to perform multi-record an all-embracing table called CUS- ceptually much easier if the data within rupt? Well, it shouldn’t be a problem: you Rule 7: The capability of handling a base changes to a table with a single command TOMERS. This rule says that if a DBMS is them was stored in a simple, easy-to-read just go to the last backup. If the backup is relation or a derived relation as a single reduces the communication between the to be considered a Relational DBMS, it way, like a fixed length ASCII file. Then if unavailable or out of date, many RDBMSs operand applies not only to the retrieval of front and back ends. When the link is over has to allow both applications and users to the file ever became corrupt, you could at provide utilities to help you recover, or data but also to the insertion, update and a WAN, this can speed up the whole go on dealing with CUSTOMERS as if least recover most of the data with a sim- repair, their data tables. Paradox for DOS deletion of data. process dramatically. there hadn’t been a split. In practice this ple text editor. Some early PC DBMSs was an early package which came quite Remembering that Codd uses the term can be done by creating a view (or query) stored their data in just this way; the prob- well prepared for trouble, and the newer “relation” to mean a table, we can interpret Physical Data Independence which combines the two new tables into a lem is that it makes data retrieval painfully versions are even better. Access, with its this rule as follows. Rule 8: Application programs and terminal single entity with the original name. slow, so in practice the internal structure of even more complex file structure, has the You expect the RDBMS to allow you to activities remain logically unimpaired Note that complete conformity with this most data files is horribly complex. Try repair facility right up front in the File retrieve records with a single command — whenever any changes are made in rule depends on compliance with Rule 6, “typing” an Access .MDB file for example. menu. I had cause to use it recently, when that is, it should let you query the database either storage representations or access the view updating rule, which says that all methods. views which are theoretically updatable Making repairs in Access I have a great reprint from Date are also updatable by the system. If rule 6 (another database wizard who often co- isn’t obeyed, then although we can manu- 1 Error message publishes with Codd) which lists the 12 facture a view called CUSTOMER from received upon rules. His explanation of this rule, and rule CUST_ENGLAND and CUST_REST, the trying to open a 9, is short and sweet: “Self-explanatory”. users will be unable to interact with the table in Access. This seems a little hard, particularly as he data it contains in the same way as before. The help system doesn’t include the rule itself, just the Rules 8 and 9 are included in the rule doesn’t provide heading “Physical Data Independence”. set to provide a high degree of flexibility. much I’m not sure it’s self-explanatory, and nei- Codd describes them in order to split the enlightenment ther is Codd who expands it by saying: To logical interaction with the database away 2 Choosing handle this, the DBMS must support a from the physical and base structuring as Repair Database clear, sharp boundary between the logical much as possible. In turn, this allows the from the menu and semantic aspects on the one hand, database manager to make changes to system and the physical and performance aspects the underlying structure without upsetting 1 2 3 Access reports of the base tables on the other; application the way the user works, and without that the table has programs must deal with the logical requiring application programs to be re- successfully aspects only. written. As Codd says: been repaired In practice, this means that the logical The physical and logical independence (which is quite interaction the user has with the database rules permit database designers for rela- true). Once again, (“I want to find all the orders which are tional DBMSs to make mistakes in their the help system overdue for payment”) should be divorced designs without the heavy penalties levied is uninformative, from the physical structure of the tables of by non-relational DBMSs. This, in turn, although this data. Suppose that as a database means that it is much easier to get started time the meaning expands the database manager decides with a relational DBMS because not nearly of the message is that an index is required on a particular as much performance-oriented planning is self-evident table for performance reasons. This rule needed prior to “blast-off”.’ 4 The table after says that it should be possible for the man- repair ager to add that index without the users Integrity Independence Rule 3 4 being aware of any change. They and any Rule 10: Integrity constraints specific to a application programs should be able to particular relational database must be

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definable in a relational data sublanguage After this rather oblique reference to primary key value from the same domain. and storable in the catalog, not in the referential and entity integrity as an integal The definition of entity integrity given application programs. part of relational databases, Codd goes on here is relatively spartan. It is sometimes Ah, a serious rule this one . It contains to say: expanded (for example, Vang 1991) to an important expansion: To be more specific, the following two include the concept of the match between In addition to the two integrity rules integrity rules apply to every relational a record’s content and the real-world (entity integrity and referential integrity) database: object that it represents. Which definition that apply to every relational database, Entity integrity. No component of a pri- you consider to be the most important, or there is a clear need to be able to specify mary key is allowed to have a null value. most useful, is up to you. Codd’s has the additional integrity constraints reflecting Referential Integrity. For each distinct advantage of being more exact and there- either business policies or government nonull foreign key value in a relational fore easier to quote. policies. database, there must exist a matching Both referential and entity integrity are Problem solving: Paradox for DOS 4.5 important, not to say essential, parts of a relational database; I’ve discussed them in Q. I know that Paradox 4.0x had a problem with secondary indices not working properly earlier issues of PCW. Why Codd sees fit when the table it was based on was larger than 128Mb; problems like queries taking forever to introduce them as a mere addition to to run. I still seem to be getting the same problem in 4.5. Wasn’t it fixed? another rule is not clear. But we have seen A. As far as I know it was, so this probably isn’t the cause of your problems. Try before that he has a tendency to include RESTRUCTURING the tables. essential information as an expansion of a rule; as another example, no rule explicitly Q. The application: says that an RDBMS needs a data dictio- — Paradox DOS 4.02 app/db on Novell server nary, yet that is implicit in Rule 4. — Diskless workstations, so each user’s privdir is also on the server Implicit in this expansion of rule 10, — Main table 12,000 records, 12.8Mb though never stated, is that referential and — Single field primary key, three maintained single field secondary indexes entity integrity rules have to be stored in — Database usage is heavy, some updates, no deletes, heavy reporting the catalogue (data dictionary) rather than — No Mb file in the application programs. This is clearly — Application has been running okay for about eight months essential, since if they are only stored in the applications, it becomes easier for a The problem: user to accidentally or maliciously subvert Three times in the past two months we’ve suddenly had one of two different reports go that integrity. Almost all PC-based wacko and come out with almost double the money amounts they should (not exactly dou- RDBMSs seem to ignore this rule. Some ble, we haven’t been able to come up with the bad numbers ourselves). The reports scripts only allow you to impose referential and present a form for selection criteria, run a query, and copy a report layout from an empty entity integrity through the application lan- report-holder table. Typical selection criteria would pull 10-30 percent of the records from the guage, others store the information in the main table. fact; the only one I know of which main- As soon as the users tell us about the doubling problem, we re-run the query/report script tains an effective data dictionary is with the same selection criteria, and everything’s just fine. So, we can’t recreate the problem Access. on demand. It just pops up every once in a while. However, this rule says more: it says Today, the users ran what’s called the billing preview report, which looked fine. So they that in addition, an RDBMS needs to be ran the billing (exactly the same query/report script, but destination is file instead of printer). able to store other integrity constraints, The billing file data added up to almost double what it should have been. We did nothing but and that we have to be able to store these re-run the script and the billing file output was correct. in the catalogue (data dictionary) and also I’ve just put in tracing code to capture the Answer tables and Savevars every time these to define them in the data sub-language. reporting scripts run. I’m trying to decide if a Restructure/Rebuild all indexes is worth a try. What might these “other” constraints be? If TUTILITY says all is fine with the table. you are storing someone’s date of birth (DOB) and the date of their entry into A. There are two obvious causes. One is that the tables are damaged, the other that there is school (DOE), it is clearly reasonable to a problem in your PAL program. The former seems unlikely because damaged tables usual- set up a rule stating that the DOE must be ly give consistently incorrect answers. greater than DOB. In fact, you might The latter seems more likely. Perhaps there is a path through your program which is only decide that DOE has to be greater than rarely taken by the users. However, when it is followed, the result is that one or more tables DOB + 4 years. In either case, you want and/or sets of variables aren’t cleared. Also, if you use any temp/holding tables, make sure this rule to be applied in all cases, without they are declared private, and also that they are all being emptied under all circumstances. If argument. Rule 10 says that you must be you don’t do this, another possibility is that someone else on the net might be overwriting able to define such rules in the control lan- your data. guage that you use, and also be able to Those are a couple of theoretical answers to your problem. On a more pragmatic note, if store the rule in the data dictionary. the “output” end of your report processes was converted to a single processing loop that allowed the user to select Screen/Print/File until they finally quit, you won’t have to run the PCW Contacts process twice to do your preview and print. That way, if it looks alright on the screen, the Mark Whitehorn welcomes readers’ user can print it immediately. correspondence and ideas for the Finally, you may want to use rebuild rather than Tutility Verify. Rebuild can fix things that Databases column. He’s on Verify doesn’t realise are wrong. Always make sure you have good backups first. [email protected]

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rule of scanning and manipulation applies: module or Photoshop plug-in. Adjust ones to save. Many superior scanning the less mucking around you do with the those brightness, contrast or colour slid- systems send a correction tone curve to image, the more chance it has of looking ers before the scanning. the scanner via the TWAIN module at the good. In other words, you should try to In the case of the high-bit scanners, time of scanning, again ensuring the least make your corrections in as few steps as this is where you can work with the full 30 possible loss of detail. possible. Ideally, these should be made at or 36 bits of information, losing a couple But here we’re going to look at what the time of scanning, from the TWAIN here and there, but still having 24 good you can do after the event. When we Reflective scan results

Just how good is a £3,250 scanner? If a cheap scanner captures all the colours, is it possible to correct them and match the output of the expensive unit? test targets are available with reference We scanned the same 5" x 7" colour print Picture perfect scans on disk. The calibration software on a £3,250 Agfa Arcus II and a £650 compares a scan made of the target with Microtek ScanMaker II. The Arcus II raw the reference scan and creates a correc- scan is far right, the ScanMaker II raw scan Fresh from his scanners group test, Gordon Laing tion profile from the differences. Simply is on the right. looks at the next stage: how to make all those apply this profile to any subsequent scans Both scanners were calibrated using Agfa scans you made look at least something like the and the output on a known printer should, FotoTune, costing around £500, and in theory, be perfect. colour corrected and separated for output original picture. An easy business? Far from it... In practice it actually works rather well, on a Chromalin proof. The corrected Scan- so long as there’s nothing fundamentally Maker II image is directly below, while the wrong with your scanner. If it’s only cap- Arcus II corrected image is below right. turing four of five colours, or just highlights, The vertical stripes on the Arcus II scans got so carried away with this month’s hope that the inaccuracies are within the no amount of correction will save your day. are due to dust on the optics. Iscanners group test that too much was printing margins of error? Similarly, the units capable of capturing a A drum scan is shown for reference (below written for the space allocated. Always one And then there’s the problem of manip- higher density, or those with a good signal left). The Arcus II clearly beats the Scan- to champion the truth, I decided that some ulations. Every time you try to correct an to noise ratio, will have the most to gain. Maker II on detail and sharpness, but Foto- of the most interesting and revealing dis- imperfection in, say Photoshop, you lose Before going any further, the ultimate Tune has done an admirable job on colour coveries shouldn’t be filed away until the quality. But wait — correction next suitable feature, but aired here, in are you observing Graphics & DTP, in the same issue. the reproduction The subject of digitising, manipulating under the same and finally reproducing continuous tone lighting conditions images — colour photographs to you and as you did the origi- me — is absolutely enormous and fabu- nal? And who’s to lously tortuous. It may be dead easy to say what’s correct plonk a snap on your flatbed, hit the scan anyway. button, and place as desired in your final Well, not me, for document, but to have the reproduction starters, but what I bear any resemblance to the original is a will do is present, in very different matter. the most indepen- The problem is colour. We all perceive dent way possible, it differently and if you think we can be some results of awkward, electronic publishing equipment colour calibration, take the biscuit. When you think about it, and correction the goal is simple: here’s an original pic- within the digital ture, here’s my final publication, and all I domain — in short, want is the reproduction to look the same how to make your — oh, and it would be good if the scan scans look really bore some resemblance to the original on good. my monitor, and a colour proofing device, Unless there’s too, would be nice. something severely At worst it’s absolutely impossible and wrong with your at best, pretty damned close to impossible. scanner, it should at The troubles are not just perception, but least be consistent the consequent description of colour. — consistently What’s scanned in RGB colour space wrong perhaps, but must be converted somewhere down the at least if it always line into CMYK for printing, and that’s captures deep red when you learn there are some colours as watery pink, you that cannot exist in both colour spaces. can compensate. What do you do? Panic, approximate, or Standard colour

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tested the colour flatbeds in the group test each other. The IT-8 scans had their his- two further tests. The first is with our earlier this issue, we compared raw, tograms analysed — not to see how accu- reflective target, a typical A5 colour printed FONT OF THE MONTH uncorrected scans of a colour photograph rate they were, but rather what range of photograph. We scanned it on the cheap- and an Agfa IT-8 test target. The former information was present and ready to be est and most expensive scanners in the scans have been printed in all their glory, corrected. group test and placed the resulting images or lack of it, to see how they all compare to Here, we’re presenting the results from side by side — the two scanners differ in Transmittive scan results

Is it possible to use cheap scans of 35mm trannies in a professional publishing environment? We took a highly detailed 35mm transparency as a test image — the yellow cast was bound to cause trouble. We first scanned the trannie using the built- in transparency adaptor of the £3,250 Agfa Arcus II flatbed, reviewed in this month's scanner group test, then took it to a local Photo CD bureau which charged less than a price by nearly £3,000. Both scanners had CD bureau. Correction of the former is quid for its scan. a profile made using Agfa’s superb Foto- once again courtesy of Agfa FotoTune, Far left is the raw scan of the Photo CD, Tune application, which was then used to while we can thank the equally remarkable while the Arcus II raw scan is seen left. We correct the raw scans. Next to the original Binuscan Color Pro for attempting the used Binuscan, distributed by IMC, to raw scans are the corrected images and brave task of making Photo CD look good correct, sharpen and separate the Photo CD the output of the drum scanner we nor- on paper. Binuscan is distributed by IMC. image, seen below left. Directly below is the mally use for our pictures. Can colour cor- Again, our trusty drum scanner was called result of Agfa's FotoTune, used to correct rection make a cheap scanner look as in to provide a so-called reference result. the Arcus scan, having been suitably good as an expensive one? And can it The really fun part is that I’ll see the calibrated. Below right on the next page is make a good scanner look like a drum proper results of these tests at the same the original trannie, scanned by our regular scanner costing typically over £10,000, time as everyone else, when the maga- drum scanner, providing a reference result requiring a skilled operator, and a charge zine hits the shelves in early June. Since of over £25 a shot? this was written two months earlier, I’ll Next up is the problem of scanning have to wait until September’s column to 35mm film. In publishing, larger-format film comment and make any conclusions. is normally used for better quality, but is Which do you think look best? 35mm good enough for quarter-page reproduction? Are flatbed transparency Just my type adapters any good for 35mm? What about Step forward Mekanik, Font of the Month! Photo CD? When it was designed in 1988 by David This time the raw scans of the same Quay, Mekanik was a highly original font. 35mm slide are provided by the built-in It spawned many imitators including transparency adaptor of the Agfa Arcus II, Neville Brody’s considered classic, Indus- and the film scanner as part of every Photo tria, two years later. PCW’s art editor Darrell Kingsley chose Mekanik as one of our new headline fonts during our redesign late last year. Like Runic, another of the new headline fonts, it’s highly compressed, allowing long or several words to be fitted on a single line. A cutting-edge font, indeed used exten- sively in our Cutting Edge pages.

PCW Contacts Gordon Laing is tired and emotional, suffering from scanner overload. He still wants to hear from you, though, so write to the usual PCW address, or those suit- ably equipped can email him as [email protected]. compuserve.com Faces 01276 38888 ☎ FontWorks 0171 490 5390 ☎ Agfa UK 0181 231 4200 ☎ IMC 01753 830999 ☎

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You then need to Select Palette and it is 1 Adding a background, as well to “Keep the original palette of this text and paths in Background”. Canvas is a dark red and Astound Animator black background which gives an excel- 2 The presentation with lent contrast to the brightly coloured dots imported animation in of the Actor. Astound As we want the dots to highlight the text 3 The final results with it is better to add this to the background the screen going dotty first. Changing the text attributes is the first potty step. Click the “T” icon on the main toolbar and the dialogue box allows you to change Click File, Import and the settings to Arial, 72-point, centred, and Movie. The animation the colour to a full red. Use the“T” icon on will be placed on the Animated discussion the other toolbar to type the actual text in slide but don’t worry if it the style chosen. I used the phrase “This is looks horribly blocky at the new stuff” (a Peter Gabriel line) as this first. Usually the Off to pastures new, Karl Dunkerley signs off with kind of display is likely to be used for pro- animation is not prop- a demonstration of Astound 2.0 screen effects moting new products and services. Hit Esc erly centred so you need and whips up a dream home sales promo thanks to exit and the text will appear in the Actor to click Object, Centre window. on Slide and Both to line to MediaStudio’s easy DTV editing facilities. You can make the text follow a path it up correctly. If you and jump around the screen but I decided click on the Play icon to leave it in the top left you will see the Anima- hanks to the excellent multimedia corner. However, you tion run. It is now a nor- T packages now available, technology do need to create a mal slide in an Astound has come to the rescue of many a would- path to make the text presentation. be artist. Animation is a subject that fasci- appear on the screen, The result is distinctly nates many, and I for one thought it and to keep the text still, eye-catching compared unlikely that I would ever be able to actu- a trick is needed. Sim- to the run-of-the-mill ally do any. But Gold Disk’s newly ply click the Registered material you end up with launched Astound 2.0 enables anyone to Motion Path Tool icon in from normal presenta- put together simple animations without the toolbar (the third tion graphics slide having to draw anything. down). When you move shows like PowerPoint Astound’s Actor and Animator modules the pointer back onto and Freelance. This show just how simple and effective anima- the canvas you will see example was a simple tion can be. For instance, imagine you’re the text appear. Find one but you can use the creating a rolling demonstration for an the position you want same principles to exhibition and wish to draw prospective and click. Then keep demonstrate actions. customers’ eyes to the screen. You could, clicking until you’ve For instance, a molecu- for example, use a star flashing up in dif- done 30 frames. You’ve lar biologist could use ferent parts of the screen, or you may pre- Starting to go completely dotty in created a path with 30 points one on top of the dots to represent fer to flash up a shower of coloured dots. Astound Actor the other. cells fighting each other To do this, you would use Actor to Now we need to add the dots but we in the human immune record each cell, or frame, of the anima- Adding a handful of dots further out must first reset the animation to Frame 1 system. Often the repre- tion, while Animator allows you to create a enhances the flashing effect. To see the by clicking the icon furthest to the left in the sentation does not have path for each cell on the page. Launching effect, click the middle icon in the Player Player window. You need the dots in Actor to be accurate. If you the Actor module, you can begin to pro- window. Click it again to stop it before you next so go to the Actor window where you wanted to demonstrate duce the first cell by clicking the Attributes become hypnotised. will find DOTTY01.ACT listed. Click on chaos in the road sys- menu option, followed by Pen. In the Tools Red, green and blue tend to be the that, followed by the Registered Motion tems, several lines box, click on Brush icon and choose a most striking colours but you can add oth- Path Tool icon again. Move the pointer growing and running around the screen up with the Mac package) but my enthu- wide brush — the effect should stand out. ers for variety. Click the Play icon again around the screen. You will see the cells resulting in a spaghetti-style mess would siasm for it was overshadowed when U- To change the paint colour, double-click and watch all ten cells flash away merrily, change each time you click to indicate the convey the idea adequately. Lead’s MediaStudio 2.0 turned up. on the colour swatch at the bottom of the if a little jerkily. Use File and Save to save position of the new cell. As there are only The great thing about these kinds of Despite being a late beta, this has proved toolbox and then select the one you want your masterpiece and call it ten cells you will end up with the whole ani- animations is how easy they are for even to be both stable and impressive. with the right mouse button. Position the “DOTTY01.ACT”. mation repeated three times. Do File and complete art-failures to do something The feature that has impressed me brush in the centre of the page and then To add the path you need to jump to Save, calling the file “DOTS01.AWM”. effective. most is the video overlay facility. Up to 99 click. Move the mouse slightly and click the Animator module by clicking on the Make sure the Compressed box is channels are possible and each can have again. Repeat a couple of dozen times but icon furthest to the right on the main tool- checked. DTV dreams separately timed and designated paths. keep a tight, circular shape. bar. First add in a background image using The animation is finished so close As a confirmed desktop video fan I waited These can also have a degree of trans- Create more cells and then click a dou- Event, Background and Picture. I chose to down Animator and Actor, making sure to with bated breath for the latest Windows parency which is ideal for giving an ble arrow icon in the Player window to “Open CANVAS.GIF” but you must save any objects and resources needed. version of Adobe’s Premiere editing suite. impression of dreaminess. MediaStudio’s move to the second cell. Change the remember to click Select before Done to From Program Manager launch Astound Version 4.0 is undoubtedly a huge transitions list is also pretty impressive but brush colour and go dotty once again. state that this is the background you want. 2.0 and click Create with No Template. improvement over 1.1 (it has now caught I’ll concentrate on the overlay feature

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using the clips already supplied on the CD- ROM. It enables anyone producing promotion materials and corporate videos to produce some excellent results easily. Imagine I’m an estate agent trying sell an expensive lakeside property and would like to make a short promo video expounding the beauty of the area as well as of the house itself. Fortunately, there is a bitmap of a house by a lake so, after Multiple overlays with paths and trans- launching MediaStudio, I need to bring this parency in U-Lead’s MediaStudio 2.0 onto video channel A. To do this, I click on Insert and choose the LAKEHOME.JPG seven seconds, but the sequence is too file from the sample\images directory on long so I shorten it using the clip’s drag the CD-ROM and drop it onto channel Va. handles to make it seven seconds long. The still is obviously too short to be used Again I choose the 2D Basic option and for the background so its duration needs to shrink the image, but move the end point be increased by dragging its handles out onto the corner of the screen and then to 20 seconds. change the Soft Edge to Medium. I’m not putting anything on channel Vb To finish the sequence off, I bring in the but will use the overlay tracks instead. clip of a squirrel at 11 seconds and cut it Again I click Insert and choose Video File down to seven seconds in length. Using and motorbot.avi from samples\video. I put the Overlay Options I set the opening this on channel V1 starting two seconds transparency to 0 percent and the end to into the video sequence. To view the clip I 60 percent. The effect will be to fade the double-click on the thumbnail images. overlay up as the clip progresses. Using Clicking on these with the right mouse but- 2D Advanced I can change the shape of ton brings up a small menu including the the image to cut out the corners which Moving Path and 2D Basic option. Clicking have unwanted detail. I can also rotate the this brings up a dialogue box where I can image slightly. change all manner of features. The image For the last two of the 20 seconds I use is too large as I want the motorboat to the Title Clip facility to add text to the appear to be moving across the lake in image. This can be treated in the same front of the house and it needs to be in way as any other clip and a path, rotation proportion. I click on the Start point and distortion added. When I’ve done what denoted on the path diagram and change I set out to do, I can run the Preview to see the width and height to 60 and 40 pixels all the effects before clicking File, Create, respectively. The same has to be done for Video File and then changing the options the end position or the image will seem to to achieve a reasonable image quality. grow as it moves. The path also runs left to Creation of the final video sequence is rel- right yet the boat goes right to left in the atively quick, as it should be on a Pentium- clip, so I click the Reverse Path icon. I 90. One of the best features of this move the start and end points to just off program is being able to see each frame the image area. There is an Actual Image as it is created. icon and you can run the effect in a tiny thumbnail window. To give a dream-like effect I change the Soft Edge to Large, then using the Overlay Options I change PCW Contacts the Transparency to 65 percent which From next month, the Multimedia strengthens the effect. column will be edited by Panicos I then do the same thing with a clip Georghiades and Gabriel Jacobs. They can be contacted on of an otter swimming (called [email protected] OTTERS.AVI). For effect, I want this clip to appear in the wake of the boat on the bot- Contact Gold Disk 01734 814230 ☎ tom righthand corner of the image. First I Price £189 (competitive trade-up £99); upgrade £59 put the image on channel V2 starting after

659 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● SOUND HANDS ON ● SOUND

setup. It also has multi-client drivers allow- Left tripleDAT is a ing several applications to share MIDI seriously low-cost ports. This will allow, for example, a patch 16-track D2D. Below editor to communicate with your synth at MIDI kit and line the same time as a sequencer. It also lets mixer for just £20 you send MIDI data from one application to another for synchronising and sharing expected to cost system exclusive data. around £99. Before installing Win95 it’s advisable to make sure everything is set up correctly Sequencing tips: for Windows 3.1, otherwise it’s a night- using mare to configure drivers, as I soon dis- templates Better late than never... covered. After about a week using Win95, When Cubase loads it a curious thing happened. I turned my PC opens a default song on and Windows told me that it had (def.all) that’s used as ... was how Steven Helstrip felt when he finally detected a new piece of hardware — an a template for your OPL3 FM synth. It was talking about the MIDI setup. Unless you’ve made any got hold of the Windows 95 beta, though in some FM synth on my AWE-32 sound card, but changes to it, it will just show 16 empty ways, he thinks it was worth the wait. Also, if it certainly wasn’t new. Having agreed that tracks. There are several things you can you’re in need of some serious samples, read on. it might be useful to have access to it, Win- do to customise the default settings which dows went off and installed the drivers. can save you time and make Cubase, or any other application, a better place to The latest news work. recently installed the Windows 95 final with current Windows applications. For There was lots happening at April’s MIDI First of all, if you have more than one Ibeta to see what all the fuss has been example, although Windows 95 knows and Show, including the MIDI instrument in your setup it’s impor- about. It took an entire weekend to get it about the Vintage Keys sound module UK launch of a new D2D system for the tant to allocate each with a separate MIDI working properly, but when I did I found dangling from port three on my MIDI inter- PC. Called tripleDAT, the package channel. For multi-timbral modules this some pretty interesting changes in the face, Cubase doesn’t. When native appli- includes a two-input digital I/O card may mean setting aside several channels MIDI department. Although I expected it to cations arrive this will change. Instead of (SPDIF and AES/EBU) with additional or even a unique MIDI port. If you make be much the same as 3.1, several nice selecting a port and MIDI channel you’ll be analogue output for monitoring, a MIDI line mixer and headphone socket. It plugs this setup permanent you’ll soon become touches have been added, including the able to select a synth you want to talk to interface, infra-red transmitter and some into the joystick/MIDI port and takes its familiar with the whereabouts of each ability to re-name MIDI output ports and and Windows 95 will remember where it is. excellent software. power from the PC. The adaptor is a gen- instrument, and when songs are played build lists of instruments in your setup. I mentioned two months back that When used with a 90MHz Pentium with uine bargain at just £20. Also planned for back in future they’ll play the original Sadly, though, there’s no integration Opcode is developing a plug-in module for 16Mb RAM it will record and mix up to release this summer is a two in/out sounds. In addition, it allows you to cre- Windows 95 called OMS (Open Music eight stereo tracks, or 12 mono. The soft- MPU401-compatible MIDI interface. It’s ate an instrument list to label the MIDI Windows 95’s Wizards for adding new System). Any application that’s OMS- ware has all the usual editing facilities you kit to your setup. Unfortunately, there’s aware will link to a document containing would expect from a high-end package. Analogue To Digital II no integration with current 3.1 apps lists of all the sounds and patches in your Editing is non-destructive, since all the mixing, looping and effects are cal- Unless you’ve been hiding 400 feet beneath the North Sea for the best part of culated in realtime at playback. the nineties, you won’t have missed the revival of analogue synths. If, like me, The package has DSP-based you don’t own enough of them, the next best thing is to have the samples. effects, including a four-band para- Analog To Digital II is one way to get hold of them, with over 700 samples metric EQ, reverb, compressor and from some of the best including the Roland Juno 6, Sequential Prophet5 and pitch shifting. Further effects will be miniMoog to mention just some. The CD also features the more recent Roland available as plug-in modules. A JD800, E-MU Vintage Keys and Korg M1. really interesting feature is the The sounds are categorised into seven sections: atmospheres, loops and tunes, infra-red transmitter which pro- drums and percussion, keyboards and synths, pads and moods, special effects, and wave- vides an on-screen remote control forms. To go through all the sounds we’d need a 40-page supplement so I’ll just mention for DAT machines. It also lets you some. use a DAT for backing up your Track 3, Planets, has nine seriously tense atmospheres that wouldn’t sound out of place hard drive when connected to the in any of the Terminator films. All have been recorded in stereo without any additional mixing, digital I/O card. and where possible the pitch is listed. The CD is dubbed as an essential tool for dance pro- tripleDAT is distributed in the duction. It’s also a great library of sounds for film soundtracks and effects. UK by Koch Media and costs £999 Among the keyboards and synths is a diverse range of highly usable samples and effects. including all software, MIDI kit and These aren’t just boring presets that have been played to death for the past decade or so. two TOSLink cables. There will be For string and organ patches, samples are taken from intervals of fifths (some cases in a PCW review in next month’s First octaves) to create a multi-sampled keyboard. All in all, a great selection. Impressions. The most disappointing section of the CD is the drum and percussion samples, which I PC Services has just didn’t find at all inspiring. You may have a different opinion, though. There will be ten announced a new MIDI adaptor samples from A2D2 on next month’s cover CD. kit for SoundBlaster-compatible Price £59.95 (inc VAT and postage) cards. As well as providing two Contact Time + Space 01442 870681 MIDI outputs it has a two-into-one

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Default songs, or templates, can save you time when starting a new sequence

and set them out in a uniform way. This will tell you exactly what each track is doing when you come back to work on the song again. By using track one as a marker, you can create parts for each section of your arrangement and give them names: intro, verse 1 and chorus, etc. Below the marker track I group together all the percussion tracks, so I always know the kick drum is on track three, for exam- ple. To make the screen easier to read I also insert an empty track between per- cussion and instruments. The def.all isn’t the only template you can set up. You can create your own and save them in a template folder. If you reg- ularly write for a string ensemble, you could create a template that sets up all the channels on each port. To do this, select used in grid edit. So, spend some time to tracks you will need with program change channel 1 on port 1 and double-click in the set up the most common values you use messages to select the patches you use. If instrument box within the Track Info col- — it will save you time in the long run. you have Cubase Score, you can set up umn. Once you’ve given it a name, in my Starting your arrangements from bar the staves for each part. case JD800, it will display the instrument two will let you use the first bar to send each time you select that channel. setup information to your keyboards such PCW Contacts You should do this for all the channels as program change, system exclusive If you have any tips related to MIDI or on each port. After you have done that, messages, etc. If you do this, you don’t digital audio, send them in to the usual you can save the song as def.all and have to worry about setting up patches on PCW address, or to instrument names will be applied to all your synthesisers the next time you return [email protected]. future songs. to the song. If you start your song on bar compuserve.com. We will also try to The default song remembers just about one with program change information, solve any problems you may have with every setting there is in Cubase including glitches usually occur. Some MIDI instru- MIDI. quantisation values, grid settings in the ments also take a few moments to PC Services 0181 658 7251 ☎ edit pages, left/right locator positions, respond to the information. Koch Media 01252 714340 ☎ drum maps and even what tool you last It’s useful to label all the tracks you use

663 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● VISUAL PROGRAMMING HANDS ON ● VISUAL PROGRAMMING

Creating a custom component in Delphi

ply choose Options/Gallery when your Recycling the oracle project is open, select Add, and save one of your project's forms as a template. Next time you choose New Form, your cus- tomised form will be offered as one of the Tim Anderson looks at techniques for reusing options. It is easy, but crude, since Delphi objects in Delphi, unearths some unexpected is only pasting code into your project — exactly the bad old habit we are meant to 1 2 problems, and ponders the value of sitting a newly be losing. An object-oriented solution introduced Visual Basic exam. would inherit from the customised form, so 1This example creates a customised button which displays that no code would have to be copied, and the PCW logo. It involves declaring a new class which inherits so that a future change to the from one of the built-in classes: TBitBtn. The starting point is base component would be to choose File/New Component and to specify the name of the bject orientation", the automatically carried over into new class and of the ancestor class “Oprogramming buzz- those projects which use it. 2The component is customised by overriding the constructor word of the nineties, promises Templates may be useful but, of the ancestor class. In the public part of the class definition, many benefits. But putting as Mike observes, they are not add the following line: objects to work is not always object-oriented. constructor Create(AOwner: TComponent); override; straightforward, partly because Solution two is to create a Then, in the implementation, write the new constructor: every development language component, and this works constructor TPcwButton.create(AOwner: TComponent); seems to implement them in a dif- best with controls. For begin ferent way. instance, you can create a inherited Create(AOwner); {Essential - runs the inherited Create Visual Basic, for example, is customised button to use on method} only superficially object-oriented: all your company's forms (see Caption := 'PCWButton'; {Sets the new caption} you cannot create new classes or panel). Another example glyph.loadfromfile('C:\PCW.BMP'); {or any bitmap of your choice} 3 sub-class existing objects like would be an edit control with end; forms or controls. By contrast, additional validation methods. 3 Name the unit PcwBtn (by amending the first line of the component palette. It is used in exactly the same way as the Borland's Delphi is deeply object- This is a truly object-oriented code) and save as PCWBTN.PAS. Then choose Options/Install standard Delphi button. When you add it to a form, the code for oriented, supporting all the key technique for making code Components and select this file using the Add button. Choose that form will declare an object of type TPcwButton, thus picking features of the genre. There are reusable, and not hard to OK, and the component will be added to the samples tab in the up the customised code still some surprising shortcomings. I Creating a template in Delphi may be implement in Delphi. But it doesn't meet received this letter from Mike Lockyer: easy, but object-oriented it is not Mike's need, which concerns forms rather nique, it is still not what Mike is looking for. if ClassType <> TForm then ReadCompo- fix this, so you may be better off waiting. “I have imported one of our applica- than controls. You cannot place form com- Why can't you do with forms what you can nentRes(ClassName, Self) For a contrast next month, I'll look at how tions, that was developed using Borland ponents directly onto the component do with other controls, declare new object This means that when you try to derive Visual FoxPro handles exactly this issue. Pascal for Windows (BPW), into Delphi nents very easily (much better than using palette. types and merrily sub-class further types a class TForm2 from TForm1, the compiler with little difficulty (50k lines in less than a BPW), but when I create Form B to inherit The workaround is to create compo- from your own custom classes? looks for a resource file called Delphi defence day). The environment is better and the from Form A, I cannot inherit anything. I nents like Delphi's common dialogue con- Here we hit a Delphi limitation: Delphi's TFORM2.DFM. But it will not exist unless Judging from our mailbox, the newly integrated debugger is far superior to have tried using a template but that makes trols; non-visual objects that display a form visual environment only allows new forms you create it separately. Of course there's broadened scope of this column is well BPW. a copy of the code, which I think is silly and via an Execute method. The form can be derived from TForm (the base form class). nothing to stop you doing that or even appreciated. The following came from “The conversion uses a set of old certainly not object-oriented. If Delphi is designed in the normal way in Delphi. When you create a new form, Delphi adapting Delphi's VCL. The problem is not John O'Connell: libraries supplied with Delphi to support properly object-oriented then it should be Then use File/New Component, and base declares a new class default name a fundamental limitation of Object Pascal “I welcomed your review of Delphi in BPW. My task was then to make use of the possible to create a new form and then the new object on TComponent. Next, cre- (TForm1) derived from TForm. Simultane- but a side effect of the way in which Del- April's PCW and am pleased to hear that new TForm class instead of the old BPW inherit from that.” ate an Execute method that instantiates ously, Delphi writes a standard Windows phi's TForm type is designed. you'll include Delphi as well as VB in your type of TDialog. Mike has a fair point, which I have dis- an object of TMyForm (or whatever your resource file default name TFORM1.DFM, But beware: hacking the VCL is rather Visual Programming column. “I have one query (the same one I cussed with Borland. What he wants to do custom form was called). which is an external file. The problem like cracking open your laptop and solder- “Regarding this review, how do you jus- asked Borland, without success): I want to is to design a custom form — easily done This process is described in Delphi's comes when you try to base a class on ing in some new components — it might tify your conclusion that ‘VB's database create two similar forms — Form A and in the visual environment — and then to Component Writer's Guide (chapter 13). TFORM1. Deep in Delphi's VCL (the Pas- work, but you’re on your own with no guar- controls and language features are better Form B. The latter contains everything that use inheritance to create slightly adapted You can add properties and methods that cal source code for Delphi's built-in antees. then Delphi's for local databases’? A contains plus a few new things, for forms from his newly customised base. further customise the form. Delphi makes objects), is a Create method for TForm Borland does promise that 32-bit Del- “I presume that you have compared instance another edit box. Delphi is able to offer several ways of it easy to create controls at runtime, so which includes the following line: phi, due out “soon after Windows 95” will Delphi's database controls with the data- “In Delphi, I can create Form A using doing this. First, there are templates. there are many possibilities. TForm and create the dialogue compo- These are laughably easy to create: sim- Although it’s a highly effective tech-

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base VBX's that come as stan- vendors suffer exactly the dard with VB 3.0 Professional? same problems and it is most Incidentally, it doesn’t even considerate of VisualTools to include a database grid control pass on this information. But as Delphi does. And, there are you need to specifically check numerous other database con- compatibility before buying any trol features that Delphi has, VBX to be used outside VB. but VB lacks. Did you review a And that raises the question: very early beta version of Del- will the new OCX standard be phi? If so, then how about a any better? The dream of review of the shipping product visual components that work — then you could draw more seamlessly across different accurate conclusions. applications is still far from “As for your other conclu- reality. sion that ‘Microsoft is likely to keep VB one step ahead of Assess your VB skills Borland in implementing the Visual Basic know-alls can latest Windows features’, well now have a piece of paper to of course they are. After all, for ages Wrong answers are politely corrected certify their expertise — it’s part of Microsoft refused to give Borland access in the Visual Basic personal Microsoft's Certified Professional pro- to the implementation details for OCX's assessment exam gramme, and the VB exam is one of the but it gave those details to all its favourite elective papers in the set required to VBX developers. Microsoft's excuse for (Europe) who thoughtfully wrote to tell me become a Certified Solution Developer. this? ‘Borland aren't VBX developers’. No, which of their VBXs work with which prod- The exams are being run by Drake Pro- they're the competition. Need I say more? uct — or more to the point, which do not metric and cost £65 per paper; but if you're “Aside from these gripes, I did enjoy work. wondering whether you would make the your article, so keep up the good work.” VisualTools sells Formula One, First grade, a personal assessment CD is yours I agree that Delphi's data-aware com- Impression, ImageStream, VisualWriter for the asking. ponents, particularly DBGrid, improve on and VisualSpeller, and here is an extract The Visual Basic part contains 44 sec- the rather skimpy set supplied with VB from their letter: tions and is by no means a trivial pursuit: Pro. But there are many superb data- “Delphi. We understand that Delphi you would need to have an intimate knowl- aware controls for VB which do everything works extremely well with our products edge of VB and Windows to score 100 per- that Delphi's do, and more — things like although ImageStream does not work cent. Because the questions are in Aware/VBX, Data Widgets, data-aware with Delphi and VisualWriter has some sections such as Database, and rich text controls like AllText and Visual problems. No wrappers. DDE/OLE, the assessment (and the Writer, and endless others. “Powerbuilder. Powersoft is about to exams themselves) exposes any areas of Incidentally, one Delphi and VB sup- release a wrapper that works with For- weakness in your knowledge. Surprisingly, plier asked me to emphasise that these mula One and VisualSpeller, otherwise this assessment won’t advise you whether VBX's are not data-aware in Delphi — Del- you need to use VBX and DLLs to con- or not you would be likely to pass or fail the phi only supports level one VBX controls, nect. VBX support is weak. real thing, although the rumoured pass and its native database engine is quite dif- “Visual Objects/CA. This product does mark is 60 percent. ferent. Is this unfair? Maybe, but develop- not have VBX support built in but a third Certification gives some limited reas- ers are in the business of applications party, SuccessWare, has produced surance to companies employing consul- development, not of being fair to Borland, CLASS:VBX, an add-on which enables tants or commissioning applications. Microsoft or any other company. And if VO to work. To date we have heard of no According to Drake, the concept was pio- Delphi succeeds (which I believe it will), an problems with this. neered by Novell and was then enthusias- equally strong third-party market will “Gupta SQL for Windows. VBXs work tically adopted by the likes of Microsoft, develop. quite well. Lotus and IBM. Even leaving aside the third-party com- “TopSpeed/Clarion. Clarion is working But rather than all these proprietary ponents, I prefer VB/JET to Delphi for hard at getting our product to interface qualifications, wouldn’t it be nice to see working with local tables. Although dis- with its product and has told us it is ‘com- some certified hype-busters, or FUD (fear, guised by its poor documentation, VB's mitted’ to getting the two together. uncertainty and doubt) detectors? Oh well, database language is great to work with: it “Visual C++ (Borland & MS). Both work there's always PCW. offers dynasets, snapshots, querydefs, with the DLLs & VBXs quite well although table objects, seek and findfirst methods, there are problems with ImageStream PCW Contacts as well as methods for creating tables and and Borland VC++. Microsoft personal assessment CD and indexes. And VB works much better with “dBase for Windows. Works well but certified developer programme 01345 ODBC than does Delphi — sorry, but I'm occasional problems with VisualWriter.” 001000; or to book an exam, call 0800 ☎ not yet convinced by Delphi as a database An interesting letter, but forgive me if I 592873. language and I would expect this to say it is not reassuring for developers Tim Anderson can be contacted via improve in future versions. wanting to slot VBX controls into environ- PCW at the usual address, or Staying with letters, my thanks to David ments other than Visual Basic itself. This [email protected] or [email protected] Boulding and Gary Wood of VisualTools is not a criticism of VisualTools: other VBX

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modules: game.frm, game.bas and Fig 3 The controls used in the VB form and their function the move: when the move number is odd gomoku.bas. The reason for this will cmdExit - the Exit command button player 1 has the move, and when it is even become clear as we proceed. cmdNewGame - the ‘New Game’ command button it’s player 2. The timer routine uses this Fig 2 shows the Visual Basic form Form1 - the form (window) used for the game move number value to determine the cor- design for the game and Fig 3 lists all the Label1 - the ‘Scoreboard’ textual label rect player for updating the time display. controls used in the form, along with a Label6 - the ‘Move’ textual label Obviously the GameMoveComputer description of their function.The properties labMove - the Move Number box routine is unlikely to return that it has made of the form itself are set to be a “fixed sin- labPlayer(0) - shows Player 1’s colour an illegal move, but it is quite possible that gle” border with no “maximise” option in its labPlayer(1) - shows Player 2’s colour the human move was incorrect. For exam- control menu. This is a slightly cowardly labTime(0) - shows the time taken by Player 1 ple, in the case of Go-Moku the player programming approach as it makes it labTime(1) - shows the time taken by Player 2 may have clicked over a point that was impossible to resize the form (apart from optComputer(0) - is set if Player 1’s moves made by the computer already occupied or nowhere near any Piece work minimising it which makes its interior invis- optComputer(1) - is set if Player 2’s moves made by the computer point at all. These two routines are both ible), so there is no need to implement any optHuman(0) - is set if Player 1’s moves made by the user written so that they can be called at any code to cope with resizing actions by the optHuman(1) - is set if Player 2’s moves made by the user stage during a game. Neither is preset with Having set up a game of Go-Moku in Visual Basic user. It would be better to allow the form to picGame - picture box for the game board display the side it represents at the start of a game be resized, but then we have the painful picScore - picture box for the scoreboard display and so can freely be called upon to handle last month, Mike Liardet strengthens play and task of changing its internal layout (in the Picture1 - picture box containing Player 1’s details moves for either side. This gives players shows how you can use the same code to play form_resize event) every time this is done. Picture2 - picture box containing Player 2’s details complete flexibility: they can change sides other games such as noughts and crosses Try it if you like — and don’t forget to vali- Timer1 - Timer at any time, or get the computer to finish date the minimum feasible sizes, below the game automatically, and so on. which nothing can be drawn option buttons for player 1 are held in the ates and displays that move. The DisplayOutcome routine (con- The form is dominated by same picture box, VB does not allow them The code that implements Go-Moku tained in the form code) is used to handle ast month I introduced the game of a large rectangular picture both to be on simultaneously. lies in four routines which are called from the returned value from these routines. LGo-Moku, discussed some of the box used to display the main The code used to process the form is the main form (Fig 5). GameInit performs When the game is over it displays a win, game’s strategies and tactics and pre- play area. To one side is shown in Fig 4, and is remarkable on two all necessary initialisation for the game. loss or draw message box as appropriate, sented the core code used to score another picture box contain- counts. Firstly, it is short. There is no code This sizes the picture box, which is sup- or beeps in response to an illegal move. moves. This month’s article will tie every- ing the scoreboard. The pic- at all to service events where the user plied as one of its arguments, and returns Once a game is over there is no require- thing up by presenting the user interface to ture boxes are not strictly clicks one of the option buttons. This is the name of the game and the name of the ment to start a new game immediately, but the game and describing how the pro- essential. For example the quite surprising as, for example, there is a the two sides so that these can be slotted no further moves are accepted by either gram’s capabilities can be extended for board could be drawn straight big difference between two people playing into the relevant parts of the form display. side. The timer is stopped so that neither stronger play. I shall develop the program onto the form and the various each other and the computer playing itself. GameStart is called every time a new clock changes. No computer move can be in such a way that other related games scoreboard controls could Even more surprisingly, there is nothing game is to be started, in partic- can be implemented by re-using much of also be placed there as well, in the code that relates to the game of Go- ular when the user presses the Fig 4 Visual Basic code for the game form shown in the code, using as an example a modifica- but it is easier to organise the Moku. It contains none of the playing rules, New Game command button, Fig 2 tion to the main program that can play form, with related elements knows nothing about the board display or and also from Form_Load. Its Option Explicit noughts and crosses. With similar modifi- Fig 2 Form design for the game grouped together, if picture even the name of the game or the colour main function is to redraw an ‘Name of the game cations it is also quite easy to implement boxes are used in this way. of its pieces. In short the form is a general empty board and set up the Dim msTitle As String related games like Fours or Connect-4. rectangle. White is about to lose as there The scoreboard picture box contains purpose game-playing form which can be underlying data structures ‘Who we are timing player 0 or player 1 Fig 1 shows the Go-Moku program in is an open-ended diagonal line of four two picture boxes, one for each player, used to support many two-player games. ready for a new game. Dim TimeWho As Integer action. Play proceeds by clicking the Black counters and White can only block and these each contain two option buttons Of course the form does not cover all Apart from these two rou- ‘When we started timing the player mouse at an intersection point on the one end of this line, for example at the along with labels containing the colour of games. It is limited to forms of play where tines, only two others are Dim TimeStart As Double board to indicate where a counter is to be point underneath the mouse pointer. the players’ counters and the time taken to moves are made alternately by clicking needed: one to generate the Sub cmdExit_Click () played. The small embellishment shown The scoreboard gives the time taken by make their moves. Although the time dis- with the mouse in the play area. Left computer’s move and the other End on one of the black counters near the top each side, and also indicates which side is play looks like a text box it is actually a exactly as implemented here, the form and to supply the person’s move, in End Sub highlights the last move made by Black a person and which is the computer. The label made to look like a text box. Labels its code could not be used directly for the form of the (X,Y) co-ordi- Sub cmdNewGame_Click () (the computer) and the large white arrow game is implemented for person v. person cannot receive user input, and as the time games like chess or draughts. These nates of the mouse-hit in the ‘User chose new game/called from form_load mouse pointer indicates that it is White play, person v. computer, computer v. per- display is output-only it is better to use require a drag-and-drop facility: when the game’s picture box. Both rou- Dim ignore As Integer (the person) to move. When it is Black’s son or computer v. computer. It also labels in this type of situation. user is moving a piece it can be picked up tines return the outcome of the ‘Prevent user input move the mouse pointer becomes a black allows the user to change the playing Most of the controls relating to the scor- with the mouse and dropped at its destina- move: a win, loss or draw for InputAllowed False arrangements at any time, ing for the two users are implemented as tion. A minor modification could extend the the mover, or an indication that even in the middle of a game. “control arrays”. The scoreboard controls form to cope with this more complex form the move was an ordinary rou- ‘Always human v human to start with There are only two command for each player have the same underlying of move mechanism, but it has been omit- tine legal move or that it was optHuman(0) = True buttons, one to start a new name, but are differentiated by an index ted as in Go-Moku and related games you illegal. These results are optHuman(1) = True game and the other to Exit value; thus labTime(0) gives player 1’s only need to click on a destination point. defined as global constants in ‘Start new game from the program. time and labTime(1) applies to player 2. Most of the hard work is done by the Game.bas: ILLEGAL, LEGAL GameStart Instead of placing all the Control arrays simplify the processing of timer1_timer routine. Timer1 was set up in , DRAW, WIN0 and WIN1 ‘Reset scoreboard implementation code in one the user interface. It is essential to contain the form design to be called every second. Most of the time the two rou- labMove = 1 ‘= stackTop+1 form module, the code has the two pairs of option buttons in their own Most of the time the service routine simply tines quietly accept the latest labTime(0) = “00:00:00” been broken up into three picture boxes as this is how Visual Basic updates the time display for the player with move and increment the move labTime(1) = “00:00:00” interprets option grouping. Clearly it is not the move, but if it detects that the option number, which is represented TimeWho = 0 ‘Time Player0.. Fig 1 The Go-Moku program in possible for player 1 to be both human and button is set to “computer” for the current on the scoreboard. Indirectly TimeStart = Now ‘..from Now action computer simultaneously, but as the two move then it calls the routine that gener- this determines the player with timer1.Enabled = True (contd.)

670 671 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● LOW LEVEL HANDS ON ● LOW LEVEL

‘Now allow user input ‘optComputer(1).Enabled = allowed Fig 7 With a minor adaption InputAllowed True picGame.Enabled = allowed the Go-Moku program can End Sub cmdNewGame.Enabled = allowed play noughts and crosses Sub DisplayOutcome (ByVal viOutcome As Integer) If allowed Then ‘Move just made - display result If labMove Mod 2 = 1 Then which is also shown up here. Select Case viOutcome picGame.MousePointer = 4 ‘Black square That is its inability to support Case ILLEGAL Else “sub-classing”. The interface Beep picGame.MousePointer = 10 ‘White arrow between the various modules Case WIN0 End If is crude when compared with MsgBox labPlayer(0) & “ wins!”, 0, msTitle Else C++’s capabilities with objects. timer1.Enabled = False picGame.MousePointer = 11 ‘Hourglass We are left with global or mod- Case WIN1 End If ule declarations and that’s it. It MsgBox labPlayer(1) & “ wins!”, 0, msTitle End Sub is very difficult to impose the timer1.Enabled = False Sub picGame_MouseUp (Button As Integer, Shift As simply looks at the available moves and right structure on a VB program so that dif- Case DRAW Integer, X As Single, Y As Single) picks what looks like the best move on the ferent modules can be slotted in and han- MsgBox “Honourable Draw!”, 0, msTitle basis of a static scoring system. This dled correctly. But as we have shown, it timer1.Enabled = False InputAllowed False seems to be good enough for optimum can be made to work after a fashion. Case LEGAL DisplayOutcome GameMoveHuman(X, Y) play at noughts and crosses. It would The most obvious enhancement to the labMove = labMove + 1 ‘on to next move.. InputAllowed True seem that, given any position it will always code given here would be to add the mini- End Select End Sub find the one winning move if there is one, max method to the GameMoveComputer End Sub Sub Timer1_Timer () or the one defensive move to stave off routine. Surprisingly, the very basic move Sub Form_Load () ‘Adjust time for player we are waiting for defeat if that is what is needed. selector which we have implemented Dim sPlayer0 As String labTime(TimeWho) = Format$(Now - TimeStart, This programming example gives a works quite well at Go-Moku and seems to Dim sPlayer1 As String “hh:mm:ss”) good example of the strengths and weak- be unbeatable at noughts and crosses. It ‘Bar any move from user until we are ready ‘Check if someone has just moved nesses of VB, when compared with a com- never makes any out-and-out blunders. InputAllowed False If (labMove - 1) Mod 2 <> TimeWho Then piled object-oriented language like C++. For example it will always complete a line ‘Centralise form ‘yes, so change who we are timing.. In VB’s favour, it is very simple to imple- of five if possible and block a line of four if form1.Move (screen.Width - form1.Width) / 2, If TimeWho = 0 Then ment the user interface: the form design is possible. Several previous Low Levels (screen.Height - form1.Height) / 2 ‘it was player0, so start timing player 1 simple and user actions are easily trapped have described the mini-max implementa- ‘form1.Borderstyle= 1 ‘fixed single (which is non- TimeWho = 1 by the various controls’ event procedures. tion so it should not be too difficult to slot it resizable) already set TimeStart = Now - CVDate(labTime(1)) The development environment is excellent in here. ‘form1.MaxButton = False Else with the capability to switch at any time The game form is more a framework form1.Show ‘vice versa between coding, running and debugging. than the last word in game playing. It could ‘One-time initialisation TimeWho = 0 On the other hand the VB compiler be improved in many ways, still without GameInit picGame, msTitle, sPlayer0, sPlayer1 TimeStart = Now - CVDate(labTime(0)) does not generate real executable code; becoming specific to any one game. As form1.Caption = msTitle & “ (c) Mike Liardet 1995” End If instead it produces an intermediate inter- already mentioned, a drag-and-drop facil- labPlayer(0) = sPlayer0 End If preted “p-code”, which is not as fast as ity would enable it to be used for more labPlayer(1) = sPlayer1 native code generated by a true compiler. complicated games like chess and ‘start a new game - human v human ‘Check if its the computer to move This does not matter much when the pro- draughts. In order to do this the required cmdNewGame_Click If optComputer(TimeWho) Then gram is I/O bound, for example when it is move mechanism for a specific game InputAllowed False servicing user actions and so on, but the should be returned by an extra argument End Sub DisplayOutcome GameMoveComputer() cracks start to show when it is given a in GameInit (ie a value Sub InputAllowed (ByVal allowed As Integer) InputAllowed True meaty computation. The mini-max method indicating either “point-and-shoot” or ‘optHuman(0).Enabled = allowed End If (which we have not implemented here) is “drag-and-drop”). ‘optComputer(0).Enabled = allowed one good example and VB simply can’t get The scoreboard display could also be ‘optHuman(1).Enabled = allowed End Sub through anything like the number of itera- enhanced in such a way that it records the tions that could be achieved with compiled results of previous games in a series, pos- generated, and if the player attempts playing form and the other modules, we crosses implementation. Only one new language. This means that it is not practi- sibly interfacing it to an INI file to remem- another move by clicking in the play area, have adapted it to play noughts and module is needed. The code for this is cable to get it to analyse to the same play- ber the results of previous sessions. An the GameMoveHuman function just crosses. Fig 7 shows the implementation given in Fig 8. Principally this has some ing depth and so ultimately, given the Undo button would also be quite useful. returns the game result again, causing the in action. Notice the black rectangle in the different drawing routines to display a dif- same algorithm as a fully compiled lan- This could undo the last move made, message box to be redisplayed. top right square. This is the mouse pointer ferent sized board (3 x 3) and different guage, it will not play as strongly. whether by the computer or human player, Most of the code to support the four which is displayed when player 1 is to pieces, the familiar “X”’ and “O”’. Of VB has a more subtle disadvantage and some commentary on the move routines called from the game form was move. Unfortunately Visual Basic offers course, for you may think that noughts and included in last month’s listing. Even this only a limited choice of mouse pointers crosses is not a particularly interesting code can support any similar game. The and this rectangle and the white arrow game, but this implementation shows the Fig 5 The four routines which are called from the Game form in order to implement only section of the program that is really (see Fig 1) are the only remotely appropri- flexibility of the generic game implementa- the particular game being played.The two GameMove functions each return a result, specific to Go-Moku is the Gomoku.bas ate ones. There are Dynamic Link Library tion that we have developed. indicating the consequences of the move code, shown in Fig 6. This contains board (DLL) calls that can be made to create Also this implementation appears to be sub GameInit (pic as control, sTitle as string, sPlayer0 as string, dimensions (19 x 19), length of a winning custom mouse pointers, but unfortunately unbeatable (I have not exhaustively tested sPlayer1 as string) line (5) and the routines to draw a board they do not work very well with VB. this). Notice that GameMoveComputer sub GameStart and display pieces. The Game.frm and Game.bas modules function in Game.bas does not contain a function GameMoveHuman (X as single,Y as single) as integer To prove the generality of the game remain unchanged for the noughts and mini-max method for move generation: it function GameMoveComputer () as integer

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Fig 6 Gomoku.bas code contains the essential parameters for Sub BoardInit (sTitle As String, sPlayer1 As String, playing Go-Moku, and the routines to draw the pieces and so on sPlayer2 As String) PCW Cover Disk “level” facility not only enables the players interrupt button can force the best available Option Explicit ‘one time display initialisation The full code for this month’s Low Level is on to set the standard of play in line with their move for an impatient user, before the Const GAME_NAME = “Go-Moku” ‘Make sure picture box is square, in ###largest way the cover disk given with this issue of PCW. own level of expertise, but it also deter- analysis is complete. Const GAME_PLAYER1 = “Black” If picGame.Height < picGame.Width Then mines the length of time the computer PCW Contacts Const GAME_PLAYER2 = “White” picGame.Height = picGame.Width sequence would be a nice touch. takes when choosing its move. Generally Else With computer-generated moves it is speaking, higher levels take considerably Mike Liardet is a freelance programmer ‘Values for directions used in scoring picGame.Width = picGame.Height often a good idea to enable the user to longer than lower levels and with a slower and writer. He can be contacted via the Global Const NUM_DIRNS = 4 End If specify a level of play, and possibly processor the advanced play response PCW editorial office or on email as [email protected] Global Const NORTH = 0 ‘Must have autoredraw include a Play Now interrupt button. The time may become unacceptably slow. The Global Const NORTH_EAST = 1 picGame.AutoRedraw = True Global Const EAST = 2 ‘Return game title, etc Fig 8 OXO.bas code. This is used in place of Gomoku.bas; ‘Return game title, etc Global Const SOUTH_EAST = 3 sTitle = GAME_NAME then along with Game.frm and Game.bas it implements sTitle = GAME_NAME Global Const LAST_DIRN = NUM_DIRNS - 1 sPlayer1 = GAME_PLAYER1 noughts and crosses sPlayer1 = GAME_PLAYER1 ‘Classic Go Board has 19 by 19 points sPlayer2 = GAME_PLAYER2 Option Explicit sPlayer2 = GAME_PLAYER2 Global Const N_SIDE = 19 Const GAME_NAME = “noughts and crosses” Global Const NN = N_SIDE * N_SIDE End Sub Const GAME_PLAYER1 = “X” End Sub Global Const MOVE1 = NN \ 2 ‘First move always in the Sub BoardPieceDraw (col As Integer, row As Integer, Const GAME_PLAYER2 = “O” Sub BoardPieceDraw (col As Integer, row As Integer, middle colour As Integer, highlight As Integer) colour As Integer, highlight As Integer) Global Const WIN_LENGTH = 5 ‘length of a winning line ‘Draw a piece of required colour in (Col, Row), ‘Values for directions used in scoring ‘Draw a piece of required colour in (Col, Row) highlighted if necessary Global Const NUM_DIRNS = 4 picGame.FillStyle = 1 ‘Gives outline Dim gridsize As Single picGame.FillStyle = 0 ‘Gives solid circle Global Const NORTH = 0 picGame.DrawWidth = gridsize / 100 Sub BoardDraw () If colour = BLACK Then Global Const NORTH_EAST = 1 If colour = BLACK Then ‘Draw an empty Go-board in picture box picGame.FillColor = QBColor(0) Global Const EAST = 2 ‘draw an X Dim i As Integer picGame.Circle (gridsize * (col + 1), gridsize * Global Const SOUTH_EAST = 3 picGame.FillColor = QBColor(0) (row + 1)), gridsize / 3, QBColor(0) Global Const LAST_DIRN = NUM_DIRNS - 1 If highlight Then picGame.FillColor = ‘Clear old game If highlight Then ‘Classic Go Board has 19 by 19 points QBColor(8) picGame.Cls picGame.FillStyle = 1 ‘Outline Global Const N_SIDE = 3 picGame.Line (gridsize * (col + 1.2), gridsize * picGame.FillColor = QBColor(0)’Black picGame.Circle (gridsize * (col + 1), gridsize Global Const NN = N_SIDE * N_SIDE (row + 1.2))-(gridsize * (col + 1.8), gridsize * (row + picGame.FillStyle = 0’Solid * (row + 1)), gridsize / 6, QBColor(15) Global Const MOVE1 = -1 ‘No forced first move 1.8)) gridsize = picGame.Width / (N_SIDE + 1) End If Global Const WIN_LENGTH = 3 ‘length of a winning line picGame.Line (gridsize * (col + 1.2), gridsize * ‘Draw all lines Else (row + 1.8))-(gridsize * (col + 1.8), gridsize * (row + For i = 1 To N_SIDE picGame.FillColor = QBColor(15) Dim gridsize As Single 1.2)) picGame.Line (gridsize, gridsize * i)-(gridsize * picGame.Circle (gridsize * (col + 1), gridsize * Sub BoardDraw () Else N_SIDE, gridsize * i) (row + 1)), gridsize / 3, QBColor(15) ‘Draw an empty Go-board in picture box ‘Draw an O picGame.Line (gridsize * i, gridsize)-(gridsize * If highlight Then Dim i As Integer picGame.FillColor = QBColor(15) i, gridsize * N_SIDE) picGame.FillStyle = 1 ‘Outline If highlight Then picGame.FillColor = Next i picGame.Circle (gridsize * (col + 1), gridsize ‘Clear old game QBColor(8) * (row + 1)), gridsize / 6, QBColor(0) picGame.Cls picGame.Circle (gridsize * (col + 1.5), If N_SIDE = 19 Then End If picGame.FillColor = QBColor(0)’Black gridsize * (row + 1.5)), gridsize / 3, QBColor(15) ‘Classic Go Board - plot nine marker points End If picGame.FillStyle = 0 ‘Solid End If picGame.FillStyle = 0 ‘Gives solid circle DoEvents ‘to see the results picGame.DrawWidth = 1 DoEvents ‘to see the results picGame.Circle (gridsize * 4, gridsize * 4), grid- End Sub gridsize = picGame.Width / (N_SIDE + 2) End Sub size / 8 Function BoardXYValidate (ByVal X As Single, ByVal Y As ‘Draw all lines Function BoardXYValidate (ByVal X As Single, ByVal Y As picGame.Circle (gridsize * 10, gridsize * 4), Single) As Integer For i = 1 To N_SIDE + 1 Single) As Integer gridsize / 8 ‘Validate X,Y mouse hit by user picGame.Line (gridsize, gridsize * i)-(gridsize ‘Validate X,Y mouse hit by user picGame.Circle (gridsize * 16, gridsize * 4), Dim i As Integer * (N_SIDE + 1), gridsize * i) Dim i As Integer gridsize / 8 Dim j As Integer picGame.Line (gridsize * i, gridsize)-(gridsize Dim j As Integer picGame.Circle (gridsize * 4, gridsize * 10), X = X - gridsize ‘compensate for offset of board in * i, gridsize * (N_SIDE + 1)) X = X - gridsize ‘compensate for offset of board in gridsize / 8 picGame Next i picGame picGame.Circle (gridsize * 10, gridsize * 10), Y = Y - gridsize Y = Y - gridsize gridsize / 8 i = (X + gridsize / 2) \ gridsize DoEvents ‘ to see the results i = X \ gridsize picGame.Circle (gridsize * 16, gridsize * 10), j = (Y + gridsize / 2) \ gridsize End Sub j = Y \ gridsize gridsize / 8 If Abs(i * gridsize - X) > .2 * gridsize Or Abs(j * Sub BoardInit (sTitle As String, sPlayer1 As String, If Abs(i * gridsize - (X - gridsize * .5)) > .2 * picGame.Circle (gridsize * 4, gridsize * 16), gridsize - Y) > .2 * gridsize Then sPlayer2 As String) gridsize Or Abs(j * gridsize - (Y - gridsize * .5)) > gridsize / 8 BoardXYValidate = -1 ‘one time display initialisation .2 * gridsize Then picGame.Circle (gridsize * 10, gridsize * 16), ElseIf i < 0 Or i >= N_SIDE Or j < 0 Or j >= N_SIDE ‘Make sure picture box is square, in ###largest way BoardXYValidate = -1 gridsize / 8 Then If picGame.Height < picGame.Width Then ElseIf i < 0 Or i >= N_SIDE Or j < 0 Or j >= N_SIDE picGame.Circle (gridsize * 16, gridsize * 16), BoardXYValidate = -1 picGame.Height = picGame.Width Then gridsize / 8 Else Else BoardXYValidate = -1 End If BoardXYValidate = i + j * N_SIDE picGame.Width = picGame.Height Else DoEvents ‘ to see the results End If End If BoardXYValidate = i + j * N_SIDE End Sub End Function ‘Must have autoredraw End If picGame.AutoRedraw = True End Function

674 675 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● NUMBERS COUNT HANDS ON ● NUMBERS COUNT

arithmetic and those which do not. THIS Fig 1 How the counts of degree n are Cn COLUMN BELONGS TO YOU, the n3 4 5 6 7 8 READERS. Those with multi-precision

Cn 6 36 63 228 413 321 giving a total of 1067. facilities like to show them off. However, those who do not have them can still make of multi-perfect numbers of degree greater common”. Now, in Mathematical Recre- a very valuable contribution to empirical than 8? ations and Essays by W.W. Rouse Ball number theory by using their programming NOTE: Jason is about to (31/3/95) experi- and H.S.M. Coxeter, 1947 reprint page skills and conducting an orderly and struc- ment with ‘PARI’, a number theory pack- 349, it is stated that if two positive integers tured investigation to problems such as age supposedly better (in some sense?) are chosen at random, the probability that CJ/NH above. than UBASIC. Has any reader experience they will have no common factor is 6/π2. of this software which they would be willing Mr. Matthews applied the above principle Review of Numbers Count -141- The luck of the Irish to share either with Jason or, indeed, with to “the numbers created by the positions of January 1995: “Stamp of all Numbers Count readers? the one hundred brightest stars which are Approval”, accompanied by the placed at random in the sky”. The results restricted INT FUNCTION Some Gaelic mathematics and other interesting stories, including a review of An Investigation of Legendre’s showed that 61.3% of such numbers had Was the poor response, numerically, NOT Conjecture, CJ1, May 1995 no common factor and if the above theory in quality!, associated with the season of January’s postage stamp problem, presented by Mike Mudge. Here readers were asked to investigate is applicable this led to an estimate for π of this particular article (Christmas)? Previ- solutions of the Diophantine Equation: x3 + 3.13, correct to within less than 0.4%. This ous experience with PCW readers sug- y3 = Az3 in the special case A = 1. Much agreement appears to be better than gests the latter. Those readers interested response has been received and Nigel would be expected on a simple intuitive in the postage stamp problem may either An Irish pattern-makers problem! The Mull Factoring Group is trying to co-ordinate efforts to prevent Hodges of Cheltenham has given much argument, for a sample of one hundred refer to ‘Algorithms for Computing the h- From Letterkenny, Co. Donegal, a letter The Cunningham Project using digital this happening. food for thought. The fundamental refer- taken from an infinite population. Range of the Postage Stamp Problem’ by which concludes, “Is mise le meas, Cólm computers to find the factors of certain PROBLEM GS-MullFac. Attempt to redis- ence for much Numbers Count material is Matthews concludes: “This shows that Svein Mossige, Mathematics of Computa- O Cinnéide.” poses the following: large numbers is organised by Professor cover the wheel by finding the 37-digit “The History of the Theory of Numbers”, a the language of the universe is that of tion, Vol. 36, No. 154 April 1981, or contact “Imagine a string of numbers chosen Sam Wagstaff in the Department of Com- prime factor of 5,575L and also the 44-digit fascinating trilogy; in vol. 2 from page 572 higher mathematics” and further “this sup- the University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway, from (1,2 or 3). For example, puter Sciences, Purdue University, West prime factor of 11,219+. onwards, the above equation is discussed. ports the belief of the ancient Greeks that in particular Christoph Kirfel of The Mathe- 1232123132331132331323323132331323213 Lafayette, IN 47907, USA, tel 317 494 If possible, complete the factorisation of Dickson stated that there are no rational numbers are at the root of everything in matics Institute, SVD. B, 5014 Bergen, 132313231331 6010, fax 317 494 0739. these 92 and 94-digit numbers respec- solutions for A = 3, 5 or 6. (In fact, for A = the universe”. Norway, for the latest results. In the string above, 3 occurs beside 3 Tables of factorisations are published tively... THEN CONTACT GEORGE SAS- 6 there is the solution (x,y,z) = (37,17,21).) Problem PI*ES. Sample integers from a Suffice it to say that one of our regular which is really a bit boring. From this, sup- in the book: Factorizations of bn±1 for b = SOON for instructions and advice as to J. Prestet provided the following won- variety of distributions whch appear to be readers, Gareth Suggett, extended his pose you apply the rule ‘if a substring x is 2,3,5,6,7,10,11,12 upto high powers Ed. how best extend your experience of this derful result: random/pseudo-random/quasi-random. results to n(6,4) = 114 with solution set 0 1 beside substring y’ then x does not equal Brillhart et al and published by the Ameri- ‘very infinite’! area of exploration. if (x,y,z) is a solution, then so is Test for the existence of common factors 4 19 33. Any advance on this, please? y. That is in a valid “superstring” (IRISH can Mathematical Society in various edi- Incidental information: George Sas- (X,Y,Z) where X = x(2y3 + x3), Y = - and use the fraction, F, of these numbers Ernst S. Selmer produced a two-volume PATTERN!). 1 would not occur beside 1, tions as vol. 22 of their contemporary soon has recently ordered a 28.8 kbaud y(2x3 + y3), Z = z(x3 - y3). with no common factor to construct esti- document at Bergen in 1986... available π π π 1213 would not occur beside 1213, mathematics series. modem and is about to venture onto the Starting with A = 6 and (37,17,21) Nigel mates of called e using e = SQRT(6/F). on loan from Mike Mudge. 12131321 would not occur beside 1, 1213 Now, the Scottish arm of this project is Internet — comments welcome. generates an all positive solution with X & Address the question, are these estimates The RESTRICTED INT FUNCTION would not occur beside 1213, 12131321 led by George Sassoon of Ben Buie Z having 26454 digits and Y having 26453 within the ‘expected’ range, given the produced some interest, however. After would not occur beside 12131321... etc. Lodge, Lochbuie, Isle of Mull, Argyll PA62 An Update on Multi-Perfect digits. Pepin has shown that there are no sample sizes used? much soul-searching (using an efficient The most formal terms I [Colm] can 6AA, and it also has a Wiltshire subgroup. Numbers solutions for A = 14,21,38,39,57,76 & 196; Does this approach provide an addi- search algorithm!) the prize must be think of putting this in is: It has factorised about a dozen numbers Jason Moxham of Southampton, email whilst Lucas shows that there are only tional test for randomness? If so, how can awarded to its originator, Roy Dixon, of (#x = #y) and (x~y) implies (x<>y) i.e. IF greater than 1080 using several comput- [email protected] has found a solutions when A is of the form ab(a+b)/c3 it be efficiently carried out? 119 Bullbrook Drive, Bracknell, Berkshire the length of a substring x equals the ers, and Professor Yuji Kida’s suite of total of 1067 multi-perfects. Recall that a for integer a,b & c. Complete, or partial, responses to the RG12 2QR. Thank you, Roy, for providing length of a substring y AND x is contiguous PPMPQS programs is about 10101. The number is multi-perfect of degree n if it is PROBLEM CJ/NH. Investigate the obvi- above problems may be sent to Mike this sort of stimulus with such foresight. to y THEN x does not equal y. biggest number factorised to date equal to n times the sum of its factors. ous generalisations of this equation, i.e. Mudge, 22 Gors Fach, Pwll-Trap, St. Further results obtainable on request to Some example strings are: (19/4/95) by the group had 98 digits and (Including the improper factors of unity and with additional terms on the lefthand side Clears, Carmarthen, Dyfed SA33 4AQ, tel M.M. or R.D. took several months of spare computer the number itself.) and/or higher equal/unequal powers. 01994 231121, to arrive by 1st September (a) 121323121312321 time on IBM-compatible computers. 120 = 23 x 3 x 5 with factors NOTE: Summaries of results for ‘small’ 1995. Any complete or partial solutions Cry for help! (b) 232131232123132 George asserts that now with 486s and a 1,2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12,15,20,24,30,40,60 integers may provide an insight into some received wil be judged using suitable sub- What are Dimitrov Wheels or, indeed, (c) 313212313231213 Pentium it would be a lot quicker and cites & 120. underlying theory... MULTIPRECISION jective criteria, and a prize in the form of a Serotic Wheels, and how do they adjust his own factorisation of an 80-digit number These sum to 360 i.e. 3x120 which is INTEGER ARITHMETIC is NOT NEEDED £25 book token, or the equivalent over- one’s chances of winning the National Lot- If only two digits are allowed, the fol- in about three days using a single 90MHz therefore triperfect or multiperfect of to contribute to this problem. seas voucher, will be awarded by Mike tery? Replies to M.M. or to David Brake at lowing strings are all that happen: Pentium Dell. degree 3. Mudge to the ‘best’ solution arriving by the PCW. 0; 1; 01; 10; 010; 101; ” Some Notation. 5,213+ denotes 5213+1, David Wells; Penguin Dictionary of A problem of random numbers closing date. Such contributions should Mike Mudge 3,419- denotes 3419-1. The suffixes L and Curious and Interesting Numbers, sug- In the Daily Telegraph for Saturday 22nd contain a brief description of the hardware PROBLEM Colm. Enumerate all the valid M denote the algebraic factors of bn±1. gests that over 500 multi-perfects are April, Adrian Berry (science correspon- used, details of coding, run times and a “superstrings” for the set of three charac- Thus 12,321+ has algebraic factors known with degrees upto 8. Even with his dent) reports on a letter in Nature by summary of the results obtained; all in a PCW Contributions Welcome ters (1, 2 or 3). Extend this algorithm to the 12,327L and 12,327M when n+3 mod 6, k extensive calculations, Jason has yet to Robert Matthews, science correspondent form suitable for publication in PCW. Addi- Mike Mudge welcomes readers’ corre- set of n-characters (x1, x2, x3,....xn) com- = (n+3)/6, L=122k-1 - 22k-13k + 1 and M = find a multi-perfect of degree 9. The of the Sunday Telegraph. This letter refers tionally, readers’ comments upon the gen- spondence on any subject within the menting, if possible, on its efficiency. 122k-1 + 22k-13k + 1. Similarly for some counts of degree n are C , Fig 1. to “a mathematical theorem which says eral or specific nature of this month’s n areas of number theory and computation- Possible Hint: Is this related to the Wang other b & n. Duplication of work is posing a PROBLEM JM. Reproduce and extend if that if any group of numbers if chosen at column would be most welcome: in partic- al mathematics, together with suggested Tiling of the infinite plane discussed in problem, e.g. the German group factored possible the results in Fig 1; are there any random, there is approximately a 61% ular, the balance between research pro- subject areas and/or specific problems Numbers Count, PCW March 1995? 12,327M just before MullFac but Wagstaff theoretical results relating to the existence chance that it will not have any factors in jects requiring multi-precision integer for future Numbers Count articles.

676 677 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● NETWORKS HANDS ON ● NETWORKS

sharing of the local resources over a apparently uses its own password second machine (possibly because I had Windows network, you can also (not at authorisation so, like a NetWare server, learned something by then) was set up in the same time) share local resources with you can assign other passwords for users double-quick time. I spent the second day Novell clients. The Windows 95 machine — if not other user names. User names reconfiguring the networking to access appears as a Novell server on the and group names are read from the Net- CIX. (Although the Microsoft Network, network, allowing all attached drives to be Ware server). All you have to do then is which is actually an online bulletin board shared out on the network as though it to use the MAP command as usual to affair, apparently allows Internet email, it were a Windows for Workgroups share. add the new drives to the available drives doesn’t yet allow TCP/IP file transfer.) This affects us (and Novell) in a in the list. Windows 95 also allows printer The first time around, the Windows 95 variety of ways: firstly, you have an easy sharing along the same lines. installation program’s automatic way of setting up a CD-ROM share — My main machine crashed during the hardware detection left a little to be which Novell was never good at; installation of the secondary copy of desired. It seemed not to be very good at Below desk environment secondly, if there’s a large disk on a Windows 95 — I think Word for Windows distinguishing IRQ9 from IRQ2, so it machine which is under-used, it allows was doing a backup and the remote looked as if my ancient Mitsumi CD was extra disk space to be available to your machine was trying to access the CD at lurking at IRQ2 for a while until I crawled In search of the networking advantages of NetWare users with not much more over- the same time; so much for re-entrant on the floor and discovered that it really Windows 95, Stephen Rodda found that a little head in either hardware or labour. code. I rebooted it and although the sec- was on IRQ9. practice and under-desk exploration made the How is this done? Windows 95 ond machine stopped installation, it It’s amazing what you can learn about creates the name of a new server based allowed me to reconnect to the shared the hardware of a machine while crawling installation of a final beta version easy. on the name of the computer. My own CD and to continue the installation as on the floor. I was looking at all the cards machine (which is currently sharing both though nothing had happened. installed in my tower case, and after a hard disks and CD) is called Berwick and It is not possible to judge the stability rather illuminating time entering setup the volumes are WIN95 and VOL_D; the of a beta version accurately, since the mode for the Adaptec SCSI disk CD, from which a client machine is cur- whole point of a beta is to see what bugs controller, I had created a list of all the he final beta of Windows 95 fell onto example. I’ve written about this in a rently installing Windows 95, is also still exist, but Windows 95 seemed a very interrupts and so on, in use on my Tmy doormat a couple of days ago. previous column, so I’ll only mention that shared, unoriginally, as CD. stable operating system. machine. The one thing I remembered You’re probably fed up with hearing as long as you have Microsoft clients, an The drives appear as It’s only a pity that my partner Jeff’s was that I’d popped the NE2000 right up about Windows 95, but there are a couple NT server will open a NetWare volume BERWICK/WIN95, BERWICK/VOL_D machine, which runs SoftWindows, can- at IRQ 15, but I couldn’t remember the of aspects which don’t seem to have and share it among Windows clients. and BERWICK/CD. Thus all we have to not run Windows 95 because the 80x86 reason. I decided it would have to stay been much vaunted. Take the NetWare The particular hidden advantage in do is to ATTACH BERWICK and the new on the Macintosh will only sup- there, as I wasn’t going to re-install NT volume-sharing in Windows NT as an Windows 95 is that as well as allowing NetWare server is online (Windows 95 port the 80286 chip. I hear, though, that just for a wretched Windows 95 beta. there is an 80386 version coming soon. All this noted down, I decided to try Windows 95 and NetWare This should please DEC Alpha and MIPS re-installing. It worked beautifully. After a users no end, as this same SoftPC emu- little judicious reassignment of the inter- The drives showing lator is loaded within their copies of Win- rupts, port addresses and DMA on my computer, dows NT so they should be able to run addresses from Windows Control Panel including the NetWare native PC code which requires an 80386 so that no two things at any one time drives or better. were taking up the same address space Although on my main machine (it reminded me of those puzzles with one Windows 95 took me about a day to set missing square) I managed to get every- up, what with being absolutely crammed thing to be — according to Windows 95 to the gills with cards and hardware, the — where it really was.

Questions & Answers

Stuck in a queue I spoke to Kyocera’s technical support I have a Kyocera FS1500 Ecosys laser line and they didn’t know what was printer on a Novell 3.12 (50-user) Ether- causing the problem. net network. The printer has its own Jim@CIX Ethernet card, 5Mb of memory and is a print server in its own right. There’s a firmware upgrade kit for the Nearly every other day, now, any one NetWare print server service for that The configuration of of about a dozen users will send a print printer. Kyocera should have told you Windows 95 to act job which just gets stuck at the top of the on the first call, but if you call again and as a NetWare server queue. Pconsole shows it as either active mention that you know about the or adding. The only solution is for me to upgrade, they’ll probably upgrade you. delete the offending file. Doing this some- times lets the other through although now Forgotten IDE and then I have to delete the whole My NetWare server has started to lose My Windows 95 queue and reset the printer. Exactly the its CMOS settings. Today I booted it and desktop same thing was happening when the it had forgotten all about its IDE drives. printer was just servicing a print queue What should I do? from the network server’s print server. Stephen Rodda

678 679 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● NETWORKS

Yes, it’s another one of my own Local difficulty problems which I’ve had on our I have two PCs, a 386 and a 486, and network. Obviously, the battery in the one dedicated modem phone line, con- server is dying. First I’ll see whether nected to a internal 14.4k faxmodem. I there’s an attachment for a battery on want to use the 386 as a modem server, the motherboard. You can get battery left on 24 hours a day running as follows: holders for just this problem. They will Time Task hold three or four pen cells and should 0800 Run the WINFAX DOS TSR keep the problem at bay for another 1900 Run a simple BBS program (not couple of years. If not, I’ll have to either public access — just replace the Nicad battery or change the somewhere to dump files from motherboard. Since I’ve got 16Mb of work etc). older, slow RAM invested in the mother- and loop board, I’ll be looking at the cheapest The two PCs will be networked in way round this. My server is a 386-20 some way. Watford Electronics has two and finding another 386 motherboard is Ethernet cards plus cables and Personal probably well-nigh impossible NetWare in my price range. I thought of nowadays. That would mean getting a using a serial network but there is a radio 486, and I’d have to spend about £400 mast half a mile away with microwave/ in replacing the motherboard and the FM/police/gas/cellular transmitters on RAM just to get back to the same and these interfere with my serial links, situation as I’m in at the moment. even when using high-grade shielded As a temporary measure, I’ve copied cables. The maximum reliable throughput the drive settings (the number of cylin- I got was 9,600 baud; not enough to drive ders, heads and sectors per track) from the 14.4k modem efficiently. the sticky label which should have been The 486 will not be on all the time but I on the back of the computer, but was want to be able to use Winfax for inside the case, to another sticky label Windows and the Demon package on the which I’ve fixed to the front of the case. 486, connecting to the modem via a net- Then, in an emergency I can always run work to the 386, dialling out as if it’s a setup and seconds later the machine local modem. Can this be done, with will reboot and run DOS and NetWare. If Windows/Demon not noticing that the your server hasn’t got these settings on modem isn’t local, or do I have to think of the outside of the case, make sure you some other way to do this. put them somewhere obvious. In a nutshell, I need a network pack- age that seamlessly emulates the Absolute beginners modem as a local device. Will Personal I need a beginner’s book on networking? NetWare do this? I thought of Windows The network I will be setting up will have for Workgroups but the 386 doesn’t have about 15 users and I’m considering Net- enough memory and upgrades are not Ware or Windows for Workgroups. really worth it. “Beatnik” [email protected]

You can’t practically use Windows for There’s no real solution to your problem Workgroups for 15 users. I’d suggest a other than to use a package such as real networking product for this number Procomm Plus for Windows with a of clients (such as Novell or NT), since Class 2 faxmodem which will differenti- otherwise the users will either degrade ate between fax and data calls. You the server machine’s performance or could then use something like Winport they will get no performance out of the to network the modem through a network at all, depending on how heavy Personal NetWare network. As far as the usage is and on the network perfor- the radio interference problem is con- mance settings. Another possibility is cerned, you could always try using an Windows 95, if it’s available in the internal modem; this should remove the release version; it’s a real 32-bit operat- problem of interference through the ing system and could cope with serial lines. demands of this sort. If you’re going to be sharing out a vast amount of disk space, NT is PCW Contacts cheaper. A good book on basic Stephen Rodda is an independent networking is Introduction to Network- computer consultant specialising in DTP ing by Barry Nance, published by Que, and networking. He may be contacted ISBN 1-56529-824-1. as [email protected]

681 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● MACINTOSH HANDS ON ● MACINTOSH

Fig 1 Keeping track of time CODECs, full-screen images, and dis- plays of up to 30 frames per second on PowerMacs. It supports professional qual- QuickTime Movie Layout ity video editing at 60 fields per second, with high data throughput as well as Time SMPTE time code, and can handle MPEG1 data playback with an additional Scale decoder card. QuickTime data files are called Video 1 “movies”, and information in them is bro- Audio 1 handled by Lion Entertainment and, as ken up into a series of separate tracks. T The quick and the cred with the original version, a cut-down Usually, there’s one track for video, one or r General MIDI shareware edition will, hopefully, be trav- two for audio, another for text and so on, a Text elling around the Internet by the time you and the QuickTime engine synchronises c read this. all of these on playback. This method k Preview Audio QuickTime version 2.0 is multimedia heaven for Features of Mac Doom II include: works in a different way from the popular s higher resolution graphics than its PC AVI (Audio Video Interleave) format as Preview Video Mac users. Chris Cain provides an overview and cousin — up to 640 x 400 pixels in 256 used by Video for Windows, where every- explains how it controls and integrates video, colours; single and multi-player modes for thing is stored in a single interleaved lump. animation, music and text into applications. Mac-to-Mac and Mac-to-PC sessions; See Fig 1 for more information on the data spine-chilling stereo sound; and the ability structures.

to kill the Finder for increased speed. One advantage that the track system Audio Video Audio Video Audio Video Audio Video Audio Doom II for the Mac requires has over an interleaved format is its ability Header uring the past few a 68LC040 Mac or better, 8Mb to intelligently drop video frames without Information Dmonths, I’ve dealt with of RAM, System 7.1 or higher losing audio quality on slow machines, the subjects of Apple AV tech- and 17.2Mb of hard disk space. thereby maintaining relatively smooth per- nologies and how to use a digi- formance overall. Of course, there are lim- Frame 1 Frame 2 Frame 3 Frame 4 tiser to capture small video Step in QuickTime itations to this but in many cases it can clips. This month the spotlight When it comes to doing any- work quite well. Another advantage is that turns to QuickTime, the multi- thing even remotely impressive it’s far easier to edit and replace informa- Top Fig 1 QuickTime uses media software extension that on the Mac, you’re unlikely to tion when it’s arranged in separate data tracks whereas AVI files makes all this possible. get very far unless you have a streams. (above) are interleaved But first, as they say, here is copy of QuickTime. There can’t The audio aspect of QuickTime 2.0 is the news: rumour has it that be many people out there now just as impressive. It has support for both Left The IIcx is not 32-bit Apple is beginning to gear who don’t know what this is, but digitised audio and a MIDI control data clean itself up for the forthcoming in case there are, here’s a track that works in conjunction with either launch of Windows 95. quick overview. the QuickTime Musical Instruments exten- Reports are coming in of an Contrary to popular belief, sion, or an external synthesiser. internal memo at Apple head- QuickTime is not Apple’s ver- The QuickTime Musical Instruments quarters in the US, advising sion of Video for Windows — extension is a real breakthrough, providing sales staff of ways in which to it’s a complete system soft- every QuickTime-capable Mac with an compare Microsoft’s latest OS ware architecture for handling upgrade to General Midi (GM) sound with- with System 7.5. Along with a multimedia. out the expense of extra hardware. The reminder that the only hard- Designed in 1991 and extension contains a highly compressed mers soon. But you only need the Quick- was in a bit of a panic: was it true that the ware currently guaranteed to run Windows QuickTime 2.0 is a complete multimedia launched just after the first version of Sys- set of instrument samples, licensed from Time extension itself to play movies back. entire system must be upgraded just to be 95 is a slide projector, the memo suggests architecture. It can run video at up to 30 tem 7, QuickTime defines a standard for Roland, which can actually be “played” like Another recent announcement is able to use more RAM? that the sales force uses the PECO frames per second controlling and integrating dynamic media a synthesiser, using MIDI commands. QuickTime Conferencing, a development Fortunately, although there is some truth (Power, Ease of use, Compatibility and such as video, music, animation and text, These commands take up far less memory to improve video conferencing. in the 8Mb limit, the situation isn’t half as Overall value) format when comparing into Mac applications. than conventionally recorded sound. bad as it seems and doesn’t affect the IIfx. systems. taking Windows 95 very seriously. From The QuickTime system software exten- Using them, you could fit several minutes Thanks for the memory It’s a little confusing, but I’ll try to explain. Apparently, the Mac sales force should what I’ve seen, it’s a big improvement over sion is currently in version 2.0 and ships as of music on to a single floppy disk. If you The other day I got a phone call out of the Some old Macs, namely the II, IIx, IIcx concentrate on pointing out the Power- the current version (but then again, what standard with all Macs. An additional plug- are lucky enough to have real GM synth, blue from a friend: he’s running his busi- and SE/30, have ROMs that are limited to Mac’s higher number of native applica- isn’t?), and in most respects it’s very close in, written in RISC code, is available for you can get QuickTime to automatically ness on an old Mac IIfx, a tried and tested 24-bit memory addressing: that is, tions, superior multimedia facilities, and to System 7’s ease of use. PowerMacs to improve performance, and divert the commands to this, to achieve machine with a 40MHz 68030 processor. addresses in memory can be no more than compatibility with DOS and Windows, via Perhaps even more important in the another extension, called QuickTime maximum audio quality. In the late eighties, this was one of the 24 bits in length. Although this works out at the excellent DOS card and SoftWindows. battle to increase Mac market share, Musical Instruments, adds advanced MIDI Other recent improvements to Quick- fastest Apple’s you could get — I remem- around 16.7m individual memory The memo also echoes a common Apple and far more interesting to the average capabilities. Time include QuickTime VR, a virtual real- ber being quite jealous when it first arrived. addresses, the Mac hardware steals a lot of marketing cry that Macintosh users are user, is the announcement that Doom II is Although QuickTime does much more ity software solution to create movies that To cut a long story short, my friend had this for tracking information in ROM and on more satisfied and more productive than to be released in June. The sequel, which than enable the playback of software users can look around as if they were just been told that the IIfx only supports a expansion cards. The result is an 8Mb limit PC users. took the PC industry by storm last year, video, this is the use to which most people actually part of them. The development maximum of 8Mb of RAM. Because large on usable memory. System 6, the previous As expected, Apple UK declined to will be available in both 68K and Power- will put it. Apple has an advanced video tools for this are currently in the final Photoshop images play an important part operating system, was also limited to this comment, but I hope that the company is Mac versions. The conversion has been system with provision for multiple stages and hopefully will ship to program- in his life, he wanted to move to 16Mb and memory size. More modern Macs, and

682 683 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● MACINTOSH

Absolutely invaluable at around £60, it effectively doubles the amount of available memory in your machine and lets you have more applications open simultaneously. It does this by using advanced data handling techniques and compressing and decom- pressing information on the fly. Best of all, there’s no noticeable decrease in speed. Another benefit for PowerMac users is that the RAM doubler reduces the amount of memory needed to run native mode applications. It does this in the same way as turning on Apple’s virtual memory but without the performance drop. Good stuff.

Sign of the times You can happily lose several hours playing with the Time Life Guide to Astrology. It’s a CD-ROM comprising everything you need Double the number of apps you can allows machines without a floating point to take on Mystic Meg. The guide takes open with RAM Doubler maths chip (such as the popular LC 475) you through the history of this ancient art, to use applications that would otherwise from its birth in Mesopotamia to its use in require one. Although the applications run modern Europe. There is a section on System 7, are “32-bit clean”: they support slowly, they do run. understanding the mystic symbols of the 32-bit addressing, and raise the address Zodiac, and a look at how to read an space to a whopping 4Gb and usable Utility of the Month astrology chart. memory to 1Gb. What with all this talk of patches and The program can also be used to cast To cure the problem with older utilities, I’ve decided to introduce a regular your own personal horoscope, and will tell machines, utility maker Connectix pro- Utility of the Month award. This will be you what kind of a person you are in sev- duced a system patch called Mode 32. awarded to the individual program that has eral American accents. Apparently I’m a Thanks to user pressure, Apple conse- proven itself to be indispensable, or at highly creative Cancerian with good com- quently acquired the rights to this software least incredibly useful. Mode 32 came very munication skills and an emphasis in Earth and distributed it free across services like close to being the first winner, but it’s a bit and Wind. You can also cast compatibility AppleLink and CompuServe. The com- long in the tooth and only relevant to those with friends and lovers, and the disc pany now produces its own version called using old Macs. includes the profiles of over 500 famous 32-bit Enabler. After much debate, Connectix RAM people. I’m destined to hit it off with the While we’re on the subject of patches, Doubler is this month’s worthy recipient. gorgeous, pouting actress Drew Barry- a useful utility that resurfaced this month, more, and my mother would have been and one which is well worth getting hold of, good mates with Groucho Marx, if they had is SoftFPU. It’s a shareware program that The Time Life Guide to Astrology. ever met. emulates a 68881 maths co-processor. It It’s Mystic-Meg Mungus, Mate! Even though I don’t take any of this seriously, I can thoroughly recommend the disc to anyone even remotely interested in the subject. It’s great fun.

PCW Contacts RAM Doubler costs £69.95. Available from Computers Unlimited, 0181 200 8282. ☎ SoftFPU and Mode 32. Available from up-to-date Apple dealers, shareware libraries and all good Mac online services. QuickTime 2.0 and QuickTime VR. Available from Apple, 0181 569 1199. ☎ The Time Life Guide to Astrology costs £21.27. Available from Softline, 0181 4011234. ☎ Chris Cain loves to hear from Mac users and can be contacted via email as [email protected]. compu-serve.com, on eWorld as Cain or by writing to PCW. He especially wants to hear from anyone who knows Drew Barrymore’s phone number.

684 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● COMPUTER ANSWERS HANDS ON ● COMPUTER ANSWERS

UMC486SX-33 11.5 MIPS of what the GDI is all about because, on since then. the only advantage comes if a bug is dis- Why is my UMC machine’s MIPS so unfortunately, there is nothing you can do The system BIOS (Basic Input/Output covered and the motherboard manufac- high? Is it actually that much faster, or is about it anyway. Subroutines) can either be stored in a turer wishes to release a fix. it a mistake? I think the loss of system resources ROM or EPROM chip or, in some newer Because the BIOS is so tightly bound Also, I’ve just upgraded from 4Mb you apparently suffered coincidentally machines, Flash EPROM. An EPROM to the motherboard, you will probably RAM to 8Mb. Why is it, then, that I keep with your RAM upgrade is actually a red chip can be re-programmed using some save yourself a lot of time and trouble by getting a “Low memory, close some win- herring; however, getting the figure back special equipment, whereas a ROM can- changing the entire motherboard to fix a Any questions? dows...” message when trying to Print up is the key to keeping Word happy. not. However, this is only of academic BIOS problem. This does seem a bit Preview in Word for Windows 2.0? My interest to end-users wishing to upgrade. drastic but the expensive bits are the system resources (as displayed in Pro- Hurdla hurdles the overdrive In either case, the chips must be processor and the RAM, which you would If you’ve got a PC problem or think you could help gram Manager help) have also Could you tell me if removed from their sockets and replaced transfer across. Bare motherboards decreased from around 79% to 59% my Ambra Hurdla with new ones. themselves are relatively inexpensive. other readers out, contact Frank Leonhardt. when just Program Manager is running. I 486DX 33MHz is Flash EPROM has several find this very strange. suitable for advantages over traditional EPROM. It NetScape’s new address Light relief IDE. In order to get the shortest possible [email protected] upgrading to the can be re-programmed while still inside I’m new to World Wide Web browsers. I have an old CBM PC40 III, fitted with a cable between the drive and the DX/4 100MHz the computer, allowing updated software Currently, I’m using NetScape for brows- Quantum 40Mb drive. On starting up the controller, and thus the fastest and most If MIPS only attempts to measure CPU overdrive chip. to be distributed on disk. The old ing the WWW. Just a few days ago, when hard drive, a light comes on and stays on, reliable transfers, why not put the speed and nothing else, then as you say, Since my PC pre- contents can be erased “in a flash” and I first tried to run NetScape, it said that it and after the “checking extended mem- controller electronics on the drive itself, it is probably a mistake. If it takes the dates the DX/4 chip, it is not mentioned in new data written in its place. It is also a couldn’t locate the NetScape home page. ory” message up comes “1782 controller and then run a cable back to the mother- speed of the graphics and disk subsys- the technical manual. The reason for my lot faster for the processor to access than My NetScape home page address is: failure”. After booting from floppy, the board and plug it straight into the normal tems into account, then an SX/33 could concern is the change in voltage in some traditional EPROM. http://home.netscape.com://netscape/h screen says “Invalid drive specification” AT expansion bus? The software on the be made to go a lot faster than some PCs from 5v to 3.3v. You cannot replace a normal BIOS ome/welcome.html when C: is typed. I’ve run the Setup pro- PC wouldn’t know whether it was talking poorly configured high-clockspeed Toby Smith ROM with a Flash EPROM as the design Every time I use NetScape it says that gram and confirmed that the setting is to a separate controller card or to the machines. [email protected] of the board is completely different. the address is not a valid URL address. correct for the Quantum 40Mb drive. drive itself, so everything would “just My guess, however, is that the Although it is possible to upgrade a Ainuddin Hj.Khamis The CBM manual states: “The PC40 work”. 486SX/33 is actually being clocked at According to Intel’s latest compatibility BIOS ROM, it is not that simple. A mod- [email protected] III motherboard incorporates the And it did. Some manufacturers added 40MHz. Bear in mind that a DX2/66 is lists, the Hurdla mt (DX/33) is certified ern PC BIOS will contain special code, controller logic necessary to allow the AT a 40-way connector on the motherboard actually a 33MHz processor running upgradable with the DX2ODPR66 only. specific to the motherboard, to configure A simple answer: NetScape’s home page drive to be attached directly, using a stan- for attaching an IDE drive cable, while some internal instructions at 66MHz. The However, most machines which can be the PC chipset used. This means that has been moved. Edit your dard 40-pin flat ribbon cable.” It also others simply used an adaptor card to overall performance increase is certainly upgraded in this way will also work with you cannot swap BIOS ROMs between NETSCAPE.INI file and in the [Main] says: “The drive is a specially designed plug it into a standard expansion slot. not 100% over the 33MHz part — 30- the DX4ODPR100 and I suspect that machines: they simply won’t work. In fact, section replace the Home Page line with integrated/intelligent drive known as an When your machine complains of a 40% is more realistic. This results in a your Ambra will be no exception. the following: INTEGRATED AT DRIVE.” I’ve taken the controller failure, the faulty controller it standard SX or DX running at 40MHz If you want the latest information on Mysterious disappearance Home drive out, checked connections etc. but to sees must be on the IDE drive simply being close to the same speed as a certified overdrive compatibility you can of WfWG fonts Page=http://mosaic.mcom.com/home/ no avail. because there isn’t one on the DX2/66. call Intel’s FaxBACK service on 01793 welcome.html I’d welcome any ideas on whether the motherboard. It is possible that you have You can quite often find PCs with their 431155 using a touch-tone telephone. I have installed Windows for Workgroups fault will be in the drive itself, or a problem with the cable or there could processor clock circuits set incorrectly. Even if you don’t, it is an interesting expe- and I am having trouble with its fonts. I VSHARE.386 update something on the motherboard. be a genuine fault near the IDE socket, Many believe this is done by some less- rience, but make sure your fax machine is installed Excel 5.0 and have no problem; all Keith Mercer but I doubt this; there is very little there than-professional clone makers in order loaded with a fresh roll of paper first. fonts present and correct. I then installed A couple of people have written to me [email protected] actually to actually go wrong. That just to get their machines perform better in Word 6.0 and, lo and behold — no fonts! pointing out that VSHARE.386, the leaves the drive. benchmarks — and this probably does All about BIOS Have you any suggestions beyond starting SHARE.EXE replacement shipped with The Commodore manual was being a lit- The drive really isn’t worth repairing: happen. However, I’m inclined to believe I would like to know how to tell if the sys- everything from scratch and re-installing Windows 3.11, will work with version 3.1 of tle inaccurate when it claimed there was with hard disk space costing 25p per it’s down to straightforward incompetence tem BIOS on a computer is stored in nor- the lot? Windows too. Simon Child even sent me a drive controller built in to the megabyte it’s only worth £10. I’d suggest because it doesn’t just turn up on review mal ROM or the upgradable Flash ROM, [email protected] the ftp location for it so users for 3.1 can motherboard. In the dim and distant past you take the machine to a reputable com- machines. without actually going to the expense of upgrade if they wish. It is at — five years ago — you needed a drive puter shop and get them to fit a new Getting to your second question, it is buying an upgrade disk. I find the disappearance of your fonts rather ftp.microsoft.com with a filename of controller card to operate a hard disk unit. drive, rather than buying one and hoping very rare to genuinely run out of memory Secondly, if the BIOS is in Flash ROM, puzzling. Perhaps someone out there can WW1000.EXE. The CPU communicated with its drives for the best. You may find that not all with Windows 3.1. If you have 16Mb is it necessary to remain with the same offer an explanation? through the controller, requesting data modern IDE drives work with the configured, including Virtual Memory, manufacturer, or can you chop and If you want to get them back, you can and receiving it back. Commodore, but the shop should be able then you have to try quite hard to use it change; say, from Award to AMI? install fonts without installing everything PCW Contacts One weak link in this design was the to try a few until a compatible one is all. Painting programs are about the Thirdly, the BIOS chip on my mother- using the Control Panel. First, however, you Frank Leonhardt is an independent connection between the drives and the found. best way, but word processors use rela- board is not soldered on, it is in a socket. will have to find your fonts. computer boffin who can sometimes be controller — the ST506 interface. This tively little. Does this present the possibility of chang- The easy way to do this is using File contacted on 0181 429 3047 or via wasn’t able to deal with the possibility of Miffed about MIPS Like many other Windows ing the chip itself to Flash ROM, or might Manager to search for any files matching email as [email protected] or communications errors. The longer the I have a small program called applications, Word claims to have run out there be compatibility problems? the specification *.TTF. Make a note of their [email protected]. Letters may be cable, or the faster the attempted trans- MIPS.COM, which is supposed to tell of memory when, in fact, it has simply run Chris Liddell location (it will probably be sent to PCW at 32-34 Broadwick Street, fer, the greater the chance of data being you the number of MIPS your CPU can out of those mysterious “System [email protected] C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM) and run Control London W1A 2HG, but individual replies are not normally possible. Please do not corrupted en route. The arrangement perform. Resources” you see displayed in the Pro- Panel. ask about cover disks or CD-ROMs! also limited development because con- These are some sample results: gram Manager About.. dialogue. This The idea of being able to upgrade your Select the Fonts icon and click on the troller and drive manufacturers dare not Intel 486DX2-66 13 MIPS percentage figure is calculated based on BIOS easily does sound attractive. At one Add button. Select the directory containing Intel product information: deviate from the standard to avoid Intel 486SX-25 6.9 MIPS the amount of free “system” memory left time it was also necessary to cure bugs the fonts you wish to add and their names 01793 431144 (voice) ☎ 01793 432509 (FaxBACK) incompatibilities. AMD 386SX-33 2.8 MIPS which belongs to the GDI and USER sys- and accommodate new upgrade technol- will appear in a box. Just click on Add All ☎ 01793 432955 (BBS) Enter Integrated Drive Electronics, or Intel 286-16 1.5 MIPS tem modules. I’ll spare you an explanation ogy. However, the situation has moved and they should be restored to you. ☎

686 687 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 HANDS ON ● BEGINNERS HANDS ON ● BEGINNERS

certain amount of homework before constant use while programs are running. spare floppy disk. stranding yourself completely clueless in The hard disk is used for dumping any Most DX2/66 PCs these days come the middle of Dixons on a Saturday data which the system does not currently with at least 500Mb (half a gigabye) of afternoon. need. hard disk. The price of hard disk drives One of the major problems with buy- So, how much RAM do you need in (unlike RAM) has shrunk considerably in ing a computer is that the market is con- your computer? Well, ultimately it all the past year or so, and it’s well worth tinually changing, so you’ll always need depends on what software you’re going shopping around for a good deal. up-to-date advice on exactly what you to want to run. In the old days of DOS- can get for your money. This continual based applications, most spreadsheets, The monitor and videocard state of flux gives rise to a never-ending word processors and simple databases When it comes to working happily with debate among computer specialists could run quite happily on 1 or 2Mb. your system, the monitor is probably the concerning what constitutes “the These days, most people run Windows most important and overlooked element. minimum system”. Don’t worry, I won’t programs which are graphical by defini- Most people end up with the monitor Just like starting over rehearse any of those arguments here. tion (even simple spreadsheets and word which comes included in the overall sys- What I will do, however, is go through processors). There’s a great deal of tem deal and nine times out of ten, this is some of the essential terms you’ll need infuriating debate among computer a bad move. Poor quality monitors are Eleanor Turton-Hill guides you through the morass to digest before you part with any people about the minimum amount of often thrown into a package deal to keep of jargon and misinformation you’re guaranteed to money, as well as suggesting a basic RAM required to run Microsoft Windows. the overall system price down. Typically system necessary to run the current In my view you’ll need at least 8Mb to run they are small, have horribly curved encounter when buying a PC, and tells you exactly generation of computer software. the average system satisfactorily. screens and give you a headache. You what you should really look out for. Most DX2/66 systems should come don’t have to buy the monitor which The processor with at least 8Mb RAM. Any less is a sign comes included with the PC. Spend One of the first things you’ll hear people of shameless skimping. A system with some time in the shop playing with differ- f you’re new to computers, buying a which serve as a barrier between talking about is the type of processor in 4Mb RAM will just about run but will soon ent monitors. Test the screen controls, IPC can become something of a computer people and the rest of the the machine. This is the central process- drive you round the bend with its painful and compare the clarity of the display on nightmare. Like most other specialist world. You don’t have to be a computer ing unit (CPU), or chip, and is probably crunching noises and flashing lights as it a variety of models. commodities, PCs are buried in a propeller-head to break through this jar- the single most important component to struggles to shovel data from memory to People often get confused about the confused pit of jargon and acronyms gon barrier, but you do need to do a consider when you’re buying a PC. At disk. relationship between the video card and the moment it’s generally agreed that the Another important thing to check the monitor. The video card sits inside The Random entry-level system should have a about the RAM provided in your system is the PC and controls the features that the Access 486DX2/66 processor. The “486” refers whether it uses standard or proprietary software can display on the monitor. Memory to the type of chip (generally made by memory, and what the upgrade alterna- There are several features to look out for. banks (RAM) Intel, but there are clone chips made by tives are. Some PC manufacturers force Firstly, check the amount of memory on AMD and Cyrix), and the “66” refers to you to buy their own proprietary memory the card. Two megabytes is about stan- the speed of the chip in megahertz chips, usually insisting that their own spe- dard these days, 1Mb is skimpy and (MHz). cial memory is faster and more reliable. 512kb is barely usable. Also, check out The “DX” refers to the maths co- Generally this is just a way of getting you the performance capability of the card. processor which is built in to the chip to to spend an extortionate amount of Video cards come as 16-bit, 32-bit, 64-bit speed up mathematical calculations. money. Proprietary RAM is generally and even 128-bit. All you need to know This helps if you do a lot of number- priced at three to four times the price of about this is that high numbers of bits crunching type operations but it’s also a industry-standard SIMMs. means faster performance and more necessary part of the system if you use colours. any complex graphics programs, and The hard disk The most important aspect of your many CAD packages will not install if The hard disk is the part of your system video card, and the most frequently your system lacks a co-processor. which holds all the programs, documents quoted feature, relates to the resolution There are many other types of and data when your PC is switched off. which the card supports in Windows. processors around, some of which have The longer you have your computer, and This is measured in terms of the number very similar names to the one described the more documents you create, and the of pixels the card displays on the screen. above. But don’t let anyone try to more data you store, the more valuable The absolute minumim these days is persuade you that a 486SX/66 or a your hard disk becomes. In fact, hard 1024 x 768 with a refresh rate of 70Hz. 486DX2/50 is almost the same thing. disks which crack up can put small com- The refresh rate is an important figure The 486SX is missing the crucial co- panies out of business in a flash. Your to look out for as it relates to the flicker processor, and the DX2/50 is just slower hard disk is the storage place for all your which you will perceive from your The Central and would gain you a negligible saving. valuable work. monitor. Processing The programs you run (i.e. your word Finally, find out whether your video Unit (CPU) The hard disk RAM processor, graphics package or spread- card is “local-bus” or not. Local bus is a would be RAM stands for Random Access sheet) are replaceable. When you buy type of interface which connects your positioned in Memory. It’s the working memory used your PC, you’ll often get some of this video card to the motherboard. It’s a a drive bay by your computer to store instructions software pre-installed on the hard disk, recent development which allows the and data before they can be committed but you’ll also get a set of floppy disks memory in the card to be addressed to the hard disk. Because RAM works which you can use to re-install if anything directly by the CPU, which makes it a lot much faster than the hard disk, it’s used goes wrong. Anything else you create faster than the standard ISA (Industry for handling all the data which is in should be instantly backed up onto a Standard Architecture) interface. PCW PCW ILLUSTRATION by Russell Harvey

688 689 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 ORDER FORM

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DATE OF TELEPHONE ORDER ...... / ...... / ...... ello, I’m Anthony DATE OF TELEPHONE ORDER ...... / ...... / ...... TIME ...... George, your H ORDERED BY: ❏ TELEPHONE ❏ FAX ❏ POST Customer Services Manager. ORDER REFERENCE NUMBER (IF QUOTED) ...... My job is to assist you when Personal Computer World ADVERT APPEARED IN PCW: things go wrong or when you Buyer’s Charter DISPATCH REFERENCE NUMBER ...... have a complaint about ISSUE DATE ...... PAGE ...... advertisements in Personal Private buyers are protected by PERSONAL Computer World. If you COMPUTER WORLD’s mail order protection encounter a problem, write to scheme provided you: QUANTITY DETAILS OF ORDER UNIT COST £ TOTAL £ me with details of the 1. Have not had your money returned by the complaint and I will contact Supplier. you. 2. Have followed the PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD guidelines when placing your order Ten rules to buy safely and taken all reasonable steps to effect delivery 1. Always use a PERSONAL or refund. COMPUTER WORLD order 3. Have retained a copy of the original adver- form. tisement, a copy of the PCW Order Form, and 2. Keep a copy of the original advert. 4. On large orders obtain a written proof of payment. 3. Keep copies of all quotation. 4. Have submitted your claim, in writing, within correspondence, and if you speak 5. Wherever possible pay with a two months of the beginning of the month on the phone make a note of who personal credit card. All transactions shown on the cover of the issue where you saw you spoke to. over £100 should be the advert. For example, by the end of July for covered by the card the June issue (which comes out at the begin- company’s insurance ning of May). scheme. 6. Does the price quoted The following limitations apply: include everything dis- 1. PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD’s Liability cussed? Is VAT extra? under the Buyer’s Charter will not exceed SUB TOTAL METHOD OF PAYMENT 7. Check how they will £2,000 in respect of any claim submitted by any deliver and if times are one Private Individual Reader or more than ❏ ❏ ❏ DISCOUNT guaranteed. £100,000 in respect of claims in any one calen- PERSONAL CHEQUE PURCHASE ORDER CREDIT CARD 8. Is telephone support dar year. Any additional payments by ❏ C.O.D ❏ CHARGE CARD ❏ OTHER (SPECIFY) ...... CARRIAGE or on-site maintenance PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD are entirely CREDIT CARD COMPANY ...... START DATE ...... / ...... / ...... included in the price? at the publisher’s discretion. SURCHARGES If a return to base 2. The Buyer’s Charter only applies to goods CHARGE CARD COMPANY ...... START DATE ...... / ...... / ...... warranty can be advertised in PERSONAL COMPUTER VAT CARD NUMBER EXPIRY DATE ...... / ...... / ...... extended, how much WORLD. It does not cover goods from classi- does it cost? fied advertisements, loose inserts, catalogues ❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ ❏❏❏❏ TOTAL 9. Check that all or other sales material obtained from any rele- branded components vant advertiser, or products that have not been are genuine. advertised even if they are from the same DELIVERY DETAILS AGREED DELIVERY DATE ...... / ...... / ...... 10. Is the supplier supplier. ❏ TERMS OF WARRANTY ❏ MONEY BACK DELIVERED TO (ADDRESS) reputable? Do they 3. There is no protection for goods purchased (IF DIFFERENT FROM ABOVE) ...... ❏ RETURNS POLICY ❏ COST OF EXTENDED WARRANTY comply with BS5750 from outside Great Britain or goods purchased ❏ HELPLINE or ISO900? If in for resale...... doubt, ask to see Details: ...... customer ...... POSTCODE ...... testimonials. ORDER FORM SIGNED ...... DATE ...... / ...... / ...... DAYTIME TELEPHONE NUMBER ......

690 691 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995 JULY 1995 CHIPCHAT ChipChat

● While Microsoft was holding its recent World Beware! Wide Developer’s Conference in San José, California, we went surfing on the Internet to With a top notch anti-virus software group test scheduled for a track down news about the party that always forthcoming issue, the PCW team set out to find the nastiest follows. strains around. So, here are the top ten rumours about If you’re constantly swapping data with others, you’d do best to Microsoft’s WWDC party: look out for the following: 1. The barman will be called Bob, and he won’t John Major Virus: Restricts your monitor to 16 levels of grey. let anybody drink alcohol without their parents’ Heseltine Virus: Deletes 31 files but claims 11 can be recovered. permission. British Gas Virus: It won’t do anything now but it will send two 2. There’ll have to be another party on Tuesday viruses around next week. to correct the problems people had at the first AA Virus: It doesn’t do any harm itself but it knows a virus that one. can. 3. The waitresses will be twice as big as they Traffic Cone Virus: Slows down the bus and all other traffic and were last year, but only half as fast. has a tendency to occur on bank holidays. 4. The first 640 people sit downstairs, but ASCII Virus: Draws a small comedian on the screen, singing silly everyone else has to perch on the roof. songs. 5. The room will be crammed with so many Dyslexia Virus: Messes about with your flies. bars, there’s no room for people. John Smith Virus: The best virus we never had. 6. You can’t hear the music at the party unless Winona Ryder Virus: Turns floppy disks into hard ones. you bring a SoundBlaster card. Kylie Minogue Virus: Infects your files for a period of time, then 7. No one will be able to work out how to order disappears without a trace. Mussolini Virus: Hangs your system — from a lamp-post.

Left Realising that its physically per- hair care people don’t talk about fect Terminators are easy to identify, computers in their meetings, and it SkyNet sends its latest model, based doesn’t really matter which conditioner on a City solicitor, to track down the you use with a shampoo... elusive Sarah Conner... ● Ever wondered what the special Windows key does on Microsoft’s food, because the menus will be so Ergonomic keyboard? Wonder no more. non-standard. Top sources report that pressing this will 8. You have to order drinks from the automatically cause a General Protection “Drinks Wizard” who asks you 17 Fault with the new improved Windows 95. questions and then always gives you warm Previously you needed to run an applica- root beer. tion to do this... 9. All the doors in the bar will look like push Sorry, our mistakes doors, but you have to pull them. 10. The party has been postponed until next On last month’s cover disk we credited a year (but Bill Gates will make a speech telling picture, entitled “Talisman of Death”, to us how good it’s going to be). Walter A Kuhn. In fact it is the creation of ● Intel press conferences can sometimes get Peter Andrew Jones, to whom we very technical. Take this exchange between apologise for the mistake. Michael Bond of Intel and Richard Barry • We’d like to point out that Nick Beard does of PC Week: know that PCI stands for Peripheral Com- RB: “So what you are saying is that ponent Interconnect, and not Pre-connec- the Triton chipset is like a tion Inspection as reported in last month’s conditioner — you can use any Business Matters. At least, he says he shampoo and conditioner, but if does. you use two from the • There are also corrections to the Perfor- same maker you will ma PowerMacs review. We mistakenly get better results. referred to the Crusader as the 5100 — it is Pentium will work in fact the 6200 and, due to last-minute better if you have a changes at Apple, said machine is now the Triton.” same price as the all-in-one 5200. The MB: “Well, of course SoundBlaster support offered by these we think that Triton is machines is also now 16-bit 1.6 and not 1.5 Head and Shoulders as stated. above the other • The ResourceBank CD, reviewed in last chipsets...” month’s CD-ROM section, is now free of Apparently, charge and not £19.95 as reported.

695 PERSONAL COMPUTER WORLD JULY 1995