OS/2 Magazines - Review

EXCERPTS FROM: COMMENTS ON OS/2 MAGAZINES AND PERIODICALS

By: Richard E. Hodges

1. TRADITIONAL PRINTED PERIODICALS

1.1 DESCRIPTIONS AND COMMENTS

1.1.1 OS/2 Professional

This is a monthly periodical which has been around for just over one year. OS/2 Professional is a slick, color glossy magazine which typically runs about 100 pages. It features regular columns by noted industry pundits such as William Zachmann and Jerry Pournelle. Editor Edwin Black does a fine job of pulling together a professional publication targeted primarily at the corporate OS/2 user, MIS Manager, developer, etc.

OS/2 Professional is organized into four major sections: Articles, Products & Reviews, Tech Talk, and Departments & Columns.

The feature article section typically contains such categories as "Special Report", "User Profile", "Vendor Profile" and "Feature". Typical articles tend to run in two veins. One recurring theme is coverage of OS/2-specific developments. Articles such as "The Future of OS/2", "Integrating OS/2", "Windows Version of OS/2--a Solid Integrating Platform", etc. The other theme tends to highlight various corporations and individual OS/2 users. These articles typically show examples of how OS/2 has helped make someone a success, or solve some problem.

Black often conducts a Q&A interview with some industry leader who is significant in some way to OS/2. For instance, a recent issue featured an interview with Corel CEO Michael Cowpland.

OS/2 Professional is relatively weak as a source of solid information related to applications programs: this is not the place to look for a comparison of the latest productivity apps. Shareware, no matter how good, would scarcely be expected to appear in an OS/2 Pro review. It doesn't appear that OS/2 Pro has established or utilizes any benchmarks for OS/2 programs.

The editorials in OS/2 Professional have a decidedly political edge. Edwin Black generally offers some market analysis ranging from doom and gloom to cautious optimism. Zachmann's View is usually gazing over the broad architectural landscape of IBM operating systems vis a vis Microsoft's. Predictably, Zachmann is inclined to put on the binoculars and focus attention on the latest smokescreen from Microsoft. This politico-IBM orientation also spills over into some articles and interviews.

Jerry Pournelle's recent addition, "The View From Chaos Manor" brings a much needed end-user perspective to the magazine. For instance, Jerry has discovered many obvious quirks in OS/2 (such as the idiotic "Find" and "Locate" commands). Hopefully, if someone of Pournelle's reputation identifies these problems the OS/2 developers (or someone!) will get around to doing something about them. Unfortunately, Jerry still seems to view OS/2 as a platform for running Windows programs. He can't resist the ever present temptation to send IBM some more good advice...

Overall, I regard OS/2 Professional as a worthwhile publication. It has plenty of advertisements, reports of new products, some useful tips and REXX programming hints. Unfortunately, I sometimes find the political tone of magazine tiresome and almost depressing. Indeed, even the photos of the authors look gloomy. Nobody smiles.

1.1.2 OS/2 Magazine

OS/2 Magazine is a new monthly periodical which appeared last December (1993). It is a glossy color periodical which (so far) runs about 85 pages. OS/2 Magazine provides coverage of OS/2 that is distinctly oriented toward the end-user. The articles and editorial copy are aimed at _average_ end users, a welcome perspective. Discussion of software products is typically prefaced by some plain-language description of why one would need it. Acronyms are always defined, and the magazine seems to consciously avoid paragraphs that look like they were taken from an IBM service manual, or a game of techo- scrabble. It is enjoyable reading.

OS/2 Magazine is divided into four sections: Articles, Reviews, Departments and Columns. The articles on OS/2 are typically in the "how to" vein or else are tutorial in nature. Examples include, "Customizing your OS/2 Desktop", "While You Wait" (a very readable explanation of why multitasking is useful for an average end user), "OS/2 on a Laptop". So far, the cover story has tended to focus on OS/2 itself, rather than products for OS/2. For instance, the March issue features, "OS/2 for Windows".

One thing I found distinctive about OS/2 Magazine is the honesty of the product reviews. The reviews give a straightforward view of the author's experience with the product. There is evidently little bias shown to native OS/2 products -- for instance, the March issue's review of word processors flatly states that Windows word processors are better than the current crop of native OS/2 word processors. On the downside, the product reviews are not as precise and detailed as one would like. In some cases, the reviews are a bit sloppy. There is little _quantitative_ comparison of products (although, admittedly these kinds of tests can often be misleading). Bottom line: the magazine provides useful information about applications software and how it performs.

Long-time OS/2 users will recognize some ex-IBMers among the authors in OS/2 Magazine. They are unequivocally _NEW_ IBM. The authors of editorial and opinion columns in OS/2 Magazine avoid the geo-political-operating-system-war-game-strategy attitude that is prevalent in many periodicals. Although the editorials and opinions columns do not shrink from complaining about problems (again, end-user viewpoint), the overall tone is positive. All of the authors are smiling! Another unique aspect of OS/2 Magazine is the column by Amy Wohl (in fact, she's the only "big name" writer). This provides a welcome departure from the male dominated computer press.

Columns in OS/2 Magazine are filled with useful "how to" information. How to code REXX macros. How to find an OS/2 user group. How to find the latest OS/2 books. There's a helpful "Tips and Tricks" column with useful information to help a person set up and customize the system. Etc, etc, etc.

Overall, OS/2 Magazine is a very valuable resource, particularly for NEW OS/2 users. It has plenty of advertisements and listings of new products. The tone is positive and the magazine properly focuses attention on how to solve problems and make things work for you. The product reviews should improve over time (bear in mind, this is only about the third issue -- VERY impressive quality for a startup). One useful addition would be a regular review of good shareware programs.

SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION:

OS/2 PROFESSIONAL (Monthly)                    OS/2 MAGAZINE (Monthly) International Features                         Miller Freeman, Inc. 172 Rollins Avenue                              600 Harrison Street Rockville, MD 20852                            San Francisco, CA 94107 Subs: $39.95/yr                                Subs: $39.95/yr (301)770-3333                                  (800)765-1291                                                 CIS:71572,431