OS/2 Warp Weekly Newsletter - 1995-07-21

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THE OS/2 WARP WEEKLY - A production of PSP Worldwide Marketing Support

Covering information relevant to OS/2 Warp and LAN Server

The 7/21/95 Issue (A real collector's item)

The OS/2 Warp Weekly is now available on the Internet at gopher://os2info.austin.ibm.com/11/nl/os2news/os2news.70

IBM and Lotus Outline Strategic Product Decisions

In just two short weeks, IBM and Lotus have created a strategy "designed to leverage the complementary strengths" of both companies. The decisions include:

  • adopting Lotus Notes as IBM's workgroup client and mail, messaging and groupware server platform;
  • adopting Lotus SmartSuite as IBM's desktop suite; and
  • adopting Lotus as IBM's brand name for PC application and workgroup software.

"IBM's commitment to the Lotus brand, and Lotus' desktop and communications products sends an important signal to the marketplace about how focused we are on combining our strengths to meet the needs of current and future customers," said Jim Manzi, senior vice president, IBM and Lotus CEO. "Our unique combination of end-user software expertise and scalable enterprise systems experience has enabled us to very quickly address complex brand, product and technology-integration issues. We are confident that together we can enhance the way individuals, teams and entire organizations get work done."

The response to the announcements were very positive. The following comments by said Gerry Higgins, managing director of Data Center, Network and Distributed Technologies, NYNEX seem to reflect the general feeling from both IBM and Lotus customers.

"Notes is a great product and we are a big Notes user. We are delighted that IBM recognizes its potential and encouraged by the speed at which IBM and Lotus have moved."

Why Lawyers Choose OS/2

On the Canopus forum on CompuServe, a consultant who helps lawyers with their computing needs recently explained why some lawyers choose OS/2:

1) Lawyers are getting much more information from a variety of different sources - on line databases, e-mail, the Internet and CD-Rom. This variety of information puts greater emphasis on moving data between programs and places. Lawyers see the importance of the Internet. The OS/2 Warp Internet Access Kit (IAK), because it works today, is an important selling point.

2) They see Windows 3.11 as obsolete, with a poor reputation in the legal market. Windows 95 has two major disadvantages - it is unproven, and likely to require movement to Windows NT to in a few years. Lawyers dislike rapid change. Therefore the choice boils down to Windows NT or OS/2. Windows NT, right now, doesn't have all the bugs shaken out. OS/2 by and large does.

3) Most lawyers have been let down in the past by proprietary systems, those old dedicated word processors, time and billing systems, and so on. Philosophically they want open systems. They see OS/2 as more open. Most think that Microsoft is eliminating their choices, and they don't like that.

OS/2 Warp at Work - Part I

OS/2 Warp produces immediate results even for computer novices, as this user explained on the Canopus forum:

My PBX tech support manager was a longtime Windows user at work. He had a 9600 baud connection and whenever our Canadian office transferred files to him, his machine was useless. Then we installed OS/ Warp on his 386-33 with 12 megabytes. With OS/2 Warp installed he could leave the connection up in the background to accept files and forget about it.

Since then he has upgraded to a 486 with 20 meg where he keeps 3 (2 OS/2 and 1 DOS) communication sessions up for various sites to use. He works without worry on his WordPerfect and Microsoft Word documents while 2 to 3 file transfers are going on. The system just works - no reboots, no tinkering constantly with the system. Now that we've added TCP/IP, he can get to our MIS system in Corinth, Miss. Plus he is connected to a VAX with Pathworks as well as an OS/2 server with peer services.

The other PCs that still have Windows are constantly fighting out-of-memory errors, printer disconnects, reboots, etc. The OS/2 machine just works. The manager shut OS/2 down the other day because a Windows application had messed up the palette a few days earlier. He didn't have to shut down but he was sick of the messed up colors. That was the first shutdown in over three weeks and that shutdown was to install TCP/IP. Before that, the only shutdowns in several months were due to a couple of power outages from storms.

This PBX tech support manager was a fairly basic computer user. He now installs everything himself except OS/2 Warp and the networking software. His machine is faster by several orders of magnitude than any of the 20+ Windows PCs used by everyone else in the company.

OS/2 Warp at Work - Part 2

OS/2 users continue to put their operating sytstem to use in creative and productive ways. This testimonial came from the OS2USER1 forum on COMPUSERVE:

I have OS/2, Describe, Lotus Smartsuite, Carlook, COBOL, VAC++, DB2/2, Impose/2, and GCP (all native OS/2 apps) installed on my computers.

A typical Friday afternoon for me, as I rush to leave the office for the weekend, includes compiling a COBOL program and printing the source listing on the matrix printer while updating COBOL documentation in word processor and printing it on the laster printer while backing up my database while updating my spreadsheet. Then I go lock up the office, powerdown the AS/400 and get out as soon as the printers can catch up. Multi-tasking, YES. Thirty-two bit, YES. Graphical, YES.Powerful, YES. Productive, YES. Everything Microsoft someday hopes to deliver - but I've been doing it for two years.

Chuck Davis, CPA Seattle, Washington

EMEA Developer Assistance Program Now Available Through the Web

The IBM OS/2 Developer Assistance Program (DAP) in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) now offers a full developer support service through the Worldwide Web. The move to the Internet comes after four years of support provided through a bulletin board system (BBS) network, and brings a comprehensive, seamlessly integrated service to over 5,400 OS/2 DAP members in EMEA.

On the DAP's Worldwide Web pages, registered DAP members get privileged access to protected pages which provide a broad range of news, fixes, demos, beta and sample code, tools, shareware, device drivers, development and marketing information, as well as invaluable technical support.

For more information on the OS/2 DAP, visit the IBM EMEA OS/2 DAP Home Page:

http://www.europe.ibm.com/getdoc/psmemea/progserv/dap/

or the IBM Software EMEA Home Page:

http://www.europe.ibm.com/psmemea/

or the IBM Solution Developer Operations (SDO) Home Page:

http://www.austin.ibm.com/developer/

or e-mail: emeadap@vnet.ibm.com

ColoradOS/2 Conference for Software Developers

The fourth international ColoradOS/2 software developers conference will be held the week of October 15-20, 1995, at the Keystone Resort in Keystone, Colorado.

The ColoradOS/2 conference focuses exclusively on OS/2 and is targeted to software developers. It usually draws more than 25 percent of its attendees from outside the U.S. Each day will begin with a featured speaker, then continue until late into the evening with concurrent technical tutorials. There will be many opportunities to mingle with the speakers and establish important contacts in the OS/2 software development community. It has been characterized as "like getting an advanced degree in OS/2 programming in a week."

Approximately half the speakers are from IBM, and are the principal developers of OS/2 and its ancillary tools. The remaining speakers are advanced programmers, authors and consultants who are strongly committed to OS/2.

Complete details about this conference can be found on the Internet, at the ColoradOS/2 Web page (http://www.colos2.com). For those without Internet access, call:

   (800) 481-3389  (from the U.S.A. and Canada)
   (719) 481-3389  (from any location)

Handy OS/2 Warp Resources

The following OS/2 Warp resources are available to provide information on supported hardware, drivers and general information:

   IBM Fax Back:  800-IBM-4FAX

   IBM Help Desk WWW: http://ps.boulder.ibm.com/www/usa/ps/services/
   IBM FAQ Location: http://web.mit.edu/os2/www/user.html
   IBM OS/2 Warp Page: http://www.austin.ibm.com/pspinfo/os2.html
   IBM Corporate Page: http://www.ibm.com
   IBM Internet Page:  http://www.ibm.net
   IBM Lan Server Page: http://www.austin.ibm.com.pspinfo/lansrvr.html
   IBM Internet Applications: FTP-  ftp.ibm.net
   IBM Software Updates (some drivers): FTP- software.watson.ibm.com

Non-IBM:

   Warp Pharmacy: link can be found via Team OS/2 page-
   http://www.teamos2.org/

Non-Internet Sources:

   CompuServe: GO OS2USER (private users offering advice and files)
               GO OS2SUPP (IBM sponsored support)
               GO PSPAPROD (Software Products Forum) 
   AOL: check under "computing" 
   Prodigy: Jump OS/2 Club (official IBM Prodigy site) 

Special Offer for SpeedSoft's Speed-Pascal/2 Compiler

Speed-Pascal/2 is a Borland Pascal 7.0 compatible compiler and an integrated development environment with a host of features designed to ease the task of writing OS/2 Presentation Manager programs.

It includes the following tools:

A PM-based MDI editor
An integrated debugger
A 32-bit OS/2 compiler
An OS/2 Assembler
A Resource Editor and Compiler
An Inline Assembler

The regular price for Speed-Pascal/2 is $179. Through July 31, 1995, you can purchase it for $129. Contact:

SpeedSoft USA 19528 Ventura Blvd. #133 Tarzana, CA 91356
Telephone: (818) 887-3034

For European pricing information, contact:

SpeedSoft GbR Nuernberger & Partner Arthur-Strobel-Str. 12 09127 Chemnitz
E-mail: speedsoft@special.infox.com

Warp'd Humor

I don't have a solution but I admire the problem.