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February 2000
editor@os2voice.org


January 22

LOS2CL (the Large OS/2 Customers List) has been updated:

http://rover.wiesbaden.netsurf.de/~meile/los2cl.html

Thank you for your help to improve the LOS2CL.


January 22

Petr Mikulik has developed a binary release of the famous gnuplot 3.8b with mouseable PM and X11 terminals.

Compiled on January 21, 2000.

http://www.sci.muni.cz/~mikulik/gnuplot/

You may also give PMPlot 1.0 (pmplt100.zip) by Lars Enghardt a try.

http://www.leo.org/pub/comp/os/os2/leo/graphics/index.html

Both are released with the GNU License.


January 22

In the process of upgrading disk subsystems in two OS/2 servers, I went for the new Adaptec 29160 Ultra160 SCSI controllers and Ultra160 drives. I received them and plugged one Adaptec controller into a machine. Unfortunately, to my surprise, unlike any other Adaptec product I have used before, the driver disk only came with drivers for DOS, Windows, NT and Novell, but not OS/2. A visit to the Adaptec website showed nothing else. I tried the Adaptec OS/2 drivers for the 2940 U2W series, but they wouldn't recognize the new card at all. I called Adaptec technical support and after more than a half hour on hold, the technician - who told me I was the first one to ever call on an Ultra160 card - acknowledged that there were no OS/2 drivers for the card currently. I insisted and inquired to know if there were any plans in the future for OS/2 drivers, and he said that OS/2 drivers were underway and would be coming end of Q1 to beginning of Q2.

The reason I think this is significant and I'm posting it to WarpCast is the conjunction of this lack of OS/2 drivers with the press release on Adaptec's web site at:

http://www.adaptec.com/adaptec/press/release000118a.html

dated 1/18/2000, which states that the popular Adaptec 2940 series "will continue to be supported but will no longer be available for purchase". This means that until Adaptec releases its OS/2 drivers for the 29160 series, you won't be able to purchase a high-performance SCSI controller from Adaptec for use under OS/2, except from existing stocks.

In the meantime, I am returning my two Adaptec 29160 boards and settling for Ultra2. But even though it was still in stock, I didn't want to go for an already-obsoleted Adaptec 2940 U2W, which cost only $10 dollars less than the new 29160 model. Instead, I am going for the Tekram DC390 U2W which have OS/2 drivers from both Tekram and Symbios. In fact, I am getting three Tekram Ultra 2 for the same price of the two Adaptec Ultra 160.


January 21

My OS/2 programming links page at:

http://www.edm2.com/links/index.html

has been updated again. There is one new section and 37 new links, for a total of over 250 links.

My OS/2 programming links page is a VERY comprehensive list of OS/2 programming resources on the Internet. Every OS/2 programmer should have this URL among their bookmarks. You won't find such a complete list of programming references for any other operating system.


January 21

Lotus has just announced a broad range of client support enhancements for its Domino family of software products. These enhancements have significant positive implications for OS/2 Warp and WorkSpace On-Demand Optimized Client users, among others. Here are some of the highlights:

- Through Lotus iNotes, Domino users have access to a broader range of Domino services through a web browser than ever before. E-mail, calendaring, scheduling, personal contacts, and other facilities are accessible using Netscape Communicator for OS/2 Warp (or any other web browser).

- Lotus has announced its plans to release Domino Off-Line Services for OS/2 Warp users. This plug-in will provide offline e-mail, calendaring, scheduling, personal contacts, and other Domino services, all from within the familiar Netscape Communicator for OS/2 Warp common interface for web applications.

For more information on these new developments, and others, please visit:

http://www.lotus.com/inotes

Other previously announced improvements include:

- Availability of the new Lotus Smartsuite Version 1.5 for OS/2 Warp, with improved capabilities for exchanging documents with other office suite users. See http://www.lotus.com/smartsuite/os2 for details.

- Availability of Lotus Domino Server (for Warp Server for e-business), with features such as SMP exploitation and support for web-based clients. See http://www.lotus.com/domino for more information.

- Continued availability of regular service updates for the Lotus Notes 4.5x series of OS/2 Warp clients (still supported with Domino 5). Updates can be obtained at http://notes.net on the Web.


January 21

The Bay Area OS/2 Page has Moved...

The New Address is:

http://trss.webjump.com/os2.htm

The Trials of Battle Server is still on the page, and the Bay Area OS/2 Job links are still there...

Keep an eye on this site, as I will have the time to make some serious changes in the days to come.


January 21

I'm proud to present you a new version of my OS/2 currency converter/calculator tool PM-Euro. This freeware PM tool allows you to easily convert currency values from one to another currency.

The new version 1.5 of PM-Euro got a new useful feature: it always shows the value in the new European currency EURO. For example, if you convert german marks (DEM) to US Dollars (USD), a third field will show you the value in Euro (EUR).

Get this latest version on my web site:

http://www.warphouse.de

and see some further new releases, such as v0.9 of the completely new "Download Manager" for OS/2.

Please note: To give you latest information about my OS/2 software products and to provide you support, I have set up a mailing list. Feel free to join this mailing list using the JOIN features on the download and software pages of my site.


January 21

Hi. I got this e-mail from Arie Tal at Krftech WinDriver.

WinDriver is a tool to develop drivers for Windows 95/98/2000/CE, Linux, Solaris and soon OS/2.

Check this page:

http://www.krftech.com/

Hello Martin,

The beta release has been delayed for about another week or two so...

In the mean while I suggest you download the regular Windows version and start writing your driver with it. The Windows version includes a powerful Wizard that enables you to detect and diagnose your hardware before you write a single line of code. The wizard will also automatically generate most of your driver code.

All you will have left to do is to copy the files the wizard generated to your OS/2 machine - replace the WinDriver kernel module with the appropriate one for OS/2 and compile. Your driver will now run on Windows 9x, 2000/NT and OS/2 (at least for the evaluation period).

Please feel free to contact me any time with any question you may have on WinDriver for OS/2 or any other OS.

Regards,

Arie Tal


January 20

The date on the Matrox web site is misleading, as the files in the 2.36 driver zip archive are actually older than 3-12-1999. The newest files are dated 11-18-1999. The archive itself is dated 3-12-1999.

Here are the contents of the 2.36 driver archive, with dates (extra info snipped to prevent wrapping:
Archive: os2_236.zip
Length Date Time Name
------ ---- ---- ----
15199 11-18-99 15:32 README.OS2
4429 11-22-96 09:21 README.CID
325 11-03-99 16:17 OPTIONS.TXT
229471 11-18-99 15:32 MGAX64W.OS2
1073 03-02-95 12:34 FIXAUTO.CMD
7895 04-27-99 12:12 MGAX64.DSP
439 11-18-99 15:32 MGAX64.DSC
10971 11-03-99 16:51 INSTALL.CMD
876768 11-18-99 15:32 MGAX64.OS2
------ -------
1146570 9 files

I've been using the drivers for several weeks with a Millennium II AGP at 1280x1024x32, and have encountered no problems.


January 20

Dear OS/2 Users,

Need to buy a mouse? I just did. This one comes with OS/2 drivers downloadable from their web site:

http://www.kensington.com/support/sup_1189.html

Check it out first. Make your decision later.


January 19

Over the next few months, the web site known as the Warped Code Cellar, will undergo several changes.

First of all, administration of the web site is now handled by

Lone Peak Automation, LLC.

Well known programs like the HOUSE/2 series of home automation applications using X10 devices and UPS Monitor for OS/2 will continue to be listed and supported at the Warped Code Cellar.

Lone Peak Automation will also continue to provide unique, OS/2-based automation software for home, commercial and industrial uses.

Not to start-off the changes empty handed, Lone Peak Automation is proud to announce a new application for home automation. Available immediately by popular demand is a third in the HOUSE/2 series of programs:
CM17A Comm Engine for the
"FireCracker" interface.

This program fully supports the wireless X10 controller known as "FireCracker".

Like the other HOUSE/2 programs, the CM17A Comm Engine is fully REXX enabled and allows to control X10 modules in a variety of ways:

- with the Virtual Keychain Remote, a unique graphical user interface.

- with Object Menus, integrating X10 control right into the OS/2 Desktop.

- with your own REXX script, extending the functionality of control.

- with a web interface if run on a web server

You can find this new program at:

http://home.att.net/~ASchw/cm17ce.html

New versions of the existing programs listed at the Warped Code Cellar will follow soon at:

http://home.att.net/~ASchw


Lone Peak Automation would like to take this opportunity and thank the OS/2 community for their continuous support and is looking forward to serve it's users in the new millennium.
January 19

Lotus now offer free trial Domino R5 Server

If anyone is interested in this product, you can visit:

http://www.lotus.com/home.nsf/welcome/namnetobjectscd

to request a copy. US and Canada residents only.


January 19

IBM has released a new FixPak for MPTS. It can be found at the following url:

ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/mpts/fixes/english-us/wr08425_conv/

The files are dated January 19, 2000.


January 19

To All Matrox Graphics card owners, there are new drivers on the latest drivers page:

http://www.matrox.com/mga/drivers/latest_drivers/home.htm

The version is 2.36.106 and the driver is dated 03/12/99.


January 19

I want to share with the OS/2 community the availability of F, a free File Manager that I have been using now for almost 4 years, and that has just been made available on the Internet. It was developped by Nam Duy Nguyen

This is a text mode File Manager that probably will most interest people that prefer productivity to PM tools that are icon-oriented.

Have a look at:

http://filemanager.free.fr


January 18

The web pages of the Config.sys Documentation Project have been updated to version 1.90. I have added 70 new entries. I have tuned the pages for easier navigation.

You have the option to read the informatin online or you can download the pages in HTML, plain ASCII or INF format. As usual the project is available in German and English.

http://www.opweb.de/

If you know something about the config.sys which is not included in the CSDP than please tell it me. You don't need to be a config.sys expert to do so, I'm interested in every little piece of information. Or you can simply send me your config.sys file. Everyone who send me information will have the chance to win one of two lifetime licences for Tyra/2.


January 18

Tyra/2 the Config.sys analyzer and editor is now available in version 1.90

The following bugs were fixed:

- You can't correct the last error in the Analyze window. Tyra/2 will stop with an error message.

- After pressing the "Change" button in the Analyzer an entry window pops up. This window doesn't show you the correct path, it shows always "TMP".

- On the Call page the F1 key won't work correct.

New Features:

- Added 70 new entries to the Config.sys Documentation.

Tyra/2 is shareware and you will have 31 days to test it. If you are an author of a piece of OS/2 Freeware you can get a key for free.
You can download the newest version of Tyra/2 from these sites:
CAUTION!
German version = Tyra190g.zip
English version = Tyra190e.zip

http://www.opweb.de/

ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/

will be moved in the future to:

ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/util/config/

And in the next days at

http://www.bmtmicro.com/catalog/tyra2.html

Future plans:

- If I get enought information, I will enhance the Config.sys Documentation every month.

- Somewhere in spring 2000 I will start developing version 2.0 of Tyra/2. I have plans for a lot of enhancements and new features, so the new version will not be available before summer 2000.

If you have any ideas for new features, enhancements or want have something changed in Tyra/2, than now is the best time to do it.

To help me with the config.sys documentation you can send me your config.sys file (maybe with a short list of your installed hardware and software). Every you will have month the chance to win one of two Tyra/2 lifetime keys.


January 18
=====================
OS/2 in focus at IACT
=====================

In addition to our new 24x7 Report, "The Keys to the Millennial E-Mailbox," we just posted Issue #7 of the IACT Quarterly Newsletter. The focus in our new issue is clearly on operating systems-- especially OS/2!

* "An Adventure with DEBUG.COM, or, How a Single XLS Spreadsheet Can Ruin Your Day" When OS/2 user Tim O'Connor tried to get his foot through the door of a potential employer, he found himself vying against a Microsoft Excel compatibility problem. The XLS spreadsheet sent to him by the job recruiter refused to open in his favorite OS/2 apps-- and he didn't have MS-Windows 9x. Check out his commentary to see if he opened the file and if he got the job or just another MS-Headache.

* "The Big Blue-Redmond Connection" From Windows NT and OS/2, to VMS and FUD, this article traces the connections between different operating systems, including how they were developed and who deserves the credit or blame. Where does OS/2 fit into that picture of flaws and innovations? OS/2 is the better mousetrap that Microsoft needed to build Windows NT. So if today's users of OS/2, Windows 2000 and NT want the big picture with no corners cut, they need to look at how OS/2 and NT first connected, then diverged-- and why the companies of IBM and Microsoft did so as well.

...plus two more articles in our IACT Quarterly Newsletter.

- Reach Issue #7 of the IACT's Quarterly Newsletter here: http://pages.cthome.net/iact/IQN/7.html

- Reach our 24x7 Reports page by using this URL: http://pages.cthome.net/iact/features/24x7.html

- And IACT's Cover Page has all links to all sections: http://pages.cthome.net/iact/

Diane Gartner, IACT Co-ordinator

--------------------------------------------------------
International Alliance for Compatible Technology
more open standards, user choice and
free access to compatible technology
--------------------------------------------------------

http://pages.cthome.net/iact/


January 18

Contact: Benny Ormson
bno@gt-online.com
www.gt-online.com

Telephone: (405) 359-0079

Millennium Celebration pricing extended to January 25, 2000. Don't pass up the significant $avings offered by GammaTech, Inc., on its line of native OS/2 products, GammaTech Utilities, GTIRC, and the GammaTech Bundle.

GammaTech Utilities support both FAT and all HPFS versions, including HPFS versions 2.3, 2.4 and HPFS386. All the Utility features support long file names and extended attributes.

GammaTech Internet Relay Chat (GTIRC) is the first Presentation Manager (PM) IRC client application for OS/2. GTIRC is a multichannel chat program which allows users to engage in real time conversations with people all over the world using the Internet.

Details at:

http://www.gt-online.com/html/news.html


January 18

Styler/2 fix 1.2.3 is released.

This update fixes problems related to:
* restoring windows which were minimized while in rolled state
* minimizing, restoring or maximizing command windows in rolled state
* the unroll bitmap wrongly displayed as a titlebar button where the roll bitmap is appropriate (excluding the case where both the options Auto-unroll when getting focus and Auto-roll when losing focus are active)
* a serious problems with window moving or resizing. When a modal dialog is displayed while a window is moved or resized even if the modal dialog apparently gets the focus it doesn't get any mouse or keyboard message. To reproduce the problem close all important documents you are editing, open an HTML file located in your disk with netscape (any version), then rename the file and try to resize the window: the window will capture all the mouse and keyboard events leaving no other solution than rebooting by Ctrl-Alt-Del. With this fix the system should behave properly.

smw123.zip (49 KB) is available from:

* the incoming directoryftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/smw123.zip

* or later the new directory of hobbesftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/new/smw123.zip

* or from my web site at ghostbbsftp://ftp.ghostbbs.cx/pub/os2/os2team/alcant/smw123.zip

* or at tin.it(http://space.tin.it/scienza/acantato/files/smw123.zip

Styler/2 is an user interface enhancer for OS/2 warp 3 and 4. Both the aesthetics and the behavior of various OS/2 Presentation manager windows and controls can be easily modified to meet your needs. You will be able to use bitmaps or shades as titlebar backgrounds, choose any bitmap (of appropriate size) for window buttons and force all dialog windows to use your favorite font.

http://acsoft.ghostbbs.cx

http://space.tin.it/scienza/acantato


January 17

PMJPEG is a shareware image viewer with image processing and conversion capabilities for OS/2. PMJPEG is a 32-bit port of WinJPEG to OS/2 2.x and above with OS/2-specific features.

PMJPEG has been updated on 1-2-2000 and includes the following changes:

- Fixed the PMJPEG file save dialog so that it shows PNG in the filter list.
- If you used the PMJPEG file dialog to save to a BMP file, it would save with the wrong compression option.
- If you view the file info of a file created in Y2K, the month would be off by 1.
- Could not read Windows BMP Version 5 (uncompressed or RLE).
- Fixed a bug in decoding PICT/JPEG files.

PMJPEG is available at:

http://www.pixvision.com


January 17

PALM HARBOR, FLORIDA (January 17, 2000) - M. Bryce ~Associates (MBA) today announced the release of the February issue of OS/2 CONNECT, a freeware newsletter distributed through the various computer networks and bulletin boards. OS/2 CONNECT is THE authoritative source for contact information in the universe of IBM's OS/2 32-bit operating system.

The newsletter is implemented as a web page at:

http://www.os2ss.com/connect/

Its HTML files are also available for downloading and viewing locally. The file is named CON0200.ZIP and can also be obtained at:
Hobbes -

ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/

Walnut Creek - ftp://ftp-os2.cdrom.com/

ftp://ftp-os2.cdrom.com/pub/os2/newsltr/con0200.zip
or

ftp://ftp-os2.cdrom.com/pub/os2/incoming/con0200.zip

America Online and various Bulletin Boards.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
Tim Bryce
Editor, OS/2 CONNECT
M. Bryce ~Associates (MBA)
a division of M&JB Investment Company
3310 U.S. Alt. 19
P.O. Box 1637
Palm Harbor, FL 34682-1637
United States
Tel: 727/786-4567
Fax: 727/786-4765
E-Mail: timb001@attglobal.net
WWW:http://www.os2ss.com/connect/
MBA: Developers of the "PRIDE" Information Factory ~ Batch Manager
Since 1971: "Software for the finest computer - the Mind"


January 17

Alpha 5 of Project Odin is now available for a few weeks, and there are nearly daily new developer builds. The list of tested applications at the Odin web page is raising and raising. We would like to know, how far do you use Odin in your daily work.

http://en.OS2.org/forum/survey/

You can also take a look at the results and comments of our last surveys like "Did you encounter any Y2K problems" and "VMware support for OS/2" at:

http://en.OS2.org/forum/survey/?type=1


January 17

Audio/Data-CD-Creator V0.36 is ready for download. Get your free copy here:

http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Sector/5785/index.html#audiocdcreator

Audio/Data-CD-Creator is a set of folder classes to burn CD-R/RWs via drag and drop. It uses CDRecord/2 to actually write the CD. The program is released under the GPL and full source is avaiable.

New with this release:
-Direct writing of MP3 files (only 44100Hz stereo) -Some Bugs and Glitches removed -More funny bugs invented...


January 16

The ACVT program (Archive Converter) is a converter of archives. The program supports practically any archive type (if you have appropriate archivers). ACVT extracts files from the source archive and packs them into the new archive, removing the original archive provided the output archive was successfully created.

The ACVT program exists in five variants:
- for DOS real mode
- for DOS protected mode
- for OS/2 16-bit
- for OS/2 32-bit
- for Windows 95 or higher


http://cdbf.hypermart.net/acvt/
January 16

The latest update for FileStar/2 is available at:

http://www.filestar.com/pages/download.html

This update is v2.10.02 and primarily fixes some internal print anomalies.

FileStar/2 is an elegant PM File Manager that is the 'always loaded workhorse' for many OS/2 users. Powerful file management doesn't get much easier than this.


January 16

The past few months many companies have released source code to the public. Apple Computers, for example, released the source to the Darwin Streaming Server which allows you to stream video over the Internet. Until now there have been almost no OS/2 ports of these applications available. OS/2 Netlabs has been contacted by people who want to start working on these new applications but to do this we need more developers.

CVS Servers for the projects will be created as soon as there is code available. A web page and FTP stuff will follow.

So, we are going to start the production of the "streaming server of Darwin/2"... Darwin is a Quick Time Streaming Server (that means that is capable of produce real-time video for the Internet), the code is free, but there's no port for OS/2. People who want to join the project should have (hopefully) some of the following capabilities:
- Multimedia programing expertise ISP products programming - Server programing expertise - Composite video knowdlege - Linux programming expertise and EverBlue programming can be an asset.

If you are interested in joining us write to:

charlymati.net.mx

(Please do NOT contact Adrian Gschwend, I'm busy with my exams actually.)

We'll start as soon as possible.

Links to stuff which could be of interest regarding this project:

http://www.publicsource.apple.com/projects/streaming/

http://heroine.linuxbox.com/bcast2000.html

http://heroine.linuxbox.com/quicktime.html

Thanks in advance for your support
Adrian Gschwend @ OS/2 Netlabs



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