Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education
Matrox has released a new BIOS update (version 3.45):
http://www.matrox.com/mga/drivers/bios/home.htm
New in this release:
G100 AGP 1.5
G200 PCI 1.1
G200 AGP 1.6
The Notebook/2 Site at http://www.os2ss.com/users/DrMartinus/notebook.htm
now has another new feature: the Top Ten list! It lists the most powerful notebooks
which have been reported fully compatible with OS/2!
The Land of Beyond
A Warped WebSite
The Land of Beyond has moved to:
http://www2.crosswinds.net/hartford/~os2/
The host of the old site (Phrantic's Trailerpark) ran out of resources and closed
down. The new location at Crosswinds has made The Land of Beyond ready for prime
time again. Come and visit us at our new site.
Please remember to change your bookmarks.
I have compiled DOC++ (in it current version 3.2) for OS/2 and uploaded it to
hobbes to be placed in the /os2/dev/util directory.
DOC++ is a utility that gathers documentation in C/C++/Java source code and creates
a HTML reference with cross reference capabilities, or it creates a TeX output file
which can be used to create a hardcopy reference.
The program is distributed under the GNU public licence, it is not freeware,
if you want to use it commercially, contact the author: doc++@zib.de.
The patches to the source code will be made public when I have time at this address:
http://www.oprit.rug.nl/hulsmann/
Holger Veit has released Version 3.3.3 of XFree86 OS/2. Find out more at:
http://borneo.gmd.de/~veit/os2/xf86os2.html
There is a new version of XFolder (version 0.82) available.
The Homepage of XFolder is:
http://www2.rz.hu-berlin.de/~h0444vnd/os2.htm
Henk Kelder has released version 0.84 of FAT32.IFS:
http://www.os2ss.com/information/kelder/
Changes in version 0.84:
Gotcha! is a small utility for OS/2 which allows to easily capture windows, window
interiors, parts of the screen or the whole desktop and save them to disk or clipboard
as a picture (OS/2 bitmap format).
Gotcha! is mailware. You can find out more about the program at http://www.informatik.uni-trier.de/CIP/thielen/gotcha.
SofTouch has removed the links to their OS/2 products (UniMaint, Filestar, Gammatech
Utilities etc) from their main index page. The webmaster says it's because they
don't market OS/2 products any more. However, the product info is available at the
Workstation Division page, http://www.softouch.com/wkstatoc.html.
There are new updates and fixes available from there, and online ordering.
IBM's Java Virtual Machine for OS/2 Raises the Bar ... Again
November 25, 1998 With today's release of IBM OS/2 Warp Developer Kit, Java Edition,
Version 1.1.7 (based on Sun Microsystems Java 1.1.7A maintenance release), IBM sets
a new standard of performance for Java Virtual Machines (JVM). In lab testing, the
OS/2 1.1.7 version showed impressive improvements over the 1.1.6 release for both
client and server environments.
JMark, the Ziff Davis benchmark for clients, measures CPU, graphics and text
on screen performance. IBM comparisons indicated that JDK 1.1.7 performed over 40%
better than JDK 1.1.6 for the cumulative JMark tests. The results from the industry
standard benchmark for server performance, Volano, were equally impressive. All
tests were performed on a Pentium 266 MHz system. On the 1-way processor, the OS/2
Warp Developer Kit, Java Edition, Version 1.1.7 transferred an average of 385 messages
per second more than the 1.1.6 JDK. On the 4-way processor, the difference between
the two versions was nearly 600 messages transfers per second.
Independently, while 1.1.7 was still in beta test, InfoWorld conducted a number
of server side benchmark tests. The September 14, 1998 article declared that the
OS/2 JVM "caused at least a few minor tremors." The OS/2 Java Development
Kit (JDK) results su rpassed the Windows NT JVM by two to three times for all but
one data point and did at least that for only the best Linux numbers.
In addition to the substantial performance improvements, this release offers
support of Eurocurrency and a multilingual installation process. Independent software
vendors (ISVs) can package the 1.1.7 Java Runtime Environment (JRE) for the exclusive
use with their applications.
This capability keeps applications immune to any changes that a user makes to
his system JVM. For example, if a developer writes and tests her software on the
Java 1.1.6 release and a user installs a later release, the program becomes vulnerable
to glitch es caused by the subtle differences between versions. By shipping a JRE
with the application, the ISV is assured that his program will run with the tested
JVM.
There seems to be a new version (1.2.3) of the Feature Installer. It is dated
20-11-1998 and the readme states that the new version will make 'FI' compatible
with NS-communicator 4.04.
http://service.boulder.ibm.com/asd-bin/doc/en_us/catalog.htm
IBM has updated the I2O drivers on the DDPAK:
For I2O SCSI cards (11/17/98):
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/os2ddpak/i2o.exe
For I2O NIC cards (11/20/98):
ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/os2ddpak/i2ol.exe
-- Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education --
The Monday, November 30, 1998 SpeakUp session will feature SciTech who will be
discussing their forthcoming Display Doctor commercial display driver software for
OS/2. This GRADD based software promises to provide native OS/2 support for numerous
video chipsets (about 250 of them).
SciTech are the developers of UniVESA/UniVBE for DOS and Display Doctor for Windows
and Linux. For more information on SciTech, visit their website at http://www.scitechsoft.com/.
The SpeakUp will be held on the WEBBNet IRC network in the #voice channel. For
more information on OS/2 IRC clients as well as meeting time and a list of current
WEBBNet servers, please visit the VOICE website at http://www.os2voice.org/.
While you're there, also be sure to check out the VOICE Events Calendar for other
upcoming SpeakUp sessions through December and January.
This is what IBM Developer Connection Support answered me when I asked them why
I can't download TCP/IP v41:
"TCP/IP 4.1 is presently unavailable for download via DevCon. If it becomes
available again for download, it is likely that it will not be available to Guest-level
members. Please check our website after a few days, to determine the latest status
of TCP/IP v4.1 for OS/2 Warp.
Regards,
IBM Developer Connection Support
Just released:
UPS Monitor for OS/2
Utility program to monitor the status of the American Power Conversion (APC)
Uninterruptible Power Sources (UPS). This program provides shutdown services to
the operating system. Does automatic scheduled shutdown and restart if feature is
provided by UPS model.
UPS Monitor comes with two executables tested on APC UPS models Back-UPS Pro,
Smart-UPS, Smart-UPS v/s and Back-UPS (non-Pro version). Possibly supports other
APC models not listed.
You can download UPS Monitor at:
http://home.att.net/~ASchw/induapps.html
The filename is upsmon2.zip and 452k in size.
It will also be uploaded to Hobbes at:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu
and BMT Micro at:
ftp://ftp.bmtmicro.com/bmtmicro
IBM Network Computing Software (NCS) Support News Items:
http://ps.boulder.ibm.com/pbin-usa-ps/getobj.pl?/pdocs-usa/fixnews.html#LAN8528
"Lan Fixpak IP08528 Updated
The readme.txt for IP08528 has been updated with important new information regarding
how to backout the FixPak, and also documents a potential problem with one version
of the converged Adaptec driver. In addition, 2 files required to backout the FixPak
have been added to the ftp sites. If you have previously downloaded IP08528, please
return to the site where you downloaded it from to read the new readme.txt, and
access the new backout files."
So my new program: FTP IFS seems to be stable. And I would like to present it
to internet community.
FTP IFS is a FTP client made as File System Driver. This give you the possibility
to map ftp hosts to drive letters. For example you may have W: as hobbes.nmsu.edu.
Any scripts, backup programs of File Managers can be used with FTP. No more limits
of the general FTP client provide.
You can find it at hobbes: name of file is ftpifs*.zip (where * is current version
number). For now the URL is:
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/ftpifs1d.zip
PMView 1.03 has been released:
http://www.pmview.com/
The following bugs and problems are fixed in PMView 1.03:
=== IACT ANNOUNCEMENT ===
Date: November 23rd, 1998
If you haven't already, take a moment to see our autumn Issue #4 of the IQ Newsletter,
offering you original, one-of-a-kind articles-- and in each one of this Issue's
selections, you'll find your favorite operating system, OS/2!
Be sure to check out the Newsletter commentary, "FreeOS/2: Ready for Prime
Time?" by OS/2 user + software developer John Drabik. He explores the issue
of user, programmer and investor dissatisfaction with IBM, and offers us a plan
to replace IBM's OS/2 with a *free* equivalent, perhaps modeled upon Linux. If enough
OS/2 users show serious interest in this plan as outlined in his IACT commentary,
then John Drabik is offering to dedicate a new web server to the FreeOS/2 movement!
Please read about his offer today, then pass along the IACT address [below] to your
colleagues and friends who may wish to participate.
We also posted a brand new `24x7 Report` plus we updated our new Testimonial
Project, our growing collection of testimonials on the "Microsoft-only"
bias that affects all of us who rely upon computers. Already, we're hearing from
OS/2 users who have faced a problem with limited or no access to resources, merely
because they wished to use OS/2 instead of Windows-based software. We need your
help-- so grab your copy of the Directions and send in your own testimonials for
posting at our site!
To read the IQ Newsletter and 24x7 Reports, or to get details on Project 2, please
use the hyperlinks on our website's Cover Page at the IACT address--
http://pages.cthome.net/iact/
Many of you in the OS/2 community already know that the 2 European Chapters of
IACT are now officially closed and dissolved, due to logistical and structural reasons.
All projects started by their Chapters are terminated. IACT-Deutschland's webmaster
Marcus Specht, busy with plans for Warpstock Europe in December, promptly took their
Chapter web pages off-line a few weeks ago. We at IACT support the efforts of him
and his partners to advance the use of OS/2 in Europe.
At this posting, the 3 members of the former Chapter in Italy hadn't yet changed
the name of their website and group, to reflect the closing of IACT-Italia, plus
avoid any further use of IACT's name and membership to promote their private legal
complaint in Italy. If they would build their own non-profit group outside of IACT
that would, like IACT does, actively focus on consumer education and public outreach
to advance fine platforms such as OS/2, then IACT might support them if/when they
do it.
As our members and supporters know, we are an Internet-based organization, with
a grass-roots cause for more open standards, freedom of choice and better access
to compatible technology. With our focus on positive solutions, IACT's open approach
appeals especially to the OS/2 community. The majority of our members like you rely
upon OS/2, often in combination with other major platforms, while OS/2ers also are
among the most active, vocal members in IACT!
With our 2nd year approaching, we will continue offering the OS/2 community more
articles, projects and information, through our one original website at:
http://pages.cthome.net/iact/
and we have no other websites or sources that represent IACT or our members at
this time.
Yesterday, ARJ/2 v 2.61 has been released by ARJ Software Russia. It was designed
to be maximally compatible with the existing DOS version although it adds some unique
options. It also supports OS/2 long filenames and is able to create native OS/2
ARJSFX, ARJSFXV and ARJSFXJR modules.
It is available at Hobbes ftp archive (hobbes.nmsu.edu) as:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/arj2_261.exe
Black Hole Sun BBS is now telnetable thanks to OS/2 and SIO.
http://bhs.tsx.org
telnet://134.71.61.53
I just started a mailing list for StarOffice for OS/2's users. People can browse
the archive at:
http://www.eGroups.com/list/staroffice/
to subscribe to the mailing list, please send a note to staroffice-subscribe@egroups.com
or go to the mailing list home page at:
http://www.egroups.com/list/staroffice
Users of the OS/2 version of StarOffice are more than welcome to join us.
Xavi