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Randys Rumor Rag 1993 07
RAndY's RumOR RaG
July 1993
COREL BONER
Have you tried to install CorelDraw! 4 from the CD yet? Lotsa
luck - it doesn't work. How could this have slipped by? Some
report that the problem is caused by loading MSCDEX into upper
memory. Loading it low didn't help in my case.
Corel's fix is to use Windows' stock 16-color video driver and
create as large a swap file as possible.
I've tried this fix with both my old ATI VGA Wonder+ card and
my new Diamond Stealth Pro VLB with both the vanilla Windows VGA
driver and drivers supplied with the respective cards - and it
still hasn't worked.
Are these guys working with Central Point?
---------------
NEWS IN YER FACE
Sounds like the recent Spring Comdex was a hoot. Bill Gates
promoted Windows NT to an overflow crowd. Following his keynote
speech, IBM introduced OS/2 2.1 and sold T-shirts that read: NT-
Nice Try, to which Microsoft responded, "that's the most money IBM
will make in software this year".
---------------
Intel has been getting hammered lately with reports that the
Pentium-derivative P24T chip runs too hot for many systems claiming
P24T upgradeability. Intel says that the heat of chips which ship
will be cut in half to the approximate levels of current 486 chips.
A spokesman says they've been working with OEMs, but noted that
actual chips aren't shipping until next year.
---------------
Microsoft has started alpha testing on a 32-bit version of
Visual Basic less than a month after releasing the current version.
They will also be releasing a 32-bit Visual C++ in August and
another version of Visual Basic with 32-bit capability in December.
By the end of 1994 you'll see a Mac version of Visual Basic.
---------------
I hear that the folks at GEnie are working on Windows and Mac
front software. No word on when either one will see the light of
day.
---------------
Surprise of surprises - Microsoft's internal deadline of
shipping the NT client by the end of June has slipped, and some are
wondering if it will ship by the end of July. I hear that the
emphasis at Microsoft at this point is not when NT will ship, but
how well it runs when it does.
---------------
Quattro Pro 5.0 for Windows will contain Graphing Expert.
This tool chooses the most appropriate representation for a task
from a library of more than 50 chart types. The package is
expected to ship this fall.
---------------
Media Vision has announced two video graphics boards designed
to enhance multimedia applications performance. Called the
ProGraphics 1024 and 1028, they are the first graphics boards
produced by Media Vision. Both will support 24-bit color. The
1024 will be available in September for a suggested list price of
$599.
The 1028 supports 24-bit color at 1280x1024 and can process 16
million pixels per second in bit block transfer mode (160 million
pixels per second in flat fill mode). The price will be $995.
Both boards will be available in PCI, VL, and ISA bus models.
---------------
Those of you regular RaG readers know that I'm not into the
greening of computers. But I must compliment Hewlett-Packard for
their efforts in recycling toner cartridges.
I recently acquired an HP IIP and had to change the toner
cartridge. Included with the cartridge was a UPS pickup sticker
for returning the cartridge to Hewlett-Packard for recycling. By
providing the free shipping, users should be less inclined to just
throw toner cartridges away.
---------------
I hear about a new Apple screen saver where a man is clearing
the screen. As the scaffold lowers him into view, it's Bill Gates
- constantly pushing up his glasses as he starts to wash the
screen/window.
---------------
A new product called Tapedisk lets certain tape drives act as
a hard drive. The software lets users create, view, open, save,
and edit files on the tape. It supports the following formats: HP
35480A and 35470, Archive Python, WangDAT 3200 SCSI DAT drives and
Tandberg TDC 4100 QUI-1000 format tape drives. Support for
additional SCSI DAT drives will be forthcoming. Suggested list
price will be $199.
---------------
HARDWARE CHANGES
As you may have noticed by my disclaimer at the end of last
month's RaG, I've recently made some hardware changes. It was time
to get with the program and upgrade to a 486 processor.
It was a tough decision to make between a 50 MHz and a 66 MHz
motherboard. I decided on the 50 MHz since the 66 MHz models are
basically 33 MHz motherboards with an Overdrive chip.
Unfortunately I'm still stuck with some of the slow (80ns) memory
from the 386, but that will be changed soon.
If you're looking for a system or considering upgrading, be
sure to get a VESA local bus system. The price difference from an
ISA machine should be slight if any. My motherboard has two local
bus slots and that should be plenty.
OK, I've got a hot motherboard and now it was time to jack up
the video performance. There are a lot of local bus video products
out there and it was a tough decision. I could have bought a
Cirrus Logic board pretty cheap but I decided to look around. I've
liked my ATI card and they had one that was within my price range,
but I've read about a lot of problems with the Mach 32 driver. I
didn't want to spend a bundle, but didn't want the bargain basement
either.
I ended up going with the Diamond Stealth Pro VLB (1 MB).
I've sold a number of Diamond Stealth Pro cards for the ISA bus and
knew the S3 chip to be a good performer. Whoa, this sucker really
moves. I recently ran my system against a similarly configured
system which had the ISA video card and the results were amazing.
The local bus card was a little more than 8 times as fast as the
ISA bus. Windows really snaps too.
Included with the Diamond Stealth Pro VLB are Windows drivers
in a number of resolutions and colors. When installed, the Windows
Control Panel gains a new icon where you can switch resolutions
without using the Windows Setup. Not only does this card get up
and move, but you can purchase additional VRAM to bring the card up
to 2 megs.
I've also installed an IDE local bus card. Although the
transfer rate benchmarks out about 44% higher, there is little
discernable difference (I think I need a faster hard drive).
Check out local bus motherboards and systems and definitely
take a look at local bus video cards. The performance difference
is amazing.
---------------
PRO AUDIO STUDIO
As you faithful readers know, I really like the Pro Audio
Spectrum 16 (as opposed to the SoundBlaster line). Media Vision
has released a special version of the card called the Pro Audio
Studio.
It's basically the same card, but they include more advanced
utilities and a microphone.
ExecuVoice is a basic speech recognition package that
understands 300 Windows voice commands. The 16-bit sampling is
amazingly accurate. While this technology is fun to amaze your
friends, I find it strange to use for everyday computing.
Monologue will read back you documents for proofreading. A
new Pocket Recorder now incorporates compression to save on disk
space. Sound Impressions is a quality tool for mixing, recording,
and editing CD, MIDI, and Wave components. This program has the
look and feel of a rack-mounted stereo.
The MIDISoft Recording Studio is a sophisticated sequencer
with some nice mixing capabilities. The top of the screen shows
your music in musical notation (as opposed to tracks). The display
is quite good, but I haven't found a way to print the music - a
serious shortcoming. (What's the point of showing notes on a staff
if you can't print it?)
Existing owners of Pro Audio Spectrum cards can get the
package for just $59. It's not a bad deal if you have use for
these things.
Along the same lines as ExecuVoice is IN3 (In Cube). This is
much more versatile and seems to do an even better job of voice
recognition. Expect to pay in excess of $200 however.
---------------
ACCESS FOR PHOTO CD
Kodak has some software out for working with Photo CDs. Many
applications are lagging in their support for this format, so these
utilities are intended to make life a little easier when dealing
with Photo CDs.
Access for Photo CD is a DOS program (a Windows version is
also available which I'll probably discuss next month) which lets
you view Photo CD images and convert them to a useful format. The
program sells for about $50 and that's about all it's worth.
Most programs will ask you which resolution you want before
loading an image. Access defaults to the last resolution used and
you can't change it until you load an image. Also, when you load
the highest resolution image, it only shows you part of the image
and you have to scroll around to get pieces of the whole thing.
There's a reason that this software doesn't cost much - it's
not worth much.
---------------
ARTSHOW3
Each year, Corel sponsors a contest where users send in things
they've created with CorelDraw. All entries are published on a CD
which is accompanied by a nicely printed book showing all the
entries. You can view a slide show of the entries which is
combined with a variety of MIDI tracks.
I just had to get this year's Corel Artshow CD - to see my
submission published. I entered our band's logo in the Corel
Design contest last year (Page 171, Number 17).
Also on this year's CD is an updated version of Corel CD-
Audio, a demo for CorelDraw and a demo for Voyetra's MIDISoft
Studio.
---------------
AMIDIAG 4
I'm always looking for good diagnostic software. AMI recently
had an offer where you could send the title page from any
diagnostic software (along with $15) and get the current version of
AMIDiag.
The program checks all the usual stuff and seems to be quite
thorough. I'm not sure that it's worth the $99 they usually ask
though. I think that PC Probe is much more extensive and even
CheckIt isn't bad.
If you have a supported video card (ATI, Tseng, Paradise,
Trident, and Video Seven) there are PCX files showing motherboard
and memory configurations.
---------------
CORELDRAW! 4
I finally got my copy after trying to install from a friend's
CD (anxiously awaiting the arrival of my own copy). The CD
installation problems described in the lead article of the RaG were
not there when I got my disks. The file dates seem the same
between both CD's, but mine worked.
It's difficult to list everything they've changed in this new
version. Just when you thought it would be impossible to improve
on the best graphics package, they did it.
The first thing you'll notice is that there are two CD's. One
has the programs, clipart, and fonts. The second one has some more
graphics and a new QuickTour. Gone is the video tape they used to
give you for learning the basics of the program. You install the
QuickTour and get a Video for Windows presentation which gives you
the same information as before and then some. It's very well done
and an innovative use of technology.
The Draw module now lets you have multiple pages with some
pretty extensive desktop publishing features. It almost reminds me
of how PageMaker works. Text files from leading word processors
can be imported and wrapped around graphics (and you can easily do
columns now).
They've finally added the ability to import WPG files (before
you could only export them). There are now thousands of textures
to enhance your graphics. Color separations can be easily printed
without having a PostScript printer installed.
CorelMosaic is still the excellent file manager it's always
been. It reads and displays files much faster than before. You
still need to convert PhotoCD images with Mosaic before using them
elsewhere (except PhotoPaint).
The Paint module is much more extensive, along the lines of
PhotoStyler and PhotoShop. The Trace module now does OCR as well
as trace your bitmapped images.
The Presentations module has been enhanced to work with a new
included program called Move. Move is an animation package which
comes with an extensive variety of props and actors. I find the
module to be a little dumb, but if you're making on-screen
presentations it does a nice job of smooth animation. And it's
easy to use.
CorelChart now works like a real spreadsheet and has over 80
styles of charts.
The two CD's have over 18,000 pieces of clipart along with
over 5,000 symbols and shapes you can drag-and-drop. You also get
over 750 fonts in Speedo, Type 1, and TrueType formats (I wouldn't
suggest installing them all). My only real complaint is the way
the clipart book is organized. Instead of using written words for
the different classifications (such as aircraft, leisure, etc.)
they use symbols. It's real difficult to decipher what the symbols
mean which makes it harder to find the piece of clipart you're
looking for. Often I know the artwork is in there, I just can't
find it.
Overall, they've done an outstanding job of improving an
already excellent piece of software. It is still taking me a
little while to get used to the enhancements. If you use CorelDraw
often this upgrade is a must.
---------------
UNDOCUMENTED FEATURE
While we're on the subject of the new CorelDraw, I thought I'd
let you in on another of those secret screens they don't tell you
about.
In Corel, go to Help-About. Press down SHIFT-CONTROL and
double click the Corel hot air balloon in the upper left corner.
You'll get a blue screen with a hot air balloon at the bottom
center. The mouse cursor now looks like a hand on a lever.
Pressing the left mouse button will turn on the fire in the
balloon, making it rise. As the balloon rises it will pull up a
banner listing all the people associated with CorelDraw. (Notice
the little Canadian flag waving to the side of the balloon.) If
you release the left button, the fire will go out and the balloon
will slowly descend.
Pressing the right mouse button will release a parachuting
Elvis. NOTE: it appears you can only have two Elvis's (Elvi?) on
the screen at a time.
This is extremely important information for you to know and
there will be a test later.
---------------
QEMM 7
Quarterdeck has released a new version of their already
excellent QEMM memory management software. New features abound to
help users maximize their memory.
QEMM 7.0 introduces DOS-UP, which increases your available
conventional memory even if you already have everything loaded
high. It does this by moving portions of DOS that DOS=HIGH does
not move.
QEMM 7.0 now has the ability to reduce the memory requirements
of MS-DOS 6's DoubleSpace driver from over 40k to less than 3K,
allowing you to load it even if its memory requirements would
otherwise prevent you from doing so.
OPTIMIZE now accounts for programs that load themselves high;
it is aware of DOS conditionals (such as IF and FOR); it has
improved detection of Adapter RAM and other hard to detect areas
above 640K; and it is now fully aware of MS-DOS 6's multiple
configuration boot setup (something even Microsoft's own MemMaker
can't handle).
VIDRAM is now capable of working in a Microsoft Windows
Enhanced Mode DOS Window as well as from normal DOS. This allows
DOS text-mode programs to access an additional 96k of conventional
memory, bringing your maximum available memory to almost 704K in a
DOS partition of Windows.
A new program called QSetup comes with QEMM 7. QSetup allows
you to change the configuration of QEMM, DOS-UP, ST-DBL, QDPMI, and
other QEMM programs without manually editing a single text file.
All of the options are available on menus, and full online help
explains what each does. In addition, troubleshooting support is
built into QSetup, making it easier for QEMM to deal with rare or
non-standard hardware.
Major portions of QEMM have been rewritten using 32 bit code,
resulting in faster operation and less conventional memory
overhead. (Less than 1K of your conventional memory is now used by
QEMM).
QEMM 7 has been enhanced to ensure compatibility with more
software packages than ever before. It now supports VESA and can
save and restore the vectors as necessary. It knows about more
types of Shadow RAM, Compaq models, and bus-mastering disk drive
controllers. And on systems equipped with Intel's Pentium
processor, QEMM 7's new features mean less memory overhead and
faster performance.
DOS-UP is a set of utility programs used by QEMM and Optimize
to load more of your DOS kernel (the actual DOS program and its
data) into upper memory. This gives you more conventional memory
than ever before, even if you already have everything on your
system loading high. DOS-UP consists of two drivers: DOSDATA.SYS
and DOS-UP.SYS. Both are necessary for DOS-UP to work properly.
DOSDATA.SYS must be the very first line in your CONFIG.SYS. Its job
is to "prepare" DOS to be loaded into upper memory.
DOS-UP.SYS is loaded after QEMM in the CONFIG.SYS and actually
moves the pieces of DOS into High RAM, making sure that other
programs know about its new location.
DOS-UP gives DOS 5 and 6 users an additional 7 to 20k of
conventional memory while giving DOS 3 and 4 users 50 to 60k more
(depending on their prior configuration.) It lets you move DOS out
of conventional memory even when you are not using DOS=HIGH. This
allows DESQview or some other HMA-using program to take advantage
of the full 64k of the HMA, instead of the 35K or so of it that DOS
will use as a result of DOS=HIGH.
QEMM 7.0 adds support for disk compression programs such as
DoubleSpace, Stacker, and Superstor. QEMM and Optimize detect when
these disk compression programs are in use, and both installation
and Optimization are smooth and effortless. In addition, new
Stealth DoubleSpace feature saves you even more memory.
Stealth DoubleSpace reduces the memory overhead of DoubleSpace
from over 40K to less than 3K, using a method similar to the
Stealth ROM process that reclaims address space normally used by
your system ROM and video ROM. Unlike other memory managers, QEMM
7 does not just move the other 40K of DoubleSpace to your upper
memory--it moves it completely out of your first megabyte of
memory, freeing that space for other programs!
Along with the Stealth ROM feature, Stealth DoubleSpace allows
you, through the use of the expanded memory (EMS) page frame, to
reclaim up to 136k of otherwise unusable upper memory address
space.
QEMM 7.0 comes with the newest version of Manifest: Version
2.0. Manifest lets you take a look "under the hood" of your
computer and is the best way to find out exactly what is going on
inside your machine.
Many new features and information screens are incorporated
into Manifest 2.0. It now includes an editor for your system
configuration files (CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, WIN.INI, and
SYSTEM.INI) which is available at the touch of a hotkey. It
displays information on your Windows configuration (including the
version and drivers that Windows is using) as well as your DOS
configuration. It includes enhanced network information, showing
network type, servers, drive mapping, and login information. It
provides more information on your video than ever before, including
the make and model of your video card and the amount of memory
installed on it. For laptop users whose systems are equipped with
"Advanced Power Management" features, Manifest provides information
on the status of your battery. Finally, it gives you complete
information on every type of memory available for your computer
today, including EMS, XMS, VCPI, and DPMI memory.
The cost of upgrading from any version of QEMM to version 7.0
is $35, plus $5 shipping and handling. For more information or to
upgrade call (800) 354-3222.
---------------
GOVERNMENT VIRUS BBS
A little over a year ago, the Treasury Department started a
security-oriented BBS. The Treasury's Bureau of Public Debt
recently came under fire for having virus code available to anyone
who called the board. As of June 21, 1,100 people had called.
Due to pressure, the virus-access portion was shut down. An
anonymous person complained about the use of tax dollars for
distributing virus code to anybody with a modem.
Said a Treasury Department spokesman, "We started the BBS for
internal use at the bureau. Then it got to be Treasurywide.
Pretty soon all sorts of people started calling in and we started
getting hacker code." It was noted that so far no virus traceable
to the BBS has been reported.
Besides source code for viruses, the BBS had hacker tools such
as password crackers and war dialers available for download.
---------------
WINDOWS 4 BETA
Microsoft will soon begin limited beta testing on a 32-bit
version of Windows with general beta testing starting this fall.
This major change in Windows is expected to ship before July 1994
(but you know how that goes).
The project, code-named Chicago, will more closely integrate
DOS and Windows, combining the program and file managers (how this
will be done has yet to be decided). This will be a true 32-bit
environment. Included may be a built-in electronic-mail client, a
single in-box for E-mail, fax, and voice, and smart folders that
can be programmed to alert other users.
---------------
UPGRADE FROM HELL
I finally got my copy of PageMaker 5.0. They've only been
advertising it for the past four months so it's about time the
product hits the shelves.
The installation went well enough and I perused the last-
minute README files. Now it's time to load one of my old files and
see how things work. The file loads fine and I can play with some
of the new features.
I find the Control Palette they're raving about to be more of
a nuisance, but some will like it.
All my old files load fine. So now it's time to print.
Sorry, I get a General Printer Failure, some memory address, and
that's it. OK, let's look in the book and see what this means.
You guessed it - no mention of this error anywhere.
Now it's time to call Tech Support (on my dime) and get some
answers. One day I called, the phone was constantly busy. When I
finally did get through I was in the queue for over 15 minutes and
finally left a message for a technician to call me back. As I
prepare to go to press with the Rag on July 2 I'm still waiting for
the callback and the secret to printing my old files.
---------------
WORDPERFECT 6 FOR DOS
I recently attended the rollout for Wordperfect 6 for DOS
along with InForms (now slightly delayed again) and Office.
If you're comfortable with Version 5.1, you can have the same
look but with the menus at the top. But the big deal here is that
you now have a graphical interface.
I don't really care for DOS programs that try to look like
Windows. WordPerfect has done an excellent job in doing a major
facelift on their flagship product. I just don't care for the way
it looks: in fact, it's hard for me to get too excited about any
DOS product.
Anyway, they've added the QuickFinder from the Windows product
for managing large numbers of documents. A major portion of
DataPerfect is now an integral part of WordPerfect. For those who
didn't pay attention in junior high English class, Grammatik is
also bundled with the product.
Incorporating graphics is much easier with the added ability
to irregularly wrap text around graphics. Version 6 also has
internal support for Speedo, Intellifont, Type 1, and TrueType
fonts. Outline freaks will like the collapsible outliner.
Similar to the Windows version, you can print envelopes and
bar codes. If you have a compatible fax card, you can send and
receive faxes directly from within WordPerfect.
Overall, they've made lots of changes. The Coaches feature
attempts to mimic Microsoft's Wizard technology, but doesn't come
close.
---------------
=================================
DISCLAIMER
RAndY's RumOR RaG is published on a monthly basis by AINSWORTH
COMPUTER SERVICES and is available on various local BBS's, GEnie,
and America Online as well as in Modem News.
In case anyone cares, RAndY's RumOR RaG is produced on a 486-
50 with 8 megs of memory, Diamond Stealth Pro VESA VLB (1 MB),
local bus IDE card, 105 MB Toshiba IDE hard drive, Teac 1.2 MB and
1.44 MB floppies, Pro Audio Spectrum 16 running a Hitachi 3750 CD
ROM drive, Sceptre SVGA display, Microsoft mouse, WordPerfect for
Windows and transmitted through a US Robotics HST Dual Standard
modem.
Opinions expressed are those of the author. Comments should
be addressed to Ainsworth Computer Services on GEnie, America
Online, phone, analog mail, or whatever method makes you feel good.
AINSWORTH COMPUTER SERVICES
605 W. Wishkah
Aberdeen, WA 98520-6031
(206) 533-6647
GEnie Address: RAG
America Online: RumOR RaG
