Virtual OS/2 International Consumer Education
I have just found a very helpful webpage. The pages are called the "Config.sys
Documentation Project". The pages contain hard to find information about the
OS/2 config.sys. Currently there are descriptions to more than 100 config.sys entries
but the author says that this will be an ongoing project, maybe this will become
THE surf point for all config.sys related information. The URL is:
http://www.online.de/home/os2/csdp/about.htm
I'd like to report that jEdit 1.4final is out. jEdit is an Open-Source text-
and source code editor with many features, distributed under the GPL. It needs a
Java runtime and Swing to run. I tried it on OS/2 and it runs quite nicely!
More info on:
http://www.gjt.org/~sp/jedit.html
The latest version of KRTs News Harvest has been released today.
You can read about it at http://www.krt.com.au/ns/
News Harvest is a "Fire and Forget" binary news extractor. Designed
and built to use the superior power of OS/2, News Harvest is a multithreaded application
to automatically download and decode binary postings from usenet news.
Highlights of version 1.1.0 include:
Download NOW! http://www.krt.com.au/ns/
http://r350.ee.ntu.edu.tw/~hcchu/os2/ports/xfree86/#enlightenment
Hung-Chi Chu has ported the famous Englightenment window manager to XFree86/2.
Enlightenment is one of those (formerly) Unix-only applications that the Linux advocates
boast about it. The authors have a really good eye for what makes an attractive
desktop, however. Check out the screen shots at http://www.enlightenment.org/.
The OS/2 version has a few bugs, but otherwise it's usable.
-----------------------------------------------------
New Technologies on alphaWorks
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ExcelAccessor JavaBean Suite
The ExcelAccessor bean suite can be used to visually program a Java application
to access and modify the contents of a Microsoft Excel worksheet.
This bean suite consists of three non-visual beans that can be easily wired with
other beans in various IDE's to create applications. The ExcelAccessor beans can
be used to access the following properties of a range in a worksheet: Value, Formula,
Format and Note text
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/alphaBeans
-------------------------------------------------------
alphaWorks Updated Technologies
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Bean Markup Language
New version 2.1 defines the event handling BML scripts increasing the event binding
capability of BML. The compiler has also been enhanced to make it possible to generate
BML independent code.
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/Tech/BML
Jikes
Fix problem linking v042 for AIX.
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/Tech/Jikes
Speech for Java
Speech for Java has a new maintenance level release. The updated download is
ibmjs100j.
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/Tech/Speech
IRC Client for Java
New update v1.40 includes a client-to-client upgrade feature. Also enhanced the
ad posting functions to be used with ticker enabled applet versions of the IRC clients.
http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/Tech/IRC
Place Your Votes
alphaWorks and IBM have several Java technologies nominated for the Java Developer's
Journal Readers' Choice Awards, Please go to the following link and place your vote
for your favorites:
http://www.sys-con.com/java/readerschoice/nominationform.html
I have released a new version of Shape (non-rectangular) Window Library. Mr.Moeller
(ulrich.moeller@rz.hu-berlin.de) sent me patch to speed up shape window. It makes
shape windows much faster and lighter. I merged this patch to the library and re-build
programs using shape window (such as Osuwari Multi).
You can get them under my OS/2 page:
http://www.sra.co.jp/people/akira/os2/index-e.html
or directly from:
http://www.sra.co.jp/people/akira/os2/shapewin-e.html
If you have performace problems with older version, try it.
I have discovered a way to set up Staroffice 5.0 for OS/2 so most of the apps
will run at RAM speed:
1.This only works if you have enough memory, the setup takes about 20 mgs of
memory!!!!
2. First find config subdirectory under your X:\Office50 and expand it.
3. You will find two subdirectories named start and startup.
4. Drag and drop a copy of your favorite apps(*.URL files), but not presentations
(it hangs) from start to startup. I put spreadsheet app, Starwriter and the draw
program in the startup directory.
5. Doubleclick on Staroffice icon:
6. The desktop will come up first followed by a slight delay, then the apps you
put in the startup will be loaded.
7. From this point on in a session all the apps will be memory cached and STAY
that way until you turn off the computer, even if you close them out with X button!!!!!!!!!,
or you can minimize to the task bar at the bottom of the desktop. As a bonus, some
of the other apps, EX. HTML writer and presentions will also launch instantly!!!!!!!!!
8. You can minimize the whole works with the standard OS/2 PM minimize button
and close the Staroffice from there. The next time you launch the whole works will
be rebuilt into memory but stay minimized and out of sight until you need it.
9. After everything is behaving properly, you can put a shadow of the Staroffice.exe
icon in your OS/2 startup folder and the next time you start your computer all that
will be loaded up automatically.
10. To be sure, it takes a lot longer to boot up OS/2 this way but you can go
get a cup of coffee during boot up knowing when it is finally finished you have
some serious code in memory waiting for your use.
11. I have been using Staroffice in memory for several months and it is very
well behaved. I can crash Netscape any way I choose and it never brings Staroffice
down with it.
12. I am currently running a Deschutes overclocked to 496 MHz with a 128 Mg memory
module. I consume all but about 67 Mgs during bootup but the remaining memory is
plenty for everything else and I never get near a swapfile condition.
I asked SciTech Software about OS/2 drivers for ATI RAGE 128 and I got the following
answer
> Which resolutions will you supprt for OS/2 drivers for ATI RAGE 128 ?
All resolutions from 320x200 up to 2048x1536. Our new drivers have a new feature
called 'Dial-A-Mode' which will allow you to dial up any custom resolution you want.
The OS/2 version will include full support for this feature...
Dell Computer has opened a new online computer hardware/software store, http://www.gigabuys.com.
They sell several different versions of the OS/2 client and server.
and select "Desktop/Notebook" for OS/2 Warp 3 and 4 clients, and "Network
Operating Systems -> Show Everything" for several versions of the server.
Alas, Indelible Blue is still a better bet. They offer more options and better
prices, and they do OS/2 pre-loads.
Kim Kruse Hansen, the developer of OS/2, announced 2/26/99 on his website that
he has halted development of Cu-SeeMe for OS/2.
Citing delays in the development of the Hauppage WinTV driver, the difficulty
of supporting "incompetent" OS/2 users, and the lack of interest, the
author stated that he would neither release source code to the product nor a version
which would not expire.
The press release may be read at http://www.inet2.dk/~deckkh
Those of you who want to run X applications remotely but don't want to install
XFree86/2 might be interested in WiredX. WiredX is an X Window System server, written
in pure Java. They are interested in users on all platforms trying it out and reporting
their results - apparently it hasn't been tested on anything but Windows.
The web page is unclear on whether you need Java 1.1.x or Java 1.2 (which OS/2
currently doesn't support). It's technically still in beta, but it does claim to
support X11R6.3, which is the latest X standard.
Found this on IBM Education Web Site...
http://www-3.ibm.com/services/learning/web_004/us-edu/web.htm
Intro to Java - Free!
Intro to Java Beans - Free!
This week's edition of Focus on OS/2 is now online.
Topic: Y2K Compatibility. Jan 1, 2000 is coming sooner than you think. Besides
that, Sept 9, 1999 poses a threat to many older programs. Read this article to find
out if your OS/2 system is safe from the coming storms.
Also Fixpak 10 in both Diskpak image and RSU has been released by IBM.
This material can be accessed at http://os2.miningco.com.
The RoboticsMessenger/2 for the USRobotics Message Modems (Plus and Pro) and
the Faxmodem Pro is released in Version 0.72
install script bug corrected
com-port bug corrected
NEW: report of date and time for messages stored in the modem
The RoboticsMessenger/2 is Freeware and downloadable at:
http://www.buntspecht.de/romes/ or
at:
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/incoming/
later at:
ftp://hobbes.nmsu.edu/pub/os2/apps/comm
I've uploaded ports of Ken Lunde's Japanese code-manipulation tools to hobbes.nmsu.edu.
The zipfile containing the OS/2 executables and source code is named j_tools.zip.
It's now in /pub/incoming directory, but should eventually come to reside in /pub/os2/util/convert.
JConv, JCode, and JChar are handy command-line tools for converting and inspecting
Japanese text codes and generating Japanese code sets. All three tools support the
three basic Japanese codes most commonly used in text files, e-mail messages, and
on the World Wide Web: JIS, Shift-JIS, and EUC.
The programs in this package are straight ports for OS/2 of original C-language
programs written by Ken Lunde, author of _CJKV Information Processing_ (O'Reilly
& Associates) -- a must-read for anyone dealing with Japanese or other East-Asian
scripts in the context of computers and information processing.
The programs have been tested under the English version of OS/2 Warp 4 and the
Japanese version of OS/2 3, but they should run under any version of OS/2 3.x or
later. Emxrt v0.9d is required.
The programs are also available from the OS/2 section of my web page at http://www2.gol.com/users/hticn/.
There's a new update to the RSJ Writer software for CDR's and CDRW's (v2.76)
available. You can download a copy from:
NetLookout has been updated again to 2.21a. NetLookout watches the internet for
you. It will catch changes to Web, FTP and Gopher sites. This version fixes all
known problems with sending email when a site changes. You can download a copy from:
http://www.frugalsoft.com/lookout
Most of you now know that Power Quest has seen fit to NOT include a Native OS/2
version of Partition Magic with their 4.0 release.
But ... do you know that now, for a limited time, you can get Partition Magic
3.0 for FREE???? (well, for the cost of postage).
Egghead Surplus Direct is offering Partition Magic 3.0 for $15.00 (US) with a
$15.00 mail-in rebate (essentially FREE minus the shipping cost).
Go to:
http://www.egghead.com/store/ent/eggs_portal.browse
And, in the left-hand frame, click on the arrow for "Egghead SurplusDirect"
and choose "Utilities". The right-hand frame will have a link to the special
deal.
I just recieved mine, today, and the Shipping-and-handling charge was $6.95 (US).
That's all it's going to cost me for a copy (with printed docs) for Partition Magic
3.0, including the native OS/2 executables.
Act now .... before it's too late.
Dan Casey
President, VOICE http://www.os2voice.org
http://members.iquest.net/~dcasey
Team SETI http://www.seti-inst.edu/
To request my PGP Public Key, send e-mail with "Req PGP Key" as Subject
Line
As active members of the OS/2 community I would appreciate if you have the time
to comment on our future product plans. Any comments are welcome including: proposed
products you like, dislike, what you want to have released first, or products you'd
like to see. Also how much you'd be willing to pay for each product.
Your responses will influence our product direction and the order of release.
You can see the Aquila webpage at http://webhome.idirect.com/~aquilat/ . Future
products are in the 'Plans' section.
Some changes to the current webpage:
I appreciate your taking time out to answer this request. Thanks in advance for
your input.
Perry Newhook
Aquila Technologies
Here is some news on PGP 6.0 and OS/2:
Hello everyone,
I have some good news!!
NAI (Network Associates, Inc) has announced that they will shortly be coming out with a command line version of PGP 6.0 (hopefully next month). It will be another two or three months before the source code books are published and a PGP 6.0i version is available. Once this is done I can start work on an OS/2 port of 6.0 for everyone. Hopefully this will go much faster than the last one did. According to NAI they have returned to a PGP 2.6.x compatible command line and the old 5.0 command line will no longer be supported.
I am also working on developing my own independent implementation of the OpenPGP standard (RFC 2440) along with an OpenPGP SDK for software developers to integrate PGP into their applications.
That's all for now, when I have more information I will let you know.
William H. Geiger III
http://www.openpgp.net
KVEC v2.39 has been released. KVEC is a tool which can to vectorize images using
several graphic formats (BMP, Windows Metafile, Enhanced Metafile, AutoCad DXF,
HPGL, ART). You can download a copy from:
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/kkuhl/
I am currently writing a program that will convert HTML to PDF. Right now it
will support a very limited set of HTML. I would like to get some feedback on everyone's
interest. I am thinking about shareware. I would like to know if you think it would
be useful and if you are willing to pay for it how much. Based on the response i
will determine if i will put a lot of time into this. It is also not available at
this point.
LyX/2, a revolutionary word processor combining the ease of use of an intuitive
user interface with the power of Tex/LateX to provide professional output ready
for publication and aiming at the highest international layout and typesetting standards.
Throw away your old typewriter-like text processor and produce easily texts conforming
to the standards of the American Mathematical Society, IEEE, American Physical Society,
Springer Scientific Editors, european typesetting standards, DIN Brief standards,
US film industry, SGML, American Institute of Physics, American Optical Society,
italian letter standards, etc., etc. that are already professionally typeset for
immediate publication and distribution. Or modify one of the existing layout templates
for your own purposes. This package bundles additional installation documentation,
tools, tips and tricks, that are hard to find elsewhere. Its free. You can download
a copy from:
http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/cgi-bin/h-search?key=lyx100p.zip
Henk Kelder has updated the beta (v0.88) of his FAT32 IFS (Installable File System).
This will allow you to access FAT32 partitions from OS/2. You can download a copy
from:
http://www.os2ss.com/information/kelder/
Saw this on comp.os.os2.bugs and thought it may be of interest to anyone installing
FP10 for Warp 4 with an ESS based sound card.
mark
On Mon, 1 Mar 1999 20:43:58, "Scott E. Garfinkle" (seg@NOSPAM-us.ibm.com) wrote:
-)On Mon, 1 Mar 1999 20:13:52 GMT, Robert Holmgren wrote:
-)
-)>Has anyone else got an 1879 and found a workaround (before I backpedal to FP9)?
-)>I tried reinstalling all the FP9 MMOS2 DLLs, to no avail. What _is_ the offending
-)>file, anyway? Grrrrr...!
-)The offending file is es1879dd.sys -- there was a common bug in all the ESS
-)drivers that was benign until the pointer that they erroneously accessed
-)happened to move. It happened a while back i Warp 3. Anyway, the newest
-)drivers are on the ESS Taiwain website: Go look at
-) ftp://ftp.esstech.com.tw/OS2/1879215.zip
-) regards
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
The GammaTech Mall Grand Opening March 1st - 7th, 1999
Edmond, Oklahoma, February 21, 1999 - GammaTech, Inc., software developer, announced
today that it will open The GammaTech Mall.
"GammaTech, Inc., has been in the software business since 1991. We are software
developers and we understand the needs and frustrations of the small software developer
and we understand the frustration of giving up most of the profits to the marketers,"
said Benny Ormson, president of GammaTech."
The GammaTech Mall will license software to the public. Software developers are
offered the opportunity to "Be a Partner" at no cost. A flat rate fee
of 15% is retained.There are no hidden charges, no setup fees, no per transaction
charges.
Partnership in The GammaTech Mall provides many exclusive services. The following
may be of interest to developers:
Act now! As an additional incentive, software developers will receive a flat
rate of 10% through March 31, 1999! Take advantage of this valuable discount, visit
http://www.gt-mall.com and read the "Be
a Partner" then sign up to license and distribute your products through the
mall.
Visit today! Customers will want to browse during the grand opening and see what's
in "store"! A few of the quality services provided:
Contact: Benny Ormson
GammaTech, Inc.
gtmall@gt-online.com
www.gt-mall.com
Telephone: 405.359.0079
FAX: 405.359.0080