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Warp Server e-business has arrived, and it is smok'n ! All I can say is
the install was for the most part painless and the easiest of any version I have
installed since I first started with OS/2 2.1. If you have a fast internet access,
you can download all of the WSe-b CD contents for the price of an Advanced DevCon
(IBM's Developer Connection) subscription - <http://service2.boulder.ibm.com/devcon/showcase/cat/catalog.htm#00028>.
The base server install is a single 430Meg zip file, so this is not for everyone,
but once installed I verified that it is the same release as the packaged GA version
- 14.039F. There are a total of 6 zip files, one for each of the packaged CDs, totalling
about 1.6Gig. So far I have only downloaded and installed the base server, so I
can't comment on the other files. Hopefully IBM has a lucid moment and puts WSe-b
on the DevCon quarterly CDROM set so folks don't have to do the bandwidth breaking
download.
WSe-b won't install over an existing Warp partition if peer networking is installed.
You have to either remove it or do a clean install. I chose a clean install since
it was a test machine. Only problem I encountered was that the Crystal Audio chipset
on the motherboard wasn't automatically sensed, as it had been in the Aurora beta.
I didn't install the server portion. Instead I installed the peer networking from
Warp 4, using the CID peer install ( x:\CID\IMG\IBMPEER\PEERRMT.EXE install program
on the Warp 4 CDROM ) since the base Warp 4 File and Print sharing won't install
over any version of MPTS except the base Warp 4 version. If you are reading this
online click here (680K Gif) for a
peek at my Warp Server e-business desktop. Except for the WSe-b background (which
I had to select since IBM as usual just defaults to a solid blue background) and
the server objects on the desktop (which I quickly moved into the System Folder),
you'd swear this was OS/2 Warp 4.
The official GA release is version is 4.5, Revision 14.039 (when booting the
splash screen says 14.039F to be precise, at least for the SMP kernel). It comes
with Java 1.1.7A release build from 11-20-98. The LVMGUI (the java replacement for
FDISK) seems faster then the one in Aurora, but I have no benchmarks on this. In
fact I tried running SYSBENCH .94 under WSe-b, and I received the same error as
under Aurora, that a display font could not be found and the benchmarking app refused
to load, so I have no benchmarks at all, except for the big-assed grin on my face
when I see this baby fly.
As with the Aurora Beta there is no VoiceType, no IBM Works and no Bonus Pak
Application CD. Instead we have JFS (Journalled File System), LVM (Logical Volume
Manager) and SMP support. There is also several other CDS with server related stuff
that I haven't bothered with as yet.
Interesting, but meaningless to point out that the non-GUI LVM also lists LAN
drives as well, but you can't do anything with them that I could see. I haven't
tried JFS yet, so I can't comment on that. TCP/IP's INETVER command reports as 6.2001
for SOCKETS.SYS, 6.2000 for AFOS2.SYS and 6.2002 for AFINET.SYS so it is slightly
updated over the Aurora Preview version which reported 6.2000 for all three. TCP/IP
still has the extra ROUTE ADD statement automatically added that screws up routing,
but as with Aurora that is quickly fixed by deleting it. Netscape Communicator is
still 4.04 version, dated from 02-12-99.
So far, of the few problems I encountered under the Aurora beta at least a couple
seem to have cleared up. The Desktop Archiving feature now works in the GA. SMP
support installs easily on my dual Pentium Pro 200 test machine. In the Aurora beta
I had stability problems until I added /prec=lid to the PSD=OS2APIC statement in
CONFIG.SYS, but I have had no such problem with WSe-b so far.
I also tried to run an AMI MegaRAID 418 SCSI RAID adapter, but no dice so far.
The card itself worked fine as a SCSI controller, but under Aurora, when I attempted
to load the MRAID.ADD driver for RAID support, the WPS would freeze solid on bootup.
It gets further then that with WSe-b, but when I actually tried to run the RAID
Configuration software, it started up said it was rebuilding the drives, and then
froze the system. After that the cards bios no longer detected the adapter anymore.
So I popped out the MegaRAID and moved the drives back to the built-in Adaptec 7880
SCSI UW adapter. Warp Server e-business booted back up so no damage was done to
the data and a mirror image of all partitions on the second drive, but I still am
in search of an inexpensive RAID solution under OS/2.
So now when will Warp 5 client be available to the masses? On June 14th VOICE
welcomed Brad Wardell for a speakup session focusing on Stardock's attempt to license
and market a new OS/2 client. If you missed it you can read all about it in the
transcript - http://www.os2voice.org/logs/V061499.LOG.html.
And on June 7th we hosted another Speakup with Sundial Systems. This was a "general
Q&A, tips-n-tricks" type of Speakup on all the Sundial Systems products
(Clearlook, DBExpert, Mesa 2, Relish, and Rover Pack). If you missed this one, shame
on you, but we'll let you read the transcript
- http://www.os2voice.org/logs/V060799.LOG.html anyway. :-)
On July 12th, 8PM EDT, VOICE will welcome Lynn Maxson for a speakup session focusing
on his Warpicity Proposal (that's not to be confused with WarpCity, I had to look
at it twice before I saw the extra "i"). For details on Lynn's proposal
for user supported OS/2 please check out the two articles in this month's issue
The Warpicity Proposal with a followup by Louis
Muollo on the same topic, naturally titled The Warpicity
Proposal, one more time. After you have read these articles you should then
come to the Speakup event and voice your feelings on it. Please be sure to
check out the updated VOICE Future events Calendar in this
newsletter or on the VOICE website at <http://www.os2voice.org/calendar.html>
for more details on VOICE events.
And to one of the brighter spots, VOICE is beginning to gear up for WarpStock
99. We need to hear from VOICE members as to who is planning to attend. We also
need someone to co-ordinate the volunteers at WarpStock. As announced at the June
Speakups, anyone willing to assume this role will receive a free pass to Warpstock99,
compliments of the VOICE board. Please send your information to abraxas@os2voice.org.
Also keep in mind that VOICE will again be giving away a ticket to warpstock and
one nights hotel accommodation to a lucky VOICE member sometime in the near future.
If you are not yet a VOICE member, now is a great time to join. VOICE needs your
support, so we can continue to provide the support that IBM refuses us.
In this issue of the VOICE Newsletter besides the aforementioned articles on
the Warpicity Proposal, Dan Casey wrote an article on his most recent hardware adventure,
installing an Epson ES-1000C Scanner with CFM Twain &
PMView 2.0 (BETA). Then Dan Casey again, this time with an article on how
to put those spare CPU cycles to good use searching for alien communications in
ET: Phone Home. Elton Woo returns with an article
on the latest hardware craze - USB (universal serial bus)
communications in Warp 4.0. Don Eitner looks at some of his predictions/guesses
from a year ago in Good Year Without the Blimp - Revisited.
And wrapping things up as usual in the VIEW from the End(User),
by Don Eitner . Don has some thoughts on the recent revelations in the
USDOJ-Microsoft trial. At least we can now see that we weren't just paranoid, Microsoft
was out to get us.
Though IBM claims it fought Microsoft's attempts to force them to kill off OS/2,
the fact is it's been a long time since you could get an IBM PC or server pre-loaded
with OS/2. I recently wrote to IBM concerning their Netfinity Support Program -
'TechConnect', complaining that the quarterly CD package they send me now is only
for the win32 platform. Their response was typical of the IBM PC Company (or what
ever the pc manufacturing division is called these days). "The TechConnect
program is exclusively Windows supported. I am sorry we cannot accommodate your
request for the quarterly CDs in OS/2 format." No reason given, just that they
don't support OS/2.
Now is the time to act. Why is IBM afraid to pre-load OS/2 on anything? Even
servers, which is the current stated direction for OS/2, despite the fact that my
OS/2 Warp 4 runs circles around the buggy junk IBM promotes from Microsoft. Why
is OS/2 not mentioned in any ads for IBM hardware, even when they know full well
that OS/2 is compatible with those systems. Are they frightened to offend Bill Gates?
Please write a letter to the US DOJ and ask that they investigate the current
arrangement between Microsoft and IBM where IBM now only supports Microsoft's operating
systems on IBM hardware.
Joel I. Klein
Assistant Attorney General
Antitrust Division
U.S. Department of Justice
601 D Street, NW
Washington, DC 20530
The email address is antitrust@justice.usdoj.gov,
however I believe a written communication has more effect then electronic.
Mark Dodel
Editor, VOICE Newsletter
editor@os2voice.org
