From: dstrong@vnet.ibm.com (Duncan Strong)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.os.os2.apps,comp.os.os2.beta,comp.os.os2.games,comp.os.os2.networking.tcp-ip,comp.os.os2.programmer.tools
Subject: Warp Wire - Issue #3
Date: 26 Feb 1995 19:17:32 GMT
Organization: IBM Canada (Vancouver)
Message-ID: <3iqk4c$12a5@news-s01.ny.us.ibm.net>

The Warp Wire - Issue #3
A Weekly Update On The World Of OS/2 and LAN Server

If you think the Warp Wire is a good idea, send cards and letters of support
to dstrong@vnet.ibm.com. This may become a mailing-list, so send in your request
to be on the list NOW!


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           NEW OS/2 APPS FUEL WARP MOMENTUM

 In the February 6, 1995 issue of INFOWORLD, Ilan Greenberg wrote an
 article entitled, "App vendors warm up to OS/2 Warp". The article
 starts off very positively stating that the strong OS/2 Warp sales
 have convinced several ISVs to announce new or upgraded OS/2 packages.
 Vendors, such as Lotus Development Corporation, San Francisco-based
 Macromedia Inc., Athena Design Inc., and Novell, are used as proof of
 the growing OS/2 momentum. However, the article ends somewhat annoyingly
 with a negative quote from Peter Kastner, an analyst with Aberdeen Group,
 Inc. Kaster states, "The bottom line is there's a strong sense of
 business reallity in the boardrooms of the software industry, and if
 they have developement dollars to spend, they aren't looking at Warp."

 We have dedicated this issue of The Warp Wire to showing Kastner that
 the app vendors are fueling the OS/2 Warp momentum and that many ISVs
 are dedicating pleny of resource to creating or upgrading OS/2
 applications. 

 By the way, this issue is a little long.
 ... What can I say... There's lots of OS/2 Warp momentum.

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   IBM LAN SERVER(*) and DCE(**) - AN EARLY LOOK AT IMPLEMENTATION

 Late in December, 1994, IBM shipped a proof-of-concept beta of LAN Server
 Enterprise (LSE) to a small group of customers for early feedback.  Over
 the next several months IBM will work closely with those customers to
 enhance the integration of LAN Server file and print functionality with
 the Open Software Foundation's (OSF) DCE services to produce a highly
 robust solution for medium to large enterprises.  This initial beta
 provides extensions to the LAN Server 4.0 product that shipped in the
 fourth quarter.  LAN Server 4.0 has received high praises and market
 acceptance for it's simple installation and user friendly graphical
 administration interface.

 LSE uses DCE directory and security in place of the analogous LAN Server
 functions.  To accomplish this with a minimum of impact on the
 administrator, the popular new graphical interface introduced with LAN
 Server 4.0 will be extended logically to handle the DCE specific
 components.

 The new directory and security are implemented by means of a LAN
 Server Enterprise Feature which is installed on at least one domain
 controller in the network.  The LSE feature contains a DCE client.
 A DCE directory and security server are then installed on any
 machines in the network.  LSE can use any OSF DCE servers as long as
 they are based on OSF DCE 1.1.  For the proof-of-concept beta the
 DCE servers for OS/2 are packaged with the LSE feature.

 There is a migration tool which moves the user and directory data
 from the LAN Server domain controller database (DCDB) and NET.ACC
 file, to the DCE cell directory and security server database.
 Multiple domains may be migrated to the same DCE cell, enabling
 easy cross-domain resource sharing.  It is important to note, with this
 approach, that the multiple domains effectively become a single
 administrative entity. Therefore, user names must be unique within the
 larger domain.  Collisions are handled manually during the
 migration process.  With the DCE Cell Directory Service, the user
 has only one identity and password that is known to all the
 domains that are migrated to the cell.  All
 of the resources in the cell, or in peer cells, are accessed
 under a single login.  There is also a synchronization mechanism
 which ensures that the DCE directory and security databases stay
 in synchronization with the legacy LAN Server databases.  This is
 done so that 3.x legacy clients can run unchanged against the LSE
 server.

 New LSE clients use the DCE directory to find objects in the
 network (eg., printers, files, etc.).  Legacy clients, which
 cannot support DCE global names, must define an alias that points
 to the DCE global name of a resource in order to find it on the
 network.  DCE is used for authorization on LSE servers.  New
 clients use DCE Kerberos for authentication.  Legacy clients use
 the existing LAN Server authentication mechanism.

 There are two types of new LSE clients.  The integrated client
 contains both a LAN requestor and a DCE client.  The non-integrated
 client contains only a LAN Requestor.  At least one integrated
 client must be installed to manage the LAN Server and DCE pieces
 of the network. Additional clients may be installed.  Customers who
 are writing applications to the DCE RPC model can use the integrated
 clients to achieve a single logon across DCE applications and the
 file and print sharing LAN Server functions.

 LSE supports the SMB interface used by current LAN Server clients
 and servers.  Assuming compatible transports are used, LSE can
 support any other SMB client.  Windows NT clients are SMB
 clients, so they will be supported by LSE.


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        WARP MOMENTUM: BYERS ENGINEERING COMPANY

 Byers Engineering Company, a 1000 person engineering and software
 services firm founded in 1971, provides OS/2 engineering management
 systems to the Fortune 100 telecommunications and utility companies.

 The current OS/2 software provided by Byers to clients, such as Sprint,
 MCI, and Southern California Gas Company, includes Byers EWO
 (Engineering Work Order), Byers AM/FM (Automated Mapping/Facilities
 Management), Byers View Station, and Byers Mobile Work Manager.

 These applications are all based on a core graphics (CAD) engine
 developed by Byers in 1984.  A subset of the Intergraph and MicroStation
 CAD format is directly supported.  The associated RDBMSs supported
 include Oracle, Informix, and XBase.

 Reference items, in addition to Byers product literature, include
 "Engineers design field installations on PS/2s using OS/2 EE,
 Sprint Engineering Work Order System" (IBM's collateral # GK20-2489-00,
 1992) and "Work Management in the Field," IBM Personal Systems magazine
 (November/December 1994).

 Byers' traditional clients manage extensive Outside Plant (OSP)
 distribution networks consisting of cables, poles, pedestals, and
 electronic equipment. The design process includes a combination of
 field or sit visits, review and research of engineering maps and
 on-line record systems, and design of the engineering changes to be made.
 In many utilities, the OSP engineering information systems remain
 largely paper-based.

 Effective management of OSP facilities requires automation tools which
 can "model" the distribution network, access other on-line engineering
 and construction systems, assist in planning the changes with "expert"
 design tools, and generate the construction work prints (either
 electronic or hardcopy).

 Automated engineering software, such as Byers EWO, helps utilities
 better manage their distribution networks more efficiently.  A utility
 company with roughly the same engineering activity each year can
 operate with fewer engineering and associated people.  While a utility
 in a growth mode (most utilities), can manage the increasing design
 load without increasing the design staff.

 For more information on the above OS/2 products, contact either:

 Mike Cohen, Director - Technical Marketing (ext. 323),
                   or
 Frank Fortson, Vice President (ext. 200)

 Byers Engineering Company
 6285 Barfield Road
 Atlanta, GA  30328

 Tel: 404.843.1000
 Fax: 404.843.2000

 CompuServe: 71730,2157
 Internet: 71730.2157@compuserve.com


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        WARP MOMENTUM: STACKER 4.0 FOR OS/2

 (BUSINESS WIRE) - Jan. 30, 1995--Stac Electronics
 (NASDAQ:STAC), the leading supplier of high performance compression
 products for data storage and communications, Monday announced
 availability of the new Stacker(a) 4.0 for OS/2(b) & DOS --  breaking
 the 2:1 compression barrier and bringing significant speed enhancements
 and the popular Stacker Toolbox feature to the OS/2  market.

 Taking advantage of improvements to the patented Stac LZS(a) compression
 algorithm and Stac's SmartPack(a) technology, Stacker for  OS/2 & DOS now
 matches the compression offered by Stacker 4.0 for  Windows & DOS.  With
 greater than 2:1 compression, Stacker 4.0 for  OS/2 & DOS packs data more
 tightly onto a system's hard drive to  provide users with the most disk
 space in the industry.

 Stacker 4.0 now operates as much as four times faster than previous
 versions, allowing users to gain more space without giving up system
 performance.  New safety and compatibility features have also been
 added, as well as the new Stacker Toolbox, which gives users quick
 and convenient access from the OS/2 desktop to the utilities included
 with Stacker.

 ``Since our first release of Stacker in 1990, Stac has consistently
 shipped the category's best-of-breed, and Stacker 4.0 for OS/2
 extends that franchise by delivering superior compression, more speed
 and useful new features to OS/2 users,'' said Bruce Behymer, Stacker
 for OS/2 &  DOS Product Manager.


 (a) Indicates trademark or registered trademark of Stac Electronics (b)
 Indicates trademark or registered trademark of International
 Business Machines Corporation (c) Indicates trademark or registered
 trademark of Microsoft Corporation (d) Indicates trademark or registered
 trademark of Novell Inc.

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   WARP MOMENTUM: TIDBITS ON APPS FROM THE INTERNET

 LXOPT (Linear eXecutable OPTimizer) is a new development tool, a
 working set tuner which improves the code layout of 32 bit OS/2
 applications.

 When applied to EXE or DLL files LXOPT creates a code layout which
 minimizes page faults.  It is particularly effective on applications
 forced to run in low memory conditions, often reducing page faults by
 up to 95%.

 Using a special technique known as 'Code Parking' LXOPT will reduce the
 total code memory requirement of a typical application by 30% to 50%.

 LXOPT is unique in that it works at the assembler level and is able to
 change the location of not just whole procedures but individual processor
 instructions.  Code handling infrequently used branches of IF or CASE
 statements is automatically moved to different code pages significantly
 reducing a programs working set.  This assembler level tuning allows
 working set optimizations not previously available on OS/2 or any other
 development platform.

 LXOPT works directly on EXE/DLL files and is language/compiler
 independent.  No source code changes are required.  New code arrangements
 are based on an execution history gathered by the LXOPT recorder.

 A fully functional demonstration version is available as LXOPT100.ZIP
 and has been uploaded to the OS2DF1 forum (Development Tools section)
 on Compuserve and the EMEA DAP bulletin board in the DEMOS
 file area.  A copy is also available at ftp-os2.cdrom.com in the
 incoming/os2 directory as LXOPT100.ZIP.TRY7 and ftp-os2.nmsu.edu
 in the os2/incoming directory as LXOPT100.ZIP.TRY2
 =

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------
 Graham Utilities for OS/2

   ...now also in German language available!

 The Graham Utilities for OS/2 are a comprehensive suite of
 disk, file and general utilities for OS/2 systems.  They have
 been written from the ground up to fully exploit the advanced
 capabilities of OS/2.

  - Enhance system performance with the HPFS file defragmenter
  - Recover from accidental data loss with the undeletion utility
  - Rebuild damaged low level disk structures with the disk editor
  - Low level edit disks and files
  - Wipe disks and files for added security
  - Report on system information
  - All applications are fully HPFS aware
  - Supports the 1.x, 2.x and 3.x versions of OS/2
  - Comprehensive 240+ page manual in both hard copy
    and on-line form
  - And MUCH, MUCH MORE!

 The utilities includes versatile HPFS utilities.  For example:
 HPFSView gives you the ability to view the locations and
 disk layout of files and optionally visually defragment
 them. You can also use the disk editor and HPFS utilities on
 remote network drives!

 For only 150 US$ / 250,- DM you get one year free upgrade service via BBS
 or disk.  For a first impression of the utilities see OS/2 Magazine
 October 1994 and OS/2 Inside 01/95.

 Please direct inquiries and orders to:

         Hermann Reissig
         Danziger Str. 7
         D-91555 Feuchtwangen

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 NEW RELEASE: Taskbar for OS/2 version 2.00

 Taskbar is a shareware program that allows rapid switching among multiple
 running programs by providing a popup button bar containing a list of all
 running programs in the system.  The taskbar is activated by moving the
 mouse cursor to the bottom edge of the screen.  The desired task can then
 be selected by clicking on the appropriate button with the mouse.  In
 order to re-hide the taskbar, simply move the mouse cursor outside of the
 taskbar.

 The current version of Taskbar can be downloaded from the following
 sources:

     Internet:   ftp-os2.cdrom.com (TskBar20.ZIP)
                 ftp-os2.nmsu.edu (TskBar20.ZIP)
     Compuserve: lib #1 in the OS2BVEN forum (TskBar.ZIP)
     OS/2 Shareware BBS: lib #11 (TskBar20.ZIP).

 Please direct any questions or comments about Taskbar to one of the
 following e-mail addresses:

     Internet:   ryoder@ibm.net
     Compuserve: 73457,521
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Gothenburg 30 January 1995

 Today Ridax programutveckling is releasing version 2.1 of the PM2You
 Remote Control product.  At the same time version 3.1 of the OS2You
 character mode remote control product is released.  PM2You is a remote
 control product, which will let you control an OS/2 machine from another
 OS/2 or Windows machine.  It can communicate over dial-up modems, LANs
 (Named Pipes, NetBios, SPX) or WANs (TCP/IP, WINSOCK).  OS2You is
 a character mode only variant of PM2You (PM2You includes all features of
 OS2You) which will let you remote control character mode OS/2 or DOS
 applications from almost any terminal or terminal program.  It can also
 be connected to an ordinary Telnet client.

 Both products will work with OS/2 1.x, 2.x and 3.x (WARP).

 A demo of the package is uploaded to ftp.cdrom.com in the os2/incoming
 directory (file called pm2you21.zip.corrected, NOTE that pm2you21.zip
 is an incomplete upload).  It will also be uploaded to hobbes.nmsu.edu
 when/if that site will be up and running.

 The main news in this release are:

 * 32-bit variant of PM2You with enhanced compression algorithm which
   will enhance performance significantly.
 * Host image can now be either compressed/stretched to fit terminal
   size or keep the original size and allows panning over the image.
 * MultiCast Named Pipe driver, allowing "classroom"-operation (character
   mode only).
 * Time scheduler allows supension of OS2You/PM2You to release COM device.
 * Telnet compliant TCP/IP drivers and IP hostname lookup.
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Itty-Bitty Black Book/2

 Replaces/Upgrades Itty-Bitty Black Book/2 Version 1.24

    Itty-Bitty Black Book/2 is a personal information manager which may be
 used to store and manipulate the names, address, phone numbers, and other
 pertinent information about groups of individuals.  It is capable of
 storing up to five different groups of people in each phone book.  These
 groups could be business contacts, friends, relatives, Christmas card
 lists, etc, they are determined solely by you.  It is further capable of
 dialing the phone, printing mailing labels, printing a cardfile, and
 printing a personal address book to take with you when a computer is
 unavailable.  It also capable of displaying pictures and playing sounds
 through the assistance of other OS/2 Presentation Manager* aware
 applications (not included in Itty-Bitty Black Book/2).  Registration
 is $15.

 *OS/2 and Presentation Manager are Trademarks of IBM Corp.


 Itty-Bitty Black Book/2 Version 1.25
 February 5, 1995
 Copyright (C) 1993-1995
 James E. Johnson Jr.
 All Rights Reserved.


 Available via anonymous ftp from ftp-os2.cdrom.com & via
 dialup modem from the OS/2 Shareware BBS at (703) 385-4325
 (online registration available at OS/2 Shareware BBS).
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 HODstar(TM) Support Solutions announces the following -

 HODstar Loader -

 HODstar Loader automatically scans your OS/2 LAN Server domains
 and loads relevant user and network resource data to the
 HODstar Common Database used by all HODstar products.  This
 utility immensely reduces the time required to keep your
 help desk user data current for HODstar Supporter (help
 desk/call tracking/network asset management) and HODstar
 Monitor (network asset management) customers.  Supporter
 and Monitor are network and database-independent, and do
 support DB2 client-server for all DB2 platforms.

 Administrators control how much information is actually
 available to your support staff.  All relationships between
 users and network resources are determined and preserved.

 To receive more information call our automated voice-back system to
 schedule product catalogs to be faxed to your location.  Call
 USA +1 817-379-0220 and select option 9 for the fax back library.

 Send your faxes to USA +1 817-379-4020.

 Send electronic mail to:
    Internet -
       76711.426@compuserve.com
       PMSH30A@prodigy.com
    CompuServe: 76711,426
    Prodigy: PMSH30A

 For conferencing and demo software:
    CompuServe GO CIS:OS2VENA (OS/2 Vendors) -> Other Vendors
    HODNet BBS USA +1 817-431-0546

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                   WARP MOMENTUM: COREL

 February 5, 1995, on the Houston radio show Computalk, IBM's David      ,
 Barnes appeared with Corel Company's Director of Marketing and Sales,
 Arlen Barstch.

 Arlen mentioned "MOMENTUM" many times during the show.  He stated that
 the Vobis preload deal signaled a shift away from Microsoft and toward
 IBM and would have worldwide implications.  Corel is very excited to be
 back in the OS/2 market.  Their CEO, Michael Cowpland, is predicting that
 there will be 10 million OS/2 users by the end of this year.  They don't
 want to miss this important market.

 Corel will be coming out with Corel 6.  It will be a native 32-bit OS/2
 app with all the goodies that have always been in Corel.  In addition,
 they have licensed 3D modeling and rendering technology from Ray Dream.
 This will also be in the product.  Their beta for OS/2 is scheduled to
 begin on March 1.

 Corel is also developing a suite called CD Office.  Their target in the
 OS/2 market is the Lotus Smartsuite.  Although their word processor is
 a revamped Wordstar which doesn't have *all* the bells and whistles
 found in some of the other word processors, they feel it has almost
 all the features people really need.  (They are also looking at naming
 their word processor Corel Word)

 Other things which will be included in Corel CD Office Suite:
 a spreadsheet, Alpha 5 database, Corel Flow, Corel Chart, fonts,
 Clip Art, Photos and mapping tools. Corel is looking to the future and
 is planning to move these products to the PowerPC.

 This talk show was very upbeat and exciting for OS/2 fans.  David
 mentioned an initiative where the top IBM execs would be calling on
 ISVs to encourage support for OS/2.  This is supposed to begin soon.
 The OS/2 momentum is there and is getting bigger all the time.  This
 is going to be an exciting year.


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   HANDLING THE "THERE ARE NO OS/2 APPS" OBJECTION

 Q:  How can I buy OS/2 Warp when there aren't many OS/2 applications?
 Does this relative lack of OS/2 specific applications on the shelves
 of retail software outlets mean I should be concerned about the
 viability of OS/2?

 A: Lets focus on requirements, users ultimately want the greatest range
 of applications to choose from and OS/2 Warp runs more applications than
 any other PC Operating System out there.  It runs all DOS applications,
 Windows applications and the 2000+ OS/2 applications.  It runs them
 all and provides preemptive multitasking for all the applications
 something that no other PC OS does yet.

 It is important to remember that when you have a new OS it takes
 a while for ISV's to write for that OS.  ISV's have been writing for
 DOS and Windows for over 14 years now while OS/2 applications
 really only started surfacing about 5 years ago.  With a 9 year
 head start there are bound to be more DOS and Windows applications.

 With the success of OS/2 Warp, many ISV's are rethinking their
 OS/2 strategies and are announcing OS/2 versions of their products.
 MacroMedia has announced OS/2 support and Computer Associates
 is going to be creating an OS/2 version of their Simply series.
 ISV's are turning to OS/2 because they recognize they can no longer
 ignore an operating system with an install base of over 7 million that
 is growing every day. In fact the OS/2 install base is almost as big
 as Mac's and growing a lot faster.



 




