🚀 go-pugleaf

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PC Notes #95               10/15/92           copr. 1992, Dave Williams
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  BIX: 'dave2'      CIS: 72571,3542      dave.williams@chaos.lrk.ar.us
                The Courts of Chaos BBS, (501)985-0059
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 Layoffs:  Compaq 500, Everex 250, Apple 1000, Intel 30,

 Micrographx is sponsoring a chili cook-off for fall Comdex.  Added
attractions are rockers Alan Parsons and Graham Nash.  They'd better
watch out for Qualitas, which brags about their chili in their
newsletter.

 IBM is getting into the home infocenter business again.  They've dumped
$100 million into a company that will transmit videos, data, and other
stuff to homes.  This is only about the third or fourth time they've
gotten involved with this, last time with Sears,Roebuck as an unlikely
partner.

 Tired of waiting for Stacker For OS/2?  Proportional Software
(800)666-4672 is now shipping dcf/2 which does much the same thing for
$99.

 Symantec has posted a new "free" version of Norton AntiVirus on various
BBS systems.  It will detect, but not remove viruses.

 Remember the NeXT?  After spending five years trying to get the bugs
out of their NeXTStep operating system, they decided to port it to the
486 last year.  Baud alone knows why.  NeXT targeted the 486 since it
has a couple of extra instructions to make it easier to port 68000 code
to the x86 architecture, not because of the onboard math chip.  Anyway,
NeXTStep 486 is supposed to ship next year.  Who wants it?  Apparently
Chrysler does.  They're proposing to buy 3000 copies so they can move
their CAD software over to it.  NeXT officially wants $995 per copy, but
they may negotiate.  Ri-ight.

 Two years ago Olaf Soderblom announced he had a 1981 patent that
covered token ring networks.  The patent was challenged by Madge
Networks. After two years, the US Patent Office has decided to uphold
Soderblom's patent.  Madge and others will now be required to pay
royalties on Soderblom's US Patent #4,493,948.

 Stac Electronics' sales are way down after rumors that MSDOS 6.0 will
incorporate disk compression.  At least, that's what the rumors say.
I figure they've probably reached the majority of users who are
interested in the product, and sales are merely reaching an equilibrium
level.

 Microsoft has released WinLogin, a Windows networking program that lets
users automatically configure any network machine they log into with
their own preferred setup.  This is a nice idea.  Now, if only Microsoft
would take my suggestion from the old beta days, and add a "lock"
feature so those goober users wouldn't try to edit .INI files with
WordPerfect...

 Those who fail History are doomed to repeat it:   Now that Momenta has
bit the dust, Compaq and Dell plan to jump into the pentop market.
Psst! Maybe people don't *want* to grub around with a stylus?

 AMI's FastDisk SCSI controller is Adaptec 1542 compatible and has an
onboard 386SX-16 and 1,4, or 16Mb of cache RAM.  You should be able to
find one for under $600.  If you do, let me know if it runs OS/2.

 Windows NT will probably be late.

 IBM is demonstrating an alpha of their new multiprocessor version of
OS/2.  It uses a licensed copy of the Mach microkernel (the same thing
NeXTStep uses).  IBM says it might ship first or second quarter '93.
After the OS/2 2.0 vs Windows 3.1 "race" to be last, don't hold your
breath for the OS/2 MP vs Windows NT race.

 Symantec's Gene Wang, who was hired away from Borland amidst a cloud
of accusations, court injunctions, and lawsuits, has begun his new
career by firing Symantec's project group's general manager, heads of
quality assurance and product marketing, and other high level
management.

 Colorado is sold:  Hewlett-Packard bought tape drive manufacturer
Colorado Memory Systems.  Hopefully HP will apply its famous quality
control procedures to CMS' often-cobby hardware and software.

 A Federal court in Minnesota ruled Hayes "Tick, Tick...You're Dead!"
anti-clone-modem ads as "deceptive" and has allowed an injunction to
prevent Hayes from running the ad henceforth.

 You've maybe heard about the IBM OS/2 PDK, a bonanza of developer's
software available from IBM for only $15.  Don't get your knickers in
a twist - the PDK is only available to members of IBM's DAP program.
DAP memberships are evidently determined by spinning a roulette wheel
or tossing dice.

 PC Tools fans:  Are you ready for PC Tools 8.0?  Start saving your
pennies for that yearly upgrade... and remember the last upgrade only
cost twice the purchase price of 1.0!

 Various publications have announced IBM has "re-introduced" the PS/2
product line.  Basically, this appears to mean IBM has merely renamed
their previous incomprehensible model numbering system with one that's
just as incomprehensible.  We now have models such as the
"Server 95 XP 486 OLF" joining the lineup.

 DAK Industries, mostly noted for their effusive ads selling somewhat
dated oddities, is now selling  the BSR MediaMaster Sound Board for
$199.  No word on what it's compatible with, if anything.  The blurb
I saw bragged about the card's onboard Motorola 68008 processor.  This
device is an 8-bit-bus version of the 68000, and the only thing that I
ever know of that used it was the Sinclair QL.  Raise your hands - who
remembers Sinclair?

 Computer Associates' buying spree continues.  They just bought
Glockenspiel, the Irish C++ developer.

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 Dave Williams is the author of "Programmer's Technical Reference"
    (Sigma Press, 1990) and "DESQview Revealed" (SAMS, 1992)
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