Article View: sg.comp.os2
Article #145Warped News 27 Feb
From: felix eng
Date: Sun, 03 Mar 1996 00:00
Date: Sun, 03 Mar 1996 00:00
304 lines
24564 bytes
24564 bytes
From: msavio@VNET.IBM.COM
To: SMTP2@VNET.IBM.COM, jimh@adminmpc.csg.mot.com, cmw@apci.net,
Subject: Warped News 27 Feb
Subject: Warped News 27 Feb
------------------------------ B E G I N ------------------------------
** Quem quiser conhecer um pouco sobre o excelente livro "OS/2 Warp
para Neofitos" do Reinaldo de Meideiros, Editora Axcel Books, 1995,
visite a pagina:
http://www.embratel.net.br/infoserv/axcel/os2neof.html
** AND DO YOU KNOW THAT...The 1996 Olympics will use PEN for OS/2 Warp
to run the RESULTS system?
-- 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------
EXCITEMENT ABOUT OS/2 WARP SERVER BUILDS AS SHIP DATE APPROACHES
The response to the OS/2 Warp Server beta versions have been
overwhelmingly positive. The beta testers were very pleased with the
ease of installation and the completeness of the accompanying
toolset, including the SystemView systems management software. A LAN
administrator from Deloitte Touche in Anchorage, Alaska says, "The
installation is a complete overhaul of every version of OS/2 I've ever
run." He also adds that he found OS/2 Warp Server to run significantly
faster than Windows NT on a comparable machine.
-- 2 --------------------------------------------------------------------
WHAT DO YOU GET WHEN YOU CROSS REXX AND JAVA? NETREXX
NetRexx is a new programming language derived from both Rexx and Java;
the rules of syntax closely follow those of Rexx, while the semantics
often follow Java. It is intended as a dialect of Rexx that can be as
efficient and portable as Java, while preserving the low threshold to
learning of the original Rexx language. Further, the language is
intended to be even more keyword safe than Rexx: it should be possible
to re-compile or execute an existing NetRexx program _from source_ at
any time without additions to the keywords known to the language
invalidating an existing program.
Like Rexx, NetRexx is designed to allow clear separation of its concepts,
so it may be introduced gradually. Also like Rexx, sensible defaults
are defined to aid ease of use -- especially for the novice programmer.
These defaults can be turned off for the programmer who needs stricter
type-checking and certain other features.
The Java virtual machine environment is assumed to be one platform for
NetRexx, and this places some constraints on the NetRexx language. For
example, the semantics of type resolution are partly determined by the
environment, not the language.
The constraints of efficiency, safety, and environment implied that this
language would have to differ in some details of syntax and semantics
from Rexx; it could not be a fully upwards-compatible extension to Rexx.
The need for change, however, has offered the opportunity to make some
simplifications and enhancements to the language to strengthen
the original Rexx design (see "The Early History of Rexx", and SHARE
proceedings), and incorporate other additions from ANSI Rexx and Object
Rexx.
For more information on Rexx and these references, please see
http://www2.hursley.ibm.com/rexx/
The initial, experimental, implementation of NetRexx is in the form of
a translator that generates Java source code; a Java compiler is then
used to generate Java bytecodes (class files). Initial measurements
using this implementation suggest that the NetRexx source for a
typical class has approximately 35% fewer lexical tokens and requires
20% fewer keystrokes than the equivalent in Java.
-- 3 --------------------------------------------------------------------
TOWER TECHNOLOGY ADDING SOM AND OPENDOC TO TOWEREIFFEL SYSTEM
Tower Technology Corporation, a leading international provider of Eiffel
development tools and related educational/consulting services, announces
that it has entered into agreement with the IBM Corporation to develop
SOM and OpenDoc enabled commercial versions of their TowerEiffel
flagship development system for OS/2 and AIX. Under terms of the
agreement Tower will develop and market the product while IBM provides
Tower with technical and marketing support.
Tower specializes in the utilization of engineering and object-oriented
approaches for developing complex scalable systems. When released,
software developers creating distributed object-oriented applications
for OS/2 and AIX will have a robust and powerful Eiffel development
environment at their disposal. They will be able to exploit an object-
oriented language and tool set specifically developed for designing and
implementing complex scalable systems.
TowerEiffel is a superior quality product which has proven itself and is
used in the finance, telecommunication and engineering industries on a
daily basis. It is an object-oriented high-level application
development system which reduces the accidental complexity inherent in
software development and enhances the overall productivity of
development resources. TowerEiffel is available today on a wide range
of platforms including: OS/2, Windows NT, Windows 95, HP/UX, SOLARIS,
SunOS, SGI Iris, Linux, and Nextstep. The TowerEiffel Development
System excels in performance, openness and native platform support.
Pre-release versions of the new products are scheduled to be available
during the second quarter 1996 with final release of both Standard and
Professional versions by year end. Organizations interested in early
release program information should contact Tower Technology directly at
512-452-9455 or 800-285-5124.
-- 4 --------------------------------------------------------------------
OPENDOC RECEIVES LANDMARK TECHNOLOGY AWARD
Nicholas Petreley chose OpenDoc for InformationWeek's Landmark
Technology award. "Compared to Microsoft's OLE, OpenDoc is the more
flexible, powerful and forward-looking object model," his article states.
-- 5 --------------------------------------------------------------------
APPLE ANNOUNCES PLANS TO MAKE QUICKTIME AVAILABLE ON OS/2 WARP
As part of its commitment to promoting multi-platform standards in the
computer industry, Apple announced plans to make QuickTime technology
available for OS/2 Warp from IBM. QuickTime is a multi-platform standar
used by content creators and software tool vendors to store and play
synchronized graphics, sound, video, text, and music in multimedia
applications. QuickTime for OS/2 is expected to be available in early
1997. Pricing and support information will be announced at a later
date.
-- 6 --------------------------------------------------------------------
INTUIT PRODUCTS "READY FOR OS/2 WARP"
Intuit/Parsons Technology's "Quicken Family Lawyer" is now displaying
the READY FOR OS/2 WARP, NSTL TESTED sticker on the front of its
package.
-- 7 --------------------------------------------------------------------
OBJECT DESKTOP NOW AVAILABLE AT COMPUSA
After months of negotiation, convincing, and just plain hard
work, Stardock Systems has successfully gotten Object Desktop (and soon
to come Galactic Civilizations 2) into CompUSA. They will be running a
special price promotion selling it for less than the usual list price.
Object Desktop is one of the top selling OS/2 products, preloaded on the
majority of systems that preload OS/2. So if you haven't yet upgraded
your system to Object Desktop OS/2, now's a good time to do it.
-- 8 --------------------------------------------------------------------
THE IBM DATABASIC
"The fast and easy way to build stored procedures and user-defined
functions for DB2 for OS/2 and AIX"
DataBasic is a powerful suite of rapid application development tools
built around an advanced implementation of the BASIC programming
language. It makes creating, debugging and testind DB2 stored procedures
and user-defined functions point-and-click simple.
For more information and to get a FREE Beta Code, go to:
http://www.software.ibm.com/data/db2/databasic
-- 9 --------------------------------------------------------------------
WINNING THE GAMES GAME
Brad Wardell president of Stardock Systems Inc. announced they have
sold over 500,000 OS/2 Warp games in the second half of 1995 worldwide.
He also says that other than the few really popular games such as Myst,
7th Guest, or Simcity, very few Windows games have done that well.
-- 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------
JOHN W. THOMPSON SLATED TO SPEAK AT PHOENIX OS/2 SOCIETY MEETING
John W. Thompson, general manager of IBM's Personal Software Division
will address the general public and members of the Phoenix OS/2 Society
at 7 pm on Tuesday, February 27 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel. In addition,
the Phoenix OS/2 Society (the valley's only user group devoted to IBM's
OS/2 operating system) welcomes vendors who will demonstrate their
products in an OS/2 Solution Showcase, which opens at 6:15 pm. The
general public is invited to attend this free meeting.
As general manager of IBM's Personal Software Products division, John W.
Thompson is responsible for developing and marketing the company's
desktop software products, including the award-winning OS/2 Warp,
the foundation of a large family of software products. John W. Thompson
will talk about IBM's commitment to the OS/2 Warp family and the future
of OS/2 Warp. He'll also discuss IBM's new OS/2 Warp Server product, a
much-heralded server software solution for large businesses and small
offices alike.
In addition to Mr. Thompson's presentation, user group members and
members of the general public are invited to attend a showcase of
applications and products by OS/2 vendors. A handful of companies who
sell or support the OS/2 application market have been invited, with
particular attention to vendors who are based in Arizona. (The number
of vendors is limited by the space available, not by enthusiasm.!
Vendors from as far away as Washington, DC have asked to participate
in this event.)
The vendors attending include: -- Computer Cosmos/2, Phoenix (an
OS/2-only software store) -- SSG, Phoenix (developer of database
solutions for OS/2) -- RightFax, Tucson (fax software for large
enterprises) -- Sundial Systems, Seal Beach, California (Relish,
RelishNet time management software for OS/2) -- SofTouch Systems,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (Gammatech Utilities for OS/2, IRC Chat for
OS/2, Unimaint for OS/2, and others) -- PowerQuest, Orem Utah
(PartitionMagic, winner of "Best of Show" at Fall Comdex 1995) --
Designer Software, Fruita, Colorado (dbExpert database software)
The Software Showcase opens at 6:15pm. (Press and resellers are invited
to interact with the vendors between 4:00pm and 5:00pm; members of the
Society will meet with the vendors and Mr Thompson between 5pm and 6pm.)
The Ritz Carlton is at 2401 East Camelback in Phoenix.
Like other computer user groups, the Phoenix OS/2 Society is an
all-volunteer organization based on "users helping users." Membership
($30/year) includes a subscription to its award-winning _extended
attributes_ user group magazine, discounts on OS/2 products, and
admission to special interest groups devoted to specific topics (such as
using the Internet and How OS/2 Works, with new SIGs forming for
software developers and local area networking).
If you cannot attend the meeting but are interested in getting more
information about theuser group, please feel free to send email to
info@possi.org, checkout the web page (http://www.possi.org) or write to
the group at:
Phoenix OS/2 Society, Inc
5515 North 7th Street
Suite 5-133
Phoenix, AZ 85014
-- 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------
NEURAL OVERRIDE TEAM COMMITS TO DEVELOP OS/2 VERSION OF LIGHTRIDER
Neural Override, Inc. has officially announced that they will
develop an OS/2 Warp version of their new title, LightRider(tm).
"The response from the OS/2 gaming community has been unbelievably high"
states Neural Override's Spokesman, Scott Moore. "After making
the initial information on LightRider available on the Internet,
we received well over 500 mail requests for an OS/2 version in the
first 48 hours." The total requests for an OS/2 version in
the first week are already into the thousands. "This type of
response shows us that OS/2 users are hungry for quality action
games, and are the exact market we are looking for..." continues Scott.
Due to the large demand for an OS/2 version, Neural Override plans
to shift its lead LightRider(tm) programming team onto the OS/2 version.
"We hope to have the game complete for a late Christmas release, but
because this title is built on quality, this date is still very
volatile."
Light Rider is a fully 3D high speed, graphically intense
shooting/driving game that pits you in one of 4 high tech vehicles on a
texture mapped terrain racing through enemy lines to save the
universe. Early system requirement estimates are
OS/2 Warp 3.0, a high speed (VL-bus or better) video card, Joystick
or mouse, 8MB Ram (16 Highly recommended), 2x CD-ROM, 35 MB free
hard disk space, and a 486-66 or better CPU. The game will
take advantage of many OS/2 features including threading and DIVE.
A playable demo will be available before game release, however because of
the graphically intense nature of this title, the final release will be
CD-ROM only -- with an MSRP of $29.95.
Neural Override's LightRider media blitz will launch 60 days before
the title is officially released. Marketing strategy includes
Internet based advertising on Game Zero Magazine(c)
(http://www.gamezero.com/team-0), WWW banners on several high volume
search sites, and posts through the Internet based news system, Usenet.
Neural Override will also place LightRider advertisements in several
PC-Games based magazines, including a playable demo distributed
on CD-ROM through Interactive Gamer. The LightRider(tm) advertising
blitz begins with the tag line, "Please place your head on the
headrest, your hands on the bar in front of you, and get ready
for launch. Counting down 3 2 1..." In the final month
before the release, the phrase will be completed with,
"The Override has begun."
To get more information on either Neural Override, or their
title LightRider, please check the Neural Override Internet World Wide
Web home page at http://www.gamezero.com/team-0/neural. Or write
Neural Override via e-mail at override@gamezero.com,
fax (602) 948-4420, or US-Mail at
Scott Moore
CEFPI, N.O. Development Team
8687 E. Via de Ventura, Suite # 311
Scottsdale, AZ 85258
---------------------------------- END -------------------------------
M. Savio IBM Brazil
Personal Software Products E-Mail: msavio@vnet.ibm.com
Technical Details
Message-ID:
<4hb7ps$i7r@lantana.singnet.com.sg>Path:
arc1-ca.pugleaf.net!unknown!not-for-mailShow Full Headers
Complete Article Headers
X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: ffd75,9f6c3a3d8490491c,start X-Google-Attributes: gidffd75,public X-Google-Thread: 10a752,9f6c3a3d8490491c,start X-Google-Attributes: gid10a752,public From: englf@singnet.com.sg (felix eng) Subject: Warped News 27 Feb Date: 1996/03/03 Message-ID: <4hb7ps$i7r@lantana.singnet.com.sg> X-Deja-AN: 141883828 distribution: world organization: Singapore Telecom Internet Service reply-to: englf@singnet.com.sg newsgroups: sg.comp.os2,aus.computers.os2