Arawak OS/2 Shareware/PAKLED.ISO/docs/op101b.inf

OS/2 Help File | 1994-08-01 | 320.0 KB | 1,880 lines

ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1. Table Of Contents ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ



 Way to go, Lou! Our Top Story.

 Virus Writer Arrested. Police appeal for victims.

 Changes at Microsoft. New Legal Agreements.

 Lee Reiswig Writes... Welcome OS/2 Personal.

 Person to Person. Price Reduction.

 World's First V.34 Modem Ships.

 OS/2 World. Our new product round-up.

 Editorial. The editor speaks up.

 Broadening your Horizons.

 DeScribe 5.0. A first look.

 Psst? Want a good time?

 Help! Your questions answered

 V.34, What does it mean?

 You're going to sue me for WHAT?!

 The Rise and Fall of Gill Bates.

 Reader Survey. Your chance to win a prize!


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.1. Way to go, Lou! ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Nice One, Lou!

This is the sight that greeted Chairman Bill on his arrival at the Windows
World Exhibition on July 27. Does this portend a change of marketing style for
the normally ultra-conservative Big Blue?

As well as being the venue for Windows World, Chicago is also the code name for
Microsoft's much hyped Windows 4 which is a true 32-bit operating system as
opposed to the current Dos TSR. Of course, IBM has had one of those out for years!


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.2. Virus Writer Arrested ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Virus Writer Arrested, Police Appeal For Victims

On July 13, detectives from Scotland Yard's Computer Crimes Unit accompanied
Fraud Squad officers from Devon and Cornwall Constabulary in a raid of an
address in Plymouth where they arrested a man in connection with computer
viruses. The man, who has not been named, is suspected of writing and
distributing viruses under the moniker "Black Baron". These include "Pathogen",
"Queeg" and "Germ" - the first two of which have been found in a number of user
sites. "Germ" is not believed to be at large at this time.

The suspect has been released on Police Bail and is required to report to a
Police Station in Plymouth in November; this delay allows detectives to
complete their investigation. The investigation will include a close
examination of his computer system, which was seized. If he is charged and
successfully prosecuted, he faces up to three years in prison and/or an
unlimited fine.

In the United Kingdom, writing viruses is not a criminal offence in itself, but
distributing them such that they cause damage to other people's computers or
the data stored on them is an offence contrary to Section 3 of The Computer
Misuse Act, 1990. This legislation was enacted following the widespread damage
caused to computer systems by what became known as the "AIDS Disk Incident",
and is enforceable whenever either the victims or perpetrators are United
Kingdom residents.

"We are appealing to anyone who has been hit by any of these viruses to contact
us, no matter from which country they are calling", said Detective-Sergeant
Simon Janes of the Computer Crimes Unit. "We know that Pathogen and Queeg are
at large and pose real threats to users' computer systems, but we don't know
the extent of their spread around the world", he added. Sergeant Janes is
leading the investigation and can be contacted at Scotland Yard on +44 71 230
1176 or [phone] or by fax to [phone]. Alternatively, readers
may email reports to OS/2 Personal and we will pass them on to the authorities.

OS/2 Personal understands that although Scotland Yard has received several
complaints of attacks by these viruses from within the United Kingdom, its
officers are anxious to know whether the viruses have spread abroad. If your
computer has been attacked - or you know someone whose has - please contact
either Scotland Yard or ourselves: your call or message will be treated in the
strictest confidence.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.3. Changes at Microsoft ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

All Change At Microsoft?

Microsoft reached a Consent Decree with the United States Department of Justice
(DOJ) the day after the DOJ filed a civil suit against the company concerning
its business practices. The software mammoth has also signed a related
Undertaking with the European Commission's Directorate General for Competition.
Together, they effectively clear the veil of uncertainty that has shrouded the
company ever since the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took an active interest
in its affairs.

On 15th July, the United States Department of Justice  filed a civil suit
against Microsoft in the United States District Court for the District of
Columbia which alleges the company has violated the Sections 1 and 2 of Sherman
Act. The Consent Decree reached by Microsoft and the Department of Justice on
16th July, effectively removes the threat of a potentially lengthy and costly
court battle and, under it, Microsoft is required to:

o   Stop the practice of charging Royalties for each computer a manufacturer
    ships thus removing a price penalty these manufacturers paid if they
    offered customers other operating systems such as OS/2, Novell's UnixWare,
    Personal NetWare or the forthcoming offering from Taligent.

o   Stop the practice of tying the availability of products such as Microsoft
    Windows, or Microsoft applications, to the licensing of its operating
    systems. This is designed to expand the choices that computer manufacturers
    will be able to offer in the world market.

o   Stop the practice of precluding independent software vendors from
    simultaneously developing applications for Microsoft as well as
    non-Microsoft operating systems. The company has agreed to no longer impose
    non-disclosure agreements that are unlawfully restrictive or that extend
    beyond the commercial release of Microsoft operating systems.

So Microsoft wins. By the simple expedient of signing a couple of papers, it
gets both the European Commission and the US Department of Justice of its back.
Did it have to admit it did anything wrong? No. Is the company required to end
the cosy collaboratin that exists between its applications and systems software
groups? No. The matter is closed without Microsoft having to pay one penny in
fines or restitution to those of its competitors who claim to have suffered
from its actions.

Together, the FTC and DOJ have spent millions of taxpayer dollars with very
little to show for it. The DOJ attempted to put a positive spin on the outcome
by indicating that the signing of the Consent Decree levels the playing field
and opens the door to competition, and that УMicrosoft has ended its illegal
monopolistic practicesФ.

A number of companies gave evidence to both the FTC and Department of Justice
and, in June 1993, Novell filed a complaint with the European Commission. Its
objective was to open the operating system and applications marketplace to free
and unconstrained competition that promotes innovation from small as well as
large computer companies: a goal shared by other software companies.

Nothing about the outcome changes Microsoft's domination of the computer
software industry.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.4. Lee Reiswig Writes... ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.5. World's First V.34 Modem Ships ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

British company launches world's first V.34 modem

Sonix launched the world's first true V.34 modem, the Volante Fast, at the end
of June. The Cirencester, Gloucester, based company has vigorously campaigned
for agreement of an international 28.8 kilobits per second standard. The
proposed V.34 standard was finally agreed, after much industry debate at the
end of March, and accepted by all members of the ITU Study Group in June.

According to Sonix managing director, Bob Jones, "the great advantage we have
over our competitors is software upgradability". The modem has flash EPROM
memory, making its software fully upgradeable on-site, which will prove useful
should the standard be revised. "If previous standards are anything to go by,
V.34 will see some clarification and adjustment over the next twelve months or
so", Jones believes. "Some of the changes may necessitate an upgrade, which
will be a tough one for the non-reprogrammable products such as those using
V.Fast Class."

The company's innovative products are finding favour with large corporate
customers such as British Gas which recently bought 600 of the company's
V.32terbo modems. "We introduced a 19.2 kilobits per second V32.terbo product
pretty well six months ahead of anybody else. Whilst I think it would be
presumptuous to say that we will beat our competitors by six months with V.34,
we are first and are certainly well ahead", Jones added.

Volante Fast costs Ь795, the same price at which Volante 14.4kbps was
introduced in November 1992. In effect, this gives users twice the throughput
for the same price.

The modem contains many features that have proven popular with its antecedent
including send and receive fax; INTRO installation software; data compression,
and error correction.

See our related interview with Bob Jones...


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.6. OS/2 World ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


Our exclusive round-up of new products announced in Santa Clara

 Athena Design MesaTM 2 for OS/2

 Proportional Software DCF/2

 Solution Technolgy Inc. TWAIN Scanner Support

 On Demand Software Pegasus Version 2

 RightFAX RightFAX 3.5

 Watcom VX-REXX v2.1

 One Up Corporation SMART

 Solution Technology Inc. Review


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Person To Person ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Person To Person for Just $99 a Person!

IBM is offering its award-winning desktop teleconferencing software - Person To
Person - for just $99 per copy during the month of August. The software, now at
release 1.03, has been updated to provide support for NetWare SPX as well as
additional foreign languages.

Ziff-Davis Europe recently awarded this package its coveted Best United Kingdom
Product and Technical Excellence awards. Using Person To Person on your PC, you
can share and modify data file, text, graphics and images in real time with up
to seven other people, all working on their own PCs. As the product works over
LANs, ISDN and asynchronous data lines, you and your co-workers can be in
different locations - even different countries around the world.

Participants can view changes as they are made and can join or leave the
collaborative session without any disruption to others. And if you add a video
camera and IBM's Action Media II adaptor, the product will transmit real-time
video between the participants.

"Person To Person" is ideal for people who have to work together but can't
practically be together", said Wally Casey, the US director for IBM Personal
Software Products.

Among the features this package offers is a Call Manager which allows calls to
be answered either automatically or manually and provides a direct link to
other participants as well as logging information about calls. Multiple
Chalkboards also allow users to annotate documents and graphics using simple
text and graphical tools.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.7. Broadening your Horizons ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Broadening Your Horizons

Or

The Chicowitz Does WordPerfect

by Hershel Chicowitz

As we approach the dog days of summer, it has become obvious that the world has
taken sides on a major issue of the times. And no, I'm not talking about those
who think OJ did it, and those who think he is being framed. I'm talking about
those who can't stand Windows, and those who can't compute with out it. Now,
before I get knee-deep in this controversy, I should acknowledge that I have
always been a big fan of the juice, but I've never been especially impressed
with Windows - so the past few months have been especially difficult for me.
But I am going to take a stab (to borrow a phrase) at the Windows version of
the world's most popular word processing software. But if you're looking for a
complete review of WordPerfect for Windows, you'll have to look elsewhere. My
limit here is 2,500 words, and it would take at least ten times that to cover
all of the features in WordPerfect 6 for Windows-a fact which, in and of
itself, should tell you something. My attempt here is merely to offer some
insight on WordPerfect for Windows for the benefit of those of you who are
still searching for a solution to your word processing woes.

Of course, you can run either the DOS or Windows version of WordPerfect in
OS/2. But if you're a diehard OS/2 user and have upgraded your hardware to
accommodate OS/2's limitless appetite for memory and disk space, why you would
choose to use the DOS version of WordPerfect is a mystery to me. But then
again, so is the Clinton health care plan. Recently I downloaded from
CompuServe a nine-page document detailing an obviously skilled user's
experience with WordPerfect 6.0 for DOS. The author is apparently a big fan of
WordPerfect. But his explanation of how to configure and optimize WordPerfect
for DOS in OS/2 was enough to convince me that I never want to do that!

To be fair, that article was written before WordPerfect released its newest
Windows version late last year. Until then, I guess your choices in OS/2 were
considerably limited. But that was then, and this is now. In its earlier
pathetic attempt at a Windows-based word processor, WordPerfect released one
version for Windows and a separate one for OS/2. This well-intentioned strategy
apparently spread WordPerfect's talents too thin, and neither version lived up
to its promises. Version 6.0, however, was designed to run on both platforms.
Of course, that had its drawbacks, since any program designed to run in Windows
can't make use of the special features unique to OS/2. But when version 6.0a
was released, WordPerfect smoothed out some rough edges (read: bugs) and also
offered a series of tools aimed at the OS/2 market. The OS/2 WPS Integration
Tools (as it is affectionately called by the folks in Orem) creates a
WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows folder on your desktop. The WordPerfect 6.0 for
Windows folder contains objects and online help for WPWin 6.0, WPWin setup, the
speller, thesaurus, QuickFinder, KickOff, an automatic document detection
utility, documents folder, templates folder, WordPerfect printers folder,
graphics folder, two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, pickles,
onions on a sesame seed bun. The integration tools can be downloaded from
CompuServe. With 32 MB of disk space, 16 MB of RAM, and a speedie Mickey, you
can become a WordPerfect expert! (Mickey, of course, being the name of your
mouse Ц or actually, my mouse. I have no idea what the name of your mouse is.)

Now, lest you get too excited, I feel it only fair to confess that I may have
exaggerated a bit; I'm not sure that the special sauce is included. And I am
positive that WordPerfect was not written to take advantage of the 32-bit
architecture. So you may find that WordPerfect does not run quite as fast as
you would like. But then again, neither does OJ Simpson.

A Rude Awakening

I decided to immerse myself in WordPerfect for Windows after a particularly
disturbing series of dreams. One night late last month I fell asleep on the
couch in the living room. I'm normally not much of a dreamer. But this
particular night, I dreamed that everyone else had switched to Windows, and I
was still hugging the DOS C> prompt. I dreamed that Michael Jackson got
married, and Elvis Presley was his father-in-law. I dreamed that my living
conditions exceeded those of one of the most famous running backs in the
history of football. I dreamed that the Secretary of Health and Human Services
acknowledged that Dan Quayle was right and Murphy Brown was not a good role
model. I dreamed that the peace-loving U.S. president invaded a small Caribbean
country. I dreamed that the president was trying to solicit donations from the
America people to pay for his legal defense. I dreamed that the surgeon general
(who had indirectly advocated the legalization of drugs) returned home to see
her son sentenced to prison for dealing drugs. I dreamed that the Cleveland
Indians were in first place. I dreamed that the Tampa Bay Bucs won more games
than they lost. And to top it all off, I dreamed that Tampa Bay was awarded a
major league baseball franchise. That was apparently all I could take. I awoke
in a cold sweat, and concluded that nothing in life is permanent, not even the
DOS version of WordPerfect. So I vowed then and there to learn about
WordPerfect for Windows - and never to eat a pepperoni pizza right before bedtime.

A New Face on an Old Friend

WordPerfect for Windows was released late last year after much speculation that
WordPerfect would lose its lead in the word processing market to Microsoft,
whose Word for Windows was the predominant (and pretty much the only)
Windows-based word processor. Now, this version was not the first stab (there I
go again) at Windows word processing for the Utah software behemoth.
WordPerfect for Windows, version 5.1, was released about two years ago. It was
apparently so popular that WordPerfect had to dish up another version just
months later. But both these versions had one basic thing in common with Conan
O'Brien: they were an embarrassment to the parent corporation. So the folks at
WordPerfect wisely waited till they could get it right before they tried again.
(Meanwhile, the programming gurus at NBC are dealing with Conan O'Brien the
same way the Clinton administration is dealing with its health care plan. They
hope that if they keep telling us how good it is, eventually we'll start
believing it. Nice try - but I don't think so!)

WordPerfect 6 for Windows is an extremely powerful, smooth, and relatively
bug-free answer to Microsoft's Word for Windows. It is very much like the
WYSIWYG graphic mode of WordPerfect 6 for DOS - only it's completely different.
I never could figure out how they were able to get WYSIWYG capabilities into a
DOS-based package, but they did.For those of you who can't live without your
mouse and your WYSIWYG, you will find significant limitations to the feel and
operation of the graphic mode of WordPerfect 6 for DOS. The Windows version,
however, operates smoothly, and offers a plethora of rich features Ц most of
which, admittedly, I'll probably never use.

Of course, the Windows version of WordPerfect adheres to the standards that
Windows users have come to expect. The menu and icons at the top of the screen,
the status bar at the bottom, and the scroll bars on the side and bottom are
familiar features to all Windows users.

For those of us who have grown accustomed to the awkward keystroke combinations
of WordPerfect for DOS, you can configure the WordPerfect 6 for Windows
keyboard to work the same way Ц if you really have such masochistic tendencies.
The pull-down menus will be familiar to both Windows users and WordPerfect for
DOS users. Most features are the same; a few may be different to you. The edit
menu, for instance, offers the same copy, cut, and paste options that the DOS
version does.

And, to be honest, the Windows version seems to work better. Of course, there
are many other menu options that just don't appear in the DOS version.

Sleeping With The Enemy

I have worked extensively with Word for Windows, and I can safely say: I hate
it. (I can say this safely, because the recent agreement between the Justice
Department and Microsoft forbids Bill Gates from assassinating his critics.
Microsoft agreed to this restraint without having to acknowledge that it had
indeed ever assassinated any of its critics. But perhaps I should ask, "Bill,
exactly where were you on the night of June 12?")

One of the things I dislike most about Word for Windows is the fact that all of
the formatting codes are "hidden" in the paragraph markers. The design of Word
makes it hard to tell how you have formatted text. In contrast, WordPerfect
makes its formatting and other codes visible with the reveal codes option. Fear
not, reveal codes is alive and well in Wordperfect 6 for Windows.

More and More

Among the billions and billions of new features in WordPerfect for Windows is
the ability to create and edit graphic features in your document. WordPerfect
has included WP Draw, formerly a separate product, as part of WordPerfect for
Windows. But this feature works so slowly, I can honestly say I have not yet
taken the time to figure out how it works. I'll have to get back to you on
this. (But don't forget the Chicowitz 11th commandment: Thou shalt not hold thy breath.)

Less and Less

When I made the switch to WordPerfect 6 for DOS, the techies at WordPerfect
warned me that the macro language for version 6 was completely different than
anything I was accustomed to. Boy, were they right about that!  But they told
me that a conversion program would translate most of my 5.1 macros to version
6. Wrong! They also told me that once I did convert my macros to version 6,
they would work seemlessly in both the DOS and Windows versions. Sorry. That
makes them one out of three, only marginally better than the Clinton
administration. The basic structure of the language is the same, but many of
the macro commands are considerably different. Of course, it's hard to tell on
the surface, since WordPerfect provides virtually no written documentation on
the macro language in either the DOS or Windows versions. They claim that the
online documentation is all you should need. Oh sure, and all I need is a
Clinton health care card, and all my medical worries are over. I believe that,
too! Well, someone else must be as cynical as I am, because WordPerfect has
made a written manual on macro commands available Ц for an extra 25 bucks. Oh
and there's one for the DOS version and a different one for the Windows
version. How can that be so when macros for the two versions are supposed to be
the same?

The Last Word

As you might have guessed by now, I am still partial the DOS version of
WordPerfect till I crank up OS/2. My bias comes partly from my DOS background,
but also from what I think is an objective assessment. The Windows WYSIWYG
environment is essential for some applications, nice for others, and pretty
much useless for everything else. The pull-down menus, button bars, and mouse
orientation are nice for people who do not wish to learn the keystroke
combinations, and who don't care how long it takes to accomplish a basic task.
I don't type fast, but I type smart. Give me the DOS version, with the optional
graphic mode, and a basic set of macro commands, and I'll be set for life.
(Come to think of it, perhaps OJ and I do have something in common. We both may
be set for life.)

But I should also confess (take a hint here, Juice-confession is good for the
soul), I have been basically mouse-deprived recently. Mickey has spent most of
his time trying to keep up with our new Australian Shepherd, Princess. I
decided to get Mickey a dog to keep him busy when I was locked up in DOS- based
applications. And sure enough, she has done the trick. Taking care of Princess
is a full-time job for Mickey. Right now in fact, Mickey is trying to teach her
some oddball tricks, hoping to get a shot on David Letterman's Stupid Pet
Tricks. I told Mickey that I had not seen Stupid Pet Tricks since Dave moved to
CBS; perhaps the pet segment stayed with NBC. Undaunted, Mickey is hoping
instead for a shot on Conan's show. Better hurry, Mickey. By Christmas, Conan
will be just like Napoleon they'll both be history.

Hershel Chicowitz is the Director of Creative Services for Thornton &
Associates, a computer auditing and PC consulting firm in Tampa, Florida. The
firm offers a series of software training classes and markets a complete macro
command library ,"WordPerfect: Perfectly Simple", for WordPerfect. You can
reach Hershel and his trainer at 74473,3532 on CompuServe (or [e-mail]).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.8. DeScribe 5.0 ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

DeScribe 5.0 - A first look

by Jules Allen

I deleted Microsoft Word from my hard drive this morning.

Why would I want to do away with one of the best selling and most powerful (let
s not forget buggy) word processors on the market? It's quite simple really -
I'm a OS/2 user and I'm sick to death of how much space Windows takes up on my
system. Word is a mondo-resource hog and it really was the last thing that kept
me from axing Windows.

In this article, I make a lot of references to Microsoft Word because, love or
hate Microsoft, it's one of the best word processors on the market with an
installed base of about five million. Sure, marketing has a great deal to do
with an application s success but features do have a lot to do with an
application being used and staying on one s hard drive. The reason for my
change of heart is now there is finally a great native OS/2 word processing
application from DeScribe, Inc. It's a feature rich, true WYSIWYG program with
some rather nifty features that match or excel those of Word.

DeScribe 5.0 comes on six disks and the whole installation is a breeze. The
documentation is clear, concise, and I'm very happy about the Quick Start
guide. It's a manual for those who don t read manuals - 18 pages of  useful
information to get word processing veterans up to speed. If you ve used Word,
Ami Pro or WordPerfect for any period of time, you ll have little or no problem
hitting the ground running and being productive with DeScribe.

The Tutorial is great for new users and really is worth a read to learn more
about DeScribe s advanced features, such as the Stationery Manager and Style Manager.

So now I don t have Word around anymore, I can still get access to my old data
- DeScribe will import from Win and DOS Word, various flavors of WordPerfect,
Ami Pro and even Wordstar or DisplayWrite. The Import feature is no speed demon
and even when tested on a 50Mhz 486 and a 60Mhz Pentium, a four page Word
document could take up to three minutes to convert. Much faster than retyping though.

Cool Stuff

I find it hard to believe that people still use typewriters to address
envelopes. So naturally, I'm an avid user of the Envelope function - the
PostNet barcoding facility makes my mail more US Post Office friendly and gets
my mail across the country in about half the time. For mail merging, the US
Post Office gives large enough discounts for bar coded bulk mail to make it a
worthwhile option.

I'm a big fan of the User Interface. It's ultimately customizable and power
users can customize the ribbon bar, keystrokes, and even the menus. The menus
are logically laid out, but I think there could have been more preinstalled
hotkeys. Not sure of a function or ribbon bar option? A right mouse click will
give a micro explanation of the object in question. Failing that, the ever
faithful F1 help option brings forth help.

They ve actually found a use for the Pause key! Press it and the style menu
pops up. Press it again and it goes away. Now if only somebody would find a use
for the scroll lock key.

DTP vs WP?

Ever used QuarkXpress? If you have, you ll love DeScribe s method of handling
graphics and text as framed objects. Great precision and even kerning and
letter spacing control. If you're more familiar with PageMaker and Word, you ll
initially find the frames a hindrance rather than a powerful option.

DeScribe has an integrated drawing facility that I found to be a little
cumbersome. It is possible to create detailed graphics as the tutorial shows.
I'll personally stick with Corel.

Undo the Undo

On the down side, I was unimpressed with Undo and found it easy to lose text.
DeScribe tracks your keystrokes and actions until you save the document. The
Undo function opens a window in which you may select undos and redos at will.

Help Me!

Tech support is available via CompuServe, BBS, fax and phone and is rather
good. Turnaround times on faxes varied but I did get responses back in as
little as four hours - way to go guys! I prefer tech support via email as it's
much easier to communicate one s problems that way. Email tech support takes
anywhere up to three days to get an answer so you may want to pick up the phone
in an emergency.

In Closing

DeScribe gives Word a run for it's money and is a lot cheaper. There s been
much talk in the press and online about DeScribe, Inc.'s future. It was
publicly stated that unless a thousand copies of DeScribe 5.0 are sold, there
wouldn t be any more.

Don't Panic.

By the time you read this, the thousand mark will have been passed according to
our source inside DeScribe. This makes me very happy as I'm sure it does DeScribe.

In an upcoming issue, we ll be offering DeScribe macro lessons and an
occasional column on power usage from our resident text processing expert,
Hershel Chicowitz.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.9. Psst? Want a good time? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Psst? Want a good time? It's only $2 a minute!

By our Staff Reporter

Love them or hate them, these high cost call lines are a part of the culture
here in North America. Everybody from purveyors of sleaze to Mom & Pop shops
offering gardening tips (I kid you not) are making boatloads of money from
them. Companies and individuals get phone bills for hundreds or even thousands
of dollars and fire people because of them. And now Big Blue has joined them
with it's PSP 900 Support Line.

On the surface, it's not a bad idea. Your free three month IBM support has run
out, you've used up your courtesy call and you don't have time to wait for an
answer from CompuServe or the net. What else are you going to do? Don't try
calling IBM for another free courtesy call - it doesn t work, trust me. You
could sign up for the yearly PSP contract but when you had the free stuff you
didn't make that many calls anyway.

Make that call

Your mouth is dry, your hands are trembling and you pick up the receiver. How
are you going to explain the bill to your spouse or Boss ("it was IBM, honest")?

Well, the good news is it won t cost you more than $50 for the whole call. The
price depends on how your support rep personally interprets when to start
charging. I made three calls but only paid for two (more on that later).

I Want Blood

From time to time, I reinstall the OS/2 system and my core set of applications.
I get to see a lot of alpha and beta releases and while most are stable, some
do some weird things to the system. They put strange stuff in the ini files and
leave .dll s in the system folders. Reinstallation is easy and painless - pop
in the CD-ROM, start the install and make a cup of coffee. Hardly rocket science.

This theory falls down when you can t find your CD-ROM to reinstall your
system. I know I wouldn t do anything stupid with the CD-ROM (like throw it
away) so thought I'd just reinstall from floppies while reorganizing the pile
of paper and boxes in my office (it's called tidying up - I read about it
somewhere). The disk would surely show up under the last pile of rubbish overturned.

After doing the floppy and paper shuffle, the install wet the bed fifteen
minutes later on the display driver disk - an error with the installation
script. I put in the first driver disk, the second driver disk and then it
wanted the first disk back again. It's obviously confused. OK, this happens. I
rebooted and reinstalled again. The same thing happened. I'm normally a very
patient man but I did actually wonder if the install script writer's parents
were married. So I rebooted and tried the installation for a third time.

At this point my office resembled Christmas Day at a rich kid's house - paper
and boxes everywhere. I was frantically going through the bottom of the my desk
when the install crashed again.

IBM Almost to the Rescue

I made the call. That nice, friendly lady who does all the phone recordings for
IBM greeted me and explained that this call could would be billed to my phone
at $2 a minute. At this point, it could have been $20 a minute and I would have
paid. Then it's off to the call queue until the analyst finishes their game of
Klondike (I'm kidding IBMers). You're not charged while on hold, which is a relief.

The chap who answered the phone took my name, phone number, and gave me a
problem number - the usual stuff. I then explained my problem in detail and he
went off to query the database. He then set the charge clock in motion and gave
me instructions on how to remove the SVGA drivers and install the standard VGA
drivers from the installation disks. I had the option to get a fax on this
procedure (when are they going to start emailing this stuff?) and I took it.
Time elapsed: 8 minutes. That's, um... err... $16.

I tried the VGA thing and it didn't work. It was 10:30am and I couldn't donate
anymore time to this experiment (Real-Work(TM) was in the way) so I reformatted
my boot drive and reinstalled a clean system from the floppies. Everything was
working again. I restored from backup tape and sat down to finally get some
work done.

Then I found my OS/2 install CD-ROM on my chair.

Round Two

Being an ex-Machead, I like to use decent drawing packages. One of the best
I've come across is Deneba Canvas 3.5 for Windows. Canvas works very well under
Win-OS/2 until you try to do any kind of detail work with type - the second you
try to get past 120% the graphics driver blows up and it's GPF time. This
happens with TrueType fonts as well as PostScript.

I called the IBM 900 number, got past the nice lady who did the recording and
spoke to a guy who, after taking my name and inside leg measurements,
immediately put the clock on.

"Hey! Why are you charging me already?" I asked.

"It's policy" he pointed out.

Ever seen the Monty Python sketch where the chap has to pay for an argument?
That's what it felt like. I could go to a local bar and argue for free so I
decided to abandon this line of attack and get on with my problem. We pulled up
my problem on the first try: the GDI.EXE error had been reported a long time
ago, the fix had been made and it awaited my modem call on the IBM PC Company
BBS. Hooray! Time elapsed: 23 minutes. That s err... $46. Ouch.

File? What File?

I dialed into the BBS and set about looking for the file. It wasn't where they
said it would be. I searched via the fix number. Diddly. I looked through every
file in the fix library. Nothing close.

I called IBM back.

Rep from Hell

This time things were really bad. I did the hold thing and then the person who
answered immediately put the clock on. I was being charged to give somebody my
blinking name! I pointed out all I wanted was a file name but I had to give my
machine type, BIOS, hard disk size, etc. The person on the other end couldn't
seem to get what I was looking for in the database so an analyst would have to
call me back. "Thank you" and click.

The easiest way to make my blood boil is to be rude to me and then hang up. And
this person was rude. Tech support is one of the most difficult and undervalued
jobs in the world - you have to be a diplomat and a mind reader at the same
time. I'm always nice on the phone and I don't deserve this sort of treatment,
especially when I'm paying for it!

I called back and after an explanation, demanded the last call was at no
charge. They agreed and assured me this "contractor" would be removed from the
phone room this very second. In my opinion, it was a very good idea. What the
heck is IBM doing letting contractors answer the phone on a $2 a minute support
line? Am I missing something here?

The driver fix had been pulled because it wasn't ready for prime time and would
be ready in "about ten days."

Pick a Number!

Take a look at this:

I got the phone bill and it makes no sense. I didn't get charged for the last
call. Thank you IBM. Tell me, how I can spend 23 minutes on each call and be
billed different amounts? The second call I made I calculated to be about $46
so I think I'm ahead of the game.

In conclusion

It's just like every other time I've called any support line: rarely would they
hit my problem on the head but it would give me enough information and guidance
to get my head around my computer's ailment. If you'rarely need support and
might make a call every six months or so, it's a good deal. Otherwise,
seriously look into an IBM support contract.

And make notes of the time, just in case.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.10. Help! ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

According to little Timmy, working with OS/2 is child's play.

In a bold move, IBM's Personal Software division has hired the youngest
employee ever to work for a major American corporation. (Macauley Culkin, the
previous record holder, is reportedly consulting with a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon.)

"Timmy," who declines to give his exact age, is an acknowledged OS/2 expert.
Hailing from Middle America's finest city, Chicago, Timmy is busy marketing
OS/2 to new consumers.

OS/2 Personal, in an exclusive arrangement, has reached an agreement with IBM
to provide witty and insightful commentary from Timmy in each issue.

In our regular "Dear Timmy" feature, you can get answers to your toughest OS/2
questions. Send your questions to:

"Dear Timmy" in the subject line to [e-mail]

or, via snail mail:

"Dear Timmy", OS/2 Personal Magazine, 10460 Roosevelt Boulevard, St.
Petersburg, Florida 33716-3818

Little Timmy and OS/2 Personal cannot promise to answer all your OS/2
questions, but they will be read to Timmy before bedtime.

"I think it's great to have Timmy joining our team," remarked Timothy Sipples,
a personal software marketing specialist for IBM and author of the OS/2
Frequently Asked Questions List. "I'll enjoy reading his witty and insightful
commentary in each issue of OS/2 Personal."


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.11. V.34, What does it mean? ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

V.34 - What does it mean to you and me?

Never before has a modem standard promised so much, taken so long to define, or
caused such a furore. We ask Bob Jones, managing director of Sonix - which has
just launched such a device - whether V.fast, or rather V.34, is worth all the pain.

After all the hype, will V.34 live up to users' expectations?

V.34 answers many of the criticisms leveled at previous standards. It is fast,
at 28.8 kilobits per second, the call set-up time is as quick as it could
possibly be at around five seconds and, of course, it is backward compatible
with earlier products.

28.8 kbps transmission seems almost incredible to anyone who has been involved
in data communications for a number of years. It has been achieved through
improvements both in modem techniques and in the telephone network - lower
interference levels and wider bandwidth.

What data throughput speeds will be achievable with data compression?

Standard V.42 error correction and V.42bis data compression can be applied to
V.34 products, just as with earlier modems. Providing sufficient processing
power is available, the same levels of compression will be achieved. So we are
talking about an average of three or four-to-one compression, giving
significantly higher speeds than previously. Four-to-one compression, for
example, equates to 115.2kbps.

[In reality, data compression is less effective on already compressed data, for
example ZIP files, and might actually increase transmission time. Ed]

If V.34 offers speeds up to 115.2kbps, doesn't that make 64kbps ISDN redundant?

The fastest modem speed defined by V.34 is 28.8kbps, while the ISDN
transmission speed is 64kbps. Immediately you have a difference of more than
two-to-one in raw transmission speeds. Data compression can be applied to both,
so the basic difference translates to a throughput difference as well.

Unfortunately, many people are making the unfair comparison of modems with
compression against terminal adaptors without compression.

But are companies putting data compression into terminal adaptors?

Yes, my company, Sonix, is for one and doubtless others are, too. We believe
that whatever facilities people have come to expect in modems should also be
incorporated into terminal adaptors. We have included error correction because
although ISDN is more reliable than analogue transmission it is not error free.
And then, on top of the error correction, we include data compression to give a
higher throughput. Even though 64kbps seems very fast today, we decided to go
that extra stage further and get the absolute maximum out of the line.

With V.34 a reality, where does this leave customers who have bought interim
products - V.fast Class, for example?

V.fast Class was Hayes' and Rockwell's best guess at what V.34 would be; but as
V.34 is drafted, a V.fast Class product will not interwork with V.34.

I feel that the behaviour of Hayes and Rockwell over V.fast Class has been
scurrilous. Organisations have a moral obligation to serve their customers well
and yet, either wittingly or unwittingly, purchasers of V.fast Class products
are being misled. Sales are at quite a high level and I am sure that most
people are not aware that their products will not be V.34 compatible without
returning them to the factory for modification. They are going down an dead-end
street: you can draw parallels with the video recorder industry of some years
ago. There were two standards - Betamax and VHS. V.fast Class is the equivalent
of Betamax.

Are there any drawbacks to V.34?

With 28.8kbps transmission it is important to remember you must have everything
going for you. 28.8kbps transmission is reliable on modern telephone networks
with low levels of interference and wide 4kHz bandwidth. The corollary of that
is that if part of your telephone call encounters older transmission equipment,
as is occasionally found in almost every country, then the transmission quality
of that equipment becomes the lowest common denominator and the governing
factor for the quality of the line. If a narrow bandwidth is encountered, the
modems will not operate at 28.8kbps.

It is difficult to achieve 28.8kbps transmission over circuits which use speech
compression, such as dialing across the Atlantic. This compression increases
the background noise level slightly and narrows the bandwidth: two things that
are adverse to the success of 28.8kbps V.34. As far as I can see, no
Transatlantic calls are made on normal voice lines will work at the maximum
28.8kbps speed. It is possible that the carriers will provide a special access
number so that you can dial what is effectively a full bandwidth circuit. If
they do that, no doubt they will charge a premium which will negate the
benefits of the higher transmission speed - certainly for file transfer applications.

Is this the end of the line for modem standards?

There is talk about going from 28.8 to 32kbps which, in the context of an
increase from 14.4 to 28.8kbps, is just tinkering. I don't think there is any
possibility at all of a quantum data rate leaps like we have seen with V.34.

But then again, until a few years ago we were saying that 9.6kbps was actually it...

See our related news story...


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.12. You're going to sue me for WHAT?! ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

You're Suing Me For WHAT?

by Sheila Londo

In the not to distant past, my computer hard disk blew up in front of my very
eyes. Naturally, I panicked. I rarely backed up my machine, figuring hard disk
failure was something that happens to the other person. Certainly it would
never happen to me. As a result of my carefree attitude, I lost a lot of data
and was out of commission for over a week while the drive was being replaced.

Insurance coverage is often viewed in a similar light. It is protection for
something that may never even happen. So what good is it? In the case of
computer professional liability insurance, it could mean the life or death of
your business.

Experts in the insurance business say that liability insurance for software
developers and systems consultants is relatively new. They feel, however, that
computer consultants are becoming a moving target for litigation. With the
increasing use of electronic communications and demand for custom software, the
computer industry will need to be more careful than ever before. "You will see
insurance claims directed at computer professionals increase quite a bit over
the next 10 years" according to Dan Langden, legal counsel for
Media/Professional Insurance.

Computer professional liability coverage insures against third party claims.
Claims that allege financial loss due to wrongful act, error, or omission while
performing computer services i.e. an office is forced to shut down after its
computer "crashed". Kane Carpet Company, formerly the fourth-largest carpet
distributor in the country, is claiming to the New Jersey Supreme Court that a
$308,000 computer system it bought in 1988 went haywire. The carpet company
claims that the system, used for inventory control, plunged the company into
chaos and drove it out of business in 17 months.

Another common lawsuit arises from the recommendaton of inappropriate software
for a particular business. Lawyers for software manufacturers warn that many
buyers have unrealistic expectations, communicate their needs poorly, or change
their minds about what they want their computers to do.

More Than A Handshake

Some developers promise more than can be delivered. Some just cannot say no.
They say "sure we can do that" and occasionally have problems coming through.
This emphasizes the importance of drafting contracts that clearly spell out
what is being provided, the cost, and what limits on legal remedies and damages
apply. Some customers are actually beginning to require errors & omissions
coverage before accepting a bid from a software developer.

For some, insurance coverage is something we'll think about after a claim is
filed. The premium investment starts at about $2,500 for a million bucks worth
of coverage with the actual premium based on annual revenue. Is it worth the
investment? That is an individual call. After all, is there anything worse than
a hard drive crash?

This article is written to increase awareness about computer professional
liabililty and is not an endorsement of Media/Professional Insurance. Coverage
premiums shown are base figures. Actual premiums depend on individual cases and
insurance carriers.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.13. The Rise and Fall of Gill Bates ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 1.14. Reader Survey ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Take part in our Readership Survey and you could win a prize!

OS/2 Personal will soon become a Controlled-Circulation magazine: although
you'll still be able to read the magazine free, you do need to register. In
this and future months, we'll be providing you with a combined Readership
Survey and Reader Registration form which we'd appreciate you completing and
mailing back to us.

When you unpacked the archive file containing this edition, an additional file
was placed in the same directory called survey.txt. Load this file into your
favourite editor (OS/2's and PC-DOS's "E", MS-DOS' "EDIT" or Windows Notepad
are ideal) and fill in the blanks. When you've completed the form, simply email
it to us at [e-mail], with the Subject Field reading "Readership
Survey", to arrive by 20th August. After that date, a response will be chosen
at random and the sender of that response will receive a copy of DeScribe with
our compliments.

Although the Readership Survey does ask you to complete your name and street
address, this information is necessary for controlled circulation audit
purposes only (and, of course, we need to know where to send the prize!) The
information you provide in completing the Survey will not be divulged to any
third parties.

 Click here to view and complete the Readership Survey


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

"Pathogen" and "Queeg" are parasitic viruses which attack both COM and EXE
files. Using a technique known as "polymorphism", each infected file contains a
variably encrypted copy of the virus - no two infections are the same. This
makes detecting these viruses significantly more complex than simply looking
for a consecutive series of bytes - or "signature" - a technique by which most
computer viruses are detected.

The author has incorporporated an encryption engine within the virus which he
has named "Simulated Metamorphic Encryption Generator" or SMEG for short. As
well as randomly encrypting the virus code and data areas, SMEG adds variable
numbers of random bytes interspersed among the true virus bytes so that the
amount by which infected files are increased is inconsistent. The viruses
contain the text string, "Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Unfortunately, some of your data won't".

Both viruses look for the characteristic "MZ" header which is to be found as
the first two bytes in all EXE files - including Windows and OS/2 - and use the
header information to calculate the length of the file. They append their code
at that point and modify the start address to point within the virus code. Due
to the manner in which infection takes place, Windows and OS/2 executables may
be effectively destroyed following infection.

Note:  The names "Queeg" and "SMEG" are taken from the cult British television
science fiction series "Red Dwarf" and the sentence, "Smoke me a kipper, I'll
be back for breakfast" is a catch-phrase from that show.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

In December 1989, a large quantity of 5╨╝-inch diskettes were mailed to computer
users around the world (apart from addresses within the United States of
America) from a number of mail boxes in west and south-west London. The disks,
which purported to contain a program which would assess an individual's chances
of acquiring the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) based on responses to a
simple questionnaire, was accompanied by a blackmail (extortion) demand. The
program actually caused programs and data to be encrypted on any PC upon which
it was loaded. A large number of users suffered damage and, in the case of the
University of Bologna (Italy), lost the results of many years of valuable research.

Scotland Yard detectives traced the perpetrator, Dr Joseph Popp Jr., to his
Willowick, Cleveland, Ohio home and applied for his extradition to the United
Kingdom where he faced many charges of blackmail. Popp was eventually
extradited in 1991 but never stood trial as he was found unfit to plead. The
Prosecution applied for and was granted an unlimited Stay of Prosecution: in
theory, at least, his extradition can be reapplied for at any date in the
future to face trial in London. The maximum sentence he would face would be
fifteen years imprisonment on each count.

Popp has since been tried and found guilty in absentia by the Italian
Authorities and faces extradition to that country to begin a lengthy prison sentence.

Note:  Under Roman Law, the accused does not need to be present for his trial
and also, in the case of multiple offences, each offence is tried and sentenced separately.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The "+" sign should be replaced by the digits that you would dial to access
your international service if you are calling from outside the United Kingdom.

For example, if you are calling from the United States, replace the "+" sign
with 011.

If you are calling from within the United Kingdom, replace "+44" with 0.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Microsoft Complaint ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

 Plaintiff,

   v                             Civil Action No. __________

                                Judge Charles R. Richey

MICROSOFT CORPORATION,

 Defendant

COMPLAINT

(For Violations of Sections 1 & 2 of the Sherman Act)

 The United States of America, acting under the direction of the Attorney
General of the United States, brings this civil action to prevent and restrain
the defendant Microsoft Corporation ("Microsoft") from using exclusionary and
anticompetitive contracts to market its personal computer operating system
software. By these contracts, Microsoft has unlawfully maintained its monopoly
of personal computer ("PC") operating systems and has unreasonably restrained trade.

 Virtually all major PC manufacturers find it necessary to offer Microsoft
operating systems on most of their PCs. Microsoft's monopoly power allows it to
induce these manufacturers to enter into anticompetitive, long-term licenses
under which they must pay royalties to Microsoft not only when they sell PCs
containing Microsoft's operating systems, but also when they sell PCs
containing non-Microsoft operating systems.

 These anticompetitive contracts help Microsoft maintain its dominance in the
PC operating system market. By inhibiting competing operating systems' access
to PC manufacturers, Microsoft's exclusionary contracts slow innovation and
deprive consumers of an effective choice among competing PC operating systems.

 These contracts outlined below constitute illegal monopolization and unlawful
restraints of trade, and the United States seeks this Court's order declaring
Microsoft's anticompetitive contracts illegal and otherwise remedying the
unlawful effects of Microsoft's anticompetitive conduct.

Jurisdiction, Venue and Commerce

1. This Court has jurisdiction over this matter pursuant to Section 4 of the
Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C., and 28 U.S.C.1331, 1337.

2. Venue is proper in this district under Section 12 of the Clayton Act, 15
U.S.C.22, and under 28 U.S.C.1391 because defendant Microsoft transacts
business and is found within this district.

3. Microsoft sells and licenses operating systems for PCs throughout the United
States and the world. Microsoft delivers copies of its operating systems to PC
manufacturers and retail customers across state lines and international
borders. Thus, Microsoft is engaged in, and its activities substantially
affect, interstate and foreign commerce. The major developers of other PC
operating systems are exclusively U.S. companies.

The Defendant Microsoft and Its Products

4. Microsoft is a corporation organized and existing under the laws of the
State of Washington, with its principal place of business located at One
Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington.

5. Microsoft develops, licenses, sells and supports several types of software
products for PCs, including "operating systems" and "applications."

6. PC operating systems control the operation of a computer by managing the
interaction between the computer's microprocessor, memory and attached devices
such as keyboards, display screens, disk drives, and printers. A PC operating
system functions as the "central nervous system" of the PC. PC operating system
software is designed to work with specific microprocessors, the integrated
circuits that function as the "brain" of the computer.

7. Most of the personal computers in the world today use the x86 class of
microprocessors, originally designed by Intel Corporation. The x86 class
includes Intel 286, 386, 486, and Pentium microprocessors, as well as
microprocessors manufactured by other companies that use a substantially
similar architecture and instruction set. Unless otherwise specified, the term
"PC" refers to personal computers that use the x86 class of microprocessors.

8. In 1980, Microsoft licensed from another company a PC operating system which
it modified and introduced in 1981 as the Microsoft Disk Operating System
("MS-DOS"). According to Microsoft's 1993 Annual Report, as of June 30, 1993,
approximately 120 million PCs in the world utilized MS-DOS.

9. In 1985, Microsoft introduced a more sophisticated PC operating system
product it calls "Windows." Windows has a "graphical user interface" which
allows users to give instructions by pointing and clicking on their computer
screen with a "mouse" or other similar device. Windows also allows users to run
more than one application at a time. All versions of Windows released to date
require the presence of an underlying operating system, either MS-DOS or a
close substitute. Microsoft estimates that over 50 million PCs now use Windows.

10. Applications are software programs that work "on top of" PC operating
systems to enable users to perform a broad range of functions. Applications
communicate through the PC operating system with the computer's hardware.
Commonly used applications include word processors and spreadsheets, such as
WordPerfect, Lotus 1-2-3, and Quattro Pro among others. At least 50,000
applications now run on MS-DOS and over 5,000 have been written to run on
Windows. Microsoft sells a variety of its own very successful and profitable applications.

11. Microsoft markets its PC operating systems primarily through original
equipment manufacturers ("OEMs"), which manufacture PCs. It also markets
through independent, non-exclusive distributors. Microsoft has agreements with
virtually all of the major microcomputer OEMs.

12. Microsoft generally distributes MS-DOS only to OEMs. To retail customers,
Microsoft generally offers only upgrades for MS-DOS. In the first half of 1994,
the share of Windows units sold by Microsoft through the OEM channel was
approximately 80%.

The Relevant Market and Microsoft's Monopoly Power

13. The relevant product market is personal computer operating systems for the
x86 class of microprocessors (hereinafter the "PC operating system market").
Because operating systems written for other microprocessors will not work on
machines with an x86 class microprocessor, OEMs who sell x86 machines and
customers who buy such machines cannot use other operating systems.

14. The relevant geographic market is the world.

15.Microsoft has monopoly power in the relevant market and has had monopoly
power since at least the mid-1980s. For almost a decade Microsoft has retained
an extremely high market share -- consistently in excess of 70%.

16. Substantial barriers to entry and expansion exist in the relevant market.
One barrier to entry and expansion is the considerable time and expense
required to develop, test, and market a new PC operating system. Other
interrelated barriers to entry and expansion include:

a. the absence of a variety of high quality applications that run on a new
operating system, and the difficulty of convincing independent software vendors
("ISVs") to develop such applications;

b. the lack of a sizable installed base of users; and

c. the difficulty in convincing OEMs to offer and promote a non-Microsoft PC
operating system, particularly one with a small installed base and relatively
few applications designed to run on it.

17. These barriers magnify and reinforce each other because the value of an
operating system to a consumer is directly related to two factors:  the
availability of a variety of high quality applications that run on that system,
and the number of users who use that operating system and thus are able to
share information and work with the system without additional training. ISVs,
in turn, tend to develop applications for operating systems with a large
installed base of users, and consumers gravitate towards operating systems with
a large base of applications.

18. Microsoft's anticompetitive contracting practices described below
significantly increase the already high barriers to entry and expansion facing
competitors in the PC operating system market. These practices reduce the
likelihood that OEMs will license and promote non-Microsoft PC operating
systems, make it more difficult for Microsoft's competitors to persuade ISVs to
develop applications for their operating systems, and impede the ability of a
non-Microsoft PC operating system to expand its installed base of users.

Microsoft's Exclusionary and Anticompetitive OEM Licenses Foreclose Access to
the OEM Channel by Microsoft's PC Operating System Competitors

19. In 1980, IBM agreed to license the original version of MS-DOS from
Microsoft for IBM's PC, which experienced considerable success. Other OEMs also
used MS-DOS in order better to emulate the IBM PC. Microsoft quickly dominated
and gained a monopoly in the market for PC operating systems. It then entered
into a series of exclusionary and anticompetitive contract terms to maintain
its monopoly.

20. Because of Microsoft's monopoly position in the marketplace, OEMs believe
that they must offer MS-DOS and Windows to their customers. Profit margins in
the computer hardware industry are very thin and OEMs want to obtain MS-DOS and
Windows at the lowest possible cost. Microsoft has induced many OEMs to execute
anticompetitive "per processor" contracts for MS-DOS and Windows, even though
many would prefer to preserve their freedom to offer PCs with non-Microsoft
operating systems.

Microsoft's Licenses Impose a Penalty or Tax Paid to Microsoft on OEMs' Use of
Non-Microsoft PC Operating Systems

21. Microsoft's licenses impose a penalty or "tax" paid to Microsoft upon OEMs'
use of competing PC operating systems. " Per processor" licenses require OEMs
to pay a royalty for each computer the OEM sells containing a particular
processor (e.g., an Intel 386 microprocessor) whether or not the OEM has
included a Microsoft operating system with that computer.

22. Microsoft's per processor contracts penalize OEMs, during the life of the
contract, for installing a non-Microsoft operating system. OEMs that have
signed per processor contracts with Microsoft are deterred from using
competitive alternatives to Microsoft operating systems.

The Contract Length of Microsoft's Anticompetitive Per Processor Contracts
Magnifies Its Exclusionary Effects

23. Microsoft further impedes PC operating system competitors by executing
long-term contracts with major OEMs, and by requiring minimum commitments and
crediting unused balances to future contracts, which effectively extends the
contract term and makes it economically unattractive for an OEM to install a
non-Microsoft operating system.

24. Microsoft's exclusionary licenses are often for a duration of three years
or more -- a period of time equal to, or exceeding, the product life cycle of
most PC operating system products. Microsoft often extends the term of its OEM
licenses through amendment. Thus, Microsoft's anticompetitive per processor
contracts can extend to beyond five years.

Microsoft's Exclusionary Contracts Foreclose Other PC Operating System Vendors
From a Substantial and Critically Important Segment of the Market

25. Access to the OEM channel is critical to the success of a competing
operating system. The overwhelming majority of PCs are sold with a
pre-installed operating system. Thus, to reach the ultimate consumer of an
operating system, it is important that competitors have access to OEMs.
Operating system vendors, as well as OEMs, confirm that successful entry is
extremely difficult in the absence of "proper support" in the OEM channel in
the form of public commitments to sell a new operating system.

26. Since 1988, Microsoft has induced major OEMs to execute per processor
contracts, many of which extend for several years. These OEMs are critical to
the success of a new operating system entrant; it would be virtually impossible
for a new entrant to achieve commercial success solely through license
agreements with small OEMs that are not covered by Microsoft's per processor
agreements. According to Microsoft, in fiscal year 1993, per processor
agreements accounted for an estimated 60% of Microsoft's MS-DOS sales to OEMs
and 43% of Windows sales to OEMs.

27 Competing operating system developers, finding the largest OEMs
contractually bound by Microsoft's exclusionary licenses, are disadvantaged in
their efforts to bring to the consumer less expensive and/or better quality
operating system products.

28. The effect of Microsoft's licensing practices has been to exclude
competitors by unreasonable and anticompetitive means and to lessen competition
in the relevant market. Microsoft's practices deter OEMs from entering into
licensing agreements with competing operating system providers, discourage OEMs
who agree to sell non-Microsoft operating systems from promoting those
products, and raise the price of computers sold with competing operating
systems, thereby depressing the demand and restricting the output of these
products. Microsoft's licensing practices have effectively foreclosed a
substantial share of the relevant market; they are exclusionary,
anticompetitive, and not justified by legitimate business considerations.

Microsoft's Anticompetitive Non-Disclosure Agreements

29. ISVs develop applications, which motivate consumers to purchase PCs.
Microsoft has sought to have several commercially important ISVs and their
employees agree to non-disclosure agreements that would restrict their ability
to work with competing PC operating systems as well as restrict their ability
to develop competitive products.

30. Microsoft moved to impose these restrictions in connection with its "beta
tests" of its new operating system, the next version of Windows, code-named
Chicago. Microsoft anticipates commercially releasing Chicago in late 1994 or
early 1995. Beta tests of new versions of an operating system, which are
conducted prior to the commercial release of that new version, help both
Microsoft and the ISVs.

31. For the ISVs, the beta tests provide, among other things, critical
information about the interfaces in the operating system that connect with
applications--information which the ISVs need to write applications that run on
the operating system. Early access to the beta tests is especially valuable to
the ISVs if they are to be able to release their applications within a short
time after the commercial release of a new Microsoft operating system, such as Chicago.

32. For Microsoft, the beta tests enable ISVs, informed experts, and selected
members of the media to provide important feedback about the advantages and
drawbacks of the operating system. In addition, the demand for Microsoft's
operating systems depends to a significant extent on the availability of
applications designed to work with it. Accordingly, it is in Microsoft's
interest to provide ISVs early access to beta tests.

33. At the same time, because Microsoft necessarily must disclose certain
confidential information during the course of the beta tests, it has legitimate
interests in maintaining that confidentiality. In the past, Microsoft has
protected its interests through non-disclosure agreements that prohibit those
participating in the beta tests from disclosing such confidential information.

34. In connection with its beta tests of Chicago, however, Microsoft sought to
impose on certain leading software companies far more restrictive
non-disclosure agreements than it had previously used. The terms of these
non-disclosure agreements would preclude developers at these companies from
working with operating system companies, other competitors of Microsoft, and
competing technologies for an unreasonably long period of time.

The Anticompetitive Effects of Microsoft's Conduct

35. Microsoft's exclusionary contracting practices have had the effect of
excluding competitors on a basis other than competition on the merits and have
thereby allowed Microsoft illegally to perpetuate its monopoly in the PC
operating system market.

36. Through the unlawful acts and practices described above Microsoft has
harmed competition, consumers and innovation:

a. Microsoft has unlawfully maintained a monopoly in the PC operating system market.

b. Microsoft's exclusionary conduct has significantly impeded the ability of
rival operating systems to compete in the PC operating system market.
Competitors find it more difficult to convince OEMs to offer and/or promote
their product and must incur greater marketing expenses to penetrate the
market. Microsoft raised hurdles to fair competition even higher through
unreasonably restrictive non-disclosure agreements.

c. Microsoft's exclusionary licenses deprive rival PC operating systems of a
significant number of sales that they might otherwise secure. These lost sales
impede the ability of PC operating systems to develop an installed base
sufficient to convince OEMs to bundle the new system with their hardware, to
convince ISVs to write applications that run on the new system, and to convince
users that the system is, and will remain, a viable alternative to the existing
MS-DOS and Windows standard.

d. Microsoft's conduct also substantially lengthens the period of time required
for competitors to recover their development costs and earn a profit, and
increases the risk that an entry attempt will fail. In combination, all of
these factors deter entry by competitors and thus harm competition.

37. The harm to competition caused by Microsoft's unlawful conduct harms
consumers. OEMs that do offer customers a choice of operating systems may
charge customers a higher price for PCs with non-Microsoft operating systems in
order to be able to pay the double royalty necessitated by the Microsoft per
processor agreements. Thus, users who do not receive a Microsoft operating
system are still, indirectly, paying Microsoft.

38. In addition, Microsoft's unlawful conduct has deterred the development of
competing operating systems, depriving consumers of a choice of systems with
possibly superior features. Similarly, the slower growth of competing operating
systems has slowed the development and diffusion of applications designed to
work on non-Microsoft operating systems and has limited choices of consumers
and users of PCs.

39. Those injured by Microsoft's conduct will continue to suffer such injury
unless the relief prayed for herein is granted.

First Claim for Relief -- Sherman Act  2

40. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates herein by reference the allegations
set forth in paragraphs 1 through 39 above.

41. By engaging in the acts and practices described above, Microsoft has
monopolized the market for PC operating systems in the United States.

42. Such conduct constitutes monopolization in violation of Section 2 of the
Sherman Act, 15 U.S.C.2.

Second Claim for Relief -- Sherman Act  1

43. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates by reference the allegations set forth
in paragraphs 1 through 39 above.

44. The licensing agreements and unnecessarily restrictive non-disclosure
agreements described above constitute contracts and combinations which
unreasonably restrain trade in the market for PC operating systems, which
affect interstate trade and commerce, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman
Act, 15 U.S.C.1.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF WHEREFORE, PLAINTIFF PRAYS FOR RELIEF AS FOLLOWS:

1. That the Court adjudge and decree that Microsoft has monopolized the
interstate trade and commerce in the market for PC operating systems in
violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act.

2. That the Court adjudge and decree that Microsoft has entered into unlawful
contracts and combinations which unreasonably restrain the trade in interstate
commerce in PC operating systems, in violation of Section 1 of the Sherman Act.

3. That Microsoft and all persons, firms and corporations acting on its behalf
and under its direction or control be permanently enjoined from engaging in,
carrying out, renewing or attempting to engage, carry out or renew, any
contracts, agreements, practices, or understandings in violation of the Sherman Act.

4. That plaintiff have such other relief that the Court may consider necessary
or appropriate to restore competitive conditions in the markets affected by
Microsoft's unlawful conduct.

5. That the plaintiff recover the costs of this action.

 Dated: July 15, 1994

 ________________________   ________________________

 ANNE K. BINGAMAN         SAMUEL R. MILLER

 Assistant Attorney General

 ________________________   ________________________

 ROBERT E. LITAN           DONALD J. RUSSELL

 ________________________   ________________________

 MARK C. SCHECHTER       JOYCE BARTOO

 ________________________   ________________________

 RICHARD L. ROSEN         ROBERT J. ZASTROW

   ________________________

   RICHARD L. IRVINE

   ________________________

   PETER A. GRAY

   ________________________

   JUSTIN M. DEMPSEY

   ________________________

   GILAD Y. OHANA

 _____________________   ________________________

 JOHN D. BATES          LAWRENCE M. FRANKEL

 Assistant U.S. Attorney    Attorneys, Antitrust Division

 Chief, Civil Division        U.S. Department of Justice

 Office of the U.S. Attorney  555 4th Street, N.W.

 District of Columbia

 Washington, DC 20001    [phone]


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The operating system was known as Q-DOS (for "Quick And Dirty Operating
System") by its authors, Seattle Data Systems, who wrote it to work on their
S-100 bussed 8086-equipped computers as a compatible alternative to Digital
Research's CP/M-86. Q-DOS (and consequently, MS-DOS) inherited much from the
CP/M family from its 8+3 file naming system to its primitive intrinsic commands.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> Lee Reiswig ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

IBM's "Blue Ninja"

Welcome OS/2 Personal! We're delighted that a magazine brings us information
about our favorite operating system--on line. The inception of OS/2 Personal is
yet another sign of the growing momentum behind the industry's most popular
32-bit, Intel-based operating system.

This is an exciting time for OS/2 users as IBM prepares to introduce its third
version of OS/2, our high-test, performance-tuned "Warp", which will set the
bar for 32-bit operating systems.

Congratulations on this the first issue of OS/2 Personal.

   Sincerely,

   Lee Reiswig


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

IBM's offer applies to US sales only. Contact your local IBM office for details
of special offers the company makes in other countries.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Also 28.8kbps, this is the same as 28,800 bits per second (and formerly 28.8
kilo-baud). This is roughly the same as 2,880 bytes per second.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

This is the price based on one-off sales within the United Kingdom. The modem
does not currently have FCC approval although the company says it is working on this.

Contact Sonix on [phone] (voice) or [phone] (fax) for more deatils.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Athena Design has been shipping Mesa for NEXTSTEP since August 1992 and it is
currently the best selling spreadsheet for that platform. In March, the company
announced that it will release a version for OS/2; Mesa 2 is scheduled to be
available this month.

According to the company, Mesa 2 for OS/2 will be a powerful, full-featured,
32-bit, native OS/2 application which will take full advantage of key OS/2
features including System Object Model (SOM), OpenDoc, context-sensitive help,
pop-up menus, multi-threading, and OS/2's object-oriented user interface. The
spreadsheet offers real-time data feeds, SQL database access, and an object
library that will allow developers to integrate Mesa's spreadsheet
functionality within their own custom-written applications.

Users will be able include REXX scripts in workbooks to automate routine
procedures, build applications, and drive the Mesa spreadsheet. "OS/2 users
know REXX and they can build fantastic applications using it", said Athena's
President, David Pollack.

Mesa workbook files can hold over 32,000 rows, 18,000 columns and 700 layers -
with a maximum of around 400 billion cells available, that's more than any
other spreadsheet can provide! There are over 14 different graph and chart
types provided including Bar, Stacked Bar, 3-D Bar, Line, Area, Candlestick and
3-D Pyramid: additionally, you can combine lines, bars and columns to create
combination charts.

A Personal Edition of Mesa 2 is available at $99 for a limited period only
(call 1-800 315 MESA) which includes 90 days free technical support via
electronic mail or fax, and discounted upgrades (if you're outside the US, use
the phone number listed in the Contacts.page).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Proportional Software describes its upgraded DCF/2 as "'the other' on-the-fly
data compression product for OS/2". It doesn't "do" DOS, it does "do" OS/2
powerful HPFS. It allows the user to create multiple, compressed drives and to
put them on any device supported by OS/2, whether that's FAT, HPFS, network or
removable media.

Now at version 1.2, the company says DCF/2 builds on OS/2 and its underlying
installable file system (IFS) architecture. These offer OS/2 users access to
powerful disk platforms without demanding hardware dependence. The product
creates Virtual Disk Units (VDU) which provides OS/2 with system-wide access to
compressed volumes totally transparently. A DCF/2 VDU appears to OS/2 as a
"real" disk which means you can use all of the OS/2, Windows or DOS tools and
applications that you already possess without having to rethink the way you work.

The company claims respectable compression ratios. Using an installation of IBM
C++ as an example, the savings were just under 21 megabytes giving an actual
compression ratio of 3.25 to 1. A standard OS/2 MDOS and Win-OS/2 installation
which normally occupies 10.9 megabytes will occupy 6.02mb on a DCF/2 volume.

Proportional Software has recently appointed Indelible Blue as its North
American distributor (non-North American readers should contact Proportional
Software direct).


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Solution Technology has submitted its TWAIN for OS/2 source manager to the
Twain committee for public distribution in an effort to boost scanner
compatibility in OS/2.

In a separate but related announcement, the company states that it will offer a
Twain for OS/2 DDK and SDK in mid-September. The developer kits will provide
the company's Twain implementation which permit high throughput scanning. The
company claims that its Twain implementation permits Windows applications to
run seamlessly under Win-OS/2 sessions and communicate with OS/2 sources (ie
scanners). It also says that OS/2 applications will run in native OS/2 sessions
and be able to communicate with Win-OS/2 compatible sources.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

On Demand Software's Pegasus Resource Monitor version 2.0 is now available. It
is a kernel level, real-time, Presentation Manager monitoring tool for system
and application resource usage. It provides the user - be he a developer, small
business owner, corporate user, or network analyst - with performance and
resource usage displays and graphs.

The company claims Pegasus provides comprehensive monitoring tools for OS/2 2.0
systems which include a configurable sample rate, performance threshold setting
and alarms, working set and thread detail display, along with long term data
logging for post-processing analysis.

Version 2 adds two major enhancements, states the company. It is now able to
log OS/2 System and I/O activity -- this allows the user to report on activity
over an extended period of time and export data to database and spreadsheet
applications. The new version also provides Thread Tracking which monitors a
selected process by thread at five second intervals thus providing detailed
information about the operation of a running program.

Pegasus now comes bundled with three tools - Pegasus AppMon, Pegasus FileMon,
and Pegasus CacheMon: these tools are helpful when reports and logs are needed
for detailed measurements and at granularities as low as one second.

For a limited period only, the package is available for $99 per workstation.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

RightFAX - formerly known as Cracchio and Feder, Inc., - which states it is a
leading player in the computer-based fax industry, announced a
hardware/software bundling agreement with GammaLink (of Sunnyvale, California).
Through the agreement, GammaLink's CPi and CP4/LSI fax boards will be paired
with RightFAX's RightFAX 3.5 fax server software and the bundle will be
marketed by Merisel (of El Segundo, California).

RightFAX says its fax server software provides cost-effective and reliable fax
communications over Novell NetWare, Microsoft LAN Manager and IBM LAN Server
-based networks. Apparently, it was the first fax server product to provide
support for binary file transfer - which allows complete files to be sent via
fax in editable format - and features the full range of auto-routing
technologies for inbound faxes.

Two bundles will be available. GammaLink's CPi fax board will be bundled with
the single-channel RightFAX 3.5 with a suggested retail price of $1,895 - an
increase of $5 over the cost of the products if purchased separately.
GammaLink's CP4/LSI board will be bundled with a four channel version of
RightFAX at a suggested retail price of $5,980 - the same price of the
component products if purchased separately.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Watcom announced a new version of VX-REXX, its visual application builder for
OS/2. The new versionfeatures numerous performance enhancements and
drag-and-drop programming capabilities, the company says.

The company also announced VX-REXX Client/Server Edition. Using the new
connection, query and charting objects, users can access several databases,
manipulate data and chart the results. Using DDCS/2 and the DRDA protocol,
users can access DB2/2, DB2 for MVS, SQL/DS for VM and VSE, and SQL/400 for
OS/400. The product also supports Watcom SQL for OS/2 and ODBC-enabled databases.

"The Client/Server Edition adds rich visual capabilities for designing database
queries and building client/server database applications for OS/2", said Ian
McPhee, Watcom's president. "Its support for a range of popular databases is
consistent with our commitment to open tools. One of the keys to the success of
the Client/Server Edition will be its support for IBM's popular DB2 family of products.

"We use DB2/2 extensively, so the ease of use features offered by VX-REXX
Client/Server Edition are important to our work", commented John Fair of USAir.
"The objects make queries and graphs extremely easy to manipulate. If you need
to build OS/2 applications that access numerous databases, VX-REXX is the
perfect tool."

VX-REXX v2.1 costs $99 with upgrades from previous versions costing $69. The
Client/Server Edition costs $299 to new users and $199 to all current VX-REXX
owners. Both products should be available by the time you read this.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Dallas, Texas based One Up Corporation announced version 2 of its source
migration, analysis and reporting toolset, SMART. The company claims version 2
adds functionality that will double both the speed of a conversion effort and
the savings.

The product supports 16-bit and 32-bit Windows application migration to 32-bit
OS/2 as well as the porting of 16-bit to 32-bit OS/2 code. It consists of two
principal parts: the first, an analysis and reporting tool, sizes a conversion
effort and provides a "road map" for the migration. The second, a source
migration tool, changes up to 70 percent of the API and message code and
provides developers with reports to help them migrate the remaining code.

The new version incorporates User Defined Migration Databases (UDMDs). "The
SMART Migration Databases were constructed to handle most cases", says Richard
Dews, President and Chief Executive Officer of One Up. "With version 2, users
can increase the effective automatic migration of source code and greatly
reduce the migration effort through the creative use of UDMDs."

SMART version 1 is limited to migration changes that are straightforward and
require only literal string changes. In version 2, the product's Migration
Command Language (MiCL) creates a flexible, open and powerful migration
environment, the company claims. "With UDMDs, MiCL and an extended parser, One
Up Corporation has managed to 'one up' the existing capabilities and value of
SMART. Next we'll tackle document, graphics and data migration", said Dews.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Solution Technology's Review is a complete document management system for OS/2
that combines scanning, viewing and databasing. Using TWAIN for OS/2, it
provides direct scanner support for Hewlett Packard's IIP, IIC and IICX
scanners; support for Bell & Howell, Fujitsu and Epson scanners will be
available during the third quarter of this year.

It supports a wide range of file formats including TIFF (five varieties), PCX,
DCX, OS/2 and Windows bitmaps, IBM IOCA G4, IBM PSEG, Targa, Photo CD and 3 fax
formats. It features a hierarchical file system where an unlimited number of
folders can each contain up to 512 documents and each document can contain
between one and one thousand pages. Users can search by name,.date,
description, author or folder.

The program, which costs $299, will be available from 15th August.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden>  ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

OS/2 Frequently Asked Questions List is available at ftp-os2.cdrom.com


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 2. Editorial ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> The Editor Speaks Up ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Welcome to this the very first edition of OS/2 Personal! When we first
conceived this magazine, we had no real idea how it would be received. Judging
from the volume of mail we've received as a result of our Press Releases, we
believe we've hit on the perfect formula.

OS/2 Personal is aimed at both current OS/2 users and those who want to find
out more about this important platform before making the switch. That's
precisely why we're distributing the magazine in both Windows and OS/2 native formats.

In coming issues, we'll bring you the latest news, views and reviews of all
things OS/2-related as well as some that are not. Our resident Guru - Tim
Sipples - will answer your questions, Mike Magee and I will keep you up to
speed on the latest announcements both here in the US and in Europe and Gill
Bates will both educate and entertain you.

Despite our name, I must emphasise that we are not a mouthpiece for IBM nor do
we necessarily endorse all that company does or stands for: it will be praised
for what it does right and castigated for what it doesn't. The same goes for
any company that advertises its wares in the magazine.

In this issue, we bring you all the news from "OS/2 World", an exhibition
staged in Santa Clara, California, during the third week of July along with
reviews of two important word processors. Our researcher provides some valuable
words of advice to anyone who is currently self-employed or considering a
career in the freelance world.

Later this year - we haven't decided on an exact date - OS/2 Personal will
become a Controlled Circulation title. What this means is that it will be
encrypted and the password will be emailed only to registered subscribers. The
subscription will remain free (apart from any applicable download charges) to
qualified readers and a nominal charge will be payable by those who do not
qualify for free reader status. So, I urge you to complete and mail in the
readership survey forms which will appear each month. As an incentive, each
month we will hold a draw and send a valuable prize to a lucky reader. whose
form was received during the previous month. Our first prize will be a copy of
DeScribe, the premier OS/2 word processor. So get those survey forms completed
and sent in!

I hope you enjoy reading OS/2 Personal and do write to me and let me know what
you think. Your views are important to us!

Mark Hamilton


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ <hidden> About OS/2 Personal ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

Copyright (c) Allen-Hamilton Publishing Company, 1994.

10460 Roosevelt Boulevard, St. Petersburg, Florida 33716-3818, USA

Publisher: Jules Allen

Editorial Department

Editor-in-Chief: Mark Hamilton, MCIOJ

Editor for Europe: Mike Magee

Sub-Editor: Julia Hamilton

Contributors: Timothy Sipples, Hershel Chicovitz,

Illustrator: Jules Allen

Researcher: Sheila Londo

Advertising Department

North America: Alan Philips

Europe: Mike Hardwidge

Subscriptions

Manager: Sheila Londo

Editorial Enquiries - North America

EMail [e-mail], or, 100013,600 on CompuServe

Telephone [phone]

Editorial Enquiries - Europe

EMail [e-mail], or, 100034,1315 on CompuServe

Telephone [phone]

Advertising Enquiries - North America

EMail [e-mail], or, 70750,1431 on CompuServe

Telephone [phone]

Advertising Enquiries - Europe

Telephone [phone]

The opinions and views expressed herein are those of the individual authors and
are not necessarily those of the magazine, its editors or publisher.

The magazine can not be held responsible for unsolicited manuscripts. If you'd
like to write for OS/2 Personal, contact one of the editors for a copy of the
Contributor's Guide.

IBM, OS/2, Operating System/2, PS/1, Personal System/1, PS/2, Personal System/2
PS/ValuePoint and Win-OS/2 are registered trademarks or trademarks of
International Business Machines Corporation.

Windows is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation.

Other products, goods and services are trademarks, registered trademarks or
service marks of their respective companies.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 3. Stop Press ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

NCSA warns of the spread of virus via Internet newsgroups

The National Computer Security Association (NCSA) is warning computer users of
the spread of a file-infecting virus through Internet newsgroups. The virus
known officially as KAOS4 (or Chaos.4) is known to be at large in the United
States, Austria, Norway and Finland. The NCSA believes the virus was
intentionally uploaded to the Usenet -- "possibly an alt.group" -- and expects
the virus to spread world-wide .

According to the NCSA report, KAOS4 is a non-resident infector of COM and
EXE-type files. When an infected file is executed, the virus searches the Path
environment variable for an uninfected COM file, and infects the first one it
finds; then it looks along the path for an uninfected EXE file, and infects the
first one it finds. Infected files have the seconds field of the time stamp set
to 58; the virus will not infect any file with 58 in the seconds field.
Infected files grow by 697 bytes. The virus is carelessly written, and on
machines where the path includes the root of the boot drive, booting from the
hard disk may not be possible after the virus infects the system files (to
clean up, it is necessary to boot from diskette and repair or replace the
system files). Some infected programs will not run correctly after infection.
The virus has no intentional "payload", but the careless coding and general
viral behaviour can make it a definite and costly nuisance.

Like all file-infecting viruses, KAOS4 will happily infect files if invoked in
an OS/2 Dos session.

Dave Chess of IBM's High Integrity Computing Lab and Fridrik Skulason of FRISK
SOFTWARE and Virus Bulletin provided the technical analysis and Jonathan Wheat
of the National Computer Security Association compiled the original report
which forms the basis of this news item. For further details, GO NCSAFORUM on CompuServe.


ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ 4. Contact Information ΓòÉΓòÉΓòÉ

The following organisations are mentioned in this issue:

The Computer Crimes Unit, Metropolitan Police Force, 2 Richbell Place, London
WC1, United Kingdom. Tel: [phone]

Sonix Communications Ltd., Merchants' House, Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, Glos.
GL7 1YT, United Kingdom. Tel: [phone]

Virus Bulletin Ltd., 21 The Quadrant, Abingdon, Oxfordshire OX14 3YS, United
Kingdom. Tel: [phone]

Athena Design Inc., 17 St Mary's Court, Boston, MA 02146-4007, United States of
America. Tel: [phone]

On Demand Software & Services, 1100 Fifth Ave South, Suite 208, Naples, FL
33940, United States of America. Tel: [phone]

One Up Corporation, 1603 LBJ Freeway, Ste 200, Dallas, TX 75234, United States
of America. Tel: [phone]

Proportional Software Corp., 1717 Linden Lake Road, Fort Collins, CO 80524,
United States of America. Tel: [phone]

DeScribe Inc., 4234 North Freeway Boulevard, Sacramento, CA 95834, United
States of America. Tel: [phone]

RightFAX, 4400 E Broadway Blvd, #312, Tucson, AZ 85711, United States of
America. Tel: [phone]

Solution Technology, Inc., 1101 S Rogers Circle, #14, Boca Raton, FL 33487,
United States of America. Tel: [phone]

Watcom International, 415 Phillip Street, Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3X2, Canada.
Tel: [phone] . UK: [phone]

Please mention OS/2 Personal when contacting any of these companies or