March 1996 Newstrends

By John D. Ruley

Will Microsoft prove to be the all-powerful monarch of cyberspace? The software giant is moving to exploit the Internet's growing popularity with a blizzard of new products and technology.

Among the most significant developments is Microsoft's decision to provide free-for-the-download enhanced versions of its desktop-integrating Internet Explorer Web browser for Windows 95 and Windows NT. Slightly less capable versions will be made available later this year for Windows 3.x and the Macintosh. Microsoft is also moving to bundle its Internet Information Server product with Windows NT Server.

For programmers, Microsoft has developed an extensive Internet API, and many content developers have received access to a beta version of the company's forthcoming Internet Studio application. Microsoft has also announced it will support Sun's much-hyped Java scripting language while also supporting an Internet-enhanced version of its own Visual Basic for scripting.

Further down the road, the company plans to release NT-based Internet products including a proxy server, secure transaction server, and a digital video server aimed at applications such as movies-on-demand. The video server will be demonstrated at the annual meeting of the National Cable Television Association, slated for May 7-10 in Dallas.

Microsoft also plans to enhance its entire Office suite with new Internet-supporting functionality. In fact, Bill Gates stated last year that more programmers in the Office group were working on Internet enhancements than on the first-generation Windows 95 versions of the applications themselves.

"Our CEO called it [the Internet] the most significant development in this industry since the original IBM PC was introduced," said James Allard, Microsoft's chief of Internet strategy.

Asked how Microsoft plans to compete with Netscape's secure commerce server for doing business on the Internet, Allard said, "Our Internet Information Server [IIS] does everything the Netscape server does now -- it's just a secure socket layer. If all you want to do is put up a form and have users type in their credit card numbers with reasonable security, you can do it with IIS."

What, then, is Microsoft trying to do with its forthcoming commercial Internet server, code-named Merchant? "Near-term, we will probably tackle the secure order-capture issue. That's what Secure Transaction Technology [co-developed by Microsoft and Visa International] is set up to do," Allard said. "Three years downstream, you will be able to buy a complete commerce package from Microsoft with really nice capabilities -- inventory, credit-card, you name it. We will ship some of those technologies this year, then round out the offering."

Asked if the Internet push would replace Microsoft's existing mail-based workgroup strategy, Allard fudged: "There was a lot right about that strategy -- and a lot wrong with it ... you're going to see a lot of the mail server technology migrate out to the Web."

By John J. Yacono

Neither rain nor sleet nor snow nor gloom of night can thwart the U.S. Postal Service. But snail-mail carriers don't have to deal with long filenames -- which in certain cases prevent Windows 95 from delivering remote e-mail.

Here in the labs of WINDOWS Magazine, we've discovered a significant problem in Win95 that could affect a large number of PCs that communicate with Novel 3.11 servers.

If your mail volume is NetWare 3.11, your remote mail clients set up for long filename support can't send mail! They get "Undeliverable Mail" messages ascribed to an "Unknown network problem."

Microsoft first confirmed "a significant flaw in the hard code" but then claimed the problem is on the NetWare side. Microsoft will work with Novell on a fix, but a solution will be slow in coming.

Other file-management packages such as LapLink95 reproduce the error. NT clients, on the other hand, do not exhibit the problem at all.

We've demonstrated the problem over 64Kbps ISDN, 28.8Kbps and 14.4Kbps RAS, and null-modem cable connections. Clients set up for long filename support get "Undeliverable Mail" messages when they try to send mail over NetWare 3.11.

By James E. Powell

What makes a Win95 application -- and what doesn't? That question has come under increasing scrutiny as confusion among consumers and software vendors threatens to run rampant.

Microsoft softened its orginal requirements for awarding the coveted Win95 logo. Customers are puzzled by software packaging that trumpets messages such as "Designed for Windows 95," "Runs on Windows 95" and "Compatible with Windows 95." The first designation signifies a true 32-bit application; the others mean that a 16-bit Win 3.x app will run on Windows 95. Microsoft even awarded a Designed for Windows 95 logo to SoftRAM95, a product recently withdrawn from the marketplace because it did not do what it promised.

By James E. Powell

Security remains the major stumbling block to conducting business over the Internet, but Portland Software has a novel solution: merging Internet commerce with technology used for secure credit card processing.

Specifically, a customer can add Portland Software's ZipLock package to demo files downloaded from the Internet. To purchase a program or "unlock" a protected file, the customer enters credit card information on screen. ZipLock then searches the user's system for a modem, initializes it and dials an authorized credit card processor. As soon as credit authorization is received, the application is unlocked and ready for use.

Though the application file downloads over the Internet, the credit card transaction takes place off the Net in a direct dial-up connection to a major credit card processor. That's virtually the same way retailers obtain authorization when they swipe your piece of plastic through a credit card reader. No third parties see the user's credit card number, and no computer servers stand between the customer and the credit card processor.

ZipLock avoids many of the problems of encrypted-software unlocking schemes, such as confusing a zero with the letter O. The software sends the necessary codes by modem and performs the unlock procedure automatically. Everything is handled right from the computer, 24 hours a day.

Portland Software (503-220-2300) says any form of digital content can be ZipLocked, from graphics to video. The company licenses its ZipLock Builder tool so merchants can add ZipLock and then charge the vendor for each authorization (up to a maximum of $2.50 each).

By James E. Powell

By aggressively moving into home banking, Microsoft and Intuit, two giants in the software industry, may be chasing an elusive market; consumer interest in online banking to date has rarely topped 5 percent. Peachtree Software has decided to take a different tack -- the company sees more potential in electronic bill-payment services for small businesses and will soon introduce such a setup.

According to Peachtree, 82 percent of its small-business customers want to automate their financial transactions, just as large corporations have done. Peachtree forecasts that half of those companies will adopt the service within five years. Ron Verni, vice president of marketing and sales for Peachtree, maintains that it makes more sense economically for businesses to pay bills electronically than it does for home users.

The average small company writes about 100 checks a month (not counting payroll), with an average of about $2.50 per check in processing costs, according to a survey of more than 500 customers by Automatic Data Processing (ADP), Peachtree's parent. Peachtree's product will include a monthly service charge and per-check fees over a certain number of checks per month. The cost of the per-check fees wasn't set at press time.

By Jim Forbes

PC makers are increasingly showing "concept" computers designed specifically for the consumer, small business or home professional markets. Many of these units unwittingly offer consumers a new concept: They often include more new cosmetic features than new hardware.

The list of companies that are testing the waters with concept machines includes NEC Technologies, Packard Bell, Gateway 2000, Compaq and Toshiba. These vendors are marketing, or about to market, machines cosmetically developed according to recommendations by industrial designers.

But the idea for concept computers isn't new; it goes back to the early 1980s. Remember the Robie? It was a desktop machine introduced by KayPro of Solana Beach, Calif. Now a historical footnote, the Robie used the CP/M operating system and featured sculpted controls and a design that was supposed to complement office interiors.

By Jim Forbes

Fueled by interest in the Internet and hopes of cashing in on what some futurists call the 20th-century equivalent of the Netherlands' fabled tulipomania, a handful of companies are planning a new type of computer. Called "Internet" or "e-mail" terminals, these machines could appear within the next 12 months.

Led by Sun Microsystems, Oracle and others, advocates for the new computers believe that the devices need only be capable of connecting to the Net to send and receive mail, or to run applications that are based on new environments such as Sun's Java scripting language. While executives of those companies have spoken little about these terminals, the scuttlebutt about a price tag of $500 -- or even lower -- has caught the public's fancy.

Analysts say the $500 target price means the new class of machines will have fewer capabilities than even PCs made more than 10 years ago. Most such machines are likely to include scaled-down dedicated processors and simplified core logic designed expressly for Internet communications sessions. "To an engineer, this seems like a great idea," says Martin Reynolds, a technology analyst. "It lets you design a small device that includes a specialized microprocessor, core logic and graphics controller that hang on the Internet."

These computers' limitations, however, may turn out to be their biggest problem. Considering the amount of memory the devices would need to run applications, the machines could in fact cost nearly as much as low-end desktops that run mainstream personal productivity apps.

Microsoft released a white paper saying it is not interested in developing products for e-mail machines. On the other hand, Microsoft again told developers it is working on its own hand-held operating system and hardware products.

• Consumer interest in notebook computers equipped with internal CD-ROMs is extremely high. Market research firms say sales of such systems for the third quarter of 1995 were better than expected, accounting for about 15 to 18 percent of all units sold. The analysts predict the cost of CD-ROM notebooks will drop to an entry-level price of about $2,600.
• The digital camera market could be hot in the second half of the year. Logitech, Apple Computer, Ricoh, Canon and Epson offer digital cameras that connect to your PC. Prices start at about $700, but are expected to drop as early as the second quarter of 1996 when manufacturers come out with second-generation products.
• Forbes magazine rated Hewlett-Packard the top corporate performer for 1995. That's among all American corporations, not just technology-related companies.
• CompuServe announced it has surpassed 500,000 members in Europe and 200,000 members in the United Kingdom. "This is a significant landmark for CompuServe as the world's most extensive global online information service," said Martin Turner, product marketing director at CompuServe U.K. Turner says he hopes CompuServe will more than double these numbers by the end of 1996.
• Syncronys Softcorp recalled all current inventory of SoftRAM95 for full credit or refund. A revised Windows 95 version is expected. SoftRAM95 came under increasing pressure from watchdog groups questioning its claims. The company was named in two lawsuits in connection with the product.
• There may be life yet for AST Research. Samsung Electronics, which had previously purchased a 40 percent interest in the company at a cost of about $253 million, agreed to raise its stake in AST to 45 percent. The deal also gives Samsung majority control of AST's board of directors.

Internet WatchDog from Charles River Media (800-382-8505) takes a different approach to enable parents, teachers and employers to monitor Internet activity. WatchDog does not prevent a user from visiting any Internet site, as some parental-control software products do. In part, those software products depend on an up-to-date list of "forbidden" sites, which is nearly impossible to update on a daily basis. Instead, WatchDog records your session and provides a set of thumbnail screen shots for "authorized individuals" (with password) to review (you can zoom in to any screen full-size). It logs any attempts to change the password. The $29.95 software can monitor any application, not just online programs.

Netscape Communications Corporation is wasting no time promoting Java. The Netscape Internet Developers Conference, the industry's first Java and JavaScript conference for developers creating live online applications and content, will be held March 5-7 at the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco. The conference is the first in a series of educational events and will bring together commercial and enterprise developers, creative and design professionals, and technical consultants. Keynote speakers include Netscape co-founder Marc Andreessen and Eric Schmidt, chief technology officer at Sun Microsystems (the creator of Java).

Iomega Corp. believes bigger is better. The company that introduced the Zip drive, a 100MB removable disk, started shipping small quantities of the internal version of its new 1GB Jaz removable drive around New Year's to key partners in the professional audio and video industries. Iomega expected to begin volume shipments to the public in the first quarter of 1996. Jaz drives are slated to retail for $500 (internal version) or $600 (external version), with 3.5-inch 1GB diskettes selling for around $99. The Jaz drive will include a starter disk with Jaz Tools, a utility for managing Jaz disks.

By James E. Powell

Are you pining for an anti-theft device for your laptop? You and everyone else.
Well, pine no more. For about 25 cents a day, a program called CompuTrace will monitor your computer's whereabouts, secretly dialing Absolute Software's toll-free monitoring center once a week.

If your computer is stolen, you call the company to report the incident. When the thief connects the stolen computer's modem to a telephone line, CompuTrace traces the call, using technology which the company says is impervious to call-blocking. Absolute Software then works with local law enforcement agencies to recover the machine.

CompuTrace works silently and will not disrupt work done during a call, the company claims. The program does not appear on your machine's file directory and will even survive if the hard disk is formatted. Absolute Software can be reached at 800-220-0733. CompuTrace is currently a Windows 3.1 application, but a Windows 95 version is due by spring.

By John Gartner

Installing and removing Windows applications will become less chaotic, thanks to a standard recently passed by the Desktop Management Task Force (DMTF). Within a year, most applications -- from the smallest utility to the largest applications suite -- should be simpler and more consistent to install and remove.

Version 2.0 of the DMI (Desktop Management Interface) Software MIF (Management Information File) specification, approved last December, requires applications to record file information into a standard database format. This MIF will show the directory location, file size and version number of each program's component, including any device drivers or DLLs.

Uninstall programs will search the MIF database to ensure that files to be deleted are not required by other programs. Suites will be more efficiently maintained since they will use a single MIF to keep track of all installed applications.

Programmers and hackers alike will appreciate the ability to troubleshoot a program by viewing the details of a program's component files. No one will miss error messages such as "VBRUN300.DLL not found" that previously cropped up after an ill-behaved uninstall.

By John Gartner

The World Wide Web has changed the way we look at the world, and now Hewlett-Packard wants to change the way the Web looks on paper. The company recently announced that it will develop HTML printing extensions in an effort to make hard copy more closely resemble its electronic counterpart.

Because information on the Internet is designed to be displayed on a monitor, not an 8.5-by-11-inch printed page, converting from digital to paper copy often results in lost formats and decreased readability. According to Carolyn M. Ticknor, a vice president at HP and general manager of the LaserJet Solutions Group, the new HTML extensions will "enable the user to easily print information that is as context-rich as [the image that] appeared on the screen."

The HTML extensions will allow users to print selected portions of a Web document and remove extraneous line and page breaks. They will produce high-resolution output and better black-and-white conversion of color documents.

Contributors: Ian Etra, John Gartner, Mark Spiwak, John Yacono

Nothing makes our laboratory retrievers happier than finding a faster way to move data from notebook to desktop. So, the word about Parallel Technologies' (800-789-4784) high speed Universal Cable made for some happy puppies. It works with remote control programs such as LapLink or pcAnywhere32. Although it's faster than a bi-directional cable, we haven't seen the "near LAN performance" that Parallel advertises due to Win95's inability to correctly identify ECPs (Enhanced Communication Port). Stay tuned for an update.

We've been toying with the beta version (1.1) of Microsoft Internet Explorer's ActiveVRML plug-in, which lets you view in-line 3-D worlds within HTML pages. The browser is remarkably fast for 3-D, but the navigation controls are a little primitive. We were able to view most VRML sites, although the program seems to have trouble displaying certain texture maps.

From the Editors Were Napping Department: Double oops on us. In January's review of multimedia upgrade kits, we mistakenly described the Creative Labs Sound Blaster 32 as a 32-bit sound card, when we really meant to say that it has 32 voices. We also goofed in our February review of the Hayes Optima 288 modem when we said it was twice as fast as most 14.4Kb-per-second modems. What we intended to type (before the keyboard became possessed) was that its nonstandard double-size buffer and data compression offer twice the speed of a standard 28.8Kbps modem when conversing with a similar modem. (No more mixing cough syrup and guava juice on deadline day for us!)

To paraphrase Sy Sperling, "It's not just a server, it's also a client." From what we've seen, the Exchange club is something everyone will want to join. Here at WinLab, we've been giving the beta of Microsoft Exchange Server the full treatment (look for a review in an upcoming issue). In addition to a replacement for Microsoft Mail's post office, the CD includes Win95 and NT Exchange client replacements that are vast improvements over the originals.

The new client lets you store documents and mail messages together in folders, and you can also group messages by date, subject matter or conversation topic. It also supports filtering, so you can screen out unwanted messages, like those from the dweeb down the hall who abuses the Reply All button (see screenshot for details).

Microsoft has not yet announced if the upgraded Exchange client will be sold separately from the server product.

After weeks of reconfiguring, a handful of tech-support calls, multiple jousts with the phone company and a bit of black magic (don't worry -- no small animals were harmed during testing), we at last have a working ISDN connection. Although today it's about as tough as setting up an Internet connection was a year ago, ISDN should soon become more of a science than a mystic art. Sometime in early 1996, Microsoft will deliver Windows 95 ISDN support, including an installation wizard and Plug-and-Play support to get the hardware and software on the same page.