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Top Ten Best-Selling Windows Business Software
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Sasquatch Alert
By Jim Forbes
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Technology: Hand-In-Hand
What if Intel launched a new processor for notebook computers and no manufacturer used it?
That's what the world's largest microprocessor supplier may find out this fall if it launches a notebook version of its 150MHz Pentium. Sales of desk-top PCs with these chips approached 100,000 units a month this spring. While Intel has not yet announced a version of this processor for notebooks, it has told notebook makers there's one in the works, and this spring quietly passed around a prototype.
During the past year, Intel has aggressively introduced notebook versions of other Pentium processors. While that's great news for the few users who always want access to the latest processor technology, it has shortened the life span of notebooks positioned at the high end of the market.
Some product planners at notebook makers now report that their top-of-the-line machines are increasingly falling victim to these short product life cycles. One manager, who asked for anonymity, said the shelf life of his high-end machines has dropped from one year to six months.
And that's not all. Among other concerns is an increase in clock speeds and the excessive heat the 150MHz Pentium produces.
All this explains why at least two of the top five notebook producers say they may not want to play in the 150MHz ball game; they'll wait for notebook versions of the P55C, a true second-generation product. The chip is designed to accommodate multimedia apps, and all members of the Pentium family-including those built for notebooks-are expected to incorporate P55C technology by the end of 1997. A number of sources with access to Intel's notebook plans say they've been told it will show a notebook version of the P55C at Comdex, and will likely begin commercial shipments in early '97.
By James E. Powell
When Microsoft rolled out its Internet strategy, there was more vision than specificity. Some details are now emerging as product managers tout enhancements to tools such as Visual Basic.
Visual C++ will be upgraded to include Microsoft Foundation Classes that take advantage of ISAPI, the new API for Windows NT. There should also be a free Internet Control Pack for Visual Basic to help developers build in browsing features. The company claims developers can work very fast with VB Script, a subset that has had "unsafe stuff" like system controls removed.
Still, Microsoft's vision, as it now stands, has some problems. For example, development relies on OCXes, which are so far restricted to the Windows 32-bit platform (the company says it's working on a Mac version). But many Web surfers now connect via UNIX machines, and they'll have to rely on Microsoft partners like MainSoft and Bristol.
And some of those gee-whiz features won't come easily. Users running VB apps have space-hogging OCX and VBX files on their hard drives; apps that best take advantage of VB Script and use OCX files may force users to download hefty OCX files, testing the patience of even the greatest stoic.
And finally, there's the security issue. Microsoft is pushing a private-public key Digital Signature scheme, but getting other companies interested in yet another bureaucracy will probably not be easy.
By Jim Forbes
Here's how important the Internet--not to mention intranets--has become: There's a new wave of hardware taking aim at users who surf those networks. And riding the crest are two companies not known for low-end PCs-database giant Oracle and workstation behemoth Sun Microsystems.
Both companies introduced versions of the "Network Computer" (NC), a machine that's designed to run applications that either execute on network servers or can be run from a limited amount of on-board memory. Details were skimpy-neither had a price or a ship date at press time-but both companies have positioned their products outside the realm of Windows computing.
Java apps and surf the Web. The device had a SPARC processor and 8MB of system memory. Officials said the device might not cost $500, the figure often cited by observers as the breakthrough price; these observers expect a price tag of $700 to $900.
Oracle's entry, meanwhile, should ship in September and will come in a variety of configurations, including one designed to use a TV set. Entry-level pricing should break the magic $500 barrier.
These machines-and others from, possibly, Philips and Apple-will be used mostly for e-mail or to access larger networks. However, because they use microprocessors that aren't compatible with Intel's, they can't use many mainstream personal productivity applications. Besides, the machines shown so far lack the on-board storage needed to execute tasks locally-including those written in Sun's Java language.
As if Apple didn't have enough woes already, one of its remaining bastions-the school market-is under siege. Compaq Computer rolled out a new line of hardware and software for the education market, which offers slim margins in the short term but has major ramifications over the long run. First, it wields significant influence in the home market. Second, the first computer a child uses affects future buying decisions. Apple has long dominated this arena, but Compaq has some strategic advantages: It can offer bargains that Apple, saddled by financial woes, may not be able to match. Moreover, as the Internet gains popularity and schools look to network their own machines, Compaq will be able to build on its strength in the server market.
Despite the relative infancy of the electronic commerce market, vendors apparently have very high hopes. The rush to form alliances has been frantic. One significant coupling involved Oracle, the database vendor, and Verifone, which makes those little terminals merchants use to check customers' credit cards. As part of this initiative, Oracle will bundle its server products with Verifone's payment processing software, which includes a new front-end offering called Pay Window. The two companies billed it as potentially the first end-to-end solution, but it wasn't the only one. Verifone itself signed a deal with Oracle rival Netscape, while Netscape and credit card processor First Data inked a deal of their own. Microsoft, of course, signed on with Visa, among others.
Watch out, Windows NT. That seems to be the message from Hewlett-Packard and The Santa Cruz Operation, which joined forces to put some bite-basically through a unifying standard-back into UNIX. That environment is now so hopelessly fragmented, with more than 15 flavors, that developers sometimes have no idea which one to write to. This has helped Microsoft make serious inroads with Windows NT. The HP-SCO alliance clearly wants to win back, or maybe just retain, some of that territory.
By Cynthia Morgan
In the world of Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), prices are dropping, developers are proliferating and a standards war is brewing. In other words, widespread Web adoption could be just around the corner.
VRML, a collection of multimedia technologies that allow 3-D animation to be viewed and manipulated across a network, has largely been the domain of graphics gurus. But better compression techniques, increased competition and native browser support are bringing it into the mainstream; Pentium systems with 8MB or more can play new VRML simulations with little loss in quality.
At least 60 Web-centric firms, including Netscape and VRML originator Silicon Graphics, have promised applications using the new VRML 2.0 standard, which augments VRML 1.x with multi-user capabilities, increased interaction, better navigation and object behavior (event-driven changes to an object's properties and actions). However, developers are adding proprietary enhancements to the standard, and the resulting compatibility problems will likely drive the emergence of a de facto standard by year's end.
The price of VRML development packages, in the $2,000-to-$7,000 range in the past, should drop sharply, and soon. A 16-bit version of Superscape's VRT, a British developer's environment, sells for about $4,000; expect a 32-bit edition for Windows 95 and NT for $500 or less this year. A low-end version, set to ship in summer, will cost about $50.
Several companies now offer browsing tools for the price of a download. Super-scape's Visualiser runtime VRML viewer can be had from http://www.superscape.com/TryVis.html. Integrated Data Systems' and Portable Graphics' VRealm collaboration combines traditional browsing tools with VRML viewing capabilities. The $29.95 package runs as a standalone app or Netscape plug-in.
By Jim Forbes
Making sense of a simple task, like sending and receiving messages, should be easy. But it isn't…not always.
Now there's a new class of integrated applications that uses one interface to manage faxes, online, Internet e-mail and other communications protocols. Al-though some programs that perform these functions have been available for years, companies such as Starfish Software, Symantec/Delrina and Global Village have a series of new products.
Analysts believe the growth of online services could fuel new programs such as Global Village's FocalPoint. This 16-bit Windows app, now shipping, costs less than $100 and uses a single interface for all communications tasks; it allows its users to work offline, and has a mechanism letting you specify one or more means of communicating. The interface, which includes a universal inbox, displays all incoming e-mail, fax and voice messages.
And there are others. Delrina's CommSuite package uses a toolbar to launch its e-mail, fax, voice-mail and Internet browser functions. Officials say a future version of the app, like FocalPoint, will probably use a single interface to manage all communications functions. And Starfish Software may move into this arena with future versions of Sidekick 95.
Most new systems aimed at the SOHO market have the necessary hardware, noted Tim Sloane, an analyst with The Aberdeen Group in Boston, and these products are the first in "a new class of software aimed at professionals with communications-intensive jobs."
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All-Encompassing Internet?
by James E. Powell
Make no mistake about it-Microsoft is gearing up for the Web in a big way. In the second major reorganization in as many years, the company is restructuring. Microsoft has created a new Platforms Group to coordinate the Windows-family strategy and develop Internet products and technologies, including operating-system products, server products and development tools.
Of particular interest is the Internet Platform and Tools Division within the group, now headed by the widely respected Brad Silverberg-his group gave the world Windows 95. Details of his group's products won't be announced until the Professional Developers Conference in San Francisco, but its offerings are expected to include tools such as VB Script and updates to Visual Basic and Visual C++. The group's unofficial mandate is to convince developers to forsake Java and move to Microsoft tools.
Even more interesting is the movement within the group formerly responsible for Microsoft Publisher and the 50-plus titles bearing the Microsoft Home logo. The company has formed an Interactive Media Division that will merge The Microsoft Network and the now-dissolved Microsoft Consumer Division. This unit will be headed by Patty Stonesifer, who, as head of the Consumer Division, led sales to new records. The unit is charged with creating and marketing interactive entertainment and information "across a variety of media, including the Internet." That's already begun with Car-Source, a site on MSN; information-centric Internet sites can be expected.
Incidentally, the division will also oversee the joint venture with NBC to create an all-news channel, MSNBC. A separate Consumer Platforms Division will work on interactive TV (inclu-ding offerings for the Internet) and participate in a joint venture with DreamWorks Interactive.
By John D. Ruley
That peculiar result is just what you'll get if the folks at San Fran-cisco startup Softway Systems have their way. The company plans to extend the Posix.1 subsystem that comes standard on Windows NT to include features like Berkeley sockets, X Windows and the Motif user interface; it also plans to layer additional services on top of the resulting, enhanced Posix.2 subsystem. The first product from this effort is OpenNT Utilities, which will ship this month. For $99, it will offer the standard UNIX command-line shell and utilities (grep, awk, etc.).
OpenNT differs from existing UNIX look-alike products in that it's implemented in NT's Posix environment-and, therefore, at least on native NTFS disk partitions. Another big difference: a full UNIX-style namespace-case-sensitive long filenames, "hard links" (think of Win95's shortcuts implemented directly in the file system) and more.
Softway has laid out the cash needed to get a source license from Microsoft, which gives it complete access to the Posix subsystem, and has acquired a license to the entire X/Open test suite. If development goes as planned, by mid-1997 Softway will approach the X/Open committee with an enhanced NT that, in fact, will be nothing less than a version of UNIX.
Compiled by John Gartner; Contributors--James Alan Miller,
Marc Spiwak, John J. Yacono, Serdar Yegulalp
Technical Editor Marc Spiwak unearthed this doozy after installing an old version of WinFax PRO on a system that already had Microsoft Office 95. WinFax 4.0 installs a macro called MSEXCEL4.XLM in Excel 95's startup folder. When you launch Excel, pages immediately start to open-hundreds of them if you don't hit Escape quickly enough to halt the process. And don't think the merriment ends there. Excel will now ask if you want to save changes to the open pages-each and every one of them! To avoid this problem, simply delete or move the macro.
We've heard many users complain online about WinFax 7.0's performance, and Delrina has been quick to answer the call. An update posted on CompuServe, the Web and Delrina's BBS improves performance and adds telephony support for the U.S. Robotics Sportster Vi voice/fax modem. Delrina has also posted a CyberJack update that adds telnet and table support to the browser.
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