Compiled by John J. Yacono;
Contributors--James Alan Miller, Marc Spiwak,
Serdar Yegulalp

• Okay, Java's piping hot, but there are some serious security problems brewing. With a little help from Netscape Navigator 2.0, Java scripts can force your PC to spew e-mail all by itself. Regardless of what the message contains--and you have no control over the content or its recipient--it does reveal your e-mail address. Java scripts can also list the files and directories on an end-user's machine.
• Just to make sure you don't get burned, you should first disable Netscape's mail feature; that, at least, will take care of the e-mail problem. You can also download the Navigator 2.01 patch from ftp://ftp9.netscape.com/2.01/patch. Or you can switch to a different browser.
• Have you, unlike Andy Rooney, ever wondered how Windows 95, even given a larger pool of resources than Windows for Workgroups 3.11, has about 95 percent of these resources free upon boot? Alas, it's a trick: Win95 begins recording resource usage only after Explorer and some other programs have started. All subsequent monitoring of resource use is based on this, uh, creative change in measuring technique.
• Microsoft has, debatably, done a lot to turbocharge Windows 95. But it has also deliberately slowed down some components. For example, the Start menu is designed to post menus after a specified delay to keep new users from getting confused by too much screen activity.
• If you're a bugs-in-your-teeth, pedal-to-the-metal, hard-disk grinder like some of us, you'll be happy to know you can shorten the delay. In the Registry Editor, go to HKEY_CURRENT_ USER\Control Panel\desktop, and add a string value named MenuShowDelay, if there isn't one there already.
• Use the value field to specify the number of milliseconds (400 is default), if any, for the delay. The change will take effect when you restart. You still won't need a g-force suit with the delay set to zero, but the menus will feel snappier.

LapLink for Windows 95 is too legit to quit, even if told to put the hammer down. Instead, it GPFs when another program requests a system shutdown.

The problem popped up while we were testing a Windows 95 version of Power On/Off + Aux-a phone-line-controlled power switch for PCs from Server Technology. The latest version of the hardware informs a special program on the PC to close all programs and shut down neatly before power is interrupted. The PC then has a preset amount of time to get to the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" screen before the power switches off. But if you're running LapLink95, the PC will only get as far as a GPF warning box when power is cut, leaving the computer in an indeterminate state before shutdown.

Why do some IT gurus look on the year 2000 with dread? Well, nearly every big corporation has thousands of programs and millions of lines of code that need to be prepared for the date change. A new study from the Gartner Group estimates that at an average cost of $1 to $1.50 to fix each line, worldwide expenditures will exceed one-half trillion dollars. The study claims that 20 percent of business applications will fail due to invalid date computations in 1995; by 1999, it'll be 90 percent.

Think about it: Users flood tech support with distress calls; credit cards and bank cash cards suddenly expire; phone calls made on New Year's Eve are charged as year-long conversations; insurance companies are unable to write policies; the wrong records get deleted and reports turn out to be inaccurate.