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Hello everyone,
Here's some quick stuff for all of you..
From the LangaList
Days of WINE and Trumpets
Before Microsoft realized that the Internet wasn't just a
passing fad, getting a Windows PC online required that you
gather together quite a collection of separate software
apps. You needed socket services, an FTP client, a gopher
client, a dialer, an email reader, and so on. Trumpet
Software International, operating out of Tasmania, Australia
( http://www.trumpet.com.au/ ), stepped into the breach with
a series of products that became the de facto standard for
millions.
Although the need for assembling your own Internet
connectivity components decreased over time, Trumpet stayed
in business and is still turning out interesting software
today.
For example, the company is about to release an alpha
version of something they call "PetrOS;" a Windows-
compatible operating system that's designed to be far
smaller and more stable than Microsoft Windows.
Their idea is that PetrOS will give you many of the
advantages of (say) Linux, but still let you run your
Windows applications!
Then there's WINE, a completely separate WINdows Emulator
that lets you run DOS, Windows 3.x and Win32 executables on
Linux, FreeBSD or Solaris x86.
Neither project is ready to roll. PetrOS isn't even quite in
alpha yet, and the WINE people freely admit that WINE still
has "many bugs and unimplemented features. Most applications
still do not work correctly." And while their goals are
similar, WINE and PetrOS are very, very different; one is
open source, the other is not; one is free, the other is
commercial; one is a layer atop another open (and free) OS,
the other actually is the OS....
But both bear watching. My guess is that if any new OS can
unseat Windows, it will be one of these, or an OS like these
that lets us make use of the new OS without having
immediately to trash all our existing applications in the
process.
Come get the details and then join in the week-long
discussion: Do PetrOS and WINE sound interesting to you, or
have past failures at Windows emulation soured you on the
whole idea? Do you think Microsoft will allow both projects
to go to completion, or will they raise legal objections to
Windows emulation? Does the ability of a new OS to use your
existing apps increase or decrease your chances of trying
it? Join in at http://www.informationweek.com/langaletter !
From Windows-Help.NETWindows 98 SE Internet Connection Sharing
If you are having trouble getting this feature to work, or if you would just like to know something more about it, check out the TechFile I wrote about Internet Connection Sharing (ICS). It has tips in setting up ICS, a trouble-shooting section, and there is also a page where I'll try to keep track of all Microsoft Knowledge Base Articles dealing with ICS.
At present my experience with ICS is limited to a set-up using a modem connection, since, here in the back-waters where I'm located, there is only a faint hope that ISDN & Cable modems may become available towards the end of this year. :(
Microsoft e-mail hoax
Microsoft is warning users to disregard an e-mail hoax that claims to contain a Y2K fix for some of the company's software. The e-mail reads: "Dear registered Microsoft customer, we have
compiled a program to test and fix the issues related to the year 2000 change" and contains an attachment. According to Microsoft the e-mail did not appear to be malicious, but warned that such
e-mails could be modified to be destructive
Windows 98 Tip
Customizing ScanReg
It is quite easy to customize ScanReg to include files in the daily backup made by this utility. Just edit the file Scanreg.ini (found in \Windows) which is well annotated with
instructions
There's been some tweaks to the website, no new content, just some updates and minor fixes to the chat page etc...
As you can see email newsletters can be quite helpful and while I will continue to share the items I find most interesting with all of you, I strongly suggest signing up for a few of them. Till next time...
Webmaster@PuterGeek
mailto: webmaster@putergeek.com
website: www.putergeek.com
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