NOVEMBER 1990 A McGRAW-HILL PUBLICATION Compaq's DAZZLING At Last: New Macs, Lower Prices Everything a Deskpro 386/20 offers— in a 7 Vi -pound package FPOFace-Olf Intel vs. Four C Lab Tests: 15 Hj^h-Capaci I. S6s\ Drives PWS: ' WingZ for Windows Losing Glass vs. X.desktop Canon's New Bubble- Jet Printer ProFound vs. Imara AST, Club American, Everex 486/33S ^ SmartConnex ^ Poqet Portable THE NEW DELL S\'STEM 433TE 33 MH: EISA i4S6.'" • Inuel 304S6 microprocessor running ar 55 MH; with 12S KB externa! cache. ^^ommercial Lease Plan. Lease for as Imv as S377/m(mth. 330 MB Super VGA Color System (800 x 600) S10,499 Price listed includes 4 MB of RAM* 80, 100, 190, 330 and 650 MB hard drive configurations av-ailable. THE NEW DELL ffl'STEM 425TE 25 MH: EISA i486. • Intel 804S6 microprocessor njnnina at 25 MH:. Commercial Lease Plan. Lease for as loiv as S278!irwnth. 190 MB Super VGA Color System (800 x 6CXi) 57,499 Price listed includes 4 MB of RAM.* 80, 100, 190, 330 and 650 MB hard drive configurations available. THE DELL SYSTEM 433E 33 MH: EISA i486. • i486 microprocessor runnins at 33 MH:. Commercioi Lease Plan. Lease for as lotf as S307/month. 100 MB SuperVGA Color System (800 x 600) 58,499 Price listed includes 4 MB of RAM.* 80, 100, 190, 330 and 650 MB hard drive configurations available. THE DELL Si'STEM425E- 25 MH: EISA i486. • i486 microprocessor ninning at 25 MH:. Commercial Lease Plan. Lease for as Imv as S235/month. 100 MB Super VGA Color Sysrem (800 x 600) 56,499- Price lisred includes 4 MB of R.AM.* 80, 100, 190, 330 and 650 MB hard drive configurations available. THE NEW DELL S^'STEM 325D 25MH:386.'" • Intel 80386 microprocessor running at 25 MH: with 32 KB external cache. ComTnercial Lease Plan. Lease for as Iwe as SlWmonth. 40 MB VGA Color Plus System 52,999 Price listed includes 1 MB of R.AM.* 40, 80, 100, 190, 330 and 650 MB hard drive configurations available. THE DELL SYSTEM 316SX 16 MH: 386SX. • Intel 80386SX microprocessor running at 16 MH:. Commercial Lease Plan. Lease for as Icnv as S79/month, 40 MB VGA Qilor Plus System 52,099 Price listed includes 1 MB of R-AM.* 20, 40, 80, kV and 190 MB hard drive configurations a\ailable. THE DELL S\'STEM 320LX 20 MH: 386SX. • Intel 803S6SX micn:>processor runnins at 20 MH:. Commercial Lease Plan. Lease for as Ime as $l04/month. 40 -MB \'GA Color PlusSystem 52,799 Price listed includes 1 MB of RAM.* 40, 80, 100, 190, 330 and 650 MB hard drive configurations available. THE NEW DELL SYSTEM 320LT 20 MH: 386SX. • Intel 80386 microprocessor running at 20 MH:. CoTTunercioI Lease Plan. Lease for as Imc as Sl4l^month. 40MB,2MBR.AM 53,899 20 MB hard drive configurations also available. THE DELL SYSTEM 210 12.5 MH: 286. " Intel® 80286 microprocessor running arl2.5MH:. Comnierctol Lease Plan. Lease for as lotv as S59/month. 20 MB VGA Monochrome System 51,549 Price listed includes 1 MBof R.AM.* 20, 40, 80 and 100 MB hard drive configurarions available. THE DaL SYSTEM 316LT 16 MH: 386SX. • Intel 80386SX microprocessor running at 16 MH:. Commercial Lease Plan. Lease for as loii' as SI12.numlh. 20MB,1MBR.AM 52,999 40 MB hard drive configurations also available. The Deli System 433TE and 425TE are class A devices sold for use rncommertial environments onfy.Ta^omwixeEnlwcett^ ond 433TE] of memoiy a rewned fbr,ae by ln«sydam U eoly]ncepeifo350. ^^^g |g J^g of RAM on the system board. Which keeps all six slots free for expansion cards— enough for even the most peripheral-happy people. The new Dell 325D is a fast, reliable machine with a 32 KB cache, LIM 4.0 hardware support, an integrated 16-bit VGA controller that supports up to 1024 x 768 resolution, password protec- tion, a software controlled reset switch, and a PS/2 compatible mouse port as standard equipment. All of which is designed into a compact footprint. TTie Dell 333D is as good as a 386 PC can get. THE NEW DELL SYSTEM 333D 33 MH: 386 AND THE NEW DELL SYSTEM 325D 25 MH: 386- STANDARD FE.ATLIRES: • Intel* 80386 microprocessor ninntng ar 33 MH: (333D) or 25 MH: (3250)? • Rage mode interleaved memor\- archirecrure. • Standard 1 MB of RAM, optional 2 MB or 4 MB of RAM» e>!pandable to 16 MB on system board. • Integrated VG.A conmjller with 1024 x 768 suppotT. • 64 KB (333D) or 32 KB (325D) high-speed SR.A.M. • Socket for Intel S03S7 or WEITEK 3167 math coprocessor. • 5.25" 1.2 MBor 3.5" 1.44 MB dLskere drive. • 6 industn- standard expansion slots. • High-performance IDE (40 MB, 80 MB, 100 MB, 190 MB) and ESDI (330 MB. 650 MB) hard disk drives. • 1 parallel, 2 serial, PS/2 compatible mouse port, all integrared. • SmartWj — adv-anced s\'stems diagnostic display. • 12-month On-Site Senfce Contract provided by -Xeroxr 40 MB VGA Color PliB Sysrem 333D 325D 53,599 S2.999 I ADCODE11ELO I Prices include 1 MBof RAM. HERE'S OUR NEW STORE, SO YOU'LL NEVER HAVE TO GO TO THEIR STORE AGAIN. $3,5* Lease: $13( i When you buy from a traditional computer store, here's what you get: A beefy retail mark-up. Pressure to buy something you don't want. That crummy feeling of not knowing what you're getting, because the salesman isn't sure what he's selling. And, when there's a problem, some guy with a screwdriver taking your computer apart. When you call Dell, on the other hand, here's what you get: A frank talk with experts about what you need, and a recommendation about the best TO ORDER, CALL 800'365'1480 HOLTRS: 6 AM-9 PM CT M-F S AM-< PM CT SAT. In CanaJa SC0-387O752. In the UK. OSCO 414535. In France (I) 30.6O.6S.iO. In Gemanv 06I03/70I-0. In Suejen 0760.(13 50. overall package for you. Custom THE NEW DELL SYSTEiVl' 333D 33 MHz 386. STANDARD FEATURES: • Intel* 803S6 micropnxe&sor running at 35 MH:. • tcige mode intetleaved metTlor^■ architecture. • Standard 1MB at RA\I, optional 2 MB oi 4 MB of RAM* expandable to 16 MB on s\'stem K?ard. • Integrated VGA controlter with 1024 x 768 suppott. •64 KB high-speed SRAM. • Socket tbr Intel S0387 orWEITEK 3167 math coprocessors. • 5.25' 1.2 MB or 3.5" 1.44 MB diskette dri\«. "6 industn' standard expansion slots (five 16-bit. one 8-bit). .High-f^tformarKe IDE (40 MB, 80 MB, ICO MB, 190 MB) and ESDI ( 330 MB, 650 MB) hard disk drives. • 1 parallel port. 2 serial potts, PS/2 compatible mouse port, all mregrated. •SmaiT\ii'"-AdvarKed S\'stem Diagnostic Dispby. * I2-inonth On-Site Ser\-tce Contiact provided b\ Xeaix.- 40 MB VGA Color Plus S«tem 53,599 Pnce listed includes I MBof R.AM. 40, 80, 100, 190, 330, and 650 hanj drive conhgurarions available. I ADCODE11ELO I configuration, with options including monitors, memory sizes, software, accessories and peripherals. Service — often voted the best in the industry — by computer experts who know our computers inside and out. A variety of financing and leasing* options. A firm promise to build your computers, a configured systems test, and shipment by two-day air standard. A 30-day, no questions asked, money back guarantee. A one -year limited warranty. And a great price, with no retail mark-up. Call us now. Why waste a trip when everything you need is right in front of you ? GREAT PRICES. your money, no questions asked. Even if something goes tvrong, it tuon't tvreck your day. Both the Dell 325D and 333D come with the built-in Smart Vu™ diagnostic display, an ingenious device that identifies problems even if the monitor goes down. If you need help, the Dell toll-free technical hotline solves 90% of all problems FOR DOLUR, WE SMOKE THE Gi ft f "frTW SYSTEMS m/^JfnUS T( overthe phone, often within m^.^. / ^V^SeJ^ TeIcB."'?"!" compare r^S? 4 or 5 minutes. Not only is it 33% faster than the Dell 325D, it also has a 64 KB RAM cache for an extra kick in performance. We design every machine to our specs, then build it to yours. When you call us, we take you through all the choices you have in memory sizes, monitors, storage devices, high perform- ance controllers and accessories. We'll help you decide exactly what you need, then custom build your computer and do a fully configured system test before we send it out. Then you get 30 days to use it. If you aren't completely satisfied, send it back. We'll return Circle 103 on Reader Service Card If we can't solve it over the phone, a trained technician fi:om Xerox will be sent to your desk the next business day with the solution in hand^ For sale, for leased for less. Call us. Talk to a computer expert whose only job is to give you exactly what you want in computers, service, software, printers and financing. You'll get solid information that could save you time and money. Call us now. YouW get a great computer. With no "uhs" about it. DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION Rip Your £om| -^Shreds 33-MHz 386DX-, EISA...$1995 The ALR BusinessVEISA See us at @CO)mP«/Fall'90 Booth #1886, Main Hall It's What You Need to Thrive in Today's Hostile Business World It's a sink or swim world out there, and if you don't take advantage of the latest in today's technology, your competition will. To survive in a sea of reduced budgets and accelerated time schedules, you need a computer that's both inexpensive and fast. You need a system that will exploit the best of today's and tomorrow's technology without exploiting your budget. You need the ALR BusinessVEISA. One of the easiest ways for your company to remain competitive is to reduce its spending: that's why we've priced the Business'VT;iSA Model 101 at just $1995. "With its 33-MHz 386-processor and its advanced 32-bit EISA bus, the BusinessVEISA gives you all the power you'll need to devour today's most advanced business applications. Designed to survive the chang- ing tides of your business envi- ronment, the BusinessVEISA can take advantage of both standard 8- and 16-bit add-on boards and advanced 32-bit EISA enhancement products. This powerful system can feast on the latest in today's and tomorrow's high-speed I/O and multimastering technology. As you conquer new territories, your BusinessVEISA can expand its jaws to accommo- date i486 power. Just Upgrade the CPU! "'Simply plug in an ALR VEISA 25 or 33-MHz i486 CPU module to boost your per- formance up to 270%. Then watch your competition scatter. Don't ignore your killer instinct. Call ALR today. 1-800-444-4ALR Hunt for the Real 32-bit System ALR AST- BusinessVEiSA Premium'" 386'33-101 386SX/16-5V Architecture VEISA CUPID-32?->. CPU Speed 16-MHz \ CPU 386DXi^ 386SX j\ Data Path 32-Biti/ 16-8it Memory 1-MB 1-MB y Bus 32-Bit EISA>^ 16-Bit iSA List Price $1995 S2495 Price of 25-MHz i486 Upgrade SI 995 S4895 Just upgrade the CPU! ™ ALR \-ElSA 25-MHz i486 CPU Module ALR VEISA 33 MHz 386 CPU Module 33 MHz i486 CPU Module 0«BG?DC-t reOM THE lEAOe IN MjEa-OKNTn) PTOGIAMMING TURBO C** PROfESSIONAL a 0 R I A N B BORLAND Makers of Turbo C"-, Turbo Pascal,* Paradox,* Quattro*Pro and Sidekick* Code: MC13 'Prool ol ownership |an origifial manual page or disk trom any version) is required Ofler expires Decerrte 31. 1990 Offer good n U.S. arxl Canada only. Special discounts for registered TufDo^ C owneis are avaiialiie trom Borland. Uai! orders to. Borland inlerrraiionai. inc . P 0. Box 660001 , Scotls \ftiiey. CA 95067-0001 . Add S5.00 for shipping and handling ResiOenls in CA. CT. GA. IL. MA. Ml. NY, OH. PA TX. VA and WA please add appropriate sales tix. For ordets outside the U.S.. call (408) 438-5300 Turtw C++ and Turbo Language are irademarks of Borland Inlefnalional. mc. Copyright ©1990 Borland Inlernational. Ix All rights resen/ed Bl 1382 Circle 53 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 54) Fly in bigger skies. The 16" Multisync J,D and 20" oD monitors. Our largest high-resolution color monitors. Digitally controlled, the J,D supports VGA through 10-2J, x 768. the oD, up to 1280 x 102J,. It's a matter of space. And pace. Your ideas could use as much of both as they can get. Which is why you should consider upgrading to one of our larger MultiSync' moni- tors. Then you can add the best graphics accelerator you can find. The MultiSync Graphics Engine" Board, to name one prime example. Together, they'll increase your system's productivity immensely, by CsC Computers and Communications On afterburner. The Multisync Graphics Engine Board. Uses 50MHz TMS 31010 graphics processor to accelerate software applications as much as 900%. allowing you to put far more information on your screen, far faster. We're talking more windows. More words. More detail. Above all, more speed. Interested? Call 1-800-FONE-NEC for technical information. Or 1-800-826-2255 for literature. In Canada, 1-800-268-3997. We'll show you how to give your productivity a major boost. Circle 254 on Reader Service Card BVTE EDITOR IN CHIEF Frederic S. Langa PUBLISHER Ronald W. Evans MANAGING EDITOR Anne Fischer Lent NEWS N«w York: Managing Editor: Rich Malloy Associate News Editor: Andrew Reinhardt Petert>orough: Sen/or Editor, Microbytes: D. Barker, Senior Editor. New Products: Stan Miastkowski Associate News Editors. What's New: David Andrews, Martha Hicks Editaial Assistant: AmandaV^aleri\e\d San Franclaco: News Editor: Owen Linderholm Associate News Editor: Jeffrey Bertolucci London: Senior Editor: Colin Barker BYTE LAB Managing Editor: Michael Nadeau recrtn/ca/D/recto/-.- Rick Grehan Senia Editor: Dennis Allen Technical Editors: Man Joch, Robert Mitchell, Tom Yager Testing Editors/Engineers: Stephen Apiki, Stanford DIehl, Howard Eglowstein, Stanley Wszola STATE OF THE ART Senior Editor: Jane Morrill Tazelaar Technical Editor: Robert M. Ryan FEATURES Senior Editor: Kenneth M. Sheldon Technical Editors: Janet J. Barron, Ben Smith SENIOR EDITORS, AT LARGE Tom Thompson, Jon Udell SPECIAL PROJECTS Senior Editor: Gene Smarte SENIOR CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Jerry Pournelle CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Bill Catchings, Don Crabb, David Fiedler, Hugh Kenner, Mark J. Minasi, Wayne Rash Jr., Mark L. Van Name CONSULTING EDITORS Jonathan Amsterdam, Nick Baran, Laurence H. Loeb, Trevor Marshall, Stan Miastkowski, Dick Fountain, Fhillip Robinson, PeterWayner ^ COPYEDITING Chief Copy Editor: Lauren A. Stickler Copy Administrator: Cathy Kingery Copy Editors: Susan Colwell, Jeff Edmonds, Judy Grehan, Nancy Hayes, Margaret A. Richard, Warren Williamson EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Office Manager: Peggy Dunham Assistants: Linda C. Ryan, June Sheldon ART Director: Nancy Rice Assistant Director: Joseph A. Gallagher >4rMss/sran/, Jan Muller Technical Artist: Alan Easton PRODUCTION Director: David R. Anderson Senior Editorial Production Coordinator: Virginia Reardon Editorial Production Coordinators: Barbara Busenbark, Denise Chartrand TYPOGRAPHY Systems Manager: Sherry Fiske Applications Manager: Donna Sweeney Typesetter: Christa Patterson ADVERTISING SERVICES (603) 924-6448 Director of Advertising: Lisa Wozmak Assistant: Christine W. Tourgee Customer Service Supervisor: Linda Fluhr Senior Account Coordinator: Lyda Clark Account Coordinator: Dale J. 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King Assistants: Marilyn Parker, Diane Henry, JoAnn Walter, Jeanne Gatcombe, Jaime Huber, Agnes Perry CIRCULATION Director: Glyn Standen Subscriptions Manager: Paul Ruess Assistant Manager, Subscriptions: Margaret Liszka Sudscr/pf/onsAss/sfanf; Holly Zilling Newsstand Manager: Vicki Weston Distribution Coordinator: Karen Desroches Backtssues: Louise Menegus Direct Accounts Coordinator: Ellen Dunbar Direct Accounts Telephone Sales Representative: Karen Carpenter BUILDING SERVICES Cliff Monkton, Gary Graham, EdCodman PERSONNEL Human Resources Administrator: Patricia Burke, Human Resources Assistant: Fran Wozniak, Receptionist: Beverly Goss BIX BYTE INFORMATION EXCHANGE ADVERTISING SALES Associate Publisher, Vice President of Marketing: Steven M. Vito Administrative Assistant: Carol Cochran Eastern Advertising Director: AnhurH. Kossack (312)616-3341 Sales Assistant: Julie Watson Western Advertising Director: Jennifer L. 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Stan Miastkowski Peterborough, Wayne Rash Jr. Washington. DC, David Reed Lexington, KY, Andrew Reinhardt New York. Jan Ziff Washington. DC EXCHANGE EDITORS Macintosh Exchange: Laurence H. Loeb, IBM Exchange: Barry Nance, User Group Exchange: David Reed, Interactive Game Exchange: Richard Taylor, Amiga Exchange: Joanne Dow, Writers Exchange: Wayne Rash Jr., Tojerry Exchange: Jerry Pournelle, Telecommunications Exchange: Stephen Satchell BUSINESS AND MARKETING Secretary: Patricia Bausum, Marketing Services Coordinator: Denise A. Greene, Billing Services Coordinators: Tarn my Burgess, Donna Healy, Editorial Assistant: Brian Warnock TECHNOLOGY Programmer/Analyst: John Spadafora, Programmer: Peter Mancini, Systems Consultant: Gary Kendall EDITORIAL AND BUSINESS OFFICE: One Phoenix Mil! Lane, Peterborough, NH 03458, (603)924-9281. West Coast Branch Offices: 425 Battery St., San Francisco, CA 94111, (415) 954-9718; 3001 Red Hill Ave., Building #1, Suite 222, Costa Mesa, CA 92626, (71 4) 567-6292. New York Blanch Editorial Oftlce: 1 221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020, (212) 512-3175. BYTEnet: (617) 861-9764 (set modem at 8-1- N or 7-1-E; 300 or 1200 baud). Editorial Fax: (603) 924-2550. Advertising Fax: (603)924-7507. SUBSCRIPTION CUSTOMER SERVICE: Outside U.S. (609) 426-7676; inside U.S. (800) 232- BYTE. For a new subscription— (800) 257- 9402 U.S. only, or write to BYTE Subscrip- tion Dept., P.O. Box 555, Hightstown, NJ 08520. Subscriptions are $29.95 for one year, $54.95 for two years, and $74.95 for three years in the U.S. and its possessions. In Canada and Mexico, $34.95 for one year, $64.95 for two years, $87.96 for three years. In Europe, £29 (U.S. $50) for fast surface delivery, £41 (U.S. $70) for air delivery. All other countries, U.S. $150 for fast surface delivery. Air delivery to selected areas at additional rates upon request. Single copy price is $3.50 in the U.S. and its posses- sions, $4.60 in Canada. Foreign subscrip- tions and sates should t>e remitted in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. bank. Please allow six to eight weeks for delivery of first issue. EDITORIAL CORRESPONDENCE: Address editorial correspondence to; Editor, BYTE, One Phoenix Mill Lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. Unacceptable manuscripts will be returned if accom- panied by sufficient postage. Not re- sponsible for lost manuscripts or photos. Opinions expressed by the authors are not necessarily those of BYTE. PHOTOCOPY PERMISSION: Where necessary, permission is granted by the copyright owner for those registered with the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC), 27 Congress St., Salem, MA 01970, to photocopy any article herein for personal or internal reference use only for the flat fee of $1 .50 per copy of the article or any part thereof. Correspondence and payment should be sent directly to the CCC, 27 Congress St., Salem, MA 01970. Specify ISSN 0360-5280/90, $1 .50. Copying done for other than personal or internal reference use without the permission of McGraw-Hill, Inc., is prohibited. Requests for special permission or bulk orders should be addressed to the publisher. BYTE is avail- able in microform from University Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Rd., Dept. PR, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 or 18 Bedford Row, Dept. PR, London WC1R 4EJ, England. OFFICERS OF MCGRAW-HILL, INC: Joseph L. Dionne, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer; Robert N. Landes, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary; Walter D. Serwatka, Executive Vice President; Frank D. Penglase, Senior Vice President, Treasury Operations; Robert J. Bahash, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; Thomas J. Sullivan, Executive Vice President, Administration; Mary A. Cooper, Senior Vice President, Corporate Affairs, and Executive Assistant to the Chairman; Ralph R. Schuiz, Senior Vice President, Editorial. Founder: James H. McGraw(1860-1948). J Copyright © 1990 by McGraw-Hill, PSlI '"'^^ "S'^'^ reserved. BYTE and ' BVIl are registered trademarks of McGraw-Hill, Inc. Trademark registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Member Audit Bureau of Circulation 14 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 Introducing the PanaSync C1381 Monitor. 85t^Arcsolutioa VGA pice. If you want the ultimate VGA graphics standard, and you've resigned yourself to pa\ing a premium of hundreds of dollars to get it, you'll find our newest monitor pleasant viewing indeed. The PanaSync C1381 gives you a sharp 1024 x 768 pixels, with 0.28 dot pitch. And virtually infinite color resolution. It's compatible with the most popular VGA boards, as well as analog RGB, MCGA, SuperVGA and— of course — 8514/A standards,* It's comfortable in virtually any IBM -compatible or Mac II environment.** And it's a masterpiece of ergonomics. 'With fi-ont-mounted controls, tilt/swivel stand, plus a non-glare tinted black- matrix screen. All this at a suggested retail price comparable to many of the ordinary VGA monitors on the market right now. For more information, simply call toll-free 1-800-742-8086. PanaPro™ Monochrome Desktop Publishing Monitors with Video Adapters. Peripherals, Computers, Printers, Copiers, '^pewriters and Facsimiles Panasonic. Office Automation/^^'^\2i\ \Jr\ PanaSync™ Multiscanning Color Monitors. C1391 II C1381 (MacSE) (MacII) M3-1 (IBM XT/AT & PS/2 Model 30) Circle 276 on Reader Service Card ' VGA. MCGA and 85M/A are trade- marks of/ntemational Business Machines Corp. • I BM XT . V and PS/2 are registered trademarks of International Business .Machines Corp. .Macintosh is a reg- istered trademark of Apple Computer Inc. An optional cable is required for .Macintosh. Doift look now, but moving on Suddenly, IBM Personal System/2®s with Micro Channel™ on desks everywhere are exhib iting some pretty wild and wonderful tendencies. They're creating incredible on-screen presentations. Interactive tu- torials with full-motion video and stereo sound. Graphics, text and animation in har- monious coexistence. What makes it all possible is the multimedia capability of the IBM PS/2®with Micro Channel. the new IBM CD-ROM that gives you the storage equivalent of over 400 diskettes on Micro Channel Makes It Look Easy The PS/2 itself is designed to put multimedia applications to their best use. Micro Channel has always given the PS/2 extremely fast data rates and better multitasking capabil- ities. But in multimedia applications, it really gets a chance to shine. The multilane highway design of Micro Channel Architecture is perfect for processing complex multi- media applications. Most conventional PCs just don't have the power or the data paths to do it at all. Plus, Micro Channel in the PS/2 lets you use iiiiiiffl!! iiiiuiiiiiiiiii"'" there's something your desk. a single CD, so you can have access to all kinds of data -intensive material like clip art and dig- ital stereo sound. Do It All. All At Once. With a PS/2 with Micro Channel, you can start using some hot products right now. One is IBM's Audio Visual ConnectionT It's both a software and a hardware tool that allows your PS/2 to import high-quality audio, dazzling still images, even special effects, as well as text, graphics and other data. Then, you can edit and present it in any combination you like right on your PS/2 screen, share it with a network or pro- ject it on a wall. It's impressive, but don't take our word for it — IBM's Audio Visual Connec- tion received PC Magazines Technical Excellence Award for 1989. Another exciting multimedia product is die IBM M-Motion Video Adapter/A: Coupled with the power of Micro Channel, it lets you incorporate full-motion video and high-quality sound from sources like video disks, VCRs and video cameras, digitize them, and display them in an endless array of formats. And for software developers, there are ActionMedia™ cards, a collaborative effort between IBM and Intel. ActionMedia cards use the latest DVI™ Technology, which allows full- motion video and analog sound IBM. Personal System/2 and PS/2 are registered trademarks and Micro Channel, Audio Visual Conneaion and M-Mdion Video Adapter I A are tracJemarks of International Business Machines Corporation. DVI and ActionMedia are trademarks of Intel Corp. © 1990 IBM Corp. to be compressed, digitized, stored on a hard or optical disk and played back in real time, with incredibly sharp resolution. YOU'VE Already Got The Best Seat In The House. Best of all, you can do it all today with the Micro Channel PS/2s you've already got. No special monitors to buv. And you'll be perfectly poised for tomorrow's most exciting multimedia technology, like interactive touch displays and much more. Contact your IBM Authorized Dealer or IBM marketing representative. For a free demonstration videocassette or a dealer near you, call 1 800 255-0426, ext. 20. Your desk will never be the same. For a free PS/2 Multi.Media demonstration videocassette call 1 800 255-0426. ext. 20 or send diis completed coupon to: IBM Corporation P.O. Box 92835, Rochester, NY 14692 Name Title Phone Company- Address 1 City- -State- -Zip- □ If vou are a software developer, check here. How re you going to do it? PS/2 it! Circle 168 on Reader Service Card T.I MAGAZINE The Right Decision The 486 Champ ..THIS COMPUTER DESERVES YOUR ATTENTION.' On the September 11,1 990, 24 of the industry's hottest 486 powerhouses went head to head for the honor of win- ning PC Magazine's coveted Editor's Choice Award. Tri-Star delivered lrj^ >tff ^ ^ WE GUARANTEE YOUR SATISFACTION. FOREVER. We 're so sure youll love Vermont Views that we make this iron-clad, money-back guarantee. If you're ever dissatisfied with Vermont Views, for any reason, return it for a prompt, no-questions- asked refund. (All you have to do is certify that you haven't incorporated our code into any ap- plication.) aCfcfc Hilt iCfcfc jCtfc siiie silfc sCtie »Ctie *tk sijfc >Ctfc Call for your FREE demo kit! 800-848-1248 (Please mention "Offer 074") Don't take our word for it. Put Vermont Views to the test by calling for your personal, free demonstration kit. Or fax us at (802) 848-3502. Vermont Creative Software Pinnacle Meadows, Rlchford, VT 05476 Phone: (802) 848-7731 FAX: (802) 848-3502 Copyright 1990 Vermont Creative Software Hiereare three ways toget everything you expect printer Printers. Cmnputers, Peripherals, Copiers Typeimiters and Facsimiles Panasonic. Office Automation^^vA When you want corporate- size features in a desk to p packa ge. Speed, fonts, flexibility. Eventhing you want in a personal laser printer, in a package that fits comfortably in your office or home. The KX-P4420 prints at a fest 8 letter-sized originals per minute— up to twice the speed of some personal laser printers. And its standard features include a large-capacit}^ paper cassette, 22 internal fonts available in 25 symbol sets (including legal), plus 512K of memory expandable to a full 4.5MB. The 4420 personal laser printer Corporate-size features. Personal price. Hie Panasonic Personal Laser When you have several peo ple in your department , you need a printer that can handle them all. Lots of speed, lots of capacity, lots of emulations. The KX-P4450i is meant for the whole department. It has dual-bin, high-capacity paper cassettes. And does a fiill 11 pages per minute even if every page is different. Each page will be crisp and clear, no matter which of the 28 internal fonts you re using. And the 44501 emulates LaserJet Series H, as well as popular dot matrix and daisy wheel printers.* This is one laser everyone will be happy to share. The Panasonic Shmed Laser. What makes the company look g ood makes you look g ood. When appearance is all, choose the KX-P4455 with Adobe PostScript. With it, you can dramatically enhance every document with multiple fonts, varied type sizes, even images rotated and scaled to fit. At 11 pages per minute, and with superb print qualitv^. The features you want most are standard. From 39 Adobe fonts, to dual-bin, high-capacity paper cassettes. Plus a wealth of optional typefaces. And its interfaces work beauti- fully with MS-DOS, UNIX or Apple environments.* With the 4455, you don't just print your documents, you publish them. The Panasonic PostSaptlaser. □ FOR FURTHER INFORJvIATION, SEE THE PRODUCT SPECIHCATIONS ON THE NEXT PAGE, OR CALL TOLL-FREE 1-800-742-8086. Three gneat laser pmlers. Desigfied ^ecifically lortheM^ people do business. TheKX-P4455 Panasonic PostScript Laser. Printin g S peed: 11 pages per minute* * Compatibilit y: Adobe PostScript, HP LaserJet Series II and Diablo 630 emulations* Fonts: 39 Adobe Fonts* Pa per Handlin g: Two 250-Sheet Cassettes. Resolution: 300 Dots Per Inch. RAM: 2MB Standard, expandable to 4MB. Interfaces: RS-232C/422A Serial, Centronics Parallel and Appletalk.* TheKX-P4420 Panasonic Personal Laser. Printin g S peed: 8 pages per minute* * Compatibilit y: HP LaserJet Series II emulation* Fonts: 22 Internal Fonts-ll available in both portrait and landscape. Two slots for optional font cards. Pa per Handlin g: 250-Sheet Cassette with Manual Feed. Face-up and face -down output. Resolution: 300 Dots Per Inch. RAM: 512K Standard, expandable to 4,5MB. Interfaces: Centronics Parallel; Optional RS-232C Serial. TheKX-P4450i Panasonic Shared Laser. Printin g S peed: 11 pages per minute* Compatibilit y: HP LaserJet Series II, Panasonic. Epson, IBM and Diablo emulations* Fonts: 28 Internal Fonts- 14 a\'ailable in both portrait and landscape. Two slots for optional font cards. Pa per Handlin g: T^vo 250-Sheet Cassettes with Manual Feed. Resolution: 300 Dots Per Inch. RAM: 512K Standard, expandable to 4.5MB. Interfaces: Centronics Parallel and RS-232C Serial. Printets. Computers. Pmplmals. Cupim, T]peinilm mid Facsimiles Panasonic '0^ Office Automation/;^^'''\^\ HP and LaserJet Series II, Epson, IBM, Diablo, Adobe and PostScript, MS-DOS, UNK and Appletalk are registered trademarks or trademarks of Hewlett-Packard Co., Seiko Epson Corp., International Business Machines Inc, Xerox Coip., Adobe Syaems Inc., Microsoft Corp., AT&T, and Apple Computer Inc., respectively. ' 'Letter size, text mode, 5.5% image area, all originals. [Specifications are subject to change wilJiout notice. ] LPF-BY Circle 2 74 on Reader Service Card ASK BYTE ASK BYTE Like, Squaresville, Man I am wondering if all present computer systems divide the display into so many square pixels. If high resolution is impor- tant, as in animation and CAD, then the square tessellation of the display does not seem to be the best choice. There are only three regular tessella- tions of a planar surface: covering the surface with squares, with regular trian- gles, or with regular hexagons. In any of these cases, circles can be inscribed within each of the polygons of a given tessellation. This results in three differ- ent methods of uniformly packing circles on the plane. The sizes of the square, the regular triangle, and the regular hexagon can be chosen so that the circles are the same size for all three methods of circle packing. It is then fairly easy to show that, for a given area of reasonable size, the hexagonal tessellation leads to the greatest number of circles of a given radius. These circles inscribed within the reg- ular polygons correspond to the beam of electrons that activates each pixel of the CRT (when the brightness is adjusted properly). A circle inscribed in a regular hexagon covers over 90 percent of the area of the hexagon. The same circle in- scribed within a square will cover less than 79 percent. Thus, the hexagonal tes- sellation leads to about 15 percent more pixels for a given area. This should indi- cate a slightly better resolution for graph- ics work. (The method of grouping the pixels for the creation of a character set is another matter.) Thank you for any explanation that you can give. Lem Chastain Brooklyn, NY This is really a question for people who design graphics systems, but I will join you in supposition. Perhaps the reason behind the rectilin- ear pixel arrangement has to do with the history of the most common display medi- um: the CRT. The beam is sweeping left to right in horizontal strokes. If the pixels were shaped as hexagons, the beam wouldn 't be able to sweep smoothly across the display. Early TV grew from black and white to color, and then com- puters began painting pictures on TV dis- plays through graphical display drivers. We have always thought of display coor- dinates as straight Cartesian (x, y) coor- dinates, and making the changeover to hexagons might freak people out. Still, the increased resolution might be useful. With display technology changing on a daily basis, it would be relatively easy to implement your approach in LCD, plas- ma, or electroluminescent display tech- nologies. Electronically, we drive the dis- plays from banks of memory anyway, so it 's just a matter of addressing the data to the right cell. The only real difficulty would be to get programmers to think in hexagons. We would have to rewrite all the line- and circle-drawing algorithms , get new versions of Microsoft Windows and Macintosh Toolbox drivers, and so on. Do any display manufacturers have thoughts on this? It's an interesting idea, and I hope that people remember that they read it here first. Lem, if we receive any royalty checks, we 'II be sure to pass them along to you.— H. E. A Storm in the Port With IBM XT compatibles, it is a simple matter to switch the turbo mode on or off by reading a port (often at address 62 hexadecimal) and resetting 1 or more bits, depending on the type of board. I recently purchased an AT compatible with the Texas Instruments AT chip set and Award 286 Modular BIOS 3.03HD. I would like to be able to switch the ma- chine into and out of turbo mode using this technique. Unfortunately, I do not have any information on the speed set- ting. Do you have any ideas on the subject? R. D. B. Fraser Tewantin, Queensland, Australia Unfortunately, you haven 't given me enough information to completely answer your question. The software control over the turbo function is often handled by the keyboard controller/microprocessor on a PC-compatible machine. As you pointed out, it's usually a matter of twiddling a bit or two at an I/O port, usually in the range 62h to 6Fh. According to Award, the company has never made a version of its BIOS for the Texas Instruments AT chip set. Because of that, there's no way that Award can tell you where the I/O port is on your machine; that information would have to come from the mother- board manufacturer. If you want to send your letter anyway, you can reach Award at 130 Knowles Dr. , Los Gatos, CA 95030, or by fax at (408) 370-3399. All is not lost. If your BIOS supports speed-changing through the keyboard (often Ctrl-Alt- -\- and Ctrl-Alt-- or Ctrl- Alt- 1 and Ctrl-Alt-2), you can find the port by tracing through the BIOS in the debugger. The address of the keyboard handler (INT09h) is 0000:0024. Get that address (probably in the FOOO segment) and disassemble the code. If you are lucky, you 'II find an OUT instruction to a port in the 60h-6Fh range. When you find something interesting, write a short test program to twiddle the bits, and see what happens. Finding that I/O port is a good rainy- day activity, one that should keep you en- tertained for hours. Be prepared to reboot often; it 's likely that if you tweak the wrong bit on the keyboard controller, you 'II totally mess up your machine. -H. E. Frantically Foraging for Fractint Would you please let me know how or where I can obtain information on a pro- gram named Fractint? Arthur Trantolo East Hartford, CT Fractint is a public domain fractal dis- play program by Bert Tyler and a few other hotshot programmers. Source code and executable copies are available on BIX, CompuServe, and many BBSes; its latest release is version 14. 0. If you have trouble obtaining the pro- gram on-line, contact the author at Tyler Software (124 Wooded Lane, Villanova, PA 19085). -S. A. Missing Manuals In July 1989, I bought a 20-MHz Arch Tech 386 Tower Computer from Tech Center in Boulder, Colorado, and the system has worked great. My problem is that not all the manuals were in the boxes. I thought you might be able to give me some good ideas on how best to ad- dress the problem. For the last year, I have been trying to get the manuals from the people at Tech Center, but I have had no response from them. I guess that's because they know I am a foreigner, and they think that there is no marketing benefit in helping me. I have thought of addressing Arch Tech di- rectly to purchase the manuals, but I do not want the company to think that I want the documentation to duplicate its system here. Also, I do not have Arch Tech's address. How should I address this problem? Francisco Bascijnan Noguera Santiago, Chile I 'm glad to hear that you 're enjoying your new machine. Unfortunately, without more information, I can 't help you track down manuals for it. The Boulder phone book doesn 't list any business under the name Tech Center, and I ended up speak- ing with several people who work for NOVEMBER 1990 • B Y T E 39 ASK BYTE companies with similar-sounding names (thanks to all who helped!). If that's the correct and full company name, perhaps it 's out of business now. I'm more concerned about the name on your computer. No one seems to have heard of a computer built under the name Arch Tech. Perhaps your machine is from Arche Technologies? In that case, you can reach Arche at 48881 Kato Rd. , Fre- mont, CA 94539. (415) 623-8100. Be specific with the exact configuration and model numbers of your system compo- nents. I'm reasonably convinced that your experience was simply the result of bad communication, not because you're a foreigner. Companies that do business that way simply don 't stay around very long.—H. E. More on Fractint A number of years ago, I obtained a disk displaying Mandelbrot fractals from BYTE. Now I have obtained Fractint ver- sion 12.0, but I have a problem. I have an Olivetti M24 computer that I understand is equivalent to an AT&T 6300 computer. Mine is fitted with CGA and a color monitor. The computer has been upgraded using Sota 286i and is also fitted with an 80287 math copro- cessor. My problem: Using Fractint, I get only four colors. With WordStar, Turbo Pas- cal, Paradox, Quattro Pro, and GW- BASIC, I can obtain all the colors I desire on the screen. By the way, I am having the same problem using Flight Simulator 3, but not using the American version of Tetris. I have been a subscriber to BYTE for the last four years, and I have become aware of your sympathetic approach to reader problems. J. Yodaiken Cape Town, South Africa Unfortunately, CGA graphics capability hits its peak at four colors. The other ap- plications that you mention are text-mode programs and provide more colors by using characters to make up the screens. Quattro Pro will also run in graphics mode, but it will then give you the same four-color limitation. I am not familiar with the Tetris pro- gram that you mention, but again, I sus- pect it is a text-mode application. Obvi- ously, text mode is not appropriate for detail-intensive programs like Fractint and Flight Simulator. If you spend any time at all running graphics software, you may want to look into upgrading to a VGA system; the dif- ference will be startling. — S. A. I Just See Stars I recently bought a new machine, and I was a bit dismayed to find my spread- sheet files full of stars when I tried to use them. All the labels were there intact, but no numbers. It didn't take too long to fig- ure out the cause; I had to deal with simi- lar problems on my old machine as well. The software thinks the machine has a numeric coprocessor, but it doesn't, so all the numbers are garbage. Most software packages with the capa- bility to use a coprocessor run a short routine at start-up that asks the copro- cessor to store the control word (FSTCW) or the status word (FSTSW) into memory. If this works (i.e., if the value in the memory location is changed or is a valid value), then the software assumes you have a coprocessor and uses it thereafter to do numeric operations. Both the machines that I have owned will return values when asked to do one or other of the above operations, and I know several other people who have run into this type of problem. Where does the fauh lie? Why do software companies include such flimsy and potentially fallible checks for the 80x87 in their software and compilers? I started getting weird numbers in my spreadsheets one time be- cause the 80287 was half out of its socket after I'd been messing around putting in a board. It still passed the check for pres- ence, even though half the pins were not connected. Why doesn't the routine check the results of a division or a multi- plication? Jon Waterhouse St. John 's, Newfoundland, Canada If your spreadsheet software (whose name you fail to mention) checks for a co- processor in the way you describe, then you 're right to feel dismayed. Most soft- ware will look for a coprocessor via the BIOS equipment check interrupt (11 hex- adecimal). This interrupt returns a word full of flags that is set by your machine 's power-on self test routines. How the POST routine does its job probably varies from BIOS to BIOS. Some machines re- quire you to install a jumper whenever you install a coprocessor, and in that case the BIOS may simply look for the presence of that jumper. Also, AT-class machines expect a flag set in the nonvola- tile CMOS RAM indicating the presence of a coprocessor. Have you checked your machine for either of these possibilities ? Finally, if you want to know how soft- ware can detect and identify an 80x87 co- processor, look for BYTE's March 1988 issue. Prakash Chandra of Intel shows assembly language source code in his ar- ticle "Programming the 80387 Copro- cessor. " — R. G. PostScript Preview I 'm trying to find a PC program that will let you preview, one page at a time, the contents of a text file as it would appear when printed on a LaserWriter Plus. This program would be used by stu- dents of the Chisolm Institute of Tech- nology to print their assignments. At present, we have a program that converts files from various word processing pro- grams to PostScript. This transformed file is then sent to the LaserWriter Plus for printing. There is a shortcoming with this ar- rangement. After you've committed the text file to laser printing, there is no turn- ing back. Consequently, students can lose a lot of money on wasted printing. Graham Brown Dromana, Victoria, Australia Most word processing programs these days will support PostScript. You should call the vendors of the various word pro- cessing programs and ask for a PostScript driver. At the same time, ask if the pro- gram has a preview mode. Many word processors will either show you what the printed output will look like on-screen or will print the output to a disk file. As long as you have a PostScript driver installed, the preview should look exactly like the final printed output. If you can find driv- ers, this would be your best bet. Another solution is a PostScript inter- preter. The primary purpose of a Post- Script interpreter is to convert PostScript files so that they can be printed on non- PostScript printers. Although you would not need one for this purpose, a Post- Script interpreter might include a preview mode as well, so you could use such a program to see how the final printed page will appear. LaserGo (9369 Carroll Park Dr. , Suite A, San Diego, CA 92121, 800- 955-3668) should be able to help you. The company's GoScript program will display PostScript on EGA or VGA moni- tors. It will also display TIF and PCX files.— S. D. FIXES In "Faster Gets Smaller" (August), Compaq inadvertently provided BYTE with the wrong FCC rating for the Desk- pro 386/25e. The correct rating is FCC Class B, not Class A. ■ 40 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 Here's what they say about Zortech C+ + " Zortech is a truly fine compiler... If you've been waiting for a major player to offer a professional C++ development system for OS/2 and Windows, as well as DOS, wait no longer... Zortech has it! " Richard Hale Shaw, PC Magazine, p.38, March 1 3, 1 990 " Zortech C++ is one of the best MS-DOS products I've had the luck to use I can highly recommend the Zortech 2.0 release." Scott Robert Ladd, Dr. Dobbs Journal, pp. 64-73, January 1 990 "' Zortech has done a commendable job with C-I-+ 2.0 and I recommend it highly.. .The debugger is impressive. ..Get the Developers version. ..it's worth the money." Bruce Eckel, Micro Cornucopia, pp. 8-17, March 1 990 "We have devoted virtually a full issue to evalua- tion of C Compilers .... it's an easy choice. We pick ZORTECH." J. D. Hilderbrand, Editor, Computer Longjoge, p. 7, May 1990 AT&T™ C++ V2 Specif/cat/on / Multiple Inheritance yiype Safe Linkage y Pointers to Members Compiler Features y Native code compiler with separate global optimzer y Improved MSC Source Level Compatibility y MS Windows'"" Compatible / CodeView™ Compatible / Fast Graphics Library with C+ + interface y Easy to use TSR functions / Standard Library Source Code included with Developer's Edition y Seamless LIM/EMS Support via new handle pointers or directly via EMS library functions, y Full MS Mouse Library y OS/2 Compiler Option / 99% ANSI C Compatible y Improved code size/speed PRICES C++ Compiler $199.95 C++ Debugger $149.95 C++ Tools $149.95 Library Source $149.95 Save $200 - Get the Developer's Edition for only $450 (includes all the above items). OS/2 Option $149.95 C++ Video $499.95 C+ + Source Level Debugger /A/so Debugs C / Assembler Debugging with access to registers and memory. / 1 6 Debugging V/indows / Multiple Statement Lines / Break/Trace/Watchpoints y Dual Monitor Support / Full C+ + name unmangling for easy use V Block memory write protect C+ + Tools Classes y 25 C+ + Classes with full source code ■/ Includes new Text User Interface Classes y Event Queue, BCD Maths, Linked Lists, Money, DOS error handling classes, text windows and editing classes, virtual arrays, time and date handling, directories and filenames, interupt vectors, etc... USA: Zortech Inc. 4-C Gill Street WOBURN MA01801 Voice: 617-937-0696 Fax; 617-937-0793 EUROPE: Zortech Ltd. 106-108 Powis Street LONDON SE18 6LU Voice: 44+ 81-316-7777 Fax: 44+ 81-316-4138 "ANNOUNCING V2. 7 " 640K Memory Barrier Smoshedl • New VCM ™ (Virtual Code Manager) technology • New Rational DOS Extender technology for compiling/ debugging massive programs • New Virtual C+ + Source Level Debugger requires only 4k RAM! • New Remote Debugging via serial port • New Powerful Environment with Browser • New Completely Revised & Expanded C+ + Tools • New Improved Compiler Optimization Zortech VCM'" for DOS With Zortech's Virtual Code Manager (VCM) you can compile standard MS-DOS applications containing up to 4Mb of code. VCM is a sophisticated virtual memory system that dramatically improves performance over conventional overlay methods. Naturally, our debugger understands VCM too! Rationar" DOS Extender Technology- Version 2. ] incorporates this new technology for compiling and debugging really big programs on 286, 386 or 486 based PC's. You can also use V2. 1 together with Rational Systems DOS Extender (purchased separately) to produce your own applications which can access memory beyond the 640k DOS limit. C+ + Debugger in 4k RAM! Zortech's Virtual C++ Source Level Debugger can now locate itself in extended memory on 386 machines. This requires only 4K of conventional RAM! STOP PRESS NEWS FLASH 386 Compiler/Debugger Option (using Phar Lapp DOS Extender) , UNIX 386 Compiler and OS/2 Debugger all available soon. Also new C++ Classes and Addison Wesley ZTC++ book. ORDER/UPGRADE HOTLINE 1-800-848-8408 186SX nuMi-Task Force Launch and run two, three, four or more programs simultaneously. Blast the 640K memory barrier to cut even the most massive programs down to size. And, rocket through spreadsheets, word processing, desktop publishing and more with lightning-fast 1 6MHz, 32-bit speed. With this new BSR 386SX computer and your FREE bonus Microsoft Windows 3.0, you'll infuse your computing with the time- and work- annihilating might of true multi-tasking and 386SX power. PLUS, you get $2,850 worth of FREE NAME- BRAND software. Plus, as an added Super Bonus, you also get $495 Quattro Pro. You 'II be armed and ready to assault any business, learning and creative project, all for DAK's industry-busting price of just $ 1, 799. By Drew Kaplan BSR 16MHz 386SX Computer with 1 full this work- vanquishing, time-saving, pro- Get ready to unleash breakthrough megabyte of RAM, massive 28 millisecond ductivity-enhancing 386SX computer, computing power. Imagine writing a sales hard drive and .31 dot pitch VGA monitor. ANATOMY OF A 386SX report with your word processor while simul- It's the most powerful, fully-loaded com- taneously recalculating a spreadsheet. ' Imagine running massive desktop pub- lishing programs with plenty of RAM to spare. And, imagine blazing through all your computer work with lightning-fast 16MHz 32-bit speed all for just $1,799. Sound like a fantasy? With most com- puters it would be. But, not with this new puter DAK has ever offered. Plus, with the included Microsoft Win- dows 3.0 and $2,850 worth of additional FREE bonus software (including WordStar 5.5), you'll be armed to make short work of any computer project. Read on and together we'll explore all the amazing feats you'll accomplish with At the heart of this new BSR 386SX com- puter is the latest 386SX microprocessor. Unlike a 286 microprocessor (found in AT computers), which processes informa- tion in 16-bit chunks, a 386SX can process information in 32-bit chunks. So, it can handle more than twice the information a standard 286 can, in less time. Wow! Plus, you'll be able to run the latest 386 pro- grams and all PC/AT compatible programs. This 16MHz, 0-wait state speed demon can calculate spreadsheets, reformat desk- top publishing documents and run any of the FREE programs in record time. But, if you're like me, you use your com- puter mostly for word processing. So you might not be too concerned with speed. I wasn't either, until 1 pitted my old 286 against the BSR 386SX. I spell-checked the same 50-page report on both computers. 1 was astounded to dis- cover that the 386SX spell-checked the document over a minute faster. A single minute may not seem like much, but when you think of how many reports, letters and proposals you spell-check in one week, those minutes add up. Plus, just wait till you see how quickly this 386SX boots up, and how fast you'll run through complex spreadsheets like ■■■ l&SJ 386SX/T6 / J J J J i_ I I 1 I r 1^ / ' I' i' I" i" r r *: "1 /////// I / r /////// I I I I r r I I I / r r 1 ^ INCLUDED BONUS SOFTWARE Retail Price Microsoft Windows 3.0 $149 Quattro Pro $495 WordStar 5.5 Professional $495 Reflex 2.0 $249 Gem Desktop Publisher $299 Gem Graph $299 Gem Draw Plus $299 Gem WordChart $199 SideKick $ 89 Key FormDesigner $179 KeyMailer $149 Three-Button Mouse $ 99 Grammatik IV $ 99 PC Paintbrush $ 99 PC USA $ 69 Keyboard/Keypad Trainer $ 69 KeyDictionary $ 99 WordFinder $ 59 It's $3,494 worth of BONUS software included with your BSR 386SX computer ! Quattro Pro. But, speed is just one small part of the sheer might of this fantastic 386SX. DOWNTIME DECIMATOR The true power of this BSR 386SX is its astounding memory handling capability. It shatters the 640K RAM barrier which shackles 286 computers. No longer will you be limited to the old DOS standard of 640K RAM. Sure, some 286 With your FREE included three-button mouse you'll zoom through databases, desktop publishing and word processing at meteoric speed. computers have 1 meg or more of RAM. But, most programs don't actually use it. But, with your 386SX and a memory- managing program like the incredible Microsoft Windows 3.0, (yours absolutely FREE), you'll use all of this computer's 1 full meg of RAM (or 2 full megs with op- tional upgrade for just $79'°). Now you can run high-performance busi- ness spreadsheets, (like your just-released Quattro Pro bonus), huge databases (such as Reflex 2.0) and desktop publishers (like the included GEM Desktop Publisher, com- plete with Gem Graph, Gem Draw Plus and Gem WordChart) with ease. And, look at this. With your 386SX and Microsoft Windows 3.0, you'll be able to multi-task. That means you can run several programs simultaneously and transfer in- formation between most programs. For example, you can work on a sales report with the included WordStar 5.5 and then instantly pull up Quattro Pro to dou- ble check your sales figures without exit- ing WordStar. It's a real time-saver. You can even 'cut' figures directly from Quattro Pro and automatically 'paste' them into your report, on-screen. And, wait till you discover multi-tasking. With Microsoft Windows 3.0 this 386SX computer can do the work of several ordi- nary computers* concurrently. Forget having your computer tied up while it recalculates a spreadsheet or for- mats and prints out a complex desktop publishing document. Your 386SX obliter- ates downtime forever. THE COMPUTER OF THE FUTURE The experts like PC Magazine and Info- world agree that the 386 is the future stan- dard. And, most of the new programs developed over the next few years will be created for 386-compatible computers. So, with your BSR 386SX you'll already by prepared for the future of computing with full 386 compatibility. Plus, you'll have complete 286 compatibility too. LOADED WITH COMPUTING POWER This awesome computer comes fully- armed with an arsenal of work-annihilating features. With other computer companies, most of these features are optional. But, they're all standard on your 386SX. 14" VGA Monitor (Standard). With its phenomenal 640 X 480 (.31 dot pitch), slide-like resolution, this easy-on-the-eyes, non-glare 14" color VGA monitor is the most brilliant I've ever seen. Plus, just wait till you see how the palette of 256,000 colors can make all your graphs, charts, paintings and even word processing and spreadsheets explode off the screen with sharp, vivid power. And, with the included tilt swivel moni- tor base, you can easily adjust the monitor to the perfect viewing angle for you. 40-Megabyte Hard Drive (Standard). The powerbase behind your work-vanquish- ing 386SX is a mammoth super-fast, 28- millisecond, 16-bit, 40-megabyte hard drive. You'll have the informational storage power of over 110 traditional floppy disks to save all of your creations and programs with plenty of room to spare. And, if you're running a company or need all the storage space you can get, you can upgrade to a colossal 80-megabyte hard drive for just $199'". 1 Full Megabyte of RAM (Standard). You'll have plenty of power to run even the most massive memory-devouring programs with the included 1 megabyte of high-speed RAM (expandable to up to 8 megabytes on the motherboard), complete with LIM 4.0 emulation capability. And, you can upgrade to 2 megabytes of RAM for virtually unlimited multi-tasking power for just $79'". Both 51/4" AND 31/2" Floppy Drives (Stan- dard) . You get two floppy drives with your BSR 386SX computer. First, there's a 1.2MB, high-density SV4" floppy disk drive. You can store nearly 4 times more information on a 1 .2MB floppy than you can on a standard 360K floppy. And, you can still use and exchange 360K floppies with less sophisticated computer users than yourself. Plus, there's also a 1.44MB high-density 3V2" floppy disk drive, so you can easily switch floppies between your 386SX and the latest IBM computers and even 1 .44MB and 720K laptop computers. 4 Expansion Slots. With its 4 expansion slots (3 available), your 386SX is engineered to grow with your computing needs. You'll have plenty of room to add a fax card, a scanner card or a voice-mail card. NOTE: This computer's advanced 386 motherboard requires only a cool-running 145 watt power supply, so you'll have plenty of power for expansion cards. Serial, Parallel and Mouse Ports (Stan- dard). You'll have two serial ports to use with serial devices. You get a parallel port for printer hook-up. And, there's a mouse port for your included 3-button bus mouse (more later). 101 -Key Extended Keyboard (Stan- dard). Virtually all interaction with your computer is through the keyboard. That's why this breakthrough computer comes with the newest extended keyboard com- plete with separate arrow/cursor keys. You'll never have to hunt through the number keys to find the cursor keys again. Plus, the solid feel of the sculptured keys ends finger fatigue forever. Whether you 'hunt & peck' or type 90 words-per-minute, you'll really appreciate the tactile feedback of this high-quality keyboard. MS DOS 3.31 and GW-Basic (Standard). It amazes me how many retailers sell com- puters without DOS and Basic. At DAK, you get everything to have your computer up and running right away. Special Note: DOS 3.31 breaks the 32 meg hard disk size limitation, so you can use your 40 meg (or optional 80 meg) hard drive without cumbersome partitions. Clock/Calendar with Battery Back-Up and More. Plus, this extraordinary com- puter has a clock/calendar with battery back- up, a front panel reset switch and 80387 math co-processor socket, 8MHz/16MHz switching and dozens more features. ON-SITE SERVICE With a lot of companies, once you buy a computer, you're on your own. If you're lucky, they'll give you a 90-day warranty. But, your BSR 386SX computer is backed by a 12-month, on-site standard limited warranty. You'll receive in-home or in-office service anywhere in the continental United States. You're totally protected. (Next Page Please . . . HuMi-Tasking Explained If s called multi-tasking. And, if s revolutionizing the way we work with computers. What 'multi-tasking' means is you can run several pro- grams at the same time. For example, you can have a spreadsheet program like Quattro Pro run calculations while you use a word processor Uke WordStar 5.5 to write a letter or report. Plus, you can 'pull-up' other programs WITHOUT exiting the program you're working in. If s a real time-saver if you switch programs a lot. Here's just one example of how you can use multi-tasking to blast through your work. 1. Let's say you're the sales manager for a company or you own your own business. You're writing a report with WordStar 5.5. As you work, you decide to double-check some figures in your Quattro Pro spreadsheet. 2. Without exiting WordStar, you pull up Quattro Pro in another win- dow. Now you can check your spread- sheet and even cut figures from Quattro Pro and paste them directly into your WordStar report. 3. Next, you decide to check the per- formance of your sales people. With- out exiting WordStar or Quattro Pro, you pull up Reflex 2.0 in a third win- dow. Nowyou can easily scroll through your sales database. 4. After you've confirmed all your figures, (and cut and pasted just the onesyou need into your report), with a click of your mouse, you pull the WordStar window to the front of the screen and finish writing your report. . . . 386SX Multi-Task Continued) Plus, you get DAK's own toll-free soft- ware support lines, manned with fielpful, knowledgeable DAKonians ready to answer all of your software questions. WHYBSR? DAKonians know about BSR through their audiophile stereo equipment. But, what most people don't know is that BSR was one of the world's leading manufac- turers of computer power supplies. And, this new BSR 386SX follows in that same industry-leading tradition. Plus, be- cause of DAK's direct-from-the-factory pur- chase, I got a fantastic price. Now you can command all the comput- ing muscle of a fully-loaded 386SX for less than the price of many 286 computers. And, lef s not forget your Super Bonus $495 Quattro Pro. Plus, Miaosoft Windows 3.0 and the $2,850 worth of brand-name computer software (including WordStar 5.5, Gem Publisher, Key FormDesigner and more) you get absolutely FREE. COMMAND A 386SX MULTI-TASK FORCE RISK FREE Wait till you experience the blinding speed of 16Mhz, 32-bit computing. Wait till you cut and paste information between two different programs with ease. And, wait till you work on two, three, four or even more programs concurrently. If you're not completely thrilled simply return it to DAK in its original box within 30 days for a courteous refund. To order Your Work Annihilating 16MHz, 32-Bit 386SX Multi-Task Force complete with Massive 40-Megabyte, Super-Fast 28- Millisecond, 16-Bit Hard Drive, 1 Full Meg of RAM (upgradable to 8 Megs), 1.2 Mega- byte 51/4" Floppy Drive, 1 .44 Megabyte 3 1/2" Disk Drive, 14" Slide-Like .31 Dot Pitch Color VGA Monitor with Tilt Swivel Base, Advanced DOS 3.31 and GW-Basic, PLUS Microsoft Windows 3.0, PLUS $495 Quat- tro Pro, PLUS $2,850 worth of the Name Brand Software Bonuses AND 12-Month On-Site Service Warranty, call toll free or send your check for DAK's industry-busting price of just $1,799 ($69 P&H). Order No. 6335. CA res add tax. Options RAM BREAKTHROUGH OPTION Turbo-charge your 386SX with even more multi-tasking power by upgrad- ing to a full 2-megabytes RAM for just $79'" ($0 P&H). Order No. 6336. Note: The RAM upgrade must be ordered with your computer. 8(KMEGABYIE HARD DRIVE OPTION Now you can have an enormous 80 megabytes of hard disk space to store all your work and programs f or j ust $ 1 99'" ($0 P&H). Order No. 6337. Note: The hard disk upgrade must be ordered with your computer. You'll command the power to run two, three, four or even more programs concurrently. And, with the $3,494 worth of included name-brand software you'll be armed and ready to vanquish any computing task. E Blll^lf INDUSTRIES Call Toll Free For Credit Card Orders Only 24 Hours A Day 7 Days A Week I-800-115-0800 ForToU Free Information, Call 5AM-5PM Mondav-Fridav PST Technical Information 1-800-888-9818 Any Other Inquiries 1-800-888-7808 8200 Remmet Ave., Canoga Park, CA 91304 Here's a preview of just a few of the name-brand software programs included with your BSR 386SX computer. Quattro Pro com- bines BIG corpor- ation spreadsheet power with vivid graphics. You can analyze, forecast and print out your data in numbers and 3-D charts. Must Look WordStar 5.5 has over 300 work-sav- ing enhancements, including easy-to- use Pull-Down Menus that oblit- erate keyboard com- mands. With Reflex 2.0 database, you can organize, analyze and even display your crucial busi- ness data in 6 dif- ferent ways includ- ing form. List, Graph and Crosstab views You can easily create reports, pro- posals, newsletters and more with charts, drawings, graphs and multi- ple font styles with the Gem Desktop Publishing System. Teaching Kids Sitfely Training al Schtx)! :^ ImpnA Ci Safety ill I !ome Gem Graph's vivid 3-D bar graphs, pie charts, symbol graphs and line charts will infuse your reports, pro- posals and presen- tations with explo- sive visual power. With the touch of a hotkey, KeyDic- tionary, with 115,- 000 on-line, full definitions, gives you instant answers to questions about word meanings, spelling, usage and hyphenation. \KeyMailer's fill-in- the-blank format is the easy way to create extensive mailing- list data bases and thousands of per- sonalized letters com- plete with address labels. It's a cinch to illus- trate any graphic from a professional organization chart to a Mojave Desert Sunset with PC Paintbrush's icons and pull-down menus Lef s take a quick look at the $3,494 worth of name-brand software programs included with your BSR 386SX computer. SUPER BONUS Quattro Pro ($495 Value) Now aU of us small businessmen can take ad- vantage of BIG corporation spreadsheet power without needing a degree in accounting. Top-rated Quattro Pro can effortlessly lay out a financial strategy for you. And, you'll see it in numbers, dollars and 3-D graphs on-screen or printed out. Plus, Quattro Pro's new VROOMM (Vir- tual Realtime Object-Oriented Memory Manager) reads and writes even the largest Lotus files without translation. FREE BONUS #1 Microsoft Windows 3.0 ($149 Value) We've already explored the incredible memory managing, multi-tasking, and 'cut & paste' abilities of Windows 3 .0. But it can do so much more. It obliterates complex DOS commands with an easy-to-use icon-based environ- ment. You can launch any installed DOS or Windows-based program merely by dou- ble-clicking your included mouse on an icon. It's a real time-saver. Plus, you also get a file manager, a print manager and much more to help you finish all your computer work easier, faster and better than ever before possible. FREE BONUS #2 WordStar 5.5 ($495 Value) WordStar 5.5 has over 300 new features and enhancements to make writing power- ful letters, reports and proposals a breeze. The instant you fire-up WordStar, you can type a letter, add bold, italics and under- line. If s easy with the Pull-Down Menus. With Editing Windows, you can edit two documents simultaneously. You can even copy and move text between them. Plus, you can view up to 32 pages at once with the Advanced Page Preview. So, you can check page centering, margins and layout t)e£ore you print. FREE BONUS #3 Reflex 2.0 ($249 Value) It's the easiest and most powerful flat-file database I've ever used. Now you can store and organize all your critical business, club or personal data quickly and easily. Plus, top-rated Reflex can also turn your raw data into attention-grabbing pie, line bar and scatter graphs that instantly give you the meanings behind the numbers. And, you can instantly cut and paste information from Reflex directly into your word processor or spreadsheet. Reflex is a quick and easy way to compare, summarize and analyze all your vital data. FREE BONUS #4 Key FormDesigner ($179 Value) Create any type of form from simple per- sonalized appointment book pages to com- plex inventory control forms. Imagine easily designing purchase orders, employ- ment applications, ledger sheets and more. With Key FormDesigner, you can custom- tailor forms to your EXACT needs. In minutes, you can produce new, more effi- cient forms for the whole company, for your department, or just for you. And, you can print out your customized forms on any dot-matrix, ink jet or laser printer. Best of all, you'll never need to wait At All You Qet FREE weeks or pay for custom forms again. FREE BONUS #5 Sidekick ($89 Value) Sidekick is a powerful desktop organizer that puts 4 essential business tools right at your fingertips. You get an electronic note- pad so you can take down notes easily. There's an on-line, pop-up calculator and a perpetual calendar/appointment scheduler, too. Plus, with Sidekick's phone book, you can store all your frequently called modem numbers in an on-line directory that dials the numbers for you. FREE BONUS #6 Gem Desktop Publisher ($299 Value) Now you can create spectacular brochures, multi-columned newsletters, graphic-packed manuals, mind-grabbing reports and even your own magazines right at your desk. With just the click of a mouse, you'll insert maps, diagrams, schematics, artwork, logos and graphs into any document. And, you'll compose eye-catching professional reports, articles and academic papers. FREE BONUS #7 Gem Graph ($299 Value) Now you can easily create dazzling re- ports, proposals and brochures filled with attention-grabbing 3-D graphs and charts. Wait till you see all the two and even three dimensional bar graphs, pie charts, and comparative line charts that jump off the page with sit-up-and-take-notice power. You can choose from a huge selection of graph and text styles (including striking 3- D), to add that extra amount of punch to really drive your point home. FREE BONUS #8 Gem WordChart ($199 Value) What Gem Graph does with numbers. Gem WordChart does with words. Create extensive fact tables for sales reports. Make bullet charts to add graphic impact to your presentations and proposals. And, even make eye-grabbing sale fliers for your business that will have customers streaming in. It's a cinch to create everything from party invitations to menus. FREE BONUS #9 Gem Draw Plus ($299 Value) You can effortlessly design anything from simple floor plans to complicated elec- trical schematics. Create graphics for club newsletters. And, you can even draw flow charts and organizational charts with ease. There's also a full library of pre-drawn clip art that you can insert directly into your documents. Plus, Gem Draw Plus is object-oriented. So, for example, if you overlay a circle with a square, they mix on the screen but are kept separate in the memory. Gem Draw Plus is the easy way to trans- form your ideas into vivid drawings. FREE BONUS #10 PC USA ($69 Value) You'll command a wealth of vivid gra- phics and fact-filled tables packed with current and historical information on all the 50 states and even Puerto Rico. You'll have instant access to beautifully detailed state maps showing elevations, cities and geographical features. You'll easily pinpoint distances between cities. And, you'll effortlessly access statistics on population and age distribution, health, crime, tourist attractions, climate trends, taxes, state histories and much more— ail with a touch of a button. FREE BONUS #11 KeyMailer ($ 149 Value) With KeyMailer's menu-driven, fill-in- the-blank format, anyone can create an extensive mailing-list database. Now you can print out envelope labels, telephone directories and even merge your data with WordStar to effortlessly make and send 100, 1,000 or even 10,000 per- sonalized letters for your business or club. FREE BONUS #12 Keyboard/Keypad Trainer ($69 Value) Here's an easy way to increase your typ- ing speed and finish your work 25%, 50% or even 100% faster. This amazing breakthrough program uses Artificial Intelligence (Al) to tailor exercises to your learning needs. Plus, you'll have customized AI lessons for your com- puter's numeric keypad, too. FREE BONUS #13 Grammatik IV ($99 Value) Grammatik IV uses 42 grammar rules to automatically check all your reports, essays and everything you write. You'll never worry about incomplete sentences, punctuation errors or using 'it's' instead of 'its,' 'they're instead of 'their,' or 'two' instead of 'too.' Grammatik IV never changes your writing. Whether you use its advice or not is completely up to you. FREE BONUS #14 KeyDictionary ($99 Value) With 115,000 full, on-line definitions complete with hyphenation and usage rules, this awesome electronic dictionary makes writing captivating documents a breeze. You can instantly define words, in or out of word processing, with just the touch of a hot key. Plus, you can even define words within definitions and spell-checker and thesaurus suggestions. FREE BONUS #15 WordFinder ($59 Value) Infuse (penetrate, instill, inject) the power of WordFinder's instant-access 220,000- word Thesaurus into your reports, pro- posals and contracts. It's great. Now everything you write, from 50-page reports to 1-page memos will be filled with passionate (enthusiastic, fiery, intense) persuasion to really get your ideas across. FREE BONUS # 16 PC Paintbrush ($99 Value) With PC Paintbrush, you'll unleash your creativity with computer-generated shapes, designs, patterns and drawings. You'll have 5 different brush shapes, a paint roller, computerized air brush, and a palette of up to 16 colors to create and print-out everything from breathtaking landscapes to company logos. FREE BONUS #17 Three-Button Mouse ($99 Value) Obliterate clumsy keyboard commands. From drawing and painting to accessing menus and windows to controlling the cursor, you'll do it all infinitely easier and faster with the new BSR 3-button bus mouse. $3,494 Of Softwaie FREE You get it all, a total of $3,494 worth of software and hardware (including Micro- soft Windows 3.0, PLUS $495 Quattro Pro), PLUS the BSR 16Mhz 386SX Computer with VGA monitor for just $1,799. And, here's just a sample of what you can do with all of your FREE name-brand software programs. If "dCbiUTempe i Table SOft-i INC. BJA|f MDUSTRIES ■pMb m — — Call Toll Free For Credit Card Orders Only 24 Hours A Day 7 Days A Week l-800-lt5-08P0 For Toll free Information, Call 6AM-5F^ Monday-Friday PST Technical Information ...1-800-888-981 8 Any Other Inquiries 1-800-888-7808 8200 Remmet Ave., Catioga Park, CA 91 304 WHAT'S New The 1550sx is the latest in GRiD's line of laptops. This one features the rolling Isopoint device shown here. Isopoint Device Makes a Case for GRiD The GRiDCase 1550sx is the first PC-compatible laptop to use the built-in Iso- point device. Also unique to the 20-MHz 386SX laptop is a 60-MB hard disk drive with Windows 3.0 installed. The Isopoint device takes the place of a mouse and is built into the keyboard below the space bar. The Isopoint buttons are accessible to both right- and left-handed users. The hard disk drive has an access time of 16 ms and a 64K-byte memory cache. Also standard on the 12-pound laptop are 2 MB of RAM and a 3 '/4-inch 1.44-MB floppy disk drive. The screen is a film-twisted-nematic backlit LCD VGA. The internal/ external battery has a rated life of 2 hours and charges in 2'/^ hours, according to GRiD. The system measures 11 1/4 by 15 by 2 V4 inches. Options include a 120-MB hard disk drive, a 600-MB CD-ROM drive, a 2400-bps modem, an 80387SX math co- processor, and an external rechargeable battery. Price: Base system, $6295. Contact: GRiD Systems Corp., 4721 1 Lakeview Blvd., P.O. Box 5003, Fremont, CA 94537, (800) 222-4743 or (415) 656-4700. Inquiry 1290. Things Are Getting Small in Texas The new Tandy 1500 HD, a notebook computer that weighs 6 pounds, comes standard with a 1.44-MB flop- py disk drive and a 20-MB hard disk drive for less than $2000. The 1500 HD, which mea- sures 10 by \2Yi by I'/o inches, has a backlit screen, a 10- MHz NEC V-20 processor, and 640K bytes of RAM (ex- pandable to 1 .64 MB). The system also comes with DOS 3.3 and Tandy's DeskMate graphical user interface in- stalled on the hard disk drive. The blue-on-white LCD screen provides a resolution of 640 by 200 pixels (CGA). The removable nickel-cadmi- um battery weighs % pound and recharges in as little as 4 hours, according to Tandy. An AC adapter is also included with the 1500 HD. Price: $1999. Contact: Tandy Corp., 1800 One Tandy Center, Fort Worth, TX 76102, (817) 390-3011. Inquiry 1291. The CompuAdd Compan- ion, which measures 8'/4 by 11 by 1% inches, has a 12- MHz 286 processor with 1 MB of RAM (expandable to 3 MB), a 20-MB hard disk drive, and a backlit VGA screen that measures 8 by 6 inches and displays 16 gray scales. LapLink software is in- stalled in ROM, as well as DOS 4.01 and diagnostics. The system also has an 80287 math coprocessor socket. A rechargeable battery pack and an AC adapter are included. Price: $2895. Contact: CompuAdd Corp., 12303 Technology Blvd., Aus- tin, TX 78727, (800) 627- 1967 or (512) 250-1489. Inquiry 1292. The Peregrine SX Has Landed The Peregrine 20/32cSX is a 20-MHz 386SX with 2 MB of RAM, a 1024- by 768-pixel Super VGA display, a choice of floppy disk drives, a Microsoft Mouse, Windows 3.0, and DOS 4.01. Hard disk drives are avail- able in 40-, 80-, 105-, or 200- MB configurations, and the system will support an 80387SX math coprocessor. Price: $1769; with 40-MB hard disk drive, $2159. Contact: Peregrine Com- puters, 1 10 East Canal St., Troy, OH 45373, (800) 326- 7015, ext. 3119 or (513) 339- 3151. Inquiry 1293. CompuAdd 's notebook-size Companion weighs less than 5 pounds and has a VGA screen that displays up to 16 levels of gray scales. 46 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 HARDWARE • PERIPHERALS Mannesmann Tally offers low-cost wide- and narrow-carriage printers. 24-wire Serial Printers in Wide and Narrow Versions The MT 130/24 and MT 13 1/24 printers cost less than $1000 each and were tested to operate for over 7800 hours before failure, which is 30 percent longer than the nearest competitor, ac- cording to Mannesmann Tally. The 24-wire serial printers operate at 300 cps in draft mode, 150 cps in near-letter- quality mode, 100 cps in let- ter-quality mode, and 12 cpi in all modes. Paper-handling capabili- ties include single sheets, con- tinuous forms, and four-part forms. The printers also have the ability to print single sheets without removal of con- tinuous forms and to print continuous forms without re- moval of the optional sheet feeder. Price: Narrow-carriage MT130/24, $899; wide-car- riage MT13 1/24, $999. Contact: Mannesmann Tally Corp., 8301 South 180th St., Kent, WA 98032, (206) 251-5500. Inquiry 1294. PostScript Laser Printer Crosses Bounds NEC's Silentwriter2 Model 90 is a PostScript laser printer that is compat- ible with Macintosh and DOS environments and sells for less than $2500. The 6-page-per-minute printer provides 2 MB of RAM (expandable to 4 MB). It has a Motorola 68000 processor with a built-in 16.7-MHz Adobe PostScript interpreter that provides 35 resident scalable typefaces. The printer also provides 13 resident fonts in Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIP emulation. The Silentwriter2 Model 90 prints at a resolution of 300 by 300 dpi. It weighs 44 pounds. To hook it up to DOS or Mac systems, it comes with standard parallel, serial, and AppleTalk/RS-422 interfaces. It also comes with a software kit that shows you what the screen fonts will look like in printed documents. The soft- ware runs on Macs or under Windows in DOS environ- ments. A 250-sheet-capacity paper tray is included that holds up to 24-pound letter or legal-size paper, envelopes, or transparencies. The toner and optical photoconductor are in replaceable cartridges said to last for 6000 pages. Price: $2495. Contact: NEC Technol- ogies, Inc., 1414 Massachu- setts Ave., Boxborough, MA 01719, (508) 264-8000. Inquiry 1295. HSD Now Scanning the Mac Market Like Scan-X for the NeXT machine, Scan-X Profes- sional for the Macintosh fea- tures image-enhancement tech- nology, which HSD Micro- computer calls Gray Spectrum Enhancement, that allows you to produce 256 shades of gray with superior quality, according to the company. The Macintosh scanner supports resolutions of up to 1500 dpi for line art and 300 dpi for gray-scale images. It comes with Enhance soft- ware from MicroFrontier. The Enhance software offers 80 real-time filters, real-time gray-level manipulation and color painting, cropping, scal- ing from 25 percent to 800 percent, rotating, brushing, masking, text entry, process- ing, colorization, and ghosting. Price: $1995. Contact: HSD Microcom- puter U.S., Inc., 1350 Pear Ave., Suite C, Mountain View, CA 94043, (415) 964-1400. Inquiry 1296. Compact Bernoulli Drives Iomega has announced its Universal family of Ber- noulli removable disk subsys- tems. The family includes two portable Bernoulli subsys- tems: The Transportable is the smallest, lightest Bernoulli subsystem, according to Io- mega; the Portable is a bat- tery-powered version of the AC-powered Transportable. All the subsystems in the Universal family work with the IBM PC, the Macintosh, and in networking environments. They all use the SCSI stan- dard and also have optional in- terface kits available. Price: Transportable, $1399; Portable, $1699. Contact: Iomega Corp., 1821 West 4300 South, Roy, UT 84067, (800) 456-5522 or (801) 778-1000. Inquiry 1297. An lOcomm-Crafted Monitor IOcomm, maker of the Wave keyboard, has intro- duced the CM-42 10, a 14- inch Super VGA monitor. It features a .28 dot pitch and operates at 45 MHz with a res- olution of 1024 by 768 pixels (interlaced) . The monitor has a nonglare screen and meets worldwide safety regulations. While the CM-4210 is not inexpensive, IOcomm says that it offers brighter colors, sharper details, and firmer picture stability than its com- petitors. Price: $549. Contact: IOcomm, 12700 Yukon Ave., Hawthorne, CA 90250, (213)644-6100. Inquiry 1298. SPREAD THE WORD Your new product is important to us. Please address information to New Products Editors, BYTE, One Phoenix Mill Lane, Peter- borough, NH 03458. Better yet, use your modem and mail new product information to the microbytes.hw or microbytes.sw conferences on BIX. Please send the product description, price, ship date, and an address and telephone number where readers can get more information. NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 47 WHAT'S NEW HARDWARE • ADD-INS 16-bit Data Acquisition The 5508HR is a half-size analog input module for PCs and laptops that includes detachable screw terminations. The board has eight differen- tial and 16 single-ended analog inputs and a choice of 15- or 50-kHz A/D throughputs. The detachable-screw-ter- mination design allows you to wire analog and digital sig- nals directly to the rear of the computer, eliminating ca- bling and external screw-ter- minal panels. The board measures 3%o by 6 inches. Price: 15-kHz model, $895; 50-kHz model, $1295. Contact: Adac Corp., 70 Tower Office Park, Woburn, MA 01 801, (800) 648-6589 or (617) 935-6668. Inquiry 1299. Adac 's Direct Connect 5508HR data acquisition board. Rapid Prototyping with Protosystem AT Protosystem AT is a wire- wrap prototype card for rapid prototyping of circuits for the IBM AT, according to Cana Group. The manual wire-wrap Multimedia for Windows 3.0 VideoWindows digital video board comes with multimedia software that runs under Windows 3.0. The board and software combination lets you posi- tion windows of full-motion, full-color video anywhere on a VGA display, according to New Media Graphics. You can scale, reposition, crop, and zoom the video in real time. And image-capture ca- pabilities are also included. VideoWindows works with any NTSC or PAL video source, and you can overlay graphics on the video. Price: $2390. Contact: New Media Graphics Corp. , 780 Boston Rd., Billerica, MA 01821, (508) 663-0666. Inquiry 1303. IP" Program Manj i jei J File fdil Scale EHccts yidco Settings Configure Tools Conboi Panel e Hiciotoll Windowt Vaiion 3.0 Copfiight o I985-I9S0 Mici Flee Sytlet Slandaid Mode card has pins soldered in place on every signal line, along with bypass capacitors on every power line. According to Cana, it holds more than 100 16-pin IC sockets. For ease of use, the signal pins are never closer together than Ys inch. The signal lines are grouped onto address, data, and control buses. For quick troubleshooting, each signal pin has a label on each side of the board. Price: $149.95. Contact: Cana Group, Suite 402, 100 Walnut St., Peoria, IL 61602, (800) 747-2262 or (309) 674-9009. Inquiry 1300. Shift Your LaserJet into High Gear An expandable memory board for LaserJet IIP and III printers, the LaserGo Memory Board lets you add up to 4 MB with one board. You can install the board with just a screwdriver, according to LaserGo, and it automatically senses whether it's in a LaserJet IIP or III. The board, which comes with 1 MB, is expandable to 4 MB and is compatible with Hewlett- Packard memory boards al- ready installed. Price: $295. Contact: LaserGo, Inc., 9369 Carroll Park Dr., Suite A, San Diego, CA 92121, (800) 955-1 132 or (619) 450- 4600. Inquiry 1301. Graphics Controllers Do Unix, DOS, and OS/2 Using a 10-MIPS proces- sor, the Info SGX graph- ics controller is 60 percent faster than other graphics pro- cessors, according to Nissei Sangyo America. You can fur- ther speed up the board with an optional coprocessor with dedicated program memory. The Info SGX family of boards supports a range of res- olutions of up to 1600 by 1280 pixels, including 8514/A, Super VGA, and VGA. All models support single- and dual-screen modes. The graphics boards in- stall in a single card slot and come with drivers for major DOS applications. Drivers for OS/2 Presentation Manager and the X Window System are also available. Price: $4295 and up. Contact: Nissei Sangyo America, Ltd. , 800 South St. , Waltham, MA 02154, (800) 441-4832 or (617) 893-5700. Inquiry 1302. continued 48 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 db VISTA III for Windows 3.0 I DBMS That Opens Windews" MlCKOSCFT. WINDOWS, Get High Performance Under Microsoft Windows 3.0™ Witli db_VISTAmDBMS. Develop Windows applications that are better, faster, and more profitable. db_VISTAin combines speed, flexibility, and productivity into one DBMS tool for C and Windows programmers. Add db_VISTA m's high-speed SQL retrieval to your appUcation and watch your users enjoy power they've never experienced before. Built For Windows. db_VISTA m for Windows 3.0 follows all of the Microsoft db_VISTAin Database Management System guidelines for memory use. Dynamic linked libraries (DLL), multi-tasking, and multi-user environments are all supported. For even faster development, use db_VISTA m with products like ToolBook®, Windowcraft®, or Actor®. No Other DBMS Opens Windows Like db VISTA HI! • Speed. Benchmarks show db_VISTA m significantly outperforms any DBMS under Windows. • No Royalties. Increase your profits; decrease your overhead. • C Source Code Available. For total programming flexibility. • Portability. db_VISTAm supports most environments. Specifications; single & multi-user. Automatic lecovei}'. Automatic referential integrit)'. Relational and network data models supported. Relational SQL qutn and leport writer. Complete revision capabilin'. C source code is available. No royalties. Supports: MS Windows, .MS-DOS, OS/2, VMS, UNIX, BSD, Q.NX. SunOS, .Macintosh. ©COmDlH/Fall'90 November 12-16. 1990 Las Vegas. Nevada '"special $195 Developer's Edition For a limited time only, you can get your hands on db_VISTA for Windows for only $195. Call today and ask about our Developer's Edition and experience how db_VISTA IH can open Windows for you. Developer license only; not for distribution. l_||i|n[ij_iilJL lJl.1 miiwaMVMi Call 1-800-db-RAIMA (1-800-327-2462) In Washington state call: (206) 747-5570 Full Raima Support Services - Including Training. Develop your applications even faster witli Raima Trainins Classes: Nov. 19, 1990 Nov. 26-30. 1990 Nov, 26-30. 1990 Nov. 28-29. 1990 Dec, 10-14. 1990 Dec, 17-18. 1990 Taiwan The Netherlands Sweden United Kingdom San Diego, CA Taiwan r|l RAIMA CORPORATION Raima Corporation 3245 146th Place S.E., Bellevue, WA 98007 USA (206)747-5570 Telex: 6503018237 MCI UW Fax: (206)747-1991 International Distributors: .\rgentina: 54 1 313 5371 .Australia: 61 2419 7177 Austria: 43 33 43 81861 Brazil: 55 1 1 829 1 687 Central .America: 506 28 07 64 Denmark: 45 42 887249 France: 33 1 46092784 Italv: 39 45 58471 1 Japan: 81 3 865 2140 Mexico: 52 83 49 53 OO The Netherlands: 31 02159 46 814 Norway: 47 244 8855 Sweden: 46 013 124780 Switzerland: 41 64 517475 Taiwan: 886 2 552 3277 Turkey: 90 1 152 0516 United Kingdom: 44 0992 500919 Uruguay: 598 2-92 0959 USSR: 01 32 35 99 07; 812 292 19 65; 0142437952 West Germany: 49 7022 34077 Copyright ®1990 Raima Corporalion, All rights reser\ed. db_ is registeretj in the US.Patent aitii Trademark Office. Windows 3.0. ToolBook, Windowcraft, and Actor are trademarks of their respective companies. Circle 298 on Reader Service Card THE Only Competition For Our New Handhe Ml SCANMAN GRAY SCAIE SCANNER FOR IBM ^^ew ScanMan^ Model 256 puts professional gray scale scanning with- in everyone's grasp. It does almost everything a big, expensive scanner can do, for a fraction of the price, ^^ew ScanMan Model 256 lets you capture the subtlest details in your originals, in 256 shades of gray. Special retouching software tools let you enhance difficult originals and preview the results. You can dramatically improve the contrast and brightness of any image. So you always give your monitor and printer the best possible image to work with, ^^hat really sets ScanMan Model 256 apart is its ingenious AnseP software (Windows™ 3.0 compatible). Ansel lets you scan LD Scanner Requires A Much Bigger Hand. and print 8" x 11" images by effortlessly stitching two 4" x 11" images together You can instantly re-align, resize, flip or rotate images to create special effects. he possibilities are endless. You can scan photos, line art, illustrations or logos and create magazine quality layouts. With optional CatchWord™ Intelligent OCR software you can scan text in most any typeface, ^^ew ScanMan Model 256 comes with Logitech's™ legendary quality and lifetime warranty. All for only $499 (Micro Channel version, $599). For more information call Logitech Customer Sales: in California (800)552-8885; in Canada (800)283-7717; in Europe -I- -1-41-21-869-9656. is/TM: Trademarks of registered owners CircU 206 OH Redder Service Card (RESELLERS: 207) Outside CA call: 800-231-7717 ext. 348 Tools That Power The Desktop. WHAT'S NEW HARDWARE • OTHER Power for the Road Zirco's PowerTrip lets you power up a computer, fax machine, or any other AC device from an automobile cig- arette lighter. PowerTrip provides 100 W of continuous 1 15-V AC power. It features a low-bat- tery alarm, a power switch, a safe-power light, and surge suppression— and it's small enough to fit in your shirt pocket, according to Zirco. PowerTrip also comes in an international version, which converts power from a vehi- cle cigarette lighter to 100 W of220-V AC power. Price: $199.95. Contact: Zirco, Inc., 10900 West 44th Ave. , Wheat Ridge, CO 80033, (303)421-2013. Inquiry 1304. Brackets for Your Hardware Keys Are your hardware keys forming a key chain be- hind your computer? If so, you might need an adapter bracket. Software Security has such a device, which fits into an empty slot in your PC and keeps your hardware keys out of the way. The company claims that the device is diffi- cult to remove, so it adds even more security than the hardware keys alone. Price: $15. Contact: Software Security, Inc., 1011 High Ridge Rd., Stamford, CT 06905, (800) 333-0407 or (203) 329-8870. Inquiry 1305. PowerTrip gives you AC power on the road. Safeguarding Intellectual Property with Hardware Keys SentinelScribe is an exe- cution control device de- signed to help software de- velopers safeguard application programs from unauthorized use. Rainbow Technologies says that it is the first field- writable memory-based hard- ware key. The key contains 120 bytes of EEPROM, which is enough to protect more than one software pro- gram, according to Rainbow. "Field writable" means that your software applications have the ability to write to SentinelScribe's memory. The key connects to the computer's parallel printer port. It operates transparent- ly but must be present for the software to run. It executes a password system customized by the software developer. Price: $39. Contact: Rainbow Technol- ogies, 9292 Jeronimo Rd., Ir- vine, CA 92718, (800) 852- 8569 or (714) 454-2100. Inquiry 1306. Extend Yourself with the SCSI Plus If your SCSI devices are too far apart, the SCSI Plus Bus Repeater will give you an ad- ditional 19 feet of extension, or you can daisy chain them to any desired length. Applied Concepts says that the SCSI Plus is easy to install. It hooks directly into stan- dard SCSI adapters. It's com- pletely transparent to the user, according to the manu- facturer, and supports 5- MBps data transfers over a dis- tance of 19 feet. Price: $350. Contact: Applied Concepts, Inc., 5350-H Eastgate Mall, San Diego, CA 92121, (619) 453-0090. Inquiry 1307. A Friendly Programmer from Xeltek The Logic Universal Pro- grammer for programma- ble logic devices works with PLDs from all manufacturers, according to Xeltek. The Pro- grammer offers an interface that combines pull-down menus, windows, and a com- mand line. Price: $395. Contact: Xeltek, 764 San Aleso Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086, (800) 541-1975 or (408) 727-6995. Inquiry 1308. 12-V Battery Tester The Performance Univer- sal 12 Volt Battery Tester determines the condition of lead-acid batteries, including maintenance-free types such as sealed, recombination, and gel cells. It subjects the bat- tery to an 80-amp load for 10 seconds and indicates wheth- er the battery is good, weak, or bad. Pin jacks on the tester accommodate an auxiliary voltmeter that allows precise measurements during testing. The 2 '/2 -pound tester resides in a thermoplastic case. Price: $239. Contact: Performance Tech- nological Products, P.O. Box 947, Roswell, GA 30077, (404)475-3192. Inquiry 1309. Software Security 's adapter brackets hold a line of hardware security keys in place. 52 BYTE" NOVEMBER 1990 The Carry- 1 9000 series comes complete with 80386SX/80286-1 6/80286-1 2 microprocessor iCo-Processor optionai). 1024x768 VGA/MGA & CGA display interface, 1/2/4 MB RAM. one 3.5" 1.44 MB FDD or one FDD plus one 40/80 MB HDD, one 8 bit expansion SLOT, one parallel and two serial I/O ports, and one 30W auto range switching power adapter, all in the traditional 240mmx 185mm x45mm (9.4"x7.3"x 1 .8"| casing of Carry- 1. Each package includes two mini-tower stands and a carry bag. The 82 key mini keyboard and 9 inch color or monochrome VGA monitor are optional. Other Carry- 1 products include the 8000 series XT & AT book-size personal computers and the 6000 series XT and AT book-size LANstations, ETHERnet pocket LAN adapter and Carry Mouse. CRRRV-I A Refreshing Idea.... A New Standard.... Computing Goes Better With CARRY-1 FLYTECH TECHNOLOGY CO.. LTD. HEAD OFFICE: 2FL. NO. 8. LANE 50 SEC 3, NAN-K.-\NG RD. TAIPEI. TAIWAN R O.C. TEL# 886-2-7852556 FAX# 886-2-7852371. WC: TEL* 49-69-746081 FAX* 49-69-749375 Circle 138 on Reader Service Card See us at COMDEX/Fall '90 Nov. 12-16, 1990 Sands Hotel Booth: N4028 ■408-7277373,'4 -408-7277375 U.SA- TEL* FAX* H.K.: TEL* 852-3051268 FAX* 852-7968427 DISTRIBUTOR; • CANADA: BUDGETRON INC. TEL* 416-564-7800 FAX* 416-564-2679 • FRANCE: M3C L INFORMATIQUE DU SUCCES TEL# 1-48271976 FAX* 1-42355916 • ISRAEL: MLL COMPUTERS SYSTEMS LTD TEL* 3-751551 1 FAX* 3-7516615 • ITALY: PRIMA COMPUTER TRADING ITALIA TEL* 522-518599 FAX* 522-518599 • MALAYSIA: COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SDN. BHD TEL* 03-2748888 FAX* 03-2749988 • NETHERLAND: KOPIEERSYSTEMEN NEDERLAND B.V. TEL* 2968-84141 FAX* 2968-97436 • NORWAY: SECUS DATA A.'S TEL* 2-722510 FAX* 2-722515 • SINGAPORE: COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY SDN. BHD TEL* 4758408 FAX* 4713803 • SOUTH AFRICA: PC MART COMPUTER GROUP TEL* 1 1-8043355 FAX* 1 1-8024153 • SPAIN: AT ELECTRONIC. S.A. TEL* 1-5645434 FAX* 1-41 10869 • SWITZERLAND: ESS SOFTWARE TRADING SA TEL* 022-622020 FAX* 022-615650 • UNITED KINGDOM: CENTERPRISE INTERNATIONAL LTD. TEL* 256-463754 FAX* 256-843174 • WEST GERMANY: MACROTRON AG TEL* 89-4208233 FAX* 89-423745 • BELGIUM: CELEM S.A, TEL* 41-676434 FAX* 41-676515 WHAT'S NEW CONNECTIVITY iMillillilfllHIil^^ You can remotely control up to four VGA displays from eight systems with Network Technologies ' matrix switch (bottom) and remote-control unit (top). Remote-Control VGA Displays Network Technologies' SM-8X4-15V video ma- trix switch lets you connect up to four VGA displays to up to eight computers and re- motely control the displays from up to 1000 feet away with the SM-RMT-8 x4 re- mote unit. The system comes in two parts: the matrix switch and the remote-control unit. The remote unit has 32 backlit and touch-activated switches for choosing which VGA to con- trol. Each VGA source on the control unit can be connected to one or all four VGA displays. The remote-control unit connects to the matrix switch via a 5-pin DIN connector. It comes with a 25-foot cable for connecting to the switch. The matrix switch comes with eight 6-foot VGA cables for connecting to the eight systems. It measures %Vi by 11 1/4 by 12 inches. Price: Matrix switch, $2450; remote unit, $525. Contact: Network Technol- ogies, Inc., 19145 Elizabeth St., Aurora, OH 44202, (800) 742-8324 or (216) 543- 1646. Inquiry 1310. Low-Priced LAN Control AN Command is LAN management software that combines database manage- ment with low-level network analysis. It loads on one cli- ent workstation, requiring 260K bytes of RAM. From that workstation, LAN Com- mand can monitor and con- trol your entire Novell or Net- BIOS-based network. The relational database system tracks node data (in- cluding user name, location, phone number, address, and node name) and more than 50 additional fields. Portions of the database are populated automatically by the network- monitoring commands to build a traffic history for every node. A report generator pro- vides standard and custom re- ports using Boolean opera- tors on any field in the record. For example, the administra- tor might request a custom re- port for every Ethernet node on the fourth floor that uses a server named Accounting and has been rebooted more than five times in the last week. Other monitoring features include packet activity, colli- sions, ring faults, bridge fail- ures, router failures, band- width use, traffic errors, and data loss. And you can monitor single stations, sets of sta- tions, or the entire network across bridges and routers from any single DOS or OS/2 workstation. A TSR program called Snooper lets you perform re- mote administration of the client computer. Price: $395. Contact: Dolphin Software, Inc., 6050 Peachtree Pkwy., Suite 340-208, Norcross, GA 30092, (404) 339-7877. Inquiry 1311. continued ISDN Connmunlcations with a PC The PC SNET Card is an ISDN terminal adapter board that provides ISDN basic rate access. It allows si- multaneous voice, data, and image transmission. One card has an aggregate throughput of 144,000 bps. This is made up of transpar- ent data transmission at 64,000 bps over two B chan- nels and 16,000-bps packet signaling over the D chan- nel, OST reports. You install the card in a full-size expan- sion slot in the PC. It oper- ates under DOS, Unix, or Xenix. The card provides the standard S-type connection along with an audio jack, an RJ-11 modular telephone jack, and a 15-pin serial con- nector. Internal connections include a parallel connector, a private bus connector, and a bus interrupt connector for use in installing multiple PC SNET Cards in a single PC. Price: $1695. Contact: OST, Inc., 14225 Sullyfield Cir., Chantilly, VA22021, (703) 817-0400. Inquiry 1312. 54 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 INSTANT Workstation. Just Add Open Desktop. Take a look at the vast majority of graphical workstations developed over the past decade and you'll see something , they all have in common: An integrated UNIX® System environment. Now take a look at the vast majority of businesses that have put computing power directly onto their office desktops over the past decade, and you'll see something they all have in common: Industry-standard personal computers. It doesn't take a computer to forecast the platform that's going to put graphical workstations on the vast majority of business and engineering desktops in the next decade: An integrated UNIX System environment for industry-standard personal computers. And that's what Open Desktop'" is all about. Open Desktop is the complete graphical operating system that's built on the most popular UNIX System platform of all time— SCO'". And it lets you create your own networked, icon-driven workstation environment using the industry- standard 386 or 486 computers and peripherals of your choice. I n a single, easy-to-use, fully supported— and completely integrated— package, Open Desktop delivers: • the full 32-bit, multitasking computing power of SCO UNIX System V/386 • compliance with POSIX'" and X/Open® standards • an OSF/Motif'"-based, Presentation Manager-compatible, graphical user interface • distributed SQL database management services • compatibility with existing DOS, XENIX®, and UNIX System applications and data files • NFS", TCP/IP and LAN Manager networking facilities And all at an unbelievably affordable price. Discover the complete graphical operating system that leading companies worldwide are choosing as their devel- opment platform for the '90s— and using to turn their 386 and 486 PCs into instant workstations today. Open Desktop from SCO. □111 OPEN ^Udesktor The Complete Graphical Openiliiig System COME SEE US AT COMDEX, ROOM B-1! THE SANTA CRUZ OPERATION For more information, call SCO today and ask for ext. 8400 (800) SCO-UNIX (726-8649) (408) 425-7222 FAX: (408) 458-4227 E-MAIL: . . . !uunet!sco!info info@sco.COM SCftlheSCOlKRo. Open Desklop. and ihe Open DeskEitp logo are irademarksofTne Santa Cruz Operaliim. Inc. ['NIXisareRisiered irademarit uf AT&Tin [helSAand(>lherciiuntrie>. POSl.XisairademarkiifThelnstiiuieoftleciricalandtiecirnnicstngineers (IEEE) X/Open isa regisiered trademark of X Open Gimpanv Ud. OSF/Motif is a irademarti iif The Open Sofi»-are Fimndalion, Inc. XENIX is a registered trademark trfMlcrosofi C(HTioraii(Mi NFS is a trademark of Sun Mtcros-yslems. Inc- I0'»9 ©1989 The Sama Cruz Operation, Inc. .All Rights Reserved. The Santa Cruz Operation. Inc. 400 Encinal Street. P-0, Box (900. Santa Cruz, California 9S06I I'SA The Sanu Cruz Operation. Ud..CroxleyCemre. Haiiers Lane, Watford VDI KYS.Creat Britain, (0)9i.( K16.^4i. FAX: +HH ^om^ sr-si, telex: wrz scolov g Circle 307 on Reader Service Card EghtTop Databa XXitOndBAS ADAM GREEN President, Adam Green Seminars, Lexington, MA: "It's sigmjicantly faster in some very important areas, especially in the fancy, attractive user interface. .Ma very stable product, very reliable. I can safely recommend it" PAT ADAMS President, DB Unlimited, Brooklyn, NY: "With standardization on the dBASE TV language, we have our database starmard, which makes life easier for me, for my clients, and every other dBASE user. . . It's a solid, reliable product that performs the same way every time." BOBDAVIES President, SET, Sausalito, CA: "Memory utilization is much better than either dBASE III PEUS or dBASE TV version 1.0— a very substantial improvement This means we are able to run our products, vMch require lots of memory and the need for a network, in a dBASE IV 1.1 environment" SCOTT ROBERTSON President, Champion Business Systems, Golden, CO: "We think that it's solid. We think it's reliable. We think it's an excellent foundation for future development The great thing about dBASE TV is that it has a flexible language and a good user interface. With dBASE TV version 1.1, end-users can take the product and tailor it so it fits their exact needs'.' After running their own extensive tests, these independent experts have come to some very favorable conclusions on dBASE IV® version 1.1. We think you will, too . dBASE. dRASE III PLUS, dB.ASE IV, Ashton-Iaie and the Ashton-Tate logo are registered trademarks of Ashton-Tate Corporation- Other company or produci names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective companies- se Experts Speak E IV Version 11 TONY LIMA Author of "Inside dBASE ly President, Pacific Systems Design Workshop Inc., San Carlos, CA: HOMER BRANCH Programmer Analyst, Chevron CEPS, New Orleans, LA: "Version 1.1 should dominate the market Its added features make it the best development environment available for PC database products . . . None of the other products have the power and ease of the dBASE N Control Center." "I'm using version 1.1 to develop applications right now . . . ft's much easier to use than either dBASElIIPEUSorlO... Because of the Control Center, version 1.1 allows my users to do queries and get their reports widwut calling me" *• RICHARD BRENNER President, Westar Systems, Colorado Springs, CO: SAM GILL President, DataWiz International, Foster City CA: "I'm now taking on some major consulting jobs that I wouldn't do before dBASE Wand its multiuser capabilities. . . I'm excited about t le way they've gone throu^ and enhanced just about every one of the new features mthin the program and the programming language" "dBASE IV version 1.1 is significantly faster. . . Memory management has really been improved. We can now load and run a system very comfortably in 640K bytes. . . Features like the form, report and application generators allow us to cut down development time" 1' Call 1-800-437-4329, ext. 1403, for more information. Better a a u, j. _ k^T>,+^ yet, call 1-800-2ASHTON for an immediate upgrade, .vm ASniOn- 1 3.16 1990 Ashton-Tale Coiporanon- All rights resereed GTSI's GSA Schedule GS00K90AGS5216 Circle 34 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 35) WHAT'S NEW CONNECTIVITY The DR 96 is a wireless, battery-powered modem for portable communications. Wireless Communications The DR 96 is an asyn- chronous/ synchronous half-duplex modem that of- fers portable and wireless data transmission. Both the radio and the modem are contained in the same 15'/i-ounce package. The DR 96 uses the radio frequency band of 470 MHz and has a sensitivity of .35 microvolts. The unit also of- fers 10-ms RTS (request to send) and GTS (clear to send) signaling times. A rechargeable IV2-W bat- tery pack that comes with the modem can operate it for from 4 to 10 hours. A recharg- er is also included that can recharge the batteries in 3 hours, according to UDS. Price: $1295. Contact: UDS, 5000 Brad- ford Dr., Huntsville, AL 35805, (205) 430-8000. Inquiry 1313. Modem with a Memory The Visionary 2400XT is a direct-connect 2400-bps modem with battery-backed internal memory and a real- time clock/calendar to con- trol when you send and receive messages. A blinking mes- sage-waiting light lets you know when you have mes- sages. You can even send and receive messages when the host computer is turned off. All this internal intelligence is controlled by an 8085 microprocessor. In addition, you can store dozens of phone numbers and messages for distribution at various times. Other features include redialing on busy or no answer, auto-answer during particular times only, auto- matic log-on, data retrieval, XMODEM file transfer, re- mote access, and password se- curity. The modem also has a printer port and a nickel-cad- mium battery. The modem is available in three versions: 8K-byte, 256K- byte, and 1-MB. It measures 5%by 83/oby I'/z inches. Price: 8K-byte unit, $495; 256K-byte unit, $595; 1-MB unit, $745. Contact: Visionary Electron- ics, Inc., 141 Parker Ave., San Francisco, CA94118, (415) 751-8811. Inquiry 1314. Notework Moves Out into the Field Notework recently an- nounced Notework Re- mote, a remote version of its 5K-byte Notework E-mail pro- gram. Remote allows laptop users or branch offices to pop up Notework over the phone line. The software automati- cally makes the connection and does the uploading or downloading of mail. Like the original Notework for Novell NetWare, Remote takes up only 5K bytes of RAM, employs the same user interface, and lets you pop into it without leaving your application. Notework alerts you with a tone when you receive mail, and you see a flashing sym- bol in the upper-right corner of the screen. Other features let you attach files, print notes, confirm notes, and import and export ASCII files. Notework offers a gateway to Message Handling Service. The most recent version of Notework now supports multi- ple NetWare 386 servers without requiring additional gateways or mail servers. Version 1.1.4 supports up to 3500 users on a single inter- network, according to Note- work. Price: $99; installation kit, $99; two-user authorization disk, $99. Contact: Notework Corp. , 72 Kent St. , Brookline, MA 02146, (800)767-6683 or (617) 738-5295. Inquiry 1315. Linking Buildings via Infrared Light Building-to-Building Photolink lets you con- nect computers in adjacent buildings up to 600 feet away, according to Photonics. Two versions of Photolink are available: AppleTalk/ LocalTalk for the Mac, and an interface for systems equipped with RS-232C ports. At the end of each connec- tion is a Photolink transceiver that communicates with its corresponding unit. Photonics says that the device can oper- ate through two panes of stan- dard office window glass. Photolink can connect to existing cable-based systems and is compatible with AppleTalk routers and bridges. It transmits at 230,400 bps. The RS-232C version trans- mits up to four channels si- multaneously at 9600 bps. Price: $3390 per connection for both versions. Contact: Photonics Corp., 200 East Hacienda Ave. , Campbell, CA 95008, (408) 370-3033. Inquiry 1316. Modem Sharing for Networks Modem Assist lets you share up to 20 modems connected to a LAN. It elim- inates the need for a dedicated communications server and the cost of rerouting all modem phone lines, according to Fresh Technology Group. The software works with multiport serial cards that sup- port up to 16 modems on a single workstation. It requires less than lOK bytes of RAM and runs in the background on any workstation with the modem. Modem Assist requires PCs running on NetBIOS or NetWare networks with DOS 3.0 or higher. Price: $495 for up to five modems; $995 for six to 20 modems. Contact: Fresh Technology Group, 1478 North Tech Blvd., Suite 101, Gilbert, AZ 85234, (602) 497-4200. Inquiry 1317. continued 58 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 Programmer's Paradise (800) has the Utilities that you need ! ^^^^^^^ A WINNING COMBINATION! URBO EMS - Memory Manager • Supports PC, XT, AT, PS/2, and 386 systems • Ability to relocate TSRs and device drivers • Automatic installation and configura- tion on 386 systems • Windows 3.0 support List: $99.95 Ours: $89 joMERRILL OCBRYAN nfoSpotter - Diagnostic tool Detailed description about memory and system configuration Displays TSRs and device drivers loaded between 640KB and 1 MB Ability to edit AUTOEXEC.BAT, CONHG.SYS and batch files Special MicroChannel support VAXazera =22:3^000: List: $79.95 Ours: $69 HIJAAK RELEASE 2.0 JTl-iJaak 2.0 is a graphics conversion and capture utility that translates more than 36 graphics file formats. Hijaak provides batch conversion capabiUty from the DOS com- mand line or from the user interface. Supported formats: GEM, PICT l&II, GCM, HPGL, PIC, DXF, PCX, MAC, TIF, and support for more than 16 group 3 fax devices. ASK pop-up provides capture function of text screens, graphics screens, and laser printer output. FAXcetera #19:6-0002 List: $199 Ours: $139 Inset Systems SQUISH PLUS /ft Sundog Software Corp. O' quish Plus can enlarge the capacity of all your disks-hard, floppy, or silicon. By compressing data, it can get up to 240MB on a 120MB hard disk-without any new hardware. Unlike archive programs, it's completely automatic and invisible. Squished files stay compacted on disk even while they're being used, and you're free to choose which files to compress. Because it's a device driver, it's totally compatible with all your other software: any database, compiler, backup, cache, etc. FAXcetera #16?6-0001 List: $100 Ours: $75 SWITCH-IT WITCH-IT is a task-switching package that allows users to switch programs (up to 100) to their EMS or hard disk, freeing up RAM space to run large applications. The easiest to use of any product of its kind, SWITCH-IT offers automatic installation, a customizable menu, a cut & paste feature, complete network compatibiUty and SWITCH-IT only uses 26K of RAM TAXcetira #2396-0001 List: $100 Ours: $69 Programmer's Paradise ® ••• LIST OURS We'll Beatlhe Competition's Advertised Prices LIST OURS 386 CONTROL PROGRAMS DESQvievv 386 vv/QEMM 220 169 Microsoft Windows 3.0 150 99 VM/386 245 209 VM/386 Multiuser 895 839 VM/386 Multiuser Starter 393 339 386 DEVELOPMENT TOOLS 386 ASM/LinkLoc C-Terp 386 Lahev F77L-EM/32 (w/OS, MetaWare High C 386 Parado>i'386 PC-lint 386 Phar Lap 386 ASM/LINK WATCOM C 8.0/386 Prof. w/Phar Lap 386 ASM/LINK WATCOM C 8.0/386 Standard ADA Academic IntegrAda Ada Scope Debugger Ada Training Environment Adagraphics IntegrAda Meridian AdaStudent Meridian Ada Developer's Kit ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE Advantage Disassembler ASMFlow Dis Doc Professional MS Macro Assembler OPTASM RerSource Sourcer w/ Pre-Processor SpontaneousAssembly Turbo Debugger & Tools Visible Computer: 80286 BASIC COMPILERS MS BASIC Prof. Devel. System Power Basic QuickBASIC BASIC LIBS/UTILITIES GraphPak Professional P.D.Q. ProBas ProBas Toolkit QBase and Quickscreen QuickComm QuickPak Professional QuickWindows Advanced C COMPILERS Lattice C 6.0 Microsoft C 6.0 w/ Objective-C MS QuickC 2.5 MS QuickC w/ QuickAssembler Turbo C 2.0 WATCOM C 8.0 Professional WATCOM C 8.0 Standard C++ 1295 1145 239 189 1290 1035 895 849 995 799 895 629 239 179 495 435 1295 1099 1790 1399 895 719 249 225 495 445 895 809 695 629 795 719 50 45 1195 1095 295 279 99 89 250 225 150 105 150 129 ISO 129 170 149 395 189 150 105 100 89 495 349 129 89 99 69 149 129 129 115 159 149 99 94 149 125 149 119 169 149 149 119 250 155 495 339 699 539 99 69 199 139 99 69 495 419 395 335 C++/Views 495 419 NOP C++ 495 479 Rogue Wave Math.h++ 200 179 Rogue Wave Tools.h++ 200 179 Turbo C++ 200 139 Turbo C++ Professional 300 205 Competitive Upgrade ISO 139 Zinc Library 200 179 Zortech C++ Debugger 150 129 Zortech C++ 200 165 Zortech C++ Developer's Edition 450 399 Bundled w/ C++/Views 945 595 Zortech C++ Tools 130 129 Zortech C++ Video Course 300 449 C-COMMUNICATIONS Breakout II 249 189 C Asynch Manager 3.0 189 139 Essential Communications 329 259 Creenleaf CommLib 359 287 Greenleaf ViewComm 399 319 SilverComm C Asynch Library 249 209 View-232 189 149 C-FILE MANAGEMENT AccSys tor dBASE or Paradox 395 349 Btrieve Devei. System 595 449 Codebase IV 295 219 c-tree 395 315 dBC III Plus 500 439 dbJILE Bundle 295 249 Essential B-Tree w/ source 198 149 FairCom Toolbox - Prof. Edition 1095 789 FairCom Toolbox - Special 695 509 Paradox Engine 493 349 C-GENERAL LIBRARIES Blackstar C Function Librarv 99 79 C TOOLS PLUS/6.0 149 109 C Utilitv Library 249 199 Greenleaf Functions 229 179 Greenleaf SuperFunctions 299 239 Turbo C TOOLS/2.0 149 109 C SCREENS C-VVorthy 399 CALL Greenleaf DataWindows 395 315 Panel Plus 495 395 QuickWindows Advanced (C) 169 149 Vermont Views 495 395 Viiamin C 225 165 VC Screen 149 125 C-UTILITIES/OTHER Bar Code Library 389 319 Clear + 200 169 C Shroud 198 149 DIVVY 229 209 Heap Expander 80 70 MKS LEX & VACC 249 197 Objective-C 249 225 PC-lint 139 105 PCYACC Professional 495 459 TimeSlicer 295 279 CASE TOOLS EasvCASE Plus 295 265 Professional Pack 395 355 Personal CASE 199 179 COBOL LANGUAGE Micro Focus: COBOiy2wy Toolset 1800 1499 Personal COBOL 149 129 MS COBOL 900 629 Realia COBOL 995 849 CODE GENERATORS Logic Gem 99 69 Matrix Lavout 2.0 200 159 PRO-C 399 339 DATABASE DEVELOPMENT Clarion 2.1 CALL CALL \— 1 ipper D .u 795 519 299 269 dBASE IV 795 489 dBFast/PLUS 345 295 dGE 295 249 1 00 89 99 90 FUhTools! 89 79 Flipper 195 169 Force 2.1 695 589 FoxPro 795 489 rUiNLNv LiDrary 1 95 179 K&K tseport vvnter 129 KiK L-Ooe Lienerator 1 50 129 iav vvnatii 50 39 SilverComm C Interface 99 89 SilverComm Library 2.0 249 209 Tom Rettig's Library 199 80 LJI2 Version Two d9d 479 DEBUGGERS (DOS) MultiScope 179 135 Periscope 1/51 2K 595 475 Periscope II w/ switch 225 179 Periscope IV/16, 25 MHz CALL CALL Trapper 200 179 w/ optional cable 240 219 Turbo Debugger & Tools 150 105 DOCUMENTING/ FLOWCHARTING allCLEAR 300 229 Clear+ 195 169 C-Clearly 130 115 Flow Charting 3 250 199 Interactive Easyflow 150 125 Paginate 100 79 Source Print 99 74 The Documentor 295 245 Tree Diagrammer 99 74 EDITORS BRIEF 3.0 249 CALL EDT+ 295 269 EMACS 325 265 Epsilon 195 159 KEDIT 4.0 150 125 MKS Vi 149 129 PI Editor 195 175 Sage Professional Editor 295 249 SLICK Editor 195 154 SPF/PC 245 199 SYNDIE 493 399 VEDIT PLUS 183 CALL tMofcUUtU blslcMS Link & Locate ++ 395 349 Link & Locate ++ Extended 479 395 Paradigm Locate 295 265 FORTRAN LANGUAGE Grafmatic 135 119 Lahey F77L 595 535 Lahey Personal FORTRAN 77 99 89 MS FORTRAN 450 299 Plotmatic 135 119 RM/FORTRAN 595 499 WATCOM FORTRAN 77/386 1095 CALL GRAPHICS LIBRARIES Baby Driver 250 199 Essential Graphics 399 319 Font-Tools 150 119 Graf/Drive Plus Developer's 299 269 Graphic 5.0 395 319 GSS Graphics Devel. Toolkit 595 509 GX Graphics 149 135 HALO 395 279 HALO Professional 595 419 HALO Window Toolkit 595 419 Icon-Tools/Plus 150 119 Menuet 325 279 Meta Window 250 209 MetaWindow Plus 325 289 PCX Effects 99 89 PCX Programmer's Toolkit 195 175 PCX Text 149 135 SilverPaint 129 109 Slate w/ graphics 448 415 Turbo Geometry Library 200 179 LINKERS/LIBRARIANS Overlav Toolkit 393 369 Plink86+ 395 335 Plink/LTO 495 419 PolyLibrarian 249 209 .RTLink 295 265 .RTLink/Plus 495 419 OBIECT-ORIENTED TOOLS Objective-C 249 225 Smalltalk/V 100 85 Smalltalk/V 286 200 169 OS/2 TOOLS Brief 249 CALL CASE:PM for C 1493 1420 Epsilon 195 159 MKS LEX & YACC 349 279 MS OS/2 Pres. Manager Toolkit 500 349 MultiScope for OS/2 449 PCYACC 695 625 PI Editor 249 225 Smalltalk/V PM 495 369 Vitamin C (OS/2) 345 279 PASCAL LANGUAGE Asynch PLUS 149 115 B-tree Filer 123 109 MS QuickPASCAL 99 69 Object Professional 150 109 Power Tools PLUS/5.0 149 109 Topaz 99 89 Topaz Multi-user 149 135 Turbo Analyst 99 89 TurboMAGIC 199 Turbo Pascal 5.5 150 105 Turbo Pascal 5.5 Professional 250 175 Turbo-Plus 5.5 199 159 Turbo Professional 3.0 123 109 SOURCE MAINTENANCE Codan 393 345 Code Check 493 469 MKS Make 149 119 MKS RCS 189 149 MKS Software Mgmt. Team 299 239 PolyMake 179 149 PVCS Professional 495 419 SMS 495 399 SOURCEDOC 99 89 TLIB 139 109 5 Station LAN 419 339 WINDOWS (MS) TOOLS Actor 3.0 895 719 Asymetrix Toolbook 395 CALL Bridge Toolkit 695 659 Case:W 795 759 C-Talk/Views 450 375 dBFast/Windows 395 335 DialogCoder 499 435 Graphics Server SDK 495 419 MS Windows Development Kit 500 349 MultiScope for Windows 379 289 ObjectCraphics 445 365 ProtoView 695 625 WindowsMAKER 595 535 WinTrieve 395 339 WNDX GUI Toolbox 499 449 SPECIAL DEALS!! Microsoft Buy One, Get One FREB Buy any MS Quick language or a Microsoft Mouse, and get one of the following FREE: MS Flight Simulator, PC Tools, or Sign Designer. (Mail included coupon directly to Microsoft.) Zortech C++ Developer's Edition 2.1, C++A^iews Bundle Get the first and only native C+-!- compiler supporting MS Windows, plus over 60 C++ object classes for a special low price of $595! Borland's Turbo C++ Professional Competitive Upgrade Ready to switch from your C compiler to Borland's Turbo C++ Professional? It's easy and inexpensive-just S 1 39 at Programmer's Paradise. Call for details. Objective-C For Microsoft C programmers interested in gaining the benents of object-oriented technology without losing the familiarity, efficiency & portability or C. Augments C with an object data type, a message expression and a class definition mechanism. List: S249 Ours: $223 Guaranteed Best Prices! J^!^J^^ VAKcetera Want more product information on the items in the gold box to the right? TryFAXcetero!! Just pick up vour FAX phone and dial 201-389-8173. Enter the FAXcetera product code listed below each product description-information will be faxed back to you instantly! LIST OURS SCIENCE & ENGINEERING LIST OURS XENIX/UNIX BLAST UNIX/XENIX 495 395 Epsilon 193 169 Interactive Products CALL CALL LPI-COBOL 1495 1199 LPI-FORTRAN 995 799 MetaWare High C 895 849 Microport Products CALL CALL MKS RCS 395 335 MKS Trilogy 119 105 PI Editor 349 319 SCO Products CALL CALL VEDIT PLUS 283 249 ADDITIONAL PRODUCTS APL-PLUS 695 349 Dan Bricklin's Demo II 199 159 dBx/dBPort 600 459 Cuido 249 CALL Lattice RPC 1600 1285 MKS AWK 99 79 Opt- Tech Sort/Merge 149 119 PC Scheme 95 79 Personal Rexx 150 139 APPLICATION SOFTWARE COMMUNICATIONS BLAST II 250 225 Carbon Copy Plus 199 129 Laplink III 150 99 PC Anywhere III 145 99 Procomm Plus 99 63 SideTalk 120 99 DESKTOP PUBLISHING Adobe Products CALL CALL Corel Draw! 593 399 HALO DPE 195 139 PageMaker 795 509 Ventura Publisher 895 549 MATHEMATICS Derive 200 179 MathCAD 495 315 Mathematica 386 695 625 SCIENCE & ENGINEERING AutoCAD Release 1 0 3000 CALL AutoSketch 150 95 ChiWriler 150 129 CSS 495 469 DADiSP 895 759 Design CAD 3-D 400 292 Drafix Windows CAD 695 CALL EXACT 475 380 Generic CADD Level 3 350 289 LABTECH Acquire 195 179 LABTECH Notebook 995 779 MICRO-CAP III 1495 1269 Our Guarantee... ^ Products listed here are backed by the following guarantee': Should you see one of these products listed at a lower price in another ad in this magazine, CALL US! We'll beat the price, and stiU offer our same quality service and support. Terms of Offer: • Otter good through November 30, 1 990 • Applicable to pricing on current versions of software listed; Nov. issue prices only. • Offer does not apply towards obvious errors in competitors' ads. • Subject to same terms and conditions. Oread PCB 1495 CALL PC-MATLAB 695 625 PC TEX 249 229 SCHEMA III 495 449 Systat w/ Svgraph 895 759 Tango PCB Series II 595 559 TECH-GRAPH-PAD 395 319 T' 595 479 SPREADSHEETS Lotus 1 -2-3 595 389 Microsoft Excel 495 319 Quattro Professional 495 329 SuperCalcS 495 319 UTILITIES 386MAX5.0 130 99 above DISC 119 64 AboveMEM 80 72 Bootcon 60 55 Cache 86 50 39 FASTBACK Plus 189 109 HeadRoom 2.0 130 109 Hijaak 150 105 Hold Everything 199 159 Inf'oSpotter 80 69 MACE 1990 149 129 Magellan 195 CALL MKS Toolkit 249 199 MOVE 'EM 89 79 Norton Commander 149 99 Norton Utilities 5.0 179 129 PC Tools Deluxe 6.0 149 95 Pizazz Plus 149 79 Precursor 96 79 SitBack 99 90 Software Carousel 90 72 SpinRite II 89 75 Squish Plus 100 75 Switch-It 100 69 Tree 86 90 69 Turbo EMS 5.0 100 89 UpShot 95 89 XTreePro Gold 129 109 ZENO 269 239 WORD PKOCEsslNCj Ami 199 129 Microsoft Word for Windows 495 349 WordPerfect 5.1 495 CALL SOFTWARE FOR SUN WORKSTATIONS Basmark QuickBASIC CALL CALL C Programmer's Toolbox/ Sun 495 449 Edix 425 339 EMACS for Sun 395 369 Informix CALL CALL Lotus 1-2-3 for Sun CALL CALL Mathematica for Sun CALL CALL MetaWare High C 895 849 NeuralWorks Professional II 4095 CALL Panel Plus (Sun 3) 1595 1355 WordPerfect for Sun 495 CALL Programmer's Policies Phone Orders Hours 8:30 AM-7 PM EST. We accept MC.Visa, AMEX. Domestic shipments, please add $5 per item for shipping' handling by UPS ground. For domestic COD shipments, please add S3. Rush service available. Mail or FAX Orders POs are welcome. Please include phone number. International Service Phone number required with order. Call or FAX for additional information. Dealers and Corporate Accounts Call for information. Unbeatable Prices We'll beat the competition's advertised prices. Prices subject to change without notice. Return Policy 30 days. Due to copyright laws, we cannot take back software with the disk seal broken unless authorized by the manufacturer. Returned product must include R.A. number. IMA ;SOfIWARE Menuet - The GUI Development Toolkit. Menuet is a sophisticated, simple solution for Graphical User Interface (GUI) development that provides over 400 callable functions and supports most all GUI constructs. MetaWINDOW, from Metagraphics Software Corporation, and CSS''CCI, from Graphics Software Systems. Other Ithaca Street products include: UpShot, PiXelPrint, Font-Tools, Icon- Tools, and Baby Driver. 1« List: $325 Ours: $279 FAX.fKTO #2263-0003 WindowsMAKER WindowsMAKER is a code generator that builds complete Windows 3.0 applications. Prototype the entire user interface (menus, icons, buttons, controls, etc.) in a WYSIWYG editor, then generate Microsoft C code for MS-Windows. Custom code is preserved during regeneration. WindowsMAKER handles message processing, memory management, child windows, debugging, compiler settings, MDI and much more. Generates excellent C code. Port DOS programs to Windows in record time. A must if you are writing applications for Windows in C. 30 day money-back guarantee. List: $595 Ours: $535 r.VXi W"ii«b*-s.MAKER ; 1 Candlelight < -a #2602-0002 WATCOM C8.0/386 WATCOM C8.0/386 is a 100% ANSI C optimizing compiler and run-time library for the Intel 80386 architecture generating applications for 32-bit protected mode. With C8. 0/386, you can go beyond the 640K DOS limit. Library and source code compatibility with Microsoft C simplifies many porting projects. Significant features include: protected mode version of the compiler; VIDEO full-screen source-level debugger: Microsoft library and source compatibility; execution profiler; high-performance linker; graphics library. Standard List: $895 Ours: $719 Professional List: $1295 Ours: $1099 #1683-0001 SpontaneousAssembly An assembly language library that lets you produce the fastest, tightest possible programs with the same ease you'd expect from a high-level language. It includes an impressive collection of over 700 functions and macros for high-speed text windowing, heap management, array searching and sorting, critical error management, 32/64 bit integer math, and much more! Comprehensive 750-f page manual. Full source code. No royalties. Easy integration with C. "If you program in assembly language, you gotta have SpontaneousAssembly." ■ Michael Abrash DEVELOPMENT Ust: $395 Ours; $189 F.\Xa(.m #2614-0001 basetm International: 201-389-9228 Customer Service: 201-389-9229 Fax: 201-389-9227 Corporate: 800-422-6507 Canada: 800-445-7899 ¥AXcetera: 201-389-8173 Call or Write for Latest Free Catalog! 1-800-445-7899 A Division of Voyager Software Corp 1 163 Shrewsbury Ave., Shrewsbury, NJ 07702 Circle 289 on Reader Service Card WHAT'S NEW SOFTWARE • PROGRAMMING Saber-C 3. 0 combines an incremental linker, static and run-time error detection, source-level debugging, and a multiwindow interface in one system. Unix Programming Environment Has All the Tools Saber Software has brought its environment for Unix workstations up to speed to support all phases of C programming, including development, debugging, test- ing, and maintenance. Saber- C 3.0 lets you debug code han- dled by the interpreter, object code produced by the compiler, or libraries. You can use Saber-C to set break- points and to step, trace, and debug object and source code modules. Saber-C includes a multi- window graphical interface that you can customize by de- fining commands and new but- tons. Saber-C automatically detects more than 250 static and run-time errors. Saber-C runs on Sun-3 and Sun386i workstations, SPARC- stations, DECstations run- ning Ultrix, and ASCII and X Window System terminals. Price: $2495. Contact: Saber Software, Inc . , 1 85 Alewife Brook Pkwy., Cambridge, MA 02138, (617) 876-7636. Inquiry 1271. Zinc Releases Class Library forC++ With Zinc's user inter- face class library for Borland's Turbo C-l~l- you can create a user interface for a DOS application without hav- ing to develop the interface from scratch. The Zinc Inter- face Library 1 .0 lets you write applications that run in true graphics and text modes, in- cluding on dual monitors, from one set of source code without recompiling or re- linking, the company says. The library also supports 20 input field types with built-in cut-and-paste and full Undo and Redo. By calling the Zinc BBS, you can download additional capabilities for Zinc 1 .0, in- cluding support for both the MetaWindows Graphics Li- brary and Borland's Graphical Interface. Other features on the BBS include enhanced scroll-bar support to provide both verti- cal and horizontal scroll bars in the window object, in ad- dition to vertical scroll-bar support for text and matrix objects. Zinc has also added a new List object with full in- sert, delete, and modify capabilities. The library exploits C-l-4- features such as virtual func- tions, class inheritance, oper- ator overloading, and multiple inheritance. Price: $199.95; source code, $200. Contact: Zinc Software, Inc., 405 South 100 East, Suite 201, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062, (800) 638-8665 or (801) 785-8900; BBS, (801) 785-8997. Inquiry 1272. High-Level Routines for the Mac User Interface Maclnterface 1 . 1 auto- matically implements many segments of the Mac interface. The library supports the Undo and Redo of Edit menu commands without re- quiring coding on your part. It provides automatic support for the dragging, growing, and zooming of modal and modeless dialog boxes. The program is compatible with Lightspeed C and Pascal, MPW C and Pascal, and sev- eral Modula compilers. Price: $295. Contact: Holder, Egan & Co., Inc., 4148 Spring Hill Rd., Midland, MI 48640, (800) 782-9976 or (517) 636-7373. Inquiry 1273. Structured Design Analysis for Windows System Architect 2. 1, the CASE tool for structured design analysis that runs under Microsoft Windows, lets you take an entity model sim- ilar to that of the IBM Reposi- tory and expand it graphical- ly to show both key and nonkey data. It supports supertype and subtype relationships and provides for automatic syn- chronization of any two data dictionary types. System Architect runs on an IBM AT with Microsoft Windows 3.0. An OS/2 Pre- sentation Manager version is scheduled to ship by year's end. Price: $1395; Booch Object Diagraming option, $495. Contact: Popkin Software & Systems, Inc., 11 Park Place, 19th Floor, New York, NY 10007,(212)571-3434. • Inquiry 1274. continued New MitemView Supports the MaclRMA Family Version 1 . 1 of Mitem- View, the HyperCard development tool that lets you create graphical user in- terfaces for accessing IBM mainframe applications, sup- ports Digital Communica- tions Associates' MaclRMA products, including coaxial and LAN-based System Net- work Architecture gateways. Mitem says 1.1 uses DCA's MaclRMA application pro- gramming interface to pro- vide connectivity to the host . MitemView simplifies the connection to VAX and IBM 3278 and 3279 main- frames, providing easier access and information re- trieval for local processing without requiring modifica- tion of the host code. Mitem- View already supported Tri- Data's Net Way and Avatar's MacMainFrame products . Price: Developer's toolkit, $995; MaclRMA driver, $495. Contact: Mitem Corp., 2105 Hamilton Ave., Suite 190, San Jose, CA 95125, (408)559-8801. Inquiry 1275. 62 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 Times Change. The Need To Protect Doesn't. o RAINBOW TECHNOLOGIES 9292 Jeronimo Road. Irvine. CA 92718 TEL: (714) 454-2100 ■ (800) 852-8569 (Outside CA) FAX: (714) 454-8557 • AppleLink: D3058 Rainbow Technologies. Ltd.. Shirlev Lodae. 470 London Road Slough. Berkshire SL3 SQY.TEL: 0753-41512 ■ FAX: 0753-43610 hether you're protecting frontiers and temples in Manchuria, or software and data on the PC or Mac, the Great Wall is a lesson Rainbow Technologies has learned very well. Software developers must deal daily with the consequences of unauthorized copies and millions of dollars in lost revenue. At the same time, both individual and corporate users must be able to make and distribute copies within legal guidelines. Today's information-driven companies must secure their data files against theft and unauthorized access. No less than protecting personal wealth and tangible property, guarding data files is a necessary invest- ment in competitive survival. Protecting "intellectual property" is the security challenge for the '90s. Which is why Rainbow Technologies builds a little of the Great Wall into every key it makes. For developers, the Software Sentinel"' family of keys protects IBM, PS/2 and compatible software, while Eve ' guards software for the Mac. Rainbow's DataSentry" is the solution for PC data protection. Software and data protection from Rainbow Technologies. Information on how you can have a little piece of the Great Wall to protect your software and data worldwide is as close as a toll-free call. Copyright ©1990 Rainbow Technologies. Inc. Circle 300 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 301) How to make the work go fas For advanced applications like CAD/CAM, presentation graphics or financial modeling, you can't go wrong with the PowerMate® 386'V25S. For far less than comparable 386 systems, you get 25MHz speed, 2MB CsC Computers and Communications ter and the money go slower of RAM (easily expandable to 16MB via SIM modules) and a 32K memory cache. You also get something you can't get from anyone else at any price: NEC. For more information call 1-800-NEC-INFO. e «»0 NEC T.cnnoiog»i t%c _ ^ ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^K NEC Circle 255 on Reader Service Card WHAT'S NEW SOFTWARE . BUSINESS Ask and you shall receive is one of Muse 's concepts. Another is to provide only the data that you need. Occam Says, Go Ahead, Ask Me Even with the best graphi- cal user interface, it can still be difficult to find the right data in an acre-size spreadsheet and graph it appropriately. Occam is addressing this problem with its new program for the Mac, called Muse. Muse lets you perform data re- trieval, manipulation, and in- terpretation using English lan- guage through the keyboard or other input device such as the Voice Navigator. The program also lets you pull only the data you need from vast data sets and graph it immediately on your com- mand. Muse can import data in flat files, ASCII, DBF, WKS, and several other formats. The program organizes data in databooks, which you can set up to reflect company divisions such as personnel, manufac- turing, or sales. As you ask or type questions in English, Muse retrieves the relevant data and puts it into a work- book with the level of detail you need. When you want to graph a workbook, you simply type or say, "Graph that," and Muse does the rest, auto- matically numbering graphs by titles, legends, axis identifi- cation, and data identifica- tion. Graphs can be 2-D, 3-D, or animations. Occam is releasing Muse to a number of corporate sites this fall, with general distri- bution targeted for 1991. Price: $695. Contact: Occam Research Corp., 85 Main St., Water- town, MA 02172, (617) 923-3545. Inquiry 1276. Generate Database Applications with PAIVI PAM (for Program Auto- mated Method) 2.0, the relational DBMS that in- cludes an application generator and natural user interface, adds new data types, new rela- tional capabilities, matrix table processing, expanded database capacity, and many other features, while running in less than 256K bytes of RAM on the IBM PC. For companies seeking to learn more about how to enter and succeed in the world marketplace, Gate- Waze has developed x-prime World Trader. The pro- gram's four integrated data- base modules let you look at information in a variety of ways through the use of hyperlinking. The Market Analyst mod- ule provides a set of tools for analyzing the 50 major trad- ing partners of the U.S. ; the World Atlas module gives up-to-date information on 125 countries; the Info- Deck supplies a directory of Designed for nonprogram- mers, PAM 2.0 lets you design applications with built-in field verification. Support for transaction processing allows multiple fields in multiple databases to be updated in a single screen. PAM 2.0 also supports mathematical oper- ations for multiple fields in databases from one numeric entry, allowing for easy update. Advanced relational capa- bilities link one database to multiple records in another database without the need for common fields. international contacts; and the Export Reference Guide offers information on the ex- porting process. Other fea- tures include currency, weight, and measures infor- mation; time-zone calcula- tions; and an international glossary. The program runs on the IBM PC with 512K bytes of RAM. Price: $289. Contact: GateWaze, Inc., 66 Summer St., P.O. Box 743, Manchester, MA 01944, (800) 752-4711 or (508) 526-7406. Inquiry 1279. Version 2.0 supports Hew- lett-Packard laser printers and mail merge. Price: $145 to $345. Contact: Software Compos- ers, Inc., 4500 Newcombe Dr., Piano, TX 75093, (214) 985-8018. Inquiry 1277. EASI Puts Forms and Database in One Package FormType 3.0 provides a forms creator and dBASE- compatible relational data- base in one package, letting you use the information that's collected in day-to-day operations to help you make business decisions. FormType 3.0 supports form fill-in and report genera- tion. A LAN version is available. With FormType 3.0, you can link several different form types to the same database. This lets you store common in- formation such as name, ad- dress, or sales history in one place, although it is used re- peatedly in various office forms, Easy Automation Sys- tems says. You can perform relational database operations and inte- grate and transfer common information among the forms, saving keystrokes and reduc- ing input errors. FormType 3.0 runs on the IBM PC with 640K bytes of RAM. A run-time version lets valve-added resellers and OEMs insert a company logo and application name into shrink-wrapped form sets. Price: $229.95; run-time version, $99.95; LAN version, $695 per server. Contact: Easy Automation Systems, Inc., 5555 Triangle Pkwy., Suite 440, Norcross, GA 30092, (800) 627-3274 or (404) 840-0474. Inquiry 1278. continued Put an International Business Expert in Your PC 66 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1990 D M P-6 SERIES Hewlett Pocka DraftPro' DXL in^ly stated, we beat the pants off the competition. O.K., let's settle this perfor- ^^^^^V mance thing once and for all. ^Ss^^^^S. SPEED. In a recent compori- ^..-^J^ j^MI 5^^^^ son of throughput for the three BMH^B ^ option c top selling plotters, the Houston ^^^^H ^'^'^^ Instrument DMP-61 DL came out on top. One-third faster than the CalComp 1023. Over three times faster than the H P DraftPro DXL. In other words, whatever Plotter Throughput- I . • L (Pereent of plot complete d in 2:36) 7°" P'°' ""^ 100°''° ^^^H ^i^" ^ou'^ ^^1^^ you 75o/„_TP|B ^^_«^B all afternoon with them. J |||| QUALITY. We also v| fjMjJ} deliver unsurpassed 25%- quality with identical mechanical resolution HiDMP- coicompHRDrcftP™ to ColComp ond HP, . Turn your HI DMP Series plott( ' scanner with SCAN-CAD. This option attaches to your plotter to E-size drawings— all at a fractii HIDMP- CalComp HP DraftPro 61 DL 1023 DXL T A ta™ and superior same pen J-CAD-Opoon ^pertPbiiHy. VERSATILITY. Only the es to your plotter to scan up to Houston Instrument plotters .ings-dlatafradionofthe ^ff^^ Q^j^l^ g^^le™ ^hg^e ■ a stand-alone scanner. . ■ . ■ ■ any size drawing can be easily scaled and plotted at the current media size, plus the capability to save up to six different user configurations in memory— all standard. PRICE. Best of all, the HI DMP-60 DL Series helps you beat the pants off your competition all at a very competitive price. For more information on the DMP-60 DL Series plotters call 1-800-444-3425. HOUSTDN INSTRUMENT. A Summagraphics Company *D-size Columbia plot using AutoCAD Release 10 with the HP 7585 driver on a COMPAQ 386 16 MHZ computer with moth coprocessor. Plotters were set to manufacturer's recommended settings for pen and media combinations used for check plot and final plots. 9 1 990 Summagraphics Corporation. Seymour, CT 06483. All rights reserved. For IBM/Compatible information circle 163, For Macintosh information circle 164, For Reseller inquiries circle 165 on Reader Service Card. 'Tie only pdn ^ mWindow As the people responsible for the Maiosoff Wmdows^enviiDnraent, we believe we're in a good position to offer some very sound advice on Windows Computing. And that, as you've probably guessed by now, is the Microsoft Mouse. You see, the Mouse allows you to navigate the Windows environment and applications with untold ease. For more informatim, call (800) 541-1261, Dept. M29. Outside the U.S. and Canada, call (206) 882.8661 In Canada, call (416) 673-7638. ©1990 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft an As well as unparalleled accuracy. VisitadealerandcheckitoutfQr Furthermore, we've made the yourself We think you'll see our point decision to buy a Mouse even easier. g- Now itfe available either with software, IwUCfOSOtt or on its own for the purist. Making it all make sense he Microsoft logo are registered trademarks and Windows and Making it all make sense are trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. The Microsoft Mouse design is patented. (Design Patent #302, 426.) WHAT'S NEW SOFTWARE • SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING Visualize Protein Structures on tlie IBM PC A molecular graphics tool called the Protein Visual- izer lets you visualize how different chemicals and other substances interact with vari- ous molecules. The program lets you create 3-D models of complex protein structures and rotate, separate, and other- wise manipulate molecules for further study. With the program, you can overlay up to four mixed-mode models at the same time. The overlays can show the interac- tion of substrates in an active- site cleft or hormones and their receptors, and capture the results. Protein Visualizer features zooming, full-color space fill- ing, and all-atom or main- chain display of up to 5000 atoms. The program requires a 286 with VGA capability and 640K bytes of RAM. A hard disk drive is recommended. Price: $495. Contact: Synthetic Genetics, 10455 Roselle St., San Diego, CA 92121, (619)587-0320. Inquiry 1280. The Protein Visualizer lets molecular biologists and immunolo- gists visualize protein structures in 3-D. Real-Time Process Modeling with OS/2 With RT-Graphics, you can create and edit graphical symbols and inte- grate them with sensor moni- toring, simulation, and other real-time applications running under OS/2 Extended Edition and Presentation Manager. Animated presentations can be in the form of histo- grams, dials, fluid levels, or other graphics. You can set up an application so that a change in the graphical display of a process is reflected in the related alphanumeric text. This capability lets the pro- gram display numeric repre- sentations of sensor output values with their associated graphics symbols. Price: $1100; developer's li- brary, $800. Contact: Commercial Soft- ware Dept. , Farradyne Sys- tems, Inc., 3206 Tower Oaks Blvd., Rockville, MD 20852, (800) 828-7863 or (301) 468-5568. Inquiry 1281. In addition to showing how your Mac CAD drawings will work, vPower can revise a drawing with new specifications and parameters, making multiple versions of the same drawing. What-lf CAD Analysis Once you've completed a mechanical, architectur- al, or other drawing in Versa- CAD, Claris CAD, PICT, or DXF format on the Mac, you can use vPower to describe the motion and rotation of ob- jects. This what-if tool for CAD lets you see how your design works. A spreadsheet lets you assign up to eight value sets to an unlimited num- ber of variables. vPower runs on the Mac Plus with a recommended hard disk drive. Price: $799. Contact: Vision Software, 3 160 De La Cruz Blvd. , Suite 104, Santa Clara, CA 95054, (408) 748-8411. Inquiry 1282. Digital Elevation Model Data on CD-ROM Two companies recently re- leased digital elevation data from the U.S. Geological Survey on CD-ROM. Rocky Mountain's CD- ROM set of 3-arc-second terrain elevation data has the contiguous U.S., Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Price: Complete set of five CD-ROMs, $3000; one CD- ROM, $1000. Contact: Rocky Mountain Communications, Inc., 12844 West Iliff Ave. , Lakewood, CO 80228, (303) 988-3395. Inquiry 1283. Micro Map & CAD's CD-ROMs are available in two grids: a 3-arc-second grid and a 30-arc-second grid for the entire U.S. Price: Complete set of six CD-ROMs, $5000; one CD- ROM, $1000. Contact: Micro Map & CAD, P.O. Box 621135, Lit- tleton, CO 80162, (303) 973-2768. Inquiry 1284. Solve Math and Thermophysical Problems In addition to solving alge- braic and initial-value dif- ferential equations, the Engi- neering Equation Solver (EES) has a physical-property data- base to help you solve prob- lems in the thermal sciences. EES runs on the Macin- tosh with 1 MB of RAM and supports a math coprocessor if you have one. Price: $400. Contact: F-Chart Software, 4406 Fox Bluff Rd., Madison, WI 53562, (608) 836-8536. Inquiry 1285. 70 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1990 We've got a new 2MB WQRM. Now we're fishing for ideas fix)m you. Introducing the Optical Card, the remarkable new I personal data storage and retrieval medium from ■ Canon. An IBM AT-compatible RW-10 ReaderA/Vriter uses a laser to read and write up to two Megabytes of digitized text, graphics or sound on the Optical Card (shown here actual size). Data can be added, but not erased, and isn't susceptible to magnetic or electrostatic fields. The Optical Card and RW-10 combine speed, high reliability and convenience that just cry out for the development of entirely new systems applications. And that's where you come in. Don't let this "big one" get away Find out more about the Optical Card by calling Bruno Dosso at Canon at 516-488-6700, ext. 4535. © 1990 Canon U.S.A.. Inc.. One Canon Plaza. Lake Success. NY 11042 Canon Circle 67 on Reader Service Card WHAT'S NEW SOFTWARE • OTHER Bright Hue 1^ Soturation Bl Bl B~ r Ask • Me Authorin m Once you 've captured a photo with Ask*Me, you can manipulate image hue, contrast, and other attributes. Glue for Multimedia on the Mac and the IBM PC Two new programs help you combine video with sound, graphics, and animation. One runs on the IBM PC, the other on the Mac. new version of Ask*Me— a program that integrates animation, voice, sound, graphics, and images into multimedia presenta- tions—supports PCX image separation and manipulation and the ability to pan across images larger than your screen. With Ask*Me 2000 and its English-like programming lan- guage called Stratos, you can combine images from Auto- desk Animator, video cap- ture boards, PCX-compatible paint programs, and bit- mapped font packages that are in the GEM format with voice and sound to create inter- active presentations. The program also supports loop- ing, for canned, repetitive presentations. While the pro- gram includes Stratos, no programming experience is needed to create most appli- cations. Ask*Me uses its own graphical user interface and comes in two versions: Ask*Me 2000, for the casual user, and Ask*Me Profes- sional. The professional ver- sion includes a multiuser cus- tomizable image database that can open up to 256 files at once and supports full-motion video. This version also has an optional Display program for distributing run-time pre- sentations. Run-time capability is standard with Ask*Me 2000. Ask*Me requires at least a 286 with a 28-ms or faster hard disk drive, 7 MB of free hard disk space, 640K bytes of RAM, and VGA graphics. Price: $495 for regular ver- sion; $1795 for professional version; $195 for profession- al run-time license. Contact: Ask*Me Informa- tion Center, a division of Inno- vative Communication Sys- tems, 2534 26 Ave. S, Fargo, ND 58103, (701)293-1004. Inquiry 1286. Unlike MacroMind's Di- rector, which is a tool for creating professional-quality animation on the Macintosh, the company's MediaMaker is for nontechnical people who want to create relatively sim- ple video presentations. MediaMaker is divided into two parts: collections and sequences. Collections are media databases, snippets of video, compact-disk audio, Mac audio, graphics, and ani- mations. You play back the With their complex file structures and file buffering mechanisms, Xe- nix and Unix systems are susceptible to data loss when power is removed from the computer before it can write the buffers to disk. A pro- gram called PowerMon monitors signals from your media selections by double- clicking on a picon, Macro- Mind's term for a visual cue of an image. To create video presenta- tions, you drag picons from the collection window to the se- quence window, arranging and rearranging the media in de- sired order and editing the length of each clip. You can also synchronize other media such as CD audio and graph- ics. To use the program, it's best if you can tap into exist- ing video libraries, the com- pany says. To use MediaMaker, you should have a Macintosh with support for color, a videodisk player, CD-ROM audio, a digi- tizing board, and a videotape recorder. A color Mac is not required. Price: $495. Contact: MacroMind, Inc., 410 Townsend St., Suite 408, San Francisco, CA 94107, (415) 442-0200. Inquiry 1287. UPS and, when it detects a power loss, issues messages to users that the system may have to shut down if power isn't restored. If the power does not return within a cer- tain number of minutes, PowerMon flushes every- thing in the system's buffers to disk, preventing data loss. Hand Recognition for Windows and the Mac Datacap, developer of the Paper Keyboard hand- writing recognition program for the Macintosh, now has a version for Microsoft Win- dows 3.0 that reads handwrit- ten characters on paper forms directly from an off-the-shelf scanner. It recognizes names, addresses, dates, num- bers, and multiple-choice check boxes without having to convert written characters to typed or printed text. Datacap says that Paper Keyboard encounters, on the average, one character out of every 20 that it can't identify. When that happens, the cor- rection portion of the program kicks in. With corrections, the program recognizes about 20 to 25 characters a second. Paper Keyboard also supports automated verification. Datacap claims 99.9 per- cent accuracy with a target confidence of 9 (you can choose target-confidence levels from a scale of 1 to 10). On the Mac or IBM PC with Windows 3.0, the pro- gram requires 2 MB of RAM, a hard disk drive, and a forms layout package. You also need an optical scanner. Price: $895. Contact: Datacap, Inc., 5 West Main St., Elmsford, NY 10523, (914) 347-7133. Inquiry 1288. PowerMon runs on SCO Unix, SCO Xenix, and Unix systems from Sun, DEC, and IBM. Price: $149. Contact: Systems Enhance- ment Corp. , 761 Spirit of St. Louis Blvd., Chesterfield, MO 63005, (314) 532-2855. Inquiry 1289. Protect Your Unix Data from Power Loss 72 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1990 ...The Perfect Gift Reward the computer enthusiasts on your gift list with a year's subscription to BYTE — the definitive guide to personal computing. Each gift will include 12 issues, plus a bonus issue dedicated to IBM PC's. Your first gift will cost only g22.95 with additional gifts costing even less; only 019.95 each - both great money saving rates when you consider that one year of BYTE piu-chased at the newsstand would cost (Canada: first gift Cg33.95, additional gifts C029.95 each.) Don't get caught in the hoUday rush, send us your gift fist today or call 1-800-257-9402 and we'll do the rest. For Canadian orders, call 609-426-5535. TE!§»S I want to send gift subscHptious to the f oUowmg people and save money off the newsstand price! TO: (1st Gift - 822.95; Canada CS33.95) Name Address CiUv'State/Zip. (Each additional gift - gl9.95: Canada 829.95 each) Xame_ Address City/State/Zip_ Xame_ Address Cir\'/State/Zip_ Xame_ Address City/State/Zip_ FREE BOMJS _ A gift announcement will be sent in your name to the recipient. FROM: Xame_ Address Cit>-/State/Zip □ Pa\Tnent enclosed* □ Bill me □ Charge to: □ MSA □ MasterCard □ .\MEX Acct. * Exp. Date Signature *Please send this order card with pa\-ment in an envelope to: P.O. Box -550. Hightstown, XJ 08.520-9893 Please allow 6-8 weeks for processing. ...The Perfect Gift R.eward the computer enthusiasts on your gift list with a year's subscription to BYTE — the definitive guide to personal computing. Each gift will include 12 issues, plus a bonus issue dedicated to IBM PC's. Youi' first gift w-ill cost only $22.95 with additional gifts costing even less; only ^19.95 each - both great money saAdng rates when you consider that one year of BYTE purchased at the newsstand would cost ^2! (Canada: first gift C^33.95, additional gifts Cg29.95 each.) Don't get caught in the holiday rush, send us your gift list today or call 1-800-257-9402 and we'll do the rest. For Canadian orders, call 609-426-5535. BUSINESS REPLY MAIL No Postage Stamp Necessary If Mailed In Canada POSTAGE WILL BE PAID BY ADDRESSEE BVTE Subscriptions Box 4000 AGINCOURT, Ontario MIS 9Z9 EXPERT ADVICE COMPUTING AT CHAOS MANOR ■ Jerry Pournelle ^ Multimedia Video When Jerry combines computers, video cameras, and VCRs, seeing is believing All of us in the computer busi- ness get used to two kinds of video. On the one hand, there is the full-motion video you see on your TV. This is known as NTSC, for reasons that don't matter. What does matter is that it is quite low-resolution compared to what you see on your com- puter screen. It has to be, because if it were high-resolution, the full motion would be a great deal more complicated. Full motion, after all, requires on the order of 30 frames a second if it's not to look jerky (some older newsreels, as well as some of the first pictures taken in space during the Mercury/Gemini days, use a lower frame rate, which is why they do look jerky). A VGA screen has a higher resolution, but that's also why it's tough to do full- motion video out of a PC: the amount of information that would have to flow at that resolution at 30 frames per second would swamp the system. Genlock, Anyone? On the other hand, a PCompatible is per- fectly capable of displaying NTSC out- put, if there is some way to get TV video into the system: which is where genlock boards come in. These boards accept video input, mix it with what comes out of computer programs, and display the mixture on-screen. They will also pipe that mixed signal out to a VCR so that you can record it. (You can't record that live-action video on your hard disk because it wouldn't hold more than a minute or so; live-action video record- ings use a lot of megabytes. And yes, there are some tricks involving video compression, but that's not important here.) This is important to us because Mrs. Pournelle's Reading Program needs some good promotional materials. We figured the best way to do that was to make videotapes; alas, the problem was, how do you videotape the output of a computer? You sure can't just use a video camera on the screen, as Roberta found; at least, you can't just use our video cam- era. The results are awful. We thought of using an Amiga, which knows how to put out NTSC output, but I wrote the program in Microsoft Quick- BASIC, and it is not easily ported to the Amiga. Then I discovered the USVideo TVGA Video Board at a BYTE Editorial Expo. It looked to be the answer to our prayers: this is a PC board that accepts video camera or other TV input, mixes that with what's on the screen, and puts the combination out for recording by a VCR. Not only that: you can also mix in the output of Autodesk Animator, which is a program that, if you have artistic talent or can hire someone who does, will pro- duce results best described as amazing. Want fairies to dance on your screen? Perhaps a screen background of program output, with fairies to illustrate your point? Birds in full color? Really weird titles? You can get it all from Animator. In a word, the USVideo board and Ani- mator seemed the perfect combination for presenting Roberta's program. About that time, we discovered Wil- low Peripherals. Willow also makes a Genlock Video Board. Moreover, our copy came with Entropy Engineering's Video Titler, which will make all sorts and conditions of high-resolution titles and screen effects that can be mixed in with other PC output and stored on videotape. Now we really had everything we needed. Thus, when Larry Aldridge of Ster- ling Microsystems brought over the Cheetah Gold 486, we tried to install one of the genlock boards. There was only one problem: we didn't have a monitor of poor-enough quality. That is, the monitors that we had avail- able at the time included my Zenith Flat Technology Monitor, which I use every day and which is about the best text-work monitor I know of; the 19-inch Electro- home monitor, which I have had nearly forever and which everyone loves; and a very high-resolution 19-inch Hitachi monitor primarily used for CAD. None would work properly: they just don't go down low enough in frequency to display NTSC output. Sigh. I have, somewhere around here, a con- verter for the Electrohome monitor that will let it eat NTSC output, but it would have been a great deal of trouble to get it out and connect it up, and besides, we were anxious to get the Cheetah 486 run- ning with a Sota VGA board and look at some really high-resolution CAD and Animator work, which looks terrific on the Hitachi monitor. Thus, I put both genlock boards away for another time. A few weeks later, Alex and his room- mate tried to get things running on a Gateway 2000 system, but they had the same problem: both genlock boards want a multifrequency monitor, and we didn't have one. Meanwhile, at Spring Comdex Roberta had been mightily impressed by the USVideo demonstration and was now anxious to get started. Of course, it never rains but it pours. Two days later there arrived two multi- frequency, auto-sync monitors. One was from Princeton Graphic Systems: I'd met Princeton's president Tom Anderson at Spring Comdex and told him my story, and he'd arranged for an Ultra-14 to be sent. I knew those worked, because that is what came with the Northgate system I reviewed last year. The other monitor was a Panasonic PanaSync C1391, which was recommended by Willow as a good one for use with their board. After that, things were simple: using the Gateway 2000 (a good, solid, reliable NOVEMBER 1990 • B Y T E 73 CHAOS MANOR machine) as the basic engine, we in- stalled both the Willow and the USVideo boards, connecting them to the VCR/TV I keep in the back room up here. Both boards work with both monitors. The images on both monitors are rock solid. Alex and I set up the Willow board with Video Titler and turned things over to Roberta— and the adventures began. Both Willow and USVideo advertise their products as if reasonably knowl- edgeable people who aren't computer ex- perts can use them. We make no doubt at all that this is true, but it's not simple. It's going to take time. As Roberta says, before you can genlock, you have to understand what genlocking is all about; and you only think you know that. First came the Willow manual: she re- ports that in 12 pages of text, there was not one single sentence that she under- stood. Part of it is the terminology, but some of it is the English: she's not at all sure some of the sentences actually say what Willow thinks they say. The US- Video manual wasn't a lot better. On the other hand, both companies have very good telephone technical sup- port. "They both put up with my stupid both genlock boards, you cannot easily mix monochrome and color. questions," is the way Roberta put it. My guess is that they have no choice, since these products are going to find their way to art departments and account execu- tives, creative people with little com- puter experience, who will desperately need the output— genlock stuff can be spectacular— and they will have less ex- perience than Roberta, who has, after all, lived in Chaos Manor during the en- tire computer revolution. Technically, both boards work, except that you cannot easily mix monochrome and color: Roberta describes that as sim- ilar to what happens when you watch oil and water mix, and it seems to be the same with both boards. Neither one is easier or harder to use: they're both sim- ple enough to set up once you have the right monitor, and both are equally con- founding when it comes to making the software do what you want it to. I wish I were more of an expert on this subject, because it's important; maybe I can trigger BYTE's expert test crew to do a complete evaluation, because I'm really not competent to tell you which is the best product in this line. I can tell you why it's important, and that we have two systems that are state of the art. And there, alas, matters stand. Ro- berta has done the beginnings of some work. I've seen it, and it's already pretty good. Not spectacular, but she's only getting started. I'm sure I'll have more to say on this next month. Rogers Specialist When it came time to hook up a monitor to the Willow board, we needed a gizmo to convert a 9-pin video into a 15-pin video. We put on our safari outfits and made an expedition into the cable room, and there among the monsters we found the cable we needed, but there was a gen- der problem, so we searched some more. ■ ^^^^ i^"^ — « flyers.* * » - - See us at COMDEX/Fall, Booth m4438 If a portable computer has improved the and capable, built for the rigors of business The WorldPort family of modems. They're way you do business away from the office, on the road. built for travel, whether it's to e.xtreme envi- think what a portable modem can do for ^^^^^^^ j^^,)^, ^^^^ ^^^^^ ronments, to exotic locations or just down you. Witii it, you'll be able to send and ^^^^^ ^^-^^^^^ ^.^ standard RJ-11 jacks or ^all. receive data, and even faxes anytime ^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ ^^^pl^^ ^all us todav for the dealer nearest you: you want. In or out of the office. CCITT standards world-wide so you QOO.k A. 1 .f) ^4 ^ The WorldPort family gives you a choice of can connect to other modems (or fax ma- 0\J\J~ Ji^ i v J x j . four portable modems, including an MNP® chines) almost anywhere. They're powered (In New York, 516-261-0423.) error-correcting modem and an electronic by a single 9-volt battery or through an AC fax/data modem. outlet, whichever is more convenient. And, ' ■ ' !" ' i:'";!;"^^* Touchbase Systems, inc. • ••••• ■ « 160 Laurel Avenue Each is no more than 8 ounces and can fit they re easily shared as external peripherals | N°^hpo|;.NY^"768 in a shirt pocket. They're small but tough among co-workers. 1 Fax (5i6) 754-3491 MNP is a registered trademarl; of Microcom, Inc. WORLDPORT and TOUCHBASE SYSTE.MS are trademarks ofTouchbase Systems. Inc. O 1989 Touchbase Systems, Inc. 74 BYTE" NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 350 on Reader Service Card EvemhingYfu Ever VJkted In UNIX. And Less. 1^.95.' OK. We know it's hard to believe. So just consider this. Coherent" is a virtual clone of UNIX. But it was developed independently by Mark Williams Company. Which means we don't pay hundreds of dollars per copy in licensing fees. What's more, Coherent embodies the original tenet of UNIX: small is beautiful. This simple fact leads to a whole host of both cost and performance advan- tages for Coherent. So read on, because there's a lot more to Coherent than its price. SMALLER, FASTER. . .BETTER. Everybody appreciates a good deal. But what is it that makes small so great? For one thing, Coherent gives you UNIX capabilities on a machine you can actually afford. Requiring only 10 megabytes of disk space, LESS IS MORE! Coherent For Santa Cmz theBM-POAT Operation's and compatible XENIX 286, 286 or 386 Version 2.3.2 based machines. No. of Manuals 1 8 No. of Disks 4 21 Kernel Size 64K 198K Install Tune 20-30 min. 3-4 hours Suggested Disk Space 10 meg 30 meg Min. Memory Required 640K 1-2 meg Performance* 38.7 sec 100.3 sec Price $99.95 $1495.00 "Byte Execl benchmark, 1000 iterations on 20 MHZ 386. Hardware requirements: L2 meg 5 V4" or 1.4 meg 3^" floppy, and hard disk. SCSI device driver available soon. Does not run on Microcliannel machines. Coherent can reside with DOS. So you can keep all your DOS applica- tions and move up to Coherent. You can also have it running faster, leam it faster and get faster overall perform- ance. All because Coherent is small. Sounds beautiful, doesn't it? But small wouldn't be so great if it didn't do the job it was meant to do. EVERYTHING UNIX WAS MEANT TO DO. Like the original UNIX, Coherent is a powerful multi-user, multi-tasking development system. With a complete UNIX-compatible kernel which makes a vast world of UNIX software available including over a gigabyte of public domain software. Coherent also comes with Lex and Yacc, a complete C compiler and a full set of nearly 200 UNIX com- mands including text processing, program development, administrative and maintenance commands. And with UUCP, the UNIX to UNIX Communication Pro- gram that connects you to a world-wide network of free soft- ware, news and millions of users. AH for the cost of a phone call. We could go on, but stop we must to get in a few more very important points. EXPERIENCE, SUPPORT AND GUARANTEES. Wondering how something as good as Coherent could come from nowhere? Well it didn't. It came from Mark Williams Company, people who've developed C compilers for DEC, Intel, Wang and thousands of professional programmers. We make all this experience avail- able to users through complete techni- cal support via telephone. And from the original system developers, too ! Yes, we know $99.95 may still be hard to believe. But we've made it fool-proof to find out for yourself. With a 60-day money-back no-hassles guarantee. You have to be more than just a litde curious about Coherent by now. So why not just do it? Pick up that phone and order today. You'll be on your way to having everything you ever wanted in UNIX. And for a lot less than you ever expected. 1-800-MARKWMS (1-800-627-5967 or 1-708-291-6700) 60-DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE! Mark Williams Company 60 Revere Drive Northbrook, IL 60062 *Plus shipping and handling. Coherent is a trademark of Mark Wilhams Company. UNIX is a trademark of AT&T. XENIX U a trademark of Microsoft. CHAOS MANOR Circle 148 on Reader Service Card Finally, a fast, powerful text editor that integrates your favorite programming tools and uses no memory! { imt i. J. uUk: eitei-B tit fclse^O. s.in.UI i-t: vkilt (TIUEi ( '• tnce% if (i = 81 I Cfcetk for 4eli>ile if i-letfUf -■- *eM«i Ckx* if iispUij** I'ltn cmnui mm: 'jrr i m m Dpliois . .. ...-flL -Ti 1 hkiffer Opt. .r13 /[ 1 Htlt Qftioas. -i p -fMkefii; 1 Project file- .>A]HSIlU.L\lRSIftLI.C 1 Ei it File ...>:\IIISIftU\IKSI»J..C I kfMli £it.., Eiil:-.C Prtij=..C I ■ Hit carmt rile S. Select CMfiler 1 n Edit aea Tile 0 Ck«»fe oftiac I ! Spcoity project e .6oto WS 1 lie project K teeuaiw error- 1 Fun leliffer !) (Nit ssffort I ■ '.HI. ntke t .bit UEIIT 1 SeiKt iesired Oflioa • Mouse support • Pull-down menus f^^V • Columnar blocks \^ <^^^ • 1000 Level Undo ) ^ /7 • Regular Expressions • Small 70K, super fast . DOS, UNIX/XENIX, FlexOS . Also VEDIT $69, VEDIT Jr. $29 FREE Evaluation Copy Call1-800-45-VEDIT The new VEDIT PLUS is the productivity breakthrough programmers have been looking for. Run not only popular com- pilers, but all of your favorite tools from within the editor. When shelling to DOS, VEDIT swaps itself and any desired TSRs out of memory to give you more memory than when you entered VEDIT. Only VEDIT gives you the advantages of a powerful and flexible editor without giving up the convenience of an integrated environment. VEDIT offers stunning performance, ver- satility and ease of use. Completely writ- ten in assembly language, it's small and lightning fast. Edit text and binary files of any size, even lOO-i- megabytes. Installa- tion is trivial; VEDIT.EXE and an optional help file are all you need - no overlays, no configuration files. Otherfeatures include multiple file editing, windows, unlimited keystroke macros, "hot keys", context sensitive help, word processing, automatic indenting and total configurability. VEDIT has been the choice of 100,000 programmers, writers and engineers since 1980. VEDIT PLUS adds a powerful "off the cuff" macro programming language, complete with source level debugging. VEDIT PLUS - $185 for DOS, $285 for UNIX/XENIX. Call for a free demo today. Green view P.O. Box 1586, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 (313) 996-1299 * Fax (313) 996-1308 "Aha," Alex said. "The very thing." He hauled out a large bag of cable adapters, gender changers, 9-pin to 25- pin converters, and other such stuff. It took me a moment to remember where I'd got it: just as we were leaving the last West Coast Computer Faire, I'd stopped at a booth that sells cables, cable adapt- ers, data switches, general small parts, and other such stuff, and grabbed some of everything in sight on the theory that they would come in handy. It came to a bit over $100, and I don't regret a nickel of it. Alex noticed the bill: Rogers Special- ist (27712 Pinehills, Santa Clarita, CA 91351, (805) 251-2520). "We order from them all the time," he said. "They deliver what they promise, no nonsense. Good outfit." This exhausts my knowl- edge of the firm, but I figure that when I can identify a good guy, I ought to. Stony Brook Modula-2 1 was an early enthusiast of Modula-2, even back in CP/M days; indeed, when Modula-2 first came out, I was confident that it would be the language of the fu- ture, replacing Pascal, C, and BASIC— truly a language for the rest of us. Of course, things didn't work out that way. In my defense, one reason I was so pleased with Modula-2 was that I had an early Lilith, a machine that uses Modula- 2 as its assembly language. Modula-2 in the Lilith environment was a program- mer's dream: the machine kept track of versions, and libraries, and what had to be recompiled, and all the other details that make programming tedious. With Lilith, programming was/M«, especially compared with the other machines avail- able then. Alas, the Lilith didn't survive. There have been many problems with Modula-2. Probably the biggest is that there haven't been any good, standard run-time libraries of I/O routines for PCompatibles and other machines. Al- though Logitech developed a really neat debugger, the Logitech compiler, while quite adequate, is only that. And the Logitech programming environment has never been described as fun. Other com- pilers had some good features, some bad. The Taylor compiler produces small and speedy code, but it's not easy to use. Worse, Modula-2 has design flaws. Not just the traditional I/O problems that any Niklaus Wirth language seems to have, but some odd quirks, such as rigid enforcement of case sensitivity and odd variable-name syntax (InOut is not only legal, but mandatory, but blg_screen would not be a legal variable name). All these difficulties can be overcome, but they're obstacles to learning and enjoy- ing a language for which there never were any really good tutorial manuals. I am happy to say that many of those problems are no longer relevant. The Stony Brook compiler comes with a programming environment that takes some getting used to, but once learned, it can actually he fun. The editor is more than adequate, and the environment does a good job of keeping track of libraries, versions, recompilations needed, and suchlike. It's not a Lilith, but it's easily the next best thing I've seen. The Stony Brook documents include an introduction with lots of examples. They begin, as they should, by telling you in exact detail how to set up the envi- ronment, begin your library manage- ment, and then write, compile, and run PROGRAM HELLO. Then they move on systematically through the different features of the system. Moreover, with the Professional pack- age (will anyone ever admit that some- thing might be good for amateurs?), you get not one compiler but two: one that is fast, perhaps as fast as Borland Turbo Pascal, and which produces darned good code; and an optimizing compiler that produces really good code— small, fast, tight, and generally neat. Code from this second compiler is Microsoft object code-compatible, meaning that you can link it up to compiled BASIC, C, Micro- soft Pascal, or FORTRAN code. There are good instructions on how to do this. The Stony Brook compiler can pro- duce code you can debug with Code- View; Stony Brook also provides a good debugger of its own, along with a tutorial on how to use it in the environment. The Stony Brook package comes with advertisements and coupons for other Modula-2 products, all compatible, in- cluding sorts, B-tree, and a decent I/O li- brary. I'd like to see more of that sort of thing: what Modula-2 needs is a body of compatible libraries of programs and toolboxes easily available for all flavors of PCs, and particularly all keyboards and video boards. This is a good start. Realistically, I suppose, Modula-2 has lost out in the language wars, and the likelihood that it will surge ahead to cap- ture the place held by Pascal or C is low. I think that's a pity: in my judgment, Modula-2 is more powerful than Pascal (even Turbo Pascal) and incomparably easier to use than C. Modula-2 really shines when you have a large project to be worked on by a number of program- mers: with Modula-2, you really can have the programmers get together to write Definition modules and then work 76 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 always find something in the last place you lookUnfortunately the average hard disk has about 20,000 places. Sft^ SLSJIMOC 37-/ DEnOLIB.MC Of course, you might get lucky. And find tlie file you want in the 19,992nd place. Or, you can find it almost immediately with new Lotus® Magellan® 2.0. When you can't remember a file name, just type in a word phrase, or concept related to it. Magellan will search your entire hard disk and come back with a list of relevant files in seconds. Scroll down the list and you'll see each one as it actually ap- pears in its application. Even if it's a graphics file. When you find the file you want, a single m iicreas: in eiciteoent atout our high-cud higjc le DJels tairing aaiels fi tfe roogh-terra in mdcls ~ ■ taiOM ulU tegln In Ite firet gua.-ter rf th Magellan lets you find a file in seconds, even when you can 'I remember its name. keystroke launches the applica- tion and loads the file. Magellan sim- plifies all of the other utility func- tions you use most, too. Copy Delete, Move, Sort, Back-up or Rename files, groups of fUes, or entire directory branches in the Tree mode, with one keystroke. And Undelete erased files just as eas- ily. Even view a deleted fUe before you decide to restore it. Magellan also lets you save disk space by compressing data files up to 50%, with the built-in PKzip™ file compressor. And view- compressed files without expand- ing them. And since Magellan is custom- izable, you can turn any of its functions on and off, or even build custom menus. All of which is why PC Maga- zine said, "Magellan could very well be the finest utility ever written for the PC!' And why every major computing magazine has given it practically every award they have. Call 1-800- TRADE-UP, exten- sion 878, for a free auto demo disk. You'll see. It's exactly what you've been looking for. ■New Magellan 2.0 from Lotus If you own the original .Magellan, upgrade to new Magellan 2.0 for only S39. Call 1-800-TR.ADE-L'P. extension 877, and ask for the upgrade information kit. PKzip is a registered trademark of PKW.f\RE. Inc. © 1990 Lotus Development Corporation. All rights resen-ed. Lotus and Magellan are registered trademarks of Lotus Development Corporation. POWER DEBUGGING BOUNDS-CHECKER Finds out-of-bounds memory accesses — AUTOMATICALLY. Flush out those Nasty pointer problems arid other out-of-bounds memory accesses — AUTOMATICALLY. Each time you make a change to a program, run BOUNDS-CHECKER while testing the new code. If you accidentally access out-of- bounds memory, BOUNDS-CHECKER will pop up displaying the offending SOURCE LINE. And your program runs at full speed. Ship Bug-Free Products You can run BOUNDS-CHECKER while testing your program. There are no additional steps to your testing cycle, but you can feel secure when the program has passed through BOUNDS-CHECKER with no reported problems. Many over-write problems and other out-of bounds memory accesses do NOT show up during normal testing. An out-of-bounds memory location may be modified, but that particular location doesn't happen to be important at the time Once the program is in the field and a certain network is loaded or a certain T&SR or device driver is loaded, that memory location suddenly becomes very important... AND THE SYSTEM CRASHES. You can prevent these problems by making BOUNDS-CHECKER a standard part of your testing procedure. Gives you the protection of a protected operating system under MS-DOS. BOUNDS-CHECKER uses the 80386 virtual machine technology to provide real-time memory protection. In addition BOUNDS-CHECKER uses the symbolic information output by your compiler to differentiate CODE and DATA. When your program is running, BOUNDS-CHECKER protects the program's CODE and all memory outside your program. Requires 80386 PC. MS-DOS is a trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Nu-Mea a TECHNOLOGIES "BOUNDS-CHECKER and Soft-ICE make sophisticated use of the most powerful versions of Intel's processor family to track down some of DOS programming' s most insidious bugs. If you're developing programs for DOS, these are essential tools." PC Magazine July, 1990 pg. 48 Soft-ICE 2.5 New Version, New Features The only debugger specifically designed to solve those problems unique to MS-DOS that we call the DOS Nasties. Memory over-writes Hung programs Program too big to debug Debugging T&SRs and Loadable Drivers • Multiple Symbol Tables • Supports Microsoft C 6.0 & Turbo C++ MagicCVS.O (with LOAD-BIG) A set of tools designed to ease the memory crunch with Microsoft C 6.0. • Run CodeView in Less than 8k • Run CodeView with EMM & VCPI • Increase heap space when compiling • Increase memory with make • Load high T&SR's and device drivers • VCPI support BOUNDS-CHECKER «249 Soft-ICE 2.5 ^386 MagicCVS.O ^199 Special Offer... Buy BC & S-ICE Save HOO Buy S-ICE & MCV Save ^86 Buy all three Save ^186 30 Day Money-Back Guarantee CALL TODAY (603) 888-2386 or FAX (603) 888-2465 P.O. BOX 7780 ■ NASHUA, NH ■ 03060-7780 ■ U.S.A. Circle 266 on Reader Service Card CHAOS MANOR apart on their implementation, yet have some hope that when they get back to- gether, the code will run with no side ef- fects. Of the other languages, only Ada can make that claim with any honesty. This isn't meant to knock Turbo Pas- cal, which is a realistic choice for many programs. Borland provides excellent support for Turbo Pascal and continues to improve it and add features. Then, too, I still like BASIC, and modern compiled BASICs have incorpo- rated a number of advanced features derived from ALGOL, Pascal, and Mod- ula-2. Given the on-again, off-again na- ture of the programming I do, I'll prob- ably stay with QuickBASIC and the various Crescent tool libraries for most of my work; however, if I ever went more nearly full-time as a programmer, I do believe I'd adopt the Stony Brook Mod- ula-2 environment, which has hooks to Windows and OS/2 (you'll still need the Windows and OS/2 development kits, understand). If Stony Brook Modula-2 had existed in the early days, I think it would have the place that Turbo Pascal has now, and more. If you've ever wondered about 1/ Stony Brook Modula-2 had existed in the early days, I think it would have the place that Turbo Pascal has now. Modula-2, or if you tried it and sort of liked it but gave it up, or if you're looking for a language, look at Stony Brook Mod- ula-2. Recommended. [Editor's note: See "Modula-3" on page 385.] Zero Surge One of the participants in the sciences conference on BIX told a story of a meet- ing of meditation people at a European village near a lake. The guru in charge told the group to concentrate on the weather, which they duly changed to something wildly improbable; the next day, supposedly, they did it again, this time changing the weather a dozen times in the course of an afternoon and playing merry hob with the local tourists. As in all such stories, the guru isn't named, the group isn't named, the lake isn't named, and the date and year aren't specified. Moreover, the person telling the story wasn't there himself, but heard it from someone who was. "Great," said I. "Tell you what. Get that guru to make it rain in Los Angeles on the afternoon of August 7, 1990. Spe- cifically, rain in the Hollywood Hills." I thought no more about it until on Au- gust 5 came a freak lightning storm and rain. Then more on the 6th, with a really spectacular show of lightning and thun- der. Some of the lightning came quite close to Chaos Manor, with thunder less than a second after the flash. Alas, it didn't rain on the 7th, although there were showers on the 8th. .. . However, the lightning got me think- ing about surge and spike suppressors. SAVE 30 MINUTES EVERY TIME YOU HAVE A PC PROBLEM! By using Checki/lt*to find out if tlie problem is Hardware or Software The second you suspect a problem with your PC, you should reach for Check^lt, the world's most popular PC diagnostic software. Running Checkw'lt should be the first thing you do -- because confirming or eliminating your PC's hardware as the source of the problem can save you time, money, and unnecessary repair calls. Check^lt will test your PC's main system board, memory, hard disk drive and floppy disk drives, video subsystem, communication ports, printer, keyboard, mouse, or joystick. Check^lt will also display kev software and setup data, including your PC's exact equipment configuration, current IRQ assignments, memory allocation, device drivers, and CMOS table. Take a minute to run Check^lt the next time you have a PC problem. Then you'll know the answer to these key questions: Should you back it up, pack it up, and send it out for repair? Should you fix a hardware problem yourself? Or, should you concentrate on tine software and configuration problems that you can correct? The moment you suspect a PC problem, run Check^lt. It's about time! Look for Check^lt at leading Checli^t retail stores everywhere, Or call Touchstone TODAY! (714) 969-7746 or (800) 531-0450 Touchstone Software Corporation 2130 Main -Street. Suite 250, Huntington Beach. CA 92648 •egislered trademark of Touchstone Software Coiporation. Copyright ©1 990 Touchstone Software Corporation. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. NEW "Basic PC Maintenance" Hands-On Video Ask for it TODAY! Send literature: circle 351 Call me I'm interested: circle 352 NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 79 CHAOS MANOR Regular readers may remember The Great Power Spike that hit Chaos Manor last year: light bulbs literally exploded, and the Priam MacDisk on the Mac II suffered a hit to the power supply, as did the Mac II itself, although both were plugged into a commercial surge sup- pressor. We also lost a Tandon computer, a TV and VCR, and some other elec- tronic gear, none plugged into a suppres- sor; and we did not lose Roberta's ma- chine, although its surge suppressor literally died in its defense. Since then I have learned that a lot of surge suppressors do not work very well. The passive metal-oxide varistors (MOVs) may over time lose their capabil- ity, especially if subjected to power spikes. In addition, since most surge suppressors divert the power surge to ground, and most LAN and modem sys- tems have one side of the signal system grounded, there can be power surges in the resulting "ground loop." Note that I say "may" and "can be"; none of this is inevitable. Unfortunately, many people out there seem determined to convince you that it is: that if you use ordinary surge suppressors, you are play- ing Russian roulette, and you'll probably lose your expensive computer equipment, so you had better replace those now. Even an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) isn't going to save you, because, as one article I have here says, "their in- puts are 'protected' by the very same fif- teen-cent MOVs as the average surge suppressor!" There is, according to this, only one exception to this. Abacus Con- trols, which licenses their technology from Zero Surge. And this leaves me with a dilemma. It's certainly true that the Zero Surge protection systems are excellent, better than the stuff you buy at Radio Shack or at swap meets; it's true that shunting power spikes to ground can blow up a modem. It's true that UPS systems often rely on MOVs. It's true that MOVs can die and you won't know it, because doing a nondestructive test on an MOV requires extremely sophisticated (and expensive) test gear. It's also true that in The Great Power Spike at Chaos Manor when, due to an automobile accident, 16,000 volts AC was shunted into our house wiring, not only was there no damage to the com- puters connected to our Clary UPS, but there was absolutely no damage to the UPS— we had it tested. Moreover, of the equipment connected to the off-the-shelf surge suppressors we use, the only thing killed was the Mac stuff, which had been connected to a different— premium! — brand. Everything else was fine. So: yes, the Zero Surge suppressors are qualitatively different, and better, than the usual device. They don't shunt power spikes to ground, they work faster, and they don't deteriorate. You will cer- tainly be safer with Zero Surge than with a random MOV device. I sincerely doubt that you'll be safer with Zero Surge than with a Clary UPS, or let me put it another way, I sure don't want to have to be pro- tected from anything worse than our Great Power Spike. However, if you have LANs and modems and generally inter- connected devices not all connected to UPS systems, you probably do want to look into Zero Surge. It's Binary I love gadgets. I don't usually have a chance to write about them, but this is November and Christmas is coming up. Perfect time. The neatest gizmo I've got all year is continued BY HAND. OR BY NOON Announcing Flow Charting" 3 Now, even complex flowcharts that once took days to perfect can be presentation perfect-in no time! Quick to master and a snap to use, Patton & Patten's flowcharting software is the standard of both large and small businesses around the world-and is available through all major software dealers. See your dealer today! Or, for a "live)' interactive demo disk, call: 800-525-0082, ext. BY44. International: 408-778-6557, ext. BY44. RftTTDN&RWTDN Software Corporation Excellence in charting the flow of ideas! Works on IBM & 100% compatible PC's, supports CGA/EGA/VGA and over 150 dot matrix and laser printers, with multiple print densities and 10 font sizes. Creates multi-page charts, portrait or landscape, on most standard papersizes. Mouse or keyboard controlled. IBM is a registered trademarl( of International Business Machines Corporation. 80 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 278 on Reader Service Card UNDMTERRUPTIBU POWER SUPPLIES 1455 LeMay Drive Carrollton, TX 75007 TOTAL POWER PROTECTION ir BLACKOUTS ★ UNDERVOLTAGE • BROWNOUTS ★ SURGES • OVERVOLTAGE ★ SPIKES ★ EMl/RFI STANDBY UPS MODELS • 250 VA To 2300 VA • Sinewave output - 1 millisecond transfer time • Communications interface and external battery packs available for extended run times ON-LINE UPS MODELS • 500 VA To 5,000 VA • Static By-pass Standard • True On-Line - Sinewave outputs • Communications Interface and external battery packs available LISTED for extended run time NETWORK MANAGER • Shutdown software for unattended operation • Only software to communicate with LANs and WANs • Novell 286 VAP and 386 NLM • SCO Xenix SLIMLINE & UPRIGHT MODELS UNICATIONS INTERFACE For Unattended System Shutdown COMPATIBLE WITH: • Novell • LAN Manager • ALTOS • BANYAN • VINES • System V UNIX • Custom Configuration Any System NOVELL Monitor Boards Available PARA SYSTEMS, INC ,-AX: (214) 446-901 I TELEX: 140275 OMEGA 1-800-2 38-7272 FOR L.A.N. NOVELL LABS TESTED AND APPROVED NetWare Compatible 'Distributed in over eighty countries" Circle 277 on Reader Service Card T3200SX:mpounds.l6MHz386SXn-ith80387SX-16 coprocessor socket. 5 built-in ports. 40MB hard disk with 25msec access, 1MB RAM expandable to 13MB, gas plasma VGA display with 16 gray scales, 1.44MB 3 Vz " diskette drive. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corp. 386 is a trademark of Intel Corporation. For more information call 1-800-457-7777 NOWAVAILABLEIN 120MB HARD DISK MODEL Two IBM-compatible expansion slots (one full-length and one half-length) and an internal modem slot let you connect to LANs, mainframes and more. Plus, three dedicated internal expansion slots let you increase memory up to 13MB. At first glance what you see is a sleek, 17.0-pound portable. But looks can be deceiving. Because with a powerful 386 ""SX microprocessor, 6 internal expan- sion slots and 5 built-in ports, our newT3200SX easily replaces desktop computers. Which means it does every- thing a bulky desktop computer can do. Like networking, com- puter aided design, data bases or even complex spreadsheet analysis — anywhere you can plug into an AC outlet. It has a built-in VGA gas plasma display system that lets you connect an external color monitor And it can even accom- modate an optional 101-key enhanced keyboard. So you can take advantage of today's and tomorrow's most powerful new 386 applications, wherever vou think best. The new Toshiba T3200SX. Take it. See how far you can go. In Touch with Tomorrow TOSHIBA Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Computer Systems Di\'ision Circle 348 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 349) Circle 68 on Reader Service Card CHAOS MANOR PS/2®i'MEM 0S/RAti8" «:>n,o:g..<. Introducing 0S/RAM8" I s!s I sssss rfi ■1 8 Mbytes of memory + 2 serial ports. Extended and expanded memory. LIM 4.0. JMHIIP Works with all of your programs. ^ttttm l> Run DOS or OS/2 effortlessly. "WKKM Fast and simple switchless installation. ^PPfP Auto-configuration for all operating systems. Works in all Micro Channer" computers. Expanded memory 10 times faster than Intel. """^ Risk free guarantee. Two year warranty. IBM approved ID. Best price. Fast delivery, .^....^s^ Call today 1-800-234-4232 or 617-273-1818 ^^tSt^J Capital Equipment Corp. PS/2 and Micro Channel are trademarks of IBM the Amazon Binary Clock, which is not cheap, but nothing in the house attracts more attention. It looks like a golden- mean dimensioned rectangular block of black plastic about 8 inches tall. There are three columns of six lights: left col- umn for hours, middle for minutes, and right for seconds. They give the time in binary, which is to say: the bottom row is 1, row two is 2, row three is 4, up to row six for 32; to get a number, add all lights that are on. Thus, if 1 , 3, and 4 in a col- umn are on, the number would be 13 . All 18 lights flash once per second and then settle into the current time. Time can be displayed in a 12- or 24- hour format. Depending on which setting you choose, the top one or two rows of hour lights are superfluous. It will take either 50- or 60-cycle current; it comes set to 50-cycle, which gives the wrong time over here, but it's easy to change. The instructions are complete and foolproof, and actually, after a few weeks, you learn to read it fairly well, or at least I did. This isn't something any- one needs, but if you're into unusual things for your mantle or coffee table, this will do it. I have it on a living room display table with my collection of ar- chaeology artifacts: somehow, it seemed in good company with an ancient Roman (obscene) oil lamp. And it keeps good time, too. Go! I don't keep track of computer go tourna- ments, so I don't recall whether COSMO or Bruce Wilcox's Nemesis-Go master version from Toyogo is the current cham- pion, but one of them is, much to the vex- ation of the Japanese go programmers. Go is the Japanese national game; it's played on a board of 19 by 19 lines, the rules are extremely simple, and the strat- egy is much more complex than chess. I long ago became fond of Nemesis-Go for the Mac and PC, so much so that I have the PC version on my Zenith Z-386 laptop portable, in case I get stuck in an airport lounge with nothing to do. (Fat chance; there's always a deadline, so I end up writing. Oh, well.) Now, though, there's another way to have go with you wherever you are: Toyogo has a dedi- cated go-playing hand-held machine that is called Nemesis Igo Dojo. It plays excellent go— unless I give my- self a handicap, it will usually beat me— and it's well designed, with a good user interface. The screen is easy to see, and the controls are easy to use. There are bays to plug in additional modules (not yet available). I had some trouble figur- ing out what the controls do— some of it isn't obvious— but straightening that out only took reading the manual, maybe 10 minutes of work, after which it's quite intuitive. Nemesis Igo Dojo plays by both Chi- nese and Japanese rules. In Chinese rules, the handicap stones may be placed anywhere; the stronger player passes until the weaker has placed handicap stones where he wants them. In Japanese rules, the handicap stones go on fixed points. In addition to handicaps, there are levels of play, although the book doesn't recommend that you use the weaker ones; as Wilcox says, you won't become a strong player by watching weak play. Use the handicap system if the machine continues to beat you. The only real defect, so far as I can tell, is the size: at 9 by 5 by 1 V2 inches, it is considerably larger than a Sharp Wiz- ard, larger even than the Atari Portfolio. You won't carry this in your pocket, or even in a gentleman's shoulder bag; you'll want a briefcase or small back- pack. What more can I say? The Nemesis Igo Dojo works, works well, and is just the thing for a go fanatic or someone who wants to become one. It's made in the U.S., and many are exported to Japan. And, of course, if you just want a strong go opponent for your computer, there are PC and Mac versions of the program it- self. Recommended. Scene Generator This doesn't quite qualify as a gadget, but there are similarities. Graphics capabilities on the PC have pretty well caught up with the Mac and Amiga, although you'll spend a bit doing it. Even so, every now and then there's a program unique to the Amiga. This is one of them: if there's anything like it for the Mac or PC, I haven't seen it. Nature loves fractals, curves of infi- nite complexity that have the property of being similar no matter what level of de- tail you go down to. Case in point: coast- lines, seen from orbit, are irregular. Get closer, and they still are. Get down to resolution in feet, and they still are; and even down to grains of sand, there are still these irregularities, similar al- though not identical to what you saw from orbit. Scene Generator uses this property of nature to generate scenery. Some years ago, the designers of the game Starf light used a similar technique to generate the scenery for the thousands of planetary areas you could explore, but the scenes they generated weren't nearly as realistic as the ones Scene Generator comes up with; indeed, some of Scene Generator's fractally generated random scenes are nearly indistinguishable from scanned-in photographs taken in the High Sierra, 84 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 69 on Reader Service Card CHAOS MANOR 8 Mbytes of fast 32 bit memory. ll^H Works in all ^licro CbarnieF" computers. !/> Fast LIM 4.0 driver included. '^/j^^^^^^ <> Provides extended and expanded memory. IUHHIil 1^ Easy switchless installation. ^^II^H »^ Automatic configuration for DOS, OS/2 or UNIX.'^i|Hl Risk free guarantee. Two vear warrantv. .J^^l IBM approved ID. Fast delivery. flHIii^l^Hj^l From $299 to $1249 with 8 Megabytes. """^^^HHi PC Magazine "Hot Prospect" 1/16^0. H^^^H^I ^^■| CaU today 617-273-1818 or 1-800-234-4CEC ^^HIH Fi^Tj^T'i^l Capital Equipment Corp. PS/2 and Micro Channel are trademarks of IBM and others would convince you they were from the moon. There are six resolutions. The pro- gram gives you a great deal of control over what you generate— how much water, snow, greenery, clouds, and such- like. I can't think of much practical use for this program except to generate eye candy, although you might use it when building a game; but it's fun to play about with. If you have an Amiga, this is likely to be interesting. Disney Animation As long as we are talking about the Amiga, Walt Disney Software presents a paint and animation program. The Ani- mation Studio, in which Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck teach you how to do animated drawings; for my money, it's the easiest such program I've seen. I was about to push the Amiga into another room, but now I have second thoughts: this thing might even make me an artist, and that would take some doing. I was recently back at Douglas Trum- bull's Berkshire Studios, where we had a meeting about Klaus Heiss's Mars Cup, to be awarded for racing a solar sail vehi- cle from Earth to Mars; there's some hope actually to get that started as part of the 500th anniversary of the first voyage of Columbus. One of Klaus 's demonstra- tions was a videotape of some solar sail models and their deployment; this was done by some Georgetown University students using an Amiga and Degas Paint. It would have been even easier to do with The Animation Studio. Every time I think the Amiga is about finished, someone comes up with new and unique products for it. As long as Amiga has friends like Disney's pro- grammers, you can't count it out. This program is good— and it's fun. Multi-Media Birds CMC Research continues to refine their DiscPassage CD-ROM retrieval soft- ware. Now there are help files, and the video imaging works with just about every major video card, including those from Tseng Laboratories, Video Seven, and Tecmar. The help routines aren't al- ways as helpful as they think, and there's a harshness to some of the retrieval inter- face that wasn't there on their first Sher- lock Holmes disk; on the other hand, it does the job, and once you're used to the interface, it works on a whole raft of CD- ROM disks. CMC's lineup includes a number of medical books and journals, and I'd ad- vise any physician to look into them: you may find that what you want is on a CD- ROM, meaning that it is nicely orga- nized, with search and retrieval capabili- ties superior to the best paper indexes. Their latest CD-ROM is Muhi-Media Birds of America, which consists of the complete John James Audubon Birds of America lithographs. There are also re- cordings of bird calls and the Audubon text. The bird calls, which are pretty nice, are what justify calling this "multime- dia." There's no animation, the text it- self is pretty dry, and, worse, it was all written a long time ago and could use some modern commentary. Example: there are families of red- tailed hawks in the hills above our house, and we go up to visit them quite often; so naturally I looked up red-tailed and hawk in the search pattern, to find that this bird is not known as a red-tailed hawk, but Harlan's buzzard. There's no entry at all for the peregrine falcon. Now, I'm no expert, and it may well be that the real experts call a California red-tailed hawk "Harlan's buzzard" and have some eso- teric name for peregrine falcons making them impossible to find; but Peterson's Field Guide to Hawks sees it quite differ- ently, as do all the other bird books we have. I had similar problems looking up the goatsucker: from this CD-ROM, you may or may not be able to find out that the whippoorwill and the common night- hawk are members of the goatsucker family, but I didn't. In other words, this is J. J. Audubon's book and nothing else; for the practical bird watcher it's no substitute for the Pe- terson guides, which, alas, have yet to be put onto a CD-ROM. On the other hand, the 500 Audubon paintings are magnifi- cent, they show up beautifully on a VGA screen, the bird calls are interesting, and the retrieval software works fine: if the information is on the disk, DiscPassage will find it. You don't buy this for the text, though. Grolier Again It is my practice to send the text of my column to the company or people af- fected, with a notation that I'll correct errors of fact, I'll listen to arguments concerning errors of judgment, and I re- serve the right to determine which is which. I did that with the Grolier text last month; alas, they took a very long time to respond, so that by the time they did, the column was set in galley. When an au- thor rewrites in galley, it is very tough on the composition and layout crew; and after some thought, I corrected the things easily done and let the rest stand. Herewith, then, not quite a retraction. First, Grolier is reconsidering their li- cense policy, in part due to my nagging NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 85 CHAOS MANOR [EMS-DISCUSSEE Amazon Binary Clock.... Eugene Amazon 13, Rue de la Madelaine 1204 Geneva, Switzerland 022-21-18-96 Inquiry 1146. Autodesk Animator. Autodesk, Inc. 2320 Marinship Way Sausalito, CA 94965 (800) 525-2763 (415) 332-2344 Inquiry 1147. .$150 .$395 Genlock Video Board with 5 12K bytes of RAM and Video Titler program $895 Willow Peripherals, Inc. 190 Willow Ave. Bronx, NY 10454 (800) 444-1585 (212) 402-0010 Inquiry 1148. Grolier Encyclopedia Americana $399 Grolier Electronic Publishing, Inc. Sherman Tpk. Danbury, CT 06816 (203) 797-3500 Inquiry 1149. Modula-2 Professional for DOS and OS/2 Stony Brook Software 187 East Wilbur Rd., Suite 9 Thousand Oaks, CA 91360 (800) 624-7487 (805) 496-5837 Inquiry 1150. .$295 .$99 ..$79 .$695 Multi-Media Birds of America. CMC Research, Inc. 7150 Southwest Hampton St., Suite C 120 Portland, OR 97223 (800) 262-7668 (503) 639-3395 Inquiry 1151. Nemesis-Go Nemesis Igo Dojo Toyogo, Inc. P.O. Box F, Dept. Y Kaneohe, HI 96744 (800) 869-6469 (808) 254-1166 Inquiry 1152. PanaSync C1391 $899 Panasonic Communications & Systems Co. Office Automation Group 2 Panasonic Way Seacaucus, NJ 07094 (800) 742-8086 (201) 348-7000 Inquiry 1153. Scene Generator ... Natural Graphics P.O. Box 1963 Rocklin, CA 95677 (916) 624-1436 Inquiry 1154. . $49.95 Surge Eliminators $149 and $199 Zero Surge, Inc. 103 Claremont Rd. Bernardsville, NJ 07924 (201) 766-4220 Inquiry 1155. The Animation Studio $179.95 Walt Disney Software 500 South Buena Vista St. Burbank, CA 91521 (818) 567-5340 Inquiry 1156. TVGA Video Board $799 Genlock Overlay Module $399 USVideo 62 Southfield Ave. One Stamford Landing Stamford, CT 06902 (203) 964-9000 Inquiry 1157. Ultra-14 $899 Princeton Graphic Systems 1 100 Northmeadow Pkwy., Suite 150 P.O. Box 100040 Roswell, GA 30076 (800) 221-1490 (404) 664-1010 Inquiry 1158. Video Titler EGA and VGA $495 Entropy Engineering 123 17 Village Square Terrace, Suite 202 Rockville, MD 20852 (301) 770-6886 Inquiry 1159. them. They were concerned that if they routinely released the "network version" of their CD-ROM retrieval software, they would have dozens of people using one CD-ROM. I asked how many estab- lishments there are in the U.S. where that's likely. Or even possible. Could there be more than 20? And of course there are not, meaning that they're inconveniencing thousands of users in order to prevent the possibility (hardly a certainty) of being ripped off by a couple of dozen customers at most. That's assuming that Grolier is being ripped off if several people on a network access a single CD-ROM in rapid succes- sion. They can't, after all, access it si- multaneously, because the laser can't be in more than one place at once— and in any event, how is it worse than when sev- eral people use different volumes of the printed encyclopedia? So: as I said, Grolier is reconsidering that policy. At the moment, though, what I said is true: if you have a network card in your machine, even if it is not enabled, you'll have to get the network version of the Grolier retrieval software. They say they are willing to send the network ver- sion free to anyone willing to sign a state- ment that it won't be used by more than one person at a time. Second, if you have multiple CD-ROM drives, you must invoke the Grolier re- trieval software as EE -dO or EE -dl, de- pending on which one of your drives you have the CD-ROM in. Don't bother look- ing for that in the manual: it's not there. There are apparently further undocu- mented features in the software. In addi- tion, if you use the Install program on the distribution floppy disk, it does not copy over all the files, and thus you will be un- able to reconfigure unless you have the original disk; however, you can man- ually do a COPY *.*, which will bring over all the files; the disk isn't really copy-protected. That, too, is not in the manual. Someone in the Grolier hierarchy de- cided that explaining all this stuff would confuse the user. I am told that this pol- icy has now been abandoned and there will be a new appendix to the manual ex- plaining the switches and other undocu- mented features, to which I can only say, hurrah. I am becoming increasingly fond of the Grolier Encyclopedia Americana itself, and once you get used to it, the 86 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1990 CSS/3™ Complete Statistical System with over 1 .000 presenia- tion-qualit\- graphs fully integrated with all procedures and on-screen graph customization ■ The largest selection of statistics in a single system; in-depth, comprehensive implementations of: Exploraton techniques: multi-way tables with banners: nonparametrics: dis- tribution fitting: multiple regression: general nonlinear estinui- tion; logitlprobit analysis: general A\COVAiMA\CO\A: stepwise discriminant amlysis: log-linear analysis: factor analysis: cluster analysis: multidimensional scaling: canonical correlation: item analysis/reliability: suniial analysis: time series modeling: fore- casting: lags amlysis: quality control: process analysis: experi- mental design (uith Taguchi): and much more ■ Manuals with comprehensive introductions to each procedure and examples ■ Integrated Stats Advisor expert system ■ Extensive data management facilities (powerful spreadsheet with formulas: relational merge: data verification: flexible programming language) ■ Optimized (plain English menus/mouse) user interface: even complex analyses require just few self-explanatory selections (CSS can be run without manual: Quick Start booklet explains all basic conventions) ■ Macros, batch commands also supported ■ .-kll output displayed in Scrollsheets' ' (dynamic tables with pop-up windows and instant graphs) ■ Extremely large analysis designs (e.g.. correlation matrices up to 32,000x32,000) ■ Lnlimited size of files: extended precision: unmatched speed (Assembler, C) ■ Exchanges data (and graphics) with many applications (incl.Excel«,Lotus3*.dB.ASEn S.SPSS») ■ Highest resolution output on practically all printers (incl. 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CSS:GRAPHICS " A comprehensive graphics'chart- ing system with data management ■ .All graphics capabilities of CSS/3 and, in addition, extended on-screen drawing. 19 scalable fonts, special effects, icons, maps, multi-graphics management ■ Hundreds of types of graphs ■ Interactive rotation and interactive cross-sections of 3D graphs ■ Extensive selection of tools for graphical exploration of data: fitting: smoothing; spectral planes; overlanng; layered com- pressions: marked subsets ■ Unique multivariate (e.g.. 4D) graphs ■ Facilities to custom-design new graphs and add them permanently to menu ■ Import/ export of graphs and data. 15 formats ■ Optimized (menu/mouse) user interface: even complex graphs require few keystrokes; all graphs on this page can be produced from raw data in less than 20 minutes ■ Macros, batch/ commands also supported ■ Unlimited size of files ■ Highest resolution output on all hardware (see CSS/3) ■ IBM compatibles, 640k or more ■ CSS;GRAPHICS is included in CSS:SlAriSTICA (available separately for S495). Megafile Manager'" comprehensive analytic data base management system ■ Unlimited size of files (up to 32.000 fields or 8 MB per record) ■ .Megafile Manager is included in CSS'3 and CSS:SIAriSTICA (separately: S295). CSS:STATISTICA " A fully integrated system that combines all the capabilities of CSS/3 and CSS:GRyHICS into a single extremely comprehensive data analysis system ■ Price: S795. Domestic sh/h S7 per product; 14-day money back guarantee. Circle 321 on Reader Service Card StatSoft TM 2325 E. 1 3th St. • Iblsa, OK 741 04 • (9 1 8) 583-4 1 49 Fax: (918) 583-4376 S IMC EdII taUM Stall It ™ ->=' 4« bB \wm\ STATISTICA/Mac " A CSS-compatible. comprehensive data anal\"sis and graphics svsiem designed for the .Macintosh ■ Large selection of statistical methods fully integrated «1th presenlation-qualit\- graphics (incl. 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Postscript are tradematvs of tfieir respective companies. SPSS rs a registered tfadeinart< of SPSS. Inc. CHAOS MANOR retrieval software is easy both to remem- ber and to use. I'm pleased to see that the company is reevaluating its licensing pol- icies to make life easier for their custom- ers. I wish more companies would. Winding Down Again, my desk is piled high with stuff I won't get to. The Sola Publishing Group (Via Nerino, 8-20123 Milan, Italy) sent me a CD-ROM labeled "An unabashed history of photographic erotica" that isn't precisely what the title says: most of the pictures would be better described as "raunchy" than erotic. About half the text is in Italian. There are two Mannesmann Tally printers. One is their MT 906 laser printer, which uses the Microsoft/Bauer interpreter and Bitstream fonts to print PostScript files. It also emulates the Hewlett-Packard LaserJet II and comes with the Z print cartridge, niy favorite for my old LaserJet I, the Printer That Will Not Die. We are in the middle of tor- ture-testing the MT 906 with some com- plex PostScript files that I got from Dave Moore and Trevor Marshall; if it prints those files properly, it should print any- thing. It's sure fast. I also have the MT 81, a really neat dot-matrix printer that's small enough to become the "throw it in the Bronco" printer for field use. It came in a sturdy box that I have reinforced and practically waterproofed with duct tape. The bribe of the month is a wonderful Victorian inkwell, from Underware, in celebration of the company being bought out. The game of the month is still Rail- road Tycoon, although the Strategic Studies Group does have some nifty new scenarios for their World War II simula- tion system— and the first decent Austro- Prussian war game I know of. The latter is a scenario for their Decisive Battles of the Civil War. The books of the month are Jacques Barzun's The Culture We Deserve (Wes- leyan University Press, 1989), typical Barzun, delicious and informative; and In Pursuit of Truth: Essays on the Philos- ophy of Karl Popper on the Occasion of His 80th Birthday, edited by Paul Levin- son (Humanities Press, 1982). I became a convert to Karl Popper's theory of "fal- sification" as the only route to truth many years ago, and I'm ashamed of hav- ing missed this book on its publication. It contains a good introduction to and ap- preciation of Karl Popper's work, al- though anyone seriously interested in the philosophy of science would do well to read Sir Karl Popper himself: his Open Society and Its Enemies (Princeton Uni- versity Press, 1966) is thoroughly read- able, and his other works aren't really obscure. I have the production copy of DR DOS 5.0, and next week I am going to a semi- nar on the new Desqview; next month I'll cover those, and, with luck, much, much more. ■ Jerry Pournelle holds a doctorate in psy- chology and is a science fiction writer who also earns a comfortable living writ- ing about computers present and future. Jerry welcomes readers' comments and opinions. Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to Jerry Pournelle, do BYTE, One Phoenix Mill Lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. Please put your address on the letter as well as on the envelope. Due to the high volume of letters, Jerry cannot guarantee a personal reply. You can also contact him on BIX as "jerryp. " Assembly Language TOOLBOX PROGRAMMERS Powerful Programming Tools for PC Applications Assembly Language Toolbox £99 a team led by one of the UK's leading PC authorities, Christy Gemmell, Incorporate sophisticated and efficient assembly language functions and author of the Waite Groups 'QuickBASIC Bible' which is published by procedures into your own programs quickly and easily! The Assembly- Microsoft Press, the Professional Edition is a unique programming tool Language Toolkit includes over 100 routines designed to speed up which gives you maximum control over your hardware and software, program development for both professional and hobbyist programmers Xoolbox - Utility Pack £49 alike. The toolbox allows the use of menus and windowswith full mouse complement the toolbox, the utility pack comprises support, popup context-sensitive help, full printer support as well as ^^^^^ ^Womng complex screen designs to be built easily, mouse allowing access to the innermost secrets of the PC. The Assembly- pointers to be created and incorporated into your own programs, custom Language Toolbox comes complete with sample programs and a comprehensive reference manual . Toolbox - Professional Edition £299 Coming complete with all the features of the Assembly Language Tool- box , the Professional Edition includes fully documented source code of all the functions and procedures that make up the toolbox. Written by printer support and a help screen generator. Toolbox - On Line Documentation £39 Comprises on-line documentation for the toolbox and its utilities and is supplied in forms suitable for the Norton Guide engine, the Microsoft Advisor and Microsoft Programmers Workbench. Toolbox for Novell - Call for further Information All Packages are available forthe Microsoft BASIC 6.0 / QuickBASIC 4.x , Microsoft BASIC 7.1/ QBX and Microsoft C 6.0. All text modes of the Hercules, CGA, EGA, VGA and MCGA adapters are supported including 30, 43 and 50 line modes togetherwBh supportforthe enhanced (101/102 key) keyboard. Trademarks are the property of their respective holders. ArdensoftWare 115-117 Barkby Road Leicester, LE4 7LG. England "~ ~~ Tel: 010 1 44 (533) 460000 Fax: 010 1 44 (533) 740249 ,^11^ 88 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 32 on Reader Service Card EXPERTADVICE DOWN TO BUSINESS ■ Wayne Rash Jr. The Growth OF Groupware Don't buy more— or less— groupware functionality than you need As LANs become more popular in business, the demand that they do something to support groups of people who work to- gether becomes more important. The reason for this requirement is clear. In most organizations, people work in groups assigned to accomplish a task. These may be called project teams or de- partments, but either way, they are groups of people who work together. Stand-alone software packages en- hance a group's work only to the extent that they make an individual's work more productive. So, group productivity software, or groupware, was developed. Last year I discussed two early group- ware packages, WordPerfect Office and Higgins (see "Groping for Groupware," April 1989 BYTE). Since that time, groupware has become much more popu- lar, there is a lot more of it, and there is a lot of variety in what it does to help a group be more productive. The wider selection of groupware functions means that you have to look at what your organization needs in group productivity software before the com- pany buys it. This variety is important, because, unlike with stand-alone appli- cations, everyone must use groupware, so it must support everyone's needs. On the other hand, ihere are reasons why vendors should not include unneces- sary functions in a groupware package. For exa^r>le, extra functions mean add- ed complexity and more difficulty in learning how to use the package. Also because of this sophistication, it takes more to motivate people to use group- ware once they have it available. What Functions Do You Need? Every groupware package includes E- mail, and nearly all of them include elec- tronic appointment books and group scheduling. Beyond these features, the field is wide open. You will find pack- ages that include everything from word processors and databases to calculators. The key to determining which func- tions you really need is to look at how your workgroups work. Is communica- tions their primary need? Do they have to schedule a lot of meetings? Are they working on creating reports and docu- ments that have to get passed around a lot? Are group members confident com- puter users, or do they need to work from some kind of menu shell? Is the network limited to IBM PCs and clones, or are there Macs and VAXes in the mix? Be- fore you start looking at groupware, you need to have answers to these questions, and you need to know a lot about how your LAN is used and how it's set up. What's Available? Of course, before you know whether or not you need any software, you should know what features and functions it of- fers. For example, you need to know that, with some packages, it is possible to schedule resources such as meeting rooms and slide projectors, along with the people who need to use them. You also might find that your organization is paying for features that it doesn't need and won't use, and that make the rest of the package harder to use. As I mentioned, all these packages let you send E-mail messages across the net- work to other users. To use E-mail or be notified of new messages, users must log onto the file server containing the group- ware package. Likewise, most groupware packages contain some form of appointment calen- dar that can interface with a group sched- uling package. You can keep your ap- pointments on the computer, and other ILLUSTRATION: G. BRIAN KARAS © 1990 NOVEMBER 1990 •BYTE 89 Circle 108 on Reader Service Card Good Labor ain't cheap! DOWN TO BUSINESS Optical Character Recognition Software for your scanner that is fast,accurate and easy to use. Why type when you can just scan? SX-OCR SX-OCR Reads Text • SX-OCR will automatically "re-type" your documents, producing text files that work with your word processor • SX-OCR handles English and foreign text, footnotes and headlines, typeset and typewritten material • SX-OCR will automate the typingprocess - from simple business letters to il- lustrated product catalogs SX-OCR Can Learn • SX-OCR can be taught to read nearty everything through its trainable recogni- tion process • In addition, SX-OCR automatically avoids dirt, boxes, lines, logos and graphics while converting text images to ASCII files SX-OCR Manages Graphics • SX-OCR uniquely separates graphics from text in one scan... and remembers both • SX-OCR can import and export popular image formats such as PCX and TIFF Compatability • PC-AT with 640K RAM and 2mb availa- ble on hard disk - EMS memory can be used in place of the hard disk space to speed up the OCR process • SX-OCR works directly with the follow- ing scanners: Cannon, HP, Microtek, Panasonic, Ricoh, Umax, Chinon, Zsoft, Princeton, Abaton, AST, Mitsubishi and others; also will work with any scanner that will make a .PCX file ora bilevel .TIF file The heart of OCR is the quaiity of the software engine, the algorithm that converts the graphic image into tie actuai text character. SX- OCR is better and faster than any OCR package on the marl AIX W,386/ix ^HP-UX ^^Sequent Dynex ^NCR UNIX ^VMS H Macintosh Applications 2 EDI 2!;^Point-of-Sale [^'.Mainframe RJE HMedical Claims Filing W Check Clearing y-and Deposits H Electronic Funds ^'Transfer I^Credit Card Verification U.S. Customs Automated yBroker Interface H Electronic Tax Filing ...and More! CLEO's 3780P1US' is the preferred 3780/2780 bisynciiro- nous communications solution for applications requiring fast, efficient data transfer. It's been proven in over 50,000 worldwide installations. With 3780P1US, you get full IBM 3780/2780 RJE emula- tion for IBM PCs, PS/2S, and Scripting Language compatibles. It also works with RS/6000, DECVAX, HP9000, NCR Tower, Prime, Pyramid, Sequent, Altos, and Apple Mac- intosh systems. Features include forms con- trol, auto dial/auto answer, and a communications line monitor. Our powerful Scripting Command Language and Application Program Interface make unatttended operation easy. We offer 3780P1US on high-speed modem boards, high- performance co-processor boards, and economical synchronous inter- face boards. Internal modems supported include 201/212, 208, 208/2400, V22 bis, V32, and others. External modem auto-dialing capa- bilities include UDS BSC, SADL, AT Command Set, and V25 bis. We also offer 3780Plus through our intelligent SYNCcable, which allows synchronous communications activity through asynchronous ports. Application Progra , . Interface To learn more, call us today at 1-800-233-2536. Or write to us at 3796 Plaza Drive, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48108. FAX; 313/662-1965 CLEO^ CLEO Communications A Division of Interface Systems, Inc. AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE! In Europe, call Sintec Peripherals Ltd. in Slough, England, at 0753-811888 (FAX: 0753-811666). EXPERT ADVICE NETWORKS ■ Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings Most people can't afford to wait for tomorrow's solutions Networks are practically un- manageable, and the situation is only getting worse. Unless vendors rally around a single network management standard, we'll all pay with more network downtime and more network problems in general. The problem isn't that network man- agement products don't exist. Quite the opposite is true; such products abound. The problem is that no single product ad- dresses all the problems facing the man- agers of today's large, heterogeneous networks. Users need a single product with which to manage an entire network; what they have are different management products for every component. It doesn't have to be that way. We re- cently got a tantalizing glimpse of what the future of network management could be. An administrator at a large institution was managing a network of over a thou- sand devices from a single Sun worksta- tion. On the Sun's screen was a map of the network— little white boxes linked by glowing green lines. Each of the boxes represented a device, such as a worksta- tion, bridge, router, or gateway. The lines indicated connections between the devices. Some of the connections were network media, such as Ethernet or fiber-optic cables, while others were Tl and microwave transmissions. When a device or connection encountered a prob- lem, its on-screen counterpart turned yellow; when the device went down, its box or line glowed red. You could even zoom in for a closer look. We double-clicked the mouse on a bridge, for example, and up popped sta- tistics on the number of packets that bridge had received and transmitted, the HARD Choices FOR Network Managers number of errors, and so on. We instantly knew what else the pro- gram could do. Clicking on a server's box would produce statistics on its file and printer usage. Clicking on an Ether- net cable would give us a closer look at the PCs hooked to that cable. Everything was in one place, accessible from this one program. We were wrong. The program could not do what we wanted because the de- vices on the network didn't all support the same network management standard. Back to the Future Many of those devices, however, did sup- port the Simple Network Management Protocol, and that support made possible the features we saw. The SNMP specifi- cation comes from the Internet Engineer- ing Task Force, the folks who brought us TCP/IP, the Unix networking standard. At its core, SNMP just defines how a net- work manager can communicate with network agents. The manager is a pro- gram that can accept, manipulate, and, generally, display information about the state of the network— such as the pro- gram we saw running on the Sun work- station. An agent is a device on the net- work, and theoretically it can be any- thing from a workstation to a bridge, router, gateway, or server. The only re- quirement an agent must meet is that it must be able to run some SNMP soft- ware; thus, it needs its own processor and memory. SNMP is only a protocol, a specifica- tion for how the manager and the agents can communicate. It does not specify the contents of all possible exchanges— just how to make those exchanges. Even the way in which the manager and the agents communicate is fairly simple. The man- ager and the agents do not need to stay in touch constantly; instead, the manager merely "yells" to the agents periodical- ly. Nor do the agents have to remember ILLUSTRATION: TIM CLARK © 1990 NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 97 -bit Color IS Jost Ooe NETWORKS The Hercules Graphics Station Card gives you the real picture and power to spare. Power to run Windows 3.0 and beyond. With 1024K of VRAM for 16- and 24-bit color, up to 16.7 million colors are within your grasp. Rctures will appear more lifelike than ever. And with its TI 34010 processor, the Hercules Graphics Station Card frees your CPU from time-con- suming graphics functions. You can nm programs like PageMaker, Excel and Corel Draw up to five times faster than the fastest super VGA card, even at 1024 X 768 resolution. Only the Hercules Graphics Station Card combines VGA for today's applications, the TI 34010 for more power and future applications, and 16- and 24-bit color hig^i quaUty photo realism. All at a surprisingly low price. Call 800 532-0600, ext 722. for more information. After all, 24-bit color is just one of our strengths. ® [i)Tri|tl Dil Miiii lithiliK. Ill . iil rirtii Slim, iiitilif. U Hticilis }il Htrcilt! GllfkiEl Sliliil Caif irc riliEillh ll Itlltilli Cli|illlllcliili|i lit III iltii (iiliil nil! Ill irtliuiti ll lliii iHiitliii iniri. lii lit III illiliiifl ml Hittilci. these conversations; only the manager needs such records, and then only as a management tool. SNMP is well on its way to becoming a standard. More than 100 vendors have signed up for it so far, with more coming all the time. Some of the vendors are even major workstation players, such as IBM and Sun. Most, however, are mak- ers of network connection devices— the vendors behind the bridges, routers, and gateways that worked so well with the software we saw. Roadblocks With all this momentum behind it, you might think that SNMP was unstoppable, maybe even on its way to fulfilling our earlier visions. But that's not the case. For one thing, SNMP doesn't cover enough ground to meet all our needs. The base specification details only how the manager and the agents communi- cate. To make our universal-manage- ment dream come true, we also need standards for what every possible kind of agent — including workstations and serv- ers — can say to the manager. Some such SNMP-based standards exist, but mostly for bridges, routers, and gateways— hence the wider adoption of SNMP by vendors of those products than by any other types of vendors. Server vendors, for example, have largely ignored SNMP, so SNMP console products typi- cally offer no information about server activity. SNMP also has so far been asso- ciated primarily with Ethernet, although work is ongoing to bring it to Token Ring, Fiber Distributed Data Interface, and other types of network connections. Back to the Future, Part II The newest and perhaps greatest obstacle to SNMP, however, is a second— and, in many ways, better— proposed network management standard: Common Man- agement Information Protocol. CMIP comes from the International Standards Organization (ISO), the group behind both the Open Systems Intercon- nection model and the networking soft- ware of the same name. CMIP defines standard types of communication for practically every kind of information you might want about a network — physical faults, security breaches, file opera- tions, configuration data, performance, accounting, and on and on. It's obviously a much larger and more comprehensive standard than SNMP. A companion specification, the Common Management Information Service standard, defines a large set of functions that a manager must provide. You don't have to look long « — Circle 160 on Reader Service Card You can't be too rich, too thin or too smart RICH in features like a replace battery indicator, internal control language, site diagnostics, and full-time surge and noise suppression THIN to fit easily under the monitors of desktop servers and workstations SMAFTT with an intelligent interface to allow automatic shutdown of network operating systems such as Novell. Lan Manager, Lan Server, SCO Unix, Banyan and more See us at BOOTH 236 0€©im©IH/Fall'9O November 12-16, 1990 Las Vegas, Nevada Some specifically for servers or you're finding it hard to get people also workstations such as the IBM rich or thin, protecting your -n-iizl say you PS-2/80 and the Compaq data with an APC UPS will can't be too powerful. But to DeskPro 386. With Power- always make you look smart, a computer too much or too Doctor" software, you can Call 800-541-8896, Dept. little power can be disastrous, even monitor your site's A2 to receive your free Protect your desk space and power quality and export the Power Protection Hand- your data with APC's new data directly to popular book. Resellers ask about our Smart-UPS™ 400, designed spreadsheets. So even if extensive support programs. The industry's leading UPS systems ij J EOM MM "All Around „. Am e^^^^^^^^^ lon ^ El PcwEEK Lan's Best Friend © 1990. APC. 132 Fairgrounds Rd.. West Kingston. RI 02892 USA. Int l headquarters at 2 bis nie P.H. Spaak. Esplanade Pare d'Enterprises. Saint Thibault des Vignes. 77462 Lagny sur Mame, Cedex. France. 01 1-33-1-64-021 158. Products carry a two year warranty. Lan's Best Friend. Sman-UPS.PowerDoclor are trademarks of APC. All other Iradernarks are the property of their owners. Circle 23 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 24) Circle 174 on Reader Service Card Rack & Desk PC/AT Chassis Integrand's new Chassis/System is not another IBM mechanical and electrical clone. An entirely fresh packaging design approach has been taken using modular construction. At present, over 40 optional stock modules allow you to customize our standard chassis to nearly any requirement. Integrand offers high quality, advanced design hardware along witli applications and technical support a// at prices competi- tive witti imports. Why settle for less? NETWORKS Rack & Desk Models Accepts PC, XT, AT Motherboards and Passive Backplanes Doesn 't Look Like IBM Rugged, Modular Construction Excellent Air Flow & Cooling Optional Card Cage Fan Designed to meet FCC 204 Watt Supply, UL Recognized 145W & 85W also available Reasonably Priced Passive Backplanes RESEARCHCORR Call or write for descriptive brochure and prices: 8620 Roosevelt Ave. • Visalia, CA 93291 209/651-1203 TELEX 5106012830 (INTEGRAND UD) FAX 209/651-1353 We accept Bank Americard/VISA and MasterCard IBM. PC, XT, AT trademarks of International Business Machines Drives and computer boards not included. at the CMIP and CMIS specs to believe that they cover the vast majority— if not all— of the network management options that you're likely to want. Of course, you pay for all this size. For one thing, CMIP, unlike SNMP, re- quires a permanent connection between the manager and each agent. Worse, to work fully with a CMIS manager, each agent needs to implement every layer of the CMIP spec, so each agent needs a lot s ^NMP is well on its way to becoming a standard. More than 100 vendors have signed up for it so far. of memory to run the CMIP software. CMIP and CMIS are new enough that we have no hard data on the amount of mem- ory that a full commercial implementa- tion would require, but some estimates run as high as 1 megabyte, with the most optimistic projections in the hundreds of kilobytes. This memory requirement is a problem for network devices like bridges and routers, and it's not likely to sit too well with most MS-DOS PC users. IBM and 3Com have teamed up to pro- pose a solution to this memory problem: the Heterogeneous LAN Management standard. A subset of CMIP, HLM in- cludes only the lower few layers of the larger standard. HLM can work with both Token Ring and Ethernet networks and should cost only 20K bytes to 30K bytes per PC, so it has the potential to bring network management options right to your desktop. Both IBM and 3Com plan to include HLM in their PC net- working software, and they're encourag- ing other vendors to do so as well. HLM does not, however, include any monitor- ing software or specifications, just an application programming interface on which vendors can build their own man- agement monitors— as both IBM and 3Com plan to do. Picking a Future Aside from its memory requirement, CMIP sounds great. HLM isn't as good. but at least it fits on a PC. At first glance, the two seem to offer a great one-two punch: Do HLM now, and then do CMIP as PC operating environments, such as Windows that can handle large software products become more commonly avail- able. Together, CMIP and HLM seem like the death of SNMP. The thing is, CMIP is the future, and there are network management problems today that can't wait for it to reach the market. The CMIP ISO standards are only in draft form, awaiting ratification. IBM and 3Com say that HLM won't be ready until sometime in 1991. When both are done, users will still face a long wait while all the networking vendors implement these standards and bring their products to market. Meanwhile, SNMP is out in the real world doing useful work today. That's the bottom line. Network management problems are too important to wait, so everyone should adopt SNMP as quickly as possible. Every network vendor, in- cluding the LAN server companies- Novell, Microsoft, and the rest— should embrace this standard. Every server, workstation, and other network device should be able to talk SNMP. Does this mean we're giving thumbs down to CMIP? No. In fact, we also think that every network vendor should jump on the CMIP bandwagon as soon as possible, so that in four or five years CMIP products will be everywhere. "But wait," we hear the budget-con- scious folks crying, "does this mean that we'll end up using SNMP for a few years and then moving to CMIP? Does it mean we'll end up paying twice for many net- work management components? Does it mean we're opting for a relatively short- term, imperfect solution, while an al- most ideal one is only years away?" Yes, yes, and yes. Those questions are good ones, but they beg the most important question of all: Do you really have any other choice? Our answer is no; network management is too vital to today's businesses to wait for a standard that's years away. That's not an ideal answer, admittedly, but right now it's the best one we've got. ■ Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings are BYTE contributing editors. Both are also independent computer consultants and freelance writers based in Raleigh, North Carolina. You can reach them on BIX as "mvanname " and "wbc3, " respectively. Your questions and comments are wel- come. Write to: Editor, BYTE, One Phoenix Mill Lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. 100 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 Our Printer Sharing Unit Does Networking! An Integrated Solution Take our Master Switch , a sophisticated sharing device, combine it with MasterNet™ networking software for PCs, and you've got an integrated solution for printer and plotter sharing, file transfer, electronic mail, and a lot more. Of course you can also share modems, minis, and mainframes or access the network remotely Installation and operation is very simple. Versatile Or you can use the Master Switch to link any computer or peripheral with a serial or parallel interface. The switch accepts over 20 commands for controlling the flow of data. It may be operated automatically, by command, or with interactive menus. Its buffer is expandable to one megabyte and holds up to 64 simultaneous jobs. The MasterLink™ utility diskette for PCs comes with every unit and unleashes the power of the switch with its memory-resident access to the commands and menus. Other Products We have a full line of connectivity solutions. If you just want printer sharing, we've got it. We also have automatic switches, code- activated switches, buffers, converters, cables, protocol converters, multiplexers, line drivers, and other products. Commitment to Excellence At Rose Electronics, we're not satisfied until you're satisfied. That's why we have thousands of customers around the world including large, medium, and small businesses, factories, stores, educational institutions, and Federal, state, and local governments. We back our products with full technical support, a one-year warranty and a thirty-day money-back guarantee. Call now for literature or more information. (800) 333-9343 P.O. Box 742571 • Houston, Texas 77274 • Tel (713) 933-7673 • FAX (713) 933-0044 • Telex 4948886 Circk 303 on Reader Service Card Can you stomach spending an extra $10,000 for a PC network or UNIX' workgroup server with dubious service? We can't. Workgroups are too critical to leave in the hands of amateurs. So Dell has gone overboard in servicing servers. In fact, we just won a PC Week Poll for Corporate Satisfaction for ser\'ers, where our reliability and service were rated far above our competitors. Which brings us back to our question: Would you spend an extra $10,000 for iffy service? We think its a no-brainer. We have ttvo netv 486 " EISA setters. Dell gives you a choice of the 25 MH:Deir"425TE UNBELIEVABLE PRICES. TO ORDER. CALL 800'444'1470 HOURS: 6 AM-9 PM CT M-F S .«.M.4 PM CT ON SAT. FOR NETWORKING/UNIX INFO. 800-678-UNIX IN CANADA. CALL SOD-3S7-5752 and the 33 MHz Dell433TE. The 25 MHz Dell System* 425TE has up to 64 MB of RAM capacity, 11 storage bays, and a whisper-quiet 300 watt power supply. We've also built in features such as password protection, a sofn\-are controlled reset switch, and an efficient cooling system to protect component life. What's more, both the 433TE and the 425TE have the Dell designed Smart Vu" diagnostic display built in. This ingenious innovation helps identify problems even if the monitor goes down. For even more performance, the 33 MHz Dell System 433TE is everything our 425TE is, with 32% more speed. The Dell exclusive memory design with a 128 KB external cache gives it maximum throughput. ystem 433TE $9,599 1 Del! System 425TE| Lease:$359ApQ?*| THE NEW DELL SYSTEM 433TE 33 MHi EIS.^ i486'" AND THE NEW DELL SYSTEM 425TE 25 MH: EISA i486. • Intel' 80466 micrDprocessor running ar 33 MH: t4337X) or 25 MH: (425Tt) wth S KB incerml cache. • 12S KB esiemal cache (433TE). • Standard 4 MB of RAM,' expandable to 64 MB (eight internal SIMM sockets, each accepting a 1 MB. 2 MB. 4 MB. or 8 MB SIMM, installable in matched pairs). • Socket for WEITEK 4167 math copiocessor. • U internal half-height drive kzys. • Eight 32-bit EISA exparuion slots (six EISA master sbts and tv,o EISA sla\'e slots). • Hifih-perrormance IDE (80 MB. 100 MB. 190 MB) and ESDI (330 MB. 650 MB) hard diskdm«i. 650 MB VGA Cobr Phis System 433TE 425TE Using 2 MB SIMMs $11,799 59.599 Using 4 MB SIMMs S12.199 S9.999 Prices listed include S MB of BAM. AD CODE11E33 'Server problems? Just ship 'em hack, okayl" I krunv those babies like a cat knows her kittens!' "Where's the power switch? My UNlXgiiy actually talked to the factory once! "But he's on vacation for tivo tveeks.Soiry." H From this foundation, create a powerful PC network or UNIX workgroup. Dell's new systems have more than enough performance to function as a LAN Server and WAN or internetworking gateway. So they're capable of supporting the most demanding server use— a multi-function network. Of Tht Dell Syirem and d25TEoi« OauAd«vii:es sold for use ii comrnerdd efTvirorarienh onl>! E^rfoimaficB enhanwmerts; wiltiir ihe firaJ megobylB of menwy 384 KB s reserved for use by iTie sysJem to enhonce pe*fonTwrKe. All systems ore p^otogro plied prices end speciflcotlons ore subiect 'o chonge wirtiout notice, Dell connot be responsible lor errors in ty^ogrocJiy or photogrophy "Poy- mentbosed on 36.fnonth,open-end lease. LeOSingorronged by Leosing Grotjp, Inc. In Conodo, configurations ond prices moy vory. DELL SYSTEM IS o registered trodeitiork.Dell and SmonVu ore trodemorlrs of Deil Computer Corporotion Dell UNIX System V3.2 is bosed on INTEIWCT1VE Systems Corporotlons386/li('- Intel Isoregisteredtrodemork and I486 and 436 ore troderrtorVs of Intel CorporotipJ:Wprroiity, 41990 Dell Computer Corporohoo, All rights reserved- course, they're completely compatible with all major network operating systems, including Novell, 3COM and Banyan. In a UNIX environment, the 425TE and 433TE are perfect for workgroups supporting either traditional multiuser or high-speed client/ser\'er environments. You can buy Dell servers preloaded with UNIX System y making them literally plug and play. Even more impressive is the fact that UNIX system administration can be done by Dell, remotely. Serticing servers is beyond most Compaq dealers. If a server happens to go down, your whole company can go down with it. Would you trust some unknown technician to bring it back up? We wouldn't. That's why we have a special advanced systems hotline so you can call us direct. Dell is an AT&TUNIX source code licensee and an authorized Novell Network Reseller. On those rare occasions we can't fix it over the phone, Xerox technicians will come to your office with the solution or a i ^r^sm^ a— part in hand."^ There's a lot more to knoiv before you buy a server. When you call Dell, our experts will give you the help you need to buy an advanced PC or UNIX server. Then we'll send it off with a 30-day no questions asked money back guarantee, and a one year limited warranty. Call us. Wdd like to make believers out of you. Above and beymid the call. DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION Circle 104 on Reader Service Card THE LAP OF LUXURY. Talk about good things falling into your lap. Dell's first laptop -the 16 MHz 386" SX —was PC Magazine's Editor's Choice, and won PC Week's Corporate Satisfaction Poll for 386SX laptop computers. Now we've made a faster 20 MHz model, with a new higher contrast display. And it's only $3,899. Which is a hefty $2,900 less than Compaq's SLT TO ORDER, CALL 800'444'1470 HOURS:6AM-9PMCTM-F SAM-4PMCTSAT IN CANADA, CALL 8(10-387-5752 386s/20.' In fact, it even costs less than most slower 16 MHz laptops. How those other guys can charge so much is insane. (Here's another good one: We're also cutting the price of our original 16 MHz laptop to $2, 999. That should drive our competitors up the padded wall. ) It's a desktop PC trapped in the body of a laptop. This lightweight laptop acts suspiciously like a desktop system. With the Intel® 20 MHz 386SX microprocessor, it's as powerful as most desktops. It's nearly as expandable, too. You get up to 8 MB 20 MHz 386SX Lease: $141/mor* THE NEW DELL SYSTEM' 320LT 20 MHz 386SX AND THE DELL SYSTEM 316LT 16 MHz 386SX • Ince! S0386SX microprocessor running at 20 MH: {320LT) or 16 MH: (316LT). •Standard 1 MB of RAM* optional 2 MB of RAM expandable to 8 MB (on the s>-stem board using I MB SIMMS). • LIM 4-0 support for memory over 1 MB. • 640 X 480 VGA Liquid Crystal Display. • One industry standard half-sise 8-bit expansion slot. • Dedicated Data/F^x modem sloc- • Socket for Intel 80387SX math coprocessor. •3.5" 1.44 MB diskette dnve. • 83-ke>' ke>'board with embedded ruimerk Is^pad. I ADCODE11E32 | • 1 parallel, 1 serial, and external VGA monitor port. • Connector for lOl-kev' keyboard or numeric keypad. • Connector for external 5.25" 1.2 MBdidcette drive. • Two removable and rechargeable N iCad battery packs utilizing Dell's "Continuous Fbwer Battery Sv-stem" (patent pending). 316LT: 20 MB. I MB RAM S2.999 320LT: 40 MB. 2 MB R.^M $3,899 •Performonce Enhoncemwils: Within the first megabyte of memory, 128KB is reserved for use by the system to enhonce performance. DEILSYSTE// a o registered trodemorfcond Delso trodernorko^Del ConiputerCbrporotk^ ord 336 is 0 Iroderriark or Intel Corporal. tSoira: [^jtacFjest inc. (5|^^ feose. -leosing onwged by Led trode ryynes Oiner 4kvi is OSMa -^Orvsie sennoe rnoy rx)! b^ roton. All rights reserved- FcrinfentxSion on ond ocopyofDeTsSO-DoyTisidSofefactionGuo^^ Ccotroci, pleose lo Del Conipoler CorpofoSon. 9505 Arborefiw Bou^^ THE LAP OF LUNACY. of RAM, a 3.5" 1.44 MB diskette drive and a 20 or 40 MB hard drive. It also has a dedicated slot for a Dell " Data/Fax modem, and a separate slot for a standard half-length expansion card. (On a Compaq, that expansion slot would cost you an extra $1,000). When it's time to stay put, you can connect our laptop to an external VGA monitor and keyboard, a 5. 25" external floppy disk drive, and even to your network or mainframe. If you can tvork 24 hours a day, our laptop can tvork 24 hours a day. Dell's special Continuous Power Battery System lets you change batteries without losing your data, or your train of thought. The system includes two lightweight rechargeable battery packs. The service goes where you go. If you have a question, our toll-free technical hotline solves 90% of all problems over the phone. If we can't solve it over the phone, a trained technician from Xerox will be sent to your lapside the next business day — nearly anywhere in the contiguous U.S.- For sale, for lease, for less. When you call us, you talk with a computer expert whose sole mission is to give you exactly what you want. At a great price. We'll custom configure your laptop, give you a 30-day no questions asked money back guarantee, and a choice of leasing plans."^ Then we'll do a configured system test, and ship it wherever you want. Call now for either our 16 MHz or new 20 MHz 386SX laptops. It'd be lunacy not to. Above and beyond the call. DELL COMPUTER CORPORATION Circle 105 on Reader Service Card The floppy disk icon "D0S-1.44M" is actually an MS-DOS^ disk, brought to you by AccessPCV Shown: Lotus" 1-2-3" release2.2, running in SoJtPC with EGA/AT Option Module^" i File fdil Opiions PC Otu'ps MBtmtosh Hn QckQck, It'sAMAC. It'sAMiC AndAPC. Load SoftPC, click twice, and you've got a window wide open to the entire MS-DOS world. Everything a Mac can do plus everything a PC con do, in one machine. Whether you're a Macintosh user who needs access to PC softwareand data, ore PC userwho wants to go Macintosh without losing PC compatibility, you can have itall with Insignia's best-selling software solutions. So/fPCis a software emulation precise enough to run the toughest PC applications- Norton Utilities, Lotus 1-2-3, Han/ard Graphics, AutoCad, even custom develop- ment programs. You get complete XT or AT compatibilify forthe SE/30, Macintosh II family and the Macintosh Portable. Add an EGA/AT Option Module, and get vibrant EGA color compatibility, LIM expanded memory and math coprocessor support. New4ccessPCIetsyou use PCand PS/2 disks just like Mac disks. Now you can move and view PC file and disk icons— even in locked orfull disks!— format DOS disks, launch Mac applications and much more. For more information and the name of a SoftPC dealer nearyou,call Insignia at 800-848-7677 (U.S. only) or 408-522-7600 (outside U.S.). Ifisignid Insignio Solutions. nc. 254 Son GefDnimoWoy, Sunnyvale, CA 94086. Fox: 408-733-9541. We give a So/fPClretoi! S399) or ,4ccessPC program (retail 5129) doily to ocoller selected at raridom. registered trademark and ^^ccessAT iso trademark of Insignia Solutions. Inc. Other product nomes are trademarks or registered trademorksof their respective owners- Circle 173 on Reader Service Card EXPERT ADVICE MACINATIONS ■ Don Crabb WORKING WITH Windows 3.0 AND A Mac Overall, the Windows 3.0/386 combo is an 85 percent Mac As I have written here before, using Windows 3.0 on a good- quality 386 PC is surprisingly similar to using a Mac Ilex. It's nowhere near an exact match, but it's close enough to force the obvious com- parisons. Overall, I call the Windows 3.0/386 combo an 85 percent Mac. The reality of microcomputing life is that lots of different graphical user inter- faces (GUIs), stuck on lots of different operating systems, are going to be the norm for the nineties. Mac and Windows users must learn to get along, because in- teroperability will be the defining tech- nology. I have had my share of Mac OS/ Windows 3.0 attempts at detente, and here are some early tips based on my ex- perience. Networking I do a lot of work over computer net- works, both at home and at the office. I use both LocalTalk and Ethernet to in- terconnect Macs, PCs, Sun SPARCsta- tions, and NeXT Computers. For Win- dows 3.0 to be a viable GUI for me means that I have to make it work with these existing networks. Right now, that's a big problem. I use both AppleShare and TOPS on the PCs and Macs, while Network File System handles the file sharing over the Unix boxes. Thus, I want to run AppleShare PC or TOPS on my Windows-equipped PCs, or even NFS. But that's not yet pos- sible. None of these file-server technol- ogies are Windows 3.0-compatible. I've tried loading AppleShare PC and TOPS first and then loading Windows 3.0 on the PCs, but there's not enough memory left in the 640K-byte start-up segment for Windows to fly. I've also tried Windows in real mode (where you lose all the multitasking and extended memory magic) to shoehorn in the net- working stuff, but that's been a wash. Novell's NetWare or 3Com's 3 -I- Share might be an answer for my cross-plat- form file sharing, since Windows 3.0 has hooks that can support these networked operating systems. But the cheapest ver- sion of NetWare that supports all my Macs and PCs as clients would cost me $4600. 1 don't see that as much of a solu- tion. Plus, I'd need to establish a PC as a dedicated NetWare server, to say nothing of the hassle of Novell network adminis- tration. NFS isn't an answer either, since there is no PC version of it that works with Windows. The best I can do is run my PCs under DOS 4.01 and do my file sharing over the networks under that op- erating system. Then, I can kill the net- works and reboot under Windows to run my applications. Not exactly transparent networking, is it? Let's hope that Apple and Sitka (formerly TOPS) can fix things at their end, and that Microsoft's prom- ised easy adaptability of Windows 3.0 to different networks becomes a reality. File Exchange When I've used a Toshiba T3100SX lap- top on the road and want to move its files over to my Mac, I have always used Trav- eling Software's LapLink Mac III. It works well and simply. Luckily, Lap- Link Mac III works fine as a non-Win- dows application, so I can continue to use it that way. Since I'm using Microsoft Word for Windows on the T3100SX, I also don't have to worry about invoking file-conversion software or file filters. I've tried other file-exchange solutions on the T3100SX and on both an Out- bound Systems portable Mac and Ap- ple's Mac Portable connected to a To- shiba T5200 running Windows 3.0. I ILLUSTRATION: TOM SCIACCA © 1990 NOVEMBER 1990 - BYTE 107 MACINATIONS used a direct serial connection on both Macs to the T5200 and ran Procomm as a non-Windows application on the T5200, while running VersaTerm-Pro on the Macs. A similar serial connection between the T3 lOOSX and a Mac Ilci also worked fine for file exchanges as long as I made sure to use the correct file translators or filters first. For the most part, I use the Apple File Exchange with the Claris, DataViz (Mac Link Plus), and Systems Compatibility (Software Bridge) transla- tors for this. I've had no trouble getting PageMaker 4.0, Excel 2.2, PowerPoint 2.0, and other files over to Windows from the Mac. As more DOS and Mac vendors pro- duce Windows 3.0-compatible software, the transparent exchange of files between these two operating systems should be- come much easier. On-Line Service and BBS Access Over the past two years, I've become ad- dicted to the ease of use offered by Con- nect's MacNet, CompuServe's Naviga- tor, AppleLink, and America Online. Unfortunately, there is no Windows 3.0 version of AppleLink, and the same is true for America Online, a service dedi- cated to Mac users with a spiffy GUI. Thankfully, though, there is a PC ver- sion of Connect (PCNet), and I've gotten by with it in the past. Unfortunately, it's not expected to appear in a Windows- compatible version anytime soon, and I can't make it work quite right as a non- Windows application. Although there's no Windows version of Navigator, Com- puServe does have a new PC package for making access easier, called the Compu- Serve Information Manager. But it's not Windows 3.0-compatible either, and it's pretty mediocre compared to all the auto- scripting capabilities of Navigator. For Windows 3 .0 to gain the same rep- utation as a high-quality interface for on-line services as the Mac, we need Windows-based on-line software written for it. Similarities and Differences Can Aggravate If you spend more than 5 minutes using Windows 3.0, you realize that it looks more like the Mac Finder/MultiFinder than it works like it. While Windows 3.0 includes resizable windows, scroll bars, menus, icons, proportional screen fonts, and color, the way they work isn't usu- ally the same as their Mac equivalents. If you're a Mac person, a number of annoying omissions (e.g., the lack of a Trashcan and different functional menu bars for each Desktop window) can con- fuse you. If you're used to the clean screen fonts on the Mac, you'll hate the lousy screen fonts under Windows, al- though Adobe's Type Manager for Win- dows should help. You'll also find that many of the Windows icons look a tad mediocre. There are quite a few Windows capa- bilities that Mac users would love to have: icons that represent parent and daughter windows (which keeps the Desktop tidy), standard interapplication communication in the form of Dynamic Data Exchange that MacFolk have to wait for System 7.0 to savor, true pre- emptive multitasking with dynamic memory allocation (System 7.0 won't have dynamic memory), and seriously enhanced printer control. Mac users with anything more than a passing familiarity with that machine i i i I 108 AWARD POSTCARD DIAGNOSTIC CARD • DOS not required for diagnostic functions • POST (Power On Self Test) routine monitoring • Supports XT/286/386 based microcomputers • Works with most BIOS versions including AWARD, AMI, PHOENIX, QUADTEL • Built in comprehensive diagnostic functions in ROM • Fits into any 8/1 6 BIT slot • Optional digital diagnostic diskettes for floppy disk alignment • Serial and parallel loop back connectors included • New Low Price «249.°° Order Now 1-800-800-2467 UNICORE SOFTWARE 599 Canal Street Lawrence, MA 01 840 (508) 686-6468 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 359 on Reader Service Card "Highly Recomn^nV&d"— PC NTa^^HS The AC outlet for your car! PowerTrip® gives you AC power from your car's cigarette lighter! Safely runs: Computers FAX machines only $199.95! Zirco ic I Any 1 00 watt AC electronics I 220 volt version available (US $299.95) I Runs for hours with no significant battery drain 10900 W. 44th Ave. Wheat Ridge, CO 80033 USA Enhancng the MobNe Office Tel(303) 421 -201 3 FAX (303) 423-8346 Circle 378 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 379) TheQ You're traveling through another dimension — a dimension of increasing storage demands and rewritable optical technology. Submitted for your approval, storage solu- tions from the #1 source of optical storage systems in the world. Systems designed for Macintosh, SUN, DEC, HP, IBM and compatibles. Support for ad- vanced applications running Unix, Xenix, A/UX, NoveU, and more. Pinnacle Micro, the leader in this new storage revolution, provides expanded storage for multimedia, digital video, pre-press, desktop publishing, CAD/CAM, and other data-intensive applications. In the Optical Zone, these storage requirements are met with the latest optical technology available. From the world's first 3.5 inch optical drive to the largest selling 5.25 inch optical drives and disk changers. On Une, network, backup and archiving storage solutions from 128 Megabytes to 36 Gigabytes. \^th optical storage, your data's life is pro- longed and protected. Expansion is as easy as inserting another optical disc. With Pinnacle's ASCENT™ program, systems can be upgraded from 650 Megabytes to 1 Terabyte. See the future ... Store the future ... Recall the future ... The future is Optical. For further reference, check under "S "for storage, from Pinnacle in ... The Optical Zone. ©(800)553-7070 PlNNAaE/^ICRO 15265 Alton Parkway • Irvine, CA 92718 • In CA (714) 727-3300 • FAX (714) 727-1913 THE OPTICAL STORAGE COMPANY Circle 284 on Reader Service Card MACINATIONS will peg Windows 3.0 as being different. After a bit more exploration, you'll likely find that it's annoyingly different, de- spite some of its obvious pluses. After a few months, you'll find yourself asking when Windows 4.0 is coming out to fix all the interface mistakes Microsoft still managed to build into version 3.0. On the other hand, Windows 3.0 users should be able to switch over to a Mac (or switch back and forth between the two environments) with considerably less It's true! We can turn your existing ~™" Series I! or III printer into a _ 1 000 X 1 000 Turbo Res™ Plain-Paper ^ Typesetter! National TeleVAR™ (Raster Devices Direct) intro- duces the 1000 Enhancer Kit™ for your HP Series II or III printer. By using a new imaging technology called TurboRes™ on our PC-based controller, we can transform your 300 dpi printer into a state-of-the-art Plain-Paper Typesetter that gives you print quality previously undreamed of, even on devices costing over $20,000. Send us your HP Series II or III laser printer and we will do the rest. We factory install a video board and connector in your Series II or III, and supply a PC/XT/AT or MCA 6Mb printer controller, 135 scaleable fonts, direct driver software for trouble, since Windows 3.0 is a vast im- provement over version 2.03. And it does look a lot like a Mac. Sometimes looking good is all that matters, I guess. Tip of the Month: Subscribe to a Newsletter This past summer proved to be another tough time for computer magazines. An industry that was already condensed has compacted further with the failures of VNU's Personal Computing, IDG's PC Resource, and CMP's Macintosh News. Surprisingly, though, as some main- stream computer magazines have failed, computer newsletters have gotten stron- ger. Old standbys like Stewart Alsop's PC Letter have gotten bigger and better, while McGraw-Hill's BYTEWEEK has established itself as a reliable weekly for up-to-the-minute computing news and analysis for both PC and Mac users. Two of my most pleasant surprises, however, come from industry experts relatively new to the newsletter game. Denise Caruso, the gifted columnist of the San Francisco Examiner and several on-line venues, has just started a newslet- ter for working multimedia users. Called Media Letter, this newsletter is exactly what real multimedia people need. If you're using your Mac for multi- media work, or if you expect to in the fu- ture, you should subscribe to Media Let- ter (P.O. Box 142075, Coral Gables, PL 33114, (305) 441-1282). It costs from $195 to $395 a year, depending on your institutional affiliation. My favorite Mac newsletter will soon be celebrating its first anniversary. The Weigand Report (P.O. Box 647, Gales Ferry, CT 06335, (203) 464-6188) is written and published by former MAC- azine and Personal Publishing editor Chuck Weigand. This newsletter practi- cally begs to be read, since it's jammed with useful and specific tips for Mac novices and Mac experts. Since much of Chuck's expertise is in desktop publishing, that's the focus, but the newsletter also includes coverage germane to small-business Mac owners. A recent issue had articles on high-reso- lution plain paper printers, font-transfor- mation software, SCSI-bus screwups caused by multiple SCSI devices, and the compression of TIFF images. Chuck gives you plenty of theoretical and engineering (he is, after all, a retired Navy lieutenant commander and nuclear submariner) information about the topics he covers, but he also includes plenty of practical tips for solving the problems he reveals. A yearly subscription to the Wei- gand Report (20 issues) costs $128. It's easily worth thrice the price. ■ Don Crabb is the director of laboratories and a senior lecturer for the computer science department at the University of Chicago. He is also a contributing editor for BYTE. He can be reached on BIX as "decrabb." Your questions and comments are wel- come. Write to: Editor, BYTE, One Phoenix Mill Lane, Peterborough, NH 03458. 1000 DPI! From Your HP LaserJet Series II or III Windows (such as PageMaker, CorelDRAW!, Micrografx Designer, Word Windows, etc.), GEM (such as Xerox Ventura Publisher, GEM Artline, etc.) and Word Perfect. CALL NOW! 1-800-468-1732, Source Code #106 (In MN: 612-941-4919) and ask about the 1000 Enhancer Kit for your Series II or III printer. The 300 dpi barrier will fall by the way- side as you experience lOOOx 1000 TurboRes. Note that all your existing PCL functionality remains unchanged, so your printer can live in both worlds —PCL and 1000x1000 TurboRes! PrePress Systems Specialists Formerly Raster Devices Direct, inc. ©1990. Raster Devices Direct, Inc., National TeleVAR and 1000 Enhancer Kit are trademarks of Raster Devices Corporation. TurboRes is a licensed technology and a trademarl< of Laserf^aster Corporation. All other product and brand names are trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective companies. All prices and specifications are subject to change without notice. Please call for current pricing and warranty details. VISA, MASTERCARD AND AMERICAN EXPRESS ACCEPTED 110 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 252 on Reader Service Card Database Users Respond To Queries In a series of recent polls, Oracle's products were ranked number one by five magazines representing over four hundred thousand readers. Leading to only one conclusion: Oracle's database and networking products are the best solutions for the widest variety of PC and Mac users. The readers of both DATA BASED ADVISOR andDBMS Magazine named Professional ORACLE Tools and Database the best SQL-based data- base. The readers of VARBUSINESS, who should know something about developing applications, named it the best applications software. And Government Computer News cited reliability, compatibility and speed as some of the reasons they awarded Professional ORACLE Tools and Database the number one data manager for local area networks. ORACLE for Macintosh received its share of acclaim from Info World readers, who named it Macintosh Product of the Year. Info World readers also named Oracle's newest desktop product, ORACLE Server for OS/2, product of the year. As did subscribers of DBMS Magazine, who rated ORACLE Server for OS/2 the best database server. Call 1-800-633-0498 Ext. 4905 to order or sign up for the free Oracle Client-Server Forum in your area. And see what kind of software generates this kind of hardware. Professional ORACLE Tools ^ and Database Version 5.1 C $1,299 Professional ORACLE Tools Version 5.1 0 $799 ORACLE tor Macintosti Version 1 .2 Database Version Networkstation Version (without database) $699 $299 ORACLE Server for OS/2 $3,699 ORACLE for 1-2-3 Version 1 .1 $299 To order call 1 -800-633-0498 ext. 490; Compatibility • Portability • Connectability a 990 Ora* CocpcraSOT. ORACLE is a registered lrademari< of Irademark, or legislered Oadema* of »ie respective manufatJurer. Cal 1 -eoOORACLEI lor haidirare dni solfcvare requi-emetils. Have you heard our Adobe Systems ... NCP 7902 n Adobe Tyfe Manager for Windows and Microsoft Windows 3.0-Clean up that jagged type with Adobe Type Manager and Windows 3.0. Two hot programs for one great price. Specify media size $149. □ SVz" format available from us. Specify when ordering. s pacitage Includes both 5V4" and 3V2" disl(s. B VI2" format available from manufacturer by request. Call us for details. CP— copy-protected; NCP— not copy-protected. The four-digit number next to each product Is the product's ITEM NUMBER. Please refer to this numl}er when ordering. Thank you. SOFTWARE We only carry the latest versions of products. Version numbers In our ads are current at press time. Products listed here in red are Microsoft Windows Applications. Corel Systems ... NCP 5506 aCorclDRAW! f i-The world's leading PC illustration software now comes with even more value: CorelTRACE, over 100 typefaces, over 300 clip-art images, a Pantone license-all bundled in for free $329. Adobe Systems ... NCP 6591 Blllustrator Windows 1.0 $279. 7547 HAdobe Type Manager for Windows 59. 7902 □ Adobe Type Manager for Windows and Microsoft Windows 3.0 149. 6590 aStreamline Windows 1.0 229. 7392 BAdobe PostScript Cartridge .... 249. (Entire Adobe Type Library, from 1 to 133 is available. Call for more information.) Aldus ... NCP 1332 DPageMakerS.OI 499. Alpha Software ... NCP 5104 aAlpha Four 1.1 319. Application Techniques ... NCP 1214 BPizazz Plus 2.0 69. ASD Software ... NCP 7847 HPIanlsoftl.0 145. Ashton-Tate ... NCP 4450 DdBASEIV 1.1 499. Asymetrix ... NCP 7384 BToolbook 1.0 for Windows 309. ASD Software ... NCP 7847 SPlanisoft f 0-Coordinate agendas, find available time-slots for appointments, keep track of dealines & priorities, distribute tasks, optimize resources, share information between PCs & Macs over any LAN . $145. Avery ... NCP 6006 aLabelProl.0 49. 7336 aLabel Pro I.Ofor Dot Matrix 49. Bitstream ... NCP 7568 BFaceLift 1 .0 59. BCollectlons: Newsletters, Flyers, Books & Manuals, Reports and Proposals, Presentations or Spreadsheets each 129. BFontware eacfi 89. Borland International ... NCP 7357 0TurboC-t- -^ 1.0 Professional ... . 159. 7356 HTurbo Pascal Professional 2nd Ed. 179. 6242 HQuattro Pro 1 ,0 325. 1514 aParadox3.0 469. Broderbund ... NCP 1434 DNew Print Shop (NCP) 39. Button Ware ... NCP 6419 aPC-FileS.0 89, Caere ... NCP 6004 BOmnlpage386 2.1 599. Central Point ... NCP 5039 aPC Tools Deluxe 6.0 89. 5038 □CopyllPC5.0 27. Checi(free 6360 CheckFree (electronic cfiecl Ventura Meets the Mac If you work in a mixed- machine environment in which some people are using Ventura PubHsher on their PCs, the arrival of Ventura Publisher, Macintosh Edi- tion 1.0, is good news. Ventura Mac is a straight- forward port of the version running under Windows, which makes jumping be- tween systems easy; if you've learned one, you've basically learned the other, and that's what platform hopping is all about. I was able to take a diverse bunch of Ventura files that the BYTE Lab staff had generated on DOS machines, move them to the Mac (using the BYTE LAN and LapLinkX and open them up, with their styles and formats intact. This was painless. The fact that you can easily swap Ventura-pub- lished documents between PCs and Macs is one of the great- est advantages of this program. Only Aldus PageMaker 3.0 currently provides this capa- bility. Working in a diverse envi- ronment is a Ventura forte. Besides letting you swap be- tween Macs and PCs, this program will pull in text from most word processors you're likely to run across and graph- ics from most drawing or painting programs. Ventura is also good at working with long documents. You can line up a string of text files, and the program will run them from page to page, al- most automatically, setting up the extra pages as needed. Ventura is built for this kind of work. With its cross-refer- encing and indexing capabili- ties, it's essentially a book- oriented page composer. For doing a long but straightforward publication — no fancy layouts, few graph- ics — Ventura is a good choice. But for documents with a snaz- zier look, a more complex page structure, and heavy on the graphics, Ventura is — and here we walk into the shadowy land of subjectivity — hard to work with. Maybe I've been using PageMaker too long, but I find it far more flexible for page design. Its approach, descended from the cut-and- paste world of the composing room, feels right. Ventura is more geometrical. Like some other popular programs, Ven- tura uses frames. Everything you do has to be within a frame (a rectangular area). You can expand and shrink these frames, and you can move them around on the page eas- ily enough, but we're still talk- ing rectangles. I find this con- fining. While PageMaker is an excellent tool for designing layouts, letting you freely move things around and change widths, lengths, and shapes of columns, Ventura is more of a layout fulfillment program. I'd recommend sketching your page design on paper first. THE FACTS Ventura Publisher, 6.0.2, and a hard disk Macintosh Edition 1.0 drive. S795 Ventura Software Requirements: 15175 Innovation Dr. Mac with 2 MB of RAM, San Dieao, CA 92128 System 6.0.2, Finder (619) 673-7524 Inquiry 1160. Ventura does beat the pants off PageMaker in a couple of things, particularly working with tabular material. Setting up a table with PageMaker almost hurts. Ventura has a wonderful dialog box in which you specify how many rows and columns you want; you hit a button, and there it is — a nice grid that you can jump around in, from cell to cell, using pointer or cursor keys. The program also excels at setting up equations, which can be a typesetter's nightmare. Another of Ventura Mac's strengths is in stylizing the text on the page. The program will let you assign a style (e.g., type of font or character size) to ever>' paragraph. You can keep these different styles in a cata- log ot sorts. This collection of style sheets can also include specifications for the paae it- self. There's not room here to cover all the capabilities of Ventura. For a better look at this and other desktop publish- ing packages, see "Is the Type- setter Obsolete?" in the Octo- ber BYTE. And before you buy, take them all for a test drive. Page-layout software, like any other program that com- bines functionality and aes- thetics, is a highly subjective matter. What one person finds excellent is execrable to some- one else. What one user finds intuitive is arcane to another. I know totally reasonable people who swear by Quark XPress, and professional graphics designers who con- coct fine-looking materials with Ventura. Although I wouldn't want to switch from PageMaker to Ventura, I can't say it's not right for you. This is a good program that does what it's designed to do. The question is: Does it do what you want to do? — D. Barker 132 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1990 Logitech Puts Photo-Realism in Windows The ScanMan 256 is a 256- gray-level , scanner that can scan at up to 400 dots per inch. It is similar in appearance to previous Logitech scanners but has a number of functional improvements. The scanner itself is in a head a little over 5 inches wide. Below this is the body of the scanner, which you hold to move it. The body has a number of switches that you use to set the various scanner modes. The ScanMan 256 also has an indicator light that shows if a scan is being made at the right speed. The ScanMan 256 is de- signed to be used in a Win- dows 3.0 environment. It comes with a gray-scale scan- ning and editing package called Ansel, which controls the scanner directly from within Windows 3.0 and pro- vides some easy-to-use tools for editing. Logitech has pro- vided a simple DOS Scan util- ity that lets you scan, view, and save images without entering Windows 3.0 or using Ansel. However, it isn' t as flexible or as easy to use as Ansel, and it doesn't include editing tools. Installing the scanner and THE FACTS ScanMan 256 $499 Requirements: IBM PC or compatible running Windows 3.0. software is easy. Logitech has set the defaults to match the most likely free configura- tions. All I had to do was plug the scanner board in my sys- tem, plug in the scanner, install the software using the supplied Logitech, Inc. 6505 Kaiser Dr. Fremont. CA 94555 (415) 795-8500 Inquiry 1161. Install program, and start scan- ning. Setting up the scanner in any of its different modes is done simply by setting the switches. The controlling soft- ware reads these automatically and adjusts accordingly. Choosing the right setting for a scan is not a simple mat- ter. With the range of options available, it becomes impor- tant to make a careful choice. The problem lies in the size of the image files created at high resolutions with large numbers of gray scales. A simple 2- by 2-inch image takes up almost 2 megabytes at 300 dpi with 256 gray scales. This taxes the memory of the system consid- erably. Logitech has devised its own system for paging im- age data to and from disk to counteract this, but the bottom line is that if you want to scan images at 300 or 400 dpi with 256 gray scales, youTl need a lot of memory. What setting you choose also depends on whether you want to use line art, perform optical character recognition, or have true gray- scale images. I scanned a range of actual photographs and some from magazines, and the quahty of the results was extremely good at all levels. Overall, I found the ScanMan 256 an extremely powerful and flexible scanner. It is useful for scanning small documents and all kinds of images. But I would recom- mend that you make sure that your system can deal with the kind of large files that a scan- ner this powerful can create. — Owen Linderholm Hewlett-Packard's Newest Wave for Windows One of the most interest- ing — and potentially most important — appUcations to appear for Microsoft Win- dows 3.0 is an updated version of Hewlett-Packard's New- Wave environment. There are two ways of looking at this program: as a set of reasona- bly priced utilities for Win- dows, or as a glimpse of what most graphical user interfaces (GUIs) will be like in the fu- ture. This latest version of NewWave introduces an Agent capability, which is essentially a powerful key- board macro facility. To per- form a given task, all you need to do is select that task's icon and drop it on the Agent icon, which looks remarkably like Patrick McGoohan in the ■"Secret Agent" TV show. One of the nice things about this macro facility is its ability to do tasks on a routine basis (e.g.. every hour, day, or week). Another important feature of this new version is network support, which lets users share NewWave features. Perhaps the most important feature of NewWave — and the hardest to describe adequately in a simple features list — is its support of objects. NewWave has no data files as such. There are only objects, which are data files that have been linked to a NewWave application. One important type of object is a folder, which functions much hke a Macintosh folder. It can con- tain other objects, and you NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 133 SHORT TAKES organize your desktop, or Office, as NewWave refers to it. There are also no applica- tions as such. What look like applications are really tools — specialized folders that store, print, or delete the objects dropped onto them. Creating a new data file in NewWave involves an un- usual process. For example, in Windows, you start a new spreadsheet data file by first clicking on the Excel icon and opening a new file. In New- Wave, you instead select the menu command Create a New Object. A dialog box then asks you what type of object you want to create. You could then select a Lotus 1-2-3 object and give it a name. An icon for a Lotus object would then be displayed on the NewWave Office workspace. When you click on this application, NewWave will automatically load 1-2-3 and launch you into the data file you selected. The most important capabil- ity of NewWave's objects is their ability to incorporate other objects. Unfortunately, only those objects that are linked with a small number of true NewWave applications have this capability. For ex- ample, NewWave Write, the THE FACTS NewWave 3.0 $195 Requirements: IBM AT or compatible with a hard disk drive, a mouse, and Windows 3.0. NewWave version of the simple Windows Write word processor, can incorporate 1- 2-3 objects, but 1-2-3 objects cannot incorporate other ob- jects. Since NewWave Write has the capability to incorporate Hewlett-Packard Santa Clara Information Systems Division 3410 Central Expy. Santa Clara, CA 9505 1 (408) 749-9500 Inquiry 1162. other objects, it is actually a fairly impressive word proces- sor. In a NewWave Write document, you can insert tables from 1-2-3, graphics from HP"s optional DOS- based graphics programs, and simple annotations. And as more object types appear (made possible by new New- Wave applications), New- Wave Write will continue to acquire new capabilities. tfnfortunately, there's a dark side to NewWave. For one thing, the program is huge. It takes up about 7 megabytes of disk space and requires quite a long time to install. NewWave also suffers from a lack of applications. Only a handful of programs now work well with it. Some sorely needed applications that HP would do well to add are NewWave versions of Win- dows Paintbrush or Terminal. In some cases, the program could be markedly improved by simple additions. For ex- ample, you can incorporate 1- 2-3 tables into NewWave Write documents, but you can- not change the font that the tables appear in. If you could change the font, NewWave could function as a nice com- plementary program for 1-2-3. NewWave is a very interest- ing program, and it's available at an affordable piice. It is probably true that someday all GUIs will be hke it. But it needs a few more applications before it becomes a required day-to-day business tool. — Rich Malloy Peeking Through Windows The original System Sleuth for DOS was a diagnostics package that snooped around your PC and told you all sorts of goodies about its configu- ration, including the micropro- cessor type, how much and what kind of memory was available, and the results of power-on self tests (POSTs). It also fished out a lot of eso- teric but important data about I/O cards, hard disk drive par- titions, device drivers, and TSR programs. Moving the package to the Windows 3.0 environment, Dariana Technology Group confronted an interesting di- lemma: When a PC runs in protected mode instead of real mode, a lot of nuts-and-bolts information about the com- puter becomes invisible or ir- relevant. So what's left to di- agnose? Plenty, as it turns out. Dariana" s new WinSIeuth still delivers pages of data that can help you summarize your system's configuration, re- solve board conflicts, or iden- tify nagging software incom- patibilities. Even without its diagnostic capabilities, the package might be indispens- able for system administrators, who could print out and file a complete report about every system in their facility. Gone from WinSIeuth — when it is running in Windows standard or 386 enhanced modes — is the low-level data about memory allocation, disk drive partitions, and device drivers, since these are handled by Windows. If the package is run in Windows' real mode, however, more low-level in- formation is provided, al- though some of it isn't relevant to the behavior of the system in protected mode. What is gained in Win- Sleuth — aside from an attrac- tive and very simple graphical user interface — is specific in- formation about the Windows environment, including how it has allocated available mem- ory, which drivers it is using to talk to your peripherals, and how it is managing tasks. The new release also adds a file viewer for peering into your hard disk and a new module for analyzing network connec- tions. The rest of the package is organized similarly to the DOS version, as a series of modules addressing different subsys- tems: microprocessor, POSTs, hard disk drive, video/display, RAM. I/O cards, printer, and DOS. For example, the General Information section tells you what CPU you are using (al- though not the clock speed), if you have a math coprocessor, and how many and what kind of I/O ports and storage 134 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1 990 HeresHow^XfeProtect Y)ur Software AndProfitsBetter. WellNeverllL . the world how we protect your hard work. But then, why should we? It's not that we're hard to get along with. On the contrar}'. We'll show you how our unwordy approach to software protection can actually work better for you. We'll deliver the best balance of guaranteed copy control and cost-effective installation. Unlike other manufacturers, our hardware is uniquely custom-wired for each developer and supplied with a specific encrypted interrogation routine for maximum securit}'. The precise routines assume responsibilit}- for all hardware, software and timing issues so your time and money isn't wasted engineering protection schemes. ^MICROPHAR The Products That Protect Your Revenues ► PROTECH KEY Identicallv reproduced packages. ► MEMORY KEY MACINTOSH MEMORY KEY NEC MEMORY KEY Active protection, modular packages, customized packages, serialization, demo control, access control. ► MEMORY-ONE KEY Customized packages, modular packages ► MICROPROCESSOR KEY Non-operating system specific protection based on RS232C communications for minicomputers, workstations, etc. In EUROPE: MICROPHAR, 122 Ave. Ch. De GauUe 92200, Neuilly Sur-Seine FRANCE Tel: 33-1-47-38-21-21 Fax: 33-1-46-24-76-91 For distributors in: • BELGIUM/NETHERUNDS. E2S (091 211117)' SPAIN, (343 237 31 05) • IRELAND, TMC (02 1 87 37 1 1) • GERMAN^ Microphar Deutschland (06223 737 30) • PORTUGAL, HCR ( 1 56 18 65) • LTVITED KINGDOM, Clearsoft (091-3789393) •SWITZERLAND, SAFE (024 21 53 86) • ITAE¥, Siosistemi (030 24 21 074) MARKETING, INC. 1-800-843-0413 In the U.S., flie A.MERICAS & the PACIFIC: PROTECH, 9600-J Southern Pine Blvd.. Charlotte. NC 2821" Se Habla Espanol Tel: "04-523-9500 Fax: "04-523-7651 Hours: Mon-Thurs: 8:30-7:00 ET, Fri: 8:30-5:30 ET FOR A DEMONSTRATION PACKAGE OR ADDITIONAL *Macinio5h is a registered tradernarit of AppJe Computer. Inc. INFORMATION PLEASE WRITE OR CALL ♦NEC is a registered irademarkolNECmfomalioiiSystertis.lrx:. For Europe, circle 291 on Reader Service Card For Americas & Pacific, circle 292 on Reader Service Card SHORT TAKES peripherals are installed. The modules affected by the difference between Windows modes include hard disk drive, DOS, and RAM. The hard disk drive module always tells you how many sectors and file al- location tables you have, but in real mode you can also see partition information. In real mode, the DOS module shows you device drivers and TSR programs. The RAM module, in 386 enhanced mode, gives you extensive information on memory allocation by the DOS Protected Mode Interface memory manager. Perhaps the most useful features of WinSleuth are its help system and Windows Tune-Up module. The on-line help is like a short course on the inner workings of PCs and Files Help Modules ft Tune REM- MODE SESMEHT 4T CtOO —I C000 0000toC3fF:00Cf-INUS£-t:OFrHIGHTPAfiADISEyi^TEM51HC 19871SS AllRlGHTS CflOaOOOO to C7FF:00CF ■ IH USE ■ C80&0000 (o C8FF OOCf - AVAIUBLE CCOO 0000 10 CFFFOOOF -AVAILABLE REAL MODE SEGMENT AI POOO OOOOOOOO 10 D3FF0OCf - AVAILABLE 0400:0000 10 D7FF OOOF - AVAILABLE D3OO0O00 10 DBFECeCP - AVAILABLE DCOO COB 10 DFfF;0O0F -AVAILABLE REAL MODESEGMENTATEOOO ECOa00001oE3FF000F -AVAIIABIE £4000000 10 E7FF OOOf ■ AVAIIABLE EEDO 0000 10 EBfF OOOF - IH USE - ECtOOXOIoEFFFOOCF-IM USE - Ccp/i^ lei 19S5 1338 Phoefw Teclwtogje: Ltd REAL MODE SEGMENT AT FCOO F COO COCO to F3FF (iff - AVAIUIBLE F40O0000»F7FF0CI)F -AVAILABLE FSOOOOOO 10 FBFF-OOOF - IH USE - FC0O0000toFFFF00(]F - IH USE -Cowtighl Id 13S5.198&Ftic«fiw Techrwto^e: Ltd Windows; I recommend work- ing your way through each topic. And if you need advice on getting the best perfor- mance out of your system under Windows, run the Tune- Up for suggestions that range from adding more RAM, to Could WordPerfect Rhymer Be Finer? WordPerfect Corp. has come up with a truly unique writer's helper in WordPerfect Rhymer, a 93,000-word American En- glish rhyming dictionary. Rhymer is a tool for the student of the sound of lan- guage. A TSR program requir- rng"34K bytes'of RAM, Rhymer searches for a variety of rhymes and phonetic pat- terns. It works with any DOS word processor. Being a sucker for a good rhyme, I loaded Rhymer onto my hard disk. The program took up a mere half-megabyte of storage space, which was good news. The program worked fine with my word processor and my other TSR dictionary, neither of which carries the WordPerfect label. To see whether Rhymer could determine which words have multiple pronunciadons, I requested a triple rhyme for the word interested. The re- sults were positive. Rhymer asked me to select between the pronunciations "in-tu-rus-ted" and "in-trus-tud" before begin- ning its rhyme search. Although Rhymer isn't designed for regional U.S. dialects, it does include a pho- netic finder to help you tailor your rhyme search to suit your speech patterns. This feature includes a phonetic chart — THE FACTS WordPerfect Rhymer $79 Requirements: IBM PC or compatible. similar to a pronunciation key in the front of a dictionary — that lists a variety of sounds, including vowels, stops, frica- tives, affricates, liquids, and WordPerfect Corp, 1555 North Technology Way Orem, uf 84057 (801) 225-5000 Inquiry 1164. Pan's Pipes Gondolier Silver Haraonies Return to the Danube Patterns ftutuRn Menories Paris at Higiit FoUou the Leader Secrets Synphony Strings Black Forest Suiwer Punting on the Hianes - night Ending fihyne fl. downright B. duight C. dynanite p. ebonite E. electrolyte F. erenite G. erudite H. excite I. expedite J. extradite K. eyebright L. eyesight tl. fahreiiheit N. fanlight 0. favorite P. ferrite Q. fight R. finite S. firelight I. fistfight U. flashlight U. fleabite U. flight X. floodlight Press Enter for nore uords Press a letter to select a uord 3B749 Uords Searched 72 Uords Found THE FACTS WinSleuth $149; $60 upgrade for System Sleuth owners Requirements: IBM PC or compatible with Windows 3.0. Dariana Technology Group, Inc. 6945 Hermosa Cir. Buena Park, CA 90620 (714)994-7400 Inquiry 1163. optimizing your hard disk drive, to removing conflicting extended memory managers. — Andy Reinhardt glides. If your pronunciation of the word car sounds more like "cah," for example, you can instruct Rhymer to search for words with the vowel sound. And you can control the scope of your rhyme hunt by limiting the number of syl- lables and letters you want the program to search for. I had just one major com- plaint about Rhymer: The program displays only 24 rhymes at once. Once you hit Enter to see additional rhymes, you can't go back to review the previous list. Since many words have dozens of rhymes, it would be helpful to be able to page through an entire list — much as you page through a word processing document. You can configure Rhymer to save all rhymes in a DOS text file, however, but you must first exit the program to view the list. No doubt someone will eventually include a rhyming utility with a spelling/grammar checker program, or perhaps with an on-line dictionary, but until then. Rhymer is good enough for the rhymin" fool in all of us. ■ — Jeff Bertolucci 136 BYTE • NOVEMBER 1990 The Cure For The Common Clone. Introducing The BRICK 386SX™ power, a 44-212 MB HD, 1-8 MB RAM, 1024 x 768, with a 2,400bps modem . . . and it fits in half a briefcase! Now you don't have to choose between the power of a desktop and the portability of a laptop. The Brick™ starts a whole new era of flexibility and conve- nience. For some, the Brick is the perfect desktop PC. It has enough power, storage and graphics capabili ties to run the most demand- ing applica- tions. It's the first desktop PC that's quiet enough, small enough, elegant enough not to be banished instantly to the floor. For others, the Brick is an office com- puter and a home computer. The core module is no bigger than a collegiate dictio- nary, and weighs only 8.3 pounds. Simply keep a full-sized keyboard and monitor at your home and office and carry only the Brick in between. You can have one machine, with all your files, wherever you need it. Complete systems start at just $2,695. ^ A COMPUTER FREE CATALOG You'll find complete information on all Brick systems, plus a full comple- ment of enhancement products in our free 32-page catalog. All products come with a 30-day satisfaction guaraintee, a one-year warranty, and unlimited 800-line support. Ccdl 1-800-633-1925 today! COMPANY X Order Direct! / Call 1-800-633-1925 today I Ergo Computing, One Intercontinental Way, Peabody, MA 01960 (508)535-7510 FAX (608) 535-7512 m Circle 127 on Reader Service Card If you think the HP LaserJet EI is great, A STRO NOMY IS n Fll A LOOiONCi^^ THE HmscH KPOfa Of the swes B. no. 4. SIAR SHORTS : ftaported byThe Star Every tiav billions of duti paiTicl«t enter in- to Earth'* stmo»pfiefe. ' Now Kieniim are '. vn>rltif>fl 10 maice me- ; feif Cajrt S*» the Grsai Wall from tha Moon! Sreal Wall of Cnir^a r from It* Moon. Or from t Earth orbit. Or even t from Mat». CertBinlv e ii. it's ditricuit 8' tee familiar objects; I D'anet's iwift mo- n pen- Mon an planetar/ eiff/osions insiOe- Vaylgtr't Last Pictun SfiCM: Whan Vaytg*' 2 wji Ituncntd 12 years sgo. trfio NO BLACK HOLES? Sciertisi* are siiii jnaDle to eonfimi the existence of even a single black hole, despite widespread bei«f that such things should exist. Tracking down these invisible objects isn't easy, because they can on!y Be studied inOirectly by the effects ifvey f\ave on ihelf sunoundings. T>iere are several types ol places [hat tconrifUtd on HP* 31 MIRROR. MIRROR It s a Chore, but all reflecting tele- scopes reouire cleaning their retlecttve mirrors- Eventually, the aluminum coat- mg on their mirrors Deteriorates and neeO) 'epiacing. For large instrunients, ine process requires removing the lele- Icontinuta en ptirt SI LONGUST NETWORK INTEGRATION PROJECT CHAINREACnON AnnualSales InTtiousands Antiinaiter BoUled Meiai^rganic diemiitr; bridges the tap besween ca^anic a.nd irxii- gacic It tin lead 10 imponani new products ifor eiacifJe, tsisnn antideies'. A chelate, sudi as EDTA since leontainlng tarbsn. hydrogen, oaygen and niBogen atonis] can eiu.round ions or melaJs 1. fconJiitiitti not pega It was alnuKtexaetly three yeansgotbst aceramic aiateiial that } SjprnocdBctsahdveliqBidnjtrogea temperatun wasdiscocered. I Within days of tbe diseoniT.elcetntics, power transmissian. and i l..ansptnatianwere)wingredefinedinei^ecyone'simagination. Yet i stipeKonductinty was tax anew pheaonanion. Ihe effed teas ftrst j obtcrved in mercury in 191 Land, sir^ theei. more than eOOOele- , c^ent^ sila.ctt andcoiopsundshave been foandlosuiKrcandtxt.' - ' ^ci»ieini»d net; pcfti ' A device traied may give investigates a glimpse cf what an anlintal- ; tar world might look like. deince cnola antimatter to a tetspecatnre < aCew de^eeaahoveahnlutereroand stores itlorseveial daysat i a time. fecnJinaed natp^gt) i ■ Rumor has it -h-' t— r™ uiuji. .....k— T.;...-..~.™.t......:.j..i.h t adistiliing^rocesstotowerthecaloiiesoCoHinsrybeeT. Abandoning 1 the research at the onset of wcrid war, researehors then pursited the ; of a sbelfstahle C ration. Don't believe all rtuneea. Introducing the new HP LaserJet HID printer. The LaserJet that com- bines all of the advanced capabili- ties of the exciting LaserJet III with all of the paper-handling features required by today's busy office. There's a lot to like. Like two paper trays for different types and sizes of paper. 200-sheet capacity in each of those trays for less reloading. And two- sided printing that lets you easily condense your output. Even an optional automatic envelope feeder that eliminates manual feeding. Equally impressive is HP's Reso- lution Enhancement technology. Pioneered in the LaserJet III, this technology actually varies the sizes of dots. So curves really curve. Lines are never jagged. And you get resolution never before seen in a 300 dpi printer. Output has never looked so good. Documents can be made even more elaborate thariks to our en- "Suggested U.S. list price. Adobe and PostScript are registered trademarlts of Adobe Systems Inc. in the U.S. and in other countries. you'll automatically like the new HP LaserJet niD. hanced PCL5 printer language, which includes HP-GL/2 graphics language. You can print regular or reverse type. Shaded text. Even portrait and landscape on the same page. Beyond this, all types of options are available for all types of users. Which means you can customize with Adobe® PostScript® software Add memory. Or better express yourself with our MasterType library of fonts and typefaces. You can even connect a Macintosh. The best part is that the $2,395* LaserJet III and $3,595* LaserJet HID are both easily within any bud- get. So call 1-800-752-0900, Ext. 1586. We'll tell you where to find your nearest authorized HP dealer. EWLETT PACKARD 1990 Hewlett-Packard Company PE 12022 FIRST IMPRESSIONS COVER STOR^ Compaq Notebook Ups the Ante The LTE 386s/20 is the first notebook-class PC that has a 20-MHz 386SX CPU and converts to a desktop system ■ Michael Nadeau Take a Compaq Deskpro 386/20, give it a faster hard disk drive, and squeeze it into a 7 '/2 -pound notebook-size format, and you have the Compaq LTE 386s/20. Worried about expandability? No problem; Com- paq will sell you a Desktop Expansion Base that provides AT-compatible slots and mass storage expansion options and allows the LTE 386s/20 to double as your desktop system. The LTE 386s/20 is unique on two counts: It is the first notebook PC to use the 20-MHz 386SX CPU, and it is the only notebook PC that is convertible to desktop use. (At this writing, only a handful of other vendors have announced 16-MHz 386SX notebook PCs; none are shipping at this time.) In fact, it is the only notebook PC powerful enough to compete with the typical desktop systems that businesses are buying today (see photo 1). There is a catch, and that is the LTE 386s/20's price tag: $6499 for the base system; the Desktop Expansion Base is another $1499— not including a full-size keyboard or external monitor. (All prices mentioned are not final, but Compaq says prices will not exceed those listed here.) The base system, the Model 30, comes standard with 2 megabytes of RAM, a 4K-byte RAM cache, a 3 '/2-inch 1.44- MB floppy disk drive, a 21/2-inch 30-MB Conner Peripherals hard disk drive, a 640- by 480-pixel VGA display, and sys- tem utilities. This version also comes with a full complement of I/O ports: one serial, one parallel, and one mouse port; ports for an external monitor, keyboard, and keypad; and an "external options interface." The Model 60 comes with a 60-MB hard disk drive and lists at $6999. It will be the first system to use the 2 '/2 -inch drives of that capacity. Compaq called the unit that I saw an early prototype, al- though it appeared to be of production quality and seemed fully functional. The LTE 386s/20 should be out by late October. 140 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 FIRST IMPRESSIONS LTE-Like in Looks Only At first glance, the LTE 386s/20 is iden- tical to the original LTE except for color; it is beige instead of gray. On closer in- spection, you can see differences in drive location, thickness, port arrangement, screen size, and some cosmetic aspects. Compaq has a totally new design for the electronics, which determined the placement of the drives. For the mother- board, the LTE 386s/20 uses a manufac- turing technique developed for the aero- space industry. If you look inside the computer, you'll see what appears to be a three-piece motherboard— two boards, one on top of the other, and a third board mounted vertically at the rear and Photo 1: The Compaq LTE 386s/20 is arguably the world's most powerful 7-pound PC. The LTE 386s/20 is the fastest notebook-class PC that BYTE has benchmarked to date. It seems that Compaq simply shrank its Deskpro 386/20 and gave it a faster hard disk drive. The Dell 320LX is a 20-MHz 386SX desktop system included for comparison. CPU Disk Video Compaq LTE 386s/20 2.58 2.32 8.00 Compaq Deskpro 386/20 2.58 1.72 8.21 Dell 320LX 2.19 1.86 7.10 Benchmark results are indexed to show relative performance; higher numbers indicate better perfamance. For all indexes, an 8-MHz IBM AT running MS-DOS 3.3 = 1 . PHOTOGRAPHY: PAUL AVIS © 1990 NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 141 COVER STORY COMPAQ LTE 386S/20 Photo 2: On the left is the LTE 386s/20 motherboard before it is punched out from its silicon casing. On the right is the motherboard as it is installed in the computer. holding all the ports. These three com- ponents are manufactured as one sheet, connected by the cabling and thin silicon tabs. A machine "punches out" the motherboard along these tabs, and then, after the components are in place, it is folded by hand into its proper configura- tion (see photo 2). The procedure speeds assembly and helps conserve space in- side the unit. A major weakness of the original LTE was its CGA display with its less-than- perfect aspect ratio. Compaq saw the light and gave the LTE 386s/20 a full VGA display, although this added a smidgen to the unit's thickness. The screen is edge-lit and has good contrast and even light distribution. All the ports congregate behind a slid- ing door (a nice touch) to accommodate the Desktop Expansion Base with its own I/O ports, which are extensions of those on the notebook. Unlike with the NEC THE FACTS Compaq LTE 386s/20 Model 30 No more than $6499 Compaq Computer Corp. P.O. Box 692000 Houston, TX 77269 (713) 370-0670 Inquiry 1079. ProSpeed SX/20 (see "The NEC Pro- Speed SX/20: Take It and Leave It," September BYTE), you must maintain separate CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEX- EC.BAT files for the portable and desk- top configurations of the LTE 386s/20 (this is especially important if the desk- top version is on a LAN), and you must remember to use the correct combina- tion. Unfortunately, no prototype of the Desktop Expansion Base was available for me to see. Its features include two full-size 16-bit expansion slots, monitor and keyboard ports, and two 5 '/4 - or 3 Vi- inch drive bays. What has not changed on the LTE 386s/20 is the keyboard. It is the same 80-key IBM Enhanced-compatible lay- out. Key travel is somewhat less than what you find on desktop units, but the tactile feedback is adequate. I prefer the familiar inverted T arrangement for the cursor movement keys, rather than Com- paq's cumbersome reclined L configura- tion. Memory expansion makes use of the increasingly popular RAM cards. The LTE 386s/20 has two slots into which the credit-card-size RAM cards slide. Prices for the RAM cards, which come in 1-MB and 4-MB configurations, are $549 and $2599, respectively. Compaq claims a battery life of about 3 hours. I didn't have the opportunity to verify that; it is about an hour less than the rated time for the original LTE. The LTE 386s/20 has a fast-charge feature built into the system that brings the bat- tery back to full capacity in 1 Vi hours. Early Assessment The preliminary BYTE Lab low-level benchmark indexes place the LTE 386s/ 20 on a par with the Compaq Deskpro 386/20 in the CPU and video categories, but the notebook's speedier hard disk drive bests the Deskpro 's index of 1.72, with a score of 2.32 (see the table). No other notebook-class PC even comes close to this performance. The LTE 386s/20 will run any software that you are likely to use, and at an acceptable pace. The price will scare away casual users and many cash-conscious businesses, but the LTE 386s/20 seems to have what computing-dependent businesses need: power and flexibility. Compaq's reputa- tion for high quality and compatibility further enhances the product. (Some of the original LTEs did have a problem with cracking cases; Compaq insists that it has solved that problem by going with a stronger plastic for the case.) But price aside, Compaq has produced the high- performance notebook PC against which all others will be compared. ■ Michael Nadeau is the managing editor of the BYTE Lab. You can reach him on BIX as "miken. " 142 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 They Left out Features.... We Left out the COMMA!! The only thing missing... is the comma in tlie price. If you lool< at the chart on the right you wili see prices charged by our com- petition. Aii but one contain o comma. DesignCAD 3D seiis for $399.00. Period. No Comma! in order to draw the compiex pic- tures shown below it is desirable to hove the following 3D features: 0 Interactive design with 3D cursor • Blending of surfaces » Boolean operations such as add, subtract, and intersection • Complex extrusions • Cross sectioning • Block scaling • On screen shading • Shaded outputtoprintersand plotters All ofthese competitors left out one or more of these desirable features in their standard package. They didn't forget the most horrible fea- ture - the comma. DesignCAD 3D offers ALL the listed features plus many morel If DesignCAD 3D has the power to create the 3D objects shown below, imagine how it could help with your design projecti DesignCAD 3D sells for $399. We left outthecomma. Wedidn'tthinkyou would mindl PC MAGAZINE SAYS... DesignCAD 3D, the latest feature- packed, low-cost CADD package from American Small Business Computers, delivers more bang per buck than any of Its low-cost competitors and threat- ens programs costing ten times as much. For a low-cost, self-contained 3D package... DeslgnCAD's range of features steals the show. " $399 AutoCAD rel. 10 CADKEY3.12 DataCAD with DC Modeler a; With all the computing choices out there, the last thing you need is a storage device that limits your options. Our new univer- sality is a unique innova- tion which lets you easily attach the same Bernoulli to most any system, giving your data (and budget) protection for tomorrow. ANY QUESTIONS? The rest of the Bernoulli story is just a phone call away. Dial 1-800-777-6616. We'll rush you a free copy of this limited-edition, 18-page brochure. It's packed with everything you need to know about removable data storage. Any way you like it BERNOULLI' STORAGE S0LUT:0NS BY Circle 183 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 184) FIRST IMPRESSIONS Owen Linderholm and Jeff Bertolucci The New Macs on the Block 146 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 PHOTOGRAPHY: MEL LINDSTROM © 1990 FIRST IMPRESSIONS Apple's new systems feature lower prices and a new modular design Although Apple has long been fond of calling the Macintosh "the computer for the rest of us," many potential Mac users have found the machines too expensive for their pocketbooks. Apple has long been criticized for being too expensive and for not being competitively priced against IBM PC-compatible computers. This criticism seems especially apt when you consider that, except for a brief trial period last year, no Mac has ever had a list price below $1000. Since Apple has no direct competition in its Macintosh product line, competitive pricing has never been its foremost concern. Apple is hoping to change that image with its introduction of three new Macs. First is the long-awaited "Cheap Mac"— the new Mac Classic, which retails for $999 in its simplest configuration. For users who need color but can't afford a Mac II, Apple will be offering the new Mac LC for approximately $3000, in- cluding monitor. Finally, there's a new member of the Mac II family, the Mac Ilsi, priced at $4870 including monitor. Apple is trying to make a point with these systems. A Mac always comes with enough features to let you get to work im- mediately and productively with a range of applications. Features that are options on IBM PC-compatible systems are built in on the Mac (e.g., networking, digi- tized sound, and a graphical user envi- ronment). Apple has also tried wherever possible to make these systems ready for the future— ready, specifically, for the forthcoming System 7.0 software. The only exception to this is the basic Classic configuration, which wUl require addi- tional memory. The Mac Classic The Mac Classic represents a complete overhaul of the lowest end of Apple's cur- rent product line. Essentially, it is the hardware soul of the Mac SE at less than the price of a Mac Plus. The Classic comes in two configurations: a low-end model that includes 1 megabyte of 120- nanosecond RAM and a SuperDrive floppy disk drive for $999; and a $1499 model with 2 MB of RAM and a fast (21- ms average access time) 40-MB hard disk drive. The street price of the low-end Classic might go below $700, while the high-end model's might dip to $1000. Externally, the Classic closely resem- bles the SE. There are some minor cos- metic differences, but the familiar up- right chassis with the built-in black-and- white 9-inch monitor remains the same. The system also remains relatively easy to carry around, for a desktop system. The high-end model weighs in at 17 pounds, only 1 pound more than a Mac Portable. The Classic uses a single Apple Desk- top Bus (ADB) port and two mini-DIN-8 connectors for the serial ports. In con- trast, the Mac Plus used a unique key- board and keyboard connector, and DB-9 connectors for the serial ports. Unlike with previous Macintosh systems, the keyboard is included in the price of the Classic. Other I/O ports include a DB-25 SCSI port, an external speaker port, and the external floppy disk drive port for 800K- byte or 1.4-MB disks. The Classic's in- ternal hard disk drive is considerably faster than the hard disk drives currently available from Apple for the SE. The Classic's system board has been completely redesigned with lower cost in mind. It is only 60 percent of the size of the SE's system board. Apple put a great deal of effort into integrating as many functions as possible into custom appli- cation-specific ICs and into laying the board out optimally. One example of the improvements achieved in this way is a smaller and lighter power supply that powers both the Classic's main system and its monitor. In contrast, the SE uses NOVEMBER 1990 •BYTE 147 FIRST IMPRESSIONS THE NEW MACS ON THE BLOCK New Mac Lineup By January 1991, when the Mac LC becomes available, Apple's Macintosh lineup will contain the following systems: PORTABLE FAMILY Mac Portable COMPACT FAMILY Mac Classic Mac SE/30 "LC" FAMILY MacLC MODULAR FAMILY Mac Ilsi Mac IIx Mac Ilci Mac Ilfx New Prices for Existing Macs Mac Ilci with 4 MB of RAM and a floppy disk drive: $5969 Mac Ilci with 4 MB of RAM and an 80-MB hard disk drive: $6669 Mac SE/30 with 1 MB of RAM and a 40-MB hard disk drive: $3369 Mac SE/30 with 4 MB of RAM and an 80-MB hard disk drive: $4569 two separate supplies: one to power the digital board, and another to power the analog circuits that drive the monitor. The Classic's fan mounts at the bottom of the unit for cooling efficiency and is ex- tremely quiet. Like the SE, the Classic uses an 8- MHz 68000. Memory is expandable to a maximum of 4 MB by adding 120-ns sin- gle in-line memory modules. You add this memory by inserting a small card that has 1 MB of RAM on it and two SIMM sockets. Like those of its predecessors, the Classic's video buffer is in main RAM. While this simplifies the Classic's de- sign (as it did the Mac Plus and SB's), there's a 25 percent performance penalty for bus bandwidth when RAM used for video is accessed to refresh the screen. The Classic should be as fast as an SE and 25 percent faster than a Plus. The Classic has 512K bytes of ROM, twice the size of the SE's ROM. This ROM incorporates the Hierarchical File System and drivers for SCSI, ADB, AppleTalk, the Toolbox, and Quick- Draw. Where the Classic more closely resem- bles the Mac Plus than the SE is in its lack of an internal expansion slot. This was a cost/design trade-off. Leaving out the slot was a way to save money on the Clas- sic's design, and Apple's research indi- cated that 90 percent of users wouldn't be interested in expansion capabilities. You could expand the system by way of its SCSI bus, but it will be hard to add accel- erators or large external monitors. The Classic will ship with the newest revision of System software, version 6.0.6, although it will work with version 6.0.5. The Classic was, however, de- signed with System 7.0 in mind. The high-end model is System 7.0-ready, while the low-end model only requires an additional megabyte of RAM. Although the Classic cannot make use of it. System 6.0.6 includes the new Sound Manager with its sound input capabilities. Apple is going to discontinue both the Mac Plus and the SE, since it believes that the Classic is a good replacement for both. Those in the market for either a Plus or an SE will be better off with a Classic instead. (This includes univer- sity students or anybody who wants a "transportable Mac" for an occasional journey.) According to Apple, retaining the small, all-in-one footprint of the original Mac is important for the low- end market. The preliminary BYTE benchmark re- sults (see the table) indicate that the Clas- sic is— no surprise here— on a par with the SE in performance. ■ MAC CLASSIC BENCHMARK RESULTS ■ Preliminary BYTE benchmark results (in seconds) for the new Mac Classic suggest that it performs at about the same speed as the older Mac SE. The Classic turned in an appreciably slower time on two of the tests, but this could be due to problems with the early prototype we used. The prototype system we tested had 2 MB of RAM and a 40-MB hard disk drive. Test Mac Classic MacSE CPU Matrix 77.22* 67.10 String move Byte-wide 374.73 374.50 Word-wide 187.38 186.70 Doubleword-wide 121.73* 92.40 Sort 154.53 154.20 Sieve 170.83 170.20 Disk I/O 1 -megabyte write 6.63 14.80 1 -megabyte read 4.38 8.10 Video Text Text TextEdit 16.35 15.10 DrawString 3.85 3.80 Graptiics Slow test 88.28 84.40 QuickDraw 1.22 1.10 * Possible benchmark error. 148 BYTE" NOVEMBER 1990 For a full description of the Mac benchmarks, see "Introducing the New BYTE Benchmarks," June 1988 BYTE. FIRST IMPRESSIONS THE NEW MACS ON THE BLOCK Mac LC: Low-Cost Color in a New Box The Mac LC is Apple's "lowest-cost col- or-capable computer"— hence the name. This system is intended to fill the void between the SE/30 and the IIx line. The LC will be offered for a complete system price of $3000, including keyboard (the same compact keyboard that comes with the Classic), hard disk drive, and color monitor. The LC also represents a new design shape for Apple. It is similar to Sun's "pizza box" workstation, but in a differ- ent, smaller size. The case is a flat box shape, measuring 12]/^ inches wide by 15 inches deep by 3 inches high. It weighs S% pounds. The front of the case, which is similar in style to the Mac II line, has a SuperDrive floppy disk drive on the right. On the back are seven ports: a vid- eo port, a printer port, a modem port, a SCSI connector, an ADB connector, a sound-out port, and a sound-in port. The last two provide the LC with built-in complete sound-processing capabilities. With only 24 chips, the LC's logic board represents a high level of integra- tion that helps reduce costs (see photo 1). The LC uses a 16-MHz 68020 CPU and has built-in video logic like the Mac Ilci. The system comes standard with 2 MB of 100-ns fast paged-mode soldered RAM, expandable to 10 MB in two SIMM sock- ets. There is no FPU, and no socket for one. The 512K-byte ROM includes 32- Bit Color QuickDraw. The system uses a 40-MB internal SCSI hard disk drive. The LC's built-in video supports three monitors. One is Apple's existing 13- inch 640- by 480-pixel color monitor. Another is a 12-inch 640- by 480-pixel monochrome monitor, a basic redesign of the existing 12-inch monochrome monitor that makes it cheaper to produce while improving the picture quality. Finally, a new color monitor, the Macintosh 12-inch RGB Display, pro- vides a 512- by 384-pixel display. This new monitor was designed because Ap- ple thought that existing color monitors didn't provide a sufficiently good picture with low-resolution 8-bit color and were too expensive. Thus, the new monitor has a smaller screen that displays 8-bit and 16-bit color crisply and clearly. The LC uses 512K bytes of video RAM on the main logic board as the video frame buffer. With this frame buf- fer, you get 16 colors or gray scales on the 640- by 480-pixel monitors and 256 colors on the 12-inch RGB monitor. You can expand the buffer by plugging 512K bytes of additional VRAM into SIMM sockets. At the maximum frame buffer size, the LC can get 256 colors or gray scales on the larger displays, 16-bit color (over 32,000 colors) on the new 12-inch RGB monitor, and 256 gray scales on the 12-inch monochrome monitor. The LC also includes one expansion slot, a 68020 Direct Slot. This slot is similar to the 68030 Direct Slot on the SE/30 and allows direct access to the CPU bus. However, the LC's 68020 Di- rect Slot is not compatible with the SE/ 30's 68030 Direct Slot. Because the LC doesn't have a socket for a paged mem- ory management unit, one possible use of this Direct Slot might be to add a 68030 processor board to make use of the vir- tual memory technology in System 7.0. Apple also plans to introduce an Ethernet board for under $400 and an Apple He compatibility board that will cost less than $250. The latter unit would let the LC run Apple He software at full speed and would provide support for Apple He peripherals. For example, with a He Photo 1: The Mac LC's logic board has a low component count due to the high level of logic integration. On the left edge is the 68020 Direct Slot; near the right edge are the SIMM sockets for RAM and the SIMM-mounted ROM. NOVEMBER 1990 • B Y T E 149 FIRST IMPRESSIONS THE NEW MACS ON THE BLOCK compatibility board, an LC mouse emu- lates an Apple II mouse. Why the Apple He compatibility? Ap- ple sees the LC as tapping into the educa- tion markets. With a retail price of $3000 for a complete system, the LC might ap- peal to schools that currently use Apple lis, especially since Apple is also plan- ning to make single and dual floppy disk drive versions of this system available at a lower price to the educational market only. Apple says that the LC has the same computing power as a 16-MHz 386SX system and is comparable in price to SX systems from IBM and Compaq; the company admits, though, that PC clone makers offer complete SX/VGA systems for far less than the LC's $3000 retail price. The LC with 2 MB of RAM and an internal 40-MB hard disk drive will cost approximately $2400. With the new 12- inch RGB color monitor costing $600, it is possible to get a color Macintosh system for $3000. The 12-inch mono- chrome monitor costs $300, so a usable LC system could actually be purchased for as little as $2700. The street price of a color LC will probably be around $2300 to $2400, making it competitive with high-end 386SX machines from major manufacturers. Unfortunately, the Mac LC will not be available until January 1991. It is being manufactured at Apple's facilities in Sin- gapore. This delay means that the prices of reasonably competitive IBM PC-com- patible systems might fall still further before the LC is released. THE FACTS Mac Classic with keyboard, 1 MB of RAM, floppy disk drive, and built-in monochrome monitor, $999; with keyboard, 2 MB of RAM, 40- MB hard disk drive, and monochrome monitor, $1499 MacLC with keyboard, 2 MB of RAM, and 40-MB hard disk drive, $2400 (approximate) Mac Ilsi with 2 MB of RAM and 40-MB hard disk drive, $3769; with 5 MB of RAM and 80-MB hard disk drive, $4569 Apple Computer, Inc. 20525 Mariani Ave. Cupertino, CA 95014 (408) 996-1010 Inquiry 1080. Mac Ilsi: Lower Cost, More Options The Mac Ilsi is Apple's new low-cost Mac II. Designed to replace the Ilex (currently Apple's most popular Mac II model), the Ilsi has some big shoes to fill. To fully appreciate the new Ilsi, you must first compare it with the Ilex to see the differences between the two ma- chines. The 10-pound Mac Ilsi comes in a slimmer, smaller box (although it is larger than the pizza-box-shaped LC) . Its dimensions are 4 inches high by 12 '/2 wide by 15 inches deep. The Ilsi's basic configuration includes a 20-MHz 68030 CPU, no FPU, and 2 MB of 100-ns, fast paged-mode RAM. One MB of RAM is on the Ilsi's main logic board; the other is on a SIMM. You can add up to 16 MB by installing more SIMMs. Apple is introducing 2-MB and 8-MB memory-expansion kits for the Ilsi and Ilci. These kits consist of four 512K-byte-density and four 2-MB-den- sity SIMMs, respectively. (The Mac Ilfx uses nonstandard 64-pin SIMMs, so it cannot use the new expansion kits.) The Ilsi includes eight built-in ports: an ADB port, a SCSI port, an external disk drive port, two serial ports, a video port, one stereo sound output port, and the new sound input port. Interestingly, the Ilsi has a single expansion connector that can be set up as either a NuBus slot or a 68030 Direct Slot. This trick is ac- complished by special adapters (sold separately for $200) that attach to the connector and provide a slot that's paral- lel to the system board. Through this ma- neuver, a NuBus board can fit inside the Ilsi's smaller housing. Both adapters also provide a 68882 FPU. Why only one expansion slot? Apple claims that most Mac II users have only one board in their machines anyway — usually a video board. So Apple added built-in video to the Ilsi system board, leaving the expan- sion slot open for more esoteric options. Like the new Classic and the LC, the Ilsi offers tight logic-board integration (see photo 2). The board is three-quar- ters the size of the Ilex board. Apple is able to offer the Ilsi for $2200 less than the Ilex by removing much of the origi- nal system logic from the main logic board and by limiting expansion capabil- ities and making them an option. Despite the size reduction, however, the Ilsi of- fers the same performance as the Ilex and includes many features that the Ilex doesn't have, including built-in 8-bit col- or video and support for 32-Bit Color QuickDraw in ROM. (The Ilsi can gener- ate 24-bit color video by using a 24-bit video board in a NuBus slot adapter.) The Ilsi logic board now includes a ROM SIMM socket to simplify future firm- ware upgrades (the Ilex's ROM chips were soldered to the main logic board). The machine's 512K bytes of ROM in- cludes 32-bit memory support. Sound Investment This brings us to one of the most interest- ing features on both the LC and the Ilsi: built-in sound input. Apple sees sound as a natural extension to the Mac platform. 150 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 There's more to comparing LaserJet memory boards than just the name a; u 5-1 Pacific Data Products 1MB/$199 2MB/$299 4MB/^499 Lifetime Fully Upgradeable to 4 MB Hewlett-Packard lMB/$495 2MB/$740 4 MB /Not Available One Year Not Upgradeable See us at ly Booth #W818 November 12-16, 1990 Las Vegas, Nevada Fall '90 Do 'on't settle for less just to buy the HP label. Get more for less with Pacific Data Products Pacific 4 Memory for HP LaserJet IIP and III prir\ters. With Pacific 4 Memory you get 4 MB of memory for only four dollars more than the price of 1 MB from HP. You also get a lifetime warranty, and upgradeabihty so you can start with 1 MB of memory, then simply upgrade when you need more. Just use the Pacific Data Memory Upgrade Kit ($99.00). It contains 1 MB of thoroughly tested DRAM chips specifi- cally for Pacific 4 Memory and our 2 Plus 2 memory To learn how you can get more for less, call your nearest dealer or contact: Pacific Data Products, 9125 Rehco Rd., San Diego, CA 92121, (619) 597-3114 Fax (619) 552-0889. Prices are suggested retail list price. Pacific 4 Memory and 2 Plus 2 are trademarks of Pacific Data Products, inc. All other company and product names are trademarks of the company or manufacturer respectively. © 1990 Pacific Data Products, Inc. PACIFIC DATA PRODUCTS Circle 270 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 271) FIRST IMPRESSIONS THE NEW MACS ON THE BLOCK Photo 2: The Mac Usi board combines on-board video and support for either a NuBus slot or a 68030 Direct Slot via a special adapter. This adapter plugs into the connector on the board's left edge. By the connector is one socket for SIMM-mounted ROM and four SIMM-mounted RAM sockets. At the center are crystal oscillators for the on-board video and bus clock. The sound I/O jacks are at the upper right. Both the Ilsi and the LC come bundled with an Apple electret microphone and phono jack. The microphone is a simple, button-shaped device (roughly the size of a silver dollar) that offers 8-bit monaural sound. It's a simple, omnidirectional mi- crophone for recording messages; you can clip it to your clothing or place it on top of the Mac monitor. The sound input is via a standard phono adapter jack, so alternative microphones or other audio devices can be used. One problem with the new microphone is that it connects to the back of the Mac box; a keyboard-based port for the mike would have been far more convenient. The NeXT Computer, for example, has a sound input port on its monitor stand. With these devices and the appropriate software, you could annotate sound mes- sages to documents and spreadsheets, for example. Apple demonstrated a pre-al- pha version of an Ashton-Tate word pro- cessing program that lets you annotate sound messages to a document. Sounds are sampled at 1 1 or 22 kHz. The sound is filtered through a custom filter/pream- plifier chip, converted to digital form, and stored in memory or directly on the hard disk. Also included is the Macin- tosh Audio Compression Expansion sound utility, which compresses sounds at ratios of 3 to 1 or 6 to 1 . MACE lets you store up to 3 hours of sound on a 40-MB hard disk. The new sound capabilities do not include stereo sound. An application programming interface for sound is included with the system, and Apple has attempted as much as pos- sible to keep its sound extensions com- patible with existing sound products from third parties, like Farallon's Mac- Recorder. The Control Panel desk acces- sory now has sound capabilities, includ- ing the ability to record your own alert sounds to replace the standard system sounds. Apple plans to eventually up- grade the rest of the Mac II family to in- clude the same sound features that come with the Ilsi and LC . The Ilsi is also the least expensive Mac capable of running A/UX, Apple's ver- sion of Unix: Apple is introducing a ver- sion of A/UX 2.0 that supports the Ilsi. In conjunction with Apple's new ag- gressive pricing strategy for hardware, some software vendors have banded to- gether to provide a low-cost software so- lution for Apple users. A bundle consist- ing of WriteNow 2.2, SuperPaint 2.0, Full Impact 1.1, and Record Holder Plus will retail for $349. The Ilsi is available now. The standard configuration with 2 MB of RAM and a 40-MB hard disk drive is $3769. Add an Apple high-resolution monitor and the standard keyboard, and the price jumps to $4869. The Ilsi minus monitor and keyboard and with 5 MB of RAM and an 80-MB hard disk drive will be $4569. (As with other Mac lis, the buyer must choose between the standard or extra- large keyboard. However, as mentioned earlier, the keyboard comes bundled with the new Classic and LC systems.) Apple thinks the street price for a bare- bones Ilsi, including monitor and key- board, could drop to around $3600. Apple Gets Price Wise Along with introducing the new models, Apple is discontinuing three Macs. The Mac Plus and SE are being replaced by the Classic, and the Ilex by the Ilsi. And to prove it's serious about its new com- petitive image, Apple has reduced the prices of existing Ilci and SE/30 config- urations. Apple's goal with its new Macs and lower prices is to reach more people by increasing unit sales and market share. Indeed, the pricing of the new Macs is competitive, and Apple has a leaner, meaner desktop lineup these days. The new Macs offer impressive features for their price, and Apple should attract a lot of new customers. However, if viewed from a strict price-per-raw-computing- performance perspective, these systems still don't match up with the lower-cost IBM PC compatibles. What should not be forgotten in the equation is the ease of use of Apple's sys- tems and the extras that come with them. These are Apple's strengths and also its Achilles' heel. It is impossibly expensive to add into an IBM PC compatible all the extras that Apple provides. But do people want these extras or ease of use? Apple still has to persuade buyers that the inte- grated philosophy behind its systems is best. The new systems and prices just make this task a lot easier. Probably the biggest drawback of Ap- ple's new low-price systems is the rela- tive lack of expansion options on the cheaper Macs. Apple based its decision to leave out expansion options on market research that shows that most users don't want or need the expansion. But it could be a problem farther down the line when users eventually want to upgrade. ■ Owen Linderholm is a BYTE news editor in San Francisco. He can be reached on BIX as "owenl. " Jeff Bertolucci is a BYTE associate news editor in San Fran- cisco. He can be reached on BIX as "bertolucci. " 152 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 Take the Oops & Downs out of your next presentation. I Color Paint Company Tired of fumbling with slides? Fiddling with transparencies? Losing your audience? Well, it's time to use an LCD projection panel from In Focus Systems. It lets j^ou project information just as it appears on your computer screen. Even bright, brilliant colors. So you make stronger presentations. And easily hold any audience. What's more, the 640x480 display works with IBM® compatibles, and the Macintosh® family, too. For more information or the name of the dealer nearest you, call 1-800-327-7231, today. Then take the oops and downs out of j'^our next presentation. And put the audi- ence in the palm of your hand. 1-800-327-7231. See it fiphfr^ ifv cncUSSYSTEMf " ^ Circle 171 on Reader Service Card ^^oS^'sfMohawk Street, ^alatin Oregon 97062. 1-800-327-7231. Oregon, 503-692-4968. FAX, 503-692-4476. and Macintosh are regiscered trademarks of their respective companies. htroducing this year^ best performance. Sob. Once again, Compaq unleashes a series of stun- ning performances. Tfie new COMPAQ DESKPRO 486/33L and COMPAQ DESKPRO 386/33L Personal Computers are single-user PCs that deliver the utmost in power. And 33-MHz 486 models of the COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO Personal Computer System strengthen its position as the network server without equal. For individuals, — our powerful new ^^^^^i^j^^^' desktops extract the highest performance processors. So you can run the most complex CAD/CAE, scientific and business applications faster than ever. You can also take advantage of SCO's UNIX operating system and Microsoft's Windows. Plus run the thousands of industry-standard software products available under Microsoft's MS-DOS and MS OS/2. Both machines fulfill your need for speed. They're optimized with high-speed cache memory designs, fixed disk drives and powerful Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA). So nothing slows you down. Both offer unequaled growth potential with seven EISA expansion slots plus internal room for up to 100 from Intel's dSMBi^ MB^fRAM and 1.3 GB of mass storage. The COMPAQ ^^<.rm86 micro- DESKPRO 386/33L also offers an upgrade path to COMPAQ. DESKPRO. SYSTEMPRO, Registered U S Palenl and Trademark Oltice. UNIX is a rejislered trademark ol AT&T. And this year^ best performance. Group. the power of 486 technology. For networks, the COMPAQ SYSTEMPRO Family now delivers the ability to employ one or two 33-MHz 486 or 386 micro- processors. It's power you can put to work in the broad- est range of connected environments, from resource sharing to departmental database management. Inside you'll find innovations like a 512-Kbyte ServerCache design, EISA I/O performance and drive array technology. Plus the ability to use up to 11 expansion slots and store up to 4.28 GB of data. These innovations are complemented by the COMPAQ DESKPRO 386N and COMPAQ DESKPRO 286n Personal Computers, PCs designed with specific network features. Put them all together with Novell's NetWare, Microsoft's LAN Manager, SCO's UNIX or other industry-standard network or multiuser operat- ing systems and you'll get the greatest performance to ever hit the networks. And the one place to see these performances live is your Authorized COMPAQ Computer Dealer. For the near- est location and more information, call 1-800-231-0900, Operator 131. In Canada, 1-800-263-5868, Operator 131. comPAa It simply works better. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or roistered trademarks of their respectii'e companies. S' 1990 Compaq Computer Corporation, All rights reseni-ed. FIRST IMPRESSIONS A New Status Quo for Quattro Andrew Reinhardt The newest version of Borland's spreadsheet features 3-D graphics and a simple solver Dislodging an entrenched mar- ket leader like Lotus 1-2-3 re- quires rivals to produce soft- ware that is fundamentally a better deal. With a new version of its popular Quattro Pro spreadsheet, Bor- land International continues to achieve just that: Quattro Pro 2.0 offers an ex- panded set of features over the previous version, while maintaining the advan- tages it already enjoyed over 1-2-3. Quattro Pro provides more features and better performance than 1-2-3— and at a lower price— yet it will run on any DOS machine (e.g., an 8088-based XT with 512K bytes of RAM). Quattro Pro does not use the multilayered "three- dimensional" architecture of 1-2-3 re- lease 3.0 (nor can it read Lotus .WK3 files), but it does offer a reasonable alter- File EditStgl fli; (U2] :\S0LUES.UQ1= Princ $219,088.88 Tern of loan (in nontiis) 248 finnual Interest Rate 12.5-x (floiithly Interest Rate) 1.84X Monthly Paynent Irterest Rste vs Mortgage aOED 2B> 2*00 MfiO r :sFILLER.UQl- HUH READV Quattro Pro lets you display multiple, linked worksheets and live graphics on the screen at the same time. native: easy spreadsheet linking and the ability to have several spreadsheets stacked or tiled on the screen at once. The ability to run comfortably in con- ventional DOS memory (by comparison, 1-2-3 release 3.0 requires 1 megabyte of installed RAM and uses a built-in DOS extender) is due to Borland's Virtual Real-Time Object-Oriented Memory Management architecture, a technique that breaks the program code into small chunks that are swapped in and out of memory as needed. VROOMM's effi- cient memory management makes it pos- sible to load larger spreadsheets in con- ventional RAM than is possible under 1-2-3 release 2.2. And for very large spreadsheets, Quattro Pro supports up to 8 MB of EMS 4.0 memory. Aside from its speed and small mem- ory needs, the main advantages of Quat- tro Pro are superior graphics and spread- sheet publishing. For example, it comes with a Graph Annotator. This is a graph- ics program that is as sophisticated as the 1-2-3/G Graph Tool and is easier to use. You can also mix data and live charts on the same worksheet. These capabilities have been enhanced with four new 3-D graph types (i.e., bars, step, area, and ribbon) and faster LaserJet drivers that support download- able Bitstream fonts. Quattro Pro also now offers a 132-column mode (on EGA/ VGA cards that support extended charac- ter sets), so you can view 12 months of a budget calculation on one screen. However, Quattro Pro does have one important drawback compared with re- lease 3. 1 of 1-2-3: The Lotus spreadsheet now has a WYSIWYG mode that shows fonts and other graphical attributes on- screen as they will appear in printed out- put. By contrast, Quattro Pro will show colors, boxes, shading, and graphs, but not fonts. Interactive Slide Shows One of the most distinctive capabilities of Quattro Pro is the ProShow presentation 156 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 FIRST IMPRESSIONS tool, which lets you create slide shows using spreadsheet data, graphs, and text. In version 2.0, ProShow presentations can become interactive and nonlinear: By clicking on "graph buttons" added to the screen, you can branch to other graphics or run macros. Because ProShow is integrated into Quattro Pro, it can be an easier way to create presentations than exporting worksheets and graphics to a slide-show package (especially when the data is fre- quently updated), but it's not as graphi- cally rich as Microsoft PowerPoint. Quattro Pro 2.0 also adds a capability unmatched in any DOS-based spread- sheet: a Solve For tool that is similar to the Backsolver utility that is found in 1-2-3/G. Both Solve For and Backsolver can tweak a single input variable to pro- duce a specified result, sparing you from trial-and-error goal seeking. However, Solve For doesn't match the power of the full 1-2-3/G Solver, which uses separate OS/2 threads to jiggle multiple factors constrained by numerous criteria. Finally, Quattro Pro has added better support for networking, file import/ex- port, and data access. It offers more printer drivers and graphics import/ex- port formats, as well as a choice of inter- national character sets with correct sort- ing for non-English text. Quattro Pro now works better with Lotus 1-2-3. Release 2.2 files can be read into Quattro Pro with their cell- linking attributes preserved. For networked installations, Quattro Pro 2.0 permits a single, shared set of large font files to reside on the server, saving disk space. The software includes user license management, which auto- matically monitors the number of simul- taneous users of the program on a LAN. And for spreadsheet users who want to access Structured Query Language data- bases, Borland has strengthened the ties between Quattro Pro, Paradox 3.5, and the Paradox SQL Link, which talks to SQL Server, IBM OS/2 Extended Edi- tion, and Oracle Server. Now, if you have at least a 286 machine and 2 MB of RAM, you can load both Quattro Pro and Paradox, toggle between them with a hot key, and easily load Paradox or SQL data tables into a Quattro Pro spreadsheet for analysis or graphics. In the interest of compatibility with in- dustry-standard 1-2-3, you still have a choice of user interfaces: the 1-2-3 menu tree or a Common User Access-com- pliant pull-down Quattro menu tree. Having Lotus menus available is a com- fortable fallback for those users bred on 1-2-3, but the Quattro menus are actually more efficient and easier to use. Borland is now the target of a lawsuit by Lotus for allegedly copying the look and feel of 1-2-3, but even without 1-2-3 menus, Quattro Pro would be a snap to learn for any experienced spreadsheet user. One Size Fits All Perhaps the most important point in Quattro Pro's favor is that while most of its features are available in some release of 1-2-3 (i.e., release 2.2 with the All- ways add-in, release 3.1 with the Impress add-in, or 1-2-3/G for OS/2-Presentation Manager), no one package has them all. In fact, the various releases of 1-2-3 are starting to get quite confusing for customers and technical-support person- nel: The releases aire segmented by hard- ware platform, each offers features the others lack, and they all use different commands and file formats for their pre- sentation and publishing modules. Quattro Pro, on the other hand, runs on any DOS platform with the same set of features. If you have a large investment in 1-2-3 data files, a lot of older-generation PCs, and a desire to tap into the latest spreadsheet capabilities, Quattro Pro is probably your best answer. ■ Andrew Reinhardt is BYTE's associate news editor in New York City. He can be reached on BIX as "areinhardt. " COMPANY INFORMATION Quattro Pro 2.0 $495 Requirements: IBM XT or compatible with a hard disk drive and 512K bytes of RAM. Borland International, Inc. 1800 Green Hills Rd. P.O. Box 660001 Scotts Valley, CA 95066 (408) 438-8400 Inquiry 1166. The new release of Quattro Pro supports 3-D bar charts (above), as well as 3-D ribbons, steps, and area plots. Summer Sales Period Results (grouped by product line) Ma[y June July August Sept Product NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 157 Professional developers require TURBO C++ Professional by Borland International Be objective! Object-Oriented Programming is programming in ttie 90s. Let Borland tal- OPEN ACCESS III by Software Products Intl. Turn your ideas into market-ready applications in just weel^s with Open Access llll Easily edit, run, and debug your programs in the integrated programming environment. Get data entry and report forms and support for windowing, light-bar menus, and 3-D graphics to make creating your applications a snapl Open architecture with a C language interface lets you add change or add features. And Open Access even has its own compilerl UST: $695 PS Price: $489 FastFaxts 1759-007 WATCOM C 8.0/386 Prof, by WATCOM WATCOM C 8.0/386 is 100% ANSI C optimizing compiler/runtime library for Intel's 80386 architec- ture, generating applications for 32-bit protect mode. Features include: protected mode version of the compiler; VIDEO full-screen source-level debugger; MS library- & source-compatibility; execution profiler; high performance linker; graphics library; supports MetaWare High C 386 runtime calling conventions; SAA compatible. UST: $1295 PS Price: $1155 FastFaxts 1044-005 EDT+ by Boston Business Computing EDT+ 5.0, the only complete emulation of DIGITAL'S VAX EDT, is 50% faster than Its predecessor and features multiple windows, interfaces for EVE, EMACS, vi and WPS, 1 32-column mode, status line and ruler, keystroke macros and much more. 30-day, money-back guarantee and free customer support and updates for 60 days. For MS-DOS and UNIX systems. UST: $295 PS Price: $279 FastFaxts 342-001 Tom Rettig's Libfary 85 UI2 Developer's Release 479 DEBUGGERS/ DISASSEMBLERS DASM 225 Dis Doc Pro 229 Multiscope for DOS 149 Periscope IV Varies RE:Source by Genesoft 119 SoftProbe Se/TX 345 Souroer 486 w/BIOS pre-proc. 149 Trapper 189 DEVELOPMENT TOOLS A Oft lt~l ^*ft# ASMFLOW 89 C-DOC 139 CLEAR-t- for C 169 Codan 349 Buzzwords dANALYST 269 Xho rv%pi imontnr 245 INSIDEI 119 MKS Lex & Yacc 199 MKS RCS 175 PC-Lint 120 Plink^TO 439 PolyMake 159 PVCS Professional 439 ROM-Link 339 .RTLINK - by Pocket Soft 279 .RTLINK Plus 419 Source Print 97 TLIB 89 Zortech C++ Tools Call EDITORS BRIEF Call Cheetah 195 Epsilon 119 KEDIT 139 QEditTSR 89 Sage Professional Editor 249 SPF/PC - V2.1 129 Vedit + 139 EXPERT SYSTEMS Eclipse 386 560 Exsys Professional 695 Logic Gem by Sterling Castle 89 Personal Consultant Plus 1999 FILE ADD-ONS Accsys for Paradox w/source 739 CBTREE 179 C-Data Manager 279 CodeBASE 4 279 CQL - w/ source 359 c-tree by Faircom - source 329 C-TRIEVE 229 db_FILE/RETRIEVE - SU 229 Faircom Toolbox Prof. 889 Faircom Toolbox Special 539 WKS Library 149 XOL 649 FORTRAN FOR C w/source 789 Lahey FORTRAN F77L 549 Lahey Personal FORTRAN Call MS Fortran Opt. Compiler 309 RM/FORTRAN 499 GENERAL ADD-ONS C Tools Rus - V6.01 98 C Utility Library 189 Greenleaf SuperFunctions 239 Opt-TechSort 119 Turbo C Tools by Blaise 1 09 GRAPHICS Bar Code Library w/Source 369 Essential Graphics v3.0 349 Graphic 319 graphics-Menu 165 GSS Graphics DeVt Toolkit 525 Halo 279 HSC Sunscan 289 LaserControl 139 MetaWINDOWS 209 MetaWINDOW/PLUS 289 PCX Programmer's Toolkit 229 HARDWARE Aegis 55 ALL Chargecard 399 Capital Equipment Corp. OS/RAM32 OM 225 0S/RAM8 OM 299 OS/RAM4 0M 179 DigiCHANNEL C0M/8i 875 DigiCHANNEL MC/8i 949 DPT SmartCache ST506 1099 SmartCache RLL 1099 SmartCache ESDI 1 099 Disk Mirroring Module 685 Emerson UPS Model 10 UPS 169 Model 20 UPS 319 Model 40 UPS 699 AccuCard 209 AccuSaver 69 EtherCard Plus 239 EtherCard Plus/A 349 Erasable Optical Drive Call Hardlock Kit by Glenco 369 irr Adv. Math Coprocessors 3C87-25 450 3C87-33 559 2C87-20 329 2C87-12 279 Intel Math Coprocessors 80387-25 555 80387-33 675 J T Fax 9600 595 KickStart I 179 KickStart II 399 KickStart III 689 LANStorLAN150S 1599 LaserStor WORM Drive 3295 Personal Modem 2400 179 QX/12K Modem 699 QXA/ .32c Modem 1349 Seagate ST-1 25-1 20M 299 Seagate ST-4096-1 80M 639 Seagate ST-251-1 40M 339 SentinelScout(kitof lOkeys) 265 SpeedStor AT 320S 1 999 Smartmodem 2400 (Ext.) 359 The Shadow SVGA1 024K 31 9 VGA WONDER 512K 359 Circle 391 on Reader Service Card mil vimmMmm}^ shop i-80o<42i-8006 The Programmer's Shop is c- by Worthy Interface Library Solution Systems Create a clear, high quality user interface with minimal overhead to your code. Benefit from 400 tight, ready-to-use functions for Windows, Menus, Text Editing, Message System, Mouse Support, Help and much more. cwARCHITECT is included to let you interactively design and test forms without coding. Best of all it's flexible to your needs, providing high level functions for immediate results, yet power and functionality for the long-term. UST; $399 PS Price: $3S9 FastFttxis 732-095 NETWORKS dBXlAAN 519 Btrieve Dev. Kit 479 Netware SQL 519 Netware C Interface 239 OBJECT-ORIENTED/C++ Intek C++ 80386 469 SmalltalkA/ 85 SmalltalkA/-286 185 Turbo C++ 159 Turbo C ++ Prof. 259 Zinc Interface Library 179 Zortech C ++ w/ source 269 Zortech C++ Debugger 150 Zortech C ++ Dev. Edition 399 OS SUPPORT DESQview OS/286 109 589 OTHER LANGUAGES Logitech's Modula-2 Dev. Syst.229 RPG II Dev. Systems 1469 TopSpeed Modula-2 189 StonyBrookProf. Modula-2 249 OTHER PRODUCTS Carbon Copy Plus 159 Dan Bricklin's PageGarden 89 Fasti 89 File Shuttle 109 Flow Charting III 199 HEADROOM 89 HiJaak 139 LapLlnklll 129 Link & Locate ++ - ROM MSC 349 Math Advantage 475 Norton Utilities 5.0 149 pcANYWHERE III 129 PC Tools Deluxe 6.0 119 PC-KWIK Power Pak 119 Pre Cursor 96 Remote2 139 SplnRite II 89 Systat & Sygraph Combo 839 System Sleuth 89 The Duplicator Toolkit-Pro 3.0 119 Tlme$heet Prof. 135 TURBO PASCAL Turbo ASYNCH PLUS 119 Turbo Pascal 5.5 by Borland 109 Turbo POWER TOOLS PLUS 98 Turbo Professional 109 TEXT SCREEN ADD-ONS AEWINDOS 459 C Communications Toolkit 1 29 C Worttiy w/Forms w/ARCH 359 Greenleaf DataWindows 339 HI-SCREEN XL Professional 289 ME WEL Window System 1 69 POWER SCREEN by Blaise 99 Vitamin C - source, menus 169 VC Screen - painter 119 Vermont Views Obj. + source 819 UNDWCENIX C++ Compiler for Unix 386 by Zortech 439 C++ for Unix by SCO of Canada 829 Computer Innovations C++ 469 db_FILE/RETRIEVE SU 569 Edix - editor 409 EDT+ for Xenix 386 275 ESIX Systems ESIXA/ 386 Dev. (2 user) 569 ESIXA/ 386 Dev. unltd 769 Guidelines C++ tor 386 V2.0 479 Informix SQL Varies Interactive Systems Architect Wrksm Platform 1 1 99 Architect Wrkstn Developer 1850 Norton Utilities tor Unix 279 Oregon C++ by Oregon SW 979 Recital Standard SU 699 WordTech Quicksilver Diamd. 839 XENIX 386 Dev. Sys. 689 WINDOWS & om Actor 3.0 639 Brief tor OS/2 Call Case: W 905 Case: PM (for C or C+++) 1469 C_talk/Views 419 C-Trieve/Windows 349 dBFAST/Windows 315 Graphics Server SDK 455 Instant Windows 895 KnowiedgePro Windows 589 MKS Toolkit 229 MS Windows 3.0 119 MS Windows Dev. Dr. Dev. Kit 365 MS Windows Soft. Dev. Kit 365 Multiscope OS/2 Debugger 375 BLINKER by Blinkwc 'Fastest dynamic overlay linker for Clipper Summer '87 and 5.0. Automatically structures overtays and reduces program memory requirement by up to 50%. Features incremental linking in fractions of a second, dynamic overlaying of C & ASM, source code of Clipper profiler for performance analysis, memory defragmentation, "burning in' of Clipper environment variables/ serial numbers and creation of demo versions." UST: $189 PS Price: $179 FasWeutt 937-001 dBXL by WordTech A superior alternative to dBASE, dBXL relational database is an easy to use interpretive environ- ment adding extended language (XL) features to the dBASE language. It includes WordT ech R&R Relational Report Writer, full dBASE compatibility (files & syntax), and special menus for first time database builders. Also has memory swapping, advanced memo field handling, macros, true windowing multi-dimensional arrays, graphing and EMS support. Requires 440K memory. UST: $249 PS Price: $209 FastFaxts 971-003 ZORTECH C++ V2.1 UNIX 386 CompUer by Zortech, Inc. Zortech's C++ V2.1 386 compiler tor UNIX makes it easy to port applications among DOS, DOS 386, OS/2, and SCO UNIX 386. With the same tight, fast, globally optimized code of the DOS and OS/2 versions, the compiler takes full advantage of the 386. Included is an ANSI/UNIX/Zortech C++ compatible library. UST: $500 PS Price: $439 FastFaxts 1108-045 Clarion Prof. Dev 2.1 by Clarion Software A powerful, easy-to-use DBMS application developer, can cut development time by 50%. Importyexports dBase, BASIC, and DIF files; interfaces with routines from C and Assembler. Includes Report Writer tor creating ad-hoc reports and queries. Built- in LAN support: no mn-time system required for distribution. Recent winner of PCWeek poll of corporations using programmable databases. UST Price: $845 PS Price $549 FastFaxts 1005-004 THE PlUMJll/IMMEl^S $ 1-800-421-8006 your source for solutions! LOTUS MAGELLAN 2.0 by Lotus Development Corp. Lotus Magellan 2.0 Is the fastest way to organize and use PC information. It combines the most requested utilities in an easy-to- use package. Magellan 2.0 works the way you do, focusing on the information in your files rather than the files themselves. A simple, powerful viewing environment lets you look at the contents of a file right alongside its name-without loading the application that created it. And this Includes word processing files, spreadsheets, databases, graphic files, and more. UST:$139 PS Price: $119 FastFaxts 1917-012 Greenleaf Comm Library by Greenleaf Software The Greenleaf Comm Library Is an asynchronous communications library w/ interrupt-driven, circular buffered service for up to thirty- five ports. Features Include: Modem control functions, XMODEM, YMODEM, & KERMIT protocol support; XON/XOFF & RTS/CTS flow control & security against data loss. CommLib™ offers support up to 1 15Kbaud. Included free; source and PDQPIus Online Help System. Supports all major compilers. UST: $359 PS Price: $329 FastFaxts SS-007 RYBS HI386 Complete by RYBS Electronics, Inc. RAM cram is eliminated In all DOS computers with AMS memory managers by providing up to 928K off conventional DOS memory. Move networks, TSRs, device drivers and DOS utilities out of conventional memory to give full _^se of 640K. Run large applications in a LAN environment without memory intrusion from the network. Compatible with all 386s and can be used on 286s with EMS boards on C+T chip sets. For PC, XT, AT, 386 and PS/2 MIcto Channel computers. UST: $100 PS Price: $89 FastFaxts 808-002 Clipper 5.0 by Nantucket Corp. Clipper's open ardnitecture lends unprecendented freedom to application development. Its language is fully extensible with user-IMli;i£$ SHOP 800-421-8006 ''1^46.™ South Shore Paric, Spencer Bldg., Hingham, MA 02043 • Canada 800-446-3846 • Mass. 617-740-2510 • FAX: 617-749-2018 Credit card orders processed only when product is shij^jed. All prices subject to change. Litl prices wiU vary. BY1 1 90 FIRST IMPRESSIONS The ALR MPS: Modular Micro Channel Advanced Logic Research gambles that it can take a byte out of the True Blue market ■ Stan Miastkowski 162 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 PAUL AVIS © 1990 FIRST IMPRESSIONS Just when you thought you had a handle on all those computer terms, here's another acronym for you: MPS. It stands for Modular Personal System, and it's Advanced Logic Research's latest PC incarnation on the way to that ever-elusive system nirvana. ALR has carved out a solitary and comfortable nitch for itself with well- built systems notable for their easy-to- upgrade processor cards. It started off last year with the 286-based PowerFlex and kept the industry hopping earlier this year with the PowerVEISA, a 386-based machine with the Extended Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus. With "Logic" in your corporate moni- ker, I guess you make logical business decisions. So it's no surprise that the lat- est ALR machine has taken the "logical" step of jumping headfirst into the Micro Channel market. The ALR MPS is es- sentially a nicely built PS/2 clone (see photo 1) that offers several features that Big Blue's entries do not, such as truly easy upgrade. A basic MPS unit comes equipped with a 33-MHz 386. Want more power later? No problem. All you need to do is pull the 386 CPU board out of its proprietary slot and plug in an i486 (either 25 or 33 MHz) (see photo 2). Once you get the case off, the whole pro- cess takes about 30 seconds. And unlike the processor upgrade schemes that other manufacturers have opted for, ALR's re- quires no change of software or BIOS ROM upgrade. It's truly plug and play. Riding the Micro Channel Of course, other ALR systems upgrade in the same way. So what's the point of the MPS? Mainly, the Micro Channel. While the folks at IBM probably aren't quaking in their collective wingtips over ALR's Micro Channel entry, ALR has frosted the competitive cake with lots of sweet goodies, especially for the steely- eyed bean counters of the bottom line. Stripped MPS systems start at lowball prices— $1995 with no hard disk drive or graphics. And there's a well-chosen se- lection of upgrade options. For example, a 33-MHz 386-based MPS with a 16K- byte static RAM cache, an 80-megabyte hard disk drive, a Super VGA card, and a 14-inch color monitor costs about $4500. That's nearly half the price of a compara- bly equipped IBM PS/2. ALR's entry is a compact 6 by 15 by 17 inches, weighing in at about 35 pounds. The motherboard in the prepro- duction MPS that I looked at still had hand- wired patches, but careful layout and construction were evident. Packing all this circuitry into a small case isn't a trivial undertaking, and it requires sur- face-mount fabrication techniques. ALR has used the Intel Micro Channel chip set and has ended up with considerably more expansion space than you find in the PS/2s. The MPS has a total of eight ex- pansion slots (versus three in a compara- ble PS/2). Two of these are proprietary ALR slots, but there are four 16-bit and two 32-bit Micro Channel slots. The World Gets Smaller ALR has also opted for a semimodular case layout. As with a true PS/2, you pop out a few plastic buttons, and the drive bays lift off. But you still need to fiddle with cable connectors. And speaking of drives, ALR has also decided to emulate the PS/2 approach of eschewing 5 14 -inch drives. You have a choice: Take 3 '/2-inch drives or leave them. Period. But there's lots of room for them: space for four half-height units on the front panel, and room for two 3!/2-inch hard disk drives (mounted vertically) inside the case. COMPANY INFORlMllUlsiM Advanced Logic Research, Inc. 9401 Jeronimo Irvine, CA 92718 (800) 444-4257 (415)581-6770 Inquiry 1081. Despite all the circuitry crammed onto the MPS's motherboard (including an Intelligent Drive Electronics hard disk drive interface), there's plenty of room for expansion. A basic MPS comes with 1 MB of surface-mounted RAM on the motherboard. Add 256K-byte, 1-MB, or 4-MB single in-line memory modules to the four on-board sockets, and you can upgrade to 2, 5, or 17 MB in one fell swoop. Still not enough for you? Add an ALR 32-bit RAM card (that takes up to 22 MB), and you end up with a total sys- tem capacity of 49 MB. Adding Processing Power At press time, the cost of upgrading an MPS machine to a 486/25 was pegged at $1995; moving up to a 486/33 was a wal- let-clearing $3195. But that's likely to change quickly; 486/25 s are becoming more available, while 486/33s are likely to be hard to come by for some time. ALR also offers a trade-in rebate for pro- cessor modules. The rebate varies as the market changes, so check with the com- pany for the latest details. Those who are truly power (or is that status?) hungry can equip the MPS with a high-end TMS34010-based graphics PRELIMINARY BYTE LOW-LEVEL BENCHMARK SCORES We tested the ALR MPS with three different plug-in processor modules. Although its CPU results were on the low side of competing machines (and the video results were usually fast), note that the ALR was a prototype and the final production versions may (and probably will) differ. CPU FPU Disk I/O Video ALR MPS 386/33 4.83 14.35 1.61 11.77 ALR MPS 486/25 5.07 24.73 2.63 13.52 ALR MPS 486/33 6.82 32,98 2.68 17.13 ALR PowerVEISA 386/33 9.69 37.03 3.48 4.02 Compaq Deskpro 386/33 6.09 15.50 2.90 4.53 AST Premium 486/33 8.21 37.10 N/A 3.40 Cheetah Gold 33 (486/25) 6.52 21.49 9.49 5.57 Note: Benchmark results are indexed to show relative performance; higher numbers indicate t^etler performance. Faallindexes, an 8-MHz IBM PC AT running MS-DOS 3.30=1. NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 163 FIRST IMPRESSIONS THE ALR MPS Photo 1: The ALR MPS is highly modular, although not to the extent of the IBM PS/2 series, with which it directly competes. The drive bays detach with three pop-up plastic buttons, giving you easy access to the motherboard. Photo 2: You can upgrade ALR 's CPU module (the 486/25 with a Weitek socket is shown here) in about 5 minutes. You don 't need to upgrade the software or firmware. processor that emulates the 8514/A ($3300 with a 15-inch monitor; $5300 with a 21-inch monitor). And if the MPS is going to see duty as a network file server, there's a 330-MB hard disk drive that will add $2100 to the system price. Mass Transportation EISA? Industry Standard Architecture (formerly the AT bus)? Micro Channel architecture? Sometimes I feel like a confused commuter trying to decide which bus to take. An ALR spokesper- son told me that ISA is essentially dead. That's an understandable statement on the company's part, because it wants to sell lots of EISA and Micro Channel ma- chines. But ISA-based systems are far from obsolete, especially since the high- bandwidth, multiprocessing promises of both EISA and Micro Channel remain largely a dream. Many more add-in boards are available for the Micro Chan- nel than for the EISA bus, but most are simple repackages of ISA products that offer little (or, more often, nothing) in the way of increased performance. That situation will change, of course; and ALR is in a particularly good posi- tion to be a strong contender as the PC market eases leisurely toward high- power processors and high-bandwidth buses— complementary technologies that are just plain made for each other. The ability to upgrade your PC's processor in the future remains an intriguing one. (There will be an 1586 one of these days.) If you're considering going for a bus upgrade, the choice between EISA and Micro Channel is a somewhat thornier issue. Except for ever-true, ever-blue IBM users. Micro Channel-bus PCs haven't taken off since their introduction some 2'/2 years ago. Other non-IBM Micro Channel machines, such as those made by NCR, Reply, Tandy, and Wang, have largely been rolled out so that the companies can tout their "complete lines" to Big Corporate Buyers. I have a hunch that the ALR MPS is very much the same. The MPS is well designed and well built, and it shows a high degree of engi- neering expertise and sophistication. But for the time being, its user base is likely to be confined to large companies who specify Micro Channel yet are looking for a lower-priced (and upgradable) al- ternative. While EISA and Micro Chan- nel slug it out, ALR can profitably work both sides of the street. ■ Stan Miastkowski is the BYTE senior edi- tor for new products. He can be reached on BIX as "stanm. " 164 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 Their 20MHz 386 System Alone: ^6,354. CompuAdd's NEW DX Success Kit: TOS. And The Deal Gets Better... CompuAdd 320 system and monitor 40MB hard drive FREE Panasonic printer FREE mouse FREE CompuAdd Windows 3.0 FREE CompuAdd MS-DOS 4.01 We Give You A FREE Printer And More! J CompuAdd's NEW DX Success Kit 320 Svstem Alone Was *2259. Save *263 and Get the Printer and CompuAdd Windows 3.0 FREE! CompuAdd answers your demands for affordable 386-powered systems — and goes one better with the NEW CompuAdd DX Success Kit. The 320 system alone was $2259. Now you save $263 and get a FREE Panasonic KX-Pl 180 printer — a $ 1 79 value! Add to that, a FREE CompuAdd mouse plus FREE software worth over $230, and you have a deal that appeals to the shrewdest executive. The NEW DX Success Kit gives you the power of our 20MHz 386 system with the convenience of our popular "plug-and-go" kits. 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Plus, you get it all (including FREE CompuAdd Windows 3.0, MS-DOS 4.01 and mouse!) for a low $4995 — less than half of what you'd pay for IBM's or Compaq's 386* technology! -B^ed I the IBM" ?S '2 Model 70-386 and Compaq' Model 84-386.1 Think Technology, Think CompuAdd CALL TODAY! or visit a CompuAdd Superstore for these savings. 800-999-7103 Hours: Monday - Friday 7:00am ro 9:00pm CST: Saturday 9:00am to 5:00pm CST CompuAdd 325 Features: ■ 80386 microprocessor rated at 25MHz (8MHz, and 25MHz) ■ 1MB DRAM expandable to 16MB ■ 0 wait-state cache memory ■ Dual diskette drive controller ■ Dual IDE hard drive interface ■ Six 16-bit and two 8-bit expansion slots ■ Parallel port and two serial ports ■ Choice of 5.25" 1.2MB or 3.5" 1.44MB diskette drive ■ Real-time clock/calendar ■ FREE CompuAdd serial mouse ■ FREE CompuAdd Windows 3.0 ■ FREE CompuAdd MS-DOS 4.01 ■ FREE one-year onsite service ■ Base System Price: $1695 (64834) CompuAdd 425 Features: ■ 80486 microprocessor rated at 25MHz with internal 8KB cache and floating point processor ■ 4MB DRAM expandable to 8MB using SIMMs (supports 1, 2, 4, 5 and 8MB on motherboard, full 16MB on system bus) ■ 5.25" 1.2MB or 3.5" 1.44MB diskette drive ■ 80MB hard drive ■ Three 16-bit and two 8-bit expansion slots ■ One 5.25" and two 3.5" half-height drive bays ■ 16-bit video graphics adapter ■ CVGA monitor ■ FREE CompuAdd serial mouse ■ FREE CompuAdd Windows 3.0 ■ FREE CompuAdd MS-DOS 4.01 ■ FREE one-year onsite service ■ Base System Price: $4995 (66652) CompuPdd ' Customer driven, by design.™ 12303 Technology, Austin, Texas 78727 Telex: Fax: Technical Support: Outside US: Canada: Mexico; United Kingdom: Germany: 763543 COMPUADD AUS 512-335-6236 800-999-9901 512-258-5575 800-387-3266 95-800-010-0401 0800-373535 0130-6009 We accept MasterCard, VISA, money oiden. certified checks and personal checks (please allow n. „... institutional purchase orders (miniinum initial purchase $500, thereafter $50). Sna wre iransfers. Please add 2% to an purchases for shipping and handlinE(m: S3, shipping outside the continental United States will increase cost). Add 8% for shipping and handling to APO.'FPO addresses (minimum $10). AZ, CO, CT. [ IL. IN.TG. U, MA, MD, Ml, MN. MO. NC, NE. NJ, NM. NT, OH. OK, PA, RI, SC. TS. fx. liT, VA and Wl residents, please add appropri; - - - - y-backguara — ---i--' . — 1_, — , ^ j __c s idays for processing!, CODs iS50 minimum order), company and ). Add 8% for shipping and handling to APO.'FPO addresses ( minimum $10). AZ, CO, CT. DC, FL, GA, :, PA, RI, SC. TS. TX. UT, VA and Wl residents, please add appropriate local sales tax. Thirtv-day ■e does not include return freight or shipping and handling. Opened software, videotapes, other consumables and shipping costs are nonrefundable, it be accompanied bv a return merchandise authorization (RMA) number. Prices and product descriptions are subject to change without notice. CompuAdd is not liable for damage due to omissions or typographical errors. Call 8(X)-666-1872 for a copy of CompuAdd's complete warranty. If You Discovered A Worker That Works Hard in the Field and Office Never Misses a Workday Fits in Any Department Outperforms the Competition Even Manages the Project We Bet You'd Hire The CompuAdd 316sl For Your Team Get Fast, Versatile, Dependable 386SX Power The CompuAdd 316sl can be the most valu- able member of your team. In the office or in the field, this compact laptop delivers fast, versatile, dependable 386SX power. Powered by a 16MHz 386SX microprocessor, the 316sL sports a fast (28ms) 40MB hard drive and a 3.5" floppy drive and a crisp advanced- technology VGA screen. You can use the versatile 316sl as a powerful desktop system in your office. You'll appreci- ate the feel of the spacious 85-key keyboard, with 12 function keys and cursor keypad. When you require a standard 101-key key- board, simply connect the keyboard cord to the external socket. You can even fold the high-resolution LCD screen back flat and plug your color monitor into the external VGA port. The rugged, reliable 316sl lets you take your office to the field. The compact, 11.5- pound system comes preloaded with FREE CompuAdd Windows 3.0, CompuAdd MS-DOS 4.01 and LapLink II. You can add an optional internal modem/send-only fax to keep in touch with the home office. You'll always have critical data and schedules at your fingertips. The 316sl operates from the AC wall outlet or runs up to three hours on batteries alone. You can replace the battery pack with a charged-up spare in a matter of seconds. The 316sl also comes with Power Management Software that manages vital functions to conserve battery power. Run the latest multitasking 386 applications or your favorite 286 software. 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CompuAdd's 316sl Features: 386SX microprocessor rated at 16MHz 2MB DRAM expandable to 6MB 0 wait-state page-mode memory 40MB (28ms) hard disk drive 3.5" 1.44MB high-density diskette drive Dedicated tntemal modem/send-only fax expansion slot Dedicated 80387SX math coprocessor socket Built-in serial, parallel printer, e.xtemal VGA monitor, keyboard and 5.25" diskette drive ports High-resolution 640 x 480 monographics VGA display with 7" x 5.25" sideUt, super- twist LCD screen 85-key keyboard with 101-key emulation, 12 function keys and 4 cursor keys fifEE CompuAdd serial mouse FREE CompuAdd Windows 3.0 FREE CompuAdd MS-DOS 4.01 FREE LapLlnk II data transfer software with serial cable Base System Price: S2895 (62202) Internal 2400 Baud Modem/ Send-Only Fax 62218— %Z49 External Floppy Disk Drive 62219— $215 Replacement AC Adapter 62216— $85 Spare Battery Pack 62217— $65 Carrying Case 62225— $55 Get 386SX Power, Laptop Convenience and CompuAdd Value! Call 800-456-6008 CompuPcId ' Customer driven, by design.™ CompuAdd's Top-of-the-Line Technology at Bottom-Line Prices CompuAdd 325 CompuAdd's 325 gives you 25MHz 386 processing power at an unbeatable CompuAdd value price. Why pay almost $2000 more for Compaq's equivalent system, when you get so many extras with the CompuAdd 325? Extras like FREE CompuAdd Windows 3.0, FREE CompuAdd MS-DOS 4.01, a FREE mouse and FREE onsite service for one year. Plus you get CompuAdd designed reliability, backed by toll- free telephone support and the convenience of 89 CompuAdd Superstores across the country. With the CompuAdd 325, you'll master RAM-intensive applications such as accounting, database management, desktop publishing and CAD. Pick from a variety of hard drive and monitor options to get exactly what your work requires. CompuAdd 316s and 320s CompuAdd designed these systems around the Intel®386SX micro- processor, running at 16MHz on the 3 16s and 20MHz on the 320s. PC Magazine Qan. 30, 1990) says the 386SX processor is "perfect for entry-level users in today's corporate market." The CompuAdd 316s and 320s systems give you 32-bit processing power at 16-bit prices. Get the most from Windows 3.0, work with complex spreadsheets and large databases, or run computation-intensive applications like CAD/CAM. Both systems are compatible with MS-DOS, SCO XENIX, OS/2 and NoveU operating environments. Call today and get advanced com- puting power with CompuAdd's 386SX systems. Remember to ask about our 316s-based SX Success Kit. All at an unbeatable CompuAdd value. ThinkTechnology, Think CompuAdd CompuAdd 325 Features: ■ 80386 microprocessor rated at 25MHz (8MHz, and 25MHz) ■ 1MB DRAM expandable to 16MB ■ 0 wait-state cache memory ■ Choice of 5.25" 1.2MB or 3.5" 1.44MB diskette drive ■ Dual diskette drive controller ■ Dual IDE hard drive interface ■ Six 16-bit and two 8-bit expansion slots ■ Parallel port and two serial ports ■ Real-time clock/calendar ■ FREE CompuAdd serial mouse ■ FREE CompuAdd Windows 3.0 ■ FREE CompuAdd MS-DOS 4.01 ■ FREE one-year onsite service ■ Base System Price: $1695(64834) CompuAdd 316s and 320s Features: ■ 386SX microprocessor 316s: running at 16MHz (8, 16MHz) 320s: running at 20MHz (7, 20MHz) ■ 1MB DRAM expandable to 4MB ■ Choice of 5.25" 1.2MB or 3.5" 1.44MB diskette drive ■ Dual diskette drive controller ■ Dual IDE hard drive interface ■ Three 16-bit and two 8-bit expansion slots ■ Parallel port, two serial ports (one 9- pm: one 25-pin), game port interface (cable required 48954) U 316s Base Price: $1195(64787) ■ 320s Base Price: 51395(66537) CALL TODAY! or visit a CompuAdd Superstore for these savings. 800-456-6008 Hours: Monday - Friday 7:00am to 9:00pm GST; Saturday 9:00afn to 5:00pm GST CompuPdd ' Customer driven, by design™ 12303 Technology, Austin, Texas 78727 Telex: Fax: Technical Support: Outside US: Canada: Mexico: United Kingdom: Germany: 763543 COMPUADD .^lUS 512-335-6236 800-999-9901 512-258-5575 800-387-3266 95-800-010-0401 0800-373535 0130-6009 We accept MasterCard. VISA, money orders, certified checks and persoral checks (please allow ten da>-s for processing!, CODs (S50 minimum order I, company and institutional purchase orders (minimum Initial purchase SSOO. thereafter ISO), and wire transfers. Please add 2% to all purchases forshippmg and handling (minimum 13. shipping outside the continental United States will increase cost). Add 8% for shipping and handling to APO/FPO addresses (minimum $!0). .A2, CO, CT, DC, FL, OA, IL. IN, is. LA, MA, MD. Ml, MN, MO, NO, NE, NJ, KM, NY, OH, OK. PA, Rl. SC, TN, TX, IJT, VA and Wl residents, please add appropriate loca! sales tax. Thinv-day money- back guarantee does not Include return freight or shipping and handling. Opened software, videotapes, other consumables ancf shipping costs are nonrefundable. .All return Items must be accompanied by a return merchandise authorization (RMAl number. Prices and produa descriptions are subjea to change without notice. Compu.Add is not liable for damage due to omissions or ivpographical errors. Call 800-666-1872 for a copy of CompuAdd's complete warrant\-. FIRST IMPRESSIONS Fast New Systems from NeXT In addition to considerable fanfare and praise, the original NeXT Computer received a fair share of criticism. It had been faulted for its lack of color options, high price, a per- ceived lack of performance, and— most often— its lack of a floppy disk drive. With the new NeXT systems that were in- troduced in September, NeXT has built on its past achievements and addressed the majority of these weaknesses. NeXT now has a product line that fea- tures the new 68040 microprocessor run- ning at 25 MHz, an MS-DOS-compatible 2.88-megabyte floppy disk drive, a new "slim-case" desktop model that retails for the relatively low price of $4995, and color options due out early next year. According to NeXT's numbers, the 68040 has a performance rating of ap- proximately 15 million instructions per second and 2.8 million float- ing-point operations per sec- ond (MFLOPS), about three times faster than the 68030 used in the original NeXT Computer. The 68040 also in- cludes memory management and floating-point coproces- sors on the main chip. When the NeXT Computer was introduced in 1988, one of its primary features was an erasable 256-MB optical disk drive, which Steve Jobs touted as the floppy disk drive of the nineties, allowing users to "take their whole world in their backpacks." But the op- tical drive has proved to be too slow for use as a main storage device, and the car- tridges are too expensive for use as a data-exchange medi- um: No one wants to send a file on a $50 storage medium. In addition, the price of the optical cartridges jacks up the price of third-party software. Nevertheless, the optical The new NeXT systems sport lower price tags, more speed, and a long-sought floppy disk drive Nick Baran and Owen Linderholm Photo 1: Unlike the original NeXT Computer, the new Nextstation Color features a slim-case, or "pizza-box, " system unit. Inside is a powerful 68040 processor and 12 MB of RAM. drive is excellent as a backup device and will be offered as an option for that purpose. The floppy disk drive of the nineties is now the good old 3 '/2-inch drive, but with an increased capacity of 2.88 MB and the capability to read and write files in 1 .44-MB and 720K-byte MS-DOS for- mats. This floppy disk drive is now stan- dard equipment on all NeXT machines and will be the primary medium for the distribution of software and data. The new NextStep operating-system software automatically mounts the floppy disk and displays its files in the system's Direc- tory Browser. In addition, the software supports CD-ROM drives (see the text box "A New Version of NextStep" on page 167). While the new 2.88-MB drive cannot read and write Macintosh-formatted files directly, the high-den- sity floppy disk drive (Super- Drive) available on Macin- toshes can convert to MS- DOS format; thus, Macintosh file compatibility should not be a big problem. NeXT's system boards now include a twisted-pair 10- Base-T Ethernet port, as well as the thin Ethernet port that is on the current system board. Another change is the use of the 50-pin SCSI-2 stan- dard rather than the older 25- pin SCSI standard. SCSI-2 offers greater reliability and faster transfer rates than does standard SCSI. SCSI-2 is backward compatible so that existing SCSI devices can be attached using a cable adapt- er. The new system boards also support parity memory checking, a feature that has been requested by scientific and engineering users. It should be noted that the new system board still uses PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF NEXT, INC. © 1990 NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 165 FIRST IMPRESSIONS FAST NEW SYSTEMS FROM NEXT the Motorola 56001 digital signal proces- sor, despite speculation that the new machine would have the 96002 DSP, a successor to the 56001 that includes floating-point capability. NeXT says that the 96002 isn't currently fully backward compatible with software for the 56001. However, NeXT has added a single in- line memory module socket for up to 192K bytes of memory addressable by the DSP. The Nextstation Pizza Box The new Nextstation is clearly NeXT's answer to the SPARCstation. Made from magnesium with a cosmetic plastic shroud, the slim-case, or "pizza-box," system unit is about 15 inches square and 2 inches thick, and it sits under the sys- tem's display. The system board is slight- ly larger than the original NeXT system board; the two are not interchangeable. The board includes two serial ports, a display port, the SCSI-2 port, and both thin and lOBase-T Ethernet ports. The Nextstation is cooled by a virtually silent "whisper fan" that passes air over heat- dissipating fins built into the bottom of the case. These lie directly under the power supply— a major heat source. The power supply is a 120- watt unit that uses a new technology called "parallel reso- nance switching," which allows a much smaller form factor than conventional power supplies. THE FACTS Nextstation with 8 MB of RAM, 105-MB hard disk drive, 2.88-MB floppy disk drive, and 17-inch monochrome display, $4995 Nextculje with 8 MB of RAM, 105-MB hard disk drive, 2.88-MB floppy disk drive, and 17-inch monochrome display, $7995 Nextstation Color with 12 MB of RAM, 105-MB hard disk drive, 2.88-MB floppy disk drive, and 16-inch color display, $7995 Nextdimension with 8 MB of RAM, $3995 NeXT, Inc. 900 Chesapeake Dr. Redwood City, CA 94063 (415) 366-0900 Inquiry 1066. Nextstation is a welcome addition to the NeXT product line. The Nextstation comes standard with 8 MB of memory (expandable to 32 MB), a 105-MB hard disk drive, and the 2.88- MB floppy disk drive. With the 17-inch black-and-white MegaPixel display, this system costs $4995. A reduced version of the operating system is shipped installed on the 105-MB hard disk drive and takes up about 75 MB on the disk, including 16 MB of swap space required for virtual memory mapping by the operating sys- tem. Unless connected to a network file server, a system with the 105 -MB drive will require an additional hard disk drive for storing much third-party software and data. An internal 340-MB hard disk drive is available as an option instead of the 105-MB drive, in which case the sys- tem costs $6995, a rather hefty price in- crease for an added 235 MB of storage. The Nextstation is a welcome addition to the NeXT product line. It is ideal for end users who don't need the storage or expansion capabilities of the NeXT Com- puter. The Nextstation was supposed to begin shipping in October. A New Cube The other new NeXT system is the Next- cube, the familiar cube but with a floppy disk drive instead of an optical drive, and space for one half-height and one full- height storage device (either two hard disk drives or a hard disk drive and a CD- ROM or optical drive). The 105-MB and 340-MB drives are half-height devices, while the 660-MB and 1 .4-gigabyte units are full-height devices. The Nextcube system board has the same features as the Nextstation system board, including parity memory and the SCSI-2 and lOBase-T ports, but memory can be expanded on-board to 64 MB. An 8-MB system with the 2.88-MB floppy disk drive, the 105-MB hard disk drive, and the 17-inch monochrome display costs $7995. The 340-MB drive option boosts the price to $9995. The Nextcube was scheduled to ship in September. Color Options NeXT will offer two "color solutions": a low-end system for business applica- tions, presentation graphics, and two-di- mensional CAD, and a high-end system for scientific imaging, professional graphics production, 3-D modeling, and so forth. At the low end will be a color version of the Nextstation with 16-bit-per-pixel color, allowing 4096 colors on-screen simultaneously (12 bits for color and a 4-bit "alpha channel" for specifying transparency). At the high end will be an add-in board with 32-bit color, its own graphics processor, and a processor for compressing and decompressing graph- ics images, allowing 16 million colors on-screen simultaneously (24 bits for color and an 8-bit alpha channel for spec- ifying transparency). The Nextstation Color The Nextstation Color (see photo 1) is the same slim-case machine as the Nextsta- tion, except that it supports 16-bit color. It comes standard with 12 MB of RAM and 2 MB of video memory. NeXT in- creased the memory bandwidth some- what on this model to improve video per- formance. The Nextstation Color is designed for use with NeXT's new color Megapixel display, which is a 16-inch Sony Trinitron display with 1120- by 832-pixel resolution (the same resolution as the black-and-white display). The 12- MB system with the color display, a 105- MB hard disk drive, and the 2.88-MB floppy disk drive will cost $7995. As with the Nextstation, an additional hard disk drive will be necessary unless the system has access to a network file server. The Nextstation Color does not re- quire NeXT's color Megapixel display. By purchasing NeXT's ColorConnect adapter, you can connect any size color display that is capable of showing images in the correct resolution. The ColorCon- nect adapter provides the sound and speaker functions that are normally built into the MegaPixel display. Pricing for the ColorConnect adapter was not avail- able at the time of this writing, but a Nextstation Color without a monitor will cost $4995. There is no upgrade path be- tween the black-and-white Nextstation machine and the Nextstation Color. Un- fortunately, the Nextstation Color will not ship until early 1991 . Upgrading Existing Cubes As NeXT announced several months ago, current NeXT users will be able to obtain a 68040 upgrade for their NeXT Computers for $1495. This will involve swapping the 68030 system board for the new 68040 system board. NeXT has also 166 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 FIRST IMPRESSIONS FAST NEW SYSTEMS FROM NEXT A New Version of NeXTStep In conjunction with the new hardware in its product line, NeXT is providing a major upgrade to its operat- ing-system software. Next- Step 2.0 includes support for the new hardware compo- nents, such as the 2.88-mega- byte floppy disk drive, CD- ROM drive, color display, and lOBase-T Ethernet, as well as a host of improve- ments to the interface and de- velopment environment. To accommodate the com- paratively small 105-MB hard disk drive that is stan- dard on all the Nextstation models, NeXT has split Next- Step into two versions: release 2.0 and release 2.0 Extended. The extended version in- cludes all the current develop- er's tools, such as the Appli- cation Kit and the Interface Builder, as well as some new enhancements aimed at appli- cation developers. However, neither version will include Mathematica, Common Lisp, or the Sybase database man- ager. Release 2.0, a reduced version of NextStep, does not include the Interface Builder or the Application Kit, and it has a reduced version of Web- ster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary without the illus- trations or the full text index. The reduced version also has fewer demonstration pro- grams and does not include the Shakespeare plays or The Oxford Dictionary of Quota- tions. NeXT may find that most customers want the extended version and opt for a larger hard disk than the 105-MB unit. However, for networked users who have access to a file server, the reduced version simply reduces the local stor- age requirements. In any case, release 2.0 and release 2.0 Extended are functionally equivalent so that users will be able to move to the ex- tended version simply by in- stalling a larger disk capacity and copying the missing files. An Improved Interface NextStep 2.0 addresses sev- eral major weaknesses of re- lease 1.0. Of particular im- portance, the Workspace is now multithreaded so that file operations such as copying and moving can be done in the background, allowing the user to continue working on other tasks. The printing interface has also been redesigned to oper- ate at a lower priority so that the screen doesn't lock during print operations. The trade- off is slower printing perfor- mance in exchange for a live screen. In addition, the print- er interface now includes an option for sending fax docu- ments. If you have a fax mo- dem, you can fax anything that can be printed by simply clicking on the new Fax op- tion in the Print menu. The Workspace has re- ceived some cosmetic changes in release 2.0. The Directory Browser has been redesigned and now includes a "shelf at the top of the browser window where users can place fre- quently used files and folders. The Browser also includes a new window that shows the "icon history," or status, of applications and folders that are in use. Clicking on an icon in the window displays the path of the file or the folder graphically in the Directory Browser. The icon history window replaces the icon well n the current Directory Browser. The Mail application has been improved in release 2.0. Mail now includes an archive facility for storing mail mes- sages. A return receipt func- tion has been added, as well as support for sending mail to recipients with non-NeXT systems that require a stan- dard font, wrapped lines, and carriage returns for 80-col- umn text. Release 2.0 in- cludes spelling checking and rulers built into the Text Ob- ject, so that these features are now supported in Mail. The development environ- ment has been improved in re- lease 2.0 and includes support for color. A new object called the Color Picker works simi- larly to the font panel and allows you to select and mix colors. The window server supports frame buffers of dif- ferent size and depth to ac- commodate the use of third- party color monitors. NeXT plans to support the Render- Man scene-description lan- guage for three-dimensional rendering in a future release of NextStep, due early next year. Release 2.0 supports loada- ble device drivers, allowing developers to create custom applications for peripherals like video and sound equip- ment and special-purpose dis- play and output devices. All text objects now automati- cally include a spelling checker and rulers. Other new features include an improved MIDI driver thai supports arbitrary sampling rates and PostScript compos- ite fonts, a feature of Adobe's PostScript level 2. Composite fonts allow support for kanji and other alphabets. Availability and Upgrades NeXT was optimistically hop- ing to have release 2.0 ready in September. At press time ii was still not finished, but NeXT was confident it would be ready in time. In any event, the new machines won't run without it, so completion is a top priority. The system software will be shipped preinstalled on hard disks, relieving the user of the time-consuming Build Disk operation. Current users of release 1 .0 will be able to upgrade to 2.0 on an optical drive for $195, which in- cludes new manuals. NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 167 FIRST IMPRESSIONS FAST NEW SYSTEMS FROM NEXT Photo 2: The Nextdimension board provides the Nextcube with high-performance color graphics. On the board is an Intel i860 RISC processor, 4 MB of video RAM, and room for up to 32 MB of memory. contracted with a third-party supplier to provide an external 2.88-MB floppy disk drive for current NeXT Computer own- ers. Pricing and availability of the floppy disk drive have not been announced as of this writing, but, according to sources at NeXT, it will be available within the next couple of months. To go along with all this new hard- ware, NeXT is cutting the price of its high-resolution 400-dot-per-inch laser printer almost in half. Originally selling for a retail price of $3495, the printer is now priced at $1795, representing a sub- stantial reduction in the cost of a com- plete NeXT system. Doing Color Right NeXT president Steve Jobs promised from the beginning that NeXT would eventually support color, but not until it's "done right." And indeed, NeXT has done color right. Using the PostScript imaging model, color on the NeXT is de- vice independent; in other words, appli- cations written using color PostScript specifications can be displayed on any output device that supports PostScript, whether it's a screen or a printer support- ing black and white, gray scale, or vari- ous resolutions of color. In addition, PostScript offers excellent performance in color. When you com- pare Color QuickDraw on the Mac Ilfx and color PostScript on a 68030-based NeXT Computer, you find that screen re- fresh and movement of color images are much faster on the NeXT. And, unlike with Apple's QuickDraw and TrueType image and font models, there is no need for conversion routines to display Post- Script images on PostScript devices. High-End Color: The Nextdimension NeXT's high-end color solution is an add-in board called the Nextdimension (see photo 2) . The board plugs into one of the three NextBus slots in the NeXT Computer, and it features Intel's i860 microprocessor, which is rated at 80 MFLOPS and offers high-speed graph- ics processing. The board has 4 MB of video memory, plus up to 32 MB of RAM for increasing the display's win- dowing capacity (i.e., the number of windows that can be displayed on the screen simultaneously). In addition, the board includes the C- Cube Microsystems CL550 image-com- pression processor, which can compress video and bit-mapped images in ratios of up to 30 to 1 using the Joint Photographic Experts Group image-compression algo- rithm. The board supports NTSC and SVideo (SuperVHS and High 8mm) im- ages for both input and output, as well as RGB color. One 640- by 480-pixel win- dow can display live NTSC or SVideo images. In conjunction with the C-Cube image-compression processor, the live window can display 30 frames per sec- ond for true real-time motion video. Like the Nextstation Color, the Next- dimension supports the new color Mega- Pixel display and, using the ColorCon- nect adapter, third-party color displays. The color display can run simultaneously with the black-and-white MegaPixel dis- play, allowing a contiguous work space consisting of the two screens. Images or text can be dragged from one screen to the other as if the two screens made up a single display. For intense graphics users, up to three Nextdimension boards can be installed in one NeXT Computer, each with a separate monitor. The Nextdimension will be priced very competitively at $3995, which in- cludes 8 MB of RAM. A complete color system (a Nextcube with the color Mega- Pixel display and the Nextdimension board) will cost about $15,000, making the system very competitive with similar systems from Sun and Apple. The Next- dimension should ship early in 1991. High-Speed Color at a Low Cost These new systems and the updated NextStep software give NeXT a very powerful, well-rounded, and extremely competitive product line. The Nextsta- tion system may now be the workstation price/performance leader. A Nextstation with a laser printer makes a powerful desktop publishing setup. But where NeXT has really taken a lead is in the color arena. NeXT's deci- sion to go with Display PostScript is pay- ing off in a big way. The system has one consistent model for both displaying and printing. And, despite rumors to the con- trary, its performance is outstanding. The new NeXT systems are going to be extremely competitive with high-end desktop personal computers, especially high-end Macintoshes. The products will also compete well in the low-end workstation market. And since educa- tional establishments and developers continue to get a 30 percent discount, these systems will be even more competi- tive in universities. Perhaps the biggest task left to NeXT is to persuade software vendors to write programs for NeXT systems. But that is changing, as Lotus and Ashton-Tate have announced new spreadsheet programs in conjunction with the new systems' intro- duction in September. Lotus's spread- sheet in particular shows why the NeXT systems are so important. The program is completely innovative in every way and is pointing the way ahead for the fu- ture of software and hardware— just like the NeXT machines themselves are. ■ Nick Baran is a consulting editor for BYTE and editor o/Baran's Tech Letter, a newsletter covering the NeXT Com- puter. He can be contacted on BIX as "nickbaran. " Owen Linderholm is a BYTE news editor based in San Francis- co. He can be contacted on BIX as "owenl. " 168 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 to speed i^^ power applications. Tliere's just one m thing Circle 177 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 178) modem w you can pay uif standard pfi^^' The price of our new 9600EX makes the price other 9600bps modems look, well, rather inflated. Especially when you consider the quality and features the 9600EX offers. Features like V42bis, which compresses data up to 400% and speeds throughput to up to 38.4Kbps (It's also downward-compatible with MNP5). And Y42 LAP-M and MNP Level 1-4 error control that detects when data is being garbled and automatically retransmits-so you get error-free communication. Or full-compliance with V32, the industry standard 9600 modem protocol, as well as downward compatibility' with 4800, 2400, 1200 and 300bps modems. The 9600EX also gives you the option to operate on standard phone lines or two-wire leased lines and offers both synchronous and asynchronous transmission. Fact is, at 1799, the 9600EX rivals the price of high-end 2400 modems. Yet, it offers 16 times the performance. Or in other words, more modem for the money. ©Intel Corporation 1990. And that added performance saves you money, too. With the increase in throughput speed, the 9600EX spends less time on the phone so you spend less money on your phone bill. You'll also spend less time waiting for it to finish transmitting-and if time is money-you'U save a bundle. Plus, like our entire family of 2400 modems, the 9600EX comes with a full, five-year warranty. The new 9600EX modem: another example of Intel's commitment to affordable quality For more information or dealer near you, call: 800-538-3373. To have information faxed directly to you, call: 800-525-3019 and request Doc.#9989. And don't be swayed by those over-priced modems, because with everything the 9600EX offers for the money, you might say it just burst their bubbles. intel Cinle 179 on Reader Sen/ice Card (RESELLERS: 180) PRODUCT FOCUSi SCSI Drives Massive Storage for Multiple Platforms The BYTE Lab rates high-capacity hard disk drives for DOS, Macintosh, NetWare, and Unix applications Steve Apiki, Stan Wszola, Rick Grehan, and Tom Yager Devotees of Macintoshes, Net- Ware 386 file servers, single- user DOS systems, and Unix machines have something in common; Sooner or later, they all see a disk error message that means "insuffi- cient space." This month, the BYTE Lab looks at 15 high-speed, high-capacity hard disk drives that offer relief from overcrowded data. Along with new levels of perfor- mance, the SCSI connector that these drives share also promises easier up- grades when a drive no longer seems as roomy as it did in the showroom. The SCSI bus protocol defines how pe- ripherals talk to the host and to each other. SCSI is fast— 4 megabytes per sec- ond at the top end — and that is driving its acceptance across the four major operat- ing systems. But SCSI also lets you chain drives together, so today's investment in a 300-MB drive can be the foundation of a larger system years down the road. The BYTE Lab compared SCSI drives with capacities of between 300 and 420 MB in configurations ranging from bare- bones OEM systems to full plug-and- play packages. We tested each in single disk drive configurations under MS- DOS, NetWare 386, Unix, and the Mac OS (not all drives were compatible with all operating systems). The text box "How to Measure Drives Across Four Operating Systems" on page 176 ex- plains our benchmarks. You're not likely to find the OEM units from Fujitsu, Western Digital, and Micropolis at your corner computer store, but larger mail-order houses might stock them. Their performance, how- ever, provides a good point of compari- son for retail products built around them. Western Digital purchases its WD380 SC drives from IBM, so the WD380 SC should give a reasonable indication of IBM's SCSI system performance. Interface Heritage SCSI controllers trace their lineage to Shugart Technology's ST506 interface, introduced by that company in 1980 to support its 5-MB hard disk drive. ESDI, which is more or less a direct descendant of ST506, appeared in 1983 and offered double the throughput rate of its ancestor. More recently, the Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE) interface has grown in popularity, because it requires less cir- cuitry on the host, allowing engineers to design smaller-footprint systems. SCSI drives handle communications between computer and disk drive at a higher level. For example, when applica- tions talk to a SCSI drive, they are un- aware of the drive's configuration de- tails, such as the number of cylinders, heads, and sectors. The drive appears as a collection of sequentially numbered blocks. Thus, SCSI moves a substantial amount of intelligence onto the drive. Consequently, SCSI is far more flexible than the other interfaces. (See the text box "The Fuzzy Side of SCSI" on page 186.) This doesn't mean that traditional measures of performance— seek and ac- cess times — are obsolete. The drive still needs to physically seek the requested tracks and wait for the requested sector to come around. However, SCSI makes some traditional benchmarks obsolete. Timing track-to-track seeks and attempt- ing to factor in seek latency is no longer possible from an application perspective. Since the drive's geometry can be hid- den from the host computer, manufac- turers can optimize controller electronics for the drive itself without having to pass any resulting customizations on to the host. This lets a single host adapter talk to a wide variety of drive types. Addi- tionally, drive manufacturers can place cache memory directly on the drive con- troller; any system RAM that you might have been using for a disk cache can go back to running programs. Points for SCSI SCSI sports a few other features favored by systems integrators and others who are faced with rising disk space and per- formance demands. First, SCSI easily handles large-capacity drives. As an ex- ample, the SCSI extended read command accepts a 32-bit block number. Given a block size of 5 12 bytes (the standard with the drives we tested), a single disk drive could hold 2 terabytes of data. Second, multiple drives can be daisy chained on the SCSI bus. This is handy for network administrators, who can eas- ily add drives as network users demand more storage space. One SCSI bus can accommodate eight devices: one host computer and seven peripherals. Conse- quently, the maximum number of drives that you can hang off a single SCSI port typically is seven. However, each device on a SCSI bus can incorporate eight logi- cal units, which in turn can incorporate 256 logical subunits. Third, SCSI supports multiuser and multitasking operating systems. Devices on a SCSI bus are either initiators (i.e., the host computer) or targets (i.e., the disk drives). Once the host computer passes a request to the disk drive, the host can disconnect from the drive rather than wait for the request's completion. The host then can perform other process- ing while the drive services the request. 172 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 PHOTOGRAPHY: PAUL AVIS © 1990 NOVEMBER 1990 •BYTE 173 PRODUCT FOCUS SCSI DRIVES SCSI DRIVE FEATURES In addition to performance, other features that can help determine the right high-capacity SCSI drive for you include formatted capacities, failure rates, and warranties. Compare these vendor-supplied average seek times with results obtained in the BYTE Lab, shown in figure 1 (0=yes; 0=no). Model Prevail 325 SLAN 310 11226 ISA hammerSOO ZPF300 Micro/Stack 1684 Venda CMS Enhancements Core International Fujitsu America FWB La Cie MicroNet Technology, Inc. Micropolis Corp. Dnv6 manuTactur6r CMS Core Pi 1 iitct 1 r uji tou ^Pflnatp Wrpn ^af-ifltp Wrpn Seagate Wren Micropolis Formatted capacity (MB) 340 330 415 300 332 423 340 Price (specific configuration) DOS Mac tjnupll NptWflrp Bare drive $4195 $4195 $3890 $3890 $3890 $3295 * $2950 $3395 $3495 $3595 $2995 * $4290 3)oryo $4389 $2410 •bd** lu $2410 $1995 Host adapter manufacturer Model Adaptec 1540 Western Digital WO7000 * Always IN2000 * MicroNet HA-01 Adaptec A Lj A < c A on AHA-1542B Dimensions (inclies) 5x53/4x8 14V2X5y5X43/4 3yioX5y,oX8 2'^x9'^x9% 9%x9%x4'^ 3y,ox10x33/,o 13/5x53/4X8 Weight (lbs.) 7 9.89 7.7 7.6 12.2 8.75 5 Power consumption (watts) 33 16 30 16 16 30 15 Mean time between failures (hours) 150,000 150.000 200,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 150,000 Warranty (years) 2 5 5 1 2 1 1 Internal or external installation Int./ext. Int./ext. Int/ext. lnt./ext. lnt./ext. Ext. Int. SCSI-1 a SCSI-2 support SCSI-2 SCSI-1 SCSI-2 SCSI-1 SCSI-1 SCSI-1 SCSI-2 Sync, data transfer rate (MB/sec.) N/A 4 4.8 4 4.7 N/A 4 Async. data transfer rate (MB/sec.) 1.6 2 2 2.5 N/A 1.5 1.6 Burst or sustained? Sustained Sustained Burst Sustained Sustained Sustained Sustained Average seek time (milliseconds) 16.5 18 14.5 14 14 16 14 Average latency (milliseconds) 7.5 8.33 8.3 8.33 8.33 8.3 8.33 Recoveratjie error rates (bits read) 1x10" 1x10'* 1x10" 1x10'» IxlO'" 1x10" 1x10" On-board cache (K bytes) Look-ahead buffer (K bytes) 64 64 64 48 48 64 64 Dedicated or embedded servo Embedded Embedded Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Drive-select configuration Switches Switches Jumpers Switches Switches Switches Jumpers Automatic head parking • • • • • • • NetWare-ready • • 0 0 • 0 N/A = Infamation not available. ■ = Not applicable. The two reconnect at a later time to com- plete the transaction. Optional synchronous data transfers can also improve throughput. Ordinar- ily, SCSI devices perform asynchronous data transfers that require request/ack- nowledge handshakes for each byte transferred. Synchronous transfer lets a sender transmit bursts of data without waiting for acknowledgment signals be- tween each byte. An agreed-upon num- ber of acknowledge signals are left out- standing, and the receiver catches up with the sender at the end of the transfer. Finally, there is the promise of the backward-compatible SCSI-2, which a few of these drives support partially (see the features table). SCSI-2 provides for optional 16- and 32-bit data transfers. In its 32-bit incarnation, SCSI-2 can howl along at up to 40 MB per second. (For a complete discussion of SCSI protocols, see "The SCSI Bus," Parts 1 and 2, in the February and March BYTE.) SCSI Enters the DOS World Photo 1: MicroNet 's Micro/Stack and the Micropolis 1684 led the field in performance under DOS. 174 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 SCSI DRIVE FEATURES HCS300E Olskovery 325 ED330SC Cobra 330e X/Stor X8h1-330S1 MacinStor MAC325-S1 DataFrame WD380SC Systems, Ix. Ontima Technology Prism Systems Rodlme Systems, Inc. Storage Dimensions Staage Dimensions SuperMac Technology Western Digital ^panstp Wrpn Optims T@chnoloQy (OEM) Atssi Micropolis or Maxtor Seagate Wren Seagate Wren Seagate or Micropolis IBM 299 321 330 330 330 325 320 320 $3995 $4195 $4390 $4190 $4190 $3995 $3122 $3714 $2714 . $4160 $3499 * $3299 * Future Domain TMC-860 Adaptec AHA-1542B Future Domain TMC-870 * Adaptec AHA-1542B * S'/jXSyaXS 2%x11%x10y5 7yioX4%x13y,o 7x14%x4y,o 1%x5%x8 i4y5x7%x5y,o 5x8x9y2 1%x534x4 7.2 9 13 13 4.2 18 24 2.2 26 20 35 30 16 16 37 11.9 100,000 100,000 50.000 50,000 100,000 100,000 100,000 150,000 1 1or3 1 2 2 2 1 1 Int./ext. Ext. Ext. lnt./ext. Int./ext. !nt lavi Int./ext. Int SCSI-1 SCSI-2 SCSI-1 SCSI-1 SCSI-1 SCSI-1 SCSI-2 N/A 4.8 4 N/A 5 H.lO 2 4 14.3 2 N/A 14.3 2 N/A N/A 4 Burst Burst Burst Sustained Burst Burst Sustained Burst 16.5 14 18 14.5 14 14 17 12.5 8.33 8.33 8.3 8.3 8.33 8.3 8.33 6.95 1x10'« 1x10" 1X10" IxlO'n 1x109 1X109 1X102' 1x10" 48 48 48 32 32 64 45 64 Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Dedicated Switches/jumpers Switcfies Switches Switcties Switches/jumpers Switches/jumpers Switch/software Jumpers • • • • • • • • O O • O O Three hundred megabytes may seem like overkill for DOS, where the typical sys- tem is called upon to serve only one user, one task at a time. But with the growing popularity (and practicality, with faster machines) of large databases, scanned documents and other image files, and ex- tensive programming environments, even DOS users occasionally find them- selves hunting around for truly massive storage. DOS's relatively simple, single-user, single-tasking nature makes the quickest drives really stand out. Under DOS, your requests for sequential sectors are likely to actually read sequential regions on the disk, whereas a multitasking operating system may have background processes that interfere with this sequential access. Setting up each of the drives was straightforward. A BIOS ROM mounted on the host adapter scans the SCSI bus for active drives; no device drivers are nec- essary in single-drive DOS configura- NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 175 tions. None of the drives had any operat- ing or installation problems. Each subsystem provides DOS ser- vices via the boot ROM mounted on the host adapter. At boot time, the option ROM installs itself, supplanting the built-in drive BIOS. The host-adapter ROM then processes BIOS requests and converts them into requests that are ap- propriate for the given drive. To some extent, the performance of these drives depends on the host adapter. Except for the Fujitsu America, Micro- polis, and Western Digital units, which were delivered in bare-drive configura- tions, we tested each drive with its own host adapter. The bare drives ran with an Adaptec AHA-1542B host adapter, a high-performance controller that should not impose any limits on drive per- formance. Of course, the ultimate performance determinant is the drive itself. Several manufacturers use sophisticated tech- niques for improving both seek time and throughput. Seek time can be improved through the use of a dedicated servo ar- chitecture, where one face of one platter is dedicated to maintaining head-posi- tioning information. Some drives improve throughput using a technique known as read-ahead buffer- ing, which speeds sequential disk-read access by bringing in more data than you requested. The disk can sometimes guess that you'll want to see the sectors that fol- low the one you asked for. Often, the drive controller will bring in the whole track. That's not as wasteful as it sounds. On a 1 -to- 1 -interleave disk, it takes only a single revolution of the platter to read an entire track. On a freshly formatted disk (such as those used for these tests), sequential reads and writes almost cer- tainly will fall in contiguous sectors. A number of drives posted excellent DOS test results, but two stood out. The Micropolis 1684 combined exemplary PRODUCT FOCUS SCSI DRIVES How to Measure Drives Across Four Operating Systems Testing high-capacity hard disk drives on four diverse operating environments makes constructing rele- vant, accurate tests a unique challenge. Our performance evaluations focus on responsiveness at the file system level, because that's where users in each envi- ronment directly experience the relative speed or sluggishness of each drive. You can track these test results in figure 1 . The heart of our test suite is the file I/O benchmark, which consists of four separate tests: random and sequential writes, and random and sequential reads. Sequential tests record a drive's flat-out read and write throughput, while random tests provide a harsher but more realistic determination of ap- plication performance. Note that our random read and write test results are combined, using an average, to simplify our graphs. The file I/O benchmark first creates a large file, al- locating enough space on the drive for the entire file at its inception. Then the file I/O benchmark times a re- write of the entire file in a sequential fashion. Each chunk of data is of random length (but a multiple of 5 12 bytes to keep the writes sec- tor-aligned) to avoid favor- ing any drive geometry. Next, the program con- ducts the random read and write tests to break up any cached sectors that the drive may have after completing the sequential write. Ran- dom reads and writes occur entirely within the large file, and we made no effort whatsoever to keep the file offsets or length requests sector-aligned. This meth- od causes repeated seeks and might cause additional read-before-writes to occur on write requests, but we think it best reflects the way applications actually access data in files. Finally, the file I/O test reads back the entire file sequentially. The tests cover basic writing and read- ing activities, but they do little to mea- sure how drives respond when you im- pose the added burden of updating directories and allocation information. Our second file system test makes that measurement: It's the time it takes to copy a large directory structure. Under DOS and for NetWare clients, this means XCOPY; on the Macintosh, we accomplish the tree-copy test via an MPW (Macintosh Programmer's Work- shop) script; and on Unix, we use find coupled with cpio to complete the task. Our one low-level test measures seek time, a basic parameter that will affect drive speed in any application. A Flex- Star 3000s dedicated test system mea- sured seek times (see figure A). SEEK-TEST RESULTS in X < Better Worse ► •Western Digital WD380 SC Fujitsu M226 ISA Micropolis 1684 Optima Diskovery 325 La Cie ZPF 300 FWB hammerSOO Storage Dimensions X/Stor Storage Dimensions MacinStor MicroNet Micro/Stack CMS Prevail 325 Priam ED 330 SC N/Hance HCS300E SuperMac DataFrame Rodime Cobra 330e Core SLAN 310 0 5 10 15 20 25 Seek time (milliseconds) This drive's form factor made real-world tests impossible. Figure A: Raw seek times measured by the BYTE Lab compare roughly with vendor-specified average seek times, shown in the table. Shorter lines indicate better results. Unfortunately, we were unable to ob- tain meaningful results for the Western Digital WD380 SC. We used a canned seek-test routine, which issues a num- ber of SCSI seeks. The Western Digital drive, because of its small form factor, must "rest" between seeks for better heat dissipation; this occurs only on seeks, not on reads or writes. We ran DOS 4.01 and NetWare 386 tests on 33-MHz 386 systems from Club American and Arche Technologies. For drives shipped without a host adapter, we used an Adaptec AHA-1542B card. Each test setup used the drive under test as its sole hard disk drive. To test the SCSI drives under Unix, we added the Adaptec controller to an Everex Step 33-MHz 386 system with 4 megabytes of memory. The system used an internal 150-MB hard disk drive, which we loaded with version 2.2 of Interac- tive Unix System V. We configured Unix to treat the Adaptec as a secondary con- troller. We built a 150-MB file system on the Unix par- tition of each SCSI drive. Our Macintosh test setup included a Mac SE/30 that was equipped with 2 MB of memory and running Sys- tem 6.05. We simply con- nected each drive in turn to the Mac's external SCSI port and formatted them using vendor-supplied software. Our benchmarks are rele- vant only for comparison. In Unix, for example, our 4- MB system left little room for the all-imjwrtant kernel buffers, and we made no effort to tune each system for maximum performance. With each operating system, your performance will probably be better with a fully tuned system. The im- portant thing to consider when making comparisons is that each drive should be run on an identical system, as these were. 176 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 PRODUCT FOCUS SCSI Drives sequential write numbers and killer re- sults on the tree-copy test, to earn first place overall. MicroNet's Micro/Stack posted the best sequential read time and performed very well on the tree-copy test (see figure 1 and figure A). Micropolis claims that its proprietary cache feature enhances performance. The cache is especially sensitive to di- rectory and file allocation table (FAT) use on the drive, and it attempts to keep these locations buffered as much as pos- sible. Excellent numbers on the tree-copy With its massive appetite for storage and performance, Unix is a good match for SCSI. Its single-rooted file system struc- ture lets you place new devices anywhere you want them. The multitasking nature of the operating system also maps well to SCSI's asynchronous nature. Our file I/O tests showed off the strengths and weaknesses of Unix as re- lated to the other test environments. The DOS and Macintosh numbers for se- quential read and write, for example, seem positively astonishing compared to Unix. The only other multitasking envi- roimient we tested, NetWare 386, shows some similarity to Unix's numbers. On a single-tasking machine, it's acceptable to have the system "go away" for up to several seconds while disk I/O is being done. The amount of data that can be written before making the system re- sponsive again is greater, because the user expects the system to freeze up briefly. When you start multitasking, how- test, which makes the most use of direc- tory entries, confirms this claim. Short seek times helped performance, as well. MicroNet's Micro/Stack drive did very well on the tree-copy test, despite a lackluster seek time. However, the out- standing read throughput more than made up the difference. The Micro/ Stack included a bundled host/adapter/ driver combination, which MicroNet op- timized for use with the drive. Micro- Net's solid performance can also be attributed to its low-level format optimi- Photo 2: Unix system honors went to FWB 's hammerSOO, Optima 's Diskovery 325, and Storage Dimensions ' X/Stor. ever, things get more complicated. Re- sponsiveness becomes a priority; you don't want your keyboard to lock up while the disk is active. Under Unix, as with NetWare, more users (or processes) pound on the disk than under DOS, and the size of the atomic disk operation is much smaller. So, while a DOS system might be content to go blind for 5 seconds while it spews a huge block of data out to disk, Unix demands that a device driver finish its work in a few milliseconds. Developers of Interactive Unix grafted device drivers and some specific changes onto standard System V Unix to improve performance. Interactive Unix's Fast File System (FFS) attempts to optimize sequential I/O by dynamically adjusting the amount of data read from disk in a single operation. It assigns as much I/O as possible to clusters of contiguous disk blocks. The more sequential your data access patterns, the more the file system adds to your I/O block size. As you re- turn to random access, the file system zations, which remap the drive geometry to one that makes better use of available head/cylinder combinations. Fujitsu, FWB, Optima, and Western Digital drives made up the middle of the group, all with respectable times. Fujitsu's M226 ISA and Western Digital's WD380 SC should provide a solid basis for an OEM system. To its credit, the Western Digital drive is much smaller and quieter than the Fujitsu drive. As in our other en- vironments, the Optima and FWB drives paralleled each other in speed. quickly scales down, limiting the read- ahead. The other half of Interactive Unix's optimization lies in the High Perfor- mance Disk Driver. This unified driver works from a table that lists the capabili- ties of supported disk controllers. The HPDD tries to squeeze maximum perfor- mance from each controller. In the case of the Adaptec AHA-1542B used in our tests, the HPDD takes advantage of the controller's scatter- gather capability. It optimizes disk access by collecting dis- joint requests, sorting them in sector order, and getting them on or off the disk with a minimum number of seeks. Scatter-gather also applies well to Unix's buffering scheme. An application rarely writes data directly to a disk. In- stead, data resides in one of a number of kernel buffers. When the number of available buffers gets low, or when a pe- riodic timer expires (whichever comes first), the "dirty" buffers are written to disk. Each buffer remains as long as pos- sible until some other process needs to write to it. The driver tags each buffer with the disk ID and sector number from which it was loaded. If a read request comes in later for that same sector, the buffer supplies the data without requir- ing a read from the disk. Because each buffer is tagged with a sector number, buffers can readily be grouped and sorted. Interactive Unix enhanced this standard Unix mechanism by combining contiguous buffers into one to increase the amount of data that can be written in one operation. Last on the list of technical consider- ations is the concept of asynchronicity. SCSI drives are intelligent, each one pos- sessing its own built-in controller and, optionally, cache, and they can perform certain operations asynchronously. Most notably, seeking can take place on sev- eral drives simultaneously. The SCSI host adapter sends the seek commands to the drives and doesn't bother to wait for the drive to say, "I'm there." Instead, it SCSI Slakes Unix's Thirst for Storage NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 177 MULTIPLATFORM PERFORMANCE (a) DOS Micropolis 1684 MicroNet Micro/Stack Optima Diskovery 325 Fujitsu M226 ISA FWB hammerSOO Western Digital WD380 SC CMS Prevail 325 Core SLAN 310 N/Hance HCS300E Priam ED 330 SC < Worse I 500 K bytes/second 1000 1500 Better ► 1 1 2000 Low-level index < Worse Better ► 2500 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 (b) Unix FWB hammerSOO Optima Diskovery 325 Storage Dimensions X/Stor MicroNet Micro/Stack Micropolis 1 684 Fujitsu M226 ISA Western Digital WD380 SC Core SLAN 310 Priam ED 330 SC N/Hance HCS300E 300 600 900 1200 1500 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 (c) NetWare 386 Optima Diskovery 325 FWB hammerSOO MicroNet Micro/Stack Western Digital WD380 SC Fujitsu M226 ISA CMS Prevail 325 Micropolis 1684 Priam ED 330 SC Core SLAN 310 N/Hance HCS300E etter^- 100 200 300 400 500 600 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 (d) Macintosh Micropolis 1684 Western Digital WD380 SC Storage Dimensions MacinStor FWB hammer300 Optima Diskovery325 La Cie ZPF300 Rodime Cobra 330e MicroNet Micro/Stack SuperMac DataFrame Fujitsu M226 ISA M Worse i K bytes/second 500 1000 1500 Better ► < Worse Better ► 3ZZ3 I I I I 2000 2500 0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0 Sequential read IHyi Sequential write L J Random read/write I I Tree copy Figure 1: The tree-copy test measures how well a drive copies a large directory structure; sequential tests gauge flat-out read and write throughput; and random tests exemplify application performance, (a) Under DOS, the Micropolis 1684 and the MicroNet Micro/Stack are notable for their excellent tree-copy and sequential-read throughput, (b) Under Unix, the FWB and Optima drives had superior overall results, (c) Although performance differences under NetWare 386 were less dramatic than those under DOS or Unix, drives from FWB, Optima, and MicroNet stood out again, (d) On the Macintosh, drive performance clustered quite tightly, although drives from Storage Dimensions and Micropolis turned in the best results overall. Longer bars indicate better performance. 178 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 486/25 H,860 ' Intel 80486, 25 MHz, 4MB v. 128K SRAM cache "Without a doubt, the Tangent is the overall price/ Fastest SuperVGA adaptor in the industi^ 1024x768 VGA monito: 80 MB (19ms),w/cache | 1.2 MB or 1.44 MB Teac 1 parallel fe? 2 serial ports; Enhanced lOIlieyhQard performance winner of the group, and perhaps even of 486 systems in general!' (Personal Workstation, For a Quote or to Order, CaU 800-223-6677 415'342'9388 FAX 415'342'9380 Corporate P.O.s accepted 8/90 review of Tangent, Compaq, and AST) In Personal Workstation's review, the Tangent 486/25 clearly outperformed both Compaq and AST. And Tangent was priced as much as 67% less! Get breathtaking graphics and unparalleled hard disk performance. Plus a 30-day unconditional money-back guarantee, and a lifetime, toll free technical support hotline. Call today, for this ^^^^ and other Tangent review reprints, and for a quote ^^^B 'J^^j^^jJ J]]^fJ^ on a wide choice of EISA and ISA configurations. computer Tangent Computer, Inc., 197 Airport Blvd., Burlingame, CA 94010. © Copyright 1990 Tangent Computer, Inc. Circle 335 on Reader Service Card PRODUCT FOCUS SCSI DRIVES moves on to the next request. The advan- tages of asynchronicity are not seen in single-drive configurations, such as those that appear in these tests. The real gains become apparent when you use ad- vanced configurations such as striping, in which multiple disk drives are treated as one. Unix Picks The preceding information is meant to help you draw your own conclusions from the table, but we have our own fa- vorites — some obvious, others less so. The drives that fell in the "obvious choice" category surprised us. They were the ones that had it all: small size, external case and power supply, and near-silent operation. We didn't expect these tiny drives to be the top perform- ers, but FWB's hammerSOO and Opti- ma's Diskovery 325 were clear winners in overall speed. We were also pleased with MicroNet's Micro/Stack, another small, silent drive. You have to pay for the convenience that reduced size brings— these drives are quite expensive for the storage they offer. The FWB drive holds a slight edge over the other small external drives in both price and performance, earning the nod for best in its class. Heading up the big-drive category is the Storage Dimensions X/Stor system. This is actually up to four drives in a sin- gle case that can place over a gigabyte of storage at your system's disposal. The company has managed to construct a case that takes up barely more room than the drives themselves, and it is attractive enough that you won't be ashamed to have it seen on your desk. The rest of the pack included a smat- tering of internal and external drives. Of these, the Micropolis half-height inter- nal drive seemed to have the best overall showing. The only factors that would bring us to a heavy full-height drive would be performance and price, and the Micropolis 1684 makes both these argu- ments moot. At a suggested list price of $1995 for the bare drive, it's a good starting point for building a system. Western Digital's WD380 SC also per- formed quite well. The Fujitsu full-height internal drive is this roundup's enigma: Its perfor- mance pushed it out of the top five, but it still managed to skunk the others in only the tree-copy test. This may be thanks to the drive's fast seek time, and the tree- copy test does a blessed lot of seeking. The drive's noise level was the worst of all the drives we tested, producing loud snaps during seeks and emitting an an- noying whine during normal operation. Unless you plan to drop it in acoustic foam or in another room, save your ears the torment of the Fujitsu drive. Another disappointment was the CMS Prevail 325 drive. Prevail it didn't, be- cause, of all the drives in the test, the Prevail was the only one that wouldn't work with Unix. The very same drive and controller worked perfectly with DOS and NetWare, but when we attempt- ed to install the drive under Unix, even the simple reading of the drive's geome- try failed. We notified CMS of the prob- lem, but the company was unable to pro- vide a solution. NetWare 386 Optimizations Boost Disk Performance Photo 3: Among NetWare 386 drives, the FWB hammer300. Optima Diskovery 325, and MicroNet Micro/Stack 404/LAN were outstanding. Only CMS, MicroNet, and Optima were offering NetWare 386 drivers for their drives by the time we went to press. We tested the other drives under NetWare 386 using the Adaptec Host Adapter and its supplied driver. Installing these drives was easy, but that was due more to NetWare 386 itself than to any innovation on the part of the drive vendors. Once we cabled the drive to the host adapter, we just ran Novell's Server program and loaded the host adapter's driver, which each manufac- turer supplies as an NLM (NetWare Loadable Module). A few floppy disk swaps are all that is required to install the remaining NetWare utilities onto the hard disk drive. We didn't test these drives under Ad- vanced NetWare, but you can expect a much more involved installation process with Advanced NetWare than with Net- Ware 386. The most time-consuming part of a NetWare installation often is running Novell's COMPSURF utility, which does a very detailed surface analy- sis to mark out defects. Some of the drives, including the ones from CMS and MicroNet, were "NetWare Ready" and didn't require COMPSURFing for any NetWare installation. NetWare Ready, a Novell certification, also indicates that some NetWare configuration informa- tion is already present on the disk; Ad- vanced NetWare versions 2.15 and high- er can read drive information directly off the disk and do not require additional drivers. Each of these drive/host-adapter com- binations supports NetWare's disk-mir- roring capability, which reserves one disk as a copy of another to guarantee data integrity. NetWare 386 and Unix have some sim- ilarities when it comes to managing disk drives. NetWare 386 keeps caching buf- fers for both files and directories, cach- ing both reads and writes. NetWare and these host adapters also support SCSI disconnect, which provides performance gains in muhiple drive configurations by allowing a controller to move on to other tasks while one drive is finding its data. Some performance features, however, are unique to NetWare 386. The operat- ing system makes a number of dynamic optimizations to crank up disk perfor- mance. NetWare dynamically allocates memory for directory cache buffers to tune them to the pattern of actual disk 180 BYTE" NOVEMBER 1990 The argument for buying our new laser line printer is full of holes. Consider the facts and you'll agree. The Laserfold is the logical conclusion for departmental computing environments. Particularly where high-speed printing of high-quality text is an everyday requirement That's because the Laserfold ends the trade offs between high-speed line printers and high-end page printers. It simply gives you the best of both ... at a lower cost than either. It combines laser-quality character resolu- tion, a fast 16-pages-per-minute output, extremely quiet operation and desktop size. So when you're printing high-quality text on fanf old paper for business, technical or accounting applications, there's ■ ■ simply no argument against choosing the Laserfold. Pentax Technologies, 100 Technology Drive, Broomfield, CO 80021. n^^lTA V Phone 303-460-1600. MtN lAA, FAX 303-460-1628. TECHNOLOGIES Advanced Microsource Hopkinton, MA (508)435-5800 (800)232-9920 Nimax San Diego, CA (619)566-4800 Computer Source Hauppauge.NY (516)348-7474 (800)222-5022 Nimax St. Louis, MO (314)427-1919 Great Lakes Electronics Distributing Buffalo, NY (716)675-9611 Nimax Livonia, MI (313)427-1010 Technology Marketing Gronp Minneapolis, MN (800)688-7000 Proven Solutions Olympia, WA (206)352-4512 (800)541-0183 Technology Marketing Gronp BensenviUe. IL (708)595-4600 Q/Cor Norcross, GA (404)923-6666 (800)548-3420 Technology Marketing Group Phoenix, AZ (602)340-9000 Chess Denver, CO (303)573-51-33 5 1990 Pentax Technologies Circle 279 on Reader Service Card Circle 290 on Reader Service Card PROMISE? PROMISE! We don't PROMISE anything unless we can keep our PROMISE! Our CACHING DISK CONTROLLERS promise Hard Disk Access in r\o time fiat. • Pay only 5% more. Gain 300% more performance! • 512K-4I\/IBcacl~ie on- board, expandabie to 16MB • 0.5nns data access time • Avaiiabie for MFM, IDE, & ESDI iHard Drives Limited time only $ 1 99.00 Special Offer for MFM Caching Disl< Controllers witti Zero K. Add $50.00 for 5 12K. Regular List Price: $395.00 (with512K) Upgrade your existing PC/AT system now! PROMISE TECHNOLOGY PROMISES more . . . Delivers more for 386 and 486 systems! Reps and Distributors wanted Booth R8327 November 12-16 Las Vegas Nevada PROMISE TECHNOLOGY, INC. 1430 Koll Circle, #103 San Jose, OA 951 12 Phone: 408-452-0948 FAX: 408-452-1534 PRODUCT FOCUS SCSI DRIVES usage. It also indexes files with many FAT entries, to speed random accesses. And NetWare handles elevator seeks, a technique that queues disk requests so that sector requests seen by the disk in- volve as few seeks as possible. All this optimization in the operating system conspires to make performance quite similar from drive to drive. As the figures show, performance differences among drives under NetWare were not nearly as dramatic as those shown under DOS. Optima's Diskovery 325, FWB's hammerSOO, and MicroNet's Micro/ Stack finished in a virtual dead heat when you consider both tree-copy and file read/write performance. Both the Diskovery 325 and hammer300 drives had shown good speed in our other envi- ronments, so it was no surprise that they did very well on the tree-copy test. The Micro/Stack drive's optimiza- tions, which made the drive a leader in the DOS benchmarks, apparently helped here, as well; it finished head and shoul- ders above the rest on sequential reads. MicroNet claims that the optimizations are specifically designed for better per- formance with the small block sizes used by NetWare. The CMS Prevail 325, Western Digi- tal WD380 SC, and Fujitsu M226 ISA scored quite well— only slightly behind the top three finishers. Mac and SCSI: A Venerable Relationship Photo 4: The La CieZPFSOO shinedfor its economy, while the Micropolis 1684 and the FWB hammerSOO turned in superior performance among Macintosh drives. Utility software played a key role in our evaluation of Macintosh drives. Al- though disk drives for other environ- ments neither require nor supply util- ities, drives on the Mac thrive on them. Mandatory components of the packages were disk formatting and disk partition- ing utilities. Disk formatting readies the hard disk surface for accepting data. Unusable sec- tors are usually located at this stage and mapped out. All the packages we tested either allowed you to select an interleave factor or picked one for you, based on the speed of the host machine. Disk partitioning divides the physical disk surface into one or more logical vol- umes. Many of the manufacturers sug- gest that, for performance's sake, you limit partitions to around 80 MB. This stage also builds the initial directory structure (directory B-tree and bit maps) for the partition. Most of the systems we looked at supported A/UX partitions, as well as Mac OS partitions. A few sup- ported ProDOS. Before the Macintosh can access a vol- ume (i.e., make it appear on the Desk- top), you must mount the partition asso- ciated with that volume. Partitions on a Macintosh drive can be tagged to mount either at start-up time, called automount- ing, or in response to an explicit mount request. All the utility packages that we examined handled automounting. Addi- tionally, all the packages allowed us to lock individual partitions; locked parti- tions are read-only, which offers some virus protection for sensitive applica- tions. Finally, nearly every package pro- vided some level of password protection. Silverlining, the La Cie ZPF 300's ac- companying driver software, included an autopark feature. It also provided a disk 182 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 BIG IS OUT SMALL IS IN. Introducing the Falco Infinity Desktop Computer. The Smallest 386SX Desktop. If you're sizing up desktop computers, you'll immediately see the advantage of the Ealco Infinity™ Desktop. It gives you 386"SX power and perform- ance without dominating your deskspace. Half the size of a standard PC, die Infinity Desktop has everything you need on-board: Peripheral interfaces like disk controllers. Memory expansion. Communication ports. And VGA' level graphics up to 1024 X 768 resolution. Plus, two AT-compatible, 16-bit expansion slots. It runs DOS^ 4.0, UNDC 05/2" and Microsoft' C ] 990 fako Dm Products, inc. 440 Potrero Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086-4117 AB [ra^emarh are regtstered w their respective ou-nm. Circle 132 on Reader Service Card Windows 3.0. What's more, you can choose from four configurations, including a diskless network node and a full-featured model with 1.44MB floppy and the option of 40, 100 or 200 MB hard drive. The only thing we left out is the noise. The Infinity Desktop runs so quiedy you'll hardly know it's on. Whether you work in close quarters or spacious sur- roundings, the Ealco Infinit)' Desktop covers all your needs. Without covering your desk. And that's about die size of it. To get one for your desk, call us today 1-800-FALCO4U FALCO PRODUCT FOCUS Circle 107 on Reader Service Card A HARD DRIVE IS A TERRIBLE THING TO WASTE. For only $6 per hour, you can download onto your hard disk from DELPHI'S library of over 10,000 progriuns. Join now for $9.95 and your first hour is free. There is no sur- charge for downloading at 2400 baud and no premium for dial- ing locally via Tymnet. If you have a really large disk, choose the 20/20 Advantage Plan and enjoy 20 hours for $20. To join, with your computer and modem: • Dial 1-800-365-4636 • At Usemame: type JOINDELPHl • At Password: type BYTE DELPHI POPULATING HARD DRIVES SINCE 1982 800-544-4005 • 617-491-3393 People are talking about us. F77L-EM/32 Port 4GB mainframe programs to 80386s with this 32-bit DOS-Extender coihpiler The Winner of PC Magazine's 1988 lechnical Excellence Award just got better. New Version 3.0 and OS include: Editor, Make Utility, Virtual Memory Support, DESQview Support, New Documentation and I^eJJnlimited Runtime Licenses. F77L-E1VI/32 $895 OS/386 $395 F77L The compiler of choice among reviewers and professionals. Includes a Debugger, Editor, Profiler, Linker, Make Utility, Weitek and 386 Real-Mode Support, Graphics. $595 Lahey Personal Fortran 77 New Version 3.0; Full ANSI 77, Debugger, Editor, Linker, Library Manager, Microsoft and Borland C interfaces, 400 page Manual, Unbeatable Price. $99 optimizing (i.e., defragmenting) capa- bility. Unleashing the optimizer on a vol- ume shows you a percentage figure that indicates that volume's level of fragmen- tation, as well as how many bytes the op- timizer will have to move around on the drive to clean things up. The Rodime Cobra 330e's utility soft- ware included FastBack II backup soft- ware (from Fifth Generation Systems). Although you can assign passwords to partitions on the Rodime drive, you can't password-protect a boot partition. This was mildly annoying, but it's critical if you don't want anyone to get into your machine. The software with SuperMac's Data- Frame is as extensive. You select the size of a disk's partitions using a unique, movable pie chart. Once you've built your partitions, not only can you attach individual passwords, but you can select partitions to be automatically encrypted using the data encryption standard. The encryption occurs transparently, which means that once you've turned the en- cryption on, you don't have to do any- thing additional — all your software will work as it normally does. If someone else swipes your drive, all he or she will see are piles of encrypted data. This pro- tection, however, comes at the expense of speed. With DES activated on a parti- tion, the file I/O tests that we ran yielded a sequential read throughput of about 28,000 bytes per second and a sequential write throughput of about 27,000 bytes per second. Compare this to the over 1 million bytes per second that we ob- tained on reads without DES. FWB's hammerSOO arrived with an impressive array of software: each pro- gram accompanied by a small manual. Not only can you password-protect and encrypt partitions on the fly, but FWB's Hard Disk Deadbolt software lets you perform after-the-fact encryption using the DES algorithm, as well as a faster proprietary encryption scheme called Quickbolt. Deadbolt also includes Black- out, a software utility that lets you tem- porarily lock your Mac for short trips away from your desk. You activate Black- out and enter a password, and your Mac is frozen until someone reenters that password. (And Blackout is intelligent about how it "freezes" your machine- background tasks can continue to run.) Optima's software, which is called Disl^ount, handles the essentials: for- matting, partitioning, and attaching passwords to partitions. The password control can mount access to a partition, and /ou can specify that a partition re- main locked until the proper password is Contact us to discuss our products and your needs. (800) 548-4778 Lahey Computer Systems, Inc. P.O. Box 6091, Incline Village, NV 89450 Tel: (702) 831-2500 FAX: (702) 831-8123 Tlx: 9102401256 FORTRAN IS OUR FORTE 184 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 199 on Reader Service Card The Only Way Competitive drives Can Go Faster Than 9ivis. With effective access times as low as 9ms, the Plus Impulsef AT® Series, hard disks don't need rockets to fly They're the perfect match for today's disk-intensive applications. Impulse isn't only fast, it's affordable. Compare it to any other disk drive in its class and you'll see how competitively priced it is. Impulse isn't only fast and affordable, it's compatible with all leading 286/386 PCs. And it's available now. In 40, 80, 105, 120, 170 and 210 megabytes (330 and 425MB shipping soon). With integrated IDE-AT or SCSI controllers. Get in touch with your Impulse reseller today For more ^saa^^^ information, call 800-624-5545 in the U.S. and Canada. "^w^^lfcft © 1990 Plus Development Corp. Plus Impulse and the Plus logo are registered trademarks of Plus Development Corp. AT is a registered trademark of IBM. LI IM lU) I Leave the rockets to them. And the flying to Plus. Circle 285 on Reader Service Card PRODUCT FOCUS SCSI DRIVES The Fuzzy Side of SCSI Communication between the SCSI bus and a disk drive or other device has two segments: computer to host- SCSI controller and host-SCSI control- ler to SCSI device. The SCSI protocol makes the second step efficient and relatively painless, because every device speaks the same language, and switching in units from different vendors (ideally) presents no problems. But computer to host-SCSI controller communication is a different story. Each host adapter vendor for the PC XT/ AT family of machines shows a dif- ferent interface to software running on the host machine. On SCSI-equipped Macs, the built-in SCSI chip means that there is only one way to talk to SCSI de- vices, but the programming method is radically different from anything seen on the PC. Common Access Method promises to straighten out this uncivilized side of SCSI communication, at least for the PC. But the CAM committee hasn't yet hammered out a final standard. The standard that the CAM committee adopts may also make it possible for drivers for more exotic devices such as CD-ROMs, tape drives, and scanners to share the same host adapters through a common interface. The BYTE Lab has been working on SCSI testing software designed for the Macintosh SCSI chip and three popular PC-host adapters: the Western Digital WD7000-ASC, the Adaptec AHA- 1542B, and the Future Domain TMC- 885. None of these devices makes writ- ing software a terrible chore. But as far as we're concerned, writing for three interfaces is writing for two interfaces too many, which leaves us hoping for a well-defined CAM in the near future. Western Digital's family of host adapters relies on the Standard Device Level Protocol interface developed by Columbia Data Products. SDLP defines commands for reading, writing, infor- mation gathering, and other tasks. Under MS-DOS, software has access to SDLP through a software interrupt, INT 1 1 hexadecimal, which the adapt- er's ROM steals from the equipment de- termination routine in the machine's BIOS. To send a SCSI command, the calling software simply fills registers with appropriate values and fires off the interrupt. OS/2 and Unix applications access similar commands through ioctl calls to the SDLP kernel device driver, which in turn talks to the host adapter hardware through an adapter- specific device driver. The Advanced SCSI Programming Interface provides Adaptec's host adapters with a common software inter- face for device drivers and applications. DOS, OS/2, and NetWare applications talk to the ASPI driver by pushing the address of a command block onto the stack and then issuing a call to the driver. The process differs between the operating systems only in the way in which the calling software determines the ASPI entry point. ASPI supports a number of information request calls and standard SCSI I/O commands. Future Domain provides developers with an OEM kit to ease the process of writing software that supports Future Domain host adapters. The kit consists of object modules that developers can link into their own code. We also found it relatively easy to write directly to the card's TMC-950 SCSI controller chip, a memory-mapped device for which Fu- ture Domain provides documentation. On the Mac, you can take comfort in there being only one programming in- terface to SCSI: the Mac's SCSI man- ager. Unless you're trying to do some real low-level SCSI programming, the SCSI manager provides all the functions that you need. The SCSI manager sup- ports bus arbitration, device selection, and message transfer. Apple has even provided an extremely simple program- ming language for high-speed buffer copies that you can use to control what the SCSI manager does with data sent to or taken from a target device. (For a de- tailed description of programming to the Mac's SCSI manager, see "Foreign File Systems," March BYTE.) If you are really desperate to go straight to the SCSI hardware, you'll have to dig up whatever documentation you have on the NCR 5380, the SCSI controller chip used by Macintoshes since the Mac Plus. You'll also want to go spelunking into all your Inside Mac- intosh volumes. There is a variety of ways to effect a transfer on the SCSI bus using the 5380. You've probably heard of "blind" transfers: data exchange on the SCSI bus in which the system checks only a handshake bit in association with the first byte of a packet transfer and then sends the rest of the bytes at top speed (i.e., without explicitly checking handshaking). You may have also heard of the 5380's "pseudo-DMA" mode, in which the transfer of bytes to and from the chip triggers the handshaking sig- nals on the SCSI bus. As compatible as Macs may seem, the sad truth is that even though all Macs use the 5380 to control the SCSI bus, the 5380 is wired differently for different Macs. For example, in a Mac Plus, the base address of the 5380 is at 580000h; it's at 5FF000h on a Mac SE and at 50F10000h on the Mac II. Further- more, the Mac Plus must use software handshaking in the pseudo-DMA mode, which means that you might run into invalid data being transferred if you choose to use blind transfers on that machine. The moral: Unless you're developing your own custom SCSI hardware, stick with the SCSI manager. given. DiskMount's disk verification performs a nondestructive read test of the hard disk surface. You can specify that the disk drive's internal error cor- rection be turned off for the duration of the test so that "marginal" blocks (i.e., those likely to fail soonest in the future) are reported. Once you've collected your list of questionable blocks, DiskMount lets you map good blocks in the place of bad ones. As an extra level of protection, the Optima system keeps duplicates of the disk's partition information and de- vice driver. In that way, if either should somehow become corrupted, a utility program called QuickFix can replace the original with the duplicate. The installation software on Storage Dimensions' MacinStor isn't loaded with frills, but it has everything you need. You can password-protect partitions, toggle them as read-only, and even flag a partition to use write verification. We were also very happy to see that the Mac- inStor disk included a cdev (a Control Panel device) version of the installation software. This allows you access to the 186 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 HP's LaserJet III printer. • • iBayTech PAR I LaserShare® 4A: PAR 3 PAR 4 ...with BayTech's LaserShare® — expansion is made easy! LaserShare is an expansion card that allows four users to connect simultaneously to one laser printer. Just check out our outstanding features: ✓hp LASERJET III COMPATIBILITY Also works with HP LaserJet II, IID, Canon LPB8II. LPB8III, Brother HL8e, and Wang LDP8 laser printers. ✓256kb, 1mb or 4mb buffer ✓simple installation ✓available models • 4A - 4 parallel ports • 4C - 4 serial ports • 4E - 2 paralleI/2 serial ports • 4CB - 4 serial (256KB, Brother) ✓saves money and time ✓unmatched product support With several users having access to one laser printer, the per-user cost of your laser printer is dramatically reduced. And there's no more waiting for the printer. With LaserShare, everyone's printing needs are accommodated. BayTech's LaserShare — it's worth checking out! Call now for details! Because Resources Should Be Shared. Data Communications Products Division 200 N. 2nd St., P.O.Box 387 Ba\) St. Louis. MS 39520 Fax 601-467-4551 Phone 601-467-8231 or toll-free 800-523-2702 •All product or company names are trademarks of their respective holders. INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTORS Australia Melbourne Shuttle Technologies. Ltd. (03) 587 4920 Melbourne Goya Tech, Pty.. Ltd- [03) 747-8455 Belgium Multiway Data Belgium 016-29 22 78 The Netherlands Multiway Data Netherlands 079-424 111 Denmark Trend Communications 53 65 23 45 Finland Genine Oy Impdata (921)335700 France Suresenes Komdex International [1)47 72 63 11 Paris Gradco France {1)42 94 99 69 Germany Munich AMS Computech GmbH (089) 126806-0 Dusseldorf Multiway Data Germany 0211-25 18 75 Italy Torino BRM Italiana (Oil) 771.00.10 Milano LTD. (02) 749,0749 Norway A/S Kjell Bakke 47-6-832000 Singapore Mark Systems (FE) Pte.. Ltd. 65-2261877 Spain Vidmar Control (93) 2454803 Sweden Solna Microcom/Maldata (08) 7344100 Sollentuna Beon Data 08-626 92 26 Switzerland Sengstag Computers AG 0041.1.950.54.44 United Kingdom Leicester & London A-Line Dataspeed Devices. Ltd. 0533-778899 Buckinghamshire Trend Datalink, Ltd. (06285) 30611 Circle 41 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 42) PRODUCT FOCUSi SCSI DRIVES COMPANY INFORMATION Adaptec, Inc. Future Domain Micropolls Corp. Rodime Systems, Inc. {AHA-1542B) (TMC-885) (1684) (Cobra 330e) 691 South Milpitas Blvd. 1 582 Parkway Loop, Suite A 21211 NordhoffSt. 901 Broken Sound Pkwy., NW Milpitas, CA 95035 Tustin, CA 92680 Chatsworth, CA 91311 Boca Raton, FL 33487 (408) 945-8600 (714)259-0400 (818) 709-3300 (407) 994-5585 Inquiry 1111. Inquiry 1116. Inquiry 1120. Inquiry 1124. CMS Enhancements FWB N/Hance Systems, Inc. Storage Dimensions (Prevail 325) (hammer300) (HCS300E) (MacinStor MAC325-S1 , 1372 Valencia Ave. 2040 Polk St., Suite 21 5 908R Providence Hwy. X/Storxsh1-330S1) Tustin, CA 92680 San Francisco, CA 94109 Dedham, MA 02026 2145 Hamilton Ave. (714) 259-9555 (415) 474-8055 (800) 289-9676 San Jose, CA 95125 Inquiry 1112. Inquiry 1117. (617)461-1970 (408) 879-0300 Inquiry 1121. Inquiry 1125. Core International LaCie (SLAN 310) (ZPF 300) Optima Technology SuperMac Technology 6500 East Rogers Cir. 1 9552 Southwest 90th Court (Diskovery 325) (DataFrame) Boca Raton, FL 33487 Tualatin, OR 97062 1 7526 Von Karman 485 Potrero Ave. (305) 997-6033 (800) 999-0143 Irvine, CA 92714 Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Inquiry 1113. (503) 692-0771 (714)476-0515 (408) 245-2202 Inquiry 1118. Inquiry 1122. Inquiry 1126. FlexStar (3000s) MicroNet Technology, Inc. Priam Systems Western Digital 2040 Fortune Dr. (Micro/Stack 404/LAN, (ED 330 SC) (WD380 SC, WD7000-ASC) Oal 1 iJUotJ, c?o 1 O 1 1 1 nifiywuuu L/CJurt cs 1 uo Irvine uenier ur. (408) 433-0770 20 Mason San Jose, CA 951 31 Irvine, CA 92718 Inquiry 1114. Irvine, CA 92718 (408) 954-8680 (714)932-5000 (714)837-6033 Inquiry 1123. Inquiry 1127. Fujitsu America Inquiry 1119. (M226 ISA) 3055 Orchard Dr. San Jose, CA 95134 (408)432-1300 Inquiry 1115. most frequently used functions, such as mounting or dismounting a partition from the Control Panel. The MicroNet installation software builds A/UX as well as Macintosh partitions, and it eas- ily initialized drives. MicroNet drivers supported overlap- ping seeks on multiple disk drive config- urations. Overlapping seeks logically chain two drives together and divide data between them. The process makes use of the drive's built-in read-ahead cache. For example, if software issues a large read request on a file (e.g. , a multimega- byte image file), the first piece of the file comes from drive A, the second from drive B. MicroNet' s engineers point out that even write accesses benefit from overlapped seeks: Since each drive fills up half as fast as it ordinarily would, seek distances are reduced. It's not easy to pick the best Macintosh drive. In general, a winner in one test turned in a mediocre performance in other tests. Based on performance alone, we chose the Micropolis 1684 as the top drive because of its write throughput numbers (see figure 1). It scored the highest marks in both our sequential- and random- write throughput tests. (Be- cause this was an OEM drive, we needed compatible driver software; we used La Cie's Silverlining in our tests.) However, when we considered more than just raw speed, we gave top honors to the FWB hammerSOO. Although not a speed demon, it ranked in the top half of most tests. The amount of support soft- ware that came with the drive swayed our vote. Finally, if you're cost-conscious and find yourself reeling from high prices, consider the La Cie ZPF 300 drive. It scored near the middle in most tests, and its Silverlining software, while not re- plete with features, is probably all the hard disk drive software you'll ever need. However, the drive stands out in price: It's $700 to $2500 less than other Mac drives. And the Winner Is . . . Picking an overall high-capacity hard disk drive winner depends, as always, on your individual application and environ- ment. The FWB and Optima drives proved to be very solid. Both finished at or near the top for all four operating sys- tems. Although it is slickly packaged and well documented, the Optima Diskovery 325 is too expensive for our tastes; we like the FWB hammerSOO for both its price and performance. Storage Dimensions' offerings turned out to be excellent performers, as well. Both the X/Stor and the MacinStor scored very well on their respective Unix and Macintosh platforms, and both carry prices lower than drives of similar per- formance and capacity. If your platform is DOS or NetWare, we suggest MicroNet' s Micro/Stack 404/LAN. At 423 MB and with excellent benchmark numbers, the $4495 Micro/ Stack may be worth the little larger up- front investment. All the OEM drives had acceptable speed, but the Micropolis 1684 distin- guished itself. Each drive had above- average mean-time-between-failure rat- ings, and the speedy Western Digital WD380 SC, at 31/2 inches, fits in where others can't. ■ Steve Apiki and Stan Wszola are BYTE Lab testing editors/engineers. Rick Grehan is the BYTE Lab technical director, and Tom Yager is a BYTE Lab technical editor. They can be reached on BIX as "apiki, " "stan, " "rick_g, " and "tyager. " 188 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 REUABLE enough to forget about COMPATIBLE enough to work with any PC AFFOROABLE enough to fit any budget For complete data protection, our PC Might UPS says it all! Now you can provide all the protection you will ever need for your valuable data with a PC Might UPS from UPSONIC. Designed to be unseen, unheard, but always on the job, the PC Might will protect your individual computers or network from blackouts, brownouts, spikes and surges. UPSONIC is one of the industry's largest, most successful manufacturers with over 280,000 units installed world-wide. Our products are time-tested and reliable and come with a complete one-year warranty. The complete line of PC Might UPS products— the PC Might 25, 35 and 55— ensures you can have the ideal solution to any protection need, whether it's a popular stand-alone micro, a file server or a network node, just connect a PC Might and forget about it. You and your data are completely protected! To order or for more information, call and ask for Operator 42. UPSONIC 1-800-UPSONIC UPSONIC, One Park Plaza, Suite 600, Irvine, CA 92714 FAX 714-852-4480 Circle 363 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 364) SYSTEM With all the coverage that the Ex- tended Industry Standard Archi- tecture (EISA) and Micro Chan- nel architecture buses get, it's easy to believe that you need one of these new bus architectures to get great perfor- mance. Not necessarily. The three ma- chines in this review— AST's Premium 486/33, Club American's Hawk III, and Everex's Step 486/33— combine a 33- MHz i486 with the standard AT bus, and the result in each case is a screamer. These three machines also have a lot in common besides the AT bus and the 33- MHz i486 CPU. All contain a socket for a Weitek WTL4167 math coprocessor, a 5 '/4-inch 1.2-megabyte floppy disk drive, two serial ports, a parallel port, a -101 -key keyboard, a 16-bit VGA card with 256K bytes of RAM, and a 14-inch color monitor. The main differences in the configurations that we tested were the size of the hard disk drive and the amount of RAM and external cache memory that each offered. The Premium 486/33 had a 3V2-inch 110-MB Imprimis Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE) hard disk drive with a 16-millisecond average access time, 4 MB of system RAM, and no external CPU cache. The Hawk III had a 5 V4-inch 158-MB Maxtor ESDI hard disk drive with a 16-ms average access time, 8 MB of RAM, and 256K bytes of external cache memory. The Step 486/33 had the greatest disk capacity of the group, with a 5'/4-inch, 330-MB, 141^-ms Seagate ESDI hard disk drive, as well as 8 MB of RAM and a 128K-byte external proces- sor cache. The Step 486/33 and the Hawk III also had multifrequency monitors, rather than the standard VGA monitor Mark L. Van Name and Bill Catchings that was included with the Premium 486/33. Because the configurations of these machines are so similar, it can be diffi- cult to choose among them. The key is to focus on three major criteria: price, per- formance, and reliability. Wide Price Spread None of these systems is cheap, but you can't expect bargain-basement prices for top performers. To make a reasonable price comparison, we priced each system with a color VGA board and monitor, a 150-MB hard disk drive (or one as close to that size as possible), and 4 MB of RAM. In that configuration, the Everex Step 486/33 with a 160-MB drive is the most expensive of the group, with a list price of $11,899. A comparable AST Premium 486/33 with a 110-MB drive costs $10,619, which is roughly 10 per- cent less. If price is your only consideration, however, you can read this paragraph and skip the rest of the review. The Hawk III in our comparison configuration costs only $6989, and that's with a 158-MB drive. The others just can't compete with the Hawk Ill's rock-bottom mail-order price, even considering typical dealer discounts for the Premium 486/33 and Step 486/33. AST's Premium systems have one un- usual advantage over the others: You can start with a slower CPU and later up- grade to the 33-MHz i486, or whatever chip is the fastest Intel CPU at the time. Still, the price difference between the AST Premium 486/33 and the Club American Hawk III is too much to pay just for the upgrade privilege. Fast, But Not the Fastest Price comparisons are fair only when the systems involved perform at about the same level. As the graph shows, these three systems definitely make price com- parisons reasonable, because they pro- duce very similar results on the B"!fTE benchmarks. On the overall DOS appli- cation index, the fastest machine of the bunch, the AST Premium 486/33, is less than 10 percent faster than the slowest, the Hawk III— there's not a dog in the group. Still, none of them even comes close to the 65.2 application index of the Tangent Model 425 EISA bus machine that we re- viewed last month — and the Tangent uses only a 25-MHz i486 CPU! To resolve this discrepancy, here's a closer look at the benchmark results. On the CPU front, the Step 486/33, with a score of 9.0, is the clear winner. Its score is over 20 percent better than the 7.4 of the Hawk III and the 7.2 of the Premium 486/33. The Step 486/33 gets its strong CPU score primarily from Everex's Advanced Memory Manage- ment Architecture cache controller, which manages the system's external 128K-byte, 20-nanosecond static RAM (SRAM) cache. By forgoing an external cache and re- lying solely on the i486's internal cache, the Premium 486/33 turned in the lowest CPU performance of the group. The Hawk III, like the Everex system, has an external cache. In fact, its 256K-byte cache of 20-ns SRAM is twice the size of the Step 486/33's. Because the Hawk Ill's larger cache didn't give it the CPU performance crown, we can only con- clude that Everex's AMMA cache con- troller must be better than the Hawk Ill's cache manager. CPU speed isn't the entire story, how- ever, because all three machines beat the Tangent's 6.6 CPU score, and yet lost to the Tangent by a substantial margin in overall application-level performance. The answer, not surprisingly, lies pri- REVIEW High-Performance 486 ATs 190 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 The Everex Step 486/33 (top), AST's Premium 485 (center), and the Club American Hawk III (bottom) put i486 power on an AT bus. marily in disk performance. All three systems have less than spec- tacular disk scores. The slight edge goes to the Step 486/33, with a score of 3.2 on the low-level disk tests. The Hawk III and Premium 486/33 were close behind, at 3.0 and 2.3, respectively. None, however, has a caching hard disk drive controller, and that's where the Tangent machine gets its perfor- mance. The Tangent's BYTE disk index of 10. 1 is due, in large part, to its Mylex caching disk drive controller, with 4 MB of on-board RAM. The lesson is clear: If maximum performance is your goal, get a caching disk drive controller. The Unix benchmark suite produced slightly different results. Here the Hawk III came out on top, neck and neck with the Step 486/33. Lower results in the System Loading and Tower of Hanoi tests dragged the Premium's cumulative index down to third place. The Ratings With performance so close, the Hawk Ill's price advantage looks more and NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 191 REVIEW HIGH-PERFORMANCE 486 ATS Premium 486/33 Model 115 Company AST Research, Inc. 16215 Alton Pkwy. Irvine, CA 92713 (714)727-4141 Components (as reviewed) Processor: 33-MHz Intel i486; socket for 33-MHz Weitek WTL41 67 math coprocessor Memory: 4 MB of SIMM-mounted RAM Mass storage: 5V4-inch 1 .2-MB NEC floppy disk drive; 110-MB Imprimis IDE hard disk drive Display: AST- VGA Plus 16-bit card; AST Premium DisplayA/GA color monitor Keyboard: 101 -key IBM Enhanced AT layout I/O interfaces: Two serial ports; one parallel port; one 8-bit and six 16-bit AT-bus expansion slots Price $10,619 inquiry 1108. Hawk iii Company Club American Technologies, Inc. 3401 West Warren Ave. Fremont, CA 94539 (415) 683-6600 Components (as reviewed) Processor: 33-MHz Intel i486; socket for 33-MHz Weitek WTL41 67 math coprocessor Memory: 8 MB of SIMM-mounted RAM; 256K bytes of cache RAM Mass storage: 5y4-inch 1 .2-MB Teac floppy disk drive; 158-MB Maxtor ESDI hard disk drive; Data Tech 16-bit ESDI hard/floppy disk drive controller Display: Everex Viewpoint 16-bit VGA card; Club multifrequency monitor Keyboard: 101-key IBM Enhanced AT layout I/O Interfaces: Two serial ports; one parallel port; seven 16-bit AT-bus expansion slots Price $7674 Inquiry 1109. Step 486/33 Company Everex Systems, Inc. 48431 Milmont Dr. Fremont, CA 94538 (800) 356-4283 Components (as reviewed) Processor: 33-MHz Intel i486; socket for 33-MHz Weitek WTL41 67 math coprocessor Memory: 8 MB of SIMM-mounted RAM; 1 28K bytes of cache RAM Mass storage: 5y4-inch 1 .2-MB Teac floppy disk drive; 330-MB Seagate ESDI hard disk drive; Everex 16-bit ESDI hard/floppy disk drive controller Display: Everex Viewpoint 16-bit VGA card; Everex multifrequency monitor Keyboard: 101 -key modified IBM Enhanced AT layout I/O interfaces: Two serial ports; one parallel port; one 8-bit and six 16-bit AT-bus expansion slots Price $13,499 Inquiry 1110. more important. Still, an inexpensive system is almost useless if it's not reli- able, so we took a close look at each of the systems to see how well they're likely to hold up. All three systems are based on stable architectures that their vendors have used in previous machines. Nonetheless, all three have change wires on the backs of their motherboards, with the Step 486/33's nine wires the worst of the bunch. We had no trouble with any of the systems, but the motherboards clearly could stand one more cleanup iteration. All three motherboards also depend heavily on discrete logic rather than ap- plication-specific ICs, which are com- mon in more mature machines. All three boards have the telltale signs of early de- signs, with over 100 chips on each board (many of which are socketed) and almost no surface mounting. The vendors had no choice— as we've noted before, they are ahead of the chip-set makers— but 486 systems are likely to become cheaper and more reliable when i486 support chips become commonly available. A reliable system not only must stay up, it also must be able to run the pro- grams you expect it to run and work with the boards you plan to put into it. These three machines did well on the first front, running over two dozen test appli- cations without a hitch. Their hardware results were almost as good. They had no trouble with our test add-in boards, but one problem did surface: None of the ma- chines would work with our Xircom Pocket Ethernet Adapter. A Xircom spokesperson claimed that 33-MHz 486 systems are sometimes too fast for the Pocket Ethernet Adapter's control logic. Xircom fans can relax, though; Xircom is preparing a patch that should be avail- able before this review sees print. Still, this problem serves to indicate the un- usual difficulties that sometimes lurk in leading-edge systems. Another aspect of reliability that you must consider is what to do when some- thing goes wrong with the system. All three vendors offer the same basic solu- tion to this problem: a one-year parts- and-labor warranty that requires you to ship the broken system or part to the ven- dor for repair. Service for the Premium 486/33 is also typically available from the nearest AST dealer. Everex is the only one of these vendors that gives you the choice of on-site ser- vice as well. We've heard some computer vendors gripe about the quality of the on- site service from national third-party service firms, but we still think that sys- tems as powerful as these three should come with on-site service. The final reliability concern that any buyer- but particularly those in large or- ganizations—must consider is the reli- ability of the vendor itself. The best ser- vice contract in the world is no good if the vendor offering it will be gone tomor- row. Fortunately, even Club American, the smallest vendor of the three, has sold over 200,000 systems and has annual sales of over $250 million. No computer company is ever entirely safe, but these firms seem to have the critical mass nec- essary to stay in business long enough to fix any problems that you're likely to encounter. Extra Points One kind of problem that can occur even in perfectly functioning systems is lack of room to grow. You never know when you'll need more disk storage space, ex- pansion slots, or memory. All three systems have reasonable disk expansion space, but here again, the Hawk III is the clear winner. Its floor- standing tower case is cavernous, with one full-height and five half-height 5 U- inch bays in front. If that's not enough, there's room for another full-height 5 '/4- inch drive on an arm that swings out be- hind the other drive bays. The other two systems, by contrast, are more traditional desktop units. Each has five half-height 5!4-inch bays. With one of those bays dedicated to the floppy disk drive, each system can hold only two 192 BYTE" NOVEMBER 1990 -4 Worse 1 DOS BENCHMARKS APPLICATION-LEVEL PERFORMANCES Better ► AST Premium 486/33 Everex Step 486/33 Club American Hawk III IBM PC AT 4.6 5.5 4.2 5.5 12.1 11.2 9.4 52.6 5.6 5.3 3.9 5.3 11.8 9.8 8.0 49.7 5.4 5.0 3.9 5.3 12.1 9.8 7.8 49.4 7.0 Word Desktop Processing < Worse 1 Publishing □ Database □ Compilers □ CAD Scientific/ Engineering LOW-LEVEL PERFORMANCE Spreadsheet Better ► AST Premium 486/33 Everex Step 486/33 Club American Hawk I IBM PC AT 7.2 32.8 2.2 14.6 9.0 32.7 3.2 14.4 7.4 33.4 3.0 15.0 □ cPU □ FPU a Disi< CONVENTIONAL BENCHMARKS LINPACK Dhrystones (single) (Dhry./sec.) (MFLOPS) AST Premium 486/33 0.8947 25849.4 Everex Step 486/33 0.8959 26912.9 Club Hawk III 0.9263 27472.3 IBM PC AT 0.0210 2317.9 For application and low-level benchmarks, results are indexed and show relative performance; for each individual index, an 8-MHz IBM PC AT running MS-DOS 3.30 = 1 . For all benchmarks, higher numbers indicate better performance. The BYTE low-level benchmark suite identifies performance differences between machines at the hardware level; the application benchmarks evaluate real-world performance by running a standard test suite using commercially available applications. Application indexes include tests using the following programs; Word processing: WordPerfect 5.0; Desktop Publishing: Aldus PageMaker 3.0; Database: Borland Paradox 3.0 and Ashton-Tate dBASE IV; Compilers: Microsoft C 5.1 and Turbo Pascal 5.5; CAD: AutoCAD release 10 and Generic CADD level 31.1.5: Scientific/Engineering; Stata release 2. MathCAD 2.5. and PC-Matlab 3.5f; and Spreadsheet: Lotus 1-2-3 release 3.0 and Microsoft Excel 2.1 . The BYTE Lab introduced version 2.0 of the DOS benchmarks in the August issue (see "BYTE's New Benchmarks: New Looks. New Numbers"). Benchmark results for machines reviewed under previous versions aren't directly comparable. To obtain a copy of the benchmarks, join the listings area of the byte.bmarks conference on BIX or contact BYTE directly. UNIX BENCHMARKS SUMMARla AST Premium 486/33 Everex Step 486/33 Club American Hawk III 0.8 Everex Step 386/33 0.7 2.6 1.6 1.5 0.8 2.6 3 9.8 0.6 2.6 2.1 1.8 0.8 2.6 10.4 0.8 2.7 1.9 1.8 0.8 2.6 10.7 6.0 □ C Compiler □ DC Arithmetic □ Tower of Hanoi □ System Loading □ □ Dhrystone 2 I I Floating Point Note: The graph above summarizes the results of the Unix benchmarks (version 2.6). All results are indexed to show relative performance; for each test, an Everex Step 386/33 running Xenix 2.3. 1 = 1. The cumulative index is formed by summing the indexed performance results for the tests. Comprehensive results are available by contacting BYTE. Space-Saver Keyboard Save an amazing 60% of the desk or counter space now taken by a standard keyboard and enjoy improved functionality at tlie same time. Actual size is 10.75" x 6.0" (273 X 152mm). The new MICROTYPE keyboard is rapidly gaining acceptance as a truly advanced alternative to the original IBM layout for many applications. Reliability of the MICROTYPE has been amply proven through extensive use in trading areas of the NYSE, The New York and Chicago Mercantile Exchanges as well as in many banks, brokerages, stores and at factory work stations. Space is saved by compressing rows (not columns) and eliminating wide borders. Re-arranging and elevating the auxiliary key clusters also saves space while improving accessi- bility with reduced eyescan and head movement. Keys have full travel with a light factually responsive touch. All standard features such as auto-repeat, caps, num and scroll lock are included on the MICROTYPE. PC XT/AT, PS/2 IBM and clone compatibility. Available in US and most European language versions. Made in USA with 1 year warranty. .beautifully sensitive and handles both typists with light touch and those who really bang aw^. COMPUTER BUYERS GUIDE .This could be the perfect layout for an enhanced keyboard that must fit into a small area. . . COMPUMAG Order direct from stock with 15 day full return privileges. VISA, MasterCard, Eurocard charges accepted. USA I-800-DATALUX Fax 703-662-1682 S124.50 + 6.00 s/h Extra charges for PS/2 adapters, CANADA 514-694-0870 Fax 514-694-0871 SlSO.OOCdn + s/h air shipments. OEM and reseller EUROPE 44 -I- 306-76718 Fax 44 + 306-76742 £99.00 + VAT + P&P volume discounts atailable. r normal size of 101 key enhanced keyboard ■ liklUUUUihhhhlf . ' . ' . ' rf 1 ' . ' . ' . ' I ' ■ ' When it comes to saving space, there's no comparison. DATALUX CORPORATION 2836 Cessna Drive, Winchester, Virginia 22601 REVIEW full-height devices. The three systems are identical when it comes to expansion slots. Each has seven AT-bus slots, five of which were open in our test units. All three systems put the serial and parallel port logic on the motherboard. Each used two slots, one of which always held the VGA card. The Step 486/33 and the Hawk III filled the second slot with a floppy/ESDI hard disk drive controller. The Premium 486/33 had its floppy/hard disk drive controller logic on the motherboard, but its proces- sor card consumed a slot. Memory expansion is the one area in which the Hawk III comes up a bit short. Its motherboard can hold eight 1-MB sin- gle in-line memory modules (SIMMs), and there is room for eight more on an optional memory board ($135 with no RAM) that uses a proprietary slot. This 16-MB limit is more than enough for al- most any DOS or OS/2 work, but if you plan to make the machine a LAN server or a multiuser Unix box, you might wish for a higher memory ceiling. The Premium 486/33 wins the mem- ory-expansion crown. It uses the same processor and memory arrangement as the other AST Cupid-32 systems that BYTE has reviewed. A processor card holds the i486 CPU and four SIMMs of either 1 MB or 4 MB each. The Premium 486/33 also can accommodate up to two 32-bit memory cards (which cost $500 each, including 1 MB of RAM). Each card can house 16 1-MB SIMMs, for a maximum possible memory configura- tion of 48 MB. The Step 486/33 is in the middle of the group, with a maximum of 32 MB of RAM. A single memory board, which goes into a proprietary expansion slot, can hold either 16 1-MB SIMMs or eight 4-MB SIMMs. The high performance of these ma- chines supports a claim that we've been making for some time: There's no reason to go to an EISA system unless you need a specific EISA card. Put a caching disk drive controller in any of these systems, and you will have one of the fastest PCs available. Choosing a single winner in a compar- ative review is often difficult, but not this time. The low price and roomy cabinet of Club American's Hawk III make it the clear pick of this bunch. ■ MarkL. Van Name and Bill CatMngs are BYTE contributing editors. Both are also independent computer consultants and freelance writers based in Raleigh, North Carolina. You can reach them on BIX as "mvanname " and "wbc3, " respectively. 192B B Y T E • NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 99 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 100) 25 MHz 486 Speed Fo Your 286/386 System! MicroWay manufactures a broad range of products that boost the speed and capacity of your current PC/AT. They includ 386 and 386SX accelerators and 486 replacement mother- boards. We also offer a complete line of Weitek acces- sories and stock all of the Intel, Weitek and Cyrix coprocessors. We created the PC numerics industry in 1982 and have been developing, selling and supporting the best numeric software and hardware ever since. ^^^^^f This XT/ AT motherboard ^/^^^ replacement features a 25 / MHz 80486, 4167 socket and ' Y a BURST BUS memory inter- face. The BURST BUS architec- ture is ideal for engineering, scientific and CAD/CAM applica- tions. The NDP Fortran-486 driven numeric throughput of the 4167 is an impressive 13.0 Megawhetstones, which is 100 times the throughput of an 80287 equipped AT! Number Smasher® 386/25 ^ This AT accelerator board replaces your 80286 with an 80386 clocked at 20 or 25 MHz. It is socketed for 8 Megabytes of 32 bit RAM, an 80387, Cyrix CX83D87, or Weitek 3167 and a 64K SRAM cache. The numeric perfor- mance of the Number Smasher 386/25 is a strong function of your application and the coprocessor you choose. The 25 MHz NDP Fortran-386 driven Whetstones are 2.1, 3.7 and 5.5 MegaWhetstones running on the 80387, CX83D87 and 3167. Number Smasher 486/25 Numeric Performance 486 Megawhetstones 5.9 Megawhetscales 4.1 MicroWay and Number Smasher are registered trademarks of MicroWay. inc.. 80386. 80387. 80486 are lrademarlcik« rynem - iKejiMed wjifa - a Ledger lytttm. GeoealeeTax tepon.iiKDtUy RiKmeixi and vjriooi ottera. +^ SYSIEM AU ttiatir MENUIXA SYSDCn.US aFAST BTHS index fil».|yittffl capalility for large file ryneou.aDdaiicli Htof uliUrtier. Under DOS. ccmei wrtfa a UNDC XT SHHJ. aod UNDC Uke utiUitiee nc& ai awk. giep. eto. InelndBi a mdti- window editcr. All tine lynenu inelude 12D.300and 400 page mjmali reepediiely. Available on > Authorised INTERACTIVE UNIX RoeUcr Rd 3^ / Ter 2 J , also SCO / MICROPORT / ESK AfpUca&onnatform $«35.00 Netvort Pl/Ofbrm $»7SM WorbtaHon Platform $1435.00 AppUctOion Dvreloper $1355.00 Network Developer $1435.00 WorkxtaHortDeyeh^er %\S9S.W NO Compiling NO Progi^mmiiif NO Hassle 'C Sotuce code is available if desiied DESIGN YOUR OWN MENUES AND FORMS DATABASES WITH JUST AN EDrrOR ON A TEXT FILE THAT GETS LOADED AT RUNTIME YOU ARE IN CONTROL OF EVERYTHING ON-SCREEN MULTI UNGUAL RUNS IN STANDARD ASCa BASED LANGUAGES: FRENCH GERMAN SPANISH ITAUAN FOR DOS UNK&XENIX EXECUTES SCRIPTS PROGRAMS BATCH nLES SCREEN -SAVER TIMEOUT WITH OPTIONAL PASSWORD RE-ENTRY ^ REVIEW FPU Face-Off In the 386/80387 category, Weitek again came out on top with its Abacus 3167. At S995, this is also the most ex- pensive chip in this category. To use this chip, your machine must have a Weitek FPtF socket, and the applications soft- ware you're running must support the 3167. (Weitek provides a list of software packages that are compatible with the Abacus coprocessors.) Also, if accuracy is critical, keep in mind that the Weitek chips can only han- dle single- and double-precision floating- point numbers. They don't support the IEEE 80-bit extended-precision numbers that some scientific and engineering ap- plications might require. This is not a problem for the majority of applications, however. If the Abacus 3167 doesn't fit your needs, the next logical choice is Cyrix's $994 83D87. If 3-D transformations are all the floating-point work you ever do, and your software supports IIT's custom instructions, the 3C87 may be a contend- er. But the 83D87 is faster than anything other than the Abacus 3 167, is Intel com- patible, and is priced on a par with Intel's 80387DX. Tack the 38D87's improved transcendental accuracy on top of that, and you've got a winner. You may also want to check out the Cyrix EMC87, which should be avail- able by the time you read this. It's got all the advantages of the 83D87, plus a memory-mapped architecture. If the final version performs as well as the 83D87, it will give the Abacus 3167 a run for its money. In the 80287 arena, most manufac- turers are aggressively pricing their co- processors, and AMD leads the way with its $99 80C287. Note, however, that price is just about the only thing that the AMD coprocessors have going for them; the 80C287 won't set any speed records. Best performance is a toss-up between IIT's 2C87 ($319) and Intel's 80287XL ($370). The 2C87 is slightly faster and less expensive, but the 80287XL enjoys the extra 80387-type instructions. No ap- plications yet support IIT's custom in- structions or the 80287XL's 80387 in- structions. But developers are likely to support the Intel chip first. My benchmark results are a good guide to performance. But as with most computer peripherals, the best bench- mark is to grab your critical software, find a computer store that sells coproces- sors, and go for a test drive. ■ Rick Grehan is the director of the BYTE Lab. He can be contacted on BIX as "rick_g. " 200 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 316 on Reader Service Card Scalable fonts in a cartridge. No longer just a dream. L -magine how your documents would look if you could substitute ordinary printer fonts with typeset style fonts. Instead of Times®, you could use distinctive CG Palacio®. Or add flair with Letraset® Revue™. Imagine choosing from up to 51 differ- ent fonts, including CG Bodoni®, CG Palacio, Shannon'", Revue and ITC Bookman®, that can be scaled to any size, in quarter point increments from 0.25 to 999.75. You've dreamed about such things for your Hewlett-Packard LaserJet"' EI. Pacific Outlines® make the dream real. These easy-to-use cartridges eliminate the need for soft fonts, accelerating your work and saving disk space. Pacific Outlines offer qualit}' scalable type from Agfa/Compugraphic, and ready-to-use software drivers for several major software applications. Offered at a price that won't cause nightmares. To learn more, call or write: Pacific Data Products, 9125 Rehco Rd., San Diego, CA 92121, (619) 552-0880. FAX: (619) 552-0889. © 1990 Pacii'ic Data Products, Inc. Macie ir the U.S.A. Paciiic Outhnes is a trademark of Pacific Data Products, Inc. LaserJet is a registered trademark of Hewlett-Packard Company- Scalable type outlines are licensed from Agfa Corporation, Agfa Compugraphtc Division. CG Bodoni and CG Palacio are registered trademarks and Shannon is a trademark of Agfa Corporation. Letraset is a registered trademark and Revue is a traden\ark of Esselte Pendaflex Corporation. UC Bookman is a registered trademark of International Typeface Corporation. All other company and product names are trademarks of the company or manufacturer respectively. PACIFIC DATA PRODUCTS See us at Booth #W818 ©C©mDffll/Fall'90 November 12-16. 1990 Las Vegas, Nevada Circle 272 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 273) Buy our IBM-compatible color printer and get this Mac-compatible color printer free. The new Phaser PX Color Printer from Tektronix. Only $7995 The price is as much of a breakthrough as anything else. The Phaser PX offers PostScript-language com- patibility and 300 dpi thermal-wax color that's brighter and bolder than that of pricey competitors. And not only can you hook it up to an office full of PCs via serial or parallel, but it will also accommodate any Macs that might come along. Automatically switch- ing from port to port to keep everybody happy. Add to that certified PANTONE'* Color that can be printed on paper or transparencies, and you've got a color printer that will do more for less money than ever before. So call 1-800-835-6100, Dept. llj to find out how to get your hands on the new Tektronix Phaser PX. Then you can kill two birds with one color printer. The New TiBktronixPhaserPX' 'Pantone, Inc.s check-standard trademark for color reproduction and color reproduction materials. Copyright © 1990 Tektronix, Inc. Buy our Mac-compatible color printer aad get this IBM-compatible color printer free. The new Phaser PX Color Printer from Tektronix. Only $7995 The price is as much of a breakthrough as anything else. The Phaser PX offers PostScript-language com- patibility and 300 dpi thermal-wax color that's brighter and bolder than that of pricey competitors. And not only can you hook it up to an office full of Macs via AppleTalk, but it will also accommodate the PCs and workstations that might come along. Automatically switching from port to port to keep everybody happy. Add to that certified PANTONE'* Color that can be printed on paper or transparencies, and you've got a color printer that will do more for less money than ever before. So call 1-800-835-6100, Dept. 11 J to find out how to get your hands on the new Tektronix Phaser PX. Then you can kill two birds with one color printer. The New IMrofiixPhaserPX All rights reserved. Phaser is a trademark of Tektronix, Inc. .Ml other trademarks mentioned herein belong to other companies. Circle 393 on Reader Service Card (RESELLERS: 394) ALTEC TOW ABOVE 1HE REST Now you can have the power and performance of Altec's fully loaded 486 EISA Tower delivered to your door! Check out these outstanding features: 486E1SATOWER CALL for mere information Intel 486-25 CPU □ 4 Meg RAM □ 1 .2 MB 5.25"drive □ 1.44 MB 3.5" drive □ 150 MB 18ms ESDI hard drive 0 ESDI controller W/32K cache □ 16-bit VGA card □ 14' VGA monitor (1024 x 768) □ 2 serial. 1 parallel & 1 game ports □ 101-key Keyboard □ Genius Mouse □ MS-DOS 3.3 or 4.01 □ Eight 32-bits EISA slots MAGAZINE "AltecZip 386s are solid machines featuring brand-name parts. A good buy, they are clearly affordable" PC Magazine May 30, 1989 "Computer users should find Altec machine an excellent value with good performance." PC Magazim. July 1990 Altec sets the standard for the highest quality design and manufacturing of ail our products. We're fast, friendly, and ready to help you select the right features for your needs. Take a look at some of our other great systems: 386/33 VGA $3,595 Intel 386-33 CPU □ 32K Cache □ 4 Meg RAM □ 1.2 MB 5.25"drive □ 1.44 MB 3.5" drive O 150 MB 18ms ESDI hard drive □ ESDI controller W/32K cache □ 16-bit VGA card □ 14' VGA monitor (1024 x 768) D 2 serial, 1 parallel & 1 game ports □ 101-key Keyboard □ Genius Mouse □ MS- DOS 3.3 or 4.01 (25 Mhz Cache System deduct S400) $2,795 386/25 VGA Intel 386-25 CPU o 4 Meg RAM o 1.2 MB 5.25"drive □ 1.44 MB 3.5" drive □ 105 MB 18ms IDE hard drive □ 16-bit VGA card a 14" VGA monitor (1024 X 768) □ 2 serial, 1 parallel & 1 game ports O 101-key Keyboard □ Genius Mouse □ MS-DOS 3.3 or 4.01 $1,895 386/SX VGA Intel 386SX-16 CPU □ 2 Meg RAM 0 1.2 MB 5.25"drive □ 1.44 MB 3.5" drive □ 66 MB 25ms hard driven 16-bit VGA card □ 14" VGA monitor (640 X 480) □ 2 serial, 1 parallel & 1 game ports □ 101-key Keyboard O Genius Mouse □ MS-DOS 3.3 or 4.01 (20 Mhz 386/SX version add S150) $1,795 286/12/66 MB VGA COMBO 1 Meg RAM □ 1.2 MB 5.25" drive □ 1.44 MB 35" drive □ 66 MB hard drive ~ 16-bit VGA card □ 14" VGA monitor (640 x 480) □ 2 serial, 1 parallel & 1 game ports Z 101-key Keyboard □ Genius Mouse ~ MS DOS 33 or 4.01 c Panasonic 1180 printer w/cable □ Surge Protector $1,295 NEW 286/12 VGA STAR □ 1 Meg RAM □ 1.2 M or 1.44 M drive □ 40 MB hard drive □ 16-bit VGA card 14" VGA monitor (640 x 480, .41 mm) □ 2 serial/1 parallel & 1 game ports □ 101-key Keyboard z MS-DOS 3.3 Various hard drive capacity available. Altec's Guarantee: • 30 day money-back guarantee • 1 year warranty for parts and labor • Free 4 months on-site service • Lifetime toll-free technical support ! lifiiflflllfll ALTEC Technology Corp. 1-800-255-9971 Policy: Same day shipping with standard configurations for orders before 3 PM EST. Shipping and handling extra. Personal and company checks require 10 days to clear. Prices are subject to change, and all items are subject to availability. All returns must be shipped prepaid, insured, in original condition and complete with documentation. All returns must have RMA number. 30-day money back guarantee does not include shipping. No surcharge for Visa & MasterCard, 2% for American Express. AHec Tfchnology Corporation • 18555 East Gale Avenue • Industry. CA 91748 • 818/912-8688 • FAX: 818/912-8048 Circle 19 on Reader Service Card HARDWARE Corey Sandler REVIEW New Controller Makes SCSI Palatable to PCs ForATs with large chassis, the SmartConnex/ISA can take the hassle out of SCSI upgrades. SmartConnex/ISA Company Distributed Processing Technology 132 CandaceDr. Maitland, FL 32751 (407) 830-5522 Hardware Needed IBM AT or compatible Software ^4eeded MS-DOS, OS/2, NetWare 286 or 386, SCO Xenix or Unix, or Sytos Plus Price As tested (with floppy disk drive controller): $365 Without floppy disk drive controller: $330 Inquiry 1105. If you're accustomed to conventional PC interfaces, SCSI is a strange breed. Neither the original PC architecture nor the current version of DOS was de- signed for SCSI devices. So, before your PC can capitalize on SCSI's speed and flexibility, you may find yourself mixing and matching specialized software driv- ers, hard disk drive controllers, hard disk drives, and motherboard ROMs. Distributed Processing Technology's SmartConnex/ISA SCSI controller can bridge this gap between IBM ATs and SCSI (DPT also announced a SmartCon- nex for Extended Industry Standard Ar- chitecture that wasn't shipping commer- cially in time for this review). The 16-bit SmartConnex/ISA uses the Western Dig- ital WD 1003 disk drive controller inter- face, which makes your computer see the controller as a common ST506 AT-com- patible device without your having to in- stall special driver software. The Smart- Connex also works with your other drive interfaces. An associate and I installed it and an external hard disk drive in a 386SX with an internal hard disk drive that used a motherboard-based Intelli- gent Drive Electronics interface, and both drives worked fine. The SmartConnex also includes inter- nal and external interface connectors, so you can attach SCSI hard disk drives either through a rear panel or from inside the computer. And because the board uses a 10-MHz 68000 CPU, it can out- perform some SCSI controllers in read- and write-throughput speed. However, problems with the board's design and documentation mean that SCSI installation still isn't headache- free. Nevertheless, if you're a PC user who's interested in adding a SCSI-based high-capacity hard disk drive, the Smart- Connex is worth considering. Why SCSI? SCSI's advantages center on speed and flexibility (see "The SCSI Bus," Parts 1 and 2, February and March BYTE). SCSI's speed is due to the fact that it is a parallel interface, not a serial interface like the ST506. SCSI is flexible because it was designed to be more than just a hard disk drive interface. More and more devices— including tape drives— are showing up with SCSI compatibility. And while the serial ST506 limits you to two physical disk drives, SCSI supports up to eight devices— seven peripherals and a controller board. The major problem for PC users is that MS-DOS doesn't include a generic inter- face that supports all the devices avail- able with a SCSI connection. That means that when you install a SCSI connection, you usually must also install a software driver that is compatible with both the device you are controlling and the appli- cations you want run. This is still true with the SmartConnex for everything ex- cept a hard disk drive, although DPT says that it is developing device drivers for tape and optical disk drives (release dates were not available at press time). If you want more than two disk drives, you have to install a compatible software driver in your MS-DOS CONFIG.SYS file. The catch is that not only must you depend on DPT to supply a driver that supports your particular hardware, but you also have to hope the driver works with the application that you'll be using with the hardware. If DPT (or any SCSI controller manufacturer) doesn't have drivers for your hardware and software combination, you'll have to install an- other controller or find another device. But this problem may diminish as vari- ous groups and manufacturers push for SCSI standards. An ANSI CAM (Com- mon Access Method) committee is work- ing to establish a software interface for SCSI that would be installed in a variety of operating systems. If such an interface is successful, hardware vendors would only have to write their interfaces to the common software standard instead of to every operating system and application. Tight Squeeze In addition to having a SCSI connection, the SmartConnex can include an optional floppy disk drive interface that is com- patible with 5V*- and 3 '/i -inch devices. The SmartConnex's ST506 compatibil- ity is built in, which means that you can plug the board into the PC bus, hook up the floppy and hard disk drive cables from your standard drives, and go. Actu- ally, a software driver stored on the disk NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 205 REVIEW New Controller makes SCSI Palatable to PCs SMARTCONNEX SCSI BENCHMARK RESULTS < Better File I/O Worse ► Sequential Read 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 350 400 Seconds 450 < Worse ! Sequential Read File I/O throughput 500 550 Better ► 0 20 40 60 500 550 600 650 700 750 800 850 K bytes per second H SmartConnex/ISA S Western Digital FASST Although the SmartConnex/ISA can simplify upgrading to SCSI, its performance was only marginally better than that of the Western Digital controller that shipped with the test 300-MB SCSI hard disk drive. and transparent to the user handles ST- 506 emulation. A DPT utility controls driver installation and use. But installing the board can present problems. First of all, it's AV2 inches high, not including the bus connect pins. That was too tall to fit into our Compu- Add 3 16s slim-line test machine. The in- ternal connectors and the top of the board stuck out beyond the edge of the chassis (we installed the board in this box, and it worked fine with the cover off). The board also was too tall when we used the internal interface connectors in our private-label 20-MHz 386 clone with a full-size AT case. If no cables are at- tached to the internal connectors, the case fits— but just barely. However, with this particular clone, we could not attach the external connector because of the width of the slots in the rear of the case. SCSI uses a large 50-pin, D-shell con- nector, which requires the maximum slot width. For comfortable use, you'll need an oversize AT-type case for this board. Yet another problem occurred when we tried to use the board in an Austin 12- MHz 286 and a CompuAdd 216— small- footprint PCs with internal bus risers that accept boards sideways. In these machines, the cables that connected the SmartCoimex to the floppy disk drive were too short. We had to disable the floppy disk drive interface on the board and use the connectors on the mother- board. We also found that the SmartConnex's documention and supporting utility soft- ware seemed unfinished. In fact, we had considerable difficulty getting the board up and running, because the instructions for using the utilities were not clear. To install a hard disk drive with the SmartConnex, you run a simple utility that calls a low-level format routine and then stores the proper ST506 emulation driver on the last block of the hard disk drive. Drivers are available for a variety of operating systems, including OS/2, MS-DOS, Xenix/Unix, and Novell Net- Ware. Once you complete these steps, you simply type FDISK (or the equiva- lent, depending on your operating sys- tem), perform a high-level format, copy the system over, and load your files. However, when we repeated this pro- cess during testing with a Core Interna- tional Model 310 SCSI hard disk drive, we received numerous drive not ready and no boot device messages. Nothing in the documentation explains these errors. As it turns out, the emulation software that is stored in the final drive block cannot be erased, and the utility software is not smart enough to know what to do when it discovers that the driver software already exists. This was the source of our numerous error mes- sages, according to DPT technical-sup- port personnel. (DPT sent us a utility that will erase the driver software. The company doesn't ship the utility in the basic package on the theory that once you conduct a low-level format and install the driver, you don't need to remove it unless you change controllers.) The documentation lacked a "quick start" section, forcing you to uncover in- stallation instructions obscurely embed- ded in page after page of technical dis- cussion. When we put aside the manual and anonymously called the company, technical support proved to be quite good. On one call, we received 20 min- utes of support time without complaint. Aside from poor on-screen instruction and incomplete documention, we liked the SmartConnex. Although DPT rates the SmartConnex's transfers at only 4 megabytes per second, we found that it operated relatively quickly. It rapidly 206 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 Smaller Computers. Bigger Applications. Storage To Match. The dimensions of computing are ctiang- ing. Today's lower profile, higher-end 286 and 386 computers are taking up less desktop space and taking on much bigger applications. Matching these new computing dimensions with new dimensions in storage has never been more important. And once again, it is a company called Storage Dimensions that is doing that matching. We call it performance matching, actually And our new 100, 200 and 320 megabyte internal SpeedStor' subsystems are three solid examples of how we put you well in front of today's 286/386 power curve. Because you get smartly engineered half-high storage matched not only to the new smaller computer enclosures, but to their larger performance demands. With our proprietary SCSI-based architecture, host bus adaptor and on -board look-ahead caching for added speed. Plus an optional floppy port for cost effective installation and expansion. Whether you measure your storage needs in square inches, megabytes or milliseconds, you'll find the dimensions you require are the ones we deliver. The ones that have put our products on more desktops than any other storage solution. Gall us at (408) 879-0300. Storage Dimensions, 2145 Hamilton Avenue, San Jose, GA 95125. See us at Rotunda Booth #4214. STORAGE DIMENSIONS /Fall '90 November 12-16, 1990 Las Vegas, Nevada SpeedStor is a regislensd trademarlc of Storage Dimensions © 1990 Storage Dimensions Call me, I'm interested, circle 324 on Reader Service Card. B-SS2 Please send literature, circle 325 on Reader Service Card. AccSys for ■ Set of C libraries for easy access to Paradox data and index files. ■ No need to concern yourself with internal files fornnat. ■ Increased performance shortens processing time. ■ Total control over table files primary and secondary index files. ■ Network and single-user versions available. Copio InternQtionol Ltd. 1964 Richton Drive. Wheaton, Illinois 60187 708/682-8898 FAX: 708/665-9841 Instant info via FaxFacts: 617/740-0025 Press: 1625007 REVIEW you get past the installation difficulties, the SmartConnex performs as promised. THE MOST ADVANCED CORDLESS MOUSE HE ZEIM MOUE Available in cordless and corded models for IBM PC's, PSIl's, and compatibles. Dynamic Tracking 10-1000 dpi No Cleaning Required Rechargeable Compatible with Microsoft' No Mouse Pad Required Compatible with virtually all application software Made in USA Logitech™ and MSC Mice ZENY COMPUTER SYSTEMS INC. 4033 Clipper Court Fremont, California 94538 Tel 415/659-0386 Fax 415/659-0468 10% OFF WFFH THIS AD completed long menus and data-file searches. BYTE Lab benchmarks of the board with the Core hard disk drive showed random-read throughput of about 45K bytes per second; random-write throughput came in at around 54K bytes per second (see the figure). For compar- ison, we ran the same tests using the Western Digital FASST SCSI controller that ships with the drive. We found the Western Digital controller considerably slower on reads and nearly identical on writes: Random-read throughput was ap- proximately 3 IK bytes per second; ran- dom-write throughput was more than 53K bytes per second. Guarded Recommendation Once you get past the installation diffi- culties, the SmartConnex performs as promised: It's somewhat faster than the interface that comes with the drive we tested, and the board's ST506 drive emu- lation makes for what should be an easy installation. We also liked the internal and external connections and the option- al built-in floppy disk drive controller that lets you replace your existing con- troller, if that's what you need. However, we are concerned that the board did not fit easily into four of our test machines, and the lack of easy-to- understand documentation and on-screen prompts made the installation much more difficult than it should be. If you want to enhance your PC with SCSI, the SmartConnex can simplify the installation. Just make sure your com- puter's case is large enough to hold the board and that you have DPT's technical- support number in your telephone's auto- dialer. ■ Corey Sandler is president of Word Asso- ciation, a consortium of high-technology writers and consultants headquartered in Nantucket, Massachusetts. He can be reached on BIX do "editors. " He worked with Word Association technical editor Tom Badgett in testing the DPT board. 208 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 Circle 377 on Reader Service Card OnlyNortfiMeMaks Sense Of It AU! f "\on't be puzzled about com- # Iputing for the 90's... call the X-X company who speaks your lan- guage: Noahgate. We're your problem-solving partners. We listen to your needs, analyze options, then recommend solutions. We use a 'modular systems' approach that allows us to custom configure your system to meet your current and future needs. Now, let's shatter a few myths... Northgate is a true manufacturer of computing systems ... not an assembler. Our R&D Department works day in and day out, developing new technologies to keep Northgate on the cutting edge of high performance computing. We design and manufacture our ovm motherboards in the U.S.A. If you hear othenvise, hang up ... you deserve the truth! A word about price. Northgate is the performance/price leader in systems for home and office. No, Northgate computers aren't the cheapest. Why.? Because we don't take shortcuts in technology to get performance gains and hold prices down. Some companies cut corners to get speed improvements. Shadow RAM is one such technique. Shadow RAM sets aside room in RAM for temporary storage of system and video I/O instructions normally stored in system ROM. By running these routines in RAM, instructions can be executed at the micro- processor's fastest speed. However, this R^-^M is best used for extended memory needs like disk caching, RAM disk, and spoolers. When Shadow RAM eats up this space, you can experience software compatibility and operating problems. YouH never experience shortcut- related problems with a Northgate system. Call toll-free 800-548-1993. 210 BYTE' NOVEMBER 1990 NorthgateBringsItAllTogetherAnd Puts R)wer For Tne 90's In Your Hands! 7\ Torthgate exemplifies power! / ^ IBM! Compaq! DeU! All the X others! The unquestioned industry leader is Northgate! Why? Only Northgate solves the puzzle! Nowhere else can you get the blistering combination of triple caching power ... industry's fastest components and peripherals ... performance boosting soft- ware ... power services and technical support ... all for incredible factory- direct prices! Tri-Caching technology breaks performance barriers! Caching guarantees power computing into the 90's! Northgate uses three Vfpcs of caching technology to extend total system performance. Each svstem has a minimum of 64K SRAM memory cache, 32K-64K cache hard disk controllers and caching software-all for enhanced performance and speed. instead of the disk. Resuk.' Accelerated I/O transactions! Caching Software! Nonhgate uses disk caching software for enhanced performance. Here's how k works. During a session the software "learns" to anticipate what data youll need next and brings it into the cache for quick retrieval. Industry's most powerful components and peripherals! System speed is not based on the CPU alone. Hard drives, floppy drives, video cards and other peripherals all play a part in enhancing overall performance. One slow element slows the whole system down. Northgate solves this problem by using the latest in AT interface technology to maximize system performance. Hard disks made just for Northgate customers-fastest in the world! For Northgate (and you!) only the fastest hard drives will do. Our complete selection of hard drives— featuring our exclusive Maxtor 200Mb-use AT technologv' wkh disk caching controllers for fast, efficient throughput. THE ANATOMY Of TR! CACHING SRAM Memory Cache! Nonhgate uses high-speed 64K-256K static SRAM cache to buffer frequently requested data from slow'er memory storage areas. RAM cache reduces the main processor's idle time (wait stage) while data is transferred to and from main memory. Our external 486 SRAM cache operates in true burst mode for 33Mb/second execution of instructions. Boosts the hit rate for data finding to 99%! Hard Disk Caching Controllers! Disk caching improves performance by relieving the bottle neck caused by hard drives. When reading and writing to hard disk, the information passes through a RAM cache buffer. This buffer retains data after k has been sent to its destination. If the same data is needed again, k is drawn from the cache Fastest video combinations on the market— screens appear almost before you release "Enter"! Nonhgate's 16-bit Super VGA lets you zip through desktop publishing, windowing and other bit-mapped graphics operations. Select from our broad range of hi^ performance monkors and video cards to meet the most demanding design and engineering applications! Now ... performance software unleashes the power of your Northgate! To make the most of our awesome power, we're including FREE performance software with our Elegance™ 386™ and 486™ Power User's systems. This S1139.00 suggested retail value includes Microsoft® Windows™ 3.0, Samna® Ami™ Professional word processing and Informix® Wingz™ graphics spreadsheet. Microsoft® Windows™ 3.0! You've heard about the point-and-click ease of Apple computing. Now Windows brings k to the DOS worid! Windows speeds through e\ en the most demandmg32-bk software ... makes program operation and multi-tasking a breeze! AmiPro™— word processing and desktop publishing in one! ^ You get sophisticated word processing features including 130,000 word spell check, dictionar\', thesaurus, search and replace, editable page views, mukiple fonts, integrated graphics and more! And you get the look and feel of expensive desktop publishing packages! Wingz™— powerftil graphics spreadsheet and database program! Wingz for Windows 3.0 is the first spreadsheet program that lets you take frill advantage of today's powerful windows/graphics based environments. You get unsurpassed number-crunching power and page perfect presentations. CALL TOLL-FREE 24 HOITIS EVERY DAY 800-548-1993 Notice to the Hearing Impaired; Northgate has TDD capabilitN-. Dial 800-535-0602. NO/rmGATE », cam/rm SYSTEMS 7075 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 Circle 259 on Reader Service Card NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 211 New Northgate Elegance 486i™ System... "Editors' Choice'' said PCMa^azmf (Adding: "Northgate stops at nothing to please its customers...97"^" would buy againf") InfoWorldhbs scored it 9.1-top rating everr Incredible power and unmatched performance at a price you'd expect to pay for a 386™ ! 00 5895 Delivered to Your Home or Office XT Thether 80286, 386 or |/|/ 486 technology, Northgate f f consistently brings you top rated systems. Our value and performance is unexcelled when you look at the experts' opinions. Northgate is a company in which you can place your trust — perhaps our most important advantage! In January, 1988, Northgate won its first Editors' Choice for the 286/12 SuperMicro. Northgate leadership prevailed again when PC Magazine benched 386 systems. One couldn't do better. Three Editors' Choice — one for each speed in our Elegance line of 20, 25 and 33MHz systems. Northgate is the only company who can make this claim! PC Magazine then called for 486 ISA systems for review. Result: there was no question about it. 'Only one machine stands out," they said, "you could pay less for a 486 system, but not get the bonuses that are offered with the Elegance." Along the way, we added another Editors' Choice of our OmniKef keyboard. There you have it ... A record five Editors' Choice Awards in one year's time! About the same time, the tough testers at Inpmorld were thoroughly and methodically examining Elegance 486i. They reported you could buy the next highest ranked system (scoring 8.2 vs. our 9 . 1) but you'd also pay three times as muchit InfoWorld's editors concluded that Nonhgate's 486i 'leads the pack by a comfortable margin. It offers impressive performance, exceptional expandability and it is tops in support and value.''^ A subsequent issue of InfoWorld Guly30, 1990) showed Elegance 486i leading the pack again as a nenvork file server and stand-alone system as well. And, as if we had planned it, PC Magazine came along with its Service and Reliability issue in which Nonhgate's dedication to customer support was well evidenced. 'As we learned more about its sen'ice policies, it became clear that Northgate stops at nothing to please its customers." No wonder "Northgate was the hands-down winner when it came to customer loyaln.^"" That's the story. Designed and built to perform. Proven by the industry's most demanding testing. Fairly priced. And backed by people with a passion to serve you with a support policy that inspired one magazine columnist to say: "What WordPerfect is to sofnvare support, Northgate is to hardware and there are even a few things that WordPerfect could learn from the folks in Minneapolis. Northgate is fast becoming the Nordstrom of the computer worid."tt 212 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 Complete with the Spectecular 200MB Maxtor "Power Max" Super-fast hard drive! (Maximized performance exclusively for North^te and you!) rhe secret to Northgate's state-of-the-art power! The 486 processor combines the capabilities of an enhanced 386, an advanced internal cache controller and 8K of supporting static cache memory. The chip also incorporates an enhanced 387 FPU (Floating Point Unit). You get increased performance for the most demanding math-based applications. Northgate caching enhancements give you greater speed! We've added a 64K read write-back SRAM cache (expandable to a Northgate exclusive 256K) to further accelerate the execution of instructions. I/O transactions are faster than ever thanks to a 32K hard drive cache controller. Finally, we armed Elegance 486/25 with Smartdrive DOS disk caching software. Result.'' Processing speed you must see to believe! Elegance 486i ISA is the perfect high performance graphics/sofnvare workstation or network server. Its multi- stage caching is an excellent match for tough number-crunching operations. Look at everything you get! Elegance 486i comes with 4Mb of RAM, a Elegance 486i ISA System Features 25MHz Intel® 80486 processor 4Mb of 32-bit RAM (expandable to 8Mb on motherboard; total system RAM of 16Mb with optional 32-bit memory card) Proprietary, U.S.-made motherboard 200Mb Maxtor hard drive with 15ms access; 16-bit controller with 1:1 interleave; 32K disk read-look-ahead cache buffer 64K SRAM memory cache; read/write-back caching High density 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44Mb 3.5" floppy drives; also read/write low density disks Eight expansion slots; one 32-bit slot; six 16-bit and one 8-bit slot Weitek math coprocessor support One parallel and two serial ports High-resolution monochrome monitor Clock/calendar chip rated at 5 years ♦ 200 watt power supply (220 watt power supply in tower case) ♦ Desktop case with room for 3 exposed and 2 internal half-height devices ♦ Front mounted reset and high/low speed controls ♦ Exclusive Northgate OmniKeyl ULTRA keyboard ♦ MS-DOS 4.01 and GW-BASIC software installed ♦ On-line Users Guide to the svstem and MS-DOS 4.01 ♦ QA Plus Diagnostic and Utility software ♦ Microsoft Windows 3.0 and mouse ♦ 1 year warranty on system parts and labor; 5 years on keyboard ♦ Unlimited 24-hour toll-free technical support ♦ Free on-site service for one year ♦ FCC Class B Certified Select the options you need ... let Northgate custom build them into your system today! ♦ Hard drives up to 1.2 Gigabytes ♦ Laser quality and dot matrix ♦ Tape back up devices printers ♦ Floppy, CD ROM and optical drives ♦ SVGA color monitors and cards ♦ Modems * Weitek coprocessors 200Mb Maxtor hard disk with 15ms access, 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44Mb 3.5" floppies, desktop case, 14" monochrome monitor, exclusive OmniKey keyboard and Microsoft® Windo\^^™ 3.0. Or select our Power System with seven bay tower case, 14" SVGA color monitor with 1024 x 768 resolution, 16-bit SVGA adapter with 512K video memory, and 220 watt power supply. PLUS! Microsoft Windows 3.0, Samna* Ami™ Professional word processing software and Wingz™ graphics spreadsheet and database software. A S1139.00 value software is vours at NO EXTRA CHARGE! Support power! Your Elegance 486i ISA is backed by expert toll-free technical support 24 hours a day, seven days a week. PLUS, free on-site next day sen'ice to most locations if we can't solve your problems over the phone AND a 1 year parts and labor warranty (5 years on OmniKey keyboard). Use Elegance 486i ISA RISK FREE for 30 days! If it fails to meet your expectations, return it for a full refund ... no questions asked! ORDER TODAY! Call toll-free 24 hours everv' day. Complete Elegance 486i System $1 ONLY =5895" Power User's System Just ^6495"" Delivei^ to your home or office EASY FINANCING: Easy payment options. Use your Northgate Big "N", \"ISA. MasterCard ... or lease it. Up to five-year terms available. CALLTOLL-FREE24HOURS EVERYDAY »54^1993 Fax your order. (612) 943-8338 Notice to the Hearing Impaired: Northgate has TDD capabilit\-. Dial 800-535-0602. 7075 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 <£Cop\Tigiit Northgate Computer S>-stems, Inc. 1990. All rights rcsened. Northgate, Obiji/A>k and the Nonhgatc'N" logo are registered [fademarks of Northgate Computet Systems. 80j86and80486atc[fadcmatksof Intel.. \ll other products and brand names are trademarks and registered trademarks of theii respect ii-c companies. Prices ind specifications subject to change without notice. Northgate reserv es the right to substitute components of equal or greater quality or performance. All items subject (o availability. We support the ethical use of software, lb report software copyright violations, tall the Software Publishers Associations Anii-Pirac^- Hotline at 1-8 00-3 88-PIR8. 'PCMagasiiu. September 11. 1990 ' ' PC Magaiiiu. September 25. 1990 Vnfalibrki, July 30. 1990 V^Con^uKr Carrrna. .August. 1990 Circle 260 on Reader Service Card NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 213 Northgate Elegance 386733 System... "...combines top performance, good components and aggressive pricing... excellent performer all around." PCMagazine October 31, 1989 /I ward winning 386 / 1 performance! Sizzling IX. Northgate Elegance 386/33 and 386/25 systems both won PC Magazine Editor's Choice awards, been rated #1 and #2 products (respectively) in InfoWorld AND received Computer Shopper^^esx. Buy" recognitions. No other company can make that claim! Here's how we did it! Elegance 386's high performance motherboard is designed and manufactured by Northgate. With a 16Mb 32-bit DRAM capacity, it's consistently rated in the top 1% of performance — at 25 and 33MHz, Elegance 386 is the fastest in its class! Tri-caching started here! Elegance was Northgate's first triple caching machine. It comes with 64K read write-back SRAM cache to accelerate the execution of instructions. And, as your needs increase you can expand Elegance's SRAM to a Northgate exclusive 256K! A 32K hard drive cache controller accelerates I/O transactions while Smartdrive DOS disk caching software increases overall system throughput. 214 BYTE* NOVEMBER 1990 Zip through demanding programs. Multi-stage caching easily handles even a heavy overhead of video programs, I/O intensive tasks, network servers, large data bases and advanced desktop publishing programs. Desktop or tower. . .your choice! Elegance 386 comes standard in our elegant five bay desktop case. Our popular seven bay tower case is also available. Either way, you get plenty of room for all kinds of I/O boards, and internal/external peripherals. Start with our base system! Northgate's base system includes 1Mb of RAM, a 40Mb fast access hard drive, 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44Mb 3.5"floppy drives, a 14"high resolution monochrome monitor and our exclusive OmtiiKey^ I PLUS keyboard. Tell us what you need . . .we'll build your system! Performance options include: hard drive options up to 1.2 gigabytes with 15 ms access; VGA and SVGA color cards and monitors; Intel and Weitek math coprocessors; CD ROM and optical drives; tape backups; printers and a host of others! Or select our Power System with 4Mb of RAM, a 200Mb Maxtor hard drive with 15ms access, 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44Mb 3.5"floppies, a 14" Super VGA color monitor and an OmniKey keyboard. Comes complete with Microsoft® Windows™ 3.0, Samna®Ami™ Professional word processing software, Wingz™ graphics spreadsheet and database software and a mouse. This $1139.00 suggested retail value software is vours at NO EXTRA CHARGE! I Elegance 386 Base System Features: • 25 or 33MHz InteP 80386DX processor • 1Mb of 32-bit RAM (expandable to 8Mb on motherboard; total s\'stem RAM of 16Mb with optional 32-bit memory card) • Proprietary, U.S.-made motherboard • 40Mb fast access hard drive; 16-bit controller with 1:1 interleave; 3 2K disk read-look-ahead cache bulfer • 64K SRAM memory cache; read/ wTite-back caching • High density 1.2Mb 5.25"and 1.44Mb 3.5"floppy drives; also read/write low density disks • Eight expansion slots; one 32-bit slot; six 16-bit and one 8-bit slot • Weitek math coprocessor support • One parallel and two serial ports • Hercules compatible video adapter • Clock/ calendar chip rated at 5 years • 200 watt power supply (220 watt power supply in tower case) • Optional seven bay upright Tower case; room for three exposed and four internal half-height dwices or desktop case with room for three exposed and 2 internal half-height devices • Front mounted reset and high /low speed controls • Exclusive Northgate OmniKey IWHLK keyboard • 14" high resolution monochrome monitor • MS-DOS 4.01 and GW-BASIC software installed • On-line User's Guide to the system and MS-DOS 4.01 • QA Plus Diagnostic and Utility software • 1 year warranty on system parts and labor; 5 years on l?eyboard • FCC Class B Certified Industry's finest 24-hour toll- free technical support! Your Elegance 386 is backed by expert technical support any time you need it. Call toll-free, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. PLUS, free on-site next day service to most locations if we can't solve your problems over the phone. Elegance 386 is backed by a one year warranty on parts and labor; five years on the OmniKey keyboard. If a part fails, well ship a replacement to you overnight at our expense — before you return your part! Use Elegance 386 25 or 33MHz RISK FREE for 30 days! If it fails to meet your expectations, return it. No questions asked. ORDER TODAY! Call toll-free 24 hours every day. 25MHz Base System Model $299900 Power User'sSystemS4699'«' 33MHz Base System Model $349900 Power User's System S5199'"' Delivered to your home or office EASYFINANCESIG: Easy payment options. Use your Northgate Big 'NT, VISA, MasterCard . . .or lease it. Up to five-year terms available. CALL TOLL-FREE 24 HOURS E\ W DAY 800-548-1993 Fax your order. (612) 943-8338 Notice to the Hearing Impaired: Northgate has TDD capability. Dial 800-535-0602. NORTHGATE COMPUTER SYSTEMS 7075 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ©Copj-right Northgate Computer S%-stems, Inc. 1990. rights reserved. Northgate, OimiKey zwA the Northgate "N'" logo arc cc^stercd trademarksof Northgate Computer Systems. 80386 and 80486 are trademarks of Intel. .Ml other products and brand names arc trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective companies. Prices and specifications subject to change without notice. Northgate rcscr\-cs the ci^t to substitute components of equal or greater quality o performance. items subject to a\-ailabilit>'. We support the ethical use of software. To report software copyright violations, call the Software Publishers .Association's .\nti-Piracy Hotline at 1-800-388-PIR8. Circle 261 on Reader Service Card NOVEMBER 1990 -BYTE 215 T~^irst time ever! Now you ri can have Northgate Elegance' X power, speed and performance in our popular space-saving SlimLine case! Elegance 386 computers shocked the industry with a #1 and #2 sweep oi InfoworlcTs 1989 best product awards; AND three Editors' Choice awards from PCMagazine. Cache! Cache! Cache! Like our powerful Elegance systems, SlimLine 386 features 64K SRAM cache to zip through the execution of instructions. For even faster speed, we've added a hard drive cache to make quick work of I/O transactions. To top it off, SlimLine 386 comes with Smartdrive DOS disk caching software that anticipates the information you'll need next and brings it into the cache for fast access. Better features across the board! SlimLines motherboard is highly integrated, allowing maximum system features in the smallest possible space. It includes space for up to 8Mb of 32-bit RAM, one parallel and two serial ports, fully integrated floppy disk controller and IDE hard drive controller. Plus an integrated SVGA with 512K Video RAM to speed up bus throughput — makes the system faster and more reliable! And there is still room for expansion with five open slots. Three speeds! SlimLine 386 comes with your choice of 386DX 25 or 33MHz processors. For faster math-based applications — budgets, forecasts, spreadsheets and databases — all models feature 80387 coprocessor support to allow you to easily add floating point unit (FPU) performance. 216 BYTE" NOVEMBER 1990 33 Cache Systems! M 11 purpose systems! / 1 SlimLine Cache is the J. A perfect net\vork workstation or stand-alone unit for business and home use. It provides excellent support for advanced desktop publishing and graphics. Base system includes 1Mb of RAM (expandable to 8Mb on the motherboard), a 40Mb fast access hard drive, 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44 3.5" floppy drives, a 12" VGA monochrome monitor and our exclusive OmniKey® I PLUS keyboard. You name it, we'll build it! Performance options include hard drives up to our super-fast 15ms 200Mb Maxtor hard drive, monitors and video display cards, math coprocessors, tape backups, printers and a host of other choices. Or select our Power System with 4Mb of RAM, a 200Mb fast access hard drive, 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44Mb 3.5" floppies, a 14" Super VGA color monitor and an OmniKey keyboard. Comes complete with Microsoft® Windows™ 3.0, Samna® Ami™ Professional word processing software, Informix® Wingz™ graphics spreadsheet and database software and a mouse to maximize system performance. This $1139.00 suggested retail value software is yours at NO EXTRA CHARGE! Industry's finest 24-hour toll- free technical support! Your SlimLine 386 Cache is backed by expert technical support any time you need it. Call toll-free, 7 days a week, 24 hours a day. PLUS, free on-site next day service to most locations if we cant solve your problems over the phone. Slimline 386 Base System Features: • 25or33MHzInteP80386DX processor • lMbof32-bitDRAM(expandableto 8Mb on motherboard) • Down-scaled, proprietary', U.S.-made motherboard • 40Mb fast access hard drive; AT bus interface; 1:1 interleave; 32K or 64K look ahead disk caching • 64KSRAM memory cache; read/ write-back caching • Hi_gh density 1.2Mb 5.25"and 1.44Mb 3 . 5"floppy drives; also read/write low density disks • Five open expansion slots; three full length 16-bit and 2 half length 8-bit • 25or33MHz80387orWeitek coprocessor support • One parallel and two serial ports • Built-in 16-bit SVGA with up to 1024 x 768 resolution; 512K video memory • Clock/ calendar chip rated at 5 years • 100 watt power supply • Small footprint SlimLine case with room for two exposed and 1 internal half-height devices • Front mounted reset and high / low- speed controls • Exclusive Northgate OmniKey I PLUS keyboard • 12" VGA monochrome monitor • MS-DOS 4.01 andGW-BASIC software installed • On-line User's Guide to the svstem and MS-DOS 4.01 • QA Plus diagnostic and utility software • Smartdrive caching software • 1 year warranty on system parts and labor; 5 years on keyboard • FCC Class B Certified More great support! Your new SlimLine 386 Cache comes with a one year warranty on parts and labor; five years on the OmniKey keyboard. If a part fails, we'll ship a replacement to you overnight at our expense — before you return your part! Use SlimLine 386 Cache RISK FREE for 30 days! If it fails to meet your expectations, return it. No questions asked! ORDER TODAY! Call toll-free 24 hours every day. 25MHz Base System Model $299900 Power User's System S4499»« 33MHz Base System Model $349900 Power User's System H999'« Delivered to your home or office EASY FINANCING: Easy payment options. Use your Northgate Big X VIS.A. MasterCard . . . or lease it. Up to five-year terms available. CALLTOLL-FREE 24 HOURS EVERYDAY 800-548-1993 Fax your order. (612) 943-8338 Notice to the Hearing Impaired: Northgate has TDD capability. Dial 800-535-0602. NORTHGATE COMPUTER SYSTEMS 7075 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ©Copyright Notthgiic Computer S>-sicms. Inc. 1990. .^1! rights reserved. Northgate. Orwr/A/i. antJ the Northgate 'V logo are registered trademarlcs of Northgate Computer S^tcms, 80386 and 80486 arc ttademarks of Intel. .another products and brand names are trademarlcs and tegisieted ttademarks of their respective companies. Prices and specifications subject to change without notice. Northgate reserves the right to substitute components of equal or greater qualitv- o performance. Alt items subject to availability. We support the ethical use of software. To report softu.afc copyright violations, call the Softvsare Publishers Associations .Ami-Piracy Hotline at 1-80O-388-PIR8. Circle 262 on Reader Service Card NOVEMBER 1990 'BYTE 217 New From Northgate... 20 MHz Rjwered Up yes, we're a bit late to the party with SX systems. How come? We just couldn't bring ourselves to market another ho-hum SX. So we put our research and development team on it. Boy, did they rise to the challenge! Now you can get an SX 16 or 20 MHz machine with the power to run Microsoft® Windows™ and other 32-bit software at flashing cache-enhanced speeds. And, they packaged all this power and performance into our exclusive space-saving case— a favorite of Northgate customers! The secret to SlimLine's space-saving design? A fully integrated motherboard designed and manufactured by Northgate! This design reduces bus load — makes the system faster and more reliable! Motherboard features include a built-in VGA adapter (with 512K Video RAM), parallel and two serial ports, fully integrated floppy disk controller and IDE hard drive controller. Motherboard integration also makes it easier to install modems or add-in cards. Triple cache boosts performance to zero wait state! You get a built-in 64K memory SRAM cache to accelerate the execution of instructions; hard drive caching accelerates I/O transactions; and disk caching soft\vare speeds the movement of data to and from the CPU. 218 BYTE- NOVEMBER 1990 Slimline 386SX 16 Or With 64K Cache! ^^limLine 386SX is perfect for ^ office environments and liome use. It liandies word processing, spreadsiieet, database management and most grapiiics applications witii ease. Slimline 386SX base system includes 1Mb of RAM (expandable to 8Mb) on the motherboard, a 40Mb fast access hard drive, 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44Mb 3.5" floppy drives, and a 12" VGA monochrome monitor. Plus, you get Northgate's award-winning OmniKey'^l 102 keyboard. Or, we'll build your system to your specs! There's room for three half-height devices including floppy drives, hard disk or tape backup. Choose from 80, 100, or our 200Mb hard drive with 15ms access. And, you still have five open expansion slots (3 full-length 16-bit, and 2 half-length 8-bit) for all of your peripherals. Exceptional support! SlimLine 386SX is backed by expert technical support any time you need it. Call toll-free, 7 days a week, 24 hours Slimline 386SX System Features: ■ Clock/calendar chip rated at 5 years 16 or 20MHz Intel® 80386SX processor 1Mb of 32-bit DRAM (expandable to 8Mb on motherboard) Down-scaled, proprietary, U.S.-made motherboard 40Mb hard drive; AT bus interface; 1:1 interleave; DisCache: 64K look ahead disk caching; 19ms access 64K SRAM memon' cache; read/write-back caching High density' 1.2Mb 5.25" and 1.44Mb 3.5" floppy drives; also read/write low density disks Five open expansion slots; three full length 16-bit and nvo half length 8-bit 16 or 20MHz 80387SX or Weitek coprocessor support One parallel and two serial ports Built-in 16-bit SVGA widi up to 1024 x 768 resolution; 512K video memory 100 watt power supply Small footprint SlimLine case with room for x\\o exposed and one internal half-height devices Front mounted system reset and high/low speed controls Exclusive Northgate OmniKeyl 102 ke\'board 12" VGA monochrome monitor MS-DOS 4.01 and GW-MSIC software installed On-line User's Guide to the svstem and MS-DOS 4.01 QA Plus diagnostic and utility software Smartdrive disk caching software 1 year warranty on system parts and labor; 5 years on keyboard FCC Class B Pending a day. PLUS, free on-site next day service to most locations if we can't solve your problems over the phone. Of course, you get a one year warranty on parts and labor; five years on the OmniKey keyboard. If a part fails, we'll ship a replacement to you overnight at our expense before you return your part. Use a SlimLine 386SX RISK FREE for 30 days! If it fails to meet your expectations, return it! Order Today! Call toll-free 24 hours every day. Ask about custom configurations, leasing and financing programs. 16 MHz Base System Model 20 MHz Base System Model 1999 2199 GO 00 Delivered to your home or office. Call for other configurations and pricing. EASY FIN.\NCING: Easy payment options. Use your Northgate Big'N', VISA, MasterCard ... or lease it. Up to five-year terms available. CALL TOLL-FREE 24 HOURS EVERY DAY 800-548-1993 Fax your order. (612) 943-8338 Notice to the Hearing Impaired; Northgate has TDD capability-. Dial 800-535-0602. N0R7WATE COMPUTER SYSTEMS 7075 Flying Cloud Drive, Eden Prairie, MN 55344 ©Copyright Northgate Computer S«teir.s, Inc. 1990. All rights reser%-e