CompuNotes Notes from The Cutting Edge of Personal Computing July 26, 1997 Issue 89 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= To subscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com SUBSCRIBE COMPUNOTES-L FirstName LastName To unsubscribe, send an e-mail to listserv@peach.ease.lsoft.com SIGNOFF COMPUNOTES-L +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= CONTENTS My Notes: 1=> Partition Magic and Beta Testing, mailto:pgrote@i1.net 2=> This Issue's Winner! Reviews: 3=> Product: Special Edition Using Visual J++, book/programming Reviewed By: Doug Reed, mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com 4=> Product: Nitro 3D, hardware/video Reviewed By: Doug Reed, mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com 5=> Product: Interstate 76 by Activision - games/action Reviewed By: Tim Mullenniex, mailto:nrider@eskimo.com 6=> Tempest 2000 by Interplay - games/arcade Reviewed By: Mike Gallo, mailto:gallomike@aol.com 8=> Clickables! --- BEGIN ISSUE 1=> Partition Magic and Beta Testing, mailto:pgrote@i1.net Last issue we brought you a review of Partition Magic. An alert ready responded: "Rev 3.0.249 and earlier had a bug in their handling of NTFS (Windows NT's file system), occasionally resulting in PM's destroying of a partition. Version 3.0.3 and later has it OK. There are still a few copies of 3.0.249 out there on the shelf, PowerQuest will exchange the CD for free. I have a small network at home, Windows NT4 server on a P75, and 4 workstations (P75, 486/66, 386/40 and 286/12) and when I called them up and commented that I'd bought a 3.0.249 a few days earlier and how much would a replacement CD cost? They said "Nothing", asked for my address and _overnighted_ me a new CD. I expected ground-rate UPS, or maybe 2nd class postage... Now that's service!!!" Thanks to the reader for passing that along! Jim Harrer of Mustang Software would like us to let you know: "Internet Message Center (IMC) - A Mail Server designed to manage mail sent to alias names or pools such as webmaster@, info@, sales@ etc. Testers will test the IMC Service, IMC Monitor and IMC Agent. The Service runs on NT and acknowledges messages sent to the pool and assigns a tracking number. The Monitor runs on Win95 and provides managers will real-time statistics and reports delivered in HTML. The Agent (Win95) is used to request the next message out of the pool and route via email to the person answering the message. FileCenter - This product is designed to simplify the sending and receiving of files from an Internet or Intranet Site. For example, a web site may have product demos, update patches, drivers, spreadsheet templates and other files they want to distribute to individuals from their Web Sites. At the same time they may want to be able to receive files from individuals who visit the web site. FileCenter was designed to handle this task easily. If you would like to sign-up for one or both of these programs, please visit http://www.mustang.com/betatest Thank-you, The Mustang Web Essential Team" Why not take some time and help the folks who brought us the Mustang BBS and Qmodem! 2=> Winner! This week's winner: plowboy@BLUE.MISNET.COM 3=> Product: Special Edition Using Visual J++, book/programming Reviewed By: Doug Reed, mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com Requirements: Windows 95/NT, 8 MB RAM, 30MB hard drive space MSRP: $49.99 US/ $70.95 Canada Que's Special Edition: Using Visual J++ is designed to teach the average programmer how to use Visual J++, Microsoft's graphical user interface for creating Java applets and applications. As with most of Que's Special Edition books, it includes a number of enhancements over the original release, in this case including a "Publisher's Edition" of Microsoft's Visual J++. The Publisher's Edition is the same as the Trial Version available on Microsoft's website and is essentially scaled down version of the full program. Special Edition Using Visual J++ is intended for programmers looking to migrate to Java or web site designers looking to add Java applets to their website. The first 13 chapters of the book attempt to teach, in a condensed fashion, how to program in Java. Basic elements of Java programming are separated into separate chapters, like data types, concepts behind object-oriented programming, loops, conditionals, and the standard class packages included with Java. The chapters in Special Edition Using Visual J++ are each written by different authors (although some authors write more than one chapter), which threw me a couple of times with the changing in writing styles. In general the chapters are very well written and anyone except the complete novice would understand. However, chapter 3 (written by Mark Culverhouse, listed as the book's primary author) covering the basics of Java programming like data types is so written in such a manner that only C++ programmers will understand it. The author seems to have taken the approach (as have many former C++ programmers) that in order to program in Java those of us new to Java must first share their pain and learn C++. Sorry folks but it just ain't so! I won't say I'm an expert - far from it, I am only a novice - but I know enough to say that I see no reason why a knowledge of C++ is required. Thankfully the rest of the chapters in this portion of the book do not take this approach, and the section as a whole is fairly nicely done. Beginning with chapter 14 the book switches to the topic of primary interest - how to use Visual J++! This relatively small section covers the basics of Visual J++ - how to install it, how to create sample applets and applications, and how to use AppStudio. Appstudio is the portion of Visual J++ used to create the graphical user interface for your Java applets and applications. Again, this section of the book is very well done, easy to follow, and guides the reader painlessly through the introductory phases of using Visual J++. The final section of the book covers how to program with Visual J++. Chapter 18 covers creating multimedia applications like Slide Show applets and other types of animation. Chapter 19 continues this by covering more advanced topics about graphics, including using image filters and sprites. Chapter 20 covers how to use native methods in your Java programs (true Java programmers would cringe at the thought, since native methods are usually in C and are platform-dependent, which defeats the whole purpose of Java). Debugging is covered in Chapter 21, including a complete discussion of how to use understand debugging with Visual J++. Chapter 22 covers database programming with Java and Visual J++, while chapter 23 covers how Java interacts with ActiveX. ActiveX is Microsoft's set of controls for Internet applications, of course, and includes the Component Object Model. Chapter 23 details how to use Java to call COM objects and the reverse, calling Java with COM objects. Chapter 24 covers how Java interacts with Microsoft's Internet Information Server or any other Web server. Signing Java applets with Authenticode is covered in chapter 25. Digital signing and verification is important for users to be able to download and use Java applets outside of the applet security manager, allowing applets to do things they normally couldn't such as write to a client-side hard drive. Chapter 26 covers how to use ActiveX controls and how to use Java to create an ActiveX control. Finally, chapter 27 covers how to use VBScript and JavaScript (called Jscript by Microsoft) to script ActiveX controls and communicate with Java applets. Special Edition: Using Visual J++ is a tremendous resource, covering not only how to use Visual J++ but how to use it practically to create Java applets and applications of real use to the user. The book makes good use of examples, showing snips of code at some points and then at others using those snips to create full-fledged Java programs. The book is an excellent tutorial for understanding the basics of using Java for interacting with databases and interactions with ActiveX controls. Now that I've used Visual J++ I'm torn - I still like Symantec's Cafe and Visual Cafe Java programming tools, but Visual J++ is a worthy opponent. High marks for Special Edition: Using Visual J++! Que Corporation 201 W. 103rd Street Indianapolis, Indiana 46290 http://www.mpc.com/que Compuserve (type GO QUEBOOKS at any prompt) Installation: N/A User-friendliness: Silver Quality: Gold User: Programmers 4=> Product: Nitro 3D, hardware/video Reviewed By: Doug Reed, mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com Requirements: Pentium, Windows 95, 8 MB RAM, free PCI slot MSRP: $129 (2 MB RAM), $149 (4 MB RAM) Without a doubt, the hottest new trend in computer games is the new 3D graphics cards that promise to add an entire new dimension to gaming. I've played computer games for a long time and I've watched the hardware capabilities grow and grow. Consider this - one of the first games I bought for a computer was Breach, and it featured "stunning" 4 color CGA graphics in 320x200 resolution. Then came EGA, with some 16 colors, then VGA and finally SVGA. With a card like the Nitro 3D, you can play games in 1024x768 resolution with 16 million colors! Yowsa! While my experience with 3D graphics cards is not that extensive, I can tell you that the Nitro 3D offers an amazing improvement over the standard 2D graphics card that comes with most computers. The Nitro 3D like most hardware these days is Plug and Play enabled, and for once it actually worked. You do have to disable/remove your current graphics card, as the Nitro 3D is a complete graphics card, giving you both 2D and 3D graphics on the same card. But once you plug in the new card, all you do is turn the computer back on, insert the floppy at the right time, and that is it. No messing around, no new drivers to have to search for over the Internet, nothing. This is Plug and Play as it was meant to be; Thank you STB! To let you experience the Nitro 3D in all of its glory, no less than 4 full games (no shareware!) are included with the card. All are from Activision, and all of them are hot releases that by themselves more than equal the price for the 4 MB card. What four, you ask? How about Spycraft, last year's most underrated game. Hyperblade, a futuristic sports game. Mechwarrior II: Mercenaries, the sequel to huge hit Mechwarrior II. And finally Interstate 76, the incredibly hot new game that features Mad Max style warfare in 70's muscle cars. No better way to showcase a hot graphics card than with the latest, hottest games, right? Right! The Nitro 3D comes in two flavors, the only difference of which is that one comes with 2 MB of RAM and the other with 4 MB of RAM. It only costs $20 more for the 4 MB model, so I would highly recommend that you just bite the bullet and spend the extra cash. I installed the Nitro 3D while in the middle of reviewing POD. I was about finished with the review, but wanted to play POD one more time before I finished up. I loaded it up and was stunned. POD is a racing game, very simplistic but with incredible background graphics and tracks. The action with the old 2D card was fast but manageable and the graphics were a bit rougher than I had thought they would be. With the Nitro installed the graphics were incredibly smooth and the action went from fast to turbo - I actually had to pick a slower car to be able to handle the speed which the track now moved at. I was hooked! The Nitro 3D handles a lot of very advanced 3D graphics features, including mip- mapping, alpha-transparency, perspective correction, bilinear & trilinear filtering, and fogging. You don't really need to know what all of that means, except that games will look considerably better than they already did. Every game I tried, from Quake to POD and all the others had improved resolution and color as well as frame rate (and as we all know, frame rate is king). Exact details of performance for the Nitro 3D are as follows: 64 bit graphics engine, 2 - 4 MB of high speed (75 MHz) video memory, 170 MHz DAC supporting flicker-free refresh rates up to 160 Hz, DirectX compliant, VESA VBE BIOS, non- interlaced resolutions up to 1600x1200 and up to 16.7 million colors supported. As far as comparisons with other cards, statistics released by STB show it to be considerably faster than the comparable Diamond Stealth 3D 3000 and Matrox Mystique. I can't do the comparison myself, of course, but I can say that my experience with the Nitro 3D are that it is quick to install, easy to use, and offers incredible-looking graphics and very impressive framerates. The Nitro 3D also comes with a number of other utilities and programs including DirectX drivers, ActiveMovie, Simply 3D, and Wirl (a VRML plug-in/ActiveX control for Netscape/Internet Explorer, respectively). Installation includes the STB Vision 95 control panel, which lets you alter the display settings dynamically (no need to reload Windows 95) as well as test refresh rates to select the optimal rate for your system. The Vision 95 control panel runs as a TSR and can be accessed from the System Tray on the Taskbar. You hear this from me a lot but nevertheless I am very impressed with the Nitro 3D. Pricing graphics cards at a local computer shop revealed that among complete 2D/3D cards the Nitro 3D is at the lower end of the price spectrum, all the more impressive considering its performance and software bundle. It certainly provides the needed "nitro" for my computer's graphics engine! STB Systems, Inc. 1651 North Glenville Richardson, TX 75081 214-234-8750 WWW: http://www.stb.com 5=> Product: Interstate 76 by Activision - games/action Reviewed By: Tim Mullenniex, mailto:nrider@eskimo.com Reviewed on: Pentium 133, 32 MB RAM, Windows 95, 12x CD-ROM, 4 meg video card Requires: Pentium 90MHz+, 16Mb RAM (32 recommended), 110Mb disk, Windows95 (only), 256 color VGA, CD-ROM This program has major system requirements, and it definitely needs the Ram and the clock speed. I first installed and played this program on a 486-133 w/20 Megs of Ram. It ran okay but very slowly. The game was sort of fun but frustrating because it was so slow. To really enjoy it, you need a Pentium 90+. Loading the program was easy. Put the install CD in the drive and follow the menu that pops up. It checks your system for requirements so if your system doesn't have the new active X video drivers, it will install them for you. On start up it asks you to put in the other CD that comes with it. This has support files on it and has to be in your CD drive to play the game. I think the game is great but would be improved by better graphics for the terrain and people; this would make it easier to maneuver as well as look more realistic. The best part of the game lies in the detail and choices for the cars. There are all types of cars and weapons one can choose. The game consists of driving around on a course and looking for other cars to blow up. There are practice courses and trips. The practice is called Melee and I had to practice there for a while just to get used to all of the controls. They give you a cheat card to refer to so you know what keys do what. Because of such complexity, it does take a little getting used to; but all of the options are really nice to have. The game can also be played over modem. I don't know if this was a bug in the program or my newly updated machine but for the longest time I couldn't get past scene 6 in the trips. Every time I would beat scene 5, the game would close. This became very frustrating until I finally logged onto the net in search of a patch. I found a 1.8 Meg patch file for the Program on the Internet site, that fixed the problem just fine. Their site also has a FAQ over most of questions one can have and you can e-mail your question straight to their support people. I left them a little note to thank them for the patch file and commenced to the 1/2 hour download. They also have the demo-game to download if you want to spend a day on-line. While I was onsite I read about the servers they have for on-line play through the Internet. Curious to see if it would be fun, I had to try it, and ended up playing until 3 am! It was the BEST on-line fun I've ever had! I played for hours. I was very surprised at how fast everything was. The graphic s are the same as the individual game; the difference being you have real peopl e to kill (so to speak). You can choose your car configuration, leave little m messages that float do. When you die you just hit the spacebar and you're back again with all your ammo, ready to find the guy that killed you. Unless you have hours of free time don't even think about getting on and playing. It is the most addictive action game I have ever played. I would recommend this game to anyone who likes action games. I especially like the fact that the authors fix whatever goes wrong and listen to the users. The credit list is very long on the people that made this game and you can even see a few if you look in the rear mirror on the bus. They all have this funny little smile. Activision PO Box 67713 Los Angeles CA 90067 (310)479-5644 Internet support support@activision.com or http://www.activision.com Ratings: Install/ease of Use: Gold User Friendliness: Gold Quality: Gold Customer Support: Gold End User: Novice to expert, everyone can have fun with this. Demo: The I-76 demo (21 MB) can be downloaded from the following sites: ftp://east.ftp.activision.com/activision/i76/demo/i76.exe ftp://west.ftp.activision.com/activision/i76/demo/i76.exe Patch: A beta patch now exists that adds Direct 3D support for 3dfx-accelerated graphics cards the final version will include support for all 3D cards) ftp://east.ftp.activision.com/activision/i76/patch/i76108.exe ftp://west.ftp.activision.com/activision/i76/patch/i76108.exe 6=> Tempest 2000 by Interplay - games/arcade Reviewed By: Mike Gallo, mailto:gallomike@aol.com Reviewed on: Pentium 100, 1 GB HD, 16 MB RAM 4X CD, SVGA Requires: 486, CD-ROM, Sound Card, SVGA, Windows 95 MSRP: $39.95 One thing I remember fondly from my teenage years was the rise in video arcades. While the video games of the 1980's pale in comparison to the games out there today, there is still something very nostalgic about those games and those times. It was a time when games had a cartoonish quality. A time when a simple blast 'em concept was good enough for a mega hit. One of those games to which I spent a good part of my paper route income on was Atari's Tempest. The game was quite simple. It was based on vector graphics. The game screen was some sort of shape like a square or a triangle that had lines extending inward to form a weird looking tubular web. Upon completion of a level, the game would rush down the tube into space and warp to the next level. I thought that was the coolest thing I had ever seen when I first saw Tempest, and I was hooked. Alas, this is not the 1980's. The formula that worked so successfully back then is just ho-hum now. Tempest 2000 is the PC version of the popular Atari arcade version. The PC version comes with some twists and variations to make the game more interesting. The basic game is not quite the exact replica of the original. The sounds in Tempest 2000 have been altered in an attempt to modernize it. Gone, are the the blippy sounds, zaps, and whistles of bonuses. The original arcade version used a spinning control knob to move the spaceship around on the screen. There was no up or down movement, only movement in some sort of circular pattern. On a PC this movement is replicated with the keyboard. The left arrow moves the ship in a clockwise direction while the right arrow moves the ship counter-clockwise. The problem with this type of movement is that to move quickly you have to hold down the arrow key or try to press it really fast. Neither method is satisfactory. As a matter of fact, I can't remember the last time I even saw some sort of rotary dial type of controller. I wonder if they are even still around. Tempest is Windows 95 compatible so installation was a breeze off of the CD. The program uses DIRECT X drivers. The installation program will automatically load in the drivers if they are not found on your computer. The installation program is smart enough to check the current version of your drivers and ensure that only the most recent version of the drivers are installed. The game comes in three flavors, Tempest Plus, Tempest 2000 and Tempest Duel. Tempest Plus is the closest to the classic arcade version of the game. The game screen looks almost exactly like the arcade version, right down to the colors of the tubes. As players advance to higher levels, different shaped tubes are encountered and the amount of enemies increases in both quantity and lethality. Tempest 2000 is an enhanced version of Tempest. This version adds several more enemy units to the game as well as the addition of player power ups that give players added weapons and maneuverability. This version of the games allows players to jump and move up and down which is a big help because some enemies like the UFOs can only be killed by jumping over them. The extra power ups can give player more powerful lasers and even a helper droid to get through the levels. In the final mode, Tempest Duel, players can play against each other. Each player's has a mirror to deflect the laser shots of their opponents. So not only do you have tankers, spikers, and the rest of the tempest family of foes on your heels, you now have a live human trying to get you as well. In this mode the screen is split into two halves. Each player gets their own half to play on. There's nothing inherently wrong with the program. It worked just fine and its performance on my Pentium 100 was acceptable. It's very simple to play. Blast everything and try not to get killed. The game even has CD-music to liven up the tempo of the game. It's just that no amount of dressing up will help disguise the age of this game. At least some of the other companies that have released games of the genre have included several of them to increase the value of the package. Tempest 2000 comes stand alone with no other games offered. I recommend this game for the CD ten pack. Installation: Gold Usability: Bronze Overall: Bronze Interplay 16815 Von Karman Ave Irvine, CA 92606 Telephone: (714) 553-6678 Email: support@interplay.com http://www.interplay.com 8=> Clickables! None this issue. +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= Managing Editor: Patrick Grote -- mailto:pgrote@i1.net Assistant Editor: Writer Liaison: Doug Reed-- mailto:dr2web@sprynet.com Archives: ftp://ftp.uu.net/published/compunotes/ Website: e-mail: mailto:notes@compunotes.com fax: (314) 909-1662 voice: (314) 909-1662 +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= CompuNotes is: Available weekly via e-mail and on-line. We cover the PC computing world with comprehensive reviews, news, hot web sites, great columns and interviews. We also give away one software package a week to a lucky winner for just reading our fine publication! Never dull, sometimes tardy, we are here to bring you the computing world the way it is! Please tell every on-line friend about us! CompuNotes B440 1315 Woodgate Drive St. Louis, MO 63122 notes@compunotes.com (C)1997 Patrick Grote +=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+= END OF ISSUE Patrick Grote, pgrote@i1.net Publisher of CompuNotes, subscribe free, http://www.compunotes.com/main.html Life is a self-fulfilling prophecy -- Are you a doer or a watcher? .