Updates from last month's column:

The WarpZilla team has released as of 11/27/2001 WarpZilla version 0.9.6. This is an update to WarpZilla 0.9.2 that Dave Watson demoed at the July 2001 SCOUG general meeting, and now has DDE support. Go to ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/releases/mozilla0.9.6/. The file is mozilla-os2-vacpp-0.9.6.zip.

Some codecs for the Warpvision AVI player have been uploaded to Hobbes as of 11/01/2001. These enable the playing of the vast majority of AVI's, including Indeo, Cinepac, and MP4. Use search key wviscdc.

DFSee, which was demoed at the June 2001 SCOUG meeting, has been updated to version 4.09 as of 11/08/2001. It is an FDISK, display, analysis and recovery tool for disks and filesystems. Tony Butka just wrote a tutorial for it. It now includes some JFS and LVM support. Go to http://www.fsys.demon.nl/dfsee.htm. NOTE: DFSee is now shareware.

The ThirdEye REXX interface and NetDrive plugin have been updated as of 10/30/2001 to version 1.51. It has support for Fuji, Canon, and Kodak 3200 cameras. This allows you to browse the pictures in your digital camera with your favorite filemanager or the WPS. Go to http://ecomstation.ru/thirdeye/.

SIO version 2.01a is now available as of 11/06/2001. This is a replacement for the COM.SYS/VCOM.SYS drivers that come with OS/2. Go to http://www.gwinn.com/.

Lynx version 2.85dev4 has been released as of 11/08/2001. This is a text-mode WWW browser that was reviewed recently by Dallas Legan. Use search key lynx on Hobbes.

Various versions of UPS Monitor were released as of 11/11/2001. Go to http://home.att.net/~ASchw/upsmonitor.html to see if your UPS is supported, and if so, to download.

A software kit for integrating PMMail with Netscape has been released as of 11/06/2001 to version 0.0.5. This causes PMMail to be invoked instead of Netscape Messenger when a "mailto:" link is pressed, or other instances when mail is used. Go to http://www.geocities.com/glassman_ru/software/english/pmmail.html.

UpdCD version 1.8 has been released as of 11/20/2001. This is a tool to update the base Warp 4 or Warp Server for e-Business installation files with FixPaks, and supports the creation of updated installation diskettes. You can use the updated OS/2 image in combination with the updated install diskettes to create new installations of OS/2 which already incorporate the FixPaks and other software. Go to http://xenia.sote.hu/~kadzsol/rexx/sajat/updcd.htm, or look for updcd18.zip on Hobbes. This version supports ACP1 (Convenience Pack for Warp Server for e-Business plus FixPak 1) and RSJ CD Writer, among other enhancements.

The "in-development" version of Apache 2.0.28 has been released as of 11/16/2001, for those who want to try out the new features. It offers big performance improvements due to multi-threading and elimination of some emx dependencies. Go to http://silk.apana.org.au/apache/apache_v2.shtml.

There are some alternative versions of GhostScript; one version adds XFree86/OS2 support (released on 11/11/2001). The other has enhanced HP DeskJet support for the HP 670, 690, 850, 855, 870, 1100, 890, and 1600. This version was released on 10/28/2001. For the XFree86/OS2 version, go to http://home.t-online.de/home/michael.holzapfel/os2/gsx/; for the enhanced HP DeskJet version, go to http://hvhagen.bei.t-online.de/hp-e.htm.

Guiffy version 3.5 has been released as of 11/23/2001. It is a file compare / merge (diff-like) tool with a GUI implemented in Java. Go to http://www.guiffy.com/. NOTE: The author is based in Southern California (Escondido).

XSane version 0.81 has been released as of 11/23/2001. This is a front-end for SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) that requires XFree86/OS2. Go to http://home.tiscalinet.de/fbakan/xsane-os2.htm.

GSView version 4.1 has been released as of 11/23/2001. It is a PM front-end for GhostScript, as demoed by Tony Butka at the July 2001 General Interest Group. Some minor enhancements and fixes are incorporated. Go to http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/get41.htm.

This month's new listings - Drivers:

SciTech Display Doctor beta 44 has been released as of 11/16/2001. his update includes some new screen pages; see the changes list at http://www.scitechsoft.com/sdd2_changes.txt. More info is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/sdd_os2.html; the download link is at ftp://ftp.scitechsoft.com/sdd/beta/os2/.

The IBM version of SciTech Display Doctor has been released as of 11/08/2001. However, you must have a current Software Choice subscription to download. This is a subset of the full SciTech Display Doctor beta 43. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/sddse707.exe.

3Com has updated as of 10/29/2001 the drivers for the 3C90x 10Mbps and 10/100 Mbps PCI family of network cards to version 5.2.4. Go to ftp://ftp.3com.com/pub/NIC/3c90x/3c90x2.exe (a self-extracting executable).

Drivers for the Intel EtherExpress (Pro/100) Ethernet cards have been updated to version 4.27 as of 11/16/2001. Use search key intelnic on Hobbes.

Some infrared drivers and tools for IBM Thinkpads 600, 770, and newer series are now available as of 11/07/2001. It includes IrCOMM support for most current Thinkpads, a Ringtone Manager, and a Phonebook Manager for GSM phones attached through the IrDA port. Use search key irdd on Hobbes. NOTE: It apparently needs WarpIn to install.

VIA has released version 2.10B of their OS/2 sound drivers for their AC97 audio chipset, which is integrated into many motherboards. Go to http://downloads.viaarena.com/drivers/audio/68mu210b.zip.

The Sound Blaster Live! driver is now at version 0.81 as of 11/26/2001. NOTE: It is still a beta version. Look for sbliveos2-081b.zip on Hobbes.

IBM has updated as of 11/20/2001 COM.SYS to version 1.2; it has PCI support and support for up to 16 COM ports. Go to http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/2bcprod.nsf/Driver+Profile+Web/COM16.EXE?OpenDocument.

IBM has updated the drivers for Adaptec 29160N and 32-bit PCI-to-Ultra 160 SCSI (OEM) cards. This fixes a problem with long CHKDSK times during bootup. Go to http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/2bcprod.nsf/Driver+Profile+Web/7800fam.exe?OpenDocument.

An updated version of the ASPIROUT.SYS driver (version 1.1 beta 5) has been released as of 11/16/2001. It is used by some of the free CD recording utilities. Go to http://home.clara.net/orac/files/os2/.

An updated version of the joystick driver GAMEDD.SYS has been released as of 11/20/2001. Use search key gamedd on Hobbes.

Xmouse version 0.2 was released on 11/10/2001. It is intended to replace the MOUSE.SYS driver as included in the SCROLLMS.EXE package, and also fixes a bug with 3-button mice (no wheel) that IBM's driver has had. It supports the Intellimouse Explorer, and 3 Logitech models: MouseMan, M-BJ58 Optical Scroll Mouse, and M-RG45 Cordless Wheel Mouse. Go to http://cyberia.dnsalias.com/Gfd.Sys.Drv.Htm.

Amouse version 2.0 beta was released on 11/01/2001. This is a scroll mouse driver that works better on some wheel mice than IBM's driver. Go to http://home.t-online.de/home/klaus.breining/sw_ms2en.htm.

DSKSLEEP.FLT version 0.98 was released on 11/27/2001. This is a filter driver to stop your SCSI disks when they haven't been accessed for some time. Timeout selection per disk, IOCTL interface, and APM support are included. Look for dsksl098.zip on Hobbes.

This month's new listings - Applications:

NewView version 1.33.0 has been released as of 11/11/2001. It is a rewrite of VIEW.EXE that comes with OS/2. It reads .INF and .HLP files. Improvements include a new user interface, remember size/position, select and copy from the window, and more. Use search key newview on Hobbes.

HyperText/2 version 1.01 was released as of 10/29/2001. This package allows you to easily create .INF files with only a handful of commands. Use search key htext on Hobbes.

There are some new patches to allow some DOS games to run under OS/2, all available on Hobbes.

• GoSierra version 2 as of 10/25/2001 allows old Sierra/Dynamix games to work using SoundBlaster sound; use search key GoSierra.
• The "Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes" patch (as of 10/28/2001) allows that game to run with sound; use search key holmesfix.
• The Mortal Kombat patch (as of 11/02/2001) allows that game to run with sound; use search key mortalfx.
• IDPATCHR (as of 11/07/2001) allows Doom, Doom2, Heretic, Hexen, & Strife to work using SoundBlaster sound; use search key idpatchr.
• The Syndicate Wars patch (as of 11/09/2001) allows that game to run with sound; use search key syndwfix.

An OS/2 port of cdrdao version 1.1.6-pre1-fix1 has been released as of 11/29/2001. It is a free CD-R/RW writing program for Disk At Once mode. Use search key cdrdao on Hobbes. Note:
1) This works only with Aspirout 1.1b5 (see ASPIROUT.SYS in the Drivers section).
2) This does not require the EMX runtime libraries.

CDR/RW Wizard version 1.0 beta 3 was released on 11/18/2001. It is a GUI wizard interface to CDRecord/2 to burn CD-R/CD-RW (data, audio, etc.). It now features BootWizard for creating bootable CD's, and CDRDAO/2. Go to http://web.tiscali.it/foros2/.

Dialog Enhancer, which was part of Gary Granat's series on "Seeking Ways to Get Rid of System Bloat" last year, has been updated to version 7.00b as of 10/24/2001. It provides a simple but highly effective update to your desktop and 3rd-party applications by neatly re-sizing dialogs, adding new icons, and changing the font used to WarpSans. This version includes MouseSmart, which offers improved configuration of mouse speed and acceleration on the desktop, vastly improved support for OS/2 networking, and many other fixes and tweaks. Go to http://www.dialogenhancer.com/.

The FreeJFS OpenJFS Utilities version 1.1 was released on 10/17/2001. This is a freeware version of IBM's Journaled File System (JFS) based on the open-source OpenJFS for Linux. (Version 2.0 is expected in the near future). Go to http://os2.ru/projects/freejfs/.

WarpGoGo version 0.99b was released as of 11/08/2001. It is an MP3 encoder. Go to http://www.os2.cz/ed2/. NOTE: The web page is in Russian, but the program is in English.

WarpMedia beta 8 has been released as of 11/05/2001. This is a PM-based media player that can play MPEG-1 audio/video, DivX audio/video, and MP3 audio. It is capable of displaying video in a PM window, in fullscreen mode, or using TV-out. It also features skin support and an xCenter plugin. Go to ftp://sdg.os2.nu/pub/warpmedia/testcase/. Info is at http://www.sdg.os2.nu/warpmedia.html.

WarpVision version 0.0.12 has been released as of 11/21/2001. It is a player for DivX3/DivX4 format video streams, with MP3/AC3 audio. Use search key warpvis on Hobbes. More info is at http://os2.ru/projects/video/warpvision.phtml.en.

Tonigy version 1.5 has been released as of 11/27/2001. It is an IFS (Installable File System) that maps tracks of CD-I, VideoCD and audio CD into .WAV and .MPG files Use it to access tracks like ordinary files. Some bug fixes are incorporated into this version. Go to http://www.tonigy.com; the program is available as a WarpIN archive or a regular ZIP file.

Lotus has released Domino Server updates for OS/2, to versions 4.6.7a and 5.0.8. Go to http://www.notes.net/qmrdown.nsf/QMRWelcome.

DeNEF, a utility for decoding "NEF" files (the raw image files from the Nikon D1 camera) has been released as of 10/31/2001. Use search key denef on Hobbes.

Maul Publisher version 2.0 has been released as of 11/09/2001. It is "the world's first professional desktop publisher for OS/2". Go to http://www.manglais.com/ for download and more info.

eBayWatch/2 version 1.09b beta is now available. As the name implies, it is an eBay auction management tool. Go to http://www.eclipse.net/~knkrchnr/.

IBM Japan has evaluation versions of Desktop On-Call version 5 as of 11/21/2001. (An older version is included with eComStation). Go to ftp://ftp.jp.ibm.com/pub/pspj/dtoc/eval5e/DTOCV5E2.EXE.

PMView version 2.31 was released as of 11/23/2001. It is an indispensable graphics viewer, now with support for animated GIF's and minor bug fixes. Go to http://www.pmview.com.

Editorial Note: Special thanks to SCOUG's Dallas Legan for writing a handy REXX script to convert URLs in a text file into HTML tags. It's much appreciated!

SCOUG, Warp Expo West, and Warpfest are trademarks of the Southern California OS/2 User Group. OS/2, Workplace Shell, and IBM are registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners.