Updates from last month's column:

SmartBar, which was reviewed in part 4 of Gary Granat's "Seeking Ways to Get Rid of System Bloat," has a new home page location. Go to http://www.os2world.com/os2place/smartbar/indexe.html. SmartBar itself is still at version 3.1 as of 07/31/2000.

The program UpdCD (a.k.a. cdupd) is now at version 1.2 as of 12/14/2000. It now has a PM interface, plus support for XFree86, compression of files on the installation disks, and installation scripts for LVM, JFS, and OS/2 Commander. Also the Danis IDE driver was added and a Java 1.3 installation problem with the licensing key was fixed. With UpdCD you can incorporate public FixPaks and other components into your Warp 4 or Warp Server for e-Business install CD. This allows you to install a Y2K-compliant Warp 4 or Warp Server for e-Business on systems with large hard disks right from this CD. Look for UPDCD12.ZIP on Hobbes, or go to http://xenia.sote.hu/~kadzsol/rexx/sajat/updcd.htm.

Ray Gwinn has resumed work on the beta of SIO version 2. The beta is now at level 15b as of 12/30/2000. Go to http://www.gwinn.com/. The GA version of SIO is at version 1.60d (as of 03/17/1997).

GSView, the PM front-end for GhostScript, has been updated to version 3.6 as of 12/29/2000. Go to http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/. Also, Ghostscript version 6.5 was released as of 12/05/2000. Go to http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/aladdin/. More info on GSView and Ghostscript is at http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/.

PMView 2000, the indispensable graphics viewer, has been updated to version 2.14 as of 12/07/2000. Some minor bug fixes are incorporated. Go to http://www.pmview.com/.

Polarbar Mailer version 1.19 has been released. This e-mail program came from the source code release of JStreet Mailer. Go to http://www.polarbar.org/.

Daniela Engert has released Danis506 version 1.3.7 as of 12/23/2000. Use search key danis on Hobbes.

Matrox has released as of 12/08/2000 version 2.50 of their video card BIOS updates. This supports all cards from the Millenium to the G450, although according to Steve Wendt, some have had problems with this version, especially with G200 series cards. Use search key matrox on Hobbes. The older version 2.36 driver is available at http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/files/os2_236.cfm.

SoX (Sound eXchange) version 12.17.1 is available as of 12/06/2000. It translates sound samples between different file formats, and optionally applies various sound effects. It is intended to be the Swiss Army knife of sound processing tools. Use search key sox on Hobbes.

GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program), billed as THE PhotoShop for Linux, is now at version 1.1.30 (test version) as of 12/18/2000 for use under XFree86/OS2. Go to http://birdy.hpage.net/. The stable version 1.0.2 is available at http://www.netlabs.org/gimp/.

NewView version 1.27.1 has been released as of 12/20/2000. It is a re-write 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.

This month's new listings - Drivers:

SciTech Display Doctor beta 36 was released as of 12/04/2000. Changes are: some fixes from beta 35, support for Matrox G450, GeForce 2, etc. Go to ftp://ftp.scitechsoft.com/sdd/beta/os2/. The list of changes are at http://www.scitechsoft.com/sdd2_changes.txt; the main SciTech page is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/sdd2_os2.html.

There is a beta of ASPIROUT.SYS which is needed for some of the free CD recording utilities. It is at version 1.1 beta 3. Go to http://home.clara.net/orac/files/os2/aspirb3.zip.

Compart has updated as of 12/05/2000 their scanner drivers. Go to http://www.compart.net. Note that you must register prior to download (and enable cookies on Netscape). It supports scanners from Agfa, Epson, Escom, HP, Fujitsu, Microtek, Mustek, Canon, Ricoh, IBM, Bell & Howell, and C.T.S.

VIA has released drivers for their AC97 audio chipset, which is integrated into the popular VT82C686A chipset that comes on many motherboards. Go to http://www.via.com.tw/drivers/68MU111B.EXE (a self-extracting executable).

IBM has updated the video drivers for the Thinkpad T20/T21 series to version 7.00.24. Go to http://www.pc.ibm.com/qtechinfo/MIGR-4KP37K.html.

IBM has updated the drivers for the Epson Stylus series of printers as of 11/13/2000. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2ddpak/html/printers/epsoname/.

A generic Win-OS/2 sound driver that should work with any sound card is now available. It supports Wave-in, Wave-out, and MIDI playback; MIDI-in support is being worked on. Go to http://home.wanadoo.nl/~rwklein/.

SENFORCE version 0.0.02 has been release as of 12/21/2000. This is a small filter GRADD driver that can intercept GHI (Graphics Hardware Interface) primitive commands to enforce software simulation. Potentially, this could improve GRADD-based grpahics performance. Go to http://hp.vector.co.jp/authors/VA001398/index.html#soft_senforce.

LSI Logic (Symbios) has updated the drivers for their SYM896 chipsets including their U2/U3 drivers as of 12/06/2000. Go to ftp://ftp.lsil.com/pub/symchips/scsi/drivers/OS2_Driver/Driver/SYM896/.

This month's new listings - Applications:

For those of you who like to play with alpha/beta versions of software, IBM has released as of 12/19/2000 a new build of Mozilla M18 (the successor to Netscape 4.61). Go to ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/warpzilla/. Also, if you have not installed Mozilla previously, you will need to download, unzip, and install the contents of mozilla-os2-installer-M18.zip as well.

There is now also an XFree86/OS2 version of WarpZilla available as of 12/22/2000. Use search key XWarpzilla on Hobbes.

IBM has released fixes for Warp Server and Warp Server for e-Business as of 12/11/2000. If you have the older Warp Server, go to ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/lan/fixes/lsv5.0_uni-smp/english-us/ip08532/. If you have the newer Warp Server for e-Business, go to ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/ps/products/lan/fixes/warp_srv_e-bus/english-us/ip08603/.

ISOMPEG4 is apparently a MPEG4 video encoder/decoder. However, according to a post on WarpCast, it's not a "complete" end-usable product at this time. It appears to the author of the post that the program will spit out separate YUVA (whatever that means) bitstream files, which will still need to be converted into something viewable. As the author of the post says, you'll have to download it and play with it yourself. Look for ISOMPEG4.ZIP on Hobbes. For the text of the WarpCast post, go to http://www.egroups.com/message/warpcast/311.

Henk Kelder, who wrote the FAT32 IFS (installable file system), has a new version (0.94 as of 12/11/2000) that solves the problems with CHKDSK and FixPak 14. Go to http://www.chello.nl/~henk.kelder.

Program Commander/2 version 2.20 is now available as of 12/01/2000. Go to http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/7885/. Basically it is a WPS enhancement (or replacement), with some of its' features being virtual desktops and Win9x key support. However, when I tried version 2.10, I was unable to figure out how to actually use the virtual desktop feature, even after consulting the help. For more information, see the WarpCast post at http://www.egroups.com/message/warpcast/313.

MR-FILE PM apparently was updated recently to version 5.4d on 11/13/2000. Look for MRFIL54D.ZIP on Hobbes. Judging from the name, it appears to be a file manager. This is an IBM EWS (employee-written software) program that has been updated for Y2K, among other new features. For more info, go to http://www.egroups.com/message/warpcast/315.

An alpha version of gphoto2 was released on 12/01/2000. It now supports 91 cameras; check the list to see if yours' is on it. Go to ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/gphoto/; the list of supported cameras is at ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/gphoto/list.

Ceres Sound Studio, a sound editing program, is available at Hobbes. Look for ceressoundstudio.zip.

PlayRec version 0.14 is available. It is a command-line player and recorder for very large wave files. Look for playrec014.zip on Hobbes.

C-Side version 3.07 is now available as of 12/16/2000. It is a CD label and cover designer, with a multitude of functions, with more to come. Go to http://inet.uni2.dk/~kimfoder/C-SIDE.HTM.

CoolFM version 1.0 is now available as of 12/15/2000. It is a powerful FM radio tuner control program, compatible with most popular FM tuners. Go to http://os2.ru/projects/coolfm/.

cdrecord version 1.10a09 is now available as of 12/15/2000. This has the capability of burning single-session, multi-session, or audio CD's. Use search key cdrec on Hobbes.

ProNews/2 newsreader is now at version 1.51 beta 4 as of 12/14/2000. As the name implies, it is a newsgroups reader. Use search key pn2 on Hobbes.

Tame/2 version 0.90 has been released as of 12/10/2000. It is another front-end for SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) which supports additional options, has a preview window, on-the-fly conversion to BMP, user presets, and more. Go to http://redrival.com/os2util/tame.htm.

POSIX/2 alpha 3 has been released as of 12/28/2000. This adds BSD interface additions to EMX, to give OS/2 a complete POSIX / Single Unix Specification environment. This should make porting Unix applications easier. Use search key p2alpha on Hobbes.

LBMix version 0.06a has been released as of 12/28/2000. It is a universal sound mixer for cards with the IOCTL90 API. Go to http://www.podolsk.ru/~boga/OS2Programs.html.

CSD 18 for the Graham Utilities for OS/2 v2.0 is now available as of 12/24/2000. This takes it to version 2.10.8. Go to http://www.warpspeed.com.au/u-warp.htm.

ZOC version 3.16 has been released as of 12/20/2000. It is an award-winning telnet, secure shell (SSH), rlogin, modem and ISDN communications program. Go to http://www.emtec.com/zoc/.

Audio/Data-CD-Creator version 0.43 is available as of 12/10/2000. It is a folder class for the WPS which works as a front-end for cdrecord/2 for creating audio and data CD's. Just put wave files or data into this folder and press "write." Arbitrary ordering of files is possible via drag-and-drop. Go to http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Sector/5785/creator/creatormain.htm.

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.