Updates from last month's column:

The WarpZilla team has released as of 12/22/2001 WarpZilla version 0.9.7. 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/mozilla0.9.7/. The file is mozilla-os2-vacpp-0.9.7.zip.

DFSee, which was demoed at the June 2001 SCOUG meeting, has been updated to version 4.11 as of 12/26/2001. It is an FDISK, display, analysis and recovery tool for disks, and filesystems and now includes some JFS and LVM support. Go to http://www.fsys.demon.nl/dfsee.htm. NOTE: DFSee is now shareware. For information on using DFSee, take a look at the tutorial written by Tony Butka.

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

Lynx version 2.85dev5b has been released as of 12/18/2001. This is a text-mode WWW browser that was reviewed recently by Dallas Legan. Use search key lynx on Hobbes.

Maul Publisher version 2.03 has been released as of 12/05/2001. It claims to be "the world's first professional desktop publisher for OS/2" (though others might disagree). Go to http://www.manglais.com/ for download and more info.

SIO version 2.02 is now available as of 12/12/2001. This is a replacement for the COM.SYS/VCOM.SYS drivers that come with OS/2. Go to http://www.gwinn.com/.

CDR/RW Wizard version 1.0 beta 5 was released on 12/19/2001. 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://www.quasarbbs.net/rocco/.

Amouse version 2.0 beta has been updated as of 12/22/2001. It is a scroll mouse device driver that works better on some wheel mice than IBM's driver. There is also a widget for XCenter available now. Go to http://home.t-online.de/home/klaus.breining/sw_ms2en.htm.

Xmouse version 0.5 was released on 12/29/2001. 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. It also enhances the detection fallback routine, in that it attempts to fallback as an intellimouse or intellimouse explorer before going down to a plain two-button mouse, if the mouse seems to support one of those two protocols. Go to http://lafaix.online.fr/tmp/xmouse.zip.

HyperText/2 version 1.02 was released as of 12/18/2001. This package allows you to easily create .INF files with only a handful of commands. Use search key htext on Hobbes.

UpdCD version 1.81 has been released as of 11/27/2001. 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. The version 1.81 update is applied on top of version 1.8 (instead of a full installation). Also: if you are a member of the UpdCD discussion group, you can download version 1.99, which has early eComStation support.

Various versions of UPS Monitor were released as of 12/27/2001. Go to http://home.att.net/~ASchw/upsmonitor.html to see if your UPS is supported, and if so, to download. Or, you can use search key upsmon on Hobbes.

This month's new listings - Drivers:

A test release of DaniN512.FLT is now available (written by Daniela Engert). This filter driver allows removable media with large sectors (1024 & 2048 bytes/sector) to work with other drivers which only support 512-byte sectors. Go to http://cyberia.dnsalias.com/Gfd.Sys.Disk.htm; there is a wealth of other drivers available here.

IBM has updated the BIOS for the new Thinkpad T23 as of 11/28/2001. One of the fixes is that the Netfinity utility previously was not working under OS/2. Go to ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/mobiles/spsd1a47.exe.

IBM has updated the BIOS for the Thinkpad T22 as of 12/15/2001. One of the fixes is that the Netfinity utility previously was not working under OS/2. Go to ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/mobiles/spsd1628.exe.

IBM has updated the BIOS Embedded Controller Program for the new Thinkpad T23 series as of 11/27/2001. Go to ftp://ftp.pc.ibm.com/pub/pccbbs/mobiles/embc1d19.exe.

IBM has updated the PC Card 5.0 (Cardbus) support for Thinkpads as of 12/18/2001. HOWEVER: You must be a current subscriber to Software Choice to download. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/cardbus.exe.

IBM has updated the IrDA (infrared stack) support for Thinkpads as of 12/18/2001. HOWEVER: You must be a current subscriber to Software Choice to download. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/irda.exe.

IBM has updated the driver for CD-RW, DVD-ROM, and DVD-RAM file system support to version 1.5 as of 12/18/2001. HOWEVER: You must be a current subscriber to Software Choice to download. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/udf.exe.

IBM has updated the driver for Canon Bubble Jet color printers as of 12/20/2001. Go to http://www7.software.ibm.com/2bcprod.nsf/Driver+Profile+Web/canonos2.exe?OpenDocument.

IBM has updated the driver for the Ensoniq ES1371 PCI sound card as of 12/13/2001. Go to http://www7.software.ibm.com/2bcprod.nsf/Driver+Profile+Web/ENSONIQ.EXE?OpenDocument.

Oliver Stein has updated the IrDA device drivers and applications for Thinkpads as of 11/09/2001. Look for irdd2.wpi on Hobbes; it requires WarpIn to install.

A driver for the C-Media 8738 audio chip has been released as of 12/10/2001. Look for cmedia016.zip on Hobbes. NOTE: This is considered a beta version.

A port of the Linux BTTV driver (for BT8X8 TV cards) has been released as of 12/23/2001. Go to http://www.nord-com.net/s.milcke/bttv_en.htm.

Matrox has released as of 12/03/2001 version 2.54 of their video card BIOS updates for the G200, G400, G450, and G550 series. Go to http://www.matrox.com/mga/support/drivers/bios/home2.cfm.

The Network Interface Card Pak (NICPak) has been updated as of 11/22/2001. This is a collection of various NIC drivers and a tool for detecting and installing them. Go to http://pws.prserv.net/mckinnis/nicpak/.

This month's new listings - Applications:

IBM has released fixes for Java 1.1.8 as of 12/28/2001. You need to have Java 1.1.8 installed prior to applying the update. Go to ftp://ps.software.ibm.com/software/java/fixes/os2/11/118/.

Opera/2 version 5.12 beta 2 was released as of 12/18/2001. This was demonstrated by Dave Watson at the July 2001 SCOUG general meeting and he wrote a quick look as part of SCOUG's overview of OS/2 browsers. Go to http://www.opera.com/download/get.pl?id=226 to download; info is at http://www.opera.com/os2/. This version no longer needs Odin as it includes the necessary components already; however, it does require WarpIn to install. It supports running OS/2 and Win32 plugins, printing, Java 1.3, drag-and-drop, and instant messaging.

LBMix version 0.08 was released as of 12/02/2001. It is a universal mixer for IOCTL90 mixer API implemented in Crystal Semiconductor drivers and Soundblaster Live! beta drivers. It should work with any audio driver implementing this API as well. It also supports pipe mixer API - the easiest way to create your own mixer. Go to http://users.podolsk.ru/boga/OS2Programs.html.

TiMidity version 2.10.4 has been released as of 12/13/2001. It plays MIDI and Module (.MOD) files via software, instead of relying on your sound card's capabilities. There is also an MCD version that installs as part of OS/2 Multimedia. Go to http://www.reamined.on.ca/doconnor/timidity.html.

SNES9x, the Super Nintendo emulator that Jerry Rash demoed at the March 2001 SCOUG general meeting, is now at version 1.39 release 11 as of 12/02/2001. It supports windowed graphics using DIVE, full-screen graphics using MGL, stereo sound using DART, joystick support, NVRAM saving for saved games, capturing screenshots, and fast and accurate emulation. Go to http://emuos2.netlabs.org.

LEECHMP3 version 3.70 has been released as of 12/19/2001. It is a utility to create MP3 files from audio CD's. It uses Leech or Tonigy as a CD-grabber, and LAME as the MP3 encoder. The programs are run simultaneously to reduce encoding time, and it has CDDB access to retrieve track titles. Use search key leechmp3 on Hobbes. NOTE: It requires WarpIn to install.

CDDBMMCD version 0.34 has been released. This is a utility to update the MMPM CD player title database via a CDDB database. Go to http://www.maazl.de/project/cddbmmcd/index.html, or use search key cddbmmcd on Hobbes.

LAME version 3.90.2 was released on 12/27/2001. It is a fast and very high quality MP3 encoder, and includes a graphical frame analyzer. Use search key lame on Hobbes. NOTE: It requires the EMX runtime.

TRK2ISO was released as of 11/30/2001. It is a utility to convert .TRK files created by RSJ CD-Writer to ISO images. Look for trk2iso.zip on Hobbes.

Odin Bug Report Generator, which was part of Steven Levine's Odin presentation at the Aug. 2001 SCOUG general meeting, has been updated to version 0.5.5 as of 12/18/2001. Use search key odinbug on Hobbes. Note: it requires WarpIn to install; also full source is available.

z! has been updated as of 12/08/2001. It is a text-mode MP3 player that can handle streaming audio (Shoutcast). Go to http://dink.org/z/index.htm.

A fix for InJoy has been released as of 12/10/2001. It fixes a problem where under certain conditions it causes a delay in connecting to a PPPoE server. Look for kip.zip on Hobbes.

cdrecord version 1.11a12 has been released as of 12/12/2001. It can burn single-session, multi-session, or audio CD's. Use search key cdrtools on Hobbes.

The final two patches for VisPro/Rexx 3.01 were released on 12/19/2001. Look for vprpatch.zip on Hobbes.

Cinema/2 version 0.3.0 has been released as of 12/23/2001. It is a TV tuner application for the WinCast TV cards. Go to http://www.ctlab.de/index.html.en.

StTV version 0.02 has been released as of 12/20/2001. It is a TV application for Hauppage WinTV/PCI cards, which uses the wcast driver from Abbotsbury. Go to http://www.nord-com.net/s.milcke/sttv_en.htm.

StHWMon version 0.17B has been updated as of 12/20/2001. It is a temperature/fan/voltage monitor for motherboards with the VIA_82C686 chip. It can shut down OS/2 and do an APM power-off if a failure occurs. Go to http://www.nord-com.net/s.milcke/hwmon_en.htm. NOTE: It requires WarpIn to install.

ZOC version 4.04 has been released as of 12/22/2001. It is an award-winning telnet, secure shell (SSH), rlogin, modem, and ISDN communications program. Go to http://www.emtec.com/download.html#zocfiles. There are German and Windows versions available as well.

Audio/Data-CD-Creator version 0.50 has been released as of 12/23/2001. 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 wavefiles or data into this folder and press "write". Arbitrary ordering of files is possible via drag-and-drop. Go to http://www.os2world.com/cdwriting/creator/creatormain.htm.

McAfee has updated the scanning engine for VirusScan for OS/2 to version 4160 as of 12/20/2001. Go to http://www.nai.com/naicommon/download/dats/find.asp; you will also find updated virus signatures here (the virus signatures are typically updated once a week, usually on Wednesdays).

Python version 2.2 has been ported to OS/2 as of 12/21/2001. It was compared to REXX by Sheridan George at the December 2001 SCOUG general meeting, and is a programming language that comes from the Unix world. Go to http://www.pcug.org.au/~andymac/python.html.

MR/2 ICE has been updated as of 12/12/2001 to version 2.30a. It is an e-mail and news reader program. Go to http://nick.secant.com/mr2ice.htm.

JunkBuster version 2.9.10 alpha has been released as of 12/05/2001. This program blocks ads and cookies while you are browsing the Web. It was reviewed in the August 2001 OS/2 For You. Go to http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=11118.

WarpZip version 3.5 has been released as of 12/28/2001. Go to http://www.pillarsoft.net/warpzip.html. NOTE: It is shareware and can be registered at this location or at BMT Micro.

The Enhanced E Editor version 2.6 has been released as of 12/28/2001. As the name implies, it is a replacement for the standard E.EXE that comes with OS/2. Go to http://www.pillarsoft.net/enhanced.html. NOTE: It is shareware and can be registered at this location or at BMT Micro.

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!

Copyright 2002 the Southern California OS/2 User Group. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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.