Updates from last month's column:

The WarpZilla team has released Mozilla 1.5b as of 08/29/2003. This is an update to Mozilla 1.1 or 1.2a that was demoed by Steven Levine at the Sept. 2002 SCOUG general meeting, and was mentioned in the May 2002 Mr. Know-It-All. Go to ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.5b/. The file is mozilla-os2-1.5b.zip (you must unzip it yourself into a directory).

More info is at http://www.mozilla.org/ports/os2/.

NOTES:
1. Steve Wendt has a WarpZilla tips page at http://www.os2bbs.com/os2news/Warpzilla.html.
2. Another site that has documentation of plugin support on OS/2 is at http://plugindoc.mozdev.org/OS2.html.
3. This release now has improved drag-and-drop, junk mail and news filters, link prefetching, Type Ahead Find, turbo mode, WarpCenter message notification, spell-checker, etc.
4. The recommended installation method is to install into a fresh directory; however, if you install over an older version, be sure to delete GKCONTNT.DLL (or GKCONTENT.DLL) and COMPREG.DAT (if they exist); otherwise you may have problems running WarpZilla after installation.
5. This version requires the GCC runtime; download that at http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc02.zip. The EMX runtime is no longer required if you don't already have it installed. Unzip the GCC runtime and either place it in the subdirectory where MOZILLA.EXE is, or put it in its' own directory and update the LIBPATH variable in CONFIG.SYS to point to that directory.
6. You should not share a profile between the VACPP (version 1.4 and older) and the GCC versions, as it may cause problems, especially with secure sites.

DFSee, which was demoed at the June 2001 SCOUG meeting, is now at version 5.26 as of 09/02/2003. It is a FDISK, display, analysis and recovery tool for disks and filesystems. It includes the ability to resize FAT & FAT32 partitions, and has some JFS and LVM support. Go to http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee.htm. Tony Butka's tutorial on DFSee is at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2001/scoug012.dfseetutorial.html.

NOTES:
1. DFSee is now shareware. Registration is at Mensys (http://shop.mensys.nl/catalogue/mns_DFSee.html).
2. You can also use search key dfsee on Hobbes.

InnoTek has released as of 08/27/2003 OS/2 Kit for Java version 1.4.2_01, which is an Odin wrapper for Sun Microsystems' Windows Java Virtual Machine. It is free for personal use; enterprise customers can license it in order to get defect support. InnoTek plans to provide an updated OS/2 Kit for Java no later than 20 working days after a new Java platform release by Sun Microsystems. Go to http://www.innotek.de/products/javaos2/.

NOTES:
1. This version includes browser plugin support for Mozilla, but you need to copy the files manually.
2. This version is available as a runtime, and also as an SDK (software development kit). The runtime is approximately 19MB; the SDK is 42MB.

WarpVision was updated on 08/19/2003. It is a player for DivX3, DivX4, DivX5, XViD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, and ASF, with MP3/AC3 audio, and now has some DVD support. The GUI version includes "skin" support (see note 1 below). See note 4 below for playing encrypted DVD's. Go to http://os2.kiev.ua/en/wv.php.

NOTES:
1. There are downloadable "skins" available at http://os2.kiev.ua/en/wv.skins.php.
2. There is also a command-line (05/04/2003) version of WarpVision available.
3. According to the author, you must delete VIDEO2.INI prior to updating from a previous version of WarpVision.
4. There is now DVD support via a plugin called DVDCSS. For that, go to ftp://ftp.os2.spb.ru/pub/mmedia/contrib/libdvdcss-1.2.6.zip.
5. According to Steve Wendt, WarpVision GUI is shareware and some builds may be limited to 15 minutes of playback; however Mark Abramowitz says that may not be the case.
6. The WarpVision team accepts donations at https://secure.bmtmicro.com/ECommerce-OffSite/11980000.html.

If you still use a modem under OS/2 or eComStation, an updated MODEM.LST file is available as of 08/27/2003. Go to http://www.os2warp.be/index2.php?pageid=4&sub=0. A number of new modems were added (highlighted in green); also this site flags modems that apparently don't work under OS/2 & eCS in red. For each modem, the initialization strings for the various modems are listed. MODEM.LST is used by the AT&T Global Network (ATTGLOBAL.NET) dialer; for "Dial Other Internet Providers", edit MODEM.IAK and copy in your modem's settings (after you make a backup, of course). If you use another dialer such as ZOC or InJoy, just simply copy in the initialization strings.

NewView version 2.8.4 has been released as of 09/05/2003. This 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 and position, select and copy from the window, and more. Use search key newview on Hobbes, or go to http://homepages.visp.co.nz/~aaronlawrence/NewView.html.

eBayWatch/2 version 1.09o is now available as of 08/23/2003. As the name implies, it is an eBay auction management tool. Go to http://www.eclipse.net/~knkrchnr/.

UpdCD version 2.36 was released as of 08/24/2003. It can be used 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 these diskettes to create new installations of OS/2 which already incorporate the FixPaks and other software. eComStation support and a PM interface are recent additions. Go to http://xenia.sote.hu/~kadzsol/rexx/sajat/updcd.htm. NOTE: This is an update that must be applied to the base 2.30 version.

cdrtools version 2.01a18 has been released as of 08/21/2003. This contains cdrecord (discussed by Mr. Know-It-All this month), readcd, cdda2wav, and mkisofs. Use search key cdrtools on Hobbes.

JPhotoBrush Pro version 1.2 has been released as of 08/30/2003. This is an image editing and enhancement application/tool written in Java 1.3, making extensive use of Swing and Java2D. Go to http://www.jphotobrushpro.com/.

The Neptune project is a giant library of "skins" for the PM123 MP3 player. As of 08/26/2003 you can now download several catalogs of skins. Go to http://www.os2ecs.net/neptune/downloa4.shtml.

eComStation Maintenance Tool version 2.1.2.1 has been released as of 08/20/2003. As the name implies, it is used to apply software updates to eComStation. Go to http://www.ecomstation.com/.

jSyncManager version 3.0 beta 01 and API beta 04 have been released as of 08/18/2003. This is a Java tool for synchronizing with Palm handhelds. Go to http://jsyncmanager.sourceforge.net/.

There is an update for TAME/2 version 0.9.8 as of 09/04/2003. Use search key tame098 on Hobbes.

CW-Multimedia classes version 0.2.7 have been released as of 09/01/2003. These classes are for seamless integration of the MMIO procedures for MP3 and OGG Vorbis files; after installation, OGG Vorbis and MP3 files are treated the same way by the WPS as the other audio files, with icons and menus. There is also a new Media Folder, which plays any audio class known to OS/2. It also includes a replacement JPEG class, and support for PNG image files. Go to http://www.os2world.com/cdwriting/mmclasses/mmclassesmain.htm, or use search key cw-mmclasses on Hobbes.

FAT32.IFS version 0.96 has been released as of 07/31/2003. This is based on Henk Kelder's code, and includes many fixes over the previous version. Go to ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/incoming/.

Amouse version 2.5 beta has been updated as of 08/30/2003. It now has USB support and improved Logitech support. It is a scroll mouse driver that works better on some wheel mice than IBM's driver. There is also a widget for XCenter available now. Go to http://www.nbsoftware.de/sw_ms2ben.htm.

This month's new listings - Drivers:

SciTech SNAP Graphics version 2.2.1 beta has been released as of 08/27/2003. This release adds support for newer ATI Radeon chipsets, fixes for DIVE, and more. Go to ftp://ftp.scitechsoft.com/snap/os2/beta/. Also, a change log is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/snap2_changes.txt, and a list of supported chipsets is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/ftp/snap/os2/beta/readme.txt. Other information is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/products/ent/snap_os2_content.html.

If you use the Aureal AU8820 Vortex sound card, there is a patch to the driver available as of 08/07/2003 which will enable the scan of PCI bus numbers greater than zero. Use search key patchaureal on Hobbes.

NOTES:
1. The original Aureal AU8820 driver is available at Hobbes with search key os2v1.
2. There is an earlier patch (as of 11/18/2002) that patches the driver to prevent spontaneous system hangs during playback. Use search key au8820x on Hobbes. (Since I don't have an Aureal AU8820, I don't know if this is a prerequisite for the new patch).

IBM has updated the BIOS for the ThinkPad T30 as of 08/28/2003. Go to ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/pc/pccbbs/mobiles/spsd1i67.exe.

IBM has updated as of 08/07/2003 the Infrared Stack (IrDA) for various ThinkPad models. This allows printing to an IR-capable printer, serial communication through an IR-capable cell phone (read the README file for further details), and LAN (Ethernet & Token-Ring). Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/swchoice/os2dd/irda/irda.exe.

NOTES:
1. You need a current Software Choice subscription to download.
2. If you are a registered eComStation user, download it at http://www.ecomstation.com (after signing-in).

DaniS506 version 1.6.7 has been released as of 08/10/2003. This is the replacement for IBM's IBM1S506 EIDE driver, which features support for many chipsets, PCCard controllers, busmastering, Ultra33 DMA, Ultra ATA-66, Ultra ATA-100, faster PIO due to 32-bit I/O, Serial ATA, and much more. Use search key danis on Hobbes.

NOTES:
1. Your mileage (experience) may vary; previous 1.6.x versions for some reason causes one of my home machines (a PII-400 with an Intel SE440BX-2 motherboard) to hang when it tries to load, so I had to revert back to version 1.5.2. When I tried version 1.6.4 on my ThinkPad T20, it caused PCMSSDIF.SYS (a PCMCIA storage driver) not to load (and I had to hit the Enter key to continue booting). So I reverted the ThinkPad back to version 1.6.2.
2. If you use DaniBoot version 1.0 in conjunction with DaniS506, you need to upgrade DaniBoot to version 1.0.2; use search key daniboot on Hobbes.

Drivers for the ALC202 RealTek AC97 audio chipset are available as of 08/13/2003. This includes support for the IBM IntelliStation M Pro model 6219. Use search key alc202 on Hobbes.

According to Steve Wendt, development of the Universal Audio Drivers has been transferred from InnoTek to the WarpVision team, who have made available an updated version as of 08/21/2003. It is based on the GPL ALSA Project from Linux and provides drivers for various sound cards; check http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.cards.php to see if your card is supported. Go to http://os2.kiev.ua/en/uniaud.php.

NOTES:
1. Portions of the source code are also available in partial compliance with the GPL license at http://www.innotek.de/products/uniaud/source/.
2. The WarpVision team accepts donations at https://secure.bmtmicro.com/ECommerce-OffSite/11980000.html.

This month's new listings - Applications:

The WarpZilla team has released Mozilla Firebird 0.6.1 as of 08/18/2003. It is a stand-alone browser based on Mozilla that does not include mail, news, composer, IRC, and the other frills. This will eventually replace Mozilla (on the browser side). Go to ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/firebird/releases/0.6.1/contrib/. The file name is MozillaFirebird-0.6.1-os2.zip (you must unzip it yourself into a directory and create a program object).

NOTES:
1. Steve Wendt has a WarpZilla tips page at http://www.os2bbs.com/os2news/Warpzilla.html.
2. This requires the GCC runtime; go to http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc02.zip. Unzip the GCC runtime and either place it in the subdirectory where the Firebird executable is, or put it in its' own directory and update the LIBPATH variable in CONFIG.SYS to point to that directory.

The WarpZilla team has also released Thunderbird 0.2 as of 09/05/2003. It is a stand-alone mail & news client based on Mozilla that does not contain the browser (see Firebird above). As with Firebird, this will eventually replace Mozilla (on the mail/news side). Go to ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/thunderbird/releases/0.2/contrib/. The file name is thunderbird-0.2-os2.zip (you must unzip it yourself into a directory and create a program object).
NOTE: This requires the GCC runtime; go to http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc02.zip. Unzip the GCC runtime and either place it in the subdirectory where the Thunderbird executable is, or put it in its' own directory and update the LIBPATH variable in CONFIG.SYS to point to that directory.

MultiZilla version 1.5.0.1 has been released. This is an extension that adds more features to the tabbed interface in Mozilla. Go to http://multizilla.mozdev.org/.

Linky version 2.0.0 has been released as of 08/26/2003. This is an add-on for Mozilla that adds extra link-related items to the menu, allowing you to perform tasks such as opening all links on a page in new tabs or copying selected links to the clipboard. Go to http://gemal.dk/mozilla/linky.html.

Python, which was demonstrated by Sheridan George at the Dec. 2001 SCOUG general meeting, is now at version 2.3 as of 08/03/2003. It is a scripting language that comes from the Unix world. Go to http://www.pcug.org.au/~andymac/python.html. Sheridan's comparison of Python with REXX is at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2001/scoug012.rexx_python.html.

NOTES:
1. You can also use search key python on Hobbes.
2. Source is also available.
3. The EMX runtime is required; use search key emxrt on Hobbes. For help with installation, see the June 2002 Mr. Know-It-All.
4. A number of extensions are available at Hobbes:
   • Scientific extension version 2.4.3; use search key scientificpython
   • Python Imaging Library version 1.1.4; use search key pil
   • Numeric Python extension version 23.0; use search key numericpython
   • Gadfly DBMS version 1.0.0 (includes kjbuckets); use search key gadfly
   • eGenix.com mxBase Python extensions version 2.0.4; use search key egenix
   • CSV parser module version 1.0; use search key csv
   • PyGreSQL interface module to the PostgreSQL RDBMS version 3.3; use search key pygresql.

Beta 1 of an OS/2 port of GCC 3.2.2 has been released as of 08/19/2003. It is a compiler suite containing C, C++, Objective C, Java, and Fortran 77. Go to ftp://ftp.innotek.de/pub/gccos2/.

MyPod version 0.2.3 for the Apple iPod music player has been released as of 08/02/2003. It requires Java 1.4, and allows you to manipulate playlists and more for the iPod device. Go to http://mypod.sourceforge.net/.

IBM Alphaworks has released as of 08/04/2003 version 1.0.1 of an MPEG-4 player and content creator development kit that works with Java 1.3.1. According to Steve Wendt, it plays MPEG-4 video (samples included) just fine on a PII-300 MHz machine. Go to http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/tk4mpeg4.

PMView Pro, the indispensable graphics viewer, has been updated to version 3.02 as of 07/31/2003. This version has several new features, including EXIF support, scripted batch conversions, lossless JPEG rotation, flyover image info, etc. Go to http://www.pmview.com/.

NOTES:
1. President Tony Butka discusses PMView Pro version 3.01 in the July 2003 and September 2003 issues of Ink.
2. You can also use search key pmv302en on Hobbes.
3. The PMView Pro version 3.xx series received a "5 cows" rating by Tucows (http://classic.tucows.com/preview/48170.html). The main Tucows page for OS/2 is at http://classic.tucows.com/os2soft.html.

JAlbum version 3.5 has been released as of 07/31/2003. This is a web photo album generator that runs on Java 1.3. Go to http://www.datadosen.se/jalbum/.

Plogg has been updated as of 08/13/2003. It is an open-source ncurses (text)-based Ogg Vorbis/MP3 player. It features basic playlist functions and navigation between songs. Use search key plogg on Hobbes.

NOTES:
1. It is also available in WPI format for installation via WarpIn, as well as a "lite" version (WPI format only).
2. Source is also available.
3. The EMX runtime is required; use search key emxrt on Hobbes. For help with installation, see the June 2002 Mr. Know-It-All.

Open Watcom, which was featured at two 2002 SCOUG general meetings, is now at version 1.1 RC1 as of 08/12/2003. This is an open source release of the Watcom C, C++, and FORTRAN compilers. Harry Chris Motin carefully took us through download and installation issues in March 2002; read it at scoug204.watcom.html. Michal Necasek, our June 2002 co-presenter, has an article describing how to set up Open Watcom at http://pages.prodigy.net/michaln/os2/Watcom11c.html. Go to http://openwatcom.mirrors.pair.com/watcom/. More info about Open Watcom is at http://www.openwatcom.org/.

TVShow version 0.95 has been released as of 08/16/2003. This is intended for viewing TV with BT878-based TV cards. Go to http://os2.kiev.ua/en/tvshow.php.

GNU Make version 3.81 RC1 has been released as of 08/16/2003. This is an essential tool for developing and/or porting open-source programs. Go to http://www.unixos2.org/sw/pub/binary/make/.

Autoconf version 2.57 and Automake version 1.7.6 have been released as of 08/17/2003. These tools are important pieces needed for porting other Unix programs. For Autoconf, go to http://www.unixos2.org/pub/binary/autoconf/; for Automake, go to http://www.unixos2.org/pub/binary/automake/.
NOTE: Source for both Autoconf and Automake are available at Hobbes. Use search keys autoconf and automake, respectively.

Bob Eager has released some lightweight mail programs as of 08/10/2003. Included are basic SMTP and POP3 servers and clients. Go to http://www.tavi.co.uk/os2pages/mail.html.

VisualAge Smalltalk version 6.0.1 is available for free download for non-commercial use. It is listed as a FixPak (and requires registration), but is a functionally complete package, and will not expire. Go to http://www6.software.ibm.com/dl/vasmtlk/vasmtlk-p.

Ghostscript version 8.11 has been released as of 08/18/2003, and GhostView version 4.41 beta has been released as of 08/06/2003. Ghostscript is a freeware PostScript interpreter/converter for generating Acrobat (PDF) documents, and GSView is a graphical document viewer that uses Ghostscript as its display engine. For Ghostscript, go to http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/; for GSView, go to http://www.cs.wisc.edu/~ghost/gsview/.

RSJ CD-Writer version 5.03 was released as of 08/19/2003. It now has support for DVD writing, freedb, DAO (Disk At Once), IDE drives, creating bootable CDs, etc. Go to http://www.rsj.de/stage/en/cdwriter/cd_os2.asp. It must be purchased at the RSJ web site or at Mensys (http://www.mensys.nl).

DrDialog Control version 0.1.4 has been released as of 08/23/2003. This is a DLL for use with DrDialog which provides a percent bar, fly-over help control, an image control which displays any image file supported by OS/2, and a directory picker. Full source is included, under the BSD license. Go to http://www.os2world.com/cdwriting/drdialog/drdialogmain.htm.

MMAudioPak2 contains codecs for FLAC, MP3, and OGG Vorbis, which have been updated to versions 0.3.0, 0.4.3, and 0.3.2, respectively. With these codecs, the OS/2 multimedia system is able to play (and convert to WAV) FLAC, MP3, and OGG Vorbis files without any additional software. Go to http://math.berkeley.edu/~roconnor/MMAudioPak/.

BlackBox version 0.65.0 and XCDRoast version 0.98 alpha 14 have been ported to XFree86/OS2 as of 08/26/2003. BlackBox is a window manager, and XCDRoast is a GUI front-end for CDRTools. Use search keys blackbox and xcdroast on Hobbes, respectively.

DTape beta 10 has been released. It is a PM program which provides the facilities to record and replay digital audio directly to/from disk - a digital tape recorder. Features include peak level monitoring and unlimited .WAV file sizes (up to 4GB). Go to http://home.clara.net/orac/os2.htm#dtape.

gX version 0.5 has been released as of 08/21/2003. This is a native 32-bit OS/2 XML editor and parser; it can do full validation and SGML compatibility checking. The editor uses document type definitions to provide guidance in authoring correct documents. For example, use it to create HTML 4.0 documents, or DocBook books and articles. Use search key gx on Hobbes.

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.