Updates from last month's column:

An OS/2 build of NVU version 0.80 has been released as of 02/07/2005. It is the next generation of Mozilla Composer, as a stand-alone HTML editor. Go to http://weilbacher.org/Mozilla/builds.html; more info is at http://www.nvu.com/.

FlashBlock version 1.3.0 has been released as of 02/14/2005. This is a Mozilla extension that replaces Flash animations with a "click to play" placeholder. Go to http://flashblock.mozdev.org/.

MultiZilla version 1.7.0.2D has been released as of 02/18/2005. This is an extension that adds more features to the tabbed interface in Mozilla. Go to http://multizilla.mozdev.org/.

Linky version 2.4.0 has been released as of 02/13/2005. 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.

WarpVision, which was demoed by Jordan Fox at the June 2004 SCOUG general meeting, was updated as of 02/04/2005. This is a player for DivX-3, DivX-4, DivX-5, XViD, MPEG-1, MPEG-2, AVI, and ASF, with MP3/AC3 audio, DVD support, and a Mozilla plugin. It also includes "skin" support (see note 1 below). Go to ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/wvgui/wvgui_latest.zip. Info is at 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 (as of 05/04/2003) version of WarpVision available at ftp://ftp.os2.kiev.ua/wvcli/.
3. According to the authors, you must delete VIDEO2.INI prior to updating from a previous version of WarpVision.
4. There are also some Windows codecs you can use via Odin available at ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/wvgui/wincodecs/.
5. The WarpVision team accepts donations at https://secure.bmtmicro.com/ECommerce-OffSite/11980000.html, or at http://shop.mensys.nl/uk/warpvision.

A new release of Odin has been made available as of 02/26/2005. Go to ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/odin/Daily/odin32bin-20050226-release-xp.zip. More info is at http://odin.netlabs.org/, and the changelog is at ftp://ftp.netlabs.org/pub/odin/Daily/Changelog.

UPS Monitor for Opti-UPS version 1.0 has been released as of 01/30/2005. There are versions of UPS Monitor for UPSs made by APC, Guardian, Tripplite, and IBM. Go to http://home.att.net/~LPAInfo/upsmonitor.html to see if your UPS is supported, and if so, to download the software appropriate for your UPS.

Mr. Message has been updated as of 02/20/2005. It is an instant messaging client which is capable of communicating over AOL's Instant Messenger network using the OSCAR protocol. Go to http://mamodeo.dyndns.org/MrMessage_02202005.wpi.

NOTES:
1. You need WarpIn to install.
2. There is a zip file version available at http://mamodeo.dyndns.org/MrMessage_bin_02202005.zip.
3. Source is also available at http://mamodeo.dyndns.org/MrMessage_srcbin_02202005.zip.

An EXIF reader for the Nikon D70 digital camera has been updated as of 02/20/2005. It reads EXIF data from Nikon D70 NEF or JPG files; outputs to text, HTML, or XML. It MAY work with other Nikon cameras. Use search key d70reader on Hobbes.

NetDrive version 3.0.1 has been released as of 02/21/2005. It allows users to mount a FTP site or a local directory or a network resource to a virtual volume. This version has 64-bit file support, and special support for the Samba client from NetLabs (no shareware timeout). There are also many other plugins available, including NFS, VFAT (recently updated with special support for removable memory devices), ISO, Psion, and more. Go to http://www.blueprintsoftwareworks.com/netdrive/news.html; for the plugins, go to http://www.blueprintsoftwareworks.com/netdrive/plugins1.html.

PMView Pro, the indispensable graphics viewer, is now at version 3.11 as of 03/01/2005. It has several new features, including EXIF support, scripted batch conversions, lossless JPEG rotation, flyover image info, etc. Go to http://www.pmview.com/.

NOTE: President Tony Butka discusses the PMView Pro 3.xx series in the July 2003 and September 2003 issues of Ink (http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug307.ink.html & http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug309.ink.html, respectively).

Amouse version 2.7 beta has been updated as of 02/25/2005. This is a scroll mouse device driver that works better on some wheel mice than IBM's driver. It has USB and improved Logitech support, has a widget for XCenter available now, and now supports mice with more than 10 mouse buttons. Go to http://www.nbsoftware.de/sw_ms_enb.htm.

DaniS506 version 1.7.2 has been released as of 03/01/2005. It is a 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.

This month's new listings - Drivers:

IBM has updated as of 01/31/2005 the power management (APM) drivers. According to Steve Wendt, the installer won't run on older OS/2 releases, but you can copy the files manually. If you are a registered eComStation user, go to http://www.ecomstation.com; after signing-in, you can then download the driver (a self-extracting executable).

IBM has updated as of 02/22/2005 the USB printer support driver. It provides support for printers that meet the USB 1.0, 1.1, or 2.0 specification. It also provides support for parallel printers attached to the system by means of USB Parallel Convertor cables. If you are a registered eComStation user, go to http://www.ecomstation.com; after signing-in, you can then download the driver (a ZIP file).

IBM has released as of 01/31/2005 ServeRAID driver version 6.11. Go to http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/document.do?lndocid=MIGR-58483.

IBM has updated as of 02/14/2005 the audio driver for the ThinkPad T30 and T4x series. It now supports some (though not all) of the new T43 models. Go to http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/license.do?filename=mobiles/1ia708ww.exe.

IBM has released as of 02/14/2005 the Ethernet driver for the new ThinkPad T43 series. It supports the BroadCom NetExtreme chipset for the T43 (but not the T43p). Installation is via the MPTS utility. Go to http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/license.do?filename=mobiles/1yrd15ww.exe .

IBM has released as of 02/14/2005 the video driver for the new ThinkPad T43 (26xx) series. It supports the ATI Mobility Radeon/PCI Express chipset. Go to http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/license.do?filename=mobiles/1yd502ww.exe.

IBM has updated as of 02/17/2005 the BIOS for the ThinkPad T40, T41, and T42 series. It fixes a hang while OS/2 is booted up if video expansion mode is enabled. Go to http://www-307.ibm.com/pc/support/site.wss/license.do?filename=mobiles/1ruj28ud.exe.

The Network Interface Card Pak (NICPak) has been updated as of 02/06/2005. This is a collection of various NIC drivers and a tool for detecting and installing them. Go to http://www.os2warp.be/index2.php?name=nicpak.

This month's new listings - Applications:

The WarpZilla team has released Mozilla 1.8 beta 1 as of 03/01/2005. This is an update to Mozilla 1.4 that was demoed by Tony Butka at the Sept. 2003 SCOUG general meeting. Older versions of Mozilla were mentioned in the May 2002 Mr. Know-It-All (http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2002/scoug205.mrkia.html). Go to ftp://ftp.mozilla.org/pub/mozilla.org/mozilla/releases/mozilla1.8b1/contrib/. There is an installer version (mozilla-os2-1.8b1-installer.exe), and a zip file version (mozilla-os2-1.8b1.zip). 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. If you install the zip file version, you need to unzip it yourself into a directory and create or update a program object accordingly.
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 and COMPREG.DAT (if they exist); otherwise you may have problems running Mozilla after installation. Also, if you do install over an older version, be sure to read the Dec. 2003 Mr. Know-It-All (http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug312.mrkia.html).
5. This version requires the GCC runtime: download that at http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc-0.5.1.exe (a self- installing executable). The EMX runtime is no longer required if you don't already have it installed. The GCC runtime installer defaults to x:\OS2\DLL (where x is your OS/2 or eComStation boot drive); it may be preferable to put the runtime in the same directory as MOZILLA.EXE (see next note).
6. Mike Kaply of IBM posted to the netscape.public.mozilla.os2 newsgroup some time back that he figured out how to share a profile between version 1.4.2 or older (which is compiled with the VACPP compiler), and version 1.5 or greater (which is compiled with the GCC compiler): Make sure that MOZRMI36.DLL is NOT in your LIBPATH and only exists where the version 1.4.x (or older) MOZILLA.EXE is; conversely on the version 1.5 or greater side, make sure the GCC runtime DLLs (LIBC05 and GCC322) are also NOT in your LIBPATH and only exists where the version 1.5 or greater MOZILLA.EXE is.
7. An alternate set of icons for Mozilla are available at http://members.cox.net/greenemk/os2/mozstuff/mymozillastuff.html.
8. Tony's notes on installing and running Mozilla are at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug310.mozilla.html.

The WarpZilla team has also released Firefox 1.0.1 as of 03/01/2005. This is an update to Firebird 0.6.1 (the previous name for Firefox) that was demoed by Tony Butka at the Sept. 2003 SCOUG general meeting. 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/mozilla.org/firefox/releases/1.0.1/contrib/. The file name is firefox-os2-1.0.1.zip. More info is at http://www.mozilla.org/ports/os2/.

NOTES:
1. This version is primarily security fixes and probably does not contain any functional changes otherwise.
2. Steve Wendt has a WarpZilla tips page at http://www.os2bbs.com/os2news/Warpzilla.html.
3. You must unzip the zip file yourself into a directory and then create or update a program object accordingly.
4. This version requires the GCC runtime: download that at http://download.innotek.de/gccos2/runtime/libc-0.5.1.exe (a self- installing executable). The EMX runtime is no longer required if you don't already have it installed. The GCC runtime installer defaults to x:\OS2\DLL (where x is your OS/2 or eComStation boot drive); it may be preferable to put the runtime in the same directory as the FireFox executable.
5. There are some icons for Firefox as of 02/13/2004. Use search keys firefoxicon or os2firefox on Hobbes.
6. Tony's notes on installing and running Firefox are at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2003/scoug310.mozilla.html.

DFSee, which was presented by Tony Butka at the March 2004 SCOUG general meeting, is now at version 7.00 as of 02/23/2005. It is an FDISK, display, analysis, and recovery tool for disks and filesystems. It includes the ability to resize FAT and FAT32 partitions, and has some JFS and LVM support. Go to http://www.dfsee.com/dfsee.htm. Tony's tutorial on DFSee is at http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2001/scoug012.dfseetutorial.html.

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

IBM has updated as of 02/10/2005 Java 2 (Java Development Kit 1.3.1). It includes Java Web Start, a XML parser, and a plugin for IBM Web Browser (and Mozilla), so that it can use Java. If you are a registered eComStation user, go to http://www.ecomstation.com/; after signing-in, you can download Java 1.3.1 (the runtime is approx. 20MB, and the toolkit is approx. 23MB).

NOTES:
1. These are self-extracting executables.
2. According to the eComStation website, you can use the eCS Maintenance tool to install, without needing to use Netscape 4.61.

MozCall version 0.2 has been released as of 02/13/2005. It is a script that helps to launch several Mozilla/FireFox applications at the same time. Use search key mozcall on Hobbes.

Apache version 2.0.53, the premier web server of the Internet, has been released as of 02/10/2005. It offers big performance improvements over the older versions, due to multi-threading and elimination of some EMX dependencies. Go to http://apache.org/dist/httpd/binaries/os2/; more info is at http://silk.apana.org.au/apache/apache_v2.shtml.

SmartMon has been updated as of 02/11/2005. This is an IDE HDD S.M.A.R.T. monitor which resembles the HDDSPEED package. It includes temperature monitoring and failure prediction features. Use search key smartmon on Hobbes.

MySQL version 4.1.7 build 2 has been released as of 02/12/2005. The MySQL database server is the world's most widely-used open-source database. The OS/2 port features named pipes, data replication, databases > 2GB, and more. Go to http://www.os2power.com/yuri/mysql2/.

ClamAV version 0.83 has been released as of 02/14/2005. This is a GPL anti-virus tookit, which features a command-line scanner, a tool for automatic updating via the Internet, and integration with mail servers (attachment scanning). Use search key clamav on Hobbes.

Auto WGET Daemon version 1.9.3 has been released as of 02/09/2005. It is a GUI front-end to WGET, which allows you to start downloading by dragging a URL into a dedicated folder. It supports a download queue and continuing where it left off. Go to http://glass.os2.spb.ru/software/english/awget.html.

PrefBar version 3.1 has been released as of 02/08/2005. It allows you to configure several Mozilla settings on the fly, and now incorporates the features of UABar. Go to http://prefbar.mozdev.org/.

Weasel version 1.72 has been released as of 02/07/2005. It is a "lightweight" SMTP/POP server that has multi-domain support. Go to http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au/os2/weasel.html.

FTP Server version 1.27 has been released as of 02/07/2005. Compared to the standard FTPD that comes with OS/2, this one has better security controls, together with extra features such as symbolic links. Go to http://eepjm.newcastle.edu.au/os2/FtpServer.html.

NewView version 2.15.3 has been released as of 02/19/2005. This 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 and position, select and copy from the window, and more. Use search key newview on Hobbes.

zmuzic version 0.8 has been released as of 02/17/2005. It is a PM front-end for the z! MP3 player. Use search key zmuzic on Hobbes.

Audio/Data-CD-Creator version 0.56 has been released as of 02/20/2005. It is a folder class for the WPS which works as a front-end for cdrecord/2 for creating audio and data CDs. Just put wavefiles or data into this folder and press "write". Arbitrary ordering of files is possible via drag-and-drop. Use search key audiocd on Hobbes. NOTE: More info is at http://www.os2world.com/cdwriting/creator/creatormain.htm (however, the version info has NOT been updated in a couple of years).

Unrar version 3.4.3 has been released as of 02/21/2005. This tool for extracting RAR archives has >= 2GB file support and no EMX dependency, and includes the source code. Use search key unrar on Hobbes.

Moneydance 2005 has been released as of 02/17/2005. It is a personal finance manager written completely in Java. It includes transaction auto-completion, graphing, reporting, a reconciliation took, running cleared vs. uncleared balances, transaction sorting, double-entry, multiple currencies, multiple accounts, and much more. Go to http://moneydance.com/.

Marty Amodeo has updated his enhanced MMOS2 PLAY.CMD. It should do a better job of freeing up resources, and additionally supports a play list, with optional randomization. Go to http://mamodeo.dyndns.org/play.cmd.

IBM Alphaworks has released as of 02/15/2005 version 1.2.4 of a 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-300MHz machine. Go to http://www.alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/tk4mpeg4.

Mike Cowlishaw, the father of REXX, has released NetRexx version 2.05 as of 02/14/2005. It allows you to program in REXX, and compile your program into Java bytecodes. Go to http://www-306.ibm.com/software/awdtools/netrexx/nrdown.html.

XWorkplace version 1.0.3 has been released as of 02/22/2005. This was part of Gary Granat's series on "Seeking Ways to Get Rid of System Bloat". Features include: virtual desktops using xPager (formerly PageMage), a replacement for WarpCenter (XCenter), a trash can, most of the NPSWPS and WarpEnhancer features, object hotkeys, lots of new settings pages, etc. Use search key xwp on Hobbes. NOTE: There is an Italian version also available at Hobbes.

PMM2MOZ has been updated as of 03/03/2005. This is a program to convert PMMail *.MSG files to Mozilla Mail or Thunderbird format. Use search key pmm2moz on Hobbes. NOTE: You must be in Classic REXX mode to run this.

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.