In a message dated 95-10-16 22:36:57 EDT, [log in to unmask] (Jim Wowchuk)
writes:
 
>My experience with Windows 95 started last April.  While I recognize that no
>single person's comments will stop the progress of the Microsoft tide, I
don't feel >compelled like King Canute to prove it so.
>
>Some observations, though, that may be of interest:
>
<big snip>
 
 
Your Latin is not bad, for a Canadian.  But see, I did 5 years of Latin also:
 
"Quousque tandem abutere patientia nostra, Jim?"  :-)
 
Without even discussing the consumer show which I am supporting on 300 pcs
running Win95, a third of them networked and connected to the Internet, I
feel that you deserve some answers.  (How's that for a preamble?)
 
1- Your device problems.  It might behoove you to poke around on the WWW and
see if there is a Win95 driver for Hitachi available.  I touched the Hitachi
home page at www.hitachi.com and after getting through the swearing
(Hitachi's, not mine) I was able to spot some stuff for you.  A fax number:
(201) 573-7660.  A protected mode driver will solve a lot of your problems.
  I just purchased a portable Panasonic CD-ROM for my Laptop and I
immediately downloaded the Win95 driver from the WWW.panasonic.com.  The
CD-ROM works great on the laptop and other SCSI PCs.  I just have to make
sure that it is powered up but does not have a CD spinning when I boot up.
 
Also, go to My Computer, right click on the screen, and then go to the
Performance tab.  Investigate your settings in those 4 areas.  You may have
other configuration problems.
 
2- My main PC has a 16 meg card in it, has had it for about a year.  I had
3.11 with 32 disc and file access and it was fast.  I upgraded to Win95 and
made sure I had the protected mode drivers for everything.  The PC is now
blazingly fast, Word 6.0 loads within a few (2-3) seconds.  On my laptop, I
have 8megs, but I went out and bought Softram95 at Egghead Software for $US28
and it works like a champ.
 
3- Print servers.  Well, I don't have Novell, but I use the aforementioned PC
to print from my Laptop and other PCs on the network.  No worries here, mate.
 
4- Duplexer problems?, not me.  I don't have a 4M.  I have a 4L and a 660C.
 BTW HP is finally releasing the Win95 drivers for their printers this week!
 I have been on CPO's case about this for a while.  They are supposedly
bringing them to the show in Atlanta this week.  I will post more about that
next week, or during the show perhaps.
 
5- Talk about picking nits and splitting rabbits.  So you don't like the
shortcut icons?  Change them.
 
6- Networking issues.  I now make use of the built-in TCP/IP stack of Win95.
 It makes it easier to maintain connectivity with the laptop and other PCs
when it comes to sharing devices and folders and such.  I have WRQ's
Reflection 5 on top of it to enable access to my HP3000 in session mode and
for C/S access.  Works fine, lasts a long time.  Check with WRQ for
availability of new TCP/IP stack.
 
The other reason I use the built-in TCP/IP is as follows:
 
When I had 3.1 on my laptop, I had to use a multi boot environment if the
laptop was in the docking station w/ integrated Ethernet card vs being a
stand alone PC.  I travel quite a bit to customer sites and shows and want to
be able to use my laptop on the various networks.  Dragging a docking station
is not my idea of portable, but I have done so, until now.  I bought a Xircom
Ehternet PCMCIA card with 2 cable adapters, one BNC and the other RJ-45.
 During the upgrade, Win95 detected the Compaq Ethernet card in the docking
station and created a configuration with that device in it.  After the
upgrade, I pulled the Compaq Contura 410/CX from the docking station and
inserted the Xircom Card.  Win95 immediately detected the card, configured it
and created a new configuration with that card in it.
 
So when I am at home, I slip in the 410CX into the docking station and it
happily goes on my local network through the docking station's Ethernet.
 When the time comes to leave, I do Start, Eject PC and voila I am now using
the other configuration and can connect to a network via the Xircom, either
with thinlan or RJ45.  Brilliant.
 
7- Competing programs dying.  Well, that is news to me.  You probably believe
in conspiracies, don't you?
 
As for Microsoft knocking more and more companies out, don't believe it for a
moment.  There are always new opportunities and the good products continue.
 It almost sounds like you believe in protectionism.  I favor more the open
market approach.
 
As for demanding more and more hardware, I both agree and disagree.  We
demand more and more from our computers and the software providers are using
more and more resources within those PCs.  Win95 threw away a lot of
limitations inherent in the design of the original box, in return you have to
feed it more hardware.  But this puts in mind a similar story not so long
ago.  I managed and supported about 10 series 64 (Win 3.1, 286, 4 megs?).
 The systems had large 8 meg memories.  The users wanted more so through a
series of upgrades, I would up with the same number of boxes, except they
were now series 70 with 12 megs (Win 3.11, 386/33, 8 megs?).  The following
year, the vendor introduced a new boxes which required a LOT of memory but
which also threw out most every limitations of the old box.  It ran poorly at
first, I know first hand as I was one of the few customer sites who actually
got a 930 (Indigo). Even the 950 (Cheeteah :->) (Win95, 486/33, 8 megs?)was
unable to keep up with my finely tuned series 70s.  Finally the 955 w/ 256
megs of main (Win95, 486/66, 16megs?) was able to match and in time surpass
the series 70.  Today, there is not even a comparison between a 995 (Win95,
Pentium/133, 16megs - sigh) and a series 70 of yore.
 
I realise the analogy is faulty in places, but overall it holds. The initial
releases of MPE/XL were mainly compatability mode stuff, and as that
disappeared or went to NM, the speed and stability increased.  Win95 is
somewhat like the early XL.  Give it time, I said 9 years ago, it was true
then and it is true now.
 
I still feel that Microsoft has done more for the HP3000 with ODBC access and
the advent of shrink-wrap software, than HP seems to be willing to do these
days after getting into a menage a trois with Novell & SCO and lemming-like
rushing down ME 2 UNIX  Ave. trying to achieve Mach 1 just before hitting the
reinforced concrete wall known as WindowsNT, whilst I am standing at the
street corner thinking all I ever wanted was a small PA-RISC box running
WindowsNT and MPE-iX.  Is that too much to ask?  Well, I guess I will just
have to make the most of it. :->   Comprenne qui peux.
 
(How is that for allegory?)
 
Kind regards,
 
Denys. . .