EDITORIAL PAGE

FINDING OS/2 RELATED SOFTWARE

    If you have been following our OS/2 Connect Discussion Group lately, you've probably noticed several calls for locating OS/2 related software. This specifically includes:

    ADOBE ACROBAT

    Although the latest version of Acrobat is v5.0 for most operating platforms, the OS/2 version remains at v3.0 (and will probably stay there). You can still download the reader from Adobe's main download area at:

    http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

    More noteworthy though, and harder to find, is the Java version of Acrobat which you can find at:

    http://www.adobe.com:80/products/acrviewer/main.html

    Please note that this is the first version of the product (v1.0) and is available in English only.

    NETSCAPE COMMUNICATOR

    Something more difficult to find these days is the OS/2 version of the Netscape Communicator (v.4.6.1). Both IBM and Netscape seem to have pulled the plug on their web links to this version (probably in order to enhance sales of the IBM Web Browser for OS/2 v2.0). Nonetheless, you can still get English and German versions of Communicator courtesy of LEO (Link Everything Online) at:

    English Version
    http://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/os/os2/boulder/netscape/comm461.en/comm461.exe

    German Version
    http://ftp.leo.org/pub/comp/os/os2/boulder/netscape/comm461.de/comm461.exe

    As nice as Netscape Communicator for OS/2 Warp was, perhaps it is time to seriously consider migrating to the OS/2 version of Opera (currently v.5.12).

    REAL ONE FOR OS/2 (Petition for)

    Long time contributor to the OS/2 Discussion Group, Thomas Lee Mullins, recently posted a notice encouraging people to petition the Real people to produce an OS/2 or Java version of their popular RealOne Player (formerly RealPlayer) multimedia software. It is Mullins' hope that if enough people request such versions, perhaps the company will move in that direction. Frankly, I think an OS/2 version is out of the question at this stage of the game and that a Java version would be more appealing to the company. Nonetheless, it is worth a shot at trying to persuade them to produce either one. If you would like to put in your two cents, there is a three or four step form you have to fill out which begins by clicking HERE.

    OS/2 WARP 4 DEATH WATCH

    As mentioned in last month's editorial regarding IBM's Withdrawal Announcement 902-274, I will be curious to see if IBM totally pulls the plug on OS/2 sales or not. There are two places to follow in the IBM Software Choice catalog:

    Again, the real test comes on March 13th.

    Keep the Faith!

   

- Tim Bryce
Editor, OS/2 CONNECT

Please do not hesitate to send me an e-mail