Loren Bandiera of OS/2 News & Rumors reports that FixPak-8 (for OS/2 Warp 4) has gone into beta testing. From the readme, it appears to complete the functionality of the HW_SHARE_IRQ9 option that showed up in FixPak 7: "Some applications like PCAS (and some terminal emulators) have problems sharing IRQ9 in a VDM. Since the DOS Virtual Device drivers are not loaded out of CONFIG.SYS, a new device driver VPICPARM.SYS has been added starting with Warp 3 FixPak 38 and Warp 4 FixPak 8." Also of interest is that there are a few references to Warp 4.01. Judging by the file list associated with it, it appears to be a version optimized for WorkSpace On Demand.
The readme and list of fixed APARs files have been posted on the OS/2 Supersite at, respectively:
http://www.os2ss.com/news/misc/fp8-readme.txt
http://www.os2ss.com/news/misc/fp8-apar.txt
You can now learn more about the next release of Warp Server, codename: "Aurora," on the Internet.
You can also sign up to participate in the beta program. (IBM will choose a select number of customers to help test this new version.)
For more information please visit http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/aurora.
There's been quite a bit of Year 2000 information released for the OS/2 Warp family of products. I'd like to draw your attention to the major web sites detailing this information so you can plan ahead and get ready for this important changeover.
OS/2 Warp Family Year 2000 Information
http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/solutions/and/y2000/year2000.html
OS/2 Warp Family Service and Support
http://ps.software.ibm.com
Provides links to FixPaks, the OS/2 Device Driver Pack Online (updated CLOCK
drivers), etc.
OS/2 Warp Family Year 2000 Whitepapers
http://www.software.ibm.com/os/warp/library
IBM General Year 2000 Information
http://www.ibm.com/year2000
...and also don't forget the following information for DOS and Windows 3.x systems...
IBM PC DOS 2000 http://www.software.ibm.com/os/dos
FixPak-7 for OS/2 Warp 4 was released on June 26th. It may be downloaded via ftp from ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixes/v4warp/english-us/xr_m007
There are 16 disk images, 7 text files, and a new "FixTool" file, fixt138b.exe, which replaces previous "kicker" disks, and must be used for installation of FixPak-7. Altogether, almost 23 MB.
A free web page at http://www.warpcity.com/report12.html was set up by Warp City which describes how to install FixPak-7 in 3 easy steps, without the need for diskettes. To do this, you will also need the file, fastkick.zip, available at Hobbes.
IBM also posted FP7 for automatic update (RSU) but a corrupted file was discovered, and it was taken down. Today, June 29th, Tim Martin, The OS/2 Guy, reported that it has been reposted on IBM's automatic software update page, and that the instructional web page will be removed from Warp City. If you can no longer find it on Warp City, please e-mail me, and I'll e-mail a copy back to you in plain ASCII text format.
Users (including me) report that FixPak-7 seems very stable.
IBM has released new feature enhancements to the IBM Software Choice home page at http://www.software.ibm.com/swchoice:
- Java(TM) 1.1.6 for OS/2 Warp
Provides the latest, state-of-the-art Java capabilities for Warp Server, WorkSpace On-Demand, and OS/2 Warp. Now can take advantage of SMP (Symmetric Multiprocessing) capabilities in Warp Server; also offers significant performance enhancements on all supported platforms.
[Please note that Java 1.02 is not Year 2000 Ready, according to Javasoft. Therefore Java 1.1.6 (only) has been tested and is recommended on unsupported Version 3 releases of OS/2 Warp.]
- Netscape Navigator 2.02 for OS/2 Warp (June, 1998 refresh)
The latest bug fixes are now incorporated into Netscape Navigator 2.02 (June refresh). Also supports Java 1.1.6 for state-of-the-art Java capabilities while surfing the Internet or your own intranet. This refresh is issued in anticipation of Netscape Communicator 4 for OS/2 Warp, due later this year.
In addition, IBM has released the LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol) Toolkit for Java and OS/2 Warp. This toolkit will be made available to Software Choice subscribers on CD-ROM only. Subscribers include customers who have purchased the Software Choice Subscription Plan, IBM Software Advantage Upgrade Protection Option (UPO), or IBM/Lotus Passport Advantage subscription for Warp Server, WorkSpace On-Demand, and/or OS/2 Warp 4.
The LDAP Toolkit provides programmers the ability to write applications which work with industry standard LDAP servers, including Lotus Domino for Warp Server. LDAP provides common directory services for groupware, e-mail, security, and other applications.