BIZAUTO BULLETIN 97.8 NEWS

A Computer Chess Note

I understand that Garry Kasparov has a new plan. He's going to schedule his rematch with the computer for just after midnight, January 1, 2000.*

* From Dr. Roger M. Firestone in "rec.humor.funny"

A Telling Quote

PC "gurus" predicted that the last mainframe would be unplugged before the turn of the century, but we now know this can not happen. Gartner Group analyst Jim Cassell, quoted recently in Computerworld, explains why: "You can't replace an ox with 10,000 chickens."

Licensing: Keep It Legal

For many years, most licenses for PC software allowed companies to share applications among users on a network, just so long as the total number of copies in use never exceeded the number of licenses owned. However, Microsoft recently changed its policy, requiring a separate license of its Office95 Suite for everyone who uses it, regardless of how infrequent that use may be. Microsoft has not totally done away with its "concurrent user" license (the older type), but it is only available to customers with at least 50 licenses (not users) who agree to an add-on software support plan. But this plan effectively doubles the per-license cost. In other words, a company with 100 PCs (of which no more than 50 are ever active simultaneously) could either buy 100 regular licenses, or pay the same for 50 concurrent user licenses and get the support plan thrown in.

Microsoft's principal competitors for the office applications, WordPerfect and Lotus, still offer concurrent user licensing (or server licensing, which is more "liberal") and, for competitive reasons, will probably continue doing so.

Pentium II and New Coke

Intel introduced its next generation of chips, the Pentium IIs and, as usual the early Pentium II products can be expected to have some minor bugs. Contrary to what its name implies, the P-IIs are not the fifth generation chips . . . they are the second attempt at the sixth generation (replacing the Pentium Pros). The initial Pentium II chips are faster (17% to 33%) than the fastest Pentium Pro chips and include the multimedia-enhanced MMX capability introduced several months ago for the earlier-generation Pentiums.

One controversial change: the P-IIs are mounted in a new "candy-bar-size" pod that needs a special socket to fit inside the computer. This design by Intel is reminiscent of IBM's ill-fated decision ten years ago to introduce the PS/2s, a significantly different (and allegedly improved) PC design. Intel competitors will likely try to gain an advantage by producing clone chips without the pod just as IBMs competitors gained advantage by matching the PS/2s advances without the new design. IBM finally scrapped the PS/2 design (ala New Coke) . . . it remains to be seen whether Intel will have to do the same.

When a PC-Maker Dies

When a computer company goes bankrupt, all may or may not be lost for its customers. Take the story of CompuAdd as an example. Once a major mail-order PC maker, the firm hoped to capitalize on its success by expanding into retail. Unfortunately, this move did not work out; it overextended the company's resources forcing it to pull back and ultimately fail. When Compu Add filed bankruptcy in early 1996, it stopped making warranty payments to its service contractor, Memorex Telex, which then ceased honoring CompuAdd warranties. Memorex- Telex did, however, offer service discounts to CompuAdd PC owners until it too went bankrupt several months later. A third firm, DecisionOne, wound up buying most of Memorex-Telex's assets . . . but not the CompuAdd parts, which now seem to have disappeared entirely. The net result: CompuAdd customers have no official service supplier to turn to. CompuAdd made a few unique and proprietary products and the buyers of these units are truly "out of luck". But most of its computers were nearly-generic clones, so the buyers of these PCs are relatively well off because they can get service from nearly any independent PC repair company.

On the "I-Way"

Idaho is trying to crack down on international Internet banking. The Idaho Department of Finance has ordered a Caribbean bank to stop doing business in the state by soliciting deposits over the Internet. The bank, European Union, has no physical presence in Idaho (or anywhere in the US), is not regulated by any Federal or state authority and its deposits are not covered by the FDIC. As Internet-based commerce grows, conflicts like this over consumer protection, taxation and jurisdictional issues will certainly increase.

One-button encryption is here. E-mail security is coming of age with the release of easy-to-use encryption from the two major e-mail software suppliers. Qualcomm (maker of the Eudora) and Netscape have just announced agreements to offer high-powered "one-button" data encryption capability with their products, including their products that are downloadable from the Internet at not cost. Because of this, it is likely that the use of advanced encryption techniques will become common this year.

Businesses are using the Internet for low-cost, wide area networking. Some organizations are now using Internet links to connect their offices instead of high-priced digital communications circuits. Although the Internet is not as reliable as dedicated lines, the network equipment at each office senses when data is lost and retransmits it with only a minor delay. Networks that require greater security can be configured with dual paths so that confidential messages are routed over protected links and normal message traffic goes across the Internet connections.

Competition heats up for fast access to the Internet. High-speed Internet trials have been going on for a couple of years but only recently have they begun to go commercial. One of the first is Cox cable, which began offering Internet access via its Phoenix cable-TV infrastructure. Competing technologies include satellite trans mission and several types of sophisticated telephone lines (known as xDSL). Microsoft has gotten behind cable, investing in Comcast, a major cable TV operator. In areas where it is available (i.e., residences) cable access will be faster and lower in cost than any other system.

Computer Crime Watch

Computer "hackers" from all over the world met and exchanged notes in Las Vegas in July. During the meeting, they exposed security "holes" in several widely used systems and software packages and held a security briefing for corporate information systems managers. The hackers' group leaders claimed exposing system weaknesses does more good than harm, but many of the corporate mangers remained unconvinced. The hackers' security advice included keeping up with security news, installing bug fixes as soon as they become available, and training employees to use unusual passwords and to avoid telling them to anybody.

Computer Update

Color laser printer prices get affordable. Color ink jet printers have always been more popular than color lasers because they have been priced 80% to 90% less (i.e., under $500 vs. $6000 and up). But now, several major printer manufacturers have introduced new color lasers in the $3500 price range. While this is still much more than ink jets, the color lasers have several advantages including a much lower cost per page to print and better image resolution. With further price reductions expected in the future, color lasers have finally come down into the same range as black and white laser printers when they first came out.

Microsoft announced that two new versions of Windows (Windows 98 and Windows NT 5) to be delivered next year. Windows 98, the successor to Win/95, is coming soon, but Bill Gates has said Microsoft will be encouraging users to skip Win/98 and go all the way to Windows NT 5 Desktop (which is due out about the same time). NT Desktop, the "heavy duty"version of Windows, is more stable than Win/95, because it is not built around DOS, but is compatible with far less software. Win/95 systems cannot be easily upgraded to NT, but Microsoft promises this restriction will go away with the new versions.

Questions? . . . Ask the editor.

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