Updates from last month's column:

Ogg Vorbis has been ported to OS/2 as of 07/08/2001. It is an audio compression format similar to MP3, but free of patented algorithms and is fully open source. Go to http://silk.apana.org.au/vorbis/.

Tonigy version 1.3 update 2 has been released as of 07/07/2001. It is an IFS that maps tracks of CD-I, VideoCD and audio CD's into .WAV and MPEG files. Use it to access tracks like ordinary files. Go to http://www.defgroup.com/tonigy/.

XWorkplace, which was part of Gary Granat's series last year on Seeking Ways to Get Rid of System Bloat, has been updated to version 0.9.13 as of 07/06/2001. Go to http://www.xworkplace.org/proj_xwp.html. It requires WarpIn (see below). NOTE: According to Steve Wendt, the initial dialog doesn't respond to mouse clicks in this version; just press the Enter key instead.

WarpIn, which was also part of Gary Granat's series last year on Seeking Ways to Get Rid of System Bloat (see http://www.scoug.com/os24u/2000/scoug008.xworkplace.html), has been updated to version 0.9.13 as of 07/06/2001. Go to http://www.xworkplace.org/proj_warpin.html.

For those of you who use eBay: eBayWatch/2 version 0.10l1 is now available. As the name implies, it is an eBay auction management tool. Go to http://www.eclipse.net/~knkrchnr/.

InCharge, the financial management system, has been updated to version 1.02.72a as of 07/10/2001. Go to http://www.spitfiresoftware.com/.

Guiffy version 3 has been released as of 07/14/2001. It is a file compare/merge (diff-like) tool with a GUI implemented in Java. Go to http://www.guiffy.com. FYI: The developer is a locally-based company (Escondido).

Daniela Engert has released as of 07/19/2001 DaniATAPI version 0.3.4. Use search key dania on Hobbes.

ThirdEye version 1.0.3 has been released as of 07/19/2001. It is a universal digital camera manipulation program that supports cameras from Agfa, Olympus, Epson, Nikon, Sanyo, HP, Konica, and Kodak. Go to http://os2.ru/projects/thirdeye/index.phtml.en.

Moneydance 3.2 has been released as of 06/20/2001. It is a personal finance manager written completely in Java. It includes transaction auto-completion, graphing, reporting, a reconciliation tool, running cleared vs. uncleared balances, transaction sorting, double-entry, multiple currencies, multiple accounts, and much more. Go to http://moneydance.com/.

This month's new listings - Drivers:

IBM has updated as of 07/10/2001 their version of SciTech Display Doctor. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/sddse706.exe. However: you must have a current Software Choice subscription.

The full version of SciTech Display Doctor is now at beta 41 as of 07/19/2001. Download it at ftp://ftp.scitechsoft.com/sdd/beta/os2/; the list of changes is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/sdd2_changes.txt; and the main SciTech page is at http://www.scitechsoft.com/sdd_os2.html.

IBM has updated as of 07/06/2001 the printer drivers for PostScript, ink-jets, laserjets, and plotters to version 30.739. Go to ftp://ftp.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/printpak/en/.

IBM has updated as of 07/06/2001 the USB drivers for UHCI interface, and released new ones that work with the OHCI interface. However: you must have a current Software Choice subscription to download these. Go to http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/2bcprod.nsf/WebCatMod?OpenView; then choose Universal Serial Bus; then "USB Basic Device Support" for either the UHCI or the OHCI drivers.

Enhanced joystick drivers have been released as of 07/02/2001. There is an improved version of GAMEDD.SYS, and an older GAMEPRT driver (dated 07/24/2000). Use search keys gamedd and gameprt on Hobbes, respectively.

IBM has updated as of 07/06/2001 the UDF.IFS for reading and writing DVD-ROM's. However, you must be a current Software Choice subscriber to download. Go to http://service.software.ibm.com/os2dd/swc/udf.exe.

IBM has updated as of 06/28/2001 the drivers for the Adaptec SCSI cards. Go to http://service5.boulder.ibm.com/2bcprod.nsf/Driver+Profile+Web/7800fam.exe?OpenDocumtent. The Adaptec version of the drivers are approximately a year older, and are at ftp://ftp.adaptec.com/scsi/os-2/.

This month's new listings - Applications:

IBM has released as of 07/26/2001 Fixpak XR_C001 for Convenience Package for Warp 4 and Convenience Package for Warp Server for e-Business. However: you must be a current Software Choice subscriber to download. The diskette images are located at http://www3.software.ibm.com/cgi-bin/asd/priv/rsudl/images/xr_c001; the RSU version is at http://ps.boulder.ibm.com/pbin-usa-ps/getobj2.pl?/pdocs-usa/xr_c001.rsu.

If you use the diskette method of applying the fix, you need the latest version of the Corrective Service Facility (version 1.44 as of 07/10/2001). Go to ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/fixtool/english-us/cs_144.exe, which is a self-extracting executable.

If you use the RSU method of applying the fix, you need the latest version of the Remote Software Update program (version 1.98 as of 07/26/2001). Go to ftp://service.boulder.ibm.com/ps/products/os2/rsu/rsuinstn.exe.

Also: there is an additional fix to correct a problem created by this FixPak; it doesn't allow you to complete network configuration when installing using Selective Install for Networking (NPCONFIG.EXE). This fix is at the same location as the diskette images, and is known as NPCONFIG.ZIP. This zip file can be used for both the Warp 4 Convenience Package and the Warp Server for e-Business Convenience Package.

NOTE to eComStation users: the IBM website for software updates (http://ps.boulder.ibm.com/pbin-usa-ps/getobj.pl?/pdocs-usa/softupd.html) says that you must contact Serenity Systems; in fact, there is a note http://www.ecomstation.com from Bob St. John dated July 24 urging eCS users not to apply XR_C001 at this time.

IBM has refreshed as of 07/05/2001 Netscape Communicator 4.61. Downloading requires a registration first (which is free). Go to http://www6.software.ibm.com/dl/netscape4/nc461os2w-p.

IBM has released on their alphaWorks site ManplatoSync for Java (formerly jSyncManager) as of 06/22/2001. It provides PalmOS data synchronization on any Java-enabled platform. It is also a powerful developer's toolkit, allowing programmers to write jConduits, or to employ data synchronization into their own projects. Go to http://alphaworks.ibm.com/tech/manplatosync4java.

Opera 5.12 for OS/2 beta 1 has been released as of 07/05/2001. This web browser requires WarpIn to install and Odin to run. It supports running both OS/2 and Win32 plug-ins. Go to http://www.opera.com/.

IBM has updated Java 1.3 as of 07/05/2001. However: it is only available to those with a current Software Choice subscription. Go to http://techsupport.services.ibm.com/asd-bin/doc/en_us/java13/f-feat.htm. It now includes a plug-in for the IBM Web Browser and Warpzilla so that they can use Java 1.3.

DFSee, which was demoed at the June 2001 SCOUG meeting, has been updated to version 4.0 as of 07/18/2001. It is an FDISK, display, analysis and recovery tool for disks and filesystems. It now includes some JFS and LVM support. Go to http://www.fsys.demon.nl/dfsee.htm. NOTE: DFSee is now shareware.

Styler/2 (a.k.a. Smart Windows), which was part of Gary Granat's series last year on Seeking Ways to Get Rid of System Bloat has been updated to version 1.6.4.22 as of 07/21/2001. Use search key smw on Hobbes.

Scan Lite version 0.41 has been released. This is a free SANE (Scanner Access Now Easy) scanning front-end that requires Java. Go to http://www.objects.com.au/products/josi/scanlite/.

Tame/2 version 0.9.4 has been released as of 07/18/2001. It is a new front-end for SANE which supports additional options, has a preview window, on-the-fly conversion to .BMP, user presets, and more. Go to http://www.os2world.com/goran/tame.htm.

PMCDRec version 0.10 has been released as of 06/26/2001. This is a front-end for mkisofs and cdrecord. Go to http://en.os2.org/projects/indos2/utilities/PMCDRec.php3.

z! has been updated as of 07/17/2001. This is a text-mode MP3 player that can handle streaming audio (Shoutcast). Go to http://dink.org/z/.

NewView version 1.28.3 has been released as of 07/22/2001. It 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/position, select and copy from the window, and more. Use search key newview on Hobbes.

Polarbar Mailer version 1.20 has been released as of 07/20/2001. This Java e-mail program came from the source code release of JStreet Mailer. Go to http://www.polarbar.org/.

F version 4.5g beta has been released as of 06/29/2001. It is a free-ware text-mode configurable file manager, with an FTP/FXP client, an editor with syntax-highlighting, numerous tools for developers, simple e-mail and news clients, as well as small HTTP and FTP servers. Go to http://filemanager.free.fr/.

Normalize version 0.6.1 has been released as of 07/23/2001. It is an overly complicated tool for adjusting the volume of wave files to a standard volume level. This is useful for things like creating MP3 mixes, where different recording levels on different albums can cause the volume to vary greatly from song to song. Use search key normal on Hobbes.

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.