INTEL is having trouble with their 486-50 chip and has stopped making them. The problem crops up when used with AUTOCAD. Dell and IBM are still shipping PCs with their version of the chip. INTEL is also being sued by AMD about the use of the name "386" for their chip.

Bits of Blue delivery date has been decided by majority vote. The Editor will make every effort to have the newsletters in the hands of the members about 7-10 days before the meeting date. The question was raised because some members are not attending, and it was thought that later delivery would serve as a reminder to attend the meeting.

Marylee Bruneau, Bits of Blue Editor, was roundly applauded by the members in recognition of her outstanding efforts in preparing the newsletter.

Training sessions on DOS Fundamentals (same as last time) will be given again. The three session course is scheduled to begin with the October meeting. Course time will be from 5:45 to 6:30 p.m. Watch the BBS and the newsletter for confirmation of this course. You do not need prior registration to attend. The first session will cover PKWARE (PKZIP and PKUNZIP) and a DOS tutorial program.

Secretary duties will be shared by Charles Howe, Jim Clark, and Ed Buzza.

DOS 5.0 problems and solutions have been documented by Fred Kyle in a WordPerfect formatted file available on the BBS. Since this is a five page document, it was not placed in the newsletter because it would raise the price of postage. Some copies are available at the meeting for those who are interested.

DOS 5.0 seems to be the predominant operating system for the majority of group members. AND they’re pleased with it! Perhaps the most significant feature is the improved shell, provision for using a mouse, the DOSKEY utility, and the undelete and other file utilities licensed from Central Point Software (PC TOOLS). It also allows task swapping but that is a s-l-o-w procedure.

PACE has a pretty good buy for a fax (4800 baud), modem (2400 baud) circuit board - just $99.00.

DR DOS 6.0 will be available soon and will feature disk compression. This feature could double disk capacity.

Harvey (The President) expressed regrets that he couldn't bring us the latest news about PC technology. He has been quite busy and just couldn’t find the time to cull these most interesting tidbits from the various trade publications.

Linda Confer demonstrated the DOS version (3.0) and the alpha copy of the Windows version of Harvard Graphics. This is not to be confused with the 2.3 ver for DOS which is still being marketed as a separate package. Since the 3.0 ver requires a 286 PC, or higher, it is not considered to be an upgrade to the 2.3 version.

Registered users of ver 2.3 can get ver 3.0 for $125.00. If you have ver 3.0, you will be able to get the Windows version for $50.00 when it is released sometime between [now and] this winter.

The new package includes a completely rewritten draw module (old Draw Partner accessory); it provides for macros and the ability to add eight additional programs to be launched from the main menu. The Chart Gallery brings up chart templates (pie, bar, 3-D, line, etc.) that make building a presentation fast and easy. You can create your own templates and add them to the Gallery.

The Intelligent Charting concept allows for adjusting the font size to make the text fit the chart. It uses Bitstream scaleable fonts for this purpose. It can also be used to prepare speaker notes.

Up to 210 boxes can be shown in organization charts. Also, it is very easy to select/create a subordinate from the master chart. Of course, such attributes as foreground and background colors and graphics are easily handled. Further, these attributes can be carried across chart lines.

The new draw module is quite impressive. Especially the Status Box which shows the element currently being used. There are over 500 symbols (coins, arrows, currency symbols, trees, etc.) that can be animated or used as fade symbols. There are 32 palettes, each with 64 colors, besides the customization that lets you select your own colors.

In the area of animation, one image can be evolved into another; arrows can fly to a target graphic; bar graphs can use a plant symbol that grows to represent the bar value - all this in addition to various wipes and dissolves.

One nice feature is the use of "hidden" buttons that can be mouse selected to jump to another chart rather than follow the scheduled order of presentation. The Presentation module includes 17 different backgrounds (clouds, trees, planets, etc.) or you can create your own.

Linda also demonstrated the alpha version of Harvard Graphics for Windows. That the program is pretty solid was proved by the fact that it ran without ever "locking up." The DLL (dynamic link library) feature was well shown with an EXCEL spreadsheet serving as the base for one of the presentation charts.

GeoGraphics is a mapping program. Showing such items as counties, zip codes is done with ease. The Pentagon used this package for some of its TV presentations of the Desert Storm operation.

Software Publishing Corporation has been long known for its very "user friendly" PFS series of programs for the home and small business user. Recently, the company decided to get more involved with the corporate environment and sold the PFS series to Spinnaker Software.

THANKS:  Special thanks to the Software Publishing Corporation for their generous donation to the group of copies of Professional File, Professional Write and Harvard Graphics. And a very special "Thank You" to Linda Confer for her excellent presentation.

THE WINNERS:
Harvard Graphics - Ron Mirth
Professional File - Ben Benedict
Professional Write - Ed Buzza
50-50 - Dee Gabbard u