The View from Landmark

Has the world gone mad?

We went to our local CompUSA for the grand rollout of Microsoft's new Windows 95 program at midnight on the morning of August 24, 1995. (It's easy for us--we work late and live across the parking lot from them.) The superstore was packed to overflowing. The line of eager beavers waiting for a copy of Windows 95 was four across and extended the length of the store. As the first pallet of Windows boxes emerged a mighty cheer went up. Was this premiere well orchestrated or what? We weren't there for Windows. We grabbed our dollar mouse, dollar CD-ROM, and dollar toolkit and made a run for the cash register, snagging a complimentary slice of pizza on the way out the door. (Do we know our way around computer bashes or what?)

There's big excitement over this version of Windows, and for good reason. It pits the two giants of the personal computer industry against one another. Both Microsoft and IBM are targeting inexpensive, fully graphical operating system programs at the general consumer market. For the first time PC users have a real choice of programs that can wring full advantage of Intel 80386, 80486, and Pentium microprocessors. IBM's OS/2 Warp is a good product, but IBM never did learn how to market to the general public. Windows 95 is probably a slightly weaker product overall than Warp, but behind it is that Microsoft muscle. And that makes all the difference.

Our coverage of Windows 95 begins August 24, the first day of release of the product. We expect to have much to say about Windows as we--and our client base--take the program's full measure and find both its strengths and weaknesses.

Here at Landmark we're using--and learning--this heavily hyped program because we have no choice. A significant number of our clients will buy the program and expect us to support it. (And we are doing that--see Landmark's Technical Support section.)

We're using these Internet pages to share information and exchange tips and ideas. We're reviewing books and software, posting bug fixes and workarounds, listing sources of information and software for Windows 95. Feel free to write us at Landmark@Landmark.org with your own Windows 95 impressions and experiences.

So. Should you switch to Windows 95, and if so, when?

It depends on who you are and what you do with your computer. Inevitably, some of your neighbors, your office colleagues, your computer buddies will be making the switch. Watch TV, read the paper, log onto your favorite on-line service and you'll be blitzed with Windows 95 promotions and enticements to convert. Does that mean you should?

Not necessarily. At Landmark Computer Labs, we categorize our clientele into several separate and distinct groups. You could argue the categories, but they work pretty well for us. We support about equal numbers of the following:

• New users getting involved with Windows for the first time,
• A middle class of productivity users who run Windows routinely but don't fool around with the settings, and
• Those who stay in close touch with PC technology for professional development or personal interest.

Each group has its own distinctive wants and needs, and for each group the Windows 95 issue has a different meaning.

Here's our first take on advising clients in each group. We reserve the right to change our opinions based on observation and experience, so we'll call the following Windows 95, Take 1.

If you're a new Windows user and you want to get off to the best possible start, then yes, use Windows 95.

• The program is entirely graphical, without a text-based foundation. The user interface-- the way you and the program interact--is perhaps the best new feature of Windows 95. It cleans up many of the deficiencies of Windows 3. The metaphor of file folders on a desktop is easy to use. The learning curve is shorter. The right-hand mouse key now has a use. Common dialog boxes make disk navigation and creation of subdirectories easier. The command structure and some of the dialog boxes are still a bit inconsistent, but the deficiencies are fixable and are not a big deal.

• Windows 95 supports long file names--up to 255 characters, including punctuation. "W95TAKE1.824" becomes "Windows 95 introduction: Internet page 8-24-95."

• The program is more robust than Windows 3, even for DOS applications. A poorly behaved application program likely won't crash the entire system as it goes down. You'll keep on running Windows, and just restart that one application.

• Windows 95 enhances productivity--some say by as much as 50 percent. You can put shortcuts on the desktop for favorite applications. Multitasking now actually works, so you see the hourglass less often. Multimedia software looks and feels better. The 32-bit applications really fly.

• All revised software will be written to the Windows 95 standard, and soon serious new applications will appear that don't work with the old 16-bit Windows. The new 32-bit software will cost no more than the old 16-bit software, though of course you'll have to upgrade every major program to realize the advantages of the new 32-bit program core.

• Software maintenance is easier with Windows 95. The handling of configuration data for applications software is better. Gone are separate INI files for each program. In their place is a single database known as the system registry.

• Future hardware will be easy to install, thanks to plug-and-play capability. As plug and play matures over the next couple of years, we won't need to fuss over switch and jumper settings, hardware conflicts, or loading drivers manually.

• Most computers purchased in the past year will run the program, though if the PC has 8 Mb. or less of RAM you should consider upgrading to 12 or 16 megabytes.

• Networking is built right in, and works well.

But upgrading to Windows 95 is far from a lark.

• Microsoft's testing has found a surprising number of popular programs that have problems running in the new environment. Support for long file names is iffy. Expect problems with virus testers, disk repair programs, disk compressors, and tape backup software.

• Crash protection is not nearly what it ought to be. OS/2 does a far better job of implementing software bulletproofing.

• Setting up a dual boot configuration for Windows 3 and Windows 95 can be a problem. You can easily trash the CONFIG file, leading to a failure to boot properly. (Microsoft doesn't give you the option of setting up a dual-boot system for Windows 3 and Windows 95, but we can do it for you.)

  Don't even think about setting up OS/2 Warp and Windows 95 to coexist on a single hard drive. It can probably be done, but you're just begging for trouble.

• If your hardware is inadequate to run Windows 95, you'll have to upgrade. For this program to perform well with 32-bit software, it needs at least a 486 processor, 12-16 megabytes of RAM, at least 300 megs of disk storage (500+ megs recommended), and a Super VGA display. Once the 32-bit applications hit the market in force, you'll need a 75+ MHz. Pentium to do them justice.

If you're in the great middle class of productivity users, those who run Windows regularly but don't tinker under the hood, we say wait at least until Microsoft releases the first bug fix, due out in October. Windows 95 isn't an earth-shaking change--it's basically an upgrade. Unless you want to buy the initial 32-bit releases of your everyday programs, each of which will have its own "first version" bugs, you'll find that programs don't really execute much faster in Windows 95. They'll crash less often and chances are they won't take other programs with them when they do die, but that convenience is balanced by new problems that crop up whenever you upgrade an operating system.

If you want to stay in close touch with PC technology--as a consultant, integrator, programmer, hobbyist, or hacker, by all means upgrade. (You don't need us to tell you this!) "95" will be what people think of when they think Windows. And Microsoft will make sure people do think Windows--often. The company will spend hundreds of millions of dollars in the next year promoting Windows 95 and related products. Windows 95 will be the place to be if you want to hold your own when talking PCs.

There's another category of users we should address: those who are tired of Windows 3 but don't want to switch to Windows 95 or OS/2 Warp. If you're in this group, you ought to consider Windows NT. NT is a good choice for the serious user--kind of an "industrial strength" version of Windows. (How quickly "New Technology" has become the "old reliable version!) NT needs four more megabytes of RAM than does Windows 95, but takes less hard disk space. It's especially strong for networked applications. Eventually the best features of Windows 95 and Windows NT will converge to form one great future product, but that's a couple of years down the road at least. On the negative side, NT Workstation costs about $300, and the server version costs far more.

We'll expand our Windows 95 coverage as we learn more and as time permits. Meanwhile, if you want to discuss these options further, call us or E-mail us at Landmark@Landmark.org.

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url: http://www.landmark.org/w95take1.html

Last update: 12-15-95.

Copyright 1995, Landmark Computer Laboratories, Inc.