Microsoft(R) WinNews Electronic Newsletter, Vol. 2, #4 - March 30, 1995 ******************************************************* We have really had overwhelming response to the announcement of the release of the Windows 95 Preview Program (WPP). There were some concerns about the release and phone numbers listed below. We do not want to fill up your mailboxes needlessly, but we felt getting out this information was important. Going forward, you can expect to receive WinNews regularly - twice a month starting in mid-April. We also will periodically send special issues on fast-breaking Windows 95 stories. In this issue please find: 1. An information update on the WPP. 2. Updated phone information for select countries. 3. News regarding some recent articles from industry publications. Many of you may have read stories regarding the performance of our recent Betas. WinNews is providing up-to-the-minute information regarding the performance of current Betas and the Preview Program. This is provided in two articles: - Microsoft's announcement regarding the stories - Some detailed answers to some common questions being asked recently about the Betas 4. The original WinNews on the WPP announcement from last week. Jay Goldstein WinNews Editor (A quick note to those who sent UNSUBSCRIBE messages. We are sending this issue as a follow up to the WPP announcement, but you will not receive WinNews issues after this.) ******************************************************* Window 95 Preview Program Update The Windows 95 Preview Program is selling out fast. However, there are still a few units left, if you are interested in ordering please call now. For those of you who have heard through an industry publication that there is a "flaw", this is incorrect. The product is architecturally sound. We are attaching our response plus a Q&A in this issue. You can be confident that the final beta release included as part of your Preview Program Kit will work fine for evaluating and preparing for your migration to Windows 95. A repeat of the original ordering information is included below. Please note the $32 price is for the United States, and prices will vary in other countries. ******************************************************* Country Updates for Windows 95 Preview Program Here are some corrections for ordering information from some of our subsidiaries. Each Microsoft subsidiary is responsible for the implementation of their local Preview Program, so please refer questions or comments directly to your local subsidiary through the numbers provided below. The following countries are not offering or have no Preview Program kits available; Argentina, Sweden, Norway, Finalnd, and Denmark. The following phone numbers are corrections from the phone numbers printed in the previous announcement. (For all other numbers, please refer to original invitation below) UK call 0181-943-1131 Ireland 0044 181 943 1131 Brasil 011 251 0299 Malaysia 603 2300299 Germany 01 817 3187 (This is a fax number, please send a fax for more info) Netherlands 31 2505 11053 (This is a fax number, please send a fax for more info) New Zealand 09 308 9318 (This number is to register interest only at this time) Caribbean and Central America (including Puerto Rico): 809 273 3636 or 305 491 8849 (This is a fax number, please send a fax for more info) France (1) 6929 11 22 This is an information line, but it will not open until April 18 United States & Canada 1-800-95 PREVIEW is 1-800-957-7384. ******************************************************* For Immediate Release March 27, 1995 Windows 95 Enters Final Test Phase; Still on Target for August Release REDMOND, Wash., March 27, 1995 Microsoft Corporation today announced that the Microsoft (R) Windows(R) 95 operating system has entered its final test phase and is on target for its August release. Microsoft last week released Beta 3, a test version of Windows 95, to 50,000 people as part of its ongoing controlled beta test program. This beta version was mistakenly reported to be the final production version. "Customers can be assured that Windows 95 is still on track" said Brad Silverberg, senior vice president of the Personal Systems Division at Microsoft. "The beta test program is doing what it is supposed to do - help us find and fix bugs. We are committed to shipping a quality product. Contrary to an industry report, the architecture of Windows 95 is sound." Beta test programs are conducted for the express purpose of identifying and fixing remaining "bugs" or glitches in software products. In keeping with its commitment to deliver high-quality products, Microsoft is conducting the most extensive beta test program in the company’s history for Windows 95. Windows 95 is the successor to Windows(R) 3.1, currently the most popular desktop operating system. Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day. ######### Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. ******************************************************* Microsoft Response and Q&As to InfoWorld Articles on latest Beta of Windows 95 InfoWorld has written a product review and news article on Windows 95 Beta 3 that raises some issues with the product. This document is intended to clarify issues the articles may raise for customers. Summary of Key Issues Contrary to the news article written by InfoWorld, Windows 95 is an architecturally sound product. InfoWorld did find some bugs which is expected, and desired, since this is the point of our testing pre-release code. We are fixing the bugs submitted by InfoWorld as we do with the bugs submitted by our over 50,000 beta test sites. Many of the bugs InfoWorld submitted have already been fixed post Beta 3. The vast majority of our beta testers are having a good experience with the product. Based on our internal measurements and feedback from beta testers, we are on track to meet our quality goals and ship in August. Customers should be reassured that Microsoft is committed to shipping a quality product. InfoWorld Articles InfoWorld’s review misses the point of Windows 95. Windows 95 is a great product that in conjunction with our partners will move the computer industry forward and allow customers to do new, powerful and exciting things with their computer. Unfortunately the review focuses on rare cases and mis-reports others. We are committed to fixing the bugs found as part of their review. At the same time, it is incorrect to make broad, sweeping generalizations about Windows 95 based on bugs in beta code. The product is architecturally sound. The Q&A document below provides detailed clarification for customers. The responses are listed in order of the issues raised in the product review. Detailed Responses to the InfoWorld News Article Issue: "What was publicized as the largest beta program in history failed to turn up a fundamental architectural flaw in Windows 95 that causes the operating system to freeze when multitasking a few 32-bit applications....The flaw means that not only is the much-touted final beta not the final beta, but also that two years into the development cycle Microsoft has failed to execute on its promise of a multitasking operating system that can run 32-bit multithreaded applications." Response: It is not an architectural flaw, it was a bug that we had already found and fixed. We also delivered a copy of the fixed beta to InfoWorld before this article was published. Windows 95 can multitask 32-bit applications well. The specific bug that InfoWorld hit in the Beta 3 release was in running out of system resources while running a specific 32-bit application, the Microsoft Network (MSN) client. The MSN client is currently also in beta release and has not been fully tuned yet. Currently the MSN client creates 3 threads of execution per window which is opened on the screen. Each one of these threads also creates a local message queue. Thus, each MSN window opened in this untuned state creates a larger load on the system than normal 32-bit applications. The MSN client will reduce its resource consumption in future betas. Even though MSN is not yet fully tuned, we have alleviated many of these problems in the releases after Beta 3 by moving large portions of the window class structure and the local message queue structure out of the system’s local 64KB heap and into the 32-bit heap. As a result, we significantly increase the number of 32-bit applications which could be run simultaneously. Our internal tests show that with the Beta 3 release you could run, for example, 8 copies of 32-bit Microsoft Excel for Windows 95. With the bug fix, Windows 95 can now run 17 copies of 32-bit Excel for Windows 95. Most users will never run into these limits while doing their day-to-day work. Issue: "The problem stems from Windows 95’s method of memory management ..User Resources...can be completely consumed after only a few 32-bit applications are opened." Response: This is not accurate. Windows 95 dramatically increases system resources and provides the capability to run many more applications than under Windows 3.x. In addition to the 32-bit improvements described above, these increased system resources also benefit users of existing 16-bit applications. For example, under Windows 3.1 you could only run 7-8 copies of Word for Windows 6.0. Under Windows 95, you can now run 18-19 copies of Word for Windows 6.0. Issue: "Although all applications call on the Windows Class Structure, multithreaded, 32-bit applications such as Word for Windows NT, Excel for Windows NT, and the Microsoft Network, make heavy use of the Windows Class Structure and will quickly exhaust the limited resources of the 64KB heap." Response: This is not accurate. Not all applications make heavy use of the window class data structure. In fact the vast majority of them don’t. The Microsoft Network (MSN) is one specific 32-bit application that uses more system resources than average because the current MSN beta creates a local message queue per thread. Most applications do not use or need a separate message queue per thread. As described above, this puts an increased load on the system. Issue: "Microsoft has a fix that shifts the Windows Class Structure into a 32-bit memory address space above the 64KB heap. Microsoft used a similar strategy last December to extend resources of the GDI heap." Response: This is correct we have fixed the problem. As mentioned previously, Windows 95 can run many simultaneous 32-bit applications well today. Moving the window class structure was not a fundamental architectural change. The reason we did not do it for the Beta 3 release of Windows 95 is because we were unsure if any existing 16-bit applications made assumptions about the location of this structure. If so, our moving this structure would have made any such existing application fail. Since that time we have learned that there are no compatibility problems to moving this structure, and we have done so in the post-Beta 3 releases, even before we knew about the InfoWorld Article. We provided a new version of the Windows 95 beta with this fix to InfoWorld before this article was published. Detailed Responses to InfoWorld First Looks Review Issue: "When you install Windows 95 over an existing copy of DOS and Windows it inherits all of the network drivers, device drivers, and utilities that are loaded in your CONFIG.SYS, AUTOEXEC.BAT, AND SYSTEM.INI files - even the ones it won’t need or can’t work with. I left in all of my memory manager, network, CD-ROM, and Sound Blaster drivers, even though Windows 95 properly sniffed out and loaded its own drivers for these features. Redundancy like this won’t always bring Windows 95 down, but it will eat up a lot of conventional RAM for DOS sessions" Response: We leave these drivers in for backwards compatibility reasons. This means that, unlike under OS/2, all users can continue to make use of all devices on their machine, even those for which Windows does not have a specific driver. The drivers which are absolutely safe to remove, such as the CD-ROM drivers, some network drivers and various third party memory managers are automatically commented out of the old initialization files. Other drivers which are needed for backwards compatibility are not touched. For example, Windows 95 will automatically remove Novell’s real-mode NETX client from the system and replace it with a protect mode replacement, thereby saving 97K of conventional memory. It will also automatically remove the real-mode MSCDEX CD-ROM drivers and replace them with protect mode CDFS drivers for most CD-ROM drives, thereby saving 45K of convential memory. Also, knowledgeable users can go back in at a later date and possibly remove other redundant real-mode drivers if they wish to gain even more conventional memory. Issue: "Unfortunately, the RAM most precious to Windows 95 is the tiny portion it allocates for Windows resources. That’s one reason Windows 95 will prove to be as unreliable as Windows 3.1." Response: This is blown way out of proportion. Most people will never run into any system resource limitations under Windows 95. In fact, Windows 95 significantly improves in this area over Windows 3.1. For example users can now run not only all of the applications in the entire Microsoft Office Professional suite, but also many other major applications simultaneously, such as Lotus 1-2-3 for Windows and WordPerfect for Windows. Issue: "I quickly ran out of resources on my 486 with 32MB of RAM when simply running the 32-bit version of Microsoft Word for Windows 6.0 and exploring the Microsoft Network." Response: This statement needs clarification. First, as mentioned previously, Windows 95 runs a number of 32-bit applications well. The scenario mentioned above should present no problems for customers. Second the Microsoft Network (MSN) is one specific 32-bit application that uses more system resources than average due to the fact that it is not fully tuned yet. Also, as mentioned previously, the system’s data structures which were stored in the 64K local heap for the Beta 3 release have been moved to the 32-bit heap. Versions of the beta with this fix included were given to InfoWorld before this story was published. Issue: "This beta is unusable when using 4MB of RAM. It is uncomfortably slow on my 33-MHz 486DX with 8MB of RAM. And it is excruciatingly slow on a 25-MHz 486SX with 8MB when it runs of a disk compressed with Stac Electronics Inc.’s Stacker because the compression forces Windows 95 into using real-mode disk access." Response: Our beta testers tell us otherwise. Internal tests performed on industry standard performance benchmarks tell us otherwise. Specifically, standard performance tests such as Winbench and Winstones show that Windows 95 is roughly as fast or faster than Windows 3.1 on a 386DX with 4MB RAM or better for conducting the same set of common tasks. Also our beta testers confirm these test results from their own personal use. Between the Beta 3 release and the final product release we will also continue to tune our performance. We will work with InfoWorld to ensure that there is not a bug which is affecting their performance. In regard to Stacker compression, it is true that Windows 95 uses real-mode disk access to serialize all the disk activities. This is done for compatibility reasons and is a great benefit for customers that don’t want to change what they have to run Windows 95. Customers also have the choice of using protect mode disk drivers for compression, such as the DriveSpace compression drivers supplied in the box, which provide faster performance. Stac Electronics can also, and likely will, write their own protected mode disk drivers which will provide faster performance for Stacker customers. As a comparison to OS/2, Windows 95 is faster than OS/2 Warp in every standard industry benchmark test. In the example below, we ran the Windows Magazine set of 16-bit Word and Excel macros at the same time to simulate a multitasking scenario. Note that Windows 95 is faster than all other competing operating systems even in beta. Word and Excel Windows Magazine macros - Total time score for 3 runs, in seconds: Operating System 16MB 8MB 4MB Windows 95 211 231 905 WfW 3.11 237 304 3863 OS/2 Warp default 333 558 7102 OS/2 Warp fastload 336 554 7025 OS/2 Warp separate VMs 348 failed failed Issue: "My copy of cc:Mail Remote for DOS works fine as a foreground application, but it simply times out and fails to exchange messages when I run it in the background even when I set the CPU idle sensitivity for the DOS session to its lowest setting." Response: This is a known bug in the beta of Windows 95 and has already been fixed in the versions after the Beta 3 release. InfoWorld had a version with this fix included before this story was published. Issue: "OLE performance in Windows 95 is horrendous. Typing within a Word for Windows OLE object that’s embedded in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet under Windows 95 is a torturous experience. This is clearly a Windows 95 problem, because I can run the same 32-bit versions of Word and Excel under Windows NT and not experience this lag-time typing problem in OLE objects." Response: We have been unable to reproduce this specific problem in-house, nor have any other beta sites reported this specific problem. We’ve asked InfoWorld for more information on their particular configuration but they have been unable to supply that yet. If it is simply a bug in InfoWorld’s particular machine configuration we will investigate it and fix it before the final shipment of the product. Issue: "Every time I restarted Windows 95, it couldn’t make up its mind about how it wanted to log me into the network. I started it up one time and it asked me for a password for each server I use and it automatically remapped drives the way I had them setup last using the Network Neighborhood utility. Then the next time I started Windows 95, it asked me just once for my password and ran my Netware log-in script and mapped the drives according to that." Response: From the best we can tell with the information given to us, the reviewer may be confused as to the expected behavior. A user can specify which entity, in this case NetWare preferred server, to log on to the network. If the preferred server is available at startup, the user will be authenticated on the network and will not be prompted when trying to connect to any shares available via the preferred server or any servers that the user has saved passwords for in the password cache. This facilitates a rapid logon and easy access to network shares without compromising network security. If the server is unavailable at startup time, the user can log into Windows but will get prompted every time they try and access a specific share accessible to them via their preferred server. If this behavior is different than what InfoWorld is experiencing, we will be happy to investigate further and fix this if it is a bug. Issue: "And the relatively easy-to-use desktop is perhaps the biggest improvement over Windows 3.1 although it falls short of both the Macintosh desktop and the OS/2 Workplace Shell in depth and functionality." Response: The writer is clearly expressing personal opinion. Microsoft has conducted a variety of research that shows OS/2 and even Macintosh users are more proficient using Windows 95 to accomplish a set of common tasks as compared to conducting those tasks using their own operating system. For example, we conducted pilot tests for existing Macintosh and OS/2 users and compared those to the same people running Windows 95 for the first time. The tasks each user had to complete were isomorphic, meaning that users never repeated exactly the same tasks but rather completed sets of tasks which were functionally identical. The mean times (in seconds) to complete the tasks for the Macintosh users are given in the table below. These numbers are an aggregate of beginner, intermediate and advanced users. Group Macintosh baseline Win 95, first try All 73 70 Win 95, second try Win 95, third try All 52 47 For OS/2 users, we conducted a similar test with a group of intermediate to advanced existing OS/2 Warp users (We could not find enough novice users to test). The mean time (in seconds) to complete the tasks is given in the table below: Group OS/2 Warp baseline Win 95, first try All 94 52 Win 95, second try Win 95, third try All 28 23 It is also interesting to note that of our sample group of intermediate to advanced OS/2 Warp users, over 2/3’s of these subjects stated that, after the tests were completed, they preferred the Windows 95 user interface over Warp. Note that the sample sizes used in the Macintosh/OS/2 studies were intentionally small because the studies were for internal use only. Test results for Windows 3.1 users’ performance on Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 used a larger sample size (25 per group) and are statistically significant. Issue: "Shortcuts still get confused if you move the files they point to another directory - and get hopelessly lost if you move them to another drive. The only improvement in this beta is that Windows 95 will always ask you before redirecting a shortcut to the wrong file. But it ends up pointing to the wrong file nonetheless." Response: This statement is not correct. Shortcut tracking when the target is moved works properly, and does not open the incorrect file unexpectedly without some sort of a warning message. We have said all along that shortcut tracking works on local drives, not when the targets are moved to a different local or network drive. Shortcuts are based on an open architecture that makes them very powerful for linking to a variety of data types. For example, shortcuts can point to not only files, but also specific paragraphs within a particular file, files or servers on the network. In fact, when shortcuts point to files on a network server that currently isn’t connected to your remote machine, Windows 95 will automatically dial the appropriate access phone number in order to re-establish that connection. Shortcuts can even be extended to connect to objects on the internet, for example to a favorite places location. They are far more flexible than anything else out on the market today. Issue: "As far as compatibility, Windows 95 did run every application I threw at it but not flawlessly. To name a few of the experiences: cc:Mail for Windows cause frequent General Protection Faults; cc:Mail Remote for DOS repeatedly displayed long lines of extraneous letters when addressing mail; and Lotus Notes for Windows warned me it wouldn’t run properly and then couldn’t find most of the servers on the network." Response: Microsoft is not familiar with any problems running Windows 95 with these applications. Lotus Corporation visited Microsoft campus a few weeks ago and they ran through their entire test suite for their applications without problems. This is the same test suite they run before they ship their applications and we jointly did not find any problems with Windows 95. However, if there is a problem that is particular to InfoWorld’s configuration, we will work to understand it and fix it in the final product. Issue: "Corporate users will gain more headache than advantages for the investment in time and hardware it will take to move from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95." Response: Corporate accounts and industry analysts tell us the opposite. Windows 95 provides three very compelling benefits to corporate accounts: · Reduce Support Cost via an easier to use interface, plug and play support for hardware, built-in, integrated networking, and greater system reliability. · Increase Control over the Desktop via integrated desktop security, and remote administration capabilities/ tools. With the registry, adminstrators can remotely manage PC’s through standard desktop management interfaces such as DMI, SNMP, and RPC. · Improved User Productivity through faster print, disk and network i/o, 32-bit multitasking and multithreading, and built-in communications and information access features. Industry analysts such as the GartnerGroup, Stamford CT, estimate that Windows 95 will reduce the Total Cost of PC Ownership on the order of $1,180/year per user over a 5 year period and pay for itself in 3-6 months of moving to Windows 95. Issue: "As for the resource problems in particular, Microsoft claims it can fix them by moving the Windows class out of the 64KB user heap and into the 32-bit address space. They even hand-delivered me a later build to prove it. This build does indeed seem to let you do more before you run out of resources. But there’s a problem with this strategy. Operating system architecture is a delicate balance of design decisions. When you probe them in one place, they tend to pop out in another. And this later build is far less stable than the M8 beta." Response: As InfoWorld confirms, later builds of Windows 95 do improve the system resources for 32-bit applications. Contrary to their claim, these changes are not destabilizing. The product is in beta and continues to improve and become more stable as we move to finalize it. We will ship a quality product when it meets our internal criteria and based upon feedback from our beta testers. Issue: "Since Microsoft has known about the resource problem for some months now, I have to question why it is trying this "fix" on one of the most fundamental aspects of the architecture after the release of what it is calling the "final" beta." Response: Moving the window class structure is not a fundamental architectural change. The reason we did not do it for the Beta 3 release of Windows 95 is because we were unsure if any existing 16-bit applications made assumptions about the location of this structure. If so, our moving this structure would have made any such existing application fail. Since that time we have learned that there are no compatibility problems to moving this structure, and we have done so in the post-Beta 3 releases. We provided a new version of the Windows 95 beta with this fix to InfoWorld before this article was published. ******************************************************* WINNEWS FLASH: WINDOWS 95 PREVIEW PROGRAM - March 23, 1995 Dear WINNEWS subscriber, With all you’ve read and heard about Microsoft(R) Windows(R) 95, we hope you’ve learned that Windows 95 will help organizations lower their PC support burden, provide more control over the desktop, and make users more productive. So how can you prepare to put Windows 95 to work in your organization? First continue to read WINNEWS for the latest Windows 95 information. Additionally, we are making some units of the Windows 95 Preview Program available for those customers trying to prepare their organizations for the migration to Windows 95. Since the Preview Program kit includes pre-release software it is meant for computing and IS professionals. Nevertheless we anticipate greater demand for this program than we will be able to accommodate. So for those people unable to obtain a copy we apologize in advance and will keep you up to date on the latest information via WINNEWS. Participants in the Windows 95 Preview Program, will receive: - A prerelease version of Windows 95 along with information to evaluate the product and plan your migration. For example, the Windows 95 Feature Review will familiarize you with all the new product features, and the Corporate Deployment Guide shows you how to put them to work in your organization. Use the Demonstration Kit presentation and materials to show management why the migration makes good business sense. The Windows Resource Kit lists tools you need to train yourself and others, and the WINNEWS on-line service will help you stay up to date with the latest developments. To get local pricing information and enroll in the Windows 95 Preview Program please call the phone number on the next page that is applicable for your country. Note that orders can only placed in the country you are located in. So for example if you reside in the United Kingdom you must call the number in the United Kingdom and cannot order a unit from the United States. Review the terms and conditions below to make sure this program is right for you. Windows 95 Preview Program Terms and Conditions: Since the Preview Program contains prerelease software and is not returnable, there are several points you should be aware of before ordering: - System Requirements: Windows 95 requires a minimum of a 386DX with 4 MB of RAM. - License: The Preview Program’s license enables you to use this software until one month after the final product becomes available in stores. Only the registered Preview Program participant is eligible for support. - Support: Limited technical support will be provided for the duration of the Preview Program, and will be discontinued at the time your license expires. Since the support staff will be ramping up for retail availability of Windows 95, the response times may be longer than normal. - Warranty: Since this is prerelease software, there is no warranty associated with it, and Microsoft cannot be held responsible for any problems resulting from the use of this product. - Lifetime: The prerelease Windows 95 software has a limited lifetime and will expire approximately one year after the final product becomes available. The exact date and details will be provided with your Preview Program Kit. - No Discount: The price of the Preview Program Kit covers the costs of the materials, implementation and support for this program, and cannot be applied towards the purchase of the final released product. - Recommended Use: Since this is prerelease software, we recommend using it on a secondary machine. Or, if you plan to use it on your primary machine, we recommend backing up all of your existing data. Order Information: Please allow 4 to 6 weeks for delivery upon receipt of order by Microsoft. Windows Preview Program Phone Numbers Country Phone Number Argentina (Not offered) Australia 008 062 062 Austria 0660/6520 Belgium 32(0)2 7303911 Brazil 011-251-0299 Canada 1-800-95Preview (1-800-957-7384) Caribbean/PR and Central America (809)273-3636 or (305) 491-8849 (This is a fax # for more information) Chile (56)-(2)218-5771 Colombia (571) 6182255 Czech and Slov 089-3176-1199 Denmark (Not offered) Ecuador (593)(2)460-453/458 Finland (Not offered) France (1) 6929.11.22 (This is an information line, but it will not open until April 18) Germany 01-817-3187 (This is a fax # for more information) Greece 01 - 68 06 775 through 01- 68 06 779 Hong Kong 852-2-804-4234 Hungary (36)(1)268-1668 Ireland 0044-0181-943-1131 Italy (0039) 2 7039 8359 - (0039) 144001999 Japan (81)(3)5454-800 Korea 02-703-0153, 02-501-8477 Malaysia (603)230-0299 Mexico (525)325-0911 Middle East (971)(4)513-888 Netherlands 31 2505 11053 (This is a fax # for more information) New Zealand 09 308 9318 (This is only to register interest at this time) Norway (Not offered) Peru (5114)421 1200 Poland (48)(2)6615-433 Portugal (351) 1 - 4409200 ROCE (49) 89-3176-1199 Russia (07)(502)224-5046 Singapore (65)227-6833 South Africa (27)-11-445-0145 Spain 1 803 99 60 Sweden (Not offered) Switzerland 155 59 00 Taiwan 886-2-5087149 Thailand (662)266-3300(-9) Turkey/N.A. 90-212-258-5998 UK 0181-943-1131 Uruguay (54-1) 814-0356 US 1-800-95Preview (1-800-957-7384) Venezuela 58-2-913342 ©1995 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. ************************************************************ If you know someone who might be interested in WinNews, feel free to forward this document, provided you forward it in it's entirety, as per the copyright notice below. If you wish to stop receiving WinNews, send mail to enews@microsoft.nwnet.com with the text UNSUBSCRIBE WINNEWS in the body of your message. ************************************************************ This document is provided for informational purposes only. The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to change in market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication. INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT. The user assumes the entire risk as to the accuracy and the use of this document. This document may be copied and distributed subject to the following conditions: 1) All text must be copied without modification and all pages must be included; 2) All copies must contain Microsoft's copyright notice and any other notices provided therein; and 3) This document may not be distributed for profit. Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.