Subj : Win2k/NetModem To : CRAIG HEALY From : CHRIS CRANFORD Date : Sat Aug 24 2002 08:08 am -> He'll end up trading a Virtual Port problem for an incompatible app -> problem. At this point in time, the lack of Virtual Port software -> is a major stumbling block. Sadly. I have asked a well known author -> of NT software as to the cost of creating such a beast. A price of -> $1,600 was quoted, which is reasonable, given sales at a fair rate. -> I would need some time to craft the specifications, and the alpha -> and beta process testing. If that could be hammered out, then the -> project will proceed with my funding. Hmm, certainly not the amount you'd charge for the application though :) -> Since I have no input to what Santronics does with the WC5 software, -> there isn't any control we have over how it runs popular BBS programs. -> Frankly, I don't think Santronics is capable of solving these problems -> either. Not due to their limitations, but due to the nature of NT and -> Win2000 itself. I believe if they could make WC5 run all the stuff -> that WC4 can, they probably would. If for no other reason than to -> shut us up so we don't grump about WC4 issues any more. Hector seems -> thoroughly sick of WC4 questions and beefs. I have seen very little loss in my upgrade from WC4 to WC5. About 90% of all my door applications run fine. I only experienced problems with my Mail Tosser because I was originally using GOScan w/WC4. I dropped fidonet for a little while, purchased Hector's PX demo key, and then wrote my own tosser. Well, I believe the ideals and direction behind WC5 and the old WC4 are in two different directions. WC5 is heading toward eCommerce, Internet/IntraNet solutions. WC4 was primarily directed in the BBS community arena. At least this is my opinion; however Hector may disagree. -> My BBS runs from a Novell 4.11 server, and a number of DOS and Win98 -> clients. And Internet via DSL. My job calls for maintenance of -> several Novell and WinNT servers, and about 30 Win98, WinNT and Win2000 -> workstations. I really don't have a problem with Windows. That's cool, but in Bennie's situation (which this is where the thread originally started), he's using Windows 2000 and wants to do something that isn't available via Windows 2000 using 3rd Party products. He was asked to go back to Windows NT and he'd not have a problem. The only major improvement in Win2kPro versus WinNT4 WS is that Win2k's internet bottle neck is handled better and the internet connectivity is more stable and reliable. (based on large amounts of traffic). That aside, pretty graphics, little desktop quirks, etc aren't necessary if you want to continue something you enjoy doing! -> And the nature of WinNT and Win2000 as well. The architecture and infrastructure between the two operating systems aren't that different. I do a lot of application development and I do most of the development on WinNT just because it's stable and 99.9% of my applications can be installed from a WinNT box directly onto Win9x/NT and 2000 boxes. I use a lot of Application Program Interface (API) calls to Windows to perform a lot of my transactions in my apps and that hasn't changed. Now, it is possible the hardware interface between the hardware & software has changed since Windows 2000 does NOT allow software to talk to hardware directly, only through the OS, but that still should not be that big of a deal to write such applications which can operate on both platforms. -> -> You certainly can run Wc4 under the scenes of WC5 if you wanted. Thi -> -> will require something like Netmodem or COM/IP on WinNT/9x machines -> -> to do this though. -> That's circular. If I could get NetModem or COM/IP to work with WC4 -> on a Win2000 machine, that'd solve the whole problem. But no, neither -> will. Well, I suppose it would solve the problem Craig, but there are only a hand full of developers out there that are still developing for WC4. I just do not understand why anyone would want to continue to use a product if development tasks for that product is minimal to nil. I quit development for WC4 about 3 years after the release of WINS because of the difference in the programming style. WC4 was so much more difficult to program for (at least coming from external apps - not wcCODE). In WINS, the external apps are just as easy (if not easier) to write than the wcBASIC code apps that can be written. But there again, this is Windows 2000 echo and not the difference between WC4/Wc5 issues. I hope that you and Bennie both solve your problems. Keep me posted if you find anything new. Regards Chris Cranford WIN2000 Moderator --- Mail-ennium/32 v1.01.301.4/#01-0001 * Origin: Thanks for using Mail-ennium/32 (1:379/1200.0) .