
              COMMENTS ON OS/2 MAGAZINES AND PERIODICALS 
              ------------------------------------------ 
                          Richard E. Hodges 
   
1  TRADITIONAL PRINTED PERIODICALS 
   
   1.1 DESCRIPTIONS AND COMMENTS 
   
   1.1.1 OS/2 Professional 
   
        This is a monthly periodical which has been around for just over 
        one year. OS/2 Professional is a slick, color glossy magazine 
        which typically runs about 100 pages. It features regular columns 
        by noted industry pundits such as William Zachmann and Jerry 
        Pournelle. Editor Edwin Black does a fine job of pulling together 
        a professional publication targeted primarily at the corporate 
        OS/2 user, MIS Manager, developer, etc. 

        OS/2 Professional is organized into four major sections: 
        Articles, Products & Reviews, Tech Talk, and Departments & 
        Columns. 
   
        The feature article section typically contains such categories as 
        "Special Report", "User Profile", "Vendor Profile" and "Feature". 
        Typical articles tend to run in two veins. One recurring 
        theme is coverage of OS/2-specific developments. Articles such as 
        "The Future of OS/2", "Integrating OS/2", "Windows Version of 
        OS/2--a Solid Integrating Platform", etc. The other theme tends 
        to highlight various corporations and individual OS/2 users. 
        These articles typically show examples of how OS/2 has helped 
        make someone a success, or solve some problem. 
   
        Black often conducts a Q&A interview with some industry 
        leader who is significant in some way to OS/2. For instance, 
        a recent issue featured an interview with Corel CEO Michael 
        Cowpland. 
   
        OS/2 Professional is relatively weak as a source of solid 
        information related to applications programs: this is not the 
        place to look for a comparison of the latest productivity apps.
        Shareware, no matter how good, would scarcely be expected to 
        appear in an OS/2 Pro review. It doesn't appear that OS/2 Pro has 
        established or utilizes any benchmarks for OS/2 programs. 

        The editorials in OS/2 Professional have a decidedly political 
        edge. Edwin Black generally offers some market analysis ranging 
        from doom and gloom to cautious optimism. Zachmann's View is 
        usually gazeing over the broad architectural landscape of IBM 
        operating systems vis a vis Microsoft's. Predictably, Zachmann 
        is inclined to put on the binoculars and focus attention on the 
        latest smokescreen from Microsoft. This politico-IBM orientation 
        also spills over into some articles and interviews. 
   
        Jerry Pournelle's recent addition, "The View From Chaos Manor" 
        brings a much needed end-user perspective to the magazine. For 
        instance, Jerry has discovered many obvious quirks in OS/2 
        (such as the idiotic "Find" and "Locate" commands). Hopefully, 
        if someone of Pournelle's reputation identifies these problems 
        the OS/2 developers (or someone!) will get around to doing 
        something about them. Unfortunately, Jerry still seems to view 
        OS/2 as a platform for running Windows programs. He can't resist 
        the ever present temptation to send IBM some more good advice... 
   
        Overall, I regard OS/2 Professional as a worthwhile publication. 
        It has plenty of advertisements, reports of new products, some 
        useful tips and REXX programming hints. Unfortunately, I sometimes 
        find the political tone of magazine tiresome and almost depressing. 
        Indeed, even the photos of the authors look gloomy. Nobody smiles. 
   
   
   1.1.2 OS/2 Magazine 
   
        OS/2 Magazine is a new monthly periodical which appeared last 
        December (1993). It is a glossy color periodical which 
        (so far) runs about 85 pages. OS/2 Magazine provides coverage 
        of OS/2 that is distictly oriented toward the end-user. The 
        articles and editorial copy are aimed at _average_ end users, 
        a welcome perspective. Discussion of software products is 
        typically prefaced by some plain-language description of 
        why one would need it. Acronyms are always defined, and the 
        magazine seems to consciously avoid paragraphs that look like 
        they were taken from an IBM service manual, or a game of techo- 
        scrabble. It is enjoyable reading. 

        OS/2 Magazine is divided into four sections: Articles, Reviews, 
        Departments and Columns. The articles on OS/2 are typically 
        in the "how to" vein or else are tutorial in nature. Examples 
        include, "Customizing your OS/2 Desktop", "While You Wait" (a 
        very readable explanation of why multitasking is useful for an 
        average end user), "OS/2 on a Laptop". So far, the cover story 
        has tended to focus on OS/2 itself, rather than products for 
        OS/2. For instance, the March issue features, "OS/2 for Windows". 
   
        One thing I found distinctive about OS/2 Magazine is the honesty 
        of the product reviews. The reviews give a straightforward view 
        of the author's experience with the product. There is evidently 
        little bias shown to native OS/2 products -- for instance, the 
        March issue's review of word processors flatly states that 
        Windows word processors are better than the current crop of 
        native OS/2 word processors. On the downside, the product 
        reviews are not as precise and detailed as one would like. 
        In some cases, the reviews are a bit sloppy. There is little 
        _quantitative_ comparison of products (although, admittedly 
        these kinds of tests can often be misleading). Bottom line: 
        the magazine provides useful information about applications 
        software and how it performs. 
   
        Long-time OS/2 users will recognize some ex-IBMers among the 
        authors in OS/2 Magazine. They are unequivocally _NEW_ IBM. The 
        authors of editorial and opinion columns in OS/2 Magazine 
        avoid the geo-political-operating-system-war-game-strategy 
        attitude that is prevalent in many periodicals. Although 
        the editorials and opinions columns do not shrink from 
        complaining about problems (again, end-user viewpoint), the 
        overall tone is positive. All of the authors are smiling! 
        Another unique aspect of OS/2 Magazine is the column by Amy Wohl 
        (in fact, she's the only "big name" writer). This provides a 
        welcome departure from the male dominated computer press. 
   
        Columns in OS/2 Magazine are filled with useful "how to" 
        information. How to code REXX macros. How to find an OS/2 
        user group. How to find the latest OS/2 books. There's a 
        helpful "Tips and Tricks" column with useful information to 
        help a person set up and customize the system. Etc, etc, etc. 

        Overall, OS/2 Magazine is a very valuable resource, particularly 
        for NEW OS/2 users. It has plenty of advertisements and listings 
        of new products. The tone is positive and the magazine properly 
        focuses attention on how to solve problems and make things 
        work for you. The product reviews should improve over time 
        (bear in mind, this is only about the third issue -- VERY 
        impressive quality for a startup). One useful addition would be 
        a regular review of good shareware programs. 
   
   
   1.1.3 OS/2 Developer Magazine 
   
        OS/2 Developer is a bimonthly periodical originally put out 
        by IBM, but now taken over by an independent publisher. This 
        is the "Microsoft Systems Journal of OS/2". It has evidently 
        been in print for 5 years (vol. 5). OS/2 Developer is a 
        high quality, professional, glossy color periodical which 
        runs over 100 pages. The magazine is evidently targeted 
        primarily at developers, but honest-to-gosh power users and 
        system administrators will also find useful information here. 
   
        For developers, the magazine provides overview coverage of various 
        API subsystems in OS/2 with tips and recommendations for 
        programming practice. For example, there have been articles 
        describing the various containers (Notebooks, file boxes, etc), 
        articles on the printing subsystem, speech recognition, etc. 
        Also, there is an ongoing "Tools" section with "how to" 
        information on a variety of available programming tools. The 
        "Product Watch" column tells of the latest OS/2 tools and 
        applications. 
   
        There are also articles of more general interest (although not 
        for an average end user). For instance, the July/August 1993 
        edition has an article describing Taligent. The material 
        comes from "Mr. Taligent himself, Joe Guglielmi". Another 
        article gives a programming overview of Lan Netview. 
   
        Editor Dick Conklin does an excellent job with OS/2 Developer. 
        It is lively, colorful and informative. It appears to be 
        _must_ reading for a serious OS/2 developer. 

  
   1.1.4 Inside OS/2 
   
        This is the Cobb Group's newletter. I only looked at it once 
        over a year ago. Appears to be a useful compilation of 
        "tips and techniques". Probably a big time saver for people 
        who maintain OS/2 for a living and don't have time to dig 
        around bulletin boards, internet, CompuServe, etc. for info. 
   
   
   1.1.5 OS/2 Newsletter 
   
        Never saw it. No info. 
   
   1.1.6 OS/2 Week 
   
        This is the periodical of choice for OS/2-politics junkies. 
        A weekly (obviously) that features everything from latest 
        product announcements to detailed coverage of staff changes 
        within IBM. Here are some sample headlines to get you started: 
   
        Oct.  4, 1993 OS/2 Target: 4 million copies by Q2 
        Oct. 11, 1993 IBM Plans Ferengi raid 
        Oct. 18, 1993 IBM team ports NT 
        Nov.  1, 1993 Ambra preloads OS/2 
        Nov. 15, 1993 WordPerfect redirects OS/2 strategy 
        Nov. 29, 1993 OS/2 hits 4.5 million 
        Dec. 13, 1993 PSP Gets SmartSuite 
        Dec. 20, 1993 SmartSuite facing two problems 
   
        As the advertisement says, "No one can deliver the inside 
        scoops on the OS/2 market like the staff of OS/2 Professional" 
   
   1.1.7 OS/2 Monthly 
   
        This (apparently defunct) magazine was started as a part-time 
        effort by a single individual during some of OS/2's darkest 
        days, when Windows 3.1 was in its early heyday and OS/2 was 
        derided by nearly every major periodical as either dead, or a 
        joke. Originally an amateurish, grass roots publication, OS/2 
        Monthly was built on the labor and contributions of a few 
        generous believers in the spirit that is now fully invested in 
        "Team OS/2". As time went on, the production quality improved 
        and the last issues that I received became surprisingly polished. 

        OS/2 Monthly (something of a misnomer since one never knew if 
        and when the next issue might arrive) had the raw appeal of 
        enthusiasm combined with straightforward, honest (if sometimes 
        optimistic) reporting. There was plenty of useful information. 
        I particularly appreciated the fact that OS/2 Monthly afforded 
        the same serious attention to quality shareware programs that 
        is given to commercial programs. 
   
        If anybody knows if OS/2 Monthly is still in publication, please 
        contact me. I think they still owe me a couple of issues. Or 
        maybe not. In any event, I liked it. Whatever its fate, I hold 
        a soft spot in my heart this magazine. 
   
   1.1.8 Windows Magazine 
   
        For those who don't know, the *original* name of this periodical 
        was "OS/2 Magazine" and none other than Bill Gates adorned the 
        premier edition cover in a cheap, ill-fitting brown suit. 
        Later, Gates again appeared in an interview with an IBM stuffed 
        shirt honcho named Cannavino. Shortly thereafter, around the time 
        of Windows 3.0, the name of the magazine changed to "OS/2 and 
        Windows Magazine". That lasted an issue or two, then it went to 
        "Windows and OS/2 Magazine". OS/2 users started to grumble. 
        A few issues later, it finally went to "Windows Magazine" and 
        OS/2 users went into a full revolt of cancellations. 
   
        That was then, this is now. In spite of the name, Windows 
        Magazine still has at least one old time OS/2 user, writer 
        John Ruley. Ruley generally writes solid copy and has useful 
        information to report. The magazine occationally tips its hat 
        to the OS/2 community with an article on OS/2, or some 
        information related to running Windows programs under OS/2. 
        Maybe if enough OS/2 for Windows users subscribe and write 
        letters, they will change the name to "Windows and OS/2 Magazine". 
        And, if even more do so, it could go to "OS/2 and Windows Magazine" 
        and then....... :-) 


   1.2 SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION 
   
        OS/2 Professional 
        4604 Chicago Ave. 
        Minneapolis, MN  55407 
        Tel: (612) 823-2657 
        FAX: (612) 823-0151 
   
           Subscription to OS/2 Professional: 
           Tel: (301) 770-4OS2 (automated telephone subscription) 
           mail: Send $30 check or money order to New Subscriptions 
                 at the above address. 
           e-mail: Electronic requests must be preformatted using the 
                   OS2PRO.EXE program available as OS2PRO.ZIP through 
                   file area 15 of the CompuServe OS2USER forum, BBS's... 
                   Send request forms to os2pro@mcimail.com 
   
   
        OS/2 Magazine 
        A Miller Freeman publication 
        600 Harrison Street 
        San Francisco, CA 94107 
        Tel: (415) 905-2200 
        FAX: (415) 905-2499 
   
           Subscription to OS/2 Magazine: 
           Tel: (800) 765-1291 
           mail: Send subscription requests to: 
                 OS/2 Magazine 
                 PO Box 56664 
                 Boulder, CO 80323-6664 
   
   
        OS/2 Developer Magazine 
           Tel: 800-WANT-OS2 or 708-647-5960 
           FAX: 708-647-0537 
   
        Inside OS/2 
           Tel: 502-491-1900 
   
        OS/2 Newsletter 
           Tel: 714-495-3757 
 
        OS/2 Week 
           Mail subscription requests to: 
           OS/2 WEEK 
           172 Rollins Ave. 
           Rockville, MD 20852 
           FAX: (301) 770-7062 (Get a request form from OS/2 Pro. Mag) 
   
        OS/2 Monthly 
           Tel: 800-365-2642) 
           e-mail 72550.2440@compuserve.com 
           Note: OS/2 Monthly seems to have died.... 
   
   
2  ELECTRONIC PUBLICATIONS AND PERIODICALS 
   
   There is a variety of OS/2 related information sources available 
   in electronic media. This is just a brief overview, at best. 
   
   2.1 GENERAL INTEREST NEWSLETTERS 
         The following are available free on ftp-os2.cdrom.com 
         in pub/os2/2_x/info/newsltr.  I assume they can also be found 
         on OS/2 BBS's around the country. Naturally, these can also 
         be obtained from the Hobbes OS/2 CD-ROM. 
   
   
   2.1.1 OS/2 FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) 
   
         This free publication is a valuable general purpose 
         resource of information for new and experienced users alike. 
         Timothy Sipples does an outstanding job of maintaining the 
         list and keeping it up to date. The list is surprisingly 
         comprehensive and well organized. Available in both ASCII 
         text and OS/2 INF format. The INF version is particularly 
         convenient due to cross-referenced hypertext links, which 
         generally puts the information you want a mouse click away. 
         (Can you say "Information at your fingertips", Bill?) 
         Check the FAQ _BEFORE_ posting questions to usenet. 
         On ftp-os2.cdrom.com pub/os2/all/faq. 


   2.1.2 San Diego OS/2 Users Group Newletter. 
   
         An OS/2 INF format newsletter with remarkably high production 
         quality. Features product reviews, tips, editorials, lists 
         of OS/2 BBS's, and more. One of the oldest and best of the 
         electronic newletters available. You don't have to live in 
         San Diego to enjoy this one! 
   
         Anyone who wants see the "right" way to use the OS/2 online 
         book facility would do well to look at this publication. 
         Late last year the San Diego OS/2 Users Group was considering 
         converting the newsletter to formal paid subscription printed 
         format. 
   
   2.1.3 The Hitchhikers Guide to OS/2 
         Evidently a recent startup. Rather short and amateurish. 
   
   
   2.2 SPECIAL INTEREST NEWSLETTERS 
         The following are available free on ftp-os2.cdrom.com 
         in pub/os2/2_x/info/newsltr.  I assume they can also be found 
         on OS/2 BBS's around the country. 
   
   2.2.1 Team OS/2 News 
   
         A bimonthly newsletter reporting activities of Team OS/2 
         in INF format. Includes summary of Team OS/2 activities and 
         articles on Team OS/2 events such as activities at Comdex. 
         In addition, Team OS/2 organizers and members are introduced. 
         Sometimes, there are photos of Team OS/2ers so you can put 
         a face to the name you correspond with electronically! 
   
         A good source of information for anyone interested in getting 
         involved in Team OS/2. 

   2.2.2 Electronic Developer's Magazine 
   
         A very high quality magazine (in OS/2 INF format) that covers 
         a range of programming topics. Includes everything from 
         tutorials on PM programming and REXX to nitty gritty details 
         of Installable File Systems. If you are into OS/2 programming 
         at any level (beginner up) check this one out. Ex-IBMer Larry 
         Soloman does an outstanding job on this publication. Some of 
         the old OS/2 Monthly writers seem to be on EDM. 
   
         Can be obtained at ftp-os2.cdrom.com at 
         /pub/os2/2_x/program/newsltr. 
   
         To subscribe electronically, send an empty mail message to 
         EDM2-info@knex.via.mind.org. 
   
         Also found on IBM's gopher site at Almaden and CompuServe. 
   
   2.2.3 Minnesota OS/2 Users Group Newletter. 
   2.2.4 Midwest OS/2ers Grassroots Gazette 
   2.2.5 Mid Missouri OS/2 Users Group Newsletter 
   2.2.6 Pacific Northwest OS/2 Users Group Newsletter 
   2.2.7 L.A. Technical Architect Group newsletter 
   2.2.8 IBM C/Set Newsletter 
   
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