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#: 104414 S5/1000/1200/3000
20-Jan-88 21:19:27
Sb: MS-DOS 3.3
Fm: Rick Mendosa 71676,725
To: All
Tandy just released it's enhanced version of MS-DOS 3.3, and it's
now beginning to arrive in Radio Shack Computer Centers. It comes
bundled with a new version of DeskMate called Professional DeskMate,
which can be run as a standalone application, under the 3Com network,
the Tandylink network, or connected to another machine through an
RS-232 cable. Tandy's stock number is 25-4109, and the package sells
for $119.95.
I've had just a few days to look at 3.3, so this is only a
preliminary report.
Of course, the new DOS is bigger. It always is. 3.3 takes 78,848
bytes of disk space for the two hidden files (IBMBIO.COM and
IBMDOS.COM) and COMMAND.COM. Tandy's latest previous version, 3.20.03,
took 70,656. The version shipped with the Tandy 1000SX, 3.20.21, took
68,608.
The good news is that MS-DOS system files no longer need to be
contiguous. To quote from the documentation "this means that you do
not have to reformat your disk when you want to copy a new version of
MS-DOS on a disk containing system files for MS-DOS version 3.2 or
earlier." The SYS command now makes upgrading the DOS relatively
painless. This means no more messages saying "no room for system on
destination disk."
For those with Tandy 3000s, 3000HLs, and 4000s, you no longer have
to reset the system clock with the SETUP program. DATE and TIME now do
this automatically. Nevertheless, the documentation doesn't mention
that they finally got it right.
Probably the most important new program in the MS-DOS 3.3 package
is FASTOPEN.EXE. If you have a hard disk and run programs that use
several files (especially data base applications), FASTOPEN will track
their locations. So every time you go back to a file you've previously
used FASTOPEN will know where it is and can get it for you much faster.
It takes 40 byes for each file or directory it tracks and can keep up
to 999 locations "in mind."
One of the nice little touches is the addition of the @ switch in
BATch files. By placing it at the beginning of a command line in a
BATch file the line won't be echoed. This way you won't have to see
"echo off" any more!
Tandy is going to make several international commands available on
a separate International Drivers Diskette, 700-4109. These include
KEYB, which loads a keyboard program; NLSFUNC, which loads
country-specific information; and SELECT, which installs MS-DOS with
the desired countryspecific information and keyboard layout.
LPDRIVER.SYS adds several capabilities to any Tandy printer, but for
some reason it too is on the International Drivers Diskette. So too
are PRINTER.SYS and MODEVM.SYS. PRINTER supports "code page switching"
for parallel ports. A code page is a table defining the character set
you use. Different countries and language groups use different
characters, and the code page table displays the different characters
on the screen and printer. MODEVM improves the video display on the
VM-1 monitor when used abroad. Another device driver, DISPLAY.SYS,
also supports code page switching. Since it's not included in 25-4109
it is apparently in the 700-4109 package.
Tandy's MS-DOS 3.3 includes several utilities not normally a part
of MS-DOS 3.3. Each of these programs were in the previous version:
AUTOFMT, which automatically formats a hard disk;
CACHE, which speeds disk access with a RAM buffer;
DC, a file compressor (like ARC);
DISKOPT, a defragmenter;
FMAT2000, to format disks in 1.2 meg drives for a Tandy 2000;
MON386, to load up to nine programs in memory (Tandy 4000 only);
PATCH, which modifies disk files;
RCRYPT, to encrypt or decrypt files; and
SHIPTRAK, which parks hard disk heads for moving.
On the other hand several programs are gone from the new DOS.
These include EXE2BIN, LIB, and LINK, which I think have been seldom
used. I was personally interested to find MLFORMAT and MLPART missing,
since I'd had to use these to partition my 70meg hard disk. (A new
FDISK option, "create an extended DOS partition," replaces these
programs, but to use it you WILL need to reformat your hard disk--and
32 megs is still the maximum size.) Also missing are FBACKUP and
FRESTORE (fast backup and restore). These programs had just surfaced in
MS-DOS 3.20.03. KEYENH, from 3.20.02, is also gone. Although
introduced to recognize all the keys on Tandy Enhanced Keyboard and to
turn on NUMLOCK automatically, I'm not surprised that it's gone, since
I found that it conflicted with several Microsoft programs.
COMP is the more descriptive new name for FC. It compares the
contents of two sets of files.
MODE has major enhancements. The most important is that DOS now
recognizes four COM ports and three parallel ports. Its speed setting
now controls the 4000 as well as 3000s and 1000s (replacing the SPEED
command).
GW-BASIC is unchanged from the previous release, according to
COMP. Both EDLIN and DEBUG are changed, but I haven't determined how.
Microsoft says this will be the last upgrade of MS-DOS. I'm
sceptical, but can report that it IS a major step forward....Rick