phoenix@ms.uky.edu (R'ykandar Korra'ti) (12/13/89)
[Line eater death from above!]
Somebody a few days ago asked about a software company called The Other
Guys. A friend of mine has a copy of one of their programmes, "Omega File."
I recommend that you stay away from it. She has the most recent version, and
it crashes on a regular basis - usually locks up. Its shell also requires that
you boot from one of their floppies - although you could easily make a
replacement shell for the modules using AREXX, there's no reason for a goofy
requirement like this. It's particularly annoying if you have a hard drive...
Anyway, I phoned the company about the problems she has been having, and
to see whether she had the most recent version (she did; 2.06). The person on
the phone said that it never crashed when they ran it, and asked if I was
running NoFastMem. I responded with some degree of incredulity, "You mean,
it doesn't work right if you have expanded RAM?!" His answer was that this
was indeed the case, and said that "lots of software works like that." I
politely told him that this was ludicrous, but he didn't seem to really
care; he told me that NoFastMem should solve the problem.
I got off the phone and put NoFastMem on the Omega File disk, and found
that when one ran NoFastMem that the programme wouldn't run at all anymore.
It would instead lock up the system immediately. I tried versions of NoFastMem
from WB1.2 and 1.3 (I don't have WB1.1 or 1.0).
I also found out that the programme crashed "even more often" (according
to the owner; I borrowed her manual and disks, trying to get it working right
for her) on the other Amiga she tried it on - an A500 with 512K ram.
So, the upshot; if you're thinking of talking to The Other Guys, you
might sincerely want to watch your step. Their other software might be fine;
I haven't looked at anything else they market (for what should be rather
obvious reasons); if you do, put it through its paces _hard_ before you
buy it (if you can) or do so as soon as you buy it, and if it is balky,
return it.
- R'ykandar.
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| R'ykandar Korra'ti, Editor, LOW ORBIT | phoenix@ms.uky.edu | CIS 72406,370 |
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