marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) (12/07/90)
About a year ago, I bought PC Paintbrush Plus for Windows to run with WIN/386. Man, was it a major dog. It took 30 seconds just to clear the screen on a Dell 386/25. When I called them up about it, they said it would work much better on WIN/286 than WIN/386. The techie said it would work better with the coming version of Windows. I didn't have WIN/286, so I just gave up on it and went back to the non-Windows version and waited for Win3. I really felt ripped off. When Win3 came out, I thought maybe it might work better, but found out it isn't Win3 compatible. I called them up and they said they were working on a Win3 version and would contact me when it was ready. I haven't bothered to try it under a Real Mode window as that's a hassle when using DOS 4 with SHARE. It just isn't worth the effort. After waiting six months, I decided to call them again today. They said the new Win3 product would be called Publishers Paintbrush for Windows and it was due out the first quarter of '91. They don't know what the upgrade will cost yet. I'm kinda pissed at Z-Soft. I've had this package collecting dust on my bookshelf for a year now and have never been able to use it. Why have they taken so long getting a Win3 product out? Was their saving some money on development waiting for a brand new product instead of fixing an old one worth the ill-will I (and maybe others) feel toward them as a result of these long delays. Other companies decided to patch their old stuff to work with Win3. All my other winapps have been upgraded. Win3 has been out for six months now. Come on guys! I'm so fed up with them, I may never do business with them again. -- Marshall L. Buhl, Jr. EMAIL: marshall@seri.gov Senior Computer Missionary VOICE: (303)231-1014 Wind Research Branch 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393 Solar Energy Research Institute Solar - safe energy for a healthy future
joel@peora.ccur.com (Joel Upchurch) (12/09/90)
Yes what Z-Soft did kind of sucks, but maybe you can do what I did.
When I bumped up against the limits of the Version of Paintbrush
bundled with Windows I also asked about upgrading my PC Paintbrush +
for Windows for 3.0. They said that Windows 3.0 version wouldn't be
ready for quite a while and suggested I upgrade to PC Paintbrush IV+.
If supports all the nice SuperVga modes on my card (Paradise VGA Pro)
and runs quite nicely as a DOS application under the 386 mode of
Windows. In fact, I suspect that this is the best way to run it, since
a lot of the functions eat expanded memory like it's going out of
style and I suspect that the performance is better than the Windows
version will be. Another advantage is that you don't have to restart
Windows if you want to go from say 640x480x256 to 800x600x2 modes. I
set up seperate .BAT and PIF files for the modes I want to use and
then set menu selections in CMDPOST for them.
If your VGA card and printer are on the supported list for IV+ you
might want to try it.
--
Joel Upchurch/Upchurch Computer Consulting/718 Galsworthy/Orlando, FL 32809
joel@peora.ccur.com {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd,ucf-cs}!peora!joel (407) 859-0982mra@srchtec.UUCP (Michael Almond) (12/11/90)
In article <marshall.660520379@wind55> marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) writes: >I'm kinda pissed at Z-Soft. I've had this package collecting dust on my >bookshelf for a year now and have never been able to use it. You mentioned that it worked fine standalone, so it hasn't been collecting dust. > Why have they taken so long getting a Win3 product out? Maybe they wanted to do it right, and not just right away. >All my other winapps have been upgraded. They new version of PC Paintbrush isn't just an upgrade to work under windows 3.0, many new features and enhancements have been added. -- Michael R. Almond (Georgia Tech Alumnus) mra@srchtec.uucp (registered) search technology, inc. mra%srchtec@salestech.com 4725 peachtree corners cir., suite 200 emory!stiatl!srchtec!mra norcross, georgia 30092 (404) 441-1457 (office) [search]: Systems Engineering Approaches to Research and Development
marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) (12/15/90)
mra@srchtec.UUCP (Michael Almond) writes: >In article <marshall.660520379@wind55> marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) writes: >>I'm kinda pissed at Z-Soft. I've had this package collecting dust on my >>bookshelf for a year now and have never been able to use it. >You mentioned that it worked fine standalone, so it hasn't been >collecting dust. I was referring to the old PC Paintbrush IV Plus that I had upgraded to PC PaintBrush Plus for Windows. They are two different packages. And it (Windows version) has been used for a total of less than 15 minutes. Most of that time was waiting for screen refreshes. It's worthless to me. >> Why have they taken so long getting a Win3 product out? >Maybe they wanted to do it right, and not just right away. But they told me before Win3 came out that PCPBfW would work better with the new Windows than it did with WIN/386 v 2.11. It will only work in Real mode. They said it would work fine with WIN/286 v 2.11. The documentation said it supports "Windows 2.01 or later." No mention of 286 vs 386. Taking 30 seconds to erase the screen on a 386/25 does not sound like support to me. >>All my other winapps have been upgraded. >They new version of PC Paintbrush isn't just an upgrade to work under >windows 3.0, many new features and enhancements have been added. They decided to put their resources in a new product rather than fix the old one as many other companies did. Instead of taking a few months to fix the old product, they are taking a year to make a new one. It was their choice. It's my choice to take my business elsewhere. I wasted the government's money on the useless PC Paintbrush Plus for Windows. It won't happen again. -- Marshall L. Buhl, Jr. EMAIL: marshall@seri.gov Senior Computer Missionary VOICE: (303)231-1014 Wind Research Branch 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393 Solar Energy Research Institute Solar - safe energy for a healthy future
marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) (12/18/90)
joel@peora.ccur.com (Joel Upchurch) writes: >Yes what Z-Soft did kind of sucks, but maybe you can do what I did. >When I bumped up against the limits of the Version of Paintbrush >bundled with Windows I also asked about upgrading my PC Paintbrush + >for Windows for 3.0. They said that Windows 3.0 version wouldn't be >ready for quite a while and suggested I upgrade to PC Paintbrush IV+. >If supports all the nice SuperVga modes on my card (Paradise VGA Pro) >and runs quite nicely as a DOS application under the 386 mode of >Windows. In fact, I suspect that this is the best way to run it, since >a lot of the functions eat expanded memory like it's going out of >style and I suspect that the performance is better than the Windows >version will be. Another advantage is that you don't have to restart >Windows if you want to go from say 640x480x256 to 800x600x2 modes. I >set up seperate .BAT and PIF files for the modes I want to use and >then set menu selections in CMDPOST for them. >If your VGA card and printer are on the supported list for IV+ you >might want to try it. Yes they are. I have a Video 7 VRAM VGA (which I think is quite nice). There is just one little biddy problem with it. When you start a DOS app from Win3, you cannot change video modes. I have had this problem with DesignCAD 2D and just now I tried it with PC PaintBrush IV Plus. It locked the DOS session. I'm going to have to get out of news and restart Windows to clear it up. Others have complained about this here in comp.windows.ms about the other video modes with WordImperfect. Video 7 says "That's not a bug. It's a feature." It supposedly keeps 'ill-behaved" programs from messing things up (or something like that). I personally don't see how that can be worse than crashing a DOS session. Maybe it is. Still, I have a one-year-old copy of Paintbrush for Windows that has never been used. I think I'll check out the competition. -- Marshall L. Buhl, Jr. EMAIL: marshall@seri.gov Senior Computer Missionary VOICE: (303)231-1014 Wind Research Branch 1617 Cole Blvd., Golden, CO 80401-3393 Solar Energy Research Institute Solar - safe energy for a healthy future
jls@hsv3.UUCP (James Seidman) (12/19/90)
In article <marshall.661471962@wind55> marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) writes: >Yes they are. I have a Video 7 VRAM VGA (which I think is quite nice). >There is just one little biddy problem with it. When you start a DOS >app from Win3, you cannot change video modes. I have had this problem >with DesignCAD 2D and just now I tried it with PC PaintBrush IV Plus. >It locked the DOS session. I'm going to have to get out of news and >restart Windows to clear it up. Others have complained about this here >in comp.windows.ms about the other video modes with WordImperfect. >Video 7 says "That's not a bug. It's a feature." It supposedly keeps >'ill-behaved" programs from messing things up (or something like that). >I personally don't see how that can be worse than crashing a DOS >session. Maybe it is. This paragraph is a little confused. Let me try to clear this up: you CAN change video modes. You simply cannot go into the *extended* super-VGA modes. That is, when you are running in a Windows DOS session, your card acts like a normal IBM VGA. The problem with locking up is most likely because whoever wrote the drivers for those programs isn't bothering to check whether the video card can do the extended modes or not. As I've said before, you can get around this by using the V7VGA utility provided with the card. Type "V7VGA pure:off" and you'll be able to use all the extended modes. However, this may open up a whole other can of worms, especially if you start switching between DOS sessions or back to windows. Just remember, extended modes are not supported in Windows DOS sessions, and you may run into to problems. DISCLAIMER: I work in neither tech support nor marketing, and my statements therefore do not necessarily reflect official company position, recommended usage guidelines, or valid support information. -- Jim Seidman (Drax), the accidental engineer. "There's a certain freedom to being completely screwed." - The Freshman UUCP: ames!vsi1!hsv3!jls Internet: hsv3.UUCP!jls@apple.com
mcdonald@aries.scs.uiuc.edu (Doug McDonald) (12/19/90)
In article <6304@hsv3.UUCP> jls@hsv3.UUCP (James Seidman) writes: >In article <marshall.661471962@wind55> marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) writes: >>Yes they are. I have a Video 7 VRAM VGA (which I think is quite nice). >>There is just one little biddy problem with it. When you start a DOS >>app from Win3, you cannot change video modes. Mine is a Dell VGA-16, which as far as I can tell is a Video 7 Fastwrite. > >As I've said before, REALLY? Where?? >you can get around this by using the V7VGA utility >provided with the card. Type "V7VGA pure:off" and you'll be able to use >all the extended modes. On mine it is just "VGA pure:off". Works perfectly. Thanks!!! This makes Windows 3.0 actually USEABLE!!!! Doug MCDonald
joel@peora.ccur.com (Joel Upchurch) (12/19/90)
In article <marshall.661471962@wind55>, marshall@wind55.seri.gov (Marshall L. Buhl) writes: > Yes they are. I have a Video 7 VRAM VGA (which I think is quite nice). > There is just one little biddy problem with it. When you start a DOS > app from Win3, you cannot change video modes. I glad my Paradise VGA Pro doesn't do that. I'm running Windows in 800x600x16 mode and I just started PC Paintbrush IV+ in 640x480x256 mode without problems. I also use VGIF and an Autodesk Animator file player in different video modes. -- Joel Upchurch/Upchurch Computer Consulting/718 Galsworthy/Orlando, FL 32809 joel@peora.ccur.com {uiucuxc,hoptoad,petsd,ucf-cs}!peora!joel (407) 859-0982