tent with HyperTerminal, Exchange, Internet Explorer, Briefcase, and dial-up/di
rect cable networking?
A Win 95 Communications Feast
HyperTerminal, a big improvement over Windows 3.1's Terminal applet, lets you transmit and receive files, and you can dial up E-mail and on-line services simply by clicking on icons. Of course, you have to enter needed information for specific services, while the third-party products come configured ready to use these services.
Microsoft Exchange enables you to view a fax and set up a fax cover page, but it doesn't let you preview a fax before sending it--a capability found in Delrina's WinFax Pro.
Microsoft's Internet Wizard walks you through setting up an Internet connection using either the Microsoft Network or another Internet service provider. The Windows 95 Plus package includes a World Wide Web browser (Internet Explorer). But a user who wants to do something else on the Internet (setting up a chat session, for instance), or wants to use a Web browser with more or different capabilities, will ne
ed add-on software, such as Delrina's Cyberjack that's included with CommSuite.
Win 95's Briefcase lets you designate files to be used on a different computer and simplifies the process of updating the originals later on. And file transfers between two computers are handled through dial-up networking and direct cable connection utilities. Windows 95 incorporates extensive support for telephone-based activities through the telephony API, or TAPI.
Who Needs What?
The casual communications user may well find Windows 95 all he or she ever needs. The frequent communicator, however, is more likely to discover the limitations and rough edges and want something better. For that user, add-on comm packages are often simpler to manipulate, are easier to customize, and support wider ranges of communications options.
The three packages we look at in this article are designed for different types of communications users, and each bundles a different set of features. CommSuite from Delr
ina (now a division of Symantec) tries to include virtually everything, but the package seems aimed primarily at those people with heavy faxing needs. Traveling Software's LapLink 7.0 for Windows 95 is designed for the mobile worker or executive who may be using multiple computers and needs heavy-duty file transfer and remote access. Mustang Software's QmodemPro for Windows 95 is more like the communications programs we have seen in the past, and it seems designed around the needs of those who run or access computer bulletin boards. These communications packages have clearly evolved from different directions and different strengths.
Because of these different feature sets and target users--for example, one package emphasizes desktop faxing, while the other two don't have that capability--making apples-to-apples comparisons among the different communications products is difficult. Plus, when we began our testing for this article, there were only a few products available. Even though Windows 95 began shi
pping last August, few vendors have ported their communications software to Microsoft's new OS.
These are all 32-bit applications, rather than 16-bit, and thus users should see improved performance for I/O-intensive chores, such as downloading large files. We tested these packages with 32-bit device drivers. The vendors take advantage of Windows 95 features, such as Tab bars. Overall, the products represent a good first step toward exploiting the new OS.
In general, these applications offer a variety of options. Setting up routine communications tasks usually means following fill-in-the-blank prompts, and the process generates icons for later use. The applications include scripting features that allow power users to automate more sophisticated calling sequences.
Jack of All Cyber Trades
Delrina's CommSuite bundles four different communications products into a single package. The strongest module is WinFax Pro, for sending and receiving faxes from a PC. Cyberjack features
Internet access tools, such as Gopher software and a Web browser. WinComm Pro lets users dial into on-line data services and bulletin boards. The TalkWorks module adds voice-mail functionality.
CommSuite, which was the only product actually shipping when we did our testing, includes the most comprehensive set of tools for novice users. Help menus are available on any screen, and a user can click on an icon to see a brief description of any function. An on-line tutorial walks through all the product's different modules and capabilities. The documentation was comprehensive and simple to follow.
The package supports the Windows 95 toolbar, and power users can customize the bar to automate repetitive tasks. Let's now take a look at the different modules in CommSuite.
WinFax Pro.
This module is designed for heavy-duty faxing. A simple conversion program converts phonebooks, logs, and folders from earlier versions of WinFax Pro into Windows 95 formats. Once
the changes are made, however, those files won't run under Windows 3.1.
The package makes it simple to send and customize faxes. WinFax Pro includes 100 cover-page samples to choose from or customize. Most cover pages also allow the user to include short messages.
Because many people move faxes via their E-mail systems, the product supports Microsoft's messaging API (MAPI). WinFax lets users move faxes to the Microsoft mail system. You can drag any fax and drop it into any MAPI-compatible E-mail envelope. This capability isn't available with Microsoft Exchange.
The log for WinFax Pro includes a field that says whether a fax was delivered or not. Win 95 doesn't include this feature, so the user has to wade through a series of cryptic messages just to determine if a fax was received. WinFax Pro also provides a link from an optical character reader to Microsoft Exchange.
A fax viewer lets you clean up the dark spots on received faxes. The product can convert faxes to text with its bui
lt-in OCR. This release includes a photo capability for sending high-quality graphics in black and white. Users have other ways to send documents (e.g., via E-mail), so this feature may have limited appeal.
WinFax presents users with many different scheduling options. You can set faxes for automatic transmission at night when phone costs are lower. On the road, you can configure faxes to be sent via different calling-card options.
For the user who has to send out reports on a regular basis, there's a recurring-event feature that will fax a document at a set interval. The transmission can be on a particular day of the week (the second Tuesday of the month, for example) or on a specific date. The system can produce printed records of each fax transmission.
TalkWorks.
In addition to faxing, WinFax Pro includes voice-mail capabilities if a system has an integrated data/fax/voice modem. Because Windows 95 supports TAPI, TalkWorks can discriminate among incom
ing calls and will hand the call to the appropriate communications module. Thus, a PC with a Sound Blaster card can become a telephone.
You can set up the voice-mail system to answer a call after a specific number of rings. A system manager could set things up to store voice-mail messages in a single inbox or assign a series of mailboxes to specific users.
The program's fax-on-demand feature lets customers call in and request that a document be sent to them. This has proved popular for automating technical support, and a small firm taking phone orders could also benefit from this feature.
The TalkWorks fax features do not use the Norton Anti-Virus software, which can be used with the other CommSuite modules. Although not necessary, this feature could ensure that unwanted viruses are not transmitted along with a fax during a binary file transfer.
WinComm Pro.
This general-purpose communications program helps users connect to on-line services and BBSes. The product come
s with integrated scripts for AT&T Mail, BIX, GEnie, CompuServe, Delphi, MCI, Dow Jones, and NewNet. A user can click on an icon and dial in to one of these services.
The software supports RIPscrip, which provides a graphical front end to bulletin board systems. Instead of answering Yes and No questions, a user works with dialog boxes and color. There's an image manager for graphics files, including BMP, GIF, JPEG, PCX, and TIF. (If you rely on Windows 95's built-in tools, you can view BMP and PCX files with Paintbrush, and GIF and JPEG files with Internet Explorer. You're out of luck with TIF files, though.) A handy feature called ZIP Manager uncompresses downloaded files.
Delrina includes its own version of the Basic language with which power users can create scripts for WinComm Pro. The software can also build a script by recording keystrokes. When WinComm Pro downloads a program, it checks it with Norton Anti-Virus.
Cyberjack.
This module is the most recent addition to t
he CommSuite package. It's designed to help people surf the Internet and provides connectivity to five types of Internet services. A Wizard feature helps you sort through different connection and setup options.
The Web browser does the things that most pre-Java browsers do. It has a pretty interface, and capture and filtering features let you grab and save images. How does Cyberjack stack up next to Microsoft Internet Explorer? In addition to the basic browsing capabilities, Cyberjack features newsgroups, file transfer capabilities, interactive chat, and Gopher.
The News component lets you post and read messages on newsgroups, as well as sort by fields and filter stories. The file transfer capability lets you move files between two computers.
A Cyberjack user can set up an interactive chat session and converse with a number of people. A different color for each chatting party helps keep track of who said what. Gopher capabilities let you leaf through text documents and enable you to work
with multiple file folders. Cyberjack uses Microsoft Exchange for sending and receiving Internet E-mail.
If you simply want to browse the Web, then Microsoft Explorer should be sufficient--particularly the version 2.0 upgrade available from
http://www.windows.microsoft.com
. But if you want more advanced Net capabilities, then you should check out Cyberjack.
Better Connections in Windows
