Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sdd.hp.com!usc!apple!birdsong!larry
From: larry@birdsong.Suvl.CA.US (Lawrence T. Hardiman)
Newsgroups: comp.os.msdos.apps
Subject: Re: PCTools 6.0 vs Norton 6.0?
Message-ID: <2Zo542w164w@birdsong>
Date: 26 Jun 91 03:03:12 GMT
References: <1991Jun20.150618.18242@ssd.kodak.com>
Organization: The Birdsong Company, PO Box 2031, Sunnyvale CA 94087
Lines: 58

herpst@kims.kodak.com writes:

> I've got to upgrade either PCTools or
> Norton Utilities?
> 
> Which Is better for DOS 5.0?
> 
> Which is Better for WIN 3.0?
> 
> Any other Thought?
> 
> Please post or send e-mail to following address.
> 
> Thanks.....

I cannot talk about Norton, I just do not know. What I do know is
that PC Tools 7 is in very bad shape.  I installed the upgrade over
the weekend, and de-installed it when I had to restore the boot
partition on by hard disk because I believe that PC Tools trashed it
when I ran its windows apps.

That's not all. I installed DOS 5.0 last week. That went on very
clean. After several evenings of fiddling with config.sys and
autoexec.bat getting things to work to  my liking I have found no
bugs.  PC Tools is another story.  There are a number of bugs that
trash the screen requiring a "mode con: cols=43 lines=80" to set it
back straight; the mouse dissappears occasionally (vanilla MS-Mouse
driver loaded high); the PC Shell "prune/graft" directory maintenance
function locked my machine up solid.  The list goes on...

Central Point conducts a support forum on Compuserve.  I checked some
of the messages there over the weekend.  Flame is hardly the word for
it! The problems discussed there make mine seem trivial.  Especially
watch out for CP Backup! According to the discussion there whether
you get a good backup is doubtful.

In my opinion, Central Point rushed this product to market to make
its presence with MS-DOS 5.0.

I called them this morning asking how to get a refund. They would not
comply.

My advice to you is to avoid Central Point's PC Tools version 7.0;
wait for 7.1. As released, I beleive you are putting your hard disk
at great risk. The product will not appear on my machine until they
ship me new product *WITH A LIST OF FIXED BUGS*. Further, I am
recommending to my clients that they not install PC Tools V7.

Your mileage, of course, may vary.

Regards,
  larry.

+-- Lawrence T. Hardiman --+-- larry@birdsong.Suvl.CA.US -----------------+
| The Birdsong Company     |                                              |
| POBox 2031		   | If it hasn't been tested, it won't work!     |
| Sunnyvale, CA 94087-2031 |   		                                  |
+--------------------------+----------------------------------------------+