Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tekcrl!tekgvs!toma
From: toma@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Tom Almy)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: PC Tools Version 6
Keywords: PC Tools, new version, FAX capability
Message-ID: <7081@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM>
Date: 12 Mar 90 16:14:23 GMT
References: <6194@blake.acs.washington.edu>
Reply-To: toma@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM (Tom Almy)
Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton,  OR.
Lines: 45

In article <6194@blake.acs.washington.edu> djo7613@blake.acs.washington.edu (Dick O'Connor) writes:
>By now, some of you have noticed that Central Point is ready to release
>PC Tools Version 6.  [...]
>Has anyone upgraded and had the chance to try it out?

I think every PC Tools user in the local calling area of Central Point Software
received a Beta evaluation copy. I came up with two pages of bugs (some
catastrophic) that I have every belief they will fix before the actual release
as I've received several callbacks already.  Basically in the 5.x mold, it does
add more new features over 5.5 than 5.5 added over 5.0. (Was 5.5 just an
excuse to double the obviously-too-much-a-bargain price of 5.0?)

Major improvements (IMHO):

1. Shell has a DOS command line readily available.

2. Gobs of file viewers, including some that list contents of archive files
(arc, pkzip, zoo, lharc). 34 viewers total.

3. Improved application launching. Can launch from viewer. Launcher can stuff
   keyboard buffer for applications which prompt for files rather than taking
   them from command line.

4. Diskfix program (equivalent to Norton Disk Doctor)

5. Desktop has HP-16C equivalent programmer's calculator. Database application
   has numerous improvements. Desktop will also run in 43/50 line mode.

6. PC-Cache looks real nice (it will now cache disk writes), but I haven't
   tried it -- none of the previous versions worked on my machine.

Problems that won't be fixed:

1. Manual cover looks sophisticated rather than toyish -- I expect another
   major price increase.

2. I use DOS 4.0 with one huge partition (450 directories containing 160megs
   of files). There is no good way to move around the directory structure in
   PCSHELL, and it takes it 12 seconds to read in the directory tree (which
   it does *every* time it is invoked in version 6.0). PC-Compress doesn't
   work because of limited memory space.

Tom Almy
toma@tekgvs.labs.tek.com
Standard Disclaimers Apply