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Archive-name: pcgeos-faq/part2
Posting-Frequency: monthly Last-modified: January 1, 2003 URL: http://www.geocities.com/originalravinray/geos/faq/pcgeosfaq2.txt See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge The most recent version of this file can be found at any news.answers archive site. One such site is rtfm.mit.edu, in the /pub/usenet/comp.os.geos.misc subdirectory. The most recent version of the FAQ is also available from my home page at http://www.geocities.com/originalravinray/geos/faq/ in both HTML and ASCII format. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ DISCLAIMER I make no claims about the accuracy of this information. Use it at your own risk. This file is compiled from various sources, including but not limited to USENET, the Web, commercial networks, and electronic mail. The FAQ is mostly targeted towards desktop Geos users, both Ensemble and NewDeal Office. However, there are still many sections devoted to other topics and Geos platforms. This information may be freely distributed, in whole or in part, in any form, provided that any distributor: * Tells me, so that I can inform you of updates to the FAQ and tell the USENET community (I will keep the information confidential, if you desire) * Makes every reasonable effort to keep this information current * Releases myself and the rest of USENET from any liability. If this file leaves the confines of USENET for any BBS's, web pages, user groups, commercial networks, or other networks (FidoNet, GeoHolics Net, etc.) or vendors, please let me know so that I can pass along the information to others. Please send submissions, comments, suggestions, or corrections to rayancog@pacific.net.ph. CREDITS I'd like to give the following folks my thanks: * Steve Main (ndmain@aol.com) former Director of Technical Services, NewDeal. * John Howard (johnh@breadbox.com) of Breadbox Computers, for giving me up-to-date info. * Stephen Haffly (hafflys@earthlink.net) for reposting this FAQ to FidoNet. * Lynn Montelauro (GSMLynn@aol.com) for making this FAQ a part of GSMN. * Rose Walton PC Coaches (rwcoaching@aol.com, http://users.aol.com/rwcoaching/) for distributing copies of this FAQ to its customers. * Werni Grieder (BaselBasel@aol.com, http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/WerniGrieder) for being a Geos deity. * Doug Taylor (doug-taylor+@osu.edu) for a lot of the PDA information. * All the people who have written great Geos software. * All the people who mail me information and follow comp.os.geos.misc. * And of course, James Bearden, the original author of this FAQ. UPDATES Since the previous update (February 10, 2002), the following sections have been updated: * Credits (John Howard's e-mail address) * Section 2.1.1, What desktop products are available for Geos? * Section 2.2.1, What development products are available for Geos? * Section 2.2.2 How can I order development products? * Section 2.2.3 What is IZL? * Section 2.2.4 What is Geos programming like? * Section 2.2.5 Are there any visual development tools for Geos? * Section 2.3.1 What shareware available for Geos? * Section 2.3.2 Are there any anonymous FTP sites for Geos software? * Section 2.4.1 Are there any communications programs available for Geos? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ INDEX * 2 Geos Software Information o 2.1 Desktop Software Products + 2.1.1 What desktop products are available for Geos? o 2.2 Geos Development Products + 2.2.1 What development products are available for Geos? + 2.2.2 How can I order development products? + 2.2.3 What is IZL? + 2.2.4 What is Geos programming like? + 2.2.5 Are there any visual developement tools for Geos? o 2.3 Shareware + 2.3.1 What shareware available for Geos? + 2.3.2 Are there any anonymous FTP sites for Geos software? + 2.3.3 Are there any Geos related BBS's? + 2.3.4 Are there any DOS programs written for Geos? o 2.4 Communications Software + 2.4.1 Are there any communications programs available for Geos? + 2.4.2 Does Geos do TCP/IP? ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 2 Geos Software Information 2.1 Desktop Software Products 2.1.1 What desktop products are available for Geos? Some companies and individuals that sell Geos desktop software. The most notable is Breadbox Computer, but there are others. Not only does this list keep changing, but the products offered by these companies and the places and means to buy them continue to change. Breadbox Computer announced in a press release on January 24, 2002 that it has signed a worldwide non-exclusive licensing agreement with Geoworks to license Geos operating system for use on any and all hardware platforms and devices. It also now markets NewDeal Office 2000. It can be reached at: Breadbox Computer PO Box 808 Port Richey, FL 34673-0808x Tel/Fax (813) 847-6996 E-mail: info@breadbox.com Web: http://www.breadbox.com 2.2 Geos Development Products 2.2.1 What development products are available for Geos? Geoworks wrote several SDK's as Geos evolved. Version 2.0 supported the desktop, Zoomer, and Sharp PT-9000 (a preview of a pen-based tablet PC/PDA). Version 2.1 emulated the HP OmniGo 100/120. With the release of the Nokia 9000, Geoworks created three versions of the Communicator SDK: a DOS-based 9000 version, a DOS-based 9000i version (for the GSM model), and an NT-based 9000i version. The latest version is an NT-based 9110 SDK. The SDK's require Borland C/C++ 3.1 or higher (version 4.5 for the 9110 SDK). Geoworks transfered the 2.x SDK's to NewDeal, and has discontinued the 9000 SDK's. The 9000i SDK is included in the 9110 SDK CD-ROM, though. The 9110 SDK was marketed by Nokia. NewDeal sold off the 2.x SDK's. MyTurn started a developer's program for those who wished to code applications for its GlobalPC, which is now closed. Geoworks Bindery is an application for creating electronic "books" that can be read by a Book Reader on NDO or the OmniGo. It functions very much like Adobe Acrobat or Corel (formerly WordPerfect, then Novell) Envoy, only it is available exclusively on the Geos platform. As with the 2.x SDK's, Geoworks has transfered the Bindery to NewDeal. * Geoworks Bindery - Electronic publishing tool (http://www.newdealinc.com/devrel/) 2.2.2 How can I order development products? The NDO 2000 / GPC SDK is available for download at Gene Anderson's website, www.tvakatter.org. 2.2.3 What is IZL? John Feras' (jferas@netaxs.com) Feras Information Technologies has written an easy to use, powerful Geos scripting language with which you can write entire Geos applications. IZL is available in the desktop version, Zoomer, and OmniGo flavors. The files and documents, including an OmniGo IZL FAQ, can be found at Geos maven Holger Laux's website, http://my.genie.co.uk/holger.laux/izl/. 2.2.4 What is Geos programming like? While this topic is broad, this section will be brief since there is another entire FAQ devoted to it available elsewhere. For serious Geos programming you need to get a Geos SDK that is tailored to the Geos platform that you want to write software for. However, you can probably get by with one SDK, hopefully the latest, as long as you don't try to take advantage of any unique features of your platform. The main point to using the 2.x SDK is that it is DOS-based, although a multitasking environment is recommended for task switching. A second computer is required to use the debugger, and unless you like programming in assembly, you have to use a Borland compiler. However, an NT-based SDK for available for the Nokia 9000i & 9110 and the GlobalPC, allows for single-machine debugging. The main support for Geos development is the usenet newsgroup comp.os.geos.programmer. 2.2.5 Are there any visual development tools for Geos? Yes. NewDeal released NewBASIC over three years ago. It has an easy-to-use syntax, and is marketed much as Visual Basic is for Windows. Gene Anderson also makes this available at www.tvakatter.org. 2.3 Shareware 2.3.1 Is there any shareware available for Geos? The list of Geos shareware is large and growing. Go to www.tvakatter.org to get an idea of what is available. 2.3.2 Are there any anonymous FTP sites for Geos software? For a more complete listing of Geos related FTP sites, check out http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/jbearden/gfiles.htm. 2.3.3 Are there any Geos related BBS's? The following BBS's are the only ones I know that have Geos related content: * The Police Academy (49-611-1860516) in Germany * G-OS BBS ((03) 9803 6498) in Australia * GeoZ Online Services - Home of GeoNet (03)9803-6498 (222:222/0) * Ground Zero BBS, Ipswich, Queenslamd, Australia (07) 3812-0812 Fidonet: 3:640/812.4 Sysop: Frank Moran. Current GeoNet main hub. Has Fidonet Geoworks echo, selection of Geoworks files for versions 1.x.x and 2.xx. * Past the Black Stump, Laidley, Queensland, Australia (074) 65-6667 Fidonet: 3:640/404 Sysop: Rhondda Cook. Member GeoNet. Geoworks echo and selection of Geoworks files. * Lake Cathie BBS, Lake Cathie, New South Wales, Australia (065) 86-3067 Fidonet: 3:711/475 Sysop: Glenn Pickford. Member GeoNet. Geoworks echo and selection of Geoworks files. Glenn is an Ensemble 2.01 user. 2.3.4 Are there any DOS programs written for Geos? Here's a list of DOS apps for Geos. * PicLab V1.83 - Excellent for converting graphics to 16 color. Later versions aren't as good at this * BKGD2PCX - Converts PCX files to Geos backgrounds * IconMake - Converts PCX files and Windows icons to Geos icons * GeoDir - Lists the full Geos filenames at the DOS prompt * EdFolder - Allows you to change the folder icons * GeoKermit - An excellent general communications package 2.4 Communications Software 2.4.1 Are there any communications programs available for Geos? For the desktop version there is GeoComm (aka NewComm), AOL, and CompuServe software. Hwoever, AOL can no longer be accessed from a Geos client, since AOL is no longer available from Sprint dial-up's. For the Zoomer there is ZCommLite, AOL, and CompuServe software. For the OmniGo there is CompuServe and OmniCom. The CompuServe software, CIM4GEOS, requires a patch for it to work correctly for the desktop and the OmniGo. There are also several more shareware Zoomer and OmniGo communications programs and connectivity packs that work more or less on all Geos platforms. A variety of file transfer software is available for a variety of platforms (including UNIX and Macintosh), and there are also several communications programs under development. As far as the Internet is concerned, two browsers are available. GeoBrowser is included in the GeoBook and BrotherWorks for the desktop. A version named NewBrowser was available as part of a beta testing program of NDOr3. Breadbox developed Skipper and Skipper Pro for NDOr3. Future versions will support SSL and cookies. Breadbox also wrote the Meeting Room IRC client software for the GeoBook and NDO. A more advanced IRC app, WebChat, has been released, along with a newsreader and NewMail. Breadbox Ensemble has a full set of internet apps including: WebMagick (browser), IRC Chat, Email, FTP, Instant Messenger (compatible with AIM) and NewsReader. The Nokia 9000 and 9110 Communicators were originally bundled with Windows-based software that allowed them to synch with PC's via cable or infrared, The synchronization software is called Nokia Communicator Server. Breadbox wrote a similar, Geos-based software called Geoserver. 2.4.2 Does Geos do TCP/IP? With version 3.x, it does. A BYTE article (1995) reported that the TCP/IP stack is derived from BSD Unix. Version 3.x includes much better communications support, bug fixes, and new features like the system mailbox. End of the PC/GEOS FAQ Part 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Copyright =A9 199?-1999 James Bearden. All rights reserved. Copyright =A9 1999-2003 Raymond Thaddeus C. Ancog. All rights reserved.= =20 User Contributions: |
PC/GEOS OS FAQ, Geos Software Information (part 2/6)
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