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win4lin dosemu windows emulation

Message-ID: <396BC734.4364B4EC@trelos.com> 
From: David Peet <david.peet@trelos.com>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.unixware.misc,comp.unix.sco.misc
Subject: Re: Future of SCO Merge?
References: <8irmcf$8is$1@malgudi.oar.net>
<3957559C.509E7342@saki.com.au> 
Date: Wed, 12 Jul 2000 01:29:21 GMT

Geoff Johnson wrote:
> 
> Its the classic price yourself out of the market game.
> ...
 
I agree!
I have been telling SCO for some time now that they are charging way
too much for Merge in today's market.  That is why we are currently 
selling the Win4Lin single user version for $50.  This is a low price!
(But the $50 only get you minimal support directly from TreLOS.)

The multi-user version of Win4Lin (version 2.0) will be out this 
summer sometime, and support for SMP systems. (Current versions 
of SCO Merge already support SMP.)  SCO Merge 5, also available 
this summer for OpenServer, has a bit more functionality than in 
Win4Lin 1.0 (which is version "4.9", vs. SCO Merge being "5.0").

> Anthony W. Southworth wrote:
> >
> > Okay, I recently asked a question in c.u.u.m if anyone had heard anything
> > about when Merge 5 was going to be released.  The slide presentations
> > from Forum99 on SCO's web site seem to indicate that it should already
> > be out.

It should be in (early?) August.  So Real Soon Now. (for OpenServer only)

> > I didn't get any responses, so I starting bugging someone at SCO Service
> > Sales, to see if she could find out for me.  After a few emails to some
> > of her contacts within SCO about when Merge 5 will appear for UW7, this
> > is what I found out:
> >
> >     "No, currently Merge 5 will be released on OS5 only.  Without a
> >     compelling business case it will not released for UW7."
> >
> > Now, I use Merge 4.1.1 quite heavily on my UnixWare 7.1.1 system, and
> > it works well.  I was looking forward to the Win98 and "native networking"
> > support in Merge 5.
> >
> > Is there anyone else out there using Merge on UW7 who needs Merge 5 to
> > be supported?  Evidently not, at least according to SCO.

Yes, SCO has decided not to offer this.
(If demand is high enough, TreLOS could though.)
One problem is that some changes in early release versions 
Unixware 7.1.1 cause problems with Merge, and SCO has to fix these
things in UW711 before anyone can provide a Merge for UW711. 
(The same version of Merge that has problems on UW711 works fine
on earlier versions of UW7.)  So SCO has to spend effort (i.e. $$)
to fix UW711.  In addition, the new networking support in Merge 5
for OpenServer does not translate directly to UW7, because the
networking implementation is so different betwen OSR5 and UW7.
So it will take $$ to implement that feature for UW7.
If there is enough demand for Merge 5 on UW7 (either with or
without the new networking stuff) then it makes business sense
to supply it.  If TreLOS supplies it, then we might have to say to
not use it on UW711 until SCO fixes UW711, and/or that it does not
have the new networking stuff.

So you have to let TreLOS know what the realistic demand for 
Merge 5 on UW7 is, and the functionality really required.
(I.e. is the new networking required or not.)
email info@trelos.com
But note that  TreLOS is not set up to provide support on UW7
at the same level as we are now doing on Linux.
So if TreLOS supplies Merge 5 on UW7, it may not be with much 
if any support.  (Then perhaps some UW7 shop could step up and
sell some level of UW7 related support for Merge, for whatever 
price they can get.) 

But one thing to note:  SCO Merge on OpenServer still has more
slightly more functionality than on UW7, and performance is a bit,
better on OpenServer.  So unless you need to use UW7 for other 
reasons, OpenServer is the better platform for Merge.

-David Peet

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