Order Number: AA-PKKRB-TE DEC_SoftPC_Version_4.0_for_VMS________________ Release Notes Read these release notes first. They document late technical changes, restrictions, and corrections not covered elsewhere in the DEC SoftPC documentation. Operating System and Version: VMS 5.5 or higher MOTIF 1.1 or higher Software Version: DEC SoftPC 4.0 __________________________________________________________ Third Printing, July 1993 © Digital Equipment Corporation 1993. The following are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation: DECconnect, DECstation, DECwindows, VAX DOCUMENT, VAXstation, VMS, VT, and the DIGITAL logo. Apple Imagewriter II is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Apple Laserwriter Plus is a trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. CROSSTALK XVI is a trademark of MicrosTuf, Inc. DESQview is a trademark of Quarterdeck Office Systems. Epson FX-105 is a registered trademark of Epson America, Inc. Epson LQ-2500 is a registered trademark of Epson America, Inc. Epson SQ-2500 is a registered trademark of Epson America, Inc. Hercules is a registered trademark of Hercules Computer Technology. IBM Graphics Printer is a trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Lotus 1-2-3 is a trademark of Lotus Development Corporation. Microsoft Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Word is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. MS-DOS is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Q&A is a registered trademark of Symantec Corporation. SmarTerm 220 is a registered trademark of Persoft, Inc. SoftPC is a trademark of Insignia Solutions, Inc. UNIX is a registered trademark of UNIX System Laboratories. S2341 This document was prepared using VAX DOCUMENT, Version 2.1. ________________________________________________________________ Contents Preface.................................................. v 1 Notes for System Managers Read Only Hard Disks............................ 1-1 2 Notes for General Users MS-Windows...................................... 2-1 Previous C: Drive Not Compatible................ 2-1 Restrictions to Building E: from the Floppy..... 2-2 Removing Floppy Disk before Booting............. 2-2 The /e Option of MSCDEX.EXE Is Not Supported.... 2-3 3 New Features in DEC SoftPC Version 4.0 iii ________________________________________________________________ Preface These release notes describe product restrictions, undocumented features, and other essential information about DEC SoftPC Version 4.0 for VMS. These release notes supersede all other documents. Document Structure These release notes document software restrictions not covered elsewhere in the DEC SoftPC Version 4.0 documentation set and provide document corrections and clarifications. Intended Audience All DEC SoftPC users (system managers and general users) should read these release notes. Associated Documents System managers should read the DEC SoftPC User's Guide for the VMS Operating System, Chapter 5, Floppy Disks, and Appendix A, VMS Installation. General users should read the entire DEC SoftPC User's Guide for the VMS Operating System. v 1 ________________________________________________________________ Notes for System Managers You must read and understand these release notes as well as Chapter 5 and Appendix A in the DEC SoftPC User's Guide for the VMS Operating System before installing DEC SoftPC. ________________________________________________________________ Read Only Hard Disks DEC SoftPC Version 4.0 allows operation with hard disks mounted read only. This condition is flagged when DEC SoftPC starts up. Be aware that some DOS applications do not understand a hard disk that cannot be written to and go into an infinite wait loop waiting for the write completion flag. So, if your application falls into this catagory, either make the disk writable or do not use that application. Notes for System Managers 1-1 2 ________________________________________________________________ Notes for General Users This section is for all DEC SoftPC Version 4.0 users. General users must read the entire DEC SoftPC User's Guide for the VMS Operating System, with close attention to Chapter 5, before using DEC SoftPC. ________________________________________________________________ MS-Windows Do not use the MS-Windows Express installation. If you do, incorrect windows drivers will be installed and MS-Windows will not work properly. You should use the standard MS-Windows installation procedure. ________________________________________________________________ Previous C: Drive Not Compatible Older C: drives are not compatible with DEC SoftPC Version 4.0. The differences are: o Currently DOS Version 5.0, not DOS Version 3.3 o Files in \INSIGNIA o Files in \DOS Notes for General Users 2-1 Restrictions to Building E: from the Floppy ________________________________________________________________ Restrictions to Building E: from the Floppy If you install software from floppy disks, you should build the application on either the C: or D: drive, not the E: drive. Once you know your application works, move it to the E: drive. Note, however, that some programs do not function correctly when started from the E: drive. ________________________________________________________________ Removing Floppy Disk before Booting You should remove all floppy disks from the drive before starting DEC SoftPC. If a floppy disk is in the drive when DEC SoftPC is starting, DEC SoftPC tries to boot from the floppy. DEC SoftPC may not work if the floppy disk is formatted incorrectly. 2-2 Notes for General Users The /e Option of MSCDEX.EXE Is Not Supported ________________________________________________________________ The /e Option of MSCDEX.EXE Is Not Supported Do not use the /E switch (allow use of extended memory) when issuing the MSCDEX command. Using this switch causes sporadic DEC SoftPC operation. Notes for General Users 2-3 3 ________________________________________________________________ New Features in DEC SoftPC Version 4.0 Several new features have been added to DEC SoftPC Version 4.0. o Motif-based user interface o Support for protected-mode 286 operation (this also means support of Windows Version 3.1 Standard Mode) o Super VGA (256 colors) o Autoflush availability (flushing occurs 1 to 50 seconds after the buffer is loaded) o FPU emulator (ability to turn the hardware floating- point emulation on and off) o Extended and expanded memory o Support for Microsoft CD-ROM extensions and three window sizes o Support for both A: and B: floppy drives and for hard disks up to 300 Mbytes o Support for MS-DOS 5.0 New Features in DEC SoftPC Version 4.0 3-1