VOICE Speakup with Achim Hasenmueller from 01/12/2002

<10:07:16 Sector would like to introduce Achim Hasenmueller from Innotek, Inc.
<10:07:36 Sectorachimha, would you like to introduce yourself and tell us a bit about what you do¨
<10:07:56 BlackbirdHello Mr. Hasenmueller.....thanks for coming
<10:08:09 achimhathanks, Sector. My name is Achim Hasenmueller and I live in Stuttgart, Germany.
<10:08:29 achimhaI work as a project manager at InnoTek here and I'm in charge for some of our OS/2 related projects.
<10:08:57 achimhaI've been using OS/2 since 1991 and have been stuck with it since then :)
<10:10:43 achimhamaybe I should talk a bit about the products we have
<10:10:50 franceskyes please
<10:11:00 achimhaI think most of you have heard about some of them or even use them :)
<10:11:35 achimhaWe have the Macromedia Flash Player for OS/2 which the only official Flash Player based on original source codes from Macromedia
<10:12:15 achimhaCurrently, we have Flash 4 available from our website at www.innotek.de/flash and also part of IBM OS/2 (Convenience Pack 1 & 2) and IBM Web Browser for OS/2 (Mozilla)
<10:12:29 achimhavery soon (hopefully next week) we will release Flash 5
<10:12:50 belagood news :-)
<10:12:54 achimhait is also based on the original Macromedia source codes and will be able to support the latest Flash content
<10:13:09 francesk great !
<10:13:13 achimhaunfortunately - it won't be free anymore. We had to change our licensing model which was free for individual users.
<10:13:36 achimhayou will be able to download and try it for free but there will be some subtle nag screens from time to time
<10:13:53 achimhaif you just view web sites with Flash - they might not be annoying at all
<10:14:00 Rat-Saladit won't expire?
<10:14:17 Blackbirdwill it be available with a Software Choice license
<10:14:20 franceskhow much would the registered version cost ?
<10:14:31 achimhaHowever, if you use it, you are supposed to register it for EUR 20 (around USD 17).
<10:14:38 LtningAre there business reasons for this, or is it due to something macromedia did/said?
<10:15:04 achimhaIt will not expire. Just open another browser window with the registration page on every 5th click on a flash movie.
<10:15:24 Rat-Saladthat's reasonable
<10:15:27 achimhaBlackbird: so far, IBM has not licensed the new version.
<10:15:42 achimhaso if you just view Flash content, there will never be a Flash movie
<10:15:54 achimhaif you play a Flash point and shoot game - it might be a bit annoying ;-)
<10:16:25 belamight be serenity - and their eCS an chance to get to full version ?
<10:16:37 achimhaLtning: various business reasons.
<10:17:06 achimhabela: we have not started to talk to Serenity about that. They do ship Flash 4 and can continue to do so.
<10:17:14 WalterAchim: Do you know if it will be included on an eComStation upgrade?
<10:17:17 MADeCSSMPIs Flash 5 available yet?
<10:17:35 achimhaWe are also going to offer a standalone player as part of the Flash 5 Player. You don't need a browser to view Flash movies.
<10:17:51 SectorSame licensing for the standalone¨
<10:17:56 achimhaAnd we are planning to release a Mozilla component that gives scripting support in Mozilla.
<10:18:23 Blackbirdnext week ...Madecssmp...hopefully...as stated earlier
<10:18:27 achimhaSector: yes, it will be part of the package. It will not have any restrictions/nag screens in the "shareware" version though.
<10:19:16 achimhaPersonally, I think Flash 5 is much better. Both Macromedia and InnoTek have learned a lot from past experiences.
<10:19:44 achimhaSo you are encouraged to try it out when it's available (basically only a matter of finishing the README)
<10:20:01 belai'll do so :-)
<10:20:21 franceskyou've said FLASH was developed with sources , is it difficult to "port" with ODIN ?
<10:21:11 achimhafrancesk: it does not use Odin. We wanted to keep it very small and efficient so we did not add any additional library. Even though Odin is very well able to handle it.
<10:21:33 achimhaanother product we offer is InnoTek Co-StandbyServer for e-business
<10:21:45 achimhathis goes back to the StandbyServer products from Vinca and Legato
<10:22:06 achimhawe bought the product in late 2000 and enhanced it for WSeB
<10:22:21 achimhaCSBS for short is a high availability clustering and failover software
<10:22:33 achimhait allows you to connect two OS/2 machines to a cluster
<10:22:54 achimhaif one machine fails (hardware, software), our software will instantly transfer the tasks to the other machine
<10:23:00 achimhausers will notice little or no downtime
<10:23:15 francesk flash - so it is a really native product , incredible . well done guys
<10:23:22 achimhait's mainly targeted at enterpise OS/2 customers where downtime means money
<10:23:46 francesk again - what's its price ?
<10:23:52 belahmm - so nothing for two SOHO machines *g*
<10:23:53 achimhaI don't anticipate much interest in it from this audience ;-)
<10:23:59 e-babeis it only realized via software?
<10:24:04 achimhafrancesk: Flash 5: EUR 20 (~ USD 17)
<10:24:16 BlackbirdI hope there are lots users out there for you to market too....
<10:24:27 achimhae-babe: yes, our version does not require special hardware. It uses a dedicated 100MBit ethernet card for the mirroring link
<10:24:38 achimhaCSBS costs $4999 for one server pair
<10:24:40 francesk thanks , and price od CSBS ?
<10:24:42 francesk ok
<10:24:51 achimhaso definitely an enterprise class solution
<10:25:10 francesk is CSBS really worth ? , please try to simulate a sell
<10:25:19 Walterachimha: you're begin to talk like IBM :-)
<10:25:32 beladefinitely YES
<10:25:34 achimhafrancesk: well, there are several thousand copies in use today
<10:25:42 francesk why would i want such a thing, is really usefull ?
<10:25:46 francesk GREAT !
<10:25:49 achimhaWalter: hehe, my professional career started at IBM ;-)
<10:25:57 Walter:-)
<10:26:08 achimhafrancesk: for many companies, server downtime results in losing fortunes every hour
<10:26:15 francesk you said thousands ? wow
<10:26:22 franceskok i do , but
<10:26:39 achimhafrancesk: imagine a bank branch with one server. When its hard drive dies, all employees and customer can go home. Bad for your business.
<10:26:39 franceskthat means a lot of bussines if using oS/2 , a good news
<10:26:58 franceska good reason
<10:27:03 achimhafrancesk: OS/2 is very popular among the Fortune 1000
<10:27:23 LtningOS/2 is a very low TCO solution, if done right.
<10:27:29 LtningMuch lower than anything else currently on the market
<10:27:35 Ltning..within the limits of what it can do ofcourse..
<10:27:58 achimhaLtning: yep, that's why banks use it. For them IT is something to run their business and make money - not to play with.
<10:28:08 achimhabut I think CSBS is not our most exciting product for you :)
<10:28:14 Ltningthat's why there is some 'silent uproar' among some huge companies and banks over the fact that IBM is letting OS/2 die..
<10:28:33 belayeah ... tel us something about ...
<10:28:48 belaVPC :-)
<10:29:01 achimhaok
<10:29:09 achimhaVPC solves the #1 problem of OS/2
<10:29:16 achimhaand it solves the #1 problem with OS/2
<10:29:31 achimha#1 problem of OS/2: it doesn't run most applications
<10:29:55 achimha#1 problem with OS/2: companies are stuck with it because they have large applications written for it - they can't migrate to Windows
<10:30:25 achimhatherefore we have two products
<10:30:29 achimhaVirtual PC for OS/2
<10:30:56 achimhait runs on your OS/2 workstation as a normal application and it allows you to install any type of operating system into a virtual machine. So you can run Windows and office
<10:31:16 achimhaVirtual PC for Windows with OS/2 Guest Support
<10:31:30 belafinally no DualBoot anymore :-) really good news ...
<10:31:45 achimhaThis one runs on Windows and allows you to execute OS/2 in a window including all your OS/2 apps. Perfect for migrating off OS/2 (and that's definitely a market!)
<10:31:56 achimhaSo Virtual PC is part of an integration and migration solution
<10:32:14 francesk is VPC a semi-"ported" ODIN produtc ? or again you have the "sources" ;-) ?
<10:32:53 KCWould you tell us the hardware requirements for VPC?
<10:32:54 francesk"Perfect for migrating off OS/2 (and that's definitely a market!)" good for you , bad for warp
<10:33:08 achimhafrancesk: VPC is a 100% native OS/2 application and we do have full source code access as part of our partnership with Connectix
<10:33:35 francesk achimha : you are great boys , GO ON !
<10:33:37 achimhafrancesk: of course we took advantage of some of the ODIN technology, given the fact that InnoTek developers are responsible for most of the Odin code...
<10:34:26 francesk achimha : sorry , when i use ODIN i am meaning the use of ODIN api , not "traduction" i am right ?
<10:34:30 achimhae-babe: well, it's sad what IBM is doing. I prefer OS/2 over Windows in many ways and I think it is the better solution for many customers. However, I rather have OS/2 in a box than no OS/2 at all. Still OS/2 after all.
<10:34:45 FAOWhat about USB supoport in VPC?
<10:35:03 achimhaFAO: in the works. Maybe 3rd quarter 2002.
<10:36:15 WalterAchim: are there limits on what windows can be run in a box and what OS/2 apps can be run when you're running the Windows box?
<10:36:33 Walterwhat windows=what windows apps
<10:37:01 achimhaWalter: basically we emulate a whole PC including a BIOS, PCI bus, hard drives, etc. Therefore any type of Windows and application should work.
<10:37:25 Rat-Saladhehe thats cool
<10:37:27 Walterthere's that word: SHOULD. :-)
<10:37:45 achimhaWalter: well, for Windows, we run any version that's ever been released.
<10:37:56 MADeCSSMPDo windoze apps run as full screen under VPC, like fullscreen win-OS/2, or do they run as windowed apps?
<10:38:01 WalterOK, that's a good start.
<10:38:24 TheSeerWalter: VPC emulates a computer.. which is a special GFX-Card, special Sound-Card, and stuff..
<10:38:27 achimhaMADeCSSMP: the Windows desktop will be a window on your OS/2 desktop. Take a look at the screenshot at www.innotek.de/products/virtualpc
<10:38:38 TheSeerthus an app requireing a different 'hardware' would fail to run in VPC
<10:38:41 AndyWhat about Cut'n'Paste from WinXX into OS/2 and v.v. in windowed sessions?
<10:38:56 achimhaAndy: there is special cut & paste support between Windows and OS/2
<10:39:14 e-babedo you also support that win-versions that dont 'use' that 'wait-cycle-stuff'?
<10:39:23 AndyWhat about SMP ?
<10:39:24 achimhaAndy: that and some other integration features are provided by the "Virtual PC Additions" - a set of device drivers for the guest operating system
<10:39:25 belathe cut&paste support sounds rellay good
<10:39:38 mike_snydI haven't seen much traffic on the Innotek support lists. Does that mean that you're ready to ship?
<10:39:41 achimhae-babe: yes. With the latest version, we have a fix to cut down CPU usage
<10:40:26 achimhaAndy: currently, we do not benefit from SMP and we also do not officially support it but it appears to work fine.
<10:40:35 francesk is there a fullscreen mode like in Vmware ?
<10:40:38 achimhamike_snyd: well, only very few copies have been released so far. We will ship in the first quarter, most likely February.
<10:40:38 Ltningachimha: well you do benefit in the way that any app benefits from smp..
<10:41:03 achimhafrancesk: on Windows, yes. On OS/2 later this year. Need to use Scitech MGL for that.
<10:41:17 Blackbirdno screen shot at that url....?????
<10:41:25 SectorShould benefit some at least, OS/2 can run on one CPU other VPC should be able to use the other one.
<10:41:29 francesk ok , price of VPC ?
<10:41:41 svobiWhat about C-A-D under VPC ? Under OS/2 C-A-D has slightly different manner ??
<10:41:41 achimhaBlackbird: there is a PDF with a screen. I also found screenshots on some Russian site. Let me check.
<10:41:43 MADeCSSMPBlackbird: Its in the PDF
<10:41:55 Ltningachimha: I can create a screenshot right away..
<10:41:56 francesk would tha Fullscree option be released as an update ?
<10:42:20 achimhafrancesk: the price will be Euro 199 (+ tax) / USD 199
<10:42:33 Rat-Saladwhy would one want a full screen mode is what I'm wondering
<10:42:39 achimhafrancesk: so we will charge the same as for the Windows version which has a much larger market
<10:43:02 achimhafrancesk: yes, all 4.x updates will be free
<10:43:02 MADeCSSMPachimha: Will you continue to support NT4, even though m$ has abandoned it?
<10:43:18 achimhaMADeCSSMP: it is my favorite guest operating system - stable and fast ;)
<10:43:34 franceskRat-SAlad : to "belive" you are really in another OS , for those who are not prepared to
<10:43:39 MADeCSSMPThat means NT4 as a guest on OS/2 of course
<10:43:48 KrisWe (I) want a full screen coz the window can't be resized to the max.
<10:44:01 achimhaKris: you are right. Definitely a high priority.
<10:44:15 achimhaThe virtual machine also has networking.
<10:44:16 belaachimha - what are useful hardware requirements for VPC running on a OS/2 box ...
<10:44:17 KrisThank You!
<10:44:22 achimhaWe have something called the "Virtual Switch"
<10:44:39 achimhathat will allow you to run a Linux guest with Apache and serve webpages to other systems in the network!
<10:44:40 Walterachimha: nice!
<10:44:41 belafor example to use win98 and corel draw in it ...
<10:44:43 e-babethe 'gui' around the guest seems to be odin-based?!=
<10:45:12 achimhabela: 500MHz CPU and you need RAM for OS/2 + the guest OS and its applications
<10:45:25 belaok
<10:45:30 achimhae-babe: so if OS/2 needs 96MB, Windows 98 48MB and Corel 32MB, you need 96 + 48 + 32MB
<10:45:45 achimhaRAM is cheap and the more the better :)
<10:46:12 achimhae-babe: yes, we are using portions of the Odin technology for the GUI
<10:46:37 francesk what about VPC performance compared with a real PC ?
<10:47:10 achimhafrancesk: that is not an easy questions. Depends on what you do. Some operations are like just as fast and some operations are like 100x slower. In average it might about be 50% slower.
<10:47:12 belaso on a AMD Athlon 600 with 256 MB there will be a chance to have a useable VPC-WIN98-Corel-session ...
<10:47:14 LtningVPC screenshot: http://anduin.net/vpc.png
<10:47:22 achimhafrancesk: I usually run OS/2 and Internet Explorer 6.0 in NT 4 as a guest
<10:47:35 achimhafrancesk: IE6 in VPC is still faster than Netscape 4.61 on OS/2
<10:48:16 achimhavery nice screenshot
<10:48:52 Blackbirdthanks Ltning
<10:49:05 AndyWhat type of apps are slower?
<10:49:05 KrisWhere then can we purchase Flash 5, or will it still come free?
<10:49:25 achimhaKris: watch our website for updates during the next week. It will be sold through Mensys
<10:49:42 achimhaAndy: something that would involve a lot of disk activity
<10:49:50 KrisThanks
<10:49:57 achimhaAndy: or a lot of graphics like a high end game
<10:50:18 achimhaAndy: typically, everything dealing with accessing the virtual hardware will have a performance penalty
<10:50:20 AndySo a faster HD and CDROM could improve performance?
<10:50:26 BlackbirdSo do I understand that......file systems....HPFS...FAT...FAT32...JFS.....etc will not be an issue with VPC...
<10:50:42 achimhaAndy: yes - just like with your standard OS
<10:50:51 achimhaBlackbird: yes, the guest OS will partition and format its virtual hard drive
<10:51:01 achimhathe virtual hard drives will appear as ordinary files in your OS/2
<10:51:08 achimhawith the .vhd extension
<10:51:14 belaachimha: just a short step back - will be my box (as mentonied before) a usable solution ? i would use a VPC solution mainly for corel8 and viso ...
<10:51:27 TheSeerachimha: can i "mount" a real partition to boot from there ?
<10:51:29 achimhabela: I use both apps in VPC
<10:51:55 achimhaTheSeer: we disabled that feature in the first release because it needs more testing - we don't want to have any bugs that corrupt your partitions :)
<10:52:20 achimhabela: you probably won't notice any differences for Corel
<10:52:23 franceskso playing , if not with a AThlon 4Ghz , forget it
<10:52:30 e-babeis it possible to share a vhd between two different guest-os'es?
<10:52:32 TheSeerto bad ;) but understandable ;)
<10:52:47 Rat-Saladthat would be helpfully since I already have four oses installed
<10:52:48 achimhae-babe: not concurrently but otherwise yes
<10:52:51 belathank you , achim
<10:53:16 belasounds really good for me (and my needs)
<10:53:17 achimhawe also have a very nice feature called Shared Folders
<10:53:27 achimhathat allows you to mount a drive letter into your guest OS
<10:53:34 achimhathat drive letter maps to a directory on your host OS
<10:53:42 AndyMADeCSSMP: that was me asking about SMP.
<10:53:47 achimhaso you can access your JFS/HPFS/etc drives from a windows guest
<10:54:02 belacool - so i can exchange files between OS/2 and the VPC guest , right ?
<10:54:03 achimhaperfect to share files and applications
<10:54:10 belaok
<10:54:12 Gordachimha - You mention virtual hard drives. This is going to make changes to HD layouts. What about backing VPC out? How hard?
<10:54:16 e-babewithout ea's i guess--- ;-)
<10:54:19 achimhathis is also provided by the "Virtual PC Additions"
<10:54:36 achimhaGord: virtual hard drives are just ordinary (but usually large) files on your OS/2
<10:54:52 achimhaGord: no change at all. Uninstalling VPC is just removing one directory and a driver.
<10:55:03 GordWow!
<10:55:19 achimha... unfortunately I will have to run in some minutes ....
<10:55:38 achimhaI want to make sure you know our Online Forums
<10:55:46 TheSeerhehe
<10:55:48 achimhathey are located at http://www.innotek.de/support/forums
<10:56:04 achimhathere are forums for VPC, Flash, CSBS
<10:56:15 achimhayou can find answers to common questions and also post yourself
<10:56:30 bela"haben will" (that means "I want it" and was the name of a button of a old software which was used be IBM for providing some shareware/freewareapps during Exhibitions "Messen" in germany) ;-)
<10:56:49 belaloooong time ago ;-)
<10:57:15 achimhabela: hehe. You will be able to get it. Details about distribution, dealers, etc. will follow shortly. It will even be shrink-wrapped!
<10:57:49 belafine
<10:58:00 belabut i'm still waiting for my eCS ...
<10:58:11 achimhaif you think our forums are not enough - you can also email to virtualpc@innotek.de
<10:58:23 belabut this is another story ;-)
<10:58:38 achimhawe will also be giving a free version to user groups
<10:58:45 achimhaso if you think you qualify, let us know
<10:58:51 MADeCSSMPachimha: Are you planning to be at Warpstock again this year.
<10:59:06 achimhaMADeCSSMP: sure. whereever, whenever and whatever it will be ;-)
<10:59:14 AndyCan we pay for VPC in advance and get the 2nd beta?
<10:59:19 achimhaMADeCSSMP: Toronto was awesome
<10:59:20 TheSeerMADeCSSMP: you didn't need to ask that... ;)
<10:59:22 MADeCSSMPThere is a survey on that at http://warpstock.os2voice.org/surveys/ws2002.html ;-)
<10:59:43 achimhaAndy: unfortunately, not right now. We're close to release and it won't take much longer...
<10:59:43 MADeCSSMPYes I did. i wanted to post my survey ;-)
<11:00:33 achimhaok, I think I better run
<11:00:51 achimhathanks for inviting me - was a pleasure to meet you!
<11:01:00 KleinDuimachimha: Good Evening and thanks for your answers!
<11:01:01 BlackbirdThanks for being here
<11:01:03 achimhafor any questions, use our forums or drop me a note
<11:01:08 MADeCSSMPThanks for coming and thanks for all your work for OS/2
<11:01:23 svobiDanke schoen ;-)
<11:01:26 belaThank you
<11:01:33 GordThanks.
<11:01:34 Andyachimha: Thank you very much!
<11:01:39 StevenLThanks.
<11:01:41 achimhabtw, Ltning is excellent for asking more questions - he knows VPC better than I do!
<11:01:43 oracThanks also
<11:01:44 WalterThank you for all that info.
<11:01:47 achimhacu
<11:01:51 KrisThank you very much!
<11:02:05 Sectorachima, thanks for stopping by