We have a Beta release of MicroSoft Windows 2000 Professional, which we have installed on a PC with an IBM/Cyrix P300+ processor, 64M of RAM and a 1.3G Hard Drive. It seems to be running very slowly compared with Windows 95 or Windows 98, especially when copying data to or from the hard drive. It looks pretty, however, and claims to have full DOS support!
We have not, so far, had time to investigate UniCOMAL in this environment very fully, so this will only be a brief first report.
We copied the files from the V3.11 Students' installation disk to a C:\STCOMAL folder as described for MS-Windows 95 in the installation leaflets, then ran COMAL.EXE, which started the UniCOMAL editor up without any fuss and ran the sample programs without difficulty. No obvious problems were encountered with the Students' version.
We tried to install V3.11 Developers' using the INSTALL.EXE program supplied on the Developers' version installation diskette 1. The installation program started normally, but then it hung and no amount of mouse clicking or ENTER-pressing could bring it back to life again. This is a problem, because the files on the Developers' Version installation diskettes are compressed, and only the installation program can uncompress them.
Nothing daunted, we made a copy, on a writeable CD, of the C:\COMAL directory on another PC at headquarters, then copied the entire directory from that CD to the hard drive of the Windows 2000 computer. It took a long time for Windows 2000 to read the multisession CD-R disc we used, and even longer to copy the folder across to the hard drive! Nonetheless, once copied, the COMAL87.EXE file ran without fault, and started up the COMAL87 editor as expected. As a severe test, we then ran the EXAMPLE.CML program from the GADGETS download (see GADGETS.ZIP on the downloads page), which ran very nicely.
In conclusion, then, both versions of UniCOMAL 3.11 seem to be runnable under MicroSoft Windows 2000 Professional. MacharSoft will provide support to customers who experience installation difficulties with the Developers' version - just 'phone or fax to 01671 404039, or email 'support@macharsoft.co.uk' if you need assistance.
Page opened 26-8-99