****************************************************************************** BSW Electronic Mail 11-Jan-2001 19:10:01 CET Message Number 0125 ****************************************************************************** Author: BSWteam Subject: Bernese and Windows Me, supported MS-Windows systems, Compiler issues Dear Bernese Users, this mail addresses and clarifes (hopefully) a few questions regarding the Bernese GPS Software for MS-Windows systems. Windows Millenium Edition (Windows Me) and Bernese ================================================== The Windows Millenium Edition (Windows Me) is the current version of the Windows 9x family of operating systems. In this version, Microsoft has further decreased the DOS support in this windows version. Due to the following reasons we cannot recommend to install Bernese on a Windows Me system: 1) Drive letter substitution limited: ------------------------------------- The DOS/Windows version of Bernese makes use of drive letter substitutions, using the DOS "SUBST" command (see LOADGPS.BAT). Under Windows Me, it appears that the letters used in Bernese (I:, P:, T:, U:, and X:) are not available, and the SUBST command fails, with the exception for the "I:" substitution. 2) Missing ANSI support for DOS programs under Windows Me: ---------------------------------------------------------- Microsoft has decided to no longer provide ANSI support for DOS programs running under Windows Me. For the correct operation of the Bernese Menu System, this support is required, however. Even though the CONFIG.SYS files are available in Windows Me, the System no longer processes driver loading commands (e.g. device=C:\Windows\Command\ANSI.SYS), and therefore, the ANSI.SYS driver cannot be loaded in memory. Microsoft informs that the only way to load ANSI.SYS would be via a boot diskette, and running Windows in "protected" mode, with a very basic driver configuration. This mode is only used for rescue tasks after a system crash, and the conclusion remains that ANSI support is no longer available. Given this situation, it is clear that you should not upgrade your Bernese machine to Windows Me! If you have to upgrade your operating system for whatever reason, be sure to keep your current Windows 9x available for running Bernese. Outlook: -------- The changes necessary to the Bernese Software to work around these problems would be substantial! However, a completely new Menu System is currently under development, and it will solve both problems once and for all. Together with other major redesigns and improvements in the software, this new Menu System will be part of release 5.0 of the Bernese GPS Software. However, this release cannot reasonably be expected to reach production before at least 2 years from now. Up and until then we cannot but recommend to stick to your Windows 95/98/98SE or NT systems. Currently supported Windows versions ==================================== The following are the supported Windows versions for use with Bernese: - Windows95/98/98SE - Windows NT (4.0) Windows 2000 has not yet been tested. This will be done soon, and the result will be communicated by BSWMail. Compiler Issues =============== At the moment, we officially support the Lahey LF90 compiler and the Lahey/Fujitsu LF95 compiler (with restrictions!) The Lahey LF90 compiler can be used on all supported Windows platforms, and we recommend to use this compiler, if possible. The Lahey Fujitsu LF95 compiler can be used on Windows 9x systems with restrictions, but it cannot be used to compiler Bernese on Windows NT systems (again, a problem with missing ANSI support: the Menu System will not operate correctly). On Windows 9x systems, the keycodes for the cursor keys must be redefined when using LF95. This can be done in the active keyboard table file in X:\SKL. In order to find out which file is active in your Bernese, look at the file U:\WORK\KEYBOARD.TBL. If a cursor key definition is not possible, you could e.g. redefine some unused keys to take over cursor movement in the data panels. If any changes in the status of these issues occur, we will inform you by BSWMail. With our best wishes for a successful New Year! BSW-Team [Mailed from: Pierre Fridez ]