THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, December 26, 1994 TAG: 9412240213
SECTION: BUSINESS WEEKLY PAGE: 7 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROSALAND PIERCE-TYLER, SPECIAL TO BUSINESS WEEKLY
LENGTH: Medium: 92 lines
Hampton Roads computer experts are helping to redesign copies of Microsoft's new-turbo-charged software program called Windows 95.
Early descriptions of a brilliant software raised expectations among computer users throughout the world, but bugs have delayed Microsoft's launch of the software.
It's now scheduled to roll down conveyor belts in August and into the hands of computer users.
Norfolk-based Sentara Health Systems, the region's largest health-care provider, plans to use the software in its extensive computer network.
Tidewater computer experts Wayne Hedrick and Steve Wilson both describe Windows 95 in F terms: friendlier and faster.
Wilson and Hedrick are among 30,000 experts worldwide studying the new software for Microsoft.
Making computer software simple is Microsoft's stated goal, which is why a shipment date for Windows 95 was reportedly canceled last year, and canceled again a week ago.
Initially, the early part of 1995 was the targeted shipment date. Microsoft critics contend it historically releases software without extensive tests.
Not true, according to Wilson and Hedrick who have tested a range of Microsoft's products for a total of seven years.
When Wilson sent in what Microsoft calls a bug report, his recommendation to improve an error on the hard disk was reviewed and incorporated into Windows 95.
Wilson and Hedrick together have filed nearly 150 bug reports during 18 months of testing Windows 95.
Wilson, who owns Totally MS, a consulting company in Yorktown, is aa system engineer whose company works with the banking industry. Hedrick, a member of the U.S. Air Force, is a Microsoft certified professional.
``Windows 95 is a power tool,'' Hedrick said. ``It's going to be friendlier and faster. It offers a lot more.''
A successor to the popular Windows 3.x series, the new software product is creating a stir in Tidewater computer circles because it will operate with or without MS-DOS.
It will also make multitasking easier, feature messaging and remote-access services, carry longer file names, and feature plug and play, which means you can plug a CD or tape-drive into Windows 95 and play it immediately without readjusting your computer.
Mastering the learning curve for Windows 95 will dominate the agenda of Umbrella when the computer user group meets in a private session Jan. 7 in the Norfolk Academy.
``Most people are looking forward to how it will handle multitasking,'' Umbrella newsletter editor Ann Harney said. ``We hope the new release will solve the old one's shortcomings.''
Sentara plans to install the advanced trial version of Windows 95 to its extensive systems network. Sentara has 40 locations and offers services ranging from adult day care to organ transplants.
``We're awaiting our Beta copy (second major test version) of Windows 95,'' said Sentara Health System Emerging Technology director Carla Bryant. ``We are very excited. We've worked with a lot of Beta copies from Microsoft. We will address our needs when we have the Beta copy in our hands.''
Despite Microsoft's marathon testing schedule, its massive public relations effort and its endless lines of eyeball-glazing tips for on-line subscribers, critics just can't seem to get over last year's missed shipment date.
``It took me a long time to become a Windows user,'' said Tidewater Computer Multi-Media specialist Jim Irizarry, who said he's skeptical but excited about Windows 95.
``A lot of promises were made with the other ones, but I don't believe they were kept,'' he said.
PC Works Software assistant manager Steve Sawyer also had mixed sentiments.
``I think Windows 95 is going to be phenomenal but the learning curve, in the beginning, will be the difficult part,'' Sawyer said.
``Microsoft has had a pattern of releasing things before they're perfected. This is totally new. I think they'll have to work the bugs out. They've postponed the release date for a year now,'' Sawyer said.
However, Wilson described the concerns as midguided.
``My system almost doubled in speed when I put Windows 95 on it,'' Wilson said. ``This week I added a new CD and tape drive. The system automatically recognized it. I didn't have to do anything. Normally on a PC (personal computer) it's six hours of reading through the manuals and Christmas is ruined.''
This time, Microsoft is committed to following through on its rigorous testing and usability claims, said company spokeswoman Colleen Lacter.
``The goal... is to make computers easy for all people to use,'' Lacter said. ``Windows 95 will achieve these goals through the most extensive usability-testing effort ever, (with) thousands of hours of laboratory testing, with hundreds of users at all levels of experience, and through feedback from various sources.'' by CNB