Microsoft Delta supports team-oriented software development by recording the history of a development project, storing and retrieving previous versions of files and releases, and preventing unrecorded changes to source files.

Microsoft Developer Network is a membership program that provides a single, comprehensive source for technical information from Microsoft. Annual enrollment is $195 and includes four quarterly editions of the Developer Network CD; six issues of Developer Network News; discounts on Microsoft Press books; and a $25 credit toward CompuServe connect charges.

Microsoft Visual Control Pack collects 19 custom controls, providing 3-D controls, and adding charting, communications, and multimedia capabilities. Contact Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052-6399, (800) 227-4679, extension 11700; FAX (206) 936-7329.

Visual WorkBench is an integrated, Windows-hosted development environment. A toolbar provides one-click access to common operations. WorkBench provides access to the other tools (AppStudio, AppWizard, and ClassWizard) and provides an integrated Windows-hosted debugger.

AppStudio provides a graphical approach to user interface design, resource editing, and Visual Basic control manipulation. Developers can create and edit the standard Windows-based resources, and they can install Visual Basic custom controls within the AppStudio environment, allowing use of third-party custom controls. AppStudio supports editing of multiple resources concurrently.

AppWizard automates the first steps of using an application framework, creating skeleton application source code files.

ClassWizard automates the process of connecting user interface elements (such as dialog buttons) created in AppStudio to the C++ code that handles them.

The Microsoft Foundation Class v2.0 is an application framework for creating Windows-based applications, and is compatible with v1.0. New classes and capabilities added to v2.0 include printing and print preview, documents and views, toolbar and status bar classes, form and edit views, support for Visual Basic custom controls, scrolling and split-pane windows, OLE classes, dialog data exchange and validation (DDX/DDV), and context-sensitive help.

The professional edition includes MS-DOS application targeting, CodeView for MS-DOS and Windows, Source Profiler for Windows and MS-DOS, and essential components of the Windows v3.1 SDK. The Visual C++ professional edition is $500, (standard edition is $200), with upgrade discounts available. Visual C++ requires MS-DOS v5.0+, MS-Windows v3.1, 4MB RAM (8MB recommended), and 30MB to 50MB of disk space. Contact Microsoft Corporation, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, WA, 98052-6399, (800)227-4679, extension 11700; FAX (206)936-7329.

Knowledge Garden Inc. has released KPWIN++ v1.1, an integrated environment for Windows application development. The upgrade is free for existing KPWIN++ users and is compatible with Visual C++ and Borland C++ v3.1. KPWIN++ v1.1 includes a speed bar and an improved desktop. Contact Knowledge Garden Inc., 12-8 Technology Dr., Setauket, NY 11733, (516) 246-5400; FAX (516)246-5452.

Dyad Software Corporation has released M++ v4.0 for Visual C++. M++ provides a math library and multidimensional array language for C++ programmers, including LINPACK code and EISPACK code. M++ is $295, $495 with full C++ source code. Modules are $195, including source code. Contact Dyad Software Corporation, 515 116th Ave. NE, Suite 120, Bellevue, WA 98004, (800)366-1573; FAX (206)637-9428.

SLR Systems' OPTLIB Library Manager now supports Visual C++. OPTLIB is upward compatible with LIB, and also creates and services DOS, Windows, and OS/2 libraries. OPTLIB is $199. Contact SLR Systems, Inc., 1622 N Main St., Butler, PA 16001, (412))282-0864; FAX (412)282-7965.

Data Techniques has released ImageMan v2.0, an image processing library for MS-Windows. ImageMan provides Visual C++ with support for image processing in formation including TIFF, PCX, DCX, GIF, Targa, Encapsulated Postscript, Windows Bitmap, and Windows Metafile. Version 2.0 adds support for digital cameras and scanners, as well as additional image processing features, such as high-speed rotation, wipes, and fades. ImageMan v2.0 is $395 for object code and $995 for source code. Contact Data Techniques, Inc., 1000 Business Center Dr., Suite 120, Savannah, GA 31405, (800)955-8015 or (912)651-8003.

MMC AD Systems has released C Programmer's Toolbox v3.0. Version 3.0 supports Visual C++ with a collection of 30+ programming and documentation utilities, including CFlow, Clint, CXref, PMon, and others. Contact MMC AD Systems, P.O. Box 360845, Milpitas, CA 95036, (510) 770-0858; FAX (510)770-0116.

Concurrent Sciences has announced support for Visual C++ in Soft-Scope III/CSiMON, a source-level, PC-hosted, remote-target debugger for embedded systems development. Soft-Scope III/CSiMON is $1,750. Contact Concurrent Sciences Inc., 530 S Asbury, P.O. Box 9666, Moscow, ID 83843, (208)882-0445; FAX (208)882-9774.

Object/Designer, ImageSoft's extensible C++, C, and Pascal source code generator, has been extended with support for Visual C++. Object/Designer enables developers to generate code that directly supports derived classes. Object/Designer for Visual C++ is $499. Contact ImageSoft, 2 Haven Ave., Port Washington, NY 11050, (516)767-2233.

Zinc Application Framework v3.5, an object-oriented, multiplatform development tool and interactive design tool, now supports Visual C++. The Zink Engine is $499, with at least one key required. Keys are available for DOS, MS-Windows, MS-Windows NT, OS/2, Pen-DOS, and OSF/Motif with prices ranging from $99 to $1,499. Contact Zinc Software, Inc., 405 South 100, East 2nd Floor, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062, (801) 785-8900; FAX (801)785-8996.

Sax Software has released Sax Comm Objects, a Visual C++ compatible, C/C++ function and class library for building Serial Communications applications for MS-Windows. Sax Comm Objects includes a custom control for Visual C++. Sax Comm Objects is $299, upgrades are available for a limited time at $99. Contact Sax Software, Callaertstraat 23, B9100 Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, 32-37663264; FAX 32-3-7781405.

Visual C++ compatibility announcements have overflowed the new products queue. Many other companies have sent in announcements, some of them are: Systems & Software, Inc. (CV/Tools), (714) 833-1700; Sequiter Software (Code-Base v5.0), (403) 437-2410; Coromandel (Integra Visual Database Builder), (718) 793-7963; Quadbase Systems, Inc. (Quadbase-SQL v2.0 for Windows), (408) 738-6989; Software Source (CB/ISAM Beta v2.0 for Windows), (510) 623-7854; FarPoint Technologies, Inc. (Visual Architect), (800) 645-5913; ProtoView Development Co. (The DataTable), (908) 329-8588; Pinnacle Publishing, Inc. (Graphics Server SDK), (206) 251-1900; PocketSoft, Inc. (RTLinkPlus v6.1 and VMData/Windows), (713) 460-5600; MicroHelp, Inc. (VBTools v2.5, 3-D Gizmos, HighEdit, and Muscle), (800) 922-3383; Media Architects, Inc. (ImageKnife/VBX vl.2), (503) 297-5010; Crystal Computer Services, Inc. (Crystal Reports v2.0 and Crystal Report Pro v2.0), (604) 681-3435; and National Instruments (NI-DAQ, NI-488.2, and NI-VXI), (800)433-3488.

C-Kermit 5A(188) has added sliding windows (up to 31 window slots), and long packets (up to 9024 bytes). According to the University, by using maximum values, it is possible to have up to 280,000 bytes "in the pipe" before acknowledgment is required, bringing text file transfer efficiency into the 85 percent to 95 percent range before compression. The sliding window transport uses selective retransmission to minimize overhead on noisy connections, and the packet length adapts automatically to noise characteristics. Errors are detected by 16-bit CRC and other methods. Other C-Kermit 5A(188) features include: translation capabilities that have been extended to include East European languages, Cyrillic alphabet languages, and Japanese Kanji; a feature which allows application of language-specific rules when translating text into ASCII; keymapping, keystroke macros, command macros, and a script programming language; accessing, or acting as a Kermit file server with file management and host access functions; and documentation.

C-Kermit 5A(188) supports serial connections, TCP/IP connections, and X.25 connections on Sun computers equipped with SunLink X.25. The price for C-Kermit 5A(188) depends upon the platform. Contact Columbia University, Kermit Distribution, 612 W. 115th St., New York, NY 10025, (212) 854-3703.

Segue claims that QA Partner's "GUI-aware" design makes capture/playback and bitmap-oriented testing systems originally developed for character-mode applications obsolete.

Single user licenses for QA Partner are $4,995 for the Motif version, and $1,495 for the Windows and Macintosh versions. Segue plans to release versions of QA Partner for OPEN LOOK, OS/2, and NT in 1993. Contact Segue Software, Inc., 1320 Centre St., Newton Centre, MA 02159, (617) 969-3771; FAX (617) 969-4326.

WATCOM SQL Network Server Edition for QNX provides software and licensing for one SQL database sewer and one client node. WATCOM SQL Client for QNX supports additional concurrent client nodes.

The WATCOM SQL database server supports ANSI standard SQL and includes: bidirectional scrollable updatable cursors; referential, and entity integrity; query optimization; row-level locking; symmetric multithreading of server request; compression; and encryption. The Developer's Edition for QNX is $995, the Network Server Edition is $250, and the Client software is $150. Contact WATCOM International Corp., 415 Phillip St., Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3X2, (800) 265-4555; FAX (519) 747-4971.

3D Widgets includes the following controls: ListBoxes supporting multi-column, multi-select, horizontal scrolling; hard or soft tabs; pictures for each list item; synchronized scrolling capability for multiple listboxes; command buttons with captions or pictures; plus variable forecolors and bevel width; ribbon buttons that can be used in logical groups to create tool bars; versatile panels for backgrounds or status bars with percentage display; and specialized file, directory, and drive listboxes.

Other 3D Widget controls in the set include: Option Button, Frame, ComboBox, and CheckBox. Six of the Widgets are included in the Microsoft Visual Control Pack for Visual C++. 3D Widgets is $109. Contact Sheridan Software Systems, (516) 753-0985.

KAP/C performance improvements have been tested by Kuck & Associates with the SPEC benchmark suites, CFP92 and CINT93. Kuck & Associates state that KAP/C performs particularly well on three C benchmarks: alvinn, ear, and eqntott. The performance improvement users can expect from KAP/C depends on the nature of particular programs and the programming style and optimizations already coded in the program. On single processor workstation, KAP/C's optimizations are most likely to improve performance of C programs which: use significant computation time; use a large data set — the total size of the data must be larger that the cache of the machine, or a portion of each array that is used is larger than the cache; have significant data reuse within a loop nest, for example, matrix multiplication; and have loop nests that use many local arrays.

Additionally, KAP/C performs pointer and I/O analysis to identify optimization opportunities. KAP/C for IBM is $595 per user for a floating license. Contact Kuck and Associates, 1906 Fox Dr., Champaign, IL 61820, (217) 356-2288; FAX (217) 356-5199.

XVT-Design++ v1.0 includes a C++ code fragment editor and an application framework. C++ source can be added to the graphical interface item it refers to by using the C++ code fragment editor. The XVT++ application framework provides a skeleton for portable applications and general utility objects. A C++ class is provided for each definable element. XVT-Design++ is licensed on a developer-seat basis with no additional user licensing or royalties. The price ranges from $1,395 to $2,095 depending on the platform.

XVT Software has also released XVT Portability Toolkit v3.0 and XVT-Design v2.0, adding support for HP 800, AViiON, IRIS 4D RISC-based workstations, and SCO Open Desktop v2.0. Contact XVTSoftware, Inc., 4900 Pearl East Circle, P.O. Box 18750, Boulder, CO 80308, (303) 443-4223; FAX (303)443-0969.

BCS is part of the PDOS Full Spectrum development kit which supports the Microtec ANSI C compiler and runtime library of POSIX and PDOS extensions. Contact Eyring Corp., 1455 W 820 North St., Provo, UT 84601, (801) 375-2434; FAX (801) 374-8339.

With MainWin, a converted application appears and behaves like the original Windows application. MainWin, as a native port to UNIX, avoids the tradeoffs in performance, maintainablility, and upgradeability of emulators and other layered software approaches. MainWin Software Development kits are dedicated to specific UNIX architectures, with support for Solaris v2.1, UNIXWare vl.0, AIX v3.2 for RS 6000, and HP-UX v8.0. MainWin supports Windows v3.0, with an upgrade to Windows v3.1 due later this year. Contact Machine Independent Software Corp., 185 BerrySt., Suite 5411, San Francisco, CA 94107, (800) 624-6946; FAX (415) 896-0709.

DMF software is a hierarchical storage manager that tracks file system space, automatically moving inactive or infrequently used files from online disk storage to off-line tape storage devices. DMF users can retrieve data files transparently, retrieving files stored offline as if they were stored online.

Cray/REELlibrarian is a volume management and cataloging system that administers large-volume tape libraries. Cray/REELlibrarian users can access data on tape volumes by file name only. Cray/REELlibrarian can track millions of volumes, managing security and access control over multiple storage sites and media types. DMF and Cray/REELlibrarian are priced according to the Cray Research platform, beginning at $35,000 for DMF and $33,000 for Cray/REELlibrarian. Contact Cray Research, Inc., (612) 683-7198.

Nucleus NET is an embedded TCP/IP protocol suite for use with Nucleus RTX and Nucleus PLUS. The suite includes TCP, UDP, IP, ICMP, ARP, RARP, and BOOTP protocols. Prices for Nucleus PLUS range from $5,000 to $9,995, depending on the platform. Nucleus NET TCP/IP is $9,500. Contact Accelerated Technology Inc., P.O. Box 850245, Mobile, AL 36685, (800) 468-6853; FAX (205) 661-5788.

To run under DOS and Windows, Visual C++ incorporates Phar Lap's TNT DOS-Extender. By using TNT DOS-Extender, Microsoft wrote its compiler for future compatibility with Windows NT, while enabling it to run under DOS as a 32 bit Extended-DOS application.

286/DOS-Extender Lite lets developers write C and C++ programs that access up to 2MB of memory, and run under DOS, DESQview, and Windows. 286/DOS-Extender Lite is included with C++, and comes with on-disk documentation and example programs, 286/DOS-Extender Lite is $495. Contact Phar Lap Software, Inc., 60 Aberdeen Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, (617) 661-1510, FAX (617) 876-2972.

386/DOS-Extender supports the XMS, VCPI, and DPMI specification, so Extended-DOS programs will run under DESQview, OS/2 v2.0, and all modes of Windows. 386/DOS-Extender v5.0 is $495. Contact Phar Lap Software, Inc., 60 Aberdeen Ave., Cambridge, MA 02138, (617)661-1510, FAX (617) 876-2972.