Re: ati rage pro and importan video compatibility info

[Krajczar Tech Center, Damon Fibraio]

From: "Krajczar Tech Center, Damon Fibraio" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>

Bill, this wasn't exactly clear, I found myself a little confused. Bottom
line, we should stick with 16-bit drivers or buy a Matrox card. I wonder if
that is what I should do. I find it hard to believe that 32 bit drivers do
not add anything to the system, or else they wouldn't be used. They must
improve performance of the video system. It is a little known fact that
win95, 98 still have 16-bit code in it as well. So HJ is not the only ones
doing this, it start with Microsoft and goes all the way down.
At 11:42 AM 2/10/99 -0500, you wrote:
> From: bill cameron <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> 
> 
> the  message below is a  portion of the hj news letter, it is the most
recent
> message.
> while i do not agree that  dan clarks  assertion that very little differance
> exist between  16 bit video and 32 bit video drivers are equal, mainly
because
> of stability reasons.
> until i read this news letter i was under the impression jfw 3 was 32 bit
all
> the way.
> maybe it is, but it requires old 16 bit code which means that  the driver
> itself could conflict with other software causeing differant symptoms on
> differant systems.
> another thing people need to understand is that hj definition of
compatible is
> not my definition.
> they imply cards work that do not, because they are afraid people will
not buy
> jfw if they know of a potential problem.
> personally i think honesty is the best approach.
> also below is what a  t i said about hj useing the 16 bit driver.
> while i do understand a t i has no idea  of the blind market and  how it
lags
> back, so new technology usually does keep us back  one step.
> so i included the dan clark news letter that gives the  hj side of the
story.
> 
> 
> plus it also tells the story i have been trying to put forth to this
list, as a
> owner of a t i mach 64, which is not even 3 d, plus matrox cards, i can say
> both work great but the 
> 
> 
> matrox reads better.
> by the way the matrox 100 g cost about 70 dollars, is a p g, and has 8
meg of
> memory on board.
> so reading between the lines it becomes pretty evident that hj does more
> testing with matrox cards than any other.
> one other tip, make sure that you are not loading anysoftware in start up
that
> gives your video card extra capabilities.
> such software drivers can play havoc with jfw.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> statement from a  t i
> 
>  ATI says that people dumb enough to use apps  (like JFW)
> that make 16-bit calls to the vid card services deserve all they get. (
> 
> hj december news letter below, actually it is just part of it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> F.  Video cards that work with BOTH JFW and MAGic.
> If you want a video card which will work with all of our products, at the
> time of this writing, here they are:
>         * Matrox Millenium II (AGP)
>         * Matrox Millenium MGA (PCI)
>         * Matrox G100 (AGP)
> These cards work, at the time of this writing, with JFW in 95/98 & NT as
> well as MAGic 95/98 & NT.  So if you want a card that works fine in all of
> our supported products and in all of our supported operating systems, one
> of these should do the job.
> 
> 
> G.  More video card issues.
> In the Windows 95/98 environment, most of the time, video card
> manufacturers used 16-bit drivers.  Now, more and more video card
> manufacturers are using 32-bit video drivers.
> 
> There are basically no feature differences between the 16-bit driver and
> 32-bit in terms of colors, or resolution.  Running with a 16-bit driver
> installed in Windows 95/98 may sound like it is not enough and people may
> want 32-bit drivers, just because it sounds newer and better.  People can
> still run high colors, high resolutions, and so on with 16-bit video
> drivers in Windows 95/98.  Currently, the technique we use with JFW for
> intercepting what is on the screen in Windows 95/98 relies on a 16-bit
> video driver being installed.
> 
> Henter-Joyce, Inc., is actively trying to work with many of the video card
> manufacturers to come up with better solutions.
> 
> In the meantime, if you are wanting to use JFW and are thinking of video
> card issues, here are a couple of suggestions:
> * check our web site at http://www.hj.com/TechSupport/CSeries.html
> 
> This site has a list of cards and specifies which actual cards work or
> don't work with JFW and MAGic.  Here is one example of what you will find
> there:
> 
> ATI 3D Rage Pro (AGP)
> note from bill cameron, i did want to say  does anybody realize how many
video
> cards a t i has that have a similar name.
> like the a  t i  rage lieutenant pro.
> this is very confuseing.
> 
> 
> Compatible with JAWS for Windows 3.2 in Windows NT.
> Compatible with JAWS for Windows 3.2 in Windows 98/95. When working in
> Windows 95, you must use 16-bit drivers available from the "link-ATI web
> site-".  Windows 98 works with Windows default drivers.
> Compatible with MAGic NT 6.0, but not 5.10. 
> Not compatible with MAGic 2.0.
> 
> In the above paragraph, note that the words "ATI web site" is an actual
> link to the ATI web site, so you can simply go directly from our web site
> to theirs and find the driver you need.
> 
> * Also, if you have a video card already installed in your computer, you
> may have a disk or CD ROM with additional video drivers on it that may have
> come with your system that you can try.
> 
> * Another great way to find out is to take the free JFW demo to a computer
> store and install it on their computer right there if you can.
> 
> As I mentioned, we are actively working to improve the video card
> compatibility issues.  This is something which takes a lot of time, and
> drivers and video cards change sometimes so fast that we are not even aware
> of the changes, until we begin seeing them in new computers.  I hope this
> simplified explanation will help those of you considering purchasing a new
> computer.
> 
> In the meantime, remember to keep checking our web site for future updates.
>  Also, one more note of importance, Windows NT does not have these types of
> problems.  In general you should be able to use just about any video card
> and driver in Windows NT with either JAWS for Windows or MAGic.
> 
> bill cameron
> [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 
> 
> 
>  
> 
> -
> Visit the jfw ml web page: http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~nallan/jfw
> 
--
Damon Fibraio, Associate for Technical Support, De Witt and Associates
Norma F. Krajczar Technology, research and developement center
130 Livingston Ave. New Brunswick, NJ 08901, 732-937-6394
email us at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
-
Visit the jfw ml web page: http://yoyo.cc.monash.edu.au/~nallan/jfw