I apologize: it's not something I did on my end. I don't own the mail server, and although I've reported problems like these in the past, they haven't been fixed.

In any case, the mail glitches have become too frequent, and I don't want to cause you spamming trouble by having your email addresses in circulation.

So I'm going to bite the bullet and convert the LangaList to a standard list-serve system: A list-serve, as you probably know, is software specifically designed to reliably mail to large numbers of recipients, and to smooth the subscribe/unsubscribe process.

I'm evaluating two major options now. One is an utterly conventional list-serve service run by an ISP in my area; the other is a very interesting web-based product. The latter looks better and is much cooler, but it's in beta. It's scheduled to ship in September, so I may just wait and see how it is in final version: I won't entrust your names to an unproven product!

If the web-based system seems too shaky, I'll go with the standard list-serve.

I've been putting this off for two main reasons. One is that I do the LangaList entirely on my own time and dime (this is not an official WinMag or CMP publication). There's no advertising, no sponsors, and I ask you for no contributions. Switching to and using any  list server incurs nontrivial ongoing expenses which also would come out of my own pocket. At the higher end of the spectrum, some services I've looked at would cost me about $1000 a week, due to the size of my subscriber list! Clearly, I can't afford anything like that. As it is, there will be some extra costs, and I'll have to see how much they are.

The other obstacle is that the conversion will probably require that you send a confirming email to resubscribe when I switch the list over. It not a huge thing, but it's an inconvenience, and I've been reluctant to cause you any hassle at all.

But the time has come to make a change, and in the next few weeks, I'll move the list to a specialized list-server and these too-frequent email glitches should be a thing of the past. You'll have plenty of notice before the switch, and I'll include full instructions so you easily can make the change. Thanks for your patience, and understanding.

It's the first of two patches (the second will be released soon) that plug security holes in Outlook Express. Malicious persons can exploit these holes use to mess up your system even if you don't open the email they may send you!

Speaking of bugs…. Win98 may be the best Windows ever, but it's not perfect. Now that many of us have had some time to explore the new OS in depth, let's compile a definitive bug list!

I've been using Win98 for quite a while now---first in beta, and then the shipping version. It's been better, more compatible, and more stable than any previous version of Windows I've ever used.

But it's not perfect: I've had power-control weirdness on my ThinkPad laptop (the system has trouble waking up after going into suspend mode). I had random-seeming lockups and crashes on one very nonstandard system I have (it has a very early, clock-tripled 486 clone chip, a first-generation hardware-jumpered Sound Blaster card and only 16 MB of system RAM). I lost some virtual-desktop features on one ATI video card (although the more important features all work flawlessly).

And there are other problems--- but that's what I'd like to hear from you.

What problems have you encountered or heard about from reliable sources? Did you have hardware that couldn't be made to work with Win98? What hardware required new drivers? What software stopped working, or required updating?

It'll be a while before our bug list will be complete, but with the many thousands of people who read this, we probably can produce a good first draft right now.

Don't be shy! What problems did you have with Win98? Join in the discussion this week on the WinMag "Dialog Box" page, starting about noon on Monday (27-Jul-98, GMT-5). Just click over to the newly redesigned WinMag home page at http://content.techweb.com/winmag/ and join in!

Let's say Microsoft is broken up, crippled, or suddenly shunned by its customers. Who would then lead the industry?

If you've been a reader for a while, you know my personal ambivalence towards Microsoft: I use their products and honestly believe that in many cases they are in fact the best-available (not best-imaginable) tools for the routine jobs of today's business desktops.

But on the other hand, I'm concerned about Microsoft's lack of competition, about where future innovation will come from, and about some of Microsoft business practices, which may well have overstepped the bounds of legality.

It got me to thinking: what would happen if the DOJ breaks up Microsoft or hobbles it in legal actions so that it loses its leadership position at least for a while? What would happen if OEM and end-user customer backlash grows to the point where Microsoft sales plummet? What company would then lead the industry?

There are a few obvious candidates: IBM is a massive force. Apple led the small-computer part of the industry once before. Sun and Oracle both are niche powerhouses---and niches can be big.

And there are less-obvious imaginary candidates: A Netscape and Apple merger, for example.

In this week's CMPnet column, I'll tell you which company I'd pick to lead the computer industry, and why. And then I'd like to hear your opinion on which of today's companies is best-situated to assume a leadership role if or when Microsoft falters. Or, are we stuck with Microsoft, for better or worse? Or do we even need a leader--- would a loose constellation of smaller companies have the same effect? What's your take? Join in starting Wednesday (5-Aug-98) at http://www.langa.com/badlink.htm!

Meanwhile, until Wednesday, last week's Blame Game column continues to generate controversy.

My premise was that no one wants to take responsibility: If you spill hot coffee on your lap and get scalded, it's McDonald's fault. If you buy a top-heavy SUV and take a corner too fast and tip over, it's the manufacturer's fault. If you're crazy and shoot up city hall, it's the fault of the Twinkies you ate for lunch. And so on.

Today, in the high-tech industry, when anyone gets into trouble, there's only one primary reason given: It's Microsoft's fault.

The responses to the full column are split between those who feel that Microsoft really is evil, and those who want the carping to stop. What's your take? Join in at http://www.langa.com/badlink.htm!

Almost every day, a surprising number of the thousands of people to who use BrowserTune98 to put their browser through its paces uncover one or more problems with their OS, their browser, or their applications integration.

Some of the problems are so common I've posted the fixes right on the BrowserTune help pages. (Check it out! http://www.browsertune.com/bt98/)

But some of the less-common problems can be a bear to track down. Fortunately for us all, we have some wonderfully altruistic readers who are willing to share what they've learned in hopes that others can benefit from their painful experiences.

One such is JD Butler of Wimbledon, England. JD, who goes by the screen name of OncleJean@aol.com, did an outstanding job tracking down a weird and serious constellation of problems in Word (Office) 97, Outlook 97, Upgrading from Win95 to Win98, and using Microsoft's "Eraser" utility.

It's quite a story, and shows both how BrowserTune can be a great diagnostic tool, and what a resourceful user can do to solve very messy problems.

Here's the note he sent me:

1. Fonts: all text was shown in the same font size
2. Variable text: only the default font (Times New Roman) was displayed
3. Background colours: only the default was displayed
4. Coloured background in display boxes: no colours were shown
5. Integration: except for the plain text file, integration did not work. My browser showed a warning notice offering the preferred option to download to disk or "unsafe" choice of opening the files. The files opened incorrectly. Word 7 was barely readable and Word 2 could not be opened.

I concluded that installing Windows 98 had reinstalled IE4. Checking the settings revealed that Windows colours had been set to override web site colours; and in accessibility, font sizing had been turned off. Restoring my original preferences cured faults 1,2,3 & 4. However "Integration" proved intractable.

One clue was that when I opened HTML files in Word, an error message appeared to the effect that the Registry had detected an error in certain files and proposing that Word be reinstalled. Then the HTML documents opened OK. Reinstalling Word did not get rid of the error message.

As I had not found a solution to the browser failures and thought that they might be linked to the error message in Word 7, I sought help from Microsoft Technical Support in Dublin.

I had a number of telephone conversations with technicians in the Windows 98, WinWord and Outlook sections over two days. The conclusion reached was that installing Windows 98 had somehow fouled up the alignment between Office 97 and Office 97 SR1. [I had installed the latter over the former before Windows 98 was installed, while I was running Windows 95 OSR2.]

The Microsoft recommendation was to remove the Registry entries for Office 97 by running the utility "Erase97"and then reinstall Office 97 Standard followed by Office 97 SR1.

I downloaded Erase97 utility from the Office web site. It came as a self-extracting compressed file which expands into the Eraser and some notes. Running the Eraser set-up installs it in Windows with an icon on the Start Menu and a readme file.

It is clear from the readme file that Eraser is high risk. After I had run Erase97 and reinstalled Office 97 AD Office 97 SR1, Word 7 opened HTML files without an error message. However, a number of other problems had been created.

• Outlook 98 failed to open
• "Acquire" [by scanning] was disabled in Corel 8 and PageMaker 6.5
• I could not access the Window 98 Live Update web site *
• The failures in Browser Tune 98 had gone back to the full number as at the beginning.

Outstanding detective work, JB! Well done--- and thanks for sharing this information with us!

Geek heaven: Apple designs the products, Microsoft markets them, Gateway prices them, and IBM provides tech support.

Geek hell: Microsoft designs the products, Apple markets them, IBM sets the prices, and Gateway provides tech support …

See you next week!

Best,

Fred

(fred@langa.com)

A formatted HTML version available in the "what's new" section of http://www.langa.com.