Multi-Displays in Windows98

Windows 98 and Windows 2000 support up to nine monitors connected to a PC - slots and IRQs permitting. Your customers may by dreaming of adding a second video card and monitor for use in Windows 98, but will they be able to get them to work?

Following the theme from my April column, I have spent some time performing further tests on multi-display options in Windows 98. The results I have obtained are interesting enough to share here and certainly suggest that Microsoft's implementation of this capability is idiosyncratic at best and a tech support nightmare at worst. Thus, if you are in the business of selling PCs and video cards, you should be aware of some of the caveats.

First, it should be said that your results may vary. We tested the same graphics cards on two different PCs and had completely different experiences apparently not related to driver or IRQ issues. The fact that a combination of PCI-based Permedia2 and All-in-Wonder cards worked on a 440FX-based Pentium Pro system with an Asus board, but failed miserably on a 1995-vintage Pentium PC using a Soyo motherboard has far too many variables to categorically conclude that the Soyo board or BIOS is at fault. Conversely, why an ATI All-in-Wonder worked splendidly on two of our test machines as a secondary adapter, yet prevented this same Pentium Pro system with a WinFast 2520 adapter configured as the primary display from even booting, remains a mystery. One thing's for sure: The IRQ jumper on the ATI All in Wonder and AIW Pro cards doesn't need to be enabled to allow these cards to access video input signals using the ATI software, but it sure does if you want to have any success using the Microsoft ATI drivers to access WebTV for Windows.

Also, 3D-accelerated video cards have such a wide array of capabilities that the potential for compatibility issues looms large. Take, for example, older cards based on the Permedia2 or the ATI Rage Pro chipsets. Both are still very popular, yet both yield quite unsatisfactory results in a game such as Microsoft's Monster Truck Madness 2. (It is a very good way to demo the benefits of a Voodoo2 add-on card, though.)

Without a Voodoo, Voodoo2 or comparable add-on, the ATI Rage and Rage Pro cards render the Monster Truck headlight beams as ugly opaque cones. The Permedia2 gets the beams right, but fouls up on the (not) transparent glow effect from headlights and taillights.

Assuming that you can get two or more display cards to work correctly in a multi-display Windows 98 or Windows 2000 environment (NT 4 supports multiple displays using certain cards, as well), there is a more serious issue to be aware of. We were disappointed - no, horrified is more like it - to discover that when a second display is active, the 3D graphics acceleration on your primary display is disabled. For example, say you've got a Permedia2-based Graphics Blaster Exxtreme card as your primary display adapter and install an ATI Rage II-based All in Wonder as your secondary display adapter. When both are enabled, the Graphics Blaster Exxtreme's OpenGL benchmark score (running the X29 benchmark) drops from a blistering 185 frames per second (fps) to the same level as the All in Wonder's laggardly 41 fps. The solution? Disable the secondary adapter in the Display properties dialog when you need 3D acceleration. Unfortunately, this means that games like Flight Simulator 98, which can take good advantage of multiple views, will not deliver optimum performance in a multi-display configuration. Fortunately, there is a workaround for this limitation, too.

All of this suggests that the 3D-accelerated entertainment market won't be especially satisfied with Microsoft's initial attempt at multi-display support. However, business and graphics-oriented users (especially users of palette-heavy apps like CorelDraw or Photoshop) will be glad to have a solution that will give them a good excuse to ask the boss for a nice new graphics card and hi-res monitor on their desktops. Demonstrating graphics apps with the menus and palettes on one screen and their work on the other will undoubtedly pay off for those who make the effort to figure out the problems before their customers do.

Avoiding the Osborne Effect

On another topic, be prepared for questions about upgrades to Windows Millennium Edition versus Windows 2000. Microsoft's web site has already begun to make Windows NT users feel the need to upgrade (the site no longer supports the Internet Explorer 2.0 browser that early versions of NT shipped with), and of course, a large number of users have already received (and, in a few cases, are still actually using) the "corporate preview" release of Windows 2000, or one of the other prerelease versions that were released to ever-increasing numbers of users prior the Feb. 17th, 2000 official release date.

Apparently as an incentive to force upgrades to Windows 98, Microsoft never released the OSR2 version of Windows 95 as a retail product. Similarly, it does not make some other products, such as Works 2000 available in any form other than an upgrade. Could a future version of Windows end up this way? The Windows 98SE Step Up release was an "almost free" upgrade (or more precisely, an almost insignificant upgrade that should have been a free download, but the company managed to convince customers to pay a nominal shipping and handling charge for) to Windows 98, which was, in turn, a fairly minor upgrade from Windows 95 OSR2.

So, why is information on the "Millennium" edition of Windows so hard to come by? This, presumably, is an effort to counteract the "Osborne effect" - the slowdown in system sales that happens when a new product has been announced, but has not yet shipped. Adam Osborne, in the early '80s, saw his company go down the tubes when sales of Osborne's original "luggable" PC declined sharply after the second-generation model was pre-announced. Be prepared for customer questions about Windows Me ("Millennium Edition") by those buying PCs, now that stores have begun the inevitable discounting of Windows 98 SE -- the next release surely can't be far off when retail boxes of Windows 98 are selling for as little as C$98. (as seen at futureshop.ca).

Apple News!

Finally, we're delighted to see Apple back on track, as acting CEO Steve Jobs and Apple vice-president of worldwide marketing Phil Schiller unveiled the company's newest consumer lineup, including a trio of  slot-loading iMac models, on Oct. 5, 1999, and demonstrated the system outperforming a top-of-the-line Pentium III-based PC. The iMac Special Edition, housed in a more-translucent-looking-than-ever, graphite-coloured case and featuring a DVD drive, built-in Firewire I/O and bundled digital video editing software, is being touted as the first desktop digital video system. Will the market buy it? Time will tell, but Jobs was right on the money with USB, wasn't he?

As expected, Apple also touted Mac OS 9 and touted its new iMac-inspired iBook portable, priced starting at US$1599 (C$2495). We expect most Mac customers won't mind that the unit's considerable girth or 6.6lb weight, or the fact that its active-matrix (TFT) screen supports only SVGA (800x600) resolutions, whereas most PC portables today support XGA resolutions of 1024x768.  The iBook is a stylin' machine (a little too stylin' for those with conservative tastes, perhaps), and these babies definitely won't get mistaken for a Toshiba. Fortunately, these units deliver the goods. The unit's G3 processor, boasts Steve Jobs, makes it the second fastest portable in the world. (One guess as to lays claim to the #1 spot.)

Apple incidentally has a way-cool resource locator at http://buy.apple.com/%20enlocator.html Good thing, too. Apple dealers in some parts of Canada are hard to find, and the online Apple Store, until the Spring of 2000, didn't sell to Canadians at all.

Goodbye Doppler, Advantage

As many resellers are already aware, computer dealers come and go with alarming frequently, Over the years, we've noticed a couple of "styles" of market exit maneuvers. A good example of the first, was what happened when Doppler, one of Western Canada's largest and best-known computer retail chains, declared bankruptcy. This writer was at the location of the company's head office (along with VTV and a few other people who had been tipped off about the closure) as the employees, many of whom were unaware that the closure was coming, filed outside at 12:30 P.M. on May 1, and a sign placed on the door said "closed for inventory." By the following Monday, a notice that the company was in receivership was in its place.

The second was perhaps best exemplified when B.C.-based Advantage Computers, another long-time Apple dealer, had its Toronto-based parent company go belly-up. However, a bit of fancy footwork by original owner Bob Cotter ensured that Advantage customers wouldn't be let down. Simply Computing, another western Canadian Mac dealership, took over all of the Advantage repairs and let former Advantage customers know that it has their equipment. Simply Computing, over two years later, is still in business, has opened another new store and actively supports the local user group community.

Meanwhile, Bob Cotter started a new venture with a former Advantage employee specializing in networking. Good luck to all.