#SCSI Express
Your response to my statement of which interfaces CD-ROM applications
support and why is highly overrated.
1) I agree that many apps do not require MSCDEX. However, many apps will
not require user intervention to determince the CD-ROM drive letter mapping
if MSCDEX is present. I suppose you are blind to this since your product
does not support the MSCDEX internal interface and you always have to
manually intervene. Additionally, we provide tools for building automated
batch files that will perform the determination of drive letter
dynamically. This is a considerable boon for administering apps such as
Computer Select on a large LAN. I will present an automated example of
this later. BTW, Meridian Data is a direct competitor to both of us, and
has its own agenda.
2) Applications that access the device driver directly are "archaic"
since they do not work with your product? I would remind you that every
copy of the the Microsoft Extensions in the world uses the industry
standard "Microsoft Extensions Hardware Independent Device Driver
Specification". Microsoft publishes the interface for both CD-ROM
application developers and hardware manufacturers alike. You fail to see
the validiy/necessity here on several points:
a) Real-world, large apps (> ~7 disks, and many in the 30-40
disk category) are impractical or impossible with MSCDEX, or even
NETX.
b) RAM requirements for older machines, which still dominate
the real world are an unfortunate evil.
c) Performance critical apps can implement their own higly
efficient, simplified file system without incurring the overhead of
DOS and MSCDEX. Thses often look like a single large file
when examined under MSCDEX.
d) MDI rarely sees these apps since neither the interfaces or
(often) the number of drives is supported by SCSI Express.
3) Really now, how useful is SCSI Express without NETX.COM or some
equivalent network shell?
Regards,
Chris Magyar
Online Computer Systems
OPTI-NET CD-ROM Networking Products.
(800) 922-9204