Update on Windows.

We've been putting the latest prepublication version of Windows 95 through some tough tests--running it on a Novell network, loading up with more applications than we ever were able to load onto Windows 3.1--and it ran flawlessly. It was fast and stable. In short: Windows 95 works and works well.

Caveat: Despite our successful tests, we still advise users to remain cautious (see "Watching Windows," JofA, July.95, page 75). Before making the system fully operational in your organization, test it on several computers, running all the application software you use--from accounting to taxes, DOS and Windows versions. If it passes those extensive tests, then and only then should you consider making it fully operational.

FINE-TUNING REQUIRED

For the last few months we had been testing--along with some 50,000 other beta testers--a much earlier version of Win95. The program ran fairly well even though the product was incomplete (some of the key components were missing) and still needed some fine-tuning.

But interestingly, while an application in the early-bird version might crash, that fault rarely brought down the entire system--only the application. That difference is important because it means the computer does not have to be rebooted (restarted) each time. And that's a critical advantage because one of the key attributes of Windows is its ability to load and simultaneously run multiple application programs, such as a word processor, spreadsheet and database. If the system--rather than just an application--fails, there's a likelihood of losing data not previously saved in all those open applications. For the accounting profession, in which mission-critical projects are the rule, such a loss could be catastrophic.

However, when we loaded the very latest version, which will probably be the one that goes on sale at the end of August, we were pleasantly surprised. Not only were all the functions present, but even after loading a host of applications, the system held up perfectly and ran smoothly.

A DIFFICULT TEST

Our test put a particularly heavy strain on Win95 because many of the application programs we have were designed for Windows 3.1 (the so-called 16-bit applications). Win95 is designed to accommodate the old applications but to work most efficiently with 32-bit programs, which should start reaching the market this fall.

To test Win95, we loaded the following applications on our IBM ThinkPad (a 75-megahertz 486 with 16 megabytes of RAM), and ran them simultaneously: the new beta version of Win95's Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Schedule+, the old version of Access 2.0 (a Microsoft database), XyWrite 4.12 for Windows (a word processor), askSam 2.0 for Windows (a database), OnTim (a calendar program), WinFile (the new name for the old File Manager), Explorer (a file-launching function), the Win95 calculator, the Control Panel (for customizing the computer screen, mouse, calendar, modem and password, for example), the Win95 talking alarm clock, Briefcase (a program for synchronizing files between multiple computers), CompuServe and, for the fun of it, Solitaire. In addition, we loaded FileRunner, a handy DOS program that synchronizes files on multiple computers. And then, while all these applications were running, we decided to really complicate matters and launch Win95's defragmentation program, an application that reorganizes all data on the hard disk--a very power-intensive job. We let it run in the background while we worked in each of the other applications.

By comparison, my desktop computer--a 66-Mhz 486 with twice the RAM of the laptop--which is loaded with Windows 3.1, could barely handle a quarter of those applications, and certainly it could not perform a defragmentation at the same time.

NO LIMITS

The difference between Windows 3.1 and Win95 is that Win95 can fully use whatever RAM is available on a computer--unlike Windows 3.1, which has upper limits and never can use all the RAM that's available.

For CPAs, the removal of the RAM limitation is important: Under Win95 they can use the full power of the new computer hardware. While the hardware power has been there for some time, the limitation was imposed by the operating system.

Win95 removes that barrier--and in a user-friendly way.