Windows 95: the latest rage.

Microsoft's newest software rivals the Apple Mac's seamless functionality.

The wave of the 1990s isn't just application software, it's multimedia application software. For years, Apple Macintosh users have touted the superior graphics capabilities that their systems have provided. Ease of use, full integration of a variety of modules, and smooth manipulation of text and graphics have been characteristics consistently attributed to Macs but for which IBM personal computers and their clones have never been considered quite up to par.

Until now. Microsoft's long-awaited Windows 95, nicknamed Chicago, is getting ready to change the way we think about our PCs.

But first, back to the Mac. Early on, Apple wrote software that took advantage of 32-bit technology. The other critical technology that Apple mastered was multimedia processing. This technology involves reading digital information from a CD-ROM and operating a sound system, playing video images, and retrieving data from a database all at the same time. If non-Apple computers were to become efficient multimedia devices, a new Windows system had to be created.

The missing link

In 1994, IBM launched its own 32-bit product, OS/2 "Warp," which has many of the features of the Mac operating system. However, for anyone who has tried to configure a CD-ROM drive or a nonstandard printer, modem, or other device to this system, you know how difficult it can be to achieve communication with a peripheral device.

When Microsoft finally releases Chicago later this year, users should find it compatible with virtually any Windows or DOS application. Chicago can also freely interchange files, utilities, printers, mailboxes, and so forth with its first cousin, Windows-NT. It can run 32-bit graphics applications, previously only capable with Mac operating systems and IBM's OS/2. Chicago can likewise support multitasking and other multithreaded operations.

While Microsoft has tried to keep the minimum hardware configuration for Chicago at a 386DX with 4 megabytes of RAM, I would suggest, at a minimum, a 486DX with 16 megabytes of RAM. If you are also operating a CD-ROM, you may want to move up to a 486DX2 Intel processor or better. If you have a Pentium system, you should be in good shape. The system takes about 20 megabytes of hard disk space, even more to run some of the help features.

What's up, DOS?

One issue that remains is, what happens to DOS? Chicago is a complete system unto itself and uses only a small number of MS-DOS functions. While Chicago does not require DOS, it does incorporate many DOS features to ensure that you can still run DOS applications and your older 16-bit software. While we'll still have to wait and see, Chicago promises to be a multimedia revolution for Microsoft. As associations begin to use multimedia to train, communicate, and entertain, Chicago may become the operating system of choice. It will definitely be one to watch.

Maynard H. Benjamin, CAE, is president of the Envelope Manufacturers Association of America, Alexandria, Virginia.