Originally published November 20, 1995.

This was a response to a review we did on a modem. I reprint it here, because it's awesome in the information presented.

It is rapidly becoming a reality in the computing community, that novices and experts alike may be classified under one of two heads, like the famous Kalikacs and Martins, viz, those who do Windows (OR other Graphical User Interfaces ["GUI"]) and those who do not. When any person sets out to review a piece of software he ought to de- clare, at the top of the piece, whether he is, in fact, a K or an M type.  In the instant case I deem M. Grote to be a K type (pro GUI), even though he does not so declare and even though he may not himself know it. (And even though the instant issue of his very fine publication more thoroughly and competently unmasks Windows 95 than any other I have found.)

I, myself, lest you be in doubt on the subject, am an M type.  I do NOT do Windows and I don't go with those who do.  Consequently, you who read further will know the prejudice of my perspective.

In my trade (I am a simple craftsman who has "customers" and NOT "clients") I recommend, sell and configure hardware and software to SMALL business users, where the OWNER, whose own pocketbook is di- rectly affected, makes the decision. In that connection, I try many brands of software and hardware, seeking that which provides the most "bang for the buck".  Apropos of the current subject, I have found that the leading (and not so leading) modems available in the market place tend to package one of two combinations of fax and communication software, namely, either Smith Micro Software's QuickLink ][ ("QL2"), which combines both data and fax capabilities in a single program, and Delrina's "LITE" suite (Win Fax LITE, Dos Fax LITE, Comit for Windows LITE, and Comit for Dos LITE).  For reasons which will appear, I prefer QL2.

Both QL2 and the Delrina LITE suite are abbreviated versions of the publishers' more extensive (not necessarily more competent) pro- ducts; both were originally designed for one environment and then, to meet either real or imagined market demands, modified to cover another. In fine, QL2 is primarily a DOS product which only stands in for a Windows application; conversely, Delrina's DOS LITE suite is a Windows wolf which also goes abroad in DOS clothing.  Of the two it must be said that QL2 is a better stand-in for Windows than the Delrina product is for DOS, but neither is a fair substitute for the real thing.

Neither modem-included product contains a good data program.  The best that can be said is that they are adequate for connecting with a local, friendly BBS and downloading Telix, Lync, or any of a score of other shareware and freeware communication programs.  (QuickLink Gold, which, inter alia, adds Zmodem, is also a very good communi- cation program and, for this reason, worth the money for those M types who do, or plan to do, a substantial amount of data communi- cations involving the transfer of files).  Hence, I consider the modem-included software appropriate only for handling faxes.

I like QL2 for handling faxes because: 1) Smith Micro Software will actually and promptly answer inquiries addressed to them by phone (714-362-5810), the internet (support@smithmicro.com); fax (714-362-2399) or a message left on their BBS (714-362-5822); and 2) with QL2 facsimiles can be sent, received, viewed and printed from the command line with a few simply crafted custom batch files with- out all that mousing and clicking needed in Windows.

But two brief paragraphs will show how simply all incoming and out- going faxes are handled with custom batch files under QL2:

        1) Entry of the command, CVT, followed by a file name, will "convert" any ASCII text file to the fax format (actual- ly, a second file, with the extension QFX, is created, leaving the original file intact); thereafter: optional- ly, VSF, followed by a press of F3, will review the fax file to the screen; optionally, PSF, followed by the press of F3, will print it; and finally, SF, followed by a press of F3 and the destination telephone number, will send it. (Alternatively, SFX, followed by the file name and the destination number, will create and send the facsimile in one fell swoop).

        2) RF produces a screen of the received fax file names (e.g., FAXxxxx.REC, where xxxx is a series of consecutive numbers) in order of date and time received; VRF, fol- lowed by a two digit number, will view a designated received fax; substitute PRF for VRF and the fax is printed.

Now while each of the foregoing operations can be accomplished by loading QL2 and using the menus provided in it (and for those who insist, a mouse is supported), nothing, to my mind and inclination, is so quick or easy as a batch file operated with a few key presses entered from the command line - nor so easily learned by what M. Grote calls the "normal, novice user".

For those M types out there, the custom batch files for QL2, and some helpful tips, are available free of charge by sending your request to:

                  Creative Business Synergies, Inc. One Biscayne Tower, #4529 Miami, Florida 33111-04529 Fax: 1-305-373-3343 Internet: 2385@upsndown.com

Those K types who are dissatisfied with QL2 may swap it for Del- rina's LITE suite by exchanging original documentation, disks and registration cards with someone who is dissatisfied in the opposite direction.  Look around and make inquiries; there are many who, being M types, will be eager to exchange Win Fax LITE for QL2 if the opportunity presents itself, although, being aware of the false pop- ularity of Win Fax LITE, they might demand boot in the exchange. If you cannot find any takers locally, Creative Business Synergies is frequently in possession of surplus copies of the LITE suite and will make the swap; short of that, CBS, and others, may be willing to purchase QL2 for a small but significant sum, thereby in part defraying the cost of obtaining a Windows replacement.

Finally, under no circumstances should anyone assume that his dis- satisfaction with a software product packaged with a modem will be eliminated by purchasing the publisher's "upgraded" product.  The upgraded product will, at core, be just what its "lite" relative is - either a DOS, or a Windows, application and NOT both.  "You cannot both run with the hare and pursue with the hounds."

Now about M. Grote's claim that that QL2  "is a very user unfriendly program": I cannot, given the complexity of its capabilities (e.g., the ability to shrink a received fax vertically so as to avoid un- necessary spill-over of one or several lines to another page), con- cur.  On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the easiest and most intui- tive, I rate it an 8.  To one accustomed to a GUI it may seem un- friendly, but that is simply because he approaches it from a stand- point from which the program was never intended to operate. Rated solely by its ability to operate from the command line, or from its own internal menus, I find it friendly indeed - not for what M. Grote calls the "normal, novice user", but for the modestly educated one.  After all, where would we be as a civilization and a culture were we to gear everything (as we, alas, have an increasing tendency to do) to the five-year-old.  He who would use a computer, just as he who operates anything else, assumes the obligation to acquire the necessary knowledge, directly, through his own acumen, or indirect- ly, through friends and others.  Verbum sat sapienti est!

In conclusion, it all comes to the postulate of the wise cow who said, whilst licking her own calf, "Everyone to her own taste". And ability!