News From The Suntower! 'The Electronic Newsletter For
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Happy
New Year!
We certainly hope that 2003 is a
great year for you all. We have great plans for the coming year and we certainly
hope they will be as exciting for you as for us.
Also, thanks also for your consideration while we were off learning all about
SAFE 6.0. Despite rumours to the contrary, Christmas week is not a chance
for us to slip off to the Bahamas. What it is, rather, is an
intense period of concentration. And for some of us, it was our first look at
The Big Picture of SAFE 6.0. Of course, each of us has looked at or worked on
various bits, but the past week was an oppotunity to see how it all fits
together and to come up with a teaching plan so that we not only understand it's
inner workings ourselves, but can explain it effectively to our user-base. So in
a very real way, this is our most important week of the year and your patience
benefits all of us greatly.
SAFE 6.0
Update Schedule!
With that said, SAFE 6.0 is on
track for release January 20th, 2003. You have questions, we have answers! Many
of these have already been asked and answered but a little repetition
never hurts!
On January 20th we will begin shipping SAFE 6.0 CDs. For those of you knew to using SQL Server, we
Q: Why should
I upgrade?
A: First of all,
because SAFE 6.0 has something for everyone. The message we have been trying to
get across, as time has passed, is how the needs of all distributors are
intersecting, regardless of size. So there are many new features which, though
previously in the realm of larger customers, are now becoming useful to smaller
companies as well. Secondly, because it is the direction in which we, and the
rest of the world are heading: towards a standards-based program that will make
it easy to integrate with programs from other companies (Shipping Companies,
Manufacturers, Warehouses, Customers)
Q: Well that
was fairly vague. Any specifics you'd care to share?
A: A feature list
is available for download at
http://www.suntowersystems.com/whatnext.htm A more thorough list, with Best
Practices for Upgraders will soon be e-mailed to registered customers.
Q: Daddy
always said, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it!' Must I upgrade?
A: Eventually,
yes. We will provide support for SAFE 5.1 for two update cycles. But when SAFE
6.2 is released in August of 2003, we will no longer provide support for SAFE
version 5.1 in any way shape or form. However, read carefully: As we have
been saying: programming on SAFE 5.1 is done, done, done. We will provide no
custom programming, custom reports, forms design, bug fixes, maintenance
releases, feature additions, etc. to any previous version once SAFE 6.0 is
released. In other words, SAFE 5.1 is pretty much locked in stone. Use SAFE 5.1
as is until August 2003 and we will, of course, do our best to help you if you
have support needs. By that time, most all of you will, for one reason or
another, have already upgraded.
Q: How much
will it cost me?
A: *If your RSS contract is up to date, the answer is zero, nada, nichts,
dadai for the software. You will need to make certain you have the proper
licenses for Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft Data Engine (see below). You can
obtain SQL Server from us, or more likely, you can get it at a discounted rate
from your happy local 'computer guy'.
Note: If you are not currently using SASE, there will be a $595.00 upgrade fees. You can save $100.00 by ordering SASE before January 20th, 2003 for only $495.00!
Q: How much
will the upgrade procedure hurt?
A: Not at all. Really. The installation program will automatically convert
your data 100%
Q: What do I
need to do to get ready?
A: The important
thing is to decide if you need more than five concurrent users to SAFE. If you
do, then you must obtain SQL Server 2000 to run SAFE 6.0. If not, you should
have Microsoft Office 2000 installed on your server, which contains the
Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE), suitable for up to five users. Older versions of
MS-Office will not work!
If you will be using MSDE, make certain that the data engine is really installed! This can be done by sticking your original CD into your server and running the Setup program again. Drill down on the various options and make certain that the Microsoft Data Engine option is installed. If not, add that component to your setup.
If you are using SQL Server, make certain that you have an adequate number of Client Licenses installed before you upgrade to SAFE 6.0.
Finally, bear in mind is that your workstations should be configured to access SQL Server (or MSDE). In other words, in addition to running the server installation of SQL Server, you also need to run an installation program on each PC. This is generally no more difficult than sticking the SQL Server Client License CD into each PC and running the Client Installation Program.
The good news is
that this is all much easier to do than to write about. Most of you will
have this done by your 'Computer Guy' so configuration will likely be a
non-issue. But for you do-it-yourselfers, please do not hesitate to
contact us with specific questions/concerns.
Ciaran's
Corner: Happy New Year
A bit of business first: Jim LeFebvre was
the 'winner' of my (somewhat joking) 'Lord Of The Rings Trivia Contest'. I
actually did not expect to receive any takers on this, but turned out to
receive several. But a deal is a deal! So, for sending in an incredibly
obscure bit of trivia regarding whether or not you can actually 'kill' and Elf
(evidently they reincarnate), he will be receiving the 4DVD Boxed Set of
The Fellowship Of The Ring courtest of Amazon.Com. Well done, sir!
Apart from Middle Earth, I also wanted to make you aware of the BlackViper web site www.blkviper.com. This may be the most accessible site around for configuring PCs. The chap who runs it designed the site to optimized machines for playing games. Since games tend to stress a system more than anything else, it stands to reason that if your system can run Grand Theft Auto at top speed, it will probably run SAFE fairly well. The site is a trove of information on how to optimize most any system to be secure and fast. Since it is laid out for people more concerned about killing aliens than learning about IRQs and PCI slots, it should be quite usable for many of you who want to know more about setting up PCs.
Happy New Year!
Ciarān Marron
Technical Support Manager
cm@suntowersystems.com
End of E-News From The Suntower, Volume V #1