                    -= NetFoss 0.9.6 upgrade notes =-

                            October 1, 2006

 0.9.6 is a minor update from 0.9.5, which now includes a Telnet Server
 called Net2BBS.

 To upgrade and continue using Telnet mode with your existing Telnet
 Server, simply follow the upgrade instructions below for version 0.9.5.
 To reconfigure NetFoss to use COM ports or Net2BBS, please read
 the NETFOSS.TXT.

 ____________________________________________________________________________


                    -= NetFoss 0.9.5 upgrade notes =-

                            September 17, 2006

 0.9.5 is a minor update from 0.9.4, which now supports FTN (FidoNet
 Technology) Mailers making outbound connections over NetSerial.

 To upgrade and continue using Telnet mode, simply follow the upgrade
 instructions below for version 0.9.4.  To reconfigure NetFoss to use
 COM ports, please read NETFOSS.TXT.

 ____________________________________________________________________________


                    -= NetFoss 0.9.4 upgrade notes =-

                            September 10, 2006

 0.9.4 is a minor update from 0.9.3, which includes support for COM
 ports in addition to Telnet. This allows NetFoss to be used fo legacy
 Dialup BBS's, in addition to BBS's running Virtual COM ports such as
 NetSerial. NetFoss is Freeware, and NetSerial is sysop priced at $25.

 To upgrade and continue using Telnet mode, simply follow the upgrade
 instructions below for version 0.9.3.  To reconfigure NetFoss to use
 COM ports, please read NETFOSS.TXT.

 ____________________________________________________________________________


                    -= NetFoss 0.9.3 upgrade notes =-

                            August 31, 2006


 0.9.3 is a minor update from 0.9.2, which provides faster Zmodem
 transfer speeds. To obtain the maximum Zmodem speed possible, you
 should also install the Public Domain Zmodem protocol available
 at http://netfoss.com

 To upgrade NetFoss from version 0.9.2, 0.9.1 or 0.9.0, you only
 need to replace the following files:

 NETFOSS.COM
 NETFOSS.DLL
 NETCOM.EXE

 Remember that NETFOSS.DLL must be located in the Windows %PATH%.
 If you have previously copied NETFOSS.DLL to one of your
 directories (such as \windows or \windows\system32) then be sure
 to replace the old NETFOSS.DLL with the new one.

 ____________________________________________________________________________



                    -= NetFoss 0.9.2 upgrade notes =-

                              July 23, 2006


 It has been just over two years since NetFoss development paused.
 This main reason for the pause in development was due to focusing
 on much larger products which PC Micro distributes to a commercial
 market: NetSerial and NetModem software.

 NetSerial is a Virtual COM Port (and Virtual Modem) redirector for
 Windows, which allows both DOS and Windows programs designed to be
 used with a serial port or Modem, to be redirected to a telnet
 or TCP/IP connection.  It can act as either a client or a server.
 In server mode, NetSerial can operate as a telnet server for any
 BBS software, allowing BBS software to be used via telnet.
 NetSerial is available to Sysops at a discounted price of $25 for
 a 256 port license.

 NetModem is Client/Server solution, which allows real modems to be
 accessed and pooled remotley over a network (or the internet).

 Both products are competitive with products from Tactical Software
 which PC Micro sold and supported for many years.
 As of September 2004 PC Micro and Tactical Software are no longer
 associated in any way. Customers that purchased these products from
 PC Micro can upgrade to our newer solutions at no charge.


 NetFoss, NetCom and Net2BBS are freeware.

 Version 0.9.2 is a minor update from 0.9.1 with the following changes:

  * Improved Timeslice releasing allows certain doors to run with an
    even lower CPU usage. This was done mainly to improve performance
    of those doors written by Mehul Patel (now owned by John Dailey)
    to run smoothly under Windows with close to 0% CPU usage.
    These doors include Falcon's Eye, Falcon's Honor, Baron's Realm
    Elite, and the Arcadian Legends.  Unfortunatly John Dailey never
    provived any fixes or enhancments to these doors, which have always
    sufferered from poor CPU usage issues when running under Windows.
    We have tried contacting John several times over the years and
    even provided suggestions on solving this within the doors code,
    but John has never responded. :(

    The improved timeslicing might cause certain doors to display
    remote screens slightly slower then NetFoss 0.9.1. Please send
    some feedback to us if you encounter this.

  * In an effort to allow Zmodem uploads to a BBS to perform better,
    the binary transfer speed is now slowed down a bit. The problem
    is caused if the sender finishes sending long before the file
    is received, causing a timeout to occur.

  * A new command line partmeter /x was added to NETFOSS.COM which
    improves compatibility with a small number of doors that follow
    an X00 abnomality which deviates from the official FOSSIL specs.
    This relates to how FOSSIL command 02 (write character) sets the
    AH register on return. Very few doors need this paremeter, and
    using it will break compatibility with a few other doors, so it
    should be used with caution.


 To upgrade from version 0.9.1 or 0.9.0, you only need to replace
 the following files:

 NETFOSS.COM
 NETFOSS.DLL
 NETCOM.EXE

 Remember that NETFOSS.DLL must be located in the Windows %PATH%.
 If you have previously copied NETFOSS.DLL to one of your
 directories (such as \windows or \windows\system32) then be sure
 to replace the old NETFOSS.DLL with the new one.


 ____________________________________________________________________________



                    -= NetFoss 0.9.1 upgrade notes =-

                             June 13, 2004 


 Prior to 0.9.0 which released this month, the previous official release
 of NetFoss was version 0.8.1, released in December 2002.
 After 0.8.1 released, the NetCom Communication Engine was redesigned for
 better performance and CPU usage, and to support binary transfers.
 An "experemental beta" Communication engine was released to the public
 in January 2003, and soon afterwards development was put on hold due to
 many other priorities in my life (i.e: work, house repairs, kids, wife).

 I never expected the pause to last a year and a half, but time flew by.
 I recently started finding a little free time, and last month I was
 coding an ANSI driver that redirects standard I/O to a FOSSIL driver.
 Then a few weeks ago a sysop named Doug Rhee reported that some of
 his doors didnt work under NetFoss, so i desided to find the cause.
 Doug runs hundreds of doors on his BBS, and has joined the few remaining
 members of the beta team during the past week to test several versions.
 
 Most of the issues turned out to be due to a few doors not following the
 FOSSIL specs, and after working around the problems, I tweaked some of
 the other code in both NetFoss and NetCom.

 ____________________________________________________________________________


 Upgrading from 0.85wb or later:
 ===============================

 Simply replace the NETFOSS.COM, NETFOSS.DLL, and NETCOM.EXE with the
 new versions.

 *IMPORTANT* :
 When upgrading, remember to upgrade all copies of NETFOSS.DLL on
 your hard drive to the new version. This file must be located
 somewhere in your system %PATH% in order to be found.
 If you copied your old NETFOSS.DLL to c:\windows\system32 for
 example, then be sure to upgrade it with the new version.

 ____________________________________________________________________________


 Upgrading from 0.81 or earlier:
 ===============================



 The new version of the Communication Engine (NetCom) might require fine
 tuning in order to achive the lowest possible CPU usage. Most doors
 should idle at around 0% to 5% CPU usage per node.
 (On a P4 class CPUs it should idle between 0% to 1%)
 
 If you are upgrading from a previous version such as 0.8.1, then
 I suggest you first check the amount of CPU usage occurs when you
 have one DOS session running under NetFoss, idling at a prompt.
 Press Ctrl-Alt-Del for the task manager, and then click
 on the Performance tab to see the CPU usage.

 Also you should make a mental note of how quickly full ANSI screens
 are displayed on the remote telnet terminal.  Then upgrade to the new
 version of NETFOSS.COM, NETCOM.EXE, and NETFOSS.DLL.

 *IMPORTANT* :
 When upgrading, remember to upgrade all copies of NETFOSS.DLL on
 your hard drive to the new version. This file must be located
 somewhere in your system %PATH% in order to be found.
 If you copied your old NETFOSS.DLL to c:\windows\system32 for
 example, then be sure to upgrade it with the new version.

 Once you have installed the new files, telnet to localhost again
 and compare the results for yourself. If you find that the new
 version is slower or uses more CPU then 0.8.1 did, then you may
 need to adjust the settings by using the following NetCom command
 line parameters:

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
      /S{time till sleep}       default= 12
      /B{buffer minimum bytes}  default= 1680
      /W{write delay time}      default= 700
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------

 Example:  NETCOM /S12 /B1680 /W700 %1 %2 %3 %4 %5 %6 %7 %8 %9

 /S{value} = The amount of time NetCom should wait before releasing idle
             time to Windows. If your CPU usage is too high, then try
             lowering this value. Increasing the value will increase
             response time unless the CPU usage gets too high.

 /W{value} = The maximum amount of time to wait before sending the
             buffered TCP/IP packet to Winsock.

 /B{value} = The maximum amount of outgoing data to buffer before
             sending the TCP/IP packet to Winsock.


 The /S parameter is probally the only paremeter you might need to
 fine-tune, as adjusting its value can yield considerably better
 performance or lower CPU usage or even both...

 On a Toshiba Satellite P4 2.0Ghz, a setting of /S10 works best (0%),
 while on my CTX K6-2 300Mhz EZBook a setting of /S40 works best (3%).
 Both still work well at the default setting of 12.

 Note that the /B and /W settings both determine how much buffering is
 done before sending (writing) a tcp/ip packet. Both values are in
 tenths of milliseconds, By default, NetCom will wait for 150
 milliseconds after the first data to be written comes from NetFoss,
 or when 640 bytes are buffered, which ever occurs first.
 It is reccomened you leave both of these alone. Setting a higher delay
 or buffer size could lead to a choppy remote display and poor response
 time. A lower setting could cause smaller packets resulting in less
 performance most noticeable on slower connections. However if you do
 experience choppiness or poor response time on the remote side then
 lowering either of these should help.

 If you do not specify /S /B or /W values on the command line, the
 default values listed above will be used.


 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------


 If you find that this version does not perform as well on your computer
 as previous versions, or you found that you needed to adjust the above
 settings to get better performance, then please speak up and let us know.


 Please send bug reports and comments to support@pcmicro.com.
 
