TUT   TALKS

 

HAL says Hi!!

HAL was the talking computer in “2001 A Space Odyssey”.  Today’s computers are not quite there yet.  However, for about $1,350 you can get a Pentium 4 at 1,300 MHz. Quite a rocket compared with those early 386 models at 25 MHz, or even early Pentiums at 133 MHz or so.  Any time you can triple your speed for the same price as you paid for your current computer, it is a good upgrade.  Also see Printers about changes to TUT printer requirements and some good values as well.

 

Most of you have been getting your upgrades via www.tutsoftware.com.  The update process for TUT is virtually automatic.  Everyone has been very pleased.  The current revision is 6.4.25.  The 6 is Year 2001, the 4 is April, the day is the 25th.  Please install this upgrade as it has many new features including Check Reconciliation and a new required Support Update menu item.

 

"TUT ALERT" still lacks interest.  Our plan “C” is to FAX the update alert notices.  I think we have most everyone’s fax number.

 

Almost all the "Free" Internet options are no longer in business.  Yet more and more mason contractors get on-line every day.  Get "Connected".

 

Now some specific issues:

 

 

 

Windows 98se / Windows Me / Windows 2000 ?

We now have experience with all 3 window’s flavors.  Windows Me has proven to be the least desirable, especially in networked installations.  It has frequent problems and seems to loose or change settings at will.  This is Not Good.  Windows 98 second edition (Win98se) in a very good upgrade from Win 95 and Win 98 original versions.  Windows 2000 is quite a bit different from previous Windows versions, as it is an NT upgrade.  Please understand that Win2000 is NOT being marketed as an upgrade to Win98.  There are specific testing programs, which will tell you how much trouble an upgrade might present.  Unless you have some specific problem with Win98se, upgrading is still not recommended.  Windows 2000 workstations have a definite problem working with Novel 3.X servers.  If you have a Novel network, either upgrade it to Novel’s latest version (5.+) or stay away from Windows 2000. 

 

 


Support Update

Support pricing is based on the number of people on payroll each week.  Previously, we have not had any method to update this count to reflect the fact that most businesses grow after installing TUT.  A new feature in version 6.4.25 is a new menu item under “System Utilities” called “Support Update”.  This program will analyze your payrolls for the last year and recalculate your proper level of support.  We are encouraging everyone to: 

 

Upgrade to 6.4.25

Run the “Support Update”

Fax the resulting report to 800-875-6885

 

Please complete this process by July 1st, 2001.  Anyone who has not completed the process by August 1st, 2001 will be considered to be at the “Unlimited” level.  This report process will be repeated annually between the 2nd and 3rd quarter.  The evaluation process does not count the 5 largest weeks, and averages the next 15 largest weeks to produce a fair estimate of usage levels.  Most everyone who has purchased TUT in the last 2 years will be unaffected.  Older TUT customers will likely have increases, a few may have decreases, but $700 is still the minimum support level.  Our plan is designed to give the best support and still share the cost properly among our customers.

 

 

 

E - Fax / E - Mail

In November of 2000, TUT support faxes began to be routed through an internet based service called “efax.com”.  This service records your fax and changes it into an E-Mail attachment.  The E–Mail is then sent to us at help@tutsoftware.com.  This gives us an electronic version of your request.  We now store all the “faxes” we get by customer and can check and exchange this information easily between support staff.  This has worked very well for us.  We are now going to encourage anyone who has the capability to just E–Mail us instead of faxing.  In prior years we did not check our E–Mail with the same diligence as the faxes, but that has changed. E–Mail requests for support are mixed right in with the E–Fax requests.  For both forms of support request, Please include your Company, Phone Number, Application (PR AP AR JC GL ES) and some description of what is the problem.  “Call me” is understood to mean, “Call me when you have some time”.  

 

  

 

Check Reconciliation

Check Reconciliation has finished testing and has been working well for over 3 months in selected test sites.  It has been a long awaited upgrade.  It is well designed and doing the job very well.  Enjoy!  Instructions are available via our web site under Support.

 

 

 

Printers

Selecting printers keeps getting harder each year.  The computer has become a home entertainment device and thus most printers offered today are designed for home use only.  Home models have duty cycles (expected life or normal use) of 12,000 sheets for it’s life time.  “Commercial” models have duty cycles exceeding 10,000 sheets per month.  The other factor in printer selection is the ability of the printer to respond to software control commands.  We have standardized on the HP PCL (printer control language).  PCL has allowed us to adjust the print positions in AIA form printing and produce a new 4up Laser W2.  It has therefore become a requirement of TUT to have a PCL compatible printer.  HP has the following new models available for your selection:

 

HP Laserjet 1200    15 page/min                  10,000 sheets/month      $399  < 30 men

Hp Laserjet 2200d 19 page/min                  40,000 sheets/month      $799  < 90 men

Hp Laserjet 4100   25 page/min                  150,000 sheets/month     $1,099  >90 men

 

These printers are available through Office Depot, Office Max, Etc.  While most people have a color inkjet type printer, it is not suitable to make maximum use of TUT’s newer features.  Please select from these printers when upgrading your printer.

    

 

 

Just a reminder:     moreinfo@tutsoftware.com     (sales)

                           help@tutsoftware.com           (bob & jim)

                           jim@tutsoftware.com             (yours truly)

 

Your ideas & suggestions are needed as we strive to exceed your expectations.

 

 

 

Jim Meidl, President