CompuServe 3.0 Review

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Copyright 1997 by William W. Fox, Jr.

Last Updated: September 1, 1997



CompuServe 3.0 for the Mac (CS3M) is the long-awaited "MacCIM 3.0" and I am extremely impressed with it. While CS3M is designed to replace the current version of MacCIM 2.4.4, it will actually be an alternative to MacCIM for a while, as CS3 for Windows (CS3W) is for WinCIM. Eventually, however, CS3M will replace MacCIM since CSi has announced that it will become an internet-based service by the end of 1997.

CS3M's interface is much snazzier than MacCIM--graphics are everywhere, even large and small buttons have graphics embedded. The primary colors, a dark blue with a gold window background (especially the message windows) will make any avid University of Michigan fan smile. It may it put some off initially as a bit garish but it grows on one after a while and I love it. The interface is much more like a web browser than MacCIM's and it is virtually identical to the CS3W. This latter feature will make it very easy for CSi to be accessed across platforms by members. The new CS3M interface sacrifices some explicitly Mac-like paradigms, like mostly having single-click buttons rather than double-clickable icons and no drag and drop features for mail or mesages, but this will not take much for a Mac user to get used to. John Bendig, CS3M lead developer, wrote me that CS3 was originally begun as a Mac product but implemented first for Windows users, the principal CSi customers. This accounts for the Mac and Windows versions being virtually identical, an excellent feature.

One should not be surprised that CS3M seems like using an internet web browser because that is basically what it is. CSM3 runs over a PPP connection, just like a web browser does, instead of CSi's proprietary network. Upon making a connection, the user is initially at CompuServe's proprietary site (the CIS Browser) and is presented with the usual "What's New" window that is perusable with no charge to metered time.

"Metered time?" Yes, CompuServe's basic rate structure is $9.95 for 5 hours per month and $2.95/hr thereafter but CSi has announced a flat rate of $24.95 rate starting October 1st. Most internet service providers have unlimited service for a monthly fee that ranges as low as $9.50 to over $35 depending on the services bought and the length of the prepayment. America OnLine has gone to this rate as well and you have probably read about how this has worked like "kaopectate" in their proprietary network, really freaking out customers and causing system down time, lawsuits and state attorneys general inquiries--shudder! I thought that CSi might wait until they are on the 'net before risking these problems but I am glad for this earlier implementation--I think.

After closing the CIS Browser, one is at the "Home Desktop". It has a separate fixed toolbar across the top and a separate floating information window along the bottom. The Home Desktop has a set of large buttons on the left for the Main Menu, "Go", Find (Search), Mail Center, My Information (Filing Cabinet) and Learn About (help). Clicking one of these buttons gives one a window with tabbed functions across the top and for each tab a set of large action buttons. This is pretty well organized but somewhat differently than MacCIM. For example, MacCIM has in and out mailboxes on the toolbar--these are gone from CS3M. One gets "Incoming Messages" in CS3M under the default "Read" tab by clicking the Mail Center button. To get to the "out box", one chooses the Mail Center's "Create" tab which lists "Outgoing Messages." John Bendig pointed out a convenient new feature of CS3M--by clicking the My Information button and then scrolling to "Outgoing Items" and double-clicking to open it, one not only gets outgoing mail but outgoing forum messages as well and, in fact, all pending items will be displayed. "Cool, eh?" he asks. I think so.

The fixed toolbar at the top has a section which keeps track of where you've been and allows you to go back to there with a click, even after you've disconnected. There's another "Go" button and a series of square icon buttons for getting a Favorite's listing, Weather, Stock Quotes and the Web Browser among others. The icons/functions are changeable within the Preferences dialog box. The MacOS menu bar above everything repeats many of these functions in pulldown menus.

"The web browser icon!" Yes, CSi has FINALLY implemented one-click web browsing for Mac users. Best of all, CS3M provides a real version of Microsoft Internet Explorer (instead of a modfied stripped-down version like AOL does) and CS3M lets one easily choose ANY web browser at all including the latest Netscape Communicator 4.01. This new feature works well! For many people, the one-click to web browsing will be the most important feature. If you install CS3M with Easy Install, then it may be possible to launch CS3M and make the PPP connection without fiddling with MacTCP, TCP/IP, ConfigPPP or FreePPP, and then one-click the web icon to surf the internet's web. I write "may" because I haven't tried to use the CompuServe Dialer and it won't be quite that easy (but almost) if one already has an internet service provider and wants to keep its connection configuration. John Bendig states that if one has a current ISP, those settings are automatically saved and one can switch back and forth with a simple utility provided by CSi. One also has the option of not installing the CSi settings and then running CSi off of one's current ISP--this is what I do.

The Forum Desktop and its windows reached from the "Go" function or Favorite Places, etc., is similar to the Home Desktop but is framed in golden brown as the primary color instead of purple-ish blue. There are the same large square buttons down the left including Message and Library functions, tabs across the top for Read or Create, etc. and the large round buttons for actions. The forum features work the same as they do now.

Forum messages and mail replies have a time-saving new feature. One just highlights certain text and when preparing a reply, the highlighted text is automatically pasted at the beginning of the reply with a citation of its author. This relieves a lot of manual cutting and pasting.

Finally, there is the speed issue. MacCIM users are used to the speed of CSi's proprietary network. CS3M is implemented on the internet so there is a noticeable but not bad speed difference during regular use, e.g. getting mail and switching forums. This is due largely to the internet and not CS3M and it will tend to vary from time to time. There is, however, a tremendous difference in file downloading speed. MacCIM is nearly twice as fast as CS3M! For large files, this can mean an hour or more longer using CS3M.

The bottom line? I really like CS3M and enjoy its interface more than MacCIMs, maybe because it is just newer but I think CS3M is just better organized and has several new convenient features. There is still some finishing work to be done as several of the features look like ported terminal windows rather than the slick CS3M interface. There is still the freeze trap caused by selecting "Account History" that is present in MacCIM--it will cause you to force quit CS3M if you innocently select it--the globe on the bottom floating window will spin forever in CS3M instead of the spinning beachball gizmo of MacCIM. Many people will love the easier web access, so the one-click to surf surely will be a hit. The biggest miss is the file download time so I will keep MacCIM saddled up for downloading large files unless this is improved before they drop MacCIM.

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Copyright © 1997 by Bill Fox
All rights reserved--no commercial use permitted without my expressed permission.

Of course . . . . . . and I am proud to be an Evangelista! . . .

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