DWMOTIF123 COVER.PDF

This document is a cover letter announcing DECwindows Motif Version 1.2-3 for OpenVMS (VAX and Alpha systems), based on X Window System™ V11R5 and OSF/Motif® Release 1.2.3.

Key New Features:

• OSF/Motif Release 1.2.3 Toolkit with over 600 bug fixes.
• NCSA Mosaic™ web viewer (included as a sample).
• Internationalization improvements for non-ISO Latin 1 character input.
• POLYCENTER Software Installation kit for easier installation and tracking.
• A console window application to display operator messages.
• Improved non-C language bindings.
• DECwindows Mail rebuilt against Motif 1.2.3.
• For OpenVMS Alpha Version 6.2+, shareable linkages enhance startup performance and conserve memory.
• Several hundred bug fixes to out-of-the-box applications.

System Requirements & Installation:

• Requires a Product Authorization Key (PAK); existing Motif 1.2 users don't need to reinstall the PAK.
• Prerequisites: OpenVMS VAX 5.5-2+ or OpenVMS AXP 1.5+.
• Minimum Memory: 12 MB (VAX, 16 MB recommended); 32 MB (Alpha).
• Installation: Use POLYCENTER Software Installation for OpenVMS 6.2+ (or 6.1), or VMSINSTAL for 5.5-2 through 6.0 (or 6.1). Users are warned not to use DECW$MOTIF_TAILOR.EXE if using POLYCENTER.

Changes & Discontinuations:

• NCSA Mosaic is a sample and will be replaced in future releases.
• DEClinks (formerly LinkWorks) is no longer a supported feature.
• Bookreader remains the default online documentation viewer; Interleaf WorldView Viewer is not bundled.
• X User Interface (XUI) run-time support is still provided for transition but will be removed in future versions.

Restrictions:

• Application development is supported only for the OSF/Motif 1.2.3 Toolkit, not older toolkits (though run-time support for older applications is maintained). Applications must be built against 1.2.2 or 1.2.3 toolkits to utilize new features like drag-and-drop.
• Supported development languages are Ada, C, DEC C++, Fortran, and Pascal.
• Bookreader draft printing is limited in quality and not suitable for printing many pages.
• DECsound is only supported on specific TURBOchannel systems (e.g., DEC 3000 Models 400-900 series, VAXstation 4000 VLC/60/90), and not on others (e.g., DEC 2000 Model 300 series, AlphaStation 200/400).
• Several older VAX processors (e.g., VAXstation II, MicroVAX II/2000, VAX-11/750/780/785) are not supported for performance reasons.

Updated documentation for the release is provided.