Re: Rumba or Netsoft Elite????????

[DAsmussen@xxxxxxx]

David,

In a message dated 2/15/99 5:03:29 AM Eastern Standard Time, d2ba@xtra.co.nz
writes:

> I have just been advised that we may be changing from Netsoft Elite to
>  Rumba/400.
>  We currently run Elite on a NT or 95 platform.Im trying to find out
>  Q1:Is Rumba a better product?
>  Q2:Which is the most popular of these in the USA?
>  Q3:Does Rumba have DDE ?(We currently use DDE for "screenscraping on the
>  rocksolid Netsoft Elite" )
>  example:
<<snip>>

I don't know about DDE, but IMO Rumba has surpassed NetSoft in all areas but
file transfer.  This from a hard-core NetSoft fan that still runs the
Portfolio product today.  I don't know if the NetManage buyout stagnated
development, or if stagnated development prompted the NetManage buyout -- sort
of a "chicken and egg" question that I cannot answer.  Rumba's "Arpeggio" file
transfer product is about as intuitive as sticking your hand in a vat of
molten lead, but their 5250 emulation blows all other products out of the
water.  Arrow key select like CM/2?  Man, I've been missing _that_ until the
last Rumba release.

The version of Rumba that my current primary client runs still requires a
rumba router for print sessions, but I don't know if this is true across the
board.  Print sessions wouldn't even be necessary if it weren't for that pesky
page range problem on TCP/IP connected printers.  The latest versions of Rumba
also don't seem to have the Win 95/98/NT compatibility problems that I've
experienced with NS/Portfolio.  Drop your ASYNC line with Portfolio on '95 or
better?  Better plan on spending the next 10 minutes manually terminating the
sessions with <CTRL><ALT><DEL> and rebooting the PC so the modem will work
again.  Cold boot.  I'm _EXTREMELY_ disappointed with the latest NetSoft
offerings and, other than file transfer, quite happy with Rumba's.  Three
years ago I would have written off Wall Data -- today, I'm about ready to
write of NetManage...

JMHO,

Dean Asmussen
Enterprise Systems Consulting, Inc.
Fuquay-Varina, NC  USA
E-Mail:  DAsmussen@aol.com

"Courage is very important.  Like a muscle, it is strengthened by use." --
Ruth Gordon
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