1a) some problems with the implementation of Windows 3.1 OLE (object
linking) caused programs from the MicroSoft Office "Suite" (e.g., Word,
Excel, etc.) to arbitrarily concatenate previously deleted file fragments to
the current document under creation. These fragments did not appear in the
files when read again by Suite programs but _did_ appear when a plain text
editor was used. They usually showed up as "garbage" but occasionally whole
pieces of text from other previously deleted files would show up. This
could be confusing of course but also potentially embarrassing depending
upon what the text actually was. This was fixed in later versions of the
Suite which were labeled with a "c" at the end of the version number (e.g.,
MS Word 6.0c).
1b) in Windows 95, the OLE technology is embedded in the operating system
itself and apparently in the process of coding, the old problem re-entered;
that is, any file created by the Suite (or compatible program) has the
potential to add fragments of previously deleted files to the current file
being worked on. MicroSoft has announced a fix for this that is available
free from MicroSoft and states that all future versions of Windows 95 will
be free of this bug.
1c) Users of the MS Suite, either older versions under Windows 3.1 w/o the
"c" version suffix or current users of Windows 95, should be aware that they
_may_ be sending more than they realize when they pass a file along.
2) as long as I'm on the subject of Windows 95: for those who surf the
internet, Windows 95 is not friendly to SLIP & PPP emulators from third
party providers and can "mess around" with their functioning. This problem
has been encountered by those who use the emulator WINSOCK.DLL to access
their provider by modem. So if you're a NetScape/Winsock user and are
experiencing difficulties with Windows 95, that is a likely explanation. I
am not aware of a fix for this I'm afraid.
Rolfe Windward
UCLA GSE&IS
ibalwin who-is-at mvs.oac.ucla.edu