Local reaction is mixed

By: DAVE MUNDAY    
Originally Published on: 8/13/95
Page: D1



Windows 95 is getting a mixed reaction in the Charleston area.
Scores of computer users have been clamoring for the new operating system, according to retailers, but not many big businesses have given any indication of a quick conversion.
Microsoft says it will ship on Aug. 24 the new software which it hopes will replace the DOS command line or the current Windows interface on millions of personal computers.
``We're been reserving copies left and right,'' primarily for home users, said John Coroneos, owner of J-N-J Computers. ``I'm looking for a big market.''
Coroneos caters to several big businesses whose computers run programs with Windows or DOS, but he said those customers have given no indication of switching quickly to Windows 95.
``Business users are more hesitant to take risks,'' he said. ``No one really knows how every piece of software on the market is going to be affected if they upgrade.''
Office Depot has been gearing up in a big way for Windows 95, according to Joe Foster, business machine specialist at the Sam Rittenberg Boulevard store.
``The word for it would be phenomenal,'' he said. ``We've been taking five to 10 reservations a day since the middle of last month.''
He figures about 40 percent of those reservations have been made by business users. Some of them work at home, but others will use Windows 95 in small offices in banking, insurance and customer service, he said.
``You get a lot of corporate executives who want to be on the cutting edge,'' he said.
Nancy Charpia, manager of the North Charleston Babbage's Software, has also been taking several reservations a day. She expects the two local stores to sell about a hundred copies of Windows 95 the first few days. ``I expect this to be even bigger than the original Windows,'' which replaced the DOS command line for many users several years ago, she said.
Office Max has been taking three or four reservations a day since the first of last month, according to assistant manager Marleen Sho-walter. She had no estimate on how many were by business users.
``People have been constantly asking about it,'' said Jack Combs, manager at People's Computers in West Ashley. ``But I don't know if individual sales are the real issue.''
Almost all IBM-compatible computers will come with Windows 95 installed after Aug. 24. That's when the real impact of the new system will be seen, he said, as people buy new computers that have it.
But Windows 95 has already been making an impact even before its release.
``We've been inundated with people wanting to upgrade to get ready for it,'' Combs said.
They're buying more memory chips, bigger hard drives and more powerful processors, because they've heard that Windows 95 will require more computing power than the current version of Windows.
That's what has retailers really excited, not the software but the extra hardware to run it.
``What we see from a retail end is that everybody is going to need more RAM (memory chips),'' said Paradise Computers owner Keith Paradise.
Paradise says he's already sold a lot of hardware upgrades to small businesses wanting to get ready for the new operating system.
``Everybody is watching for it,'' he said. ``Everybody is expecting it. It's probably one of the most waited-for packages we've ever seen.''
``I've seen much more interest from home users than corporate accounts,'' said Computer Products owner Scott McClain.
He foresees more of a trickle than a big rush for Windows 95 among most business users.
``I think most people see it as more of an evolution than a revolution,'' he said.
Most of the bigger businesses in the community are taking a wait-and-see attitude, said Carolina Business Systems owner Dick Murphy, who has been working with local businesses for 15 years.
``Those who know about computers have seen the beta tests for the last three years and aren't going to risk their businesses to be guinea pigs for Microsoft,'' he said.
He warns all his clients to think twice before running out and switching.
``I think it's great, but it's like any other total rewrite of an operating system. There are going to be problems,'' he said. ``What many people thought would be an easy upgrade will become a nightmare.''
None of his clients, which he said include many of the larger companies in the area, has plans to switch immediately to Windows 95.
``I think the people who are computer literate will make a gradual transition,'' he said. ``Others will be like lemmings running off a cliff.''
Performance Systems & Training Inc., a Savannah-based computer consulting company, recently enlarged its staff in Charleston to get ready for Windows 95, according to manager Ingrid Tugwell.
But she knows of no big companies that plan to switch immediately.
``As companies move to it, we're going to be doing a lot of retraining,'' Tugwell said. ``We deal with some of the bigger companies like Westvaco and the Navy, but none of them is planning on switching all at once.''
Instead, she expects big companies who use Windows or DOS to make the switch department by department.
``It would be too much down time for a big company to make the switch all at once,'' she said.
That's the case with the Robert L. Bosch Co., which employs several hundred people in Charleston and uses Windows or DOS on many of its computers.
Bosch recently circulated a memo among its employees that said the company's computer managers don't think switching to Windows 95 is worth the trouble right now, according to corporate spokesman Margret Nordquist.
``We're not going to rush into it,'' she said.
``We've not been swamped with calls yet,'' said Ed Varner, general manager of Caber Systems, which caters primarily to local businesses.
He said he deals with the Navy and Air Force and has heard of no plans for government accounts to switch to Windows 95 in the near future. But one large law firm has been talking to him about making the switch soon, he said.
``A lot of people are waiting for someone else to work the bugs out,'' he said. ``I think Windows 95 will be a major player but not until more toward the end of the year.''
Meanwhile, he's noticed that people buying new computers are making sure it has enough memory to run Windows 95, even if they're not planning on using it right away.
Computer consultant Steve Gillmor, vice president of Barkley Communications Co., has been pushing Windows 95 among his clients.
He said several of his clients have been running Microsoft's test version for several months and will switch to the final version this month.
``I bet you within a month you'll see a lot of people switching to it,'' he said.
But he agreed that many bigger companies, as well as some smaller companies, won't switch right away.
``Many businesses don't want to change,'' he said. ``But I think it would be a huge mistake to ignore it. You'll find you've lost a competitive advantage, and then you'll have to rush to catch up.''
One of Gillmor's clients who is sold on Windows 95 is Chris Fraser, broker in charge of the Barkley/Fraser Co. and president of the Charleston Trident Association of Realtors.
Fraser says he likes Windows 95 because it automatically recognizes various drivers and configurations and is therefore easier than than the old Windows to access remotely from his laptop computer.
The association will also be setting up a new computer network that uses Windows 95 this fall, he said.
``I know some will say, `Why be the first?' '' Fraser said. ``But they said that about the car phone, too, and now you can't get along without one. Sometimes it pays to take the lead in new technology.''