Subject: Xservers for Windows

From: [email-masked] (Dr. Jerome L. Gabriel)
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 95 06:09:05 -0800

Here is the summary of the responses that I received for my query on
Xservers for Windows which are compatible with WinSock.  I have edited the
files to conserve space.

FROM:  Dr. Piotr Bala
       [email-masked]

	I have been using for few months, an Xserver for Windows called
xwin from Stranet. There is also DOS version avaliable.
I am using this software to open Xsessions from SGI Indy, or SUN
workstations on PC (386, 486) through ethernet. The PC is
running WINDOWS with Trumpet Winsocket. You are interested in
SLIP acces, and I think it should also work.   
In my oppinion this program is easy to instal and use, provides
resonable speed and quality. 
The version I am using does not support GL graphics language, so
GL applications are restricted to the SGI console.

Micro X-WIN
-----------
Micro X-WIN is for the user who wants to run X in an integrated environment.
Micro X-WIN will, by default of MS Windows, support all the popular graphics
accelerators which have a MS Windows 3.1 driver.  Cut and Paste of text
between MS Windows and X windows is supported.  X-WIN uses either the local 
Microsoft window manager or allows use of a remote window manager (motif, 
open look, twm, ...) in a single window mode. 

Supports:		FTP Software PC/TCP
			Sun PC-NFS
			Lanera TCPOpen
			WinSock

System requirements:	4MB+ memory
			4MB free disk space
			Microsoft compatible mouse and driver
			VGA/SVGA/Accelerators (Microsoft supported)
			ethernet card (packet driver supported)
			Microsoft Windows 3.1

Pricing:  	LIST		EDUCATIONAL	C-X-C (Edu. Site Lic.)
		-------		-----------	------
		$150.00		$90.00		$10.00

==============================================================================
Micro X-DOS
-----------
Micro X-DOS is for the more serious user in the DOS environment.   X-DOS runs 
in either extended or expanded memory.  All standard functions and the shape 
extension are included.  International keyboard support is provided.  
X-DOS requires at least 2MB but 4MB is recommended.

Bootp is supported.  Rsh and rexec are supplied.

Supports:		FTP Software PC/TCP
			Sun PC-NFS
			Novell LAN WorkPlace for DOS
			Beame & Whiteside BW-TCP
			Lanera TCPOpen

System requirements:	2MB+ memory
			3MB free disk space
			Microsoft compatible mouse and driver
			VGA (Most chipset supported - VESA driver included)
			ethernet card (packet driver supported)
			DOS 3.x or better

Also Included:		SNTCP (Integrated TCP/IP)

Pricing:  	LIST		EDUCATIONAL	C-X-C (Edu. Site Lic.)
		-------		-----------	------
		$100.00		$60.00		$5.00
==============================================================================
Micro X-enlite
--------------
Micro X-enlite is en(hanced)lite, the next step up from X-lite.  Like X-lite, 
X-enlite supports the packet drivers, uses CONFIG.TEL, and has an integrated 
TCP/IP.  X-enlite runs in either extended or expanded memory.  All standard 
functions and the shape extension are included.  International keyboard 
support is provided.  X-enlite requires at least 2MB but 4MB is recommended.

Bootp is supported. 

Supports:		Novell LAN WorkPlace for DOS

System requirements:	2MB+ memory
			3MB free disk space
			Microsoft compatible mouse and driver
			VGA (Most chipset supported - VESA driver included)
			ethernet card (packet driver supported)
			DOS 3.x or better

Also Included:	SNTCP (Integrated TCP/IP), rsh, rexec
			Clarkson (Crynwr) Packet Drivers
			NCSA telnet, ftp, lpr, lpq, ...

Pricing:  	LIST		EDUCATIONAL	C-X-C (Edu. Site Lic.)
		-------		-----------	------
		$75.00		$45.00		$5.00
==============================================================================
Micro X-lite
------------
This package is aimed at the current NCSA Telnet user who would like to
have an X11 graphical interface. X-lite has an integrated TCP/IP,
uses CONFIG.TEL, and interfaces to the packet drivers.  If you have
VGA capable PC's that are currently running NCSA Telnet, then X-lite
would be your most inexpensive step up to X.  X-lite runs in 640KB 
(conventional memory) on 286/386/486 type PC's.

Make no mistake, this is a functioning package with an integrated TCP/IP.
X-lite is the ideal package for the low end user wanting to run an xterm or
vi or mail or xmh or etc.  (i.e. It is not meant for those wishing to run
math or graph packages.)  The only standard function missing is the arc code.  
This means that a few clients like xeyes will not display, while most all 
clients like xterm, xedit, xv, xmh, xgif, and xclock will.  

Bootp is supported. 

X-lite is normally shipped with only the MISC (fixed) fonts, but the standard
75dpi fonts are available for those needing them.

System requirements:	640KB memory
			2MB free disk space
			Microsoft compatible mouse and driver
			VGA (Most chipset supported - VESA driver included)
			ethernet card (packet driver supported)
			DOS 3.x or better

Also Included:	SNTCP (Integrated TCP/IP), rsh, rexec
			Clarkson (Crynwr) Packet Drivers
			NCSA telnet, ftp, lpr, lpq, ...

Pricing:  	LIST		EDUCATIONAL	C-X-C (Edu. Site Lic.)
		-------		-----------	------
		$40.00		$20.00		$5.00

FROM:  Serge Pachkovsky
       [email-masked]

X-servers which will run under Windows/winsock are numerous, with my personal
favorit being Xwin, (fully functional) demo of which is available from
ftp.cica.indiana.edu:/win3/xwindemo.zip. Unfortunately, you should not expect
too much from such combination. Aside from the speed (which, depending
on your connection, will range from glacial to merely very slow), you
will have a lot of trouble trying to run SGI applications. Although
most of the basic clients (xterm, window managers, xman, xrn, ghostview,
xview, etc.) probably will run, using any non-trivial SGI application 
(including explorer, insight, jot, debugging/profiling tools, sound and
image manipulation utilities) requires GL extensions on the server side, 
which are much more difficilt to come by than valilla X11 server.

FROM: Peter S. Shenkin
      [email-masked]

You won't be able to display GL applications;  if the applications are
OpenGL, you'll need OpenGL on the PC.

FROM:  Butch Carreira
       [email-masked]

The best one I've used is Xceed/W by Hummingbird Communications Inc.
I have used it over two winsock.dll's. The trumpet package and the pc-nfs
package. Both work. On a fast connection the pc-nfs is a bit faster but
over a modem (slip) the two are about equal. If your application is heavy
with graphics you might find a slip X connection to be VERY slow.

FROM:  Steve Williams
       [email-masked]

I am using hummingbird communications product called exceed.  The current 
version is 4.1.  It comes with a winsock (I use trumpet) compliant network
version as well as a version that runs over serial lines.  I use the network
version in my office and the seial version (with a 28.8 kbaud modem) at home.
It (the serial version) is somewhat slow, but I can run unichem under x
with it on a rather remote machine (about 150 miles away).  The ethernet 
version is quite zippy.

FROM:  Tom Pierce
       [email-masked]

Exceed 4 from Hummingbird works well with winsock. 

FROM:  Michael A. Wilso
       [email-masked]

I have a SLIP account that I use from home.  I use Trumpet Winsock (which is a
Shareware product that include a setup screen for SLIP and PPP connections,
and dialup scripts for logging into SLIP accounts).  It costs about $25, and
has worked fine on both my PC at work with an ethernet card and my PC at
home, with a 14.4 modem.  This gets you a Winsock compliant TCP/IP Stack.

I use Starnet Communications' package Micro-X.  a full-featured demonstration
copy is available at most of the big ftp sites as win3/demos/xwindemo.zip.
A licensed copy is $150 regular or $90 govt./academic use.  I use this both
at home (modem) and at work (ethernet card) and have had no problems with it.
Starnet is working on a 32-bit version which should be a lot faster for
Windows NT, or if you have the 32-bit emulator installed under Windows.

There are quite a number of packages for both the TCP/IP stack and the
X-Server.  For the TCP/IP stack, I've tried Chameleon NFS and it performed
much better than Trumpet, but it was also a lot more expensive. The only other
server that I've tried is X-Vision (from Visionware). It is quite a bit faster
than Micro-X. But it costs about $500. I've heard good things about
Hummingbird's eXceed, but have not tried it. This is also in the $500 price
range.

Personally, if you don't have at least a 14.4 modem, then you might find
this to be excruciatingly slow.  In fact, if you plan on doing any rendering
or interactive graphics over a SLIP connection at <= 14.4, then you had better
be an exceptionally patient human being.  For static images, I have found 
it to be more convenient to create the image on my workstation, download the
file, and then view it on the PC.  For more mundane graphical operations
(for example, looking at plots with gnuplot) it works fine. If you are doing
more sophisticated operations such as rotating scenes or changing molecular
conformations interactively, you will probably be disappointed with the
speed.  Note that I don't do this with the software we use.  If you hear
opinions that certain software packages work great, please pass the info
along.

FROM:   Jens-Peter Wegener 
        [email-masked]

In our institute we're currently using two diffrent software-products 
which should work as X-servers for MS-Windows. 

1) Micro X-Win, a shareware product, easy setup, easy use, minimal 
ressources, cheap (~ $90). Best try it yourself, it is available as 
XWINDEMO.* on many anonymous ftp-sites or on bart.starnet.com.

2) X-Vision from VisionWare, difficult setup, difficult use, lots of 
ressources, expensive (~ $???). We have not able to have it work the 
way we want it, yet.

FROM:  Kris Boulez
       [email-masked]

Have you already thought about Linux, a free Unix version for PC which 
includes XFree86 an implementation of X11R6.
If you want more info drop me an E-mail

FROM:  Adrian Wong
       [email-masked]

       you should look at a software product from NCD which is called
"XRemote" or "NCDware". Its runs on Unix/Xterminal/PC with it's own X
protocol (so you don't have to have SLIP or anything messy).
Basically, your PC/Xterminal over the modem becomes a virtual display
on the net. I believe because of compression and other optimizations,
this software runs rings around other remote X solutions. The downside
is a somewhat complicated setup on the Unix end and you need to be
able to dial directly onto your workstation or some other
participating machine.

All the staff here use this software using Xterminals from home.
With a 14.4 kbps line, the response is better than acceptable for
plain text work. However, with anything graphical the response and
refresh are painfully slow. (*Not* a recommended means of cruising
the net with XMosaic). I think you have to be realistic about what
can be achieved over a simple serial line...

FROM:  Magan Govender
       [email-masked]

There is a program called xappeal which is a dos based
X-windows server. It can be obtained via ftp.
Greetings from SOuth Africa

FROM: Joe Landman
      [email-masked]

  I use OS/2 Warp + TCPIP for OS/2 v 2.0 + PMX x server.  I can run 
all my x apps at home over the modem.  I warn you that this is painful
except for xapps that dont transfer much information.

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