Test Drive is a special "try-before-you-buy" version of HyperACCESS 2.0 for Windows, intended for free distribution through bulletin boards, user groups, trade shows, -- or for you to pass on to your friends. Test Drive shows how easy it is to get started with HyperACCESS, and lets you place calls and try every feature that you will find in HyperACCESS.
The purpose of Test Drive is to help you decide whether to buy HyperACCESS. Because we never intended Test Drive for sustained, day-to-day use, Test Drive discards user-defined settings after each session and limits sessions to 3 calls or one hour. (Naturally, HyperACCESS itself does not behave this way.)
Test Drive is not shareware, and is not designed for ongoing use. If you attempt to use it that way, you will probably find its "test-drive" limitations irritating. We really meant for it to be like test driving a new car: See how comfortable its fine leather seats are, check out its well-designed controls, and see how crisply it handles. If you like it, order one fresh from the factory ... instead of wishing you could drive the demo model to work every day.
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What You May Legally Do with Test Drive
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You may legally obtain a copy of Test Drive from a friend or BBS and try it, to decide if you want to buy HyperACCESS for Windows. In addition to trying Test Drive yourself, you may legally give HAWTD2.ZIP (the original .ZIP file containing Test Drive) to others, or upload it to BBSs so that others can download it. Never give others anything but the complete, original HAWTD2.ZIP, so that everyone will receive the right files in mint condition.
Test Drive is intended for evaluation purposes only; sustained use or sale is prohibited. Attempting to reverse engineer or modify Test Drive is unlawful. All rights reserved by Hilgraeve Inc., copyright 1994.
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How to Install and Use Test Drive
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HyperACCESS for Windows, Test Drive Version 2.0 is provided as a .ZIP file called HAWTD2.ZIP, which contains (in compressed format) all of the files you need for Test Drive. After you have used PKUNZIP to unpack HAWTD2.ZIP into a directory on your system, you can start the program right away. There's no need to run a separate setup program first, because Test Drive has a built-in setup facility that runs when you start the program.
You can start Test Drive by running HAWIN.EXE using Program Manager's File|Run option. Or add Test Drive to Program Manager by using File|Properties (include HAWIN.EXE in the command line), so that you can start Test Drive by selecting its icon from Program Manager.
Each time you start it, Test Drive runs a setup utility, which lets you configure the program for your modem and PC for the duration of that one session. Since Test Drive is not designed for sustained use, it discards these user-defined settings after each session, and limits sessions to 3 calls or one hour. Other than these restrictions, however, Test Drive is functionally identical with HyperACCESS for Windows (which contains no such restrictions).
As you will see from Test Drive, HyperACCESS for Windows has an obvious, straightforward design. To place a call, you simply double-click on the desired system's icon in the Phonebook, or select that icon and click the Dial button. To add a new session, select File|New or click the New button in the Phonebook. Most people can run the program without ever using the on-line help, but it's there if you need it.
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How to Remove Test Drive from Your System
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Many Windows programs exhibit almost virus-like behavior, changing your system setup and copying files all over the place. They make so many unexpected changes that you need an UNINSTALL program to undo them all. Test Drive is refreshingly different. It never makes changes to your system setup and never copy files to unexpected places. To remove it, all you have to do is delete the directory you installed it into. (The same holds true of HyperACCESS.)
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Program Features Too Good to Miss
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You will find many advantages of HyperACCESS for Windows perfectly obvious. It's easier to use, faster, and takes better advantage of your mouse and Windows than competing programs. Other features that set it apart from others are not so obvious. Here are some points to watch for:
o View the Phonebook 3 ways (click the Icon-Stats-Details button)
o Enter just phone numbers ... CommSense(TM) will figure out the settings!
o Try 2nd or 3rd phone numbers automatically. Beat annoying busy signals!
o Amazing backscroll. Each system has its own backscroll (saved even between sessions!), so you can scroll back at any time to view information that has already left the terminal screen.
o Context menus. Use the right mouse button on the terminal screen or backscroll buffer, to pop up handy menus of frequently used options.
o Message Pad(TM). Forget about using awkward on-line editors. Click the drop-down button (lower right corner of terminal screen), compose your message, then click the Send button.
o HyperFont(TM) True Type and raster fonts (select View|Fonts...). Designed specifically for terminal emulation, with the variety of sizes and weights you need.
o Click Zoom to shift instantly to largest possible font for easy viewing
o Records and repeats your actions (click the "Take 2" Record button to begin and select Stop! when done). Generates a ready-to-execute C program that you can assign to a button or as an automatic logon.
o Language Coupled(TM). Automate or customize your communications using our built-in C interpreter, or use the external language of your choice -- Visual Basic, Microsoft C, you name it! HyperACCESS has a complete Application Programming Interface, so you can drive it using virtually any programming language. (For a more complete description of its API, download the API docs from Hilgraeve's BBS.)
o Fast, efficient file transfers. Compare its transfer speeds to any competing program and see for yourself! You can even adjust its priority (select Properties|Communications) to achieve the desired balance between transfer speed, and speed of other concurrent programs.
o Powerful Host mode (select Host icon from Phonebook). Callers can log on, leave you messages, and upload or download files, while you're not even there -- or while you're using other applications!
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Some Comments from the Press
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HyperACCESS 1.0 for Windows won every major award since its release in April 1993 (see list below). And HyperACCESS 2.0, released in November 1994, is even better!
Home Office Computing, 4/94 -- RECOMMENDED
Online Access Magazine, 4/94 -- A+ RATED
Windows Magazine, 2/94 -- Win100 AWARD
PC World, 11/93 -- BEST BUY AWARD
InfoWorld, 10/11/93 -- RECOMMENDED PRODUCT AWARD; rated 9.4 overall, the highest score InfoWorld has given to any Windows communications program.
