Welcome to the PCBoard v15.4 beta!


A few important steps to follow to get the beta up and running:

1) You must first have PCBoard v15.x (any release) already installed and
   running.

2) Back up your system!  We try very hard to ensure that no beta ever gets
   posted which can cause your system to be unstable.  But just remember, it
   *is*, after all, a beta release.

3) Unzip the BETA.ZIP and copy the *.EXE and *.HLP files to your \PCB
   directory.  (if you received any .ZIP files in BETA.ZIP file then unzip
   those files as well and copy their contents to your \PCB directory)

4) If this is your first time using the v15.4 beta, you *must* upgrade all of
   your PCBTEXT.* files.  To do this, change to the directory that contains
   your PCBTEXT files and type:   "MKPCBTXT filename" (filename = pcbtext file
   to be updated)

5) Study the WHATSNEW file to become familiar with what changes have been
   made and how to utilize any new features.  NOTE:  The PCBUUCP.ZIP file
   has its own WHATSNEW.UU file which describes the UUCP changes.

6) Keep in mind that you should download new beta releases AT LEAST once per
   month, preferrably once every 1-2 weeks.  And when you receive the beta,
   take a close look at the HISTORY file for any updates that have been made
   as well as instructions that may pertain to the beta just downloaded.

7) To submit beta reports, include the information requested inside of
   REPORT.TXT and post your message directly in conference #5 on Salt Air.

   NOTE:  We do *not* accept beta reports from the various 'echo mail'
   conferences.  If you wish to participate in the beta, the reports must be
   posted in conference 5 on Salt Air.  If you're concerned about saving
   money, you can telnet into our system at bbs.pcboard.com.

That seems like a lot of rules, but generally beta cycles are a lot of fun.
We appreciate your interest and participation and thank you for helping make
PCBoard the best BBS software around.

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COMPATIBILITY ISSUES
====================
PCBoard's USERS.SYS file format is dynamic, in that the header at the top of
the file indicates the structure to be used by software that reads the rest of
the file.  Properly written software will read a USERS.SYS file from any
version of PCBoard from v14.5 on up to today's v15.4.

Some third party software, such as Cam-Mail and others, are hard coded for a
specific style of USERS.SYS file (instead of reading the header to determine
the contents of the file).

PCBoard takes great pains to ensure compatibility with previous third party
software.  To allow Cam-Mail to run with v15.3, for instance, you need to go
into PCBSetup and edit the DOORS.LST file.  In the column for USERS.SYS,
instead of specifying a 'Y' response, type in the number 3.  This tells
PCBoard to create the v15.2 style USERS.SYS file and allows Cam-Mail to work
correctly with v15.4.

A better solution is for all authors to properly read the USERS.SYS header,
but while you are beta testing PCBoard, you should be aware of that some
programs require that the USERS.SYS setting in DOORS.LST be modified.
