======================>  WSO Newsletter  <======================
              h t t p : / / w w w . w s o . n e t
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JANUARY 2000                                          ISSUE: 028

-> Highlights
        1. Account Moves Continue
        2. Progress Report on Old Issues

-> Useful WSO Links
        Newsletter Back Issues - http://www.wso.net/news.htm
        Referral Program - http://www.wso.net/referral.htm
        Tech Support - http://www.wso.net/support.htm


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-> ARTICLE #1: Account Moves Continue ==========================
---> Relevant for ALL WSO Customers ============================
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As you all should know, we are in the middle of a large
restructuring here at WSO.  In the end, every single customer
will see new features and improvements in their accounts.  Some
Virtual Domain customer are already enjoying these features.

Again, we'd like to thank everyone for their patience during the
move.  To ensure the restructuring is a success we have decided
to move each account by hand!  Sure, we have scripts that help
the move, but in general they are being done one-by-one and in
conjunction with the account owner if we feel there is a chance
modifications may be needed.

Here is just a quick overview of the features that will be added
as a result of the restructuring:

1. FP Only accounts will no longer be "subwebs" of the
domain they are stored under, they will be their own root web.
See #3 below.

2. FP Only, Non-Virtual, and Budget Commerce accounts will no
longer be a directory within the domain they are stored under.
For example, the current URL of 'http://www.wso.net/test' would
change to 'http://test.wso.net'. The old URL will work for many
months after the change to ensure people can still find your
site. This can also improve your search engine rankings.

3. Non-Virtual accounts will be called SubDomain accounts.

4. Budget Commerce accounts will also be called SubDomain
accounts with the added feature of a Miva Merchant storefront.
We are getting rid of the Budget Commerce package.  Current
Budget Commerce users will so no change in their service at all
at this time.

5. Virtual Domain and Commerce Plus accounts will be able to
have multiple domains under their control for an introductory
rate of only $5 per month, plus $20 setup fee.  It is quite
conceivable that the introductory rate will be permanently
extended to be the regular rate, but we need to make some more
evaluations first. More details on this in the next newsletter.

6. Easier and more powerful CGI setup and use.

7. Improved WSO SupportCenter that is even more customized to
YOUR account specifically.

8. Easier use of anonymous FTP for Virtual Domain and Commerce
Plus customers.

9. Newest versions of Apache, Apache_SSL, mySQL, PHP, Miva,
Perl, Analog, CGIwrap, SSH, WWW Counter, Sendmail, NcFTP, BASH
shell, and operating system BSDI v4.0.1.

10. Many more features and improvements as well.

These are exciting changes.  If for some reason you get the
impression that you are going to be losing features or that
somehow your account will have less value, then you have
misinterpreted the points above.  We can assure you, the value
of your account WILL increase after you have been converted to
the new system.



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-> ARTICLE #2: Progress Report on Old Issues ===================
---> Relevant for ALL WSO Customers ============================
================================================================

Over the last few months we have promised some new features that
have been pushed back by the restructuring of our entire system
here at WSO.  Here are some of them with comments about their
status.

1. Windows NT Hosting.  Still in the works.  A brand new, beefy
NT server is sitting here, almost ready to go on-line.  The
problem is that WSO has always been Unix based.  And WSO has
never done anything without being sure it would be a success.
These two slightly conflict with the world of Microsoft NT. Our
goal is to get the machine on-line and have some test users try
out the system, working in conjunction with us to ensure that
the final product we roll out will be of the same quality as our
present Unix offerings.

2. Free Search Engine Submissions.  This is definitely going to
happen, but not until after the restructuring.  Our goal is to
give all users some simple steps to prepare their home page for
submission.  Then they will go to an on-line form and fill it
out with details that we can not gather automatically from your
home page (or whatever page you want to be submitted).  Then you
will receive a submission report via e-mail.  Each WSO customer
will receive one free submission to all the major search engines
and over 2000 link sites.  Customers can then choose to be
resubmitted weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly for a small
fee, or not at all.

3. More WWW Counter graphics.  We have a fine collection of
counter graphics already available here:
http://www.wso.net/counters_digital.htm

We promised that we'd post more but it hasn't happened, well,
it will.  It hasn't been forgotten.

4. New WSO SupportCenter Passwords.  Because of the
restructuring some newer customers will have their presently
assigned WSO SupportCenter UserID's change (they will be
notified).  So, we've decided to wait until the restructuring is
done and then send out a system wide reminder for everyone.



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