1. Introduction
Terminal Emulation
The purpose of a terminal emulator is to connect your computer to
another computer, either through a modem or a direct connection.
There are other cases where the connection might be going through
something other than a modem, such as a PBX system in the work
environment. Terminal emulation software running on your Mac
makes it act like a video display terminal, which basically displays
incoming information on the screen and sends characters you type to the
other computer. In addition, most terminal emulators support file
transfers, so you can send or receive files from the other computer
with error recovery.
The most common uses of a terminal emulator are: 1) to connect to
another device through a serial port to configure or test the device;
2) to connect to a mainframe or Unix system; 3) to connect to another
Mac or PC to exchange files with a friend.
Shareware
Shareware is a means of distributing software that lets you evaluate
the software before committing your money. It also eliminates the
middlemen, so you can get quality software and good prices.
Shareware is distributed primarily over the internet these days, but
also by user groups, and from user to user. When you get a
shareware program, you have the opportunity to try it out for some
period of time to see if it does what you need. After trying it,
you must either send the registration fee to the author or stop using
the program. In addition, once you register, you normally don’t
have to pay for updates. (This really depends on the shareware
author; many don’t request additional fees for updates once you are
registered.)
Registration
After using ZTerm for 30 days, you must either register or delete any
copies that you have. Registration has the following
benefits: support of the development of quality Mac software, use
of ZTerm without a guilty conscience, and support via email.
Registration only is $20 (US); Registration with Disk of current
release is $30 (US). All payments must be made in US funds.
The best way to register is thru Kagi, with this link:
http://order.kagi.com/cgi-bin/store.cgi?storeID=P4D
Support
Internet: dalverson@kagi.com
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank some of the people who have helped me with
testing, bug reports and other helpful comments and suggestions: Verne
Arase, Bill Branca, Rick Dieringer, Ron Duritsch, Rob Elliot, Bill
Johnson, Gary Johnston, Les Jones, Eric Larson, Steve Levinthal, Dave
Platt, Gary Shell, Stephan Somogyi, Steve Jasik, Tom Breakiron and many
others. To the
Cincinnati AppleSiders User Group and the Programmers SIG. The
ZTerm icon was inspired by one that Kenroy Harrison sent to me.
To Global Village and Shiva for making equipment available to me for
testing. To Chuck Forsberg, for designing a top-notch transfer
protocol in ZModem. To my wife, for her understanding and
patience. To everyone else who has made useful comments and
suggestions. And a special thanks to those who have supported
ZTerm development by registering.