ER> I was prefering a FreeWare compiler, but I have heard a lot of good things 
ER> about Watcom.  BTW, how much does it cost?

    Expensive.  $350 from them.  I paid $290 from a reseller.  I heard there 
is a substantial student discount, but I haven't been able to confirm it.

    I'd recommend going for it.  In terms of usability, it can't be beat.

Advantages: 
    Creates DOS 16-bit, DOS 32-bit, OS/2 16-bit, OS/2 32-bit, Windows 3.1, 
Windows NT/Win95, Novell NLM, and Win32s.
    Can run under Windows 95, Windows NT, Windows 3.x, OS/2 Warp, OS/2 2.x, 
and DOS platforms (native for each).
    Had an IDE, Debugger, browser, profiler, assembler, dissassembler, 
librarian, etc.
    Creates the FASTEST executables
    Creates code that's optimized for 8088 through Pentium

    Full installation to HDD is 441 megs. :)

Disadvantages:
    Fairly expensive (but you'll pay a lot for any good compiler)
    Real slow compiler - it takes me 30-40 minutes to compile a 100k source 
file, with full optimization.  The executable is VERY fast, but it takes a 
long time to compile.



C. Gaefke
cdgaefke{at}sgi.net
[CDRMAIL Author]

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