From...

July 9, 1999
Web posted at: 8:45 a.m. EDT (1245 GMT)

by Dorte Toft

(IDG) -- A $49.95 Web suite promises new, online life for pre-Internet PCs, even those based on Intel 80286 CPUs that can't handle the newest versions of Windows.

The NewDeal WebSuite provides e-mail, Web surfing, and chat capabilities to older systems, as long as they have at least 10MB of hard disk space and 640KB of memory, according to representatives of NewDeal. The software includes a Web browser and other advanced Web applications such as instant chat and Web page editing.

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NewDeal also announced a new version of its NewDeal Office suite, priced at $69.95. It has the same system requirements as the WebSuite and has six applications, including a browser, word processor, and desktop manager.

A full-blown installation, consisting of NewDeal Office and WebSuite, takes an additional 4MB of hard disk space, but no extra memory. The DOS operating system is sufficient.

In a promotional offer, the company is selling both suites for $94.95, says Susan White, NewDeal's vice president of marketing communications.

Multitasking, graphics on a 286

If you want Internet access and are reluctant to invest in a Pentium-based PC, the software offers an alternative to recently announced Internet devices, such as the $199 iToaster from Microworkz.com.

"We are targeting the biggest market of all, the used PC market," says Clive Smith, president and founder of NewDeal. "This market will emerge just as a used car market. Previously, the old PCs were not interesting for people to buy because all the new ways of using the PC couldn't be employed. That will change."

Analysts estimate that between 30 million and 60 million so-called pre-Pentium machines are still around. Most of them are 486 machines, followed by 386, according to Smith.

The NewDeal software has a Windows-like graphical user interface. The technology was licensed from Geoworks, which specializes in ultra-slim software. Smith was formerly a Geoworks executive.

NewDeal's files can be used by Windows applications, and NewDeal's applications can read files saved by Windows programs. The NewDeal environment is modern multitasking, fully multi-threaded software, according to Smith. "We can do more on a 386 than was ever done, because of our technology architecture," he says.

Serving low-tech, low cash

NewDeal is targeting schools, nonprofit groups, and "any organization that is resource-constrained," Smith says. Individuals can buy the software on the Internet or from resellers. New Deal's resellers include refurbishing companies, which handle donated equipment from companies and government organizations.

"We want to make sure that nobody is left behind. Therefore, we specialize in leading-edge software for lagging-edge technology," Smith says. "And even a Pentium III will be lagging-edge at some time."

Smith says NewDeal wants to help schools provide a PC for every student. Currently, U.S. schools provide 8.4 million computers for 51 million pupils in primary and secondary schools.

The company is not targeting corporations, partly to avoid a head-to-head contest with Microsoft. But NewDeal's price policy could be tempting for a corporate technology manager with a tight budget -- the company charges $950 for a license covering an unlimited number of users of NewDeal Office, and $350 for WebSuite.