OpenGEM Complete Release 5, a FreeGEM distribution.
11th January 2006
Copyright (C) 2001, 2006  Shane M. Coughlan
======================================================
This is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
(at your option) any later version.

OpenGEM is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
GNU General Public License for more details.

You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License
along with this program; if not, write to the Free Software
Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple Place, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA
======================================================

OpenGEM is the most stable, tested, and flexible DOS GUI distribution.

Its features include:
- 3D windows
- Automatic drive detection
- An internal file viewer
- New system fonts
- New pointer icons
- Automatically viewing contents of .TXT,.INF,.NFO,.BAT
and .CFG files

All of the advanced code for this distribution comes from
John Elliott.  Thank you for your hard work on FreeGEM!

Thanks also to Thorsten Franke, who helped to translate documents
into German, and helps with design and debugging.

Thanks to Owen Rudge for providing a great screen capture 
utility, and endless help over the years.

Thanks are also due to the entire FreeGEM Team, and all of 
the users who contribue comments, ideas and report bugs.


======================================================
INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS
======================================================

To install OpenGEM, decompress the zipfile named "OPENGEM5.ZIP" to any 
folder in C:\. This will create six files. 

- OPENGEM5.ZIP
- INSTALL.BAT
- README.TXT
- LICENCE.TXT
- UNZIP.EXE
- CHOICE.EXE

Run INSTALL.BAT to begin setting up OpenGEM.  The OpenGEM Installer 
will unpack the OpenGEM distribution for you.

That's it!

To run OpenGEM just type "GEM" at the command prompt.

IMPORTANT: Please see LICENSE.TXT before using this software.


======================================================
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
======================================================

- FreeDOS Beta 9 or DOS 3.3
- A 086 or better processor
- 512kb total memory
- VGA video card
- 10mb of free hard disk space when installed
  (requires 15mb to install)
- A mouse


======================================================
RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
======================================================

- FreeDOS 1.0 or DOS 5.0 or higher
- A 386 or better processor
- 640kb total memory
- VGA or better video card
- 10mb of free hard disk space when installed
  (requires 15mb to install)
- A mouse


======================================================
KNOWN ISSUES
======================================================

PLEASE NOTE: It is not recommended to use OpenGEM on systems
running Windows2000 or XP.  The DOS emulation on these systems 
causes crashes with the GEM software.

                 * OpenGEM may hang when running on Win2000
                 * OpenGEM may fail to exit when running on Win2000
                 * OpenGEM may exit an application if the "Open" command 
                   is used when running on WindowsXP
                 * OpenGEM applications may quit suddenly when running on
                   WindowsXP
                 * OpenGEM may freeze if you click the image in the
                   "About" box of the desktop

If you discover an issue with OpenGEM please report it by emailing us at
gem@shaneland.co.uk


======================================================
VERSION HISTORY
======================================================


OpenGEM Release 5 Complete - 11th January 2006

OpenGEM Release 5 Core - 13th December 2005

OpenGEM Release 4 Update 5 - 1st September 2005

OpenGEM Release 4 Update 4 - 9th August 2005

OpenGEM Release 4 Update 3 - 3rd August 2005

OpenGEM Release 4 Update 2 - 27th July 2005

OpenGEM Release 4 Update 1 - 17th July 2005

OpenGEM Release 4 - 15th July 2005

OpenGEM Release 3 - 10th August 2004

OpenGEM 2.2.0 - 1st October 2003

OpenGEM 2.1.0 - 6th June 2003

OpenGEM 2.0.0 - 19th May 2003

OpenGEM 1.2.0 - 12th September 2002

OpenGEM 1.1.0 - 7th August 2002

OpenGEM 1.0.1 - 3th August 2002

OpenGEM 1.0.0 - 20th July 2002

OpenGEM had five beta releases before the first public release.  The first 
Beta of OpenGEM was released in December 2001.  These Beta releases were 
tested by the members of the GEM Development Mailing List 
(gem-dev@simpits.org).


======================================================
LICENSE INFORMATION
======================================================

The GEM GUI is released under the GPL license 
(see LICENSE.TXT for more details).  

No liability for any of the code included with the OpenGEM distribution
is accepted by the creators or distributors.

You use this software entirely at your own risk.


======================================================
CONTACT INFORMATION
======================================================

The OpenGEM website is at http://gem.shaneland.co.uk. You can e-mail us at
gem@shaneland.co.uk.