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Z*NET: ATARI ONLINE MAGAZINE
----------------------------
"Happy Thanksgiving"
November 27, 1992 Issue #20 Volume 7, Number 20
Copyright (c)1992, Syndicate Publishing Company
~ Publisher/Editor..........................Ron Kovacs
~ Assistant Editor...........................John Nagy
~ Contributing Editor........................Ed Krimen
~ Writer............................Michael R. Burkley
~ Writer.....................................Bob Smith
~ Z*Net News Service........................Jon Clarke
$ GEnie Address..................................Z-NET
$ CompuServe Address........................75300,1642
$ Delphi Address..................................ZNET
$ Internet/Usenet Address................status.gen.nz
$ America Online Address......................ZNET1991
$ AtariNet Address...........................51:1/13.0
* Z*Net: News Service FNET 593 AtariNet 51:1/13 (908) 968-8148
* Z*Net: Golden Gate FNET 706 AtariNet 51:1/9 (510) 373-6792
*--CONTENTS--*
### The Z*Net Newswire.................................
### Bob Brodie In Conference On GEnie..................
### PowerDos Review - Part Two..........Kevin J. Conway
### The Unabashed Atariophile...........Michael Burkley
### Perusing GEnie............................Ed Krimen
### Bob Brodie In Conference n Delphi..................
### Lynx Game Reviews.........................AtariUser
### Perusing The Internet.....................Ed Krimen
### Z*Net Calender...........................Ron Kovacs
### Marketing Strategy.................Andreas Barbiero
###### Z*NET NEWSWIRE
###### Atari News Update
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
PHOENIX COMING SOON
Lee Seiler from Lexicor Software has announced that his company's new
software product, Phoenix, will be released on December 12, 1992.
Phoenix will enable ST computer users to create stunning 512-color
animations as well as still images. TT and Falcon users will be able to
use anywhere from 256 colors to 32,000 colors. Phoenix supports all
sorts of cameras, including universal and aeronautic, with zoom,
perspective, and bank capabilities. A variety of lights is also
supported, including ambient, point, and solar, which can all be edited
to suit any need. Attributes can now be added to 3D2 objects, including
two completely adjustable procedural mapping systems with custom
texture-map wrapping. Objects can be transparent, with or without
shading. Full shading is also supported; you can select polygon,
gouraud, phong, or phong with shadows shading. Additionally, Phoenix
supports Cyber Control. Images can be saved as SPC, GIF, or TGA,
depending upon machine type.
INTERNATIONAL CATALOG NOW AVAILABLE
The 1992 International Software Catalog (Item# C303288-001) is now
available from Atari Corporation. If you ever had a question about the
availability of software on the Atari platform, this catalog is a "must"
for your bookshelf. Here are some examples:
"Is there a program that will run on my Atari that will allow me to
create and edit fonts for my desktop publishing software?" (YES)
"There are so many MIDI sequencers available for the Atari line of
computers. What are the features that each has to offer? Which would
be best for me?" (READ AND COMPARE)
"I was just put in charge of a fairly large organization. Is there any
software available to make my job easier." (YES)
"I would like to build a library of software that would be educational
for my kids." (CHECK THE LISTINGS)
"I need software for my Atari that will help me design printed circuit
boards and then provide drill control for the manufacture of prototypes.
NO PROBLEM)
"Do you think I could use my Atari to decode and display image data from
a meteorological satellite?" (YES)
"Will there be any applications that create a voice-mail environment by
taking advantage of the DSP in the Atari Falcon030?" (YES)
"Would you happen to have any software that I could use with my Atari to
assist with soil mechanics evaluation and ground water analysis?" (OF
COURSE WE DO)
The catalog has more than 400 pages, contains nearly 500 entries, and
features almost 175 screen shots. Categories covered include:
o Publishing and graphics
o Multimedia and hypertext
o Personal productivity
o Connectivity and communications
o Music
o Business
o Education
o Entertainment
o Computer-aided design
o Medical
o Development tools and system software
o and Peripherals.
Atari Falcon030 listings are also included. Along with the product
description, the reader is provided with developer information designed
to help them acquire the product if it is unavailable from their local
dealer. Suggested retail price is also listed.
If your local dealer runs out of catalogs, you may order your catalog
directly from Atari by writing to:
Atari Customer Relations
International Software Catalog
P.O. Box 61657
Sunnyvale, CA 94088
The price is $12.00 per book.
Add 8.25% sales tax if ordering from California, Illinois, or Texas.
Also include $5.00 shipping and handling per order. Payment may be made
by check, money order, MasterCard, or VISA. (Allow 2-4 weeks additional
if paying by personal check)
If you wish to order from GEnie, just leave a message to G.LABREC with
the following:
Name
Address
City, State, Zip
Daytime phone number
How many catalogs you would like
Whether using VISA or MasterCard
Card number
Expiration Date
Your request will be forwarded to customer service.
###### BOB BRODIE IN CONFERENCE ON GENIE
###### Edited By Ron Kovacs
###### Copyright (c)1992, GEnie ST RT, Atari Corporation
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
The following RT conference took place on GEnie, Friday evening
11/27/92.
<[Lou] ST.LOU>
Our guest this evening is Bob Brodie... the famous and loquacious
Director of Communications for Atari Corporation ;-) It is a real treat
to have Bob join us and I would like to personally welcome him back to
the Real Time Conference "Hot Seat" <grin>.
Bob, I noted that you posted a dozen messages today while enjoying some
holiday time at home with your family. In one message you commented
about getting back to online support now that your previous role has
been reinstated. Can we deal with that question first? Will you have
the time (during office hours) to provide GEnie support equal to the
quality of today's messages?
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Sure Lou, I'm happy to deal with that. As some of you have already
either discerned, or heard, we've had another change in our leadership
at Atari US. The former GM was a gentleman named Ron Smith, who was a
22 year veteran from Wang Corporation. He didn't really share my view
of the value of online support. Basically, he eliminated that role from
my job. This meant that I was reduced to only a few hours per week of
online time here on GEnie. Most of that time was spent in email, or in
real time conferences. I was not able to allocate much more time than
that. As you can imagine, the Bulletin Boards here on GEnie can be a
very time consuming task for us at Atari to deal with. It can easily
take more than a couple of hours a day to handle everything in the
fashion which it should be handled. I now report to Garry Tramiel,
who's view on online support is quite similar to mine. :) It needs to
be done, and our customers need to be supported. So, I'm much happier
with this situation, and wish Mr. Smith well in all of his future
endevors.
I do have a prepared opening remark regarding COMDEX, which I will be
happy to send up now.
This is a unique time for a real time conference on GEnie, and I'm happy
to be participating. Tonight, I'd like to focus on COMDEX and the Atari
Falcon030. I'm prepared to answer just about any questions relating to
those two topics. Then if time permits, we'll take on any other issues
that our audience would like to discuss.
For this years COMDEX, we showcased the Atari Falcon030. It is the
clear centerpoint in all of our efforts. We also showed the TT030, and
the Portfolio. As in years past, we showcased our machines around the
applications of our developers. We had a different booth than in the
past few years, which lent itself to a different type of "island" or
themed approach.
I'd like to go over briefly the products that were shown at each stand.
Then we'll open it up to questions from the floor.
On the telecommunications island, we had a brand new developer for Atari
called Digital-Optical-Analog. Their product, BlackMail is a voice mail
system that runs on the Atari Falcon030. BlackMail permits the design
of an automated single or multi user voice mail system. This product
will also function in the background under MultiTOS.
Also on the telecommunications stand was STraight Fax from Joppa
Software Development, running on a TT030, using a Supra FAXmodem.
Micro Creations was showcasing their unique telecommunications program
G.I.M.E. Term, and G.I.M.E. BBS. What sets G.I.M.E. apart from other
terminal programs is the unique graphics that are easily set up and viewed
by other G.I.M.E. users. Micro Creations was showing their products on an
Atari Falcon030.
Prominently shown in the very front of the booth was the Kodak Photo-CD,
running with a TT030 with a Matrix graphics card, and also running on an
Atari Falcon030. The Photo-CD was being shown by Michael Bernards of
Color Concepts in Germany. Some of you may have already corresponded
with Michael here on GEnie. He is also well known as one of the members
of the team that programmed Calamus SL, as well as his own
telecommunications program, Rufus. Michael was chosen to go to Eastman
Kodak's headquarters in Rochester, NY. He spent time there getting your
basic "brain dump" <grin> on all things related to the Kodak Photo-CD.
He's completed the enabling software that will allow our users to be
able to access the Photo-CD, as well as a developer tool kit for the
Photo-CD. As you might imagine, he's a talented guy.
Adjacent to the Photo-CD was DMC Publishing showing off Calamus SL,
already accessing images from the Kodak Photo-CD. Calamus was shown on a
TT030, with a GE-Soft TT ram board and a Cyrel Sunrise color board
installed. I believe that Nathan told me he had a total of 42 megabytes
of ram installed in his TT. The CyberCube card was a true 24 bit color
board, fully compatible with both Calamus SL and the Photo CD. The card
was driving a 21" Mitsubishi color monitor, and looked phenomenal!! As
usual, Mario Georgiou of DMC was fully capable of stopping anyone in their
tracks with his beautiful work in Calamus SL.
On the other side of the Photo-CD we had the most unique application at
the show, a high end embroidery machine controlled by an Atari TT030.
The product is called the STitchitizer, and is produced by a company
from Minnesota called Data Stitch. This unit was powering a Toyota
embroidery machine, and used a Nanoa monitor running at 1024x768 with a
Dover Research graphics card. The unit on display at the show was
busily churning out baseball caps with a series of differnet Atari logos
in full color, at the rate of about 1 hat every 10 minutes. The hats,
as you might imagine, were very popular with show goers. This
particular application caught the eye of Jack Tramiel, who promptly
instructed us to make a deal to buy every hat that was produced at the
show. The STitchitizer is capable of much more complex projects than
just baseball caps. In the past we've had them produce some jackets for
us with a beautiful rendition of the Shanghai image off of the Lynx
game.
We also had a sound/audio/music area, located in the back of the booth.
This put us head to head with another multimedia company, called AdLib.
I think we won this battle. :) Having live music using the Atari Falcon
030 at the show was a major coup. No other booth had such a truly "show
stopping" performance. Our developers showing their music products
included Bare Foot Software, D2D Systems Systems, and Singular
Solutions. Some of you may recall some of the staff at Bare Foot
Software from their previous company, Hybrid Arts. D2D Systems has
exhibited previously at NAMM with us, and is the developer that created
the Falcon D2D program that is bundled with every Atari Falcon030 sold.
Falcon D2D is a direct to disk recording package that allows users an
easy way to get started.
It was a common sight througout the show to find Paul Wiffin of D2D
Systems on the wrong side of his stand, jamming with Jeff from BareFoot.
To say that their products will work as well with each other as they do
with each other is something of an understatement! <grin>
Singular Solutions was showing their digital recording and editing
package that is capable of producing CD quality sound, and provides a
high quality analog-to-digital conversion.
We also showed the System Audio Manager (we call it SAM for short!),
which will allow you to be able to assign a sound file to a keypress, a
la the Sound Master on the Mac. Of course, we have gone one better than
the Mac, because you can do that on an Atari with NO system slow down at
all. SAM will play AVR files, Sound Master files, and sound files in
the WAV format used by the SoundBlaster card from Creative Labs on the
PC side. BTW, SAM will also work on STE's, Mega STEs, and TT030s!!
SAM is just one of the products that we will be bundling with the Atari
Falcon030. We will also include FalconD2D (which I already mentioned),
Calappt, a very useful rolodex type application, a Talking Clock, a true
color version of BreakOut and Landmines...complete with DSP generated
sound for a terrific game. We also ship ProCalc, a complete scientific
calculator useful for programmers or the rest of us that just need a
couple of quickie calculations. ProCalc and Calappt both run as either
applications or as desk accessories.
We also had a host of Portfolio applications, which I suspect this is
the wrong crowd to discuss with. :) However, I will be happy to
entertain any questions that you might have about our palmtop computer.
Last, but certainly not least, we had HiSoft and Oregon Research showing
a passel of new things for the Atari. Not the least of these was a true
color paint program for the Atari Falcon030 called TruePaint. Also
showing in our booth was COMPO, with their PC board for the Falcon030,
and GoldLeaf...but I'm worried that I've run on too long with this
already.
<[Chuck] C.KLIMUSHYN>
Bob, thanks for being on line during a holiday! As an "average Joe
User" I feel I was seriously misled about the Falcon being a true 32 bit
computer. Could you address what broke down in the line of
communication?
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Chuck, I've been offline more than online lately. I may have missed out
on some of the controversy. But based on what I saw in the BB today,
most of the dis-statisfaction appears to be over the width of the direct
processor slot, and it's capabilities. Please bear in mind that we
envision the Atari Falcon030 to be first and foremost, an entry level
home computer.
We don't envision people doing high end upgrades to this machine. We
will have another unit that those things will be possible with in 1993.
However, the slot will work, and work well with other things like PC
boards to allow you to run DOS software, not just as an emulation, but
by having a true 486SX processor doing the work for you.
<[Chuck] C.KLIMUSHYN>
Bob, I agree the Falcon is a *great* entry level machine. I'm confused
because the initial specs from Sam and Bill seemed to indicate something
else.
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Chuck, I apologize for the confusion. And I think you will be very
pleased when you finally get to see the unit in person.
<[Robb A.] R.ALBRIGHT7>
Can you give the latest info on the arrival date of the 2 demo Falcons
to dealers. I've heard as early as this weekend. This is rather
important, as I have arranged with our local dealer to borrow their unit
for a demonstration event at an upcoming Club meeting, complete with
some advertising.
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Robb and I have played phone tag before, Lou. :) Robb, I indicated
before, the idea of the two demo units to dealers was just that, an
idea. We've not set out on such a plan yet. Any rumor that you have
heard that it might be this weekend is wrong. I'm a proponent of such
a plan, although modesty prevents me from taking credit for being the
author of the plan. :) In short, we want to get them out just as quick
as we can, but we also want for them to get out to you when everything
is perfect.
<[James] J.VOGH>
Some rumors have said the Falcon has a low compatibility rate with ST
games, what is the real story?
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
The Atari Falcon030 is HIGHLY compatible, and is in fact much more
compatible with the STE than the TT030 is. I was recently in Houston
for their Atari Safari. A corp of young testers came to the show armed
with their disks, ready to test compatiblity with the Falcon030.
Without going thru everything they did, they left the show VERY
impressed with the compatibility. They even ran the Flight Simulator,
in all modes. Worked great!! :)
<[James] J.VOGH>
Are there any CD ROM games in site for the Falcon?
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
I have seen a few new game titles for the Falcon, but they don't require
a CD rom. However, everything is there in the Falcon to make doing such
games very easy. Keep in mind that the Falcon having the DSP chip in it
makes the sound that games can, and SHOULD be doing of a much higher
quality. Truly better than CD quality sound!! The games that we showed
at COMDEX were Raiden, which is a conversion from the NeoGeo, Steel
Talons, Cyber Assault, and....something else that escapes me at the
moment.
<[Keith Horiz] K.BROOKS1>
With Concierge, will there be any import/export in the wp to Word-less
than-Perfect and what about Lotus import/export in the spreadsheet
module? Also, how soon is Speedo/MultiTOS - realistically? Sorry to be
late!
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
RE Conceierge (hate the name!), there is an export, but not to
WordPerfect. I think that it only exports ASCII and GEM metafiles. The
spreadsheet is EXCEL compatible from what I've seen. Not 1-2-3. Sam is
considering bundling it with the Falcon030 when it is done. However,
there are still some changes that need to be made to the product to make
us all happy. Speedo, perhaps 6 weeks last I heard. MultiTOS, January.
<[Lou] ST.LOU>
Bob... how about suggesting that Atari bundle Diamond Back and Diamond
Edge with the HD version of the Falcon? Is that feasible? It is a
great program set.
<[Keith Horiz] K.BROOKS1>
I hate DOS but the rest of the world wants WP. How hard can it be to do
a driver for word processing?? I thought a name like Suite or Ensemble
would have been sorta ok. Concierge?! With our Quebec problem? :-)
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
The guy who came up with the name is gone. I'll see what I can do :)
<[Curmudgeon] M.ALLEN14>
*Bob - it IS good to see your increased participation on GEnie - thanks.
I hope the excellent support by TOWNS during your hiatus hasn't gone
un-noticed by Atari Management. I think the hoo-haa over the F030 specs
is due to the fact that many users and developers felt that Atari
deliberately misled them as to what the F030 was not the actual F030
specs themselves. Anyway, my question has to do with dealer support.
My local dealer (El Paso - 1 Hour away) has switched almost completely
to IBM crap. He says that he isn't going to invest in anymore Atari
stuff until he gets rid of the stuff (mostly old and outdated) he
already has on the shelves. How is Atari going to re-attract existant
dealers who are disillusioned?
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Hi Mike, I'll be sure to pass along to the Tramiel's your praise for
TOWNS. John has always done a great job online, I know I've benefitted
from his expertise too. Re the Falcon030 bruhaha, it was never our
intention to mislead anyone. Rather, from my view at least, it seems as
if the community has focused in on just one portion of the system, one
that we consider to be important, but not the be-all, end all for the
system and looked at it as being the most important item on the unit.
That's just not true. We want to focus on other things, like the unique
DSP presence on the Falcon030, which no other CPU has, save the NeXT.
This means that our users, present and future, will have access to
unsurpassed computing power in their homes. THAT'S EXCITING!! However,
we all know that you can't please all the people all the time. And it's
apparent that the online crowd is much more interested in a high powered
system. Remember, we view the Falcon030 as an entry level computer,
with tremendous capabilities.
Now, re the dealer. This is quite a problem. There are several
different issues at play here. Who did he buy his products from? Is he
dealing directly with Atari, a distributor, or is he really purchasing
his products from another dealer? All of those are very germain issues
in resolving his problem of stock.
<[Curmudgeon] M.ALLEN14>
Most of the dealer's stuff is software - sometimes from folks who are
out of business <e.g. Neocept>. He has been a very good dealer in the
past. I still think the point about the F030 specs is that had we not
been lead to believe that it was a 32/32 bit address/data bus instead of
the 24/16 bit buss it seems to be there would have been no problems.
All of us agree that the F030 is a very good entry level machine. We
just wish that Atari had let us know up front what it really was. I
deal with DSP on a professional basis and know what magic can be
performed with it. I'm really excited about the DSP as are most of us.
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Mike, re the software problems your dealer is having. I'm gonna take a
different tact and suggest that he talk with Sheldon Winick of Computer
STudio. Sheldon is a very fine businessman, in addition to be president
of the Dealers Association. Of which, your dealer should probably be a
member. He's very interested in helping Atari dealers nationwide, and
I'm sure he would be happy to help your dealer figure out how to move
that stock. This is not unique, I assure you. I visited a dealer here
in California that had all kinds of stuff on the shelf that was ancient,
and he was trying to get full retail price for it. That included a
program that had been taken off of the market, and released by the
author as PD, and was on the disk of the month for the UG that I was
going to visit!!! Not a pretty picture.
Again, I apologize if you felt misled about the capabilities of the
Atari Falcon030. It has never been our intention to mislead any of our
customers in any way.
<[Chuck] C.KLIMUSHYN>
Bob, I heard that Falcons hit the streets in England last week. Any
good news you can share about how they're doing? Like, hopefully, doors
are being ripped off hinges at the local Atari dealer by crazed punters!
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Shipments of Falcon030's to England are quite small, as we have
indicated in the past. Most of the production will not really ramp up
for any of our subsidaries until January. However, there are some
wonderful applications coming out of the UK.
<[Robb A.] R.ALBRIGHT7>
You mentioned the ability to run a 486SX in the processor slot, but
according to Z*Net, there was only a 386 running Windoze in Black &
White. How soon do you think the 486, & Colour, will be available.
(And maybe a rough SRP too?)
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Robb, thanks for asking that! There has been considerable confusion on
the PC board, in part because one had never been seen publically until
COMDEX. I spoke with Theo Bruers of COMPO personally about this. He's
the president of COMPO, so he is well equipped to answer this question.
He tells me that he NEVER planned to do a 386 board. He's going to do a
286 version, and will follow it up with a 486SX board. The 286 will do
color, and run Windoze (nice touch, Rob!), and all the other right
things. It was indeed running in Mono at the show, but they ran into a
set back in their development a few weeks before the show.
To tell you the truth, they had decided not to show the product at all,
but we were able to convince them that it was important that they show
a working version of the product, and I promised Theo that we would make
sure everyone knew that it was merely an early prototype, the production
units will do VGA, and will be available by the time Falcon030s are
available; ie January.
<[Baaad Dot!] D.A.BRUMLEVE>
As President of the IAAD, I am very pleased to see your visible
participation in the BB of late, Bob! I think it really helps users
(and devs!) to have information from, if you'll excuse the expression,
the horse's mouth. ;-)
I've been having fun with my Falcon. As an Atari-only owner, I'm
intrigued by the ability to use a variety of third-party monitors. The
highest resolutions don't perform gloriously on my SC1224. Which
monitor is recommended for these?
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
Rather than give specific brand recommendations, I suggest that you look
into a good quality VGA monitor. Unless of course, you are into things
that are better done on other monitors. For example, if you wanted to
do GENLOCKing with broadcast quality NTSC video, you want to be able to
do overscan. However, the VGA standard, by definition, doesn't do
overscan. Which means that you will have to look at a good quality
MultiSynch in order to have a "one size fits all" monitor. At COMDEX,
we showed the Falcon030 with both our own PTC1426, and the SC1224, and
SC1435. It was well received.
<[Keith Horiz] K.BROOKS1>
What about the ACSI for the SLMs? Seen Nov92 'Publish"? Atari Games
20th bday ad produced on a Macintosh!! For Shame! :-) How soon for the
486SX? 286's only do Windoze in 'real' not std or protected modes.
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
The ACSI box is being done by a third party developer. It's not done
yet :( I need to touch base with Bill Rehbock to find out what the
status is on that product. No, I haven't seen PUBLISH, although it's on
my desk, along with a 6" high stack of mail that congregated there while
I was at COMDEX. :) Re the 486SX, JAN 93
<[Jonesy] M.JONES52>
How soon can I have a Falcon '030 on my desk?
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
You'll probably be able to get a Falcon030 on your desk in Jan, we've
said since Sam's CO in August that's when the larger shipments would
begin to hit. Shipments prior to that will be kind of small. While
it's possible that you might get one before January, I tend to doubt it.
<[James] J.VOGH>
What is the status of standard networking software for the Falcon (MSTE
and TT03 also)? (Appletalk in particular) And what are the chances of
getting X windows to run under MultiTos? The Falcon would make a good
system for college and X windows would make it perfect.
<[Bob] BOB-BRODIE>
I haven't seen any "standard" networking software yet from us. We've
had some turnover upstairs in the TOS group. I think that networking is
something that they are keenly interested in, but they are re-organizing
some of the tasks in the group right now, so it might be a while before
you see anything directly from us.
Here in the office, I have used the PowerNet product from ViewTouch with
excellent results. The crew doing Atari Explorer uses it, and RELYS on
it on a daily basis to do all sorts of stuff, including deciding what
printer to print on! They're a very good team of evangilists for the
product. And of course, it runs on the Mega STE, TT030, and other
machines as well, too. Re the X Windows, I'm not sure. There is an
X-Windows product that is available from Atari Germany, but I seem to
recall that our people here in the US didn't share their enthusiasm for
this particular product.
###### POWERDOS - PART TWO
###### Copyright 1992, Kevin J. Conway
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
(Editors Note: Part one of this two part series was published last
week in issue #92-19 of Z*Net)
If you are lucky enough to have some amount of free space on at least
one of your drive partitions you can de-fragment the drive using the
following steps:
1. Create a new folder called TEMP on the drive with the extra free
space. For this purposes of this article, we will imagine that this
folder exists on the 'G:' disk partition. The full pathname of this
folder would be 'G:\TEMP'.
2. Copy all of the folders and files from the root directory of the
disk partition to be de-fragmented to G:\TEMP. For the purposes of
this article, we will call this disk partition 'C:'. The root
directory is then 'C:\'
When this copy operation has been completed, delete all of the
information from the 'C:' disk partition. Note that if you have TOS
2.05 or higher, you could use the 'move' command in place of the 'copy'
command to automatically delete the data from 'C:'.
You now have a copy of all the data that was on the 'C:' disk partition
in the 'G:\TEMP' folder.
3. Copy (or move with TOS 2.05 or higher) the data from 'G:\TEMP' back
to 'C:\'. All of the files will have their sectors laid out
consecutively as this operation is completed.
The drive has now been de-fragmented.
If you don't have spare room on your drive, you will have to do the de-
fragmenting the hard way:
1. Backup up the disk partition to floppy using your favorite backup
utility. A backup utility that writes files to folders on the
floppy disk is ideal.
2. Delete all of the data from the drive partition.
3. Restore the data from the floppy to the disk partition.
The disk has now been de-fragmented.
In both these operations, we have laid the data out consecutively at the
beginning of the drive. There is no command or easy way to force the
system to write to the end of the drive. That requires some small
amount of cunning.
The amount of space in a drive partition consists of the freespace and
the used space. If I were to fill up the freespace with junk files
before restoring my data from my backup, I would fill up the drive
partition. In doing so, the data that should be on the drive would be
forced the end of the partition as the first available sectors would
have been taken up the junk files. When I delete these junk files,
these first sectors become free leaving the (permanent) restored data at
the end of the drive partition.
So, to modify the instructions given above:
1. Select the drive (partition) icon and use 'Show Information' to get
the amount of free and used space on the drive partition. Write
these numbers down for reference.
2. Backup the data from the drive partition to either floppy or another
partition.
3. Delete the data from the drive partition that is being defragmented.
4. Create a folder called JUNK on the now-empty drive partition. Open
that folder and copy junk files into it until the freespace
available on the partition is equal to or slightly more than the
amount of space that will be needed by the backed-up data files.
I have found the best way to fill up the JUNK folder is to copy data
from other drive partitions into this folder.
5. When the freespace on the drive being de-fragmented is equal to the
amount of disk space needed for the data files, copy the data back
into the original disk partition. When this operation has been
completed the amount of free-space on the drive partition should be
very close to zero.
6. Once the all of the original data has been restored to the drive
partition, delete the JUNK folder. If PowerDos has been installed,
you should really notice an improvement in disk i/o in deleting
these junk files alone.
Depending on the amount of files that you write to your hard drive, this
defragmentation may clean up your drive for weeks or for months. You
don't need to rely on perceived retrieval/execution speed to judge
whether your hard drive is fragmented however.
I have made mention of the Ness Benchmark program several times already
in this article. By establishing a minimum level of performance on the
other drive (i.e. hard drive or ramdisk) comparison test, you will have
some indication of the fragmentation on your hard drive. To get a clear
'picture' of the fragmentation, you can use Beckemeyer's [freeware!]
GMAP utility.
GMAP will generate a map of the drive partition or floppy requested. It
will show used and free sectors, fragmented data and sectors marked as
bad. Using this utility it is very easy to get a idea of where the data
sits on the drive and how that is affecting disk performance. GMAP also
will give you its opinion on whether or not the drive requires
defragmentation, or optimization in its wording. Using GMAP and NESS
together can demonstrate the effectiveness of PowerDos caching routines
and the detrimental effects of disk fragmentation.
So, having said all of this how easy is it to install Power-Dos?
Ridiculously simple is the answer.
Since PowerDos is a replacement for the GEMDOS routines, it must be
activated in the AUTO before any other program has had a chance to run.
Other 'auto folder' programs can be left in the AUTO folder on the 'C:'
drive or made to run from an AUTO folder on the 'A:' drive. [The
experienced user may edit the CONFIGUR file to point PowerDos to an auto
folder on any valid disk partition.] PowerDos also requires its own
folder to start its own processes.
PowerDos requires a 'PowerDos' folder on the boot drive; normally 'A:'
or 'C:'. The CONFIGUR file must be in this folder for PowerDos to
configure itself. In addition this is where PowerDos will look for any
additions such as the 'alias drive' pipes or background copy programs if
set in the CONFIGUR file. The experienced user can also edit the
CONFIGUR file to have PowerDos continue the booting of AUTO folder
program from this folder although I feel it is best to leave them where
they should be. Apart from cleaning up the AUTO folder of programs that
duplicate the functions of PowerDos - faster FAT routines, programs to
'add' folders, caches and memory clearing programs such as PINHEAD,
there is no further work in setting up PowerDos.
For those who like to tweak with their systems, DragonWare has supplied
a separate configuration program called PDEXPERT. This should reside in
a folder named 'POWERDOS' on the 'C:' drive partition. PDEXPERT manages
a configuration file called CONFIGUR. PDEXPERT is supplied as an easy
way to manipulate the parameters that PowerDos recognizes. I can see no
reason to try to create my own configuration file.
It should be clear that caching requires memory. Users with one
megabyte of less of memory should be concerned about the amount of
memory that PowerDos will use.
Since PowerDos is not only a caching system, but also provides support
for network file systems, it can use a far bit of memory. The variables
that need attention are:
Ramtop Kbytes: PowerDos can set aside memory at the top of available
memory as a reserve for network processes. To bypass this feature, this
variable should be set to zero.
Cache sectors: This controls the size of the cache by specifying the
numbers of sectors in the cache. PDEXPERT's range of values for this
parameter is 50 to 999, or 25K to 499.5K. This can be set to zero to
bypass this option. Alternatively, the experienced user can edit the
CONFIGUR file with a text editor to set this value less than 50.
If memory is a consideration remember that a small cache can be quite
effective. If you can spare as little as 25K, you will cache 50
sectors. This will help considerably with small data and program files.
Fewer reads will also be required for larger program files.
These parameters will affect available memory. If ramtop is not
reserved and cache is not set, PowerDos will use 60K in loading.
In my opinion, PowerDos is not really useful without some memory being
assigned as a cache. Remember that any memory required in the hard disk
driver for cache or extra folders will be released. On a one megabyte
machine, memory may be tight if you have a number of other AUTO folder
programs or if you have a number of accessories/cpx's loaded.
PowerDos has several other parameters that also affect performance:
Max Program Ram: This parameter allows you to set the amount of memory
assigned to a program on execution. It can stop programs grabbing all
of the available memory. This can help if you have problems shelling
out to '.TTP' or other programs from inside applications.
Fastload Size: This controls the amount of memory that is cleared when
loading a program. If you use 'PINHEAD', you can delete it from the
'AUTO' folder once this parameter is set.
There are a couple of other options in PowerDos that I am not going to
bother talking about as they aren't really all that important to this
article. Manipulating these four parameters can make quite a difference
in disk performance. I have found using PDEXPERT to be quite easy. The
documentation for this part of PowerDos is quite reasonable making it
easy to understand the effect of changing these parameters on system
performance. Unfortunately, the documentation for PowerDos on a whole
is very, very skimpy.
To put it bluntly, there is no documentation for PowerDos! The 'readme'
file included with the first release is nothing more than press release.
It talks about the plans that DragonWare has for PowerDos and how it
fits in with their networking hardware and software. It does not talk
about possible hardware or software conflicts or any other problems that
the user might run into. Furthermore, although this is a multi-tasking
GEMDOS replacement, the user is given _no_ information on how to make
programs multi-task. The only hint given is:
"All legal TOS programs _will_run_ under PowerDos - and will enjoy
PowerDos's lightning fast device I/O - but unless programs are written
with PowerDos's extensions in mind, the ability to multitask will be
limited."
The user must be prepared to install and run PowerDos without the
comfort of abundant documentation.
Surprisingly, this lack of documentation continues with the further
releases of 'goodies' for PowerDos. DragonWare has released pipes,
'alias drive' additions for PowerDos. As well, they have released a
background copy program and a program to name serial ports. None of
these have but the sketchiest of documentation.
Of these additions, I have only been able to try the background copy
program. It works, however, I had to deduce from the documentation that
I needed not only to install the 'back-copy.prg' in the CONFIGUR file
but add the desk accessory also. Not only that, but I had to deduce how
the copy operation was to be carried out. There was nothing that told
me to use the desk accessory to perform background copies, nor how to
use that desk accessory. I would have particularly enjoyed some
documentation with this program as after installing I experienced some
strange crashes in Pagestream when doing a document kerning and in
WordPerfect when moving to the bottom of a file using the 'HOME/HOME/
DOWN-ARROW' key combination.
Bugs are always a concern with any program, but all the more so with a
program of the complexity of PowerDos. I haven't found anything
serious, nor have I heard anyone complaining about any real problems.
In fact I have only noticed two real minor inconveniences:
1. Occasionally PowerDos didn't like to delete folders. This was not
fixed in version 1.02; characteristically released without a 'fixed'
list.
These folders can be deleted by rebooting the system. It looks like
PowerDos does have a minor problem with lots of folders. I should
emphasize, however, that I have had no problem with loss data clusters
or hidden files.
Chris Roberts of DragonWare told me that this may be a problem with
using a printer spooler. (I use the Word Perfect spooler.) He
indicated that a PowerDos printer spooler should be available in the
near future. This spooler will have many features including redirection
to anther device or file, automatic selection of printer fonts and
multiple copies. It should retail for about $49.
2. Occasionally, PowerDos has a problem with the file selector box.
Drive partitions seem to be locked out when their letter is clicked.
Editing the pathname and then clicking on the shaded top of the
filename display box does change directories however. This has not
been fixed in version 1.02.
Other than these minor inconveniences I have not found any other real
problems with PowerDos.
I am pleased to say that Chris Roberts of DragonWare called me to
discuss an advance copy of this article. He told me that they had hoped
that the users of PowerDos would be able to install the goodies without
too much documentation. DragonWare emphasizes elegantly simple
solutions to problems. I agree with Chris that, for the most part, the
PowerDos program and goodies are useable without a great deal of
documentation, and Chris agrees with me that some small amount of
documentation would be nice for the goodies. Nonetheless, the
commercial version of PowerDos will be fully documented. At this time,
the idea is to find all of the bugs in PowerDos and introduce users to
the incredibly fast i/o routines that it offers.
What follows is a brief of our conversation:
The alias drive program allows the user to create folders that the
system will recognize as drive partitions. These can be used to force
programs to use folders on the hard drive as absolute drives. This is
particularly useful for games and other programs that insist on seeing
certain drive partitions that you may not have. I added a 'H:' drive
partition on my 'E:' drive partition as the folder 'DRIVE_H' - it works.
Alternatively, the user may format their hard drive as one BGM partition
and use the alias drive program to create folders as absolute drive
partitions. In other words, there would be one physical drive
partition, 'C:', with folders 'DRIVE_D', 'DRIVE_E' etc. acting as
partitions 'D:' and 'E:' etc. This means that the user would not have
to worry about repartitioning the drive as one drive partition became
used up. The whole drive would be available so that drive partitions
could grow and shrink as necessary. The caveat is that this could tend
to cause disk fragmentation at a faster rate with its attendant affect
on disk i/o performance. Incidently, PowerDos supports drives 'A:'
through 'Z:'; 26 disk partitions.
The program to name serial ports is to be used as a replacement to
serial port 'patch' programs that set or 'patch' rts/cts or xon/xoff
handshaking. Several different configurations of the same serial port
can be had by using different names for each. The user will need the
parameters that xbios uses to set handshaking and serial port speed.
The pipes program is meant to used to allow process intercommunication
between programs. Specifically, it can be used to alert programs to the
fact that a file has been created or changed. This is of particular use
in PowerNet to alert users to their e-mail. Furthermore, Chris
indicated that this could be used in a real ram-based clipboard. Pipes
would allow programs to keep track of what was in the clipboard and what
it was.
PowerDos will be of real interest to those wanting to play with CD-ROMS
on their Atari systems. Chris tells me that you should be able to
connect a SCSI cd-rom player to your SCSI hard driver controller. When
you reboot, it should show as the next available drive partition on the
system. You should be able to access it without the MetaDos drivers.
As far as the compatibility of PowerDos with GemDos is concerned,
PowerDos is written to conform to all GemDos standards. Any program
that properly follows GemDos programming rules will work properly with
PowerDos.
Some Public Domain programs do not, unfortunately, follow proper GemDos
procedure. One of the most common violations is that a file is opened
for read and is subsequently written to. In GemDos, files must be
opened for read and for write separately. GemDos as implemented on the
Atari will overlook this violation, but PowerDos won't. Fortunately,
there seem to be very few programs that do break this rule, and
certainly none of the commercial software that I use.
One of the programs that does break the GemDos rules is Atari's own
cachexxx.prg. Chris has told me that some people have left this in
their systems when PowerDos was running and have experienced disk
crashes. It can not be emphasized enough - do not use cache, FAT,
folder or other hard drive 'fix' programs with PowerDos. You may have
conflicts and you may cause data corruption. PowerDos does _not_ need
help!
The secret to PowerDos' multi-tasking is quite simple. Any program that
you wish to multi-task must _not_ write to the screen. PowerDos has no
facility for opening new windows on top of the main window. As a case
in point, the way in which the background copier works is that the
backcopy.prg program runs as a task in the background. The desk
accessory passes copy parameters to the background process that then
wakes up and works in the background. No 'done' window, or any other
window for that matter, pops up to announce completion, so it multi-
tasks fine under PowerDos.
PowerDos is an integral part of the PowerNet system, which allows Atari
ST/STe/TT computers to talk to other Atari ST/STe/TT, Apple MacIntoshs
or Ethernet systems. PowerDos places a number of cookies in the Atari
cookie jar to help with file sharing over the network. These include
cookies to handle files locks, mail and spooling among other operations.
I expect to be reviewing this system in the near future and am very much
looking forward to it.
Chris reminded me that DragonWare sells a number of excellent products
for the Atari system including GMan and the Stacy battery. DragonWare
hopes to be able to introduce a new Word processor from another platform
in the near future with full file interchange capabilities. As well
there are developing a genealogy program that will work with the
genealogical archives of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints
(the Mormons) held in Salt Lake City. To say the least this is a
company that is very active in the Atari world. I am very pleased with
Power-Dos, and excited by the other products that DragonWare hopes to
bring to market in the near future.
Getting back to subject at hand; overall, my recommendation is that
PowerDos is for the experienced to advanced user. To get the best
performance out of PowerDos, you should be comfortable with the idea of
de-fragmenting your hard drive. Also be prepared to manipulate the
programs in your AUTO folder. You will need to remove some and move the
order of them around. PowerDos is not going to be useful to floppy-only
users. Users without at least 1.5 megabytes of memory may have to limit
their use of caching. Given these considerations, if you choose to use
PowerDos, you should notice a real difference in disk i/o and program
execution.
I have tested PowerDos under a variety of configurations and with
several different benchmarking programs. I have also compared its
performance to a number of other caches. PowerDos is quite simply is
the fastest cache of those I tested. It's i/o and memory management
routines also help to make a tremendous difference in overall system
performance. Improvements in system performance will vary from user to
user, nonetheless PowerDos will make a significant difference to any
user's system.
Normally programs of this quality and complexity are not released as
freeware. In fact, there are a number of shareware programs available
that require registration fees but do not offer as much as utility as
PowerDos. Installing PowerDos has been like putting a turbocharger
under the hood of my MSTe. Thanks, DragonWare, for the best public
domain program for the ST!
PowerDos was used successfully and extensively with these applications.
(Not a complete list.)
Edhack version 2.36
MasterPlan
MaxiMiser version 2.09G
PageStream version 2.2
PFX Packer (packs programs)
Straight Fax, versions 1.0 and 1.04
Word Perfect 4.1, August 18, 1989 Release date
###### THE UNABASHED ATAROPHILE
###### By Michael R. Burkley
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
B_U_R_P!! Oh, excuse me. I didn't realize that anyone was listening!
I've just finished my Thanksgiving meal, which I enjoyed immensely.
I've read somewhere "Better are bitter herbs among friends than a whole
roast ox among enemies." That's true, and better yet I say is a whole
roast ox among friends! We didn't have a roast ox, just a roast turkey,
but that was enough, especially with family and friends gathered around.
We have much for which to be thankful!
Thinking about food usually makes me hungry (but not tonight!).
Tonight, thinking about food made me think about my STe. How could I
bring those two together and get an idea for this column? I thought
(very briefly) about bringing in a plate of mashed potatoes and gravy
and dropping it all over the keyboard. Then I could do a column on
repairing an STe. I ended up canning that idea. What could I do? And
then I remembered "The Grocery Lister" by Randy Hoekstra, "The Recipe
Box" by Anthony W. Watson and "The Assistant Chef" by Eric Coners.
"Your Personal Vitamin Profile" by Dr. Michael Colgan and "Calorie
Counter" by Ron & Kathy Schaefer, MD's all came to mind, and I knew I
had my column! The idea began to roll. I remembered "Blood Alcohol
Content" by Dan Panke, "Make-A-Date v.2.5.3" by Jonathan Carroll, and
to pass the dessert, "Big Cookie" by Mark Slagell and "Goodies" by Phil
Comeau. Why I could even throw in "Who stole the Peanut Butter" by
Albert Baggetta!
GROCERY LISTER v.1.8 by Randy Hoekstra is something I need right now,
-------------------- or at least tomorrow. We ate up all the food and
soon we'll have to go shopping! This program is a household utility
program that allows you to compile a list of grocery items complete
with current price and total estimated cost. Making shopping lists is a
sure fire way to save money grocery shopping, and you also stand a
better chance of not forgetting the _one_ thing you were going to the
store to buy in the first place (how many times has that happened!).
Money is always a consideration (some would say a problem). The Grocery
Lister will allow you to pick and choose from a list of items and prices
you can quickly maintain, and then compare the sum of their prices with
your spending goal. You can then add or eliminate items from your list
with a simple click of your mouse (or with the comparable keyboard
command). And what good would all of that be if you couldn't print out
your list? Not much good, so of course you can print out your shopping
lists. Color only. Excellent docs included.
THE RECIPE BOX v.3.4 by Anthony W. Watson (Dated Oct. 1, 1992) is the
-------------------- most comprehensive, and in my mind, the most
aesthetically pleasing of all the cookbook programs available. This is
a very useful program that allows you to enter, store, view, edit,
resize, and print out your recipes (with lots of options all around).
You can organize your recipes into up to 22 catagories. It includes a
very useful search function (find all the recipes with "Chicken" as an
ingredient, etc.). This version (when registered) will import Assistant
Chef and Meal-Master (IBM) recipe files. GEM based. This will accept
GDOS fonts if GDOS is installed. You can customize your printer. Mouse
controlled. Color or mono. ST/STe/TT compatible. It uses the handsome
"FrontEnd" interface that can give your GFA Basic programs a NeXT
computer-like look. Docs (online and written) and numerous recipes
included. All in all this program is much improved over previous
versions. SHAREWARE.
THE ASSISTANT CHEF v.0.9 by Eric Coners (dated 1988--another "oldie
------------------------ but a goodie") is an electronic cookbook that
is an example of the saying, "Necessity is the Mother of Invention." In
a ploy to get his fiancee interested in his ST he bought her the various
computer cookbooks then available. She didn't like any of them. So
what did he do? Did he give up? No way! He wrote his own! With this
program you can view the recipes in the included database, add your own
favorites, edit them, change the portion size and more. Recipes are
listed by; Recipe #, Recipe name, Food Group, Food Type, Dish type,
Temperature (Hot/Cold) and rating (1 -5 stars). You can also print out
your recipe. Color only. TOS 1.0-1.62 (at least). Docs included.
VITAMIN is "Your Personal Vitamin Profile" adapted from the book by
------- Dr. Michael Colgan. This program will ask you information about
your height, weight, and sex and then a large number of other questions
designed to see if you are functioning as you should be. It then offers
some suggestions that you might implement for your increased health. At
the end it provides a resource on many different types of vitamins as
well as some commonly asked nutritional questions. Very interesting!
Color or mono. TOS 1.0-1.62 compatible (at least).
CALORIE COUNTER is a program by Ron & Kathy Schaefer, MD's which is
--------------- designed for your use AFTER a holiday meal. This is a
"golden oldie" published back in 1989 for ST Log magazine. Using the
mouse and keyboard, this program will help you to "count your calories"
based on an included database of foods, their calories per serving, and
their levels of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates. You can input a
daily caloric intake goal, and this program will allow you to pick and
choose from its list of foods those foods and portions that will allow
you to meet your goal. After you're done you can either print out your
menu to the screen or to your printer. This program will run on TOS 1.0
-1.62 (at least) and a color or mono monitor. Online docs included.
BAC is a simple mouse controlled program by Dan Panke that will help
--- you to calculate your Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) based on your
weight, the number of drinks consummed, and the time you took to consume
them. Don't drink and drive, PLEASE! I do too many funerals for people
whose deaths are alcohol related as it is. Color only.
MAKE*A*DATE v.2.5/BETA (release 3) by Jonathan Carroll (dated October
---------------------- 26, 1992) is an absolutely fantasic program. It
has nothing to do with food, or with eating (though I suppose you could
schedule your meals with it!). Why I have included it here is because I
can use it to schedule my exercise program that I should be starting to
get rid of all that extra weight I gained today! Make*A*Date could help
you with that and with MUCH more. This formerly commercial product has
been updated and expanded to make a product that could be useful to
anyone. It allows you to organize and store appointments, reminders
(daily, weekly, or monthly), a TODO list, a phone numbers and an
unlimited number of general notes. It also features an Auto-Dialer that
will dial the phone for you (providing you have a modem) and will keep
track of the number of times you've called someone and what charges (if
any) you've incurred. Do you want to run an external program while in
Make*A*Date? No problem. Up to 16 external applications can be
installed. You can import and export information from your databases in
a variety of configurable ways. Printer drivers are included for the HP
Deskjet/Laserjet series and Epson printers with options for creating and
loading other drivers. So Make*A*Date can do all of that--and more, but
what does it look like? Does it have some clunky interface that is
powerful but impossible to use? Not at all. Make*A*Date has an icon
based interface much like DC Desktop, NeoDesk or Atari's own NewDesk.
Simply click on an icon (or use the keyboard equivalent) to access any
feature you wish. It's not only easy to use, it's very eye-appealing as
well. Color or mono. Extensive docs included. Finally, the author
says that this is a BETA test version. Don't believe him. I've been
using this and I haven't managed to find anything wrong with it or to
crash it once. TOS 1.0- 1.62 compatible. Recommended.
BIGCOOKY by Mark Slagell (the author of SilkMouse, a great mouse
-------- accelerator and screen saver) is a program for all ST/STe/TT
computers (dated Nov. 15, 1992). Fortunately for me (at this moment) it
is not the kind of cookie that you eat, it's for your computer instead.
It is for the true power user, whose system is full of patches and
gadgets and enhancements. Put it in your AUTO folder and it installs a
nice, roomy cookie jar and vertical blank interrupt queue. This
prevents your resident utilities from having to expand them when they
run out of room; ostensibly that is the responsibility of each utility
that installs a cookie or VBI routine, but when asked to add to a full
list, many of them behave badly in some way, or just refuse to install.
Color or mono. Docs included.
GOODIES is a set of utility .TTP programs produced by Phil Comeau of
------- GramSlam fame. They are: Compare files, a hex dump of a file,
a Mille Bournes game, a program to replace groups of spaces with tabs, a
program to remove duplicate lines in a file, another to make non-
printable characters visible, and finally, a counter for lines, words
and characters in a file. Color or mono. TOS 1.0-1.62 compatible.
PEANUT is "Who Stole the Peanut Butter?" by Albert Baggetta. It never
------ fails. Seems like every time you go to make a peanut butter
sandwich the peanut butter is gone. Oh, the jar might be there, but
it's usually empty. The walls are scraped clean with maybe a little
swirling kiss of peanut butter left in the bottom center of the jar.
You are the detective trying to find that closed mouth culprit, one of
eleven possible suspects. There is a wonderful list of possible
suspects. It makes you want to laugh just to read about them! Color
only. Sound and graphics. SHAREWARE. TOS 1.0-1.62 compatible.
Well, that's it for tonight. I think it's time to mosey out to the
kitchen and make up a delicious turkey sandwich!
Until next week!
--Michael Burkley lives in Niagara Falls, NY. He is a former
Polyurethane Research Chemist and is presently the pastor of the Niagara
Presbyterian Church.
###### PERUSING GENIE
###### Compiled by Ed Krimen
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
Some messages may have been edited for correct spelling, grammar, and
irrelevant material.
CONCIERGE, MICROSOFT WORKS FOR THE ST
-------------------------------------
-=> In the "Atari Corporation Online" category (14)
-=> from the "Speedo GDOS" topic (35)
Message 19 Mon Nov 16, 1992
TOWNS [John@Atari] at 23:59 EST
P.GRIFFITH2:
I am sorry that your $140 investment was wasted on WordUp. I wish
something different was going to come of it, but alas I am afraid that
WordUp is probably dead at this point.
But, remember, Atari didn't get one red cent of your money. All we did
was purchase the source code from a company that was about to go under
and attempt to save a product from going down with it.
Unfortunately, the source code was in about the same state as the
company.
The good news is that Atari will have a program called ST Works which
will have a good word processor, spreadsheet, and
database in one
program! All of those will be SpeedoGDOS, FSMGDOS, and FontGDOS
compatible. I think this program will be what alot of people have been
looking for.
Look for ST Works sometime after the first of the year. (I will provide
more information as I receive it!)
-- John Townsend, Atari Corp.
----------
Message 26 Tue Nov 17, 1992
CHAZ at 09:28 EST
I think "Concierge" is a great name - I'm in the luxury hotel biz and am
familiar with the term. Seems clever to me. BTW, it roughly translates
to "keeper of the keys".
----------
Message 25 Tue Nov 17, 1992
D.A.BRUMLEVE [kidprgs] at 09:04 EST
At the conference last night, Sam Tramiel said that ST Sutra (the
MSWorks- like multi-program nearing release) is being renamed
"Concierge". Personally, I think that's a mistake. Only a handful of
us (out of over 50) seemed to know what a concierge is, let alone to be
able to pronounce it. Sutra -- well, nobody knows what that is, maybe,
but at least everyone knows how to say it. Anyway, I'm looking forward
to using the program by whatever name.
----------
Message 36 Wed Nov 18, 1992
TOWNS [John@Atari] at 00:46 EDT
I predict that everyone will be pretty happy with this GDOS. The fonts
are readily available and reasonably priced. The speed issues have been
addressed and SpeedoGDOS is pretty darn speedy. Not to mention the use
of the CPX modules to make GDOS much easier to manage.
And, with the SpeedoGDOS, you don't have to have 200K of Font Caches
like you did under FSM. You can get away with as little as 30K! Pretty
amazing.
-- John
=====================================
FLOPTICALS: 21 MEGS ON A FLOPPY
-------------------------------
-=> In the "Hardware" category (4)
-=> from the "PMC Freedom Floptical Drive" topic (3)
Message 91 Wed Nov 18, 1992
D.DEMERS7 at 23:35 EST
Oscar, My drive works great! I purchased it instead of a hard drive
and I am glad I did. The access time is slow compared to a hard drive
but it is nice to use for floppies, especially 1.44mb. I did run into a
problem trying to have the floptical auto-boot and could not get it to
work. A quick call to Howard at ICD solved the problem and he is sending
me a disk with the software to correct the problem. This same drive is
priced at $450-520 in the Computer Shopper, without the LINK. Keep up
the good work guys!!
----------
Message 94 Sat Nov 21, 1992
F.OLIVAS [Fred O.] at 01:03 EST
Just wanted to drop a note informing everyone how delighted I am with my
new Freedom Floptical Drive. I purchased my unit from Oscar so that I
could centrally locate all of my .IMG files. To further this goal, I
have installed Data Diet to compress those files onto and only onto my
floptical. The result? I have managed to place all 32 D/S disks (1200
images) onto one floptical and still have 45% available space left!
Loving it!!!
----------
Message 95 Sat Nov 21, 1992
FAIRWEATHER [David] at 11:15 EST
I am also completely satisfied with my new floptical. I must confess
however, that I didn't buy a Freedom. I opted instead for the PLI
Infinity. My local dealer had PLI's at a good price, ($478 including
The Link) and I wanted to support my local dealer even though I could
have saved $79 by mail ordering a Freedom drive. As it turned out, he
was there for me to telephone talk me through some minor problems I had
in setting it up in a chain with my Megafile 20 and in installing the
ICD software. Now everything is working great!
For $79 I also bought the added flexibility of external SCSI ID and
Terminator switches. And the Infinity's smaller size is nice too. But
I've seen Fred Olivas' Freedom and it is also an excellent drive. Buy a
Floptical, you won't regret it.
----------
Message 97 Sat Nov 21, 1992
PMC.INC at 15:17 EST
Just so everyone know, if anyone has minor problems they can give us a
telephone call too and we'll be more than happy to work directly with
them to fix the problem.
=====================================
TRUE STORY!
-----------
-=> In the "ISD Product Support" category (16)
-=> from the "Calamus S/SL" topic (20)
Message 81 Tue Nov 24, 1992
ST.LOU [Lou Rocha] at 21:04 EST
I was at the Board offices today and stumbled across a fellow in the
Music Department using a Mega 4 with a Moniterm and Calamus 1.09N. He
was doing layout work for people in the Public Relations Dept. 'cause
their PC network was down!
He asked me to come over and show him how to use his SL upgrade which
was sitting idly on another partition. Forty minutes later we had five
people standing around us as I demoed some basic features, master pages,
the text style list, inverse modes (they loved that one), magnetic
frames, and a few other goodies.
The best part was some PC'er at the back of the crowd asking "What model
of Macintosh is the 'Atari'"? True Story!
=====================================
LYNX HOCKEY!
------------
-=> In the "Lynx - The Game Machine" category (36)
-=> from the "Hockey" topic (34)
Message 1 Wed Nov 18, 1992
J.RENNER1 [Jim] at 23:57 EST
Just picked up Hockey today and I can believe people aren't screaming
from the rooftops "buy hockey, buy hockey, only the Canadiens could do
it better!" Well they should be. If you are a hockey fan, a sports fan,
or just want a new playable game for the Lynx HOCKEY is a MUST! There
are only a few games on the Lynx that keep me coming back (i.e. KLAX,
RAMPART, and SHANGHI) but i think i'll be adding one more to my list.
The game opens up with a music score as good as KLAX (same guy did the
sound) and a nice graphic. The main menu lets you practice fighting (a
needed practice), and shootouts. The fighting is full screen and lets
you throw four different punches. Shootouts are used at the end of a
game with a tie, and turns the Lynxs long ways for a great "feel" of
the shootout.
The actual game setup lets you choose several different options,
including refs, difficulty, and period length. You are then given the
option to use default teams, balanced random teams, or 'progressive'
random teams (i.e. completely random). You are then given a password
that lets you use those exact setting at some later date (so you can get
revenge on the a team that beat you before). Unfortunately it doesn't
support league stat tracking but it does have a NHL cities by division
(minus new expansion teams).
And now the game play. Scrolling is fast, and the controls are smooth.
At first, I thought that having to use the option keys would hinder game
play, but it doesn't. You can control any player except the goalie, and
all NHL rules apply (two line passes and all). The animation is good
right down to the player pumping the fist after he scores.
My final thoughts on Hockey: I didn't expect much, and got most
everything I wanted in a sports game.
Note: When I was talking about random teams, I was referring to the
stats for each team. (Neat feature)
Jim. (Thanks Atari for putting out a great game, keep 'em coming!)
----------
Message 2 Sat Nov 21, 1992
T.KILBRIDE at 11:51 EST
I am also very impressed with HOCKEY. I wish BASEBALL HEROES had used
the same idea regarding player control. In HOCKEY, you can control any
skater, but you don't have to control all of them.
=====================================
###### BOB BRODIE ON DELPHI - CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT
###### Courtesy Delphi - From Capture by Chris Millar
###### Z*Net Edit by Ron Kovacs
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
*Unofficial* Delphi Conference Transcription
November 17, 1992
Special Guest *Bob Brodie*, LIVE from Comdex in Las Vegas, Nevada
Gordie/Bob?>
Bob> It's great to be here live from Comdex. We'd like to keep this CO
focused on Comdex, but if you have other questions, we'll try to handle
them. I apologize that I haven't been online more lately, but I hope to
have more time here in the future.
Ken H>
Any new product announcements at Comdex?
Gordie/Bob?>
Atari specific hardware, no. But there are a number of new applications
being shown for the first time. Among them, the Kodak PhotoCD.
MUSiCOM. A pc board from Compo. DA's Look and DA's Vektor.
Ken H>
I was wondering about new software for the Falcon030.
Gordie/Bob?>
Well, Ken, all of the applications are for the Atari Falcon030, as well
as some new games, which are being ported to the Atari Falcon030. Oh,
by the way, HiSoft also showed their TruePaint program, which looks
really nice.
Ken H>
Can you interface the Kodak PhotoCD with the Falcon030?
Gordie/Bob?>
Yes, and with the TT030, too.
ATARIPOWER7>
When will my local dealer have a Falcon for me to see?
Gordie/Bob>
The shipments into the USA are going to be small through late December.
You will see better product availability in late December and January.
JJ>
Up until today at Comdex... has Atari booth received any national press
attention that we may look for locally?
Gordie/Bob>
The Comdex daily had a front page item on Atari and the Atari Falcon030.
Locally? Not yet in all probability. But, we're located in the Sands
Expo Center, that doesn't draw the same crowds as the main hall. We're
hopeful that as the show continues, the press will be making their way
in to see us. We have a great pr firm.
Oliver>
Bob, there have been rumors here that the TT and MSTE will be
discontinued now that the Falcon is nearly here. The TT's already seem
to be in short supply. Just a rumor or a fact?
Gordie/Bob>
I'm not aware of any plans to discontinue the TT at this time. We need
a high end machine, and even though we're working on an 040, we have no
date of completion or shipping yet. Therefore the TT will continue to
serve as the high end machine. Regarding the MSTe, it's fate will be
determined by demand. My guess is as the Atari Falcon030 ramps up,
demand for the MSTe will drop.
Dave>
I've read that some NeXT developers have begun writing for the Atari.
Are there any programs being shown which make use of the DSP?
Gordie/Bob>
Yes. And not all of them are from NeXT developers, either. Atari
Falcon030 ships with a product called Audio Fun Machine, which uses the
DSP for amazing sound effects. There will be Atari speech products that
will convert text to speech and speech to text. There is a new voice
mail product, called Black Mail. The use of the DSP as a high speed
modem is being done by a third party developer, that will do fax as well
as modem and voice mail.
CMILLAR>
Could you give us some specs on the Compo PC Board? Processor? Video
support? Price? Anything? Also, could you even drop a HINT as to when
Atari might announce a higher end Falcon030 or 040 (or Jaguar) :)
Gordie/Bob> On the Compo PC Board... It's really a prototype being
shown here. It is a 286 being shown, not the 386 we'd hoped to see.
However, it will be very inexpensive and they will have a 486sx out
soon.
Andreas for AE>
Gentlemen, I was wondering if there were any NEW developers
demonstrating Atari things....
Gordie/Bob>
Oh my stars, yes, yes, yes! There's a wonderful developer called DOA,
which stands for Digital Optical Analog. Their product is called Black
Mail, and is the voice mail system I mentioned earlier. Another new
registered developer, you might have heard of before, called Kodak. :-)
Bitstream is showing their font selections in our booth. A new German
development firm called Digital Arts is being shown by Goldleaf.
Another AMAZING application being shown is a computerized embroidery
called the STitchitizer, by Data Stitch. A TT030 is used to control a
Toyota high-end embroidery system. The embroidered hats are quite
popular.
Andreas for AE>
What is the general reception of Atari at Comdex this year, in your
opinion, and how is interest for the F030 holding out?
Gordie/Bob>
The people who have seen it are impressed, Andreas. Unfortunately, not
enough have seen it yet. However, this is only the second day of the
show, and Wednesday and Thursday should be considerably busier in the
booth.
Sluggo>
Are any PC boards really ready now (386SX or otherwise)? Wasn't SACK
working on one? _Good_ PC emulation is gonna be a prerequisite for
justifying the purchase, says my wife. Lots better than this
SuperCharger anyway.
Gordie/Bob>
Yes, there is a pc board ready now, but it's just a 286. They say
they'll have a 486sx very soon. Sack and Compo are the same company to
the best of my knowledge. To be even more direct, Compo is exhibiting
the product in our booth, and Hans Sack is doing the demo. Try to
straighten your wife out. <big grin>
BAJOHNSON>
Anyone demoing any outboard AD/DA's, to make the Falcon a real CD-
quality multi track machine? And, will there be Falcons at NAMM?
Gordie/Bob>
Yes. The product is from Singular Solutions, and is called the A/D64x
Audio Interface.
CHUNK>
Thankz again Bob for sticking through the mud slinging that has taken
place in the last couple months (years?). There is still a small but
DIE HARD group up here in the Tundra (Minot ND). There are two
STitchitizers in North Dakota BTW. What ever happened to the G.E.
service centre idea? My fingers are crossed for the Walden/Falcon team.
Gordie/Bob>
The GE service center plan is still being worked on. There are still
some problems, but I can't comment on them. Sorry.
JDBARNES>
What products are currently being manufactured? As opposed to existing
only in inventory?
Gordie/Bob>
All products are currently being manufactured in varying quantities,
depending on our needs throughout the world.
JDBARNES>
So the MSTE and the TT are currently in production?
Gordie/Bob>
JD, all products means all products.
ARAGONIA>
Hello Bob, as a recent new Atari stock holder, 10k shares, I would like
to know the planned market strategy (advert., etc) for the Falcon in the
U.S. As well as the closest guess on release of the 040. My market
expert people say that if an 040 is not released by end of 1st quarter
93 that it will be time to dump the stock? By the way, they are only
going for a buck a share!!! Couldn't help it, stock folks said it was
a good short term, 175% by end of FEB 93!!!
Gordie/Bob>
James, the planned market strategy for the Atari Falcon030 is to pursue
the home market. We envision the machine to be a personal integrated
media unit. Finally bringing the promise of multimedia to the home at
consumer prices. Regarding the 040, yes we are working on one, but I
can't comment further on it. Regarding the stock, we work for our
shareholders, not Wall Street, and only plan for the long term.
Bry>
Okay.. Lastly, have actual Advertising plans been made? Is there a
strategy you could share with us?
Gordie/Bob>
Yes, plans have been made, and I'm sorry but I can't discuss them at
this time. In part, they depend on who the resellers will be, and we
are in discussion with several large retailers now.
Andreas for AE>
Is there any truth the the extended graphics rumor on the F030? The
rumor is that the F030 has been refitted with an extended 1280*960
graphics mode, with an indeterminate # of colors.
Gordie/Bob>
Andreas, remember when Bob mentioned that he hated rumors? The rumor is
not true. Bob isn't aware of any Atari plans to support 1280x960.
TIMDXX>
Does Multitos support virtual memory?
Gordie/Bob>
MultiTOS doesn't directly support virtual memory, but there is an
inexpensive product you can stick in your AUTO folder.
CMILLAR>
Will MetaDos be shipped with Falcons?
Gordie/Bob>
MetaDOS will be shipped with CD-ROM products, and is available with
ICD's Link.
###### LYNX GAME REVIEWS
###### Reprinted from the October 1992 Edition of AtariUser
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
This article may NOT be reprinted without the written permission of
QUILL PUBLISHING. For further information, see the AtariUser
information located at the bottom of this issue. Article Copyright
(c)1992, AtariUser Magazine.
Reviewed: Steel Talons - BasketBrawl - Kung Fu
STEEL TALONS (Lynx)
Once again, the Lynx dares to go where other portable systems fear to
tread, with an adaptation of Steel Talons, the arcade helicopter
simulator. Your goal is to fly a military chopper through twelve
missions, blowing away enemy armaments and camps.
The disappointing Hard Drivin' convinced me that filled-polygon
simulators were beyond the Lynx's abilities. Surprise! John Sanderson
and NuFX have learned a lot from their earlier effort, making Steel
Talons the cutting edge of Lynx software technology. Only three arcade
features are absent: two simultaneous players, fuel limits, and the
(hard!) Apache helicoptor simulation option. Everything else is
preserved.
As a simulator, Steel Talons gives you total control of your helicopter,
and instruments show everything from structural integrity to the
location of targets. The game can be viewed from behind your chopper,
or in the cockpit for double points. An on-board computer tracks and
aims for you, though your supply of bullets and missiles is limited.
The instruction manual is a little sparse on details, leaving more for
players to discover.
Missions have different terrains and weather conditions, growing
progressively harder, keeping the game challenging. The yoke, pedals,
and stick of the original game are naturally simplified, using all of
the Lynx's buttons, alone and in combinations. The controls feel
properly responsive and reasonable, and learning the scheme takes about
ten minutes.
Filled polygon graphics are used everywhere, drawing enemies and terrain
alike. The screen is updated four times a second; while not incredibly
fast, it's sufficient and doesn't hurt the game. Instruments are
visible without obscuring the view, and other graphics are done very
nicely. There aren't many sounds, but they're used appropriately. The
drumming of the chopper blades is mixed with the sounds of gunfire and
missiles, with warning klaxons and assorted explosions thrown in.
Finally, a slightly garbled voice gives tips, and musical tunes play
throughout.
Steel Talons on the Lynx is a lot of fun and a surprisingly successful
conversion. If realistic air combat action stirs your blood, buy this
game and take off! Atari Corp., $34.95. --Robert Jung
BASKETBRAWL (Lynx)
For some reason, combining basketball with violence is a popular video
game trend. Now joining titles like Arch Rivals and Punkshot is
Basketbrawl, a Lynx version of the Atari 7800 game. Pick your character
from a pool of ten players, then play against another team, trying to
score more points for six minutes of "anything goes." Players fight and
mutilate opponents for the ball, while spectators join in the fray.
Weapons and power-ups appear on the field, giving benefits such as speed
or health. Beat five other gangs, and win the championship. A password
allows you to skip stages and continue games, and two players can
ComLynx for a team-up.
When Basketbrawl took away the rules, it also took away the fun.
Neither the brawling nor the basketball aspects are done well. Shooting
consists solely of jabbing a button, fight moves are limited, and aiming
attacks is difficult. Defense is nonexistent; you can't block shots or
passes, steal the ball, or resist attacks. The basketball action is
disrupted by fights, or seen a different way, fights are interrupted by
the need to score points.
The pace is frantic and confusing. Some spectators attack players
randomly, with another throwing knives at everyone. It's difficult to
tell when you have the ball, and you can throw it away accidentally. In
the end, there's a lot of frenzied button-pressing but little
satisfaction.
Basketbrawl takes an idea loaded with potential, then removes the
excitement with weak sports and combat action. The only thing to do is
to wait for an authentic basketball game; Lynx owners may be eager for
sports titles, but they're not desperate. Atari Corp., $39.95.
-- Robert Jung
KUNG FOOD (Lynx)
Your boss at the video-game company wants to put the mutagen Rynoleum
into the newest games. Acting on your conscience, you steal the toxin,
haul it home, and put it in the freezer. Unfortunately, something goes
wrong, and now you've been turned green and six inches tall! Worse,
your groceries have gained sentience, and are planning to conquer the
world! Can you fight your leftovers, cure yourself, and stop this plan
cold?
That's KUNG FOOD for the Lynx, the video game with the goofiest plot
ever devised. It's a generic "beat everything in sight" video game, as
you walk left to right through five levels, battling hopping peas and
potato men who block your way. You start with three lives, and helpful
power-ups are scattered throughout, but you're constantly outnumbered.
The graphics on KUNG FOOD are among some of the best on a Lynx. There's
great use of color, detail, and animation, and elaborate opening and
closing sequences. Game sounds are good and match the action, but the
background and theme music are repetitive and grating. Fortunately,
OPTION 2 lets you turn the music off.
Take away the story, and KUNG FOOD comes across as a very average
fighting game. The awkward controls and a few quirks may irritate some
players, but fight fans should embrace the silliness and give this a
try. Atari Corp., $34.95. --Robert Jung
###### PERUSING THE INTERNET
###### Compiled by Ed Krimen
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
Some messages may have been edited for correct spelling, grammar, and
irrelevant material.
FALCON SIGHTING IN AUSTRALIA
----------------------------
-=> In comp.sys.atari.st
-=> From: s883334@minyos.xx.rmit.oz.au (James Alan Hall)
-=> Date: 18 Nov 92 03:17:28 GMT
Attending the Home Computer Show in Melbourne last weekend, it was
surprising to see Atari having one of the largest and most prominent
stands. On display were two Falcons and a 1040 ST with MIDI setup
(singer, lights, tone modules and electric guitar). One Falcon ran a
continuous slide show, whilst the other was used for DSP sound
demonstration.
Atari had sessions where they performed a full song (I've still got the
blues for you) with the singer, guitar, tone modules, and lights. After
getting a crowd gathered, they then spoke briefly about the ST and its
MIDI capabilities and then went on to demonstrate the sound digitizing
capabilities of the Falcon. This consisted of a member of the crowd
singing into a microphone and the song then being played back with
various effects such as delays, etc. The Atari guy then spoke through
the microphone demonstrating real time sound effects that can be
achieved upon any input sound. It would have been nicer to see this
done with music rather than voice.
I was told the Falcon will be available here in Australia at the end of
January, for between (AUS$) $1000 and $1500 (I HOPE this upper end price
is not for the 1 meg, no HD machine). I also asked someone from Dick
Smith (the main retail outlet of atari in Australia) and was told the
price would be around $1000. At the show, Atari was selling 1040 STE's
for $499! $400 less than their normal price.
- James.
==========================================
FALCON AUDIO DETAILS
--------------------
-=> In comp.sys.atari.st.tech
-=> From: hyc@hanauma.jpl.nasa.gov (Howard Chu)
-=> Date: 24 Nov 92 02:00:31 GMT
The sound hardware in the Falcon can use one of three different clocks -
32MHz, 25 MHz, or external clock input. Additionally, the clock can be
divided down by one of about 16 different standard prescale values.
This is what's given in the standard sound system calls. However, it
seems that the built-in codec is only allowed to be used with the 25 MHz
clock. I don't know why that is... It's not a problem for the DSP,
though. Regardless, the codec supports more speeds than just 12.5, 25
and 50 khz, those are just the common speeds that were also supported on
the STe.
As long as this is going to be a topic of discussion, please remember
that there are several independent elements of the Falcon audio system
that can be interconnected in a variety of ways. You can use all, some,
or none of them as you see fit. In fact there are so many different
elements available it's difficult to choose where to start, in a system
description.
You have the codec with stereo 16-bit ADC and DAC, DMA record channels,
DMA playback channels, external inputs and outputs, etc. The codec's
ADC can be connected to the mic input or to the Yamaha PSG output.
(Independent left and right channel control there.) You can
independently activate any of the 4 stereo audio tracks, and select any
one of those tracks to be monitored by the internal speaker/DAC/stereo
headphone jack. You can record or playback in any of 8-bit mono, 8-bit
stereo, or 16-bit stereo. At system bootup I believe the ADC gets both
channels from the PSG, and everything else is bypassed. For the
voicemail software that I wrote (that was running all week at Comdex) on
the Falcon, I had the audio matrix connecting the ADC to the DMA record
channels, using only a single track. For the next version I'll have the
ADC feeding the DSP, do some compression in the DSP, and feed the DSP
output to the DMA record channel instead. The Falcon audio system is
incredibly flexible, I only need to add two system calls to my existing
code to add this functionality. (Oh, and load my compression routine
into the DSP, but that's really a separate issue. That's the total
impact on my code, tho.)
One of the quirks I've noted is that the PSG doesn't have a hardwired
connection to the speaker, and the system bell and keyclick are still
generated there. If you have sound software that wants to record thru
the microphone input, those system sounds disappear (unless you only
set one channel to the mic, and leave one channel for the PSG...).
==========================================
WHY NO RECOMPILED TOS?
----------------------
-=> In comp.sys.atari.st.tech
-=> From: kbad@netcom.com (Ken Badertscher)
-=> Date: 26 Nov 92 08:58:21 GMT
wilsont@rahul.net (Timothy Wilson) writes:
|With all the talk in c.s.a.st about how poor the original compiler for
|TOS was... why isn't there a say... 2.09 version or something
|(one that runs in all machines), compiled with a good compiler?
The main limiting factor is engineer-hours. There's a lot of weird code
in the guts of the OS that relies on compiler-specific things.
Significant progress has been made, in that by now, all of the AES and
Desktop have been rewritten with compiler portability in mind. A big
problem for the VDI and BIOS is that every assembler available for the
ST uses different syntax for different features.
Incidentally, Falcon TOS has a new GEMDOS which was compiled using the
Lattice compiler. The resulting code is considerably tighter and faster
than the older Alcyon-generated GEMDOS. And, of course, the
multitasking kernel will most definitely not be Alcyon-compiled.
==========================================
###### THE Z*NET COMPUTER CALENDAR 1992-1993
###### Schedule of Shows, Events and Online Conferences
###### ----------------------------------------------------------------
### December 4-6, 1992
The Computer Graphics Show 1992 at the Jacob Javitz Convention Center
in New York City. This is a CMC event. For more information call;
(203) 852-0500, extension 234.
### December 12, 1992
Lake County Atari Computer Enthusiasts (LCACE) will hold the 1992 LCACE
Christmas Party and Swap meet. It will be held in the Auditorium of the
Waukegan Public Library on County Street in Waukegan. The LCACE MIDI
sig is planning a "jam session", there will be a door prize raffle, and
games and other activities for everyone. In addition to the party,
there will be a hardware and software Swap meet. No admission and No
table charge! Doors open at 1:00pm. For more information information,
call Pegasus BBS at 708-623-9570.
### December 15, 1992
Zenobot, GEnie user and writer for AtariUser Magazine and publisher/
Editor of the ST Gamers Digest Online Magazine will be the GEnie ST RT
guest for a night of game discussion. Zarth will answer your questions
concerning which games to buy for Christmas. This conference begins at
10:00pm EDT.
### December 20, 1992
Eugene, Oregon. Atari SWAP MEET planned at the GATEWAY MALL MEETING
PLACE. The hours have not been finalized yet but tentively they will be
10am - 5pm. There may be a small admission fee this year (no more than
$1.00) and there may be a table fee.
### December 24-25, 1992
Christmas 1992! Spend time with your loved ones! Hope you bought an
Atari product for your favorite person!
### December 31/January 1,1993
New Years Eve, New Years Day! Happy New Year! Make those resolutions
stick this time around!
### January 6-9, 1993
MacWorld Expo in San Fransisco California, Sponsored by MacWorld
Magazine. Titled San Fransisco '93 at the Moscone Center.
### January 12-14, 1993
Networld '93 in Boston, Massachusettes
### January 13-16, 1993
The Winter Consumer Electronics Show comes to Las Vegas, Nevada. CES is
an electronic playground, with everything in the way of high tech toys
for kids and adults. Game consoles and hand-held entertainment items
like the Atari Lynx are big here, and Atari will attend with a hotel
suite showroom. Contact Atari Corp for more information on seeing their
display at 408-745-2000.
### January 15-18, 1993
NAMM is the largest conclave of musicians each year. Held in Los
Angeles at the Anaheim Convention Center, the variety of sights at the
National Association of Music Merchandisers is wilder than at
Disneyland, just next door. Atari was the first computer manufacturer
to ever display at NAMM in 1987, and has become a standard at the shows.
A trade show for music stores, distributors, and professionals of every
strata, entertainers are seen everywhere at NAMM. Contact James Grunke
at Atari Corp for more information at 408-745-2000.
### February 2-4, 1993
ComNet '93 in Washington, DC.
### March 1993
CeBIT, the world's largest computer show with 5,000 exhibitors in 20
halls, is held annually in Hannover, Germany. Atari traditionally
struts its newest wares there, usually before it's seen in the USA or
anywhere else. In '93, the Atari 040 machines should be premiering, and
this is the likely venue. Third party developers also use this show to
introduce new hardware and software, so expect a wave of news from CeBIT
every year. Atari Corp and the IAAD coordinate cross-oceanic contacts
to promote worldwide marketing of Atari products, and this show is an
annual touchstone of that effort. Contact Bill Rehbock at Atari Corp
for information at 408-745-2000.
### March 13-14, 1993
The Sacramento Atari Computer Exposition is to be sponsored by the
Sacramento Atari ST Users Group (SST) at the Towe Ford Museum in
Sacramento, California. This show replaces the earlier scheduled, then
cancelled Northern California Atari Fest for the Bay Area, to have been
held in December 1992. A major two day effort, the SAC show is being
held in the special events area of the Towe Ford Museum, home of the
worlds most complete antique Ford automobile collection. As an added
bonus, admission to the museum is free when you attend the Expo. The
museum is located at the intersection of Interstates 5 and 80, just 15
minutes from the Sacramento Metropolitan Airport. Contact Nick Langdon
(Vendor Coordinator) C/O SST, P.O. Box 214892, Sacramento, CA 95821-
0892, phone 916-723-6425, GEnie: M.WARNER8, ST-Keep BBS (SST) 916-729-
2968.
### March 21-24, 1993
Interop Spring '93 in Washington DC.
### August 3-6, 1993
MacWorld Expo at the Boston World Trade Center, Bayside Exposition
Center and sponsored by MacWorld Magazine. This event is titled Boston
'93.
### September 18-19, 1993
The Glendale Show returns with the Southern California Atari Computer
Faire, V.7.0, in suburban Los Angeles, California. This has been the
year's largest domestic Atari event, year after year. Contact John King
Tarpinian at the user group HACKS at 818-246-7286 for information.
### September 20-22, 1993
The third MacWorld Expo, titled Canada '93 at the Metro Toronto
Convention Centre, sponsored by MacWorld Magazine.
### September 21-23, 1993
Unix Expo '93 in New York City, New York.
If you have an event you would like to include on the Z*Net Calender,
please send email vai GEnie to Z-NET, CompuServe 75300,1642, or via
FNET to node 593 or AtariNet node 51:1/13.0
###### MARKETING STRATEGY
###### By Andreas Barbiero
###### ---------------------------------------------------------------
Everyone has heard about the fantastic new computer being introduced by
Atari and the new, more aggressive, business ethic being enacted in
marketing this product. But while the Falcon030 is not the end-all of
computers, a series of loosely connected circumstances are emerging
which could very well place Atari's products on more shelves than ever
before.
Many Atari users know a great deal about one facet or another of Atari
computers but may have found that this knowledge does not equate
perfectly to the MS-DOS world of clones. Being able to set up a
harddrive on a ST and run a powerful word processor is a beast of a
distinctly different temperment when done on an IBM clone.
Will your ST knowledge ever bear fruit outside your home?
Atari has begun a marketing strategy directed at two different groups.
One group is the present Atari user who is interested in increasing his
productivity with the existing software he already knows, with a machine
that will be able to expand beyond his current scope of computing and
lead him into areas that other platforms will have to follow later on.
Many complaints have been made about the machine as to its keyboard,
case, resolution, power, and so forth. The Falcon is not a Cray
supercomputer, but it is an incredibly versatile machine for an
unbeatable price. And its features balance what the old-line Atari
users want with the other main segment of the Falcon's future market.
The Falcon is the first real step towards a computer as an appliance.
People buy expensive electronics, expecting them to work out of the box
with a limited amount of user preparation. Videocameras are a good
example. 25 years ago, TV cameras were a big budget item, never
intended for the non-professional user, and so home movies on a
convienient, re-recordable cassette had to wait till the technology
could be simplified to the point where miniaturization could take all
the maintainance out of the process and allow a person to carry one in a
single hand, point and shoot.
Technology had increased to where the products sophisication had
developed to where it was self supporting, with only a minimum of user
effort. Technology had removed itself as an impediment to creativity.
People like that.
Home computers have always been for the hobbyist. Only after the need
for doing business at home did the market expand to embrace millions of
people. Computer users talk about how much of the market PCs have, and
how much other computers have. Atari has a very small percentage of the
market in comparison to the clones. But we are talking about shares in
the EXISTING computer market. How many people have avoided buying
computers? Despite their sophistication, the average PCs are still not
plug and play devices!
On the other extreme, home game systems are the epitome of ease.... plug
in the cartridge and away you go! These systems have penetrated the
average home FAR more than computers, and have had little affect if any
to the purchase of actual computers.The Falcon will not be a simplistic,
or as single purposed, but it is aimed at this market. With the correct
software, that one piece, grey plastic box will be able to sit on a
audio and video stereo shelves, or in a home office and replace several
thousand dollars worth of one-purpose hardware.
This is where your Atari knowledge comes in. After we get these things
into their homes something almost magical happens.... they want to know
more.
So they buy more software....
....and buy more magazines,
....and buy more books,
....and need people to show them what to do when they can't
do it for themselves. Now the Falcon030 can't change the American
market by itself, but it will get the foot in the door, and leave those
who are computer wary wide open to the idea of buying even larger
machines in the future. Just as Apple made its market share in schools
when it set up an entire generation of computer users which were weaned
on their computers, Atari can make its marketplace by filling in the A/V
hobbists dream tool, and filling in the gap between the console game
units and the UNIX workstations, leaving the PC with its AUTOEXEC.BAT
files in the dust, and taking those who know Atari with them.
# # #
**--DELPHI SIGN-UP--** **--GENIE SIGN-UP--**
============================|============================
To sign up for DELPHI call | To sign up for GENIE call
(with modem) 800-695-4002. | (with modem) 800-638-8369.
Upon connection hit return | Upon connection type HHH
once or twice. At Password: | and hit return. Wait for
type ZNET and hit <return>. | the U#= prompt and type in
| the following: XTX99436,
| GEnie and hit return.
============================|============================
**--COMPUSERVE SIGN-UP--**
To sign up for CompuServe service call (with phone) (800)
848-8199. Ask for operator #198. You will then be sent a
$15.00 free membership kit.
=========================================================
**--ATARINET INFORMATION--**
If you'd like further information or would like to join
AtariNet-please contact one of the following via AtariNet
or Fido: Bill Scull Fido 1:363/112 AtariNet 51:1/0, Dean
Lodzinski Fido 1:107/633 AtariNet 51:4/0, Terry May Fido
1:209/745 AtariNet 51:2/0, Tony Castorino Fido 1:102/1102
AtariNet 51:3/0, Don Liscombe AtariNet 51:5/0, Daron
Brewood Fido 2:255/402 AtariNet 51:6/0. You can also call
the Z*Net News Service at (908) 968-8148 for more info.
========================================================================
Reprints from the GEnie ST Roundtable are Copyright (c)1992, Atari
Corporation and the GEnie ST RT. Reprints from CompuServe's AtariArts,
AtariPro, AtariVen, or Aportfolio Forums are Copyright (c)1992, CIS.
========================================================================
Reprints from AtariUser Magazine are Copyright(c)1992, Quill Publishing.
You can subscribe and read ALL of the informative articles each and
every month by contacting Quill at (818) 246-6277. For $15.00 you will
receive 12 issues. Send your payment to AtariUser Magazine, 249 North
Brand Boulevard, Suite 332, Glendale, California, USA, 91203. Foreign
delivery is $30.00 in US funds.
========================================================================
Atari is a registered trademark of Atari Corporation. Atari Falcon030,
TOS, MultiTOS, NewDesk and BLiTTER, are trademarks of Atari Corporation.
All other trademarks mentioned in this publication belong to their
respective owners.
========================================================================
**--** Z*NET OFFICIAL INFORMATION **--**
=========================================================
Z*Net Atari Online Magazine is a weekly online publication covering the
Atari and related computer community. Material published in this issue
may be reprinted under the following terms only: articles must remain
unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each
article reprinted. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise
noted at the beginning of the article, to registered Atari user groups
and not for profit publications. Opinions present herein are those
of the individual authors and do not reflect those of the staff. This
publication is not affiliated with the Atari Corporation. Z*Net, Z*Net
News Service, Z*Net International, Rovac, Z*Net Atari Online and Z*Net
Publishing are copyright (c)1992, Syndicate Publishing, PO Box 0059,
Middlesex, NJ 08846-0059, Voice: (908) 968-2024, BBS: (908) 968-8148,
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===~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~==
Z*Net Atari Online Magazine
Copyright (C)1992, Syndicate Publishing - Ron Kovacs
===~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~=~==
