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Amiga Update (1997-05-09)
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/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter)
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga International, GmbH
----------------------------------------------------------------------
970509
A M I G A C O M P A T I B L E S F R O M I N D E X
J A V A F R O M H A A G E & P A R T N E R
P C - T A S K 4 . 2
C L I C K B O O M W I S H L I S T
G A M A S O F T D E A L E R N E T W O R K
D E V E L O P E R S C O N F E R E N C E U P D A T E
M I D I S O F T W A R E
E U C A L Y P T U S - E - M A I L E R
V I S A G E V I E W I N G S O F T W A R E
A M I G A F A X P R O G R A M
F I L E D I F F E R E N C E P R O G R A M
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
Once again we're in a situation where the "Amiga Updates" are
following close on one another. We had a few too many items to put in
the last issue, and have now come across some others that we wanted to
pass along while they're fresh so here they are.
First, we discovered just today a British company called Index
Information Ltd. who are making Amiga compatibles. Their web page with
the details is copyrighted, so we've paraphrased it below. We did
include a few quotes. We're especially interested in the upcoming
"Inside Out" model, which we presume will not have the circuit boards
on the exterior of the case. The motherboard for the Access computer
seems a model of clever design. We wish them luck and hope to bring
you more information as it's available.
Last issue brought a "teaser" from Haage & Partner. This time, we've
got extensive information on the first of the projects discussed. It's
the "Merapi" project, which promises to bring Java to the Amiga
community. In out opinion, that would be a very good thing indeed.
The folks at Quasar Distribution announce a new version of PC-Task,
one that includes floating point co-processor emulation. This should
be of great interest to Amigans who need or wish to run PC software on
their machines.
ClickBOOM, besides having one of our favorite company names, seems
dedicated to converting popular software to the Amiga. Their wish list
is below.
Gamasoft announces a new dealer network, which promises to add
marketing power to Amiga dealerships. We have the press release for
you to check over.
The upcoming World of Amiga show in London will feature a developers'
conference. An update on the conference was just released. We're
running it to help get the word out.
Finally, there were several interesting product announcements on the
Usenet recently. We have five for you to examine. Products range from
MIDI software to an e-mailer and a fax program.
There's lots happening in the Amiga community. That's great!
Brad Webb,
Editor
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A M I G A C O M P A T I B L E S F R O M I N D E X
Index Information, Ltd. of England has announced two new Amiga
compatibles. First to be available is the Access computer, intended as
a low cost "Corporate Multimedia delivery platform
based on the Amiga Chip Set and Operating System" according to the
company's web site. The computer features a mother board that can be
fitted in a standard 5 1/4" drive bay, allowing its use in a variety
of cases. The computer is shown with a floppy disk and CD-ROM drive.
Also mentioned ia a compact 8 unit tower case for "major
installations".
The company states they have a fully functiona prototype in testing.
Pre-production manufacturing is due in 2-3 weeks with the a
pre-production unit planned for showing at the Hammersmith World of
Amiga show, May 17-18.
Features noted by Index include:
100% Amiga compatible
Motherboard can fit in standard 5 ¼" drive bay
Uses Motorola 68EC020 processor at 14MHz
2Mb CHIP RAM, 0Mb, 2Mb, 4Mb or 8Mb FAST RAM
230% better performance than a stock A1200
IDE Hard disk interface
IDE CD-ROM, with driver in ROM
Standard Amiga floppy disk drive
ISA expansion slot
Sound sampler complete with microphone input
Real Time Clock
CD-DA audio input connector and mixer
for configuration information in Non Volatile RAM
Ports for
RGB, 15 pin High Density
Parallel, 25 pin D
Mouse
Keyboard, 5 pin Mini-DIN
Serial
Composite video
Stereo sound out, with front volume control
Mono sound in
Power In via standard PC 5 1/4" power header
IDE - 40 pin for 3.5"; Hard disk and CD-ROM
ISA bus 8 bit
Floppy drive DF0:
Index's second Amiga compatible is called " InsideOut". It's billed as
"A new generation of High-End Amiga Computers."
The hardware is complete but the software is still 2 to 3 months away
for this computer range, intended to deliver "exceptional performance
and a wide range of high performance, but low cost, expansion
options."
Features:
Compatability with all standard Workbench applications.
RISC processor performance {whatever that means, exactly}
Accellerated display, 64/128 bit with optional 3D accelleration.
Maximum resolutions beyond 1280x1028 providing 24 bit color.
A PCI bus with driver support for most PCI expansion cards.
Network support - TCP/IP, NetBIOS, etc.
Contact them at:
Index Information Ltd
Contact Sales & Marketing:
Fax: +44-(0)1256-701023
E-mail: index@cix.co.uk
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J A V A F R O M H A A G E & P A R T N E R
"MERAPI" project is still under development. Project started in late
1996. Release date is about July/August 97.
We will release more information on features and prices in June/July.
"MERAPI" will be the optimal solution for programmers and end-users.
We proudly announce another important project for the future of the
Amiga:
Code name: "MERAPI"
Taking You To Java
Java's gathering momentum in the computer market has raised hopes of a
more open, decentralized, and tolerant software future than the
developments of recent years have led us to expect. For Amiga users,
it has given rise to a demand for participation in this
future--participation that can only be provided by a good Java Virtual
Machine implementation (the software engine that executes programs
created in Java) for our machine.
To meet this demand, Haage & Partner are developing a Java Virtual
Machine (JVM) implementation under the code name *Merapi*. In our
perception, the Java technology has several attractive features
particularly from the Amiga users' point of view:
* It will bring in new applications. Dozens upon dozens of companies
in the PC software market have already committed themselves to
delivering applications that can run on any machine that supports
Java, breaking at last the old chains of platform incompatibility.
Their new products will now add value to the Amiga as well as to the
more common platforms.
* As software availability ceases to be a compelling factor in
deciding on a computer platform, the Amiga's friendliness and ease of
use will prove sufficient reason to choose it over eg. Windows or the
Mac OS if one happens to prefer the Amiga computer.
* The similarity of design principles and flexibility of Java and the
Amiga OS have great synergetic potential: A good JVM implementation
can make it seem as if Java and the Amiga operating system were
designed for each other from the start.
* Java complements the Amiga system well. Memory protection and
resource tracking, for instance, are integral parts of the Java
environment. Whereas these are merely a duplication of effort when
used under operating systems that already have such features built in,
on the Amiga they very neatly fill in the blanks that many users see
in the Amiga operating system.
The Merapi project focuses specifically on bringing these benefits to
the Amiga user base. Apart from the obvious goals of compatibility and
the ability to run Java software fast, which all JVM implementations
strive for, Merapi has more characteristic aims. The main ones are:
* High quality that developers and users alike can depend on for
robustness, security, and longevity.
* Making the best possible use of what the Amiga OS has to offer.
Rather than attempting to cram UNIX code into an Amiga mold or
imitating existing PC products, Merapi is designed for the Amiga from
the ground up to give you the best possible match.
* Letting non-Java software, as well as the user, make the best
possible use of what Java has to offer. The services of the Java
subsystem are made available to external software through an open
interface, so the use of Java software is not limited to eye candy
inside a Web browser window. Java will be no second-class citizen in
your system!
MERAPI project is done by Jeroen Vermeulen in co-operation with the
Storm team. MERAPI will be integrated into Web browsers like VOYAGER
NG, but it will also be a stand-alone JAVA interpreter with
just-in-time compiler (to speeed it up, JIT) to run JAVA applications
like Corel Office for Java.
MERAPI will also be integrated into the Storm Development System to
enable programmers to write JAVA applications on the Amiga. A port to
p.OS and PowerUP will be done.
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P C - T A S K 4 . 2
9 May 1997
Attention!
PC-Task 4.2 is now available!
PC-Task 4.2 is the latest release of the 486 PC Emulator. This update
includes full FPU emulation! Now you can watch Quake without 3rd party
FPU emulation software.
New features of PC-Task 4.2 include:
o Full FPU emulation
o Faster graphics and Cybergraphics modes
o Improved Dynamic compilation (with loading Windows and programs
as well)
o Increased compatibility
Loading Doom and Windows can be up to 30% faster than version 4.1. See
our web site for FREE upgrade for 4.0/4.1 users and a demo at:
http://www.ozemail.com.au/~pctask
More speed tests have been done, so check them out!
Quasar Distribution
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C L I C K B O O M W I S H L I S T
clickBOOM Announces Its Conversion Wish List
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Toronto, May 5, 1997: PXL computers and clickBOOM would like to inform
all Amiga users of a brand new concept for the gaming future of our
favourite computer. It is called "conversion wish list", and it is
located on our web site at www.clickboom.com
For several years Amiga lacked conversions of big hits from other
platforms. We at clickBOOM decided to change all that, and earlier
this year announced Myst conversion. Being the best selling CD-ROM
game ever, Myst is a perfect starting point for the future in which
big games will appear on the Amiga, as well.
Choosing Myst as the first conversion was a simple task, for it truly
is a special game. However, for our next projects we would like to
convert games you, Amiga players, would like to play the most. Hence
-- "conversion wish list"!
It is clickBOOM's plan to asses Amiga market needs in the best
possible way -- by asking users to vote for the games they would like
to see appear on the Amiga. We have assembled a list of the biggest
titles from consoles and PC, and it is up to you to let us know which
ones you would like to see on the Amiga as soon as possible.
It is very simple, and it will truly shape the Amiga's future!
As always, feel free to contact us with your suggestions and comments
at info@clickboom.com
Best regards,
PXL computers and clickBOOM
Alexander Petrovic
Pxl computers / clickBOOM Producer
E-mail: clkboom@ican.net WWW site: home.ican.net/~clkboom/
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G A M A S O F T D E A L E R N E T W O R K
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
GamaSoft, the Detroit, MI-based Amiga software publisher and
distributor, announced on May 6, 1997 that it is forming a new
alliance of dealers and software developers.
This alliance, called the GamaSoft Dealer-Direct Network (DDN), will
allow dealers of software distributed by GamaSoft to take advantage
of:
o Special dealer incentives, spiffs, and sales contests for various
GamaSoft products
o Professionally produced multimedia selling tools for GamaSoft
products, available as props for the sales floor.
o Special pre-release merchandise
o T-shirts, banners, posters, and other promotional goods
o The GamaSoft Network Partner logo, a sign of quality and
legitimacy for the dealer
Any dealer who wishes to join the DDN must make a query by emailing
twalling@pantheon.macomb.mi.us with all of the dealer's contact
information. Selected dealers will become GamaSoft Network Partners,
with all the benefits listed above.
Said Ted Wallingford, Production Director of GamaSoft, "One of the
pitfalls in the Amiga market has been lack of marketing power--not
only for the Amiga itself, but also for the truly sellable products
within the Amiga market. Too many great software products have
disappeared from the Amiga market because people chose not to buy
them, maybe because of a nervous feeling about the Amiga. Well, the
Dealer-Direct Network is our response. With a strong alliance of
uniform marketeers, and a slick, active sales program, we're going to
starting turning the tide."
GamaSoft conducts distribution and publishing of software products for
the Amiga computer system. Products in exclusive North American
distribution include Web Cruiser, New York, Voodoo 2.0, and MOca.
GamaSoft also conducts direct sales of DrawStudio. Direct sales and
dealer sales are conducted from the same office.
GamaSoft LLC
2644 Botsford St.
Hamtramck, MI 48212
(313) 365-8414
Contact: Ted Wallingford
----------------------------------------------------------------------
D E V E L O P E R S C O N F E R E N C E U P D A T E
7 May 1997
Hi all,
Apologies once more for major cross-posting, but we think that this
message is quite important. Here it goes...
The Developers Conference will be held at 5:30pm on Saturday 17th May,
at the "Salon Bourg" in the Novotel, following that days closing of
the exhibitors room. The meeting is expected to last about 2 hours.
The meeting will be chaired by Kermit Woodall of Nova Design who as
some people may know was also responsible for the extremely successful
conference at Amiga Gateway '97.
There will of course be no charge for entry, however since this event
is being funded by the nice folks in the AmigaSOC users group and we
would greatly appreciate any contributions as this would help us in
reclaiming some of their costs towards arranging this event.
Andrew Elia (AmigaSoc) and Kermit Woodall (Nova Design)
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M I D I S O F T W A R E
5 May 1997
TITLE
SMT - Steevs MIDI Trigger
VERSION
2.31
AUTHOR
Steven Goodwin
No E-Mail, Web page or FTP site :-(
DESCRIPTION
SMT plays samples from a MIDI keyboard, or the Amigas own
keyboard. These samples can be played as required.
Featuring:
* As many samples as memory allows
* Variable pitch on samples
* Software MIDI Thru
* Filter out MIDI channels
* Output sound on next free channel, specific channel, or
on alternate channels
* Three demo enviroments - Virtual Piano, House, GM Drums
* Backing MOD (start/stop/pause with any combination of
joystick/mouse/keys)
* Program note range
* Sampling looping
NEW FEATURES
2.31 is a PAL/NTSC update.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
None
AVAILABILITY
Any Aminet site, for example:
ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/aminet/mus/misc/SMT_23.lha
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Freely distributable.
Copyright 1995-7 by Steven Goodwin.
This version uploaded by the author.
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E U C A L Y P T U S - E - M A I L E R
5 May 1997
TITLE
Eucalyptus
VERSION
1.0 (alpha)
COMPANY
Isengard Developments
AUTHOR
Paul Schifferer
DESCRIPTION
Eucalyptus is a new e-mail program for the Amiga. Features
include:
- Supports multiple user accounts
- Unlimited message folders
- Full-featured address book
- Multiple message read windows
- Multiple signature files
- PGP signature/encryption/key-transfer
- Spell-checking
- Extensive filtering system
- Scheduled message delivery
- Integrated SMTP/POP3 clients (and possible IMAP support)
- Configurable external viewers for different media types
- Full multi-threaded operations
This product is a pre-release alpha. Not all features are fully
operational, and the software may contain bugs. Use it at your
own risk.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Amiga OS 2.04 or better
ClassAct gadget classes (included in archive)
Internet connection
AVAILABILITY
http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/3517/Eucalyptus.gz
(249621)
Or request the most recent version from <isengard@geocities.com>.
PRICE
Free
DISTRIBUTABILITY
This product is freeware, copyright (c) 1997 Isengard
Developments.
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V I S A G E V I E W I N G S O F T W A R E
5 May 1997
TITLE
Visage
VERSION
39.12
AUTHOR
Magnus Holmgren
Kvarnbergsv=E4gen 5
S-444 47 Stenungsund
Sweden
E-mail: cmh@lls.se
2:203/512.10@fidonet
DESCRIPTION
Visage is a picture viewer for all Amigas with OS 3.0 or better.
The goal is to have a rather fast viewer, with lots of features.
Picture quality is not the most important thing.
Features include:
* Can display IFF ILBM, JPEG, PNG and datatype pictures.
* Full AA, ECS, CyberGraphX and RTG (I hope! ;) support.
* Supports PCHG (Palette CHanGe) and SHAM (Sliced HAM) IFF ILBM
pictures.
* Can display "deep" pictures in all formats on ECS Amigas,
rendered in HAM, "normal" color (graphics card recommended) or
grayscale.
* Xpk support for IFF ILBM pictures.
* Can scale any rendered picture to fit the screen.
* Extensive monitor support. Uses a BestModeID()-like function to
find a suitable mode (if needed).
* Several slideshow options, including a random and a sort mode,
making Visage nice for use with screen blankers as an external
module.
* Background loading of next picture while viewing the current,
if there is enough memory (this can be disabled).
* Can read pictures from a named pipe.
NEW FEATURES
In 39.12:
* Added PNG support, updated JPEG support, and removed GIF
support.
* CyberGraphX support.
* Translations updated.
* Several minor fixes and updates.
* Pipe reading.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
OS 3.0
AVAILABILITY
Any Aminet site, e.g.
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/gfx/show/Visage.lha
Via WWW, at
http://www.lls.se/~cmh/
PRICE
None.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Copyright by Magnus Holmgren 1995-97
Visage is freely distributable.
--
Magnus Holmgren - Amiga programmer and enthusiast
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A M I G A F A X P R O G R A M
30 Apr 97
TITLE
STFax
VERSION
1.360
AUTHOR
Simone Tellini
E-Mail: wiz@pragmanet.it
WWW: http://www.pragmanet.it/~tellini/main.html
FidoNet: 2:332/502.18
DESCRIPTION
It all began almost an year ago, when for the first time I needed to
send a fax... "Well", I said, "I've got a fax modem, I can
send it from home...".
Unfortunately I had no fax software: the ones provided with the
modem were just for MS-Dos and Windows, as usual.
So I started looking around for fax programs for my Amiga: there
were only two commercial packages, but as I'm almost always
out-of-money, I thought it was a good idea to look in the shareware
before.
I did, but with no luck: I just saw a couple of programs, one worst
than the other.
Thus, I sat down and began to type...
I tried to put in STFax all the functions I thought I would need,
like:
- Nice, handy user interface
- Phonebook
- Scheduler
- Reports
- ARexx port
- Datatypes support for image conversion
- On-line help
- Printer driver to redirect all print-outs to a fax file
and so on...
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
STFax requires OS 2.0+ (v37+) and "reqtools.library" v38+
(Copyright by Nico Francois & Magnus Holmgren).
AVAILABILITY
http://www.pragmanet.it/~tellini/STFax/STFax.html
Aminet mirrors: comm/misc/STFax.lha
PRICE
Requested shareware fee is $35 US (LIT 45000 for Italy,
LIT 50000 for Europe).
DISTRIBUTABILITY
This piece of software is to be distributed "as is" with no
warranty of any kind. The author won't be held responsible
for any damage occurred by its [mis]use.
Bye
Wiz
--
__
__ /// Fidonet: 2:332/502.18 (Simone Tellini)
\\\/// E-Mail: wiz@pragmanet.it
\X// WWW: http://www.pragmanet.it/~tellini/main.html
Aiutatemi a capire cio' che dico e ve lo formulero' meglio.
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F I L E D I F F E R E N C E P R O G R A M
5 May 1997
TITLE
Same Difference
VERSION
1.01
AUTHOR
Steven Goodwin
No E-Mail, Web page or FTP site :-(
DESCRIPTION
Same Difference allows you to compare, list and edit changes
between two text files.
It shows both files, side by side, in a scrolling list with each
difference hightlighted in different colours. These changes can be
edited by the line, or block (i.e. a sequence of consequtive lines
that are all different). You can:
* Replace
* Insert
* Append
* Clear
or just edit the text directly yourself.
NEW FEATURES
1.01 is a PAL/NTSC update.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
None
AVAILABILITY
Aminet, for example:
ftp://ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk/aminet/misc/edit/SameDiff.lha
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Freely distributable.
Copyright 1996-7 by Steven Goodwin.
This version uploaded by the author.
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Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at:
http://www.sharbor.com/amiga/news/ (in html format)
http://www.amigacom.com (in ASCII text)
Australian Mirror Site: http://www.comcen.com.au/~paulm/index.html
All back issues available (in ASCII text) at:
http://www.globaldialog.com/AdventureCentral/AU/index.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Copyright 1997 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_ ||
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