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Amiga Update (1998-01-31)
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_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional Newsletter)
BACK FOR THE FUTURE ||
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AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Gateway 2000, Inc.
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980131
N E X T P R O C E S S O R A N N O U N C E D !
C Y B E R S T O R M S P E C I A L S A L E
A M I G A I N T . A P P O I N T S M I D E A S T R E P
A M I G A I N T . - N E W D I S T R I B U T O R S
A M I G A I N F O R M E R N U M B E R 1 2
F R E D F I S H L E A V E S A M I G A
A M I G A 9 8 U P D A T E
M Y S T A P R I Z E F O R C U C U G M E M B E R S
A M I G A T O W E R K I T S A T L O W P R I C E S
V U L C A N ' S P L A N S F O R 1 9 9 8
P E T R O T . T O B E O N G E R M A N R A D I O
B L I T Z B O M B E R S P R I C E I S S E T - F R E E !
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
News we've all been waiting for this time! Concrete information on
the next generation of Amiga computers. We begin this issue with a
question and answer session from Amiga Incorporated's Joe Torre which
will explain a lot.
When we move forward, we sometimes lose things along the way. This
issue also carries notice of the end of an Amiga tradition. Hear from
Fred Fish about why and how below.
It's been a while since we've been able to break free and attend an
Amiga computer show. Well, it's looking very much like we'll be able
to attend the Gateway Computer Show - Amiga 98 in March. We have a
quick update on that show - and we hope to see you there!
We had a minor disaster today at "Amiga Update". In the process of
updating the computer which held copies of our incoming mail, some was
deleted. Our best efforts at recovery proved in vain. At least one
request for an address change was lost. We regret that a great deal,
and ask anyone who sent in an address change in the last few weeks to
resend it please. If you know of anyone who sent in a change, please
pass that along to us as the sender may not receive this issue.
Despite that event, and the Fred Fish story, most of the news in
today's AU is good news. We hope you enjoy it.
Brad Webb,
Editor
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N E X T P R O C E S S O R A N N O U N C E D !
January 28th, 1998
Processors in future AMIGA computers
Q&A by Joe Torre, Senior Engineer of AMIGA, Inc.
"Which CPU" will be the processor in future Amigas?
01-18-1998 by Joe Torre
One man's answers to common questions about the choice of processors
in future Amiga computers.
Q. Which CPU is more in the Amiga's future, 68K or PPC?
A. Both of them. Amiga has the 68k for legacy compatibility, the PPC
for speed. The flexibility of the Amiga architecture has allowed it to
gain a PPC chip(s) for computationally intensive tasks like rendering,
(de) compression, (de) encryption, etc. The 68K provides 100% software
compatibility, while the PPC provides the horsepower. As more of us
upgrade to 68K+PPC we will have more and more software for our Amigas
that harness the capabilities of PPC.
Q. Will a PPC accelerator be required to run Workbench3.5?
A. Definitely not. The OS upgrade is for existing machines as well as
future ones. We wish to maximize the value and appeal of WB3.5, so all
users will upgrade upon release.
Q. Since a native PPC version of WB3.5 would be faster than a 68K
version, why is it being written for 68k only?
A. To support the existing Amiga Community. Whatever CPU AmigaDos was
ported to it would run faster if the CPU was faster. The time it takes
to market is an important consideration. The time it takes to add an
Accelerator board is under 20 minutes, but Porting the OS to PPC would
take a year plus. The WB3.5 upgrade is for the hundreds of thousands
of 680x0 machines in use today, with or without PPC co-processors.
More Amiga users benefit from a 68K upgrade sooner, than a PPC upgrade
later, to hardware they don't own.
Q. Will there be a PPC only version of AmigaDos?
A. Third party AmigaDos Licenses are free to port to Alpha, PPC, MIPS
etc. These CPUs may be ideal for embedded (non-Amiga) applications
that AmigaDos excels at. While these ports will no-doubt be fast,
especially compared to the bloated OSs that usually run on such
hardware. Although they can't be considered to be Amiga compatible
unless they provide some sort of Chipset and 68K emulation.
Q. What about The Motorola ColdFire family as a CPU?
A. The ColdFire is less than %30 code compatible with 68K, and low in
price, high in performance. The ColdFire has a reduced set of
instructions, which make it very fast, but it lacks many of the
bitfield operations that are critical to AmigaDos.Using ColdFire would
require a complete rewrite of AmigaDos, and would be un-compatible
with the existing commercial programs, and all of the great Aminet
archive.
Q. Will Amiga Inc. be making new Amigas?
A. No, Amiga, Inc. will not be making new machines. New machines will
come from companies who have a license from Amiga International. Petro
has been very successful licensing the Amiga Technology. Check the
Amiga International web page at www.amiga.de for the long list of
licensees. Look to those companies for the New Amiga models. These
companies brought to the Amiga refinements like RTG, AHI, PPC, Wide
SCSI, and even PCI! These companies need your feed back as to what
kind of features you prefer in a new Amiga model. They will only
produce the kinds of Amigas you want to buy.
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E-MAIL TO THE E-DITOR
Date: 24 Jan 98
From: "Mike Scully"
Subject: Re: Newsletter
To: "Brad Webb"
Just received the latest newsletter, and had to say "wow", and thank
you for providing a level-headed, honest, >current< Amiga forum.
Thanks again.
Mike Scully
-------
Like anyone else, we at AU like to receive a pat on the back once in
a while. Since we ran letters pointing out goofs last time, we thought
we'd run one saying nice things this issue. Thanks for the kind words
- they make all the effort worthwhile.
Brad
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C Y B E R S T O R M S P E C I A L S A L E
Macrohard Media Celebrates!
Amiga Inc. has made the anouncement we have all been waiting for! The
Amiga's future is with Motorola and its PowerPC line of processors! To
celebrate the occasion Macrohard Media will be offering the Phase5
CyberstormPPC200 at a temporary sale price. We wish to promote new
software developements for the new standard in Amiga power. We hope
all professional and amateur coders will take advantage of this offer
and start coding the Amiga's future.
These prices will be good only for the month of Febuary. In the case
of a stock shortage these prices will be honored on prepaid orders to
be shipped at a later date.
The CyberstormPPC 200mhz accelerator is for the A3000 and A4000.
CyberstormPPC200 w/ 68k processor - $1065
CyberstormPPC200 w/ out 68k processor - $999
Email Macrohard Media
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A M I G A I N T . A P P O I N T S M I D E A S T R E P
January 15th, 1998
AMIGA Computers In The Middle East
German company International Trade & Business Development GmbH was
chosen by AMIGA International, Inc. to open up the market for AMIGA in
the Middle East.
Mr. Kamali will be in charge of this market. You may contact him at
International Trade & Business Development GmbH
Dipl. Ing. Kamali
Gutleutstr. 171
60327 Frankfurt/M. Germany
Phone: +49 (0) 69-242 772-10
Fax: +49 (0) 69-242 772-40
Mail: kamalitc@aol.com
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A M I G A I N T . - N E W D I S T R I B U T O R S
January 24th, 1998
New International AMIGA Distribution Channels
In December 1997, AMIGA International, Inc. received a first order
from Indonesia. We're looking forward to further orders coming in
soon.
Within the global AMIGA distribution we are also about to establish
new distribution channels in South Africa. Distribution related talks
are going on.
In future, we will have a strong OEM business in Australia. BTW,
Australian AMIGA dealer Megatron has moved. With a horrible heat, 12
trucks and only five people they had a hard job to do...
Their new address:
Megatron Electronic Industries, Pty. Ltd.
46-54 Centre Way
Croydon South
Victoria 3136, Australia
Phone. +61 (03) 9761 6252
Fax: +61 (03) 9761 5144
URL: http://www.megatron.com.au
E-Mail John Barber: john@megatron.com.au
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A M I G A I N F O R M E R N U M B E R 1 2
Issue 12 of The Informer marks our 2nd full year of publishing and
will be available in about 2 weeks. This issue contains lots of
information, including, a report on the Amiga game industry
resurgence, an exclusive interview with Mick Tinker of Index
Information Ltd. which includes info on the BoXeR, InSideOut and The
Access, part 3 of Networking and the Amiga, using SVGA monitors on
your Amiga, plus many news bytes, announcements, and tips.
Issue 12 features eight graded reviews, which include, CrossDOS 7
Gold, New York, StormC, Video Turtle, The Catalyzer Video, KidStop,
Myst and Final Odyssey. Regular columns include, managing
Environmental Variables, direct modem communication, a look at PD
Terminal programs and Q&A's with Ask Dr. Amiga.
And of course, you will get all the other features and extras you've
come to expect from the print version of The Amiga Informer
magazine.Also, have a look at our website for some very exiting
specials only available to Amiga Informer readers too!
We offer you many ways to get The Informer, such as secure on-line
SSL credit card ordering, on-line no-risk, no-obligation trial offer
(http://www.amigainformer.com follow the subscribe link), Toll free
Visa and MC ordering (888-882-6442), Fax ordering (1-914-566-4665), or
good old Snailmail ordering with a downloadable form located at our
website or with the coupon provided in every issue.
Our website ( http://www.amigainformer.com/) will soon be updated
with selected articles from issue 11. More features will be added to
our site in the near future too, so visit soon!
So stay connected and stay informed with The Amiga Informer
magazine.We bring you a no nonsense, no fluff magazine full of useful
information for all levels of Amiga users. We are 100% committed to
the Amiga community and produce The Informer using only Amiga
computers. Check us out soon to see what you've been missing!
Thanks,
Fletcher Haug, Editor
The Amiga Informer magazine
eldritch@mhv.net
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F R E D F I S H L E A V E S A M I G A
{The following letter was recently sent to selected Amiga users from
Cronus. It looks like the end of an era, and a sad event it is. Fred
Fish has been a name synonomous with Amiga quality PD software. No
longer. We understand the business reasons behind the decision and
wish Fred and company the best. Brad}
Cronus Announces Liquidation Sale
Dear Amiga User,
This message is to inform you of some changes at Cronus (formerly
Amiga Library Services) and to give you first opportunity at some
really great deals on Amiga CD-ROMs.
In early 1986 I founded Amiga Library Services to distribute Amiga
software on floppy disk (AKA "Fish Disks") and then many years later
began producing CD-ROM distributions of Amiga software. At the time of
Commodore's bankruptcy, Amiga Library Services was a small but growing
company that not only produced our own products, but imported many
products from overseas and resold them to both end users and dealers.
Of course many things have happened since then, and we recently find
ourselves in the position of not having sufficient ongoing sales to
really justify remaining in the Amiga marketplace at this time. So a
couple months ago, we made the rather painful decision that Cronus
would stop reselling Amiga products, and with the exception of future
AmigaOS versions of Geek Gadgets, stop producing our own Amiga
products. Of course this is not an irreversible decision. If for some
reason in the future it makes sense to reenter the marketplace we will
certainly do so. This is not a loss of faith in the Amiga itself, but
purely a business decision based on the "bottom line".
So we now find ourselves in possession of several thousand CD-ROMs
that we would like to liquidate at below our original cost. Below you
will find a complete list of the titles and quantity of each that we
have in stock. This is a great opportunity for individuals, user
groups, and dealers to obtain these products at an unbeatable price.
You are receiving this mail because you are on one of the Amiga
related mailing lists that Cronus supports as a service to the Amiga
community. We have full intention to continue providing this service.
As a member of one of our mailing lists, you are the first to know
about this liquidation sale. In a few days we will post an
announcement on the Amiga forsale group and change our web site so
that the rest of the Amiga community knows about this sale.
The rules of this liquidation sale are simple:
* First come, first served. Orders will be processed as they are
received. Since quantities vary, obviously we can't guarantee
availability of any particular title. If for some reason we are out of
stock on a particular title you have ordered, we will substitute a
different title of equal value. You can specify "alternate selections"
if you wish.
* All sales are final. There will be no refunds or exchanges.
* The minimum purchase is $10, not including shipping and handling.
* Domestic (USA) shipping will be via UPS, Airborne, or US Priority
mail. Shipping to Canada and overseas destinations will be via small
packet airmail. Cronus STRONGLY suggests shipping via a tracked
shipping method such as UPS or Airborne to avoid problems with lost
shipments. You should specify your prefered shipping method at time of
order.
* Shipping charges will be calculated and added to your order based
upon current UPS, Airborne, or US Postal Service rates, plus a small
amount to cover packaging and handling (typically $1-$2). As an
example, total shipping and handling charges for 1 to 4 CD's via UPS
ground would normally be about $5. Since 4 CD's are about 1 lb, each
additional quantity of 4 CDs would normally add about $1 to the
shipping cost.
* Prices are non-negotiable unless you are interested in at least
fifty or more CD's of a given title. In that case, contact me directly
for pricing.
* For payment we accept VISA, MasterCard, American Express,
Discover/Novus, money orders (in US funds) or cashier's checks. No
personal checks will be accepted.
* Orders placed via email should go to "orders@ninemoons.com". If for
some reason you are unable to get email through to ninemoons.com, then
send it to me personally at "fnf@cygnus.com".
Orders placed via paper mail should go to:
Cronus
26233 North 45th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85024
USA
-Fred Fish
Cronus
January 19, 1998
Title Price Quantity on hand
--------------------------- ----- ----------------
Amiga Developer CD 1.1 $5 6
Aminet Vol 13 $2 1
Aminet Vol 16 $2 22
Aminet Vol 18 $2 1
Aminet Vol 19 $2 12
Aminet Vol 20 $5 36
Aminet Vol 21 $5 15
Amy Resources $5 30
da capo (Amiga) $1 105
da capo (MacIntosh) $1 909
Fresh Fish Vol 4 $1 25
Fresh Fish Vol 7 $1 74
Fresh Fish Vol 8 $1 23
Fresh Fish Vol 9 $1 27
Fresh Fonts 1 $1 14
FantaSeas (Photo-CD) $5 109
FrozenFish (PC readable) $1 541
Gold Fish Vol 3 (2-CD set) $1 798
Geek Gadgets Vol 1 (Amiga) $1 133
Geek Gadgets Vol 2 ! (Amiga) $5 129
Guru ROM 2091 (hardware) $20 2
Guru ROM V6 (hardware) $20 5
Mods Anthology $20 11
Online Library (multiplatform) $1 122
p.OS prerelease $5 23
Turbocalc 4.0 $5 1
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A M I G A 9 8 U P D A T E
Gateway Computer Show - Amiga 98
New Vendors Added January 25th!
NewTek Inc. Nordic Global Inc.
Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group
National Capital Amiga Users Group
Now A Three Day Show!
Coming March 13th thru 15th, 1998
to the Harley Hotel in St. Louis.
Brought to you by Amigan-St. Louis
F
E
A
T
U
R
I
N
G
* the 3rd International Developers Conference
* Amiga Inc.
* Amiga International's Petro Tyschtschenko
* Jeff Schindler, General Manager of Amiga Inc.
* and many others soon to be mentioned
* Even more excitement than Amiga 97.
!! Don't miss it !!
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M Y S T A P R I Z E F O R C U C U G M E M B E R S
Ten CUCUG Members Will Win Myst!
January 26, 1998 - CUCUG is very pleased to announce that ten of its
lucky members will receive copies of the absolutely fabulous,
graphically rich, tremendously popular game Myst published by
clickBOOM in its regular, monthly user group raffle.
"We are very excited to be able to give away ten free copies of what
is probably the most popular title available on the Amiga at this
time," said Kevin Hisel, CUCUG's web master.
The ten copies of the game will be awarded randomly to current CUCUG
Amiga members--five on February 19th and the remaining five on March
19th. You must be a paid member of CUCUG on those dates to win.
Hisel stated, "We really want to thank clickBOOM and all of the other
Amiga companies which have supported our membership with their
generous donations."
To join CUCUG, Amiga users are invited to use the membership form
found at their web site at http://www.cucug.org/supportawd98.html .
CUCUG membership is only $20 and is good through December. The club
offers many other benefits to members. Details are available at that
web address.
###
NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Raffle not valid where prohibited. You must be
a paid Amiga member of CUCUG on the day of the drawing to win.Member
is responsible for all taxes associated with the prizes. Prizes will
be available for pickup at each CUCUG monthly meeting or mailed to you
via surface shipping methods. Unclaimed prizes revert back to CUCUG.
You must have a working e-mail address on file with CUCUG for prize
notification purposes. CUCUG is a non-profit corporation registered in
the state of Illinois. Winners determined by random draw. All
decisions final.
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A M I G A T O W E R K I T S A T L O W P R I C E S
Due to the runaway success of the Amigo Tower system for the A1200
and the tremendous review in CU Amiga (90%), we now have the facility
to bulk buy the components that are included in our Amigo 1200
Multimedia Station.
We have decided to support DIY Amiga owners with the following
prices.
Laser cut powder coated backplate (off white) to accept Amiga
motherboard, PSU, CDDA out etc 470mm X 165mm £14.95
Tower with above backplate fitted £69.95
Tower with above backplate supplied but not fitted ( four rivets and
screws to remove ) £59.95
Ateo keyboard interface £29.95
Front plate adaptor (powder coated off white) £3.00
PSU adaptor £9.95
Dual device lead to connect HD and CDrom £9.95
PC Keyboard £19.95
Because of the nature of the above, there will be no manual supplied,
although anybody interested in the DIY tower should know what they are
doing anyway. To add to that we can supply a Full coulour bound manual
with digital photo`s to assist you. As this is obviously expensive,
even to us in the quantity that we use, a charge of £4.95 would be
added.
NONE of the parts would be fitted, simply supplied. the backplates
will not be marked up to show the ports and they will be unbadged.
Technical support will be limited to Email icstech@centrenet.co.uk or
newsgroups.
All towers would be subject to £10.00 P&P, other parts £2.00 P&P
This is a rock bottom price as there is no labour involved for us.
So there you go, you could tower up for less than £100.00
{AND, if that doesn't appeal to you ... }
Due to the runaway success of the Amigo Tower system for the A1200
and the tremendous review in CU Amiga (90%), we now have the facility
to bulk buy the components that are included in our Amigo 1200
Multimedia Station.
Therefore we are pleased to announce a price reduction on our superb
upgrade for the A1200.
£149.95 plus £10.00 P&P
http://www.centrenet.co.uk/~ics/mms.html
Intrinsic Computer Systems and Deal Amiga Club with Kickstart at the
Feb Techno Fair
Come see us at the Techno Fair ( http://www.technofair.demon.co.uk)
in Canterbury on the 1st February 1998
We will be exhibiting all our Amiga products at this event.
Also several Amiga Clubs will be there to answer all your questions
about the Amiga and Amiga Clubs.
Deal Amiga Club based in Kent Kickstart based in Surrey
15th February 1998
Ateo Concept Bus Board and 64 bit Graphics Card
We will be marketing this product in the UK at a very competitive
price, so competitive that Zorro will be a thing of the past. So if
your looking for expansion don't buy a Zorro buy an Ateo !
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V U L C A N ' S P L A N S F O R 1 9 9 8
VULCAN MEMO? No, Just a MISSION STATEMENT!
After many meetings and internal development discussions Vulcan
Software has released its future plans for 1998.
The year ahead is mainly based on development expansion and will see
Vulcan developing for Macintosh, PC and Playstation formats aswell as
high-end specification Amiga CDRom and Amiga PPC formats.
A full Past, Present and Future analysis including (Teams & Talents)
information can be found at http://www.vulcan.co.uk/vulcan/who.html
Vulcan Software partners with the ATO (Amiga Translators
Organisation)
see http://www.vulcan.co.uk/vulcan/t-trans.html for more information.
Adding to our continued localisation support this partnership will
insure that all Vulcans future Amiga CDRom titles will be available in
as many languages as possible.
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P E T R O T . T O B E O N G E R M A N R A D I O
January 27th, 1998
Interview With Petro Tyschtschenko On German Radio Station
German radio station "Radio Aktiv" will broadcast an interview with
Petro Tyschtschenko on February 6th, 1998. The interview will be
broadcasted on: Hameln/Germany: UKW 100,00 MHz, cable net 102,9 and
Bad Pyrmont/Germany: UKW 94,8 MHz, cable net 101,45
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B L I T Z B O M B E R S P R I C E I S S E T - F R E E !
PORTSMOUTH, England -- 27th January 1998
In a surprise move, Red When Excited Ltd announce the imminent
availability of one of the most eagerly awaited Amiga games of all
time.
BLITZBOMBERS - originating back into 1995 took the Amiga community by
storm, with unsurpassed playability and multiplayer addiction. Due to
several legal pressures, BlitzBombers was never released - much to the
sadness of the Amiga games-playing public.
Red When Excited are delighted to announce that, from February 1st
1998, BlitzBombers will be released to the Amiga community FREE OF
CHARGE.
The full game will be uploaded to Aminet on January 31st, and will be
available from most Aminet mirrors from February 1st onwards.
BlitzBombers will also be available from the RWE homepage.
NOTE: Whilst we are making BlitzBombers freeware, as a gift to the
long-suffering Amiga community, Red When Excited Ltd retain FULL
copyright on BlitzBombers.
For further information, contact redwhen@ldngedge.demon.co.uk or
visit our WebSite - http://www.ldngedge.demon.co.uk
Enjoy!
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Amiga Update on the net: some issues available at:
http://www.sharbor.com/amiga/news/ (in html format)
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
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Copyright 1998 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || Brad Webb/AmigaUpdate
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || bandr@globaldialog.com
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