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Amiga Update (1999-04-30)
======================================================================
_ __ _ <>_ __ _ ||
/\\ |\ /|| || / ` /\\ || A M I G A U P D A T E
/__\\ | \ / || || || ___ /__\\ || -News and Rumors-
/ \\_ | \/ ||_ _||_ \__// / \\_|| (An Occasional e-mail
KEEP THE MOMENTUM GOING || Newsmagazine)
======================================================================
AMIGA and the Amiga logo are trademarks of Amiga, Inc.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
990430
J O I N T A M I G A D E V E L O P E R S
V O Y A G E R 3 N O T E S - F R O M W E B P A G E
R U M O R : S E C R E T A M I G A C O N F
A M I G A A R E A O N D E J A N E W S
A M I G A O S D E T A I L S P O S T E D
B E T A T E S T E R S S O U G H T F O R O S 3 . 5
W O R L D O F A M I G A ' 9 9 !
N E W S C A L O S R E L E A S E
F I R S T C O M M E R C I A L P P C G A M E
C O O K O U T O N M A Y 1 S T
G . A . U . H . P . I . L .
N E W S I T E F O R A I O
T O R N A D O 3 D S E
P E R S U A S I V E P P C
N E W S F R O M R A N D O M I Z E
Editor's Thoughts and Introduction:
It's been a quiet end of April for the Amiga scene. That doesn't mean
nothing is happening, just that there weren't a lot of news releases.
However, even in a quiet month the Amiga community is always doing
something, so there are many things to read in this issue.
There are always things that have happened for which we don't have
press releases or posted stories. This month, a number of Amigans have
wondered what has happened to SoftLogik, publishers of the excellent
"PageStream" publishing package. As nearly as we can determine, the
company is in transition to a new location somewhere in Wisconsin. Who
knows, they might even wind up near "Amiga Update".
The following quote from the SoftLogik mailing list was sent along to
us:
"As reported online earlier, Soft-Logik is moving. The building in
St. Louis was closed February 24th, 1999. We expect to finalize the
purchase of the new location in Wisconsin on Tuesday, March 9th,
1999."
As we obtain information, we'll pass it along.
Meantime, please enjoy this latest issue.
Brad Webb,
Editor
----------------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail to the E-ditor:
Date: Sun, 11 Apr 1999
Subject: IBrowse
Can't seem to find them. Their site is not available and this right
after they announce a new upcoming release. What do you think?
How many of us Amigans do you think are left out there?
Do you think they started too late developing the Amiga at Gateway or
is there still hope?
With the PC prices at all time lows, it seems almost ludicrous for
someone to dump thousands into a machine that is still using 10 year
old technology and software, speaking for myself, of course. Just got
through getting an A4KT up and running that has been sitting in my
office for 15 months. Talk about trying to get information, I still
haven't found the right 32 meg simm modules to plug into the card. I
have purchased 8 already. Ouch!!!!!
Kind regards
Ed
~~~~~~
Hello Ed,
The IBrowse web site has returned, though it could use some updating.
We'd certainly have a great loss if anything happened to Omnipresence.
Not sure of the answers to your other questions. There are more
Amigans than many might think, and in unusual places. Everyday I walk
into my "day job"'s building in one of the most powerful corporations
anywhere in the world and see the work of anonymous Amigas all around
me. Our headquarters building has large TV monitors scattered
throughout for announcements, corporate news and programs related to
our products. The system is Amiga based even though most people in the
IT organization have never heard of it. (Those who work near me have!)
As for Gateway, their innovative plans should be able to make up for
any late start. There's always room for a good product, especially in
a niche market. The key is to advertise, and know your market. If
anyone can handle that, Gateway can.
Finally, I can't help on the simm question, but I'll bet our readers
can!
Regards,
Brad
----------------------------------------------------------------------
J O I N T A M I G A D E V E L O P E R S
14 Apr 1999
Joint Amiga Developers (JAD) have announced that they are now active,
and ready to begin the construction of an Internet-based development
system which will gather Amiga-developers from all over the world to
develop major applications.
This should be of interest to anyone who wants to see some more major
applications for the Amiga, as well as make sure that the next
generation of Amigas will have a solid base of applications to grow
with.
It is a theory which is yet untested. The success of this theory
depends on YOU!
Take a look at our homepage at: http://jad.amiga-software.com
Or mail us at: amiganetwork@usa.net
Please note that JAD is currently a non-profit organization, which
means that there is no money to earn from this. But if you just help a
little, you can make a difference too.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
V O Y A G E R 3 N O T E S - F R O M W E B P A G E
18 April, 199
Voyager 3 Notes
===============
Ok, here's a short summary of what has been done, is being done and
(eventually) will be done for Voyager 3. This focusses on "major"
changes, and I've written it offhand, so I may have forgot something.
Document revision: 1, 16.4.99
Javascript
----------
Of course, the thing everyone wants (esspecially the ones asking for
"Java" :)
I've implemented the Javascript 1.2 core language with a nicely-done
bytecode interpreter. Voyager first compiles the code down into a
special P-Code (or "Bytecode", as it's nowadays called, although it
really consists of 16 bit instructions) which is then executed by a
special interpreter. This should give the fastest JS implementation
available in the industry, and should esspecially help with the
otherwise massive impact of event handler code or looping operations.
The Document Object Model I'm implementing is closely based on the
one of the Microsoft Internet Explorer, because it is much more
flexible than that of NS (that's what M$ calls "Dynamic HTML").
Status: mostly done, in testing stage, gathering real-world feedback
now
HTML
----
Numerous major and minor updates. Support for CSS 1 is being worked
on and will most likely be ready in time. Note that "Dynamic HTML" is
actually a JS-related issue.
Status: done, in testing stage, gathering real-world feedback now
GUI
---
Main GUI is now completely customziable with the well-known "coolbar"
technology borrowed from the Windows world. Bookmarks are replaced
with the new embedded version of the Contact Manager. New IE4-alike
history allows finding
Status: mostly done
Networking
----------
Cache system has been reworked to require less maintaince. Optional
"blacklisting" for image fetching based on URLs allows one to get rid
of banners and based tracking services. The same will probably be
added for cookies.
Status: mostly done
Java
----
The "Merapi" JavaVM seems to have died. Holger Kruse of Nordicglobal
recently announced the Daytona JavaVM, and has invited all browser
authors to participate in a design discussion about a potential plugin
API for Daytona. If this project has a future (and given hkr's track
record, it surely will), I'm definitvly going to support it.
Status: time will tell
Flash/Shockwave
---------------
David "Zapek" Gerber is working on integrating the free flash 3
player as an V plugin.
Status: being worked on. It's either finished in time or someone in
Switzerland will have his buttock prodded :^)
Image decoders
--------------
Updated to current versions of libjpeg and libpng. Speed improvements
in the rendering code, and will now also deal fine with CGFX4
in-buffer bitmaps. Fixed tons of low-memory issues. Modularized and
loaded on demand based on the system architecture for maximum
efficiency with easy upgrading to PPC. Special support for FBlit on
AGA systems to totally eliminate the need to use chipmem.
Status: done, in testing stage
Plugins
-------
Nothing really done yet, but the Flash player is being designed as an
plugin and will stirr up some required changes.
Status: erm
--
Oliver Wagner http://www.vapor.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
R U M O R : S E C R E T A M I G A C O N F
18 Apr 1999
{Found this on the net recently. Must regard as a rumor. In any event,
we weren't invited. ;-) Brad}
Event: Amiga Inc. Press conference
Date: Fri Apr 30, 1999
Description: All the dealers and important developers are being
gathered at a secret location near Heathrow {that's in England, for
the geographically challenged ;-)} for a conference with Jim Collas
and Petro Tyschtschenko. We don't know what will be discussed yet, but
assume that there will be demos of OS3.5 and OS5.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A M I G A A R E A O N D E J A N E W S
16 Apr 1999
From D NICKEL (merlin_41@rocketmail.com):
Hi,
I started a new area on dejanews.com for the amiga .
heres the url:http://www.dejanews.com/~amigaworld/
check it out.
let me know what you think!!!!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
A M I G A O S D E T A I L S P O S T E D
OS3.5 Details from AUGS User Group Meeting
Posted by Martin Heine in comp.sys.amiga.misc:
Here are some more details regarding OS 3.5 as revealed by
Haage&Partner at the AUGS-Meeting - as usual aimed as a piece of first
info in Germenglish until someone tells you all this in an official
statement in correct English. =)
Internet:
A special version of AWeb will be the Browser (like I said) and the
TCP/IP-stack will be Miami (unlike I said :-). Integrated
Network-support. The E-Mail-API and the simple E-Mail-Client will be
from the author of Voodoo and New York.
Workbench:
Regarding our topic "Moving of the Icons" was said that it wouldn't
be necessary anymore to use the Shift-Key when moving more than one
icon. An "Unselect" will be possible when more than one icon is
selected. All Preferences-Programs will get the new Reaction-surface.
The Submenus of the WB will be optimized for a better handling.
Icon Library:
When selecting, the icons will start to "glow"; when dragging them
they'll get semi-transparent. Via the "Info"-Option it will now also
be possible to set the process-priority. The current and the New Icons
will be supported. The AppIcons will now be able to be animated.
Reaction:
The Tool Reactor will enable software-authors to use the new
Reaction-surface with their own software. One of the highlights of
Reaction is the possibility to have a color-gradient in the background
of a window. Also bugs in the asl.library will be removed.
PowerPC:
WarpUp will be integrated in it's latest version. An important part
will be the Preferences-settings which will complement the
integration.
Installer:
The installer will be able to be opened on an own screen. This screen
can have a color-gradient (where did I see this before...)-: New will
be the possibility to go steps backward during installation.
Printers:
The printer-support will be redesigned completely, so that
24-bit-printing will be possible on the WB. CyberGraphX and Picasso96
will be supported. There will be only one Printer-Setting in the
future, which will also have a preview-window showing immediately the
changed settings.
Datatypes:
Reworked and improved, now also 24-bit-capable. New are datatypes for
AIFF, JPG and GIF. Complete rework of the Amigaguide-Datatype. The
documentation will be in HTML in German and English. Release date is
still August. First Beta-Tests will start in ca. 3 weeks. AmigaOS 3.5
will be delivered on CD-ROM for 99,50 DM.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
B E T A T E S T E R S S O U G H T F O R O S 3 . 5
In May the beta testing phase for the new AmigaOS 3.5 starts.
To be considered as a beta-tester, you would have to match the
following criteria:
o Internet connection
o sufficient knowledge of the English language
o enough time for the testing
o PGP-key
o Amiga-System with the following minimum specifications: MC68020, 6
MB RAM, hard drive, CD-ROM-Drive, AGA Chipset or Graphics card, OS 3.1
ROMs
Every beta-tester will have to sign a contract, and is not allowed to
pass on any information or data, which he will be receiving during the
tests, to third parties.
Communication will only be through a closed mailing list, in the
English language.
Every beta-tester is expected to send in a report in regular
intervals.
Should you feel you are capable for this task, please fill out the
form at http://www.amiga.com. Application is only possible via the
Internet. Should Amiga accept you for testing, you will receive
confirmation from shortly. Amiga regrets it is most likely they will
not be able to take all those who are interested for beta-testing and
hope for the understanding of applicants.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
W O R L D O F A M I G A ' 9 9 !
20 Apr 1999
World of Amiga '99 -it's going ahead!
PBA Events in association with AmigaSoc UK (http://uk.amigasoc.org)
are pleased to announce that the most eagerly awaited Amiga event on
everyone's calendar is going ahead. The show will be on the weekend of
24th and 25th July.
Many people have expressed the need to host the UK's premier Amiga
event at an alternative venue. Although the Novotel was selected for
reasons of tradition in the past, the time has come to break with
tradition and go for something new. This year, we'll be holding the
event in a prestigious Kensington venue which we're sure you'll agree
is a huge improvement over the Novotel!
In addition to the usual things people have come to expect from the
show, we are aiming to run a number of other events within the show.
These will be organised with the help of UK user groups, so you can
guarantee that the place will be brimming with Amiga experts with
brains just waiting to be picked!
* Games competitions: Amiga multi-player games are getting better all
the time. Now's your chance to play them with loads of other people...
and you might even win a prize!
* An Amiga cybercafe: If you're not on the Internet already, see how
easy it is to get your Amiga connected!
* Seminars: Following on from last year's hugely successful series of
seminars, we'll be getting leading Amiga people to make presentations
on various subjects (if you'd like to hold a seminar, get in touch
with Andrew Elia (E-Mail: andrew@uk.amigasoc.org) now)
* How-to sessions: If you're in any doubt as to the best way to go
about towering your A1200, or getting on the Internet, Amiga experts
from around the UK will show you how (if you've got any ideas for
potential workshops, then contact Andrew Elia (E-Mail:
andrew@uk.amigasoc.org)or use the forms soon to be available on our
website).
* Shareware registration: Your chance to register some top quality
Amiga software without all the hassle of sending money to far off
places.
* A user group hospitality area: Those that are members of registered
user groups can relax in a private and informal atmosphere while
getting the chance to hobnob with Amiga celebrities from around the
world.
* Stands for user groups: If you're not a member of a user group,
then you can come along and meet representatives from your nearest
group. On the other hand, if you're a user group and you'd like to
take the opportunity to recruit some more members, then the WOA show
is the perfect place to start. If your user group wants a piece of the
action, E-Mail Chris Livermore (E-Mail: chrisl@uk.amigasoc.org).
* The inimitable Annex: Get autographs and kisses from Amiga's own
pop group!
Undoubtedly, one of the most exciting things happening at the show
will be the launch of OS 3.5. All being well, this product should be
launched at the show and will be on sale. You won't get another chance
to try before you buy! Additionally, the next generation Amigas are
just around the corner, so you never know what else you might see!
The 1998 AAA awards (http://www.aaa-awards.org) will also be
presented at the show, so you can see first hand who will be
collecting this year's international award as well as the first ever
UK AAA award.
The official World Of Amiga website (http://www.worldofamiga.com) is
already on-line. All the latest news will be posted here. We are
currently in the process of updating it to include all the information
visitors to the show could possibly need, including details of hotels,
a map of the venue, our growing list of exhibitors, and any news
relating to the show as it becomes available to us. We also hope to
offer an on-line ticket ordering system courtesy of IMM Studios
(http://www.immstudios.com). If there's something else you feel we
should provide through the site then drop us an E-Mail
(andrew@uk.amigasoc.org)!
Be in no doubt, this show has got the full backing of Amiga.
Tickets will be priced at £7.50 for adults, and £5.00 for under 14s.
This year we will also be offering special rates for families. Two
adults and two children (under 14) enter for only £15.00!
Additionally, for people wishing to attend on both days of the show,
there will be a special booth on Saturday that will sell tickets to
existing ticket holders for Sunday's show for a mere £2.00 (£1.00 for
under 14s). There will also be a number of tempting door prizes.
Details will be made available on our website.
As far as exhibitors are concerned, we are aiming to provide a
competitive rate this year, and will also be offering special low-cost
tables to companies/organisations who are on a tight budget. In short,
we want to please everyone!
You won't want to miss it!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W S C A L O S R E L E A S E
29 Apr 1999
From Oliver Wagner:
A new release of Scalos, the Workbench replacement, is available
from the VaporWare download sites worldwide:
scalos12a.lha 545261 Bytes
FTP:
ftp.vapor.com, pubscalos/
ftp.us.vapor.com, pubscalos/
ftp.ch.vapor.com, pubvapor/scalos/
HTTP:
http://vapor.ukonline.co.uk/
http://vapor.meanmachine.ch/
Scalos product information is available from
http://www.vapor.com/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
F I R S T C O M M E R C I A L P P C G A M E
10 April, '99
Hurricane Studios Announce Availability of the First Amiga Commercial
PowerPC Game
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Hurricane Studios are proud to announce the availability of the FIRST
Amiga commercial PowerPC game.
Eat The Whistle PPC is available NOW in the Hurricane Studios Web
Site, in the official Eat The Whistle Home Page and, soon, in Aminet.
It's a FREE upgrade for the owner of the 68k version, it needs the
original ETW CD-ROM to be installed. The PPC version needs also
ppc.library V46+ and AHI V4.x installed to work.
Together with the PPC version is available also an optimized chunky
version for 040/060 Amigas. You can choose between the game executable
you want to use with a new "PREFS" menu section, "SYSTEM".
The gameplay has been improved a lot and the refresh speed is
smoother than ever. Here are some of the features of the enhanced
versions:
o With PPC version you can play at 25fps on 640x400 on AGA amigas,
more than 30fps on 640x480 with CVPPC/BVPPC, lowres modes reach 50fps
both with AGA & GFX Cards.
o New fields, with better graphics.
o Offside rule.
o New mode "SCALING" that allows realtime graphics resize when
playing on
the workbench.
o Added triple buffering.
o Improved CGX/P96 support.
o The computer opponents are stronger.
o Largely improved goalkeepers AI.
o New active player change method, "CLASSIC", similar to the one of
other games.
o Improved control response.
Get this FREE upgrade in:
Aminet:
game/patch/ETW-CD20p.lha (550KB)
game/data/ETW-Pitches.lha (~2.6MB, optional)
Hurricane Studios WWW:
http://www.aspide.it/freeweb/hurricane/
Eat The Whistle WWW:
http://surf.to/etw/
You can buy the original game at:
http://www.epicmarketing.ltd.net/
----------------------------------------------------------------------
C O O K O U T O N M A Y 1 S T
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
April 9, 1999
NCAUG Cookout at Software Hut
The National Capital Amiga Users Group (http://www.ncaug.org) is
happy to announce in conjunction with Software Hut
(http://www.softhut.com) a cookout for their May meeting. The
festivities begin at 12 noon on Saturday May 1st at Software Hut's
West Chester location. Come early, the fun ends at 3 p.m. Aside from
special deals for those who attend, there will be food, fun, and a
surprise or two.
Members of NCAUG will meet at predetermined locations to arrange car
pools to Software Hut. Please consult the NCAUG Web Page and
newsletter, Amiga Intuition, for more information. Amigans from New
York, New Jersey, and surrounding areas are also encouraged to attend,
you do not need to be a member. It is asked that you either call
(800-932-6442) or e-mail Trish at Software Hut if you plan to attend.
A map of Software Hut's location is on their web page.
The National Capital Amiga Users Group has been serving the DC Metro
Amiga user since 1985. Home of the famous Blimp Cam, our group is
world reknown as one of the most active Amiga User Groups there is. We
offer the latest in Amiga developments and informations. SIGS
supporting the Internet, programming, and video production available
to all members. Please come by for an afternoon of fun.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
G . A . U . H . P . I . L .
G.A.U.H.P.I.L. - Back for the future!
25 April 1999, Göttingen, Germany: Dietmar Knoll is proud to announce
that the Geographical Amiga Users Home Page Internet List (GAUHPIL)
is online again!
The GAUHPIL is a moderated list of personal homepages of Amiga users.
It was established as early as 1994, reached a maximum of 600 names
listed in 1997, but was offline since then.
Now the GAUHPIL is back for the future! Again, there are 600 users
listed and there will be more in the next weeks. Currently pages are
being added to the list, which is released on a bi-weekly basis.
All Amiga users are invited to send info about their personal
homepages to be added to the list.
A totally new "feature" are some banners for linking the GAUHPIL.
Any self-made banners or ideas for banners or for the GAUHPIL in
general are highly appreciated.
The Website can be visited at: http://GAUHPIL.home.pages.de/
The Moderator can be reached at: dknoll@okay.net
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W S I T E F O R A I O
24 April, '99
By Chris Seward
For Immediate Release
Amiga Information Online has now moved its web site to a registered
web domain in the UK. You can find this new site by visiting
www.aio.co.uk
The old site (www.amiga1.demon.co.uk/aio) will act as a forwarding
service to people who have the old address.
I hope you all try this new site and see the speed improvements it
brings. It is now also alot easier to remember and will of course
attract alot more readers.
The latest issue has just been released today (24.4.99) and is
already online for downloading. Our last issue featured an interview
with Petro Tyschtschenko which was very successful and is still online
to be read. You can download the latest issue (issue 23) from our site
by following the links online.
Now that we have a proper website the site will be used to let the
readers get more involved with the site instead of just using it as
the latest issue downloading point. Some of the new features online
include ALL the interviews to ever feature in AIO, all the latest
readers letters we receive online, a global Amiga survey soon to be
launched plus lots lots more like lists of all the product reviews we
have done with issues numbers and scores to make it easier to find the
issue with a review of something you want to know about.
I would like to thank some people who without, this registered site
would not be possible and people who have helped in the process of
getting to this stage. Firstly I'd like to thank all the editorial
team of AIO, past and present who have helped me bring a publication
to many readers all over the world. I would like to thank Chris Brown
for hosting the current site, even though he did slow on updates a bit
to the end and also to Andrew Crowe who created the web site which I
have hacked to bits and added various areas. I would like to thank
Conor Kerr who will be getting the registered domain for me and the
work he has done to bring it to life. Last but not least I would like
to give great thanks to the people who believed in AIO enough to
donate which without again we would not be seeing the domain today,
these great people are, Malcolm Harnden, Ian Urie, Stuart Walker,
Andrew Cashmore, Paul Steadman, Gerald Hobbs and Raynald Le Moing.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
T O R N A D O 3 D S E
23 April 99
Tornado3D v2.0 SE
This special version of Tornado3D from Haage & Partner has all you
need to create breath-taking 3D graphics and animation at a very
reasonable price and with a full upgrade option. Includes PowerPC and
Virge3D support. You can get this outstanding 3D package for only 199
DM.
Just some of Tornado3D 2.0 SE's features are:
* Volumetric Lights
* PowerPC rendering with separate specially-optimized 603e and 604e
modules
* Real-time 3D color shaded preview
* Real-time interactive rendering
* Virge3D support
* Splines
* Deformation Cages
* Automorphing
* Projector Lights
* Clipmapped Shadows
* Selective Raytracing for Reflections, Refractions and Shadows
* Cubic Reflections and Refractions
* Additive and normal transparency
* Pose Manager
* Lens Flares
* Postscript(tm) font import
* Lightwave objects import
* DXF import and export
* Imagine objects and groups import
* Metameshing with selectable Edge Tension
* Procedural Textures plug-ins
* Multiple Shaders (Matte, Dull, Plastic, Metal, Glass)
* Unlimited maps and textures per surface
* Turbulent and quiet 3D fog
* Linear, Early, Late quadratic and user fog kinds
* Distant, Point, Spot and Umbrella light sources
* Animatable Volumetric Hypertextures
* Extrusion, lathing, replication and arraying
* Spline skinning
* Nurbs polygonization
* Interactive animation panel
* Interactive Move, Scale, Rotate, Bend, Taper, Twist, Shear, Mould
and Pinch
* Inverse Kinematics
* Interpolated Shading
* Soft Shadows
* High quality shadow maps and clipmapped shadows for rotoscoping
* Subdivide, fractalize, triangulate, Normalize, Refine
* Displacement mapping
* Image creation panel
* Full graphics card support
* Datatype V43 support
* IFF, TGA, JPEG and RAW internal loaders and savers
* ...and much more
----------------------------------------------------------------------
P E R S U A S I V E P P C
30 Apr 1999
From Andreas R. Kleinert:
Hi,
this is just a small press information on my PPC programs.
Recent tests have shown, that the latest versions of
nearly all of my PPC programs - including SView/PPC and
the akDatatypes - do perfectly work together with
Frank Wille's ppc.library emulation for WarpOS,
starting with V0.6b.
Unfortunately, WarpOS V4.0 only does include V0.6 - however,
the newest version always can be found on Frank's homepage
under http://home.owl.de/~frank/
Using the ppc.library emulation yet is the recommended
way of running my programs under WarpOS - although a few
programs/modules already do exist as WOS versions (which
mainly still are under development and not yet complete).
SView/PPC and the akDatatypes do offer preferences options
for switching between the two possible selections under
WOS: the emulation will be utilized when auto-detection
and the respective "ppclib emu" option are enabled.
As a matter of fact, the "ppc kernel controversy" now
is solved, at least regarding PerSuaSiVe SoftWorX products.
Thanks for listening.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
N E W S F R O M R A N D O M I Z E
Genesis Odyssey PPC II - System Update - April 28, 1999
We are pleased to announce that we have improved the Floppy Disk
handling capapabilities of our systems. Systems now ordered with High
Density Disk Drives will be using the Catweasel from Individual
Computers making them able to not only read and write Low and High
Density Amiga and PC disks, but will also be able to read and write
the XTRA-HD Format (2380 KB) as well as the ability to set up your own
drivers for Atari, Commodore 1581 and Mac DD Formats.
We will also be offering the Catweasel ZII which includes all the
functionality of the Catweasel plus the Buddah providing 3 IDE
interfaces capable of 6 IDE/ATAPI devices (12 by putting IDE-Fix 1200
on each of the 3 IDE ports). The Catweasel ZII requires a ZorroII
busboard to be present in the system.
We have also improved the IDE interface performance by including the
IDE-Fix 1200 adapter by Individual Computers. IDE-Fix 1200 allows for
the conenction of 4 IDE / ATAPI devices to the A1200, improves
performance and allows for compatibiltiy of ATAPI Zip drives and LS
120 Drives. You can increase the IDE Preformance with the IDE-Fix
Express allowing for transfer rates up to 5 MB/sec. and better
multitasking. IDE-Fix Express can easily be added to the IDE-Fix 1200
already part of the Genesis System.
-------------
We do feel it appropriate to respond to comparisons made of our
Genesis Towerhawk vs. the AlienBoxer.
It should be noted that we have dropped the Genesis Towerhawk from
our product line due to the confusion between it and our Odyssey PPC
system. In revamping our product line, we have moved to a
"Build-Your-Own" paridym letting users build their system exactly as
they'd like it. We have kept some pre-made systems for those that are
not familiar enough with the Amiga to build their own and systems that
are built as solutions.
Let us state that we think the idea of a new Amiga motherboard is a
great idea and long overdue and that we support this effort for their
development on this motherboard. We are even interested in adding a
system to our Genesis line that would be based on this motherboard and
will seriously consider that possiblity when we can get our hands on a
Boxer motherboard.
This has always been our company policy re. the Boxer board. Like
wise, it has been our policy to only adversise and market those
products that we can actually deliver. Using this as a basis, we are
designing systems using the A1200 as a motherboard. We think that this
offers some substantial advantages:
o PPC Standard on our systems, 060 and 030 downgrades as an option
o "No questions asked" compatibility
o complete expandibility and modularity - add on only those parts and
features you want
o access to a huge and growing amount of A1200 expansion products
o access to an established base of Zorro Card via our Zorro card
module
o access to new and exiting CPU options as them become available,
including the new G3 boards
o access to PCI boards that will be connected to G3 accelerators
o cost effective 24 Bit Graphics (8MB Permedia 2) with local bus to
CPU
o Video Toaster Flyer compatiblity via Video Slot and Zorro card
modules
o Amiga Magic Bundle included plus Personal Paint 7.1 and a full
suite of other applications
o OS 3.5 like features built into pre-installed OS including
NewIcons,
Internet Support, etc.
o all drivers for hardware pre-installed in OS
o huge amount of storage space - 6 x 5.25" bays, 4 x 3.5" bay, 1 x
2.5" bay
Regarding Price
Genesis Odyssey PPC II incl.
o 060 50Mhz and PPC 160Mhz (we'll soon have the 060 clocked at 66Mhz
soon)
o 16 MB, 3.2 GB HD, 40x CD
All this for $1699.95 US .. thats more speed and Hard Drive space
than the Alien Boxer.
To match the Boxer, we'd need to add a Zorro bus and a modem
o Zorro Bus - $210 US
o USRobitic v.90 Modem - $225 US
You'll see that this makes the price of the Odyssey PPC II system
more than the Alien Boxer at $1795 US, but you've got PPC, a larger
Hard Drive and Faster CD including ASIMCDFS software. And the modem is
a high quality USRobotics, basically the best you can buy! Also, there
is really no need for the Zorro Slot card as in this configuration it
is not being used for anything so lets take it out.
The Total Odyssey PPC II is now 1924.95. Just slightly more than the
Alien Boxer but with PPC, larger Hard Drive, a great modem and
everything else mentioned above.
We haven't even yet talked about our experience and expertise doing
systems. Your Genesis system comes backed up by Randomize, Inc. will
long experience with all the manufactures involved plus our one year
parts warrentee.
We're not saying that we have all the solutions and that the Alien
Boxer isn't appropriate in some situation, we simply suggest you
compare carefully.
Having said that, we are always open to system suggestions. Please
email us at sales@randomize.com with your suggestions, comments,
questions, and orders.
Randomize, Inc.
R.R. #2,
Tottenham, Ont.
L0G 1W0
Phone: 905-939-8371
Fax: 905-939-8745
email: sales@randomize.com
WWW: http://www.randomize.com/
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Copyright 1999 by Brad Webb. Freely distributable, if not modified.
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