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*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original Online ST Magazine" ------------------------------- March 24, 1989 Volume III No.80 ========================================================================== ST Report Online Magazine © ------------------------------ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EST BBS: 904-786-4176 ~ 12-24-96 HST _________________________________________ ** F-NET/FIDOMAIL NODE 350 ** Our support BBS carries ALL issues of STReport™ and An International list of private BBS systems carrying STReport™ for their users enjoyment -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Highlights ---------- ~ The Podium ~ CPU Report ~ "GOLDEN FUJI AWARD" ~ COMDEX/Spring '89 PREVIEW ~ Pagestream Re-Visited ~ Atari Planetarium ST ~ PC-DITTO II ~ ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL **** COMDEX and MACDEX IN CHICAGO! **** ** NEODESK 2.02 --- HOT! ** ======================================================================== AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ THE SOURCE ======================================================================== > The Podium™ ---------- Good news comes in small but potent doses. Based on information just received, the situation in Michigan is mellowing, apparently one or more of the parties involved have posted either corrections or apologies concerning their previous inflammatory statements and agreements have been reached. Isn't it nice to be nice? While on the subject, the position STReport has had all along is quite simple, the entire concept of a usergroup supporting a company and it's products is the right thing to do. If we, as users of the products, care to show our endorsement of a company's products by participating in a Usergroup dedicated to that product(s) is fine. We feel it is incumbent upon the manufacturers to make doubly sure that the loyalty and continued endorsement of products, both present and future, is vigorously protected. The Usergroup must continue to be first in the eye of any company, such as Atari, that enjoys National Support from enthusiastic Usergroups. Since the other online magazine has elected to release it's issue on Friday evenings also, STReport warmly welcomes it's arrival, we have always maintained there is plenty of room for different types of online magazines. We will however, continue to lean heavily towards originality. In so doing, we will be making a sincere effort at avoiding duplicate articles. We will always strive to provide the high quality, in depth articles that have become our hallmark. You are assured we will make every attempt to bring you the very latest news, reviews and feature articles in a concise, clear, plain language manner. Ralph...... "1989 - ATARI'S QUEST!" ************************************************************************* IMPORTANT NOTICE! ----------------- As a reader of ST Report Magazine, you are entitled to take advantage of a special DELPHI membership offer. For only $29.95 ($20 off the standard membership price!), you will receive a lifetime subscription to DELPHI, a copy of the 500-page "DELPHI: The Official Guide," and a credit equal to one free evening hour at standard connect rates. Signing up with DELPHI ---------------------- Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call. Join--- DELPHI -------------- 1. Dial 617-576-0862 with any terminal or PC and modem (at 2400 bps, dial 576-2981). 2. At the Username prompt, type JOINDELPHI. 3. At the Password prompt enter STREPORT. For more information, call DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005, or at 617-491-3393 from within Massachusetts or from outside the U.S. DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Massachusetts. ************************************************************************** > CPU REPORT™ Issue # 14 by Michael Arthur Remember When.... In 1981, the old Atari announced the 815 dual disk drive, saying it was going to be out in the "Third Quarter", and how this product became the VERY first piece of Atari vaporware? CPU INSIGHTS™ ============= V.32, the CCITT, and the Tale of the 9600 Baud Modem ---------------------------------------------------- Recently, a lot of attention has been placed towards the specific types of 9600 baud modems. It seems that as developments such as Magneto Optical Cartridge Drives, Megapixel displays, and 33 MHZ microprocessors appear so frequently in the industry, that in our endless pursuit of faster and more powerful computer technology (and to download that large file as fast as possible), we have come to expect the same rate of progress from our modems. But with the promise of faster modems have come controversy, as many modem manufacturers come out with incompatible products, each claiming to be the best. To understand the current situation, though, we must take a look at the history of high speed modems. Modems were perhaps the first kind of computer network. Until the late 1980's, large corporations and the government were by far the biggest users of modems, looking more at reliability and power than the price or size of modems. In order to maintain compatibility in data communications, (as compatibility is necessary in a global marketplace), the job of setting standards for modem transmission protocols fell to the CCITT, an agency of the United Nations that specifies standards for all aspects of the communications industry. When 9600 baud modems were first developed in the early 70's, the CCITT drew up a recommendation, called V.29, which was the first such standard for these modems. But as only large corporations could afford them at that time, V.29 only covered synchronous modems communicating over leased lines, as well as 9600 baud Facsimile, or Fax Machines. CCITT V.29 is still used today in all Fax Machines, but modems would eventually take a divergent path. In 1984, when advances in chip technology made it feasible to sell 9600 baud modems for less than 5000 dollars, the CCITT again set up a new standard for 9600 baud modems, designated as V.32. This specification was a great improvement over V.29, as V.32 modems could be used on regular phone lines, and had some support for asynchronous transmission and full duplex operation. The one problem with this otherwise adequate protocol is that it was expensive to implement. In order to accomplish full duplex operation, V.32 used a technique called echo cancellation. When both modems transmit data simultaneously, first each modem remembers what it has sent, then each modem uses echo cancellation to separate the data signal that it sent, and process the incoming data. At 9600 baud, though, it requires the use of high speed Digital Signal Processors (or DSP's), and DSP's have only recently become available commercially, as well as the other circuitry required for a V.32 modem being expensive to produce. This was not a great factor in 1984, though, as high speed modems were primarily sold to the business market back then, in a comparatively small market. However, when the user demand for 9600 baud modems began to increase in 1986, many modem manufacturers found the cost of developing the circuitry for V.32 modems prohibitive, and looked to other ways of making moderately priced 9600 baud modems. One method of sending data at 9600 baud is to compress the data that is being sent through the modem. In all modems, this data is sent in 10 bit segments (8 bits of data plus a start and stop bit). Modems using data compression algorithms first compact these data segments to a smaller size and transmit them. The receiving modem then decompresses the data as it gets it. This enables modems running at a slower baud rate (2400-4800) to emulate 9600 baud transmission. In another way, called the ping pong method, both modems buffer the data to be transmitted, and flow control is implemented, so stop and go signals are sent to each modem at a quick rate, telling each when it has the line free to transmit data. This, by the way, is similar to how packet switched networks operate.... Ping pong is necessarily a half-duplex method (where only one modem sends info at a time) because although full duplex operation does not require echo cancelation at lower transmissions (since the signals sent by both modems can both fit on the phone line's bandwidth), a single 9600 baud signal can take up all of the line's bandwidth. Echo cancellation removes this problem by cramming both signals together, and leaving it up to both modems to sort the data out. Ping pong, however, cannot do this, but gets around full duplex operation by acting as a "traffic cop" to manage the time that modems have to transmit data. Another problem with 9600 baud modems, whether they use ping pong, echo cancellation, data compression, or any other method to achieve its transmission rate, is the increased probability of flawed data being sent, as a result of line noise or a poor connection. Because of this, the need for error correction in modems (where the modem would decrease its baud rate to reduce the chance of data errors, or simply retransmit the flawed data) became apparent. Into this situation, a company called Microcom arrived onto the scene.... MNP, CCITT V.42, and the future of Modeming Microcom is a modem manufacturer selling primarily to the business market. They saw the need for error protection in all types of modems (not just the high speed variety) and invented the Microcom Networking Protocol, or MNP.... MNP was the first protocol to implement point to point error correction. This meant that if an MNP-equipped modem called another MNP equipped modem, then they would have the benefit of error free data, but if a non-MNP equipped modem was called, then another protocol (such as V.22) would let the modems communicate, but without MNP error correction. There are 9 classes of MNP, representing its various stages of development. MNP Classes 1 to 3 only had error protection, as Microcom worked to make the error protection 100% efficient. But at around Class 4 or 5, Microcom saw that data compression would also be needed in modems, resulting that MNP Classes 5 and above provided a very efficient method of error protection, and excellent data compression. Many modem manufacturers, seeing its capabilities, started licensing MNP, contributing to the general decline in popularity for V.32. So why isn't MNP the 9600 baud standard today, with Microcom becoming the Hayes of the modem industry? As in many other tragedies in the computer industry, this was caused by greed. Microcom, who also sold MNP modems to the business market, wished to have an edge over the licensees of MNP, who they began to see as their competition instead of their best allies. In order to do this, they started offering higher classes of MNP for their OWN modems than they licensed to other modem makers. As some of the other modem makers saw that they were being given less powerful Classes of MNP just so Microcom could become a standard, while Microcom itself took measures to put them out of business, some began looking for other protocols that implemented data compression and error protection. Even though MNP became a de facto standard, and Classes 5 and 6 of MNP were adequate for the job, the modem industry, not willing to overtly shun MNP, delegated it to the status of an aging standard.... This was a master stroke of luck for Hayes in 1987. In the late 70's and early 1980's, Hayes had made a de facto standard of the AT modem command set by both selling aggressively to businesses and by considering the needs of the home market in the area of 300-2400 baud modems. But in 1986, modem technology had progressed to the point where 300-1200 baud modems could be made cheaply. The resulting competition, and the boom in the modem market, resulted in that Hayes modems were being overlooked in favor of less expensive, equally efficient Hayes compatible modems. So when MNP began to be joined by alternative protocols which provided error protection, Hayes saw an opportunity to regain its once gargantuan lead in the industry. The International Standards Organization (ISO), made up of the organizations in many countries that are responsible for standardization, (such as ANSI), designed X.25, the primary protocol used to connect synchronous computers to packet networks, in 1976. The LAP B protocol, or Link Access Procedure-Balanced, as well as LAP D (an extended version of LAP B used for ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) communications) are implemented in this protocol. Since LAP B is an error correction protocol that was an international standard (since it was designed by the CCITT), Hayes decided to use it in their V-Series SmartModem 9600 modems. The SmartModem also uses a modified version of V.32 which, instead of using echo cancellation at 9600 baud, uses the ping pong method at half duplex. Many of the other modem makers who rejected MNP, though, used their own proprietary methods, which resulted in VAST incompatibility problems. In order to establish a standard that would end these problems, the CCITT developed a new standard, called V.42, in 1988. The CCITT has developed a new protocol for V.42, called LAP M (Link Access Procedure for Modems). LAP M is based on LAP B and LAP D, and provides the necesary error correction for V.42. V.42 is designed for full duplex modems, and achieves 9600 baud by the use of isochronous (asynchronous to synchronous) converters, which convert asynchronous data to synchronous data which the modem can interpret. V.42 itself has not been fully defined by the CCITT, as neither data encryption (something which is VERY important to businesses), half duplex operation, or data compression has been addressed in V.42, but will appear in LAP M as optional features. However, the vital components necessary to modem operation have been set, and modem manufacturers (such as Hayes and Microcom) will contribute to the process of establishing standards for these areas. Until a standard for data compression has been established, however, V.42 has "system hooks" in it, allowing modem manufacturers to use their own proprietary protocols. V.42 regulates this so it appears as an option, however, so potential incompatibility problems are avoided. Even if aspects of MNP do not appear in LAP M, MNP Classes 1-4 will be supported in CCITT V.42 as an alternative protocol included to maintain compatibility with the vast user base which has accepted 9600 baud MNP modems. However, since the American National Standards Institute (or ANSI) would be the final determinant of the US implementation of V.42, more Classes of MNP may be supported in the United States. V.42 promises to be an excellent 9600 baud standard, which sets both rules for the internal makeup and data transmission between modems (except for the modem comand set, which will be developed by the CCITT) and which establishes an adequate bridge/link for the present crop of incompatible 9600 baud modems. MNP modems, such as US Robotics and Telebit, will not become obsolete, due to V.42 designating MNP, and Hayes 9600 baud V-Series SmartModems will have minimal incompatibility problems if any, since LAP M is a superset of LAP B. But since V.42 and LAP M will not be made available in complete form for at least a year, the incompatibility problems in the 9600 baud modem market will still be around for quite a while. However, V.42 is a promising beam of light on the horizon. There is even hope for CCITT V.42 being used in 19,200 baud modems, as Telebit and US Robotics are working together to make a high speed standard for transmitting data at above 9600 baud. And as the CCITT has given them time to develop this system, there is a good chance that it will eventually appear in V.42.... But ponder, if you will, these questions: 1) When will the issue of 9600 baud modems be vital to the majority of modem users? 2) Motorola is making the VME140 microcomputer, based on their VMEsystem Architecture. The VME140 is a 68030-based computer which uses the VME Expansion Bus. Given that the VME140 was available shortly after the 68030 was introduced, and Atari started work on the 68030 TT at around this time, why did Atari choose to use the VME Expansion Bus for the 68030 TT when it was apparent that the NuBus Expansion Bus was technologically superior, and would quickly become a new standard? CPU REPORT CONFIDENTIAL™ ======================= Cupertino, CA Reportedly Apple will not be introducing Version 2.0 of ------------- HyperCard until 1990, and that when it does, it will not have much support for color XCMD's. It seems Bill Wilkinson has doubts about the usefulness of color stackware. HyperCard 2.0 will have features making it easier to design interfaces for Artificial Intelligence databases, though.... Chicago, IL Spring Comdex 1989 will be taking place on April 14th ----------- and 15th. In this Comdex there will be a MacDEX show, where Macintosh Developers can show their latest products. It will be completely separate from the regular Comdex, and will take place in a different facility.... This was done in response to the many Macintosh vendors who have avoided Comdex in the past because of the Mac's low visibility there. But given that many large computer companies usually show Macintosh products in their Comdex booths, and that the Mac's popularity has increased drastically, not many companies are expected to pay for two separate booths to show their products, which are often for both the IBM and Macintosh. As such, this may not only be the first MacDEX, but the last as well.... Northboro, MA Pixelations Inc. is making a program called Printscript ------------- for the Amiga which allows Postscript files to be printed on non-Postscript laser, ink jet, or dot matrix printers. Cost: $89.95. If you want more information on this product, and its availability for other computers, they can be reached at 1-508-393-7866.... San Francisco, CA The federal judge presiding over Apple's copyright ----------------- lawsuit against Microsoft has ruled that Microsoft's 1985 agreement with Apple to license certain parts of Mac Finder for use in Windows 1.0 did not apply to Microsoft Windows 2.03.... Now the issue becomes if Microsoft Windows and Hewlett Packard's New Wave have infringed on Apple's copyrights on the Macintosh Finder. And given Apple's unbeaten string of victories in this area.... Errata: In Issue 12 of CPU Report, I mentioned the Turbo ST Accelerator ======= board, and the ST Expander Expansion Box. Megabyte Inc. is not shipping these products yet. Also, I used the moniker of CPUville USA for Verbatim's address since I didn't know their location at the time. Verbatim's TMO Division is in Sunnyvale, California. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Microtyme-STR Spotlight™ ======================== "GOLDEN FUJI AWARD!" =================== Every once in a while I run into a company that restores all of my faith in mail order, especially Atari mail order. Allow me to share my experience of last week with you. I use my ST mainly from productivity and business, I run a small mail order company and the vast majority of my customers are accessed through telecommunications networks. I'm also a Game master for a Diplomacy game on the GEnie information network. I use my modem a LOT and a lot of people depend on me. In a typical day I take orders for wargames as well downloading customer and Diplomacy player's letters. At night I answer my mail, verify wargame sales or trades, and post move results. Over the past few weeks I noticed that my connections were starting to get a bit flaky. At random I would be logged off for no apparent reason. What started off as a mere annoyance quickly turned into a severe problem. Last week the problem got so bad that my average connect time was about two minutes before I was kicked off. The modem was all but dead. Already I had a huge backlog and was facing a weekend of unanswered letters and wargame orders, and the weekend is when most of my business is done! I needed a new modem and I needed it FAST. I decided on the Supramodem 2400 and was ready to break out the VISA and order. Trouble was that it was already 4:30pm. Worse still, it was Friday! If I was going to have a modem to work with it would have to be sent Federal Express overnight. I flipped through the latest issues of Current Notes, START, ST-LOG, ST Informer, and ST World and started calling. I explained my situation to each store making it clear that I needed a modem overnight. I told each store I called that I would gladly pay the additional charge to have the modem sent via Federal Express AND that I would even make all the arrangements if they didn't have a FedEx account. All the store had to do was put the modem in a box, slap on a label and wait for the smiling FedEx man to show up at the door. I called everyone from the big boys in California to the smallest mom-and-pop store in Hicksville, ** ONLY ONE STORE ** was willing to listen to my problem and ship the modem to me FedEx. That store was MicroTyme in Kettering Ohio. What makes this even more amazing is that Federal Express told me that they needed someone to be at the store until at least 6:20pm for the package to be picked up for morning delivery. It was already close to 5:30 and MicroTyme was closing at 6:00pm! I frantically called MicroTyme back and told them the details. Jeff, the fine salesperson I spoke to, reluctantly told me that would be ok and took my order. Mind you that this LATE FRIDAY NIGHT near closing time! I'm sure Jeff wanted nothing more than to close shop and head home, but he was willing to stay and wait for the FedEx man to show up and take my package! This is the kind of service that every customer dreams of and every store wishes it could provide. My hats off to you Jeff and MicroTyme! To end this story, I received my new modem and was back in business the next morning. MicroTyme was not only *THE ONLY* store that was willing to listen to my problem and ship the modem overnight via Federal Express, but it also had the lowest price of any of the other stores I called!! For the record let me state that I am in no way affiliated with MicroTyme and was not in anyway paid to write this post. This is entirely in my gratitude for the fantastic service which MicroTyme provided me. They have earned my mail order business for a long time to come and I would hope that the people reading my open letter would call MicroTyme for their ST mail order needs and save themselves a lot of wasted time and money trying to find a reputable mail order dealer! And to the 15 or so other stores I called last Friday that refused to help me, all I have to say is that this letter could have been about you! Peter Szymonik MicroTyme P.O. Box 369 Kettering, Ohio 45409 Tel. 1-800-255-5835 From: D.HELMS To: ST.REPORT Sub: XORG's Letter Ralph, did you read Pete's text file on Microtyme(#9857)? They are the same that did me right on my Mega. Sure is good to hear news like that. Doyle.. Editor's Note: We have recommended Microtyme a number of times as a very helpful and eager to please dealer. Truly, it is a pleasure to heap praise on the good folks at Microtyme. The amount of votes (letters) we received that have had glowing reports about Microtyme were mighty respectable. If you have had a good experience with a dealer, by all means, drop us a line. Let us know about a dealer who is a credit to himself and Atari. Show that Dealer your appreciation nominate him for the: ***** GOLDEN FUJI AWARD! ***** At the same time, if you have had a bad experience, let us know about these also, we will be presenting the: 'TURKEY OF THE MONTH' AWARD! (submissions will be kept confidential) ---------=======*****=======---------- *** CONGRATULATIONS: MICROTYME Job Well Done! *** ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > COMDEX/Spring '89 STR Features™ ============================== COMDEX PREVIEW =============== part I ------ CHICAGO ATTENDEES CAN RIDE THE DOUBLE 'DEX-er!! In the past twelve months, the industry has moved light years ahead: standardizing Unix, unveiling EISA, shrinking Laptops and enhancing mass storage systems. All of which makes COMDEX/SPRING 1000 mile odessy to Chicago from Atlanta a very worthwhile trip. In McCormick Place, April 10-13 over 1000 exhibitors will set up their booths, this represents an 18% increase over Comdex/spring '88 illustrated by Richard Schwab, Comdex Show Director. Over 60,000 attendees are expected. Innovativly, COMDEX/Spring runs concurrent with another Interface Group sponsored Trade Show, MACdex/Spring '89. At the new MacIntosh distribution Expo, third party vendors can meet resellers of Mac related products and build distribution Networks. By virtue of a specially priced crossover program, attendees of either COMDEX/Spring or MACdex can have access to both shows. Atari will be in Booth 1208, right by the mezzanine stairway and the 23rd street entrance, (barring, some unforeseen, last minute changes), be sure to stop by and see all the neat goodies being released this year. Traditionally, Atari has provided us with a great deal of hope at every COMDEX...this one promises to provide the real thing....PRODUCT. COMDEX/Spring '89 has been certified by the U.S. Department of Commerce through it's Foreign Buyer Program. As a result, US Embassies and Consulates in more than 60 countries will promote the show and recruit qualified buyers. To further assist overseas exhibitors and attendees in establishing business relationships and international distribution, COMDEX/Spring will have an International Business Center. Staffed with foreign trade consultants and interpreters, the IBC will offer match-making links between foreign resellers and US vendors. Due to the Foreign Buyer Program, director Schwab expects a larger number of international delegates than at COMDEX/Spring '88. He also said that, despite the move to Chicago, show attendees will have roughly the same profile as their counterparts at COMDEX/Fall, but we expect an increasing quantity of volume buying end users. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > PAGESTREAM STR Review™ ===================== PAGESTREAM RE-VISITED ===================== by Ron Brunk Being a novice to DTP (desktop publishing), it was with some trepidation that I approached PS (Pagestream). My only prior experience with any DTPs was with PAGEMAKER and VENTURA. After a couple hours with each, I gave up in frustration due to poor documentation and unwieldy mouse interaction. Recently though, a time came that I needed to do things that only a DTP can do and, based on a friends recommendation, tried PS. To my pleased surprise, PS not only did what I wanted, but did it the way I wanted and when I wanted. After a quick breeze through the manual to get familiarized with DTP terminology (which the docs explain very well) and I was up and running. I can't think of a better compliment in this respect than to say that the menus and tool box are so simple and self explanatory that the docs are needed only to begin really advanced work. The first thing that I noticed was the tool box which starts out in the upper right hand corner. It is used to select the tools which determine what mode the mouse is in (mark text, select objects, draw boxes, etc.). A nice trick is to enlarge your workspace until it fills the entire screen except for a small slice on the right hand side. You can bring the tool box out by clicking on the top of the sliver that is showing and then cover it up by clicking on the workspace. This allows a maximum area for work without having to resize the window to find the toolbox again. Text is entered by clicking on the text icon (A) in the tool box, then clicking on the workspace wherever you want to enter text. Dropping down the Style menu allows a change of font from the default (Tymes 12pt.). A list of common pt sizes is listed for easy clicking, or any point size can be entered with the keyboard. Each time the font is changed, subsequent text will be of the most recent font selected. Existing text is changed simply by dragging through the text, highlighting what you want to change, then changing the font as before. The text will then be shown in the new font and will remain highlited for further modifications. The display is WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) so that all attributes (italics, bold, underlined, shadowed, mirrored, etc.) are shown exactly as they will appear printed out. Customized fonts can be developed by manually setting the height and width of the letters making them appear tall and skinny or short and squat. These customized fonts can be saved with all other attributes set by saving the font as a tag which can then be recalled anytime ready to use. The word processing functions are so powerful, that I've begun using PS for simple word processing. It's possible to set up the workspace to show the entire width of the page, eliminating that annoying flip left and right when approaching the end of a line. There is a spell checker, although it is horrendously slow and incomplete (in the first sentence of this review I had to add desktop, publishing, and even Pagestream to the dictionary (in fact, I had to give up up spell checking this whole article because it stopped on every third word, and took about 5 seconds on each and every word)). The search and replace feature is more powerful than almost any I've seen for a word processor. It allows case matching (if the word being replaced is capitalized, the the replacing word is also), the use of the wild cards * (for any string of any length), ? (for any single character) and more (fortunately, this feature is not as slow as the spell checker). The handling of text is not just powerful, but better than many word processors. Text is automatically wrapped around to the next line with long words automatically hyphenated. If you don't like the way that a line ended, you can manually change the hyphenation for the last word and make it hyphenate that way all the time if desired. Or a carriage return can be inserted before the normal end of the line, and the text cut off will be inserted at the beginning of the next line. It will not show up as a new line by itself, but instead the rest of the paragraph will reformat itself to fit the words in, eliminating the annoying need of removing carriage returns and manually reformatting. This feature will not work itself around a carriage return that has been entered manually, though. Such a carriage return is treated by the program as "start a new line here". (Unfortunately, one of the penalties of this feature is that each of these adjustments causes a redrawing of all affected areas, slowing things down quite a bit when trying to add changes in the middle of existing text). You can also specify that lines be indented, outdented, and aligned left, right or centered. In order to manually align blocks, a set of rulers can show the mouse position along the boarders, and a set of guides can be used with a background grid to cause page elements to snap to the guides. If you want to really get involved with how the text is displayed, it is possible to adjust the leading (spce between lines) and the kerning (space between selected character pairs to look smoother). In order to obtain smooth right and left margins, you can have the program add extra space between words to take up the slack (called word justify), add space between characters (character or microjustify) or automatically do both (autojustify). Of course, there are some minor problems that should be mentioned. * Most talked about, and justifiably so, is the slow printing speed. One page takes almost exactly 10 minutes (this was done on a Panasonic KXP1524). Unfortunately version 1.52 did not arrive in time to confirm Soft Logik's claim of vastly improved printing speed. Perhaps, it will arrive in time for the rest of the review next week. * Text is accompanied by a "white block" on which it is printed. Although this allows it to be seen when pasted on top of graphics, it prevents close placement to the edges of graphics without overwriting them. * Text is very messy in that deleting and backspacing leaves what looks like smudges on a document until a screen redraw is done (this can be done manually by clicking on the white part on either of the sliders). * The text marker (a vertical line) occasionaly leaves a copy of itself in the text until a redraw eliminates it. * The mouse interferes with dialog boxes being drawn, causing the document below to show through and obliterating any part of the dialog box that happens to be under where the mouse is (like the save filename). * Due to printer limitations, approximately 1/8" on all sides (top, bottom, left and right) will not be printed. The exact amount varies from printer to printer (not just model to model). Fortunately, PS allows the grouping of all objects into one object that can be resized in accord with your printer's limitations. * Default choices in dialog boxes are not outlined, forcing a point and click on each one. Fortunately, most defaults are "cancel" preventing loss of work by accidentally pushing return. In summary, PS is a very powerful and flexible yet easy to use desktop publisher. The quality of output on a 24 pin printer, combined with photocopying to remove the telltale pin dents, looks remarkably like a laser printer. While the printing speed is slow, the time saved during composition due to the ease of use substantially offsets the time required. Next week: --------- I'll cover the graphics and import/export capabilities of the program. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ST Planet STR Review™ ==================== Atari Planetarium ================= by William Y. Baugh With spring approaching and warm weather not too far off, this is the start of a great season...no, not baseball, but star gazing. If you've ever looked up at the stars and have been curious as to exactly what you are looking at or even if you are an expert when it comes to Astronomy then Atari has the program for you. It's called the Atari Planetarium and Atari distributes it along with their Scholastic Series, so you may have never noticed it. Which is a shame since it is one of the easiest and versatile Astronomy programs I have seen to date. Atari Planetarium, unlike other programs, takes advantage of the ST's superior graphics and mouse interface to create a fantastic working environment. And, unlike other programs, computation time is extremely fast. The only long computation time I have experienced is if you go forward or backward in time (you may range in time from 9999 BC to 9999 AD) a considerable distance and the program must compute precession. Precession is the word given to the wobble of the Earth's rotation causing the stars to "move" out of place. The best example is that Polaris, the current northern star, will not be the northern star by the year 4145 AD. So, as you travel back or forward in time, precession must be calculated to give the actual position of the stars. Once the program is loaded, you are presented with a map of the world and a set of cross-hairs. Where the cross-hairs are placed will be the area from which you are viewing. Have you ever wanted to see the circumpolar stars at the North Pole? How about the Southern Cross? Well now's your chance. Anyplace at practically any time period may be accessed. Once you have selected your viewing area, there is a slight delay as you are taken to the actual planetarium part of the program. If you are a 520 or 1040 ST user, you will need to set the date (in the upper right) each time you enter the program. For Mega users, Atari Planetarium reads the built in clock and sets the time and date accordingly. The program has three different calendars available. The first is Julian (after Julius Caesar), the second is Gregorian (after Pope Gregory XIII) and finally Auto. All of the calendars have their inherent errors, but the Auto calendar takes the Gregorian date (our current calendar) and translates it into Julian day numbers (not Julian Calendar). The Auto Calendar is the best to use, unless you have a specific date and know which calendar was used. The program does not safeguard against erroneous dates such as Gregorian dating before 1582 AD. Once the date and time are set, the fun begins. You are presented with a 36 degree view of the sky looking north. The viewing angle can be as narrow as 4.5 degrees or as wide as 72 degrees. In the center of the screen is a set of cross-hairs. Placing the cross-hair over any one of the 3500 stars, 88 constellations, 300 deep-sky objects (galaxies, clusters, etc), 12 signs of the zodiac or Halley's Comet (only from 1985-86) you may right click and receive information on the object. This can range from a very long, complete description of a planet to a brief description and Hale catalog number of a not too-well known star. Along with the viewing angle, you may select between having the planets as symbols, the constellations having lines and names, displaying the deep-sky objects or having the display be chart like (default) or as a grid (coordinate lines for declination (latitude) and right ascension (longitude) on Earth). Along with having these on the grid, they are always displayed below the date/time area. This also includes the azimuth (location of the cross-hair horizontally along the horizon) and the elevation (location of the cross-hair vertically along the horizon). All of these displays are vital if you are going to use the program for actual star gazing. Another nice feature is that you have the ability to view stars below the horizon. The area below the horizon is colored an off green, but is still clear enough to see through. If you scroll down far enough, you will see a pair of legs and shoes (I think you need to tie your shoe lace). If you happen to have a telescope that is motored, or are just curious as to the movement of the planet and stars (retrogression, eclipses, etc) then you are in luck. Atari Planetarium has a built in clock and tracking feature which allows you to view and track the movement of the stars or planets in real time all the way up to 64 times normal. This may also be set to run backwards. This is an invaluable feature in star gazing and as a learning tool. The manual gives plenty of examples of each of the movement phenomenon in which to enjoy. Location of planets is a breeze. You may either use the function keys or use the drop down menu under Find. The function keys are in order from the Sun, Moon, Mercury, etc...Constellations are chosen from a drop down menu that has a large table with the abbreviations of the Latin name of each one. Either you must be familiar with the constellations to choose the right one or use the manual. In the description of the planets, the distance it is from the Earth at that particular moment is displayed. Also the full phases of the moon are also shown. This detail and the ease of use is what makes this program so enjoyable. So, if you are just a beginner or are a noted hobbyist, I highly recommend this program. This is also a good program to teach older children about Astronomy. The manual is fantastic and reads much better than any Astronomy book I've ever read. It is full of examples, diagrams ,is very comprehensive and is also from Atari! (Yeah!!) So if you like Astronomy, check it out, you won't be disappointed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > PC-DITTO II STR Focus™ ===================== PC - DITTO II ============= Bill Teal, owner and driving force behind Avante Garde Systems, developer of PC-Ditto and now soon to be released PC Ditto II took the time to illustrate a) corrections of some apparent mis-information and b) some of the motivating forces involved in the design and ultimate release of his high quality products. Although addressed to two users on CIS in an open forum, the information contained herein is highly informative and, in our humble opinion, quite useful to anyone interested in, or using Avante Garde Products. courtesy; CIS ***** Emulators 17-Mar-89 22:15:04 Sb: #PC Ditto Fm: David D. Hagood 73437,3162 To: all I'd just like to know why Avante Garde went with the 8088 @ 4.77MHz instead of a 80286 at 8MHz. I am used to an AT at 10MHz at work. David D. Hagood 73437,3162 Emulators 19-Mar-89 11:54:46 #6608-#PC Ditto Fm: Patrick Yang 73437,1440 To: David D. Hagood 73437,3162 (X) Hi David, That was my question to them when they first announced plans for the PC-Ditto II as well. Hope they can answer better than they did then. Below, we present Mr. Bill Teal's Reply: 6780 S9/Emulators Dear Patrick and David, Interesting question. However, who says we "went" with any Intel chip? (Is that speculation, or did you hear the rumor from someone else)? I'm asking, and responding, because I don't want rumors such as these floating about when a word from us could set the record straight. Simply put, we are using custom gate arrays. We have used hardware to speed up those operations in our software where performance was lacking. Now, onto the speed issue. Unless I'm mistaken, my thinking is that you don't care how we produce the results (wave a magic wand or stand on our head chanting incantations), as long as it works and works well. Would that be a fair assumption? Well, in that scenario, the selection of speed is dependent on factors determined from a business point-of-view, as well as a technical perspective. First, we sell in 11 (eleven) countries outside North America. Our volume in most of the world exceeds our North American sales by a factor of 3 to 4 (depending on the time of year). We have surveyed our dealers and distributors in the world market to find out what product would meet their needs. The overwhelming response: The lowest cost IBM emulation add-on running at XT speed (4.77MHz). Now, note the wording: cost precedes speed. We carefully checked this with our market channel, and that is the demand. We asked the question in terms of speed with a correspondingly higher cost, and the response was again clear: cost determines the need, not speed. Most felt, and they may not be totally right, that an XT speed was the biggest potential seller. Their reasoning, from those we could understand well, was that if we could do AT speed, then XT speed could be done cheaper. And, they wanted XT speed first -- due to the cost. Well, they're right. The higher speed would cost more. No one said, don't build AT speed products, nor refrain from '386 class performance. But, they were consistent in adding that we should remember who the market the ST buyers consist. The market, in their collective opinion, didn't want to make their ST into an AT or 386, they just wanted sufficient speed to make the access to the IBM products usable. (Please remember, the standard of living in North America is much higher than many of the countries to whom we sell in the remainder of the world. Also, the availability of high-end IBM compatible software, which would require more powerful machines, is not purchased as much and not as readily available as here in the States). We also asked what types of applications most consumers used in an IBM-type setting, so we might fine tune the performance of our hardware to their needs. The response was: word processing (a little over 50 percent), spreadsheets (about 20 percent), filing/mailing lists (about 20 percent), and miscellaneous (the last 10 percent). We wondered, where was the need for DTP, CADD/CAMM, and even games? Most thought that was where the ST shines. And, in their views, people only consider IBM emulation as a last resort, if the application they desire is not available on the ST (or, unfortunately, as we heard a few times, if the quality of the ST software was considered "poor" - I use that term, because a few were indignant about a couple of hyped products). OK. Bored so far, David and Patrick? I hope not. Because really, the point I make here is simple: our company produces what the majority of the market needs; not what is technically feasible state-of-the-art. When we manufacture something, anything, we want to be able to sell it. To design something to soothe our egos, but have the market turn its nose up to it, would be suicide. Your rebuttle is: "But, I would buy a 286 performance product, and I know many others would." Am I close? (I don't mean to presume, but I have gotten this response before, too). You're right. It would sell. But, according to our research, it would sell only about ten percent of the sales if we were to offer an XT product and an AT product. Thus, you state further: "You're selling them, though. So, what's the problem?" No real problem. Another factor is time and money. The priorities are clear: XT speed product first. It will have the highest potential sales, and a lower cost to produce. (Please reread that last part of my statement - "lower cost..."). For us to get the BOM (bill-of-material costs down on a per unit basis, we have to make lots of these things. I don't mean 10 or 20, but lots. Otherwise, the cost per product would be so high, we couldn't price it so it would sell -- even an XT product. Second, when we go to a manufacturer, these guys produce in large quantities. They won't even discuss small quantities. If you want them, most companies then build them in-house (which also requires people -- and money again). Since its my money I'm risking on this venture, I'm going to take as few risks and keep my costs down as much as possible. That translates into producing whatever the majority of the market wants first, so I can get my cash flow going. As you know, we are a small company. If we tried to build a product that didn't sell well, we would be history in a few months. So, we can't afford to make too many mistakes. Now, watch carefully, here's how I come back to your 286 speed issue. IF (big if) we find there is sufficient demand for such a high speed product, THEN we will consider the prospect of producing such a thing. "What's sufficient", you say, "and how long will that be?" I don't know. No one does. I can't foretell the future. But, by putting pc-ditto II in the market, I will begin to get feedback. The feedback will tell me the price sensitivity of the Atari world market, and give us a fair idea of what kind of volume at several price points as 286 speed product would be favorable. Then, we would back into the cost to manufacture at those volumes and see if we could make a profit. No profit, no product. Now, your final assault on my argument is "I can buy 286 add-in boards for just a few hundred dollars." Yep, you'd be right again. BUT (big but), look at their volume. One company we spoke to (to see about them producing this thing, so we could just design and package it), told us that their annual sales for a 286 add-on was a little under 50,000 units a year. (and at last word, they said it was up this year already). Also, they have an offshore facility (which they own), so their assembly costs are "way low". If I can get 49,998 sales committed, besides your two, well I'm sure we can do something about the price. All this talk about price? Well, Atari has been successful because it provides value: excellent product for the price. (And, I mean excellent; this is without a doubt one of the best engineered microcomputers I've seen on the market -- bar none -- hat's off to the guys in ENG at Sunnyvale). I would like to be cavalier and say we'll produce anything you desire. But, if I go out of business doing that, who do I help? The users without someone to support them, me with a hungry mortgage company and family, the ST market? Nope. So, we're going to hang tight, and HOPE we're doing the right thing. There's no guarantees that we're right. You may very well be foreshadowing the "real" needs in the market -- all those we surveyed may be off their nut. I hope not. We'll see. Nevertheless, we're are still listening to you (David and Patrick, and the rest of our market). If we can make a profit at it, we do it the best, and you want it, we'll keep our minds open to any suggestion or product idea. Thanks for the chance to go on-record and let you know what we're thinking. Please respond, if you wish. (And, thanks for all the support!) Bill Teal Avante Garde Systems 381 Pablo Point Rd. Jacksonville, FL 32225 904-221-2904 ps; Remember, registered owners of the Software version of PC Ditto will receive a special discount towards the purchase of the hardware version ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > ST REPORT CONFIDENTIAL™ ====================== - Sunnyvale, CA. ******* USERGROUP/DEVELOPER COORDINATOR LEAVES ******* ------------- Cindy Clavern, Usergroup and Developer Co-Ordinator at Atari has resigned. Cindy managed to keep a positive attitude and a smile all the time. We wish her good luck and good fortune. - Sunnyvale, CA. ***** TOS 1.4 ALMOST READY ***** ------------- All the waiting is going to be over very soon now....the code is being placed in the chips at this time, we had heard some talk of certain chips not being available, we trust it was just a bad rumor, something about the [2] Two Chip Sets...not being available at the same time as the [6] six chip sets. After having had the opportunity to talk to a number of owners of STs from 520STF to MEGA4s there is a very large amount of units out there with the [2] two CHIP sets. We shall see...... - Jacksonville, FL. ***** TURBO - ARC --- !BOGUS! ***** ---------------- Turbo Arc 1.1; as it was called, is a shining example of how an unscrupulous person can link a prominent and easily recognized product and it's author to a bad dream. Think for a moment folks, that thing could have contained the world's most virulent computer virus. PLEASE, IF YOU HAVE DOWNLOADED THIS FILE....DELETE IT. If anyone has any idea where this file originated, please let us know in E-Mail. - San Diego, CA. ***** SPHERE INC. "TRAINS THE U.S.A.F." ***** ------------- Sphere Inc., announced it was involved in a joint effort with Perceptronics Inc. of Woodland Hill CA. to produce the software for ASAT.. (Avionics Simulational Awareness Trainer). G. Louie, CEO, SPHERE INC., reported that, the use of Falcon as the basis for the software will enable the defense contractor to "build trainers at a fraction of the traditional cost to the military". - San Francisco, CA. ***** EPYX COMES OUT ON TOP! ***** ----------------- Last Nov. the US Circuit Court ruled against Epyx and ruled that, they could not offer World Karate Championship because it resembled Data East's program Karate Champ in basically every respect. Fortunately, the Appelate Court overturned disputed ruling and ruled in favor of allowing Epyx to continue. Epyx CEO, David Morse asserted, "We are pleased we were able to stop Data East and others with similar intentions from setting a damaging precedent that would have had a totally adverse effect on the software business and customers alike". PS..EPYX has acquired the rights to INFOGRAMMES,S.A. through the outright purchase of all the outatanding stock. - San Diego, CA. ***** CHAOS STRIKES BACK - NOT UNTIL 1990? ***** ------------- I have to pass this on. "Rumor on the west coast has it that the sequel to D.M. may not be out until the first quarter of 1990. Oh well, the wait was worth it for the original....it will be for the sequel. The good part is the the ST and the Amiga have "top priority". PLEASE, SAY IT AIN'T SO! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > NEODESK 2.02 STR Review™ ======================= NeoDesk 2.02 ============ by William Y. Baugh Yes, you read the title right. The folks at Gribnif Software have been keeping tabs on user imput and have created some fantastic upgrades to an already spectacular program. First, and perhaps the most important (at least to me...) is that when you are copying files, NeoDesk now uses all available memory to store the files in before writing them to disk. This feature was stated in NeoDesk 1.0's manual, but was never supported...until now. Mega users should really benifit from this feature. I use a Mega 2 with a 65 meg hard drive, so it is very refreshing and practical to put the 1.3 megs of memory to good use. The speed at which data from a floppy is transferred is a large improvement, but the speed at which you write to a floppy from a hard drive is fantastic. The hard drive flys writing into the buffer, and the copy process to the floppy could only be faster if it wrote as if it was doing a whole disk copy. If you are familiar with, or have seen the new TOS 1.4, you will recognize the next upgrade. When you are copying or moving files, a box appears near the top of the windows which displays the path that you are currently copying/moving from, the file being copied and the number of folders and files left to be written. This is also a handy feature in that it allows you to view what is actually transpiring and to which file or folder (handy if one of the files is bad) it is working with. It also gives you something to watch while you're copying files. The number of files/folders "Left to go" is fairly useful, but only works when it is writing to disk. As NeoDesk copies the numbers don't change; so you may view which files/folders are copying, but not know how many are left. Hopefully Mr. Wilga will fix this soon (maybe 2.03?). This feature may be turned on and off from the Set Preferences menu. The next feature Mr. Wilga incorporated I have seen only in DTP programs. It is "Snap Icons to Grid" command. When this feature is selected, a box appears with four squares and arrow keys for up/down and right/left positioning of the boxes. Manuevering these boxes allows you to set the distance apart from each other and the sides for each icon. This greatly enchances icon arrangement on the desktop. Next are smaller, but equally important features are new keyboard commands. You may hit Control/Clear Home keys to move the path of the current window and move it to the root directory. This, in a sense, is like "closing and reopening" the window. This is a great feature for hard drive owners who find themselves four or five folders deep and want to return to the root directory. Another keyboard controlled function is the ability to scroll the current window using the up and down keys. This works as if you are clicking on the shaded area, it moves a screen at a time rather than a file at a time. Gribnif have also taken advantage of using the right button on the mouse to work with non-activated windows a step further. You may move, resize and scroll non-activated windows by pressing and holding the right button and then using the left as you normally would (interesting idea...). The Sort by Type function has been changed to work exactly like the one found on the normal desktop. Finally, if a filename conflict occurs, you have the option to either skip or abort the operation. Oh yeah, almost forgot, the printer queue has been upgraded. It now prints on an interrupt. It will print its 8K buffer and then load in another 8K. Gribnif states though that depending upon the program currently running, it may not load unless you are in a GEM-based program. For being just a .02 upgrade, these features are terrific! I think Dan Wilga and everyone at Gribnif deserve high praise for NeoDesk and the great support they have given the users. Thanks guys! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > A "QUOTABLE QUOTE"™ ================== --==ZAG-NUT ZONKS==-- "Those Who Can - DO!.......... Those Who Can't - CRITICIZE!!!" "1989 - ATARI'S QUEST" -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ST-REPORT™Issue #80 "Your Independent News Source" March 24, 1989 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © copyright 1989 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of ST Report™ or CPU Report™. Reprint permission granted, unless noted otherwise. All reprints must include ST Report or CPU Report and the author's name. All information presented herein is believed correct, ST Report or CPU Report, it's editors and staff are not responsible for any use or misuse of information contained in this publication. --------------------------------------------------------------------------