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Text File | 1990-02-02 | 52.3 KB | 1,129 lines

======================================================================= ////// // // ////// ////// // / /// // // // // /// // // // ////// // // / // /// // // ////// // // /////// // ////// // // // ////// // // ////// // // /// // // // /// // // // // // // // // // // // // ////// // // // /// // // // /// // ////// // // ////// ////// // // ////// ======================================================================= Volume 5, Number 5 Z*NET ONLINE February 2, 1990 ------------ (©) 1990 by Rovac Industries, Inc. Post Office Box 59 Middlesex, New Jersey 08846 BBS - (201) 968-8148 CompuServe Mail - 71777,2140 GEnie Mail - Z-NET ======================================================================= Publisher/Editor: Ron Kovacs Editor: John Nagy ISSUE #241 TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------- ----------------- - THIS WEEK Quick overview................................Ron Kovacs - Z*Net ATARI NEWSWIRE Atari News Update and MORE.............................. - Z*Net INDUSTRY NEWSWIRE Industry News Update and more........................... - PC-DITTO 2 REVIEW - PROBLEMS Hands on review..............................Jerry Cross - ST STACK - PD PUB PD/Shareware Update..............Alice Amore, Mark Quinn - ATARI 8 BIT Wordprocessors................................EJ Coerper - Z*NET BBS SYSTEMS Update.................................................. * THIS WEEK ===========> by Ron Kovacs ============= Shortly after we release this issue we will upload PC-Ditto and CD-Rom pictures to the commercial services and Z*Net BBS. Please take a few minutes out to download these pictures. They are worth the time. Also, look for the NAMM pictures we recently uploaded. Atari News in abundance this week. Jack Tramiel returns, Stacy update and more this week! Please give the Z*Net BBS (201) 968-8148 3/12/24 at call and register your BBS system. We want to know who you are. Thank you for your support and time! * Z*NET NEWSWIRE ================> ATARI NEWS FIRST ================ JACK IS BACK: "Retired" major stock holder of Atari Corp and father of CEO Sam Tramiel, JACK TRAMIEL is back at the helm of Atari. Reports from inside and near the company confirm that Jack has resumed, for at least the moment, a major role in guiding policy and planning. Sons Sam, Leonard, and Gary were apparently not performing up to Jack's expectations, plus dad felt it was time to settle some internal disagreements with some firm supervision. Just what this will mean in the long run, only the long run will tell. However, it has been known for some time that Jack is not a fan of the entire STACY product line, and he does not believe that the musician market has ever offered a significant buying potential. A study he has confidence in, places MIDI related Atari hardware sales at about 1% overall. STACY NO LONGER A LAPTOP: Partially due to the FCC rating that allows sale of the STACY to music store outlets only (for now), and partially due to the fact that the batteries in the hard drive equipped STACY last FIFTEEN MINUTES ONLY(!), STACY has been re-dubbed by the marketing department as the "STACY Portable MIDI Controller". That's the long-form title that is being applied in new advertising and information pushes. Perhaps if and when it is redesigned to pass FCC regulations as a COMPUTER, it will again be a "Laptop". PORTFOLIO RETURN HASSLES FOR DEALERS: In the face of both high defect rates and direct sales competition from Atari itself, dealers now have another thorn in the Portfolio rose. A recent decision at Atari (unannounced to dealers til later) puts stringent new restrictions on dealer defective returns. One dealer was told flatly that the six units he had waiting for a return authorization (after he had refunded or replaced each purchase) were simply not going to be accepted. Several frustrating hours later, an "exception" was arranged for this one shipment. New requirements insist on the dealer supplying the original shipping records, packing slip showing the specific serial number of the returned unit, customer sales receipt, customer return receipt, and 100% of the packing materials and documentation. While this all sounds picky but possible, it contrasts sharply with the scrutiny level of ST and MEGA returns. WHERE-HOUSE REPORT: Backordered Mega 2 machines (unavailable since sometime last fall) are now being shipped... as MEGA 4 units... to dealers at NO increase of dealer cost above the STILL unavailable Mega 2 machines. This "windfall" is appreciated by dealers who have not since cancelled their backorders. The favor pales a bit when one considers that RAM prices have fallen by much more than 1/2 since last September... and the Mega list prices remain unchanged. By the way, late production Mega 2 units that CAN be found do NOT have any reasonable way to upgrade the RAM to 4 meg! MORE: Atari Monitors are in hot demand, but remain unavailable. Color monitors are said to be in the warehouse but dealers have been waiting for delivery. Monochrome monitors have been back ordered at Atari since late fall, and 400 of the 800 back ordered are said to now be passing customs on the way to the warehouse. What of the other 400, plus some sales stock? Unknown. Dealers have been unable to move ST's to new buyers, since monitors are unavailable. Professional users with dead mono monitors are buying less satisfactory and much more expensive multi-sync monitors just to stay in business... or else they are using this "opportunity" to buy the MAC system that they can find in stock. Popular assumption at Atari is that the "low" stock on some items is due to concentration on major build-out of the Portfolio, of which 18,000 are supposed to be in the warehouse. Also back-ordered for some time: Mice; 520STFM's (which are NOT going to be restocked). ATARI SELLS TO DAK: All existing stock of Atari SX212 1200 baud modems will soon be sold to DAK, the folks that make that high-tech closeout catalog. DAK will probably offer a blow-out price of under $40. FEDERATED A MEMORY: As of Tuesday, January 23rd, the last Federated Store closed its doors forever. Atari's chain stores are mostly sold (leases and in some cases, stock) to other companies in varying size chunks. It appears that a few stores may still remain available. GLENDALE ATARIFEST RETURNS: Organizer John King Tarpinian has just given Z*Net a preliminary press release announcing that the Premier West Coast user group Atari show will be back this September: "The Southern California ATARI Faire, Version 4.0b will be held on September 15 and 16, 1990. It will be held at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, Glendale, CA. Hours will be Saturday, 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and Sunday, 10:00 to 5:00 PM. For EXHIBITOR information, write: John King Tarpinian, 249 North Brand Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91203, or call 818-246- 7286." The last Glendale show was scheduled for last fall, but was cancelled due to poor dealer response during a flurry of one-week apart show dates and a last minute additional California show conflict (also later cancelled) by the World of Atari shows. This year, the shows appear to all be more conservatively scheduled, and the Glendale show is sure to be its traditional success. ISD ADDS POSTSCRIPT: Nathan Potechin of Canada's ISD announced this week that they have completed an output conversion module for CALAMUS OUTLINE ART that will convert the remarkable graphics program's output to either PostScript or Encapsulated PostScript format. This will allow many non-Calamus platforms to use art and logos developed under the unique Outline system. At this time, it appears that the converter will be sold at some additional cost rather than included with OUTLINE ART, itself not quite ready for distribution. Plans for the future include a similar converter for CDK files, the actual full page output of the CALAMUS desktop publisher program. ATARI MULTITASKING for $12.95: Response remains good among developers for Atari's proposed MIDI-TASKING system, a multitasking environment tailored especially for music MIDI users but adaptable for anyone. Z*Net planned to have an in-depth article this week, but time pressures plus Atari asking us to review our final story with them before publishing it has delayed that story. We hope we can tell you more next week. Details are in hand, but were obtained by a Z*Net reporter at a developer meeting that also included confidential information. One thing that IS publishable now is that Atari plans to market the software to the public for a mere $12.95! ST CD ROM ARRIVES: Z*Net received a sample ST program disk in CD ROM format from the company that designed the system for Atari, D & C Enterprises. A VIDI- ST picture of the disk will be made available online at the major telecommunication services. Company rep Carl Bacani contacted Z*Net to ask us if WE knew why Atari was not moving on the sales of the completed player units after reading our reports of the Atari developer support plan. In our last Z*Net monthly User Group Newsletter Supplement, we reported that Atari plans to use the CD ROM units in dealerships for demos of software. Bacani wondered if we had a clue to why Atari won't sell the units to consumers... since his company had completed the system AND driver software LAST YEAR. Atari has said that the reason for withholding the units has been due to a lack of driver/interface software. Although we don't yet have a real answer, more than one Atari insider has suggested that Atari has no idea how to market the new device to end users, or even what price point to target. Hence, the decision to use them internally for the foreseeable future. Yikes. D & C Enterprises, 3785 Balboa Street, San Fransisco, California, 94121. (415) 751-8573. NEW ATARI HELP BOOK: Ralph Turner gave us the little blue jewel "ATARI ST BOOK" in 1988. It covered the HOW TO for even the rawest of new ST users, who come to the machine not knowing a double-click from a desk accessory. Now, Ralph has released a new book, "Intermediate and Advanced ATARI ST SUBJECTS". This one takes up where the first left off, and discusses in understandable language many higher level subjects. Binary code, ASCII/ HEX/DECIMAL, file editing, control codes, file recovery, hard disks and assembly of your own, IBM emulation, and more topics each are treated in the new 150 page manual. We'll have a full review soon, but it looks like a good read for the up-and-coming "power user". At bookstores and Atari dealers, or direct for $16.95 plus shipping from INDEX LEGALIS, P.O. Box 1822, Fairfield, IA 52556, phone 515-472-2293. GROUNDHOG SEZ EARLY SPRING: Puxatauney Bill did NOT see his shadow today which gives us a hint on the debut of spring. Having failed at viewing his own shadow, spring will appear early this year. If Bill were to have seen his shadow, six more weeks of Winter would be on tap. We wonder how many times this Hog has correctly forecast the future.... NORTHEAST ATARIFEST '90: (Press Release) Sponsored by PACE (the Pittsburgh Atari Computer Enthusiasts) Where: Chartiers Valley High School, near Pittsburgh, PA. Located just off I-79 at the Heidelburg / Kerwin Heights exit, Within 15 minutes of the Greater Pittsburgh International Airport, Easy access from the PA Turnpike via Exit #3. When: April 28th & 29th, Time: Saturday the 28th - 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and Sunday the 29th - 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Users Groups: Tables are available to any Officially Atari Recognized User's Group for only 25.00 per table. Need more Information?: Call the PACE BBS at 412-571-0891 and read the show message base. Validation is immediate! Or call 412-843-0628 voice after 5:00pm EST. If you've ever been to a show that PACE has put on before, you'll know that they are well attended by the best retailers & developers! PCS SCHOOL ADOPTS NEW NAME: PCS School for Advanced Learning has formally changed it's name to: PCS Centers for Enhanced Learning. We are attempting to remove ourselves from the NEGATIVE image of SCHOOL as well as impart the idea that our CENTERS are for ALL Kids, NOT just the 'Super Brains'. Our GEnie name/address is also changed from P.MCSHANE1 (our founders name) to the following: PCS-CEL. All messages directed to the founder should be sent through: PCS-CEL. Patrick McShane, Founder PCS-CEL, 623 Holly Street, Nampa, 83686-5855 (208) 465-5443. HELP WANTED: Ted Maciejewski, Manager of Dealer Services/Technical Support is looking for qualified candidates to staff the Atari Technical Support areas. If your interested, send your resume to: Atari Corp., 1196 Borregas Ave., Sunnyvale, CA, 94088-3427 attention: Ted Maciejewski Resumes may be faxed to 408-745-2088. Questions? Phone calls are not preferred, but if there is no other way, call him at 408-745-2466. This job requires heavy phone work, ranging from people who cannot get their 7800 connected properly, to people that need help in programming in various languages, to disk drives, on up. Online experience is helpful. A BS in Computer Science will be helpful. TID BITS: Robert Brodie, Atari User Group Coordinator will be visiting Michigan Atari User Groups this month. On the schedule; Feb 17 at Mac Users, Feb 18 at WAUG, (contact Craig Harvey 313-994-5619 for more info), Feb 19 at Grand Rapids and Feb 20 at MACE, (contact Ed Hanson 313-675-0044 for more info). Look for Bob at Redding Feb 10th and in Santa Rosa on Feb 15. MIDWEST SWAPFEST CONVENTION: Northern Illinois, Southern Wisconsin, Atari User Groups Plan SwapFest Lake County Atari Computer Enthusiasts and MilAtari LTD. have finalized plans for Midwest Atari SwapFest '90 to be held Sunday, April 22, 1990 from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The event will be held at The Diplomat, 5572 Grand Avenue (IL 132), 1/4 mile east of I-94. The Diplomat is part of the new Gurnee Days Inn complex near the main entrance to the Great America theme park. The location is approximately 40 minutes from both Milwaukee and Chicago via Interstate 94. Expected in attendance will be at least 10 area vendors offering Atari related Import and Domestic software, Hardware, and accessories. Representatives of the local Atari User Groups; GRACE (Chicago), RACC, (Rockford), SCAT (West Suburban Chicago), and the hosts, MilAtari LTD (Milwaukee) and LCACE (Chicago Northern Suburbs) will be on hand. The groups will have Public Domain software, and used hardware and software for sale. An invitation has been extended to Mr. Bob Brodie, Atari Corp. Coordinator of User Group Activities. Bob plans to give a presentation, and will show "whatever he can get his hands on" in the way of new products from Atari. General admission to Midwest Atari SwapFest '90 will be $2.00 if purchased in advance through one of the above mentioned user groups. Admission the day of the event will be $3.00. The admission includes entrance to all seminars and a chance at door prizes. The latest Fest '90 information will be posted on the LCACE Club BBS (708-680-5105, 300/ 1200/2400, 24 hours). A limited number of vendor, and individual table spaces remain for Midwest Atari SwapFest '90. Please contact Mr John Schultz at 708-356- 5306 or write to P.O. Box 8788, Waukegan, IL 60079-8788, concerning availability and rates. Space will be allocated strictly on a "first come" basis. -- Mike Brown (LCACE) * Z*NET NEWSWIRE ================> INDUSTRY NEWS ============= 9 YEAR OLD BOY SUES NINTENDO: A 9-year-old boy has sued Nintendo and Major League Baseball over a video game he claims fails to live up to its promises. Lawrence Kanaga said this week that he filed the suit in Bridgeport Superior Court on behalf of Clark Thiemann. The lawsuit, which seeks class action status, aims to stop Nintendo from continuing to produce or sell the game. Thiemann also wants a return of the $40 he used to buy the video baseball game. The Westport boy made the money by returning cans and bottles. Thiemann claims the video game falsely claimed its users can simulate being a manager of a baseball team by choosing which ballplayers to field. COMPUTERLAND OPENS IN USSR: ComputerLand announced that its Secaucus New Jersey franchise has opened the first computer store in the Soviet Union. According to store owner Michael Tseytin, a Russian immigrant who owns ComputerLand stores in Secaucus, the Moscow operation will carry products from major vendors, including IBM, Compaq, Epson, AST and Hewlett-Packard. The grand opening was held in anticipation of the International Computer Technology Exposition, to be held in Moscow March 6-13. ComputerLand is a sponsor of COMTEK '90, which will be the largest computer trade show to date held in the Soviet Union. APPLE MANAGER RESIGNS: Allan Z. Loren, president of Apple USA, has resigned his position with Apple effective immediately, according to an announcement made this week by John Sculley, chairman and chief executive officer. Loren resigned under pressure amid disappointing sales and profits. COMMODORE POSTS LOWER EARNINGS: Commodore has posted a drop in second quarter earnings. During the quarter Commodore had earnings of $11.3 million, or 35 cents per share. In the second quarter of 1988 the company had earnings of $38.2 million, or $1.20 per share. Revenues for the period ended Dec. 31 dropped to $310.7 million from $349 million a year ago. Commodore attributed the decline in revenue to lower sales, unfavorable currency adjustments and increased operating expenses. SEARS TO SELL LAPTOPS: Sears has signed a deal to sell Zenith Data Systems' SupersPort 286 Model 20 laptop computer in its Brand Central home electronics departments. Zenith Data says the Sears agreement is part of its new distribution strategy to use a few key national merchandisers to reach consumers who work at home. The Model 20 Laptop has a four-hour battery, a 20-meg hard disk and a backlit screen that displays in a double-scan (640 X 400) CGA mode. It operates with an 80C286 processor running at 12 MHz and includes 1 meg of memory, expandable to 2 meg. NINTENDO NETS $172 MILLION: Nintendo has raised its forecasts for sales and profits in the current period because of unexpectedly strong demand for its products and a lower yen. Nintendo raised its projection for profits in the seven- month period ending March 31 to 25 billion yen ($172 million) from a previously forecast 21 billion yen ($145 million). It also expects sales in the period of 207 billion yen ($1.43 billion), up from 180 billion yen ($1.24 billion) previously forecast. The company is changing its financial year end from August 31 to March 31, in line with most other Japanese corporations. COMPUSERVE MAIL INTRODUCED: CompuServe's public and private electronic mail systems, InfoPlex and EasyPlex, have been renamed CompuServe Mail (GO MAIL). Effective March 27, the new name will be used throughout the CompuServe Information Service. The change reflects continuing efforts to provide leading electronic mail services to businesses and personal computer owners. The same features are available -- fax, telex and postal capabilities; text and binary message transfer; Internet and MCI Mail connections. For more information, type NEWS at the CompuServe Mail main menu ! prompt. LOW-PRICED MACINTOSH NOT IN PLANS: Apple's CEO John Sculley has nixed the idea of introducing a low-priced Macintosh before the firm's fiscal year ends on September 30. Apple will at some point introduce new low-end products aimed at first-time users, but would not reveal when they would be available. Apple's new product that is scheduled for introduction next month is the Macintosh IIxi, a machine that boasts high levels of speed and will cost more than $10,000. The System 7.0 Macintosh will probably be introduced this summer. * PC-DITTO II REVIEW ====================> PROBLEMS ======== by Jerry Cross (GAG) The long awaited PC-Ditto II, an IBM emulation board, was finally shipped to customers who had sent in their pre-paid orders. After months of eager waiting, it appears some folks may have to hang on for a while longer. I received my board a few weeks ago on a Friday. I quickly installed it into my computer (a Mega 4) and I had a bunch of problems. It just wouldn't work. I then attempted to place it into a 1040ST and again, it wouldn't work. But this time I had a whole bunch of different problems. Now I was getting worried. My calls to Avante-Garde produced a constant busy signal. I then called Genie and CompuServe and discovered that many other's had received their boards and they, too, would not work. After several days, and numerous other reports of board failures Avant- Garde finally went to work trying to locate the problem. The boards had been tested (burned in) before they were shipped, and worked just fine. There were scattered reports that some of the boards that were shipped were working just fine. So Avant-Garde went out and purchased five brand new 1040 STs and tried installing a known good PC-Ditto board into each of them. Four had the same problems the users had (DOS would not boot), but the fifth worked. They compared all the machines and found that the computers they had purchased used Revision 1 motherboards, while the one used for development was different. They swapped most of the chips but discovered there was no difference. As of their last posted messages they believe the problem is with the timing difference between the various machines. They believe that the fix will be nothing more than a software update to change the timings, and nothing will have to be done to the hardware when completed, the updated software will be available on the major information services. It appears that Revision "D" motherboards will work just fine with PC- Ditto II. This was confirmed by at least one source, the service technician at Riteway Computers in Warren, MICHIGAN., Jack Meister. It was also reported that Revision "C" boards would also work, but a message posted on Genie claims this is not the case. The Mega's are a whole different story. The PC-Ditto will not interface or handshake with the blitter chip. It has been reported that if you turn off the blitter it "may" work, but no guarantees. I have not been able to talk to anyone with a Mega to confirm this. I will again try to install it in my Mega 4 later this week and report back on it later. (I'm not holding my breath this time...) It is obvious that this product was not properly beta tested before shipping. Even though the board actually does work on certain 1040's, these problems would have been quickly discovered if a few boards had been sent out to a few users to check. Avant-Garde's lack of support after shipping the boards out was extremely sloppy. For example: * Callers attempting to reach Avant-Garde by phone were greeted by either constant busy signals, or an answering machine. No calls were ever returned. * Some of the boards were sent out with a chip missing. I don't quite understand how it could have passed a burn-in test in this condition. Also, some people received their packages with no software disk, manuals, or instructions. * People on Genie and Compuserve, listed as a good sources for product support, had to wait over a week before hearing from Avant-Garde, only to get the advice to double check the clip to be sure it's properly installed. Countless people, certain that this *must* be their problem, took their machines to service centers (at a sometimes hefty fee) to have the clip soldered to the 68000 chip. Naturally, this did nothing but lighten the load on their pocketbook. * Local dealers, as of this writing, still have not been informed of these problems. Our local service center attempted for over two weeks to contact Avant-Garde by phone to no avail. They were grateful when I informed them of the problem so they would not have to waste more time trying to troubleshoot systems brought into their store. Unfortunately, I was unable to get in touch with Avant-Garde before writing this report, but it was necessary to get the word out so people who received the boards don't panic needlessly and return the boards for a refund. This would be a big mistake. The boards do work, and work extremely well! What's really sad is that the word is spreading that the PC-Ditto board does not work. One dealer I talked to was actually informing prospective customers that he read in the on-line newsletters that these boards were having problems and folks were returning them. He recommended the PC-Speed instead. When I pointout that it wasn't the boards fault but the difference between the different board revisions, he agreed to inform his customers so they could decide which route to go. Spending $399 for the PC-Speed, plus another $50 to have it installed is certainly something to consider. Here are the current problems you may run into when installing the PC- Ditto. I have confirmed these problems myself while trying to install my board, plus a number of other who posted their experiences on Genie. When installed in a MEGA you will be able to boot up and get into the desktop. As soon as you try to access a window or disk drive the mouse disappears and the computer will lock up. To solve this, remove the board and format a fresh boot disk, but this time turn off the Blitter chip and save the desktop. Now when you boot up the computer with the board installed you *might* have better results. Again, I have not tested this yet but it's reported by Jim Allen to work. There is sufficient room to install the whole board inside the Mega, but I can't say how it will work with other add-ons or internal hard drives. When installed into a 1040ST the desktop will appear as normal. You would then install the PC-Ditto software, configure the disk and then run the PC-Ditto program just like you did with the early versions of PC-Ditto. At the "insert DOS disk" prompt the disk will spin for a few seconds then stop. Everything at this point stops and you would have to re-boot. This apparently is the point at which the software switches control over to the PC-Ditto board you just installed, and the switch is where the problem occurs. If you get past this point you probably have the famous "Revision D" motherboard. Here are some tips you should know before installing your board. Carefully check your 68000 clip connector. This is probably going to be the major source of problems, Avant-Garde supplied a small bottle of TWEEK, which enhances the connection between the chip and connector. It's recommended that you solder the clip directly to the 68000 chip instead. This should be done only someone with experience since it's going to be a bit tricky. It may be easier to install a socket and then plug the PC-Ditto to the socket, but that may create other problems. The 68000 chip is under the keyboard, and by adding another socket you may have problems seating the keyboard. It was also suggest that you cut out both the upper and lower center posts of the case, and install the board between the disk drive and power supply. I have some pictures to show this setup, but I assure you it's a very tight fit. Part of the power supply shielding will have to be removed, and you will need to cut some of the motherboard shielding also. A major concern is the stiff ribbon cable, since it has to loop around from the clip to the board. This may cause problems with the keyboard also. I plan to try installing the board so the ribbon cables run out the back of the computer, and have the board kept outside altogether. I am not sure if there will be problems with this since I could not reach anyone with a working Ditto board who tried it. There may be too much RF interference to allow this. The cable that was supplied with this package is a flat ribbon cable. It is extremely thick and hard to bend into a decent configuration. If you are not extremely careful the tension could lift up on the clip and you could loose some connections. It was also reported that if you install the clip too low you may not get all of the pins to connect. One person reported that when he lifted the clip slightly he successfully made all of the connections and the PC-Ditto board worked. These are the types of problems you will get when you rush a product to market before it's been properly tested. I believe that Avant-Garde will solve their problems with the software soon and this will be an excellent product. The reports from those who have successfully installed the board claim it's extremely fast and works with lots of different software. I, for one, plan to sit back a while longer and wait for the bugs to be ironed out. The rest of you can take up the offer from several people offering to purchase your boards. A final note, I had my first look at the PC-Speed board from Michtron. It is about 1/4 the size of the PC-Ditto board, and *should* install without a problem. But that was not the case this time. The PC-Speed board also connects directly over the 68000 chip, and the board extends toward the back of the computer. It is designed to be placed partly under the disk drive (on a 1040ST). It was necessary to cut away the disk drive supports. This made the drive hang unsupported so another hole was drilled in the case and a new support placed. Installing the socket was tricky since there were some other components in the way but this was tackled after some careful soldering. Our problem was that the disk drive rested directly on two of the chips of the motherboard. These chips were in sockets, so the only solution was to remove the sockets and solder the chips directly to the board (a tedious job). The only other solution was raise the disk drive and cut away part of the opening, but that would look too sloppy. I was surprised to notice that my own 1040 did not have these sockets so the installation would have been simple. I wonder why Atari kept modifying their boards? * ST STACK ==========> PD/SHAREWARE UPDATE =================== by Alice Amore PSDEMO18.LZH From: SoftLogik Publishing Corp. This is the demo version of PageStream, version 1.8. It is the same as the commercial version with the following two exceptions: - you will not be able to save your work. - your printed output will have the words "PageStream Demo Version" superimposed over your printed output. Setting up the demo is easy. Be sure to copy the .PRT, .IMP, and the font files to their appropriate folders. Among the features unique to PageStream are: - A DUPLICATE feature allowing lines to be duplicated and resized. - An ALIGN feature which lets you take seemingly unrelated objects (and/or text) and align them at any point along any edge. - TWO-DIMENSIONAL FONT SIZING. - ROTATING OBJECTS lets you rotate graphics as well as text. You can also rotate or "skew" graphics or text. DEMODOX.LZH From: SoftLogik Publishing Corp. ... and for a quick look at PageStream output, this archive contains a chart, and some rotated graphics with "text runaround". A text fully explains how the documents were created. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" ARPBOOK8.ARC ARPBOOK9.ARC NEW_PRG1.ARC PRG_6.ARC PRG_7.ARC PRG_8.ARC PRG_9.ARC PRG_10.ARC Programmer: Robert C. Arp The above files are part of the ARPBOOK series, an advanced assembly language tutorial. Beginners can use the tutorial as well, as long as a beginners' text is used in conjunction with the ARPBOOK series. As there is only one other Atari-specific MC6800 book available anywhere, the ARPBOOKs are much appreciated. The programmer wrote these tutorials for his own use, but soon realized that others might use and enjoy them. They are, indeed, an important resource for programmers, and highly readable. The program files listed above contain programming examples which can be used concurrently with the *BOOKs files. """"""""""" BOOTMNG.LZH <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Robert Kilroy BOOTMANAGER ST puts you in a computing "environment" by letting you configure your ST to boot up specific desk accessories and/or AUTO programs. Use the configuration program to create your environment. Items can be included/excluded at any time, and pressing a single key at boot-up will interrupt or change the configuration. BOOTMANAGER ST will work with floppies as well as hard drives. It is especially useful to those who use both color and mono monitors, as three different DESKTOP.INF files will be available at all times. Suggested uses for BOOTMANAGER ST include: - Grouping accessories with a related function. - Saving an environment with no desk accessories to (saves RAM). - Running programs from the AUTO folder for quick start-up of often- used programs. - Isolating those accessories that have problems co-existing with other accessories. - Changing resolutions easily. - Having a wide variety of pre-configured RAMdisks available. - For those with switchable ROMs, different TOS environments can be created. """""""""""" MICRORTX.ARC <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! From: Beckemeyer Development Tools This is the shareware version of MICRO RTX, available from Beckemeyer Development Tools. MICRO RTX is an OSE replacement which allows multitasking of TOS programs. It resides in the AUTO folder. A manual is included in this shareware version, although technical support is not. Try it for yourself. """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" NAMMPIX1.LZH NAMMPIX2.LZH NAMMPIX3.LZH Courtesy: Z-NET These three files contain uncompressed D.E.G.A.S. pictures digitized by John Nagy using VIDI-ST. The pictures were taken at the NAMM (National Association of Music Merchandisers) show, which was held January 19-21. Included in the collection are pictures of Atari luminary Bob Brodie, Jimmy Hotz (of Hotz Box fame), Scott Gershin (who used Atari equipment for music and sound on the movie hit "Born on the 4th of July"), and Mick Fleetwood. There are pictures of the Atari booth at NAMM, both inside and out, and a picture of a Mega in a racked unit, with a black case (looks terrific!), plus a STacy. """""""""""" DESKCALC.ARC From: Structured Technology This is a demo for DESK-CALC!, a GEM-based color/mono scientific calculator which may be used either as an accessory or a program. Over 65 functions are available including disk and mouse manipulation routines. DESK-CALC! uses RPN logic, a computational logic popularized by Hewlett Packard, and Automatic Memory Stack (AMS). Although some of the functions have been disabled for this demo version, the important ones work. """""""""""" IGS_ED01.LZH <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmers: Anthony Rau and Kevin Moody IGS EDITOR TOOLBOX is an editor for composing files for use with IG ("INSTANT GRAPHICS!"). INSTANT GRAPHICS (shareware, by Larry Mears), puts a new wrinkle in online communications by being able to handle graphics and sound. The TOOLBOX is a drawing program of sorts, and allows you to design the IG graphics, which can then be sent or received by any BBS which handles INSTANT GRAPHICS as an online option. """""""""""" TEXTDUMP.ARC <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Michael Shallop TEXTDUMP, a desk accessory, is an ASCII file printer. It can: - Print any file stored in ASCII format. - Print 55 lines per page. - NOT print on the page perforation. - Strip form-feeds from text. - Ask for and print in condensed mode. - Print multiple files. - Print at the fastest speed your printer can print. - Report the file length, byte count, letter count, word count, line count, and page count of any file it prints. Anyone with an ST and a printer can save a lot of time and frustration by using TEXTDUMP. """""""""" SKINNY.ARC <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Albert Baggetta SKINNY SECRET MESSAGES lets kids write "messages" which are then printed out in long, tall, skinny letters. In order to read the messages, the paper must be viewed while almost perpendicular to the eyes. It works! Be sure to set your printer to 960 pixels per line; the easiest way to do this is to use the "Install Printer" feature in CONTROL.ACC. """"""""""" REV89DB.ARC From: D. Atkinson REV89DB is a database of over 1200 reviews gleaned from the pages of Atari magazines during the year 1989. Magazines covered are STart, ST-Log (plus ANALOG/ST-Log), Atari Explorer, ST Xpress, Compute!, Computer Shopper, Current Notes, and Electronic Musician (which isn't an Atari magazine, but contains reviews of Atari-specific software from time to time). REV89DB is to be used in conjunction with DataHandler, version 1.3 (DHANDLER.ARC, GEnie file #7983). Simply boot up DHANDLER, load in REV89DB, and read, read, read. If you're thinking of buying a present for your computer, consult REV89DB first to see what others have to say about specific products. """""""""""" SOFTSEAS.LZH Programmer: M. Zorola These are demo fonts from Software Seasonings. The fonts are for use with PrintMaster Plus, and were designed using RECIO, Software Seasonings's PrintMaster/PrintMaster Plus Font Editor. """""""""""" PUBDIREC.ARC Programmer: Charles F. Johnson Help for those who use UltraScript with TimeWorks Desktop Publisher... The PUB DIRECTOR, a desk accessory, will force UltraScript's PostScript driver to write its .PS file to any path and filename of your choosing. No more renaming. """""""""""" DSKCH32A.ARC (UPGRADE!) <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Ron Sanborn DISK CHART gives you lots of information (graphically and otherwise) about the status of your hard disk. New and improved. """""""""""" COWORKER.LZH (UPGRADE!) <--------- !This file is SHAREWARE! Programmer: Jim Ness Less buggy, this is version 0.7 of CO*WORKER, a split-screen terminal useful for online chatting. --------------------------------------------------------------------- PD PUB by Mark Quinn File name: WF.ARC Program name: Wordflair Program type: Demo/Application Programmed by: Mike Ruchlis, Mike Ost If your needs for a word processor lie somewhere between the boundaries of writing and desktop publishing, this demo should help you decide if you want to add Wordflair to your library. The archive contains everything you need to preview the program, including twenty eight "examples" of what the program can do. GDOS and an ASSIGN.SYS file are also included. There is no documentation, but there are generous built-in Help files, and a README file that details how to get things configured. I found a couple of "typos" in the Help file (accesing, instead of accessing, loads, instead of load) but no meanings were misconstrued. After the main program is booted (assuming all of its files are in their proper niches), eight pull-down menus, fifteen icons and an editor (ruled in inches) appear. As with many demos, the print and save commands have been disabled. The user may choose between four paper types (US Letter, US Legal, A4 Letter, and B5 Letter), three fonts (Swiss, Dutch and Typewriter), three types of imported files (GEM, IMG, and text), seven print styles, seven point sizes, three units of measurement (inches, centimeters, and picas) and a variety of options. Text may be highlighted, moved, and copied with various keyboard commands. Most commands have keyboard equivalents. There are also commands to clear the editing screen, display the number of pages, and show total, used, and free memory. The icons control everything from drawing a line, to doing calculations, to setting up a database. Wordflair looks to be a full-featured and powerful program. "Quinn's Quickies" ANDURLIN.ARC Monochrome game. From Germany. Fly an armed, winged creature, collecting treasures and avoiding pitfalls. INVADER.ARC Another German monochrome game. The arcade classic that helped usher in the video game craze. NOVA_CAM.ARC Shareware game, written in STOS. Color! Conduct a rescue with a robot, picking up armaments along the way. Good fun. ARC_LZH.LZH Nice looking program that will convert .ARC files to .LZH files, and self-extracting .LZH files to normal .LZH (and vice versa). ARC.TTP, LHARC.TTP, SFX_LZH.PRG and DESELF.TTP are required to fully use the program. FSTLZH16.LZH Shareware. Update to FASTLZH 1.6. Some bugs fixed. COMPRES2.ARC Two programs, one to compress PI1 pictures, and the other to decompress them and play them back as an animation. Allows a more efficient use of memory. LHARC141.ARC Yet another port of LHARC. HD_LOCK.LZH Write-protect your hard drive, and stop those nasty viruses! * ATARI 8 BIT =============> WORD PROCESSORS =============== by Elliott John Coerper Osan AFB, Korea Miami Valley Atari Computer Enthusiasts (MVACE) There could have been several different reasons why you purchased your Atari 8 bit computer. Maybe because it has hundreds, no, literally thousands of inexpensive games available. Maybe it was the abundance of educational programs that persuaded you. Or possibly it was the numerous music programs that enticed you. As for me, I wanted an inexpensive word processing system. During the years I have managed to acquired about 20 different word processing programs. Some are incredible and worth twice what I paid, but then, some are..... You would think with 20 different programs to chose from it would be fairly easy to select which programs to evaluate, right? Wrong, there are three programs I wish I had to evaluate (Turbo Word 80, Atari Writer 80 and Richmans Word Processing System). Anyway, after careful consideration (and help from my son) I narrowed it down to five programs, so put on your reading shoes and lets go..... PAPERCLIP Paper Clip is by far the most powerful writing tool available for the Atari 8 Bit computer. Almost everything was thought of when they designed this full-featured program. Because of this, I call PaperClip the "Yes" word processor. Yes to a print driver utility. Yes to a spell-checker (loaded into a ram disk with the XE). Yes to extra XE file sizes. Yes to mail merge. Yes to double column printing. Yes to header and footers, (up to three lines). Yes to proportional spacing. Yes to horizontal scrolling. Yes to having more then one window, (2 windows per screen is allowable). Yes to an undo function and yes to batch printing. However, Paper Clip does have one no, it is not menu driven. Therefore, Paper Clip is very, VERY, hard to learn. Even with a it's extensive help file (actually using the help key) and a cheat sheet, I had problems. But once you master Paper Clip, you have all the power and versatility that anyone could ever ask for. There is one significant "annoyance" with Paper Clip that needs to be mentioned. Paper Clip uses a dongle to protect its software >from pirates. (A dongle is a small devise you plug into your joystick port.) In other words, if you don't have a dongle, or you lose yours (like me), you have a worthless program. Hey, I'm all for protection, but have your kids ever gotten into your stuff? Luckily, the program "Chipmunk" eliminates the dongle. ATARIWRITER PLUS Atari Writer Plus is one of the best word processors available. It is menu driven and very easy to learn. With it's easy to follow documentation and the Quick Reference Guide, even the hardest of commands are learned in a snap. For me, it has been my "Work Horse" over the years with over 1,000 hours of processing time. Although Atari Writer Plus doesn't have as many features as PaperClip, it is still packed full. You still have needed commands like double column printing, horizontal scrolling, mail merge and header and footers, to name a few. And on XE or XE compatibles, your file size is a whopping 46.5k! Unfortunately, if you don't have an XE, you are limited to only about 12k. The only problem I have with Atari Writer Plus is it's saved files. Atari Writer Plus saves each document with a sting of garbage in the beginning of each file. Thus, when I convert the file to MS-DOS I'm stuck doing a bunch of editing. All things considered, AtariWriter Plus is my favorite word processor. FIRST XLENT WORD PROCESSOR There are definitely many advantages to owning First XLent (around $12.00). One of them being, its very affordable price. Another is it's amazing speed. By using the joystick you literately fly though your document. You also have an almost instantaneous search and replace feature. First XLent is unprotected and uses a standard DOS (Atari 2.5). However if you want you can replace this with your favorite DOS. It has one of the best 80 column print preview screens available. By using a software generated 80 column text screen it produces a (some what) readable example of your text as it will appear when printed. I could go on and talk about more of it's features like it's ability to import graphics or that it is icon based, however I'll save that for a full featured article. Overall First XLent is a fantastic product. Although it doesn't have a spelling checker, it does give one of the cleanest outputs that I have seen. This product is well worth the money. HOME WORD Truthfully, I wasn't going to evaluate Home Word, however if I didn't, my 12 year old son would have been impossible to live with. For him, hands down, there is no better word processing system. As for me, I believe, at best, Home Word is a good "kids" word processor. It starts out with graphic pictures at the bottom of the screen. You decide if you want a file cabinet or printer. This is the primary reason my son and his friends like this program. No matter where you are in this program, you have some kind of line drawing graphic at the bottom. Once you are into the document you have two thirds of the screen to see what you are typing. The lower third is then divided into thirds. The first two thirds shows you the status of memory available on both the document and the disk. It also tells you what page you are on. The last one third gives you a neat page preview showing what your document will look like when printed out. However, there are several crucial design defects that make this program nearly worthless. The most significant is the use of a nonstandard DOS. I haven't found a spelling checker yet that can read it. Thus, I feel this program is only good for short letters or a note. Had it not been for my son's love of this program, I would have formatted the disk a long time ago. HOMEPAC'S HOMETEXT HomePak by Batteries Included is a bundled software package that consists of three programs, HomeFind, HomeTerm and HomeText. Like all bundled software I have come across, HomePak gives you only the basics of each program and not enough of each to make it worth the money. If you want a good word processor, look for a word processor and not an all in one program. If I like to think of Paper Clip as the "Yes" word processor, then HomePak is the "No". No Spelling checker with it. No extended printer codes. No double column printing. No proportional spacing. No horizontal scrolling. No undo function. No patch printing (but then again, only Paper Clip allows this). No auto back up (again only Paper Clip) and no extra XE file size. And speaking of file sizes, the maximum file size for HomeText is only 6,620. That is only about 1,000 to 1,500 words! How can you use this program for any serious application? I have hear, but have not seen a Public Domain program that allows you to work around this handicap. Overall, if you are considering this program because of the three programs in one, save yourself the aggravation and purchase another system. Ok, there you have it, a quick look at five different word processing programs. If you are not already using one, give it a try. I have done more work on my Atari at home then I have ever done on my Zenith MS-DOS compatible at work. And looking at the completed product, you cannot tell which one was done on which. Well, until next time, have a wonderful time using your Atari. And don't forget, "Talk up Atari Computers"! * Z*NET BBS SYSTEMS ===================> FROM THE Z*NET BBS ================== Message : 460 1-29-90 4:20am From : Austech Computers To : Sysop Subject : bbs (Edited Message) This is Austech Computers in Australia. We run a Michtron ver 3.0 bbs multiline here. I have come across your Z*Net reports and I would like to post them on our bbs and also your pd files that are listed in the magazine. Our bbs number in Australia is 03 894 2155 for v22 v22bis 03 878 1279 for v32 9600 Message : 475 1-31-90 2:34am From : Charles Medley To : Ron Kovacs (x) Subject : E.K.A. 1-703-360-1984. Eastern Knowledge Alliance. Message : 485 [Open] 1-31-90 9:35am From : Paul Hanley To : Ron Kovacs (x) Subject : STarBase BBS Sig(s) : 10 (Z*Net Online Issues) Just wanted to let you know (if you didn't already) that STar User Group here in Pensacola/Fort Walton Beach area pays for every issue of Z-Net (that is, remburses the few bucks it takes to download). All issues go on STarBase BBS and (once I finish my own MAIN.MCL) will have a permanent spot in the STar Archives (we already have every issue in the library). Z-Net is one of my most popular downloads! STarBase BBS -- (904)432-6009 ======================================================================== Z*Net Online is a weekly online magazine covering the Atari community. Opinions and commentary are those of the individual authors and do not reflect those of Rovac Industries. ZNET and ZNET ONLINE are copyright 1989, 1990 by Rovac Industries. Reprint permission is granted as long as ZNET ONLINE and the original authors are included. ======================================================================= ZNET ONLINE Atari News and Reviews FIRST! Copyright (c)1990 Rovac Industries, Inc.. =======================================================================