SPACE 2/SPACE - Library 2 - Volume 1.iso/demos/11/general/stnews.apr

Text File | 1986-04-17 | 13.6 KB | 242 lines

ST Update
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by Joe Waters and Frank Sommers - CN

Where are the 1040s????  The first shipment of 500 computers, was sent
via air.  Unfortunately, the airplane stopped in the Phillipines at just
the wrong time and that delayed the arrival somewhat.  However, they did
finally arrive in the states in late February.  San Jose Computer, which
received 20 1040s late on a Friday night (February 28th) sold 18 the
next day and the remaining two were gone before the store officially
opened on Sunday -- all at list price.  The main shipment, 20,000 by
boat, arrived in mid-March and are scheduled to be shipped out sometime
during the week of the 17th.  By the time you read this, they should be
available even on the east coast.

There has been some confusion about the blitter chip and where it would
or would not go.  On the new 1040s, there is a socket for the chip.
When the chip is introduced, you can just plug it in.  On the 520s,
there is no socket.  The blitter chip must be installed by piggy-backing
on the 68000 or by installing a daughter board in the 68000 socket with
the 68000 and the blitter chip installed on the board.

How about the RF modulator?  The new 520 STs have the RF modulator built
in.  The new 1040 STs do not.  Both machines can be used with a
composite video monitor as well as the standard Atari analog RGB
monitor.  The signal for the composite monitor is on the cable used to
connect the color monitors.  Of course, to send the signal to a
composite monitor will require a home-made connector.  I wonder what
enterprising company is going to release that product!

The 20MB hard disk drives should also be shipping by the time you read
this.  Why the long delay?  Two reasons.  There were problems in the
operating system particularly when there were more than 35 folders
created.  That bug, and others, have now been fixed.  The second reason?
The first shipment of plastic cases were not quite the right size!  At
this writing, price is still slated to be $799, although I understand
Tramiel would prefer to release it at $699 if at all possible.

Where are the mass market STs?  Haven't seen any yet.  Still don't know
if we ever will.  Some of the Atari execs who were pushing the
mass-market strategy are no longer at Atari.  Seems Tramiel doesn't
think a Toys-R-Us images goes hand-in-hand with a strong computer
company.  More likely strategy for the near future:  release the IBM
emulator and a system to allow networking STs together.  This
strengthens the STs position in the business market.  Then shoot for
ComputerLand and BusinessLand to be the ST mass marketeers.  We'll see.

How about CD ROMs and the ST?  Plans are, indeed, underway.  Won't say
anything this month, but look for more information in the May issue of
CURRENT NOTES.

There are quite a few new ST products reaching the market.  We will try
and review the better programs and give detailed evaluations as time
permits.  However, in the meantime, we'll use some of this space every
month to pass on some info about ST news and new products introduced for
the ST.

IQ Peripherals Corp.,have evaluated the Macintosh, the Amiga, and the
ST, and selected the ST as the basis for their low cost Unix workstation
to be introduced later this year, noting that the price performance
ratio of the ST was far superior to anything else on the market.
According to Info World, the work stations, using Unix System V
operating system will be able to connect with a variety of larger
computers also running Unix. The graphics workstations will be half the
cost of anything that exists at present.

Final Word, the powerful wordprocessor from Mark of the Unicorn, does
not run on ST's which have had an upgrade with TOS chips installed in
ROM.  The division responsible for Final Word at Mark of the Unicorn had
not been informed by their marketing division that any problem existed.
As of mid-March they had no patch available to repair the bug.

Hippopotamus Software is releasing its lst professional program for the
ST, HippoConcept.  The outliner program, will be reviewed in the next
issue.  It is a companion program for HippoWord, the other professional
series program, which the company is delaying release of, until it can
be made compatible with laser printers that will run on the ST.

Batteries Included has informed CURRENT NOTES PaperClip Elite for the ST
will be displayed at the April Comdex. The company is reluctant to cite
a release date, but is pointing for a June-July window.  It will include
a spell checker and you will be able to integrate DEGAS graphics right
into the text.

Megamax C is receiving plus+plus initial reviews, as THE C for the ST.
It is reported to be fast, one pass, with full K&R 'C', and stands a
chance of becoming the most commonly used 'C' for Atari's new
spaceship.

The word is about that those of you who have done your own 1 meg
upgrades should exercise considerable caution when installing your 6 TOS
in ROM chips.  The installation is simple enough, opening up the
computer, uncoupling the shielding, including two solder points, and
then replacing the chips as indicated.  But incidental static
electricity discharges from whatever source can turn a well machine into
a sick one.  Those with the 1 meg upgrades are somewhat more vulnerable
because of the ever present possibility of disturbing wiring required
for the first upgrade, or jarring of other chips.  Several owners have
experienced "blown" powerpacks after performing both operations; and
instances where the power source is still functioning, but putting out
incorrect power.  It would seem there is some argument for having the
work done professionally.

Those of you who are using your computers to help make your monthly
payments, on your computers, will be eager to see Artworks Software's
two programs due out in May. ST Golf can be played for a profit with
your friends, if you negotiate effectively on the lst tee, and Strip
Poker can be played against a time-clock with the person earning the
highest score in the agree on time period picking up the money in the
middle of the table.

Softronics of Munich has a CP/M emulator in the working stage.  It
converts your ST into a CP/M machine.  Purportedly it only needs to be
wrapped up, but there is no time frame for its arrival here.

Those of you eager to write off your ST's by employing them directly in
your stock transactions might best keep your eye on ISGUR Portfolio,
Batteries Included's investment management program.  It appears to be
the earliest one over the horizon and should be in the stores at the
same time this issue is.

Electronic Arts is producing for the ST. The arcade favorite Marble
Madness is due shortly.  Financial Cookbook, the 8-bit considerable
success, is now out there, waiting to help you figure out whether to
refinance your mortgage or not, along with 31 other financial
transactions.

Mind Mine Atari Computer Center in Bellevue Washington has released
MT-FORTH-83 ($49.95).  This is a complete, ABSOLUTELY STANDARD 16-bit
Forth-83 model, ported to the 520ST by the author of the original APX
Extended fig-Forth.  It is compatible with ALL TOS versions and memory
sizes and includes a complete GEMDOS file I/O system, with words for
graphics, mouse, sound, RS-232, MIDI, and clock I/O.

Mind Mine has also released a 512K expansion memory board for the 520ST
that installs in the space where the missing RF modulator in early 520s
would have been.  No piggy back soldering is required.  Anyone with a
good working knowledge of electronics and familiarity with the necessary
hand tools could complete the installation in 30 to 45 minutes.  Call
Lee Raphfeldt [phone] for more details.

Activision has three great new adventures out for the ST.  HACKER comes
complete with no instructions.  You're faced with a LOGON: and then left
to fend for yourself (after all you ARE a hacker!).  Borrowed Time and
Mindshadow are both illustrated text adventures.  "Suddenly it's 1934,
and you're Sam Harlow, private eye.  Nice guy, but somebody wants you
dead.  Guess who?  Better yet, think.  Think quick.  Because you're
living on Borrowed Time."  In Mindshadow you find yourself -- all alone
-- on a mysterious tropical island.  You have no idea how you got there
or where you came from.  You don't even know who you are!  You must
escape from this place armed only with your reasoning power and
imagination.

ABACUS SOFTWARE continues to expand their ST Library with several new
titles.  ATARI ST FOR BEGINNERS -- an introductory book for the new ST
owner.  Step-by-step guide gives a fast start to this very capable
computer ($16.95).  ATARI ST PEEKS AND POKES -- a collection of
quick-hitters for  all ST users.  Presents information about the GEM
operating  system, intelligent keyboard, disk files, input/output,
pointers, more ($16.95).  ATARI ST BASIC TRAINING GUIDE -- an
introduction to  programming using the ST BASIC language.  Teaches
problem  analysis, flowcharts, variable types and other topics with
dozens iof example programs and quizzes ($16.95).  ATARI ST FROM BASIC
TO C -- for the BASIC programmer who  wants to learn the C language on
the ST.  Parallel examples  demonstrate probramming techniques and
constructs in BASIC  and C ($19.95).  PRESENTING THE ATARI ST -- a
completely revised edition of our popular overview of the ST.  Expanded
coverage of the ST  features and GEM interface ($16.95).  These books
are patterned after ABACUS's earlier titles for the Atari ST (ATARI ST
INTERNALS and ATARI ST MACHINE LANGUAGE).  For more information contact:
Arnie Lee or Scott Slaughter,  [phone].

VERSASOFT has announced their relational dBASE compatible data base
manager, dbMAN, for the Atari 520ST.  Free FULL-FEATURED evaluation
disks will be available through authorized dealers.  (Also available in
the CURRENT NOTES ST Library.)  The introductory price, good until July
1, 1986 will be $99.95; suggested list after July 1 is $149.95.  dBMAN
will come with a 30-day money-back guarantee and NO COPY PROTECTION.

dBMAN, as with dBASE, is programmable, supports multiple index files,
and up to 2 billion records per file.  Unlike dBASE, however, dBMAN
provides 10 active database files, virtually unlimited numbers of
variables, and multiple parent-child relations.  Menus can be created
with a single command and the powerful debugger/editor lets you edit
your program files while debugging, set break points, single step, or
pause/resume execution of your program.  For more information contact
Richard Post [phone].

Unison World, Inc. has introduced Print Master ($39.95) which has been
receiving good reviews as an ST version of Print Shop.  Program includes
8 fonts, 11 border effects, 111 ready-made graphics symbols, a graphics
editor, text editor, and a preview mode.

The Mark Williams Company has released their first ST product: Let's
Write ($80).  This package consists of six utilities: the MicroEMACS
screen editor; pr, a simple formatter; kermit, a communications utility;
spell, a spelling checker and dictionary; epson, a printer driver; and
nroff, a powerful formatter and formatting language.  This program
should allow any kind of formatting desired.  I will test it out this
coming month and see if it can be tailored to produce this newsletter.

If you are a Unix fan, you'll love Micro C-Shell by Beckemeyer
Development Tools.  This product takes you out of the GEM environment
and puts you into a command line environment that is, nonetheless, still
compatible with your GEM programs.  Unix users will recognize the
commands cat, cd, chmod, cp, echo, grep, head, history, lpr, ls, mkdir,
more, mv, pr, pwd, rmdir, tail and wc.  What good is all this?  One
simple example:"ls -R >lib.dat".  This command would produce a listing
of all your files (including all subdirectories and their files) and
send the output to a file call "lib.dat" for you to then edit or print
or do whatever you like.  How would you accomplish that in GEM?

H&D Base Upgrades.  SEND IN YOUR REGISTRATION CARD!  Registered owners
are sent a quarterly copy of "Journal of Micronomy" (I haven't gotten
one yet -- maybe I'd better look for that registration card.)  Those who
turn in cards in the interim are sent a special copy to bring them up to
date.  Update information is also placed on CompuServe and Mirage's own
BBS.  Anomalies are covered free in the journal or on the BBSs.  You can
send in your registered disk and $5 and receive an immediate upgrade.
The latest version of H&D Base is 125xxx.  It contains: 1) a
restructured mailing list command file, much faster and easier to use;
2) a mailing list program with GEM; 3) an autorun feature for any
command file you designate on disk; and 4) trapping of major "mushroom"
errors.

VIP Professional Upgrades.  Users are urged to send in their
REGISTRATION CARDS -- this eases the upgrade problem immensely.  The
latest version is 13 February 86 which, according to Tom Nelson, solves
all problems to date.  To determine your version date, go to the VIP
subdirectory, click on the file PROFESS, and then click on "FILE" and
"Show Info...".  The date of the program is shown on the line "Last
modified:_____".  You can determine the date of any of the VIP
components in this manner.  VIP has sent dealers upgraded disks and
asked them to provide the upgrade to all customers.  You can call the
VIP tech line for more info on upgrades.



[Reprinted from the April, 1986 issue of CURRENT NOTES: The Newsletter
for Atari Owners.  For more information on CURRENT NOTES, see the CNOTES
file in the NEW PRODUCTS section of the Developers SIG.]
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