SPACE 2/SPACE - Library 2 - Volume 1.iso/demos/11/general/hannovr1.ant

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     ANTIC PUBLISHING INC.,COPYRIGHT 1986.  REPRINTED BY PERMISSION.


   ANTIC'S EUROPEAN ATARI REPORT
   PART 1: LONDON BULLETIN
   BY GIGI BISSON, ANTIC ASSISTANT EDITOR

   Antic Publisher James Capparell and Marketing Director Gary
Yost have returned from a tour of three European Atari
computer shows including the largest computer show in the
world, West Germany's CEBIT -- otherwise known as the
Hanover Fair.  This is part one of a three-part report.


THE IBM-ST

   Real MS-DOS compatibility is finally a reality for the
Atari 520ST.  At an Atari computer show sponsored by Atari
User magazine in London, Atari Corp. unveiled a product in
the final development stages code-named the MS-DOS Box.

   Designed by Atari engineer Jim Tittsler, the MS-DOS box
is essentially an 8088 microprocessor encased in a metal
box like a hard disk drive and plugged into the DMA port.
It comes with half a megabyte of memory, an 8088
microprocessor and a socket for the 8087 math co-processor.

   During a tour of three major European computer shows
including the Hanover Fair in West Germany, Antic publisher
Jim Capparell saw the ST running MS-DOS and Multiplan.
Atari Corp. claims the MS-DOS box will enable the ST to be
compatible with 90% of IBM-PC software at speeds greater
than the IBM PC.  However, Tittsler says the box won't be
able to run graphic-based software such as Lotus 1-2-3
until the final BIOS routines are written.

   The MS-DOS box also offers significant potential for
true multi-tasking ability or high-speed graphics on the
ST.  By using the 8088 and 8087 as co-processors for the
ST, there is a possibility of using them to process data
for graphic screens while doing a separate task with the
68000 microprocessor.  The projected retail price is about
$300.

   Atari also announced a CP/M operating system emulator in
software that should soon be available in the United States
for $49.95.  At the London show, Antic saw libraries of CPM
software already transferred to ST disk format.


PRODUCTS AND PROMISES

   For the eight-bit Ataris, the most significant new
product was the long-promised 80-column adapter that
plugs into the XL or XE computer.  Atari had originally
promised an 80-column cartridge, however, the  final
product will be a case that plugs into the serial port.

   There was an array of new software including a computer
chess program, sophisticated animation software, and a
$3,000 Computer Aided Design system for the 1040ST suitable
for professional architects and interior designers.  Antic
saw a variety of C development tools, editors, and loads of
music and entertainment software.

   Atari User magazine claimed that the Atari Computer
Show, March 5 at the Novotel, London was the first
Atari-specific exhibition ever.  Antic was among 50 booths
dedicated to Atari ST, XL and XE.  Over 100 new products
were unveiled and according to Atari User magazine,
aproximately two thirds of the products on display were for
the 8-bit Atari computers.  However, most of those products
were aimed at the U.K. market, such at Atari's release of
the XC11, a replacement for the 1010 cassette deck to be
bundled with the 130XE.

   Computer Concepts from Hempstead, England showed a
preliminary version of what Antic Marketing Director Gary
Yost calls "the fastest BASIC I've seen on any machine."
This remarkable ST BASIC supports in-line assembly code and
key words for every GEM function call.  It retails for less
than $100 in cartridge form, and should be available in the
early Fall.

   Software Punch of Liverpool showed a small plug-in card
for the ST that gives it two RS-232 ports and sells for
about 50 British pounds.  The software house is working on
an Ethernet-compatible network of cables that allow ST
computers to share information.

   For three solid days, Jeff Minter, the wild-haired,
23-year-old president of Llamasoft demonstrated his
creation, the Colourspace light synthesizer.  A BARCO video
projection system beamed his pulsating kaleidoscopic images
on an 8-foot diagonal screen.  Jeff's mum was staffing the
booth, selling his ST Colourspace to eager crowds.   The
$29.95 program is available in the U.S. through Apex
Distribution in Boston, Mass.

   Recently Minter rented London's Baker planetarium to
demonstarte Colourspace to the press.  Not surprisingly, in
the Colourspace mannual, he cites as his influences, "Pink
Floyd, Rush and Laserium."  (A popular laser light show
that appears in planetariums.)

   Metacomco will port a full implementation of Cambridge
LISP to the ST and is aiming for a Fall release of the
promised product.

   Supra Corp. of Albany, Oregon was showing their 20
megabyte hard disk.  (It should be available from local
retailers in the near future).  The $1,000 price seems a
bit steep, but it is reportedly three times faster than the
not-yet-available Atari hard disk. John Wiley, President of
Supra, showed Antic a 60 megabyte hard disk prototype and
hinted about a future streaming tape backup.

   Mirrorsoft announced Fleet Street Editor, a word
processing and graphics page layout program that functions
like Springboard's Newsroom on the Apple II, but produces
"professional level" desktop publishing and
photocomposition on the ST.   Look for Fleet Street Editor
to hit the U.S. this summer.  Microdeal announced
Disk-Help, a $29.95 disk recovery program.

   Miracle Technology Ltd. of England was showing
Multi-Viewterm/Datatari, an 8-bit communications program
and serial interface capable of accessing graphic-based
videotext, electronic mail, and telex.  The interface is
equipped with a 25-way plug to fit several modems.

TRANS-ATLANTIC SOFTWARE

   Perhaps the most significant trend in software is the
increasing communication between European and American
software houses.   Much of the software displayed was
American product brought to the U.K. under license or by
aggressive dealers.  For example, the United States-based
Michtron linked up with the United Kingdom firm of
Microdeal to distribute Timebandit and Mi-Term in Europe.
Likewise, U.S.-based distributors were searching for
European software to bring back to the states.

   The ST is already cracking the European education
market. Universities are adopting the ST as the machine of
choice.  Fortran 77, long a standard in universities, is
finished from two companies -- Philon of New York and
Prospero in the U.K.  With GEM bindings included, the
Prospero version should retail for about $150.  Fortran in
one standard or another has been around since the late '50s
and as a result a library of Public domain
Fortran-compatible software for engineering applications is
already available.

   At the current exchange rate, the Apple Macintosh costs
$4,000 in the U.K.  Not suprisingly, the ST is eating it
up.  Atari is holding the price of ST to roughly the U.S.
equivalent.  European programmers and dealers were quick to
recognize the ST's incredible price/performance ratio.


   COMING UP IN PARTS II & III: The largest computer show in
the world, West Germany's CEBIT, the Hanover Fair.  Also
the Atari France show in Paris.  Interview with Andromeda
Software of Los Gatos, CA, creators of a graphic animation
system for the ST.
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