*0*0*0*0*0*0**0*0¢¢ (This article compares two very well¢ known DOS's, but you may be surprised¢ and learn something new, so read on.¢ Ye OLDE EDITOR¢¢ Even MORE DOS's¢ By Matthew O'Kane¢¢ I warned that this column would be¢ irregular! I've been so involved¢ with other things, I had to be¢ reminded to pay my fees! Well, I¢ must admit, I am in LOVE with DOS's.¢ I don't know why, but I do. So¢ I'll get it out of my system. I'll¢ do a whole 2 DOSes this magazine. I¢ like and love one more than the¢ other. The DOS's I am going to¢ tackle are ATARI DOS 2.5, and¢ SUPERDOS 4.3. (or 5.1), but I won't¢ say which I prefer, you will find out¢ for yourself.¢¢ Super Dos 4.3 has everything AD2.5¢ (Atari Dos 2.5) hasn't. Yet, some¢ of you may say that you can access¢ these features through utilities,¢ but with SD4.3 (Super Dos 4.3) you¢ can do it, and more, from DUP. I am¢ assuming in this article that you¢ are familiar with AD2.5. Here it¢ comes, SD4.3's advantages, in¢ detail.¢¢ UNDELETE --- With UnDelete, you can¢ restore a file that you deleted.¢ I.E., If you deleted a file and you¢ didn't want to, you can UnDelete¢ it and it comes back, unless you¢ wrote something over it.¢¢ RAMDISK --- A RamDisk is a part of¢ memory set aside so that the¢ computer thinks it is another disk¢ drive. It is only possible on the¢ 130XE's and modified XL's. On AD2.5¢ you need to load in a program called¢ RAMDISK.COM to use the Ramdisk,¢ which takes up a big fat, juicy 9¢ sectors on the disk, which is too¢ much with some programmers. SD4.3¢ eliminates this problem. DOS does¢ it AUTOMATICALLY, and it copies all¢ files with the extender .RAM to the¢ RAMDISK, but it doesn't copy DUP.SYS¢ and MEM.SAV to RamDisk. More about¢ that later.¢ ¢ NOTE FOR BEGINNERS:¢ DOS 2.5 and SDOS 4.3 are compatible!¢ AD2.5 can load SD4.3 files and visa¢ versa.¢¢ RESIDENT DUP --- The computer, on¢ bootup, can, if you wish, copy¢ DUP.SYS and place it underneath your¢ program, where it is protected (this¢ takes up about 5K) OR on XL/XE's it¢ will copy it underneath the¢ Operating System. This takes up a¢ net space of 0. It frees up 70 or¢ so sectors on the RamDisk, and no¢ programming space!! Call it any time¢ you like, it's there in 0 seconds!!¢ No disk access, no erased program.¢ This feature can cause a problem¢ with TURBO BASIC, because Turbo¢ Basic also hides itself underneath¢ the Operating System also, but all¢ that happens is that DOS loads off¢ the disk.¢¢ KEY REPEAT RATE -- On the XL/XE's¢ only. On bootup, DOS will¢ auto-matically modify the automatic¢ repeat rate function. You know what¢ happens after 1.5 secondsof holding¢ your finger on a key. It repeats.¢ But very slowly. With this feature,¢ you can speed up the speed of this,¢ or slow it down, using this DOS.¢¢ All of the above things are included¢ in DOS.SYS on SD4.3. AD2.5 doesn't¢ have these. Here are the DUP.SYS¢ features.¢¢ COLOUR-CODED BOARDERS --- The border¢ changes colour according to the¢ operation. Green for Read, Red for¢ Write or Erase, Bright Pink for¢ Format.¢¢ VERIFY ON-OFF --- From the menu, you¢ can turn verify off and on.¢¢ BASIC ON-OFF --- On XL/XE's you can¢ disable/enable the built in BASIC¢ from the menu.¢¢ DUMP RAMDISK --- You can copy to or¢ from the RamDisk whereas you can't¢ in AD2.5. Well you can, but you only¢ get 599 sector disk.¢¢ PUSHBUTTON DIRECTORIES --- Press 1,¢ Disk Directory 1 comes up, Press 8¢ RamDisk Directory etc.¢¢ And now the utilities you get.¢¢ TRACE AND PATCH --- With this one,¢ you can verify all of your files,¢ and if there are bad sectors, you¢ can patch around them.¢¢ SUPERBIN --- SuperBin is a shortened¢ version of DOS. It has only 9¢ sectors, and is meant for disks with¢ binary programs on them. On bootup,¢ SuperBin puts a menu of all of the¢ files on the screen, and you load¢ the one you want by pressing the¢ corresponding button.¢¢ SUPERBAS --- Same thing as SUPERBIN,¢ except its for BASIC programs.¢¢ AD2.5 dead yet? Only a few of the¢ above features are available in¢ AD2.5, but only through utilities.¢ Underneath is a list of disk drives¢ that SD4.3 can handle, and I've put¢ a star beside the ones that AD2.5¢ can handle.¢¢ * Single Density¢ * Enhanced Density¢ * RamDisk¢ Double Density¢ Extended Density¢¢ Don't ask me what Extended density¢ is. I don't know.¢¢¢ I recommend Super Dos 4.3 (5.1) if¢ you want my opinion. ¢ ¢ See you again in sometime???!!!!!¢¢ NOTE from THE EDITOR:¢ I have heard that SUPER PRODUCT now¢ have a version of SUPER DOS that¢ handles the XFF551 Double Sided¢ Double Density disk drives. Maybe its¢ the 5.1 version??? However if you¢ want more info on this new DOS then¢ call or write to SUPER PRODUCTS in¢ Queensland, Australia.¢ The phone number and address¢ follows: (if still in business!).¢¢ Super Products¢ P.O. Box 507¢ Beenleigh Qld 4207¢ Phone: (07) 801-1218¢¢ +=+=+=+=+=+=
