home
***
CD-ROM
|
disk
|
FTP
|
other
***
search
/
Floppyshop 2
/
Floppyshop - 2.zip
/
Floppyshop - 2.iso
/
diskmags
/
0022-3.564
/
dmg-0107
/
quickst.txt
< prev
next >
Wrap
Text File
|
1997-04-16
|
6KB
|
139 lines
NOTICE: This article originally appeared in the February issue of Atari
Interface Magazine and may be freely distributed or reprinted in non-profit
User Group publications as long as the article's author and Atari Interface
Magazine are credited AND this notice is reprinted with the article. All
other publications must obtain written permission from Unicorn Publications,
3487 Braeburn Circle, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, Phone: (313) 973-8825 before using
this article.
Quick ST 1.8 The Software Screen Accelerator by Bill Rayl
Look out, Turbo ST...you've got competition and it's catching up FAST! Darek
Mihocka and Ignac Kolenko of Branch Always Software have released their first
commercial software product, Quick ST, which offers speedups comparable to
Turbo ST at a fraction of the cost.
Quick ST was originally released as part of the shareware Quick Utilities.
Although much slower and less compatible with other software than Turbo ST in
those earlier releases, Quick ST was an instant favorite of many who felt
Turbo ST was a little pricey. Most Turbo ST owners, such as myself, didn't
really pay that much attention to Quick ST...Turbo ST was just plain faster.
Well, times change! Quick ST is now a commercial product and is a very
serious contender for anyone wanting to squeeze more speed out of their
machine.
Benchmark Results
Having the luxury of both Turbo ST and Quick ST, I decided to do some testing
using Quick Index (part of the above mentioned Quick Utilities). Here's the
results on my 520ST with 1 meg upgrade, monochrome monitor, TOS 1.4, no
blitter and only Charles Johnson's Desk Manager and Atari's TOS14Fix
installed
at bootup:
Test Quick ST 1.8 Turbo ST 1.57
BIOS Text 323% 315%
BIOS String 1263% 1255%
BIOS Scroll 134% 133%
GEM 208% 224%
As you can see, Quick ST is slightly FASTER than Turbo ST 1.57 in all the
text
functions...and not too far off in GEM speedup! Both programs are faster on
a
color monitor. In all fairness, I must point out SofTrek has recently
released version 1.6 of Turbo ST, but comparisons in the README file on the
Quick ST disk show Quick ST 1.8 still beats Turbo ST 1.6 in the BIOS Text and
BIOS String tests.
Overall, the slight differences in percentage points seem to put Turbo ST and
Quick ST at just about even...if you're into making decisions purely on
benchmark statistics alone.
Odious Comparisons
Apart from similar results in the benchmarks, Quick ST and Turbo ST have a
couple more similarities. First, both products have separate versions for
color and monochrome monitor users. But, even here there are differences.
Turbo ST is a desk accessory, and as such, users who own both monitors either
rename the proper accessory at bootup (perhaps by using Desk Manager) or use
the larger version of Turbo ST that supports both monitors. With Quick ST,
both color and mono versions reside in the AUTO folder and the proper one
will
boot at startup. No mess, no fuss.
Both programs also support custom desktop fonts, such as those loaded by
Charles Johnson's Fontrix accessory (boy, that guy's name keeps creeping in
here!). However, Turbo ST seems to have trouble with multiple changes of the
desktop font...it kept reverting back to my very first font choice, no matter
how many times I tried to change it. When I told Quick ST I wanted to change
the font, it listened.
SofTrek and Branch Always Software both have very good upgrade policies.
SofTrek will upgrade Turbo ST if you send them your original disk and $5 and
they have a special upgrade policy for qualifying user groups. (Call SofTrek
at 407-657-4611 for details.) Not to be outdone, Branch Always will send a
new version of Quick ST on disk for only $3 to any registered owner (no need
to send in your original disk) and will do Email upgrades on CompuServe and
GEnie absolutely FREE.
Two other very important reasons why you might consider buying Quick ST over
Turbo ST are memory usage and price...in both cases, Quick ST weighs in about
half of Turbo ST. The full version of Turbo ST uses over 50K of memory and
the individual color and mono versions use about 40K each. The mono version
of Quick ST uses around 20K, while the color version uses only 16K. A
"stripped down," slower version of Quick ST is included that takes up only
10K
of memory.
As for price, Turbo ST retails for $49, while Quick ST is an unbelievably low
$19.95!
Other Features
For those fortunate enough to have a 19" Moniterm monitor, Quick ST is sure
to
make you happy...providing "the same level of speed on a 1280x960 screen as
it
can on a 640x400 screen." Sorry, I can't test this out (boy, am I ever!).
Branch Always promises to support any high rez monitors that become available
for the ST.
Version 1.8 of Quick ST also fixes one of the most annoying "features" of
previous versions. When quickly moving the cursor in a text editor or word
processor, the cursor would disappear during the move. This sure made it
hard
to know just how far you'd actually moved the cursor without stopping. That
has, thankfully, been fixed. Quick ST 1.8 also supports the HI50 program
allowing 50-line output to monochrome monitors.
I've tested Quick ST with piles of software, both commercial and public
domain, and it has performed like a champ with such packages as LDW Power,
Flash, ST Writer, SuperBase Pro, PageStream, BB/ST, CBreeze (Quick ST does
not
speed up the "tiny" text mode in this program, but it does support "large"
and
"medium" modes), and Hotwire/MaxiFile. Of course, I haven't used Quick ST as
long and comfortably as I have used Turbo ST...but I have found no
incompatibilities as yet.
Also included on the Quick ST disk is a copy of the Quick Index benchmarking
software, the Quick View text file viewer and a demo version of Quick ST 1.8
that can be uploaded to your favorite BBS.
With Quick ST 1.8 around, SofTrek's super fast version 2.0 of Turbo ST (as
shown at many AtariFests in 1989) can't be released too soon...for SofTrek's
sake!
Quick ST $19.95
Branch Always Software
P.O. Box 2624, Station B
Kitchener, Ontario, CANADA N2H 6N2
(519) 570-4340