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EscomWB4.txt
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1996-03-01
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5KB
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{A Escom Announce Workbench Four
{A -----------------------------
At a recent press conference, Escom have, at last, admitted to the existence of
Workbench 4 which they say is being developed to bring the Amiga up to todays
GUI standards. So far, it has successfully passed the beta testing stage, and
only a few major bugs remain within the code. The final product will be finished
in time to be included with the new Amigas when they hit the streets.
The standards of Graphic User Interfacing have taken an enormous leap forward
recently with the release of the awesome "Windows 95" by software giant
MicroSoft. This GUI-driven software has the power and speed that todays computer
users have dreamed about for years.
David Pleasance of Commodore Inc. told us: "It [Windows 95] really is an
amazingly powerful piece of software, and the Amiga platform has been crying out
for something like this for some time now - that's why Escom asked us to design
Workbench 4. Our spec was simple; 'Bring the old Workbench 3.1 up to Windows 95
standards.' We've had three teams working round the clock to push the product
passed the beta stage on time, and I'm glad to say that it will soon be here,
and every bit as good as Windows 95." In effect, Escom are now starting to
target the Amiga on businesses.
By introducing a Windows-based GUI, the millions of PC owners can be instantly
at home on a somewhat unfamiliar machine. But to their advantage, they will have
the power of the Amiga's custom chips at their disposal - something which the PC
can never hope to have. Mr. Pleasance's aim was to design a GUI environment that
was akin to Windows in every aspect, down to the finest detail. "Take the
installer for instance. We have worked very hard to get it to feel just like the
Windows installer. For a start it's written in AMOS to make it as slow as
possible, and it's as unhelpful as we could have made it - with all the text in
Mandarin. The bit I'm proud of most", he continued, "is the end part of the
installer - it picks two numbers at random, and if they're not the same it
uninstalls Workbench 4!
You can still get that great Windows
'Spent-three-hours-installing-the-thing-and-it-hasn't-worked'-feeling. It's the
first time in the history of computing that another machine has been able to
emulate this - It's a true breakthrough!" he boasted. We asked about the system
requirements for the new Workbench, would it still work on an A500 with 512k of
memory? "Goodness, no!" he exclaimed, "It needs a A4000/060 running at 50 MHz,
with a 50 MHz FPU, and 34 megs of memory even before it will even consider
running. But when you consider what it's doing, you realize that it has taken
true programming talent to make such a low-spec machine run such powerful
software." Escom are planning to start an impressive 80 million pound
advertising campaign in the UK alone. "The campaign will target on everyone",
said Johnathon Anderson, Escoms chief promoter, "from 12 year old games players
right the way through to the biggest businesses in the UK. We are confident that
people will take to the machines and Workbench 4 like ducks to water."
We asked Bill Gates, MicroSoft owner and Computer Guru if he felt threatened by
Escom's moves. "No, not really", he said, "Windows 95 has a feel to it that all
PC owners have grown up with. Your Workbench 4 might *LOOK* like Windows 95, but
it won't gel with the serious PC owners. They'll notice the slight differences
and come back to the software they know and love." We put it to David Pleasance
that this might be true. Could Windows 95 users ever feel at home using
Workbench 4? "Well, if they don't then they could try installing some of our
special commodities that give Workbench 4 a more Windows-like feel. There's the
'Mouseflicker' (tm) commodity, which makes your mouse-pointer flicker every time
you move the mouse, and the 'HardWareCrash' (tm) commodity that will inform you
that you can't load your software due to your incompatible hardware every time
you try to load something." Escom hope to produce a GUI environment such that
existing Windows users can change system without having to learn new skills and
techniques. In doing this they have already received over 14,000 advanced orders
from current PC based companies, hoping to upgrade their existing systems for
the fraction of the price they would pay for a new high-spec PC and Windows 95.
"We're very proud of Workbench 4 so far. We feel that it will breath new life
into the Amiga, and help generate the necessary sales we need to bring the Amiga
back into mainstream computing." "The box is as big as a garage, too", they