@database "ar316.guide" @Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #3.16 -- September 5, 1995" =========================================================================== September 5, 1995 @{" Turn the Page " link MENU} Issue No.3.16 =========================================================================== ,a c4%&; 1%%%b 9%=~ " m; mmmm; nmm mmmmm .,pmq,. m; j#6 ##6 j### ### ,#'~ ~`g, j#6 ##&; ##&; #### ### ,#f `# ##&; jP##6 ###6 jP### ### .##' " jP##6 #'$#&; #$#&; #'### ### i## #'$#&; jP l##6 #l##6 jP ### ### &## jP l##6 #' $#&; # $#&;#' ### ### &## #' $#&; j#mmmd##6 # l##6P ### ### ?## mmmw j#mmmd##6 #' $#&; # $##' ### ### ##; $#$ #' $#&; jP l##6 # l#P ### ### `#l ,&#'jP l##6 #' ###mm # $' mm###mm mm###mm `#q,.,p#' #' ###mm (R) "~^~" &&&&q, , ,P `b d' tm d' ,P d&&&P ;P .,d' ,c&&q, &&&&q, ,c&&q, q&,e&q ;P' d&&&P ;P' `& d' `b ;P' `b dP~ `P d' ;P'`&; dB&&&&P ;P ,P d' P ;P ;P d' `&; &, , d' .,d' &, .,d' d' d' , &&& &&'`&&&P' ;B&&&P' `&&&P' &&& `&P' d' ;P &&& "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" Copyright 1995 FS Publications All Rights Reserved @endnode @node MENU "Amiga Report Main Menu" @toc MAIN =========================================================================== == Main Menu == =========================================================================== @{" Editorial and Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Featured Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" News & Press Releases " link NEWS} @{" FTP Announcements " link FTP} @{" Reader Mail " link MAIL} --------------------------------- @{" About AMIGA REPORT " link ABOUT} @{" Dealer Directory " link DEALER} Contact Information and Copyrights Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers @{" Where to Get AR " link WHERE} @{" Advertisements " link COMMERCIAL} Mailing List & Distribution Sites Online Services, Dealers, Ordering ______________________________________________ // | | // ========//====| Amiga Report International Online Magazine |======//===== == \\// | Issue No. 3.16 September 5, 1995 | \\// == ==============| "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" |============= |______________________________________________| @endnode =========================================================================== == The Amiga Report Staff == =========================================================================== @node JASON "Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == EDITOR == =========================================================================== Jason Compton ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Address -------- ------- jcompton@shell.portal.com 1203 Alexander Ave jcompton@xnet.com Streamwood, IL 60107-3003 USA Fax Phone --- ----- 708/741-0689 708/289-7047 @endnode @node ROBERT "Senior Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == SENIOR EDITOR == =========================================================================== Robert Niles ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet Address -------- ------- rniles@Wolfe.NET 506 W. Orchard Selah, WA 98942 FidoNet Fax ------- --- 1:3407/103 509/697-5064 @endnode @node KATIE "Assistant Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == ASSISTANT EDITOR == =========================================================================== Katherine Nelson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- Kati@cup.portal.com @endnode @node SEAN "Games Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == GAMES EDITOR == =========================================================================== Sean Caszatt ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- Sean.Caszatt@f512.n2601.z1.fidonet.org @endnode @node WILLIAM "Contributing Editor" @toc STAFF =========================================================================== == CONTRIBUTING EDITOR == =========================================================================== William Near ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Internet -------- wnear@epix.net @endnode @node EDITORIAL "compt.sys.editor.desk" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== == compt.sys.editor.desk By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} == =========================================================================== It's the Magic Month, September. Remember, this was the month we were told Amigas would first be available. And, in a rather non-concrete form, it looks like preparations are being made to get them out, with a UK press/dealer conference to generate interest and an announcement of the array of pack-in software that will come with each machine. Gilles Bourdin of Amiga Technologies told me today that 100,000 A1200s have already been sold in pre-orders. Of course, on the other hand, only the continent of Europe has any sort of solid distribution network. In North America, we are still waiting, just as the Australians are. God only knows what the intrepid South American and African Amiga users are thinking now, to say nothing of AR's readers in Kiev. AR's getting rather old, and it's time to shake things up from time to time. After all, it was pointed out to me last night that, with AR 3.16, there have been 89 issues of Amiga Report. That is a lot of magazine. Am I tired of it? Nah, not at all. But sometimes it's nice to get a new logo (thanks again, Gareth) or switch the icon (courtesy of Philip Vedovatti). In fact, we've been playing with all sorts of ideas for AR. An independent reader has taken it upon himself to release a graphical HTML version of AR with each new release to Aminet (Thanks, Josef@IRC). As for AR proper-well, there are only so many neat things you can do with AmigaGuide, but plans are in the works to come up with a modular system to add little "multimedia niceties" onto the magazine. I won't do anything if the work involved detracts from the quality and content of the magazine, but it's something worth exploring. For all the talk we've done about supporting the Amiga over the past months, the fact remains that if Amigas and Amiga products don't sell, the market collapses. Included in this issue is not only a collection of news and reviews on recent products, but the return of paid advertising. A group of Amiga companies decided it was worth their while to pay the AR expense account this month in exchange for a chance to reach the Amiga public. I can't make you, but I'd like to ask that you at least take a couple of minutes to flip through our advertising text. Speaking of talk, there was quite a bit of it at Amiga Convention '95. A show report appears in this issue. It should pretty well close out my summer of travel, but the prospects for a late autumn/early winter North American Amiga show are good. Any European show organizers interested in flying me out as a speaker are, of course, more than welcome to contact me. :) One last thing-while contact information is nearly impossible to get, it has been confirmed that a company known as ISE has been contracted to do all Amiga hardware and software development, on demand, from Amiga Technologies. They have already been in contact with a number of Amiga engineers and developers, but no hirings have been reported yet-largely due to the apparent requirement that engineering be done in Germany, ISE's home. Jason @endnode @node COMMERCIAL "Commercial Products" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Commercial Products == =========================================================================== @{"Intangible Assets Manufacturing" link AD1} Cool products from IAM @{" National Amiga Canada " link AD2} Mail/Net-order from Ontario @{" Digital Quill " link AD3} The new text editor @{" IMANDI Professional 1.0 " link AD4} Invoice/Inventory business package @{" Desktop Supply Shop " link AD5} Hard Drives and Amiga Hardware @{" Hi-Tech Components' SX-1 " link AD6} The CD32 expansion device @{" Scientific Amigan Magazine " link AD7} For true Amiga geeks @{" Editor's Choice " link EDITORCHOICE} Jason's picks @{" Portal Information Systems " link PORTAL} A great place for Amiga users. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- @{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Announce " link FTP} @endnode @node AD2 "National Amiga Canada" @toc COMMERCIAL ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- N A T I O N A L A M I G A C A N A D A ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- National Amiga is a small mailorder company based in Ontario Canada. The main thing we want to do is help out other Amiga owners and give them a place to find out about and purchase Amiga products. National Amiga does most of it's business over the internet. We have a World Wide Web site that contains our full catalog along with information on many of the products we sell and support. Something is added almost on a daily basis. Don't see it? Ask! We actually LOOK for things all over the world. Not only does our web site contain prices, but it also contains links to other Amiga related sites. Our new Technical Information page has jumper settings, diagrams, specs, and how-to-do it sections. It's growing all the time and has become quite popular for many FAQ's! Hard-Drives * 3.1 Kits * Networking * RAM * CD-ROMs * Cables * Accelerators, Chips * Mice * Graphics Cards * Software * And we ship around the world! * Email us to be put on our weekly up-date list containing specials * on new and used products! * Don't have email access? Call and leave a message for our new print catalog! NATIONAL AMIGA 1229 Marlborough Ct. #1401 Email: gscott@interlog.com IRC: NAN (_NAN) Oakville, Ontario http://www.interlog.com/~gscott/NationalAmiga.html L6H3B6 CANADA Phone: (905) 845-1949 Fax: (905) 845-3295 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- @endnode @node AD1 "Intangible Assets Manufacturing" @toc COMMERCIAL *** Intangible Assets Manufacturing has cool stuff you want *** *** Now you can get it cheap with The Amiga Report September Sale *** As an Amiga Report reader, only you'll know the secret. For a limited time, you can take advantage of an exclusive sale with unheard of prices. Plus, the first 50 orders under this sale will get a FREE limited edition printing of the "Amiga Report Times," autographed by Jason Compton and Dale Larson. "The Deathbed Vigil... and other "Connect Your Amiga! A Guide to the tales of digital angst" Internet, LANs, BBSs and Online Services" $25 PAL or NTSC (REGULARLY $35) $20 (REGULARLY $24.95) "DiskSalv 3" $30 (REGULARLY $40) "Amiga Envoy 2.0b" $40 (REGULARLY $59.95) *** Save Nearly $70 *** Buy all four items above and get your choice of one $50 book for only $25! "The Amiga Guru Book," or "The ARexx Cookbook, Deluxe Edition" [book and three-disk set]. Your total savings is $79.90. (Offer valid while limited supplies last. Bonus book may be shipped separately via book rate, surface.) *** The Secret *** Prices are valid through the end of September, 1995, and only when you mention "Amiga Report" while placing your order by Web, email, fax, snail mail or phone. A shipping and handling charge applies to all orders -- orders of up to one of each product are shipped at a flat rate -- $5/$8 for North American surface/priority, elsewhere, $8/$15 for surface/Air. IAM accepts Visa and MC, as well as checks in US dollars payable on a US or Canadian bank. http://www.iam.com info@iam.com fax +1 610 853 3733 vox +1 610 853 4406 Intangible Assets Manufacturing, 828 Ormond Avenue, Drexel Hill, PA, 19026, USA @endnode @node AD3 "Digital Quill from Phantom Development" @toc COMMERCIAL Digital Quill - The Next Generation In Text Editing Digital Quill is not only brand new in the sense of it being a new product, but it also brings a brand new attitude to text editors, and applications in general. Quill is a user-centered design, that is to say it was designed from the start with a high degree of usability in mind. Quill is not only fast and friendly but full-featured as well. Here are a few of Quill's most noteworthy features: . Very fast text scrolling. . Quick disk operations. . Fast find and replace. . Fully configurable button strip, or "SpeedBar". . Completely font adaptive and localized user interface. . Complies rigidly with Commodore's user interface style guidelines. . Requires at least release 2.1 of the Amiga's OS, and takes full advantage of release 3.x features. . A full array of conventional text editing features: - clipboard support - choice of true or "fake" tabs and configurable tab size - word wrap and auto-indent - bookmarks - case conversion - bracket matching, both automatic and on-demand . Complete context sensitive hypertext online help via AmigaGuide. . Extensive ARexx interface. . Macros can be recorded, played back or hand-written, and be assigned to a key combination, a pull-down menu item, or a SpeedBar button. Digital Quill will be available September 1995 at quality Amiga dealers everywhere with a suggested retail price of $59.95 US. For more information contact Phantom Development LLC, P.O. Box 572, Plantsville, CT 06479. WWW: http://www.pcnet.com/~caldi/phantom.html @endnode @node AD4 "IMANDI Professional 1.0 from Egad International" @toc COMMERCIAL IMANDI Professional 1.0 ©1995 Egad International IMANDI Professional is a versatile and powerful invoicing and inventory management software package for the Amiga. IMANDI Professional's impressive features make complex invoicing a quick and simple task. IMANDI Professional is capable of handling all sales of small to medium sized companies. Invoicing Inventory Management -Automated Parts, Labor, Travel -Unlimited inventory databases Time, Mileage, Pass-Thru, and -Inventory level tracking Babble entries -Comprehensive reports -Unlimited pages -Easy item searches -Multiple invoice forms -Sales tracking -Advanced discounting functions -Itemized taxation options Requirements -Shiping taxation options -Unlimited customers -Amiga OS 2.04 or greater -Customer status levels -1.5 Megabytes of memory -Customer list total and discounting -HD suggested tracking -68020+ suggested -Invoice Saving A demo is available on Aminet: ftp://aminet.com/pub/aminet/biz/demo/imandi_prodemo.lha (238730) For the months of August and September, there is a special introductory price in effect: $69.99 + S&H ($5.00 in the U.S.) To order - Email or write to: goodpain@cris.com OR Egad International P.O. Box 444 Tolland, CT 06084 USA VISA/MASTERCARD / CHECK / MONEY ORDER / C.O.D. ACCEPTED @endnode @node AD5 "Desktop Supply Shop" @toc COMMERCIAL -DESKTOP SUPPLY SHOP- P.O. BOX 841 EMAIL: JENISON, MI 49429-0841 PHONE: maciakt@river.it.gvsu.edu (616)662-4147 -- ALL PRODUCTS ARE NEW AND HAVE FULL MANUFACTURER WARRANTIES! -- -----------------------------------+------------------------------------ 3.5" FS2 SCSI HARD DRIVES | 3.5" IDE HARD DRIVES QUANTUM 540MB $185 FUJITSU 1GB $375|MAXTOR 540MB $180 SEAGATE 850MB $230 FUJITSU 530MB $205 QUANTUM 2GB $775|QUANTUM730MB $215 SEAGATE 1.1 G $260 QUANTUM 730MB $215 SEAGATE 2GB $840|MAXTOR 850MB $225 MAXTOR 1.260G $295 QUANTUM 1 GIG $325 FUJITSU 2GB $855| ------------------------------------+ 2.5" HARD DRIVES - FAST DATA/FAX MODEMS - | IDE QUANTUM 541MB $399 USROBOTICS 28.8 SPORTSTER (ext) $249| SCSI QUANTUM 514MB $395 MAXTEC 28.8 FAX/MODEM (ext) $210+------------------------------------ ------------------------------------| -- AMiGAS ARRIVING IN SEPTEMBER! -- CyberStorm 060 Accelerator $1325 TOCATTA 16bit Audio Digitizer $455 VLAB MOTION WITH TOCATTA $2200 VLAB MOTION W/O TOCATTA $1725 CyberVision 64bit Gfx (2mb)$479 CyberVision 64bit Gfx (4mb) $599   RETINA 24bit ZII 4meg $585 Retina 24bit ZIII 4meg $885 24Bit Picasso II (w2mb) $355 Octagaon-ZII ScsiII Card $155 DataFlyer XDS 1200 3.5"IDE $79 DataFlyer XDS Optional Power $79 Big Foot A500/A1200 PS $89 GVP 4MB 32bit RAM SIMM $220 A1200 Cobra 40mhz (030) $225 DKB1202 RAM CARD(2 72pin SIMM) $115 TriMedia Drawing Board III 12x12 $570 (3button pen) $455 (2button pen) TriMedia Drawing Slate 6x9 tablet - (3button cordless pen) $360 * MI RES. ADD SALES TAX - S&H(USA $6 ITEM)(CAN $15 ITEM)(FOREIGN $20 ITEM) PRICES SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE, NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR TYPING ERRORS! MUST BE PAID IN US DOLLARS! CHECKS OR CERTIFIED MONEY ORDERS! NO VISA/MC! @endnode @node AD6 "Hi-Tech Component Distributors' SX-1" @toc COMMERCIAL Hi-Tech Component Distributors Inc-makers of the SX-1! Hi-Tech has an all-new production run of the SX-1 Expansion Module for the Amiga CD32 available. The SX-1 adds a SIMM slot (expandable to 8 megabytes of RAM), internal and external IDE hard drive controllers, a PC/AT keyboard connector, serial, parallel, and floppy drive ports, as well as an audio mixing port to the CD32. In addition, the new Hi-Tech models have an improved, more stable edge connector. The SX-1 base unit is available for US$200. In addition, a 170 megabyte internal 2.5 inch IDE hard drive is available for a mere US$69 with purchase of the base SX-1 unit. (Regular price is US$89) Contact us for our other great deals on hard drives and accessories! Hi-Tech Component Distributors 59 S. La Patera Ln. Goleta, CA 93117 USA 805-681-9961 voice 805-681-9971 fax @endnode @node AD7 "Scientific Amigan Magazine" @toc COMMERCIAL Do you know what a pocket protector is? Do you work with people who wear them, or even use one yourself? Consider subscribing to Scientific Amigan, the newsletter for research, analysis, design, and technical education. Typical issues contain the latest news on technical Amiga software, Web sites. excerpts from the Annals of Improbable Research, REXX tutorials, how to get to the Internet, and other material shunned by non-rocket scientists. Drop a line to the publisher at waltal@well.com, or check out the new Web page at: http://www.well.com/user/waltal/ SA subscriptions are $39 US a year domestic and $49 a year foriegn delivery. Samples $2. Payment accepted in cash, check, or money order in U.S. funds. @endnode @node MAIL "Reader Mail" @toc MENU =========================================================================== == Reader Mail == =========================================================================== From: packrat@cup.portal.com Subject: Re:Question about Amiga World Date: Thu, 31 Aug 95 17:12:08 PDT Hello Jason.... I have been an Amiga Report reader for some time now (my archive goes back as far as AR201, but I remember well, the pre-Amigaguide days). I have often thought of writing you, as you seem to be an authority in most Amiga matters these days. But, due to lack of time, vocabulary (and general ambition), I've waited until now. Until I had a problem that seemed important enough to warrant a request for help. Let me explain. I originally had a one year subscription to the now defunct American Amiga Magazine "Amiga World", published by IDG. I actually received a few issues prior to their demise and rather enjoyed them. Then I received a postcard in the mail indicating that "AW" was being discontinued, and that the remainder of my subscription would be fulfilled with my choice of either some kind of Amiga 3D graphics/Video magazine or "Amiga Format", one of IDG's European Amiga mags. I selected "Amiga Format", and actually received one issue--the prior month's issue--but hey, a magazine I hadn't read already. Well that was back in July. I have recieved nothing since then. Have your heard of this phenomenon? Were you a subscriber to "AW"? Would you happen to have an email address for IDG? I do have an address for IDG in the UK, but I thought I'd check with you and your readers first. If possible, would you be able to mention this in your next issue of AR to see if I'm the only one getting this treatment? I'm wondering if I am in the same boat with a lot of other people....... Keep the hard drives spinning..... Richard Singles --- --- --- --- --- --- --- From: "Dureau, Thierry J" Subject: Amiga Report Reader Mail Feedback Date: Wed, 30 Aug 95 12:29:00 EST Jason, I've just read the reader mail of AR315 for the second or third time and I'm writing to comment on the concerns of Amiga users out there. First of all, we all share in David Bias' frustration I'm sure, but I believe we must remain optimistic that Escom wouldn't spend millions on something just for the hell of it. They would be looking to make money out of it someway or another. Judging on what has happened in the past years (nothing), what they do can't be so bad. They can't be that stupid not to listen to Amiga worshippers worldwide at least a little. Second, I think all of us at one time or another have tried to turn someone towards purchasing or converting to Amiga. Some Will, Some Won't, So What............Some Will!. Then what happens to our integrity when WE throw in the towel. We need to stick together. Even though the Amiga never becomes 'the chosen' machine of the future, if all that comes out of this is a little worldwide Amiga community with continued hardware support from Escom, Who Cares. What would be the value of the Amiga platform if everyone used it ? We all know that something's value comes from it's scarcity. Third, we the users need to support the platform by not using pirate software. I believe if people had faith in the Amiga, they would fork out money to buy software. Right now I suppose the people's faith depends on what Escom does in the short term. Let's hope it's something good. Last but not least. As far as marketing the Amiga goes, I guess Escom's got a challenge on their hands. My suggestion to them is AMWAY....What?, I hear you say, yep, good 'ol little Amway. They turned over approximately 6 billion dollars US last financial year and big companies are beginning to take notice. Look at what they did for MCI. The good thing about them is, first, they've already established 2 million distributors worldwide with an average growth of 20% per annum. That's unheard of in the corporate world. Second, they do the marketing for you and with the aid of shopping channels in the near future (I think a CD32 set-top box might be useful here), the Amiga could be on every television screen around the globe. Third, you pay Amway out of the profit you make from sales. I think Escom should seriously consider this suggestion before they miss the boat and someone else jumps onto the AMWAY bandwagon. And if you're all wondering, yes I'm an Amway distributor who loves the Amiga. Faithfully, Thierry Dureau, Melbourne Australia. --- --- --- --- --- --- --- From: BREWINJ@cliffy.polaroid.com (J.Brewin 617-446-4649) Subject: Amiga future Date: Tue, 22 Aug 1995 08:45:44 -0400 (EDT) Jason, In response to the letter from David Bias (AR 3.15) about the demise of the future of AMIGA, I am generally in agreement. It is unfortunate that even with the aquisition of AMIGA by ESCOM the AMIGA will soon be a fading light in the expanse of a computer sky. The US should definately add this creature to it's Endangered Species List. I still own (2) Amigas and will continue to use them until they can no longer serve me. It pains me greatly in saying this. Deep in my heart of hearts, I guess I felt this coming on, but have suppressed it for as long as I could. I will have to look to another platform to fill my future needs. (There I've said it :( ) With the advent of Win95 (ouch - that hurt) people are being bombarded with it's (supposedly) uniqueness - HAH! And this is what will be remembered as the OS for their needs. Noone will know or remember Amiga OS's greatness because it will be lost with the passing of time. I'm afraid ESCOM's only interest is squeezing the technology for all they can get from it and then tossing the rind in the garbage to be hauled away to the nearest landfill. The Amiga will live in my memories and I will recall it's service to me with great fondness from time to time. Just as I recall many pleasures from my childhood - they are now only memories - and in a like way so will my Amiga. Regards Joe Brewin brewinj@polaroid.com @endnode @node OPINION1 "Dreams of a Low End Amiga" @toc OPINION =========================================================================== DREAMS OF A LOW END AMIGA Nickolas Marentes STAUROS@OZEMAIL.COM.AU =========================================================================== Primary limitations of the existing design CPU Speed While the Amiga has some very good custom chips supporting the CPU, several applications do not benafit as much from these enhancements. Applications such as ray tracing and texture mapping are primarily CPU intensive tasks. The IBM PC's are much better at these due to their fast 486 and Pentium CPU's. System Presentation To most non-amiga people, the appearance of the A1200 leads them to believe that it is nothing more than a larger C64. They immediately develop the impression that the system is nothing more than a toy computer specifically designed for games. If one was to place on display the A1200 alongside an ancient IBM PC/XT and ask a group of totally computer illiterate people which computer they feel is the more powerful, most of them will say the PC/XT. Unfortunately, people DO judge a book by its cover. Concept Design No.1 Module 1: A CD based games console much like the CD-32 with the optional expansion to a video CD player or Set-Top box via a trapdoor expansion bay. The unit should be narrower across the front but deeper towards the back than the original CD-32. The inclusion of an infra-red remote pickup for an optional remote control so that the unit can be used as part of the home entertainment system without ugly joystick cables dangling everywhere. The mainboard can be the same spec as in the CD-32 but with a faster CPU and 4Mb RAM for improved processing speed to better compete with the range of new games consoles coming out from the competition. This unit would appeal to anyone who simply wants a low cost game console and/or a video/audio CD player with the capability for expansion to a full computer using Module 2. Module 2: A unit with the same width and depth as module 1 but double the height. This unit clips onto the bottom of module 1 to give the appearance of a small mini-tower type computer with a top load CD-ROM drive. Module 2 should include, memory expansion, parallel/serial ports, real time clock, an internal 3.5" hard disk, a front mounted floppy drive and at least 2 internal expansion slots (basically all the extra components required to bring it up to A1200 spec). Front mounted connectors for a detachable keyboard and mouse (supplied with Module 2) and rear mounted connectors for printer and serial ports. The entire unit could be coloured the same as the original CD-32, "techo-black". The power supply may be shared between the two modules or possibly module 2 could come with it's own internal supply designed to power both. This design allows people to start off at a minimal expense and upgrade to a full A1200 later while still retaining a degree of professionalism in the final configuration. It also means all future Amiga users will have a CD-ROM drive as standard opening the doors for more CD-ROM based software to be developed. It also means the Akiko chip with it's planar-to-chunky graphics conversion will be available to all new Amiga's allowing for all future software to take advantage of improved texture mapping capabilities. This design should be relatively low cost to produce while still providing a powerful complete system, all using the tried and proven AGA chipset. Concept Design No. 2 This design uses the existing A1200 and adds an expansion unit which sits underneath the monitor. Anyone who remembers the original Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model 1 design, will recognize this design. The unit would sit directly behind the A1200 with all cables from the A1200 passing underneath the unit. An expansion board that plugs into the A1200 trapdoor adds a faster CPU, the Akiko chip and acts as a bus expansion buffer that leads to a high density connector replacing the knock-out panel on the back of the A1200. The expansion box would plugs into this. Inside the expansion unit will be a power supply (which also powers the A1200), memory expansion sockets, several Zorro expansion slots and space for a front loaded CD-ROM drive (high enough so that it clears the A1200 when opened). If an enhanced A1200 is released later with a faster CPU (A1300?) this same expansion box could be used but the new machine would provide this bus expansion connector as standard. The case styling should be made to match the A1200 so that it looks part of the system and not a third party "bolt-on". The benefits of this design are the same as in Design 1. If anyone has any questions about my ideas (Escom...you're invited!) please feel free to leave me an E-mail message on STAUROS@OZEMAIL.COM.AU and start your message with "Attention: Nick, re: Amiga designs". @endnode @node NEWS1 "The Unusable Amiga Emulator" @toc NEWS From: crux@informatik.rwth-aachen.de (Bernd Schmidt) Newsgroups: comp.emulators.misc Subject: Amiga emulator available (not a hoax!) Date: 30 Aug 1995 11:59:20 GMT I have uploaded uae-0.1.tar.gz to sunsite.unc.edu:pub/Linux/Incoming. The file should move to pub/Linux/system/Emulators in a few months time. "UAE" stands for "The Unusable Amiga Emulator". It is a partial software emulation of the Amiga hardware. It is far from usable, since some vital features are missing, and it is way too slow. However, it should put an end to arguments that it can't be done. There is quite a bit of room for improvements, I expect a full (usable) emulation can be done in about five years time. Don't complain, C64 emulators need a P90, too, to run at full speed, and an Amiga is somewhat more complex. Although this is not a hoax emulator, it can't do more than that: It can currently just display the Kickstart logo. I have not been able to get the disk support working yet. Maybe someone would like to help me, I am rather busy with other projects. The sources are there... UAE runs on Unix systems with the X Window System. I am developing it using Linux, but I have also been able to get it to run on a HP Apollo and a Sun Sparcstation. You need a C++ compiler, or you have to make small modifications to turn it into a C program (nothing major). You also need to transfer a Kickstart ROM image to your PC. The following parts are emulated: - MC68000 CPU: Almost done, some rare instructions (ABCD, ...) are not emulated yet. - Blitter: If there's no bug, it ought to be complete. - Copper: Not much to emulate here - Timers: I think these are fully working, too. Not done properly: - Playfield (display) hardware: Only black & white graphics, no dual playfield support, no HAM. - Sprites: None. - Sound: None. - Mouse, Keyboard, Joystick: None. - Timing: The CPU and blitter cycles are counted, but I have not bothered yet to adjust the timing to match the characteristics of a real A500 - Floppy disk: Broken. I think the hardest parts are done, except the disk support, debugging and speed improvements. Just as a side note: Maybe it might be easier to turn this into an Atari ST emulation first, and debug that. I think the ST has considerably less hardware complexity. If some ST experts would like to work on that, please feel free to contact me. Otherwise, mail me if you have comments, bug reports or enhacements. Regards, Bernd Schmidt crux@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de @endnode @node NEWS2 "Amiga-Link 2.0" @toc NEWS ====================================================================== Amiga-Link PRESS RELEASE August 25, 1995 ====================================================================== The Amiga-Link 2.0 / Envoy 2.0 Networking Package ------------------------------------------------- AmiTrix Development announced today that they will now be distributing the Amiga-Link/Envoy networking package for all Amigas. Arrangements have been made with Intangible Assets Manufacturing (IAM), and with ABF Computer GbR, that will see "Envoy 2.0" bundled together with an updated, fully translated version of "Amiga-Link", to be assembled and distributed by AmiTrix. Amiga-Link is a complete solution to your Amiga peer-to-peer networking needs. With the included software and hardware, you can share your hard drives and printers, as well as run other network applications. This package is compatible with all Amiga models, using the floppy port for maximum compatibility across models, and keeping other ports available for their intended uses. Low cost "rendering farms" are now possible. The Amiga-Link package comes with both the standard AmigaLink software and also the Amiga Envoy software. The Amigalink software's advantage is that it works with AmigaOS1.3, providing compatibility with older machines, whereas Amiga Envoy requires 2.04 or higher, but provides superior performance, device sharing, and an API that allows for the development of third-party networking applications, with many already available. Amiga-Link provides a less expensive method of peer to peer networking using compact modules connected to the external floppy port and linked together with BNC connectors and coaxial cables. The SANA-II device driver allows all Amiga's (including those without Zorro-II expansion slots), to be connected in a network of up to 20 machines, within a distance of 330 feet (100m). DMA data transfer, at 450,000 bps from network to memory, avoids CPU contention common to the parallel/serial port networks, and leaves these ports free for normal use. This is roughly equivalent to ArcNet speed, and although slower than ethernet, is less than half the cost. The AmigaLink software has GUI tools for Workbench control of Import & Export functions, network Statistics & Diagnostics tools for testing and troubleshooting both hardware & software, while a Printer Spooler program allows for network printer sharing. It's SANA-II compatibility allows other software to be run concurrently such as AmiTCP, providing great flexibility when networking various Amiga's together. A new revised English manual is included. Amiga Envoy is the standard Amiga peer-to-peer networking software that was developed by Commodore's Amiga Networking Group. Its performance, user-interface and API are consistent with the philosophy of the Amiga Operating System. Amiga Envoy provides a simple messaging interface for the easy development of reliable network applications. Included applications enable connected Amiga computers to share their hard disks, CD-ROMs, and printers transparently. Third-party applications can also provide extra functionality such as electronic mail, remote computer access, multi-user databases and multi-player games. New features for Envoy 2.0 include support of AmigaOS 2.04 DOS packet types (including notification and record locking), support for removable media, enhanced reliability & robust recovery, localization, AmigaGuide documentation, and more. MSRP for the basic 2 unit package is $299.00 US, or $379.00 CAN. Expansion kits, cable options and accesories are also available. Dealer and Educational Institution inquiries welcomed. For more information or ordering AmiTrix products, contact us at: AmiTrix Development, 5312 - 47 Street, Beaumont, Alberta, T4X 1H9 Canada Phone or Fax: 1+ 403-929-8459 (Please leave your mailing address on phone messages when requesting) (information, or contact us via email at the address shown below) Email: sales@amitrix.worldgate.com http://www.ee.ualberta.ca/~ewaniu/amitrix.html ====================================================================== @endnode @node NEWS3 "Amiga 'Pack-In's" @toc NEWS Thanks to Mat Bettinson of CU Amiga for initially reporting this information to Usenet. Jonathan Anderson, head of Amiga Technologies UK, was placed in charge of putting together a pack-in bundle for new Amigas. This is what was announced. The new Amigas will be bundled with: Productivity Software: Photogenics 1.2 SE (Special Edition) WordWorth 4 SE PPaint 6.4 SE DataStore 1.1 Turbo Calc 3.5 Digita's Organiser Scala's MM300 (With HD pack only) Games: Pinball Mania Whizz @endnode @node NEWS4 "AsimCDFS 3.2" @toc NEWS TITLE: AsimCDFS VERSION: v3.2 COMPANY: Asimware Innovations Inc. 600 Upper Wellington St., Unit D Hamilton, Ontario Canada L9A 3P9 Phone: (905)578-4916 Fax: (905)578-3966 EMail: info@asimware.com AsimCDFS v3.2 Maintenance Release --------------------------------- We would like to announce the availability of AsimCDFS v3.2, which was released on August 23rd, 1995. This is a maintenance update for the AsimCDFS v3 package. Particulars include support for additional CD-ROM drives, small feature additions and minor bug fixes. Consult the AsimCDFS3_2.readme file on our FTP site for details. Registered users can obtain this release via our BBS or ftp site. Consult your manual for details on obtaining the update. Sincerely, Paul Reeves Asimware Innovations Inc. August 23rd, 1995 @endnode @node NEWS5 "fMSX Amiga 0.6" @toc NEWS TITLE fMSX Amiga 0.6 AUTHOR Hans Guijt (h.guijt@inter.nl.net) DESCRIPTION fMSX Amiga emulates an MSX computer on an Amiga. This version finally includes disk support, which means that it is suitable for several jobs: - BASIC programming using the in-built MSX-BASIC. - Doing serious work such as accounting or wordprocessing. - Playing games. Software is not included with the package, but many packages (mostly games) can be found on FTP sites: ftp.saitama-u.ac.jp /pub/msx/ stargate.imagine.com /pub/MSX/ ftp.funet.fi /pub/msx/ riaph.irkutsk.su /pub/ Currently some 147 ROMs, 10 MegaROMs, and over 200 disk-based games have been or will be uploaded! Of course fMSX Amiga is fully multitasking, runs in an intuition screen, and has a font-sensitive user interface. NEW FEATURES Drive support! This means that you can now use disk-based games, or write BASIC programs *and* save them before you turn off your computer! Drive support requires some form of PC drive support on your Amiga. The logical choice would be CrossDos, but other solutions such as messydos are also supported. In addition, it is not necessary that the emulated drive is actually a physical drive; it could just as well be a hardfile or a RAD-like device. Another new feature is support for using MegaROMs. Although not many are available right now these games are generally of higher quality than the normal ROMs or the disk-based games. The GUI was given a complete overhaul. Many more preference options and buttons are now available and are remembered between sessions. The highspeed mode is more robust, although it is not yet perfect. Of course the customary speedup was also done. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Required are: - Amiga OS 3.0 - 68020 processor - 400 kilobytes chip ram - 700 kilobytes other ram Recommended: - 68030 processor, at least 25MHz - Those 700 kilobytes of 'other' ram had better be fast ram! Note that fMSX Amiga does *not* require the AGA chipset. In fact, it should run on any chipset upto and including graphics cards, although this has not been tested. AVAILABILITY fMSX Amiga 0.6 is available from any aminet site, such as: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/misc/emu/fmsx_0.6.lha (114682) PRICE It's absolutely free. 'Gratis en voor niets' as the Dutch say ;-) DISTRIBUTABILITY fMSX Amiga 0.6 is publically supported freeware. If you are interested in the source, and you're not afraid of function pointers and huge amounts of assembly intermixed with C, you can request it from me. If someone wants to do a special version (and I can think of several possibilities, such as a version that uses the MMU for optimized Z80 emulation, or a version that runs on a Cybergraphics card), contact me. @endnode @node NEWS6 "Inner-City Arts" @toc NEWS [Orginally posted to comp.sys.amiga.misc] I am posting this for a friend (contact information below);I know this is a long shot, but if never hurts to ask-- Wanted: 12 Commodore Amiga A1200 Computers Any Hewlett Packard DeskJet 560C Printers Inner-City Arts is a non-profit arts organization which offers visual and performing arts classes to the under-served, ethnically diverse elementary school children who reside in the area of downtown Los Angeles known as "skid row." The mission of Inner-City Arts is to keep the spark of creativity alive in young children facing extremely difficulat circumstances while building self-esteem and connections between art, school, family and community. On September 22, 1995, Inner-City Arts will hold an arts festival to introduce 150 new children to its facility. As part of this Festival For Youth, we would like to offer computer design experiences. We are looking for a donation of 12 Commodore Amiga computers and printers to be used at the Inner-City Arts Center on September 22nd. Any permanent donation is tax-deductible, and will go directly to our budding media center where children whose circumstances do not include access to such experiences, will be able to make use of them. For more information about our organization, event or mission, please contact: Michelle Berne, Inner-City Arts Festival for Youth via e-mail: InnerCityA@aol.com or at Inner City Arts: 213/627-6469. @endnode @node NEWS7 "Digital Quill" @toc NEWS From: caldi@pcnet.com (Christopher Aldi) Digital Quill is a full featured text editor capable of meeting all your text processing needs with grace and ease. Quill puts editing functions at your command with a user definable Keystroke, Menu, or SpeedButton. Be it a book report for the class room, or writing C and Assembly language programs, Quill is up to the task. Several default macros are included that support many popular compiler environments such as SAS/C, DICE, and BenchMark Modula 2. Digital Quill Features o User Definable Speed Buttons o User Definable Speed Menu o Style Guide Compliant GUI o Font & Screen Adaptive GUI o Workbench, Public and Custom Screen Support o Drag Marking Mode o Fence Posting Mode o Iconification To Workbench o AppWindow Support o Fast and Powerful Search & Replace o Bookmarking o Auto-Indent for Programmers. o Comprehensive A-Rexx Scripting Interface o Online Amiga Guide Help Quill is not only brand new in the sense of it being a new product, but it also brings a brand new attitude to text editors, and applications in general, to the Amiga. Quill is a user-centered design, that is to say it was designed from the start with a high degree of usability in mind, to provide a ground work that is comfortable and easy to use, while at the same time being fast and powerful. Digital Quill is Digital Power, Digital Ease, Digital Grace, and Digital Speed. The time is now to ride the Digital Edge! Digital Quill is competitively priced at $59.95 US and will be available at quality Amiga softwarre dealers everywhere soon! Phantom Development LLC. P.O. Box 572 Plantsville, CT 06479 WWW: http://www.pcnet.com/~caldi/phantom.html @endnode @node NEWS8 "ShapeShifter 3.1" @toc NEWS TITLE ShapeShifter VERSION 3.1 AUTHOR Christian Bauer EMail: bauec002@goofy.zdv.uni-mainz.de SMail: Christian Bauer, Langenaustr.65, 56070 Koblenz, Germany DESCRIPTION ShapeShifter is a multitasking shareware Macintosh-II emulator for the Amiga computer. It allows to run Macintosh software concurrently to Amiga applications without hardware add-ons or modifications. Some of the emulation's features: - Color display up to 256 colors on AGA Amigas (16 colors on ECS) and up to 16,7 million colors on graphics cards - No MMU required, even runs on A1200 - Macintosh hard disks can be simulated in Amiga files or Amiga hard disk partitions [unregistered version has no hard disk partition support] - Can use Amiga floppy drives, serial, parallel and SCSI ports from the Mac [use of SCSI not possible in unregistered version] - Mac HD disks can be read directly with an HD floppy drive, Mac 720K disks can be used with any Amiga floppy drive. To use Mac 800K disks, you have to own CrossMAC and an original Mac drive - Multichannel sound output and parallel-port sound digitizers supported - Access to Ethernet networks - Text clipboard sharing between Mac and Amiga - File handler to access Macintosh volumes from the Workbench - Speed comparable to a real Mac with equivalent hardware The most important changes in V3.1: - The SCSI routines have been completely rewritten. If you continue to encounter incompatibilities with certain SCSI devices, it's most probably a hardware or driver problem. - AppleScript runs - EtherTalk is fully supported - ShapeShifter can now use external video drivers. To make a start, a "Retina Z3" driver is being supplied. - The graphics refresh in Amiga Bitplanes modes is faster. - "MacMem" is now integrated into "PrepareEmul". - DeviceDisks can now be used with removable media. - The 68060 FPU is recognized correctly - The "ShapeShifter PRAM" file format has changed. But a file in the old format is recognized automatically and converted on the next shutdown. - Those who own "CrossDOS" or "CrossMAC" and a Macintosh 800K disk drive supported by CrossMAC can read and write Macintosh 800K DD disks with ShapeShifter (truly spoken, this always worked with ShapeShifter). AMAX and Emplant formatted 800K disks can also be accessed, then. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS OS2.1, 68020 processor, 4MB of RAM, HD floppy drive recommended. A copy of a Macintosh 512K or 1MB ROM and the Macintosh system software are not included, but required. The ROM can be read off of a real Mac by using a supplied program, the system software can be bought from Apple. Note, however, that reading the ROM is only legal if you have bought the ROMs or own a real Macintosh. AVAILABILITY Aminet sites: /misc/emu/ShapeShift3_1.lha ftp://server.biologie.uni-erlangen.de/pub/shapeshifter/ShapeShifter3_1.lha Next Generation BBS, Germany (ShapeShifter support BBS) Port 1: +49-261-805012 (Zyx19.2) Port 2: +49-261-84280 (V.FC) PRICING The requested shareware fee is DM 50,- or US$ 40. Upon registration you will receive a keyfile that enables the disabled features (SCSI and hard disk partition support). DISTRIBUTABILITY Shareware (DM 50,- or US$ 40 requested) @endnode @node NEWS9 "UK Amiga News" @toc NEWS Press kit London Amiga Technologies will hold a press confence, a dealer meeting and a developer meeting on the 16th and 17th of August, 1995. The Amiga press as well as the national press will attend the first event organized by the new Amiga Technologies GmbH. Dealers and developers will be able to hear current status, plans and projects from Amiga executives. The conference will take place at the Sheraton Heathrow Hotel, The occasion will be used the introduce the virtual I-Glasses in the UK for the first time. Agenda Press, Dealer and Developer meeting, London, 16-17/08/95 16/08/95 Press meeting. Moderated by Jonathan Anderson 15:30 - 16:00 Registration & Demo I-Glasses 16:00 - 16.05 Greetings Petro Tyschtschenko 16:05 - 16:25 Amiga distribution UK (J. Smith) 16:25 - 16:45 Virtual I-Glasses presentation (Premiski) 16:45 - 17:05 Break I-Glasses demo to the attendance 17:05 - 17:35 Presentation Amiga Technologies (PTY) 17:35 - open end Questions & Answers. 17/08/95 AM Dealer meeting Moderated by John Smith 08:30 - 09:00 Registration & Demo I-Glasses 09:00 - 09:05 Greetings Petro Tyschtschenko 09:05 - 09:25 Amiga distribution UK (J. Smith) 09:25 - 09:45 Virtual I-Glasses presentation (Premiski) 09:45 - 10:05 Break - I-Glasses demo to the attendance 10:05 - 10:35 Presentation Amiga Technologies (PTY) 10:35 - 12:00 Questions & Answers. Demo Glasses 17/08/95 PM Developper meeting Moderated by Jonathan Anderson 14:00 - 14:30 Registration & Demo I-Glasses 14:30 - 14.35 Greetings Petro Tyschtschenko 14:35 - 14:55 Amiga distribution UK (J. Smith) 14:55 - 15:15 Virtual I-Glasses presentation (Premiski) 15:15 - 15:35 Break I-Glasses demo to the attendance 15:35 - 16:05 Presentation Amiga Technologies (PTY) 16:05 - open end Questions & Answers. "The spoken word applies" Speech Petro Tyschtschenko We are pleased to be here in the UK, one of our most important markets, to have the opportunity to talk directly to the Amiga press. We will talk to our dealers and the developers tomorrow. We know that this press meeting should have taken place earlier. Please understand that we were very busy. We have set up the operations and the material for production. During this time, we have achieved many things. Let's talk about this now. Some of you surely know how long and difficult the takeover of Commodore was and how much this one year of latency hurt the Amiga market. Building up everything again was also a difficult task for us. Especially the financial and logistic situation. Without the support from our mothercompany ESCOM AG, nothing would have been possible. We actually revived the Amiga in two important steps: First by acquiring the assets of the former Commodore for more than 10 million Dollars secondly by starting it up again, which requested again several times the initial investment. Other main difficulties we encountered were to get specific parts and components for production. D-RAMs are on allocation, Amiga keyboards, floppies and SCSI harddrives have long lead times. Tailor made parts are difficult to get and they cost more than in the old Commodore times. Our first objective was to get Amiga products back on the market as fast as possible. To achieve this goal in an acceptable time, we decided to build the A1200 and A4000T without modifications. We have however included the new version 3.1 of the Operating System for the A1200. Ladies and Gentlemen, please be aware that the A4000T allready is a complete new product. There have only been produced 200 units worldwide by former Commodore. There will not be modifications on the casing for this year. The design proposals that were presented in Frankfurt are only a possibility for the models coming later. Please be aware : If we had decided to make enhancements immediately, there wouldn't have been machines on the market for the Christmas season. This decision does not mean in any way that we are going to stop research and development. Enhancements will be made on current machines for sure. I'll talk about this again later. But now I would like to present you the actual status of our operations. We are a german company located in Bensheim, 30 miles south of Frankfurt. Our production, assembling and material providers are located in Europe but the world is our market. Our team has grown tremendously to reach 39 people since May 31st, with the new addition of Virtual Products. We are a flexible, agressive, motivated, transparent and dynamic team. We can react very quickly to new situations, we take our strategic decisions faster than the competition does. What is our team doing on distribution ? Distribution John Smith already told you about the UK distribution. One piece of information you will surely be interested in is that ESCOM shops will carry Amiga Computers in the United Kingdom. The employees in these shops used to sell Amigas and we want to use their store traffic again. This will be an excellent additional sales tool to spread Amigas in the UK. We will also support the Amiga dealers who have the best knowledge of the platform and who can provide excellent service to customers. Distribution outside the UK. The Sino market, which includes mainland China, Hong-Kong, Macao and Taiwan is covered by our chinese joint-venture. In North America, we already have installed a dealer network but are still looking for a potential distributor. Somebody who is willing to support and invest in our product. We are actually looking for a partner more than just a distributor. Production GOOD NEWS : We are still on schedule to produce Amigas for availability in September. And even better news, we will have a real european manufactured product. The Amiga 1200 will be produced in Bordeaux, France. Our successful negotiations with Solectron, one of the world leader of sub-contract manufacturing, guarantees a european high quality standard. Quality is very important for us, we want to reduce defective returns to a minimum. That's why we focused on Europe rather than far-east. The Amiga 4000T motherboards will be produced in the United States, near Philadelphia. The units for Europe will then be assembled in the ESCOM facilities in Germany. The american units will be assembled in Philadelphia. We have made an agreement with a european monitor manufacturer. He will provide a monitor especially adapted to be used with the Amiga. The monitor is a high-quality multisync monitor that can scan horizontal frequencies from 15 to 38 KiloHertz. The plug of that monitor is also adapted to the video output connector of the A1200 and A4000T. I think this is exactly what is needed for all Amiga resolutions. As announced at our previous press conference, our plan is still to build 100 K A1200's and 20 K A4000T's until the end of this year. These figures are based on existing orders and on customer based forecasts. I'm quite sure that this gives us the assurance that the whole production will actually be sold. A large percentage of our A1200 production will be sold alone in the UK. Servicing The repair and spare servicing will be centralized in our service-centre in Braunschweig, Germany, in coordination with the representation points in each country. The technical dealer support will also be handled here, as well as the distribution for computers and monitors in Germany. Our service plan is very simple : we don't repair, we only make components exchanges. Future plans, developments As I promised before, I will now tell you about our future plans for research & development. First, we plan to enhance current models. We are thinking of faster processors and chip integration for the beginning. We are going to integrate the 68060 chip for the A4000T this year. For the entry-level model, we are looking at an external CD ROM addition and more RAM onboard the bare units. We are also planning to use the CD 32 concept for developments of set-top-box systems. The set-top-boxes will open new markets for Amiga products. Set-top-Boxes could be produced in variants for cable-TV, satellite-TV and for telephone line communication and also be used for home-shopping and home-banking. I'm convinced that this market is tremendous and will push the Amiga technology into millions of households. Software publishers should be interested in writing software for such a widely spread platform. The Amiga architecture is optimaly suited for set-top-systems because of its low demand for ressources like RAM or processor power and because of its multitasking and realtime abilities, in summmary, the Amiga is the most cost effective platform for set-top-boxes. It is still under investigation which RISC platform will be used as basis for the Amiga of the future. At this point, we cannot say more about this issue, thank you for your understanding. IFA Berlin From the 26th of August to the 3rd of September, we will be present at the IFA, one of the biggest consumer fairs in Germany for TV, communications and multimedia. 500 000 visitors are expected this year and we use the occasion to make our comeback with the Amiga in Europe. Virtual Products I-Glasses and Commodore will also be presented to our visitors. May I point out that the Amiga version of the I-Glasses will be much cheaper than the PC version because it doesn't require the VGA-to-composite conversion box, since the Amiga 1200 already has a composite output. Ladies an gentleman, I hope this event was informative and I hope inspiring for you. We are now at your disposition if there are any questions you would like to ask us. Thank You for your attention. Amiga Technologies Speech by John Smith I Would like to add my welcome to everyone here today which of course is the first public conference in the UK. For those of you who possibly do not know me I am John Smith and I have been appointed the UK Sales Manager for Amiga Technologies UK. I was previously with Commodore for 7 years, the last 2_ years of them as National Sales Manager. You will observe from the Agenda that I will explain briefly about the product we will be selling and through which channels we will be selling them.. I am obviously biased towards the Amiga - very happy to be selling it again, and look forward to It's re-emergence and it gaining the recognition it richly deserves. However, I am fortunate in being able to sell other products along side the Amiga that come from both inside and outside the Commodore branding. The first of these, which is outside the Commodore brand, is Virtual Reality product in the form of I-Glasses. There will be two versions available. The first we can term the video version. This type will work with anything that has a composite video output - so it will obviously work with Amiga but also Sega Saturn, Sony Playstation - your VHS video player etc. They act as a personal display screen and display the image equivalent to that of an 80" screen in which you can be totally immersed. In fact your very own cinema! You can see your games in 2D or 3D with games that have support for I Glasses . Films like Tommy from the WHO are currently being produced especially in this 3D format. The second version, the PC version has the additional head tracking system with it and will therefore display not only in 3D but will allow you to immerse yourself in your own virtual world. It also gives surround sound and these glasses weigh from only 8oz in total. Very light and have been ergonomically designed with members from the university of Edinburgh to help avoid eye strain etc. They are the only glasses we know of in fact that are designed with spectacle wearers in mind. The pack will come complete with games and be available during September. We have Denis Premiski of Virtual Products with us today who will explain more about the product and prospective market for I Glasses shortly. Under the Commodore Brand we will have available MS DOS PCs. There will be an initial special limited offering of a Pentium 60 mini tower multimedia at a very competitive price. It will come complete with Hard Drive, CD ROM, 8 megabytes of memory and software. We will then launch the Commodore Golf series. "GOLF" is a name that is understood throughout Europe so we feel is a very acceptable name. Our minimum entry level will be the Pentium 75 and again will be a full multimedia product including a quad CD ROM drive- sound card etc. There will also be a Pentium 100 version. This product has been designed exclusively for Commodore by Frog design and will be of top quality and build. It will be supported with 12 months on site warranty. There will also be a full compliment of Commodore branded peripherals like quad speed CD drives - loud speakers -mice etc. all colourfully packed and competitively priced. Back to Amigas I will have available an excellent Amiga 1200 pack with software for the end of September as the entry level machine and also a higher but very competitively priced 170MB hard disk drive pack. It will include productivity software like Database -Spreadsheet- Word processing package- Paint package and games. We will of course box it in our usual eye catching manner. There will be the Amiga 4000/040 pack with a 1 Gigabyte hard drive and 6 megabytes of memory and later, during November a 4000/060 pack. Top quality software again will be included. All Amigas will have the latest version of the operating system,version 3.1, which has been optimised to improve system performance. I will also have a new Amiga multisync monitor that vertically scans from 15 to 38 Khz which will avail itself to all Amigas from A500 upwards that have a RGB port.. Where will I sell them? These products have various routes to market not least being through the independent via the distributor. Whilst we still have to dot Is and cross the T's we will have 2 distributors this side of Christmas . Negotiations are almost complete. Looking to 1996 I propose one or possibly even up to two more distributors around the main Christmas period. These distributors obviously will support the full range of our products and be cognisant of the Independents requirements. A higher percentage of the product available this Christmas will go through the Independent channel. As again we maintain support for the loyalty they have shown throughout the ten years of Amiga. It is my responsibility to sell our products here in the UK and also in Australia, India, Malta and Israel. High Street The High street is of course also important to aiding our success and once again we are very close to finalising contracts but expect to see our product there through people like Comet and Tandy. The high street has changed somewhat since Amigas were last freely available because we do not have Rumbelows anymore and have seen them replaced by Escom stores who specialise in PC's and communication products. It is envisaged that they will sell our Amiga brand. VAR Value added resellers who specialise in the Audio visual arena and who give us access to TV production companies and other niche markets are obviously important for the Amiga 4000 product. We will look to top companies like Premier Vision, Scala, Pentre Technologies etc. to fulfil this sector of the market. Corporates The corporate sector is an area that will be looked at with regards to MS DOS product. Personally, I only had a small contact with the PC arena during my time at Commodore and I am of course aware of how quickly this changes especially as Commodore has not sold PC's for over 3 years. This market will be addressed and we will probably look towards some kind of joint support with the VAR,S to take this sector in hand. We have already sold the majority of our production, it is now a question of allocation and that transfers the pressure back to Petro. Please ensure we get all our product and importantly when we want it. To summarise - Amiga is back, along with other new exciting products available from the end of September. We look forward to the Xmas period and believe that between all of us we can make it a pleasurable and profitable market once again. On behalf of Amiga Technologies UK, Thank you for your attention! JOHN SMITH AMIGA TECHNOLOGIES UK Amiga Technologies at the IFA fair in Berlin Bensheim, 15/08/95 From the 26th of August to the 3rd of September 1995, Amiga Technologies, together with Virtual Products and Commodore, will be represented by a booth (hall 26.A, booth 11) at the "Internationale Funkausstellung" (IFA) fair in Berlin. This will be the first time since the liquidation of Commodore that Amigas will be presented officially to the public at a fair. The Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000T as well as the CD32 products will be displayed in different configurations and running several applications. Amiga Technologies will be happy to accomodate third party developpers and manufacturers at its booth to show the wide range of professional solutions available for the Amiga computer. The Amiga 1200 is the entry-level computer of the Amiga productline. It features 2 Megabyte of RAM, within which the Amiga operating System fully multitasks. The smart design of this computer allows animations and sound in a perfect quality at a price never seen before. Another advantage of the Amiga 1200 is its expandability. The user can gradually upgrade to faster processors, more memory or larger harddrives. The software bundle included provides standard software needed for most tasks like Multimedia, Wordprocessing, Spreadsheet, database and even the game players haven't been forgotten with two excellent entertainment titles. The Amiga 4000 T is the high-end model of the Amiga Line. It features 6 megabytes of Memory with can be expanded to 18 megabytes onboard with standard SIMMs and more using expansion cards. It is fitted with a 540 Mb or 1 Gb SCSI harddrive and has six 32 bit Expansion slots, inlined with four ISA and two video slots. Thanks to the wide choice of expansion cards available on the market like 64 bit graphic boards, emulation boards, multi-serial expansions or MPEG boards, the possibilities of the Amiga 4000 T are nearly unlimited. The onboard SCSI interface allows the use of popular standard SCSI devices like streamers, scanners, CD-ROM drives etc. There is also a processor slot that can hold CPU accelerator cards for more powerful processors like the new Motorola 68060. Such a processor card will be available for the Amiga 4000 T in November 1995. The SCALA multimedia authoring software will be shipped with every Amiga 4000T. Together with this software, the Amiga 4000 T enables the user to do professional multimedia presentations out of the box. The CD 32 console, based on the AMIGA 1200 technology, is fitted with a double-speed CD ROM drive. The storage capacity of this media, combined to the graphics and sound abilities of the Amiga gives an unmatched quality for games and multimedia applications. Contact : Gilles Bourdin Amiga Technologies Berliner Ring 89 D-64625 Bensheim Tel +49 6252 709 195 Fax +49 6252 709 520 email gbo@amiga-tech.de Productivity, multimedia and entertainment Software to be bundled with Amiga computers Bensheim, 15/08/95 The Amiga 1200, fitted with a 170 Mb harddrive and two megabytes of RAM will be bundled with the SCALA MM 300 Multimedia authoring software. With this combination, the user will be able to do high quality multimedia presentations out of the box at the advantageous price of 499 UKP. Some well known Amiga productivity software packages will also be part of this offer. The A1200 is also available without harddrive but bundled with the productivity software, except for SCALA at a price of 399 UKP. The Amiga 4000T, fitted with a SCSI harddrive of 540MB or 1GB and 6 MB of RAM will be available with SCALA MM 300. This is the perfect package for those who want to make professional-looking presentations in a quality unmatched on any other system at that price. Contact : Gilles Bourdin Amiga Technologies Berliner Ring 89 D-64625 Bensheim Tel +49 6252 709 195 Fax +49 6252 709 520 email gbo@amiga-tech.de @endnode @node NEWS10 "VideoStream" @toc NEWS [Originally posted to Usenet. Not really Amiga-related, but good for "where are they now?" value, or if you'd like to try to steal source code from someone. -Jason] From: carl@videostream.com (VideoStream) A new company is in the early formation by as small group of Amiga originals: Carl Sassenrath (Architect and designer of the Amiga Multitasking OS, Designer of CDTV, Writer of AmigaLogo, Bay, etc.) Jim Goodnow (Cofounder of Manx, Writer of Aztec C compilers) Dave Morse (Cofounder Amiga, President of Amiga, Inc.) The company is going to be doing some pretty interesting Multimedia tool products, and we are looking for a few great software engineers. We are located in the mountains far north of San Francisco. Here's the posting... I apologize for abusing the net. Thanks. (PS: Please feel free to tell friends about this. And, no, sorry we are not bringing the Amiga back to life... but it's a good concept.) **** VideoStream: Have Fun, Make Money, Live in the Country We are offering a rare opportunity to skilled software engineers who are interested in developing the next step in interactive television, multimedia, and networked software. VideoStream is a cutting edge multimedia startup company whose founders are recognized pioneers in the industry. We are fortunate to be located in scenic Mendocino County, just east of Ukiah at the site of a historic mineral springs resort. **** Positions: Software Engineers Extrodinare -> Graphics and Compression Experts -> Network System Gurus (Narrowband/Broadband) -> User Interface & Database Specialists You must be extremely good at software design and programming, have a degree in a related field, a mathematical mind, and many years experience. Only the best are invited to join our company. Compensation is competitive and stock options are available. Benefits include health, dental, life insurance, on-site mineral baths, Olympic size swimming pool, hot tub, massage, 700 acres of hiking/bike trails, redwoods, lakes, rivers, mountains, and more fresh air than you ever thought existed. The company is still in its early formation stage. Now is a good time to get in on the ground floor, change the world, and break away from living your life on the freeways of congested, smog filled cities. **** Contacts: Via EMail, US Postal, Fedex (Please donąt phone) Attention: Carl Sassenrath, President Address: VideoStream, PO Box 809, Ukiah, CA 95482 EMail: carl@videostream.com or carl@pacific.net Web: www.videostream.com (check weekly) @endnode @node NEWS11 "Cloanto Personal Suite" @toc NEWS Product Announcement: Cloanto Personal Suite Quality Amiga CD-ROM This CD-ROM includes Personal Paint and Personal Write from Cloanto, SBase 4 Personal (from Oxxi), Personal Fonts Maker 1 & 2 (Cloanto), 27 professional Kara color fonts (Kara Computer Graphics), Cloanto's DirDiff (file synchronization and replication software) and PNG Toolkit, plus 1/2 Gbyte of pictures, animations, stereograms, stereogram animations, Amiga fonts, printer downloadable fonts and texts. This is one of the first "different" Amiga CD-ROMs. The Personal Suite CD-ROM contains no public domain or shareware software. Everything is high-quality. Our goal was not to fill a CD-ROM, but to find some of the best in different fields, with a preference for material not available on other Amiga CD-ROMs. The commercial titles are the latest versions available, with full AmigaGuide manuals (English and German, with some titles also in Italian and French). The capacity of the CD-ROM made it possible to include an enhanced version of Personal Paint with extended documentation. Famous Amiga artists like Jim Sachs and Karl Bihlmeier participated with a selection of their best Amiga art. Also included, a compilation of animations by Eric Schwartz, for the first time in IFF ANIM format. More people contributed to put together more quality material than could be named here. The CD-ROM is packaged in an elegant metal box. The Personal Suite CD-ROM is scheduled for shipping on September 15, 1995. -- ................................................................. . . . Cloanto Italia srl Tel +39 432 545902 . . Via G. B. Bison 24 Fax +39 432 609051 . . 33100 Udine E-mail info@cloanto.it . . Italy CompuServe 100145.15 . ................................................................. @endnode @node NEWS12 "Soft-Logik and Digita" @toc NEWS Sep 1, 1995 --- Soft-Logik Publishing Digita and Soft-Logik are pleased to announce that Digita software applications have been selected by Amiga Technologies to be bundled with new Amiga computers. The bundle will include special new versions of Wordworth, Datastore and Organizer. Wordworth is the best-selling Amiga word processor in history and will help increase excitement about Amiga computers. The version to be included is Wordworth 4.0 SE and is exclusive to the Amiga computer bundle; it will not be sold in stores. Datastore is Digita's new personal database, first introduced in the autumn of 1994. Organizer is a new personal information manager (PIM) that was released in the spring of 1995. The inclusion of these programs with new Amiga computers demonstrates that Amiga Technologies is serious about productivity software. With over 100,000 people destined to receive copies of Wordworth, Datastore and Organizer with their new Amiga computers this Christmas season, Digita's programs will continue to be among the most popular Amiga application titles. --- Soft-Logik is pleased to announce a modest decrease in the price of Organizer in North America. Organizer has been one of Soft-Logik's top-selling programs since it's introduction in the spring of this year. The new prices are: $75 - the direct price for owners of other Soft-Logik programs $75 - the direct price for owners of On The Ball $85 - the direct price for any Amiga customer @endnode @node NEWS13 "TekMagic Takes Over GVP Products" @toc NEWS GVP's decline was no secret. Over the past couple of years, phone support vanished, product releases became erratic and the rumors of GVP's demise circled wildly. Finally, GVP held a "going out of business" sale, auctioning off its product line to the highest bidder-specifically, M-Tec of Germany. After months of preparation, the "New GVP", TekMagic, has resurfaced in Pennsylvania and has picked up where GVP left off. M-Tec management at TekMagic informed AR that new product would go into production in September and October, starting with GVP SIMMs and 1200/4000 accelerators, along with the G-Lock and DSS-8 sound sampler. On the drawing board is a new 030 accelerator for the Amiga 2000 with 72-pin standard SIMM memory. Also planned is a refit of the A530 accelerator. TekMagic also expects to re-manufacture the TBC+, EGS Spectrum, I/O Expander and 4008 SCSI card. TekMagic can be reached at (610) 522-9350 voice, (610) 522-9354 fax. @endnode @node NEWS14 "DKB Announces 2000/060 Card" @toc NEWS DKB, long-time developers in the Amiga market, have announced the upcoming availability of the Wildfire 060 accelerator. The first Wildfire will be for the A2000, boasting an 060/50 processor and these features- Interleaved Memory 32-bit SCSI-II Host bus DMA interface 10Mb/sec SCSI transfers 90% CPU available at full speed SCSI DMA Fully Autoconfigurable 64 bit RAM expandable to 128 Megs Uses industry standard 72-pin SIMMs Allows mixing and matching of 4, 8, 16, and 32 meg SIMMs. Models are planned for the 4000, 1200, and (possibly) 3000. The list price for the Wildfire 2000/060 is $1699. Models will be available no earlier than the first week in October, subject to processor availability. DKB is available at (810) 348-3821 voice, (810) 348-3531 fax, and 71333.453@compuserve.com e-mail. @endnode @node FEATURE1 "DirOpus 5 Survey" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== DIRECTORY OPUS 5 - SURVEY =========================================================================== Part One - Should I fill this in? If you feel you have anything valid to say about Directory Opus, please complete this survey. The survey is open to people regardless of whether they currently own the program - we are as interested in gaining new users as pleasing the current ones. The only requirement is that you are _constructive_ with your ideas and critisism. Apart from that, _all_ responses will be considered and discussed. Please send all completed replies to E-Mail: Part Two - Purpose. 1. To gather information about what people want to be added and changed in the next update of Directory Opus. 2. To find out if there are any particular areas where people require help. 3. To destroy any misconceptions which people have about the new versions of Directory Opus. Part Three - The Organizer. The survey is being carried out by me, Leo Davidson, with the help of various other people involved with DOpus. For what it's worth, I am conducting the survey as an independent, but with the suppport and authorisation of GPSoftware. My motivation for carrying out this survey is the improvement of a program which I use and love. The results of the survey will go back to GPSoftware as input for the next version of DOpus, but if you want to remain anonymous, I will respect your wish. If you have something negative to say about DOpus or GPSoftware, go ahead and say it. I won't personally be offended, although I may turn around and explain why I feel what you've said isn't valid, if I feel that is the case. If what you say is valid, perhaps it will result in things changing for the better. We're not asking for your opinions with the expectation that they are all good ones! If you would like to contact me, you can do so via: E-Mail: Leo Davidson IRChat: "Nudel" in "#Amiga" on Effnet and Undernet. Please send all completed replies to E-Mail: Part Four - The questions, already!! Please read through all the questions first before answering. You do not have to answer every question if you do not want to. Please expand and reduce the amount of space for answers if you require. 1. Do you currently own DOpus5? ............................. Yes/No Have you used a pirate copy of DOpus5? ................... Yes/No Do you currently use an earlier version of DOpus? ........ Yes/No Have you got the DOpus 5 -> 5.11 update? ................. Yes/No Have you got the Magic-WorkBench ToolBar Icons Pack? (MWB_DOpus_6.lha) ....................................... Yes/No Do you have access to Aminet via Internet/BBS? ........... Yes/No If you haven't already, do you plan on purchasing DOpus5? Yes/No Do you think that DOpus5 is reasonably priced? ........... Yes/No If not, how much do you think it should cost? .......... ________ How much time, if any, have you spent using DOpus5? .... ________ How much time have you spent using an earlier DOpus? ... ________ Which other file management programs do you use regularly? (Please state computer and operating system for non-Amiga apps). Mark your favourate one with a "*". _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Other comments and reasons for answering this part as you did: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 2. Overall, do you prefer DOpus5 to the earlier versions? ... Yes/No Do you like the way DOpus5 looks? ........................ Yes/No Do you feel that DOpus5 looks better than DOpus4? ........ Yes/No Do you feel that DOpus5 is powerful and versatile? ....... Yes/No More so than DOpus4? ..................................... Yes/No Do you feel that DOpus5 is intuitive and easy to use? .... Yes/No More so than DOpus4? ..................................... Yes/No Do you ever take advantage of DOpus5's multiple listers? . Yes/No Do you ever take advantage of DOpus5's multi-threading? .. Yes/No Other comments and reasons for answering this part as you did: (You may refer to answers to other questions to avoid repeating information). _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 3. Did you find DOpus5 easy to install? ..................... Yes/No Did you find the v5.11 update easy to install? ........... Yes/No Does the registration procedure bother you? .............. Yes/No Have you changed the default setup and configured things to how you want them? .................................... Yes/No Have you found doing this easy and intuitive to do? ...... Yes/No Do you like configuring things to how you want them? ..... Yes/No Would you like to see more built-in features which come pre-setup and require no configuration? .................. Yes/No Would you say that the manual and online-help are good? .. Yes/No Other comments and reasons for answering this part as you did: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 4. Please describe the things you like about the user-interface. (E.g. Speed, Power, Ergonomics) _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Please describe the things you dislike about the user-interface. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 5. Please describe the features and functions of DOpus which you like: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Please descibe the features and functions which you do not like: _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Please tell us your ideas for new features and functions: (Go into as much detail and space as you like!) _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ If you have found any bugs in DOpus v5.11 (or later), please tell us about them. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ Please give us details of the Amiga(s) which you use to run Directory Opus on. Please include details of which screenmode you use and whether you run DOpus5 on its own screen or the Workbench. Also, please state what size of font(s) you use for for screen and listers. _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 6. Any other comments, questions, or suggestions? _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ 7. Thank you for filling out this survey! Please e-mail it back to: d5survey@hampschl.demon.co.uk @endnode @node FEATURE2 "DirOpus 5 Conference" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== DIRECTORY OPUS 5 - CONFERENCE =========================================================================== In late August, Amiga Report Magazine held an IRC conference with Jon Potter, author of the DirOpus 5 directory utility package. This transcript is Copyright 1995 Amiga Report Magazine and may not be reprinted without permission. (After introductory notes, Jon was asked to make an opening statement.) jonp: Only that all questions have to include their 19 character serial number :) And hey, thanks for coming, you wild and wacky bunch :) Oh yeah, Nudel has a survey for everyone to fill out too For constructive criticism. [The survey is available in this AR as well. -Jason] HammerD: two questions: 1) Did you add lister backdrop pattern ability yet? :) and 2) is there a limit to the size of the lister icons? the stock ones look terribly small on gfx card screens... jonp: 1) yes :) and 2) in 5.11 there's a 64x64 pixel limit, which will be gone or at least raised in the next version HeadQuake: Is there any chance of InterNet FTP support in/from DirOpus ? (FTP command with server choice, UL/DL buttons. ((a TCP/IP version of Dopus maybe.. so I can DL gif pics and view 'em direct.. :) )) jonp: There is an Opus FTP module available now on aminet (in /biz/diropus or /biz/dopus or whatever it's called) Tau: OpusFTP.lha comm/tcp 94K 1 An FTP Module for Directory Op jonp: This is a freeware "demo" of the full-blown FTP module which will be part of the Opus 5.2 upgrade It supports pretty much all you'd want an FTP module to support, and doesn't even need its own buttons to run it (the standard Copy/Delete/etc buttons work fine) As far as any further Internet support goes, we're open to suggestions... NAN: Maybe this question is a little early but: You have strong views on piracy. How do you as a developer feel with the piracy still going on and the current situation of the Amiga market? Is Opus directly affected by this? jonp: Opus is badly affected by piracy but I think that's true of any software. Piracy is inevitable, but it's too easy to get complacent about it. It's wrong and there's no other way to look at it. In the case of the Amiga I think people who pirate are particularly stupid. The computer is barely hanging on by its teeth as it is; if it wasn't for the developers keeping it alive it'd be bye bye baby. ElViSp: jonp two questions....Is the Dopus 5 survey on aminet official, asI have lots of things to say about dopus5.11 and speaking of registration codes...how do you feel about the registration code generator found on several bbs's ?? jonp: The survey is officially "approved and supported" :) Talk to nudel for more information about it, but we're interested in any comments you have As far as the registration code generator goes, see my answer to the previous question. MrX: Are you planning on releasing an updated version of Mouse Bounce :) - What other major new features will be implemented into 5.2? and are you dedicated to the platform? jonp: rofl :) Yeah Mouse Bounce 95 will be out soon :) 5.2 will be a fairly substantial upgrade Nudel: Survey answers will be put into an AMigaguide for Jon + beta testers to look over and read, however anyone who doesn't want to be named won't be. So call it semi-official :) jonp: The major features are too numerous to list and also we're not sure exactly what they'll be yet. But for example, there's the FTP module, and there's changes to the program to make things like the FTP module, LHADir, etc easier to write and use MrDaniel: When will the next version be out? And whats new in it? (I'm assuming there will be a next version... ;) ) How many copies of DOpus5 have you sold so far? jonp: 5.2 will be released probably at the Cologne show in November. Other changes include GUI improvements (borderless button banks with alternate images for the Toolmanger freaks :) lister backdrop patterns arexx changes.. basically most things people have been complaining about and the occasional bug fix here and there :) HammerD: Are you working on a HOT-JAVA web browser that could be launched from dir opus? :-) jonp: no comment :) but I will say that if I were, it could certainly be launched from dir opus :) HeadQuake: Have you had any contacts with Amiga-Tech? How do you like their "plans" for the Amiga _computer_? Also, will DirOpus come on CD-ROM anytime soon? (I'm much more intelligent than HammerD.. right? :) jonp: We've had some contact with AmigaTech recently, specifically the English branch. They seem to be just like Commodore were :) I doubt DirOpus will come on CD.. it's not big enough to warrant it, despite what some people might say.. and not that many Amiga owners have CDs yet. And I'm sure you're much more intelligent than HammerD :) Nudel: BURRITO-Opus is almost finished. But don't tell anyone, it's top secret and the launch will be bigger than Win'95. JigSawMan: I do not have version 5, but am considering upgrading from version 4. What is the "replacement" of workbench feature I've heard about? What further capabilities does this add instead of just running along with workbench? jonp: Opus could always replace Workbench if you were so inclined.. by that I mean it could always do everything Workbench did. However the main thing about Opus 5 as far as Workbench replacement goes is the ability to display icons. You can make it look almost exactly like Workbench if you like. jcompton: Except the About window is much more interesting. jonp: And if you do, there's certainly no need to run Workbench as well. Hence, it's replaced. It's a lot better than Workbench too :) MisterX_: Just 1 question. Considering the huge user base of the PC, are u considering a PC version of DirOpus? jonp: We are.. and have been for ages. I actually got halfway through a version of Opus 4 for Windows a couple of years ago, but I didn't like the way it was going.. and Inovatronics had some problems at that stage (and since then :) But I wouldn't be too surprised to see an Opus for Win95 pop-up in the future. Opus96 maybe :) MrDaniel: Will the next version support CyberGraphX? (Picture viewers, anim players etc...) (Btw.. I also much more intelligent than HammerD.;) jonp: Frankly I doubt it. I'm sure there are plenty of viewers and players out there for CyberGfx already, what would the point be in reinventing the wheel? It's impossible to support every graphics system.. although CyberGfx does seem to be somewhat of a standard But it's ridiculously easy to configure Opus to use external viewers if that's what you want Opus does, at last, seem to work properly with CyberGfx btw :) Long_Shot: Two Questions: Will the 5.2 update be distributed the same as the 5.11? If a PC version comes out will there be cross platform upgrades? jonp: At this stage 5.2 will be a pay-for upgrade, but won't be too expensive. The other question is a marketing one, and Greg's not here at the moment. :) Aesculape: Jon, you mentioned the ability of DirOpus5 to display icons as a Workbench replacement. Does DirOpus 5 work with NewIcons icon images? Also, with DirOpus4, when you display an icon image, the NewIcon image displays, but the colors are wrong. Has this been fixed. jonp: NewIcons is somewhat of a kludge system and I'm not at all surprised that it doesn't work with Opus 4. As far as Opus 5 goes.. when it first came out, everyone who used NewIcons complained that it didn't work with Opus 5 Now the complaints seem to have stopped.. so I'm assuming that it does work now :) But I don't use NewIcons and never have.. maybe someone else here knows more about this? The only real problem with NewIcons is the palette If you're running Opus5 on the Workbench screen there shouldn't be any problem Nudel: Apparently, NewIcons do work for the Lister ToolBar icons. Troels: Jon, have you seen DirMaster for OS/2? :-) jonp: No I haven't. I've heard that it's almost a direct Opus 4 conversion.. I'd like to see it. I think it's a bit rude of the author not to send me a copy actually. AdamH2: Thanks for your support of Amijam. Is there an upgrade policy for people who bought the cover disk version of DirOpus 4 (as was indicated?) jonp: AFAIK the coverdisk upgrade offer is valid indefinitely.. I can't remember what the price was, and I think you would have to go through the distributors in England Nudel: It was around 35 pounds when I upgraded from the cover disk in the UK Tau: if you "replace WB" with DirOpus, what happens to workbench.library? aka. AppIcons and AppWindows, and WBInfo()? Does SwazInfo work together with DO5? jonp: workbench.library is in ROM so it doesn't go anywhere.. Opus intercepts all the AddAppXXX() calls and emulates them, so you don't notice any difference. SwazInfo works fine apparently though it doesn't trap Opus' own Icon information requester.. yet.. but I did give the info to swaz and he said he'd do something about that. amigaman: if and when you make the jump to the pc do you plan to continue to support the amiga.. and what kind of future do you think the amiga has.. thanks .. also opus 5 is very good work and thanks for the program support.. jonp: I'll probably support the amiga for as long as the platform is viable Or until I take up gardening :) Nudel: ...or POTTERy... :) Tau: the question was how long you consider Amiga viable ;) jonp: As far as a future goes, frankly I don't think it looks very good. Escom would have to do something really radical to prolong its life much further, and they don't seem to be. They seem like Commodore all over again. But it might be too early to judge, I'm keeping an open mind. As long as I can afford to run my motorbike on Opus sales I'll consider it viable :) Long_Shot: Comment: DOpus 5 did not start working with NewIcons, we just gave up. Question: Will we ever be able to edit and use more than 16 colors? jonp: re: NewIcons.. I'll look at it before 5.2 is released.. I'm just loathe to install it since it's impossible to get rid of it again afterwards. I would follow your question up with : Do you really need to use more than 16 colours? :) You can have the screen with as many colours as you like, but why would you need more than 16 for Opus itself? well, image buttons aren't limited in colour :) Tau: jonp, actually, it's not. it's just a program after all, you don't have to copy the (sucky) icons over your old ones. Nudel: LockColors etc can be used to set all the other pens, if you need it for any reason. MrDaniel: Do you laugh or cry when you use FileManager in Windows? Is it possible to run Dopus5 on the Workbench screen? Is it possible to open a 24-bit CGfx DOpus screen? jonp: I don't use FileManager in Windows :) But seriously.. FileManager is ok for what it does.. it was never meant to be very powerful, and it does that very well. The Win95 explorer isn't much better btw Nudel: It does not being very powerful very well. jonp: DOpus5 runs fine on the Workbench screen, I'm doing it at the moment.. it's actually designed to work that way (though you don't have to). Tau: agreed, filemanager definitely does stand in your way in a very effective manner jonp: I don't think it would be possible to open a 24 bit screen for Opus but if your Workbench screen is 24 bit there's no reason it wouldn't work on that (that I know of) moster: Compliments for a great piece of programming - My question: Have you tried to include a particular feature in OPus5 but which you had to give up ? If so - What? jonp: There's lots of things I'd have loved to have put in Opus5 Time was the main problem.. things like LHA support should really have been built-in, but there just wasn't the time for it. Although I specifically try NOT to build too much into Opus.. people complain that it's too big already. They'd prefer to have an external 50k program instead of an extra 10k in the main program :) Tau: how about supporting the ObjectArchive concept? jonp: Tau: whassat? :) Tau: ObjectArchive.lha util/arc 48K 31 Access archives (lha, tar...) JohnG: Can Opus be the next OS for PowerPC Amiga or other platforms (as HRP)? jonp: Opus isn't an OS by any means, it's just an app.. there's no reason why it couldn't be the next Workbench though AdamH: This is more GPSoft than DirOpus but do you know if Greg is ever going to release the long awaited GPFax update? jonp: He'd love to.. I've seen it and it's pretty hot Unfortunately Opus is taking too much time at the moment But look for it early next year if not by Christmas this year ash: Is there an DOpus5 specific FTP site in the works? There was one mentioned awhile ago. And have you had to upgrade your number plates? :) GA. jonp: I've actually got a site running now, but it's on such a slow link that I haven't told anyone about it You can check out the dopus home page at http://birch.apana.org.au/ though if you like :) And no, I haven't upgraded the number plates :) There's also a mailing list btw, if you want to subscribe to it send mail to majordomo@birch.apana.org.au and put "subscribe dopus5" in the message body. wmaddock: I know this isn't about Dopus, but there have been some questioons about Timm Martin, Author of SID. For those that are interested, do you know anything official about his status? jonp: I don't, know.. I've never had any sort of contact with him at all. He was always sick though and I heard a rumour that he'd died, but it might have been just a rumour. I hope he's still out there, the Amiga needs all the developers it can get... amac: Jon, have you considered being able to print buttons/functions with ASCII text? This would allow people to put functions and buttons in mail messages and the like. jonp: I have actually.. the never-released Opus 4.5 had the ability to do that. It might make it back into 5.2 actually.. I'll put it on my list Nudel: The button files are small enough to UUEncode into a message without any problems. jonp: Yes but for publishing in magazines or something, it wouldn't hurt... Intex: Have you been considering allowing the use of more than one user menu (similar to 4) - and is there anyway for dopus to search for for what toolsmenu/appicon are present - on mine it only recognises additions to these after it has ran jonp: Opus 5.2 will most likely have multiple configurable menus, I'm not quite sure about this though It's impossible for Opus to find out what AppThings were added before it is run.. Workbench doesn't make that information publically available So the only way to get hold of it is to patch the library functions and grab it on the way in If you don't want to run Opus all the time you can still get it to work by doing a "loadlib dopus5.library" in your user-startup Since it's the library that actually handles that stuff _Bernie: I heard that DOpus5 misses some useful features of version 4. It acquired many new options, but it lost some other. is this true? jonp: It lost a few, but I question how useful they were.. and one thing it lost (SoundTracker support) is back now (against my better judgement) There were a few useful things that have gone back in for 5.2 though.. it was more a question of me forgetting to put them in rather than deliberately leaving them out :) BuZz: trivial question. but how big is the source code for dopus. :) jonp: the main program is about 1.5 megs, libray is about 500k and the modules are mostly around the 30-40k mark Jkay: I'm curious about your link with Inovatronics ... are you the SOLE owner/marketter of Opus now? jonp: I always was the sole owner of Opus.. the copyright is now held jointly by me and GP [as in GPFax] Software. Inovatronics were only ever the publisher, they never had any rights to it Nudel: MWB_DOpus_7.lha will be on aminet soon, and it'll have new ARexx scipts, some assembler semi-modules (WinCopy commands and stuff) as well as all the icons. Josef: Sorry if this was already asked, but do you plan on implementing any sort of TCP/IP related utilities directly into DOpus (for DCC, FTP, etc,) besides the arexx scripts? jonp: There is an FTP module on aminet, ask Nudel for more information amac: A nice question for the Amiga Report. Where should suggestions/requests for features be sent. I've emailed you directly before, but should it go to Greg, now? jonp: It's best to mail Greg directly (zzgperry@mailbox.uq.oz.au).. or subscribe to the mailing list (majordomo@birch.apana.org.au) and post them there.. but direct to Greg is best Nudel: Or send your ideas in with the survey. @endnode @node FEATURE3 "Amiga Convention '95 Show Report" @toc FEATURE In mid-August, Amiga Convention '95 was held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Hundreds of Amiga users came from all over Canada and the US to gather for great Amiga deals and the chance to meet other Amiga users and luminaries. The two-day event was anchored by Canadian dealer/distributor Wonder Computers, who occupied one of the short sides of the rectangular show floor. Along the long wall were various dealers and manufacturers, including Oby's Amigo Computing Shop, Pre'Spect Technologies, National Amiga, GfxBase, and AsimWare Innoventions. Phantom Development occupied a table more centrally in the room, and IAM had their section in the Wonder display. The organizers put much of the focus of the show's organization into a competition for demos, music, graphics and 3D objects. While I was unable to attend any of the competitions, the organizers plan to release the winning entries to Aminet shortly. Speakers gave presentations to the crowd as well. Dale Larson gave a lengthy keynote speech in a tuxedo and sneakers, sharing his outlook on the Amiga market including sketchy details of his interview with ISE, the company contracted to do Amiga development for Amiga Technologies. I gave an even longer (nearly an hour and a half) talk on emulators, featuring the game Giana Sisters for the Frodo C-64 emulator. Nearly everything went smoothly, a welcome change of pace. Al Mackey, Amiga artist, gave a stunning presentation with Brilliance. Within 5 minutes, Al created a cartoon-quality character. After that, the audience was stunned into silence. The International Amiga Society project, outlined in AR 3.15's feature M-PLAN, held a small IRC conference with a short list of invited Amiga users including Dave Haynie, as well as an assembly of AC '95 attendees, in an international attempt to drum up support for the Amiga marketing paradigm outlined by Giorgio Gomelsky. Nearly every presenter there had an eye-catching display or two. Wonder's sheer volume as well as the V-Lab Motion display set up by Rick Sulpizio, Canadian distributor, drew attention. In addition, Dale Larson and myself set up shop behind the Wonder tables to sign autographs. Phantom Development kept busy showing off the demo of Hell Pigs, a new action-adventure game designed by Classica, roughly authored in the Sierra/LucasArts style. In addition, "release version, non-boxed" copies of the editor Digital Quill were available for sale. Oby's sold a number of copies of Gloom thanks to their networked game setup where passerby could blow blood and guts all over the floor. AsimWare's Paul Reeves played a seemingly endless round of Super Stardust CD32 on an A4000 to demonstrate the CD32 emulation of AsimCDFS 3.x to shoppers. National Amiga had the distinction of being the only dealer with the foresight to have a catalog onhand, as well as being the only dealer with an online HTML catalog available to attendees thanks to the two A1200s on their table. In addition, some attendees brought systems that got notice, namely John Paden's A3000, which sported a CyberVision card. Peter Cherna, former Commodore OS engineer and presently employed in PC development at Scala showed up for the final hours of Amiga Convention. After Dave Haynie's videotaped greeting to the crowd in which he outlined his "must-do" list for a new Amiga line, Cherna, Dale Larson, myself, and Greg Scott from National Amiga participated in a panel discussion. The bulk of the questions were directed at Larson and Cherna as ex-Commodore employees, asking questions about the future relevant to developments of the past (such as OS upgrades and development). Needless to say, Greg and I got annoyed in a good-humored sort of way. Attendance was paid and, as such, measured exactly. The final turnout numbers were not pleasing to the show organizers, who blamed a lethargic marketplace. However, since the attendance almost certainly was less than AmiJAM '95, a show in a smaller marketplace that had better promotion, the answer is more likely to rest in the work done to bring in users. Still, the end result was that a lot of dealers and users went home happy-and that's what bringing the Amiga community together is all about. @endnode @node REVIEW1 "Review: ImageFX 2.1" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: IMAGEFX 2.1 By Bohus Blahut bohuslav.bohut@mail.colum.edu =========================================================================== Recently, registered owners of ImageFX 2 (IFX) received a free upgrade to 2.1. It introduced significant enhancements to an already superlative image processing program. Adding to the numerous image compositors already in the original release are "softlight" and "hardlight" compositing, also support for Cybergraphics, Retina, Video Toaster, HPScanjet, and Primera printers. To me the most important addition is CineMatte. This is IFX's intelligent blue screen compositor. For the uninitiated, image processing programs specialize in manipulating imagery; be it drawn, scanned, rendered, or grabbed from video. For the Amiga/DraCo, there are several such programs, but IFX stands out in several ways. First, ImageFX is one of the most capable paint programs on the Amiga. I use IFX with an OpalVision 24-bit display card which has its own paint program, OpalPaint. Though OpalPaint is a longtime favorite of mine, I find IFX's paint abilities to be so flexible and the results so beautiful, It's often the only thing that I use. Another essential IFX feature is its regional processing feature. You create a shape that acts as a stencil for processing effects. If you wanted to tint a person in a picture blue, you'd simply freehand draw a shape around the person in the picture, then hit the Balance key and crank up the blue. All image processing (IP) softwares perform certain essential functions i.e. gamma correction, sharpening, cropping, scaling etc. They also convert pictures from one format to another, usefull for porting your work over to other platforms. An important IFX ability that is unfortunately rare in other programs is macro recording. You simply record your mouseclicks, and your actions become a macrofile. For those uncomfortable with Arexx, this is a real timesaver. If you perform a function twice, it's worth creating a macro. You can apply these macros and other included scripts, onto moving images using AutoFX. AutoFX is simpler to use than IMP, IFX's previous batch processor. You select groups of images, create a list of scripts to execute, and off you go. While IFX's effects are impressive on a still picture, wait till you see them in motion! What distinguishes one IP software over another is its special effects, and IFX has some beauties. IFX 2 brought in dazzling effects like lens reflections, emulation of painting styles, lightning, textures, ripples... The list goes on. All of these effects have several configurable parameters eliminating that "signature" look. In a program like Lightwave, you can no longer use lens reflec- tions without giving away that you used Lightwave. IFX allows you to build your own reflections, and other effects. IFX even includes a simple to use morphing program at no extra charge. All of these elements make IFX a necessary addi- tion to you video arsenal, especially since the introduction of CineMatte. A year ago, I was assistant director and visual effects supervisor on a film called Hollow. We shot several blue screen scenes of a female hologram. We wanted her to be composited (combined) over a background and the effect called for the actress to be transparent and ripple a little bit. Using Vlab Motion, I recorded both the blue screen and the background elements, and saved them onto my hard drive as Jpeg fields. I spent the next nine months doing the compositing with varying degrees of success. The prob- lem is that when the computer does blue screen compositing, it wants a specific color value to key out. Since this was a real world blue screen, a whole range of blues needed to be keyed out. While the IP softwares allow you to specify a certain variance off of your original color, once I got the variance up high enough to eliminate all of the blue, parts of the actress would key out too. I thought that the answer was in using an alpha channel, but the formation of al- phas from this particular video just wasn't precise enough. Enter CineMatte! Designed specifically for Blue and Green screen compositing, CineMatte is "intelligent" enough to examine a picture and decide what's blue or green and key it out. It's so simple! This is what computers are supposed to do... make our lives easier. CineMatte can also save out alpha channels to use elswhere. I will likely use this feature in the final itineration of this effect. By outputting alpha channels and convolve blurring them in IFX, when I composite the pictures they'll have a cool blue fuzzy edge. If you'd like to see what this effect ended up looking like before tweaking, see the Vlab Motion demo video. There are several other excellent examples of what ImageFX can do to video. With its macro recording capability, my film and video life has gotten a little simpler and automatic. If only I could get IFX to drive out and shoot videos for me. @endnode @node REVIEW2 "Review: On the Ball" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: ON THE BALL By: @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE} =========================================================================== On the Ball is a great personal information manager from Oregon Research that can be found for about $35US. Its many features include a calendar, an appointment manager, a To Do list, an address book, and a notepad. The Calendar: ------------ The calendar can be viewed either by the week, month, or year. On the week view, all appointments are shown within their time slots. On the month view, the text "name" of the appointments are shown on the appropriate days, and on the year view, all dates that have appointments are highlighted. While not in use, On the Ball appears as a small calendar on the Workbench screen. This calendar shows the current month, with appointment days highlighted. The current time also shows at the top of the calendar, and the current day is also shown. Clicking on this calendar brings up either the appointment manager, the To Do list, the address book, or the notepad, according to whichever was viewed last. If the appointment manager appears, it will flip to the current date. All the pens used in the calendar and other windows are selectable from the current Workbench colors, allowing one to customize On the Ball to taste, which is a nice feature. The Appointment Manager: ----------------------- The appointment manager allows one to add, update, delete, or search for an entry. The entries consist of a text "name", the start and end times, the repeat types, and the reminder. The repeat types are quite versatile, with options such as "No Repeat", "Daily", "Every Four Weeks", and several in between. Also, the appoinment can repeat on forever with one of the patterns, or only a specified number of times. As stated above, the appoinments are shown on the calendar. They can be printed out in any of the calendar views using the small "P" button on the right side of the window frame on the calendar view. Using print from the appointment window will only allow one to print the appointments that are selected, and one can only select appointments that appear on the same day. A nice feature that could be improved is "tagging". It allows one to catagorize appointments, and view either all appointments, only untagged appointments, appointments with a specific tag, or specific tagged appointments and untagged appointments. Noticeably lacking is the ability to view items from 2 tags or more without viewing all. The only way I've been able to view items from 2 different tags is to create a third tag, and copy all appointments from the first two tags, and tag them with the third tag. This is time-consuming and inconvenient, but hopefully the problem won't crop up often, or perhaps future versions of On the Ball will allow multi-tag viewing, or the ability to put more than one tag per item, rather than having two copies of the information. Finally, a reminder is available that can be set to appear on the Workbench at a specified number of days/minutes before the actual appointment. The reminder has a "snooze" capability, for those who are too busy (or too lazy) to acknowledge it the first time around. The Address Book: ---------------- The address book has all the standard fields (with Country), plus the ability to have up to 20 phone numbers. With fax machines and beepers becoming more and more common, this is a nice feature. Internet addresses can also be stored there, provided they have 24 characters or less. Tagging is also available here, which allows one to separate business contacts from friends and family. Again, the tag viewing problem makes it difficult to see all people except those belonging to a specific catagory. But again, hopefully future versions will take care of this problem. A "note" can be attached to any entry. The window for entering the note has all the same features as the notepad, as mentioned below. Sorting can be done on any of the fields, so if one wants to see only the people with addresses in Sweden, it is an easy thing to accomplish. The print feature has many options, including the ability to create mailing labels, or simply print a table of addresses. In either case, one can select the fields to be printed from a list of those available. The Notepad: ----------- The notepad has much the same format as the To Do list, with searching and the same method of printing. Other than that, it's a notepad. The notepad has all the expected functions. It even has find/replace capability, which is nice, but probably unnecessary. The To Do List: -------------- The To Do list is much more simple than the appointment manager, but this is to be expected. The window has a list of "To Do"s according to due date to scroll through, or to search. (There is also an option for no due date). While a reminder and a repeat function are not available, tagging is, allowing one again to separate personal from business. These can be viewed in the same tag combinations as the appointments. Printing is available, but only through the To Do window, by selecting the items to print. A calendar option is not available. Something I would like in future versions is the ability to print the appointments and the "To Do"s on the same calendar. I would like to have to only look in one place for my schedule and such. Overall: ------- Oregon Research states in the manual that they are in the process of "a major upgrade to both the program and the documentation." Hopefully, the new version will include the features I have listed above as "missing". Unfortunately, no date was given for the expected release of the newer version. This is a great package for the money. It is much cheaper than its counterparts for the Mac and PC, and while it may not look as "slick", it is still quite attractive and certainly useful. @endnode @node REVIEW3 "Review: Brilliance: Real Time Solutions Tutorial Tapes" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: BRILLIANCE: REAL TIME SOLUTIONS TUTORIAL TAPES By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} and @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE} =========================================================================== Back in 1993, Horizon West Productions came up with a 3-hour video tape series dedicated to Brilliance-specifically, demonstrating its ease of use and power in specific, real-world areas such as logo creation and animation. Each tape is roughly one hour in length, designed and presented by Larry Shultz. Aside from a short introductory and concluding segment where Shultz addresses the viewer, the screen constantly displays Brilliance as it is being used, uninterrupted except for a few instances when the film is edited ahead to avoid such annoyances as the rendering of 150 frames of animation. The tapes are not beginner-level material and presume a certain familiarity and comfort level with Brilliance. The issues being addressed are supposed to be those of the video professional, trying to design and create projects using Brilliance. Tape 1 ------ The first video focuses on two-dimensional static logo creation. Shultz, in real time (hence the name of the series) designs two logos-one, a fictional corporate logo for "Scarab", consisting of a cleverly color-filled flying beetle and appropriately nifty font and a fictional TV news segment, "Health Beat" intro screen. While it's clear that some forethought has gone into each project (such as color selection for the gradient fills), the end results clearly demonstrate that, with a steady hand and some planning, very nice logos can be created in about 30 minutes. Tape 2 ------ The second tape revolves around animation-specifically, re-creating the roughly 5-6 seconds of introductory animation shown at the beginning of each tape, an effect involving a paintbrush that paints out the "Brilliance" logo. This tape, more than the first one, presumes some experience with computer and Amiga animation. Terms largely go unexplained and while the method is clear, the individual mouseclicks go unexplained (for example, if you don't know what "tweening" is and why he clicks "reset" before doing anything else, too bad.) The project is an excellent walkthrough to basic animation technique and illusion with Brilliance, as the issue of synchronization and rotation are discussed. Tape 3 ------ The final tape focuses on logo creation using nice fonts and Brilliance effects ranging from the ridiculously simple (such as outlining a font in a pink scale of increasing intensity to generate a neon effect) to rather clever and complicated (such as using an arc-animation to generate a reflective ripple effect without the aid of an image processing package.) Most of the generated logos picked up some animation, creating a marriage of sorts between the techniques learned in the first and second tapes. The explanation of the morph effect used on one logo was rather poor, but the stencil effect and aforementioned ripple animation were well documented. In Summary ---------- As a whole, the package definitely does the job of showing Brilliance in a real-time problem-solving environment, with overall confident presentation from Shultz. Any artist confident with basic design and color techniques can probably skip the first tape without missing much. The second tape is an excellent presentation, but unfortunately consists of a single project and really needs the more applied uses in tape 3 to fully cover the animation angles. Tape 3 is the best of the bunch, getting right to the point and showing a number of clever effects without delay. Some are quite simple, but look excellent on video. Obviously, more work went into the projects shown on the tape than the 30 minutes they take on average to recreate for the viewer. As an educational tool on the package, however, the Real Time Solutions series does the job quite well. It does not present Brilliance as a cure-all graphical design system, but does show you how to create a number of effective images without leaving its confines. For US$20 per tape (NTSC only), you'll have to make your own decision. Tape 1 is an excellent introduction to basic design techniques, but not everyone needs that. For a complete primer on animation, 2+3 will do fine. For a design and animation course, 1+3 will do the job. Horizon West Productions P.O. Box 2729 Corrales, NM 87048 (505) 891-1689 horizonw@rt66.com @endnode @node REVIEW4 "Review: Final Writer 4" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: FINAL WRITER 4 By @{" William Near " link WILLIAM} =========================================================================== SOFTWARE: Final Writer 4 MANUFACTURER: SoftWood Inc. P.O. Box 50178 Phoenix, Arizona 85076 (800) 431-9151 DESCRIPTION: Word processor/desktop publishing program PURCHASED FROM: SoftWood Inc. PRICE: I paid US$33 direct from SoftWood Inc. SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Amiga running Workbench 2.x+, a hard drive and at least 2.5 MB of RAM SYSTEM TESTED ON: Amiga 2000 (Rev 4.4), ECS chip set, G-Force '030 accelerator @ 50 MHz., 2 MB CHIP + 8 MB FAST memory, Quantum LPS270S hard drive with Trumpcard Professional controller, Picasso II RTG (2 MB) graphics board, Workbench 3.1 PACKAGING: The box contained three floppy disks and a brand new Final Writer 4 manual INSTALLATION: The update to Final Writer 4 uses the Commodore Installer program to create the new version of Final Writer on your hard drive. This makes the whole upgrade process simple and painless. NOTE: I am only going to cover the differences between Final Writer 3 and 4 in this review. It would make the review quite lengthy if I were to cover every feature of the Final Writer program. CHANGES: These are the major changes made to Final Writer 4: * Movement within a document -- Page Click Tabs have been added to represent the page numbers of your documents at the top of the document window. They look like those little tabs that you use in a filing cabinet to separate folders. If you have ever seen a Magic User Interface application that uses this feature then you know what I mean. By clicking on any of the tabs you can move directly to any page within the current document. When the first row of page numbers reaches the right-hand side of the screen, a second row is formed directly behind the first. This is an excellent addition to the program and it makes the process of jumping between pages very quick and easy. Section Click Tabs have also been added at the bottom of the document window to represent various sections of your document. By clicking on any of the various sections you can move directly to the corresponding part of your document. In the new Information/Status Bar there are two sets of arrows. The two up arrows are used to move to the top of the document or up one page in the document. The two down arrows are used to move to the bottom of the document or down one page in the document. Finally, you can just click on the page number display in the new Information/Status Bar and manually enter a page number to jump to within the requestor. Any of these movement features can be toggled on or off at anytime. * Most of the menus and requestors have been rearranged to eliminate the messy sub-menus that were present on previous versions of Final Writer. All of the Preferences requestors are now in the form of Click Tabs. This is very intuitive and easy to use. * Information/Status Bar -- this bar, which can be toggled on and off, appears at the bottom of the window. It displays: line and character position, page number, date, and time. Clicking on the line or character position buttons will display the View Preferences requestor. Clicking on the date or time buttons will insert the current date or time into the document at the current cursor position. The up/down arrows and the page number display were described earlier in this review. * User Button Strip -- this strip contains the usual icon representations for the various actions that can be performed on a document. Now this strip can be placed at the top, bottom, left, or right edges of the document. By clicking on the Next User Button Strip icon, you can access up to eight user-defined button strips located behind the main strip. * Type attributes can now be set selectively instead of all at once as in previous versions of Final Writer. There are also plain, bold, italic, and underline buttons on the User button Strip for easy text attribute changes. * Grammar Correction -- finally Final Writer includes a grammar checker! I have been waiting for this feature since using Excellence! in the past. You can set the various rules that the grammar checker will adhere to, such as: strict, business, and casual grammar rules; reporting consecutive nouns, prepositional phrases, and split infinitives. There are forty-six different Rule Types that can be individually toggled on and off, such as: spelling errors, capitalization errors, punctuation errors, double negatives, etc. When a grammatical error occurs, a requestor containing two windows will give a detailed explanation of the error and some suggested corrections for that error. The grammar checker in Final Writer 4 is quite powerful and it most definitely puts other such programs to shame on the Amiga platform. It is an excellent addition to an otherwise fine product and it is also one of the main reasons I upgraded from Final Writer 3. * Document Readability (Statistics) -- this menu choice will analyze your entire document and return statistics and a readability rating. The statistics include: paragraph, word and sentence counts, and noun/verb groups. The readability rating is provided in the following forms: Flesch Reading Ease Score, Flesh Reading Ease Grade Level, Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level, Coleman-Liau Grade Level, and Bormuth Grade Level. Just for curiosity, here are the ratings for this review: Flesch Reading Ease Score: 61.13 Standard Flesh Reading Ease Grade Level: 8.88 8th-9th Grade Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level: 8.68 Coleman-Liau Grade Level: 11.76 Bormuth Grade Level: 10.30 DISLIKES: When loading in old Final Writer documents the settings for the 3D look and the ruler on the left side of the document window seem to disappear. I wish there were a way to make these attributes take effect on any imported document, instead of having to reset these attributes and then save the document. The printing is still slower than a slug and the whole machine drags when loading in a document or the Final Writer 4 program itself. The pulldown menus consistently fail when using MagicMenu (PD), so I had to disable this program before running Final Writer 4. This could be caused by something in the code for MagicMenu, but Final Writer 4 is the only program I own that has this problem. The Type Layout requestor is awkward to use. Most of the options remain ghosted until you click on a check box at the right for that specific attribute. I find this to be quite annoying when trying to change a certain attribute of the text in question. SUMMARY: I like Final Writer 4 much more than any other Amiga word processor that I have used in the past. As in the past, all of your Final Copy II and Final Writer documents will load into Final Writer 4 perfectly, so there is no need to worry about loss of formatting, etc. Final Writer is still definitely one of the top two word processors for the Amiga and it's still improving thanks to Softwood's dedication to their products. @endnode @node REVIEW5 "Review: Stylus Pro-Pak" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: STYLUS PRO-PAK Maxwell Daymon mdaymon@rmii.com =========================================================================== The Amiga has never really been a leader in desktop publishing. Development has always been primarily focused on games, video, and lately multimedia markets. However, Stylus has come back with a redesigned version of their product "ProVector" in the form of a productivity package. The Stylus Pro-Pak actually consists of four distinct programs: · ProVector 3.0 The structured drawing program (certainly the focus of the package) · StylusTracer Converts IFF ILBM and TIFF bitmaps to IFF-DR2D or Adobe Illustrator · PSImport Imports and decomposes PostScript, EPS, and Adobe Illustrator EPS · RexxRequest. An ARexx command host that gives gadtools.library functions to ARexx programmers * Installation The Stylus Pro-Pak uses the Standard Amiga Installer Utility and the installation script is very well implemented. In Expert mode (my preferred mode), not only does it allow you to choose and verify what you want installed, it will tell you exactly how much disk space the options will take. If you are not satisfied, you simply reselect what you want installed. There is no need to abort and start the whole process over again as some other scripts would require. You can keep altering your choices until you finally decide what configuration will be acceptable. The package comes with the manual for the 2.0/2.1 version of ProVector and a very sharp context sensitive ProVector 3.0 on-line help system. Given the quality and extent of the included AmigaGuide based help files, I just don't see much point in the manual. Being able to position the pointer on any given button/window, pressing help, and instantly getting such a comprehensive on-line help makes the slightly dated manual a non-issue. * StylusTracer The included bitmap tracing utility, StylusTracer, is an extremely powerful tracer. Gold Disk's Trace program is an embarrassment by comparison. StylusTracer loads IFF ILBM (2-256 color, HAM, 24-bit) and TIFF bitmap images. The program worked on my CyberGraphX screenmodes in up to 256 colors, and surprised me when it even opened on an Amiga HAM6 screen (I'm sure HAM8 is even better) StylusTracer supports dithering to increase the number of apparent colors, and can use color or grayscale palettes. If you aren't doing color work, grayscale offers a very clean image, especially with the AGA chip set. There are a number of image processing features that help to convert any given bitmap to a form conducive to tracing. Conversion is available to and from black & white, indexed color, grayscale, and full-color (24-bit). Seven different smoothing options are there to tackle various image problems: average, median, blur, gradient, region, minimum, and maximum. The program also offers a generous complement of image processing features: posterize, remove isolated pixels (very nice before tracing a dirty scan), sharpen, edge detect, thin, scale, invert, strip bits, brightness, contrast, and gamma. Having all these tools immediately available makes the process of tracing much less painful. Coupled with undo ;-), you can really experiment with various options quickly. Simple painting options are also available including pixel by pixel editing at any magnification level. The program will save the image back out as an IFF file (so you actually get a TIFF to IFF ILBM file format converter in the process). The trace options allow you to specify precision, curve fitting, whether or not you even want curves or just straight lines traced, and how you want objects handled (with or without holes) and so on. You can export traced data as IFF DR2D, or Adobe Illustrator with or without a preview header. I had no problems using data exported to Adobe Illustrator format on various Macintosh machines running the software. If you are not satisfied with a trace, you can keep tweaking options and retracing until you find settings suit the particular bitmap. A logo is probably going to demand significantly different settings than an illustration. Further, you can actually watch as it traces so you don't have to wait out the entire process before you know whether the options were adequate. [Graphic card users should note that StylusTracer currently assumes that 256 color screens have an 8-bit per gun palette. Most of the graphic cards currently available for the Amiga only support 6-bits per gun, so opening the program in 256 color grayscale causes a problem. It won't dither the colors (it thinks it has them all) and your granularity is high. Reducing the screen down to 64 colors will cause the effect to disappear since the program will then be dealing with the actual grayscale the card produces and dither appropriately] * PSImport PSImport is one of the included modules that is called from the ProVector 3 "Import »" menu. ProVector scans the PV_Import directory for such external modules and automatically adds them to the "Import »" menu upon loading. Rather than loading EPS files and placing a bounding box or jagged bitmap preview, Stylus has decided to provide a utility that actually attempts to decompose the EPS (or PS) file into a usable vector drawing again. There is a problem with this, however. Some EPS files, especially those created by Gold Disk programs, have some problems that cause PSImport to choke. In the case of these files, you can't even simply accept the graphic as a bounding box to try its luck at running the file. However, files from other sources generally ran very well. One particular advantage to this method is that all printers can use valid EPS clip art with ProVector. Normally, you can only use EPS clip art with PostScript printers or with programs that interpret the PostScript to a form another printer understands. Even with programs that do this interpretation, they do not allow editing or correcting such clip art in the process. * RexxRequest While other programs have their own solutions for implementing GUIs in ARexx macros, the Stylus Pro-Pak gives the user a stand-alone host utility that can be used for any ARexx macro. It can even be used in place of the customized systems that have generally been provided until this point. An AmigaGuide database which is optimized for OS 3.x, but still runs with AmigaGuide v37 (OS 2.x) is included. Although it is primarily a quick reference, the entire package comes with many ARexx macros. Almost all of the included ARexx macros provide extensive real world examples of how to implement ARexx scripts using RexxRequest. * ProVector 3 ProVector is a fast program. Drawing, manipulating, and using the program is a pleasing experience. Since gradient fills can slow the process (although no more than any other program doing gradients) they can be turned off while still keeping full color fills and patterns available. You aren't restricted to an "all or nothing" preview approach. There are four levels of preview: wireframe, color, pattern, and gradient. Each one adds to the previous level (for example, pattern does not forsake color). At first the drawing method seemed quirky to me. It is unlike Adobe Illustrator, ProDraw, or most other drawing programs. However, I picked up on the process very quickly (within a few hours) and found it to be much more natural and "organic" feeling than other programs. ProVector3 is much more suited to a traditional illustrator than a person who thinks in terms of tangents and mathematical velocities of lines while designing. In only a few days I was getting better results, and in less time, using ProVector's drawing tool compared to ProDraw's. Going back to ProDraw is like going back to pushing instead of driving. It reminds me of the transition to the "quirky" Amiga from the PC back in 1985. Also, in ProVector, you can press the backspace key to delete points in order from latest to first if you make a mistake or would like to refine the drawing without starting over again. This is one of those "how did I ever live without it?" features. Along with the regular suite of drawing tools, ProVector has useful options and constraints to the tools. Circles and ellipses can be constrained to specific slices, the rectangle tool has become the polygon tool. You only need to specify how many sides you want and it creates the polygon. With simple ARexx macros, you could create professional IFF DR2D charts and graphs directly between the programs, and even time-based charts across separate layers. Some of the particularly useful features include an undo/redo of up to 256 levels, object zoom (which zooms in on a specific object), select NOT (selects all those items not currently selected), custom crop mark placement (not just 'on' or 'off'), and the special effects that can be applied to objects. The object manipulation options such as warp, skew, and other DO fold, spindle and mutilate are particularly useful since they should you the result as you work with the object. Of course, with the undo/redo, even this isn't "needed" but it's very nice to see the results before you confirm the action. Fonts can be changed after the fact (just select the text box and choose a different font) and Adobe Type 1 fonts are directly supported. Fonts can specifically be marked on a per item basis for downloading. This saves memory and printing time if you do not need to download ALL your fonts simply because you are using one that your printer doesn't have. Gradients can have up to 65,536 colors per fill, not just two. Further, each color pair can have as many as 256 (non user defined) intermediate colors to define the gradient. Gradients can be filled as linear, conic, radial, and bound to the shape of the object. Transition speeds of the gradient are even more flexible (fast, slow, constant, fast/slow, slow/fast, etc.) ProVector also supports layers, up to 256. Each layer can be shown, hidden, edited, and locked independently. For large projects this is a wonderful feature. You can open many projects at the same time, memory would seem to be the practical limitation here. Professional 'musts' such as color separation, under color removal, black generation, and per color trapping are all available with ProVector. Output options are available (and external, so more can be added) for PostScript, Preferences (Printer), HPGL, Adobe Illustrator EPS, IFF ILBM (2-256 colors and anti-aliased 24-bit). The results have been excellent. ARexx support for these programs is very strong. I can see being able to add 'tool palettes' very easily and naturally to the programs with utilities such as ToolManager (Stefan Becker). This isn't to say there aren't a few snags with ProVector. There is no 'pasteboard' off the main page. If you drag an item off to the side, it will still exist, but you can't see it. You can drag it back if you click where you left it (or select all the objects on the page and then select NOT and center) but I believe another solution would be easier and more intuitive. Tooltypes and many of the ARexx tools currently only deal in inches. The ARexx macros can be modified, but I think an all around improvement to measurement context sensitivity would enhance the program. If you are someone who deals mostly with inches, you're okay. I'm a pica person. :-) You can still use other systems, and modifying the commented ARexx macros is certainly no difficult task, but the fact that tooltypes are inches only is counter-intuitive. Zoom mode leaves parts of the page undrawn that weren't specifically in the Zoom box, even if they would fit in the window. I see no reason why parts of the pages that technically exist are not drawn in certain zoom situations. However, under normal circumstances, this behavior is not often exhibited. Finally, feeding the program corrupt or incorrectly written DR2D files could cause some problems including crashes or strange behavior. Handling bad DR2D files should be as graceful as possible, because there is at least one major Amiga DTP package still being developed that still writes bad DR2D files. * Conclusions It's refreshing to see a capable, functioning, supported, professional application like ProVector for the Amiga. ProVector 3 is one of the few Amiga programs that has been given the prefix 'Pro' that actually deserves it. It's a powerful structured drawing system with a strong suite of utilities and an extensive ARexx facility. Although the entire package is close to the upgrade price for comparable packages on other platforms, it's certainly in the same league. Unfortunately, I've only been able to touch on ProVector 3, a single review just doesn't do the product justice. @endnode @node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts 20-Aug-95" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 20-Aug-95 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ShapeShift3_1.lha misc/emu 207K 1+Macintosh II emulator, V3.1 mn_ansitest.lha comm/mebbs 3K 8+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet IBrowsePics.lha pix/illu 66K 1+GIFs of IBrowse, the new Amiga WWW 8n1.lha comm/misc 22K 1+Replaces serial.device. V37.10 VCBrn122.lha util/virus 8K 1+Version 1.22 of Virus_Checker brain BMPdt404.lha util/dtype 12K 0+Bmp picture datatype v40.4 for >= O Ultimatum_1.2.lha game/shoot 724K 0+Great 3D Tank Game! MWBDrws-474.lha pix/mwb 331K 0+MWB ImageDrawers Full Collection (4 TrainDriver.lha game/misc 401K 1+Train Driver Simulator NetMail-11.lha comm/mail 91K 1+Email program with GUI, groups, fil IdentD.lha comm/tcp 12K 1+RFC 1413 Authentication Daemon for DApache1.lha game/demo 879K 0+FMV Apache Flight Sim for ANY AMIGA OpusFTP.lha comm/tcp 94K 0+An FTP Module for Directory Opus 5. SleepPointers.lha util/cdity 111K 0+Animated Busy Pointers in hires for HDEnv10.lha util/boot 15K 1+Allows you to keep your ENV: dir on BeforeDark.lha pix/icon 155K 0+41 new nice WorkBench patterns Croak2.lha game/jump 92K 0+Version 2 of the Amiga Frogger clon DoIcon14.lha util/cli 68K 0+The definitive icon tool! iiNST_151.lha comm/tcp 26K 1+Easy AMITCP/PPP install w/ISP modul GetHTTP15.lha comm/tcp 5K 1+Rip HTTP addresses, save 'm to AMos | The highest rated programs during the week until 20-Aug-95 | Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you | download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu : | RATE | where is the file you want to judge and is a mark from 0..10 | with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but | don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8 | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- mlink132.lha comm/net 123K 16+Direct internet access without SLIP FL_144_Update.lha comm/bbs 30K 4+TA-Filelister Update for V1.44 DPacMan17.lha game/misc 277K 3+PacMan clone with lots of extra fea DGalaga25.lha game/shoot 454K 26+Deluxe Galaga v2.5 BirdsReko.lha game/think 549K 17+HAM8 deck of animal pictures for Kl MammalsReko.lha game/think 563K 17+HAM8 deck of animal pictures for Kl Hexagons.lha game/wb 36K 11+The Ultimative Hexagonal Challenge. AlgoMusic1_3.lha mus/misc 71K 13+Creates and plays great algorithmic WB_BootPics3.lha pix/icon 351K 6+WB Boot Pictures Volume #3 GED313u.lha text/edit 158K 4+Upgrade GoldEd 3.0.1+ -> 3.1.3 (95/ ThinFonts.lha text/font 13K 185+Seven fixed width fonts in two desi lzx120.lha util/arc 139K 11+The Ultimate Archiver V1.20 Fixes/+ lzx120r.lha util/arc 168K 11+The Ultimate Archiver V1.20R Regist ToolManager21b.lha util/boot 490K 118+ToolManager 2.1 (Binaries and Docum WBTitle14.lha util/boot 18K 11+Config. WB title w/ Amiga/VMM/Retin ReqTools22c_us.lha util/libs 176K 52+ReqTools 2.2c - the requester toolk Colors-1.0.lha util/misc 2K 72+Extras:Tools/Colors replacement JSplit.lha util/misc 17K 35+Comfortably split and join files ObtainGIRPort.lha util/misc 3K 28+Fix deadlocks with MagicMenu snoopdos30.lha util/moni 128K 48+System monitor, many new features a CpuUsage10.lha util/wb 3K 59+Small, sizeable graphical CpuUsage DPacManAGA.lha game/misc 371K 11+PacMan clone with lots of extra fea DPacMan17.lha game/misc 277K 3+PacMan clone with lots of extra fea tin130gamma.lha comm/news 182K 2+TIN 1.3 PL0 Beta 950726. UUCP/NNTP adt_amitcp11.lha comm/tcp 77K 10+ADT 2.1 Rel. 1.1 for AmiTCP 4+ (bug fruitkitchen.lha demo/aga 566K 0+A new demo of the asm95 in helsinki amicdfs.lha disk/cdrom 56K 45+CDROM fs, also reads Mac floppy & hd @endnode @node CHARTS2 "Aminet Charts for 27-Aug-95 @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 27-Aug-95 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ar315.lha docs/mags 87K 0+Amiga Report 3.15, August 17th BMPdt404.lha util/dtype 12K 1+Bmp picture datatype v40.4 for >= OS acuseeme2_02.lha comm/tcp 63K 0+Network video-conferencing tool mn_ansitest.lha comm/mebbs 3K 9+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet ShapeShiftPic.lha misc/emu 8K 0+Excellent Boot Picture for ShapeShif DoIcon14.lha util/cli 68K 1+The definitive icon tool! memstat.lha dev/misc 9K 1+Show Memory Fragmentation mftp1_27.lha comm/tcp 57K 0+Mftp 1.27, very nice ftp client (MUI IconDeluxe1_09.lha gfx/edit 71K 1+Full-featured icon editor (V1.09) IdentD1_1.lha comm/tcp 12K 0+RFC 1413 Authentication Daemon for A archie141.lha comm/net 51K 0+Archie 1.4.1 for AmiTCP 4.1 BSprite.lha util/boot 14K 0+Kickstart 3.0 only BorderSprite enab ASpell.lha text/edit 171K 0+Fast Multilingual Spelling Checker; magplip37.2.lha comm/net 58K 0+SANA II parallel IP device driver TIFFView116.lha gfx/show 171K 1+V1.16, read-view-print TIFF/MacPaint ShapeShift3_1.lha misc/emu 207K 2+Macintosh II emulator, V3.1 Ultimatum_1.2.lha game/shoot 724K 1+Great 3D Tank Game! AmyTechLogo.jpg pix/trace 28K 0+A *NICE* render of the Amiga Technol aminetfind.lha comm/tcp 2K 0+Fast TCP Aminet searcher Arexx scrip | The highest rated programs during the week until 27-Aug-95 | Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you | download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu : | RATE | where is the file you want to judge and is a mark from 0..10 | with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but | don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8 | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- mlink132.lha comm/net 123K 17+Direct internet access without SLIP FL_144_Update.lha comm/bbs 30K 5+TA-Filelister Update for V1.44 DPacMan17.lha game/misc 277K 4+PacMan clone with lots of extra feat BirdsReko.lha game/think 549K 18+HAM8 deck of animal pictures for Klo MammalsReko.lha game/think 563K 18+HAM8 deck of animal pictures for Klo Hexagons.lha game/wb 36K 12+The Ultimative Hexagonal Challenge. AlgoMusic1_3.lha mus/misc 71K 14+Creates and plays great algorithmic WB_BootPics3.lha pix/icon 351K 7+WB Boot Pictures Volume #3 - for Ami GED313u.lha text/edit 158K 5+Upgrade GoldEd 3.0.1+ -> 3.1.3 (95/7 ThinFonts.lha text/font 13K 186+Seven fixed width fonts in two desig lzx120.lha util/arc 139K 12+The Ultimate Archiver V1.20 Fixes/+S lzx120r.lha util/arc 168K 12+The Ultimate Archiver V1.20R Registe ToolManager21b.lha util/boot 490K 119+ToolManager 2.1 (Binaries and Docume WBTitle14.lha util/boot 18K 12+Config. WB title w/ Amiga/VMM/Retina ReqTools22c_us.lha util/libs 176K 53+ReqTools 2.2c - the requester toolki Colors-1.0.lha util/misc 2K 73+Extras:Tools/Colors replacement JSplit.lha util/misc 17K 36+Comfortably split and join files ObtainGIRPort.lha util/misc 3K 29+Fix deadlocks with MagicMenu snoopdos30.lha util/moni 128K 49+System monitor, many new features ad CpuUsage10.lha util/wb 3K 60+Small, sizeable graphical CpuUsage p DGalaga25.lha game/shoot 454K 27+Deluxe Galaga v2.5 DPacManAGA.lha game/misc 371K 12+PacMan clone with lots of extra feat DPacMan17.lha game/misc 277K 4+PacMan clone with lots of extra feat tin130gamma.lha comm/news 182K 3+TIN 1.3 PL0 Beta 950726. UUCP/NNTP N adt_amitcp11.lha comm/tcp 77K 11+ADT 2.1 Rel. 1.1 for AmiTCP 4+ (bugs fruitkitchen.lha demo/aga 566K 1+A new demo of the asm95 in helsinki amicdfs.lha disk/cdrom 56K 46+CDROM fs, also reads Mac floppy & hd @endnode @node CHARTS3 "Aminet Charts for 3-Sep-95" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 3-Sep-95 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- VChk715.lha util/virus 133K 0+Version 7.15 of Virus_Checker. Amiga Vir win95.jpg pix/illu 54K 0+The Joke Of Microsoft VList125.lha util/virus 15K 0+List of dangerous archives, fakes, progs ADMail.lha comm/mail 56K 0+GUI EMail package, v1.5 (bugfix release) VMM_V3_2.lha util/misc 240K 0+Virtual memory for Amigas with MMU eliza.lha misc/sci 28K 0+A classic AI therapist supertrail.lha game/misc 55K 0+Guide ball through tricky levels (incl. cybershow50.lha gfx/board 90K 0+SlideShow&Viewer(incl.PCD)for CybGfx&AGA jb-buxom.lha game/think 635K 0+Buxom cardset for Klondike AGA AmiConnect.lha comm/tcp 187K 0+A Configuration Program For AmiTCP With NewsedArfir.lha comm/tcp 84K 0+Gui Interface For Archie + Powerful GUI TinyMWBCol1_3.lha pix/mwb 106K 0+MWB-Stuff and MORE! (V1.3) Easylink.lha comm/misc 100K 0+Connect Amiga/PC via Parallel Port SysBoot04.lha util/boot 33K 0+Booting from Amiga or Shapeshifter, SFS cp5.lha comm/tcp 109K 0+Advanced GUI frontends for Amitcp & util poweroids11.lha game/shoot 411K 0 Asteroids with raytracing gfx, 1-4 Playe socklink100.lha comm/tcp 27K 0+Links stdio to socket (AmiTCP/IP and AS2 engine.lha game/demo 115K 1+DOOM that gets 30fps on 68000 hires! LVODump.lha dev/misc 17K 0+Lists LVOs. Useful for programmers. V1.0 bs110.lha util/boot 35K 0+V1.10 select startup with mouse buttons | The highest rated programs during the week until 3-Sep-95 | Updated weekly. Best program on top. Please rate all the programs you | download. To do so, send to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu : | RATE | where is the file you want to judge and is a mark from 0..10 | with 10 being the best. You can rate several programs in one mail, but | don't rate your own programs. Example: RATE dev/gui/mui23usr.lha 8 | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- mlink132.lha comm/net 123K 18+Direct internet access without SLIP FL_144_Update.lha comm/bbs 30K 6+TA-Filelister Update for V1.44 BirdsReko.lha game/think 549K 19+HAM8 deck of animal pictures for Klondik MammalsReko.lha game/think 563K 19+HAM8 deck of animal pictures for Klondik Hexagons.lha game/wb 36K 13+The Ultimative Hexagonal Challenge. V1.0 FView151.lha gfx/show 85K 13+FastView for IFF/GIF/BMP/JPG/PCX pics DevilsMine.mpg pix/anim 491K 21+A roller coaster through a mine - COOL! Lamp.mpg pix/anim 653K 15+A living lamp looks around - COOL! MagicBGs5.lha pix/mwb 244K 0+New breathtaking patterns for MagicWB lzx120r.lha util/arc 168K 13+The Ultimate Archiver V1.20R Registered WBTitle14.lha util/boot 18K 13+Config. WB title w/ Amiga/VMM/Retina mem JSplit.lha util/misc 17K 37+Comfortably split and join files lzx120.lha util/arc 139K 13+The Ultimate Archiver V1.20 Fixes/+Speed DGalaga25.lha game/shoot 454K 28+Deluxe Galaga v2.5 DPacMan17.lha game/misc 277K 5+PacMan clone with lots of extra features tin130gamma.lha comm/news 182K 4+TIN 1.3 PL0 Beta 950726. UUCP/NNTP Newsr adt_amitcp11.lha comm/tcp 77K 12+ADT 2.1 Rel. 1.1 for AmiTCP 4+ (bugs fix term-030.lha comm/term 632K 7+V4.4, MC68020/030/040/060 version fruitkitchen.lha demo/aga 566K 2+A new demo of the asm95 in helsinki (fin control1.dms demo/mega 817K 1+Winning demo from GASP, by Oxygene, disk control2.dms demo/mega 552K 1+Winning demo from GASP, by Oxygene, disk amicdfs.lha disk/cdrom 56K 47+CDROM fs, also reads Mac floppy & hd DiskSalv11_32.lha disk/salv 118K 8+Dave Haynie's DiskSalv version 11.32 DPacMan17.lha game/misc 277K 5+PacMan clone with lots of extra features DPacManAGA.lha game/misc 371K 13+PacMan clone with lots of extra features F1GP-Ed.lha game/misc 310K 0+Formula One Grand Prix / WC Editor V3.0 DPoker_v1.0b.lha game/wb 33K 12+GREAT WB+MUI poker (straight-bug fixed) Iconian2_93.lha gfx/edit 171K 12+OS3.0 icon editor, NewIcon support. SqOpal13.lha gfx/show 44K 6+The ultimate image viewer for Opal @endnode @node MAILLIST "Amiga Report Mailing List" @toc WHERE =========================================================================== == Amiga Report Mailing List == =========================================================================== If you have an internet mailing address, you can receive Amiga Report in @{"UUENCODED" link UUENCODE} form each week as soon as the issue is released. To be put on the list, send Email to listserv@itesmvf1.rzs.itesm.mx. Your subject header will be ignored. In the body of the message, enter subscribe areport ie: subscribe areport A. R. Reader The system will automatically pull your e-mail address from the message header. Your account must be able to handle mail of any size to ensure an intact copy. For example, many systems have a 100K limit on incoming messages. ** IMPORTANT NOTICE: PLEASE be certain your host can accept mail over ** ** 100K! We have had a lot of bouncebacks recently from systems with a ** ** 100K size limit for incoming mail. If we get a bounceback with your ** ** address in it, it will be removed from the list. Thanks! ** *** The following is only for Australian readers! *** To circumvent the new pay-per-megabyte system for Australian Internet communication, Paul Reece has been kind enough to set up an AUSTRALIAN-ONLY mailing list, to save his fellow countrymen some money. You can join the list by sending mail to: majordomo@info.tas.gov.au with the single line (in body of message): subscribe ar Amiga Report will then be bounced to you. @endnode @node UUENCODE @toc MAILLIST =========================================================================== == UUDecoding Amiga Report == =========================================================================== If you receive Amiga Report from the direct mailing list, it will arrive in UUEncoded format. This format allows programs and archive files to be sent through mail by converting the binary into combinations of ASCII characters. In the message, it will basically look like a lot of trash surrounded by begin and end, followed by the size of the file. To UUDecode Amiga Report, you first need to get a UUDecoding program, such as UUxT by Asher Feldman. This program is available on Aminet in pub/aminet/arc/ Then you must download the message that it is contained in. Don't worry about message headers, the UUDecoding program will ignore them. There is a GUI interface for UUxT, which should be explained in the docs. However, the quickest method for UUDecoding the magazine is to type uuxt x ar.uu at the command prompt. You will then have to decompress the archive with lha, and you will then have Amiga Report in all of its AmigaGuide glory. If you have any questions, you can write to @{"Jason Compton" link JASON} @endnode @node AMINET "Aminet" @toc WHERE Aminet ~~~~~~ To get Amiga Report from Aminet, simply FTP to any Aminet site, CD to docs/mags. All the back issues are located there as well. Sites: ftp.netnet.net, ftp.wustl.edu, ftp.tas.gov.au, ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk @endnode @node WWW "World Wide Web" @toc WHERE World Wide Web ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ AR can also be read with Mosaic (in either AmigaGuide or html form). Reading AmigaReport with Mosaic removes the necessity to download it. It can also be read using programs found in UNIX sites such as LYNX. Simply tell Mosaic to open one of the following URLs: http://www.omnipresence.com/Amiga/News/AR/ http://sun1000.ci.pwr.wroc.pl/AMIGA/AR/ http://mm.iit.uni-miskolc.hu/Data/AR http://www.fhi-berlin.mpg.de/amiga/ar/ http://ramiga.cts.com/~AR http://www.susx.ac.uk/Users/kcci1 http://www.sci.muni.cz/ar/ The following AR site also has a mailto form, allowing you to mail to Amiga Report from the web site.