@database "ar318.guide"
@Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #3.18 -- October 8, 1995"
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  October 8, 1995        @{" Turn the Page " link MENU}              Issue No.3.18
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, right next to the diskdrive. That's it! Hope this will help Robert and other "overheated" Amiga owners out there.. @endnode @node NEWS1 "World of Amiga in Toronto" @toc NEWS WCi to host World of Amiga in Toronto in 1995 --------------------------------------------- Resurrecting an annual tradition, the World of Amiga show will be held again in 1995 at the Toronto International Centre on December 8, 9, and 10th. The official show hours are: Friday 6:00pm - 10:00pm Saturday 10:00am - 6:00pm Sunday 10:00am - 6:00pm Wonder Computers, Inc., organizers of the 1995 WOA in Toronto, are currently soliciting distributors, retailers, and user groups to exhibit at the show. There will be two active seminar rooms for the duration of the show, and they are booking steadily - most notable seminar topics include the Internet and multiplatform emulation. So, clear those dates on your calendar! The biggest Amiga show in North America since 1993 is about to happen, and you can be a part of it. See the new Amigas from Amiga Technologies (Escom), and new software and hardware from the many developers who have stuck it out for the past year. If you would like to be kept current on developments in the show, send Internet EMail to woa@wonder.ca and you will be automatically added to our show mailing list. The World of Amiga show in Toronto is being organized by WCi Information Technology Division. WCi is Canada's largest Amiga-only corporation, encompassing the I. T. Division, the Lazarus Engineering Division, and the Wonder Computers Retail Division. For more information on the World of Amiga show, feel free to contact: WCi InfoTech Div. c/o Wonder Computers 371 Old Kingston Rd. Scarborough, ON M1C 1B7 +1 416 201 2333 Voice & Fax EMail: infotech@wonder.ca WWW: http://www.wonder.ca @endnode @node NEWS2 "The International Amiga Society" @toc NEWS +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Announcing : The International Amiga Society | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ ANNOUNCEMENT We're a group of Amiga owners engaged in building the INTERNATIONAL AMIGA SOCIETY (IAS) a world-wide association of Amiga practitioners, owners, developers, dealers and believers in the ideals and future of the Amiga platform. In view of past experiences and present-day circumstances we feel it necessary to explore all possible ways of protecting our investment in money, time, skills and dedication and furthermore use available technologies to forge an intelligent and effective form of association between all interested parties. Our first aim is to create a world-wide database of all existing user groups so we can communicate among ourselves with e-mail and/or mailing-lists and other devices. We are herewith inviting everyone reading this to communicate our request to their user group and to send the following information: 1.SnailMail address 2.E-mail or BBS address/contact 3.Number of members IAS-Register@artworks.apana.org.au For your consideration, we will then send you more detailed information about the organization and its plans. Groups or individuals representing groups who have access to internet web-browsing can use our home-page at http://falcon.cc.ukans.edu/~dangermo/IAUG/index.html (registration form not available yet) It is of uppermost importance for this database to be as complete as possible so be so kind and answer ASAP. +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Queries should be addressed to IAS-Queries@artworks.apana.org.au | +-------------------------------------------------------------------------+ @endnode @node NEWS3 "Maple V Release 3" @toc NEWS Media Release For Immediate Release Contact: Diane Hagglund, Product Manager (519) 747-2373; hagglund@maplesoft.com http://www.maplesoft.com Waterloo Maple Announces Maple V Release 3 for the Amiga ======================================================== Waterloo Maple Inc. is pleased to announce that Maple V Release 3 for the Amiga is now shipping. This new release provides Amiga users with access to the most powerful general purpose mathematics and visualization software in the world. Maple V Release 3 for the Amiga is an interactive problem-solving environment featuring an advanced graphical user interface (GUI). It shares all the mathematical functionality that exists for Maple V Release 3 on other platforms, including Windows, Macintosh, and many versions of UNIX. Maple V provides symbolic and numeric solutions to problems in algebra, calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, geometry, statistics and more. Visualization features include 2D plots, 3D plots, and animations of mathematical information and numerical data. Maple V also features a complete programming language that users can access to develop powerful mathematical applications. The Amiga version of Maple V Release 3 was developed by Amiga experts Dr. Tomas Rokicki of Radical Eye Software and Dr. Willy Langeveld, a physicist at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center. Dr. Rokicki is widely known for his development of AmigaTeX, and dvips, both widely used programs in technical fields. Dr. Langeveld is known for his Amiga terminal emulator VLT and the rexxarplib and rexxmathlib libraries. Waterloo Maple Inc. is a global leader in developing mathematical software for technical professionals and for the education market. Its core technologies are built upon world-class research in symbolic mathematics at the University of Waterloo and at ETH, Zurich. The company's product line includes Maple V(R), Theorist(R)/MathPlus(TM), MathEdge(TM), Expressionist(R) and MathOffice(TM). Waterloo Maple Inc. technologies are also integrated into products by The MathWorks (MATLAB), Visual Numerics (PV Wave), TCI Software Research (Scientific WorkPlace), and MathSoft (Mathcad). Its corporate headquarters is in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. ### Maple, Maple V, THEORIST, and Expressionist are registered trademarks of Waterloo Maple Inc. Math Office, and MathEdge are trademarks of Waterloo Maple Inc. Waterloo Maple Software recognizes all trademarks and registered trademarks cited in this document. @endnode @node NEWS4 "W.F.M.H. PacketWizard" @toc NEWS TITLE W.F.M.H. PacketWizard AUTHOR Marcin Orlowski E-Mail: carlos@felix.univ.szczecin.pl DESCRIPTION Host mode Packet Radio terminal FEATURES - every connected channel has it's own resizable window and acts as an independent task. No more screen switching! - fully user-definable, font sensitive GUI - localization - operates with usual Autobin and Yapp protocols - as an addition: operates with XPR protocol libraries! At now it is possible to use those ZMODEM, YMODEM, XMODEM, etc. protocols, known well to all phone modem users. with their abilities to continue (resume) download/upload on several sessions after broken connection - auto 7+ filesave option - GUI-based TNC preferences editor - calling stations just by clicking on their callsigns in MHeard list window - selected channel can speak incoming texts. Superb, when Packet Wizard is working in the background (requires narrator.device installed) - optional data compression "on the fly" using XPK libraries - enchanced remote WizardDOS operations - built-in simple MailBox - multi-level ConversMode - graphics click-on intuition all over the Packet Wizard - AmigaGuide on-line help - Hot-callsigns menu - crypting option - fully clipboard support - user priority-based file access - MagicWB layout supported - automatic CallSign recognition by filters and settable database - settable event notification by sound sample or by Amiga DOS command - automatic log-book INFORMATION: If you feel we missed feature you would like to have in your PacketWizard, please contact the PacketWizard development crew at: Marcin Orlowski SQ1BSC @ SR1BBS.#SZ.POL.EU Pawel Soltysinski SQ1BSE @ SR1BBS.#SZ.POL.EU SilverDream!'s BBS: +48 (0)91-540431 (non-stop) Internet : carlos@felix.univ.szczecin.pl WWW Page : http://dedal.univ.szczecin.pl/~carlos/wizard.html FidoNet : Marcin Orlowski@2:481/22.2 GlobalNet: Marcin Orlowski@52:4800/6 DISTRIBUTABILITY Shareware. Copyright by the author. @endnode @node NEWS5 "AmigaLink Magazine" @toc NEWS Dear Fellow Amiga users: I would really like to announce what to anticipate in issue eight of AmigaLink magazine. o Wanna now what 68060 can do? Check out the article in AL8! o News and info about a new magazine for the american's o New Press-Releases - Some of the boring ones taken out. :) o A IRC confrence review o And much more! We will also shortly welcoming a columnist to the magazine, From Amazing Amiga computing magazine Rob Hays! New technical editor Dale Poole! Much more distribution! AmigaLink Issue 8 will be available at ftp.doc.ic.ac.uk (FTP) Telnet : TKA.COM, Gnomes.org org/amigalink/ by subscribing to our internet mailing list which will send you the magazine in 'uu'-form. topic: type anything ADD amigalink make sure your mailbox can handle large amounts of mail. mail message to: listserv@tka.com Sincerely, John Vlachos Editor-in-Chief of AmigaLink magazine @endnode @node NEWS6 "ArcsPack #14" @toc NEWS TITLE Arctangent's Graphics Pack, Volume 14 (ArcsPack #14) VERSION 1.0 AUTHOR Bowie J. Poag EMail: bjp@interaccess.com IRC: Arc DESCRIPTION The 14th volume of an already gigantic array of absolutely BEAUTIFUL hand-painted backdrop patterns intended for use with NickPrefs' WBPicture (Workbench 2.x), WBPattern (Workbench 3.x) and MUI. Unlike my competitors, my work doesn't SUCK. Furthermore, the patterns don't have an annoying red slash through them, nor do I ask any pointless Shareware fee from users who simply want to make their Workbenches and MUI programs look professional, highly polished and respectable. ArcsPack is a quick and seamless way to drastically improve the look of virtually everything about your system--from Startup-Pix to show during reboots, to Workbench/MUI patterns and backdrop imagery. Tired of sifting through endless heaps of crappy graphics, looking for the perfect backdrop for your Workbench, or the perfect texture for your MUI applications? Wish you had a beautiful show-off screen to smoothly fade in while your machine reboots, instead of staring like a brain-dead PC user at a blank screen? For those of you who want to give your Amiga a dramatic top-to-bottom facelift, ArcsPack is the perfect solution. This archive represents but one volume in a library of such imagery I've been creating for the past year. Regardless of your tastes, from sleek and corporate to gaudy and tacky, there's something in every volume of ArcsPack for EVERYONE! Plus a few little hidden bonuses on occasion. :) A wide variety of additional colour palletes are included for you to apply to the patterns of your choice, as well..On a similar note, each pattern has one or two variations on the original theme, so you can pick the -exact- pattern of your liking, instead of being stuck with just one type to choose from. Take any of the dozens of patterns, make it BoO-BeRRy BlUe or 10,000 Watt PumPKiN OrANGE! Its up to you! And to top it all off, its FREE. I've turned down several offers from PD and Shareware companies to publish and sell my work commercially simply because I believe strongly in giving something *back* to the Amiga community. ArcsPack is MY way of saying thanks, and encouraging others to get off their duff and make a difference, for all of us. ------------------------ o All ArcsPacks are fully compatible with Workbench 2.x, and 3.x, and look absolutely groovy if used in cooperation with Magic Workbench and NewIcons. o 100% Compatible with ALL Amigas, from bottom-of-the-barrel 7 Mhz A1000's all the way up to 66 Mhz A4000T/060 powerhouses. o It's 100% Fat-Free, and only 10 Calories per serving! o Its * F R E E * ! SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS None, but AmigaDOS 3.1 and a machine with at least 1MB Chip Ram is strongly reccomended. AVAILABILITY All volumes of Arctangent's Graphics Pack (ArcsPack) are available from any Aminet mirror worldwide, i.e. ftp.wustl.edu, and are located in either pix/wb or pix/icon, depending on the intelligence of the Aminet admin of the site where you're at. ArcsPacks are usually found in pix/icon, despite having absolutely nothing to do with icons. Go figure. PRICE Absofrigginlutely FREE! A gift from me to the Amiga community! Enjoy! @endnode @node NEWS7 "Freely Redistributable Software" @toc NEWS Save yourself the inconvenience of having to download all the files you'll need to get started on the information highways. We've done it for you. Terminal programs, Internet programs (TCP/IP, SLIP, PPP, Web, etc.), virus checkers, compression utilities and more. Our charge for the disk set is a service and media charge, not a purchase of the software itself. IAM is not the author of any of this software. Some is shareware and requires that you pay a registration fee direct to the author for continued use, some is completely free. Sold as-is, without support from IAM. $27 disks only, or $49.95 for a package including the disk set and the book "Connect Your Amiga! A Guide to the Internet, LANs, BBSs and Online Services." Availability of this disk set on CD-ROM is expected soon. Contact Intangible Assets Manufacturing as follows: http://www.iam.com info\@iam.com -- the IAM InfoBot. sales\@iam.com -- the IAM SalesBot. Send order forms here.. Intangible Assets Manufacturing 828 Ormond Avenue Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604 USA +1 610 853 4406 fax: +1 610 853 3733 @endnode @node NEWS8 "Ami-FileSafe (AFS)" @toc NEWS Upgrade your Amiga's performance and reliability with new system software -- replace FFS with a faster, high data-integrity filesystem. With Ami-FileSafe (AFS), your directory listings will be smoothly displayed, and software accessing the disk will run faster. More importantly, AFS ensures your data is safe from invalidation caused by machine crashes and accidental reboots. AFS is always validated -- you will never have to put up with invalid disks again. The consumer version is limited to one 650mb (or smaller) HD. The professional version, perfect for video and audio and other intensive use, includes support for HDs to 9gigs and multi-user security. Independent tests reported by CU/Amiga magazine show AFS using 7-11% less disk space, with write times up to six times faster, and read times up to twice as fast as the best previous file systems. CU/Amiga tested AFS reliability by resetting, powering down and removing SCSI cables while writing to the drives. "Not once through all these heinous eye watering tests could we corrupt the AFS partitions!" US list prices are: Consumer $40, Professional $99.95. AFS FAQ, 03-OCT-95 Ami-FileSafe (AFS) has generated enormous interest. The purpose of this FAQ is to answer the questions we've heard many times, and to provide you with more information about AFS. This FAQ was prepared by Dale L. Larson, el Presidente of Intangible Assets Manufacturing (http://www.iam.com). It is accurate to the best of his knowledge at this time, but AFS is a new product to IAM, and it is a sophisticated piece of software. This is the first preliminary edition of the FAQ, so it is subject to change, we disclaim responsibility for any errors and lies, etc. Q: When/Where can I get AFS? A: AFS is published and supported by Fourth Level Development. Intangible Assets Manufacturing (IAM) is the exclusive distributor for North America (While FLD is the exclusive distributor for IAM products in Europe). IAM makes AFS available through Amiga dis tributors and dealers (both local and mail-order), as well as direct (i.e., mail order). IAM received its first major shipment of product earlier this week, and shipments were sent to many dealers immediately. So if your dealer doesn't stock it, ask her to! Product description, etc., is availble from: Intangible Assets Manufacturing http://www.iam.com ftp:ftp.iam.com/biz/iam/iam.lha (AmigaGuide catalog) info@iam.com 828 Ormond Avenue Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604 USA tel: +1 610 853 4406 (orders only) fax: +1 610 853 3733 or from: Fourth Level Development afssales@flevel.demon.co.uk 31 Ashley Hill Montpelier Bristol, England BS6 5JA tel: 0117 985 4455 fax: 0117 955 9157 Q: What is the current version of AFS? A: 2.2. Q: How much is AFS? A: There are two versions. AFS Consumer (also called AFS User) is US$40, AFS Pro is US$99.95. Q: What are the limitations of the Consumer version? A: The Consumer version can only be installed to a single partition, and that partition must be on a drive which is less than 650mb capacity (not a partition of 650mb, a drive size of 650mb). You cannot install Consumer onto a 10mb partition of a 700mb disk . You may have other drives and other partitions in your system. The Consumer version also contains no multi-user support. Q: Why are those limitations in Consumer? A: This is basically a marketing decision, but one which is forced on us. AFS is a highly technical product which requires a great deal of development resources. We cannot support those resources with sales of User alone. So we selected limitations on User that would allow those who truly cannot afford Pro (and who do not need multi-user support, which was also expensive to develop) to get use of AFS User, but require those with more sophisticated systems to buy Pro, paying a fair price for the software. Note that the benefits of AFS go up with the size of your harddrive -- a 1gig drive takes much longer to validate than a 200meg drive! Q: What is the policy to upgrade from the User/Consumer version to the Pro version? A: In the US, the cost of the upgrade is the cost of the difference in price plus $10 ($70). You must send in your original disk with payment, then you will be mailed a new Pro disk. This process should take about 7-10 days, but is unavoidable due to serial numbers, etc. Q: Where can I read an independent review of AFS? A: Dave and Dale both say AFS is cool, so what more do you want to know? For you doubters, the September 1995 CU/Amiga did a two-page review, Amiga Computing has a review in their October 1995 issue, and other reviews are being written. Since AFS is evolving fast and magazine reviewers often look at a product more than four months before an issue gets to subscribers, most of the limitations found by reviewers have already been addressed. Q: When will DiskSalv3 understand AFS? A: Dave is working hard on this support, and has been doing so throughout the summer. We expect to be shipping something by January of 1996. (Please note that earlier dates which have been publicly announced did not come from Dave or IAM -- this is IAM's first public statement on the subject.) Q: What is the policy to upgrade DiskSalv3 to AFS-supporting? A: IAM's commitment to the Amiga is clear -- DiskSalv3 has been upgraded through four freely redistributable patches during the last year (the current version being 12.19). The upgrade to support AFS will probably not be a freely redistributable patch. However, it is our intent to ensure that loyal customers of DS3 are well-treated, and that you will get a better a deal if you buy DS3 now and upgrade later than if you put off your DS3 purchase. Q: What about ReOrg? A: Yeah, we will take care of that one specifically, and a few other tools, too. We aren't ready to announce the details yet, so please don't ask, but we plan to make an announcement in the next month or two. Q: What's this about AFS Floppy? A: There is a floppy-only version of AFS. It is unlikely to be released as a stand-alone commercial product, but you may get it bundled with other products. For those of you with floppy-only systems, or those who want to try AFS on floppies, this is an excel lent bargain. MegaBall4, the new game from IAM, will include AFS Floppy as a free bonus disk! Q: Is there a demo? A: Yes, there is a demo version of AFS which can be installed to a very small partition to give you a sense for whether you want to buy the commercial product. The demo isn't always available in the same revision as the currently shipping AFS (right now it's demo 2.1, production 2.2), since obvious ly it is the lowest priority of the four versions. An older version demo was on a recent cover disk. IAM has no more information on where to get a demo at this time, but we'll put one on our FTP server when we get one. Q: Will AFS work with removable media like Zip and SyQuest drives? A: Yes. The Consumer version will work, too, as long as those drives are the only one AFS is on and the drives have less than 650mb capacity (which is the case for all current models). Fourth Level Development has special removable media support tools which they bundle with drives. These packages are not yet available in the States, but we are aware of the demand. Without that software, you have to do the same thing you would with FFS on removable media -- HDToolbox, etc. Q: How reliable is AFS? A: It's pretty darn reliable. Read the magazine reviews. September's CU/Amiga said "AFS doesn't invalidate disks. During the course of our tests we reset whilst writing files, powered down when the buffers were being flushed and pulled the SCSI cable out of the drives. This is just asking for trouble, but not once through all these heinous eye watering test could we corrupt the AFS partitions!" That should be good enough for most people, but here is a little more detailed and technical information... FLD says "AFS has been written to take advantage of the atomic theory of filsystem construction. This means that no data pointers are changed unless the validity of the data at which it is to be pointed has been checked as far as is practically possible. AFS has been written to take advantage of the basic physical features of all hard drives. In particular, the amount of time which is taken for capacitance levels to drop in the event of a power outage to the extent that data can be corrupted. Both the MaxTransfer and the DMA mask need to be properly set to ensure that the maximum integrety is obtained from the system. The AFS documentation includes detailed information on how to set them. For systems that follow these guides, FLD is aware of no instances of data loss with AFS since pre-release version 14.7. The system has been exhaustively tested by independent evaluators, none of whom have experienced data loss. Any bug reports made to FLD are carefully tracked and treated. In the event of memory corruption, the only known result has been the loss of data within individual files or directories which have been caused in consequence of programs corrupting memory. In the event of an attempt to corrupt the filesystem cache, AFS converts the filesystem to read-only, protecting your precious data. With pre-release/beta version 14.3, there existed known and documented limitations with the use of some software. Those limitations were fixed before the release of AFS, but unfortunately, someone who had been sent the beta version used some of the software on the list not to use, ran into problems, and posted that they had caused corruption on an AFS drive." As someone who gets a lot of calls from OFS/FFS users desperate for DiskSalv3, I KNOW what kind of data loss you can get from the standard OS filesystems. And how crippling invalidation can be. I can also say that nothing is completely safe, which is why everyone should make regular backups, regardless of the filesystem that they use. @endnode @node NEWS9 "MegaBall4" @toc NEWS Available 30 September, 1995 MegaBall4 is classic Amiga brick-busting action in a brand new commercial package. The Mackey Brothers (famous authors of Ball and MegaBall) dazzle you with exploding blocks, plus poofing, growing, locking, unlocking, and green-sliming bricks as well. The fast-paced play and devious interactions will challenge your mind as well as your mouse. Experience the thrill that has kept Amiga users glued to their monitors for more than half a decade. Includes three disks packed full of new action and new music! Compatible with all Amigas (requires 1.3), enhanced when used with AGA. Requires 1mb RAM. US list Price $30. Contact Intangible Assets Manufacturing as follows: http://www.iam.com info\@iam.com -- the IAM InfoBot. sales\@iam.com -- the IAM SalesBot. Send order forms here.. Intangible Assets Manufacturing 828 Ormond Avenue Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604 USA +1 610 853 4406 fax: +1 610 853 3733 @endnode @node NEWS10 "DFA(ddress) 2.5" @toc NEWS TITLE DFA(ddress) VERSION V2.5 AUTHOR Dirk Federlein UUCP: dirkf@alcmy.franken.de Fido: 2:244/6302.12 DESCRIPTION DFA is the definitive address database tool. It supplies a very nice GUI, a powerful Arexx port, a flexible client server mechanism and much more. It is simply the ideal means to manage several or many addresses for the beginner as well as for the professional Amiga user. Feature hotlist: Arexx port, direct dialing of the stored phone numbers, font sensitive windows, "grouping" of addresses, email support, different layouts for printing, context sensitive online help, application icon/window/menu, fully directable by keyboard, separate preferences program, customizable address list format,... Native languages are supported with Workbench 2.1 (and above) installed. This is version 2.5, a minor update to version 2.25. DFA is an SASG product! Shareware, binary only. NEW FEATURES (since v2.25) - Custom screen support - Support of local preferences files - Alternative hires layout for several windows (may be toggled) - New "(Un)set groups" window - New network mode; internal handling rewritten completely - New auto lock mechanism (for network mode) - Display sort: Sorts the displayed addresses temporarily - Sorting addresses should be even faster now! - You may move through the address list while using the Edit window. - Fine tuning for several parts of DFA to improve the usability even further (see History for details) - New Arexx commands: SAVEPREFS, LOADPREFS, GETPREFS, SETPREFS, EDITTEMPLATE, GETTEMPLATE - Improved Arexx commands: CHANGEGROUPS, SEARCH - In connection to the New-Window of the DFAEditor, you may configure a preprocess and a postprocess (Arexx) script, which may modify the new item before/after you've entered the new address - Additional menu for Arexx scripts (DFAEditor) - 10 aditional arexx scripts can be bound to shifted function keys - Optimized window refreshing - Several bug fixes (see History for details) - Recompiled with SAS/C v6.55. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS DFA needs at least Kickstart/Workbench 2.04 to run. It takes advantage of the new features included in version 2.1 (Locale support) and uses even some features coming with OS 3.0/3.1 if available. DFA is made to run on all systems, starting with the A500+ and ending up with the A4000(T). More than 512KB of RAM and a harddisk are recommended. AVAILABILITY ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/biz/dbase/dfa-25.lha (808178) PRICE DM US$ Shareware fee.............................30.00 20.00 See documentation for additional information. DISTRIBUTABILITY DFA is NOT PD. It is shareware. The author keeps the copyright over the whole package. The public version of DFA (without the keyfile!) is freely (re)distributable, but noone is allowed to sell the program for more money than to cover just the costs of copying. ------------------ Dirk Federlein UUCP: dirkf@alcmy.franken.de CompuServe: 100577,1027 Fido: 2:244/6302.12 @endnode @node NEWS11 "ShadowStart 1.3" @toc NEWS TITLE ShadowStart VERSION 1.3 AUTHOR Lars 'SFX' Eilebrecht Glueck-Auf-Strasse 23 57223 Kreuztal GERMANY SFX@appl2.hrz.uni-siegen.de http://vespa.unix-ag.uni-siegen.de/~sfx Shadowfox@IRC DESCRIPTION ShadowStart is a small utility that should be called from the startup-sequence. If the activation-key is pressed down a requester pops up, asking you if you want the WBStartup-drawer, the User-Startup script or both to be disabled. This means, you can bootup a "clean" Workbench, without any programs in WBStartup or User-Startup executed! And also a new shell-window can be opened for changing things befor executing the startup-sequence. (Sourcecode is included.) NEW FEATURES Before any key checks are performed ShadowStart checks if the SYS: partition is currently being validated. If yes, Shadowstart waits 3 seconds and checks the disk state again. When the validation is finished, ShadowStart automatically continues with its normal execution. The main effect of this feature is that startup execution will be delayed until the SYS: partition is validated (no more disk-trashing on startup). The validation check is always performed, if the activation-key is pressed or not. FUTURE Ideas and suggestions are always welcome! SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Two version of ShadowStart are included, one for Kick/WB 3.1 and one for Kick/WB 2.0+. AVAILABILITY on any Aminet site: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/boot/ShadowStart13.lha (14919) or on the author's homepage: http://vespa.unix-ag.uni-siegen.de/~sfx/programs/ RELEASE DATE 14. August 1995 PRICE ShadowStart is ANYWARE! :-) (see guide for details) DISTRIBUTABILITY The ShadowStart archive is freely distributable, but it is Copyright 1994-1995 by Lars Eilebrecht. @endnode @node NEWS12 "Verteiler 1.01" @toc NEWS TITLE Verteiler VERSION 1.01 AUTHOR Thomas Eicher Hans-Schmidmayerstr. 26 85435 Erding t.eicher@amc.cube.net t.eicher@hsp.zer.de DESCRIPTION This program allows to easily create and manage distribution lists, then mail to the people on the list. This is not a listserver, it is (basically) a program to create CC files. Very useful for mailing to beta testers and subscribers Features documentation in English and German. Arexx Implementations are included for Zodiac's Point and MicroDot. The output file can easily be converted to a CC: header for use with RFC mail, i.e. AmigaElm. A macro for AmokEd to do this is included. It should work with most Dme clones. Please contribute macros for other editors. This archive includes a minimal distribution of triton.library 5.5 Freely distributable, binary only. Changes since 1.0 o Control Verteiler remotely using "FOR" argument o MDot script fixed o ZPoint and MDot scripts now support "FOR" argument o minor bug fixes SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS AmigaOs 2.0+ Mailing program like AmigaElm, Zodiacs Point, MicroDot. triton.library v5.5, which is included in the distribution. AVAILABILITY The package has been uploaded to AmiNET so it should be available from your local AmiNET provider, for example: ftp://ftp.uni-paderborn.de/aminet/comm/misc/verteiler101.lha 62030 Bytes PRICE Verteiler1.01 is freeware. DISTRIBUTABILITY Verteiler is Copyright 1995 Thomas Eicher. It may be freely distributed in its original form and with it's unmodified documentation. The copyright remains with the author. @endnode @node NEWS13 "ImageStudio 2.2.0" @toc NEWS TITLE ImageStudio VERSION 2.2.0 AUTHOR Andy Dean and Graham Dean Email : adean@eleceng.ucl.ac.uk Post : 14 Fielding Avenue, Poynton, Stockport, Cheshire. SK12 1YX ENGLAND DESCRIPTION ImageStudio is an image processor written for the casual graphics user who wishes to convert or manipulate various graphics formats on a modest Amiga system. The program tries to cover the most commonly performed operations like colour reduction, scaling and dithering in an easy to use Workbench2 style interface. Most of the commonly used file formats can be loaded or saved. Image processing, by its very nature, requires large amounts of RAM - ImageStudio includes its own virtual memory manager which works on any Amiga to reduce the amount of RAM required. A powerful ARexx interface is also included which has been made easy to use by allowing the user to develop new scripts entirely within ImageStudio. * Virtual memory * Fully featured, easy to use, ARexx interface. * Upto 100 levels of undo / redo * Loads / saves IFF-ILBM (palette based upto 256 colours, HAM6, HAM8, extra halfbright), IFF-DEEP, GIF, BMP, PCX, JPEG, TIFF, Targa, SGI, PNM (PBM, PGM, PPM), QRT, EPS, datatypes. * Adjust colour balance (brightness, contrast and gamma). * Online AmigaGuide help. * Includes 68020+ optimised version. * Requires no third party libraries or utilities. NEW FEATURES o Added support for TIFF, IFF-DEEP, SGI, PNM (PBM, PGM, PPM), QRT and datatypes. o Colour preview. o Added `UnCrash' utility for recovering virtual memory swap files after a system crash. o A printed and illustrated manual is now available separately. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS ImageStudio requires: * Workbench 2.04 or above. * Around 1MB of free memory. * Several MB of free hard disk space (for virtual memory). AVAILABILITY ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/aminet/gfx/conv/ImageStudio_1.lha ftp://ftp.uni-erlangen.de/pub/aminet/gfx/conv/ImageStudio_2.lha or any Aminet site. PRICE 10 UKpounds 20 USdollars DISTRIBUTABILITY The unregistered version is freely distributable. The registered version and associated keyfile are *NOT* freely distributable. The program is Copyright 1994,1995 Andy Dean and Graham Dean OTHER To encourage users to register, the freely distributable version will crop loaded images to 512x512 pixels - all other functions are available. @endnode @node NEWS14 "AsimCDFS v3.3" @toc NEWS TITLE: AsimCDFS VERSION: v3.3 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 v3.3 Maintenance Release --------------------------------- We would like to announce the availability of AsimCDFS v3.3, which was released on August 29th, 1995. This is a maintenance update for the AsimCDFS v3 package. Registered users can obtain this release via our BBS or ftp site. Consult your manual for details on obtaining the update. [ Note: The ftp site seems to be ftp.asimware.com. -Dan ] Sincerely, Paul Reeves Asimware Innovations Inc. August 29th, 1995 @endnode @node NEWS15 "WizoGames" @toc NEWS TITLE WizoGames VERSION First public release. AUTHOR Ola Lundkvist Email: d1wizo@dtek.chalmers.se URL: http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d1wizo DESCRIPTION This is a compilation of three little simple nice games I've written in the last few years. Major general features: * One or more players, playing againts each other * Playability * Fun * Addictive * 100% Systemfriendly and multitasking * Simple but funtional graphics * No sound (so you can listen to your favourite music or whatever) * AmigaGuide documentation * Starts from WB or CLI * Written in C (using Lattice/SAS C 5.10) The games included are: BlackBox, FourInaRow & Tangle. BlackBox This is an improved computer version of the boardgame with the same name. For 1-6 players. BlackBox is fun and uses almost no CPU time. Runs on any Amiga. Tangle This is a Tron like game for 0-4 players (yes you can watch the computer play against itself). Great fun. Very configurable (configurations can be saved in tooltypes, at present uses 53 tooltypes). Needs 2.04 or later, but an old version that runs on 1.x is also included (though it is not at all as good). FourInaRow This is the result of me studying algorithms. A very nice version of Four in a row, or Four wins. 0-2 players. Plays fairly good and fast, I would say. (That is - beats the crap out of all other four in a row games I have seen.) Included a version that uses 2.04, a less featured version for 1.x and a windows (yuk) version (which you may use or delete, whatever pleases you most). REQUIREMENTS Should work on any Amiga. 2.0 or better recommended (versions for 1.x with less features included). AVAILABILITY WizoGames is available on Aminet as the archive "WizoGames.lha" in the game/2play directory: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/2play/WizoGames.lha (167265) PRICE WizoGames are shareware. I give you WizoGames and you give me your own software. People who don't write own software may donate $5 - $10 to get registered. Students or people without an income are allowed to use WizoGames for free. More information is available in the archive. DISTRIBUTABILITY WizoGames are ShareWare and is Copyright 1992-95 Wizo. These are basically freely distributable as long as no profit is made. Detailed information on distribution is available in the archive. -- Ola Lundkvist Email: d1wizo@dtek.chalmers.se URL: http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d1wizo @endnode @node NEWS16 "F1GP-Ed 3.0" @toc NEWS TITLE F1GP-Ed VERSION 3.0 AUTHOR Oliver Roberts E-Mail: O.J.C.Roberts@essex.ac.uk WWW: http://cswww2.essex.ac.uk/users/robeoy Address: 30 Tillett Road Norwich Norfolk NR3 4BJ ENGLAND DESCRIPTION An editor for use with the Formula One Grand Prix or World Circuit game (published by MicroProse Software). It is very easy to use, with a standard 2.0 look graphical user interface (even on KS 1.x!) and on-line help should you need it. Allows you to alter most of the in-game setup, including computer car performance, car/helmet/pitcrew colours, car fragility and many other things (and I MEAN many!). Sound samples can also be replaced, cockpit graphics changed, and lap records and setups printed. Changes can be saved directly to a copy of the game which is running in memory, or to main file used by the game for a more permanent change. F1GP-Ed breathes new life into an ageing, but excellent game. 1994 and 1995 example datafiles supplied for those who don't want to mess about. The program itself is auto-enhancing, which means that it will run on a basic A500 with KS 1.2, but will make use of KS 2.x or KS 3.x specific routines on suitable machines to make itself even better. NEW FEATURES This version is a big improvement on the previous shareware release, (2.04) with an improved modular user interface, several bug fixes and lots of new features (too many to list here). Grant Reeve's PatchF1GP V1.8 and Toni Wilen's GPPatch V2.20 are now incorporated in the F1GP-Ed executable. One notable addition is the ability to increase the smoothness of the game from 8 to, a lifelike, 25 frames per second (requires fast Amiga). Other update speeds also available for less capable Amigas. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS Formula One Grand Prix or World Circuit commercial game published by MicroProse Software. AVAILABILITY Aminet: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/misc/F1GP-Ed.lha (317280) F1GP-Ed Web Page: http://cswww2.essex.ac.uk/users/robeoy/F1GP-Ed/ PRICE Shareware fee (minimum): United Kingdom £6 Rest of the World £7 (or $15 US) DISTRIBUTABILITY F1GP-Ed is a Shareware product and it may be distributed freely. A registration fee is requested if the product is found to be useful by the user. Registering means all features will be enabled and annoying requesters removed. Copyright (c) 1994-1995 Oliver Roberts, All Rights Reserved. *** Not officially endorsed by MicroProse Software *** @endnode @node NEWS17 "Amiga Technologies at VTU Expo" @toc NEWS For immediate release Amiga Technologies GmbH makes its first formal U.S. appearance at the Video Toaster User Expo '95 October 3, 1995, Sunnyvale, CA Video Toaster User is pleased to announce that Amiga Technologies GmbH, the ESCOM subsidiary currently developing and manufacturing the Amiga computer, will make its first appearance in the U.S. as an exhibitor at the Video Toaster User Expo '95. Earlier this year, Amiga Technologies bought the assets of Commodore including the technology to develop and manufacture Amiga computers. Now they are coming to the video industry's only show dedicated to the Video Toaster, LightWave 3D and the Flyer to unveil their plans for manufacturing, third-party product development and distribution in the U.S. "During a recent visit to Germany the principles of Escom and Amiga Technologies shared with us the plans they have established for the Amiga in the U.S.," said Dwight Parscale, NewTek CEO. "We are very enthusiastic about the future for the Amiga and believe their participation in the Video Toaster User Expo is a strong sign of their commitment to this market. We are excited about the potential to make these creative tools available again." "We anticipate an even greater turn-out for the second annual Video Toaster User Expo due to this recent addition of Amiga Technologies as an exhibitor. This is what our readers have been waiting for," said Video Toaster User's Events Manager, Ann Pulley. This year's Expo will bring thousands of video enthusiasts from around the world to the Universal City Hilton & Towers November 1-4, 1995. Four days of training seminars (Nov. 1-4) concentrating on the Video Toaster, LightWave 3D and the Flyer will be presented in conjunction with three days of exhibits (Nov. 2-4) by the industry's leading manufacturers and developers of third-party products for the Video Toaster and LightWave 3D market. Avid Media Group is the leading authority of information for professionals in the personal video production and 3D animation markets, with a focus on the Video Toaster and LightWave 3D. Avid Media Group's expansive product line includes magazines, newsletters, custom publishing, trade shows, and seminars. For more information contact Ann Pulley at 408-743-9250. (For the full schedule of VTU Expo '95 seminars, plus ticket and hotel info, visit our Web page at http://www.portal.com/~amg) @endnode @node NEWS18 "NSDi and AmiTCP/IP Statement" @toc NEWS NSDi and AmiTCP/IP statement There has been numerous rumours about the status of the Network Solutions Deveopments Inc. (NSDi) operations and developments of AmiTCP/IP. This message is aimed to end all such rumours and provide the Amiga networking community with up-to-date information about the matter. The rumours are caused because of our invisibility on the Amiga news groups. There has been a simple reason for this, we just have had no time to follow the news. We hope to change this now. AmiTCP/IP Distribution, dealership, etc. NSDi was formed little over a year ago to make AmiTCP/IP available on commercial Amiga market. Up to now the commercial AmiTCP/IP has been only available through direct orders from NSDi. Now we are happy to announce a distribution deal with Village Tronic Marketing GmbH, the makers of such products as Ariadne ethernet boards and Picasso II graphics cards. Based on the contract between NSDi and Village Tronic (VT), VT will manufacture, market and sell AmiTCP/IP all around the world using same Channels as they are using for their other products. In addition to that, all new dealers are welcome to take their part of the AmiTCP/IP market. However, we require that the dealer will provide techical support for their customers. Our WWW site contains the Village Tronic contact information. We still continue to sell AmiTCP/IP directly, too. Email to for latest ordering information and an order form. Currently we do the shipments once a week, so please allow about 10 days for delivery. Technical Support Technical sopport for the customers is available through email to AmiTCP-Support@nsdi.fi. We have also provided support for the AmiTCP/IP 4.0 Demo users, but the paying customers are first on priority. We have had some more or less severe problems with our email because of our IP service provider. From 12.9. to 19.9.1995 they managed to lose every single email message destined to nsdi.fi because of a configuration error in the mail server software. If you have sent in email during that period, and have not received an answer, please resend your message. Our response times during the summer have been too long, partly because of the mentioned problems, and partly because of summer vacations etc. Now the response time should be few days, maximum. NSDi WWW site Our Web pages are now available on URL http://www.nsdi.fi and they now contain the latest information. If you have any links to our old URL (http://www.xgw.fi/biz/NSDI), please change them to point to the new place. Our Web pages are "under construction", so no flames, please :-) NSDi FTP service We used to have our "home" ftp site at kampi.hut.fi. This service is being shut down by the university. By now Aminet should contain all the interesting files that were on kampi.hut.fi. Anyway, there is a need for an AmiTCP/IP specific ftp site for distributing fast patches and other inforation not intended, or meaningful, to the general public. Currently this service exists on www.nsdi.fi:/pub/amitcp. We hope to have a proper alias (ftp.nsdi.fi) soon. By now there are not too many files, but our intention is not to collect a "library" there. Aminet serves better for that. Next release (4.3) Next release is 4.3, and it will be available within few weeks. It will include bug fixes and some new features, like a cool dialer capable of handling any possible dialing needs you might have. Also included are faster ftp transfer routines. The new release will be available as a free patch to all existing customers. The availablility will be announced to all registered customers via email (which we failed to do when 4.2 was released) and through these newsgroups. That's about all this time, Jarno Rajahalme Network Solutions Development Inc. @endnode @node NEWS19 "Amiga CDROM Guide" @toc NEWS TITLE Amiga CDROM Guide VERSION 1.3 AUTHOR Anders Bakkevold. (anders.bakkevold@norway.bbs.no) DESCRIPTION Amiga CDROM Guide (ACDG) was made to help Amiga-owners to pick the right CDROM for their needs. It doesn't include commecial games or photoCD-discs, but all Amiga PD/clipart/fonts/modules collections. - It is in the Amigaguide-format. - You will find all the vital information on a CDROM, like price, contents, publisher etc. - Covers 238 CDROMs!!! - 70+ of the CDROMs have a review - If you're interrested in for instance raytracing, click on the keyword "Raytracing" to get a list of all CDROMs that can be assosiated with ratracing. - Other keywords: Clipart, fonts, pictures, utilities, GNU, text-files, fish etc - It's up-to-date with the latest CDROM releases. All in all: 500kB of pure information! NEW FEATURES v1.3 Fourth release. Contains information about 246 CDROMs. - 89 (!) CDROMs Added: 17BIT Dimention 5 2000 Mysteries AB20 " link CD194} Adult Sensations 2 AGA Experience Vol 1 Amiga FD Inside Amiga Grafik 1 Amiga Grafik 2 Amiga Grafik 3 Amiga Grafik 4 Amiga Magazin CD Vol 2 Amiga Story 1985-1987 AmigaPlus CD Vol 1 Aminet 8 Aminet 9 Aminet Set 2 AMOS PD Release 2 Applied Optical Arktis Edition Vol 1 Auge4000 / Cactus BCI NET 2 Berliner Spielekiste Best Of Computergraphics Between the Lines Caplex CD32 Gamer Issue 1 CD32 Gamer Issue 2 CD32 Gamer Issue 3 CD32 Gamer Issue 4 CD32 Gamer Issue 5 Compendium Deluxe Vol 3 Datamix 1 Deutsche Edition 1 Deutsche Edition 2 Emulators Unlimited F1 Licenceware Vol 1 Fish & More 1 Fish & More 2 Fish & More 3 FolioworX Fractal Universe Fred Fish Collection 1.1 Fred Fish Collection 1.6 Fred Fish Collection 1.7 Gamers' Delight GIF Sensation Giga PD Update 1 Giga PD Update 2 Giga PD v2.0 Giga PD v2.1 Giga PD v2.2 Gigantic Games 2 Golden Power Volume 1.1 Golden Power Volume 1.2 Groliers Encyclopedia 2 Insight: Dinosaurs Insight: Technology Klondike Gold Makin Musik Mathematik Leicht Gemacht Mega Bundle One Mega Bundle Three Mega Bundle Two Megahits 1 Megahits 2 Megahits 3 Megahits 4 Megahits 5 Megahits 6 Megahits 7 Music Maker Photo Lite PhotoworX PhotoworX Professional Pro Backdrops & Icons Vol 2 RHS DTP Collection SCI-FI Sensation SFX Volume 1 Software 2000 Startrek Multimedia Gold The Heroic Age of Space Flight Time Table of History TrueColourCollection 1 Ultimate Mod Collection United Public Domain Gold VideoCreator Women In Motion World Of Video Zoom 1.5 - A new system for showing compatability. The new system is smaller, thus saving 40KB! - A "Language:" field showing the language of the CDROM. (EG English, Deutsch) - New keywords: Coverdisc (Like CD32 Gamer Coverdiscs) Multimedia (Multimedia encyclopedias, etc) Bundles (CDROM Bundles) - A lot of new info (MANY Release dates) - Some spelling errors corrected. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS You will need a program able to display Amigaguide files, like Multiview or xkpGuide. AVAILABILITY Amiga CDROM Guide is available from any Aminet site, for instance: ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/docs/hyper/ACDGv13.lha PRICE Amiga CDROM Guide is freeware. DISTRIBUTABILITY Amiga CDROM Guide v1.3 is copyright 1995 Anders Bakkevold. All rights reserved. You may copy it as you like, as long as no changes are made to the archive, and you don't charge more than œ2.00 for the media and copying fees. @endnode @node NEWS20 "CMD Super64CPU" @toc NEWS [No, it's not directly relevant to the usual sort of thing that goes on in Amiga Report. But I think that it's interesting to keep abreast of these sorts of developments in the sister market to the Amiga. That, and CMD, publishers of Commodore World, are considering doing an Amiga magazine, and a show of support and interest in such a publication from the Amiga community can't hurt. -Jason] CMD is pleased to announce that we are developing a new line of accelerators for the Commodore 64 and 128 computers. The Super64CPU series design is based on the Western Design Center W65C816S microprocessor which was used in the Apple IIGS and is currently employed in the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System). The new series is scheduled to debut in February 1996 with two models: the Super64/10 (10 MHz) and Super64/20 (20 MHz). Both accelerators will operate on Commodore 64 and 64c computers, as well as in 64 mode on Commodore 128 and 128D models. Acceleration will be switch-selectable as well as software-selectable. An additional switch will allow you to completely disable the accelerator or select between Standard and JiffyDOS operating modes. Other announced features include 64K of fast static RAM, 64K ROM, and a built-in pass-through port for connecting compatible cartridges and RAM devices. Devices that will be compatible with the Super64CPU's include: * Commodore 17xx series REU's * CMD RAMLink * Berkeley Softworks' GEORAM * Commodore 15xx series drives * CMD HD & FD series drives * CMD SwiftLink Super64CPU accelerators will provide high-speed with many software applications including GEOS, telecommunications & BBS programs, productivity and utility software, as well as most BASIC programs. Retail prices are estimated to be $149.95 for the Super64/10, and $199.95 for the Super64/20. Creative Micro Designs, Inc. P.O. Box 646, E. Longmeadow, MA 01028 Orders: 1-800-638-3263 Info & Support: 1-413-525-0023 Fax: 1-413-525-0147 Online Contact: cmd-doug@genie.geis.com http://www.msen.com/~brain/guest/cmd/ @endnode @node NEWS21 "Escom Corporate Information" @toc NEWS Translated by: Giorgio Gomelsky (gio@phantom.com) [While some Amiga Technologies Web information has been translated, so far there is no English for the Escom text. Giorgio sat down and converted the German for these press releases...-Jason] ESCOM Company Profile _________________________________________________________________ ESCOM AG - Half-yearly report 30. June 1995 RWE MOBILFUNK GMBH ACQUIRES 12.5% OF ESCOM NEW MULTIMEDIA-COOPERATION WITH RWE TELLIANCE ESCOM GROSS TURN-OVERS UP 32 % IN FIRST HALF-YEAR '95 ESCOM WILL TAKE POVER THE RWE-Concern's country-wide TELLIANCE telecommunication chain with 50 outlets so strengthening its presence in this field important to multimedia etc., Mobilfunk GmbH wil get 12,5 % of ESCOM AG zu beteiligen. The shares will come from the private shares of ESCOM founder Manfred Schmitt... MARKET-POSITION ESCOM has fully reached its turnover goals in the first half of '95 increasing its gross compared to last year by 32% to 1,2 Bil Marks. During te remaining of this year new growth indications are coming from the UK where in May 95 ESCOM acquired 170 ex-Thorn-EMI stores with 30 more coming before year's end. With these ESCOM will own a very tight distribution setup in Europe's 2nd biggest market. This new direction toward the multimedia market was stenghened by the acquisition in April of the Commdore and Amiga technology. The first products were showcased at the Berlin IF show and received a great deal of interest, so much so that the 1995 production is already sold out. TURNOVER The retail computer sales underwent in the first six months of 95, a noticeable slow-down, particularly in Germany. A relevant reason for his was next to the weak consumer economy the annnouncement of the release by September of WINDOWS 95 which led to market insecurity. Despite this ESCOM succeeded at increasing its consolidated gross from 879 Mil marks for the same period last year to 1,157 Bil Marks an increase of 77%, etc. etc. INVESTMENTS Investments in the first half of 95 totalled 14 Mil marks, 5 up on previous year mostly in the expansion of our distribution network, and a further 17 mil marks in the acquisition of Commmodore and Amiga. EMPLOYEES The number of employees grew from 1,138 to 2,891 mainly due to the expansion of our distribution facilities particularly in the UK. In Germany as of June 30 1,394 people were employed. PROFITS At the end of the first half of 95 ESCOM had pre-tax losses of 4 mil Marks as opposed to a profit of 6 mil last year. his was due to falling margins in the computer market and the cost of increasing our distribution setup, particularly in the UK, as well as the startup costs for the new production of machines and their development. OUTLOOK The investment in the broadening of the distribution, the entering into the new multimedia market have priority during this current year. Particular attention being given to the UK market and the revival of Commodore/AMiga production. A noticeable uplift in he market (Windows 95) and he development of our retail facilities as well as our preparedness for the Xmas season as well as the introduction of new multimedia products points to an increased confidence that our aim to increase our total turnover for the year 95 by 40% to 3,1 bil Marks (as opposed to 2,1 bil last year) will be within reach. Furthermore the increased capitalization agreed by the board in July has been duly registered with the Commerce Dept, the new shares will be credited in a 5:1 relation to our shareholders by the middle of October 95 and will also be introduced at the Frankfurt and Dusseldorf stock exchanges. ESCOM AG - FROM PCS TO MULTIMEDIA With 2,300 employees. 2 bil Marks turnover and 410,000 PCs sold in 1994, ESCOM is a leading computer seller in Europe. When in 1986 Manfred Schmitt started adding computers to his organ and instrument shop he could not have forseen a how successful the business would turn out to be. By 1990 there were 1O shops in the Frankfurt area. As the Berlin wall came down he looked east and thanks to a joint venture with a Dresden enterprise he was able to start manufacturing PCs, while in 1992 the administartive headquarters. were moved to Heppenheim and a year later the first central warehouse. Until 1993 the majority of the businesss was carried out in Germany with only 20% abroad. This changed when a Dutch retail chain was acquired at the end of 1993 and a first step undertaken in the UK. These two markets are now, with the German one, the principal places of business for ESCOM. By the middle of 95 there were now 167 ESCOM outlets in the UK, 36 in Holland and 140 in Germany making the turnover abroad about 50%. PRODUCT RANGE AND DISTRIBUTIUON NETWORK ESCOM today has 5 manufacturing centers. Besides Heppenheim and Dresden PCs are also made in Prestwick, Scotland, in Brno (Czech Republic) and Amsterdam. Yearly manufacturing capacity is over 1 million units... Due to its own well-tuned distribution network and retail-outlets ESCOM can bring new products to market very quickly and by augmenting its outlets, get very close to customers. STRATEGIC ALLIANCES With the takeover of Hako AG ESCOM gained access to the stock-exchange in 1993. In the folwing year atrategic alliances were formed with Siemens Nixdorf Information Systems AG (SNI) who today hold 10% of the share capital. The cooperation with SNI means that very fast access to new technologies, a relevant criteria for reaching a leading position in multimedia. Another partner is Quelle Schickedanz AG with 25% participation and the latter's distribution outlets substantially adds new elements to widen the distribution capacity both domestically and GOALS AND MULTIMEDIA By acquiring Commodore and Amiga ESCOM is positionning itself most favourably in the new multimedia market. For the development, manufacturing and distribution of Commodore and Amiga products ESCOM founded a subsidiary, Commodore BV in Nieuw-Vennep, Holland, and Amiga Technologies in Bensheim... Company History 1986-1989 Start as PC seller 1990 European Expansion 1991 Start Production under own 'label' "ESCOM" im Markt 1993 Acquisition of Hako AG and stock exchange introduction 1994-1995 Strategic alliances in view of multimedia expansion OUTLETS as of July 31 1995: UK 167 GERMANY 140 HOLLAND 36 CZECH 28 POLAND 17 AUSTRIA 17 FRANCE 3 HUNGARY 11 SLOVAKIA 3 TURNOVER 1992 1.222 Mio. DM 1993 1.549 Mio. DM 1994 2.151 Mio. DM 1995 3.100 Mio. DM (estimate) PC-UNITS: 1992 180.000 1993 300.000 1994 410.000 1995 >500.000 (estimate) _________________________________________________________________ ESCOM LATEST ESCOM TAKES OVER ASSCARFI Board of Directors of ESCOM and RWE TElliance agree about take-over. Bochum/Hepenhaim/Essen, Sept.28,1995 The RWE owned nationwide AssCarfi chain with its 50 specialized communications stores TALK-LINE are herewith integrated in the ESCOM GROUP. With this acquisition ESCOM is pursuing its goal of expanding its competence in the field of telecommunications, an important key to the multimedia market. As counterpart to the deal, RWE Telliance will be able to use the complete distribution facilities of the ESCOM GROUP to market its telecom services. At the same time RWE, through its subsidiary Mobilfunk AG, has agreed to take a 12.5% participation in ESCOM. "This partnership with both network and telcom service-provider is another milestone for ESCOM in the multimedia direction", said Manfred Schmitt. Volker Hoffman, RWE boardmember, added: " This partnership will allow us to broaden our marketing capabilities on our way to become a leading contender and competitor to German Telkom after final de-regulation of the telecommunications market." @endnode @node NEWS22 "PIXeLMEDIA to Distribute Amiga in Spain" @toc NEWS PIXeLMEDIA, S.L. (before named PIXeLSOFT), the new official AMIGA distributor in Spain has announced an AMIGA dealers meeting to inform about conditions and state of AMIGA distribution in this country. There will two meetings. First in Barcelona on Saturday September 30th at 10.00 h. in the "Monreal" room of "EXPO" hotel. One week after will be in Madrid on Saturday October 7th at 10.00 h. in "La Habana" hotel. In Madrid event will be present Mr Joaquim Costa, the AMIGA Technologies official representative. [We're anxiously awaiting the reports from these events. -Jason] @endnode @node FEATURE1 "History of the Amiga" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== THE UNOFFICIAL HISTORY OF THE AMIGA Konstantiniadis Manos konem@prometheus.hol.gr =========================================================================== 1982 ---- A small development team, named Hi-Toro, chose the codename "Amiga" for a games console that will beat the Atari. The team responsible for the development of the "Amiga" had 4 members: Jay Miner , RJ Mical, Dave Morse and Carl Sassenrath. In the beginning they sold other products to win the repsect of their customers and to earn them some money while devloping the Amiga. One of their first productions was "JoyBoard" a controller that you used by sitting on it! There were many games for that, but the best was "Zen Meditation" in which you have to stay absolutely still. (Does the word "Meditation" means something to you? Guru Meditation? ... YES! They used to say that if anything goes wrong the only way to relax was by playing Zen Meditation!) The codename "Amiga" was not choosen by luck. (Jay Miner didnt like that name at the beginning) A story tells us that the team didnt want to have a computerized name, such as SCOA16/II, because they didn't want to be easily identified as a computer development team. The codename "Amiga" was the spanish name for girlfriend. They continued this tactic and to the custom chips that they made (Agnus, Portia, and Daphne). For the main CPU they used a Motorola 68000 (16bit), the best CPU available in 1982. Slowly their games machine was getting shape... 1983 ---- Rumours about a super-computer, with the codename Lorraine (the first Amiga, named for the HiToro president's wife) were travelling across the USA. 1983 was the year that all the custom chips were built. RJ Mical (the coder of the intution) wanted a cheap games machine, but the others wanted the best computer. Jay Miner was dreaming about a machine like the Amiga 2000, one with lot of expansion slots. Jay Miner cooperated with Ron Nicholson who gave the idea of the blitter. HAM was Jay Miner's idea after a visit to some flight simulators (there was a chance to leave HAM option outside of the first Amiga). $7,000,000 had already been spent on the Amiga project. 1984 ---- --- January 1984 C.E.S. (Consumer Electronics Show) took place at Chicago, USA. The team introduced an Amiga (well... a huge pile of chips and wires...) with the hope that they would find someone to invest in their project. On January the 4th Dale and RJ Mical made the first Amiga Demo ever, the famous "Boing" demo, a sphere with red and white rectangles on it, bouncing on the screen. The "Amiga" was only shown to selected "customers" and all the processing was continued secretly. --- June 1984 The Amiga Inc. team was trying to find a company to buy their technology and to employ them, since they had run out of money. Many companies were interested in the custom chips of the Amiga, such as Sony, Apple, Philips, HP, etc. Atari's president, Jack Tramiel, who had just left C=, because he purchased Atari secretly, was trying to get his revenge by buying Amiga inc. He lent Amiga Inc. $1,000,000, to be payed back one month later. When the month was almost up, it became apparent that Amiga Inc. would not be able to pay him back, so he offered 98 cents per share for the company. 0Amiga Inc. thought that this was unacceptable, so they looked for someone else to buy them. Just 2 days before the deadline, C= came in and began to talk to Amiga Inc. They managed to get C= to raise its bid to $4.25 a share, and just before the deadline ended C= gave them $1,000,00 to pay back Atari, on the condition that they would get to buy Amiga Inc. 1985 ---- --- July 23 The year that the "dream machine" came out when Amiga 1000 introduced in Lincoln Center at New York. Many people say that this was the date that changed the future of computers. (Multimedia ... back in 1985!) --- September The Amiga 1000 shipped to its first customers. -===- Amiga 1000 -===- Processor : Motorola 68000 7.14mhz (less than 1 mips) Custom Chips : (3): Portia, Agnus, Daphne RAM : 256k Ram(*) / 512k Maximum (*2) HD : Optional ($1000 = 20mb (!)) FD : 1 3'1/2" - 880kb [(*): The Very First Amiga used 128k ram!] [(*): Later expandable to 8.5mb ! ] It was the FIRST computer to use more than 16 color output as a standard feature (4096 colors / HAM6 [Hold And Modify]). It was also the first computer with preemptive multitasking OS. It already had 4 channel digital stereo sound and the first computer to ship with a mouse as a standard. The kickstart was loaded from floppy. The price was about $2000 in the days where singletasking PC's (286) cost about $4000. It only had one external expansion slot because Commodore wanted to keep costs down. At the same year the first issue of "Amiga World" made its debut. It was the first Amiga magazine... 1986 ---- The Amiga 1000 was finally launched in the UK. The team beginned working on a new amiga model. They wanted it to be more expandable, with a lot of slots and they wanted the slots to be AutoConfig. They had to argue with C= once again, because the autoconfig slots cost 50c more. Two prototypes of the new model were developed. One in the Los Gatos (USA) and one in Braunschweig (Germany). C= also wanted IBM compatibility, so both teams tried to do the best to emulate an IBM 8088. Jay Miner didn't like the idea. Finally, the emulator came out from Germany. The "SideCar" was a $1000 product, basically an IBM XT without a keyboard that was plugged into the side of an Amiga 1000. The product that Los Gatos was producing it was a $200 accelerator, for an IBM PC software emulator. Los Gatos helped the German team a lot with the emulator's software. The Los Gatos began working on a new "dream machine", no one knew exactly what at that point. The very same year, Mehdi Ali, was employed at Commodore as a consultant for Dillon Reed by Irving Gould. 1987 ---- Finally the new amiga model was on production The name was just the simple as A2000. The Amiga 2000 was bigger than the A1000 and extremely expandable, with 5 Zorro II slots [5] (Zorro II) plus a video slot. -===- Amiga 2000 -===- Processor : Motorola 68000 7.14mhz Custom Chips : (4): Agnus, Denise, Paula, Gary RAM : 1mb Ram / expandable to 9mb FD : 1 3'1/2" - 880kb It has been launched in the UK for 32000 (later 31500). The kickstart was finally in ROM. A2000 was a base for other Amigas, being released on various world markets, as the A1500 [A2000 with two 3 1/2" drives], A2000HD, A2500/20, A2500/30, A2000HDA/100, A1500 plus and A2000Plus. Later the same year, the Amiga 500 was launched (3599 in the UK). It was the same as the Amiga 2000, with a compact design (keyboard and cpu in the same box) and no internal slots. Both the machines had a new graphics mode, the EHB (Extra Half Bright), that gives 64 colors on screen. The operating system was 1.2. The Amiga 500 was the first really affordable machine. Scala founded in Norway. 1988 ---- Jack Tramiel, returns, as Atari takes Commodore to court, by claiming that it had given money to research the Amiga. The judge supported Commodore, however. 1988-1989 --------- Minor changes, to the chipsets. Agnus became Fat Agnus, and later, Fatter Agnus, which can control 1mb chip Ram. 1990 ---- The first fully 32bit system, with a 68030 and the ECS chipset (fatter agnus), named the A3000, was launched in the UK for 33000 (later 32000).. -===- Amiga 3000 -===- Processor : Motorola 68030 / 68881FPU (later 68882) 16mhz (later 25mhz) Custom Chips : (4): Fatter Agnus, Denise, Paula, Gary RAM : 2mb Ram / expandable to 18mb [2mb chip - 16mb fast] The Kickstart was 2.0. It had an onboard SCSI controller and Zorro III slots. It was also available on a tower model, the A3000T, and a UNIX model, the A3000UX. A flicker fixer was also included so that the A3000 could easily be plugged in a VGA monitor. A few months later, the A500+ was released. It was a European model, with ECS (Enchanced Chip Set), 1 Ram (expandable to 10mb), and Workbench 2.0. The price was about 3399. Both the systems had graphics mode of up to 1470x580 (4colors). Kickstart 2.0, was a step forward. It occupied 512kb ROM (1.3 was just 256kb), but there was not very much backwards compatibility with 1.3. The compatibility problem was not Commodore fault, however, but the fault of bad programming by coders. 1991 ---- The first multimedia CDRom system, CDTV, was launced in the UK for 3599. The CDTV was an A500 and kickstart 1.3 with a CD-Rom drive. CDTV wass the shortened version of Commodore Dynamic Total Vision (codename: "babe" as they were designing it for 9 months :)). Commodore hoped to sneak it into the homes of computerphobes. Commodore also didn't put the Amiga logo, anywhere on the CDTV. As a result, CDTV failed to catch the public's imagination, partly because it was 3200 more expensive than an A500, and partly because the software was disappointing. This year no more than 50 CD disks went on sale, but the games was no better than the floppy disk versions. The CDTV was operated by a user-friendly infra-red remote control. Later the same year the option of turning the CDTV on a full A500 computer was available. Maybe the market was not ready yet for that multimedia revolution. [A570, a CDROM drive for A500 released, before the end of the year. The [major [problem was that all this years Commodore had a stable system. [They had to do a major system upgrade *1992* ------ --- March A600 launched in the UK for 3399. The CPU was still the Motorola 68000. So whats the difference between A600 and A500? First of all it had a surface-mount technology (lower cost for Commodore). RF and Composite output were also added. It was also the first Amiga with an IDE controller (2 1/2") and a PCMCIA slot. The major disadvantage was that it did not have a numeric keypad. An A600HD was launched later that year. Rumours about a new Amiga, with an advanced chipset, able to support up to 16.7 million colors, were true! Commodore announced the release of the new AGA chipset (Advanced Graphics Architecture). --- September At the world of Commodore Show (Pasadena California) in September 11, 1992, Commodore introduced the first machine with the AGA chipset. As Commodore announced it was "the company's most significant new technology advancement in its Amiga line since the product's introduction in 1985." At the W.O.C. they also announced AmigaDOS TM Release 3 Operating System and "AmigaVision TM" Professional Authoring System. --- December The first machine with the new AGA technology was the A4000/040 launched in the UK for 32100. (USA $3699). -===- Amiga 4000/040 -===- Processor : Motorola 68040 / 25Mhz Custom Chips : (6): Super Gary, Super Ramsey, Super Amber, Lisa, Alice, Paula. RAM : 6mb Ram [2mb Chip/ 4mb Fast] They replaced the SCSI controller with an IDE one (they included a SeaGate ST3144A 3.5" 120mb HD - The HD was preformatted, with an 8meg Workbench partition and a 116 Meg Work partition). The floppy drive was a dual speed high density one. They also used the SIMM technology for the memory upgrades, but all fast ram simms must be on the same type. (Commodore used a 4mb SIMM for the internal 4mb) At the Christmas of 1992, the low-end AMIGA 1200, an A500 like Amiga with the AGA chipset, was released as a low-cost machine, with full 32 bit technology and 2mb Chip RAM. The machine nearly missed the vital Christmas season, and although it did just make it, not enough parts had been ordered to build an adequate number. Christmas 1992 is a disaster. No one wants an ECS machine and few can get one of the new "AA" systems. (now called "AGA")". David Haynie, an ex-engineer at the Pensylvania production plant, states at his movie, named "The Deathbed Vigil". The AMIGA 1200, was one of the most successful AMIGA computers. It launched in the UK for 3399 (USA: $599). It also had the IDE controller and the PCMCIA slot of the A600, plus a 32-bit trapdoor expansion. It included Amiga Dos v3.0. 1 -===- Amiga 1200 -===- Processor : Motorola 68EC020 / 14Mhz RAM : 2mb Chip Ram , expandable to 10mb total Ram. [8mb Fast] Both Amiga 4000 and Amiga 1200 used the AGA chipset, able to display 256 colors on hi-res displays, from a palette of 16,7 million colors. There is also a HAM-8 mode able to display 256.000+ colors (very close to 24bit display!). Compared to the old ECS chips the new AGA chips are very fast, even on 256 colors! Both Amiga 4000 and Amiga 1200, make use of AmigaDos v3.0! AmigaDos 3.0 adds CrossDos as standard (a useful commodity that helps you read and write on PC disks). It supports all the new AGA graphic modes. WB 3.0 also supports "datatypes," a new facility that allows programs to access data in an unlimited number of formats, as long as you install a datatype that understands the format. Another useful adition is the Localization, so WB3.0 and programs using it can easily be on multiple languages. A lot of usefull programms such as Multiview (a viewer for every datatype) and Installer (a easy to use install utility), are also supplied. A new filesystem is also included, the DCFS. (Directory Caching File System). You could also now use what every picture you like for a window or workbench background. A4000 with the Motorola 68040 wasn't so cheap that everyone could afford it. So a little bit later, Commodore launched the cheap-version of the A4000/040, the A4000/030, with a Motorola 68EC030. Commodore was a very profitable company, especially in Europe and it had a major power in computing, especially in Germany. But what happened these years on the story background? Commodore wasn't producing any hardware (except the basics) and they also cut the production of the A500 plus and later the A600. Why? Well, no one really knows... *1993* ------ --- March Well... First issue of Amiga Report, online magazine ! :) --- September The very last machine of Commodore, the CD32, a games machine, launched in the UK for 3299. It was the worlds first 32bit console. It had a double speed CDRom Drive, 2mb Chip memory, AGA chipset and the option of a FMV (Full Motion Video) module. But once again the machine didnt make it. It had many sales but not as many as they were needed to save the financial problems of Commodore. Most of the games released were just CD conversions of the original A1200/4000 ones, with no extra CD music, or FMV. The Commodore situation was awful... CD32 was the first (and the last?) machine using as standard, Kickstart3.1. (Released later as an upgrade for all Amiga machines.) *1994* ------ Commodore had a financial damage of $107 million dollars by the end of 1993. But the Amiga was still a very popular machine. In 1992, Commodore sold about 800.000 Amigas (17% more than 1991) and in 1993, it sold 20% less. Big problems made Commodore lose all that money : Fall of Amiga periherals sales (Monitors,Printers etc.), the US $ and its price fall on the major economic markets) and ... Me*di A*i (president of the Commodore). --- March Commodore, has announced that they were having financial difficulties which might result in bankrupty or liquidation. Commodore had lost $8.2 million. The stock fell to 0.75 per share. The New York stock exchange halted trading of Commodore stock! --- April Until the middle of April, Commodore was still producing A4000s, A1200s, and CD32s, and the engineers continued development of the new AAA chipset. AAA was meant to be a big improvement over AGA. 24bit Graphics [resolutions up to 1280x1024], 16bit CD quality audio and other interesting things. AAA was never truly finished. During the second half of April the production of Amigas stopped. The Philippines factory closed, but left behind a big stock of Amigas. The Scotland factory also stopped the production. Many employees were told by the management to hunt for new jobs... *April,22 1994* --------------- 15 people were dismissed from West Chester (PA), and the Commodore Semiconductor Group was closed. 15 people were also dismissed from the Norristown factory. *April,26 1994* --------------- Engineering closed. The site in West Chester, once supported by 1000 employees, now had only 22 people left on it. *April,29 1994* (Friday) ------------------------ Commadore International filed for liquidation in order to be proteced from its creditors Friday April 29, 1994, at 4:10 P.M. Commadore's official statement follows: "Commodore International Limited announded today that its Board of Directors has authorized the transfer of assets to trustees for the benefit of its creditor and has placed its major subsidiary, Commodore Electronics Limited, into voluntary liquidation. This is the intial phase of an orderly liquidation of bothe companies, which are incorporated in the Bahamas, by the Bahamas Supreme Court." "This action does not affect the wholly-owned subsidiaries which include Commodore Business Machines (USA), Commodore Buisiness machines LTD (Canada), Commodore/Amiga (UK), Commodore Germany, etc. Operations will continue normally." But how can the branches work without the head, of engineering that designs and builds the new hardware and software ? Few of the stuff knew about the bankrupty, till the next day when they arrived at W.C. *April,30 1994* --------------- CEI announced that they would still supply and distribute Amigas and should be able to meet demand, something that today seems wrong, as there wasn't any stock available during the next months. *May 1994* ---------- Rumors, rumors and rumors. Samsung was interested in buying Amiga, but they dropped when they found out that other companies interested offered less money than they did. *June 1994* ----------- --------------------------------------------------------------------------- | Jay Miner, passed away June 20, 1994 at the El Camino Hospital In | | Mountain View. The actual cause of death was heart failure, but it was | | the result of kidney complications. | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Many ex-Commodore employees moved to work for other companies such as Scala (for example Dave Haynie that will oversee all computer related hardware research and development activities in Scalla offices). CEI placed its bid for Commodore. *July 1994* ----------- Amiga Convention 94, took place in Quebec, Canada. The liquidators had finally received four proposals to buy Commodore, Those being Amstrad, Philips, Samsung and Commodore UK. But the Bahamian court rejected the proposals to move the proceedings to New York City, that was closer for any company interested for Commodore. *August 1994* ------------- Commodore set 2 phone numbers for getting informations about the current proceedings of the liquidation. *September 1994-October 1994-November 1994* ------------------------------------------- Rumours about, Nestle, Atari, Sony and other companies willing to buy Commodore. More rumours for the day that the liquidation will commence. This day is continously jumped from month to month. CEI seemed to be more interested than any others and that is represented by the online conferences held by Amiga Report, on Portal, BIX, and Delphi. CEI finally offers a big amount of money as long as the liquidators give Commodore to them right away. *December 1994* --------------- World Of Amiga Show held in the Webley stadium in UK. C=UK claimed that they are prohibited to talk about the buyout publicly. David Pleasance informed everyone that CEI had lost their financial baking-up status. CEI never confirmed that. *January 1995* -------------- Rumors on UK magazines that C=UK got the highest bid. CEI again gives a new bid to the liquidators. *February 1995* --------------- CEI announced that they were signed an agreement with IBM to have them manufacture Commodore products, for them if they win Commodore. Escom seems to be interested in Commodore. *March 1995* ------------ Techmedia Publishing, stopped the publishing of Amiga World, the world's first Amiga Magazine. The primary reason was the 11 months Commodore liquidation and the magazine's low circulation. The last issue of Amiga World was April 1995. The cancelation came after the issue was completed so you will not find any goodbyes and things like that on April's issue. On the date that Amiga World's death is announced, the first issue of Amiga Link online magazine is released. Escom (a German based PC-clone maker) and the liquidator had reached an agreement to make their bid the contract bid. The contract bid was for $6 million, not counting the $1.4 million they have paid for getting the Commodore's Logo from Commodore Germany. Other offers were made for other parts of Commodore. At last the judgement day of Amiga (or the auction date), was set. It was April, 20th 1995. The companies that made it till that day were Commodore UK, CEI and Escom. *April 1995* ------------ 1 year after the liquidation... Geez! Time is short. ;) Escom finally made it! ----------> Cut from Amiga Link - Buyout <---[Thanks Zool!]---------------- In the auction on April 20, only two companies had bid, Escom and Dell . Escom was the German computer retailer, and Dell is a big American computer company. CEI, long thought to be a bidder, had thrown in their hat with Dell, so that Dell would work with CEI on the Amiga, although CEI would be the ones running the show in respects to the Amiga. Escom's bid was the starting bid of approximately 5 million dollars, as well as the money they spent on the C= trademark, approximately 1.3 million dollars. Dell made a bid at 2 PM of an undiclosed amount. However, that bid was rejected for Escom's bid, because it had conditions attached to it, whereas Escom's bid was unconditional. After the auction ended, and Escom's bid was accepted, Dell continued to work on, trying to make a more suitable bid. Their second bid was a $15 million bid, with the condition that they be allowed a 30 day waiting period to look at the Amiga and decide if they wanted to keep it. If they decided not to keep it, they would forfeit their $1 million deposit, and the whole process of getting another bidder would have to go on again. In the hearing on Friday, April 21, the Creditor's Commitee wanted to accept Dell/CEI's bid. However, Escom felt that was unfair, because Dell's bid was placed after Escom's bid was accepted. There was much legal wrangling, but finally, the judge asked that during the recess the parties try to work out an agreement. After 3 hours, the court re-adjurned, and Escom said that they would agree to raise their bid by $6.5 million, to 12 million dollars. Although that was less than Dell/CEI's bid of $15 million dollars, the Creditor's agreed to drop the objection to stop Escom winning the Amiga, because Dell could back out of the deal and then they'd have to go through the process again. [...] Escom has sales of approximately 2 billion dollars last year. [...] Commodore UK did not place a bid at the auction, apparently because their backer dropped out. However, Colin Proudfoot of C= UK and Escom have both stated that in 2 weeks they will be holding talks as to Escom either liscencing Amiga technology to C= UK, or, more likely, buying C= UK. Escom has said that they will work with Amiga developers, user groups, and the Internet to support the Amiga. The Phillipine plant and stock in it wasn't included in the auction, but it will most likely be sold to Escom for $1 million soon, because it may actually be illegal to sell it to anyone other than Escom. Joshua Galun Editor-in-Chief of Amiga Link Magazine ---------------8<-----------------8<------------------8<------------------ *May 1995* ---------- Escom held a conference in May 30th. Escom announced the beginning of a new era for Amiga machines. First of all Escom created a new division, called Amiga Technologies. Their first priority is to resume the production of the machines. They are expecting the new Amigas to be out on September 1995. They announced the production of an Amiga 4000/060 in a brand new Tower case and the A4000/040 in tower also. In October they will produce Amiga 1200s. They have also signed contracts with Scala, so with every Amiga you can get for free a Scala MM300. The RISC technology should be researched in 1996. Well... lets hope to see our Amigas back again on the top. :) Lets hope that Escom will make the right movements and correct management and to not copy the Commodore's mistakes. LONG LIVE AMIGA! Only Amiga Makes It Possible! -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would like to thank: Joshua Galun - for helping on this article! Jason Compton - For Amiga Report and for the things he did for the Amiga Community. Jay Miner, RJ Mical, Dave Haynie (I really liked your Deathbed Vigil! Thanks for your great work all this years on the Amiga [AIKIDO!:)]), Acechan,AK,chelt,CISC,davereed,lauraaa,logiXs,madboy,rauper,shitlips Frank Livadaros,Aggelos Poulakis, Lucas Sorotos, Pantelis Christoforidis, Spyros Paraschis, Nikos Sardelianos,Sotiris Varotsis, -------------------------------------------------------------------------- January,February,March,April,May, June 1995 - Manos Konstantiniadis email: konem@prometheus.hol.gr , IRC: Guybrush Sysop Of Odyssey BBS - Greece - 301-4123502 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- @endnode @node FEATURE2 "Escom UK Attitude" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== ESCOM UK ATTITUDE Andrew George Elia odin@dcs.qmw.ac.uk =========================================================================== [Originally posted to comp.sys.amiga.misc, and of considerable interest...Mr. Elia is not a corporate spokesman, but his views as something of an insider are worth reading.-Jason] Hi guys! It`s about time we started to give Escom (not necesarrily AT) a good kicking. I have been working in one of the Escom stores for the past four months with the hope that I would be participating in some way towards the re-introduction of the Amiga. If nothing else, I might be able to do something from the inside or even get a staff discount. It seems that I assumed that Escom UK would be just as willing to welcome back the Amiga as the German parent company. Big mistake. When I first applied for the job, I was asked to sit a test which contained things about memory access times, and IRQ values. When I got the job I would have had to go to a training session led by reps from Intel, and IBM. I didn`t (couldn`t) go. The bottom line is that I have contacted every single department in our head office, and they don`t know a thing! In fact, some of them tried to tell me that Escom bought the name and ditched the rest. The reason that I am inflicting this on you all is that Amiga Shopper and Amiga Format (November issues in each case) state that Amiga Technologies have told them that Escom stores WILL be selling Amigas. I contacted a certain person in AT, and he informed me that this would not be the case because negotiations with Escom had failed. You may or may not know that both Intel and IBM have pumped a hell of a lot of money into the new Escom stores. I have a feeling that they have objected to having Amigas in the stores (primarily because it proves that Intel processors are kludged 70s crap, and IBM have blatantly tried (and failed) to copy AmigaDOS/Workbench). Worringly, AT told Amiga Shopper that the staff in Escom stores know the Amiga product well and are ideally suited to selling them. This is blatantly untrue. Not only do 70% of Escom staff consist of former Rumbelows staff (ie. gormless box shifters), but those that I have spoken to seem to be quite antagonistic towards Amigas. As for knowing anything about them from either a software or hardware point of view, you have to see their ignorance to believe it. They REALLY don`t know what they are selling. This seems to apply to the 30% of new staff who are wholly PC nerds. The branches I have talked to confirm that they get tonnes of Amiga enquiries. I have found out from the Amiga Format letters page from October (I think) that some shops have been denying that they had anything to do with Amigas all along. In fact my own collegues drop customers like hot potatoes the moment they find out they have Amigas. Fortunately, if a customer hasn`t already left the shop (some do so without bothering to ask -unsurprising considering the response they others give) I put the record straight. Basically, I think it`s suicide for Escom stores not to deal in Amigas, their software and hardware. Although Escom and AT want themselves to be considered separate entities, the link has already been established. If the public can`t SEE Amigas, they will find it more difficult to make a decision about buying one. For goodness sake, if you are near an Escom store, don`t be afraid to go in and ASK about them. If they give you the wrong answer, put them straight. Don`t let them give you any rubbish about what they think is happening. They simply don`t know. I have to confess that I hold a relatively menial position at Escom (higher only than the window clear and the guy that collects the rubbish bins). As such I am trying to get some management staff to back me up. I`ve already compilied a survey which I`m planning on faxing over to every store in London (and elsewhere if necessary) to try an accumulate some evidence of demand for Amigas in Escom stores. I just have to wait for managerial approval. By the way. If it is true that AT are ditching the AAA chipset, they should get their heads examined. Another thing: AmigaDOS is for the Amiga, so why the hell do they want to develop it for machines with a more limited architecture ? Here`s an idea: why not develop AmigaDOS for the Amiga ? Smart people. I challenge anyone from either Escom or Amiga Technologies to prove what I`ve said is wrong. I hope I am. I HAVE sent E-Mail to Gilles Bourdin twice, and had no reply. Andrew Elia (Escom UK) @endnode @node FEATURE3 "Ready, Aim, Game!" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== READY, AIM, GAME! Kevin Scully kscully@whidbey.net =========================================================================== This is my first offering to the general public, as I usually only write for a small local Amiga newsletter. If I get the time, and if I get good response from this, I may make further game reports. Feel free to email me! New games are planned for release soon. Some of the new titles include Dungeon Master II and the long awaited Alien Breed 3D. Due to Escom's decision-making, AGA is now the way to go. Expect most games to be AGA-only from now on. Plan to upgrade, I'm sure you won't regret it. I myself plan to get an Amiga 4000 Tower and an SX-1 expansion module for my CD32. By the way, let me know what you think of having reviews written out like this, rather than in the old compartmentalized format. If enough people like this, I will write my column in this format in the future. SPECIAL REPORT This month I've decided to make my column a special report, due to the fact that what I'm reviewing is commercial, shareware, and news, all at the same time. What is this amazing thing, you ask? Well, here is the announcment: TEXT ADVENTURES ARE NOT DEAD! Much to the contrary, they are still alive and well, thriving in a growing shareware market. There are people who take their time writing such adventures at home, and upload them to the Internet and BBSs, all around the world. I will take a look at how they create such games and how you can play them, a bit later. HISTORY OF TEXT GAMING In the earliest days of computers, even before screens, there were computer games. Of necessity, these were text games, because graphics has not been implemented yet on most terminals. One of the oldest games in existence is Advent, or Adventure. It was written on a mainframe computer in the mid 70s, and is generally attributed as being the first text adventure game. It began the Golden Age of text games, lasting from the mid 70s to the late 80s, and is still being played, in various versions, nearly a quarter century later. Ruling over this Golden Age was the undisputed King of Text Games, Infocom. Their first game, Zork, which was based upon Advent, was released in 1980. They released nearly 3 dozen text adventures over their lifetime, and they were played by millions. But then technological breakthroughs in the mid 80's allowed low cost advanced personal computers to be brought to the public. Realistic graphics and sound, made their way into many homes in the mid 80's, causing many people to believe that text-only gaming was obsolete. The great and mighty maker of text games, Infocom, slowly ground to a halt, and was bought by Activision in 1986. They gradually turned from making text-only games to graphic/text, and by the '90s, all new 'Infocom' games use graphical interfaces. The other, smaller companies switched to making other types of games, or went out of business as well. Sadly, these new games, and many others, lack the gripping gameplay of those in the earlier days of computing, disappointing many players of the old games. But now there are other programs out there, that allow you to make your own Infocom-style adventures, and others that give an improved interface to the old Infocom games, as well as allowing you to play any of these new games people have created. These programs exist for all styles of computers, from Amigas to Macs, PCs, Unix machines, even palmtop computers. This is possible, because the Infocom style of creating games was extraordinarily well thought out and portable to any computer. Called Z-Code, games can be created in this style, and be easily played by anyone with a interpreter. These games are not playable on their own, but this is a small loss. The interpreter programs come with tons of options, and quite a few things to make issuing commands easier. WHAT IS Z-CODE? Z-Code is the special language, designed by Infocom, that all Infocom style games are written in. It is quite flexible, powerful, and is able to be ported to almost any computer in existence with little difficulty. There were several different versions of Z-Code, incorporating improvments as the computers and games grew better. Version 1: The earliest Zork and a few others around 1980. Antique. All games from Versions 1 and 2 were converted to Version 3. Version 2: Much the same, with several minor improvements. Also Antique. Version 3: Standard: Most of the Infocom games were originally released in this format. Many games can still be found using it. Vast improvements over Version 2. Version 4: Plus: Minor improvements, doubling the possible size of a game, and increasing the vocabulary word size. Trinity, Bureaucracy, Nord&Bert, and A Mind Forver Voyaging are Version 4 games. Version 5: Advanced: This is the other commonly used version, with many improvements some additional commands, and sound and mouse support. Most shareware games are created in Version 5 format. Beyond Zork, Border Zone, and Sherlock are Version 5 games. Version 6: Graphical: The last official Infocom Z-Code version, it allowed games with pictures, such as Shogun, Zork Zero, Journey, and Arthur. *NOTE: Version 6 games are not supported by many interpreters, if any.* Versions 7 and 8: Enhanced: These versions were created by shareware authors, and allow for much larger games. Some interpreters support these versions, but as of yet, I have seen no game that uses them. SO WHAT ARE THESE PROGRAMS ALREADY? Well, one program I have seen to allow you to write these games is called Inform, written by Graham Nelson. It is a mature, efficient program that more accurately could be called a compiler, because you write the game in a text format, then run it through Inform to get the playable Z-Code version. It even comes with several sample games, though you must already have an interpreter. Though a bit intimidating to some people, once you explore Inform, it is an easy program to use, and one I heartily recommend. Inform exists for many types of computers, and is available on the Internet for FTP from ftp.gmd.de in /if-archive/infocom/compilers/inform There are other programs out there to create Z-Code games, but I have not seen any of them yet. As for interpreters, I know several. Known as Z-Code interpreter programs, or ZIPs for short, they are much more flexible than the old Infocom interpreter. Infocom, by the InfoTaskForce, is a wonderful interpreter, allowing you to play almost every official Infocom game, as well as all shareware games. It comes for many computers, including Amiga, PC, and Mac. Better known as ITF, it is my interpreter of choice. It is available also for FTP from ftp.gmd.de in /if-archive/infocom/interpreters/itf There is also another, called ZIP. A small file, it handles the newest versions of Z-Code games, versions 7 and 8. It is also reputedly more stable than others. Get it from ftp.gmd.de in /if-archive/infocom/interpreters/zip [ITF also supports V7 and V8. -Jason] The third interpreter I know of is PInfocom, available for Amiga, PC and several Unix systems. It is based on an early version of ITF, and is prettier, but plays less of the Z-Code versions. I do not know where it is available from. WHERE TO GET MORE GAMES Activision released two packages known as the Lost Treasures of Infocom, Volumes I and II. These contain 20 games in Volume I, and about a dozen in Volume II. Together, these consist of most Infocom games ever made, so it is an invaluable package. You can probably buy them used somewhere-and since the data files are machine-independent, it doesn't matter if you obtain an Amiga, PC, or Mac version as long as you have an interpreter. I doubt any more commercial games are being released in Z-Code format, but that may change in the future if companies take note of the devoted fans out there. ftp.gmd.de is the main archive for new adventures, as well. BUT I DON'T HAVE INTERNET ACCESS! Well, if you at least have a modem, I should eventually upload these interpreters, the Inform compiler, and some games to Whidbey Winds BBS. (360-675-4447) @endnode @node FEATURE4 "Amiga Support List - October '95" @toc FEATURE =========================================================================== AMIGA SUPPORT LIST - OCTOBER '95 Christopher Potter potter@patpserv.epfl.ch =========================================================================== [This list is periodically posted to comp.sys.amiga.misc. Since many people wonder where to turn for support, this can be a useful resource. It should not be considered 100% accurate, but it is an excellent starting point. Wherever possible, I have made updates that occurred since the release of the list. -Jason] +++++++++++++ + OCT 95 + +++++++++++++ The purpose of this list is the following: To keep the software development on the Amiga, the users must concentrate on products providing good services. By services I mean, a technical support, bug fixes patches regulary sended to the customers and new release planned in the futur. Why buying a software not longer supported or enhanced ? That's the purpose of this list. Buy the right software done by companies which care about the Amiga business. I CANNOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE ERRORS AND/OR OMISSIONS. However, every body is welcomed to contact me to improve the accuracy of this list! -: NA S: Suspended Y: Yes N: No W: Weak For technical support: M: Mailing-list E: E-mail Y: Phone/FAX B: BBS ?: Unknown (please send info potter@patpserv.epfl.ch) +: Needs MUI ----------------------++-----+-----+-----+------------------- Name ||Techn| Bug | New | Notes ||supp.|fixes| Rel.| ----------------------++-----+-----+-----+------------------- Languages ========= SAS/C 6.55 N Y N 03/95 (6.56 planned) DICE C Pro 3.01 YM Y Y (3.1 soon) List:emailurl@flevel.demon.co.uk Maxon C++ 3 Y Y Y 100074.1014@compuserve.com Maxon Pascal 3 Y Y Y AMOS N N N Blitz Basic II YM Y Y(v2 soon)acid@iconz.co.nz blitz-list@helsinki.fi HighSpeed Pascal 1.2 Y Y Y hisoft@cix.compulink.co.uk DevPac Assembler YM ? ? List:emailurl@flevel.demon.co.uk Macro68 3.170 Y Y N P:+1 503 9353709 jlavin@efn.org Spreadsheet =========== TurboCalc 3.5 YE Y Y 07/95 s_friedr@ira.uka.de ProCalc 2.0 N N N FinalCalc Y Y Y Fax: +1 602-431-8361 DTP/Wordprocessor ================= FinalCopy II R2 Y Y Y Fax: +1 602-431-8361 75300.670@compuserve.com (not sure) FinalWriter R4 Y Y Y 08/95 Fax: +1 602-431-8361 Wordworth 3.1R2 Y Y Y 05/95 US:tech@slpc.com Excellence! N N N CygnusED YE Y N CygnusSoft@cup.portal.com P:(608) 277-0413 MaxonWord N N N ProWrite 3.3.2 N N N WordPerfect 4.1 W N N TypeSmith 2.5b Y Y Y 07/95 US:tech@slpc.com ArtExpression 1.04 Y N N (shifted inside PStream 3) ProVector 3 Y Y Y 04/95 Voice:+1 303/484-7321 jblume@bix.com Prodraw 3 N N N Pagestream 3.0h Y Y Y 07/95 US:tech@slpc.com ProPage 4 N N N Database ======== SuperbaseIV Pro W W S FinalData R1 Y Y Y Fax: +1 602-431-8361 DataStore 1.0R3 Y Y Y 03/95 US: tech@slpc.com Maxon TWIST 2.21 Y Y Y 07/95 hisoft@cix.compulink.co.uk graphicRECALL YE Y Y grecall@liii.com CAD === MaxonCAD Y ? ? XCAD 3000 ? ? ? DynaCADD 2.04 ? ? S (v3 planned if Amiga restarts) Pro-Board 3.04 YE Y S Prolific@cup.portal.com Pro-Net 2.0c YE Y S Prolific@cup.portal.com Graphics ======== ImageFX 2.1 YEM Y Y 05/95 kermit@cup.portal.com ADPro 2.5 E N N 76004.1765@CompuServe.COM ImageMaster R/T 1.6 YE Y Y 04/95 info@blackbelt.com Transition 1.2.1 YE N N darksoft@ncw.net PhotoGenics 1.2 YE Y Y 05/95 jbsajno@cix.compulink.co.uk Brillance 2 Y S S DeluxePaint 5 Y Y Y 04/95 TVPaint 3.0 Y Y Y XIPaint 3.1 Y Y Y tdorn@xipaint.co.at PersonalPaint 6.3 YB Y Y 06/95 ppaint_info@cloanto.it Scenery Animator 4 ? ? ? VistaPro ? Y ? WorldConstrucSet 1.1 + Y Y Y wcsinfo@arcticus.burner.com Digital Universe 1.0 + Y Y Y support@syz.com Distant Suns Y Y Y (See Amiga Report 3.17) MM == SCALA MM 400/300Y Y ? john.chang@scala.com MediaPoint 3 Y Y Y Tel: +31 2290 17638 AmigaVision Pro ? ? ? CanDo 3.0 N N N (v3.0 just released) Videotracker 2.0 Y Y Y (v3.0 planned) 3D == Imagine 3.3 Y Y Y 07/95 (v4 soon) Real3D 2.49 Y Y Y (v3.0 soon) LightWave 3.5 Y Y Y (v4.0 soon) Alladin 4.1 Y Y Y 05/95 Tel: 216-337-3325 Fax: 216-22-2255 Cinema4D 2.0 ? ? ? Video ===== Personal Editor Y Y Y Tel: 905-859-5218 Music ===== Bars & Pipes 2.5 YE Y Y 72662.352@compuserve.com Util/Other ========== Organizer 1.0 Y Y Y US:tech@slpc.com On The Ball 1.5 Y Y Y orres@teleport.com CheckItOut 2.10a Y Y Y 71171.3015@compuserve.com DirectoryOpus 5 Y Y Y 04/95 Phone GER: +49 201 788778 USA: +1 308 745 1243 UK: +44 (01) 322 272908 zzgperry@mailbox.uq.oz.au DirWork 2.1 Y Y ? dirwork@quasar.dialix.oz.au Ami-FileSafe 2.2 Y Y Y 09/95List:emailurl@flevel.demon.co.uk PC-Task 3.10 Y Y Y pctask@quasar.dialix.oz.au DiskSalv 3 YE Y Y info@iam.com Video Backup Sys 3.1 Y Y Y 05/95 hugo@stack.urc.tue.nl AmiBack 2.0i Y Y Y (2.5 planned) +1 (407) 382-0227 Diavolo 3.0 Y Y Y 08/95 m.korndoerfer@nathan.gun.de MapleV R3 Y Y Y 09/95 support@maplesoft.on.ca info@maplesoft.on.ca AmigaTeX Y Y Y Xwindows(Gfxbase)R4 Y Y ? ReSource 6.06 Y Y S jlavin@efn.org Origins II 2.00 Y Y S jlavin@efn.org Communications ============== GPFax 2 E Y ? zzgperry@mailbox.uq.oz.au TrapFAX ? ? ? AmiTCP 4.2 Y Y Y Amiga Envoy 2.0b Y Y Y 04/95 Ph:+1 610 8534406 info@iam.com Enlan-DFS 2.0 Y Y Y apb@cts.com Termite 1.1 Y Y Y 08/95 orres@teleport.com DLG Pro 1.0 Y Y Y (v2.0 soon) ATIS@tvbbs.wimsey.com Xenolink 1.96 Y ? ? jonathan.forbes@canrem.com CNet 3 Y Y Y(v3.5 soon) Phone(313)255-2466 BBS (313)255-2464 Excelsior Y Y Y (2.0 soon) jbritton@dreamscape.com ****************************************************************** ****************************************************************** PD/Shareware ============ MUI 2.3 + EM Y Y (v3.0 mid-95) mui@taloa.unice.fr MUIBuilder 2.2b + EB Y Y 08/95 Eric.Totel@ramses.fdn.org Triton 1.4 E Y Y 08/95 s.zeiger@laren.rhein-main.de Visual Arts 2.5 E Y Y 08/95 danwong@foul.cuug.ab.ca Designer 1.53 E Y ? 05/95 IJO1000@CUS.CAM.AC.UK GadToolBox 2 N N N HWGRCS 5.6.0.1p12E Y Y 06/95 heinz@hwg.muc.de HWGPOST E Y Y 09/95 heinz@hwg.muc.de NetBSD 1.0 M Y Y majordomo@NetBSD.ORG AmiNIX 1.0 Y Y Y amigagod@grove.ufl.edu DaggeX 1.0b ? N N Sources lost (HD crash) AmiWin 2.16 Y Y Y 09/95 kruse@cs.ucf.edu ixemul 41.3 E Y Y 08/95 GoldED 3.13 YE Y Y 07/95 dietmar@tomate.oche.de PasTeX 1.4b6+ Y Y Y Hessmann@Informatik.Uni-Hamburg.DE TexPlusPro 5 ? ? ? EqEd 0.95 E Y Y 05/95 aagaard@fys.ku.dk MathScript 2.1 + E Y Y 06/95 Ihmig@tu-harburg.d400.de KingCon 1.3 E Y S f92dala@dd.chalmers.se AddressAssist 2.1 + E Y Y 09/95 schneidr@igt.baum.ethz.ch DFA 2.5 E Y Y 08/95 dirkf@alcmy.franken.de KingFisher 2.10 Y Y Y 07/95 walrus@wam.umd.edu TERM 4.5 E Y Y 10/95 olsen@sourcery.han.de AMosaic 1.4b + M Y Y 07/95 majordomo@insti.physics.sunysb.edu ALynx 1.29 E Y Y 07/95 marquardt_p@fhi-berlin.mpg.de AmigaELM 7.157 Y Y Y 07/95 amk@zikzak.in-berlin.de ACuSeeMe 2.01 + Y Y Y 07/95 bo24@andrew.cmu.edu AmiQWK 2.9 E N N jim_dawson@hguild.com THOR 2.1 EMB Y Y 09/95 thor@hstud6.cs.uit.no Offline Orbit E Y Y jts@ntp.alli.fi avmFax 1.33 + YEM Y Y rvillari@cat.syr.edu ZVT 1.6 + E Y Y 08/95 Carsten_Pluntke@ouzonix.bo.open.de TIN 1.3g E Y Y 08/95 mark@garden.equinox.gen.nz INetUtils 1.4 E Y Y 01/95 mbs@adastra.cvl.va.us UMS 11.3 EM Y Y UMS-Intl@lyssa.owl.de Zodiac's Point 3.9 YE Y Y zodiac@darkness.gun.de MLink 1.32 Y Y Y 04/95 AmiTEL 2.1b Y Y Y 07/95 ldfa@amitel.gatelink.fr.net Citadel 3.42 Y Y Y World Wide BBS 3.1 E Y Y 07/95 choung@seas.ucla.edu EasyBBS 2.21 Y Y Y 04/95 amk@zikzak.in-berlin.de MaxsBBS 1.54 M N N 04/95 mserv@nutfactory.apana.org.au BBBBS 8.5 Y Y Y 09/95 rlstockton@cup.portal.com GCC 2.7.0 EMB Y Y 07/95 PhB@colombo.telesys-innov.fr ACE Y Y Y Modula 2 1.4 Y Y Y turbo@econet.demon.co.uk Amiga E 3.2a Y Y Y 07/95 Wouter@mars.let.uva.nl Oberon 4.10 Y Y Y 06/95 ludwig@inf.ethz.ch Oberon-A 1.6 YEM Y Y fjc@wossname.apana.org.au ToolManager 2.1a E Y Y 03/95 stefanb@yello.ping.de MagicWB 2.0d Y Y Y YAK 2.10 Y Y Y 09/95 Gael_Marziou@grenoble.hp.com Clipboard Enhanc 3.10 EM Y Y anthonym@beta.inc.net asl.library + 42 YEB Y Y 08/95 carlos@felix.univ.szczecin.pl MultiTool II 2.1 Y Y Y RO + 1.04 E Y Y 07/95 oliver.rummeyer@student.uni-ulm.de MRBackup Pro 2.21 Y Y Y 07/95 mrr@mrsoft.network23.com ABackup 5.01 Y Y Y 10/95 gounelle@alphanet.ch BackMan 1.3g + YE Y Y 06/95 Sandro.Tolaini@p3.f113.n332.z2.fidonet.org MainActor 1.5 Y Y Y Xanim 2.69 E Y Y 07/95 terjepe@hstud6.cs.uit.no PicCon 2.5 Y Y Y ImageStudio 2.2.0 Y Y Y 08/95 adean@eleceng.ucl.ac.uk XV 2.18 + E Y Y 07/95 terjepe@hstud6.cs.uit.no TSMorph E Y Y mark@topic.demon.co.uk QuickGrab 1.1 E ? ? HOLOSOFT@cup.Portal.com Xfig 1.7 + E Y Y 09/95 terjepe@hstud6.cs.uit.no PowerCache Y Y Y PowerData Prof. Y Y Y GUIFront Y Y Y VMM 3.2 + Y Y Y 09/95 apel@physik.uni-kl.de Scout 2.4 + Y Y Y 07/95 atte@crash.north.de tapdl Y Y Y SimpleStatGraph E Y Y dssn@uhura.cc.rochester.edu amicheck 1.80 YE Y Y 09/95 dyer@alx.sticomet.com FinanceMaster 1.03 Y Y Y (v2.0 4Q95) potter@patpserv.epfl.ch VirusChecker 7.17 Y Y Y 09/95 johnv@tower.actrix.gen.nz lha 1.32 ? ? ? boberg@lysator.liu.se lzx 1.20 Y Y Y 02/95 CyberGraphX 2.10 Y Y Y 09/95 marvin@sun.ph-cip.uni-koeln.de EGS 7.1 Y Y ? CyberShow Pro 4.3 YE Y Y 08/95 EGSPhotoAlbum 5.3a Y Y Y 08/95 EGSTV 5.3 Y Y Y 08/95 (For all three) hhoff@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de DeliTracker 2.14 Y Y Y 05/95 kunath@informatik.uni-muenchen.de DAS ModPlayer 3.5b E Y Y pporkka@walli.uwasa.fi ShapeShifter 3.2a YE Y Y 09/95 bauec002@goofy.zdv.uni-mainz.de Hardware ======== PicassoII Y Y ? ? majordomo@uga.umd.edu Retina Z3 Y Y Y Y Spectrum Y Y ? ? Piccolo Y Y ? ? Piccolo SD64 Y Y ? ? Opalvision Y Y Y ? CyberVision64 Y Y Y Y support@phase5.de FAX:+49 61 71 58 37 89 DCTV 1.1b ? ? ? ? V-Station Y Y Y Y GVP PhonePak 2.5 ? N N N Non-Linear Video ================ VLab Motion Y Y Y Y Magic Broadaster EliteY Y Y Y Phone:+1 619/599-2626 NewTek Flyer Y Y Y Y @endnode @node REVIEW1 "Review: OpusFTP and FTPMount" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: OPUSFTP AND FTPMOUNT Scott Boutwell demoman@teleport.com =========================================================================== Well this is my first attempt at writing anything for Amiga Report such as a Review. My intention for writing this is pointing out a VERY easy way to access FTP with Opus. These programs have been the BEST method of using FTP I have found so far. I don't care for alot of the FTP Clients currently for the Amiga, but have found I REALLY enjoy using FTP with Opus. I'll list address information and where to obtain a copy of these at the end of this review. Well first off I'd like to take a look at OpusFTP. This jewel is a product of GP Software and was written by Andrew Dunbar and Dr. Greg Perry. According to the documentation that comes with this fantastic product it will be included with the release of the next FULL upgrade of Opus (5.2) toward the end of 1995. First off OpusFTP requires some software to work, namely AmigaDOS 2.0+, Directory Opus 5.1+ and a TCP/IP connection. The TCP/IP connection can be done with AmiTCP/IP version 4.0+, or with MLink. Installation is VERY simple, just click on the Install Icon. For those that don't trust the installation scripts moving the files to the appropriate places will take just a few moments. Edit the ftp.config file to add the 3 permanent address's you wish to have and your ready to go. So this is really quick and easy to set up. The Demo version that I tested only allows for 1 user entry and 2 anonymous entries in the address book. The Demo version also is limited to a single FTP connection but the Full allows for any number of simultaneous connection. According to the author it also doesn't have a working abort button. Reload Opus and the NEW commands will be available in the Function editor. With these you should be well on the way to using FTP from Opus. For those that want a little more control there is a (currently limited) ARexx port. It handles about 8 commands, but there may be more ARexx support in a Future version. There are 2 preconfigured versions of FTP toolbars one in text and an image based one. One problem I did have with OpusFTP was with the Preconfigured Ftp-Image toolbar. It was too narrow to allow a user to grab it and move it around the screen. I solved this by creating my own and in the process got creative and designed a bunch of buttons for Internet for myself. So this was really not much of a problem. Once you have things set up start up your TCP/IP connection and click on an address in the address book. The FTP site will pop-up in a lister window, just as if it were a Drive on your machine. You can read, view, copy, rename and delete files according to the abilities you have at the FTP site you are connected to. Most FTP sites will work with OpusFTP but there a some that will not. Those that will not are: VAX/VMS VM/CMS Some OS/2 server work, others will not. Those that have been tested and work are: Unix (all flavors) Amiga News-OS PC's runnin Novell NetWare NeXT Windows NT Macintosh Some OS/2 servers There are minor bugs with OpusFTP at the present, like incorrect Timestamps, and having to quit OpusFTP manually (Note: Even if you quit Opus itself.) As I said they are Minor bugs. I've found this program VERY reliable and love having the ability to navigate the net from under Opus. This way if I don't like the interface I use for FTP, I have no one else to blame but myself. Another problem I did note is that there currently is NO way to obtain a FULL version of this program listed in the Docs. I guess we will have to wait for the release of version 5.2 of Opus to get this fine program. I also guess we will have to purchase version 5.2 to get this program rather than being able to purchase it as an add on. The next product I'd like to look at is FTPMount written by Evan Scott. Note the version I looked at was version 0.7 obviously still in BETA form but it does work. It also can be used with Directory Opus, but was NOT intended ONLY to be used with Directory Opus. It is intended to be an FTP file system rather than another FTP client. Which means you can set up common FTP sites to permanently appear in file requesters. Because of the FTP protocol (RFC 959), there are some limitations that apply to FTP: these prevent it from supporting all file system actions fully. A couple of these are: Only one file may be open at a time for a given site. A file may only be open for reading or writing, NOT both. Seeking is not possible. Case sensitivity. Unix soft links are ALWAYS assumed to be directories. The '.' and '..' have been filtered out. Comments are not supported. Protection bits cannot be modified. MakeLink is not supported. (Note: These limitations are a trimmed down version of the Authors comments in the Introduction) Also there are NO types of sites that don't currently work with this system to my knowledge and none listed in the documentation. Requirements: Documentation suggests using AmiTCP/IP 4.0+, at this point I'm not sure whether or not it will support MLink. To really be useful this is a MUST. It also needs AmigaDos 2.0+. Installation: Is simple, there again is an installation script but manual installation is fairly easy as well. And the author details enough information about how to do it, that if you are familiar with AmigaDOS at all you should be able to accomplish this. The source code is included with the release, thanks Evan for doing this. For those of us that are just beginning to code it helps to have some examples to break down and look at. This program was a bit more than I was looking for to add FTP to Directory Opus. It is however the ONLY method of adding it to ALL versions of Directory Opus as well as other disk based file managers. Looking at both programs in comparison... Use: I'd have to give it to OpusFTP. It's very simple to use and to understand how to get it working. I have not accessed a site so far that I haven't been able to access with OpusFTP. Installation: While both have installation scripts that are about equal in ease. Manually OpusFTP is easier to install. It's really a NO BRAINER to get this up and configured. If you ever created a button with Directory Opus you should have NO problems. Compatibility: When looking at how the programs stand up against one another in being able to be used by other programs. FTP mount wins HANDS down, since OpusFTP is intended ONLY to be used with Version 5.1 of Opus. Documentation: Both have very well done AmigaGuide files that cover installation and usage. The manual installation of FTPMount could have been a bit clearer but it gets the information across to install it. I guess it would really be up to what the user is looking for here. Whether they are looking for something that is a quick and easy gadget for Opus or something they can access from anything. Although OpusFTP has an Arexx interface, it is VERY limited at this point, making access by other programs not very good. But since it was intended for Opus, it does what it was intended for. My personal choice was OpusFTP, since I don't really have any use for Mounting an FTP site to my AmigaDOS. Both programs are excellent and faily simple to install. Grab a copy of either from AmiNet. For more information on FTPMount - Evan Scott at evan@ucc.gu.uwa.edu.au OpusFTP - GPSoftware PO Box 570 Ashgrove, Qld Australia 4060 Phone/Fax: +61 7 33661402 Email: zzgperry@mailbox.uq.oz.au @endnode @node REVIEW2 "Review: IMANDI Pro from Egad International @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: IMANDI PRO FROM EGAD INTERNATIONAL By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Difficult as it may be to believe, there are apparently people out there who make money using their Amigas. Or who use their Amigas to make money. Or who simply happen to utilize an Amiga somewhere in their business, to track sales, keep inventory, write invoices, that sort of thing. If you're one of these lucky people, you may want to give IMANDI Pro a look. IMANDI (Inventory Management AND Invoicing) is designed to make the bookkeeping process easier in its two title areas. You'll need OS 2.04 or better, 1.5 megs of RAM or more, and having a hard drive and 020+ would be a nice idea. IMANDI will open a custom screen based on your Workbench screenmode, but seems to be limited to about 640x400 usable size. It's relatively easy to get started. Depending on what your priorities are, you will want to start either in the Customer or Inventory database. Presuming you want to start by entering your products first, you'll be confronted with the Inventory Editor, where you can create as many databases as you choose with as many items as you choose in each. Your fields are straightforward (part name, description, your cost and the price, quantity sold and units, quantity on hand and recommended restock amount, weight, supplier, and tax and discount flags), and are entered with the keyboard. There is also a text field below the entries that tracks inventory changes (restocks and purchases). After dealing with your inventory, you'll want some customers. Frequent customers can be saved as individual files, so you can track their total purchases, contact information, credit card number, and the like. You can also give them customized tax rates on parts, labor, travel, and mileage, to suit their location, and grant them special discount status. The "Prefs" feature doesn't, unfortunately, cover such usual items as screenmode and colors. Instead, there are a number of global variables to deal with, such as labor cost (both on-site and in-house), travel costs, tax rates, default discount rates, shipper lists, and the terms-of-sale. Once this has been dealt with, it's time to create some invoices. You can either edit a previously saved invoice or generate a new one-both use the same process. The Customer, Header, Invoice, and Inventory Editor windows all pop up at once. You can essentially fill them out in any order, however, going from Header to Customer to Inventory (to load a product database) to Invoice seems most logical. You enter the salesperson's name, PO number and Part numbers, if applicable, invoice date (automatic) and shipping date, shipper and FOB, and the terms (Sale, Net 30, etc.) Then select your customer, go to the Invoice editor, and sell them items (you can enter partial names and have the editor search and complete them through the database). You can also bill for labor, travel, mileage, or enter text strings ("babble" entries). Press F6 to print, and you're off. Shipping support is a bit weak-you enter the shipping amount when you select the print option, but IMANDI will not calculate it for you. The string that tells your customer how it is being shipped is just that-a text string with no other value. Now, about the printing... IMANDI comes with three PageStream files and accompanying printouts of the three basic invoice types IMANDI supports (which basically vary only in the option to turn discount display and Year-To-Date sale display off). The idea is that you either duplicate the invoices given to you in the IMANDI package (which aren't exactly high-quality printouts and come folded in half) or print your own using PageStream, adding your corporate logo and information however you see fit (since IMANDI doesn't support any direct way to include this information, but there is plenty of room in the upper-left hand corner of the invoice to place it.) The printing options seem rather spartan, essentially only allowing you to print to PRT: or a file. What else is there to do? Well, the Inventory Editor allows you to generate 3 types of reports: Inventory reports, Page reports (individual item printouts), and Value reports (amount sold versus cost of items on hand). Again, you can print to PRT: or a file, spartan but reasonably effective. What's there to like? Well, it is an effective solution for me, for example, faced with the occasional necessity to generate an invoice for consulting or journalistic work without the need for excessive bookkeeping or detail (such as accounts payable or receivable: the terms of sale are just a text entry, not a piece of data interpreted by IMANDI.) For example, IMANDI will tell you when it's time to stock more Pop-Tarts, but they won't tell you if Herman's Breakfast Emporium is delinquent in his Net 30-1.5% 60 Pop Tart account. You can always look through invoices you've generated for Herman's and find out what he owes you, but it's not automated. The user interface is very intuitive and to-the-point, and the manual (which is also available in context-sensitive AmigaGuide on disk) explains each text field and button in the program. On the other hand, there are some quirks that make IMANDI a bit tarnished. For one, it's written in CanDo, meaning it's no speed demon. While response was decent on my 3000/030, using a memory-enhanced but unaccelerated A500/600/1000/2000 may not be as feasible as it sounds. The interface isn't configurable. The windows are not resizeable yet they take up the entire width of the screen. There is a documented option to zip-shrink the Customer Editor (the largest, well over half the screen), using F9. However, there is no logical explanation for this nor any way a user would "stumble" on that solution. The lack of advanced accounting may also turn some off. It's very difficult for business software to find a sense of identity in the Amiga market. IMANDI is quite good at inventory management and acceptably capable of generating invoices, but is not going to be a full-blown accounting system for your business needs. As part of a suite, however, or for the small business with accounting needs that can be handled easily by hand, IMANDI makes a good investment. @endnode @node REVIEW3 "Voodoo E-Mail" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== FIRST LOOK: VOODOO E-MAIL By @{" Addison Laurent " link ADDISON} =========================================================================== FIRST LOOK: Voodoo E-Mail This is a "first look" - a opportunity to see what is coming soon. It is not a full review, and the program is not being examined as extensively nor with the expectations as a program being reviewed that has been released. There are features that will probably be implemented before release, and bugs/problems fixed. Product: Voodoo - The Multimedia E-Mailer Projected registration price: 35 USD, 50 DEM, or 150 FIM Demonstration version to be available on AmiNet after release for 30 day evaluation. Author: Osma Ahvenlampi Osma.Ahvenlampi@hut.fi http://www.niksula.cs.hut.fi/~oahvenla/voodoo/ Background: E-Mail is possibly the most understandable, most used side of the Internet. As the internet has aged (progressed could be a contested term by some of the older-timers) more applications have been developed, more ideas and standards have evolved as ways to trade information, complete files, etc. Several years ago, Internet e-mail was almost completely ASCII text, and if a non-ASCII file were to be transmitted via e-mail, required the use of conversion programs to convert these to ASCII, and back to binary when received. Ideas and standards have been proposed and tried to handle these demands. Several Amiga programs have recently been developed or are in the development process so we can utilize the latest tools of the Internet to interchange data. To support the MIME standard, Osma Ahvenlampi is in the process of developing Voodoo. First Look: Voodoo is a E-mail program, being developed with the new @{" ClassAct " link REVIEW3B} GUI development API. The projected release date is currently December 1995. According to the documentation, there will be a registered version, with enhanced abilities, and a demonstration version which will be redistributable. While Voodoo is not yet ready for release, it is a quite functional program, one with most features implemented and working. It is not a complete e-mail system. It is, instead, a E-mail reader. Other programs must be configured to receive and send e-mail. The configuration I use is @{" AmiPOP " link REVIEW3B} to retrieve my mail from my local ISP, and SMTPpost from @{" InetUtils 1.4 " link REVIEW3B} to send mail. Voodoo has MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) support, allowing for transparent attaching of files to e-mail. This is a great improvement over the UUencoding and UUdecoding of binary files and either sending seperately or appending to mail. The user needs only to click on the "attach" icon, then using the requester, pick the file(s) to attach. Voodoo uses datatypes to identify and display attached files with incoming mail. Voodoo is shaping up to be a quite functional, useful program. The final program is still being formed and finalized, but in the last two weeks, several releases have come out, polishing parts, implementing more features. Release should be very soon, both from the appearance of the beta test, and the notes in the archive. @endnode @node REVIEW3B "Contact Information" @toc REVIEW3 For more information: ClassAct: caldi@pcnet.com http://www.pcnet.com/~caldi $39.95 MSRP PD/Shareware Developers, or $69.95 Commercial License. InetUtils: mbs@adastra.cvl.va.us AmiPOP: sellis@rohan.sdsu.edu / sellis@gi.com @endnode @node REVIEW4 "Review: CD-Write from Schatztruhe" @toc REVIEW =========================================================================== REVIEW: CD-WRITE FROM SCHATZTRUHE By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON} =========================================================================== Neat gimmick or worthwhile utility? I'm still not sure I've decided. CD-Write's intention is not to change the laws of physics, enabling your garden-variety CD-ROM drive to write to what by all rights is a read-only medium. Instead, by introducing a new filesystem and device driver, CD-Write redirects what AmigaDOS interprets as "writes" to a hard drive, so that added, deleted, and modified files, icon positions, and the like are "saved" for future use. Once the (quite straightforward and well-explained in the manual) installation is completed, you gain a new drive (CDW0:), and all CDs inserted generate two Workbench icons-one the original (CD0: or equivalent), the other prefixed by "CDW-", the CDW0: drive and the one you'll want to interact with to take advantage of the package. Aside from this duality, the operation of CD-Write is transparent and essentially seamless, the only snag being that any time you "write" to your CD-ROM, you'll get an accompanying clunk on your hard drive, and any time a new CD is inserted, your special CD-Write hard drive directory will be scanned for information, and that information will be utilized by the filesystem, be it icon positioning, added files, whatever. Practical application? Well, for the user who likes ultimate configuration, the ability to save tooltypes, new icons or positioning, add scripts, and remove unsightly unnecessary programs (or icons) is going to be a welcome addition to what is probably a very custom Workbench. For BBS or FTP site operators (and multiple CD drives are supported, according to the documentation), the ability to remove undesired files (for example, if you don't offer access to Aminet's game directory to newly validated members of your BBS, for example, you can simply let registered users access CD0: while the newbies only get the CDW0: that is missing that directory), integrate new versions or add software to a single directory structure (say you get a new version of Deluxe Galaga and your users would rather just see it in the Aminet game directory than have to scan another filebase for it, you can simply "copy" it over), or just plain screw around with the CD's configuration would be a plus. The author, Ralph Babel (and you'll never forget his name since he names all of the utilities and the filesystem after himself) also suggests that it could be used to remove virus-laden programs from the CD. My personal opinion is that anybody stung by a CD-ROM virus would probably have done far worse to the CD before they think of CD-Writing it out of existance, but that's just me. The concept of using CD-Write to assist in the creation of a new revision of a CD is also one offered (and considering Babel's association with the assembly of the Meeting Pearls CD, one referred to in the manual text, I'm not surprised.) I'm not one to take up such a task, but I can see how it would be useful. To-the-point information is included to aid the user around certain filesystem-and-CD-ROM-standard quirks, such as the handling of RockRidge extensions, although such incompatibilities are unlikely to raise their ugly heads too often. What sort of performance hits do you get using CD-Write? The manual diplomatically says, in effect, that speed varies depending on the speed of the hard drive. But CD-Write is very efficient in its usage-most deletion operations, for example, take up less than 100 bytes, including entire directories. My example of deleting the entire Aminet game directory on Aminet 7 cost my hard drive less than 200 bytes and (using a totally unscientific stopwatch test) about .1 seconds of access time when the CD was inserted. Of course, all the changes are temporary. Utilities are included to undo changes, or by mere brute force, the entire scope of changes can be deleted by simply deleting the hard drive subdirectory containing the changes for the individual disc. And, of course, the information is still accesible through regular CD0:. So, where has this gotten you? An essentially seamless method to customize CD-ROMs, with little performance loss and storage cost, is here. Do you need it? That's your decision. Published by: Stefan Ossowski's Schatztruhe Veronikastrasse 33 45131 Essen Germany ++49 201 788778 voice ++49 201 798447 fax stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de e-mail @endnode @node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts: 1-Oct-95" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 1-Oct-95 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- VChk718.lha util/virus 146K 0+Version 7.18 of Virus_Checker. Amiga Eldritch.lha game/role 370K 0+A top-view adventure hack-and-slash Tubes.lha game/think 217K 0+V1.6, advanced pipeline game InterKit.lha util/wb 231K 0+Interlace starter kit for 2.x, 3.x SSpeed11.lha util/moni 338K 0+Very good Speedtester! About 100 tes DGalaga26C.lha game/shoot 544K 0+Galaga clone with lots of extra feat MegaDMS003a.lha util/arc 23K 0+GUI for DMS CooLaunch.lha demo/aga 1.2M 0+3rd place AGA Demo at Scenest'95. devman14.lha util/cdity 32K 0+Devs and Storage drawers manager v1. krsnake.lha game/wb 427K 0+A snake game with everything JaysTale.lha docs/misc 72K 0+Jay Miner's tale of the Amiga NewStartup34.lha dev/asm 22K 0+Very powerful startup code for assem Hydra3-027.lha comm/cnet 29K 0+Hydra/3 0.27: Hydracom add-on for CN opus5player2_1.lha biz/dopus 407K 0+CDDA, MP2, AIFF etc. player for DirO TNG-WB09.lha pix/mwb 3.6M 0+TNG-WB Version 0.9 musidots.lha mus/misc 53K 0+A graphical music program. ShapeShift3_2a.lha misc/emu 240K 1+Macintosh II emulator, V3.2a tpaint.lha gfx/edit 161K 0+A 24bit painting program for AA-Amig spoolwatch.lha comm/net 70K 0+Monitors news and mail spool BUGFIXE PPP1_30reg.lha comm/net 54K 38+SANA-II PPP.device evaluation versio | The highest rated programs during the week until 1-Oct-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 |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- ALynx.lha comm/net 277K 10+Textbased WWW browser (AmiTCP/MLink) mlink132.lha comm/net 123K 22+Direct internet access without SLIP FTPMount.lha comm/tcp 107K 2+Mounts FTP sites as part of a filesy term-030.lha comm/term 632K 11+V4.4, MC68020/030/040/060 version gcc270-base.lha dev/gcc 1.5M 4+Gcc v2.7.0 - Base part - C/C++/ObjC gcc270-c020.lha dev/gcc 708K 4+Gcc v2.7.0 - 68020 C part - C/C++/Ob gcc270-cp020.lha dev/gcc 1.7M 4+Gcc v2.7.0 - 68020 C++ part - C/C++/ gcc270-doc.lha dev/gcc 1.1M 4+Gcc v2.7.0 - Doc part - C/C++/ObjC C gcc270-inclib.lha dev/gcc 918K 4+Gcc v2.7.0 - Headers and Libs part - gcc270-objc020.lha dev/gcc 617K 4+Gcc v2.7.0 - 68020 Objc part - C/C++ ixemul4103-bin.lha dev/gcc 1.6M 4+IXemul.library 41.3 Obrn-A_1.6_src.lha dev/obero 308K 13+The source code for Oberon-A gravforce.lha game/2play 197K 66+2 Player Thrust with Guns! JustForBlues.lha mods/jazz 129K 49 Jazzband by Dizzy 2:45 ** ZShell28.lha util/shell 147K 2+CLI with REAL pipes and TAB-FNComple lzx120.lha util/arc 139K 17+The Ultimate Archiver V1.20 Fixes/+S Executive.lha util/misc 429K 3+Task manager and scheduler (V1.00) PDBase12.lha biz/dbase 93K 13+Public Domain DataBase V1.2 (Needs M) thor21_main.lha comm/mail 774K 2+Offline Reader for BBS/Internet usag tenebra.lha demo/aga 811K 2+Tenebra 1/1 *AGA* vty-ama1.lha demo/aga 672K 3+Amazed (from "South Sealand 2" demo vty-ama2.lha demo/aga 801K 3+Amazed (from "South Sealand 2" demo vty-ama3.lha demo/aga 620K 3+Amazed (from "South Sealand 2" demo tri14dev.lha dev/gui 328K 5+Triton GUI creation system. r1.4 dev perl4.035.V010.lzh dev/lang 750K 157+First public dist of Perl 4.035 port Obrn-A_1.6_bin.lha dev/obero 531K 13+A freely-distributable Oberon-2 comp Obrn-A_1.6_lib.lha dev/obero 597K 13+The library and examples for Oberon- @endnode @node CHARTS2 "Aminet Charts: 9-Oct-95" @toc FTP | The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 9-Oct-95 | Updated weekly. Most popular file on top. | |File Dir Size Age Description |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- term-030.lha comm/term 669K 0+V4.5, MC68020/030/040/060 version VChk718.lha util/virus 146K 1+Version 7.18 of Virus_Checker. Amiga term-libs.lha comm/term 126K 0+V4.5, XPR and XEM libs term-doc.lha comm/term 216K 0+V4.5, AmigaGuide format and library term-extras.lha comm/term 215K 0+V4.5, HydraCom, ARexx scripts, sound Eldritch.lha game/role 371K 0+V1.30 : Top-view adventure hack-and- JaysTale.lha docs/misc 72K 1+Jay Miner's tale of the Amiga Unzip512x.lha util/arc 97K 0+UnZip 5.12, Info-Zip Portable Un-zip DGalaga26C.lha game/shoot 544K 1+Galaga clone with lots of extra feat term-roadmap.txt comm/term 28K 0+V4.5, Introduction to the distributi term-locale.lha comm/term 273K 0+V4.5, Locale and blank catalog table term-main.lha comm/term 671K 0+V4.5, Distribution for all Amigas DTpref20.lha util/wb 75K 0+Prefs-Editor for Datatypes with GUI NetMail-12.lha comm/mail 109K 0+E-Mail program with GUI, groups, fil Dig_Universe.lha biz/demo 3.3M 0+The Digital Universe demo, Astronomy Motor_Duel.lha game/shoot 317K 0+Updated version of BattleCars (2 plr NewMode_V39.lha util/cdity 63K 0+Screen promoting utility ABackup501.lha disk/bakup 270K 0+ABackup 5.01 SSpeed11.lha util/moni 338K 1+Very good Speedtester! About 100 tes ShapeShift3_2a.lha misc/emu 240K 2+Macintosh II emulator, V3.2a | The highest rated programs during the week until 9-Oct-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 |----------------- --- ---- --- ----------- term-030.lha comm/term 669K 0+V4.5, MC68020/030/040/060 version gcc270-base.lha dev/gcc 1.5M 5+Gcc v2.7.0 - Base part - C/C++/ObjC gcc270-c020.lha dev/gcc 708K 5+Gcc v2.7.0 - 68020 C part - C/C++/Ob gcc270-cp020.lha dev/gcc 1.7M 5+Gcc v2.7.0 - 68020 C++ part - C/C++/ gcc270-doc.lha dev/gcc 1.1M 5+Gcc v2.7.0 - Doc part - C/C++/ObjC C gcc270-inclib.lha dev/gcc 918K 5+Gcc v2.7.0 - Headers and Libs part - gcc270-objc020.lha dev/gcc 617K 5+Gcc v2.7.0 - 68020 Objc part - C/C++ ixemul4103-bin.lha dev/gcc 1.6M 5+IXemul.library 41.3 Obrn-A_1.6_src.lha dev/obero 308K 14+The source code for Oberon-A gravforce.lha game/2play 197K 67+2 Player Thrust with Guns! Midnight208a.lha util/blank 363K 44+The ultimate screen saver! (OS2.0+) ZShell28.lha util/shell 147K 3+CLI with REAL pipes and TAB-FNComple thor21_main.lha comm/mail 774K 3+Offline Reader for BBS/Internet usag Executive.lha util/misc 429K 4+Task manager and scheduler (V1.00) tenebra.lha demo/aga 811K 3+Tenebra 1/1 *AGA* vty-ama1.lha demo/aga 672K 4+Amazed (from "South Sealand 2" demo vty-ama2.lha demo/aga 801K 4+Amazed (from "South Sealand 2" demo vty-ama3.lha demo/aga 620K 4+Amazed (from "South Sealand 2" demo tri14dev.lha dev/gui 328K 6+Triton GUI creation system. r1.4 dev perl4.035.V010.lzh dev/lang 750K 158+First public dist of Perl 4.035 port Obrn-A_1.6_bin.lha dev/obero 531K 14+A freely-distributable Oberon-2 comp Obrn-A_1.6_lib.lha dev/obero 597K 14+The library and examples for Oberon- ARTv1i3A.lha docs/mags 34K 2+AR Tech Journal, Vol 1 Issue 3 in Am Engines.lha game/2play 370K 7+GravForce game for 2-4 players. AGA F1GP-Ed.lha game/misc 266K 0+Formula One Grand Prix / WC Editor V Motor_Duel.lha game/shoot 317K 0+Updated version of BattleCars (2 plr gfft-1.12.lha misc/sci 296K 56+FFT spectrum analysis of sample file @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/ http://metro.turnpike.net/P/panther/main.html http://www.lysator.liu.se/amiga/ar/ http://www.lysator.liu.se/(bg,4)/amiga/ar [fancier graphics] The following AR site also has a mailto form, allowing you to mail to Amiga Report from the web site.

http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar318.guide

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08/1997