@database "ar320.guide"
@Node MAIN "Amiga Report Online Magazine #3.20 -- November 16, 1995"
===========================================================================
November 16, 1995 @{" Turn the Page " link MENU} Issue No.3.20
===========================================================================
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"THE Online Source for Amiga Information!"
Copyright 1995 FS Publications
All Rights Reserved
@endnode
@node MENU "Amiga Report Main Menu"
@toc MAIN
===========================================================================
== Main Menu ==
===========================================================================
@{" Editorial and Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Featured Articles " link FEATURE}
@{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" News & Press Releases " link NEWS}
@{" Aminet Charts " link FTP} @{" Reader Mail " link MAIL}
---------------------------------
@{" About AMIGA REPORT " link ABOUT} @{" Dealer Directory " link DEALER}
Contact Information and Copyrights Amiga Dealer Addresses and Numbers
@{" Where to Get AR " link WHERE} @{" Advertisements " link COMMERCIAL}
Mailing List & Distribution Sites Online Services, Dealers, Ordering
______________________________________________
// | | //
========//====| Amiga Report International Online Magazine |======//=====
== \\// | Issue No. 3.20 November 16, 1995 | \\// ==
==============| "THE Online Source for Amiga Information!" |=============
|______________________________________________|
@endnode
@node JASON "Editor"
@toc STAFF
===========================================================================
EDITOR
===========================================================================
Jason Compton
=============
Internet Address
-------- -------
jcompton@shell.portal.com 1203 Alexander Ave
jcompton@xnet.com Streamwood, IL 60107-3003
USA
Fax Phone
--- -----
708/741-0689 708/332-6243
@endnode
@node KATIE "Assistant Editor"
@toc STAFF
===========================================================================
== ASSISTANT EDITOR ==
===========================================================================
Katherine Nelson
================
Internet
--------
Kati@cup.portal.com
@endnode
@node ROBERT "Senior Editor"
@toc STAFF
===========================================================================
SENIOR EDITOR
===========================================================================
Robert Niles
============
Internet Address
-------- -------
rniles@Wolfe.NET 506 W. Orchard
Selah, WA 98942
FidoNet Fax
------- ---
1:3407/103 509/697-5064
@endnode
@node WILLIAM "Contributing Editor"
@toc STAFF
===========================================================================
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
===========================================================================
William Near
============
Internet
--------
wnear@epix.net
@endnode
@node ADDISON "Contributing Editor"
@toc STAFF
===========================================================================
CONTRIBUTING EDITOR
===========================================================================
Addison Laurent
===============
Internet
--------
addison@jobe.shell.portal.com
@endnode
@node OPINION "compt.sys.editor.desk"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
compt.sys.editor.desk By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}
===========================================================================
Some people like drawing analogies between the Amiga and the (once
Amiga-generated) TV show Babylon 5, which for the first two seasons opened
with the lines "It was the dawn of the third age of mankind."
They perceived us as being in the "third age of the Amiga", from Amiga Corp
to Commodore-Amiga to Amiga Technologies. But that wasn't really
merited...not until the Video Toaster Expo, anyway.
Finally, the third wave hit. Redesigned PowerPC Amigas projected just over
a year away. Upgrade cards for existing machines less than a year away.
Roughly par for the course, some in the industry shake their heads and say
it'll never happen, others are starting to take note as new competitors
crop up in what is becoming an interesting PowerPC market.
Now it's our job to watch carefully to see if Amiga Technologies can really
implement this plan. I suppose it's also our duty to fund it with the
purchase of the current line of machines. That may not be the easiest for
everyone to cope with, but the concept of PowerPC upgrades for the 1200 and
4000, courtesy of the cards Phase5 has in development, make the concept
less painful.
I'm pretty much totally satisfied with the move. A new processor is better
than an 060 dead end, made worse by the seemingly endless delays for the
processor's release. And a new processor with as much developer enthusiasm
and sheer buzzword value as the PowerPC is a good thing. Motorola is
talking about serious levels of support, the newsgroups and PowerPC News
magazine are talking...yes, this was the right move.
So, 6 months into the game, Amiga Technologies has figured out what the
right things to say are. By my calendar, they've got a bit over a year to
figure out how to make it all come together. We'll keep you up to date.
But for today, be sure you check out the official word on the decision, as
well as the myriad show reports from where Amiga Tech has set up stands in
the past few weeks. The sheer volume of news and reports this issue has
crowded out some of the reviews we have lined up, but 3.21 should remedy
the situation.
And be sure to check out our Nova Design/ImageFX IRC conference to be held
on Undernet IRC, channel #imagefx, at 9 PM EST on Sunday, November 19,
which translates to 2 AM GMT Monday, November 20th. The authors of the
very popular image processing system will be on hand to field questions and
give away prizes. Sorry for sticking this plug in the editorial, but with
43 news items already, I wanted to make sure nobody missed it.
So strap in and enjoy the largest Amiga Report in history!
Jason
@endnode
@node COMMERCIAL "Commercial Products"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
Commercial Products
===========================================================================
@{" Editor's Choice " link EDITORCHOICE} Jason's picks
@{" Portal Information Systems " link PORTAL} A great place for Amiga users.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP}
@endnode
@node MAIL "Reader Mail"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
Reader Mail
===========================================================================
From: Michael Jantzen
Thanks for distributing Amiga Report! I really enjoy it (since I don't get
any Amiga related magazines).
I was really interested in hearing that AT is going to announce their new
Amiga. For their sake, I hope it really knocks the socks off of the
competition. However, it must be done in the proper way. What makes
Windows 95 such a success (for an OS) was/is the marketing effort put into
it. Ask anyone on the street what Windows 95 is, and they can tell you,
even if they don't even have a computer.
Marketing isn't just fancy TV advertisements (although it's part of it).
It also consists of doing demonstrations, ripping on other computers, and
proving your excellence to the world (not just the current Amiga users).
Then comes getting the "big" software packages! The BeBox's biggest
challenge is getting software period. Still, I've heard they're in the
works for getting Netscape and some other major applications including a
development system that runs on the Macintosh.
[The development system, CodeWarrior, for the BeBox runs on the Macintosh,
work is underway to port it fully and natively to the BeBox itself.
--Katie]
Still you can really sell the product no matter how bad it is by using
marketing!
(Is Amiga Technologies listening?)
Now, about the BeBox, in an interview with their president (whose name I'm
not going to attempt to spell) jokingly called his product "Amiga 96." The
funny thing is that the BeBox is just another Un*x clone. I'm not going to
go for it because of this. Plus their Web page (www.be.com) mentions mac,
windows thirty billion times but never mentioned the Amiga. I suppose it
won't run *any* of my video/GFX software.
[It's really not a Unix clone...see my report. -Jason]
Thanks!
Michael Jantzen N7WSB ^_^
IRC: #amiga "lid"
Email: anonymous@mail.coos.or.us, 1:356/11.4
@endnode
@node NEWS1 "IPISA '95 News"
@toc NEWS
IPISA '95 News
Marco Zandonadi (zandonad@dsi.unimi.it) from the IPISA '95 organizing
committee recently announced that Dr. Peter Kittel of Amiga Technologies
will be present at this high-profile Amiga user and developer conference,
to be held November 18th in Milan, Italy.
Dr. Kittel will give a speech and will field a question and answer
session. For more information on IPISA, contact Marco at the above
address.
@endnode
@node NEWS2 "Windows Emulation"
@toc NEWS
Windows-native emulation on the Amiga
News has reached Amiga Report of an emulator in development that would
bring Windows-level compatibility to the AmigaOS, allowing Windows programs
to be run as native applications. In the words of the author, Soyeb Aswat
of the UK,
"At the moment the emulation will be slow because it will be interpreting
but I hope to implement some form of compilation in the future which should
make the prog native and therefore run like a dream."
@endnode
@node NEWS3 "AudioLab16 Release2"
@toc NEWS
AudioLab16 Release2: 16bit non-linear editing/DSP system
An hard-disk based 16bit audio recording, editing, processing, mixing
system, originally designed for AAA / 3210DSP equipped machines, now
available on standard Amigas. Operations are performed directly from/to
hard-disk (DD), in 16bit resolution (or more), mostly with real-time
playback (RT).
Features:
- RT DD 16/32bit DSP operations
Invert,reverse,normalize,gate,FIR filter,reverberate,
delay,flange,multiflange,fade,pitch-shift,time compress/
expand,sample-rate convert,interpolate,decimate,distort,
hum-remove,quantize 16bit recordings.
- RT DD non-destructive editing
- RT DD multitrack drag-and-drop timecoded editing
- RT DD multitrack mixing with stereo pan controls
- RT DD synchronizing to Arexx,MIDI or keyboard events
- RT DD samplepoint format convertion
- RT DD playback/record in PC,MAC,Amiga formats
- Interactive graphic access to on-disk recordings
- AudioCD control/playback/direct-digital-tranfer-to-HD
using SCSI CDROM drives.
- Automatic or interactive FIR filter design
- Test signals generation
- Import/export from/to PC,MAC,Amiga formats
- Support for 16bit audio boards via drivers
- SoftMary 16bit emulation for Paula
- System-friendly,multitasking,graphic boards compatible
- on-line-hyperdocumentation
*** New on Release2 ***
- Complete RT DD 16bit non-linear time-line editing system:
- 8 tracks edit list playback / 16 tracks edit list editing
- complete drag&drop mouse control (time slipping,cloning,
aligning,...) for events and tracks
- clear/cut/copy/paste/insert/multi-insert on up to 16 tracks
at the same time
- indipendent track write-protect capabilities
- double timecode notation (hh:mm:ss:ff and bars:beats:clocks)
with snap-to-grid capabilities
- indipendent event level and stereo pan controls, indipendent
track level and stereo pan controls, master level control.
- mute and solo controls for any track
- insertion/retrival of user defined labels onto the time-line
- time-line view snapshot-bank: immediate recall via F-keys
- RT DD pitch shifter with 0.1% resolution on a (-12,+12)
semitones interval
- RT DD non-integer sample rate converter
- Enhanced DSP support for Sunrize Studio16 users
- I/O format: MAUD 8/16bit, MAESTRO 8/16bit now available during
read/playback/write operations.
- Internal format: AIFF16,MAUD16,MAESTRO16 freely intermixed
during read/playback/write operations
- Stereo 16bit file interleaver/deinterleaver
- 16bit stereo file playback with RT stereo enhancer
- New tone generator and sweep generator compatible with AD516,
AD1012,Toccata,Maestro hardware clocks
- more...
Availability
Firstly registered users will get their upgrades, then the Junior version
will be uploaded to Aminet as audiolr2.lha (November).
Contact
The author can be contacted, via the Internet<>Fidonet gateway, at:
Maurizio.Ciccione@p7.f206.n332.z2.fidonet.org
Drivers
For informations about drivers for audioboards (they are developed by 3rd
parties and aren't included into the AudioLab16 package) please contact Mr.
Peter Urbanec at:
amiga@cse.unsw.edu.au
@endnode
@node NEWS4 "AmiPhone v0.5B"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
AmiPhone
VERSION
0.5B
AUTHOR
Jeremy Friesner
E-Mail: jfriesne@ucsd.edu
DESCRIPTION
AmiPhone is a proprietary, AmiTCP based voice chat program. Using
AmiPhone, you and a friend can talk to each other over the Internet. ADPCM
compression is used so that this is possible over TCP connections as slow
as 14.4kb/sec.
Features:
- Full duplex asynchronous operation (CPU and network bandwidth
permitting)
- Several compression algorithms and variable sampling rates.
- Up to four incoming and unlimited outgoing connections can
be active at once (although you may only be transmitting on
one connection at any given time).
- Supports most standard parallel port digitizers.
- Volume indicator and bandwidth graph allow easy monitoring
of digitizer and net connection.
- Silence detection (data is only transmitted when the volume
is above a certain, user-specifiable level)
- Runs on the Workbench screen, or any public screen.
- Installer script included.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Requires: Workbench 2.04 or above.
AmiTCP3.0b2 or higher.
A standard 8-bit audio digitizer and microphone.
A TCP connection with at least 14.4kb/sec bandwidth.
Recommended: An accelerated (68020+) CPU.
A faster TCP connection. (28.8kb/sec or higher)
A line-level amplifier for the microphone.
AVAILABILITY
Available on Aminet as comm/net/AmiPhone0.5B.lha
PRICE
AmiPhone0.5B is a public beta release, and is therefore available at no
charge. Future releases will be DonationWare.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
AmiPhone is freely distributable as long as no charge is made for it other
than a small fee for the cost of the media.
@endnode
@node NEWS5 "Argel Pointers 5.0"
@toc NEWS
----<<<{{{[[[ ARGEL POINTERS 5.0 ]]]}}}>>>-----
AVAILABLITY:
This is available for ftp at musie.phlab.missouri.edu in
pub/amiga/ArgelPtrs/ArgelPtrs.lzx
You can also take a look at them on the WWW at
http://www.missouri.edu/~c621412 (go to the amiga page there). The ftp
site is accesible from the WWW (and there's a link on my web page)
INTRODUCTION / NOTES:
These are hires mouse pointers (that means OS3+) with a focus on fantasy
related stuff (e.g. AD&D character classes) plus some other stuff thrown
in like sci-fi (right now a cross between TSR's "new" Buch Rodgers, G.I.
Joe, and Star Wars) and believe it or not even some Christian related
stuff!
POINTERS (* = new to this version):
Fantasy: Cleric, Bard, Thief (Kender), two "generic" fighters, a ninja
fighter, Paladin, Ranger, and Mage
Fantasy Monsters(*): Megalo-centipede
Sci-Fi(*): SWAT and Shock assault warriors
Christian(*): Jesus on the cross with Mother Mary and some lightning; comes
in a regular color schem and an "antique photo" color scheme.
THE AUTHOR/ARTIST:
/---Russ-LeBar-------+------ c621412@missouri.edu ---------S()---------\
| // Dare to Dream | Creator of Argel Ptrs & Term toolstrip imagery |
| \X/ A M I G A | A1200-6MB-14Mhz881-426HD -- Term beta tester |
+^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^+
|WWW: http://www.missouri.edu/~c621412/ - Kathy Troccoli, artwork, etc.|
|FTP: musie.phlab.missouri.edu in pub/amiga - (Term betas, ArgelPtrs..)|
\------S()--Argel----------- Opinions are mine & thus CORRECT =) ------/
@endnode
@node NEWS6 "fMSX Amiga 0.7"
TITLE
fMSX Amiga 0.7
AUTHOR
Hans Guijt (h.guijt@inter.nl.net)
DESCRIPTION
fMSX Amiga emulates an MSX computer on an Amiga. Features include:
- Full emulation of the MSX1 system.
- Partial emulation of the MSX2 system (to be expanded in the future).
- Support for reading/writing MSX disks.
- Support for the SCC sound system.
- Support for MSX memory sizes of up to 4Mb.
(for those not in the know: MSX is an 8-bit computer system, similar to the
C64)
Software is not included with the package, but many packages (mostly games)
can be found on FTP sites:
ftp.saitama-u.ac.jp /pub/msx/
stargate.imagine.com /pub/MSX/
ftp.funet.fi /pub/msx/
riaph.irkutsk.su /pub/
Currently some 147 ROMs, 10 MegaROMs, and over 250 disk-based games have
been uploaded!
Of course fMSX Amiga is fully multitasking, runs in an intuition screen,
and has a font-sensitive user interface.
NEW FEATURES
This version features a complete rewrite of the Z80 emulation that runs at
the core of fMSX. The new version is slightly slower than the old one for
many tasks, but it has one big advantage: it completely eliminates the need
for 16Kb block copies. This means that booting with MSX2 ROMs takes about
9 seconds (instead of 45), MSX-DOS becomes usable, and megaROMs run at much
greater speed than before!
Another new feature is support for the SCC sound system. SCC was used in
some Konami games, and it looks somewhat similar to normal Amiga sound
(with sample length limited to 32 bytes). SCC emulation is not yet
complete, currently it only emulates 4 channels rather than 5 channels and
PSG (PSG is the native MSX soundchip, it is turned off while emulating
SCC).
Many MSX2 features were added. It is now possible to boot directly in MSX2
mode (no external ROMs required), but only screens 5 and 6 are supported,
as is screen 0 (80 columns). Support for screens 5 and 6 is very limited:
no sprites, partial blitter implementation, no line interrupts, etc.
A very special new feature is support for the v36 Amiga OS. Past versions
of fMSX required v39, but this restriction has been eliminated, making fMSX
accessible to a much wider public.
In addition to all this it has a special mode in which it acts like a
PlaySID-like music player (it still emulates a complete MSX but it does not
draw any graphics, great for MSX sound demos).
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Required are:
- Amiga OS 2.0
- 68020 processor
- 350 kilobytes chip ram
- 600 kilobytes other ram
Recommended:
- 68030 processor, at least 25MHz
- Those 600 kilobytes of 'other' ram had better be fast ram!
Note that fMSX Amiga does *not* require the AGA chipset. In fact it runs
on any chipset upto and including graphics cards!
AVAILABILITY
fMSX Amiga 0.7 is available from any aminet site, such as:
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/misc/emu/fmsx_0.7.lha (114682)
PRICE
It's free.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
fMSX Amiga 0.7 is publically supported freeware. If you are interested in
the source, and you're not afraid of function pointers and huge amounts of
assembly intermixed with C, you can request it from me.
If someone wants to do a special version (and I can think of several
possibilities, such as a version that uses the MMU for optimized Z80
emulation, or a version that has been optimized for the CyberGfx system),
contact me.
@endnode
@node NEWS7 "PD GIF Support for ImageFX 2"
@toc NEWS
Nova Design, Inc. Announces Public Domain GIF Support for ImageFX 2
For Immediate Release
Friday, October 27, 1995
Contact: Bob Fisher
Nova Design, Inc.
1910 Byrd Avenue, Suite 214
Richmond, VA 23230
804-282-5868
Richmond, VA - October, 1995. Nova Design, Inc. announced that it has now
unbundled GIF support from it's premier product; ImageFX, and released it
as a set of public domain modules.
This follows on the announcement earlier this year by Unisys that it would
be enforcing it's patent on the compression system used in Compuserve's GIF
graphic format and requiring a licensing fee for all commercial uses.
The new GIF modules include support for GIF89 specifications for
transparency and interlace mode, making these ideal for Web page graphic
creation.
The modules will be available soon on all major computer network services,
including the Internet's Aminet FTP sites in biz/patch.
For more information on ImageFX call (804) 282-6528, or fax (804) 282-3768.
ImageFX is a trademark of Nova Design, Inc. All other trademarks are held
by their respective owners.
@endnode
@node NEWS8 "ImageFX 2.1a Upgrade"
@toc NEWS
Nova Design, Inc. Announces ImageFX 2.1a Upgrade
For Immediate Release
Friday, October 27, 1995
Contact: Bob Fisher
Nova Design, Inc.
1910 Byrd Avenue, Suite 214
Richmond, VA 23230
804-282-5868
Richmond, VA - October, 1995. Nova Design, Inc. announced that it has an
all new upgrade to their hit special effects and image processing package;
ImageFX(tm). This upgrade is now part of any new ImageFX package and is
available free to all owners of ImageFX 2.0 who mailed in their
registration card. A minor shipping and handling charge will apply for
mailed upgrades. The theme of this upgrade is "Totally Toasterized!",
which is reflected in the extensive new support (since version 2.0 was
released) given to Newtek's Video Toaster(tm). ImageFX now allows realtime
painting and image processing directly on the Toaster's output display as
well as framegrabbing and rendering to the Toaster. Other new features
include:
CineMatte(tm) - the Amiga's first true blue/green screen compositing
system.
CyberGraphX - windowed full color previews for any graphics display card,
such as the Cybervision 64 and Picasso, running the Cybergraphx software
system.
Hewlett Packard Scanjet - use the HP Scanjet SCSI Series II scanner with
ImageFX.
Epson Scanner SCSI Support - new controls have been added to allow the use
of any Epson scanner connected via a SCSI cable in ImageFX.
PrimeraPro - print directly from ImageFX with Fargo's PrimeraPro printer.
Newtek Flyer Clip - any frame can be loaded instantly from a Flyer Clip
into ImageFX.
PNG - the new replacement for the now-defunct GIF format is fully supported
in this release of ImageFX.
...as well as new compositing methods, PaintFX(tm) improvements, AutoFX(tm)
batch processing scripts and much more!
The upgrade patch modules will be available soon on all major computer
network services, including the Internet's Aminet FTP sites in biz/patch.
ImageFX 2.1a's suggested list price remains at $349.95. Upgrades are only
available to registered owners of ImageFX 2.0 or higher. To check to see
if you are registered, or order the upgrade, call; 1-800-IMAGE-69 in the
U.S. or Canada. If you are outside this area, please call; (804)
282-1157.
For customer support or information call (804) 282-6528, or fax us at;
(804) 282-3768. ImageFX, PaintFX, AutoFX and Cinematte are trademarks of
Nova Design, Inc. Video Toaster and Toaster are trademarks of Newtek, Inc.
All other trademarks are held by their respective owners.
@endnode
@node NEWS9 "ImageStudio"
@toc NEWS
PRESS RELEASE: IMAGESTUDIO
LH Publishing is happy to anounce that ImageStudio from Andy and Graham
Dean is now available from LH Publishing complete with a 72 illustrated
printed page manual. The freely Distribuatable version is still available
from Aminet as well ourselves.
Priced at fifteen (15) pounds, ImageStudio 2.3 has a colour preview and
support for Cybervision cards. In a review in CU Amiga, ImageStudio
received 90 percent. For more details, contact LH Publishing at lthis
email address: larry@em.powernet.co.uk
Larry Hickmott
LH Publishing
@endnode
@node NEWS10 "Amiga Goes PowerPC"
@toc NEWS
PRESS INFORMATION FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Amiga goes POWER PC (TM)
Bensheim 07/11/95
During his key note address held in Los Angeles at the Video Toaster Expo,
Petro Tyschtschenko, CEO and President of Amiga Technologies officially
announced the Power PC to be the processor used in the future generation of
Amiga computers.
The first POWER AMIGA will be available 1st quarter 1997 and will feature
the Power PC 604 RISC CPU. Further models will be available later in the
entry-level, as well as in the mid-range.
The Power Amigas will be backwards compatible with current models and will
also feature a new and more powerful chipset.
"Our pre-emptive multitasking Operating System AmigaOS will be ported to
the Power PC platform first. Our goal is to make our OS hardware
independent to allow further ports on other platforms", said Petro
Tyschtschenko.
He also added: "We have a clear business plan: We do things consequently,
step by step. First, we ramped up the production and set up an
organisation to handle the Amiga market and satisfy the demand. Now that
we have achieved this successfully, we focus on research & development to
bring new and better products on the market. One of the mistakes the
former Commodore made, was to do too many things at a time, too many
promises and therefore losing focus on important aspects of its business.
We have learned from these mistakes and won't repeat them. Commitments and
promises are nice but facts are better."
The developments will also focus on including more features in the AmigaOS,
especially regarding network abilities and memory management.
The development of the native RISC AmigaOS will be made internally at Amiga
Technologies. An R&D department is currently being set up in Bensheim with
sufficient engineers to meet the announced schedules. Former well known
Commodore engineers as well as new competencies will join the team in
Bensheim this year.
This development project will also be involving a dozen companies in close
partnership with Amiga Technologies GmbH.
More good news for all Amiga users: The Power PC technology will not only
be available for new Power Amigas. Thanks to a close co-operation between
Amiga Technologies and Phase V, a German turbo board manufacturer, a full
range of Power PC boards will also be available for the A1200, A3000 and
A4000 series.
This will allow a general migration of the Amiga platform towards Power PC
in a short time, also for current models.
First Power PC boards for current Amigas will be available before end of
1996.
Amiga Technologies will be flexible in licensing the RISC Operating System
as before so that a global solution will be available for all above
mentioned Amiga computers. This is especially important for the
foreseeable partnerships.
The 68060 board for the Amiga 4000 T will be available during the first
quarter of 1996 and will provide the power needed by applications like 3D
rendering software, compilers and high-end graphics software.
During 1996, new 68K based entry-level models will be available. These
Amigas will be based on the A1200 platform, with faster processors, more
memory expansion capacity and CD ROM expansion.
Amiga Technologies is a 100% subsidiary of the ESCOM AG and is based in
Bensheim, Germany.
You are welcome on our WEB page for more information at
http://www.amiga.de.
CONTACT:
Gilles Bourdin
AMIGA Technologies
Berliner Ring 89
D-64625 Bensheim
Germany
Tel +49 6252 709 195
Fax +49 6252 709 520
eMail: gbo@amiga.de
Amiga is a registered trademark of ESCOM AG
POWER PC is a registered trademark of IBM corporation
@endnode
@node NEWS11 "Alien Breed 3D Special Edition"
@toc NEWS
Alien Breed 3D Special Edition
Alien Breed 3D - Full screen 1x1 Pixel Mode!!! Yes it`s true!!
Having caught wind of what other people were up to, Andy (coder behind
AB3D) has managed to re-write a lot of the original AB3D engine and now
offers the following features;
NEW ENGINE FEATURES!
* Glass Objects (great effect)
* Transparent textures (for fences etc)
* Ability to look up and down (Like, for eg, Dark Forces/Descent)
CHUNKY TO PLANAR SCREEN CONVERSION FOR 030+ BASED AMIGAS!
* 2 screen resolutions 192x128, 320x256
* 256 or 64 colours for A3000 compatability!
* Pixel Ratio options 2:2, 2:1, 1:1
* Support for Graphics cards such as the Picasso II
It is planned that we will offer the new code as part of the AB3D SPECIAL
EDITION PACK that we are now planning (price & availability to be
confirmed, but this will be shortly after Xmas).
The pack will also contain the following;
* Level Editor. Fully documented, INTUITIVE editor to all users
to define their own levels using existing or completely new graphics.
* Ability to load in original AB3D levels for inspection, plus
information in the manual about the levels (maps, design hints)
* Ability to design and introduce new aliens
* Ability to enter own mission text
* Ability to incorporate new sound fx
* A set of new levels using all new features to test AB3D stalwarts
ONLY TEAM17 MAKES IT HAPPEN... WATCH OUT FOR MORE NEWS SOON!!!
Email support@team17.com for news and information.
@endnode
@node NEWS12 "PowerPC News Interprets the Amiga"
@toc NEWS
PowerPC News Interprets the Amiga
[The following three news items were sent to me from Simon Austin of
PowerPC News. It's always interesting to see how the rest of the industry
views your moves...-Jason]
From simona@power.globalnews.com Fri Nov 10 09:33 CST 1995
PowerPC Amiga due 1997
The world should see the first PowerPC-based Amiga by the beginning of
1997, according to Petro Tyschtschenko, President of Amiga Technologies.
The original Amiga computer was developed by Commodore which subsequently
sold the technology to German PC maker Escom AG earlier this year (mf issue
8). Although best known for games-playing the Amiga A4000 computer is
actually a high-quality graphics workstation capable of far more than
playing games in 24-bit colour. Cleveland's Constabulary, for example, has
used the Amiga to develop a low-cost multimedia information network for its
1,500 of its officers.
But whether the first of the new generation machines, dubbed Power Amigas,
will be straight clones of the PowerPC standard - the Common Hardware
Reference Platform - is still an open question, as the Escom subsidiary
debates the best way to maintain backwards compatibility with applications.
The company is also in discussion with Motorola on the practicalities of
building a variant of the PowerPC 604 processor that includes a
68000-family CISC core. This would ease Amiga's transition to the new RISC
architecture. Whether such a hybrid chip can or will be built in time to
satisfy Amiga Technologies' tight deadlines remains to be seen, so the
company is also pursuing the software emulation path. A spokesperson
acknowledged that Amiga is talking to Apple about using its 68k emulation
technology, but said that it is also talking to alternative emulator
software providers.
Running existing Amiga applications on a plain CHRP platform will be tough
- the Amiga contains a number of proprietary support chips that the
software expect to be present. In the first instance, therefore, it seems
likely that the Power Amigas will be a superset of CHRP containing these
extra chips. The first models will also have to incorporate Amiga's
proprietary bus to allow the use of existing peripherals. However the
spokesperson said that the intention is to wean application developers away
from accessing the hardware directly; so that newer applications will be
hardware independent.
Tyschtschenko says that his company intends to actively licence the Amiga
OS version 4.1 to other computer companies, the eventual aim is to have the
shrink-wrapped OS available in the shops for users of CHRP machines to buy.
He is clear that the Amiga's strength is in its software - though asked
whether in a few years time Amiga Technologies will just be a software
house, he answers frankly "I don't know, I don't have a crystal ball".
---
Visual Information Services Corp is licensing Amiga Technologies GmbH's
hardware and software technology to use in a television and set-top box
combination. The Chicago, Illinois-based company was established
specifically to develop proprietary and Amiga-based set-tops boxes and has
ex-engineering staff from Commodore International Ltd among its development
team.
Amiga is developing a set-top box based around the Amiga operating system
and a new and modified version of its A1200 core.
Full details of the product were not available as we went to press but a
spokesperson for Amiga said that the set-top box will be available next
September and will come equipped with a CD-ROM drive, floppy drive, printer
port and serial modem connection or a built in modem.
Another US company, Omnibox is licensing Amiga's technology to develop its
own set-top box devices.
---
Cleveland Constabulary in the North of England is using touch-screen kiosks
to keep in contact with police officers and the public. It has spent
UKP150,000 on 30 kiosks, using 26 of them to relay messages to its 1,500
employees. The other four will be in public locations to raise awareness
and understanding of police activities. The system is based on Scala
InfoChannel. Information is entered into the network by the TV and Video
Unit at police headquarters in Middlesbrough and is sent to the screens
using British Telecommunications Plc ISDN links. The system runs on an
Amiga 4000 home computer fitted with an MPEG video board.
@endnode
@node NEWS13 "Amiga Atlanta Banquet"
@toc NEWS
Amiga Atlanta Banquet
Amiga Atlanta, Inc. cordially invites computer enthusiasts to the Amiga
Atlanta 10th Anniversary Celebration Banquet, Saturday, January 20, 1996 at
7 p.m. at the Terrace Garden Inn, 3405 Lenox Rd.(across from the Lenox
Square Mall) in Atlanta, GA. This is not only the 10th anniversary of one
of America's oldest Amiga user groups, it is also the 10th anniversary of
the Amiga platform. It is anticipated that Amiga users, developers and
retailers from all over the United States - and possibly abroad - will be
in attendance. Amiga legends such as Dave Haynie, Fred Fish, R.J. Mical
and Jason Compton are expected to attend. A representative from The
Governor's office will be on hand to issue a special proclamation. And,
the new owners of the Amiga platform, Amiga Technologies - all the way from
Germany - are expected to give the keynote address.
There is more to do on Saturday, January 20,1996 in Atlanta than go to a
history-making banquet, however. Many of those coming to Atlanta for the
banquet should also take the Grey Line Bus Tour of Olympic Venues. Yes,
see all the Olympic venues and see where Olympic history will be made
before the crowds come to town.
Space is limited. Banquet reservations are just $28/person. So, make your
banquet reservations now. Local reservations can be made by calling Lamar
Morgan at (404)365-0670. For those traveling to Atlanta from within the
United States and in need of flight and hotel reservations as well as
banquet reservations, call Bear Stearns Travel at 1-800-915-2327 and ask
for Cindy Benson. For those traveling to Atlanta from overseas for the
banquet, call Bear Stearns Travel collect at 1-816-880-3108 and ask for
Cindy Benson.
For more specific information regarding the banquet, check out the AAi Home
Page: http://www.mindspring.com/~amigaatl; or, send email to:
lamar@mindspring.com
Believe me, this is one banquet computer enthusiasts should not miss.
Lamar Morgan
President
Amiga Atlanta, Inc.
@endnode
@node NEWS14 "Light-ROM 3"
@toc NEWS
L I G H T - R O M 3 I S R E A D Y !
( for all versions & platforms of Lightwave 4.0 )
LIGHT-ROM 3 is a 3 CD-ROM set and sells for only $49.95!
LIGHT-ROM 3 consists of;
ROM #1 - Over 6,500 Lightwave objects from BBS's, Internet Sites and
exclusive contributions from all around the world! All of the objects
include thumbnail renderings for easy previewing. All of the Lightwave
content has been renamed & restructured to fit the requirements of
Lightwave 4.0 and their "Content Directory" function for easy loading with
Lightwave 4.0 as well as early versions of Lightwave for the Amiga. The
previous versions of LIGHT-ROM do NOT have this compatability between ALL
versions of Lightwave! ROM #1 also includes a selection of useful PC &
Amiga PD/Shareware programs, demos, plugins, text files, tutorials and a
stunning 360 frame Jpeg image sequence created with World Construction Set
Version 2 available soon for several platforms by Questar Productions.
ROM #2 - Includes a collection of 100 megs of 3D Studio objects, 175 megs
of Imagine objects, 30 megs of Sculpt 3D objects, 7 megs of Real 3D
objects, over 700 Jpeg textures (with thumbnail renderings for easy
previewing), PD/Shareware programs for PC & Amiga for graphics and a
VideoToaster directory with CG fonts, wipes and text files.
ROM #3 - Bonus "DEM-ROM" consists of over 1,100 digital elevation maps for
use in World Construction Set, VistaPro and Scenery Animator on ALL
platforms! Each DEM is represented with a thumbnail rendering of its
topographical map.
LIGHT-ROM 3 sells for $49.95 plus $4.95 shipping & handling to the U.S. &
Canada, $6.95 for international orders. MasterCard & Visa is accepted.
If you are interested in receiving a free copy of LR3, contributions to a
future issue of LIGHT-ROM will be accepted. You must contact me by writing
or Email for the details. Generally, your work has to be approved, and of
sufficient quality to qualify for a free copy of LR3. In other words, a
logo or a single 10K chair will NOT qualify for a free copy! You are only
granting me the rights to publish your work on any CD-ROM I may produce.
Your work is still your own & you may use it to contribute to other CD ROM
collections if you wish. 3D Lightwave objects are preferred, but homemade
professional textures can also be accepted. If your contribution is
submitted and not accepted, I will not use it.
If you have a collection of quality, Lightwave objects you qualify for a
free copy of the complete 3 CD-ROM set. If you only have one or two
Lightwave objects to contribute, if accepted, you will receive the first
CD-ROM (1 CD-ROM) of Lightwave objects only.
Advertising for LIGHT-ROM 3 starts this November with full page color ads
in VideoToaster User, LightwavePro, Amazing Computing and 3D Artist
magazines.
LIGHT-ROM 3 is published by Graphic Detail Inc. Any distributors (domestic
or foreign) who are interested in selling LR3 are encouraged to contact
Michael Meshew at (502)363-2986 or michael@iglou.com for information.
Thank You!
Michael Meshew
Graphic Detail Inc
4556 South Third Street
Louisville, Ky. 40214
(502)363-2986 voice & fax
1-800-265-4041 toll free order number
michael@iglou.com
LIGHT-ROM 3 is a registered trademark and DEM-ROM is a trademark of Graphic
Detail Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
@endnode
@node NEWS15 "SqOpal v1.4"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
SqOpal
VERSION
Version 1.4
AUTHOR
Steve Quartly (steveq@sndcrft.DIALix.oz.au)
DESCRIPTION
The ultimate image viewer for OpalVision!
SqOpal is a image viewer for the OpalVision graphics card. If
superview.library is installed you can show all the image formats supported
by superview. Without superview you can show all the image formats
supported by OpalPaint.
FEATURES
- Loads over 20 different image formats
(superview required)
- Images can be re-saved into another image format
(superview required)
- Full image scrolling
- Proportional image positioning
- Automatic image centering on loading
- Scaling of images to fit the screen
- Full control of screen format (High Res/Interlace/Overscan)
- SqOpal is a commodity
- SqOpal has a appicon
- Workbench/CLI interface
- Multi-select images from ASL requester
- Use Opal OR ASL requester
- Slide-Show mode with delay time for multi selected images
- Fully configurable
- Latch the Opal display for Workbench backdrops
- Full mouse and/or keyboard support
Added in version 1.4:
- Bug Fix - when SqOpal was started iconified or cx_popup=hidden, it
would crash the machine. Now ok.
- Bug Fix - Scrolling palette mapped pictures when loaded with
superview would crash the machine. Now ok.
- Bug Fix - Changing resolution of palette mapped images when loaded
with superview would change the image to grey scale. Now ok.
- Bug Fix - The mouse pointer was the incorrect colour when scaling
an image. Now ok.
- Bug Fix - If a load error occured when the menu was turned off
during slideshow mode, SqOpal would not recover properly. Now ok.
- Percentage displays have been changed to progress indicators.
- There is now a progress indicator for buffer conversion.
- You can now force a screenmode when Opal is used to load an image.
However this does take slightly longer and need more memory.
- Added the CENTERIMAGE/NOCENTERIMAGE Tooltype/CLI documentation to
the SqOpal.guide file. I missed it originally.
- I have changed the operation of the clear screen gadget.
- A file containing a list of files can now be loaded.
- Added Online Help facility.
- Superview Operators have now been implemented.
- I have changed the operation of the latch display gadget. Latch
display is now a toggle and will unlatch a display as well.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
- OpalVision graphics card
- superview.library
(Available from Aminet pub/aminet/gfx/show)
(Not essential but HIGHLY recommended)
AVAILABILITY
Any Aminet site.
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/gfx/show/SqOpal14.lha - (52461) bytes
PRICE
ShareWare, US$20.
DISTRIBUTION
Freely redistributable as long as archive is intact. All rights reserved.
Not to be re-sold, except for duplication/disk costs ($4 max), or with
express written consent from the author.
@endnode
@node NEWS16 "Master ISO v1.21b"
@toc NEWS
TITLE: MasterISO
VERSION: v1.21b
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
MasterISO v1.21b Maintenance Release
-----------------------------------
We would like to announce the availability of MasterISO v1.21b, which was
released as of October 19th, 1995. This is a maintenance update for the
MasterISO v1 package.
Registered uses may contact us directly for information on obtaining this
update.
About MasterISO...
------------------
The MasterISO software package allows a user to control a CD-R recorder to
create custom CD-ROM and CD-Audio discs.
CD-ROM discs are formatted in the universal ISO 9660 format, compatible
with Amiga, IBM, Macintosh and virtually any other CD-ROM equipped
platform.
CD-Audio discs are formatted to the Red Book standard and offer universal
compatibility with standard CD players.
For reference, our current list of supported CD-R drives is:
- Yamaha CDR-100, CDR-102
- Sony CDU-920
- Pinnacle RCD-1000, RCD-202
- Philips CDD-522, CDD-521
Please contact us for a current list of tested CD-R and SCSI controller
combinations.
Asimware Innovations Inc. is an Amiga software development house
specializing in CD-ROM and CD-Recordable technologies. Our current product
line includes AsimCDFS, MasterISO, Texture Heaven, Texture Heaven 2 and
PhotoCD Manager.
Sincerely,
Paul Reeves
Asimware Innovations Inc.
October 25th, 1995
@endnode
@node NEWS17 "CompactPlayer v1.4"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
CompactPlayer
VERSION
1.4
AUTHOR
Osma Ahvenlampi
[Editor of the Amiga Report Technical Journal! -Jason]
DESCRIPTION
CompactPlayer is a CD Audio player for SCSI CD-ROMs, similar to MCDP,
YACDP, CDPD, or CDP.
CompactPlayer is compatible with MCDP's CD index files. In fact, MCDP had
a heavy influence on CompactPlayer, in particular the SCSI routines.
CompactPlayer has been developed and tested on an Amiga 3000 and Toshiba
XM3601B, using AmigaOS 3.1. The SCSI chip used was the -4PROTO model.
Compatibility with other CD-ROM devices is unknown.
CompactPlayer uses the ClassAct GUI toolkit. Source has been included as a
demo of using ClassAct in an application. However, CompactPlayer can not
be recompiled without the ClassAct developer kit.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
A SCSI-2 CD-ROM or some other CD-ROM device that can be accessed with
SCSI-Direct commands. Some IDE drives attached to A1200 or A4000 IDE
interface might apply.
Preferably a couple of audio CDs ;)
Some ClassAct gadget classes, included in the archive and installed by the
provided Installer script.
AVAILABILITY
CompactPlayer has been uploaded to Aminet (ftp.netnet.net) and should be
available shortly at the URL:
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/disk/cdrom/CompactPlayer.lha (124570)
PRICE
GiftWare. A small gift or donation would be appreciated if you use
CompactPlayer frequently. This would also encourage me to continue
development and add features such as programs, random play and intro play,
as well as perhaps a cd.device and/or CD-DA (through SCSI and Amiga audio)
player module.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
CompactPlayer is Copyright ) 1995 Osma Ahvenlampi ClassAct is Copyright )
1995 Phantom Development
CompactPlayer may be distributed by any channels not owned or financially
sponsored by Microsoft or its subsidiaries.
@endnode
@node NEWS18 "Virtual Karting"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
Virtual Karting
VERSION
N/A
AUTHOR
Fabio Bizzetti (bizzetti@mbox.vol.it)
Music : Ruben Monteiro
PUBLISHER
OTM
5 Albert Road,
Tamworth,
Staffordshire, B79 7JN, UK
Tel. 01827 312 302
Fax. 01827 670 10
Email: OTM@OTMltd.demon.co.uk
DESCRIPTION
A fast frenetic, seat of the pants 3D virtual racing game, for those who
want to fly without wings!
VK is the fastest, smoothest, most detailed full-screen texture mapped game
the Amiga has ever seen. Combining all the fun and action of karting into
a totally realistic and mind numbingly fast driving experience. VK is
fast!
- 25 frames/second full screen action, its fast!
- Full texture mapped circuits and scenery
- Fly-by helicopter circuit previews
- Full 3d or 2D overhead game views
- Qualifying and intelligent computer opponents
- Realistic kart fx.
- Beginners, advanced, and Expert tracks
- 100cc and 125cc karts
- Hard disk installable
- Amiga 1200 (AGA) only - even faster on accelerated machines!
REQUIREMENTS
All Amiga AGA machines (A1200 & A4000)
Makes full use of extra memory or accelerator.
Hard Disk installable
AVAILABILITY
Release Date : 10th October '95.
Commercial game. Available from most high street shops, if not, why not!
Also available direct from OTM mail order on +44 (0)1827 312 302 and
available now by credit card. Playable demo on most Amiga mag coverdisks
across Europe over the next month or two (Nov-Dec 95).
PRICE
24.95 (UK-Sterling)
DISTRIBUTABILITY
(c) Fabio Bizzetti. Commercial release - NOT freely distributable
@endnode
@node NEWS19 "Jukebox 2.1"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
JukeBox 2.1
VERSION
2.106 (22.1.95)
AUTHOR
Franz-Josef Reichert
Internet: fjrei@kbsaar.saar.de
DESCRIPTION
JukeBox is a program to play compact digital audio discs by emulating a
graphical user interface similar to common CD players. It provides a
command line oriented, fully programmable ARexx user interface as well. It
will work on CD-ROM players plugged to a scsi-hostadapter or CDTV.
JukeBox will open its windows on the workbench (or any other public screen)
and do its best to allow a font sensitive layout. The main goal during
development was to create a very comprehensive, self- explanatory utility.
Features:
Full Intuition interface
ARexx port
Fully programmable
Keyboard shortcuts
Supports any release of AmigaOS
French, dutch, swedish, danish, italian
and german localization
with Workbench 2.04/2.1/3.0/3.1
Any screenmode or depth supported
Windows on workbench or any public screen
Tested with Enforcer and MungWall
Common CD player functionality
Catalogization, label and title recognition of your own discs.
Shuttle-wheel for pickup positioning
Play/Pause, Fast Forward/Backward, Shuffle Play, Repeat Mode,
Skip Track Forward/Backward, A-B cuts
REQUIREMENTS
AmigaOS 1.2, 1.3, 2.04, 3.0, 3.1 or later. The use of release 2.x or 3.x
system software is strongly recommended. arp.library recommended for use
with any OS release former to 2.04. This library is not included.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
SCSI/AT/IDE host adaptor and a CDROM device.
Currently supported are:
SONY CDU-8002/1.8g player module 2.0 (19.12.93)
PIONEER DRM-18 player module 2.0 (1.6.95)
NEC player module 2.1 (1.9.94)
TOSHIBA player module 2.0 (16.12.93)
Commodore CDTV/A570 player module 2.0 (28.11.94)
MATSUSHITA CR-5xx player module 1.2 (18.3.93)
TEXEL DM-xx2x player module 2.1 (23.12.93)
TEAC CD-50 player module 2.0 (19.12.93)
SONY CDU-8003/541 player module 2.0 (19.12.93)
CHINON CDS-431 player module 1.1 (14.6.93)
TANDEM player module 2.1 (27.3.94)
PIONEER player module 2.0 (7.10.94)
HITACHI player module 2.0 (27.8.94)
SANYO player module 2.0 (13.12.94)
NAKAMICHI player module 2.0 (20.2.95)
ANSI_player_module 2.9 (16.07.95)
ATAPI_player_module 2.3 (18.06.95)
SONY CDU-8002/1.8g player module 1.0 (18.11.93)
TOSHIBA_SCSI-1_player_module 1.1 (08.02.94)
ARCHOS_player_module 2.2 (16.06.95)
HOST
Any Aminet site, e.g.
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/disk/cdrom/jukebox21.lha (352017)
PRICE
Unregistered release is freely distributable, anybody is hereby encouraged
to include it in freely distributable software libraries.
Registered release with full functionality available from author. Printed
manual (german) available. Suggested shareware donation is US$ 30.00 / DM
50.00.
DISTRIBUTION
Freely distributable release (limited features); see documentation.
Shareware release available from the author.
@endnode
@node NEWS20 "QuietSCSI v1.1"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
QuietSCSI
VERSION
1.1 (20.10.95)
AUTHOR
Franz-Josef Reichert
fjrei@kbsaar.saar.de
DESCRIPTION
Can you sleep in the same room when your computer is on? I can not! The
harddisks make too much noise. Well, the power supply fan makes noise,
too. But since I got a temperature controlled model, I can stand it much
better. And there's another problem. The power led. Yes, it's so bright
that I can read books!
Speaking of SCSI harddisks, there is a mechanism to switch the motor off.
It will just stop to spin as if you switched your computer off. But the
drive is not dead. It's just q-u-i-e-t. It won't allow you to read or
write data, though. But the controller electronic on the harddisk is still
alive, and it might get a command to restart the drive at any time. Then
it will behave just as if you switched your computer on. The motor will
spin up again, and the drive will be ready to read or write data.
This little program does exactly this. It monitors all read and write
accesses to the drive. It also monitors all input events. If there is
inactivity for a certain period of time, it will spin down the drive motor
and dim the power led. If the next command arrives, it will spin up the
motor and switch to led back to bright.
REQUIREMENTS
A SCSI harddisk
AVAILABILITY
Any AmiNet site
ftp://uni-paderborn.de/pub/aminet/disk/misc/quietscsi11.lha (8980)
PRICE
Giftware, small donation appreciated.
DISTRIBUTION
freely distributable, anybody is hereby encouraged to include it in freely
distributable software libraries.
@endnode
@node NEWS21 "RTrack v0.1"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
RTrack
VERSION
0.1 (15.8.95)
PROXITY SOFTWORKS
Proxity Engineering and Technical Support
Usenet: pets@amiuni.tynet.sub.org
Fidonet: 2:246/1416.0 (pets)
AUTHOR
Boris Folgmann
Address: Friedrichstrasse 7
71546 Aspach
Germany
Usenet:
Internet:
WWW:
Fidonet: 2:246/1416.41 (Boris)
IRC: PRX
PGP Fingerprint: 82 84 70 38 26 5E 50 5A
9C DB CA CA 62 0A 31 52
Phone: ++49-(0)7191-23439
Fax: ++49-(0)7191-2604
DESCRIPTION
RTrack.lib is a link library for resource tracking for AmigaOS 2 and
better. All resource allocations are maintained in a linked list and
automatically freed before exiting. The linked list is located in a memory
pool, so the small allocations don't fragment memory. One RTrack list node
is only 12 bytes in size and the list handling is so fast that you won't
have any overhead.
Experimental version for discussion in comp.sys.amiga.programmer.
This version works 100% but the set of supported routines is not complete
yet. Please contact the author if you need a specific function in your
program.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Kickstart 2.04 or later
Workbench 2.0 or later
amiga.lib V40 for memory pool functions
AVAILABILITY
PRICE
Free
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Freeware (C) 1995 by Proxity Softworks
@endnode
@node NEWS22 "C-Shell v5.48"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
C-Shell (csh)
VERSION
5.48
AUTHOR
Andreas M. Kirchwitz (csh 5.20+),
based on csh 5.19 by Urban D. Mueller
E-Mail: csh-fan@zikzak.in-berlin.de
DESCRIPTION
C-Shell is a replacement for the AmigaDOS command line interface. Many
builtin Unix-like commands, very fast script language, file- name
completion, command-name completion, comfortable command line editing,
pattern matching, AUX: mode, object oriented file classes, abbreviation of
internal and external commands. Supports multiple users.
C-Shell is easy to install and to use. Online help for all commands,
functions and various subjects. ARP-free!
NEW FEATURES
Changes since version 5.42 (summary):
- Redirected output to a file can now be examined by other programs
while Cshell is still filling up the file. (files for redirection
are now opened "shared" instead of "exclusivly")
- Enhanced pipe functionality. Made "echo mem | csh" work again.
- Built-in command "copy" now has (optional) new output format which
prints full path of files being copied. (just try option "-x")
- Supports "muSetProtection" if MultiUser is installed.
- Built-in commands "chown" and "chgrp" now accept also user and group
names (as well as numerical IDs). Does only work with "MultiUser".
- Fixed bug in built-in commands "chown" and "chgrp" which could crash
under OS 2.x.
- Fixed fatal bug if non-interactive input line was too long.
- New option "-t" for built-in command "sleep": wait ticks.
- Built-in command "window" resizes/moves window much more faster now.
- Built-in command "version" now behaves more like Commodore's
command "version".
- Fixed a problem with localized date strings.
See file "HISTORY" in archive csh548.lha for complete listing of changes
and new features.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
AmigaOS 2.0 (or higher)
AVAILABILITY
FTP/Internet: AmiNet and mirrors
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/shell/csh548.lha (201791)
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/shell/csh548src.lha (144892)
UUCP/E-Mail : mail-server@cs.tu-berlin.de
Send mail to the address above and put the
line "send /pub/aminet/util/shell/csh548.lha"
in the body. (same for "csh548src.lha")
The archive "csh548.lha" contains binary and documentation, while
"csh548src.lha" contains C source code (for SAS/C 6).
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Freely distributable, Copyright by the individual authors.
@endnode
@node NEWS23 "AsimCDFS v3.4"
@toc NEWS
TITLE: AsimCDFS
VERSION: v3.4
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 v3.4 Maintenance Release
---------------------------------
We would like to announce the availability of AsimCDFS v3.4, which was
released as of October 24th, 1995. This is a maintenance update for the
AsimCDFS v3 package.
The update highlights include:
- support for Rock Ridge volumes;
- additional support for the Sanyo 254 CD-ROM drive;
- support for the Pioneer DRU-124X CD-ROM drive;
- support for the Nakamichi MBR-7.4 quad-speed 7 disc changer;
- the addition of some newer AmigaDOS packets; and,
- a few minor bug fixes.
Registered users can obtain this release via our BBS or ftp site.
- ftp: ftp.asimware.com
- BBS: 905-332-9207
In either case, you will need your AsimCDFS serial number to obtain access.
About AsimCDFS v3...
--------------------
The AsimCDFS software package is a CD-ROM control system which allows the
user to read most CD-ROM discs with an Amiga computer and a suitable CD-ROM
drive.
AsimCDFS is equipped with the following advanced features:
- access to ISO 9660, High Sierra, Rock Ridge and Macintosh HFS CD-ROM
formats;
- FishMarket, a CD-ROM disc containing the public domain Fred Fish
collection;
- AsimTunes, an audio librarian/controller providing advanced librarian and
playback features;
- support for direct digitizing from standard audio CDs and playing audio
via the Amiga hardware;
- CDTV and CD32 emulation modules, complete with autobooting from CD-ROM
discs;
- integrated support for Kodak and Corel PhotoCD discs. Colour WorkBench
icons are created for easy identification. Support for resolutions from
192x128 up to 3072x2048;
- preferences editor for all AsimCDFS settings; and,
- full ARexx command set available for all programs.
Asimware Innovations Inc. is an Amiga software development house
specializing in CD-ROM and CD-Recordable technologies. Our current product
line includes AsimCDFS, MasterISO, Texture Heaven, Texture Heaven 2 and
PhotoCD Manager.
Sincerely,
Paul Reeves
Asimware Innovations Inc.
October 24th, 1995
@endnode
@node NEWS24 "shutdown.library 1.0"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
shutdown.library 1.0
COMPANY
SHW Wabnitz
Grabenstrasse 33
53225 Bonn
Germany
Tel.: +49/(0)228/97289-0
Fax.: +49/(0)228/97289-50
email: shw@shw.com
AUTHOR
Bernhard Fastenrath (fasten@shw.com)
DESCRIPTION
shutdown.library distributes shutdown messages to programs which use it. A
shutdown command is included with the library.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
none
AVAILABILITY
AmiNet, ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/libs/shutdown.lzh
PRICE
Free. (Software authors are requested to send a registration to
amiga-dev@shw.com with a short description of their software).
DISTRIBUTABILITY
GNU Public License
@endnode
@node NEWS25 "Upgrade to THOR"
@toc NEWS
Upgrade from AmiQWK to THOR - discount
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
THOR is the premium offline reader on the Amiga, supporting a wide range of
formats like SOUP, UUCP, QWK, Fido, TCP/IP Mail/News (SMTP, POP, NNTP),
Bluewave, ABBS/MBBS, Hippo and Omen.
As many of you know, Jim Dawson will not make any new versions of AmiQWK on
the Amiga. As a courtesy to registered AmiQWK users, we are now offering a
$10 discount to register THOR for registered users of AmiQWK.
If you are a registered AmiQWK user and want to use this offer to upgrade
to THOR for a discount on the registration price, you must do the
following:
- Follow the instructions in THOR.guide and send the registration fee to
Eivind Nordseth.
- Instead of sending $30, which is the normal fee for registering THOR,
send $20. This is a $10 discount for registered user of AmiQWK.
- Please make sure that your full name, address, postal code, city and
country is included. If you have an Internet email address, please
include that one too. Make sure you include your AmiQWK serial
registration number and your key ID.
This offer is only valid when using our central registration site in
Norway.
The THOR team would like to thank Jim Lawson for his long support of the
Amiga and for providing us with his registration database.
If you have any questions, feel free to contact us.
For the THOR Team,
Petter Nilsen
THOR support : thor@hstud6.cs.uit.no
THOR WWW page : http://www.cs.uit.no/~kjelli/thor.html
BBS : Ultima Thule BBS: +47-776-13205/+47-776-81999
Mailing list subscription : listserv@hstud6.cs.uit.no
In the body: "sub thor-l Firstname Lastname"
Mailing list postings : thor-l@hstud6.cs.uit.no
@endnode
@node NEWS26 "Amiga Typeface Engine 1.4 Beta 4D"
TITLE
Amiga Typeface Engine
VERSION
1.4 Beta 4D
AUTHOR
Main engine and data files: Gordon Fecyk (ME)
(gordonf@freenet.vancouver.bc.ca)
post.library and PS init files: Adrian Aylward
distributed under his license in POST 1.7 (free with freely distributable
software)
FunkyFont by Radical Eye Software, originally distributed with Post 1.7.
DESCRIPTION
Amiga Typeface Engine (ATE) is my answer to Adobe Type Manager (tm Adobe
Systems Inc) for the Amiga. It allows apps using the OS to draw text with,
to use PostScript typefaces like any other Amiga font. ATE draws fonts
character by character on demand, to improve performance and make it
actually usable on 68000 systems.
NEW FEATURES
Compared to ATMbeta3d, ATE beta4d supports HWGPOST and fixes big problems
with KS/WB 3.0 systems.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Amiga with KS/WB 2.04 or later (V36 diskfont.library), 2 MB total memory,
hard drive, some CLI savvy if you plan to install more typefaces.
Recommended: 68020/881 combination or better, typefaces from ATM (tm) for
Windows (Times, Helvetica, Symbol, Courier). Support files included for
those typefaces.
AVAILABILITY
Aminet, via:
ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/misc/Atebeta4d.lha (251404)
and all Aminet mirrors.
Also available from me via UUencoded E-MAIL on request, and from Amiga
Computing UK's November 1995 issue.
PRICE:
Free. Commercial version using a Bullet style library with optional
patches and gadtools/ASL user interface in the works.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
As per Availability only, please. You can ask me if you want to
re-distribute ATEbeta4d. I'll probably approve as this is just for
tracking.
@endnode
@node NEWS27 "Motor Duel v1.1"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
Motor Duel
VERSION
1.1
AUTHOR
David Jameson (ae553@yfn.ysu.edu)
DESCRIPTION
A 3d driving/shooting game for one or two players. In the one player game
you have to try to reduce the computer car's energy to zero by shooting and
firing missiles at it before the time limit runs out. The two player game
can be played if you have a null-modem cable and two Amigas -- there is no
time limit, and the idea is to kill the other player before they kill you.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Should work on any Amiga with at least 1 meg of RAM.
AVAILABILITY
Aminet:
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/game/shoot/Motor_Duel.lha (324219)
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Motor Duel is freeware. It may be freely distributed as long as the
documentation is included.
OTHER
Motor Duel was previously released as licenceware in the UK via CLR. It
has been re-released as freeware by the author with the permission of CLR.
@endnode
@node NEWS28 "InfraRexx v1.7"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
InfraRexx
(and InfraJoy hardware design)
VERSION
1.7
(and InfraJoy version 4.0b)
RELEASE DATE
21-Oct-95
AUTHORS
Leon Woestenberg (leon@stack.urc.tue.nl)
Jeroen Steenblik (jeroens@il.ft.hse.nl)
DESCRIPTION
The InfraRexx software along with the InfraJoy hardware serve as an
ARexx-Infrared interface, that adds the function of an infrared remote
controller to your Amiga, and more.
With this software and hardware you can:
o Control external audio/video devices via ARexx commands.
o Control Amiga programs via a common remote control unit.
o Learn and edit new remote control infrared commands.
For example you can control a moduleplayer via your compact disc player
remote control unit. Or, control your video tape recorder via a graphic
user interface or an ARexx script.
The main features are:
o Seperate editor (with learner) and ARexx host commodity.
o Multitasking-friendly infrared sampling monitor, with very
low system overhead during monitoring; can also be disabled.
o Font-sensitive, style-compliant graphic user interface.
o Supports localization under Workbench 2.1 (or better).
o Uses AmigaOS 3.x functions and gadtools features if present.
o Modular lowcost hardware for joystickport, with throughput.
o Uses the Amiga Installer Utility to install onto (hard)disk.
CHANGES
o Sizeable main window.
o Added Commodore CDTV codeset.
o Added codeset for Reflex television.
o Added codeset for Samsug video cassette recorder.
o Several small bugfixes and optimalizations.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
InfraRexx needs at least AmigaOS version 2.04, and the commodity needs
RexxMast to be running in order to be useful. The software is useless
without the small InfraJoy hardware add-on, off which the design and full
building instructions are included. The hardware can also be ordered from
one of the authors.
AVAILABILITY
ftp://src.doc.ic.ac.uk/pub/aminet/util/rexx/InfraRexx1_7.lha
(168071 bytes)
PRICE
Free. The optional registration fee is USD 10. The minimal required
hardware costs about USD 10 if self-built. The complete hardware can be
ordered for the amount of USD 28, which offers free registration and one
free update.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Freeware; freely distributable software and hardware design. InfraRexx
Copyrights 1994-1995 by Leon Woestenberg. InfraJoy hardware design
Copyrights 1994-1995 by Jeroen Steenblik and Leon Woestenberg.
@endnode
@node NEWS29 "Amiga Elm v8.20"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
Amiga Elm
VERSION
8 (8.20)
AUTHOR
Andreas M. Kirchwitz
E-Mail: elm-fan@zikzak.in-berlin.de
DESCRIPTION
AmigaElm is an "Electronic Mail Reader" which allows you to read and write
mail. Normally you'd need a properly installed UUCP or IP package (eg,
AmigaUUCP, Feulner-UUCP, Dillon-UUCP, wUUCP or AmiTCP plus INetUtils) to
receive and send mail, but AmigaElm is highly configurable so that you can
take a mail-folder from a UNIX box, answer the messages and bring the
answers back to the UNIX box.
AmigaElm is easy to install and to use. The user interface is very
intuitive and similar to the well-known UNIX "elm". Beginners can control
all basic functions with menus and some nice GadTools requesters. Advanced
users can use aliases, prioritized message tagging, various filename-offers
when saving messages and lots of options to configure AmigaElm to fit your
needs. In a system with multiple users, AmigaElm allows separate
configuration files for each user.
AmigaElm can be invoked in a special "terminal mode" (all input/output
from/to console). This is useful for running AmigaElm in the current shell
window or over a serial line (eg, with AUX-Handler).
AmigaElm offers basic internal MIME (multimedia mail) functionality (eg,
sending 8-bit-text and binaries over 7-bit-lines) and supports "MetaMail"
(a full-featured package for handling all kinds of MIME messages -- also
available on AmiNet, see section "AVAILABILITY") and "ReqTools" library 2.x
(reqtools.library is included).
AmigaElm has built-in support for cryptographic applications (eg, PGP).
Encryption and decryption of messages is user-configurable.
NEW FEATURES
Changes since version 7: (summary)
- New config variable to iconify Elm's window with close gadget.
- Enhanced "get-string" code to get string from user in terminal mode.
- Built-in function "jump to msg #" now allows to edit the first digit
you've typed.
- After changing the folder ("c") Elm was sometimes confused if it
should store read mail really in the received folder or if the
current folder already was a received folder. This has been fixed,
neither Elm nor its author can be confused any longer ;-)
- Some changes in documentation.
(see file "History.Txt" for complete list of changes)
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
AmigaOS 2.0 (or higher)
And for normal usage: a properly installed UUCP or IP package. But can be
configured to run without a UUCP or IP package for processing ready-made
mail-folders (eg, from your work or university).
AVAILABILITY
FTP/Internet: AmiNet and mirrors
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/comm/mail/AmigaElm-v8.lha (214025)
UUCP/E-Mail : mail-server@cs.tu-berlin.de
Send mail to the address above and put the line "send
/pub/aminet/comm/mail/AmigaElm-v8.lha" in the body.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Shareware, Copyright by Andreas M. Kirchwitz
Source code only available to registered users.
@endnode
@node NEWS30 "ShutUp 1.3.5"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
ShutUp 1.3.5 UPS Software
COMPANY
SHW Wabnitz
Grabenstrasse 33
53225 Bonn
Germany
Tel.: +49/(0)228/97289-0
Fax.: +49/(0)228/97289-50
email: shw@shw.com
AUTHOR
Bernhard Fastenrath (fasten@shw.com)
DESCRIPTION
ShutUp monitors a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) and shuts down your
AmigaDOS, Netware, Unix or OS/2 system before a power failure can do so.
The AmigaDOS version broadcasts shutdown messages with shutdown.library and
calls an AREXX script.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
UPS
AVAILABILITY
Contact SHW Wabnitz (sales@shw.com) for further information.
PRICE
introductory price: $35
DISTRIBUTABILITY
(c) 1995 by SHW Wabnitz
@endnode
@node NEWS31 "UniversalXiPaintModule v2.0"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
UniversalXiPaintModule for XiPaint 3.x
VERSION
2.0
AUTHOR
Helmut Hoffmann
Rubensstrasse 4
41063 Moenchengladbach
Germany
EMail: hhoff@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de
DESCRIPTION
An universal picture loader module for XiPaint supporting over 20 file
formats. Module is designed for very high loading speed and support of
many picture file format variants (see below for detailed list).
In addition the module supports loading of pictures by Datatypes.
Internally supported formats for loading:
1) IFF-ILBM (1 to 24Bit incl. HAM6/HAM8)
2) PhotoCD (Base format 768x512 or 512x768 (portrait))
3) PPM/PGM/PBM (P1&P4 b&w, P5 grey, P6 color)
4) QRT (also known as dump format by PD raytracers as POV-Ray)
5) Targa (compressed & uncompressed)
6) PCX (compressed & uncompressed)
7) BMP (compressed & uncompressed)
8) TIF (packbit-compr./uncompr.)
9) EGS7.x window icons
10) DEEP (compressed & uncompressed)
11) YUV
12) VLAB raw
13) RGB
14) HHsYUVSq sequence format
15) IFF-PBM (DPII)
16) ACBM
17) FBM
18) Sun raster (uncompressed)
19) MacPaint (b&w compressed 1Bit format; datafork only)
20) HHsXRL formats
21) binary-EPS bitmaps (RGB and CMYK)
22) TBCPlus frames
The additional DataType support extends this list by many formats;
DataTypes can e.g. be found on Aminet in util/DType. The DataType support
is very fast, so that you can also view pictures in GIF or other formats
quite fast for which Datatypes exist.
The module can be used with both older XiPaints (3.0/3.1: invocation of the
module with an included ARexx script) and newer XiPaints (3.2 and up:
direct support of external loader modules).
NEW FEATURES
New since V2.0: Direct external module support for XiPaint 3.2
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
XiPaint 3.x (commercial painting program)
AVAILABILITY
Any Aminet site
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/gfx/misc/xipaintmodul20.lha
PRICE
Shareware fee:
Special add-on price: 10DM or 8US$ (only valid if you order the module
together with one of my shareware programs EGS-TV, EGSPhotoAlbum or
CyberShow)
Registration of just the module: 20DM (europe) or 18US$ (worldwide)
Registration of the module if you are already registered user of one of
my shareware programs EGS-TV, EGSPhotoAlbum or CyberShow: 15DM (europe)
or 13US$ (worldwide)
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Copyright by Helmut Hoffmann 1995
Limited demo version is freely distributable; registered users
will receive a keyfile which enables all features.
OTHER
The freely distributable version has some restrictions (all pictures will
only be loaded in greyscales) which disappear after you pay the shareware
fee and receive a special personal keyfile (together with the latest
version). Once registered, you can use new freely distributable versions
as update with your keyfile.
A similair loader module is also available for ImageFX (FastIFXModules46)
and PhotoGenics (UniversalGIO 2.0).
@endnode
@node NEWS32 "CyberShow Professional v5.2"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
CyberShow Professional
VERSION
5.2
AUTHOR
Helmut Hoffmann
Rubensstrasse 4
41063 Moenchengladbach
Germany
EMail: hhoff@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de
DESCRIPTION
A slideshow presentation program (including transition effects) and
universal picture viewer (incl. PhotoCD support) and converter for all
Amigas and esp. for Cybergraphic users.
This program can display pictures in many file formats (see below) directly
in windows on the Workbench (default public screen), in windows on public
screens or on it's own screen. It also offers (borderless) viewing as
slideshow. Optional transition effects can be used to make viewing
multiple files more interesting. You can even zoom into pictures to
magnify parts or zoom out to get even large pictures fully on screen very
quickly. An automatic presentation mode (configurable delay time) incl.
optional loop mode is also implemented.
If you have a suitable graphic board with Cybergraphic WB emulation
installed you can even watch the pictures in full color quality
(HiColor/TrueColor) on your Workbench. Without Cybergraphics the normal
color restrictions (2 to 256 colors) will lead to a reduced quality, but
smart pen allocation during displaying will still give surprisingly high
quality with 256 colors.
You can switch forward and backward between images and scroll images in
their resizable windows. An automatic preloading feature will reduce
waiting time to a minimum. While you watch one picture (and maybe scroll
it around), the next picture will already be loaded, so that it will be
there if you decide to switch... You can select down- scaled loading for
viewing in reduced size. Unlike many viewers, this viewer reduces most
pictures during loading and will thus be faster for reduced size loading.
Additional features include conversion to some 24Bit formats (incl. JPeg,
IFF-ILBM24, Targa) and fast direct transfer to famous image processing and
painting programs (ImageFX, XiPaint, ArtEffect/PicoPainter).
Internally supported formats for loading:
1) IFF-ILBM (1 to 24Bit incl. HAM6/HAM8)
2) PhotoCD (Base format 768x512 or 512x768 (portrait))
3) JPeg (color and greyscale)
4) PPM/PGM/PBM (P1&P4 b&w, P5 grey, P6 color)
5) QRT (also known as dump format by PD raytracers as POV-Ray)
6) Targa
7) PCX
8) BMP
9) TIF (packbit-compr./uncompr.)
10) EGS7.x window icons
11) DEEP
12) YUV
13) VLAB raw
14) RGB
15) HHsYUVSq sequence format
16) IFF-PBM (DPII)
17) ACBM
18) FBM
19) Sun raster (uncompressed)
20) MacPaint (b&w compressed 1Bit format; datafork only)
21) HHsXRL formats
22) binary-EPS bitmaps (RGB and CMYK)
23) TBCPlus frames
The additional DataType support extends this list by many formats;
DataTypes can e.g. be found on Aminet in util/DType. The DataType support
is very fast, so that you can also view pictures in GIF or other formats
quite fast for which Datatypes exist.
NEW FEATURES
New since V5.2: + Optional smoother cursor scrolling (with Shift)
or faster scrolling (with Alt)
New since V5.1: + Supports viewing of partially defective pictures
+ Faster JPeg loading
+ Transition effects now usable in all viewing modes
New since V5.0: + Zooming functions to zoom into and out of pictures
+ More file formats supported
+ German documentation now included
New since V4.3: + Automatic presentations with selectable presentation
time; useful for slideshows etc.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
OS3.0 (unlike previous versions OS3.1 is not needed anymore)
4MBytes FastRAM recommended
Optional for TrueColor/HighColor viewing:
cybergraphics.library V40 or higher and a suitable graphic board.
The Cybergraphics emulation is compatible with many graphic boards
(e.g. CyberVision, Piccolo, SD64, Spectrum, Picasso2, Retina-Z3,
Domino)
AVAILABILITY
Any Aminet site
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/gfx/board/cybershow52.lha
PRICE
Shareware fee:
CyberShow Professional 30DM (in europe) or 25US$ (worldwide)
Together with CyberShow you can order fast loader modules for several image
processing/painting programs at the special add-on price of 10DM or 8US$
each; currently available: FastIFXModules (ImageFX), UniversalGIOModule
(Photogenics) and UniversalXiPaintModule (XiPaint)
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Copyright by Helmut Hoffmann 1995
Limited demo version is freely distributable; registered users
will receive a keyfile which enables all features.
OTHER
The freely distributable version has some restrictions (e.g. all pictures
will only be displayed in greyscales) which disappear after you pay the
shareware fee and receive a special personal keyfile (together with the
latest version). Once registered, you can use new freely distributable
versions as update with your keyfile.
@endnode
@node NEWS33 "Amiga CDROM Guide v1.3"
@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 246 CDROMs!!!
- 80+ 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
raytracing.
- 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 [ List removed in the interests of space]
- 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 NEWS34 "DoIcon v1.6"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
DoIcon
VERSION
1.6
AUTHOR
Lars 'SFX' Eilebrecht
Glueck-Auf-Strasse 23
57223 Kreuztal
GERMANY
SFX@appl2.hrz.uni-siegen.de
Shadowfox@IRC
http://www.unix-ag.uni-siegen.de/~sfx
DESCRIPTION
DoIcon is an icon information and manipulation tool. It is designed for
quick shell usage and can be used with programs like DirOpus.
Features:
o Displaying of icon all related values...
o Manipulation of these values...
o Many different tooltypes manipulation functions
o Copying of most icon values into a destination icon
o Various icon image manipulation functions
o Search & replace functions for defaulttool and tooltypes
(with pattern support)
o Multiple files and file patterns are supported
o Full locale support,
you can use DoIcon in your preferred language
o ...
New features for version 1.6:
o Manipulation of the drawer showmode
(show all files/only files with icon).
o Manipulation of the drawer viewmode
(listed as icon, by name, date or size).
o Search & copying of a specified tooltype to a destination
icon (with pattern-support).
o Search & updating of a specified tooltype to a destination
icon. (Tooltype is only copied if it is not already in the
destination icon.) (with pattern-support)
o Copying of a specific or all tooltypes into an other icon
o Locale support: new danish and polish catalog included
FUTURE
Simply tell the author what feature you need. :-)
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
DoIcon needs at least Kick/WB 2.04.
For locale support it needs WB 2.1+.
AVAILABILITY
on any Aminet site:
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/cli/DoIcon16.lha
(80055)
or on the author's homepage:
http://www.unix-ag.uni-siegen.de/~sfx/programs/
RELEASE DATE
8. September 1995
PRICE
DoIcon is ANYWARE! :-)
(This means that you must send the author _anything_ to register DoIcon.)
DISTRIBUTABILITY
The DoIcon archive is freely distributable, but it is copyright 1994-1995
by Lars Eilebrecht.
@endnode
@node NEWS35 "RO v1.10"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
RO
VERSION
1.10
AUTHOR
Oliver Rummeyer
Hochbergstrasse 49/1
D-88213 Ravensburg
Germany/Europe
DESCRIPTION
RO is a new Intuition-controlled, fully user-configurable file manager for
OS 2.04 and newer. You can use RO to copy, move, rename or delete files,
and you can perform a filetype sensitive action command (e.g. show
pictures or texts, play sounds, etc with one single command button) on
files via GUI.
RO's mighty features will assist and help you on your daily work with your
Amiga. With RO there is no need to learn those cryptic shell commands,
because you have the complete power of your Amiga in one hand.
Some features are:
o uses MUI
o very small executable
o highly configurable
o user configurable filetypes
o supports datatypes
o supports XPK, PP and ARCHandler
o path name completer
o more than 50 internal commands
o user menu support
o hotkey & hotdir support
o powerful arexx port
o very fast directory and file operations
o appicon launches progs for defined filetypes
o english, french and german documentation & catalog
o supports middle mouse button
o nice preference program
NEW FEATURES
- Version 1.10 (16.10.95)
o Included preference program.
o Config now stored in 'ENV:RO/'
o Fixed some minor bugs.
o Catalog files changed.
o Minor code cleanup.
o Added config variable FRAMES.
o Added config variable MIDDLEMOUSE.
o Config supports '^' as esc character.
o Other minor changes.
REQUIRENTS
RO requires Magic User Interface (MUI) version 2.3 or later.
AVAILABILITY
RO 1.10 is available on Aminet, e.g.
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/util/dir/RO_V110.lha (299811)
PRICE
Shareware fee US$ 20 or 30,- DM
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Shareware, RO 1.10 is (c) 1994,1995 by Oliver Rummeyer
@endnode
@node NEWS36 "amiCheck v1.80"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
amiCheck v1.80 - checkbook/account manager os2.04+
VERSION
1.80
The demo version is fully functional except there is a limitation of 30
transactions. A key file is used to remove the limitation.
COMPANY
Shareware, registered version available from the author:
Douglas M. Dyer
5124 Observation Way
Alexandria, VA 22312
USA
Attn: amiCheck
Registration involves receiving a keyfile. The keyfile may be used to
download all future updates of amiCheck and register them by plugging in
your key.
This is not the same program as "Ami-Check", a circa-1990 (?) program by
Jeff Hoag.
Questions/comments: dyer@alx.sticomet.com
AUTHOR
Douglas M. Dyer
DESCRIPTION
amiCheck is an easy checkbook/ Account package for OS2.04+ systems. It has
many automation capabilities and can be driven almost entirely by keyboard
if desired. The interface is font-sensitive, style-guide compliant.
NEW FEATURES
Below list briefly some additions since the last post here. (which was
v1.31):
* Budget grouping
* ARexx
+ Internal as well as external control
+ Final Data Export and other macros provided
* On-line, context-sensitive help
* Check printing
+ Printer-check construction to support custom forms
or to modify an existing one to suit your taste or printer.
+ 1-800 number to order free sample checks for amiCheck
(good for either the demo or registered version), or real
printer checks (including optional custom artwork :)
* Various data-entry features added (including GUI enhancements)
* Import/export
* New preference settings and tooltypes/cli parameters
* Screen mode options
... etc.
If you are a registered user before the keyfile system was adopted, contact
me and I will email you your keyfile.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
AmigaOS 2.04 and better
AVAILABILITY
A full demo is available on AMINET.
One such site is wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4)
The file name there is amicheck1_80.lha, and is 239309 bytes.
It will be located in the /pub/aminet/biz/misc directory.
The URL listing is:
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/biz/misc/amicheck1_80.lha (239309)
PRICE
The registered version is $25.00 in the US exchange rate. Money orders,
Euro checks, personal checks (US or foreign) accepted.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
The demo on aminet is freely distributable, the registered version
"keyfiles" are not.
amiCheck is Copyright (C) 1994,1995 Douglas M. Dyer
@endnode
@node NEWS37 "HTML-Heaven v1.2"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
HTML-Heaven
VERSION
1.2
AUTHOR
Paul Kolenbrander
Email : paul@serena.iaehv.nl
Snail : Turfveldenstraat 37
NL-5632 XH EINDHOVEN
The NETHERLANDS
DESCRIPTION
HTML-Heaven is a suite of four programs intended to make the creation and
maintenance of WWW (HTML) pages easy. The programs in the suite interface
with your favorite editor (providing it supports text insertion via ARexx)
to provide you with a very comfortable environment. Now, inserting HTML
commands is as simple as point and click. This is the upgrade from version
1.1 with a host of exciting new features.
NEW FEATURES
Version 1.2 has all the features of version 1.1. Plus:
* Support for five new editors. MEmacs (thanks to Ellis Pritchard)
AME, PolyEd, SkoEd and EdWord v5.(Thanks to Martin Reddy)
* Improved scripts for a number of editors now support blocks the
same way that the TTX script does. (Yes, CygnusEd as well)
Just mark a block and hit eg. the gadget in HTML-Heaven.
* Support for character entities so you can now embed special
characters like ®, æ and þ for example.
* The brunt of the new NetScape extensions to the HTML language.
Including the BackGround= tag.
* Optional Edit Tag requester allows you to edit outgoing tag before
it is sent to the editor. Useful for entering URL's etc. in tags.
* The documentation is now also available in HTML format. And can be
viewed online via WWW on http://www.iaehv.nl/users/paul/index.html.
* iso2html (simply convert ISO Latin-1 characters to HTML entities)
tool by Christian Ruetgers is now included in the distribution.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
HTML-Heaven requires:
* Workbench 2.04 or above.
* ARexx (bundled with Workbench 2.04 and above.)
* Around 1MB of free memory.
* About 300KB of floppy or harddisk space. (installing the entire
suite and docs.)
AVAILABILITY
- ftp://ftp.iaehv.nl/pub/users/paul/amiga/HTML-Heaven.lha
- WWW - http://www.iaehv.nl/users/paul/index.html
- Most Aminet sites. Examples of which are:
USA: ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/text/hyper/HTML-Heaven.lha
EUR: ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/aminet/text/hyper/HTML-Heaven.lha
PRICE
The registration fee for the HTML-Heaven package still is only:
- Nederland Dfl 15,-
- Europe DM 15,- / Dfl 15,-
- Rest of the World US$ 15.- / Dfl 20.-
DISTRIBUTABILITY
The unregistered version is freely distributable if done in a non-
commercial way.
The registered version and it's personal keyfile are *NOT* freely
distributable.
This suite of programs is copyright 1994, 95 by Paul Kolenbrander.
OTHER
To encourage users to register, (I'd like to get some return for all this
effort I have put into creating the suite.) the freely distributable
versions does not support ToolTypes/parameters and will not supply on-line
help. Furthermore a 'reminder' requester appears on exiting any of the
four programs comprising the suite. The unregistered versions will also
not allow more than 5 ARexx commands per session. They'll keep
functioning, but ignore any further ARexx commands given by the user as it
has unloaded it's ARexx Host.
@endnode
@node NEWS38 "UniversalGIO Module for Photogenics"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
UniversalGIO module for Photogenics
VERSION
3.1
AUTHOR
Helmut Hoffmann
Rubensstrasse 4
41063 Moenchengladbach
Germany
EMail: hhoff@pool.informatik.rwth-aachen.de
DESCRIPTION
The UniversalGIO module set now consists of two modules:
1) Universal loader module
An universal GIO module for Photogenics supporting over 20 file formats.
Module is designed for very high loading speed and support of many picture
file format variants (see below for detailed list).
In addition the module supports loading of pictures by Datatypes.
Internally supported formats for loading:
1) IFF-ILBM (1 to 24Bit incl. HAM6/HAM8)
2) PhotoCD (Base format 768x512 or 512x768 (portrait))
3) PPM/PGM/PBM (P1&P4 b&w, P5 grey, P6 color)
4) QRT (also known as dump format by PD raytracers as POV-Ray)
5) Targa (compressed & uncompressed)
6) PCX (compressed & uncompressed)
7) BMP (compressed & uncompressed)
8) TIF (packbit-compr./uncompr.)
9) EGS7.x window icons
10) DEEP (compressed & uncompressed)
11) YUV
12) VLAB raw
13) RGB
14) HHsYUVSq sequence format (see below)
15) IFF-PBM (DPII)
16) ACBM
17) FBM
18) Sun raster (uncompressed)
19) MacPaint (b&w compressed 1Bit format; datafork only)
20) HHsXRL formats
21) binary-EPS bitmaps (RGB and CMYK)
22) TBCPlus frames
The additional DataType support extends this list by many formats;
DataTypes can e.g. be found on Aminet in util/DType. The DataType support
is very fast, so that you can also view pictures in GIF or other formats
quite fast for which Datatypes exist.
A new feature is available as preferences option: You can load pictures in
downscaled form. This is useful if you don't have enough memory to load
pictures in full size into Photogenics!
2) Animation saver module for HHsYUVSq animation format
With this module you can create TrueColor animations for playback e.g.
with CyberTVPlayer. CyberTVPlayer can show such animations on your
Workbench incl. TrueColor displaying with CyberGraphX.
NEW FEATURES
New since V3.x: Animation saver module included
Support for downscaled loading
New since V2.1: Extended file format information string for
pictures loaded with Datatypes
New since V2.0: Support of binary-EPS and TBCPlus loading
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
Photogenics (commercial image processing/painting program from Almathera;
Photogenics Lite is NOT sufficient; to use the Datatype loading or
downscaled loading at least Photogenics V1.2 is needed)
AVAILABILITY
Any Aminet site
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/gfx/edit/universalgio31.lha
PRICE
Shareware fee:
Special add-on price: 10DM or 8US$ (only valid if you order the module
together with one of my shareware programs EGS-TV, EGSPhotoAlbum or
CyberShow)
Registration of just the module: 20DM (europe) or 18US$ (worldwide)
Registration of the module if you are already registered user of one of my
shareware programs EGS-TV, EGSPhotoAlbum or CyberShow: 15DM (europe) or
13US$ (worldwide)
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Copyright by Helmut Hoffmann 1995
Limited demo version is freely distributable; registered users will receive
a keyfile which enables all features.
OTHER
The freely distributable version has some restrictions (all pictures will
only be loaded in greyscales) which disappear after you pay the shareware
fee and receive a special personal keyfile (together with the latest
version). Once registered, you can use new freely distributable versions
as update with your keyfile.
A similair loader module is also available for ImageFX (FastIFXModules46)
and XiPaint 3.x (XiPaintModul20).
@endnode
@node NEWS39 "AutoPEG v2.0"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
AutoPEG
VERSION
2.0
AUTHOR
John Corigliano
1327 Gilpin Ave.
Wilmington, DE 19806
USA
jcorig@strauss.udel.edu
DESCRIPTION
AutoPEG is a program that allows programs that can read 24-bit IFF images
to also be able to read JPEG compressed files. It operates in a manner
that is completely transparent to the program.
Probably, its biggest use is to allow you to JPEG all your textures/images
and then use those textures/images in your favorite 3D program (if it
doesn't support JPEG).
NEW FEATURES
- Only works with user-specified tasks
- Re-uses already decompressed files
- New prefs program
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
WorkBench 2.0+
68020+
MUI is required for prefs program, but not for AutoPEG.
AVAILABILITY
[Aminet] ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/aminet/gfx/conv/AutoPEG20.lha (59.929)
PRICE
Free.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
AutoPEG is copyright 1995 John Corigliano. Freely redistributable in its
unaltered entirety.
@endnode
@node NEWS40 "Offline Orbit v0.80"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
Offline Orbit
VERSION
0.80 (16-09-95)
AUTHOR
Janne Siren (siren@mikrobitti.fi)
DESCRIPTION
Offline Orbit is a multi-format shareware offline message reader for the
Amiga. It supports the Blue Wave, OMEN, QWK, SOUP, and WWF message
formats.
Some features:
o User friendly, font sensitive graphical user interface.
o Small disk space and memory consumption.
o AmigaOS 3.0 and ReqTools are supported, but not required.
o Replies can be edited after being entered.
o Automatic message format and compressor recognition.
o Optional joystick controlled message reading.
o User list for storing user names and addresses.
o Messages can be appended to existing reply packets.
o Locale support (Finnish localization included).
o Built-in Puzzle game.
NEW FEATURES
Some of the changes in Offline Orbit since version 0.76:
o Offline Orbit is now shareware.
o Joystick controllable listviews.
o Option for stealing tag lines.
o Locale support.
o Support for the numeric keypad when browsing messages.
o Option for case sensitive search.
o Better error checking for packing replies.
o Revised set of alternative icons.
o Bunch of bugs fixed.
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
AmigaOS 2.04 (V37) or higher. Memory requirements vary, depending on the
message bundles processed.
AVAILABILITY
Aminet
ftp://ftp.luth.se/pub/aminet/comm/mail/oo080.lha (235382)
http://www.mikrobitti.fi/~siren/oo/
PRICE
Shareware fee of $20 USD (70 FIM).
DISTRIBUTABILITY
Freely distributable evaluation version (not crippled).
Copyright (C) 1993-1995 by Janne Siren, All Rights Reserved
@endnode
@node NEWS41 "NetMail v1.3"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
NetMail
VERSION
1.3
AUTHOR
Riccardo Solmi
Via Lemonia 49
40133 Bologna ITALY
Email: slme10k1@bologna.nettuno.it
vat0062@iperbole.bologna.it
DESCRIPTION
NetMail is an electronic mail program with several interesting features:
- Graphic User Interface for all operations
- Shell interface for scripting purposes
- Autoconfiguration (as possible)
- Autorecovering and enhanced security
- On-line Help (incomplete)
- Designed for Internet, works with UUCP and terminal
connections
- Arexx drivers for many readers, editors, encoders,
SMTP & POP clients
- Multiple users
- Multiple accounts
- Multiple signature files
- User definable Groups to collect mail
- Automatic deletion of older messages in Groups
- Nicknames of users, groups, groups of groups, groups
of groups of...
- Nickname Capture
- Rules-based message filtering and macro execution
- Sender Capture with automatic Nickname, Group and
Filter creation
- Mailing-List Capture with automatic Nickname, Group
and Filter creation
- Delayed message composition
- File attachments (MIME, UUencode)
NEW FEATURES
- Few minor bug fixes
- Organization field support
- New drivers configuration window
- Drivers for GoldED and Dme
- Mail-Archie client
- Enhanced bug report form
- Import and export of mailboxes
- Readers support to MIME quoted-printable
- Send messages written by someone else
- Save configuration files on the fly
SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
ZedRexx by David Junod is required to start NetMail. AmiTCP, POP & SMTP
clients, UUencode & MIME encoders are also required in order to use all
program features. (Note: NetMail configures them automatically)
AVAILABILITY
NetMail 1.3 is available on aminet:
ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/aminet/comm/mail/NetMail-13.lha (132857)
PRICE
NetMail is shareware. The registration fee is USD 30 or DM 40 or Lire
50000.
DISTRIBUTABILITY
NetMail is SHARWARE and (c) 1995 Riccardo Solmi. It may be freely
distributed in its intact form. If you use it as your primary mail program
you must register.
@endnode
@node NEWS42 "Aminet CD 8"
@toc NEWS
TITLE
Aminet CD 8
AUTHOR
Urban D. Mueller (umueller@wuarchive.wustl.edu)
CONTENTS
Aminet CD 8 contains over 1 gigabyte of freely distributable software. The
newest file included is dated September 8th. Besides the new software, the
CD concentrates on music modules. The space is used as follows (after
decompression):
620M of software newer than Aminet CD 7
450M of images
50M of top downloads
These consist of:
1900 mods (800 of them multichannel)
1100 tools
160 pictures
140 games
100 demos
The modules were collected from various sources besides Aminet, and will
show up on Aminet eventually.
ACCESS SOFTWARE
Amigaguide based user interface, allows easy unpacking and viewing using a
single mouse click.
Extensive search facilities. Finds words in descriptions or readmes, and
outputs matches as an index that allows immediate viewing.
New access features on this CD:
- DeliTracker is now the default module player, handling all the
multichannel modules very nicely.
- 'Find' lets you search all CDs now anytime, and lets you extract
files from other CDs than the current one.
- The Files.BBS and Files.MSD index files have been adapted to the
needs of various BBS programs.
- Various minor bugs have been fixed.
PRICES
The CD can be ordered from the following addresses: (credit cards OK)
Germany: Stefan Ossowski (English spoken)
Tel: +49-201-788778
Fax: +49-201-798447
Email: stefano@tchest.e.eunet.de
Price: DM 25
USA: Fred Fish
Tel: +1-602-491-0442
Email: orders@amigalib.com
Price: $19.95
Prices exclude shipping. Subscriptions are available. More information,
including distributors in other countries, is found in the text file
docs/misc/CD-Orders.txt on Aminet. A complete index is found in
docs/lists/Aminet-CD-8.lha
Authors of software on the CD are entitled to one free CD. Send HELP
FREEBIES to aminet-server@wuarchive.wustl.edu for more info.
Still available: Aminet Set (the complete Aminet as of Jan 95 on 4 CDs),
Aminet 6 (Jun 95, highlighting demos) and Aminet 7 (Aug 95, focus on clip
art).
@endnode
@node NEWS43 "Intangible Assets Manufacturing Announcements"
@toc NEWS
Intangible Assets Manufacturing Announces
Ami-FileSafe available in North America
Eight Freely Redistributable Disks to Connect Your Amiga!
IAM's New European Distribution
Ami-FileSafe
Drexel Hill, PA (27 September, 1995) Intangible Assets Manufacturing today
announced that it has started shipping Ami-FileSafe to dealers and
end-users in North America.
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 dow n and removing SCSI cables while
writing to the drives. "Not once through all these heinous eye watering
tests could we corrupt the AFS partitions!"
List prices are: Consumer $40, Professional $99.95.
(An AFS FAQ is available on both our Web site and our FTP site.)
8 FRD Disks 2 CYA
Drexel Hill, PA (15 September, 1995) Intangible Assets Manufacturing today
announced the availability of it's "Eight Freely Redistributable Disks to
Connect Your Amiga!"
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 a nd 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."
European Distribution
Drexel Hill, PA (15 September, 1995) Intangible Assets Manufacturing today
announced that it has concluded a distribution agreement with Fourth Level
Development in the UK.
IAM will be the exclusive North American distributor for Fourth Level
Development products, particularly Ami-FileSafe.
Fourth Level Development will be the exclusive European distributor for IAM
products. It will also be extending it's distribution throughout the rest
of the world exclusive of North America.
Dale L. Larson, el Presidente, Intangible Assets Manufacturing, said, "We
are pleased to be working with Fourth Level because of their high standards
of professionalism in the Amiga market. This deal works for everyone
involved. Our products will see furt her economies of scale and wider
distribution. Fourth Level will increase their product line. Our current
distributors will continue to get good prices and will get improved service
through the better physical proximity of FLD. Our customers will be able
to get product more easily and less expensively. Everyone wins."
See our Web page or AmigaGuide catalog for a complete list of distributors.
Contact Information
Intangible Assets Manufacturing
http://www.iam.com (the best and latest info)
ftp:ftp.iam.com/biz/iam/iam.lha (AmigaGuide catalog/ordering information)
info@iam.com (infobot)
828 Ormond Avenue
Drexel Hill, PA 19026-2604
USA
tel +1 610 853 4406 (orders only)
fax +1 610 853 3733
All IAM products are available from Amiga dealers world-wide. If your
dealer doesn't stock our products, ask her to. Europeans must order
through our European distributors. North Americans may purchase direct
from IAM as well as from their dealers.
IAM also publishes "Connect Your Amiga! A Guide to the Internet, LANs,
BBSs and Online Services", "Eight Freely Redistributable Disks to Connect
Your Amiga!," DiskSalv3, Amiga Envoy 2.0b, and "The Deathbed Vigil... and
other tales of digital angst," and the "Connect Your Amiga" T-Shirt. It
distributes Ami-FileSafe. Dale L. Larson, el Presidente, IAM, is a former
Software Engineer with Commodore's West Chester R&D facility, is the author
of many Amiga articles and an Amiga book, and has spoken at dozens of Amiga
shows and conferences.
Fourth Level Development
afssales@flevel.demon.co.uk
http://www.flevel.co.uk (coming soon!)
31 Ashley Hill Montpelier
Bristol England BS6 5JA
tel +44 117 955 8225
fax +44 117 955 9157
@endnode
@node FEATURE1 "Video Toaster Report"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Video Toaster Report
Ken Krebs kkrebs@netcom.com
Robert Reiswig rcr@netcom.com
===========================================================================
The K&R Report
for
Video Toaster User Expo '95
Universal City Hilton
November 1-4, 1995
Our idea for doing this "review" was to try to get a normal Amiga users
overview of the show, if there is such a thing. These are our views and
thoughts from the show with comments thrown in...
And we're on our way
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well when we heard that the Video Toaster User Expo '95 was on we had to
go. Of course this being the only major "Amiga" show in the USA this year,
how could we miss it?
The round trip was 680.4 miles and took 11 hours and 40 mins making for a
very long drive. It cost $35 USD in gas, along with $6 USD in parking and
$15 USD each to get into the Expo. Oh, and we made 6 or 7 pit stops along
the way for food and leg streches. If you do plan to take long drives with
someone, like we did, make sure you can chat with the other person. This
will make the time go by much faster. If you don't know what Interstate 5
(I-5) in California is like, just picture a _bad_ for, next loop with
interesting smells thrown in. Hundreds of miles of road with similar
looking scenery with cattle farms and rest stops to break the monotony.
We visted the Expo on Saturday November 4th 1995. We were there from
opening 10:00am to about 12:00pm. Approximately 2 hours.
Now for the review of the booths. If we left out a booth, it could be for
many reasons. Either the booth didn't catch our eye, didn't belong there
or it was very old news.
Let the browsing begin!
THE BOOTHS
~~~~~~~~~~
AMIGA TECHNOLOGIES GMBH / SERVICE MANAGEMENT GROUP, INC.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: This was my second visit to a computer show of any kind. The first
show I ever visited was AmiExpo in Oakland. My ranking of this booth on a
scale of 1-10 would probably be about a 3. The booth consisted of 3 long
counters made into a square with a partition completing one side of the
square. On the counters, there were about 3 A4000Ts and about 2 A1200s.
All the computers seemed to be running Pinball Mania except for one running
some Scala advertisement. The weird thing was that NONE of these Amigas
had any speakers plugged into them! I told the guy in the booth that a set
of speakers would make loads of difference for their display, the guy said
"Well, it's loud enough here as it is! No need for us to add to the
noise." "WHOA!" I thought, "this guy needs to learn how to attract
someone's attention with a computer!" The first rule is to have your
display actually running something interesting. The second rule is to make
it LOUD! I had forgotten that the monitors were supposed to have speakers
in them too so I didn't look for that. Apparently, the guy forgot too :)
The A1200 looked just like any other A1200 I had seen. There's still a
blank key near the shift key. Wonder if they will ever get rid of that :-B
The A4000T looked pretty slick.. but as soon as you open the door, it
looks just like any other PC Tower case. This, of course, isn't all that
bad - it's just that I like to have Amiga's have their unique look to them.
(Like the Amiga 3000)
One cool thing was that they had several CU Amiga magazines out on the
counter as freebies. I thought that was a smart move. It made me happy,
anyway. :)
Rob: After seeing many CBM booths at many shows I would rank this as a 3 or
a 4 on a scale of 1-10. I am sure this is due to the fact that it was
their first show. First, it was very good to see the A4000T in its "final"
stage. One thing that I heard was that the A4000T was still using the 880K
floppy, no one in the booth could answer questions about this. When we
visted the booth, Gilles Bourdin was giving a speech and Petro
Tyschtschenko was with him backing him up. The people helping in the booth
seemed to be a mix of everything from dealers to writers. They did have
the A4000T and A1200 up and running on the new M1438S 14" color monitor.
Also they had an open A4000T for people to look at. The case on the A4000T
was not as clean looking as the A3000's case but I did think it was better
then the A4000 case! One thing I did not understand is that it seemed all
the machines were running Pinball Mania, or whatever the pinball game is
that's bundled with the A1200. Even though I did not get any of my real
questions answered and the booth did not look like a million bucks I was
very glad to see Amiga Technologies was present and showing the Amiga in
the USA! It's only a matter of time until the Amiga is back at full steam
in the USA! (The spec sheets for the products were very nice!!)
NEWTEK
~~~~~~
Ken: Newtek's corner looked pretty cool. It was set up so there was a
bunch of chairs in front of an almost cylindrical type of booth where they
had a big monitor mounted so you can view what the demonstrator was
showing. They were mostly demoing the Flyer. It didn't keep my interest
much. I miss Kiki. She always seemed so much more alive than this guy.
Granted, if you want to know how something works, it shouldn't matter who's
demoing it. It's just that Kiki added a lively twist to demos - she was
extremely fun to watch.
There were a few more setups to the sides of the booth. Ppeople could go
one on one with Newtek reps and have features shown to them on demo
machines.
There was also a table set up at the front of the booth where two
Newtekkers were handing out brochures and answering questions.
This booth was pretty professional looking and gets a big thumbs up from
me.
Rob: Newtek had a nice booth and as always there were a lot of people
around. All I can say is that I wish that I was rich enough to afford a
Flyer. James H. was showing how you could, within a matter of seconds,
edit together a segment of video... WOW!
AIRWORKS MEDIA
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: Airworks Media was one of the first booths you see as you walk in the
door. They had a bunch of chairs set up and a lady sitting on a stool with
a microphone headset sort of deal. On display was their program called
TuneBuilder. TuneBuilder does just that - build tunes! This program is
great for those who need to add background music to animations or video
productions. The interface allows you to select the style, mood, speed,
etc. of the tune you need and then TuneBuilder will piece a tune together.
If you didn't like the way it came out, you can always just click on a
button and it will reassemble the tune in a different way. You could also
take pieces of the tune and manipulate them in the order you want.
TuneBuilder uses CD-DA from CD-ROMs and copies it to the hard disk to
assemble. So you need a lot of HD space. They have Mac, Windows and Amiga
versions of the program. Airworks sent me a beta of this a while back and
I was really impressed. They sent a CD-ROM with the Mac and Windows
versions and a disk with the Amiga version. It's nice to see companies
support all three platforms!
Rob: I did not look to close at this booth... I'm not really into making
music.
ANTI GRAVITY PRODUCTS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: This booth was basically an Amiga shop. It was easily the sloppiest
looking booth at the show. They were getting traffic though, so it must
not have been too bad. They had clear plastic walls that they taped their
product behind and put the price on them. Their prices were pretty decent.
Rob: These were the only guys at the show selling a mix of products at the
show. They did have some good deals. They had LinkIt! for $45 while the
Authors of LinkIt! were selling it for $50.
ASIMWARE INNOVATIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: I didn't look at this booth too much. Just heard the high price of
MasterISO and kinda avoided the booth after that. :) Plus, there was
always someone blocking my way. I wanted to check out AsimCDFS, but didn't
have the patience to wait for the people to move.
Rob: They were showing Asim and MasterISO. This was a nice booth. I think
they were showing AsimCDFS 3.4. An idea to think about might be to release
a AsimCDFS Lite. Just the CD FS, this way you can use the other tools from
AmiNet or elsewhere and use their nice filesystem to access the cd.
B & H PHOTO-VIDEO
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: They had a whole wall lined up with video cameras and stuff. No one
seemed to be around so I just looked at the cameras as I passed by.
Rob: At all the shows that I've been to, these guys are always packing up
the booth before the last day of the show.
COMPUTER DISPLAY SOLUTIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: They were displaying several monitors that support the Amiga modes. I
Just glanced at this booth. I was looking for CD-ROMs like Rob was :)
Rob: Funny thing about this booth is that it was referred to as the CD
SOLUTIONS booth. I kept looking for CD ROM drives :) The monitor they were
showing looked good. If you are looking for a monitor that displays all
the amigas resolutions you might take a look at them.
NEWTEK SYSTEMS GROUP/DESKSTATION TECHNOLOGIES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: This display was just a whole bunch of Raptors and other computers set
up all ready for rendering. I didn't spend much time here, just watched
some people setting up an animation to render. Most of them were Raptors.
Man were these babies FAST!
Rob: WOW ... these guys put together some _fast_ machines! LightWave on a
300MHz Alpha 21164 running under NT is just SCREAMING!
DESKTOP IMAGES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: I believe this booth was selling instructional video tapes. I didn't
stick around this booth much as the lady there was almost always talking to
someone. I don't blame 'em either, she was cute 8)
Rob: I take the 5th
KILLER TRACKS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: Passed by the booth, didn't stop.
Rob: Did not stop by their booth, but it looked like they were selling a CD
with "killer" tracks.
LEGENDARY DESIGN TECHNOLOGIES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: This booth was selling a few software products. One was PC-Task 3.1
and another was LinkIt! I was more interested in LinkIt! because it is a
file transfer program that will link between 2 Amigas, 2 PCs or between
Amiga and PC. I have been using TwinExpress to transfer files between my
Amiga and PC and it is extremely slow. LinkIt! is supposed to be able to
use the parallel ports to transfer files which is LOTS faster. If they had
a box with a parallel cable in it instead of a serial cable, I would have
bought one on the spot. The PC side requires Windows, Windows95 or
WindowsNT and the Amiga side just requires AmigaOS 2.04 and up I think.
(Are people still using 1.3 and lower???)
Rob: They were selling and showing their new product Link It! This looks
like a commercial TwinExpress. What it does is let you "link" an Amiga to
an Amiga or an Amiga to a PC. It does have a GUI interface for both PC and
Amiga. I was going to pick one up but they were only selling the Serial
version. They do support parallel transfers (twin does not do this). Also
the interface looked like it was locked to 640x200 and 600x400 screens. So
if you run CyberGraphX or EGS, it might not take advantage of bigger
screens.
MACROSYSTEMS
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: They had the DraCo on display! Unfortunately, I didn't get to play
with it. It seems they had one with the case open to look at. I must have
missed the one they had running :( I really wanted to play with it to get a
feel for how fast and compatible it is.
Rob: I was hoping to see one of the DraCo machines up and running... but
there was not one when I stoped by. I asked if they were shipping and they
were... Also they are working on an 040 option to get more out the door
(guess they cant get 060s either). Thanks to Doug for answering my silly
questions.
NOVA DESIGN
~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: This was a simple, but nice looking booth with flyers galore. The
author was there demoing ImageFX. Nice to see them present at the show.
Rob: I was glad to see the author of ImageFX at the show answering
questions and showing his great work.
LOS ANGELES VIDEO TOASTER USERS GROUP
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: At this booth they were handing out copies of their newsletter and
also copies of Video Toaster Magazine. I made sure to get those. :) They
were also signing people up to the group. Other than that, not much to
talk about.
Rob: Every time I walk by their booth at a show.. I always wonder if its
ok to take a Magazine. They needed a sign with "Free Samples" on it :).
QUESTAR PRODUCTIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: Now this booth was a real treat. 2 or 3 systems set up running WCS.
I was mostly impressed by the looping videotape they had. It showed the
power of World Construction Set. The output from this program looked LOTS
better than Kai's Power Tools: BRYCE. In the tape, they were showing
beaches with waves rolling onto them! Yes, these waves even had whitecaps
and would break on the beach! The clouds were fantastic, too! You could
even see the shadows the clouds would make when they passed in front of the
sun. Other features of this program are: Astronomical Features (sun, moon,
planets), Trees (a whole library of them! You can even add your own.), and
Rock. As Rob mentions below, the learning curve of this program is pretty
high. But if you want the best Amiga landscaping program, WCS is it. Oh,
one more thing... it uses MUI. That will probably make a lot of people
cringe, but oh well. :)
Rob: This is the company that makes World Construction Set (WCS). They
were running demo video tapes showing animations that WCS had rendered.
They looked very nice. What they didn't really show was the large learning
curve that you need to overcome to make such a nice anim. They are porting
WCS to "Intel NT/3.1/3.11/95", MIPS/PowerPC/Alpha running NT and UNIX/SGI.
SILENT PAW PRODUCTIONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: Well, one of the main things I had wanted to see was this PAWS
portable solution for Amigas. I've been seeing advertizements in Amiga
mags for quite a while now and haven't really heard many facts about it.
Well, I finally was able to see 'em for my own eyes. They had cases for
the A600, A1200 and A4000 on display. The A600 and A1200 cases were made
out of formed sheet metal and were heavy as can be. The A1200 version is
supposedly 14 pounds for a fully loaded system and the A600 version is 11
pounds. The Active Matrix LCD screens measured 10.4" and have a resolution
of 640x480. It has provisions to use 2 Duracell DR31 laptop batteries
common in Compaq portables. He said they provide about 1.25 hours of
running time. (That's with the thing sitting there turned on.) He said
they were supposed to be ready "next month." Yeah right. :) Not a single
one was running. You'd think a person would have a working prototype when
the real ones would be ready "next month." The A4000 case was big and
apparently, from what the guy said, is a standard luggable pc case. It was
made out of molded plastic and looked pretty decent. Maybe it shouldn't be
called luggable, but draggable. These things are HEAVY and could use a set
of wheels on em. :) I wanted to see the Gecko video converter running but
alas, nothing. Also available was the PAWStrac trackball. It's basically
a mouse with a small trackball on the top with 3 buttons around the ball.
He had a pile of PAWS pins sitting there and I snagged one. I'm a sucker
for freebies :-B
Rob: After seeing this product last year and thinking "WHY?" I was glad to
see it was much better this year! By better I mean it did not look like a
high school shop project. The cases looked very nice. I was hoping to see
one up and running, but none were. Also the price (around $2800us) seemed
a bit high... but if there is a market this it will sell.
STORAGE PATH BY SYS CORP.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: Boxes. Big expensive boxes with blinking lights. My eyes glazed over
at this booth because I knew that these things were almost the price of a
car. :)
Rob: They were showing a RAID setup. While saving a file to the drives you
could pull out a drive and it would continue to work. This is one of the
booths that you need to win the lottery to really get interested in.
T.S. COMPUTERS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: When I came to this booth there was a guy there who immediately
started yapping away. I just wanted to look at what was in the booth but
the guy kept trying to make conversation. Unfortunately, this made me want
to walk away and I did. I avoided the booth after that.
Rob: TS had a small but packed booth showing many things... They had DPS's
new digital video card, Perception (very nice). They are a dealer in
Hollywood that realy look like they support the Amiga. As always James
answerd all my questions.
VIDEO TOASTER USER MAGAZINE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: Free Magazines. Whee. :)
Rob: I take the 5th (They need a "Free Sample" sign too.)
VILLAGETRONIC MARKETING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: Visiting the VillageTronic booth was quite a surprise. They had 2
computers set up, one Mac and one Amiga and each was running their own
Picasso card. Yes, you heard right - the Mac was running a MacPicasso
card. This was pretty impressive. It was able to genlock and overlay
computer images onto video. They were using a very nice looping animation
of a rendered dinosaur to show it off. The animation was running very
smooth on the Mac but very choppy on the Amiga. One of the other things I
saw them demo was a toaster like effect of making it seem like an old film.
It had lint and particles and things all over the screen. Didn't look too
convincing but I bet with some work, it would look pretty cool. They
seemed to be more interested in pushing the Mac version of the Picasso
card. I don't blame them, there's a bigger market there. I just wish they
had put a little more emphasis on the Amiga version. Around the booth were
empty boxes of AmigaOS 3.1, AmiTCP/IP and I think I saw an Ariadne box too.
Rob: This booth looked the same as it had in the last 3 or 4 shows that I
have seen them at. They had the Picasso II running along with their new
board, the MacPicasso. The card uses a Cirrus chip (better than the Amiga
Picasso). It's a "Picasso" for NuBus/PCI/PDS and does 640x480 up to
1280x1024. 24bits at 1024x768, 16bits at 1152x900 and 8bit at 1280x1024.
It comes with 2MB and can be expanded to 4MB. They had AmiTCP box there
and the other products they sell. Not sure if Holgers German to English
was correct but he said that the MacPicasso features would be available on
the Amiga maybe in late Spring.
XAOS TOOLS
~~~~~~~~~~
Ken: I was looking for this booth but didn't find it at the show. I was
kind of anxious to see what a big name graphics company like Xaos would
have for Lightwave. Unfortunately I found out later that Xaos was
supposedly in the Newtek booth. :( Wish I could have seen 'em.
Rob: I take the 5th
Summary
~~~~~~~
Ken: After we left the expo, I felt a bit let down. I was hoping to see a
much flashier Amiga Technologies booth, but I guess they just didn't get
too much time to prepare it. The expo was also a bit smaller than I
expected. Still, it's good to see Amiga Technologies participating in the
American Marketplace.
Having left the expo, we decided to visit Fry's Electronics in Woodland
Hills. This is the Disney Land of hi-tech electronics and computer
equipment. I used to work for Fry's up in the Bay Area and actually had a
hand in setting up the Software Department at the Woodland Hills store.
Inside it's decorated in an Alice in Wonderland theme and looks like you've
just walked into a Theme Park with computers, software and electronics
everywhere. It's HUGE and and is a must visit place for those visiting the
area.
Driving home was the worst part of the trip. I had been up for 24 hours
and I felt like a limp rag. After arriving at Rob's house, I had yet
another hour to drive home. I didn't even go to sleep when I got home - I
went straight to my Amiga and logged into IRC to tell my #Amiga buddies of
our Video Toaster Expo Adventure. :)
Rob: The show was about what I expected to see. Not the best show ever but
worth a visit if you were close.
What I did not understand is why they don't push the "amiga" part of the
show more. It was the _only_ show where Amiga people could come and show
there stuff in the USA.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some Pointers releated to the review:
@{" Speech by Petro Tyschtschenko in Los Angeles " link FEATURE7}
http://www.amiga.de/de/aktuelles/PTYLASpeech.html
AMG, Inc.
http://www.portal.com/~amg/
Aminet
AmigaTechBroch.lha docs/anno 314K+AmigaTech Product Brochures
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Or next review might be of MUIwine95 1.0oj, an MUI uninstaller.
If you are interested in getting your product/program or service reviewed
by The K&R Report you can email us at k&r@vgr.com
This review is )1995 By Ken Krebs and Robert Resiwig. This review may not
be reproduced without expressed consent by the authors. You may contact us
individually at the following addresses:
Ken Krebs (kkrebs@netcom.com)
Robert Reiswig (rcr@netcom.com)
This review is dedicated to:
Ken: Heidi and Biggus.
Rob: Vic and Al
@endnode
@node FEATURE2 "Cologne Amiga Show Report"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Cologne Computer '95 Show Report
Jeroen T. Vermeulen jtv@xs4all.nl
Hans Guijt h.guijt@inter.nl.net
===========================================================================
WOA Cologne, day 1 (Friday november 10th)
We've just come back from the World of Amiga show in Cologne; in one word:
MAGNIFICENT!
The Amiga really is back. Our impressions are reported below.
There were two halls: One for the Amiga, and one for the "other platforms"
(PC, Mac, Acorn). The "other" hall was fairly quiet, and we visited the
Amiga side mostly. Amiga Technologies logos and the much-advertised slogan
"Back for the Future" were everywhere.
A1200 Magic Packs were sold by many companies, as well as the new M1438S
monitor. Although there was relatively little new software, the atmosphere
was very upbeat--which was perfectly appropriate.
We stopped at several stands for a closer look:
AMIGA TECHNOLOGIES:
AT had a big attractive-looking stand in the middle, manned exclusively by
representatives of 3rd-party developers (4th Level Development, Haage &
Partner, Interworks, and others) in cool black T-shirts with the AT logo.
Machines were mostly high-end: Very sexy A4000Ts, all fitted with MagicWB
and ethernet/arcnet/ graphics cards etc. Next to each machine was a
summary of the goodies inside.
There were also several A1200s showing off the I-Glasses, and even one with
synthesizer keyboard for the musically inclined.
The AT stand made a very fresh, bright, professional impression. While the
machines were all equipped differently and manned by staff from different
companies, the overall look was still consistent and well-organized.
I would sure buy a computer from those people ;-)
In any case, we bought some very flashy T-shirts with the new logo. Many
people were wearing similar ones with the "Intel Outside" logo on the back,
but I don't know where they got them.
PHASE 5:
Believe it or not, the Phase 5 stand had a real PowerPC development board!
It contains two CPUs (68030 and a 604 PPC chip) and appears to be a
prototype of the PowerUp card which should be available sometime next year
at prices in the 1000-2000 DM price range. It will be available in both
603e and 604 versions.
According to a leaflet we picked up, Phase 5 is porting Exec to native PPC
code and other libraries will follow. Old programs will be run under 68k
emulation. Partners mentioned ("we are not alone") include Softwood,
Almathera and Maxon.
Commercial developers are to receive their boards early '96.
Also at the Phase 5 stand was the 2-GO! DSP card which combines four DSP
processors with a 50 MIPS RISC controller and a 100 MFLOPS FPU. Internal
data throughput is said to be 4.2 Gigabytes per second, external throughput
is 32Mb (Zorro III). The card is supposed to execute 2 BILLION
instructions per second!
The card can be used for things like encoding or decoding JPEG pictures and
MPEG animations, and realtime sound and graphics manipulations. Encoding a
JPEG picture (res. 352*240) takes only 8 milliseconds!
As the slogan said: "Where do you want to be tomorrow?"
We also learned that the 3.0 release of CyberGraphX will include 3-D
primitives. CyberGraphX 3.0 will also be available for the PowerUp and
2-GO! boards.
MS MACROSYSTEM GMBH:
These good people were showing off their 060-based Draco with the XiPaint
graphics package which seemed to be selling like hotcakes. One machine was
quietly mixing away at some real-time video input, while the eager masses
were lining up to get the feel of Final Writer on another. It was quite an
impressive sight; pages were flying by at a speed that must have been close
to the monitor's refresh rate!
One of our "mission objectives" was to find out whether WordPerfect will
run on the Draco. The staff were very helpful and even let me run WP from
my own disk, which I had brought along for this purpose. It gave us no
trouble during our very brief test (although the representative told us
this did depend on using Topaz 8 as the screen font) and felt very
responsive and flashy compared to our "good old" WARPEngine/040/40!
MacroSystem GmbH has nothing whatsoever to do, by the way, with either
MacroSystem Development (of WARPEngine fame) or with the less well-known
company MakroSystem.
On the price list, curiously enough, was also a 33MHz "Draco 040" for DM
4495. The 060 version costs DM 5995, and includes CD-ROM and 4Mb of
graphics memory.
MUI 3.0:
Tons of pamphlets told us the new version of the Magical User Interface has
now been released. It was available at Hirsch & Wolf's stand for DM 40.
One of these little pamphlets was actually the first thing we saw as we came
up the stairs.
Advertized features include Bubble Help, Drag-and-Drop and many that we've
forgotten. We apologize.
MAXON COMPUTER GMBH:
We were much impressed by a video produced by Tobias Richter using their
Cinema 4D product range. Some of this stuff even looked better than
Babylon 5! The package is being ported to Mac and Windows, and a small
demo rendering on the PowerMac of a spiral staircase and a few smaller
objects took just a few seconds; the Windows port wasn't as far along yet.
For good measure we asked to see a demonstration of their C++ compiler as
well, but they weren't really planning to give any. Unfortunately no free
demo version was available either. Casually mentioning our plans to write
a report on our experiences *almost* worked miracles: On the verge of
giving us a free copy including manuals, manager Harald Schneider finally
understood that we were not writing for a magazine. More on this below.
HAAGE & PARTNER:
Out of the blue, there is a shiny new C/C++ compiler for the Amiga! It's
called StormC and comes with a very intuitive graphical user interface.
There appears to be some kind of relationship with Maxon, which Maxon's
manager didn't seem very eager to discuss--mostly due to being in a hurry,
I must add.
We got ourselves a preview version of StormC and plan to post a review
later on; unfortunately we won't be able to compare it to Maxon's compiler.
Perhaps I dropped the term "c.s.a.misc" a little too casually, giving the
manager the false impression that this was a magazine we were writing for
(oh well, if ever we do start an Amiga magazine I guess CSA Misc would be
as good a name as any other).
There was some confusion as to the relationship between StormC and Maxon
C++; according to one Maxon representative, StormC was based on the Maxon
compiler. He even told us that some requesters in StormC used the name
Maxon in stead of StormC, but searching the entire preview distribution for
that word yielded nothing. Perhaps this was just a misunderstanding.
The Haage & Partner representative said they had been working on StormC for
just under a year with a team of five programmers, but it was easier
because they used a lot of "older" code--whatever that may mean.
At any rate, the compiler looks GREAT! It has intelligent Drag-and-Drop,
clickable error messages, easy project management, an editor with syntax
highlighting, a debugger which interacts with the editor, and even resource
tracking. If SAS comes back (and I hope they will) they could face some
stiff competition from this newcomer.
That's all folks. After today, there can be no doubt that AT is serious
about the Amiga!
@endnode
@node FEATURE3 "Cologne Amiga Show Report"
@toc FEATURE
==========================================================================
Computer '95 Amiga Show - Cologne, Germany - A Review
Thomas Tavoly aTmosh@amiga.ow.nl
==========================================================================
I went on Friday, the first of three days to avoid the crowd and get there
while there is still any hardware left :)
Here are my impressions:
Amiga Technologies was present with Dr. Peter Kittel, Petro Tyschenko
(sic?), Gilles Bourdin and others. They showcased the A1200, the AT1438S
monitor and A4000T. The atmosphere was good, although the presentation was
not quite complete: Most machines were old stock with stickers bearing the
AT logo hurriedly stuck on or just layed on equipment, a haphazard
collection of monitors and fonts/screenmodes on the Workbenches. Most not
even running background pictures or some kind of enhancement like MagicWB
or NewIcons, also in very little colour. Unsharp and dreary 4 colour WB's
is not the way to show it off.. If they had some tinkerer (like me :) who
would have played with the showmachines for a day or so they could have
made them look great..
They showed the I-glasses with the A1200 and a simple 3D view, this was
somewhat disappointing too, but I guess you would need some programs that
take advantage directly of the hardware or movies specially made for them.
Again it seemed like a hurried job, showing how busy they are with other
things.
I talked to Dr. Peter Kittel, mainly about the AT1438S monitor and some
other tidbits, nothing shocking that we already didn't know came out
though. He stated that the genlock problem will be solved (top line
flickering) and that later bigger monitors (e.g. 17") will be available
under AT tutelage. He agreed with me that a horizontal width adjustment
would be welcome and maybe Microvitec will implement it for AT in time.
I didn't really invest the time though to quiz him or other AT
representatives thoroughly enough since I was hunting some hardware and
other interests of my own :) I ran into Ruud Dingemans and Michel van der
Ven, editors of the Dutch Amiga Magazine, they did some deeper probing,
maybe they'll post about it. (Plug, plug) Buy Amiga Magazine and read
about it in the next issue, you may find some articles of yours truly too
:)
All in all the atmosphere was relaxed and friendly, yes, optimistic is the
word. My faith in AT has been strengthened somewhat by their presence,
although the booth was not the perfect example of marketing. In some way
similar to the first showcasing days of the 'dancing fools' I guess :)
Apple was present too, surprisingly enough, with a flashy booth and some
high tech stuff like a three monitor, stereo speaker flight simulator
controlled by some hip looking analogue 'flight equipment'. I liked their
monitors well enough.. Flash, but little content though, there was a far
more vibrant 'buzz' on the AT grounds.
I also ran into Fred Fish, briefly expressing my gratitude for the great
work he has done in the past.
Next to the AT booth was Phase 5's stand, featuring the much talked about
PowerUp card. Among some socketed developmental chips there was a
PPC604FE66 chip and an MC68030 on a CPU daughterboard type card. The
design looked clean though and it surprised me that Phase 5 has done this
already, it looked indeed like a real card instead of a mock-up. Upon
quizzing the representatives it seemed like it was very new to them too,
the lady (I suspect little technical background) told me that it was
basically a very early prototype, not running anything like AmigaOS yet :)
She gave me a professional looking brochure and told me that she just got
it too.
Some of the highlights from the four page brochure:
- two types: low-end: MPC603e 100+ MHz, availability towards mid 1996
- high-end: MPC620 up to 300+ MHz (drool), though this is as yet
vapourware
- 64 bit wide memory expansion bus
- 64 bit wide Local Bus system (with optional PCI bridge)
- Prices around 1000 DM up to 2000 DM
- A1200, A3000, A4000 versions and maybe others later (A2000? A500? :^)
- CyberGraphX 3.0 Native
And the most interesting feature:
- porting of AmigaOS (native exec and 68k emulator on top of that),
compatible with KS3.0+
- at first 68k emulation of the rest of the OS, later gradual porting to
native code with the help of new libraries
It elaborates on the native CyberGraphX 3.0 software: it will speed up
graphics enormously on graphics cards, but with AGA only too. Say 'chunky
to planar' 3 times in a row, fast :) I know where my money is going next
year..
The CyberGraphX software will also include interfaces for 3D (say
I-glasses) and multimedia applications of the next generation. (VR
Netsurfing, hello William Gibson :^)
'We're not alone'
The PowerUp project is, according to the brochure, supported by Almathera,
Maxon Computer, ProDad and Softwood amongst others. Many productivity
applications will be ported by the time the PowerUp board is shipping.
Evaluation Boards will be available to developers in the first quarter of
1996, development tools are in the works. Thorough support and
coordination planned, of strategic applications even in conjunction with
Motorola. I would wager that to be VR and related features that maybe
require some custom hardware enhancements.
Very good news indeed.
On the bottom of page three there is an informational coupon; one of the
items you can tick off is 'UpGrade' programs for CyberStorm card owners.
Interesting.
Also, software developers, be it commercial or PD/shareware are asked to
fill in the form. This is a very good move too, something the old
Commodore never quite understood.
The UpGrade program consists of downpricing the PPC board for 68k based
accelerator card users who purchased after 01-Sep-95. For 68060
accelerator card users a replacement upgrade will be offered.
For further information contact:
Phase 5 digital products Tel. : +49-6171-583787
In der Au 27 Tech. Hotline: +49-6171-583788
D-61440 Oberursel Fax : +49-6171-583789
Germany
Their motto is 'Where do you want to be tomorrow' :)
And now for something completely different: MUI 3.0 is out and was on sale
for 40 DM. I haven't had the time to take a look at it yet, but have an
autographed copy :) Personally, I am not impressed by the MUI 2.3/AMosaic
beta-beta-pl-something combo, so I asked one of the beta testers for
IBrowse, who was present too, how long it will take until we see it. He
replied with: "One month.. two months.. I don't know". Hmm..
My list of acquisitions was topped by the VoB EIDE/ATAPI CD-ROM 4 way
adapter and quadspeed CD-ROM player annex CD32 emulator software/hardware
combo package, heh :). 339 DM later I can confirm that their 'Speedup'
software works like a charm and even the CD32 disc of Impossible Mission
2025 that I bought runs perfectly. Unlike the name suggests I haven't seen
any speedup though: my system, being an Amiga, still runs just as smoothly
:^)
Next item of interest was what I came for really: The CyberVision card.
Priced as low as 625 DM for the 2 MB version, I almost couldn't resist
taking my wallet out again, was it not for a shocking telephone bill just
received the day before :( After quizzing one of the programmers of
CyberGraphX about the planned MK II version it became clear that I really
need one :) The MK II will feature a faster memory structure by what I
think I heard to be new VRAMs. Also the blitter will be upgraded,
ninehundred something is the version, though this again was not quite
clear. Further cross examination revealed (in spite of tight lipped 'no
comment'-s :) that AT is working with Phase 5 to include CyberGraphX into
the next coming release of AmigaOS, though this could be gleaned from their
PowerUp brochure already. Seems like Phase 5 is the hardware partner, not
Be Inc. :)
On the way out I picked up a poster with the red-square-jumps-out-of-grey-
mass-of-balls theme, proudly stating 'Amiga, back for the future'. There
is only so much room left on the walls of my room, I hope AT is going to
bring only one more poster saying 'Bill Gates? Who's that?' which will
stay valid until the plaster drops off ;)
There were not as much visitors as last year, though this is mainly
attributable to the fact that last year I went on sunday and this year on a
working day. The general feeling was a sharp contrast to last year's too:
the buzz is back! Instead of last year's apprehensive and even somewhat
threatened, aggressive feeling this year was a light hearted affair,
smiling and energetic faces everywhere. Amiga Technologies did well to
attend the show, in spite of the rough edged presentation that a
perfectionist like me would like to see done better. Though maybe adding
that feeling of 'David is back with a vengeance, watch it Goliath!' :-)
This might not interest the reader, but for the comic relief content: on
the way back we managed to get lost in some German villages that had only
uphill roads, for a nice scenic detour of nearly two and a half hours :) I
tried to phone the local radio station where I work on fridays with the
little change we had left: "Hi, I can't make it, I'm lost in Germany!"..
Some baffled moments later: "But, but, you have to sit here! We're on the
air already!", "But I'm in Germany and I'm lost! And my money is running..
>CLICK< ..out.." %)
I am thinking of publishing the 'Hitchhiker's Guide to Europe: How to get
anywhere without turning left'. :^)
@endnode
@node FEATURE4 "Cologne Amiga Show Report"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Report of the Computer '95 Show in Cologne, Germany
Andreas Malerz malerz@athene.informatik.uni-bonn.de
===========================================================================
Report of the Computer '95 Show, 10.-12.11.1995 in Cologne
(c) by Andreas Malerz (malerz@zeus.informatik.uni-bonn.de)
You may use this article in your *free* online-magazine, if you leave the
copyright-note completly intact. Commercial publications should ask for
written permission from the author.
Special permission to Jason Compton is granted to publish this article in
AmigaReport.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Remark:
I am using my Amiga for programming and playing, sometimes some graphics
with bitmap-orientated software. That's why I am not very competent in
writing about eg. video- or sound-applications.
Furthermore, english is not my native language. Hopefully I will not make
too many mistakes.
-----------------------------------------------------------
The "Computer '95" differs greatly from shows as the "CeBit" in Hannover or
the "Systems" in Munich. It is a user-based show, for end-users to take a
look on existing hard- and software and finally to spend lots of money on
them.
That's why there were many booths just selling hardware like mad. Well, I
will not describe them at all, they were not so interesting. I will
concentrate on the news.
First, guess what:
AMIGA TECHNOLOGIES:
They had a very big booth, in which lots of workplaces were installed to
demonstrate professional applications on Amigas, eg. Internet-access,
Rendering, Video, MultiMedia (> Scala), Sound and Music (in combination
with a keyboard) and, very interesting for me, a brand new C/C++ compiler.
To show the Internet access, they had some A1200s with AMosaic and any
TCP/IP-installation, I don`t know which, because I was not able to work
with the machines by myself. It was very impressing, because the buildup
of the pages was fast and the gfx very nice. Lots of guys, who had
probably never seen WWW, became big eyes.
Video-cutting, titling and whatever was shown on plain(-looking) A1200 and
an A4000. The demonstration of Scala was really good, they had lots of
pre-made scripts and the guy on the machine was able to create complex
scripts in a few minutes. The results were shown on monitors and also on
some TVs.
One Amiga was connected to a keyboard (electronic piano, of course) and a
young boy of perhaps 16 years was playing and manipulating a lot of sounds.
As mentioned before, I am absolutly ignorant about that, so I skipped the
demonstration.
I spent the time in a talk with the programmer of "Storm-C/C++". His
company based in Germany has developped a C/C++ development enviroment
including editor, compiler (no frontend as SAS), debugger and make-utility.
They sold a preview version of their system, which is not finished
completly, but should be shipped in the beginning of 1996.
The editor was not very strong compared to eg. GoldED, but the main
features were included, furthermore some special abilities as
keyword-highlightening, setting breakpoints (for debugging) directly in the
editor, compiling from editor etc.
I cannot say anyting about the compiler, because I have not seen very much
of it. The same about the debugger.
The enviroment did not a typical "make" with make-file etc, but a gui-make
which was completly controlled via drag'n'drop. It seemed very
comfortable, but I am not sure, if it really useable. (A developper from
Switzerland suggested to abandon such senseless crap and to include a
SAS-compatible "make")
I have heard, AT has talked to SAS about continuing development of their
C/C++ compiler and to another company here in Germany. So I asked the guy
if AT would like to make this programm to their new development-tool. He
answered, AT is up to now not really sure about the new OS and the new
computers. This is due to the fact that they are travelling from one show
to the next at the moment. In the end of this year, when the main shows
are finished, these questions should be answered. I seemed to me a bit
slow, since they announced to present a Prototype of the new generation of
Amigas next year. Well, we will have to wait and see.
All in all, I was very satisfied with the presentation. The guys at the
machines were very competent and the software was stable and (in that
hardware-configuration) powerfull. It seemed to me that lots of users got
the opinion, that the Amiga is a small, but nevertheless powerfull and
easy-to-use computer.
The next booths are listed in alphabetical order:
ACORN Computers:
This might be out-of-topic, but I think it is not bad to look over the brim
of the plate (if you do not understand this, you should learn german :)
They introduced their new Risc-PC 700. Man, I was really impressed. It
was mainly used for image-processing and DTP, and it was really fast.
Compared to the DTP-soft for Apple (a few meters away), it seemed to me
comparable powerfull, but much faster. In their prospects, they wrote, the
soft is about six times faster than a standard 486/66. I would say, even
faster.
On the other hand, the price was impressive, too. 4200 DM with 8 MB RAM, 2
MB V-RAM, 850 MB HD, CD-ROM and an additional processor-board with 486SX.
(With the last mentioned board, the RiscPC is fully PC-compatible, it can
run eg. "Windows" in a window on the desktop at a reasonable speed.)
Well, the Amiga 4000 was sold at 4300 DM.(minimum)
ACT ELECTRONIC:
They had developped the Apollo 4040/4060 acclerator board and were
demonstrating and selling it. This board is very compact and can be used
in A3000 and A4000. It has a SCSI-II controller onboard and room for 128MB
RAM. (two PS/2-slots). The Apollo 4040 was priced with 1799 DM.
AMIGA OBERLAND:
The had the new Reflection V3.0 with them, demonstrating it on an Amiga
4000 and on a PC with Windows 95. I am not very competent with raytracers,
but the guys watching it seemed very impressed by the gui and the new
effects. Furthermore AmigaOberland is the distributor of all
Softwood-products here in Germany. I asked for a demonstration of
FinalWriter 4 and FinalCalc, but they had no machines for that. Hrmmpf.
APPLE:
Well, Apple was there, too. Their demonstration was very loud and
remembered me of one of these very foolish game-shows on TV. I didn't stay
for long.
ASCON:
They had three games: Pole Position (or so), a business-game dealing with
formula one which is also converted for Amiga, Elisabeth I. (don't know if
it will converted) and a heli-sim, which will not be ported. Elisabeth I.
looked very nice and complex, but the guy explaining me the game was very
boring.
BLACK LEGEND:
They had a big booth with some PCs with "Tower of Souls", but nobody was
there to answere questions. You could only play the game, which was a bit
difficult, because I didn't know the story or my task.
BLUE BYTE:
The first thing I did was going to Blue Byte to take a look on Albion,
their new role-playing game. (The team of Ambermoon did it.) Man, it is
absolutly great. Fantastic! Superp! (You have found out, that I am not
able to keep objective on that.) Then Eric Simon told me, that it will NOT
ported to Amiga or Mac. After I got first aid, I was thinking of buying a
PC just to play that game.
All in all, Blue Byte is not going to port anything for our computer, since
they believe that the situation of Amiga is not safe at the moment.
Hopefully, this will change.
COMPEDO:
Every year, this company has a big booth just for selling ink for printers
etc. I always wonder, how they make profit with this, but probably they
do.
CORPORATE MEDIA:
Very funny. The were listed in the booklet to the show, but not on the
plan and I was not able to find them. I was very dissapointed, since they
are distributors of the Emplant emulators. Maybe I was too stupid to find
them.
D.I.D INTERNATIONAL:
They had a booth full of high-end machines (DraCo, Pentium 120 etc.) for
modelling and rendering. It looked very interesting, but I didn't
understand a word.
ELECTRONIC ARTS:
They showed games from Origin, Bullfrog and themselves. First pictures and
films from Wing-Commander IV (so boring, cinema is better!), an impressive
demo of Dungeon Keeper (very fast -but on which machine!?!- and great!) and
some football game with a strange perspective. It looked really good, but
I am not sure if it will be as playable as Sensible Soccer. Needless to
say, that nothing will be ported to our beloved Amiga. Sniff.
FISCHER HARD & SOFTWARE:
They are the official distributor of Amigas here in Germany. Needless to
say, they were selling Amigas like mad and lots of other hardware like
acclerators, hard-disks, CD-ROMS etc.
HAMA:
The big producer of genlocks was there with a big booth to demonstrate
their genlocks for Amiga. Well, the results looked very impressing, but I
do not understand the technique beyond this.
HIRSCH & WOLF:
In former times, they distributed the developper-material for Commodore.
At the moment, they have no license to do it, but they sold lots of
Hardware from various producers as MacroSystems USA, DKB USA etc.
Furthermore, they had the GURU-book from Ralph Babel and, absolutly new to
me, MUI 3. Unfortunately, there was no demonstration and no update from
MUI 2.3, they only sold it for 40 DM. (which was, in my opinion, too much,
since all SASG-products cost 30 DM.
HISOFT SYSTEMS:
Unfortunately, they only showed some hardware, but no programming
languages. I saw the "Squirrel", a SCSI-interface for the Amiga 600/1200,
a music-sample hardware with powerful software. (They said, it is
powerful, I don't know!) It is a sampler, which can save 8-bit data
directly to disk, it has a midiinterface and a sequencer.
HK-COMPUTER:
Besides lots of standard-hardware (harddisks, RAM, whatever) they showed
the "Graffito", a real-time 24-bit digitizer with their software. I only
saw some results, but not the software, since the booth was everytimes
full, I reached it. Sorry about this.
IBM:
They had a very big booth to demonstrate their OS/2 operating system. The
main presentation was very loud and the guy doing it talked about the
"other" crap-operating-systems for the PC. I think, he meant MS-DOS, but
I'm not sure, because I left the scene very quickly. The demonstration of
OS/2 on some workplaces were not so interesting for me, since I have no PC.
INFOGRAMES:
They had a big booth with some terminals with games for children on it and
some absolutly stupid persons around there, not knowing the difference
between a harddisk and ROM. I didn't stay too long.
IRSEESOFT:
The main thing on their booth was, as every year, the new version of
TurboPrint. (It was Version 4) The booth was full of prints from good
color-printers, which looked great. Furthermore they had Picture-Manager
3.0 with them, this is a kind of database for pictures, but with additional
functions for image-processing, conversions and, of course, viewing.
Compared to AdPro, the functions were kind of poor, but this was not the
intention of it to be as powerful as AdPro, it is simple a specialized
database.
LEISURESOFT:
On their booth, there were "21st century", "Black Legend", "Magic Bytes"
and "Microvision". They had lots of computers for playing their actual
games, but the guys around were just selling-personal, not very competent.
M-TEC HARDWARE DESIGN:
As you might know, they bought the rights of GVP. There were no new
products, they just sold there hardware. (and made a good profit, I
suppose)
MAXON COMPUTER:
I'm not sure how known MAXON is in the USA, but in Germany, they are very
well known as a producer of applications for Amiga. They put stress on
their raytracer MAXON CINEMA 4D, Version 3. It is a powerful and fairly
fast raytracer, which is used very often here in Germany, as far as I can
say. Furthermore they had a landscape-generator and a "plant-generator"
for the raytracer. The results looked very good, but it is difficult to
explain it now. You should take a look on it, if you are interested. They
had also a new version of MaxonTOOLS with them, something similar to DOpus
V. To me, it looked very useful, but not so good as DOpus.
MERIAN:
They had a small booth to demonstrate their "Database Prof. 3.0" and some
masks for Organizing, a video-database and some business-masks. It seemed
to me, that they made a small, but nevertheless powerfull database, which
is worth to look at. Unfortunatly, I do not understand lots of databases,
so you should take a look on it, if you are interested.
MICROPROSE:
They had the new formula-one game with them and some others. I didn't
looked too much on them, because they told me, no Amiga-ports are planed up
to now. Sid Meier was not there, otherwise I would have talked to him, and
the other guys around there seemed very boring.
MICROSOFT:
HARHARHAR. They had a booth as big as our guest-toilet to sell some
programs. I did not talk to them.
MS MACROSYSTEM COMPUTER:
Their booth was full of DraCos with lots of Video-Equipment. Whow. I
talked to one competent-looking guy and told him (the only one I did) I
would like to write an article for Amiga Report. He kissed my feet and
asked me to talk to someone else because he is not competent for me. He
then talked to someone else to help me, I was promptly told everything I
would like to know. The guy who was talking to him before got kicked.
(Next time, I will tell them, I am the son of Bill Gates and Hillary
Clinton and I would like to get a few DraCos for free. :)
The DraCo itself is an amazingly fast machine. Firstly I asked for the
standardsoftware as raytracers, dtp and so on. He showed me some programs
as MaxonCINEMA 4D and some others and they were very fast. After that he
showed me the special software for video-works. Certainly I'm not very
competent on that, because I don't know what is possible with other
systems, but the guy got great results in just a few seconds. For example,
he got a small film from me with his camera, got it directly on the
harddisk, manipulated it with some scripts and showed me the result. Huh,
great! I was really impressed. I think they did a real professional
system to work with.
PHASE 5 DIGITAL PRODUCTS:
I was a bit disappointed with their booth, because it was just for
information and nothing for sale. They showed their complete range of
acclerators, gfx-boards etc. Impressing to see an Amiga 4000 with
Cyberstorm 060 and Cybervision 64 and an 20"-monitor, but not new at all.
The Cyberstorm 040 is not produced any more.
Interesting was a prospect for a new project, called PowerUP. They plan to
do a PowerPC-card. As they said, some software-producers as Softwood,
Almathera etc. are doing native versions for their board. As far as I can
say, they plan to provide a second processor, which can be used by special
software, which is probably very cpu-consuming as raytracing etc, but also
by "normal" software, since th PowerPC would provide a drastic
speed-increase. The also mentioned, that the CyberGraphX-software will
completly ported to the new platform.
The release-date of the new board will be in the middle of 1996. An
upgrade from "phase-5"-acclerators is planned.
PRODAD SOFTWARE:
They offered a big range of software to work and manipulate videos. Very
interesting for proffessionals were their complete-systems including
genlocks, cutting-systems, video-effects, animation, titling...
R2/B2 COM-SERVICE:
They developed a new energy-supply for Amiga 500/600/1200, so that it is
possible to add lots of hardware to these computers as harddisks, CD-ROM,
acclerators, SCSI-controllers etc. It seemed to me nothing really
difficult, but I haven't seen such a thing before and the idea is very
good, since the A4000 is very expensive at the moment.
STEFAN OSSOWSKIS SCHATZTRUHE:
They are selling lots of CD-ROMs for Amiga, eg. Aminet, Meeting Pearls,
GoldFish etc. Furthermore they had some commercial software as Wordworth,
XiPaint, TurboCalc 3.5 etc. It was mentioned in the booklet about the show
that Fred Fish, Urban D. Mueller and some others would be on the booth,
but I have not seen them.
VIDEOCOMP:
They were at the booth of phase 5 and showed mainly Lightwave 3D on some
high-end machines as Pentium 90, SGI Indigo, Amiga 4000/60 and DEC Alpha.
It was not very interesting for me, since I will never ever have such
machines.
VILLAGE TRONIC:
The main thing I saw on their booth was the network-card "Ariadne" combined
with AmiTCP/IP. There were some workplaces with AMosaic running and I
found out that Bill Clinton plays Golf. The system was really fast and
stable, it was good fun to play with it.
WARNER INTERACTIVE:
As you might know, they have bought Renegade and are distributing lots of
games. I saw Sensible Golf for PC and "Z". I was not able to find out,
what you have exactly to do, but it has great graphics and animation. Lots
of the play-gfx is handdrawn and creates a great atmosphere. They were not
sure, if it is converted for Amiga, the main development is on a PC.
Well, that's it. All in all, Amiga Technologies did a good job in
presenting their computers, only the price of the A4000 was (and is) much
too high.
The Amiga 1200 was sold very well, I have seen so many people carrying
their new computer or monitor, but I haven't seen any boxes of A4000.
Maybe they are not produced in big numbers yet. As far as I have heard,
Scala has ordered 1000 units and perhaps NewTek will order another 1000.
Probably they will satisfy them first.
From the view of a user of tools, utilities, databases, video-apps etc.,
this show was a great success. Lots of producers of professional soft and
hardware were present. There is a lot of development in this area,
exspecially here in Germany.
From the view of a game player, this show was IMHO very disappointing.
Most new games to be seen are only planned for the PC. I have not seen any
games especially for Amiga. I really hope, AT has built up some
connections to german companys such as Blue Byte, Ascon and Software 2000
and certainly also to some other companys as MicroProse, Origin or
Bullfrog. Otherwise we will not seen many new games for our machine.
That was my report. Hopefully you find it useful in some way. Certainly
this was in lots of cases not very objective, but I tried my best to give
you some infos about one of the biggest computer shows here in Germany.
@endnode
@node FEATURE5 "Unveiling the PAWS"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Unveiling the PAWS
Fabian Jimenez fabian@cais.cais.com
===========================================================================
On October 21st, the members of the National Capital Amiga Users Group were
treated to the first public unveiling of the Portable Amiga Workstation
(PAWS) laptop kit from Silent Paw Productions of Manasas, Virginia. The
PAWS laptop kit has been in development of almost two years with the goal
of creating portable Amigas for those Amiga owners who need to take their
computers on the road, but don't care for lugging those 1084 monitors with
them. Shawn Randolph of Silent Paw Productions conducted the presentation.
Displayed at the meeting were the PAWS 600, 1200, and 4000 laptop kits. A
soon to be released 3000 kit will complete the PAWS line-up by December.
No plans exist for making PAWS kits for the venerable Amiga 500 or 2000.
The suggested retail price of the PAWS kit is around the $3200 US range for
all three models. Mr. Randolph stated that two thirds of the cost can be
attributed to the active matrix color LCD screen. Included in the purchase
of your PAWS is CrossDos 6 Professional, Link-It file transfer software,
and a PAWS Track (mouseball). Oh, batteries are not included, but can be
had at your local computer superstore. Less expensive dual scan and
greyscale LCDs may be pursued in the future. However, Mr. Randolph
claimed such lower priced displays did not do to well with live video
processing.
As you may have notice, I use the word "kit" to describe this product.
This is because you must provide your own Amiga for the innards of the PAWS
unit. Mr. Randolph did state that some dealers will sell assembled units
for those who request it. Before you run out a pay extra for dealer
assembly know that the PAWS does not require any soldering, splicing, or
dicing. Just drop the innards into the kit, shields and all, connect some
calbes and screw shut.
Physically the PAWS kits are larger than your standard PC laptop of today.
In fact the 600 and 1200 kits look more like those portable typerwriters
you took off to college. The 4000 kit is about the same size of those
lugable suitcase PCs of many moons ago. The units were an off white color,
but are also available in black. The 600 and 1200 case are mostly aluminum
(any Ohio Scientific fans out there?). This is due to the fact that Silent
Paw needed to make a custom case for these units, and to make such a case
in plastic is significantly more expensive. The 4000 case is a slightly
modified OEM case, and is made of the more traditional plastic. The weight
of these units are 11 lbs for the 600 kit, 14 lbs for the 1200 kit, and 17
lbs for the 4000 kit.
All ports including the PCMCIA slot on the 600 and 1200 are accessable in
the PAWS kit. The exception is the RGB port which is used to feed the
video signal to the LCD panel. The panel has a diagonal measurement of
10.4 inches for all three units. As for your various ad-ons, as long as
you didn't have to hack your Amiga to make it fit, then it will easily fit
inside the PAWS. The 3000 and 4000 card slots will be accessed through a
sliding door on the side of the unit.
The 600 and 1200 kits use a Duracell DR-31 (aka Compac Extended Life
Battery) as well as a normal power cord. The battery life for these units
is roughly an hour and fifteen minutes. The 3000 and 4000 kits will not
use any battery whatsoever due to power demands. The batteries in the 600
and 1200 units can be recharged while inside the unit, but only in a
special sleep mode. Also, the PAWS will not allow "hotspoting" or
switching batteries on the fly.
As stated earlier, the RGB port is used to provide the signal to the color
LCD panel. This means that once inside the PAWS, you cannot use a monitor
as a display. Future versions of the PAWS may include a pass-through
feature. Since the RGB signal is incompatible with the LCD panel, Silent
Paws devised a driver board to convert the signal into an acceptable LCD
signal at a resolution of 640x480 non-interlaced. No matter what
resolution you select on your Amiga, it will be displayed at 640x480. The
good news is that all programs, including games, should work without a
hitch since no modifications are made to your Amiga's display chips. This
display driver card is also the basis of Silent Paw's Gecko box that allows
your Amiga to use a VGA monitor in any screen mode.
It was here that I was going to state my impressions of the PAWS in action.
However, the units were not powered up due to a ongoing modification to the
display driver board. Silent Paw decided to design PAWS as kit instead of
making a true laptop because they are a small company with limited
resources. To make a true Amiga laptop you would need to design a new
motherboard and chipset that would be condusive for such a unit. To design
these needed components you will spend close to a million dollars or more.
This is usually more than many Amiga developers have lying around.
I asked Dave Haynie what his impressions were, as well as any efforts by
Commodore, in making an Amiga laptop. Dave stated that the engineers would
have loved to make such a thing, but that Commodore was never big on
laptops. He related a story to me in which Commodore could have came to
market with a LCD based laptop like the Tandy 100 that could have made them
a major, but management shot it down.
Toward the end of Commodore, monies for new projects were virtually
non-existant. Engineers were always fighting for enough to keep the
desktop Amigas viable. For a true laptop to be made, a completely new
motherboard and chipset were needed. A special consideration would be to
make an Amber chip that ran LCD protocals. Most of the chipset on your
standard Amiga are comprised of the power hungry NMOS variety. Even with a
CMOS chipset, the power demands would still be significant.
"If I were to do this? the first thing I would do would be to dump the
custom chps," stated Dave. "Technically speaking you could make the
current chipset work in an LCD system, if power were no consideration."
In the future Silent Paw Productions hopes to make a true Amiga laptop
called the Puma. Mr. Randolph claims to have 2/3s the parts and technical
knowhow to make one. However, Silent Paw would need the financial backing
of an interested party (read Amiga Technologies).
Dave added, "At least he knows what he is talking about here. I've
occasionally been the victim of where a company didn't have a clue how much
it costs to design hardware, and would bail on a project they hired me for."
Mr. Randolph claimed that a company called Newer Technologies actually
made an Amiga laptop several years ago called the PL1. However, according
to Mr. Randolph, Commodore threaten Newer Technologies with all sorts of
legal action if they even brought such a unit to production. Eventually a
licensing agreement was reached a month before Commodore went belly up.
Mr. Randolph contacted Newer Technologies for their technical input in
making PAWS.
The PAWS will be available directly to most dealers, except in Canada and
Germany where Silent Paw has signed exclusive dealership agreements. PAWS
will be demoed at Video Toaster Expo, AC Montreal, and possibly in Cologne,
Germany.
@endnode
@node FEATURE6 "Video Toaster User Expo"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Video Toaster User Expo
Harv Laser Harv@cup.portal.com
===========================================================================
I spent the day today at the Universal City Hilton hotel for the 2nd annual
Video Toaster User expo.
Here's a tiny recap - I'll have more to post later along with photos after
I get the film developed and scan them.
In a half-hour speech to a packed ballroom of about 500 people, Petro
Tyschtschenko (say "ta-SHEN-ko"), a very gung-ho and good English-speaking
guy, pulled up a black cloth and revealed a brand new production Amiga 4000
Tower, and also showed, cased in lucite, no less, an actual A1200
motherboard produced by AmigaTech along with a German sales packed-A1200
full of bundled software.
He then, with much suspense, announced the next generation Amigas will use
Motorola's PowerPC CPU and will be dubbed the Power Amiga.
Petro, along with his young Press Relations Guy, Gilles Bourdin, explained
that Escom has already spent many times its initial $12million investment
in the intellectual properties of Commodore, whom they bought out earlier
this year. That They know what the Amiga is, unlike Commodore's former top
management, and that "We didn't just buy the Amiga for Christmas." He
insisted that the Amiga is back and that development will carry on through
the last of the 68xxx processors, the 68060, and then onto the PowerPC. He
did not name any ship dates for Power Amigas of course, although scuttlebut
says expect them in early '97.
Petro further said that so far, 15,000 A1200s have been sold in Europe.
Not just shipped, sold. To customers. And that over 80,000 more are
backordered at dealers and are being made as fast as the factory can crank
them out.
Amiga Tech GmbH is forming a strategic alliance with Apple Computer, since
they have already been before where Amiga is going, from the 68k family of
CPUs to the PPC.
After Petro spoke, Tim Jenison, Pres. of Newtek took the stage and gave a
very moving, tearful speech in tribute to Jay Miner, father of the Amiga.
This was a speech unlike anything I have ever heard Jenison give before.
He was on the verge of tears many times as he recounted his early meetings
in Los Gatos with Jay and the early Amiga engineering crew, showing them
the first Digiview pictures, how Jay was constantly amazed and thrilled at
the things developers were making his little creation do.
I took pictures at the press conference and also in the exhibits hall of
various people and products and will scan and upload them in the next
couple days, putting them on Portal in the Amiga Zone library and on
Aminet, so look for them soon.
That's enough for now. I'm pooped.
Harv
harv@cup.portal.com
http://www.portal.com/~harv
@endnode
@node FEATURE7 "Tyschtschenko at VTU Expo"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Speech by Petro Tyschtschenko at Video Toaster Expo Conference
===========================================================================
Petro's Speech
Taken from the Amiga Technologies Homepage (http://www.amiga.de, which is
now featuring a bunch of English information)...
--------------------------
Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests.
I am very glad to be here in Los Angeles at our first conference and
Video-Toaster Show in the United States.
But let me introduce myself, my name is Petro Tyschtschenko, I'm President
at Amiga Technologies. I used to work 12 years at Commodore and I was
responsible for the world-wide logistics.
I will now say a few words about our organisation and how we set it up.
Amiga Technologies GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of ESCOM AG. ESCOM AG is a
public company. 25 % of the shares belong to Quelle, the first retail
chain in Germany, 12.5 % to RWE, one of the biggest German cable and wire
providers, 10 % to Siemens-Nixdorf and 38.5 % to Manfred Schmitt, founder
and chairman of the board. 14 % are splitted among other shareholders.
In August 1994, almost one year before the 21st of April, when ESCOM AG
took over the rights of Commodore, Manfred Schmitt, Chairman at ESCOM AG,
told me "Petro, I want the Amiga". From this day on, I was in charge of
setting up the deal that the Amiga Community was waiting for: Taking over
the rights and patents of Commodore International and give the Amiga a new
home.
It was a very difficult task, the situation with Commodore was complicated
and many companies were also interested in getting the baby. But our
strategy to keep silent about what we did helped us to be faster and more
efficient. Nobody knew about ESCOM before the deal was completed.
The next goal was to build up the company. This was announced officially
during our press launch in Frankfurt, 30th of May, 1995. Amiga
Technologies is now located in Bensheim, 60 km southwards of Frankfurt and
a few miles away from Heppenheim where ESCOM has its headquarters. We
currently employ about 40 people and are growing on a daily basis.
During our last press conferences, we made lots of promises and
commitments. Today, I will rather show you something more concrete: Here
is an Amiga 1200 and here is the first Amiga 4000 Tower.
These two products you can see here today represent the tremendous work
done by our team in Germany, together with our strategic partners in only
three months.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we have sold our first 20,000 Amigas 1200 in Europe.
These were not only sold to our distributors and dealers, all of them went
over the shelves to the end-users. Our Backlog is still 60,000.
The demand is more than satisfying. We are happy to see that the Amiga
didn't lose its appeal towards the customer.
The success is like in earlier Commodore times. The difference is that now
a new management of competence is installed. Motivated people who love and
know the Amiga are taking care of the business.
Our strength is that we are a dynamic team. We react quickly to new
situations. And we also learned from the mistakes Commodore made.
Some people over here think that ESCOM AG acquired the intellectual
property of Commodore just to build a few computers for the Christmas
season and leave the market afterwards. Ladies and Gentlemen, that is
neither my style, nor the kind of business I like to do. Amiga is a long
term project, we want to re-establish a market and give the Amiga the
position it deserves because we believe that our product is a good
alternative to PC's and Macs.
Escom invested several times the amount of money that was spent for the
takeover of Commodore. We want this investment to fructify in the future.
The US market is very important for us. Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to
make a commitment here: We do not intend to concentrate our efforts only on
Europe. Our location is in Bensheim. But our market is world-wide. The
A4000T is the product that is wanted most in the USA. We are currently
thinking of the possibilities that we could have to market the A1200 here
too.
The American market is not only important to us for selling hardware.
There also is a great potential of development intelligence here. Newtek
for instance is an important strategic partner for us. We want to support
the Video Toaster and are currently negotiating with Newtek to build up a
strong partnership and set up license agreements to get new products basing
on the Video Toaster technology.
Another partner for the American market is our new distributor SMG. SMG
will take care of distribution and spare parts for the North-American
market. SMG is well known and appreciated as a service provider for a long
time.
The Set-Top-Box is an important topic at Amiga Technologies. We have now
finalised several agreements in the USA. I will mention our agreement with
Viscorp that has just been finalised a few weeks ago. Omnibox in
Connecticut is another company we are currently dealing with. Through
Set-Top-Box systems, we are confident that the Amiga platform will enter
into millions of households. No other computer manufacturer is able to
provide a system that multitasks with 2 megabytes of memory.
Our partnership with SCALA brings MM300 to the user out of the box. All
Amiga models fitted with harddrives include that popular multimedia
package. More than a partner, SCALA is also an important customer for
Amiga Technologies. SCALA purchased 1000 Amiga 4000 Towers to provide
their customers with high-end multimedia systems. My understanding is that
Newtek will be following with another 1000 units for the Video Toaster
market.
The demand for the Amiga 4000 T is also very high in Europe. We know that
the price tag has been set quite high. This is due to the fact that the
Amiga 4000 T is actually a new product for us. Setting up its production
was an expensive task that needed the competencies and know-how of many
people. My special thanks to Jeff Frank and Georges Robbins. The
production costs are currently about 40 % higher than in Commodore times.
Actually, we planned to bring out the Amiga 4000 T before the Amiga 1200,
but the complexity of this product made it impossible to respect the
schedules. But finally it is available, the first models came out of the
lines this week.
It was a great moment for us when the first Amiga board was finished in our
A1200 production facility in France. It happened on the 13th of September
1995. Here it is, just for your eyes.
Ladies and Gentlemen, please be aware, the Amiga is the only computer which
has a multitasking operating system that is not in alpha or beta stage. Of
course, we look at our competitors. I recently went to a fair where a
computer manufacturer proudly presented its new machines. I asked one of
the guys at the booth to demonstrate me the multitasking abilities of his
system and he replyed "Please wait a few minutes sir, as soon as this disk
formatting is completed, I will show you real multitasking......." I said:
"No further questions."
It is really encouraging to have a strong feature and to find out that some
competitors don't even know what it is.
Ladies and Gentlemen, our strength, more than the hardware platform, is our
Operating System. AmigaOS is excellent and will become even better. We
have decided to port it to other platforms as soon as possible. Of course,
we are also aware of the features that our system lacks. Long awaited
features like memory protection, virtual memory and strong network
abilities are on top of our todo list. The next version of Amiga OS will
hopefully include all these important things.
We also need software for the Amiga. It is absolutely necessary to
continue development on existing products as well as getting new
applications developed or ported to AmigaOS. We are setting up the support
for Amiga developers. This will be working through BBS systems and
Internet. The german node cbmehq is already up and running in Bensheim.
We now also have an Amiga Technologies Web page. We will be very active on
the Internet in the future.
Ladies and gentlemen, it is more and more evident every day that the
combination of Intel and Windows 95 is not satisfying for many people. It
is also a threat for the computer market that a monopoly like this tends to
establish itself.
Therefore, it is important that systems like Amiga improve their market
position, so that the user can still find an alternative way. To improve
our market position, we know that we need to improve the product. This
improvement has to be done on the hardware and the software side. The
68000 processor family from Motorola which is still powering our models
will end its evolution after the 68060.
We knew from the beginning that we had to look for a new processor. There
were many options possible. Motorola proposed the Power PC, there was also
the HP PA, the Minisparc or DEC Alpha processors. All of them had
advantages and disadvantages, the choice was very hard indeed.
Ladies and Gentleman, we made our choice. The next Amiga will be called
Power-Amiga. We removed PC for aesthetical purposes.
Let me now explain this choice.
The Power PC processor is fast... Especially when it runs a decent
Operating System. We believe that with an Operating System like AmigaOS,
the Power PC processor will show all the power that it has, it will be
faster than with other operating systems.
Another important reason for our choice is the strategic partnerships that
this processor brings to us. Apple already did the experience of a
migration from 68000 processors to Power PC and we can take advantage of
this experience.
Motorola and IBM will also be precious partners for the Power Amiga
project, on the software side as well as on the hardware side. Of course
we are also in talk with IBM and Apple.
Ladies and Gentlemen, all in all the Power Amiga project will be involving
more than a dozen companies. We are confident and think that such a
synergy will make things happen very fast. Our team is ready to go.
Thank you for your attention.
@endnode
@node FEATURE8 "Comdex Show Report"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Comdex Show Report
Harv Laser harv@cup.portal.com
===========================================================================
Today I found Amiga Technologies GmbH's booth at COMDEX/Fall, in Las Vegas,
the largest computer trade show ("faire" for you Euro types) in North
America. About 200,000 people are expected to attend.
AT's booth is attached to the Virtual I/O 3D glasses booth in the Sands
Expo center, booth #3550. COMDEX runs Nov. 13-17 this year.
Their booth space was small, but there they were, and that's the impootant
thing. There were four A4000 towers, one with an 060, and as many A1200s
set up. Two of the towers were driving lovely 21" monitors with Picasso
cards. Sigh. What a glorious display that was.
I sat down and had a yak with Gilles Bourdin, Amiga Tech's Press Relations
guy, and Peter Tyschtschenko, their Managing Director. Also there was
George Robbins, Jeff Frank, and Pia Brockmann, AT's Dir. of Marketing &
Sales.
Petro T as always looked and sounded very upbeat and friendly. He told me
they've now sold 25,000 1200s in Europe/UK. Sold. To customers. Out the
door. He said that they had tons of them at the just-concluded Computer
Fair in Cologne ("Koln") Germany and people were buying them as fast as
they could whip out the cash.
Although I still couldn't get one of those nifty new Amiga posters (as seen
in my recent VTU Expo photo-scan uploads), Gilles did give me a photo slide
of it. Guess I'll take it to a photo store and get it made into a print
and scan that, so we can have a decent head on, clean upload of it. They
also gave me a pile of Amiga logo stickers.I was all set to slap one on my
1200 back at my hotel room but it's just a little to big to fit anywhere on
the top of the case :-/
Petro told me that he had been interviewed by many computer journalists
already, so hopefully this will turn into some good press coverage in
upcoming issues of various magazines that are covering COMDEX and the
zillions of new products that come out of this massive expo.
Following my comments here I'm going to include four recent speeches by
both Petro and Manfred Schmitt, who is Escom's president. These were
handed to me by Gilles off his Escom (Intel) Laptop running Windows in
German :)
I shot a pic of him typing on it and he said "hey hey, no pictures of me
using an 'IBM'" :) so maybe that one'll get uploaded and maybe it wont.
I did shoot pics of their booth which will get scanned and uploaded after I
return home in a few days.
So there ya go.. yet another show report. Yet another day of Harv
dragging his butt around millions of square feet of expo halls, and coming
back to his hotel room to collapse. :)
@endnode
@node FEATURE9 "Amiga-Messe Speech by Manfred Schmitt"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Amiga-Messe Speech by Manfred Schmitt
===========================================================================
[Manfred Schmitt speaking at the Amiga-Messe during Computer '95 in Cologne
- 11/11/95]
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Since we have many guests from outside of Germany here, this conference is
going to be held in English.
My name is Manfred Schmitt, I am founder and chairman of ESCOM AG. I would
like to welcome you to this software evening and also thank you very much
for attending.
You surely all know ESCOM as one of the leading PC retailers in Europe. In
the past fiscal year 1994, we had a turnover of 1.85 billion Deutschmarks,
employed 2300 people and sold 410.000 PC's throughout Europe. With 450
outlets, we cover 9 european countries. Core markets are Germany, where we
run some 140 shops, and Great Britain. In the UK, we are the biggest
dedicated PC retailer with 200 shops by the end of the year.
But PC dealer is no longer the appropriate term that characterizes our
business. Our strategy is changing from a mere PC retailer into a
multimedia company. And on this path, the acquisition of the intellectual
property of Commodore and Amiga half a year ago was an important milestone.
You surely might confirm that Amiga is a leverage for the growing
multimedia market. And you might also ask me what the guys from ESCOM have
done in the past months with the Amiga and what they are going to do in the
near future.
Amiga Technologies has grown to a small but efficient multinational company
and now employs 40 people. The Amiga product range is back on the market
as announced and distributed in more than 20 countries.
This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the result of the determination, motivation
and competence from the Amiga team, led by Petro Tyschtschenko and Stefan
Domeyer. The plans have been respected. Congratulations to all of them.
We all know, the Amiga is an amazing computer. It is even more than just a
computer. It is an institution with user groups, a community, fans and
even lovers. There are Amiga-fairs, Amiga-magazines, Amiga clubs, even
T-shirts and tea cups !
Usually, in the computer business, when the leading product disappears, the
market collapses immediately. The Amiga was gone for one and a half year
but the market, even if it shrunk a bit, was still there and remained
significant.
This is something that is quite remarkable. It shows the quality of the
Amiga-concept and the dedication of the user-base.
I think that some of our competitors are underestimating the power and
potential of what the name Amiga represents. We do not. We perfectly know
what we have and believe me, ladies and gentlemen, we are going to make
something out of it!
The Amiga is not only gifted by its user-community, it also has one of the
best developer bases. Public domain and shareware programs on the Amiga
are better and the quantity available is unmatched on other platforms.
The utility of such a developer community dedicated to the Amiga is
evident. It provides good software and very often, commercial products
emerge and expand the software-market. This is something essential and
therefore, developer support is one of our top-priorities. It will be
mainly available as on-line services via Web pages or FTP servers.
We intend to simplify as much as possible the certification procedures.
Please feel free to ask for information during the fair at our booth or
later this evening during the questions and answer session. The person to
contact is Mr Hohmann.
We also set up contacts with software-editing companies to make sure that
their development for Amiga products is resumed. New contacts to non-Amiga
editors are also on our todo list.
Since we started-up the Amiga operations, there have been several rumours
about our future plans. One of these rumours said that Amiga is just a
quick shot for the Christmas season and that the project would be dropped
shortly afterwards.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is most certainly a dream of the competition!
Indeed, Amiga is not a short-term project, it is a strategic element in our
multimedia strategy as I mentionned before.
To give the Amiga the future it deserves, as a major platform for
Multimedia, video and 3D applications, it is necessary to upgrade its
present capacities. That's why we have decided to leave the Motorola 68000
range of processors and upgrade the system with the power PC processor next
year. The future machines will of course run with Amiga OS.
The choice of the Power PC was made for its speed, and also because it is
actually the only RISC processor that is currently used in personal
computers, which will insure us that needed quantities will be available at
attractive prices on a mass market.
Amiga OS is actually what makes the strength of the platform it runs on.
We are aware that we have an operating system that has real multitasking
from the beginning without the need of excessive amounts of memory like
other operating systems. This is the reason why we will concentrate on
improving and porting Amiga OS to other processors. It is the best way to
enlarge the installed base and to gain market shares over Windows and
Macintosh systems.
The implementation of the Power PC processor will be a first step in that
direction. Later, this processor will replace the 68000 chips in the rest
of the Amiga product range. This is possible thanks to the range of
versions that Motorola provides, from the 602 up to the 604.
Multimedia does not only mean sound and Animation but also communication.
We will use the Amiga-technology to provide very cost effective on-line
solutions. These can be marketed as set-top boxes or as Amiga computers
equipped with the necessary hard- and software.
To be a player in the on-line market, one has also to provide
on-line-services like Web pages or FTP servers for the Internet. This has
already been done for Amiga, Commodore and ESCOM. Our customers can now
use the Internet to find information and support for the computer they are
using.
The actual computer market is widely occupied by Intel and Microsoft
platforms. We think that this combination is not satisfying for all uses.
There is a strong market for the home computing below 1000 DM. For
Internet surfing, spending 2500 DM for a PC is not what I would call a home
oriented solution. These are definitely market segments where the Amiga
1200 can be more competitive.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I hope that this meeting will be a start-up for a
good co-operation between Amiga Technologies and software publishers.
Thank you for your attention.
@endnode
@node FEATURE10 "Tyschtschenko at Cologne"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Speech by Petro Tyschtschenko in Cologne
===========================================================================
Koln 11/11
Ladies and Gentlemen, Thank you very much for attending this software
evening, it is nice to see so many people interested in developing software
on the Amiga. Amiga Technologies began as a production company in May
1995.
Its goal was then to ramp up the production of Amiga computers to bring
them back onto the market. We have done it. Then, as soon as the products
were available, Amiga Technologies evolved to a computer sales company to
distribute its products world-wide. We had to meet the demand that has
been waiting for more than one year. We have done it.
Now, Amiga is turning into a true Computer manufacturer, we are finally
building up our Research and Development team in Bensheim. We are hiring
former Commodore engineers as well as new talented people to be able to
respect the announced schedules for the Power Amiga. Lets do it!
Ladies and Gentlemen, we want to show our commitment to the Amiga platform,
not as a quick money maker for the Christmas season, but as one of the most
important strategic challenges in the ESCOM group. Amiga shall become the
best platform for Multimedia, 3D software, graphics processing, Internet
and many more applications.
The software market is always looking for powerful platforms. Especially
3D software needs great amounts of MIPS. This is going to be addressed
first with the 060 board that we will market in early 96. Then, in 1st
quarter 97, the Power PC 604 will replace the 060 in the new high-end
model. Of course, the operating system will have to be ported to the new
RISC-Processor. This will be done internally at Amiga Technologies by our
R&D department.
In the meantime, there will also be new products based on the A1200
concept. We plan to present the A1200 + in May. This model will feature
either the Coldfire processor from Motorola, or the 68030 at 40 MHz. SIMM
sockets will be integrated directly on the motherboard to allow easy memory
expansion. The A1200 + is scheduled for the CEBIT in March 96.
Another product will be the black box. This is a set top box that will
feature an enhanced A1200 core, along with all connectors needed for
communication, printing, audio in and out and a remote control. It will
have a HI-FI-like design that will be created by Frog design. The product
will of course be equipped with a CD ROM drive and a floppy disk drive.
We are also making an Internet package with all software needed to become
an unbeatable surfer. These networking features are planned to be part of
the OS in a near future. It will first be marketed as a complete package
including modem and cables, with the software preinstalled on the
harddrive. A plug and play solution.
We also plan the Q-Drive to be available shortly after the fair. This quad
speed CD ROM drive plugs into the PCMCIA connector and is provided with
software to enable it to play CD 32 titles.
Ladies and Gentlemen, as you can see, the Amiga family will become larger
very soon. To welcome these products that will without doubt be very
successful on the market, we want to encourage you to produce software for
them.
We now have a developer support set up and running. Let me tell you a few
words about its organisation. There will be a secured section on the WEB
server, only accessible to registered developers. The address of the WEB
server is www.amiga.de
We will have two types of developers:
Non-commercial and commercial developers. To become a non-commercial
developer, the candidate has to show an existing program or product, even
public domain. The annual fee is 100 USD. For becoming a commercial
developer, one has to provide proof of a commercial product, either
completed or in advanced stage of development.
The fee for becoming a commercial developer is 300 USD a year. Former
registered Commodore developers will have to register again with Amiga
Technologies. This is necessary for us because we do not have the complete
Commodore developer database and also because an Amiga Technologies NDA has
to be signed. All developers will also have access to the beta versions of
the AMIGA OS for testing purposes, they will have access to development
tools, to hardware documentation and to our restricted newsgroups.
Developers will also have special purchase conditions on Amiga hardware.
There will also be a periodical newsletter.
The support for developers will be accessible from the Internet and through
a closed network as in former Commodore times. If you have further
questions about software support, you are welcome to ask after the session.
We know that there are many people who are convinced that Amiga is the best
system and those people believe in the Amiga platform as well as we do.
This, Ladies and Gentlemen is very encouraging for us. I believe that most
of the people attending here are Amiga enthusiastic and am glad to see such
a strong commitment.
There is one thing I would like to tell you: write software for the Amiga,
Amiga will help you to do this.
We managed to revive the Amiga hardware Now it's to you, together with us,
to revive its software. Negotiations with many software houses world-wide
have started. Our common goal should be to strengthen the Amiga software
platform for the future. Please take this message: Amiga is working
tightly together with hardware companies to get new extensions, license our
technology and create new exciting products.
We are motivated by the success we had with our current models and look
forward to bring you new products very soon.
Thank you for your attention.
@endnode
@node FEATURE11 "Tyschtschenko at Bradford"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Speech by Petro Tyschtschenko at Bradford
===========================================================================
[This transcript came directly from Gilles Bourdin's laptop and as such is
annotated for delivery, not a direct transcript of what was actually said.
-Jason]
Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests.
I am pleased to be here at our first common press conference with
Microvitec. My name is Petro Tyschtschenko, I am President at Amiga
Technologies GmbH. The company was founded in May 1995, just after ESCOM
AG acquired the rights to the technology and patents of the former
Commodore Company.
Amiga Technologies GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of ESCOM AG. ESCOM AG is a
public company. 25 % belongs to Quelle [explain], 10 % to Siemens-Nixdorf,
12,5 % to RWE [explain], 38,5 % to Manfred Schmitt, founder and chairman of
the board, 14 % splitted to other shareholders. You surely have heard
about the last ESCOM deal in the UK concerning the Rumbelows shops.
Before working at ESCOM AG, during my time at Commodore, for 12 years, when
I was Director for international logistics, I always used to trade with
manufacturers and accessory providers in the far-east. Commodore partners
in this regard were notorious companies like Hyundai, Samsung, Daewoo or
Philips, all famous names in the monitor business. Logically, the first
thing I did when I began setting up the operations of Amiga Technologies
GmbH was to revive my contacts. According to asian courtesy, I got many
promises to help Amiga and to send propositions.
I am known as being an impatient man. I wondered if there wasn't a
possible solution in Europe. In the Amiga-Magazines I saw advertisements
for Microvitec Monitors and was surprised because I knew the name from the
banking and industrial sector.
In Munich, at a big press meeting, I had the opportunity to talk to many
people from the monitor and Amiga busines, and I heard many positive
comments about Microvitec. This convinced me to keep heading towards a
european solution.
I arranged meetings in Bensheim with Mr H President at Microvitec Germany
and adressed him our technical requirements, prices and quantities for an
Amiga monitor. I quickly understood that the Microvitec deal would be the
best solution from the technical point of view. Instead of choosing a low
cost product, I decided to go for the mid-level and to prefer good quality.
Another advantage with Microvitec:was the location in Europe, our main
Amiga market. This was going to enhance our logistics tremendeously and
keep costs at a low level!
Now, ladies and Gentlemen, we decided to call the monitor M1438S. The
initials stand for Monitor and Stereo. 14 represents the size and 38 means
that the monitor can sync all horizontal frequencies from 15 to 38
Kilohertz. This is just what is needed for a multimedia computer like the
Amiga.
We already got very satisfying tests in the Amiga-press. A little
restriction concerning the use with genlocks has been detected but
Microvitec engineers are already working on it.
Distribution
Our first deliveries of the M1438S began in mid-September. After a few
startup difficulties, we have everything under control. For the last
quarter 1995, we will have sold all forecasted 15000 units. For the UK
market, we can ship directly from the Bradford facility, which saves us
time and money. The deliveries for continental Europe are made from our
service-and-spare-center in Braunschweig. As you can see, ladies and
Gentlemen, Logistics is an important thing for us and I think the we have
reached quite an acceptable level of optimization here.
Now, let's talk about our plans for 1996. What shall we do? Go back for
far east production or continue our cooperation with Microvitec? The
decission has been taken....... Well, Ladies and Gentlemen, we decided to
continue the british experience, how could it be otherwise? For us, of
course, the price question is an important one. But I am convinced that
Microvitec will be very cooperative on this issue, we are currently
discussing this.
Concerning the product range, we think of three different models. For the
first quarter, we will continue with the 14 inch model. For the CEBIT fair
in Hannover, we have a 15 and 17 inch model on schedule. Our goal is also
to replace the 14 inch by the 15 inch model as soon as possible, during the
second quarter, and this without increasing the price.
Ladies and gentlemen, we know that the 17 inch monitor will be a
breakthrough in the Amiga market. We allready presented first prototyspe
samples at the IFA fair in Berlin and the great response from the public
convinced us to market it as soon as possible. Be aware: this monitor is
able to adapt itself automaticcaly to horizontal frequencies from 15 up to
64 Kilohertz. This monitor can be used on high end Amigas fitted with 64
bit graphic boards and can display video as well as high resolution VGA
screens. There is actually no competition for this product on the market
and we know that our Amiga monitor will be appreciated by those who do
video applications, even on the PC and Macintosh side.
Our forecasts for 1996 are set on 60.000 monitors, which will represent a
turnover of about 20 million UK Pounds. We will begin with 10.000 14 inch
models during the first quarter, negociations are still being made for the
forthcoming quarters.
Ladies and gentlemen, as you might allready know, we will not only sell
monitors. We plan to bring 100.000 Amiga 1200 and 20.000 Amiga 4000 T on
the market. Regarding the 060 Motorola board for the Amiga 4000 T, I'm
afraid that we will have delays until next year, dued to availability
difficulties with Motorola and other component providers.
Our turnover at Amiga Technologies will be around 100 Million DM, which is
about 45 Million UK Pounds. For the coming year, I will not make any
comittments but if everything keeps going as well as this year, we expect
to ship 500.000 Amiga 1200 and 50.000 Amiga 4000T. Since then, there will
also be new models available in the entry-level as well as in the
mid-range. We also intend to present our new A1200 CD-ROM drive on the
Amiga fair in Colone.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are very pleased that we could contribute to
increase the utilization of industrial capacity in Bradford. We hope that
this will also help to improve the social situation here.
We think that with our action based on "european location and partners", we
showed that a computer manufacturer can be competitive without having to
transfer ist production to the far east, like Commodore did. We think that
we are quite innovative in this regard and we hope that our experience will
be followed by other computer manufacturers.
Our main market is currently Europe. But there is also a great potential
in the United States. In our forecasts, we did not include America because
we are currently in negociations with distributors and future partners to
find a solution to cover the north-American market. These negociationas
are quite promising. One of the distributors overseas has allready ordered
500 monitors.
Ladies and Gentlemen, we are proud to export british Monitors to the USA
and I will make you a confidence about one of my dreams I am about to
realize: To export european made monitors to Asia. This would indeed be a
nice reward for the excellent work made by Microvitec and Amiga
Technologies.
Thank you for your attention.
@endnode
@node FEATURE12 "Tyschtschenko at Bordeaux"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
Speech by Petro Tyschtschenko - Press conference Bordeaux
===========================================================================
Ladies and Gentlemen, distinguished guests
Good afternoon... Welcome to our first press conference here with
Solectron and thank you very much for attending.
Let me introduce myself, my name is Petro Tyschtschenko, I am the president
at Amiga Technologies GmbH. I have the great pleasure to be here to tell
you about the backgrounds of the Amiga rebirth.
Amiga is back, back for the future. It finally happened ! Amiga is back
on the market. This was an amazing task to accomplish and many people from
several companies helped to make impossible things possible. I would like
to thank the people from Solectron for their involvement, their competence
and professionalism. What they achieved in the last two months is truly an
exceptional logistic performance. I would also like to thank Motorola for
their precious help and cooperation in making the rebirth of the Amiga
possible. Thanks to Mitsumi for supplying us just in time our special
Amiga keyboards. Thank you also to Microvitec, who I believe provided us
the best Amiga monitor ever. As you can see, the Amiga project involved
several companies in a remarkable team and the ambitious goal was reached
in time.
Our Amiga story began in 1985. The first Amiga was presented in New York.
Since then, it has established itself as the platform of those who want
true multitasking and integrated Multimedia. More, ladies and gentlemen
than just typing letters or numbers on a PC.
Amiga Technologies GmbH is a 100% subsidiary of ESCOM AG. ESCOM AG is a
public company. 25 % belongs to Quelle, 10 % to Siemens-Nixdorf, 12,5 % to
RWE, 38,5 % to Manfred Schmitt, founder and chairman of the board, 14 %
split to other shareholders. Amiga Technologies GmbH was founded in May
1995. We are a young company but we already have historical dates : here
is the first Amiga 1200 board made by Solectron. which I just received
from Mister Gallant. It came out of the line on the 13th of September
1995. A rebirth in France. To be quite honest this one was faulty, it had
two condensators soldered with reverse polarity. This board functioned
only a few minutes. But the error was recognized quickly... fixed... and
for the forthcoming boards, all tests passed successfully. Be aware: For
all machines, we do systematic testing on each unit.
Now lets talk about the story of the Amiga rebirth: Everything began in
June 1995, after ESCOM AG acquired the rights to the Amiga Technology from
the former Commodore company. I went to the Far East first to the
Philippines, Cavite, the city where the old Commodore company had a
manufacturing facility. My goal was to make sure that we could get the
component stocks left there by Commodore. Everything there was an enormous
mess and nightmare, nothing was organized. I have had first doubts that we
never could do it at all. June: raining season in the Philippines Typhoons
time and floods. Pinatubo ? quiet, thank god. But I didn't give up and
with the help of Mr. Gwynne Thomas, who I'd like to thank for the
wonderful job he made, we succeeded in making things move in this
complicated component business. Taylor made Amiga components were gathered
together through liquidators all around the world and shipped from the Far
East to Europe and the USA. It was really a difficult task.
Originally, it was planned to produce Amigas in the United Kingdom, because
there were people there that had great experience with Amiga production.
But we finally decided to go for a partnership with Solectron here in
France. We didn't leave the UK though, since we have our partner
Microvitec for Monitors. Our M1438S monitor has already been celebrated by
the Amiga-press for its perfect compatibility with Amiga video-modes.
There will be a press conference in Bradford on the 17th of October to
celebrate this cooperation.
Bordeaux is perfect for us. Not only the wine, we also appreciate the
pleasant surroundings and the competencies of the people at Solectron.
Solectron, maybe you have noticed this already, won the Malcolm Baldridge
National Quality Award, which guaranteed us that our machines would be
reliable. Now that the first units went over the shelves and that we get
the first positive impressions from our customers, we know that we have
made the right choice. I have learned here in Bordeaux: "impossible n'est
pas Solectron".
Our Amiga production that has been set to 100.000 units for the three last
months of 1995 is already sold out in preorders. All these machines will
be produced in Bordeaux. We are pleased by the demand from our dealers.
We are also pleased to hear from the Amiga press that they are flooded with
phone calls from people who want to know where they can get Amigas. To
satisfy this demand, our logistic system is working perfectly. We can ship
directly from Bordeaux to our different customers. Indeed, with such a
system, we are a sales company and not a warehouse company. This enables
us to keep down stock costs to a minimum.
Ladies and gentlemen, as I said before, this is a very special day for my
team and myself, we are proud that we did it. I am very satisfied of the
people at Amiga Technologies, who were available anytime during four months
to help building up our company. In spite of all the rumors spread by
doomsayers on the market, we respected the schedules and the Amiga is back
as promised. I would also like to thank the Amiga press for their support
and the Amiga users for their endless patience.
"AMIGA 95 SERA LE CRU DE LA RENAISSANCE"
@endnode
@node FEATURE13 "A Trip To Be"
@toc FEATURE
===========================================================================
A Trip To Be, Inc. (or: Mr. Compton Goes to Menlo Park)
By: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}
===========================================================================
Schedules and plans can turn out to be funny things. I was supposed to be
at the Cologne Computer '95 show (commonly, but not really accurately,
referred to as the WOA), but that didn't work out. I found out, after the
fact, that I could have called in a favor to go out to the Toaster show.
Luckily for me, we've had so many reports for both shows in I almost feel
like I was there. Equally lucky, the weekend didn't go wasted. I was able
to change plans and get myself a trip to Menlo Park, home of the suddenly
de-cloaked Be, Incorporated.
For those who aren't aware of Be or their first product, the BeBox, here's
a quick summary. Be, Inc. was founded in 1990 by Jean-Louis Gassee, who
left Apple as a head engineering exec. His company set to work to create a
new computer platform on the premise that multiprocessing is a good thing.
To that end, the BeOS was geared to take advantage of up to 8 of them,
initially AT&T's Hobbit RISC, later the Motorola/IBM/Apple PowerPC. The
BeBox is the first computer to implement the BeOS, and sports PCI and ISA
busses, SCSI and IDE as standard, and a boatload of onboard I/O including
stereo in and out, MIDI, and IR ports. The box is driven by two PowerPC
603 chips.
Be's staff hit the computer world with a blitz, first at a trade show and
then with extensive information on the net. With such touted features as a
multithreaded, pre-emptively multitasking OS with all the niceties like
memory protection Amiga users have been asking for and compatibility with
industry standard (read: inexpensive) video cards, monitors, and
peripherals, my interest was caught. Besides, at the time I heard about
it, the PowerAmiga announcement hadn't been made yet.
So I did some talking with Gassee and he arranged a flight for me. (It was
on United, which isn't nearly as nice as Kiwi, but I'm not going to get
picky now.) I arrived at San Francisco airport, took a limo out to the
office building, and went in.
I had envisioned their office might be in a 15-story glass and metal cube
building where all sorts of companies would sneer at me behind closed doors
with all sorts of top secret technology I'd never see. (This is, after
all, Silicon Valley.) Fortunately, it was a much more tame building than
that and Be had the entire third floor so there was a minimum of
intimidation. (There were an awful lot of mirrors on the first floor, but
nothing I couldn't handle.)
So there I was. Maureen Hendrickson, the office administrative assistant,
fetched Gassee, and off he went to grab Melissa Rogers, Project Manager,
Benoit Schilling, 5-year Be veteran in software, and another gentleman
whose name escapes me. Gassee and I held a brief meeting, and then I was
whisked off for a short tour of the office floor (very sparsely furnished,
lots of old couches and tables, though.) Then came the demo.
The BeBox was set up in a special room designated for demos. They have a
pretty high-quality stereo setup in there, along with a prototype BeBox
case, an old Hobbit-based machine, and the demo unit, housed in an open
case under the table. The machine was equipped with a PCI GXE #9 graphics
card running at 800x600x256 (presently, the maximum implemented
resolution), a standard ISA PC Ethernet card, and a special keyboard/mouse
ISA card hacked up for temporary use, as there has been a software problem
with the Be's standard ports. In addition, there was some rather large
amount of disk space and 32 megs of memory.
Screenshots of the BeOS are available on Be's web site (listed later on.)
But a description of the "feel" is in order. The influence of the Mac
System isn't very hard to find--the general paradigm is the same. There's
the single-screen desktop, windows that open on it, and tasks that switch
either by clicking on their window or by selecting them from a list,
accessed in the upper left hand corner of the screen. Amiga users will
feel pretty at home opening up a "newsh", though, a bash variant shell that
has full control over the filesystem. In fact, the entire OS is so tightly
threaded through the built-in database that, for example, renaming a folder
in a shell will immediately update all on-screen GUI references to that
folder.
My demo "chaperone" proceeded to show off various aspects of the BeBox--the
speed of a Mandelbrot recalculation, the musical capabilities, and the
interprocess clipping. Then, of course, all of them at once (two
Mandelbrot zooms while two MIDI tracks and a sampled CD track played with
three animation windows running.) Yes, the system slowed down (you could
watch the processors fall out of sync in the Mandelbrot zooms, since each
processor handles odd/even lines.) But it kept chugging along, rather
nicely, too. All the while the old Hobbit box next to me ran a
landscape-generating screen saver that hid an old texture-mapped game demo
that wasn't exactly stable.
Then it was time for more important things, like lunch. Over lunch, about
a dozen Be employees gathered around. We discovered that I was the only
person present who hadn't worked for Apple in some way in my lifetime. Of
course, the "God I hated Apple I'm so glad I'm not there anymore" stories
started flying...and there was something very eerily familiar about them.
Stories of incompetent, overbearing engineering management. Stories of
over-delayed product releases (Melissa was the Project Manager for Mac's
Copland OS prior to coming to Be. She told us that her Apple sources
indicate Copland will likely be as late as December 1997.)
I got myself back behind the wheels of the BeBox for a bit longer after
lunch...played around with the GUI and shell (you are arbitrarily limited
to opening up 6 shells. Sorry to those Amiga folks who like opening up
dozens of shells to see how many you can get, but they just set a limit and
are done with the matter), and then with a Descent-like game in beta stage.
All very fluid. The TCP stack seemed competent, as was their quickie web
browser that was whipped up in-house.
I spent time talking at length with Joe Palmer, head of hardware for Be.
He described the production process (contracted out to a company who
profited from an Apple loss, buying up a highly modern but abandoned
production facility of theirs) and walked me through the motherboard. We
also did a lot of talking about the face of the computer marketplace, the
future of the Web, and earthquakes.
Gassee and I had some time to talk again afterwords. He reiterated what
he's been saying all along, that the BeBox is for computer enthusiasts,
hackers, and those who aren't looking to just run Microsoft Office.
They're not expecting to put a computer in every home, just in the homes of
people who don't want the everyday. And the cost of admission reflects it,
at least for now--a base unit is $1600, and that comes with essentially
just the motherboard and I/O card, you supply graphics, memory, storage,
and monitor. Be projects about $2500 for a "reasonably equipped" machine
of 16 megs of memory and the other accessories. 16 megs is definitely a
must, as the 32-meg BeBox--which wasn't running any major items worth
noting--took about 11 megs to boot. The minimum OS footprint is 4.5 megs.
I talked for a while with CK, Be's head of developer support. A veteran of
Apple dev support, CK was largely concerned with how to get the next 670
machines to the developers that want them. (a dozen already have them.)
We also talked at length about the Web and how it made his job infinitely
easier--no more phone calls or mass mailings, just put it on the web site
and be done with it. The BeBox is definitely for the networked crowd, or
as Gassee put it, "If you come into my shop and want to buy a BeBox, but
don't have an Internet account, I don't want you to buy one."
After about 5 hours in the company of the Be staff and machines, it was
time to call it a night. I did have dinner with Benoit the following
night, where it was time to buckle down and get to some more meaty issues,
like...
Q: Is Be really going to focus on selling their operating system over selling
machines, as the web site indicates they're inclined to do?
A: Well, Benoit doesn't think so, anyway. It could easily go either way,
but he and I are in agreement that we just don't see it being overly
attractive to buy an operating system.
Q: How easy/difficult is it to add extra processors to the BeOS, since
you're supposed to be able to use up to 8 in the OS?
A: At least at first, there will have to be specific OS versions for any
extra processors (and extra machines, since there is no provision for
changing processors on the BeBox). They are considering doing a generic
version that would simply adjust to its environment, but memory overhead
issues come into play.
Q: Are there going to be, say, Unix variants ported to the BeBox?
A: Benoit feels it would be such a difficult task it wouldn't really be
worth the trouble, but the logic analyzers are available to developers if
they really want to give it a shot...
There was also quite a bit of questioning coming FROM Be about the Amiga,
both on Thursday from the staff (including Be's webmaster who wanted to
make sure Amiga users would have access to the Be developer manual) and
from Benoit Friday night. But that's only fair, they paid for me to pick
their brains. Quite a lot of the response to their product announcement
came from Amiga users, but the subsequent announcement of upcoming PowerPC
Amiga development has quelled that surge somewhat.
So, the question I've been asked a lot is, "Is the BeBox the next Amiga?"
Well, it all depends on what you think the Amiga is. If the Amiga is doing
amazing things with relatively limited resources, the answer is clearly
no--Amiga Technologies is shipping machines with less than half the memory
the BeOS needs to BOOT. If you see the Amiga as simply being an example of
a well-constructed alternative in the computer market, then the answer is
yes, after a sense. The BeBox isn't going to be touted as a giant-killer,
there are no plans to target Compaq, IBM, Dell, and Microsoft and take them
out of commission. At least in Europe, the Amiga is aimed a bit more at
these sorts of markets than the Be is.
On the other hand, the Be has the hardware advantage at the moment--Dave
Haynie has implicitly and explicitly said that the BeBox is a rough example
of where the Amiga SHOULD be now, all things going according to plan and
there not being an extended suspension of Amiga development.
Is the BeBox a good reason to throw your Amiga out the window? Mine's
staying planted on my desk. But just when it seemed that the Amiga might
fade away into obscurity for good and the face of Windows would overwhelm
the landscape, Be came out with a pretty impressive bang. Competition in
the computer market pleases me, and I think it may have been directly
responsible for Amiga Tech's sudden willingness to talk a bit more
specifically about the future.
I saw a lot of good things. I saw a compact but loose company with a group
of talented people who enjoy working with each other and believe in what
they're working on. I saw a machine that had a real personality and feel
to it (No, no dragging screens up and down, but it has a feel), a real
viable alternative to the Intel/Microsoft wave, a potential ally against a
common foe, you might say. And I saw the reason AmiTech's been more open
to their customers. So the trip was a success, even if I didn't walk out
with a new computer.
The Flip Side: Of course, there are always those details that are worth
mentioning that just don't fit the flow of the article...
Robert Reiswig (who co-authored one of the VTU Expo reports in this issue)
and I got together Saturday night for a drive and a couple of rounds of
Virtual Worlds Battletech. As far as we can tell, it's still all driven by
Amiga 500s, and there were lots of 1084Ses in sight. Rob pretty much blew
me away most of the time, but I did finish with 5 kills versus 6 times
killed, and kept my score in the positive numbers.
Two Be employees, at different times, pointed out that one of the things
they remembered the most about the Amiga was the screen dragging.
The BeBox has an application that allows you to monitor the processor
usage. You can also shut off a processor to watch the load increase
(useful for debugging, I'm told.) You can also shut BOTH of them off.
Oops.
I didn't get heckled wearing either my Amiga (PC-Task) or Be t-shirts over
the weekend. Man, it's really different being in the Silicon Valley.
@endnode
@node REVIEW1 "Review: ImageStudio 2 v2.3.0"
@toc REVIEW
===========================================================================
Review: ImageStudio 2
By: @{" William Near " link WILLIAM}
===========================================================================
SOFTWARE: ImageStudio 2 v2.3.0
AUTHORS: Andy & Graham Dean
14 Fielding Ave.
Poynton,
Stockport,
Cheshire,
SK12 1YX
England
Email: adean@eleceng.ucl.ac.uk (Andy)
ELA95GND@sheffield.ac.uk (Graham)
ORDERS: LH Publishing
13 Gairlock Ave.
Bletchley
MK2 3DH
England
DESCRIPTION: File conversion and image processing program
PRICE: Shareware fee of 15 pounds sterling or US$30 overseas
SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: Amiga running Workbench 2.04+, a hard drive and at
least 1 MB of RAM
SYSTEM TESTED ON: Amiga 2000 (Rev 4.4), ECS chip set, G-Force '030
accelerator @ 50 MHz., 2 MB CHIP + 8 MB FAST memory,
Quantum LPS270S hard drive with Trumpcard Professional
controller, Picasso II RTG (2 MB) graphics board,
Workbench 3.1, multisync monitor
PACKAGING: The program, when retrieved from the Aminet, consists of two
compressed files that must be written out to two floppy disks and upon
registration you will be sent the latest registered version of ImageStudio
on two floppy disks and a very nice 72 page manual.
INSTALLATION: ImageStudio uses the Commodore Installer program to create
the necessary files on your hard drive. During the installation process
you are given the choice of installing either a 68000 or 68020+ version of
ImageStudio depending on your machine's configuration.
FEATURES: ImageStudio is a midrange image processing and conversion
program. It lacks some of the high-end features found on some Amiga
graphics programs, but what it lacks in professional features it easily
makes up for in ease of use and simplicity.
ImageStudio uses virtual memory to manipulate color-mapped or 24-bit
images. The user sets up a destination directory on his hard drive to be
used by ImageStudio as virtual memory, which does a nice job of allowing
multiple buffers to be used without the necessity of having several
megabytes of RAM.
A full-featured ARexx port is included that allows the user to write, edit,
and run ARexx scripts from within ImageStudio itself. The authors have
even included a blank template to help get you started on the path to ARexx
bliss.
Six separate tutorials are included to walk the user through several of the
basic processes that ImageStudio is capable of performing on an image.
Each tutorial is illustrated in the manual making each step easy to follow.
The Prefs requestor contains 27 separate user settings in three categories
(Text, Numeric, and Boolean.) Everything from what external viewers to use
and whether or not you would like the Amigaguide on-line help enabled to
saving the positions of the windows in ImageStudio can be controlled from
this requestor.
Some of the other major features of ImageStudio are:
* 100 level Undo/Redo
* CyberGraphX compatibility (graphics board support)
* Internal and external image viewer support
* Loading, saving and manipulation of AGA image formats on non-AGA machines
* Maximum image size of 32,000 x 32,000
* Clipboard support
* On-line help function by way of Amigaguide
* Ability to import: IFF-ILBM, BMP, IFF-DEEP, JPEG, PCX, PNM, QRT, SGI,
Targa, TIFF, and VMEM file formats
* Ability to export: IFF-ILBM, BMP, EPS, GIF, IFF-DEEP, JPEG, PCX, PNM,
QRT, SGI, Targa, TIFF, and VMEM file formats
* Datatype support with Workbench 3.x
* Color Balance applicable in separate RGB components or Brightness, Gamma,
and Contrast settings
* 17 Convolution filters are supplied (such as: Blur, Chisel, Emboss,
Shake, Slash, Texture, etc.) along with the capability to create custom
filters
* 12 Effects are supplied (such as: Dynamic Range, Flip X & Y, Roll X & Y,
Negative, Pixelize, etc.)
* Scaling of image
* Color Reduction
* Zoom (in/out)
IMPRESSIONS: ImageStudio is one of the easiest to learn image processing
programs I have ever run across. The menus and requestors are very
intuitive and easy to use. Sample images are supplied that coincide with
the tutorials in the manual. By running through each tutorial I was able
to quickly master the basics of image manipulation with ImageStudio. The
floating palettes for: Balance, Convolves, Effects, Scripts, InfoBar and
Coordinates are easily arranged anywhere on the screen, as well as being
able to resize the image window.
Among the supplied ARexx scripts is a Demo that runs through several of the
features of ImageStudio. This is well worth running through to help
familiarize yourself with the abilities of ImageStudio. Another set of
scripts allow you to do various batch processes on selected files.
Applying an Effect or Convolve is as easy as outlining a portion, or the
entire image, with your mouse and then selecting the appropriate function
from one of the palettes on the screen and applying it. The possibilities
are virtually endless as to image manipulation.
An ARexx Command Shell option is included. An ARexx command my be executed
from here or help on the syntax of any command can be obtained by typing
help from within the Shell. The effect of any ARexx command
is immediately visible upon executing it from the Command Shell. This
allows experimentation with various ARexx commands before they are added to
an actual script. The manual also includes ARexx common problems and tip
sections.
Converting an image to another file format couldn't be easier. Just load
in the image to be converted and then select Save from the menu. A
requestor will pop up with the options to specify a new filename, the
format to convert to (from a scrolling window) and any options associated
with that particular file format. Click on the Save button and the rest is
performed by ImageStudio.
Finally, an Uncrash utility is included. In the event of a system crash
this program should be run immediately after rebooting the computer. An
attempt to recover the swap files from the hard drive will be made. This
utility should be run before executing the ImageStudio program to ensure
that the swap files will not be overwritten.
SUMMARY: ImageStudio is a very nice piece of Shareware. It allows the
casual user to manipulate and convert images with ease and excellent
results can be expected. The program was very easy to install ala the
Commodore Installer program and the printed manual and Amigaguide
documentation is top notch. The authors are easily contacted via Email and
they respond quickly with helpful replies. Their commitment to this
program is outstanding and continued development is virtually guaranteed
with added Shareware registrations from its users.
[Or additional commercial purchases, now that LH Publishing is in the
game...-Jason]
@endnode
@node CHARTS1 "Aminet Charts: 30-Oct-95"
@toc FTP
| The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 30-Oct-95
| Updated weekly. Most popular file on top.
|
|File Dir Size Age Description
|----------------- --- ---- --- -----------
SmartWB.lha util/wb 4K 0+Boosts up Workbench's windows refres
zaxxon.lha game/shoot 131K 0+The c64 classic Zaxxon perfectly con
FView20.lha gfx/show 91K 0+FastView for IFF/GIF/BMP/JPG/PCX pic
Magic64.lha misc/emu 249K 1+A C64 emulator for the Amiga V1.0
SysPic.lha util/boot 72K 0+V2.02-The best boot-time picture dis
Amiga_SLIP_11.lha docs/help 12K 1+Beginner's Guide To Amiga Slip, Amig
UltimatePatchS.lha util/misc 78K 1+Very powerful patch system.
CrossDOS602.lha biz/patch 79K 0+Update CrossDOS 6.00 and 6.01 -> 6.0
Executive.lha util/misc 482K 0+UNIX-like task scheduler (V1.20)
mcx218.lha util/cdity 46K 0+Multi Function Commodity
VGB_Amiga.lha misc/emu 64K 1+Nintendo Gameboy emulator V0.3
MagiC64N.lha misc/emu 250K 0+C64 Emulator V1.01 (A1200 Bug fixed)
truview.lha dev/misc 10K 1+614125 colors on AGA (FAST!!)
beinfo.lha docs/misc 255K 1 Technical info (+ pics) on the BeBox
prop3d_4063.lha util/boot 9K 0+Improve the look of the GadTools pro
Speed18.lha game/misc 192K 1+Upto 4-played car racing game
AutoAssign.lha util/wb 18K 0+V1.12-Automagically makes assigns &
IconAlign.lha util/cli 9K 0+Arranges Workbench icons orderly
SeriousBackgmn.lha game/board 128K 0+The ultimate Amiga backgammon game
SystemPrefs32.lha util/wb 89K 1+Preferences for CPU (up to 68060) an
| The highest rated programs during the week until 30-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
|----------------- --- ---- --- -----------
thor21_main.lha comm/mail 774K 6+Offline Reader for BBS/Internet usag
JaysTale.lha docs/misc 72K 4+Jay Miner's tale of the Amiga
nsp.dms game/demo 455K 129 Demo of No Second Prize, motorcycle
MangledFenders.lha game/misc 385K 62+Top view 6 car demolition derby game
CGraphX212u.lha gfx/board 152K 0+CGraphX gfx extension update 2.12
Midnight208a.lha util/blank 363K 48+The ultimate screen saver! (OS2.0+)
Executive.lha util/misc 482K 0+UNIX-like task scheduler (V1.20)
term-030.lha comm/term 669K 3+V4.5, MC68020/030/040/060 version
ARTv1i3A.lha docs/mags 34K 5+AR Tech Journal, Vol 1 Issue 3 in Am
F1GP-Ed.lha game/misc 266K 3+Formula One Grand Prix / WC Editor V
DGalaga26C.lha game/shoot 544K 4+Galaga clone with lots of extra feat
Motor_Duel.lha game/shoot 317K 3+Updated version of BattleCars (2 plr
AmiWin20d.lha gfx/x11 1.4M 12+X11R6 package for AmigaDOS V2.0d
gfft-1.12.lha misc/sci 296K 59+FFT spectrum analysis of sample file
JustForBlues.lha mods/jazz 129K 53 Jazzband by Dizzy 2:45 **
XModule34.lha mus/edit 226K 18+Multiformat Module Editor And Conver
snoopdos30.lha util/moni 128K 58+System monitor, many new features ad.
ADPCM_Package.lha util/pack 79K 0+Highly effective sample compression
ShapeShift3_2a.lha misc/emu 240K 5+Macintosh II emulator, V3.2a
cp5.lha comm/tcp 114K 1+V5.6 of the AmiTCP front end package
ACM.lha dev/c 443K 125+Amiga C manual w/ many examples
Eldritch.lha game/role 375K 1+V1.32 : Top-view adventure hack-and-
Iconian2_96.lha gfx/edit 336K 2+OS3.0 icon editor, NewIcon support.
PC-TaskPatch31.lha misc/emu 292K 31+PC-Task 3.10 Patch. Updates 3.0 to
MathScript21.lha misc/math 253K 21+Mathematical Formula Editor. V2.1
AlgoMusic1_4.lha mus/misc 103K 0+Creates and plays great algorithmic
muchmore46.lha text/show 97K 32+Soft scrolling text viewer with xpk-
ARCHandler2_0c.lha util/arc 144K 3+2.0c - filesystem, use lha as direct
@endnode
@node CHARTS3 "13-Nov-95"
@toc FTP
| The most downloaded files from Aminet during the week until 13-Nov-95
| Updated weekly. Most popular file on top.
|
|File Dir Size Age Description
|----------------- --- ---- --- -----------
mn_ansitest.lha comm/mebbs 3K 20+ANSI Test Door for MEBBSNet
MagicWB20e.lha biz/demo 270K 0+The standard for the Amiga workbench
FastIPrefs4012.lha util/boot 9K 0+IPrefs has been rewritten for KS 3.1
html20gu.lha docs/hyper 47K 0+Complete HTML 2.0 reference in Amiga
thor22_main.lha comm/mail 804K 1+Offline Reader for BBS/Internet usag
Magic64.lha misc/emu 310K 0+A C64 emulator for the Amiga V1.1
thor22_inet.lha comm/mail 84K 1+Internet archive for THOR 2.1 (TCP/S
BootGauge03.lha util/boot 20K 1+Shows a gauge bar while booting, BET
NetFace1_2b.lha comm/tcp 38K 1+Beta Gui frontend for AmiTCP.
Visage.lha gfx/show 145K 0+Picture viewer for OS 3.0+. V39.2
RynoIcons2.lha pix/mwb 94K 1+A set of Magic Workbench style icons
Eldritch.lha game/role 390K 0+V1.34 : Top-view adventure hack-and-
DungeonHero.lha game/role 136K 0+Fantastic RPG like Dungeon Master
mcx222.lha util/cdity 47K 0+Multi Function Commodity
vscan31.lha util/virus 160K 1+V3.1 of a SHI antivirus, recognises
ZeusIIe.lha misc/misc 18K 1+AI software to impress your friends!
girlact.lha game/shoot 40K 0+Girl Actions - A simple "Galaxians"
fastMC.lha gfx/show 58K 1+Fastest truecolor-emulation (jpeg, p
AmigaFrom2214.txt docs/misc 25K 0+The Amiga Resistance in 2214. READ I
varexx.lha util/rexx 74K 0+A GUI system for Arexx.
| The highest rated programs during the week until 13-Nov-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
|----------------- --- ---- --- -----------
hdsleep.lha disk/misc 11K 3+Turns your hard drives motor off. v1
Knights242.lha game/2play 223K 53+Two-player violent dungeon bashing
Team17_Demos.dms game/demo 680K 34+Demos of Alien Breed 3D and King Pin
CGraphX212u.lha gfx/board 152K 2+CGraphX gfx extension update 2.12
DamageWolf3D_2.lha gfx/misc 292K 1+A ROTT (PC game) walkaround demo; 3D
ShapeShift3_2a.lha misc/emu 240K 7+Macintosh II emulator, V3.2a
RomIcons9.lha pix/icon 336K 23+New MagicWB2.0 Icons/ImageDrawers/..
TolleUhr13.lha util/time 89K 21+Beautyful analogous clock, v1.3
DosMan121.lha util/wb 145K 24+Complete GUI Dos Manual
NetMail-13.lha comm/mail 130K 3+E-mail program with GUI, groups, fil
tin130gamma.lha comm/news 182K 14+TIN 1.3 PL0 Beta 950726. UUCP/NNTP N
Interplay40b.lha disk/cdrom 53K 1+CDPlayer (Archos/CD32/PowerCD/SCSI/+
ReOrg3_1.lha disk/optim 326K 114+Disk optimizer with DC-FFS support
DiskSalv11_32.lha disk/salv 118K 18+Dave Haynie's DiskSalv version 11.32
ViperAGA12.lha game/2play 390K 54+Updated AGA Snake game with 6 player
VK_DEMO.lha game/demo 765K 1+Virtual Karting playable demo
F1GP-Ed.lha game/misc 266K 5+Formula One Grand Prix / WC Editor V
MagiC64N.lha misc/emu 250K 2+C64 Emulator V1.01 (A1200 Bug fixed)
gfft-1.12.lha misc/sci 296K 61+FFT spectrum analysis of sample file
AB3Dicon.lha pix/icon 2K 1+Icon for Alien Breed 3D - MWB Style.
MagicMenu_1.29.lha util/cdity 106K 102+PopUp menus for OS 2.x and newer
Executive.lha util/misc 482K 2+UNIX-like task scheduler (V1.20)
snoopdos30.lha util/moni 128K 60+System monitor, many new features ad
NewMultiView09.lha util/sys 8K 4+A frontend for MultiView
truview.lha dev/misc 10K 3+614125 colors on AGA (FAST!!)
Bloodfest1.lha game/role 515K 1+Captive & HiredGuns style 3d adventu
Bloodfest2.lha game/role 598K 1+Captive & HiredGuns style 3d adventu
BikiniCards.lha game/think 590K 44+New card set for Klondike AGA
KlondikeIII_1.lha game/think 712K 38+Newest version of REKO Klondike!
@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.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]
http://ArtWorks.apana.org.au/AmigaReport.html
The following AR sites also have a mailto form, allowing you to mail to
Amiga Report from the web site. JPEG tool
@{" Offline Orbit v0.88 " link NEWS40} An offline message reader
@{" NetMail v1.3 " link NEWS41} A mail reader/sender
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node FEATURE "Featured Articles"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
Featured Articles
===========================================================================
@{" Video Toaster User Expo " link FEATURE6} Harv Laser's version
@{" Video Toaster User Expo " link FEATURE1} The K&R Report
@{" Tyschtschenko at VTU Expo " link FEATURE7} The boss speaks out
@{" Cologne Amiga Show Report " link FEATURE2} By Vermeulen and Guijt
@{" Cologne Amiga Show Report " link FEATURE3} By Tavoly
@{" Cologne Amiga Show Report " link FEATURE4} By Malerz
@{" Manfred Schmitt at Cologne " link FEATURE9} The BIG boss speaks out
@{" Tyschtschenko at Cologne " link FEATURE10} A progress report...
@{" Tyschtschenko at Bradford " link FEATURE11} ...Here as well...
@{" Tyschtschenko at Bordeaux " link FEATURE12} ...and here.
@{" Comdex Show Report " link FEATURE8} What AT was up to at the big show
@{" Unveiling the PAWS " link FEATURE5} Is the laptop worth it?
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node REVIEW "Reviews"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
Reviews
===========================================================================
@{" ImageStudio 2 v2.3.0 " link REVIEW1} A look at the low-cost image processor
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Charts " link FTP} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node FTP "Aminet Charts"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
Aminet Charts
===========================================================================
@{" 30-Oct-95 " link CHARTS1}
@{" 13-Nov-95 " link CHARTS3}
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
@{" Opinion " link OPINION} @{" News " link NEWS} @{" Articles " link FEATURE} @{" Reviews " link REVIEW} @{" Adverts " link COMMERCIAL}
@endnode
@node ABOUT "About AMIGA REPORT"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
About AMIGA REPORT
===========================================================================
@{" AR Staff " link STAFF} The Editors and writers
@{" Writing Guidelines " link GUIDELINE} What you need to do to write for us
@{" Copyright Information " link COPYRIGHT} The legal stuff
@endnode
@node STAFF "The Staff"
@toc ABOUT
===========================================================================
The Staff
===========================================================================
Editor: @{" Jason Compton " link JASON}
Assistant Editor: @{" Katherine Nelson " link KATIE}
Senior Editor: @{" Robert Niles " link ROBERT}
Contributing Editor: @{" William Near " link WILLIAM}
Contributing Editor: @{" Addison Laurent " link ADDISON}
@endnode
@node WHERE "Where to Get AR"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
Where to Get AR
===========================================================================
@{" The AR Mailing List " link MAILLIST}
@{" Aminet " link AMINET}
@{" World Wide Web " link WWW}
@{" Distribution Sites " link BBS}
@{" Commercial Services " link PORTAL}
@endnode
@node BBS "Distribution Sites"
@toc WHERE
===========================================================================
Distribution BBSes
===========================================================================
Arranged by Continent:
@{" Australia " link BBS_AUSTRALIA}
@{" Europe " link BBS_EUROPE}
@{" North America " link BBS_NAMERICA}
@{" South America " link BBS_SAMERICA}
Sysops: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the BBS name,
its location (Country, province/state) your name, any internet/fidonet
addresses, and the phone number of your BBS
@endnode
@node DEALER "Dealer Directory"
@toc MENU
===========================================================================
Dealer Directory
===========================================================================
The Dealer Directory does not appear in this issue due to size constraints.
Look for it in the next issue.
--- --- --- --- ---
Dealers: To have your name added, please send @{"Email", link JASON} with the name,
address, phone, and net address (if available) of your establishment.
@endnode
http://www.cucug.org/ar/ar320.guide
(possibly inaccurate URL)
08/1997
