MagiC 4

Is Domhnall Dods under a MagiC spell?

The idea of multitasking is that one person can do more than one task. Domhnall Dods and I have found a new meaning. One task being done by more than one person... we are sharing the writing of this review! Well, Domhnall will be looking at MagiC in detail, I am here just to make a comment that is relevant to Falcon FacTT File members. If you are using an old version of NameNet you may have to set it to run as a single tasking application. This is simple to do in most replacement desktops. Also, I cannot get the accessory version to run as a program by clicking on the NN_ACC.ACX file so I install it as a an ACC during bootup.

To continue this shared review, I will do the screenshots, but for now it's over to Domhnall for the review proper...

In June 1994 I installed what was then known as Mag!X on my STFM. It was truly amazing, multitasking on a 1 meg Atari, and it was faster than running under TOS! A short time later I moved on to a Falcon and was disappointed to find that Mag!X was not Falcon friendly. Systm Solutions promised an upgrade "soon". Well nearly two years later and one change of name (due to legal reasons) later MagiC 4 has arrived in the UK and is indeed compatible with the Falcon. MagiC comes on a single floppy disk with a simple installation program and a 48 page manual. The disk contains the operating system itself as well as various utilities such as a command line interface. Unfortunately there is very little information supplied for many of these utilities, only one is mentioned in any detail in the manual itself, and the user is simply left to experiment to find out what the various programs actually do. In some cases read_me files are supplied but they are entirely in German, if you can't speak German or don't have a copy of Ruftrade you're on your own!

MagiC will happily install on any Atari machine irrespective of TOS version since it completely replaces the standard Atari operating system. This makes it an attractive option for those wishing to upgrade their TOS relatively painlessly. In fact I first purchased MagiC two years ago as it was the cheapest way to upgrade from TOS 1.0.

If you are using a boot manager such as Stoop (if not, why not?) then having clicked on the set up which contains MagiC, the machine will reboot with MagiC installed rather than TOS. However this is where we meet the first snag. When I first tried out MagiC 4, on Colin's machine, the reboot happened very quickly. However when I got home and repeated the process on my own machine it took 45 seconds from clicking on the "magic" button in Stoop to the point where HDDriver kicked in. The total time to reach the desktop was just over one minute. I now understand that the system spends this time looking for an IDE device, regardless of whether your hard drive software has the IDE device numbers enabled or not. If, like Colin, you have an IDE drive the reboot takes seconds, if not you will have to wait something like a minute. Apparently a bug fix is being worked on but at the moment the delay is extremely annoying. Everything works as before but, it is claimed, a little faster with all system functions having been optimised for speed. Some enhancements are immediately apparent such as the button added to all windows allowing you to "bottom" the window with a left click.

Window iconifying is another useful addition. Anyone who has used previous versions of MagiC will recall the awful MagxDesk (for some reason although the package has been renamed MagiC, the desktop retains the old spelling). The old MagxDesk could at best be described as a little "basic". Thankfully it has been drastically improved whilst stillusing up remarkably little memory. All the features users of replacement desktops have come to appreciate are there including the ability to create "symbolic links" which Thing users will know as "groups".

[Screenshot] The idea is simple, you can create a folder or window referring to a group of programs, all your comms programs for example, and by holding down the alt key and then dragging the program icons to the window or folder, MagxDesk will remember where the actual program are stored on your hard drive. Rather than having every icon on the desktop you can create groups according to subject and then open up the group when you want to use a program. It is an extremely useful feature, one which as a regular Ease user I wish had been implemented in the latest release of Ease.

MULTITASKING

This, after all, is what MagiC is all about. MagiC (like the recently mega hyped Windows 95) is a pre-emptive Multi tasking system. Under such a system the processor remains in control and switches it's time between the various applications ensuring that no single program can dominate.

[Screenshot] Applications running in the background are given a lower priority but do continue running. You can use the supplied TIMRSLICE.CPX to alter the priority given to background tasks if things are running too slowly. The default settings seem to work perfectly well though.

When you first run an application under MagiC you may well think nothing has happened as the original desktop remains on screen, but have a closer look at the menu bar and you will see that it has changed and that you are actually running the application. You can go on loading more applications until you run out of memory. Even on a 4 meg Falcon with Ease, Screenblaster, Freedom, NVDI and MagiC installed I was able to load up Everest, Cab, Imagecopy, Address and STraight Fax before running out of memory. Obviously loading memory intensive packages like Calamus SL or Papyrus cuts down the number of prorams you can get away with though. If you have more than 4 megs installed you should have no problems. Switching between applications is a doddle, just click on the relevant window to "top" it. If you can't see the window for other windows then pressing [Control][Alt][Tab] cycles through the programs running, simply release the key when you get to the desired package and it will be selected. If that's not to your liking there's also a pop up in the menu bar, activated by clicking on any clear part of the menu bar, which can be used to switch between programs, hide a program from view, or hide all programs except the current one. Don't worry, hidden programs keep on working, they're just invisible! The pop up also lets you start programs without going to the desktop and displays the amount of free memory.

TOS and TTP programs are run in a window using the VT52 program that comes with the package and this is also used to display text files simply by clicking on them and the standard six desk accessory limit remains although as the manual points out you can load and unload accessories at any time. Unfortunately this appears to be a feature of MagxDesk rather than MagiC as I have been totally unable to do it under Ease but it works perfectly from within MagxDesk.

If you are on NeST you will be aware that there has been considerable discussion as to which programs will and will not run under MagiC. Personally the only problem I have encountered is with the latest versions of the Apex viewers (those with the gtp extension). If you do come across a problem program you can set it to run in single tasking mode. One program which I know from previous experience does not like multitasking is Protext, however a quick change to single tasking mode and it runs quite happily.

Verdict:

Aside from a few minor niggles, like the woefully inadequate manual and the boot delay, MagiC really is the knees of the bee! Memory permitting, the ability to run several applications at once and to switch smoothly between them at will is something that , once tried, you simply will not be able to do without. For instance while writing this review I've been attempting to poll 42BBS for my mail. Needless to say it's been engaged for a while but, rather than sitting waiting or giving up until later, I have simply left Semper to get on with it and have switched to Papyrus to continue with the review. The speed is impressive too, especially when combined with a package such as NVDI 4. Since taking delivery of MagiC I have had an opportunity to compare it with the world's most over hyped operating system, Windows 95. Recently a friend offered me the chance to buy his PC; with 8 megabytes of RAM and a speed of 66 Mhz it wasn't able to run the latest word processors! Now I am no great fan of the Intel based machines (just ask Colin about the despairing phone calls he got during the first few days of my PC ownership) but you can't deny they have some great games hence the purchase. In between games however I was curious and dabbled with the fabled Windows system. The result? MagiC on a 4 megabyte 32 Mhz Atari is significantly faster than Windows 95 and switching tasks is considerably easier under MagiC. So next time someone extols the benefits of multi tasking on their PC system, show them MagiC, unless they own a super fast Pentium powered monster running at unimaginable clock speeds you should be able to impress them with the speed available under MagiC. But the real proof of just how good MagiC is has to be the look on Colin's face when the time came for me to leave FacTT File HQ and head home, my copy of MagiC of course had to be removed from his machine. The look is very hard to describe but imagine the look on a small child's face after you've just stolen its most loved and cherished toy and you will probably have a fair idea of Colin's expression as I deleted the program! [Hmmm... I was trying so hard to be stoic, FFF] Suffice to say that barely a month later he has gone out and bought his own copy. The bottom line is that this is an excellent product, buy it and you will not regret it.

Contact:	System Solutions on 01753-832212
E-Mail:	ssolutions@cix.compulink.co.uk
Price:	£69.95

Contents

HomePage