Volume 1, Issue 24 Atari Online News, Etc. August 13, 1999 Published and Copyright (c) 1999 All Rights Reserved Atari Online News, Etc. A-ONE Online Magazine Dana P. Jacobson, Publisher/Managing Editor Joseph Mirando, Managing Editor Atari Online News, Etc. Staff Dana P. Jacobson -- Editor Joe Mirando -- "People Are Talking" Michael Burkley -- "Unabashed Atariophile" Albert Dayes -- CC: Classic Chips With Contributions by: Kevin Savetz Fred Horvat Keita Iida To subscribe to A-ONE, send a message to: dpj@delphi.com and your address will be added to the distribution list. To unsubscribe from A-ONE, send the following: Unsubscribe A-ONE Please make sure that you include the same address that you used to subscribed from. To download A-ONE, set your browser bookmarks to one of the following sites: http://people.delphi.com/dpj/a-one.htm http://www.icwhen.com http://a1mag.atari.org Visit the Atari Advantage Forum on Delphi! http://forums.delphi.com/m/main.asp?sigdir=atari =~=~=~= A-ONE #0124 08/13/99 ~ HTML to Text Converter ~ People Are Talking! ~ ST CAD 1.5 Out ~ Sony & EA Nab Pirates ~ AMD's 650Mhz Athlon ~ Gameday 2000 ~ Sega: Bernie Stolar Out ~ CGExpo - Intellivision ~ Worms: Armageddon ~ Red Hat at LinuxWorld! ~ Mitnick Case Dropped! ~ 'Web Car' For 2000 -* Cleveland Freenet To Close! *- -* Postal Service Okays Online Stamps! *- -* Microsoft's "Hack This" Challenge Cracked! *- =~=~=~= ->From the Editor's Keyboard "Saying it like it is!" """""""""""""""""""""""""" Happy Friday the 13th!! I think both Joe and I are starting to feel bouts of age! Here we both are, on vacation, and we're complaining of time passing by quickly. He's right, of course. Well, sort of. We've grown. We've left behind those years of adolescence where we had few responsibilities other than what we were asked to do around the house to earn that allowance; or perhaps a few other "odd jobs" to earn a few extra dollars. Now, we have jobs, families, and other responsibilities that take away much of what we'd like to call leisure time. When people ask me what I did on vacation, they usually look at me oddly when I tell them: "Nothing, I just relaxed." Oh sure, I do stuff around the house. But to me, that is relaxation, most of the time. Sure, I like to travel, but I feel that that type of vacation is more stressful in many instances. If you've paid for a vacation, you're trying to make sure you got your money's worth. Go there, do this, see that. Probably fun, but I couldn't do it all the time. So what's this have to do with Atari computing? Well, nothing, exactly. But I do equate my overall view of vacations to using Atari computers. Both are enjoyable and relaxing. Today's PCs are more like being at work, causing stress. They're just as fun. Until next time... Cleveland Freenet and Atari SIG Closing The Cleveland Freenet will be closing down for good September 30, 1999. The above sentence was something I knew one day would happen but never wanted to really admit it. The world pioneer in Freenet's, free Internet access and more after 20 years will be closing due to becoming obsolete or so what Case Western Reserve University says. I don't remember the full history from the beginning so I will not try to tell it here. I became a member in May of 1985 and had a great ride with the Cleveland Freenet. I received free Internet E-mail and access to the Internet or what it was 14 years ago. It was fun reading through the Usenet and browsing the Web with Lynx or Gopher in ASCII. The system was extremely easy to use in it's time and to this day the ease of use still exceeds current offerings. On the Cleveland Freenet one still does not have to worry about E-mail Virus's because mail is ASCII only. It was often imitated but never exceeded. Apple even imitated the community look and feel many years ago when they offered their own online service. But another sad note one of the worlds oldest and longest running Atari forums will also be closing down as part of the Freenet. The Atari SIG has been there from the very beginning as being one of the Freenet's first SIGs. Thousands of Atari fanatics have been through that SIG and it still is in use today and is still quite popular. It used to be one of the premiere Atari SIGs on the Net. They even for a couple of years published an online magazine called CAIN (Central Atari Information Network) that I was fortunate to be part of. CAIN even had Cleveland's largest ever Atari Show in 1994. For anyone interested in viewing the Atari SIG on the Cleveland Freenet on last time or for the first time Telnet to freenet-in-c.cwru.edu once connected as a member or guest from any menu type "go atari" and enjoy. There are 10 years of various Atari online magazines posted there and in some areas archived reviews, messages and more. I could go on and on about my experiences with the Cleveland Freenet but I don't want to bore any of you. If you have any comments feel free to E-mail me or the Atari SIG. We'd love to hear from you. Other places to go for Atari information, news, support and more. www.delphi.com/atari/messages <= Delphi still has ASCII besides browser access Compuserve Atari Computers keyword "Go Club" Compuserve Atari Video Game Systems keyword "Go VGCentral" www.atari.org www.ataricentral.com Plus many more places that www.atari.org has links to. Fred Horvat Cleveland Freenet Atari Portfolio SIGOP E-mail aa778@cleveland.freenet.edu Other E-mail addresses till September 30, 1999 Personal Freenet E-mail Account : ap748@cleveland.freenet.edu Atari SIG Account E-mail : xx004@cleveland.freenet.edu My new E-mail Address : fmh@netzero.net ST CAD 1.5 Beta A beta version of the forthcoming version 1.5 of ST-CAD by Matthias Krutz is now available on the author's website. You might check it out to find some remaining bugs or simply to test out the preview. http://home.t-online.de/home/MKrutz/ HTML2TXT Version 2.0 Released Version 2.0 of the HTML to text converter HTML2TXT has been released, featuring a faster conversion engine and a brand new user-interface. http://user.tninet.se/~jyc891w/software/html2txt/ RegisterWare HTML Conversion Utility For the Atari ST Version 2.0 HTML2TXT is an application used for converting HTML files into standard ASCII text files. Unlike similar programs that only strip out the HTML tags, HTML2TXT actually interprets the tags and format the outputted text files accordingly. As of version 2.0, the program can also be used to perform other tasks, such as converting text files between Atari and PC character sets, or optimizing HTML files by removing unnecessary line-breaks. New features in version 2.0: * Better user-interface There's not a trace of the old keyboard-based user-interface in this version. It has been replaced with a new, modern interface that makes use of new multi-tasking features such as iconification, BubbleGEM, and online help via ST-Guide. * Saved configuration Configurations and batch-lists are now automatically saved, which saves you a lot of work if you're repeatedly doing the same thing. * Increased HTML support The program has been completely rewritten, and now produces much better results when converting HTML files into text files. It now has full support for lists and indentations, and it recognizes the CSS property text-align and will format text accordingly. Width and align properties of
tags are now used. There's still no real TABLE support, but the program will now turn tables into lists, which increases read-ability at most times. * Conversion options The new settings you have to make at the beginning of the program enables HTML2TXT to be used for other purposes than just converting HTML files to text files. * Batchlist editor HTML2TXT now has a real batchlist editor with save / load / merge features! * Increased speed The new version performs around twice as fast as the old one! The options window lets you use HTML2TXT for other purposes than converting HTML files into text files. Registering HTML2TXT is completely free of charge! HTML2TXT is now equipped with a real batchlist-editor! HTML2TXT should work on any Atari ST compatible computer. My email address: thomas.sahlin@home.se =~=~=~= PEOPLE ARE TALKING compiled by Joe Mirando jmirando@portone.com Hidi ho friends and neighbors. Well, I'm coming up to the end of my vacation quickly now and I've spent the last three hours wondering where the heck all the time went. To be fair, I didn't actually DO a heck of a lot during the past two weeks. This has been more of a "quiet time" vacation for me. As I said a few issues ago I need THREE weeks just to recover from the two weeks of work that came before my vacation, so I'm in an honest-to-goodness "R&R deficit". Perhaps it's just because I'm getting older, but it seems that time really does go faster now. Days, weeks, and months seem to fly by and years past seem like only yesterday. I can remember the first time I interacted with a computer quite clearly. It was back in '79, when I was waiting for a friend to finish up in the computer lab so that we could go and have lunch. He wasn't quite ready and, since there was an empty chair in front of one of the college's three Apple ]['s, I sat down and just stared at the nine inch monochrome monitor with its blinking cursor. My interest piqued, I opened the programming manual that was sitting next to the machine, and commenced to type in several interesting-looking commands. By the time my friend had finished with his project, I had constructed a simple program that drew mesmerizing shapes on the screen until you pressed a key. Everyone else in the lab thought it was quite the piece of work, but I realized that, to be anything more than a curiosity, both a program and a computer would need to be quite a bit more advanced than what sat before me. Although a high 'coolness rating' was more than enough for me, I knew that in the real world you had to scale things to the lowest common denominator which, in this case, would be people who weren't technically oriented. A year or so later, I got my first computer... a Timex/Sinclair ZX81. I was intrigued by the low price of the unit, and the relative power it provided. Loose connections and a limited built-in programming language soon convinced me to look elsewhere. Commodore was continuing to advance after the success of its Vic-20 with the C-64. Not much easier to use or much more powerful, I decided to forsake the 64 for a new machine that had been hyped by a local dealer. Billed in computer magazines as the "Jackintosh", the 520ST seemed like a major breakthrough. My funds were low however, and by the time I had enough saved up to buy the 520 the 1040 was available. I was completely happy with the machine, if not the company that had produced it. You see Commodore, under Jack Tramiel, had kept me waiting for half a year for a disk drive for the 64. Even though I had vowed never to purchase another "Tramiel computer", the ST was simply too good to pass up. That first ST lasted me a good long time, and only fell by the wayside when a lightning strike destroyed several components. During that time, PCs became more than IBM had envisioned, Apple had alienated many with its high prices, and jumping from last year's model to this year's became the order of the day. Since I'm notoriously... shall we say frugal?... purchasing a new machine that often was never even considered. I was able to find various upgraded Atari computers for next to nothing, and ended up with various STs, STEs, a Stacy, Mega ST, Mega STE, and finally a TT. The TT and Stacy still get strenuous workouts, while the others have become transplant donors for friends' machines as they too succumb to the ravages of time. Now I've got a top of the line, state of the art laptop PC with more memory than all of my other computers combined (the video memory alone is twice the maximum allowable memory for an ST). It's a marvel of engineering and foresight. It's assured that the machine will become difficult to use within a year and a half, and in dire need of replacement within two years. I'll probably still be using the TT when that happens and, the way time seems to be passing more and more quickly, I'm glad of that. I guess it's my own little version of "fighting the future". Well, that's it for my version of "A Brief History of Time". Let's get on with what's being said on the UseNet. From the comp.sys.atari.st NewsGroup ==================================== Phantomm asks: "[I] Need some info on the MegaSTE. 1. Are there any upgrades that will allow more than 4 megs in a MegaSTE? 2. Is TOS 2.06 the highest version one can use in the MSTE? 3. Does one have to set any DIP switches or software settings to allow a DS external disk drive to work on a MSTE if you have a stock internal HIGH Density disk drive?" Claes Holmerup tells Phantomm: "I believe there have been some memory upgrades, but I'm afraid they don't work well with all programs. Unfortunately, I can't remember any manufacturers of such things - maybe someone else? Yes - as far as I know, TOS 2.06 is the highest that can be use in a Mega STE. I believe it's dipswitch 6 or 7 that should be changed (it's only one switch you have to change) to double sided disks. You can easily see if it's the right one by choosing to format a disk. You'll see an option extra for HD formatting... Do the switching when the computer's turned off - and then boot up again to check if it was the right one. Most SCSI-1, SCSI-2 and Fast SCSI-2 should work. Use HDDriver to get the best compatibility, as many other drivers don't support drives that are too big... Avoid drives with bus arbitration! There are a couple of chips involved with floppy drive control, but mostly it's the WDC1772 and the DMA controller. Check out the schematics at... (searching old mails...) ah - found it: http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/quadra/455/ As i recall it, the schematics are saved in some PC picture format, but there are tons of graphic converters out there." Joe Villarreal adds: "A DS external drive will work just fine on the Mega STe. I replaced the DS DD drive mechanism in Master 3S external drive with a high density drive mechanism. It's been working great for several years; it's now connected to my TT." Phantomm asks Joe: "I also have a external Master 3S. With the High Density Mechanism you replaced in yours, you still only get the standard DS/DD, Right? And when replacing Atari DS/DD drive mechs with High Density ones, Is there any brand or type that is better to use or do all of them work fine?" Joe replies: "No. It works great as a high density drive. Of course, the Mega Ste needs to support high density drives. Some older ones don't. The Master 3S had a Teac DS/DD drive mechanism. I found a Teac high density drive mechanism at a local computer store for $45; I could of found one cheaper mail order though. It was a perfect fit in the Master 3S." Our old friend Ronald Hall asks for advice about keeping his Mega in tip-top shape: "Okay, since yesterday, my 1987 Mega ST 4 (Tos 1.04/Adspeed) has developed a problem that I've not encountered before. (BTW, this is the Mega that runs DarkForce! so its been operating near continuously for nigh on 4-5 years now). Anyway, if I insert a floppy disk (any floppy - I've tried several including new and old ones), the computer immediately resets and cycles between accessing the floppy and resetting in a never-ending loop. Is it time for a floppy disk drive replacement? If so, should I try to get a new one from some place like Best Electronics or would I be better off trying to find the same kind of drive in an old beat-up 1040 somewhere (cheap)? Thanks for any help! ;-) Note that this is not critical - the Mega is still running my BBS, hard drives and CD-ROMs work just fine...just no floppy." John Kolak tells Ronald: "I've seen this before, but can't recall the cause. Best is rather pricey, so if you can sacrifice a 1040 for the floppy, much better, or an SF314. The slanted face plate with the large center ejector is somewhat less common though." Ronald tells John: "Yes, I've noticed that Brads' prices are a little bit on the high side sometimes. I've actually got a couple of 1040's lying around (for spare parts), so sometime this weekend I'm going to pull one of those floppies and swap out. Thanks for the advice!" Daniel Dreibelbis tells Ronald: "Actually, you could try to get ahold of a Sony hi-density unit and use that in the Mega - I believe that Ken, the TAF president, installed one of these in a 1040 and it works great, the button even matches up with the holes on the body so you won't have to carve up the front." Ronald does some sleuthing work and tells Daniel and John: "Okay, after stripping the PS and floppy drive from an older 1040STf, and swapping back and forth with my problematic Mega's PS and FD, I have found that my problem is indeed, the power supply. The old PS had brown marks/burnt smell on the yellow colored tower (transistor, I guess? It had wire wrap). Anyway swapping floppies didn't make any difference, but swapping PS's did. So now I'm going to order a Mega ST PS from Best Electronics. I'd use the 1040's, but it doesn't have the fan attachment, and I figure a new one is the best way to go. PS DarkForce will still be accessible, running on a 4 meg 1040STe, just slower... (the Mega runs at 16mhz)." Terrence Redding asks for info on emulators: "I still like to use a statistics program called bSTat and would like to be able to take it with me when I travel. I have PowerPC, and would like to install STe emulation software. What is available - and what is considered the easiest to install and use?" "Steve" tells Terrence: "I don't know about bSTat, but try MagiC Mac, PowerST, or NoSTalgia." Terrence replies: "I have NoSTalgia 0.6 PPC, and PowerST 0.2 both installed and running. I was surprised they ran so slow. May be if I run them out of a RAM disk they will speed up. It seems to me, about three years ago, I tried an emulator on my PowerPC that actually had a higher bench mark speed then the Mega STe I run at home. bSTat is a statistical analysis program, written in basic, that produces a nice set of graphical outputs, which then should be printable from the Mac PowerPC. I like using it for both marketing studies and some basic learning theory research that I publish from time to time." Steve asks Terrence: "Slow? What kind of Mac are you running again? These emu's run (at least) at full STfm speeds for me." Daniel Dreibelbis tells Steve: "I believe that he has an older 100mHZ PowerPC Mac; according to the review of NoSTalgia in AC last year it really runs its best under a G3 system. Only MagiCMac is designed to run at blazing speed under as little as a 680x0 system..." Dan Schoengarth posts: "I asked this question awhile back but, didn't get the answer for what I was trying to do. I have a TT with 160meg hard drive. Now I want to add another 160 meg hard drive to the TT. Here is where I think I confused everyone. I bought a new SCSI (24" double header ribbon cable). I want to hookup both drives on the same ribbon cable. The second drive will receive its power from another source. Both drives will be on the same cable that is connected to the TT motherboard. How do I get this to work? is there a special length of cable needed to do this? can it be done? I have tried everything. Maybe its my terminations I have the TT and the last drive terminated." I jump in and tell Don: "I'm not sure about the TT, but on Mega/MegaSTe computers you cannot attach a second drive to the internal host adapter. It's more advisable to put the second drive in an external case and use the SCSI port on the TT to connect it up. The SCSI port does not need a host adapter, and the connection is rock solid on my TT. I know that this isn't the way you want to connect it, but it's probably the most reliable and easiest. Maybe someone else will jump in here and have better news for you." Louis Holleman does just that when he posts: "Nope, you haven't tried everything, it would have started to work then. Now I wonder what you mean by "both drives will be on the same cable that is connected to the TT mb" Right, this is possible, then remove the termination from the first drive on the cable and enable termination on the last drive on the cable. You gotta adapt the cable for that, since it has only one connector... A more convenient way is making use of the external SCSI socket on the backside of the casing. I gather your first HD sits inside. You just leave it there (PS is there any room for your 2nd drive inside???). Also leave it terminated. Next hook up your 2nd drive to the SCSI socket. In that case the 2nd drive needs to be terminated as well and you have to remove the internal terminators in the TT. I got the impression you want to use the internal flat cable to hookup 2 drives. In fact you only need to add another connector. To summarize: as soon as you start using the SCSI outlet on the TT combined with an internal HD on the flat cable you have to remove the internal terminators from the motherboard. If you use only an internal HD on the flat cable the terminators should stay in. On one flat cable you can connect many devices. The physical last one on the "chain" needs termination, the others don't. Now that's the theory, but some TT's apparently develop strange habits with termination, so if it doesn't work, you gotta use the "trial-and-error" method... which should start by putting back the internal TT terminators once you removed these." Roger Cain adds: "Dead right, Louis. I have one internal HD and a whole bunch of SCSI devices external the last of which is terminated. This configuration goes MAD unless I put back the internal bus termination. Don't ask me why!! The laws of physics don't seem to apply here. Louis tells Roger: "Yes, that's what I heard too. I've got one internal Quantum terminated, and another Quantum, a Seagate, a Syquest removable and CD-ROM externally, the CD-ROM is terminated as the last one and the internal terminators removed. Works flawless from day 1. I seem to recall that Dennis Vermeire once wrote he had 2 TT's (I even believe he said identical ones) where on set 1 he had to remove the terminators and exactly the same setup on set 2 he had to put them back in... Then there's the stuff from people who needed an extra active terminator on the end since "term enable" on the last drive wouldn't work... So go figure! Just now I read from Ronald that some TT's won't allow for more than 1 device on the internal flat cable. If you look at it that way it's still an ACSI bus." Jos Vlietstra adds: "I can tell you that it's possible to hook two hard disks on the internal SCSI flat cable ! I have in my TT Tower a Seagate Barracuda SCSI 3 as first drive on the internal flat cable, this cable had a loose end, so my dealer terminated this end with a passive terminator. Yesterday I removed this terminator and hooked a Seagate ST3620N on this loose end .I removed the resistor terminators on this drive, but I'm certain that doesn't matter..What matters is Term Power and my both hard disk have this option....cause months ago I hooked my Mustek scanner to this loose end and after that I tried my CDROM player but NO, SIR !! That doesn't work because these devices have no Term Power. Now these two Seagates work wonderful together and I have 2.6 Gb altogether.... On my SCSI external port I have my CDROM Pioneer drive and after that my scanner. The last one has a terminator on its second SCSI outbus. All works flawlessly !I only want to use my ACSI/DMA bus and my Link adaptor, that combination works only for my hard disk with Term Power, but the solution which I described above is much more smoother and uses less cable!" Jo Vandeweghe adds: "My TT WoodTTower has : - 3 hard disks - 1 Syquest 44 - 1 Pioneer CD ROM connected to the scsi flat inner cable ... they all work perfectly. And sometimes I hook up my Microtek E3 scanner to the external scsi port with absolutely no problem .... May I add that I have a laser printer SLM605 connected to the ACSI port?" **[Editor's note: I'll tell ya folks, sometimes I just love being proven wrong! On the subject of coercing Alexander Clauss into continuing to upgrade CAB, Matthias Jaap posts: "I guess many of you are too much CAB-centered. Ok, CAB is a fine browser but there are others as well. Maybe Oxo will get their browser working some day and Jens Heitmann has just released a JavaScript enabled WWW browser. Why doesn't anybody support them? Both have published many fresh-ups and updates this year and they deserve support and feedback! They still care about the Atari platform and have ASFAIK no plans to port their software to another platform. I can't blame Alexander for moving to the Mac platform. iCAB has excellent chances to be the "Opera for Mac" and even if only a few percent of Mac users buy his browser he will probably earn more money with iCAB than with CAB. In my opinion, it is important for the Atari WWW browsers to keep up with the latest Web developments. Right now only LoA does this by implementing JavaScript 1.1 and HTML 4/CSS support is announced. If you find bugs in WenSuite or Light of Adamas report them to the programmers! Remember that they can be disappointed too if everyone mentions only CAB as THE Atari web browser." Katherine Ellis tells Matthias: "Well, you are right. However it is clearly obvious to me that if i can not use the browser, there is no way to do anything here. Just using the old CAB is my only solution. I certainly don't want to trade my mintnet for any other stack available on atari. Might as well change computer in this case. Everything i have is based around mintnet, OR using gluestik, all the STiK applications. There are so many things that it would be totally ridiculous (for me at least) to even try anything else. I do think though that for some ST users with TOS 1.4 or such, with little ram or speed, Light of adamas or whatever wensuite might fit better to their needs. Adamas sure looks good, dithering is quite good in 16 col, (don't know yet in 256 or TC mode), possibility to switch palettes, javascript support, neat I guess (can't try), some many double redraw (need to check that out). Some clicks are only taken if the frame has been activated, rather strange. Few glitches like that, I would put adamas ahead in some ways of CAB. But really is not too fair to CAB as I know how/when CAB crashes. WIth adamas, the demo version is so crippled, that can't test a whole lot. What i've noticed also with ADAMAS, it is less html code error tolerant than CAB. Like, a frame not having a blahfoo adamas will freak out and gives some html code instead of the output. Same for colors, if you use #white or white only, adamas is very picky. That is, in a way good, but is not possible in the world we are leaving in. html is a very popular language in which ANYONE basically can write in, mistakes WILL happen, and between netscape and IE, trying to define the standards, can't rely on anything really. So gotta be as tolerant as possible. CAB does a pretty good job at that... I think we are way too spread right now in some ways. And Adamas with ANOTHER stack is certainly not helping. What do they expect? All of use drop our current stack? whatever that is, STIK, STING, MiNTNET, iconnect, etc etc. It seems that adamas is not as popular as it should be. Maybe has to do with the little I said right above. Tell me, how good are javascript or html4/css if no one really can use efficiently adamas? In my eyes/dreams: The kick-ass browser for atari would be close to CAB, but supporting extended VITAL feature a multitasking OS has to offer. Handling several connections at the same time for multiple download in the html document, (just like any other browser on other platforms), decompressing displaying pictures/documents as they get downloaded (streams/background processing). Now that is the essence of interactivity. CAB by itself, visually is ok/good enough. What I can tell you is that i always wait after CAB to finish display some things, formatting etc etc. If it has background processing, and multiple connection, it would be SOOOOOO FAST. I mean, screw all the javascript, g2players and all the extra things like that, if the engine is not good, can't do much. But of course, this is/was impossible because CAB had to be compatible with TOS 1.04 (or so), no for multitasking OS user, you can forget about it. 2) also impossible I guess coz Alex would have had to choose between magic type of threading or the MiNT way. which needless to say are not 100% compatible. So I guess, in doubt, he choose the singletos way. By the way, is anyone willing to sell a copy of MagiCMac to me that they're not using? I just bought a Quadra 950 three weeks ago and I really need to set this thing up so I can use Edith and a number of other utilities I'm missing." Martin "Nightowl" Byttebier adds his thoughts: "If the Adamas people want support then they should learn to listen to people. At the Neuss fair I have talked to the authors. I've told him that Adamas won't work in True color on my Hades. Their answer was, It should work, take a look at your system, probably there is something wrong. Well, I don't like this kind of attitude at all. In my humble opinion, people who are reacting like this don't deserve feedback. The Wensuite people deserve feedback as they listen to what people have to say. Wensuite is really making progress. They are working on javascript too. If I may believe the author they are trying to implement MiNTnet support. Once Wensuite or Draconis comes with MiNTnet support I will try the packages again but as long as they only work with their own TCP/IP stack I refuse to work with it. For the moment Cab is still the best Atari browser." Well friends, this week's column has gotten a good deal longer than I had planned on. I'll end it here and hope to see you again next week when we can all get together and listen to what they are saying when... PEOPLE ARE TALKING =~=~=~= Mac Emulators for the PC? The Truth about Mac Emulation By: David K. Every Copyright 1999 www.Mackido.com Reprinted with permission There is a Mac Emulator out, called Gemulator, that seems to be getting some attention (and I'm getting email questions about) -- and the creator is making some pretty fantastic claims. So I'm going to try to clarify (express my opinions) based on what I know about computers and emulators. I'm using that particular product as the example, because it seems to make the most fantastic claims, but the application of this information is intended to be broader (and applied logically, where applicable, to any Mac emulators running on the PC). I have not actually run the Gemulator, but I have seen some other emulators, so I'm doing this based on logic, reason and mathematics (and using the companies own numbers) -- and I am trying to do a little fact checking and counter-balance. The info about the product (at Gem98Pro) makes some implications about performance. If you go to the benchmark page, you get the claims: - for Pentium processors, the rule of thumb is simple: take 1/2 the clock speed of your Pentium to get the approximate 68000 and 68030 emulation speed. So for example, a 233 MHz Pentium based computer will run about 3 to 4 times faster than a Mac IIci computer. - for Pentium II and Pentium III processors, which have the larger 512K cache and improved designed over standard Pentium processors, the rule of thumb increases to about 2/3 the clock speed. In other words, a 300 MHz Pentium II emulates the equivalent speed of about a 200 MHz 68030. A 400 MHz Pentium II has been benchmarked to run at about the speed of a 280 MHz 68030. This is a pretty extreme claim, and one that I doubt would hold up in the real world. But then again, this guy says things like the emulator has ROM support for the "Atari Macintosh SE" -- and here I didn't think Atari ever made Macintosh SE ROMS. Even the implication of speed is sloppy, that it is between a "68000 and 68030 in speed" at the same clock rate -- which is quite a spread. That is like saying it is somewhere between a Ferrari and a Yugo in the 1/4 mile. Even the bar-graph link on the page goes to the wrong place (I found the proper link anyway at: http://www.emulators.com/images/w51count.gif). So I think the guy is more sloppy than malicious. Methodology The guys methodology for performance testing is very weak. He used one Application -- Microsoft Word 5.1, and did one command set (repagination and word count). For that very limited set he got results like: 1.MacIIcx - 1:04 - (16 MHz 68030) 2.Quadra 610 - :21 (25 MHz 68040) 3.PentiumII/233 - :18 4.PentiumII/400 - :11 5.PentiumIII/550 - 0.08 Now once again, the guy is sloppy. "0.08" seems to mean 8/100ths of a second, but I suspect the author means 0:08 seconds. His little typing error just accidentally implies a 100:1 error in his favor. The real problem is that no single benchmark is valid -- especially Microsoft Word on the Mac! And I suspect that if we normalize the data (by sampling many different Word tests), we would see results far lower than 3:1 in performance between a IIcx and a Quadra (or Pentium II) -- which immediately brings up the suspicion of "cherry picking" and using an extreme example to mislead people (see dirty marketing). More important than that, Microsoft programs are infamous for being slow and inefficient programs on the Mac -- and the low speed of Word's performance has flagged some design problems with the code to begin with. So using one sample is bad enough -- but choosing a bad single sample is much worse. One of the most obvious indicators that something is wrong is just comparing a the Quadra to the MacIIcx -- a machine that is 50% faster in processor clock speed (and a bit more for FP functions and because of a cache) should not be over 3 times faster in the real world just doing a word search or repagination. That just doesn't happen normally, under regular circumstances and with equal amount of optimization or design. So we already see that the sample (Word 5.1 on a 030) is severely misrepresentative of the "real world" and most 68030 to 68040 differences won't be near the 3:1 that this example shows. So this whole example, and the claims made based on it, seem to me to sound like, "A Yugo is as fast as a Ferrari in the 1/4 mile..." assuming the quarter mile is vertical and they are both dropped flat off a cliff. Probably not an untrue statement, but it doesn't exactly mean what many people will think it means. More than that, when we start to do the math (the other way), we can see more realistic results. A 233 MHz Pentium II can emulate a 68040 series Mac just a little faster than 25 MHz. Though I believe that they strategically chose one of the few '040 models that didn't have a floating point unit built in for a reason. Either way, this is like a 9:1 ratio in clock adjustment (pentium to 68000) -- which means it takes roughly 9 (or more) Pentium instructions to emulate a single 68000 instruction. Actually, it is probably quite a worse, since the cache, bus speed, and superscaler capabilities of the Pentium, mean it is probably executing more like 15-25 instructions per single 68000 instruction completed (when compared to a 68040). Which makes far more mathematical sense because of the richer registers and better instruction set of the 68000 (compared to an x86 Pentium). So when you compare the authors "2/3rds the clock speed" claim you will be somewhat mislead. I see that it is more like a 1/9th the clock speed (sans FPU) -- or that he roughly overrated his claims by 6 times. In the real world, and under more serious tests, I doubt even that claim would be lived up to in all (or even most) cases. Of course, as I mentioned before, I think he was just using sloppy methodology. The Sweet Spot! Now in the real world, there is something else -- real world usability and what I call "the sweet spot". Let's say it is the threshold where most machines in use are running at (in performance). It is also where most software writers will target as their "low end machines" -- and is the minimum required performance that their newest software will need to still be usable at. So you will at least that class of emulator performance in order for the emulator to be really useful for new Apps. For a PC this is probably a 120 - 133 MHz Pentium. DOS, Win31, Win16 Apps, and the huge legacy of market (and volume of machines) actually holds this number back, and keeps it from advancing quickly. Too many companies have mountains of older machines, and software companies are sensitive to that. For a Mac lets put this at about 150 - 200 MHz 604. Apple has pushed theirs forward quite a bit because of the really high volumes of iMacs and the upsurge in sales, pushing for PPC support only, and so on. So many software writers are willing to push a little more. On top of that, Apple is dropping support for non-PPC machines (and even non-G3 machines) in the future -- which also helps push the sweet-spot up, and gets software companies (and Mac owners) thinking forward. If you only care about legacy apps (older programs) -- then you can go back further in performance for the sweet-spot. And if you really care about scroll and kill games (action games, not strategy or tactic ones, and especially 3D games) or graphics and desktop publishing App (like what you'd want to run Mac Apps for) then you need to go quite a bit forward (and towards faster machines). Now, the problem is that the Gemulator (or most of the Mac Emulators on PCs) are only running at levels acceptable for older Legacy Apps -- and are well below the sweet spot! While the PC Emulators on the Mac are actually achieving or above the sweet spot, and are acceptable for many new Apps. The performance demands of newer apps are likely to exclude these older Mac emulators -- making them much less valuable. In fact, many Apps (especially any games) are becoming PowerPC only, and all those are excluded from 68000 emulators for technical reasons as well as performance reasons. You can't even run the latest versions of the OS on those Mac-Emulators. You can at least get into the System8 realm, which isn't too bad -- yet even then, the sweet spot for the OS performance itself is well above the 25 MHz 68040 level -- so the OS feels bogged down on these older machines (and emulators). So there isn't that much compatibility and the performance isn't up to par for most people -- and you aren't very close to the sweet spot at all. This level of emulator has a very limited purpose, but it is no where near a replacement for a modern Mac. On the other hand, compare this to the PC emulators that run on the Mac. I have a Pentium 200 (w/MMX), and VirtualPC, and I almost never have to boot my PC for anything. In fact, I haven't even had it hooked up to a monitor in 6 months (I alternate between 2 or 3 monitors on my main Mac, and only devote one to the PC when I have to). On my 366 MHz G3 (which is still a generation back from being a cutting edge machine), the Virtual PC and Physical PC are close enough in performance for most things (though the real PC is faster than the virtual one, especially for games). But in fact, the Virtual PC adds lots of functionality (and is probably MORE compatible) than the real one -- and easier to operate, easier to fix, faster to boot, and has many other little advantages that I like. It is well above (or at least at) the sweet spot for everything except scroll and kill games -- and the Mac has more than enough of those to keep me busy. While the Mac emulators on the PC can't approach the simplicity or feature set of a real Mac. What about the PPC? When you think about it, this performance comparison is somewhat embarrassing to the Pentium. The PowerPC emulator on an 8100/80 was faster than a 25 MHz 040's at 1/3 the clock speed of the PentiumII! And that was a few generations back in processor design! Ouch, that's gotta hurt. But, I don't suppose the Gemulator-guy will run the ad that implies, "3 times slower than the PPC is at the same task", even though it would probably be no less representative of the truth. The PPC has an unfair advantage -- not only in more registers and a more modern design, but Apple optimized many OS routines for the PPC directly. So not only does the PPC do a better job of 680x0 emulation (and have a DR- Compiler), it also does a much better job of running Applications (because many of the most often used System calls are native). Another way we can look at all this (as in the sweet spot and what emulators give you) is as a matter of time. How recent of a machine can it emulate? How far behind (in years) are you? The 1994 PowerMac 8100/80 could probably emulate the 68000 apps as fast (or near to it) as what a 1998 based top of the line PC does with an emulator -- and may actually threaten a top of the line 1999 class PC. This gives the Mac like a 3 - 5 generation advantage, or 4-5 year advantage. Or in other words, what the Mac could do in 1994 the PC can finally do now. That isn't very impressive if you ask me. In fact, the 68030 machines were first released in 1988 and the 68040's are from 1991. What these new Mac emulators give you is the ability to mimic circa 1991 style machines (a little faster in best case scenarios, but probably slower in worst case scenarios). This is a full 7 or 8 years late to the party. And even that isn't fair because the 1991 Quadra700 had an FPU (Floating Point Unit) which wasn't touched in the comparison (probably for reasons). Now let's compare these timelines to the PC Emulators on the Mac! The PC emulators are easily able to emulate 1995 class machines, and arguably 1996 class machines (or even some 1997 low-end machines) on top end Macs. Which all means that the PC emulators on the Mac are many generations and many years closer to the leading edge -- and much more valuable, compatible, advanced, and useful! Conclusion The whole point of this article is not to bash the "Gemulator", or other Mac Emulators for the PC. In fact, if I wanted to give a modern PC the convenience of a legacy Mac (which they still haven't achieved on their own), then these emulators are probably a step in the right direction. But they are nowhere near the level of usability or convenience or performance of real legacy Mac -- not to mention a real modern Mac. The Gemulator still has most of the flaws of a PC (because it runs on a PC), and can't fix anything with that! And these emulators can require all sorts of ugly-hacky things like digging up old Mac ROMs and adding a card to get them to work (thus filling up one of your few slots that may be left open on a PC), and so on. It all hits me as a "non-elegant" solution, that works, but doesn't fill much of niche, and doesn't solve anything I want to do or make me more productive. The Mac and PC emulators are in two different classes. The Mac Emulators (for the PC) are valuable only if you are running really old legacy apps, and you don't need modern compatibility or performance -- and all this is valuable only if you can't buy a used or new Mac. So the only advantage for the PC is if you have absolutely no choice to run a Mac at all. While the PC Emulators (for the Mac) allow you to run much more modern apps, at a much more acceptable level, with more compatibility and may actually add features and functions to the PC in the process. In fact they are so good that many people can forgo buying a PC and replace it with a virtual one, and decrease their maintenance cost and increase their productivity (even if they aren't running quite as fast, they may get more done). So the Mac emulators (for PC) is nothing more than a Mac-Minus. They try to be as good as an older Mac, and don't quite cut the mustard (in performance or compatibility), but they are better than nothing (I suppose). Compare this to PC emulators (for Macs), which are more like PC-Plus. They add functionality, can be more compatible and do more than a real PC, they hit the sweet-spot (or get closer), they perform much more adequately than Mac Emulators, and can actually replace a modern PC in the real world for many things. http://www.MacKiDo.com/Myths/Emulators.html Created: 07/04/99 Updated: 07/26/99 =~=~=~= ->In This Week's Gaming Section - Classic Gaming Expo This Weekend! """"""""""""""""""""""""""""" Sega's Bernie Stolar Is Gone! 'NFL Gameday 2000'! 'Worms 64'! Sony & EA Fight Piracy! Smurfs!? Time Loop! And much more! ->From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is! """""""""""""""""""""""""""" Well, the Classic Gaming Expo '99 show is happening this weekend in Las Vegas. If you're interest in electronic gaming, especially that of yesteryear, this is the show to attend. It all started with Nolan Bushnell's 'Pong' (I wonder if he'll attend?!) and is still going strong with the PlayStation, Dreamcast, N64, and the new machines to come. I've always been a fan of games. I still enjoy a good game of pinball. I started out playing with the ancient 5-ball manual-ball machines and was amazed when the technology brought us better electronics and automation. The graphics of my day were pictures painted on the background; and they evolved to all kinds of electronic graphical wonders. I still own an old pinball machine, "Sunset", which is probably gathering dust at my parents home in Maine. One of these days, I have to get that machine up here! Then Atari and others moved on to such electronic wonders as Space Invaders, Missile Command, Centipede, Donkey Kong, Asteroids, and many others. The arcade games were terrific. Then they brought the arcade to our homes with the Atari 2600, Intellivision, ColecoVision, and others. Today's console systems are so much more sophisticated! But you know, many of today's systems are bringing back the classic games, with some being updated, to today's systems. Makes you think how much of an impact these games of yore influenced us. So, if you'd like to get a feeling of gaming nostalgia, the CG Expo is the place to be. And if you can't make it, look to A-ONE to provide a number of show reports in upcoming issues. I'm looking forward to them also. Until next time... =~=~=~= ->A-ONE's Game Console Industry News - The Latest Gaming News! """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Sega of America President Departs Sega of America has parted ways with Bernie Stolar, its president and chief operating officer. Sega announced Wednesday that Toshiro Kezuka was now vice chairman and COO of the company, replacing Stolar. Sega would only say that despite Stolar's departure, plans for the company's next-generation Dreamcast game console were still on track. Stolar's leaving also marks a fundamental change in the corporate structure: Sega of America no longer has a president. According to Sega, the president position once filled by Stolar is no longer necessary. As COO of the company, Kezuka will completely assume Stolar's responsibilities. The new company officer previously held the post of president of Honda France. He joined Sega Enterprises in 1995 and worked in domestic sales and distribution. Earlier this year, Kezuka moved to Sega of America and was named deputy chairman of the company. A Sega spokesperson said: "Kezuka's knowledge of the European and Japanese markets make him the ideal COO for Sega. He will help improve Sega become a more global company." Other than the basic facts, Sega was mum on the deal. A release issued by Sega firmly states that, "It is Sega's policy not to comment on personnel decisions." Under benign conditions, companies normally announce the departure of a high-ranking official and that person's future professional plans. Considering that the company did not divulge details about Stolar's abrupt departure, it appears that Stolar was terminated, and at least one unofficial source has confirmed that Stolar's position was indeed terminated. Departure of Sega US Chief Surprises Wall Street The abrupt departure of Bernard Stolar, the U.S. chief of Japanese video game maker Sega Enterprises Ltd., took Wall Street by surprise on Thursday since it came just weeks ahead of the critical U.S. launch of its Dreamcast game console. ``I was surprised, and I think a lot of people were. It seems like an odd time for it to happen," said Kelly Henry, an analyst at International Data Corp. in Mountain View, Calif. But most analysts said they did not believe that Stolar's departure as president and chief operating officer would hurt the launch of Sega's next generation video game console system since all of the marketing pieces were in place for the launch on Sept. 9. Still, Stolar's departure was considered unusual because of the timing and since the company offered no explanation. Sega of America Inc., the U.S. unit of Tokyo-based Sega, issued a terse statement late Wednesday evening saying that Toshiro Kezuka, who joined Sega of America as deputy chairman earlier this year, was named vice chairman and chief operating officer. ``Effective Aug. 11, 1999, Bernard Stolar is no longer with Sega of America Inc. It is Sega's policy not to comment on personnel decisions," the company said in a statement. ``The statement was really cold," said John Davison, Editor-in-Chief of Electronic Gaming Monthly, a trade publication. ``There was none of that, 'We thank Bernie for his work' stuff." Stolar had been very visible in recent weeks, promoting Dreamcast. He held teleconferences to discuss the hefty $100 million marketing campaign, give updates on record pre-orders, and announce developments such as a recent deal with AT&T Corp. In May at E3, a big U.S. gaming trade show, Stolar hosted a press conference, where he showed some new Dreamcast games. ``We are on such a roll right now that nothing will stop this juggernaut," said a Sega spokesman. ``This won't affect the launch, and this won't affect Sega Dreamcast down the road." Dreamcast, which was launched in Japan last year, is key to Sega's comeback hopes in the video game industry. Sega, barely the No. 3 maker of video game consoles, seeks to regain lost market share from Sony Corp. , which dominates the industry with its Playstation, and No. 2 Nintendo Co. Ltd. . ``They have a one-year window to make it happen before Sony and Nintendo come in, and then the competition at that point is really going to be fierce," said Larry Marcus, an analyst at Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown. ``Sony's support is huge ... If they are not firmly entrenched in one year they are going to be in trouble." Sony and Nintendo both have new-generation video game consoles that are expected for the holiday shopping season. Sega can claim to be out first with an Internet-enabled video game console, a built-in 56k modem, and the eventual ability to play games with other players over the Internet. Analysts speculated that one of the causes of Stolar's departure could have been a conflict or a personality clash with Japanese management at the parent company. ``Lots of people had speculated that Bernie was going to leave, it was just a matter of when," said James Lin, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan. ``I'm surprised that he left before the actual launch. It's not going to have any impact on the success of Dreamcast because the retailers are locked and loaded." Early last week, Sega said pre-orders for the Dreamcast had surpassed expectations, with 200,000 pre-orders from retailers six weeks ahead of the launch. Infogrames Attacks Nintendo 64 and GameBoy Color With Worms: Armageddon Cult Favorite Will Hit Stores In The New Millennium The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out ... of Nintendo 64 and GameBoy Color in the year 2000 when Infogrames North America releases Worms: Armageddon, the latest chapter of the popular Worms series. The game packs all the strategy and action of a sophisticated war scenario into a fun-filled, hilarious and sometimes misguided battalion of angst-ridden worms. As in previous versions of the Worms family, Worms: Armageddon is a turn-based strategy game, where teams battle across bizarre, randomly generated landscapes or finely crafted custom designed levels. Players have a set time in which to make a move with their army of worms before the game automatically switches to the next team, giving the players time to conjure up their next maneuver by choosing from a nearly endless arsenal of madcap weapons. One of the new features of the game includes multi-player support where up to four teams can battle it out on the same machine or solo players can play against the computer. In addition, no game of Worms: Armageddon is ever the same, making game-play virtually endless. In 1995, Team 17 created the first edition of the Worms' saga and have been growing its fan base ever since. Now console gamers can experience the wacky world of Worms as well. ``Initially Worms: Armageddon appears to be a rather simple game, however, it in fact is one of the best strategic and unpredictable games on the market," said David Riley, director of marketing for Infogrames North America's I-Motion Studio. ``Bringing Worms to Nintendo 64 and GameBoy Color will only increase its following. It's addictive, hysterical entertainment." Worms: Armageddon for Nintendo 64 and GameBoy Color are slated for release in the second quarter of 2000 and will surely be a welcome addition to the Worms family. Infogrames North America's Addictive Puzzle Game, Time Loop, Heads to the PlayStation and Game Boy Color This Holiday Season Puzzle game fans of all ages rejoice! Get ready to spend hours of addictive fun with Time Loop, coming from Infogrames North America for the Sony PlayStation game console and Nintendo Game Boy Color this holiday season! Time Loop is an entertaining game of skill and strategy that's hard to put down. How long can you last? Time Loop requires players to protect the center of the ``loop" from a never ending flow of brightly colored balls which feed onto a spiral-shaped belt that converges in the middle. If a ball reaches the center of the loop, the game is over. Players aim a rotating turret and shoot a ball into a chain of balls. In order to eliminate balls and relieve pressure from the constantly converging chain, players must create combinations of three balls of the same color, or more. Special bonus balls used to challenge the player at different levels, such as smart bombs, tornadoes, a clock timer, and bumble bees can be used to destroy all the balls on the screen of the same color. This allows for unique gameplay throughout the various levels. ``Skill and strategy are required in order to excel at this amazingly addictive puzzle game," said Rick Reynolds, director of product marketing for Infogrames North America's I-Heroes Studio. ``Its simple gameplay providing hours of fun makes it a must-have holiday buy for gamers of all ages." Time Loop features three modes of play: Panic mode, a continuous game where players see how many stages can be completed; Stage Mode, a timed game where players must complete the game in stages, resulting in a time bonus award based on how fast a stage is cleared; and Vs. Mode, a two-player head-to-head battle. Vs. Mode uses split-screen play on the PlayStation, whereas two Game Boys are required for two-player mode utilizing a link cable. Developed in Japan by the Mitchell Corporation, Time Loop supports Dual Shock controllers on the PlayStation and is dual compatible for both regular Game Boy and Game Boy Color. NFL GameDay 2000 Redefines Football Videogame Category 989 Sports, the makers of the best-selling football videogame franchise for the PlayStation game console, announced that the all-new NFL GameDay 2000 will be available this week. Licensed by the NFL and PLAYERS INC, NFL GameDay 2000 features all 31 NFL teams, more than 1,500 players, 1,240 new plays created by real NFL players, all-new 3D graphics, a revolutionary Telestrator, announcers Dick Enberg and Phil Simms, and 200 new motion capture moves from 13 NFL players. ``Consistently, the NFL GameDay series is the football videogame choice for NFL players because of its realistic gameplay and unbelievable graphics," said Jeffrey Fox, vice president, marketing, 989 Studios. ``This year, we have taken NFL GameDay 2000 to the next level by incorporating extensive input from nearly 45 NFL players, including more than 1,200 plays drawn by NFL players. Plus, now there is a Training Camp Mode to practice plays, and a GM mode to manage your team over multiple seasons." NFL GameDay 2000 features the most realistic 3D players ever to grace the PlayStation, each one scaled to actual size, weight and body style. All-new stadiums are detailed to perfection, including field wear and tear, and animated backgrounds. An updated TV-style presentation incorporates dramatic camera angles as well as new commentary by world-renowned sportscasters Dick Enberg and Phil Simms. Plus, for the first time ever in a sports videogame, gamers can enjoy auto instant replay with the aid of an on-screen Telestrator. NFL GameDay 2000 reflects the trends and schemes of the NFL with actual NFL player input -- from motion capture animations to plays designed by real NFL players. Players motion captured for NFL GameDay 2000 include a virtual who's-who of All-Pros, including Bengals QB Akili Smith, Jaguars WR Jimmy Smith, Vikings DT John Randle, Raiders WR Tim Brown and CB Charles Woodson, New York Giants CB Jason Sehorn, and Buccaneers FB Mike Alstott and LB Hardy Nickerson. Authentic playbooks, taken from NFL teams, were created for NFL GameDay 2000 with the help of more than 30 players such as Broncos RB Terrell Davis, Packers WR Antonio Freeman, Falcons CB Ray Buchanan, Raiders DT Darrell Russell and Chiefs WR Derrick Alexander -- just to name a few. Plus, NFL GameDay 2000 has more than double the amount of plays of NFL GameDay '99. NFL GameDay 2000's cutting-edge technology translates into jaw-dropping graphics that capture the power and athleticism of the NFL. New animations include gang tackles, low- and high-wrap tackles, drag downs, shoves, upended tackles, across-the-body and ``shoestring" catches, sideline ``tip-toe" catches. For the first time, players can break ankle tackles and drag would-be tacklers on second and third efforts. New artificial intelligence (AI) has players reacting just as they do in the NFL. Read and Attack AI has offensive players reading the defense and making adjustments on the fly, while Pre-Snap AI(TM) allows the defense to make line shifts based on the offensive formations. The new ``Play As Any Skill Player" feature lets the gamer become the quarterback, running back, wide receiver or tight end with the press of a button. Gamers can throw cut blocks as a tight end for a running back, or, as a receiver, signal the quarterback to throw the ball. The new ``GM Mode" lets the videogamer play in multiple seasons as a coach, player or general manager. Gamers can control the everyday activities of a team over several seasons. State-of-the-art ``Training Camp Mode" lets the gamer sharpen his skills and increase his knowledge of various offensive and defensive playbooks. The revolutionary ``Play Editor" lets the gamer design his favorite plays and save them to a custom playbook. Players can also direct how and where each player will move by assigning individual routes, blocking schemes and defensive alignments and assignments. And, NFL GameDay 2000 has refined the ``Create Player" feature, allowing gamers to customize a player's physical appearance, salary and mental makeup. NFL GameDay 2000 features league MVP and two-time Super Bowl champion Terrell Davis on the package. NFL GameDay 2000 Key Features: -- All-new 3D player and stadium models and motion captured animation from 13 different NFL players, including Charles Woodson, Akili Smith, Jimmy Smith and Mike Alstott -- World renowned sportscasters Dick Enberg and Phil Simms provide new play-by-play and color commentary -- All 31 NFL teams (including the Cleveland Browns and Tennessee Titans) and more than 1,500 NFL players all scaled to actual height, weight and body style -- 1,240 new plays designed by more than 30 NFL players containing the latest trends, formations and plays -- Revolutionary Telestrator provides incredible TV-style instant replay with insight and analysis from Phil Simms -- In-depth NFL player ratings and updated 1999 team rosters, including rookies, free agent signings and trades -- Gamers have the ability to import senior college players from 989 Sports' college football videogame NCAA GameBreaker 2000 and have them play with the pros in NFL GameDay 2000 -- State-of-the-art "Training Camp Mode" lets the gamer sharpen his skills and increase his knowledge of various offensive and defensive playbooks. Players actually wear practice jerseys and shorts -- New In-Game Help Menus assists new users who are unfamiliar with the in-game controls -- Team match ups that detail offensive and defensive strengths and weaknesses -- New artificial intelligence (AI). Read and Attack AI has offensive players reading the defense and making adjustments on the fly while Pre-Snap AI has the defense making line shifts based on the offensive formations -- New "GM Mode" lets the gamer be the coach, player or general manager over multiple seasons, operating with a salary cap -- Create, draft, sign, trade and release players and free agents -- just like a real GM -- Play as a quarterback, running back, wide receiver or tight end with the new "Play As Any Skill Player" feature -- Design plays and save them to a custom playbook with the revolutionary "Play Editor" -- Create a player with the updated "Create Player" feature -- customize a player's physical appearance, salary and mental makeup. Multiple weather conditions and player injuries affect gameplay -- Highly detailed player attributes have players performing to their real abilities. Terrell Davis jukes and spins, Jerry Rice elevates over defenders to make acrobatic catches and Randall Cunningham has a gun for an arm -- New Throwback Uniforms lets the gamer relive the past with a favorite team -- Comprehensive season statistical tracking -- for either a team or a player -- Game play modes include preseason, 1999-2000 NFL season play, playoffs, Super Bowl and Pro Bowl -- Includes every past Super Bowl team such as the '75 Steelers, '85 Bears and '94 Forty Niners -- Four playing perspectives and a free-floating 3D TV-style presentation -- Four levels of difficulty -- Rookie, Veteran, All-Pro and Hall of Fame -- Complete substitution capability -- Officially licensed by the NFL and PLAYERS INC NCAA GameBreaker 2000 Tackles PlayStation College Football Competition 989 Sports announced that NCAA GameBreaker 2000, the popular college football videogame for the PlayStation game console, will be available this week. NCAA GameBreaker 2000 boasts all 114 Division I-A teams and exclusive features such as the ability to draft players into NFL GameDay 2000 and play-by-play from college football broadcasting legend Keith Jackson. For the first time in a 989 Sports videogame, gamers will be able to save senior players from an NCAA GameBreaker 2000 season and draft them into the NFL by downloading into NFL GameDay 2000 -- 989 Sports' best-selling pro football videogame franchise on the PlayStation game console. And, while Pac-10 fans can only enjoy limited play calling from legendary college football announcer Keith Jackson, NCAA GameBreaker 2000 lets gamers hear Jackson call the plays in every Division 1-A game. ``NCAA GameBreaker 2000 has many unique features that really bring the realism of college football directly into the hands of the videogamer," said Jeffrey Fox, vice president, marketing, 989 Studios. ``No other college football videogame provides the realism, emotion and pageantry like NCAA GameBreaker 2000." Gamers can choose from all 114 NCAA Division I-A teams and battle for the National Championship while competing against conference foes. A fast and fluid style of gameplay is the backbone of NCAA GameBreaker 2000, including an extensive playbook with plays designed by actual college coaches, such as UCLA Bruins head football coach Bob Toledo. The new practice field ``Play Editor" feature lets users easily create and customize their own offensive and defensive playbooks. NCAA GameBreaker 2000 features entirely new animations, including: ball carriers stumbling and extending for the first down, facemask-grabbing, and players strapping on chin straps and pounding teammates' shoulder pads. The gamer can even control player celebrations and show-off animations, but beware of the 15-yard penalty that could be imposed for un-sportsman-like conduct. NCAA GameBreaker 2000 also features all-new gameplay modes like ``Career Mode," which enables the gamer to assume the duties of a head coach, coordinator or assistant in an attempt to guide his team to the National Championship. NCAA GameBreaker 2000 has all the features gamers have grown to love. ``Blue Chip Recruiting" returns as a key feature, enabling users to heavily recruit at both the high school and junior college level. Total Control Passing allows gamers to under-throw or overthrow receivers in any direction while the all-new ``Max Pro" feature allows the user to order running backs to stay in and block. And, in NCAA GameBreaker 2000, gamers can even compete for the Heisman Trophy, Sears National Championship Trophy, All-America Team and Freshman of the Year. NCAA GameBreaker 2000 features former UCLA Bruins QB Cade McNown on the package. NCAA GameBreaker 2000 Key Features: -- All 114 NCAA Division I-A teams and stadiums, plus more than 60 classic teams from the past -- New "Career Mode" enables the user to assume the duties of a head coach, coordinator or assistant in leading a run at the National Championship -- TV-style presentation with legendary college football announcer Keith Jackson -- New practice field "Play Editor" feature enables users to create and customize their own playbook -- NFL GameDay 2000 compatible -- users will be able to save senior players from an NCAA GameBreaker 2000 season and import them into NFL GameDay 2000 -- All-new gameplay animations include players stumbling and extending for the first down, grabbing facemasks, cut blocks, strapping on chin straps and pounding one another's shoulder pads -- New "Max Pro" feature allows the user to order running backs to stay in and block or go out for a pass -- All 3D polygonal players scaled to actual height and weight -- "Blue Chip Recruiting" feature allows gamers to sign top recruits and build powerhouse teams -- 21 different bowl games, including the Rose Bowl, and lets players compete for the Heisman Trophy, Sears National Championship Trophy, All America Team and Freshman of the Year -- Utilizes motion capture animation of former college standouts and current NFL Pros, including Akili Smith, Charles Woodson, Tim Brown, Chad Brown, Mike Alstott, Jason Sehorn, Hardy Nickerson, Ryan Leaf, Christian Fauria, Jimmy Smith and Lamont Warren -- Authentic college play formations designed by college coaches, such as UCLA Bruins coach Bob Toledo -- Gamer can control celebration and show-off animations -- Authentic college fight songs and drums provide the most realistic college football environment -- True-to-life "GameBreakers" can change the outcome of a game every time they touch the ball -- Supports the Dual Shock Analog Controller for the ultra-realistic experience -- Total Control Passing allows players to overthrow or under-throw receivers, depending upon coverage -- Wind, snow and rain all affect gameplay, while uniforms show mud and grass stains depending on field conditions -- Tracking of game and full season statistics in every major category Infogrames North America Brings the Lovable Characters From Pen Pen to the Sega Dreamcast Popular Japanese Game To Hit the US Market In Time For September Dreamcast Launch Somewhere in the universe, it is said that there is a planet called the ``Iced Planet'' - it's covered with ice and snow and it's where the lovable penguin-like creatures called Pen Pens live. Infogrames North America, a leading publisher of entertainment software, announced today that it will bring Pen Pens to the Sega Dreamcast on 9/9/99, the highly publicized launch of Sega's new next generation console. Pen Pen TriIcelon, a new character-based arcade action game, pits the Pen Pens against other bright and colorful characters in a triathlon of activities, including belly-surfing, ice-walking and swimming. Choose from seven whimsical characters including a hippo, octopus, bird, shark, walrus, dog, and of course, the penguin. Pen Pen TriIcelon includes 12 beautifully detailed racing circuits with brilliant weather and lighting effects that take advantage of the Dreamcast hardware. ``Pen Pen TriIcelon is laugh-out-loud fun for kids of all ages," said Rick Reynolds, director of product marketing for Infogrames North America's I-Heroes studio. ``It's a completely original game unlike anything on the market today." Instantly accessible game controls let you jump, swim, skate, and belly surf in three different types of races: easy, middle and long. The easy Icelon has three areas of ice-walking, belly surfing and swimming with no obstacles and easy opponents. The middle Icelon includes three areas of ice-walking, belly surfing and swimming with various obstacles and good opponents. The long Icelon has four areas of ice-walking, belly surfing, swimming and another form of skating with plenty of obstacles and strong opponents. As players win races, they are awarded with items to dress up Pen Pen in various attire which sometimes enhances the character's speed or attacking abilities, such as flippers for swimming or a hard hat with a light for attacking. With Pen Pen's entree onto the Dreamcast, American gamers can now enjoy the same zany characters that have taken Japan by storm. With up to four-player support, gamers can compete against each other for exciting multiplay action. Infogrames Brings PlayStation Gaming Fun to a Younger Generation With The Smurfs Infogrames North America announced today that it is bringing the popular cartoon, The Smurfs, to life in a new PlayStation adventure game. Children ages 5 and up will experience smurfy fun this winter with Hefty Smurf, Gargamel, Papa Smurf, Smurfette and introducing virtual Baby Smurf, who requires extra special care to keep him happy. One of the first PlayStation games dedicated to a younger generation, The Smurfs is being designed to entertain young children for hours using the fun-filled atmosphere of Smurf Village. The game is divided into two parts - an initiation stage for the PlayStation beginner and a more complex stage for those ready for a challenge. The beginner stage introduces virtual Baby Smurf to the Smurf family giving youngsters the responsibility of nurturing and caring for him as they would a little brother or sister. And, as all new babies do, Baby Smurf needs food and entertaining so players must keep him happy by searching for bottles and rattles placed throughout the forest. As the player becomes more experienced, he or she can move on to a more challenging level of play in the second section of the game which requires the mighty skills of Hefty Smurf to save his fellow Smurfs from Gargamel's Gorgs. ``The Smurfs is perfect for the video game beginner because of its easy to learn format and parent friendly nature," said Rick Reynolds, director of product marketing for Infogrames North America's I-Heroes Studio. ``In the past, children had to wait until they were older to begin playing console games because of the lack of appropriate games available, and those with older brothers and sisters are envious of the numerous game titles their siblings have to choose from. The Smurfs fits the bill for both children and parents." Developed by Heliovisions, The Smurfs is a single-player game with the capability to save at different levels of play with a memory card. The Smurfs will be available in retail outlets nationwide for the holiday season. MPH=BPM in Wipeout 3 Psygnosis Pioneers Another Music-Forward Step for the Videogame World Wipeout, the videogame brand that pioneered the use of credible licensed music in video games, takes music in games to new levels with the soundtracking of its latest release, Wipeout 3 for the PlayStation game console. In its continued efforts to create a cutting-edge cultural synergy in their game design and development, Psygnosis appointed British DJ/Producer phenomenon Sasha as the musical director for the project. Having licensed tracks by hi-profile artists for its previous titles, Psygnosis wanted to take the relationship between music and videogaming one step further, by making the game's soundtrack a truly integral part of the development process. To this end, Sasha worked closely with the team at Psygnosis, selecting tracks, composing, producing and overseeing the development of the soundtrack. As part of the soundtrack's development, Sasha composed five original tracks exclusively for the game. Each track is titled after one of the eight teams in the game, Auricom, Goteki 45, Feisar, Icaras and Pirhana. Wipeout3 has exclusive rights to these tracks. Sasha's recently released single ``Xpander" is also included on the Wipeout 3 soundtrack. ``It makes sense that the sort of music coming from the DJ culture would be the first soundtrack to a video game," said Sasha. ``When you're spinning at a club, in a sense you are soundtracking the evening. What you play is directly related to what happening on the dancefloor. Soundtracking any other visual is very similar." Sasha also worked with groundbreaking international artists to incorporate licensed tracks into the game, including the Chemical Brothers. The Chemical Brothers contributed tracks to the very first Wipeout game, teaming up with Psygnosis to pioneer the use of licensed music for soundtracks in 1995 and again for Wipeout XL. Their track ``Under the Influence," from their ``Surrender" CD will be included on Wipeout 3. Orbital, who also contributed to the game's first incarnation, is back with ``Know Where to Run." And Wipeout XL contributors Underworld are back with ``Kittens." Wipeout newcomers include Paul Van Dyk and The Propellerheads, who pitch in respectively with ``Avenue" and ``Lethal Cut." New to the states, MKL has two tracks featured, ``Control" and ``Surrender." The Wipeout brand has received accolades and fans for its convergence of cultural references in the game. The Wipeout game graphics and brand logo are created and developed by underground design legends, The Designers Republic. In 1995, Psygnosis took the gaming world by storm combining for the first time, cutting edge music from bands such as Chemical Brothers, Orbital and Leftfield, with intense adrenaline pumping game play. When the sequel Wipeout XL was announced, a number of high-profile artists approached Psygnosis requesting to be included on the game's soundtrack. The final lineup featured tracks from Future Sound of London, Underworld, the Prodigy, Chemical Brothers, Fluke & Daft Punk. The soundtrack from Wipeout XL was released on Astralwerks Records. ``Since we're based in the UK where the DJ culture revolution began, it was natural for us to want to include the music that we listened to while we were developing the game. Especially since there is that connection between the speed of the music and the speed of the game it was a very symbiotic relationship," said Enda Carey, Central Product Development Manager for Psygnosis. ``To be able to take this one step further to actual soundtracking was very important for us, since we've been pioneering music in video games for so many years." A special music marketing program designed to celebrate the release of soundtracked Wipeout 3 and the history of the brand was created by Psygnosis in cooperation with MFPR, LLC. The focal point of the campaign is the MPH=BPM logo inspired by MFPR, LLC. and specially-designed by The Designers Republic. The logo signifies the relationship between the ``Beats Per Minute" in dance music and the ``Miles Per Hour" of videogame racing. The program will also include music-oriented consumer-based advertising, as well as special events and online promotions. Wipeout 3 is the ultimate, hi-speed, adrenaline-pumping, anti-gravity racer. Utilizing full hi-res mode throughout, Wipeout 3 includes eight new, highly detailed, polished tracks set in varied areas of a futuristic city. The game also offers all new craft design with 3 new teams in addition to the five available in Wipeout XL and six new weapons with five of the best retained from its predecessor. An improved progression system ensures that Wipeout 3 will be accessible enough to make newcomers feel right at home, yet still represent the most extreme futuristic arcade-racing experience that hardcore fans could ever wish for. Wipeout 3 is currently under development in the Psygnosis Leeds studio and is scheduled for release in the U.S. in late September. Psygnosis has created more than 130 titles across numerous game genres to critical acclaim. Best-selling titles include the Wipeout series, Formula 1, one of the world's most popular racing brands, the Destruction Derby franchise, the Lemmings puzzle game series, and other highly acclaimed brands including G-Police, Colony Wars and Rollcage. Electronic Arts and Sony Computer Entertainment America Nab Internet Pirate Ring Declaring war on a major Internet pirate ring that illegally uploaded, traded and distributed copies of their software, U.S.-based Electronic Arts, the industry's largest entertainment software publisher, and Sony Computer Entertainment America, the company behind the PlayStation game console, the world's best-selling videogame system, recently filed suit against certain alleged members of the ring in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Among other claims, the complaint asserts the defendants infringed the copyrights and trademarks of the two companies through the copying and distribution of software owned by Electronic Arts and SCEA. United States Marshals and lawyers for the companies recently conducted a court-sanctioned seizure and impounded evidence at the location of a participant of the group that calls itself ``Paradigm." During the seizure, a computer, hard drives, CDs and other items related to the illegal operation were impounded by the Marshals. The complaint further notes that the seizure, as well as the investigation which preceded it, produced a significant amount of evidence against members of the worldwide ring located in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Russia and other locations. The evidence identified by true name and location dozens of participants in the distribution of pirated software belonging to the companies. While SCEA and Electronic Arts plan to continue the civil case against the pirates, they also continue to cooperate with law enforcement in the United States and will be turning over evidence to authorities in several of the other relevant countries for possible criminal action against the group's members. ``Putting an end to software piracy is a top priority for our industry," said Ruth Kennedy, senior vice president and general counsel, Electronic Arts. ``Electronic Arts and SCEA believe that the break up of pirate Internet rings like this will be key to our success in combating the rising problem of Internet piracy. This action is part of our ongoing plan to find and prosecute these thieves." ``Piracy of packaged entertainment software last year amounted to over US$3.2 billion worldwide for our industry alone. Electronic Arts alone lost more than $400 million. Internet pirate rings like Paradigm contribute to these losses by uploading games where the industrial pirates in places such as Asia or Russia can download them, turn them into copies of packaged goods and rush them to the street -- sometimes even before we get the legitimate goods to market," Kennedy noted. Pre-release or day-of-release software is highly prized by pirate Internet rings, that compete for ``points" in the pirate community by being the first to ``release" an illegal version of the product, often with copy protection and other content removed. Both companies praised the recently announced criminal ``I.P. Initiative" by federal authorities including the Department of Justice, the FBI, and U.S. Customs, which as its goal has increased criminal prosecutions of pirates of intellectual property. According to Riley Russell, vice president of legal and business affairs, Sony Computer Entertainment America, ``We will work diligently to ensure that these counterfeiters are fully prosecuted and that others who think Internet piracy and `trading' is acceptable will think again." Russell noted that last year alone, counterfeiting cost SCEA and Electronic Arts losses of several hundreds of millions of dollars around the globe. Other Internet rings besides Paradigm that are also believed to be involved in the pirating of entertainment software include groups calling themselves ``Razor 1911," ``Class," ``Origin," ``Hybrid", ``Divine", ``Fairlight" and others, with members based in the United States and in many other countries around the world. The companies are confident evidence developed in the current case as well as continuing efforts by the entertainment software industry will result in additional civil actions and criminal prosecution of members of these groups in the future. =~=~=~= ->A-ONE Gaming Online - Online Users Growl & Purr! """"""""""""""""""" CGE - Intellivision INTELLIVISION LIVES! AGAIN Those wild and crazy Blue Sky Rangers are at it again! Come see what they have up their sleeves at this year's Classic Gaming Expo! In addition to their charming personalities and lots of guaranteed laughs, this is what you'll find in the Intellivision Productions booth: Take a walk down memory lane and play PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED games for Intellivision, Atari and Colecovision -- on the original console systems! PREVIEW Intellivision Lives! Vol. 2. This beta version of the second CD-ROM, which features 30 Intellivison games produced by Imagic and Activision, will be available for your viewing pleasure. Ever want to play Intellivision games on a Sony PlayStation game console? Well now is your chance to PREVIEW Activision's Intellivision Classics for the PlayStation, which features 30 of your favorite Intellivison games. And of course, we'll have Intellivision Lives! Vol. 1 for those of you who have been in a cave and have yet to see the original interactive CD-ROM that is full of games and industry history. 1999 Classic Gaming Expo The Plaza Hotel Las Vegas August 14-15, 1999 Intellivision Productions, Inc. www.intellivisionlives.com For Immediate Release August 10, 1999 Contact Keita Iida, John Hardie and Sean Kelly info@cgexpo.com 408-983-0953, 516-568-9768 http://www.cgexpo.com NEW PRODUCTS TO BE UNVEILED AT CLASSIC GAMING EXPO '99 VALLEY STREAM, NY -- World premieres, exclusive products and sneak previews will be in abundance at Classic Gaming Expo '99(tm). The event will be held in the heart of downtown Las Vegas on Saturday and Sunday, August 14 and 15 at Jackie Gaughan's Plaza Hotel. "The diversity of products that will be debuted at the event is mind boggling," commented Keita Iida, co-promoter of Classic Gaming Expo '99. "This is the only show where attendees can witness new games for the Atari 2600, Game Boy Color and PlayStation, all under one roof." Leading interactive games publisher, Hasbro Interactive, will demonstrate upcoming Atari titles for PlayStation and PC. Among the playable demos expected to be showcased at CGE'99 include modern remakes of "Pong", "Missile Command" and "Q*Bert". Hasbro also plans to stage a Pong tournament and prizes will be available to the victors. Telegames, the renowned publisher of video games across all major platforms, will be offering a "souped-up" version of the Atari 2600 classic "Yars' Revenge" for Game Boy Color for sale for the very first time. The Texas-based company also plans to launch "Hyperdrome" for the Atari Lynx color handheld machine at the event. Additionally, by popular demand, Telegames has manufactured a limited new run of "Iron Soldier II" and "Worms" for the Atari Jaguar that will be offered for sale at CGE'99. In addition to having its recently released "Intellivision Lives" compilation for the PC, Intellivision Productions will be demonstrating several unreleased and unfinished games which were developed at Mattel Electronics in the early 1980s. Due to licensing restrictions, the games were not included in the "Intellivision Lives!" CD-ROM, but they will be set up for everyone to try out and play. Among the notable titles include Adventures of "Tron", "Rocky & Bullwinkle" and "Yogi's Adventure" for Intellivision. Also shown will be "Anteater" and "Masters of the Universe: The Power of He-Man" for the Atari 2600. CGE'99 will also mark the world premiere of new Atari 2600 games. Two new cartridges, "Merlin's Walls" and "Pesco", make their worldwide debut and will be on sale at the event. A special limited run of cartridges for each game will have color cartridge labels and a professional color box -- sold exclusively at the show. (At last year's event, Ebivision's special edition of "Alfred Challenge" reportedly sold out in less than two hours.) Atari Lynx and Jaguar publisher Songbird Productions plans to unveil several new games at the event. The Minnesota-based company will be exhibiting its upcoming Jaguar titles "Protector" and "Skyhammer," along with "Lexis" and "Crystal Mines II: Lost Caverns" for the Atari Lynx. The latter two cartridges, including the recently introduced "Ponx", will be on sale. CGE'99 attendees will witness the introduction of two video documentaries, "Stella At 20: An Atari 2600 Retrospective" by Cyberpunks Entertainment and "Once Upon Atari" by HSW Productions. Produced by Glenn Saunders, Stella At 20 consists of interviews with the founders of Atari, its original engineers and famous programmers who gathered together to look back on the system that transformed the home videogame industry. In addition to the video, Cyberpunks plans to re-release its successful "Stella Gets A New Brain" CD for Windows, a complete compilation of Starpath Supercharger (a 2600 add-on) at CGE'99. "Once Upon Atari," a series of video documentaries which chronicles the exploits, intrigues and atmosphere of Atari in the early days of videogames, was produced by famed Atari 2600 designer Howard Scott Warshaw. Production of the second episode of the video was recently completed and will be available for sale. (The first edition was featured on PBS and will also be on hand at the event.) CGE Services Corp. has entered into a 5-year exclusive deal with McGraw-Hill to reprint the long sought-after book "Zap! -- The Rise And Fall Of Atari." The reprint will be premiered at CGE'99 and will be offered to attendees at a discounted price. Conceived and coordinated by three of the individuals responsible for organizing last year's highly successful "World of Atari" show, Classic Gaming Expo(tm) is the industry's only annual event that is dedicated to celebrating the roots of electronic entertainment, bringing together industry pioneers, gaming enthusiasts and the media for the ultimate in learning, game-playing and networking. Classic Gaming Expo is a production of CGE Services, Corp. (www.cgexpo.com) System-X Gaming Magazine Posted by System-X Gaming staff (spider-th064.proxy.aol.com) August 11, 1999 We are proud to announce to all of you about our new magazine, "System-X Gaming." This magazine is dedicated to the Atari and NUON video game community. Our magazine will include editorials, reviews, previews, etc., on the Jaguar, Lynx, NUON, classic Atari platforms, the new Atari, Atari arcade, emulation, and more! We hope you will check out our magazine. To subscribe or to just buy 1 issue, please go to our web site, www.systemxgaming.cjb.net. Please don't mind our temporary web site. We will launch our new and improved web site in a week from now. System-X Gaming magazine will be displayed at the Songbird Productions booth at the Classic Gaming Expo '99 in Las Vegas. If you are attending the expo, please check us out at the booth, including all the other great products displayed there. The magazine: This magazine is headed for the interest of the Atari Community. We want to make a magazine that would be specifically Atari and NUON related. We were just tired of always seeing bad reviews of Atari products in old magazines. Same with NUON. How can you give a product bad reviews if it hasn't even been released? There just isn't any magazines around that does support those names. We plan to do so. We hope you will check out our magazine for yourself. What other magazine has editorials about the Jaguar underground, BJL, the 2600, the upcoming NUON, and so on? How we started: One day, a friend named Justin and I were at my house just talking. We were discussing how we would wish there was a magazine that was related to things we were interested in, Atari, NUON and everything in between. We knew it wasn't going to happen any time soon. That's when the idea popped up. We will start a magazine that will be specifically for that subject! We thought that would be a great idea, and a lot of hard work. But the idea was worth it. We hope you will feel the same way when you read our magazine for the first time. What can you expect: You can expect to be satisfied when you read our magazine for the first time. Why don't you buy an issue and see for yourself? Unless you rather buy a magazine that talks about the systems you aren't interested in. Then this magazine isn't for you. If you do want to read a magazine that does interest you, then this magazine is for you. Please check out System-X Gaming magazine for yourself. =~=~=~= A-ONE's Headline News The Latest in Computer Technology News Compiled by: Dana P. Jacobson AMD Betting On 650MHz Athlon Chip Advanced Micro Devices Inc. will at long last become the top performer in the processor market with Monday's release of the 650MHz Athlon chip. The Sunnyvale, Calif., chip maker will finally outdistance its arch rival from Santa Clara, Intel Corp. At least for now. Athlon, on paper, meets or exceeds Intel's Pentium III chip in megahertz, graphics performance and floating point performance. Althon will come out at 500MHz, 550MHz, 600MHz and 650MHz, making it the fastest available chip in the PC market. Intel currently offers 450MHz, 500MHz, 550MHz and 600MHz Pentium III chips. Athlon will sport a 200MHz front side bus, versus Intel's 100MHz bus, and an extended multimedia instruction set, which mirrors the Pentium III's Streaming SIMD Instructions, but takes it a step further with five extra extensions aimed at applications such as digital signal processors for soft modems. "We knew as a company that we couldn't continue to just fit into the value space long term," said Steve Lapinski, director of product marketing in AMD's computational products division. Athlon is not just AMD's bid to move upstream. It's a make or break product for the company. "It doesn't take examining three years of financial statements to see that at the rate they're going they're going to run out of cash," said Mike Feibus, a principle at Mercury Research Inc., in Scottsdale, Ariz. But it's a long, arduous journey to get from where it is now, a player in the market for consumer PCs with a 12 percent market share, to a real challenger to Intel's lock on the corporate market. AMD ended 1998 with an 11.9 percent market share, captured 13.6 percent in the first quarter of 1999 and then slipped to 12 percent in the second quarter. "For all of AMD's talk, for the next nine months Athlon is a high-end consumer product," Feibus said. However, "I think they have a decent chance of cracking the corporate market at the end of 2000. All the ducks are in a row now. They just need to deliver and keep delivering." Delivery is just part of the plan. AMD has created a four tiered branding strategy for Athlon. Athlon will begin as a high-end chip targeted for use in PCs purchased by consumers and small businesses. AMD plans, however, to move up market with the launch of two new Athlon brands, Athlon Professional and Athlon Ultra, for the corporate market in the fourth quarter. Finally, it will also cover its traditional territory with Athlon Select, a low-cost Athlon offering for the sub-$1,000 market, due next year. Two top-tier PC makers, IBM and Compaq Computer Corp., will use Athlon, according to AMD. They will begin shipping new PCs in their respective consumer PC lines Aug. 16. PCs based on the 500MHz Athlon chip will start as low as $1,299 and scale in price to about $1,999 for a model based on the 600MHz chip. At least one other major PC maker, Gateway Inc., plans to support Athlon as well, sources said. But it's the intangibles that may come back to haunt AMD. "We're looking forward to [Athlon]," said a source at Gateway in North Sioux City, S.D. However, "Things have wavered a bit, because we're wondering if they have their [ducks] in a row." Despite its concern, Gateway will likely offer the Althon in its Select line of PCs for consumers and small businesses, sources said. The company currently ships AMD's K6-III processor in the Select PC line. "What I really don't like about K7 [the code name for Athlon] is that it's not a proven technology to corporate users," said Al Peng, a top executive with Taiwanese motherboard maker AOpen. "What really amazes me is that AMD keeps talking about K7 as a mission critical platform." Corporate users, in order to buy Athlon, will need to get over a general perception that AMD chips are not fully compatible with the Windows operating system. And that's a risk, as far as PC makers are concerned. "To date, the price difference [of AMD chips] does not offset the risk," said another source at a top-tier PC maker selling to large corporations. "If they're going to make it, they need to make it compelling to the OEMs." The risks are production capacity and performance. AMD has run into production snags with K6-2, which limited the availability of the chip. The aforementioned production snags have lead to short supply of top clock speed-rated versions of the chip. Production, "isn't going to be an issue, because of the two mega-fabs," Lapinski said. AMD will manufacture Athlon in two different fabrication plants, its Fab 25 in Austin, Texas, and its Fab 30 in Dresden, Germany. Fab 30 is equipped to move Athlon from a 0.25-micron manufacturing process to 0.18, which will help the company continue to improve its speed. This transition will happen in the fourth quarter. Around the same time, AMD will offer a 700MHz version of the chip. He admits, however, that AMD has at times been a "step behind" with K6-2. But, "With Athlon strategy that goes away. We definitely have enough headroom on this to hit the frequency marks and execute on the schedule." The very PC makers that offer AMD chips to consumers could be holding it back on the corporate side, Feibus said. "The corporate product line managers have been really reticent to take the plunge. They want to see some kind of a track record," he said. AMD realizes "there is a lot of work to be done," Lapinski said. "We've done 16 to 17 focus groups. We're looking at their care-abouts," such as service and support. AMD is also preparing a broad reaching strategy to offer Athlon to corporations in high performance desktops, workstations and servers and later in sub-$1000 PCs. AMD will have to do engineering work as well. The AMD Athlon chip set, Peng said, has more than 60 errata, each one requiring a workaround. Errata, when not addressed, can sometimes cause problems with the operation of a PC. Athlon also requires a relatively complex and expensive six-layer motherboard, he said. Despite those challenges, "The K7 Platform will be solid by October or November," Peng said at which point it will be a good bet for small and medium business buyer. With the branding strategy in place and its chips powering PCs at 650MHz and faster AMD feels that it can capture 30 percent market share by 2001. "That's an aggressive goal," Feibus said. "But it's not out of the realm of possibility." Despite its plans to debut Athlon Select for the sub-$1,000 market, AMD will continue to advance its K6-2 and K6-III chips. The K6-III, for example, will move to a 0.18-micron manufacturing process in the fourth quarter. The chip, code-named Sharptooth, will run at 500MHz and faster. Red Hat IPO To Be The Buzz Of Linux Show When devotees of the Linux operating system gather for another big trade show this week, the IPO of the biggest company in this quirky community, Red Hat Software Inc., is sure to be the biggest buzz of the show. Whether the timing is coincidental or not is unclear, but Red Hat, the biggest distributor of the alternative Linux operating system, is expected to go public Wednesday, the second day of LinuxWorld, depending on the increasingly rocky stock market conditions and the volatile IPO market. ``I think the deal will go and will work, provided the market is supportive of the pricing," said David Menlow of the IPO Financial Network based in Millburn, N.J. ``It does appear to be the best IPO of the week." Red Hat has filed to raise at least $60 million, via six million shares, at a price range of $10 to $12 a share, with tech banking stalwart Goldman Sachs as the lead underwriter. Sources expect the deal to be priced Tuesday night, and the stock to trade Wednesday under the symbol RHAT on the NASDAQ. Indeed, everyone in the Linux community will be closely watching the first public offering of a burgeoning market that has developed around an operating system that was developed by Linus Torvalds -- then a student programmer in Finland and now an industry celebrity -- and given away over the Internet. Red Hat, based in Durham, N.C., is the largest distributor of the Linux operating system, selling packaged versions of Red Hat Linux on CD-ROM discs, in computer stores with manuals. The company also provides service and support for Linux users. In the past year, Linux has taken the corporate computing world by storm, as it made major inroads in the Web server and e-mail server markets, displacing Microsoft Corp.'s Windows NT. International Data Corp. said that in 1998, Linux was the fastest growing operating system for servers. Red Hat's investors include a line-up of technology giants who are supporting Linux -- Compaq Computer Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Intel Corp., International Business Machines Corp. and Novell Inc. ``We wish them success. It shows the viability of the Linux marketplace," said Lonn Johnston, vice president of North American Operations at TurboLinux in Brisbane, Calif., a Linux distributor based in Asia. ``What could be a better example of corporate acceptance than selling yourself to the public." But Red Hat always seems to incur the wrath of some in the closely-knit Linux community, which is made up of thousands of far-flung programmers, who hack Linux code in their spare time for free, as part of the open source community, or increasingly, for pay at a company developing Linux products or supporting the software with services. And its IPO is no different. Ironically, in an attempt to give back to the programmers who spend their free time or long nights improving Linux, Red Hat angered more developers in what many see as a botched attempt to include them in an offering limited to friends and family to buy the stock pre-IPO. Red Hat issued a ``personal invitation," in the form of an e-mail, inviting hundreds of Linux developers to participate in its public offering. Red Hat said the stock distribution would be handled by E+Trade Group Inc. and that the participants had to establish an active trading account with E+Trade. A financial background questionnaire was required. ``People were being denied access to the IPO based on the 'eligibility criteria,"' C. Scott Ananian, a graduate student at the Laboratory for Computer Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote in a recent article on Salon.com, describing his disappointing experience. Many other disgruntled Linux programmers complained in postings on the slashdot.org Web site, saying they were refused stock because they were novice traders or lacked any assets. ``Isn't it ridiculous to 'invite' a bunch of Linux geeks to buy Red Hat if only experienced traders are eligible?" read one posting on Slashdot.org, a ``News for Nerds" Web site. E+Trade officials in Menlo Park, Calif., did not return calls seeking comment and Red Hat officials refused to comment, citing the IPO quiet period. ``I think Red Hat did what it thought was the best approach," said Art Tyde, co-founder of LinuxCare Inc., a San Francisco-based company providing Linux support. ``I think there are better ways to do it," he said, adding that one idea would be to give a chunk of stock to an organization devoted to free software development. Microworkz.Com To Offer Free Internet Access Microworkz.com, maker of $199 devices used to access the Internet, Friday said it would offer free Internet access to U.S. personal computer users starting Oct. 31 The Seattle-based firm, which makes the $199 iToaster, said that through its deal with AT&T Corp., it will offer 150 hours a month of access up to speeds of 56 kilobits per second, the fastest dial-up modem now generally available. The offering will start with current Microworkz computer owners on Aug. 21. Users will also get around-the-clock telephone technical support, an e-mail account for the storage for personal Web pages, the company said. Microworkz joins others, such as Netzero, in offering free Internet access. Gateway Inc., the No. 2 direct seller of PCs, also offers Internet access for its customers through its own Internet service provider. Microworkz said it will support the free access by banner advertisements that will pop up when a Web browser is opened and will remain open for as long as the user is connected. Those who do not want to see the ads can pay $11.99 a month to Microworkz. The plan follows a Tuesday announcement that Microworkz would resell AT&T's Internet service by paying AT&T a projected $300 million to package its Internet service with the Microworkz iToaster. Voters May Decide Internet Fight A group led by a Boston venture capitalist has proposed a November 2000 ballot question that puts Massachusetts in the forefront of a national debate over who gets access to high-speed Internet networks. The question, if passed, would force cable companies to open their high-speed Internet access systems to competitors, including Internet service providers such as America Online. Cable companies, led by MediaOne Group Inc., which AT&T has purchased, have so far refused to provide that access. They say they've spent billions of dollars on fiberoptics networks and should decide who uses them. J. Christopher Grace, a former official with the Boston Redevelopment Authority, believes the government should give Internet providers access to the faster systems so they can compete with the cable services. The Internet providers argue cable companies should be treated like telephone companies and be required to open their networks to local competitors. The cable company systems are up to 50 times faster than the standard telephone lines used by most Internet providers. Officials in Florida and Oregon have already mandated cable companies to provide ``open access," and have been challenged in federal court. The question will be put to Massachusetts voters if Attorney General Thomas Reilly decides the state constitution allows voters to decide the issue. Then, Grace and his supporters would have to collect 57,100 signatures to forward the question to the Legislature. If the Legislature fails to pass the measure, they will have to collect another 9,517 signatures. Grace, who has sold a business to America Online, said the company is not behind his campaign. ``What we are trying to do is open up the service piece so innovation can flourish, so there is competition for customers and service and price competition as well," Grace told The Boston Globe. Christopher Wolf, a Washington attorney who leads a group called Hands Off The Internet, whose membership includes AT&T, said companies lobbying for ``open access" are ``just trying to free-ride on the infrastructure that was paid for by others." He added that people who subscribe to Internet cable services can switch to Internet providers like America Online whenever they want. Michael Morris, a vice president for government affairs at AT&T, told the Boston Herald he doubts the state will decide the open access question because it's ultimately a federal issue. Postal Service OKs Online Stamp Sales Stamps.com Inc. and privately held E-Stamp Corp. said Monday they have received approval from the U.S. Postal Service to sell stamps on the Internet. The move marks the first time in 80 years that the federal agency has allowed a company to offer a new form of postage to customers. In separate statements, Stamps.com and E-Stamp said they were the only two companies to receive regulatory approval for online postage sales. Using the Stamps.com service, customers can log onto the company's Web site and print stamps with an ordinary laser or ink jet printer, requiring no hardware. The Santa Monica, Calif.-based company said it will start offering the service next month. It concluded a 12-month test in Washington, D.C., Hawaii and California. (corrected) San Mateo, Calif.-based E-Stamp said online postage is available to consumers immediately. Its service requires software and a small device about the size of a roll of stamps that connects to a personal computer. Once connected to the E-Stamp Web site, consumers can buy postage using a credit card and download up to $500 of postage. Using the hardware, customers do not have to stay logged onto the Web site to print stamps. Other companies have offered postage services meant to cut the trips that businesses and consumers make to post offices. Pitney Bowes, for example, offers postage by phone for businesses. Student's Software Aces Microsoft David beat Goliath again, this time online. A free system developed by New Mexico Tech graduate student Cort Dougan continued running under repeated attacks from Internet intruders after a Microsoft computer had repeated software failures during an impromptu computer security competition this week. Dougan said he's not a part of the security challenge, but will be involved in fixing or diagnosing any security flaws the contest uncovers. The battle began Tuesday, when Microsoft challenged crackers - people who use the Internet to break into other people's computers - to break into a computer running a test version of its new Windows 2000 operating system. Windows is the core of Microsoft's business and Windows 2000 is the latest version of its operating system. Within hours, a Wisconsin company also challenged crackers to break into a computer running LinuxPPC, a version of a free operating system that runs on Macintosh computers. Microsoft's computer crashed at 10:45 a.m., then crashed again and again. The Mac, running on Dougan's software, continued operating Thursday. A Microsoft spokeswoman blamed the crashes on storms and electrical outtages Tuesday in the Seattle area, where the computer is located. But a log posted on the computer showed at least nine crashes caused by problems with Microsoft software, not the weather. Questioned about that, the spokeswoman said the computer was expected to be off line for some periods of time ``as customer feedback is assessed and integrated into the system." She also acknowledged crackers repeatedly attacked the computer, but said company officials did not give her further information on the effect of those attacks. The Linux computer logged 6,755 individual attackers by midday Thursday but continued running, said Jeff Carr, president of the Wisconsin company sponsoring the LinuxPPC challenge. Linux and Windows are computer operating systems, the underlying software that handles a computer's housekeeping chores, such as moving data around, printing and displaying information on the screen. Finnish computer programmer Linus Torvalds decided to create his own operating system in 1991. The result came to be known as Linux, and Torvalds not only gave it away for free, but also gave away the underlying source code, the written instructions that make it work. By giving away the code, Torvalds encouraged people to tinker with it and improve it. Since then, Torvalds and programmers around the world, communicating largely through the Internet, have steadily advanced Linux, adapting it to run on more types of computers and adding new features. Dougan rewrote Linux to run on Motorola's PowerPC chip, which runs computers by Macintosh and IBM. Linux has grown in popularity, but its sometimes hard-to-use features have made mainstream users slow to adopt it. So companies have sprung up, including Carr's LinuxPPC Inc., that sell prepackaged CD versions easier to install on personal computers. L.A. District Attorney Drops Mitnick Case The Los Angeles district attorney gave Kevin Mitnick a birthday present Friday, dropping its six-year-old computer hacking case against the convicted hacker. That development could speed the release of the 35-year-old, removing an obstacle that could have prevented Mitnick from going free from federal prison soon after he is formally sentenced Monday in an unrelated federal case. "We're ecstatic," said Carolyn Hagin, one of Mitnick's attorneys in the state case. Deputy District Attorney Daniel Bershin said he dropped the state case because it had been "mischarged." In 1993, the district attorney charged Mitnick with one count of illegally accessing a Department of Motor Vehicles computer and retrieving confidential information. The problem with that charge is that Mitnick, posing as a Welfare Fraud investigator, simply picked up a telephone on Dec. 24, 1992, and duped an employee accessing the DMV computer for him. "Since Mitnick did not personally connect to the DMV computer, but either he or someone else communicated with the DMV technician via a telephone conversation," Bershin wrote in his motion to dismiss the case, "it would be difficult to prove that Mitnick gained entry to the DMV computer, or that he instructed or communicated with the logical, arithmetical or memory function resources of the DMV computer." Bershin also confirmed at a July 28 hearing what many of Mitnick's supporters have been claiming for years: that their martyr has been the target of overzealous prosecution. Bershin first informed Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Leland Harris of the district attorney's intention to drop the case at the July 28 hearing, a position that caught Harris off guard. As early as July 7, Deputy District Attorney Larry Diamond -- who had originally handled Mitnick's case -- was vigorously arguing against any reduction in Mitnick's $1 million bail pending trial. "So I'm curious as to why all of a sudden between July 7 and July 28 we have this radical change in position," the judge asked of Bershin. "Well, I think to be quite candid, the answer, or course, is Mr. Diamond," Bershin said. "I know that Mr. Diamond has wanted to handle this matter personally for a long time ... and I know that Mr. Diamond personally believes that Mr. Mitnick has been skating through the system for a long time and has a great interest in him." At that July 28 hearing, Harris refused to dismiss the case, saying to do so would be "a radical jump off the precipice to move to dismiss at this time." He ordered Bershin to submit a written motion to dismiss, which Harris granted Friday. Harris' action clears the way for Mitnick's freedom. He is due to be sentenced in federal court for several hacking charges he pleaded guilty to in March. His attorney in the federal case, Donald Randolph of L.A.'s Randolph & Levanas, said he will ask Central District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer to order Mitnick into a halfway house after formally sentencing him to 68 months in prison. Randolph said he is optimistic Pfaelzer will grant the request, but if she doesn't Mitnick is set to go free sometime in January. Still at issue is the amount of money Mitnick must repay in restitution. His victims, including several high-tech giants such as Sun Microsystems and Motorola Corp., say that Mitnick's hacking cost them millions of dollars in compromised intellectual property. Federal prosecutors are seeking $1.5 million in restitution. Mitnick, through Randolph, argues that he is leaving prison broke and that conditions of his probation, once he is released, severely restrict his access to a computer, the only way he knows how to make a living. Pfaelzer has indicated that she will order Mitnick to make some restitution, which she is scheduled to decide Monday as well. Mitnick was arrested in 1995 after a high-profile, two-year, electronic manhunt for him. Computer Hacker Mitnick Sentenced Computer hacker Kevin Mitnick, who admitted a multimillion-dollar crime wave in cyberspace, has been sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison and ordered to pay a token amount of restitution. Mitnick, the only computer hacker to make the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, was arrested in 1995 in North Carolina after a spree that made him a hero to fellow hackers world wide. As part of an earlier plea agreement, U.S. District Judge Mariana Pfaelzer sentenced Mitnick to three years and 10 months in prison. With credit for time served, he will be eligible for parole in one year. That parole will last three years, Pfaelzer said, and until it's over Mitnick is to keep his hands off anything computer-related. Pfaelzer told the 36-year-old Mitnick in strong terms Monday that he must pay $4,125 in restitution to various companies, though she doubted he will be able to earn more than minimum wage. ``Just so we have an understanding, Mr. Mitnick, this is a token restitution order and you will be required to pay it. Do you understand?'' the judge asked. ``Yes, I understand it,'' answered Mitnick. Mitnick's victims included such companies as Motorola, Novell, Nokia and Sun Microsystems, and the University of Southern California. He was accused of breaking into a North American Air Defense Command computer, although that allegation was never proven. Mitnick admitted in March that he broke into the computers of several high-tech companies, stole software and installed programs that caused millions of dollars in damage. He pleaded guilty to five felony counts as part of the deal. Prosecutors had asked that Mitnick be ordered to pay $1.5 million, claiming his notoriety and skills would eventually allow him to earn money through book, film or TV contracts. Defense lawyer Donald Randolph proposed his client be committed to a halfway house or rehabilitation center because of Mitnick's ``obsessive behavior.'' The judge refused. During his incarceration and while on parole, Mitnick is prohibited from having access to anything that can be used for Internet access - including computers, software, hardware, cellular telephones and televisions. He is also prohibited from working as a consultant to any firms with access to computers, and may not obtain access codes, encryption data or any altered telephone equipment. Young computer aficionados crowded the courtroom to show their support for Mitnick. A 17-year-old, who would only identify himself by his computer call sign ``Whippet,'' said he believed Mitnick was wrongfully locked up. He said he understood Mitnick's motivation as a hacker. ``It's kind of like an adventure,'' he said. ``You're just exploring. It's nothing malicious. It's like playing a sport, pushing yourself as far as you can go.'' Microsoft Case Summaries Expected The next important step in the government's antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. happens early this week when the judge receives hundreds of pages of documents largely summarizing months of courtroom arguments. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered the sides to present by Tuesday their versions of the facts of the case, one of the final steps toward a possible verdict. Jackson, who planned an unorthodox appearance in Atlanta on Monday at a panel discussion with lawyers for Microsoft and the government, could decide the case late this year or early in 2000 - unless off-and-on settlement negotiations succeed. Since the trial began last October, the sides have met several times outside the courtroom, including once in early June. Future talks are anticipated this summer, but outside legal experts consider settlement unlikely. The antitrust case, which accuses Microsoft of illegally wielding monopoly power in the software industry to crush potential rivals, has been on hiatus for seven weeks, since courtroom testimony ended June 21. Microsoft said its court filing this week will focus on what it considers the government's failure to prove that the company's actions hurt customers, which would be necessary to support a guilty verdict. The company apparently hopes to capitalize on a potentially embarrassing slip by government witness Franklin Fisher, an economist. Fisher told Justice lawyer David Boies in January that Microsoft's behavior ``on balance" hasn't harmed consumers ``up to this point." Fisher caught himself moments later and amended his answer to explain that he believed consumers eventually would feel an impact. Microsoft strongly disagrees, said a company lawyer who outlined arguments in Microsoft's court filing on the condition he not be identified. Essentially, Microsoft will reassert that it's not an entrenched monopolist in the fast-paced technology industry. It will argue it didn't illegally discourage the nation's largest computer makers and Internet providers from distributing Web-browsing software manufactured by rival Netscape Communications Corp., recently bought by America Online Inc. The government improperly focused on a few manufacturers of computer operating-system software to illustrate Microsoft's dominance, the company contends. Proving a company wields monopoly power is essential to winning an antitrust case. But Microsoft said it will argue it doesn't charge prices as high as a monopolist would, and its massive spneding on research and development of new software ``makes no sense if Microsoft had durable monopoly power," the lawyer said. Microsoft wants the judge to consider an array of fledgling technologies as its competition - including new types of software and devices developed by America Online and others. It hopes to show that even though its flagship Windows software runs most of the world's personal computers, Microsoft's future influence is far from certain. In another of its arguments, Microsoft will challenge the government's allegation that it included browsing software free in Windows in 1995 to undermine Netscape. Government lawyers, citing e-mails, contend Microsoft spent hundreds of millions of dollars to develop its Internet software but gave it away only after Netscape emerged as a threat to Windows sales. The Justice Department's lawsuit quotes Microsoft's senior vice president, Paul Maritz, saying: ``We are going to cut off (Netscape's) air supply. Everything they're selling, we're going to give away for free." Maritz denied making the comment, and on Sunday, The New Yorker reported, in its edition on newsstands Monday, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates' reaction to the alleged quotation: ``A great lie! An unbelievable lie. Did anyone utter those words? Our e-mail, every piece of it, has been searched. ``I wish we had found somebody who said it. Then we could take him out, and we could hang the guy, then we'd say OK, mea culpa. We found him - the guy who said, `I'll cut off your oxygen."' The judge will give the two sides one month to review each other's documents, then make revisions to their own filings and return them Sept. 10. Courtroom arguments are set for Sept. 21. Microsoft, Government To Take Next Step In Trial Microsoft will say this week that 76 days of testimony in its antitrust trial have proven that consumers enjoy the benefits of vigorous competition between its Web browser and one offered by Netscape. In its proposed findings of fact, due to be presented to the trial judge Tuesday, the software giant will maintain that it continues to face challenges in a swiftly changing industry, a lawyer working for the company said in an interview. The U.S. Justice Department and 19 states, on the other hand, are expected to assert there is ample support in the voluminous testimony and exhibits for their charge that Microsoft holds monopoly power in personal computer operating systems. The government contends Microsoft Corp. used that monopoly power to bully its way to dominance in the Internet browser market over Netscape, which was sold to America Online Inc. after the trial started last year. A person close to the plaintiffs said the Web browser market ``has been tipping toward Microsoft," but the Microsoft lawyer said there is ``vibrant competition" in the browser market. The government will argue that Microsoft choked off Netscape's avenues of distribution on its way to dominance. Microsoft disagrees. ``Our view is that the channels of distribution in this instance were wide open," a Microsoft lawyer said of the competition for Web browsers. A lawyer sympathetic to the government's views said Microsoft cut vital channels for Netscape's distribution, such as exclusive distribution with new computers. The lawyer likened the situation to cutting off air travel from the East Coast to California -- there are many other ways to go but they are impractical for most business people. Such arguments will run into the hundreds when the findings of fact are submitted to the judge Tuesday. Each finding will be backed with citations to the mountains of testimony and exhibits presented at trial. The Judge could wind up with more than 1,000 pages of filings to read, and even more once each side submits replies on Sept. 10. Federal District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will use the proposed findings of fact as the first step in deciding what was proven at trial. Overall, the government is expected to say that Microsoft illegally tied its Windows operating system to its Web browser software, that it threatened competitors and customers -- such as computer makers -- and that the result was injury to consumers and the impairment of competition. Microsoft has repeatedly focused on AOL's acquisition of Netscape, saying that it helps prove that Microsoft faces new competition and the irrelevance of the government case. ``I think AOL represents a competitive threat to Microsoft," the lawyer for Microsoft said. In recent weeks skirmishes have broken out between the leading software firm and the No. 1 online service on several fronts. Microsoft has been trying to get an agreement on a single instant messaging standard while AOL has been seeking to protect its lead in that business by changing its code as fast as Microsoft engineers figure a new way to achieve compatibility. Then, in a move undercutting AOL's pay-for-access business model, Microsoft let it be known it was considering offering cheap or free Internet access to boost its own flagging MSN online service. Microsoft's view is that AOL and other ``portal" services, which provide the first screen a user connected to the Internet sees, ``represent a platform challenge," a Microsoft lawyer said. Instead of running word processing and other applications from an operating system, computer users could run them directly from the Internet, he said. The government says such competition may exist one day, but for now Microsoft holds monopoly power. Computer makers -- or the public -- have no mainstream operating system alternative and must accept Microsoft's prices, the government said. Judge Says Limits Kept Microsoft Case Short The government's complex antitrust suits against International Business Machines Corp. and AT&T Corp. stretched on for years, but limitations on witnesses, a firm trial date and other measures kept the Microsoft Corp. trial to only 76 trial days, the presiding judge said Monday. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who is presiding over the Microsoft case in Washington, D.C., told a session at the American Bar Association annual meeting that he had studied other long running antitrust cases in order to avoid the ``Vietnam morasses" that caused the delays. ``Whatever was done in those cases was something I was going to try and avoid," he said. The IBM case lasted from 1969 to 1982 and the AT&T case from 1974 to 1982. The Microsoft trial began in October 1998, and testimony ended in June. Jackson said one of the key elements to avoiding delay is to set a firm trial date, which is ``the be-all and end-all to bring a case to conclusion." He said cases should not be allowed to get stuck indefinitely in the discovery of evidence phase. ``Allowing it to wander ...just virtually guarantees that it is not going to come to fruition anytime soon." The judge was part of a panel discussion on the antitrust trial as a government enforcement tool. The session was held at the ABA's annual meeting here. Much of the discussion focused on the Microsoft antitrust case, which was brought by the federal government and 19 states. They alleged Microsoft abused monopoly power it held in operating system software for personal computers in order to crush rivals in the Internet browsing software business. The bench trial before Jackson ended in June and Tuesday lawyers are scheduled to file their ``findings of fact" of what they believe had been proven during the proceedings. Lawyers said during the ABA panel discussion that a ruling is expected by the end of the year. Jackson was asked if antitrust cases are more complex and harder to control than other types of civil litigation. ``Antitrust cases are by nature more complex than most other civil litigation," he said, but he added there are opportunities in other types of cases to ``delay" and "obstruct." ``Complex litigation is in and of itself a species of litigation that requires special protection," Jackson said. He recalled a case from the 1980s, when the government sought an order forcing a recall of General Motors Corp. (NYSE:GM - news) front wheel drive cars because of a suspected brake locking problem. Jackson said it was as complicated as any case he had ever overseen. He said the government contended it was prepared to bring in thousands of witnesses. ``I told them 'Pick your 10 best witnesses.' ``In many respects I drew upon my experience in that case in doing certain things I did in this (Microsoft) case," Jackson said. In the Microsoft case, Jackson limited the witnesses to 12 testifying for each side. The discussion drew a great deal of attention because Jackson and lawyers from both sides of the litigation were participating on the panel. However, they did not discuss substantive parts of the case. U.S. Says Trial Shows Microsoft Abused Monopoly The U.S. government said Tuesday that the Microsoft antitrust trial that began last October had shown the software giant had engaged in a broad pattern of unlawful conduct to thwart competitors. The comments came in proposed findings of fact sent to District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson by the U.S. Justice Department and 19 states. Microsoft is expected to submit its proposed findings later Tuesday. The government said the evidence had demonstrated that "Microsoft has engaged in a broad pattern of unlawful conduct with the purpose and effect of thwarting emerging threats to its powerful and well-entrenched operating system monopoly." It said the most prominent of these threats came from competing Internet browsers, particularly the browser produced by Netscape, because they had the potential to become a platform on which user applications would run, eroding Microsoft's monopoly. Jackson is due to issue his findings of fact late September or October after hearing additional written and oral arguments. After that will come conclusions of law and finally a determination of what remedies are needed to correct any violations Jackson finds. The government filing drew on 76 days of courtroom testimony that concluded in June, thousands of e-mails and pre-trial testimony that included a three-day videotaped deposition by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates. Microsoft Says U.S. Fails To Prove Trial Claims Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday the U.S. government had failed to prove its claims against the software giant in the antitrust trial that began last October. In its proposed findings of fact to the trial judge, Microsoft said the Justice Department and 19 states had failed to show that the company had the power to raise prices or exclude competitors without harming itself. Earlier Tuesday, the government proposed that the trial showed Microsoft had engaged in a broad pattern of unlawful conduct to thwart competitors, particularly rival Internet browser maker Netscape. But Microsoft said the government had failed to show that Netscape was thwarted from distributing its browser. ``Quite to the contrary, Microsoft proved ... that Netscape has enjoyed massive distribution of its Web browser software to consumers," Microsoft said. In a summary of its filing to District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, Microsoft said the government had not shown that Microsoft's actions hurt consumers. Jackson is expected to issue his findings of fact in late September or October after hearing additional written and oral arguments. After that will come conclusions of law and if Microsoft is found liable, Jackson may hold further hearings to determine what remedies are needed. Microsoft Filings Raise Conflict The Justice Department used its final arguments in the Microsoft trial to present its most comprehensive rebuttal yet to claims that the $10 billion sale of the software giant's rival, Netscape Communication Corp., undermines the government's antitrust case. The federal government and 19 states suing Microsoft devoted an entire section of their 776-page court filing Tuesday to deflect criticisms that Netscape's purchase by America Online Inc. makes the antitrust claims moot. Microsoft said the sale proved that competition was healthy in the high-tech industry, but the government argues that Netscape Communication Corp.'s purchase merely illustrates the effects of Microsoft's aggressive, predatory tactics. ``AOL's acquisition of Netscape itself evidences the harm to Netscape's browser business caused by Microsoft's predatory campaign," the government said. ``Netscape was acquired because it had been damaged by Microsoft's campaign." U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who is considering the case without a jury, will base his verdict on the arguments, along with those filed by Microsoft. Earlier in the trial, Jackson said he found AOL's alliance with Netscape as possibly ``a very significant change in the playing field." In its 450-page filing, Microsoft repeatedly denied it was a monopolist and rejected allegations that it ``has engaged in a broad pattern of unlawful conduct." Defending itself against a central claim by the government, Microsoft argued that it built its Internet browser software into Windows - its dominant computer operating system - for free, to help consumers use the Web more effectively - not to force out of business Netscape, which was selling similar browser software separately. ``Microsoft's actions have produced higher quality Web browsing software and operating systems at lower cost to consumers, thereby contributing to the explosive growth of the Internet," the company said. Microsoft also said the government failed to prove it blocked Netscape from distributing its Internet software from more than 40 percent of consumers, a condition Jackson had established in an earlier ruling. It also argued that the $10 billion Netscape-AOL alliance ``provides new avenues for the widespread distribution of Netscape's Web browsing software." The antitrust lawsuit, the company said in a summary of its filing, was ``largely a vehicle for Microsoft's competitors to attack Microsoft rather than compete in the marketplace." The lengthy filings largely repeat claims made in earlier legal documents and over 76 days of courtroom testimony, but Jackson will base the first phase of his two-part verdict - expected later this year - on these arguments. ``They're the foundation for everything," said Rich Gray, an antitrust lawyer in San Jose, Calif., who has been following the trial closely. ``They're critically important. If (the sides) can't tell their story forcefully at this stage, then they're in trouble." The first phase of the judge's ruling is expected to foreshadow the eventual second part of his verdict, which probably will come early next year unless the sides settle. The judge's factual findings also are particularly important because appellate courts rarely challenge a trial judge's decisions on the facts of a case, but typically focus on his application of the law. Experts predict the Microsoft case to wind through appeals courts for years. The judge's factual findings will be ``much more difficult for Microsoft to attack on appeal," said Robert Taylor, another antitrust lawyer in California's Silicon Valley. GM Plans 'Web Car' for 2000 General Motors Corp. plans to offer voice-activated Internet access in a car by the end of next year as part of a campaign announced Tuesday to transform the world's largest automaker into a ``global e-business enterprise." GM has formed an independent unit called ``e-GM" to coordinate and expand its global electronic commerce activities, with a focus on making it easier for consumers to buy new vehicles online and to package them with an array of on-board services via satellite. Within five years, in-car services such as Internet access and CD-quality satellite radio broadcasts could generate revenues for GM in the range of $4 billion to $6 billion annually, said Ron Zarrella, president of GM's North American operations. GM will begin test-marketing a car - probably a Cadillac - with World Wide Web access in the fall. The ``Web car" will be offered nationally by late 2000. Web access will be provided through GM's OnStar system, a satellite-based navigation, security and aid service introduced in 1996 through Cadillac. OnStar, through its service center, can provide directions, track a car that's stolen, unlock a car when the keys are left inside, and summon an ambulance if necessary after an air bag deploys. The subscription costs about $17 or $33 a month, depending on the level of service. The system is offered today on 31 of GM's 77 models; there are 75,000 customers. GM has ambitious plans to expand OnStar to most of its fleet, making it standard on some models, with a goal of signing up 1 million subscribers by the end of next year. GM is betting heavily that OnStar will give it a major competitive advantage over other automakers as its cost comes down and its services expand. Over the next five years, GM plans to invest more than $1 billion in OnStar and other e-commerce activities, Zarrella said. Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG are working on similar systems, but spokesmen said the companies were not prepared to say when, or if, they would offer on-board Internet access. Scott McNealy, chairman and chief executive of Sun Microsystems Inc., said putting Internet access in a car is a wise move for GM because it has such a large, captive audience: millions of commuters who spend an average of 80 minutes a day in their GM cars. ``The kind of eyeball hours per day that General Motors captures would make NBC or Fox quite jealous, and it's an untapped market," McNealy said. GM recently commissioned a group of experts from inside and outside the company to study about 500 leading Web sites and recommend an e-commerce strategy, which was presented to GM's automotive strategy board. ``That report got everybody excited," GM President G. Richard Wagoner Jr. said. ``We said we wanted to go at this thing, and we wanted to go at it hard." Wagoner said the Internet offers a way to attract young consumers even before they're old enough to drive. ``They think about the world differently and they're going to be our customers," he said. ``We don't have a choice but to get in the game big time. We think it's got a high payoff and we need to do it." The automaker already is heavily involved in Internet commerce through its BuyPower car buying Web site and more than 100 other company Web sites. But executives said they are committed to making GM a true Web-based company, expanding its Internet use to reduce costs in manufacturing, distribution, sales and service. George Colony, president of the Internet-research firm Forester Research Inc., estimated GM could save 5 percent to 10 percent of the cost of building a car if it aggressively uses Internet technology in dealing with suppliers and elsewhere in manufacturing and distribution. The emphasis on e-commerce means GM will have to increase its efforts to recast a corporate culture that for decades was complacent and plodding. ``We want to change GM from being an automotive company that moves on an automotive time frame, to an automotive company that moves on an Internet time frame," said Mark Hogan, who will head the new unit. ``To do that, we have to have our employees think about things completely differently than the way they think about them today." =~=~=~= Atari Online News, Etc.is a weekly publication covering the entire Atari community. Reprint permission is granted, unless otherwise noted at the beginning of any article, to Atari user groups and not for profit publications only under the following terms: articles must remain unedited and include the issue number and author at the top of each article reprinted. Other reprints granted upon approval of request. Send requests to: dpj@delphi.com No issue of Atari Online News, Etc. may be included on any commercial media, nor uploaded or transmitted to any commercial online service or internet site, in whole or in part, by any agent or means, without the expressed consent or permission from the Publisher or Editor of Atari Online News, Etc. Opinions presented herein are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the staff, or of the publishers. All material herein is believed to be accurate at the time of publishing.