*---== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE ==---* """"""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" _____________________________________ from STR Publishing Inc. """""""""""""""""" August 31, 1990 No.6.35 ======================================================================= STReport Online Magazine¿ Post Office Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32205 ~ 6672 R.F. Mariano Publisher - Editor _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 USR/HST Dual Standard FAX: 904-783-3319 12 AM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ ** F-NET NODE 350 ** 500mb Online ** STR'S owned & operated support BBS carries ALL issues of STReport Online Magazine and An International list of private BBS systems carrying STReport Online Magazine for their users enjoyment __________________________________________________________________ > 08/31/90: STReport¿ #6.35 The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine! ------------------------- - The Editor's Desk - CPU Report - CPU MacNews - DUSSELDORF OVERVIEW - Lynx News - J.K.T. Replies! - Delphi START CO - SEURAT NEWS! - STR CONFIDENTIAL * ICD ROLLS OUT "MUSCLE" 16MHZ ACCELERATOR! * * 32MHZ TT030 ON SALE IN EUROPE! * * SLM 605 DEBUTS IN EUROPE! * ========================================================================== ST REPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE¿ "Only UP-TO-DATE News and Information" -* FEATURING *- Current Events, Up to Date News, Hot Tips, and Information Hardware - Software - Corporate - R & D - Imports ========================================================================== STReport's support BBS, NODE # 350 invites systems using Forem ST BBS to participate in Forem BBS's F-Net mail network. Or, call Node 350 direct at 904-786-4176, and enjoy the excitement of exchanging ideas about the Atari ST computers through an excellent International ST Mail Network. All SysOps in the F-Net are welcome to join the STR Crossnet Conference the conference code is #34813, and the "Lead Node" is #350. ->Join Today! ========================================================================== AVAILABLE ON: COMP-U-SERVE ~ DELPHI ~ GENIE ~ BIX ~ F-NET ========================================================================== > The Editor's Podium¿ The Show in Glendale is getting closer and promises to be the "event" of the West Coast. If at all possible, STReport highly recommends attending this show. The Glendale show promises to be outstanding. Atari is working very closely with the promoting of the show and of course, with the weight of Atari's reach, the calibre of promotion should be excellent. On another, more serious, note, last week STReport told you we were made aware of the origination point of the "PHONEY FAX". We waited (as stated) all week to allow the person(s) involved to come forward and offer an accurate accounting of what actually occurred. This did not happen STReport therefore offers that.. The "PHONEY FAX", sadly, originated at the offices of ST World Magazine, formally owned by R. Sukiji. Sukiji, who has on a number of occasions, publicly stated he "wanted Bob Brodie fired" was unavailable for comment. While there is no proof as to whose hands the fax came from.. the location is quite accurate according to our investigative sources. Sukiji recently sold ST World Magazine for "one dollar and other considerations", this was reported in STReport a few weeks ago. Finally, STReport has it straight from Atari Canada, in the form of a service bulletin, that the STe DMA problem is, at last, fixed. Now all that remains is to see where Atari comes forward with a statement concer- ning the DMA headache and details the serial number run so that those folks who have yet to obtain a hard drive are able to get their STe computers brought back 'in line'. Thank you for all the encouraging mail and strong support, Ralph........ **************************************************************** > CPU REPORT¿ ========== Issue # 81 ---------- by Michael Arthur Remember When.... In December 1978, Epson Inc. introduced the MX-80 dot matrix printer, whose PCL (printer control language) became a dominant standard in the low-end printer market? CPU Systems Roundup¿ =================== Atari Germany, X/Windows for the ST, and TOS Multitasking --------------------------------------------------------- For several years, Atari ST Users have dreamed of an efficient and effective way to multitask ST applications. While Beckemeyer Development's MT C-Shell and VSH Manager provided an effective combination for running Desk Accessories and TOS programs concurrently, it could not multitask GEM applications. As such, the prospect of a complete system that would multitask TOS and ST/GEM programs was still just a dream. When Atari announced MIDI-Tasking, an operating system hack designed to multitask GEM-compliant ST MIDI programs, ST Users believed their hopes realized. However, Atari has said that while MIDI-Tasking can be used for multitasking other types of ST/GEM programs, that such use is not recom- mended. And with some ST/GEM programs (such as Pagestream or ISD's Master Plan spreadsheet) can be run under MIDI-Tasking, many ST MIDI programs are incompatible with it. This situation has left the spectre of ST multitas- king hanging just out of the reach of the ST Community. Recently, the first indications of yet another ST Multitasking package have appeared. Atari Germany has apparently developed an X/Windows Server for the ST, which uses a "TOS Compatible" multitasking system called X/ST/Multi. Below is a Usenet message that describes the X/Windows Produ- cts developed by Atari Germany, and some information on X/ST/Multi: ---------------------- bdt!unisoft!hoptoad!pacbell!pacbell.com!decwrl!uunet!mcsun!unido!laura! heike-fb!klute From: klute@heike-fbi.informatik.uni-dortmund.de (Rainer Klute) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st,comp.windows.x Subject: Re: Is there an X-Client for the ST? Keywords: X,Client,st Message-ID: <2393@laura.UUCP> Date: 10 Aug 90 06:46:14 GMT References: Sender: news@laura.UUCP Reply-To: klute@heike-fbi.informatik.uni-dortmund.de (Rainer Klute) Organization: University of Dortmund, Germany In article ,roarment@faui09.informatik. uni-erlangen.de (Roberto Armenti) writes: > I once heard about such a thing named X/ST/Window or something > like this, but I never could get some info on that. Some months ago I asked Atari Germany about X/ST/Window. They sent me a high-glossing paper with some info. In short: - X/ST/Window is an X-Windows server for the Atari ST, TT and ATW. - The whole X Windows System runs on an Atari TT under ATX (Atari Unix) and on the ATW (Atari Transputer Workstation) under Helios. - X/ST/window is based on X/ST/multi, "a multitasking operating system which is totally compatible with the TOS of the Atari ST" (literal translation from German). It allows discoupling of the time critical protocol processes from the graphical software. - The ST monitor acts as a window and shows only a part of a virtual screen. The dimensions of this virtual screen is limited by memory only. - Network access is done via TCP/IP (Note: TCP/IP is a LAN networking protocol standard created by the US Government, commonly used in Local Area Networks). Ah yes, and then they said it would be available at special computer stores by end of June 1990. Hmm, actually they said "90", not "1990". They don't mean 2090, do they? :-) -- Dipl.-Inform. Rainer Klute klute@unido.informatik.uni-dortmund.de Univ. Dortmund, IRB klute@unido.uucp, klute@unido.bitnet Postfach 500500 |)|/ Tel.: +49 231 755-4663 D-4600 Dortmund 50 |\|\ Fax : +49 231 755-2386 ---------------------- CPU MacNews¿ =========== Ventura Publisher 3.0 Announced for the Macintosh, GEM, Windows 3.0 -------------------------------------------------------------------- Ventura Software recently introduced Version 3.0 of its Ventura Publi- sher DTP (desktop publishing) program. Completely rewritten, it will be made available for the Macintosh, the IBM version of GEM, Microsoft Win- dows 3.0, and OS/2 Presentation Manager. Among other things, VP 3.0 for the Macintosh will feature: - Built-in Spell Checker - Extensive support to undo/redo operations - A context-sensitive Help System consisting of 300 online menus - Extensive file import/export capabilities, as well as file/format compatibility with the GEM, Windows 3.0, and OS/2 versions of Ventura Publisher 3.0 - Movable Dialog Boxes, with the ability to link Dialog Boxes Ventura Publisher 3.0 will be available for the Macintosh, DOS and OS/2 in the Fourth Quarter of 1990. Cost: $800.00.... Apple Plans October Introduction of New Macintoshes --------------------------------------------------- Apple Computer has announced that it will be introducing three new versions of the Macintosh on October 15th. As Apple has maintained that it would introduce "low-end" versions of the Macintosh before 1991, many analysts expect these models to eliminate the Mac Plus, Mac SE, and Mac IIcx from the Macintosh line. Here is a description of the expected cost and capabilities of these new Macintoshes: - Macintosh Classic. This Macintosh will reportedly come with a 16 MHZ 68000 microprocessor, 2 Megs of RAM, and a built-in monochrome monitor. It will also have a 40 Megabyte Hard Drive, a 1.4 Meg Floppy drive, and a Mac SE expansion slot. Expected to resemble the Macintosh SE, it will cost $1500.00. - The Macintosh LC is expected to feature a 16 MHZ 68020, 2 Megs of RAM, and an 80 Megabyte Hard Drive. Like the Mac IIci, it will have an 8-bit color video chip on its motherboard, enabling it to directly support a color monitor. Also, Apple will include a NuBus Expansion slot. Cost: $3000 - $3500. - The Macintosh SI will reportedly have a 20 MHZ 68030 with a 68882 math chip, 2 Megs of RAM, and 3 NuBus Expansion Slots. It will come with an 80 Megabyte Hard Drive. Many think that Apple will phase out the Mac IIcx with this computer. Cost: $5000.00. Apple is expected to position the Macintosh Classic and Macintosh LC towards the home/small business markets that it was criticized for neglec- ting in the past. Apple is also targeting the Macintosh LC towards the educational market. While Dataquest Inc. estimates that 65-70 percent of all computers in K-12 Grade Schools are Apple IIs, the educational market has recently been dominated by IBM and IBM Clones.... Apple is reportedly planning to introduce a NuBus Expansion card that will emulate the Apple II. But if true, this may spell the doom of the Apple II line of computers. The Macintosh LC will cost the same as a similarly configured Apple IIgs, and the Apple II Emulation Card may even emulate an Apple IIgs. However, many avid Apple II supporters have ex- pressed the sentiment that they would NOT buy Macintoshes if Apple aban- doned the Apple II line as an orphan.... > CPU STATUS REPORT¿ >>>> LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS <<<< ================= - New York, NY IBM BEGINS SELLING THE PS/1 NATIONWIDE ------------ IBM has announced that it will now begin nationwide sales and marke- ting efforts for their PS/1 home computer. Authorized IBM Dealers, Dillards, and the 800 Sears Brand Central department stores will sell the IBM PS/1 line. In the previous 60-day test marketing period, IBM found that over 95 percent of IBM PS/1 owners would recommend it to others, and that the IBM PS/1 was the first computer of 75 percent of its owners. With over 70 million American households without personal computers, IBM feels that the PS/1 will sell strongly in this market. Also, 75 percent of the PS/1 Users bought the "high-end" version (Cost: $2000.00) of the PS/1, mainly because of the credit/financing opportunities provided by department stores.... IBM has also introduced a 24-pin dot matrix printer for the PS/1 called (interestingly enough) the PS/1 Printer. Cost: $450.00, and an Automatic Sheet Feeder Option costs $200 extra.... - Detroit, MI HYPER-PROTOCOL OUTGUNS YMODEM & ZMODEM! ----------- Hilgraeve Inc. has placed a new file transfer protocol, called Hyperprotocol, into the public domain. Formerly, Hyperprotocol was a proprietary standard designed as part of Hilgraeve's Hyperaccess/5 ter- minal program for DOS and OS/2. Developed for high speed asynchronous modem communications, Hyperprotocol differs from standard file transfer protocols in two ways: First, it uses a data compression algorithm to compress and decompress files as they are sent or received by the modem. This can increase modem data transfer speeds by a factor of 2 or 3. Second, this system also has built-in error protection, allowing files to be transferred in a contin- uous stream of data. Most file transfer protocols (like XModem or ZModem) transmit files in segments called packets, which are inherently slower. Hyperprotocol's data compression makes it significantly faster than ZModem, currently the fastest file transfer protocol. However, some implementations of Z-Modem (including Chuck Forsberg's DSZ) support data compression. Hyperprotocol is available on Compuserve and GEnie, as well as Hilgraeve's own BBS (313-243-5915). - Willow Grove, PA RG SOFTWARE INTROS VIRI SCANNER! ---------------- RG Software Systems has introduced Version 4.0 of the Vi-Spy MS-DOS virus checker program. Vi-Spy 4.0 has a small memory-resident program that scans a disk for viruses every time a disk operation is begun. While this method is commonplace for Macintosh virus checkers, Vi-Spy's is the first such utility for MS-DOS. Cost: $250.00. RG Software Systems can be contacted at 1-215-659-5300. Vi-Spy 4.0 will also detect and kill the recent (and widespread) 4K virus. This 4K Virus, after activating on September 22nd, will lock up an infected system, but won't damage any data on disks. RG Systems says it can be detected WITHOUT Vi-Spy by checking the size of COMMAND.COM on the system's bootup drive, since the 4K Virus embeds itself in DOS-executable files. - La Palma, CA INVENTOR GETS NEW PATENT FOR CONCEPT OF MICROPROCESSOR! ------------ The US Patent Office, after 20 years of deliberations, has granted Gilbert Hyatt a patent for the microprocessor. Mr. Hyatt successfully proved his claim to have invented the microprocessor in 1968. This was 5 years before engineers at Texas Instruments and Intel Corporation got the first microprocessor patents. The computer industry itself is based on microprocessors, which are found in practically all types of devices that use computer chips.... Gilbert Hyatt could be entitled to enormous royalty payments from the microprocessor industry, which is now as large as $5 billion a year. However, the scope of Hyatt's patent has yet to be determined. Meaning that attempts to get patent royalty payments will be fiercely challenged in court by many companies that make computer chips. Hyatt filed for a patent on the microprocessor in 1970. If his patent for a "single-chip integrated circuit computer architecture" (or microprocessor) is broad enough, he could gain tens of millions of dollars worth of royalty payments. But depending on the result of the inevitable lawsuits, he could get NO royalty payments, and lose a lot of money on attorney's fees. However, several Silicon Valley patent attorneys feel that his patent should cover most types of microprocessors. Meaning that he could get royalties on almost ALL microprocessors manufactured until the year 2010.... An aerospace consultant, Gilbert Hyatt says that he will invest the money gained from his patent in funding American technology research efforts. Interestingly, he also plans to use some of the money in his own private efforts as an inventor.... __________________________________________________________ > START CO STR OnLine¿ Start's Tom Byron in Conference... =================== IMPORTANT NOTICE! ================= As a reader of STReport Online Magazine, you are entitled to take advantage of a special DELPHI membership offer. For only $29.95 ($20 off the standard membership price!), you will receive a lifetime subscription to DELPHI, a copy of the 500-page DELPHI: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE and over $14 worth of free time. NOTE: Special offers can be found in your favorite Atari magazines: START CURRENT NOTES ST INFORMER ATARI INTERFACE MAGAZINE SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI ====================== Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access DELPHI services via a local phone call. JOIN -- DELPHI -------------- 1. Dial 617-576-0862 with any terminal or PC and modem (at 2400 bps, dial 576-2981). 2. At the Username prompt, type JOINDELPHI. 3. At the Password prompt enter STREPORT. For more information, call DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005, or at 617-491-3393 from within Massachusetts or from outside the U.S. DELPHI is a service of General Videotex Corporation of Cambridge, Mass. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT -------------------- Beginning September 1, 1990, DELPHI will begin offering a new plan that will save you money! The new plan is called the 20/20 Advantage Plan and it features 20 hours online for just $20 a month! The $20 is a monthly fee that covers your first 20 hours online via direct dial into one of DELPHI's two direct-access lines, or via a special Tymnet 20/20 Access code. It also gets you additional hours at just $1.20 per hour. And you get free access to several services on DELPHI as part of the Advantage Perks. Other telecom services may have additional charges. Canadian Tymnet users have an additional telecom charge. Office Time access (7 a.m. to 7 p.m., weekdays) may have an additional charge. And of course, other restrictions may apply. But this is still an amazing deal! For more information, contact DELPHI at 1-800-544-4005 and ask for Member Services. DELPHI- It's getting better all the time! *********************************************************************** DELPHI's ST Advantage presents A Formal Conference with Mr. Tom Byron, Editor START Magazine August 28, 1990 Finally, I need to remind everyone that the transcript resulting from this conference is the property of DELPHI. It may be freely repri- nted and distributed, but we ask that you wait for the final edited version that will be available _soon_ in the databases. If for some reason, you just can't wait for the edited version, please contact me (BIBLINSKI) immediately, so that I can provide you with the notice that must accompany any reprint of this conference. Gordie With that said, Welcome, Tom. Do you have any opening remarks that you'd like to make? GA TOMBYRON No, we can get started. SCOTTJ Tom , why did you decide to fold Antic back into STart? Isn't putting 8-bit info in STart a waste of pages since the 8-bits are dead? Also does this merger mean that STart is in financial trouble? We all remember what happened with STlog & Analog. GA TOMBYRON A loaded question deserves a loaded answer. The decision to fold Antic into START really came down to a question of subscription liability. We couldn't just "kill" Antic. Besides, the 8-bit market isn't really "dead." In fact, Antic magazine has over 7,000 active subscribers. There really still is a market out there. Besides, the next issue of START (October) will be 124 pages. I find that pretty exciting. So from now on, we're the complete Atari resource. We may even start including Portfolio and Lynx coverage. On a side note, the Antic section is only temporary (about six months.) GA bob What is going to happen to my DISK subscription to Antic? - GA TOMBYRON Unfortunately, there will no longer be a disk included with your Antic subscrption. The type-in listings will remain. ga Gordie How is the new ST disk going to change? GA TOMBYRON Beginning with the January 1991 issue, the START disk will be straight double-sided, with only the largest programs ARCed. It will also include more PD and software demos and it will be twisted to 800K. GA Gordie Will it be the same low price of $79.95 a year? ga TOMBYRON Believe it or not, there's talk of lowering that rate, though nothing's been finalized. ga Clay What in your view is the future of the ST in the US? Hasn't STart's circulation declined severely in the last couple of years? Do you think Atari can recover? ga TOMBYRON I really can't answer the first question very effectively. Certainly the user base in the U.S. is extremely low and there's not much of a base to work from. Actually, though, START's circulation hasn't fallen off that dramatically. We're still holding steady at around 12,000 subscribers and that's where we make most of our money. And pick up any issue and you'll see that advertisers are still to be found. Can Atari recover? Sure, if they get that TT out. But they better do it soon. ga Clay Yeah, you seem to have plenty of advertisers, which is more than I could say for St-Log! Gordie Speaking of ST-Log, did STart buy the mailing list from Flynt Publishing? GA TOMBYRON Subscriber list, yes. GA Gordie So the former ST-Loggers might be getting a letter soon, maybe? Not that I had an active subscription. (Sorry, Clay.) GA TOMBYRON Yes, they should have already received notification. Actually, all ST-Log subscribers were given choice of a refund or a subscription to another ST magazine. Many of them chose START. GA SCOTTJ Tom , do you know if or when Atari will ship the TT? I've seen a few reports that it is already shipping in Europe. Can you confirm this? Also is the 32mhz TT rumor true? GA TOMBYRON Atari is already getting some machines out to developers. About two months ago I asked Richard Miller (Atari head of R&D) to confirm a report I read in a local newspaper that the TT would be on the dealers' shelves before fall Comdex. If developers are beginning to receive TTs, and I know that some are, then a November shipping date may very well happen. I think that Atari knows that if they blow this window of opportunity, they're not going to get another chance soon. According to Leonard Tramiel, TTs will be shipping in Europe by October. And yes, the release version will be 32 mHz, but from what I understand, that's clock speed only. GA SCOTTJ Can you give us any names (of the developers)? TOMBYRON I've been asked not to at this point. No, I'm not an employee of Atari, but when something's said off the record (i.e., specific names) I respect the request to keep it off the record. ga Clay Something I've always been curious about: was there a large overlap between the ST-Log sub. list and yours? ga TOMBYRON Apparently there was some overlapping. However, since former ST- Log subscribers were given a choice (of receiving STart), I suppose there weren't that many overlaps. We're talking about 3,000 names. ga IDEA Do you know if Rick Miller came from Virginia? ga TOMBYRON If you're talking about the Richard Miller I referenced earlier, no, I don't believe so. He's British. ga IDEA Just a thot... ga Gordie I've got several things to ask about, so if anyone wants in, say so. CFJ Ask away, Gordie. Gordie First, is Antic Software still around, and are they still supporting STOS? GA TOMBYRON Antic Software is indeed still around, but no, they are not supporting STOS. ga Gordie Care to comment on GFA? GA TOMBYRON Antic is no longer supporting GFA either. I don't know who's handling that now. I had heard GFA wanted to open their own office here in the US, but I haven't heard any more. ga Gordie Antic Publishing also publishes an Amiga mag. I know you aren't involved, but can you say how things are going with it? GA TOMBYRON Things are getting better there. The Amiga Plus is finally breaking even and will soon be a big money-maker for Antic Publishing. Antic is also starting a new PC mag, in case anyone's interested. GA Gordie I guess I wondered how it compares, reader-wise, with STart. GA TOMBYRON Actually, it's a little higher -- 14,000 subscribers at last count. However, it's still only bi-monthly. GA SCOTTJ Why did Antic decide to produce an Amiga magazine? Antic used to be one of the biggest Amiga detractors around. From 1986 to 1988 there wasn't an issue of Antic and later STart that didn't slam the Amiga. GA TOMBYRON Antic Publishing saw a business opportunity and went for it. So far, it's a gamble that's paid off. Any statements made concerning the Amiga in the pages of Antic and START do not necessarily reflect the future business plans of Antic Publishing. GA Gordie Me again. Okay, first, I want to say I think your editorials are a far sight better than your predecessor's. They reflect a certain sense of reality that was lacking. Is that a reflection of your personal attitude or is there something coming down from upstairs, too? GA TOMBYRON Since I took over the job of editor I've been given an amazing amount of room from the "upstairs." Some things I've tried worked, others didn't. I've always felt that that even though the ST market may be "dying," I couldn't let START look like it was. One of the first things I did was make the editorial read like an editorial, i.e. my opinion on issues that were important for the Atari community. My latest one on piracy hopefully made a point. Besides, I'm a firm believer in the power of the press. GA Gordie You seem to be more in touch with your readers. I know you did some surveying a while back. Will that be a regular thing? GA TOMBYRON The survey we ran in the May issue was a tremendous success and we've published the results in the October issue, due out any day. I think we may run one again next Spring. GA Gordie I'll be watching my mailbox. SCOTTJ Can you tell us why Antic Publishing decided not to release the "Phase 4" programs that they had originally announced? GA CFJ Sorry to interrupt, but I have to run. Thanks for coming by, Tom. See you all later. TOMBYRON Antic Software has chosen not to pursue the ST market until it becomes a growth market. Besides, I believe Lexicor software is marketing the Phase 4 project, so all is not lost. GA Clay I understand that STart is now being produced using Calamus. I was wondering how well the system is working out and how exactly you've implemented it. GA TOMBYRON We had some problems early on, but mostly they were due to the attitude of the Art staff. Our new art director actually has experience with Calamus so things should begin to go a little more smoothly. With the November issue, START will 100 percent Calamused. GA SCOTTJ A followup on your reply to my last question: You stated that Antic Publishing will no longer produce new ST software. Is this a temporary decision or a permanent one? Also if Antic Software won't be producing ST software anymore, for what computer system will it be producing software? GA TOMBYRON Allow me to clarify. Antic Software is a wholly owned subsidiary of Antic Publishing and their situation is a little different from the publishing. Antic Software needs a growth market. The ST market is stagnant and from a business standpoint no longer a potential big money maker. But my original answer was less than complete. Antic does plan to release Flash 2.0 within the next several months and they still have plenty of ST and 8-bit software in their inventory. As for other platforms, Software is working on some very interesting projects on other, more promising platforms, but nothing has been solidly decided. GA Gordie Speaking of software sales... (Nice segue, huh?) Have you seen any kind of correlation between ST software sales and ST sales? It seems that while the software sales have been dropping by 15% or so annually, the hardware sales are even worse. (If Atari will release solid figures.) Which means that ST users actually buy more software for their machines than do users of other platforms. Make sense? Or have I confused you? GA TOMBYRON The ST owner tends to know why they bought their machine in the first place, so therefore will buy the software to match their needs. Charles Cherry once told me that Atari has sold about 2,000 STs a month worldwide for the past couple of years. These are hardly promising figures and can lead to a less than productive market. On the other hand, there's lots of fantastic software out there, so if you own an ST, you're pretty set. Did I even come close to answering your question, or are you as confused as I am? GA Gordie Well, I was aiming at how much ST users buy, as opposed to pirate, but I'll have to do some research with the SPA and Atari to come up with something that has any meaning. I think that on a percentage basis, piracy is less a problem on the ST, today, than it is on other format machines. (But it was worse in the past.) GA TOMBYRON The question of piracy is a difficult one to answer. We're still thinking of doing a story on the real effects of piracy upon the ST community. BTW, the SPA may not be much help. They classify the ST as "other computers." GA Gordie The dreaded Rodney Dangerfield syndrome. We get no respect. Clay Tom, since you seem to have a good grasp of the Amiga side of Antic's business, how would you compare the ST and Amiga markets? I've heard that the Amiga isn't in much better shape. ga TOMBYRON I wish I had specific numbers, but I believe what you surmise is correct. If you could see the letters Amiga Plus gets compared to the letters START gets, you'd swear they were talking about the same computer. Like the ST, the Amiga is great hardware that lacks great marketing. GA Clay Thanks. SCOTTJ Tom, are sure about Atari only selling 2000 ST a month? That's pathetic. I seem to remember Atari talking about having sold millions of STs but if those sales figures you gave are correct , there's no way Atari could have sold 4-5 million STs. GA TOMBYRON That sales figure was given to me by a reliable source, though Atari hasn't released any official numbers. However, they did confirm the following breakdown: 400,000 STs have been sold in Germany; 120,000 in the U.S., 70,000 in France and 40,000 in the U.K. With a worlwide total of 1.5 million. GA SCOTTJ I remember seeing somewhere a figure of 500,000 STs sold in just the U.S. GA TOMBYRON Hmmm. Maybe a call to Bill Crouch at Atari may clarify these numbers. 500,000 is a bit high. Believe me, START's circulation would be much, much higher and there would be many more ST magazines out there. GA Gordie Okay, I suppose I'll wind this up with my favorite question. If there was _one_ thing you could change about Atari, what would it be? TOMBYRON One thing? Only one thing? Okay, I'd make an aggressive push for dealerships, pure and simple, and I would bundle START in every ST sold. GA Gordie HAHAHA, but a valid point. Well, I want to thank everyone for being here tonight, especially you, Tom, and I'm looking forward to seeing the "new" START! Clay Thanks, Tom. Gordie This CO is officially over! TOMBYRON Glad I could be here, and we ought to do this more often. Gordie OKAY! _________________________________________________________ > TRUE GRIT STR FOCUS¿ "One of Atari's finest...." =================== TRUE GRIT - BEING FAIR ====================== by R. F. Mariano If one were to consider the number of 'critics' one amasses when in the public eye, then in comparison, anything I as editor of STReport, experienced was 'small potatoes' compared to the quantity of opinions both pro and con that literally flew through the Atari community when Bob Brodie decided to hold over the door prizes destined to go to the Pace Show for another 'more deserving' situation. Bob Brodie's decision, in this matter, was wholeheartedly approved by the majority of the users throughout the USA, and now that story is known by most users, the important points to be made should be brought out. Although STReport has been critical of Atari in many areas, where Bob Brodie is concerned he is, in our humble opinion, one of Atari's greatest redeeming assets in this troubled, but soon to recover marketplace. When the usergroups in the Phoenix, Arizona area received the goodies for their group meeting, Atari, through Brodie, strongly displayed their ongoing positive attitude toward usergroups. Atari's Brodie has brought new meaning to the words "Usergroup Support" and should be applauded for doing so. The usergroup, as STReport has stated many times in the past, is the backbone of enthusiasm and support coming straight from the users. In this area, Atari has proven they lead the competition in recognizing the value of their active, enthusiastic userbase by showing their recogni- tion in more than one solid, positive way. It can be said in no uncertain terms that Bob Brodie has indeed held the situation together through some of the leaner times this year and for this too, we say thank you for a job very well done. A well deserved note..... A Delayed, but from the heart, Thank-You! Do I feel embarrassed!! I feel lower than a flea on the belly of an ol' yeller' dog. After all of my complaining about Atari and their lack of support, when they did offer support for our local ST users, I neglected to thank them and their User Group Coordinator, Bob Brodie. Last May 12th, Bob interrupted his weekend with his family to fly over to Phoenix and talk to our Atari users groups (PHAST, SEVAC, NWPAC and some folks from the Tucson club). He brought with him a STacy, a STe (both of which hadn't been released yet), a Atari 44-meg removable hard drive, Portfolio and a Lynx to demo. Not only that, but Atari _donated_ to the club an Atari Megafile 60, several sets of TOS 1.4 (both 6-chip and 2- chip sets), some 8-bit hardware and software and some carts for the Lynx. In other words, something for everyone. All of this was donated for PHAST to raffle (thanks to the kind folks at the PACE show, these products were available for our club). Bob took the time to tell all of us about the new products coming out from Atari, showed us the Lynx TV commercials (something we hadn't seen yet in Phoenix) and in general, talked about Atari without sugar coating anything. What he had to say might not have pleased everyone (especially the 8-bit Atari owners), but no-one could say that he didn't 'tell it like it is'. After the meeting, Bob took the officers of PHAST to lunch and then visited our local dealer, Computer Works. Thanks to Bob's visit, instead of the 25-30 people that we normally have at a meeting, we had over 90 people. We had 8 people join or renew their membership (our average membership is only 45-50, so 8 new members in one meeting is extraordinary) and were able to replenish our diminishing checking account. I don't know if the meeting was successful for Atari, but it was for PHAST and the local Atari owners who came. The officers and members of PHAST want to thank Atari for their donations. We also want to thank Bob for taking the time out of his busy schedule and coming over to visit with us (Of course, he came in May when it was nice and cool. He didn't dare come in July when it was 122 in the shade...and there wasn't any shade ). And I personally want to apologize for this delayed 'thank you'. Bob, Thanks!!! Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr. member of PHAST (PHoenix Area ST users) __________________________________________________________ > ICD's AdSpeed! STR FOCUS¿ AdSpeed ..a 16 MHz 68000 cached accelerator! ======================== ICD ROLLS OUT ITS MUSCLE ACCELERATOR! ==================================== Last weeekend at the Duesseldorf Atari Fair, ICD introduced their exciting new AdSpeed ST accelerator to a crowd of over 50,000. The recep- tion was exceptional. The features are numerous: -------------------------- AdSpeed is a 16 MHz 68000 cached accelerator that switches between 16 MHz mode with a 32K cache (16K data & instruction cache with 16K cache tag RAM)... and a true 8 MHz mode with the cache off. This allows full compatibility with all software in the normal mode an 99+% PLUS compatibi- lity in the high speed mode. AdSpeed will not keep you from any of your software. The unbelievable part is that the speed can be changed "on the fly" with a simple desk accessory. As ICD demonstrated at Duesseldorf, you can be running an application like calamus with a document loaded and pull down the DA to chance speeds at any time! AdSpeed QINDEX times are as good or better than all other 16MHz 68000 based accelerators. AdSpeed ST is smaller than all the others and will fit in all ST models with no jumper wires needed. (The old CPU must be removed and a socket installed.) AdSpeed uses SMD technology with a multilayer PCB and highly integr- ated logic to keep the performance up and the size down. No shortcuts were taken. With this design compatibility is assured. But would you expect less from ICD? ICD fully intends this be to the most compatible and trouble free accelerator design available. ICD taken note of all the problems the others are having (there are others besides T-16). Blitter problems seem to be big with some. Since ICD only has about 5 blitter STs in our of- fices, and there seem to be some "experts" out there that have.. or had blitter problems with accelerators, do you mind sharing your troubled blitters with us? ICD needs blitters that would not work at 16 MHz with other accelerators but work fine in a stock ST computer. Assuming you have replaced the "bad" blitter with a new model, ICD will pay $20 for each blitter that ICD can use. Or $100 off the $299.95 retail price.. if you would like to purchase an AdSpeed ST directly from ICD. Please send your offers to: ICDINC in EMAIL and Please include the brand name of the chip: i.e. SGS-Thompson, Ricoh, National Semi, etc. AdSpeed ST has been tested with and is fully compatible with Spectrum 512 in the 8 Mhz mode! ICD has also successfully tested AdSpeed ST with Calamus, Omikron BASIC, and other software. No blitters have caused any problems but ICD is still searching for some of the elusive "bad" blitters to test. If you have one you would like to sell or trade, please leave ICD EMAIL. Big screen monitors will be tested shortly. Quick Index 2.1 was used to run the following benchmarks (the same times also result using Quick Index 1.5) The computer under test was a USA version Mega 2 with TOS 1.4 using floppy disk drive A: With the Blitter OFF and AdSpeed ST in 16 Mhz mode and no resident software loaded. CPU memory 164% CPU register 204% CPU divide 203% CPU shifts 207% DMA 64K read 100% GEMDOS files 100% Disk (RPM) 300 TOS text 161% TOS string 158% TOS scroll 114% GEM dialog 166% With the Blitter ON and AdSpeed ST in 16 Mhz mode and no resident software loaded. CPU memory 164% CPU register 204% CPU divide 203% CPU shifts 207% DMA 64K read 100% GEMDOS files 100% Disk (RPM) 300 TOS text 122% TOS string 123% TOS scroll 133% GEM dialog 163% With the Blitter OFF and AdSpeed ST in 16 Mhz mode and Turbo ST 1.82 loaded. CPU memory 164% CPU register 204% CPU divide 203% CPU shifts 207% DMA 64K read 100% GEMDOS files 100% Disk (RPM) 300 TOS text 521% TOS string 2001% TOS scroll 144% GEM dialog 461% With the Blitter ON and AdSpeed ST in 16 Mhz mode and Turbo ST 1.82 loaded. CPU memory 164% CPU register 204% CPU divide 203% CPU shifts 207% DMA 64K read 100% GEMDOS files 100% Disk (RPM) 300 TOS text 521% TOS string 2001% TOS scroll 137% GEM dialog 438% With the Blitter OFF and AdSpeed ST in 8 Mhz mode and no resident software loaded. CPU memory 100% CPU register 100% CPU divide 100% CPU shifts 100% DMA 64K read 100% GEMDOS files 100% Disk (RPM) 300 TOS text 100% TOS string 100% TOS scroll 100% GEM dialog 100% With the Blitter ON and AdSpeed ST in 8 Mhz mode and no resident software loaded. CPU memory 100% CPU register 100% CPU divide 100% CPU shifts 100% DMA 64K read 100% GEMDOS files 100% Disk (RPM) 300 TOS text 110% TOS string 106% TOS scroll 132% GEM dialog 133% Thanks to Darek Mihocka for Quick Index 2.1. .... to be shipping in September 1990. Editor Note: ICD, famous for their superb Host Adapter and Mass Storage Devices, has indeed gone the extra mile in bringing out a new and highly compatible hardware accellerator for the Atari ST marketplace. This new product release demonstrates, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the faith ICD has in the future of Atari's computer lines. Also, please note ICD has an Amiga acclerator 'ready to go' also. ICD is truly staying on the cutting edge of development and support in the Atari computer marketplace. This repor- ter would not be the least bit surprised to find ICD releasing a *_68030_* upgrade for the current run of Atari computers in the very near future. ________________________________________________ > DUSSELDORF! STR SHOW NEWS¿ Teasers from Dusseldorf...... ========================= TEASERS FROM DUSSELDORF ======================= ctsy of GEnie and Rolf Hilchner Back from the Atari show! Here are some highlights.... The TT is ready to go!!! Atari Germany has stated that there are 200 machines at their dealers! The TT comes with a 32Mhz 63030. The operating system is called "TOS 030" and is downwards compatible to the ST TOS. The TT is claimed NOT to be a computer for textprocessing.... it is alleged to be much to fast for that! The TT comes with a memory managing unit, a 256 Bit Cache, which is in- tegrated on the chip (MC 68030). For mathematical operations the TT can be put together with the MC 68881, MC 68882. The TT comes with either 2, 6 or 8 MB of main storage. The main storage can be upgraded with 4-Megabitchips up to 26 MB of RAM! The TT has one parallel, two serial intefaces, a MIDI Interface and the Atari ACSI DMA Channel (for Harddisks, Laserprinters and CD-ROM, etc.). The TT also has either two Highspeed SDLC Interfaces or one Highspeed SDLC Interface and one interface for a slower LAN, like AppleTalk. Also a SCSI Interface was integrated with a SUB-D-Connector (25 Pin). The Floppy-Controller: It can handle two 720KB 3 1/2 inch Floppies, one is already built in the TT. A very fast (lower than 20 milliseconds) 40 Meg harddrive also comes with the TT030. The Sound system now works with 8-Bit-PCM-Stereo (Pulse Code Modulation). And now, the screen resolution of the TT: It can handle up to 4096 colors, resolution is from 320x200 (16 color- s) via 320x480 (256 colors) up to 640x480 (16 colors at a time). Plus the super-high-resolution monochrome mode with 1280x960 pixels. And, last but not least, the "Duochrome" mode, 640x400 pixel, like the resolution of the monochrome Atari ST, programmable in two colors of your choice. Professionals may be interested in the internal VME-Bus (A24/D16, A16/D16) This port permits one to integrate the TT with other professional hardw- are. The second new product Atari debuted at Dusseldorf was the new SLM 605 laserprinter, 6 pages per minute and smaller than the SLM 804. Editor Note: The SLM 605, (Epson Laser Compatible), made for Atari by Mannesman Tally, is destined to become the "sweetheart of the industry" as its also made for Zenith and a number of other well known manufacturers. There was nothing very new at the software side, except that GFA showed GFA-BASIC running under MS-DOS and UNIX !!! If you are interested, here some basic show statistics: Over 200 exhibitors from 16 countries, inclusive Australia and the UdSSR were exhibiting at Dusseldorf on 20.000 square meteres. More than 50.000 visitors, Atari said had attended the show! Other products shown at Dusseldorf included the ATW (the Transputer) the complete, and the elaborate PC line, the ST line and the Stacy, the Portfolio, the CD-ROM and of course, the TT. Complete In Depth Coverage .....NEXT WEEK. _____________________________________________________________ > Stock Market ~ STReport¿ And The Band Marches On.... ======================= THE TICKERTAPE ============== by Michael Arthur On Monday, Atari stock went up 1/4 of a point. However, on Tuesday it fell by 1 point, and dropped 7/8 of a point on Wednesday. On Thursday, the price of Atari stock (by going down 1/8 of a point), reached a new 52-week low of $2 1/2 a share. On Friday, the price of Atari stock went up by 1/2 of a point, finishing up the week at $3 a share. Atari's stock price had gone down 1 1/4 points since August 17, 1990. Atari Stock lost 29 percent of its value this week, while the value of Commodore stock dropped by 19 percent. Also, Jack Tramiel's 36 million shares of Atari Stock, worth 153 million dollars on August 17th, were only worth 108 million on August 24th.... Apple Stock was down 1 point from Friday, August 17, 1990. Commodore Stock was down 1 1/8 points from 8/17/90. IBM Stock was down 1 point from 8/17/90. Stock Report for Week of 8/20/90 to 8/24/90 _________________________________________________________________________ STock| Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Reprt|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.|Last Chg.| -----|------------|-------------|------------|------------|--------------| Atari|4 1/2 +1/4|3 1/2 - 1|2 5/8 - 7/8|2 1/2 - 1/8| 3 + 1/2| | | 163,800 Sls |269,000 Sls | | 142,300 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+------------+------------+--------------| CBM | 6 ----|5 1/2 - 1/2|5 1/4 - 1/4|4 5/8 - 5/8|4 7/8 + 1/4| | | 176,900 Sls | |182,300 Sls | 136,000 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+------------+------------+--------------| Apple|36 3/4 +1/4|36 1/4 - 1/2|35 1/8 |34 1/2 - 5/8|35 1/2 + 1| 36 12| | | -1 1/8| | 655,500 Sls | -----|------------+-------------+------------+------------+--------------| IBM |102 1/4 |100 1/2 | 99 -1 1/2|96 7/8 |100 3/8 +3 1/2| 10138| +1 1/8| -1 7/8| | -2 1/8|2,039,600 Sls | -----'-------------------------------------------------------------------' 'Sls' refers to the # of stock shares that were traded that day. 'CBM' refers to Commodore Corporation. '----' means that the stock's price did not change for the day. (Note: As of Wednesday (August 29th), Atari stock was at 3 5/8, with Jack Tramiel's 36 million shares worth $130.5 million....) _______________________________________________________ > The Flip Side! STR Feature¿ A different viewpoint..... ========================== A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT ================================== by Michael Lee If you're looking for one of the cheapest places to buy your 1-meg SIMMS for your STe, MET has them for $50.00. Their phone number is 1-800-766- SIMM. (From N.Rechtman on GEnie) ---------------- The hard drive in the Stacy has an ID number of 0. If you connect another drive to the DMA port, it must not only have a different ID, if _must_ be ID #1. The Atari hard drive software assumes that all ID numbers are contiguous.....Anyway, make sure the drive you connect is ID #1. Of course this means that if you use Atari HD software on another system you must change the ID every time you swap the drive since the software will not recognize ID #1 on your other system if there's no ID #0 connected. (From John Eidsvoog, GEnie) ---------------- For you who haven't had a chance to see it yet, there's a new ST magazine on the market. It's called "ST Journal". It is published by Quill Publishing, owned by Steve Lesh and comes out bi-monthly. ST Journal is a slick-paper, professional type of magazine that has a lot of attention grabbing artwork, serious articles on programming, hardware, people involved in the ST market and new ST product announcements. Like most new magazines, it is still suffering through growing pains. The editing, typography, grammar and spelling throughout the magazine needs a lot of improvement. The ST is known throughout the computer world as one of the premier MIDI systems but the MIDI section currently is just a new product announcement area. According to Associate Editor, Gantry Gappmayer, "The MIDI section is just a news section simply because we have no writers for it and because it is so specialized that not many people care about it." But I'm sure that most of these problems will change and will be improved as the editors get more seasoning under their belts. Originally, it was supposed to come out monthly but due to a lack of advertising, it dropped back to 6 issues a year. If you were one of the original subscribers, you will still get the 12 issues that you paid for. According to John Nagy "All those who have already subscribed to ST JOURNAL for $29.95 will get 12 issues, regardless of how many months that might take." There have been 2 issues of ST Journal and the third issue is expected to be available on Sept. 15th. It's exciting that with all of the old, established ST magazines falling by the wayside, this company decided to gamble on the ST market. If you wish to subscribe to ST Journal magazine, call or write ST Journal 113 W. College St. Covina, CA 91723 (818)332-0372 A one year subscription costs $20.00 for 6 issues. If you live in Canada and some foreign country, add $12.00. The newstand price is $4.50 per issue. ---------------- Here's how one person uses his ST.... Atari ST and Megas are in use at Motown Records. I've used Atari for the Mitsubishi Bank Of California to execute projects that couldn't be done on their slew of IBM machines. I use an ST for DTP, screenwriting, newsletter publishing, music composition, recording, and production (from bright idea to packaged cassette at home, how's that for fun?) and a lot more. (From GEnie) ---------------- Remember the MegaTalk board that we discussed in this column two weeks ago? I know that most of you non-GCR owners wondered what good it would be for you. Here's some comments from Dave Small (from the Gadgets by Small Roundtable on GEnie) about that.... "Doug has software that does miracles with MegaTalk." "He can currently dial into three online systems at the same time using the Stalker desk accessory (a terminal program D/A). Or he can transfer files at really high speed between systems MegaTalking in ST mode. I forget the exact figures -- It was up in the megabit range, I believe." "MegaTalk is primarily aimed at the Mac emulation market, of course, but that doesn't mean those chips aren't just begging to be turned loose on the ST." -----///----- Until next week..... ____________________________________________________ > A Reply..STR FOCUS¿ J. Tarpinian says.... ================== Item 0805842 90/08/26 17:55 From: JOHN.KING.T To: ST.REPORT cc: BOB-BRODIE Sub: ST Report 8/24/90 Ralph, I confess to being rather confused. You recently made a commitment to support the Glendale show fully. Yet in your most recent issue of ST REPORT, you have a pair of items that can only be interpreted as "blasts" at the upcoming GLENDALE show. Worse, both items could have been either eliminated as "news" items entirely or at least presented in a quite different , more positive light had you done even the most rudimentary verification of the facts. You CERTAINLY haven't forgotten or lost my phone number, have you? First, this week's ST Report mentions that Lee Seiler of Lexicor is "miffed" at being unable to provide "two days of working seminars" at the Glendale show simply on a standby basis. What you do not say is that Lexicor has decided to offer seminars in leu of buying a booth and thereby supporting the user group show. While this situation and the "standby basis" may seem to suggest that Lexicor will not be permitted to have a seminar until they have purchased booth space, that is incorrect. Rather, what I told Lee was that while I would welcome his presentation on our speaker panel, I would have to wait to see if there were any openings. This is because Glendale has always given first priority to the firms that have chosen to purchase booth space with the show. Bob Brodie started that policy when he handled the show before he went to ATARI. It has always worked well for us, and insured that we all understood the way the show was handled. I am sure that you can see how some exhibitors would feel if they paid to have their products shown, and we let Lee give a seminar each day to show his stuff at no cost to him at all. Obviously, other developers would want to cancel their booth, and just give seminars as well. We have had several developers already re- quest this exact arrangement, and we have turned them down. Seminars have never been offered AS AN ALTERNATIVE to buying booth space and supporting a show. While it is true that I wish Lee would purchase a booth, it is not true that not purchasing one precludes him from giving a seminar. What is true is that after all the other developers that have purchased booth space have indicated whether or not they wish to give a seminar, then I will be able to determine what to do about Lee's request. I should have that information on September 1. Lee Seiler originally expressed the intent to have a booth for Lexi- cor, but has told me since that he was "talked out of having it". His recent agreements with RIO DATEL should offer some exposure for his produ- cts at the show. When John Nagy spoke with Lee about a seminar, Lee had not finalized his plans of how to display. John told him directly that he "could not offer him seminars in competition with or as an alternative to booth space", and Lee seemed to understand. Lee and John discussed at length the nature of what Lee intended to present in his proposed 40 minute seminar that might be presented twice (a far cry from the "two day working seminar" mentioned in ST Report). Lee expressed his desire to do a talk on "color perception and computer color presentation", a topic fairly unrelated to his product, specifically in order to avoid the con- flict John and he discussed at length. From the extended description of what Lee apparently told you that he planned to present, Lee must have changed his mind completely in the time between John Nagy's and my calls to him. Oddly enough, even when I told him that I would have to wait for a full roster of available seminars before giving him a firm answer, he was still talking in terms of a non- product specific presentation. I am frankly perplexed as to why he would develop such specific plans to pre- sent his product line so completely AFTER having been told both that there was doubt as to available time for him AND after hearing in detail what the particular problem was. A possible way out of the problem would be if Lee's talk were to be "sponsored", as it were, by RIO DATEL. This option would only be practi- cal once RIO DATEL confirms their spoken reservation with a check... which has not been received as yet. Secondly, you present as news a bit about how B&C and San Jose computers are miffed at "getting the COLD SHOULDER from certain atarifest representatives for having exhibited at the San Jose WOA show". While you do not name me or the Glendale show, 2 and 2 still makes 4, even on the West coast. How sad it is that you did not make any attempt to verify this story before you ran it. NO developer or dealer has been discriminated against for supporting WOA shows. John Nagy and I flew to San Jose particularly for the purpose of selling Glendale booths to vendors at the WOA. Mark, of San Jose Computers, did in fact contact me about coming to Glendale, and I had to tell him that the room we had reserved for Retailers was all spoken for. Mark asked that I let him know if the situation changed, which I agreed to do. The situation has NOT changed since. No one at B&C ever contacted me in any way for this show. I am AMAZED that anyone at either store would generate such an ugly and false story... but not as amazed as I am that you would repeat the story WITHOUT VERIFICATION, particularly when you purport to be in support of the user group shows that this sort of item defames. One of my show workers did exactly as you suggested in your issue and called B&C to aks about "the whole story". He was told that B&C "probably" wouldn't be coming because the local dealers didn't want dealers from outside their area at the show. While that's not the whole story, it is radically dif- ferent than the reasons you stated in your issue. You really need to correct this. Additionally, it has been a tradition of the Southern California ATARI Computer Faire (aka the Glendale Show), which is sponsored by LOCAL com- puter clubs, to support LOCAL dealers. As I say in my original promotion letter to LOCAL dealers, "We will limit this show to, no more than, four Southern California Authorized ATARI Computer Dealers... We understand the policy of supporting our local dealers so that they can support us." Fortunately we were able to get good LOCAL dealer support for our show, selling out of our planned retailer space. Personally, I feel that it benefits everyone to have LOCAL users buy their products from the same dealers that will later be available to give them service and continuing support, avoiding the "mail order syndrome" where the seller can offer a great price, but the LOCAL dealer who lost the sale on price must then support the user. Editor Note: ============ As requested by Mr. Tarpinian, we present his letter of concern. As editor of STReport, I agree... Mr Tarpinian should be concerned. He should be concerned with the veiled illusion that STReport did not or does not verify. We DID verify and found that the folks in question were and ARE still quite upset. Lexicor and the Dealers mentioned wanted very much to support the show and they ALL verified the information presented. In fact, the Lexicor information was supplied, in total, by them. Mr. Tarpinian's letter seems to assume that this article was "not verified with him"...(Tarpinian) prior to its being released. STReport chose to verify the story with those dealers and developers directly involved. Mr. Bruce Carso of B&C Computervisions felt that the cost of participating would be prohibitive and that he would be "balked" in any case. Mr. Carso emphasized however, his desire that the show be successf- ul. But at the same time pointed out that "Atari is loosing out because of some people's tactics." Mr. Mark Dalldorf of San Jose Computer and his manager Paul, confirmed the report. Additionally, it should be pointed out that there were other dealers who also felt they would be "balked". In all fairness to the dealers mentioned they, one and all, emphasized the fact that they support Atari with energetic enthusiasm and hoped for a highly successful Glendale show. STReport wants to see the Glendale show be a terrific success, of this there can be no doubt, but at the same time any misunderstandings in the Atari community on the west coast should be cleared up by the show's principals as soon as possible. _________________________________________________________ > SEURAT POWER! STR Spotlight¿ "A MAJOR UPGRADE OF...." =========================== S E U R A T V E R S I O N 2 . 0 A MAJOR UPGRADE OF THE POPULAR ATARI ST PAINT PROGRAM! NEW FEATURES? I'LL SAY! COMPRESSED PICTURE FILES! SEURAT now reads and writes DegasElite Compressed format pictures (PC? files) in addition to the original uncompressed format (PI? files). But, there's even better news: SEURAT WORKS ON .IMG FILES, too! Read on... ANTI-ALIAS and COLOR-EDIT! A powerful Anti-Aliasing tool that works only on the range of colors you specify without blurring your picture, and a unique Color Palette Editor that can create and modify entire palettes with a few mouse stro- kes, using video-like commands for Tint, Saturation and Brightness! Frank- ly, I think it's more advanced than other programs' routines! FULL GDOS (AND DEGAS) FONT CAPABILITY! SEURAT now loads GDOS fonts of any size (without any need to have the GDOS program resident!) and DEGAS fonts, too. Version 2.0 gives you more control of text, too: Text Color, Text Style, Write Mode, Text Scaling (both enlargement and reduction), and for the first time, GEM Text Rotation (0,90,180,270 degrees). SMOOTH CURVE DRAWING WITH SPLINES! Automatic splined curves can be drawn by mousing in a few (or a lot) of control points; SEURAT will construct a smooth curve that passes thr- ough all the marked points. You can produce splined filled figures as well as line curves. Why not let your ST draw for you?! IFF FORMAT BLOCKS! Screen blocks, up to and including a full screen, can now be read and written in the DegasElite BL? file format (which is identical with the Amiga's IFF format, so images can be interchanged) as well as in the original SEURAT BK? file format. Big deal, block-files, you say? WELL, THAT'S NOT ALL... ===> IMG FILES IN A PAINT PROGRAM? YOU'RE KIDDING! <=== SEURAT Version 2.0 also reads and writes GEM's .IMG format side by side with Degas screen format pictures (when run on a monochrome system). There's no limit to the .IMG size, either! In fact, SEURAT gives you a bigger full-screen workarea on an over-sized .IMG file that ANY OTHER program. (You can rapidly shift the screen window everywhere over an big IMG file with a simple mouse drag; no fiddling with window gadgets!) NO OTHER program for .IMG files gives you the range and variety of painting and drawing tools, block manipulations, fills, and brushes that SEURAT does (even though they might cost five or six times as much)! Now, you can use the full resources of SEURAT to create images for your desktop publishing, using familiar tools and working in a familiar paint-program environment! Enjoy the best of both worlds! THE NEW SEURAT is BIGGER (and SMALLER) and FASTER and BETTER, TOO! SEURAT Version 2.0 comes as two functionally equivalent programs: 1) SEURATV2.PRG for color monitor systems (low AND medium resolution) 2) MONSURAT.PRG for monochrome monitor systems (high resolution) And you get BOTH of them for one very reasonable price! I call SEURAT Version 2.0 the best performance-to-price-ratio pro- duct in the ST marketplace because you get (between the two monitor varia- tions) 535,000 bytes of program (representing 24,000 lines of code, whew!) so compactly compiled that SEURAT V2.0 gives you eight Paint Screens when run on a 1-MEG ST, even with accessories loaded. More than 60% of the Version 2.0 code is new; there have been about 200 detail improvements in existing routines for smoother operation, such as a rock-steady flickerless mouse drawing on the Zoomscreen. All the Block manipulation functions have been expanded to handle bigger blocks, faster! Too many (over 60) new commands and functions to list here! All program operations are much, much faster. Since there wasn't much I could do to improve the zoomscreen besides making the mouse really flickerless, I had to settle for making it FIVE times faster! Some of the operations are TEN to TWELVE times faster! LATE-BREAKING FLASH! OK, OK! YOU WANT MacPAINT FILES? YOU GOT'EM! The MONSURAT.PRG also reads and writes .MAC images! TRY IT; YOU'LL LIKE IT! If you liked the original SEURAT, you'll LOVE the new SEURAT! If you haven't tried SEURAT yet, you'll find an easy-to-use interface with a host of powerful features. As for price, I believe the new SEURAT Version 2.0 to be the best performance-to-price-ratio product in the ST marketplace! GEE! HOW CAN I GET THE NEW SEURAT? The ONLY way is to send $25.00 to: SKWare One, Inc. P. O. Box 277 Bunker Hill, Illinois 62014 (Please don't sent cash; a money order is the fastest way to receive SEURAT. I have to wait for checks to clear and am not equiped to deal with plastic money.) You get both the SEURATV2.PRG (for color monitors) and the MONSURAT- .PRG (for monochrome monitors), complete new documentation on disk (30,000 words), a handy Command Key to print out for a desk reference, a set of tutorials for step-by-step learning, from starting up to advanced techni- ques, folders of color fills, mono-fills, brushes, an assortment of GDOS and DEGAS fonts and more, plus an assortment of new SEURAT pictures, blocks and images, a two-disk set. Requires a one-meg ST with double-sided drive. Runs under Rainbow TOS (version 1.4) and the old TOS, too. ORDER YOURS TODAY! (As they say on the wine cooler commercials,"Thank you for your support.") Sterling K. Webb and..... *********************** WATCH for THE IMAGE SYSTEM! ********************* Coming soon from SKWare One, a totally new painting, drawing, image processing, pixel-bashing set of programs: The IMAGE SYSTEM! The IMAGE SYSTEM is not one program, but a COMPLETE SYSTEM of image programs. The IMAGE SYSTEM contains not one but TWO painting programs: the next revision of SEURAT (with STe support) AND a totally new kind of ST paint program, the COLORIMG.PRG. COLORIMG will work with mono-plane (bitmap) .IMG files on either a monochrome OR color system AND with multi-plane COLOR .IMG files on a color monitor. It will produce (on an ST or STe) images in the four-plane, sixteen-color 640x480 low-rez format used by the 68030 ATARI TT, but it will allow those images to be created and viewed on the ST (or STe) that you have now! (No vaporware, this; watch the boards for a viewer demo program soon!) The IMAGE SYSTEM will include the PRINT_IT.PRG, an out-print driver that produces the best nine-pin printing you've ever seen, besides support for higher-resolution devices, and color printer output for Spectrum 512 pictures. There are also a host of utilities for converting color Degas pic- tures to color .IMG files, even for patching multiple color Degas pictures into huge color .IMG files, and so forth. New tools for a new kind of image. When the Atari TT comes along with the capacity for higher resolution color, you could already have the images to match its abilities... (and have them NOW on an ST!) And... IF you buy SEURAT Version 2.0, you'll receive FULL CREDIT for the purchase price of this program toward the (as always) very reasonable price of The IMAGE SYSTEM! (Is this a great country, or what?) The IMAGE SYSTEM: Watch for it! S K W a r e O n e P. O. Box 277 Bunker Hill, Illinois 62014 *********************************************************************** NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME to the Readers of; STREPORT ONLINE MAGAZINE """""""""""""""""""""""" "The Original 16/32bit Online Magazine" NEW USERS; SIGN UP TODAY! Call any of the STReport Official BBS numbers (Listed Above) or Leave E-mail to STReport - R.Mariano Be sure to include your full mailing address so your Compuserve kit can be immediately mailed to you! NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE NOTICE *********************************************************************** > STReport CONFIDENTIAL¿ "BLOCKBUSTER ATARI NEWS FIRST!" ===================== - New York City, NY CALAMUS 'CENTERPIECE OF DTP' AT DUSSELDORF ----------------- Clearly, one third of the fable Dussledorf show was centered around Ditek and Calamus. Among the myriad of fantastic goodies about to journey across the great lake are, 300x600 dpi system of drivers and upgrade for the SLM 804, highly sophisticated additions to the Calamus line that will raise the DTP Atari to great levels. Keep a close eye on ISD for the new goodies. - Rockville, MD GENIE OFFERS FLAT RATE OF $4.95! ------------- The GEnie service, one of the leading online information services, has announced the introduction, effective Oct. 1, 1990, of a flat subscription rate of just $4.95 (U.S.) per month including unlimited, non-prime time access to more than 100 products and services. This new monthly rate will make it possible for GEnie service sub- scribers and members of their families to access a wide variety of popular products and services on the GEnie service without the concern of running up costly fees each month as a result of hourly access rates. In making the announcement, Bill Louden, general manager of the GEnie service, said, "Our market research told us that the number one thing our subscribers wanted in an online information service was a flat monthly rate for acces- sing a wide variety of products and services. As a result, we will be launching, effective Oct. 1, 1990, our GEnie Star-Services with a sub- scription rate of only $4.95 per month," said Louden. "Our new pricing structure on GEnie is similar to the concept of Cable TV where viewers pay a monthly rate for unlimited access to basic ser- vices, and an additional cost for value added services," he explained. "With this new flat monthly rate for non-prime time access to over 100 of the GEnie service features, the online costs of many GEnie service sub- scribers could be reduced," added Louden. The rate for U.S. access to those GEnie service products/services not covered under the flat monthly rate has been set at just $6 per hour during non-prime time for all three access speeds (300, 1200 and 2400 baud). This is a $4 per hour reduction in the current 2400 baud non-prime time rate. The prime time rate remains at $18 per hour for all three access speeds. Since more than 60 percent of the 209,000 subscribers on the GEnie service have 2400 baud modems, this lower non-prime time rate of only $6/hour for 2400 baud access also will result in faster, more cost-e- ffective software downloads on the GEnie service, which has more than 85,000 files available for downloading. To access the GEnie Star-Services in Canada, the monthly subscription rate is $5.95 (Canadian), with a non-prime time rate of $8 (Canadian) per hour for all three access speeds. Prime time rate is $25.00 (Canadian) per hour for all three access speeds. The $29.95 sign-up fee for the GEnie service also has been eliminated for all new subscribers effective immediately. As a result, there is no real cost to subscribe to the GEnie service, except for the first month subscription rate of $4.95. After trying the GEnie Star-Services for the first month, if a sub- scriber does not like it, he/she can cancel his/her membership and the GEnie service will refund the $4.95 subscription fee to them. (This offer applies only to first time new subscribers to the GEnie service, once per household.) "We feel this new monthly rate for non-prime access to GEnie will be eagerly accepted by many of our subscribers as they will no longer have to watch the clock when they are using the GEnie Star-Services," said Louden. "The GEnie service will now provide its U.S. and Canadian subscribers with the most extensive and cost-effective package of online services available today for a flat monthly rate,'' remarked Louden. "GEnie's original motto of 'Stay Online Longer for Less' is even more appropriate now with the introduction of this flat monthly rate," he remarked. First operational in 1985, the GEnie service is one of the fastest growing online information services with more than 209,000 individual subscribers. Available throughout the U.S. and Canada, the GEnie service also can be accessed in Japan, West Germany, Austria and Switzerland. - Sunnyvale, CA. NEW GOODIES FOR LYNX ANNOUNCED! -------------- ATARI ANNOUNCED THE FOLLOWING NEW PRODUCTS TODAY: Lynx Sun Visor: A combination screen protector and sun visor which attaches to the Lynx using those 4 mysterious holes around the screen. Part #: PAG3400 Price: $4.95 Lynx Carrying Case (Large): Briefcase-style carrying case for the Lynx which has one large compartment to hold the Lynx and three smaller ones to hold the accessories you purchase. The cartridges are held in twelve slots built into the inside of the case's cover. Part #: PAG3350 Price: $19.95 Lynx Carrying Case (Small): Called the "Pouch", this carrying case is similar in design to carrying cases for the Gameboy, with a large com- partment to hold the Lynx, and two smaller pouches on the side to hold the cartridges. Down the side of the pouch is a area designed to hold the Comlynx cable. Part #: PAG3375 Price: $14.95 These should be appearing in your local dealer's showcase soon, or if you can't wait, can be purchased directly from Atari by sending a check or money order for the total order + tax (see state tax chart below) + $3.50 shipping & handling (for orders under $50, for orders above $50, call 408-745-2367 for more information). Orders from the following states must add the appropriate sales tax: Illinois: add 5% California: add 7.25% New Jersey: add 6% Massachusetts: add 5% Send your order to the following address: Atari Corporation P.O. Box 61657 Sunnyvale, CA 94089 Attn: Customer Relations All sales are final, for more information, call (408) 745-2367. - New York City, N.Y. LATEST SPECIFICATIONS REVEALED ------------------- TT Specifications: ----------------- Processor 68030 32 MHz Optional math co-processor RAM 2 MB (expandable to 8) ROM 512K Floppy 1.44MB 3.5 in. BUS VME ACSI internal bus SCSI internal bus with external connector Ports 2 asynchronous RS 232 2 synchronous RS 232C Parallel MIDI Stereo audio outputs Sound Digital 8 bit stereo sound Video ST and TT modes Features Battery backed clock 145 watt power supply latest TOS Optional Unix V 3.1 Stacy Specifications: -------------------- Prococessor 68C000 8 MHz Memory 1MB RAM ROM 256K 128K External Cartridge 32K Static RAM for LCD Display Storage Internal 3 1/2 in. 720K micro floppy Port for external floppy DMA Port for optional internal Hard Drive Display 640 x 400 resolution supertwist LCD backlit monohrome display, split horizontally at line 200 User Interface 94 keys, qwerty, separate cursor key cluster, separate numeric keypad, 10 function keys, trackball and two mouse buttons built in. Input/Output Ports Printer (8bit parallel) RS 232C, 50-19,200 baud MIDI In, Out/Through 31.25 baud optically isolated receiver Game controller ports DC power input jack Operating System TOS in ROM GEM Environment, icons, windows GEM virual device interface Software TOS, GEM Power 8 x C cells, Nickel/cadmium rechargeable 5-10 hours, Alkaline 18-35 hours Physical Demensions 13.3H x 15W x 13.3D 15.2 lbs, including batteries Portfolio Specifications: ------------------------ Processor 80C88, 4.9152 MHz RAM 128K including internal RAM configured disk (from 8K size) ROM 256K containing BIOS, operating system and applications Screen Graphics LCD supertwist technology, Software controlled contrast MDA text compatible 40 columns, 8 lines Graphics 240 x 64 pixels Keyboard 63 keys, PC compatible, buried numeric keypad and function keys Sound Speaker with DTMF dialing capability Mass Storage memory Card 32-128K Power 3 penlite (4-6 weeks use) Optional 117V adaptor Expansion Port 60 pin Pocket PC expansion BUS Memory Expansion RAM epansion to 640K Accessories RAM Expansion modules PC Card Driver Serial Port Parallel Port Applications In ROM ____________________________________________________________ > Hard Disks STR InfoFile¿ Affordable Mass Storage.... ======================= NEW LOW PRICES! & MORE MODELS!! =============================== ABCO COMPUTER ELECTRONICS INC. P.O. Box 6672 Jacksonville, Florida 32236-6672 Est. 1985 _________________________________________ Voice: 904-783-3319 10 AM - 4 PM EDT BBS: 904-786-4176 12-24-96 HST FAX: 904-783-3319 12 PM - 6 AM EDT _________________________________________ HARD DISK SYSTEMS TO FIT EVERY BUDGET _____________________________________ All systems are complete and ready to use, included at NO EXTRA COST are clock/calendar and cooling blower(s). -ALL ABCO HARD DISK SYSTEMS ARE FULLY EXPANDABLE- (you are NOT limited to two drives ONLY!) (all cables and connectors installed) * ICD HOST ADAPTERS USED EXCLUSIVELY * OMTI HIGH SPEED CONTROLLERS * * ICD ADVANTAGE+ HOST ADAPTERS * FULL SCSI COMMAND SET SUPPORTED * * SCSI EMBEDDED CONTROLLER MECHANISMS * Conventional Shoe Box Model Description Autopark Price =================================================== SGN4951 51Mb 28ms 3.5" Y 519.00 SGN6177 62Mb 24ms 3.5" Y 619.00 SGN1096 85Mb 24ms 3.5" Y 649.00 SGN6277 120Mb 24ms 3.5" Y 889.00 SGN1296 168Mb 24ms 3.5" Y 1069.00 SGN4077 230Mb 24ms 3.5" Y 1669.00 ================================================== WE HAVE A COMPLETE LINE OF 3.5 LOW PROFILE HARD DRIVES for USE IN MEGA ST COMPUTERS AND RELATED CONFIGURATIONS. 20mb #AI020SC 379.95 30mb #AIO3OSC 419.95 50mb #AI050SC 449.95 65mb #AI065SC 499.95 85mb #AI085SC $559.95 MEGA ST Internal Hard Drives CONNOR HIGH PERFORMANCE MECHANISMS >>> ALL ABCO DRIVES ARE HIGH SPEED UNITS <<< (500 - 600k per sec @ 23 -33ms) CALL FOR SUPER SAVINGS ON ALL OUR OTHER CUSTOM UNITS FROM 30mb 28MS @ $419.00! Ask about our "REBATE SPECIALS" --==*==-- SHIPPING AND INSURANCE INCLUDED ============================================ * SYQUEST 44MB (#555)>> ABCO "44" << REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE * - SYQUEST 44 MB DRIVE - ICD ST ADVANTAGE PLUS H/A - ICD Utility Software - 3' DMA Cable - Fan & Clock - Multi-Unit Power Supply (1) 44 MB Syquest Cart. COMPLETELY ASSEMBLED AND READY TO RUN! --->> SPECIAL NOW ONLY __$719.00__ <<--- *** SPECIAL SYQUEST OFFER!! *** ORDER YOUR CUSTOM SYQUEST UNIT NOW AND GET A SECOND COMPLETE UNIT! ***** for $50.00 LESS! ***** * TWIN SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVES ... PROGRAMMER'S DELIGHT * SPECIALLY PRICED ** $1339.00 ** * SYQUEST 44MB REMOVABLE MEDIA DRIVE AND HARD DRIVE COMBINATIONS * - Syquest 44 Model [555] and the following hard drives - 50mb SQG51 $1079.00 30mb SQG38 $1039.00 65mb SQG09 $1119.00 85mb SQG96 $1129.00 LOWBOY - STANDARD - DUAL BLOWER CABINETS CUSTOM CONFIGURATIONS AVAILABLE Listed above are a sampling of the systems available. Prices also reflect various cabinet/power supply configurations (over sixty configurations are available, flexibility is unlimited) *** ALL Units: Average Access Time: 24ms - 34ms *** ALL UNITS COMPATIBLE WITH --> SUPERCHARGER - PC-DITTO/II - SPECTRE/GCR LARGER units are available - (special order only) NO REPACKS OR REFURBS USED! - Custom Walnut WOODEN Cabinets - TOWER - AT - XT Cabinets - Keyboard Custom Cables Call for Info ALL POWER SUPPLIES UL APPROVED -* 12 month FULL Guarantee *- (A FULL YEAR of COVERAGE) QUANTITY & USERGROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE! _________________________________________ DEALERS and DISTRIBUTORS WANTED! please, call for details Personal and Company Checks are accepted. ORDER YOUR NEW UNIT TODAY! CALL: 1-800-562-4037 -=**=- CALL: 1-904-783-3319 Customer Orders ONLY Customer Service 9am - 8pm EDT Tues thru Sat ********************************************************************** :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT: _________________________________ To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369. Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that). Wait for the U#= prompt. Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN. **** SIGN UP FEE WAIVED **** The system will now prompt you for your information. ********************************************************************** > A "Quotable Quote"¿ ================= "THOU SHALT NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS AGAINST THY NEIGHBOR" ...from HIM -------------------------------------------------------------------------- STReport¿ "Your Independent News Source" August 31, 1990 16/32bit Magazine copyright ½ 1990 No.6.35 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of the editors, staff, STReport¿ CPU/STR¿ or ST Report¿. Permission to reprint articles is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted. Each reprint must include the name of the publication, date, issue # and the author's name. The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in any way without prior written permission. The contents, at the time of publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate. The editors, con- tributors and/or staff are not responsible for either the use/misuse of information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom. --------------------------------------------------------------------------