ST Report: 13-Jan-95 #1102
From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 01/19/95-08:49:32 AM Z
From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 13-Jan-95 #1102
Date: Thu Jan 19 08:49:32 1995
SILICON TIMES REPORT
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INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
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January 13, 1995 No. 1102
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> 01/13/95 STR 1102 "The Original * Independent * OnLine Magazine!"
"""""""""""""""""
- STR INDUSTRY REPORT - PICTURE PUB 5.0a - SB EDUTAINMENT
- CD Wares Sales Soar! - Designer 4.1a - IBM #1 US Patents
- USR OPENS R&D LAB - HP FREE FIX KIT! - More PCTools FAQ
- ADOBE STREAMLINE 3.1 - People Talking - Jaguar NewsWire
-* IBM SHIPS PENTIUMS AGAIN! *-
-* AMD & INTEL SETTLE! *-
-* CDROM Drive Sales Up 137% *-
==========================================================================
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> From the Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""
Last week, we brought the coverage of the Unisys/GIF/CIS matter to
your attention. Since that time, we've found that many well intentioned
folks in the computing community have been offering "opinions" relative to
the facts surrounding this matter. In the interests of solid information
without the "dash and flash" some would love to have attached to the
Unisys Patent matter, we are carrying the most recent clarification and
FAQ from Unisys. Please review these documents and then carefully listen
to all the "armchair' counselors with extreme caution. If you are in the
touchy position of having to make a decision relative to your business,
software and Unisys, ..please consult an attorney. Then make an informed
well thought out decision. Remember, the decision you make may very well
affect the entire userbase.
The Winter CES show took place recently and as expected the Game
Machine offerings were the "center stage" attraction. There were over
thirty press releases from Sega alone. Along with many from the other
participants. They (Sega) have intro'ed a number of new products for the
home entertainment scene including an extensive CD-ROM support library.
We shall have in depth coverage of many of the exciting CES show
participant's offerings in next week's issue.
Micrografx Corp. Has released updates for its two excellent
programs; Picture Publisher 5.0 to 5.0a and Designer 4.0 to 4.1a the patch
files may be downloaded from their support area. This week's issue is
busy so I'll make this short and sweet. Its Friday the thirteenth, (had
to slip that in there) ...almost mid-January. The first quarter updates
and releases are already beginning to flow. Look for at least a half
dozen major updates in the next ten to fifteen days. Word Perfect 6.1 for
Windows is marvelous. In fact, its quite a bit more powerful and feature
rich than many of the higher priced DTP packages we were familiar with in
a previous computer lifetime. If you are in the market for a superb
Document Processing Ensemble, don't hesitate. Word Perfect 6.1 for
Windows is everything you'd expect from Word Perfect and Novell and then
some. STReport highly recommends this fine product.
Ralph....
Of Special Note:
----------------
STReport will be branching out further to Internet's userbase in the
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of Internet ftp sites in which to post our issues for as well. Whatever
we can do to make STReport available to you. we'll try it!
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STReport's Staff DEDICATED TO SERVING YOU!
""""""""""""""""
Publisher -Editor
""""""""""""""""""
Ralph F. Mariano
Lloyd E. Pulley, Editor, Current Affairs
Section Editors
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PC SECTION AMIGA SECTION MAC SECTION ATARI SECTION
---------- ------------- ----------- -------------
R.D. Stevens R. Niles J. Deegan D. P. Jacobson
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Melanie Bell Jay Levy Jeff Kovach
Marty Mankins Carl Prehn Paul Charchian
Contributing Correspondents:
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Eric Jerue Ron Deal Mike Barnwell
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develop the high standards of straight forwardness our readers have come
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The Staff & Editors
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> STR INDUSTRY REPORT LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
"""""""""""""""""""
IBM/POWER-PC/PC SECTION (I)
===========================
Computer Products Update - CPU Report
------------------------ ----------
Weekly Happenings in the Computer World
Issue #02
Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.
******* General Computer News *******
>> AMD, Intel Settle Legal Fight <<
After seven years in court, chip-making rivals Intel Corp. and Advan-
ced Micro Devices Inc. have ended their court fights. The two have been
going at each other since the late 1980s over AMD's rights to clone
Intel's '386 and '486 lines of microprocessors.
In the settlement:
-:- The two firms agree to drop all pending litigation against each
other.
-:- AMD agrees to pay Intel $58 million, but is given a perpetual
license to the microcode of Intel's '386 and '486 chips.
That means AMD can continue to produce and sell its clones of 386 and
486 chips, which have already generated hundreds of millions of profits
for AMD," the Journal notes. "Although 386 chips are considered outmoded
these days, 486 clones continue to be big sellers and are likely to
generate significant profits for AMD for years to come."
In addition, AMD gets rights to an Intel patent covering memory
management and can negotiate a new patent cross-license agreement to
replace one that expires at the end of 1995.
>> CD-ROM Drive Sales Up 137 Percent <<
According to preliminary 1994 CD-ROM sales data the worldwide instal-
led base of CD-ROM drives grew to 26.9 million units, up 137% from 1993.
The U.S. accounted for the largest overall increase, followed by the
U.K., Germany and Japan. Schwerin notes that the increase was driven by
the widespread bundling of CD-ROM drives with new desktop PC systems.
Building on the strong momentum established during the Christmas 1993
selling season, worldwide software unit sales were up 161 percent in
1994, led by the consumer market.
Because of the industry's relative shift toward lower-priced consumer
products, worldwide title revenue was up 65% in 1994, less than half the
increase of worldwide units.
>> IBM Advertises Pentium Computers <<
IBM Corp.'s personal computer division this week published advertise-
ments for its computers based on Intel Corp.'s Pentium chip, one month
after the computer giant declared it wouldn't ship machines with the
flawed chip.
IBM halted shipments on Dec. 11 of computers containing the Pentium
chip, citing the flaw in the microprocessor that caused errors in some
complex division problems. The move caused many to think the Pentium
flaw was more serious than it really was, especially when IBM revealed
its own test results proved the Pentium produced incorrect answers more
frequently than Intel had said. It also caused some to think IBM was
using Intel's problems to promote it's own rival chip still under
development.
>> Australia Second to U.S. in PCs <<
Australia appears to rank second only to the United States in per-
centage of home computer usage. New figures from Down Under indicate
nearly one in four Australian households uses computers on a regular
basis.
Reports say that analyst Graham Penn of the International Data Corp.
as saying the report by the Australian Bureau of Statistics illustrates
Australians were catching up.
Said Penn, "There are currently 21.1 computers for every 100 people
in Australia. That figure is only second to the U.S., which has 26 com-
puters per 100." He predicted that by the year 2000, some 60% of
Australian households would have a PC.
The Bureau of Statistics report shows that between February 1993 and
February 1994, a total of 23.9% of households frequently used a PC. Of
these, 73% were using word-processing software.
>> IBM Again No. 1 in U.S. Patents <<
IBM Corp. was issued more U.S. patents in 1994 than any company has
ever received in any year. This is the second year in a row that IBM has
ranked first in the number of patents awarded by the U.S. Patent &
Trademark Office.
According to IFI/Plenum Data Corp., IBM received 1,298 U.S. patents
in 1994 -- 199 patents (18 percent) more than second-place Canon KK.
>> MasterCard Courting the Internet <<
A deal aimed at letting Internet users safely charge online purchases
to their credit cards has been struck by MasterCard International Inc.
and Internet software publisher Netscape Communications Corp.
A Mastercard official said a new system will allow cardholders to
purchase goods over the Internet without having to worry about their
credit card numbers being filched by network vandals.
Reports say the new MasterCard system will use Netscape techniques to
scramble account numbers and other data and forward the information to
MasterCard computers to reduce the threat of vandals taking control of
customers' credit-card accounts and running up charges.
MasterCard, using Netscape's secured software, will connect its own
computers to the Internet, which will carry encoded authorization
requests to MasterCard's private network and ultimately to the banks
connected to it.
Marc Andreessen, Netscape's vice president of technology, said
"People will be able to become merchants on the Internet with nothing
more than software," adding many merchants currently must use leased
phone lines and dedicated terminals to get credit-card charges processed
and approved. The Netscape system will let them get approval directly on
the Internet, he said.
>> Microsoft to Offer Pentium Fix <<
A software solution for Windows users that effectively disables the
faulty floating-point hardware in Intel Corp.'s Pentium microprocessors
has been announced by Microsoft Corp.
Reports from Microsoft say the software will be offered for free to
users and will provide them with an alternative to replacing the flawed
Pentium processors.
Microsoft officials said the software still is being tested, but
should be available in the second half of the year.
The new software will offer customers three choices to address the
Pentium division problems:
-:- Skip the new Microsoft emulation software if they won't be affected.
-:- Use the software only if a division flaw is present.
-:- Use the new software all the time.
Microsoft said the software will be provided to computer manufactur-
ers to pre-install on Pentium-based systems and will work with Windows
3.1, Windows 3.11 and Windows for Workgroups 3.11, and it is being
tested for compatibility with Windows 95.
>> Online Security System Unveiled <<
AT&T Bell Laboratories announced says it has developed a comprehen-
sive security system for all types of commercial information services.
The AT&T Information Vending Encryption System (IVES) is designed to
protect such services as video-on-demand, home shopping and banking,
software distribution, electronic publishing, electronic news and
alerting services.
AT&T says the system works on all types of communications networks,
including the Internet, other data networks, cable television networks
and direct satellite broadcasting.
IVES uses chips jointly designed by AT&T Bell Laboratories and VLSI
Technologies Inc., the world's largest producer of chip sets for
personal computers.
The first application of IVES will be in set-top cable television
boxes being built by AT&T as part of an end-to-end digital video
solution for Cablevision Systems Corp.
AT&T notes that the IVES system uses highly secure cryptographic
addressing based on security technology licensed from RSA Data Security.
Customers and network nodes have unique public cryptographic addresses
ensuring that information can be accessed only by those for whom it was
intended. The system provides encryption of information for both
communications and storage.
AT&T says IVES provides automated key management, requires minimal
bandwidth and has a straightforward security applications interface.
>> U.S. Robotics Opens R&D Site <<
Modem maker U.S. Robotics Inc. has announced the opening of a new
Massachusetts-based research and development facility.
The company says the facility, located in Marlborough, Massachusetts,
will focus on the development of corporate/systems communications
products, including new local area network (LAN) and wide area network
(WAN) products and technologies.
>> CD Software Sales Soar <<
The Software Publishers Association reports that CD software sales
soared in 1994's third quarter.
For the quarter, total sales of reporting companies were $150.6
million, a 229% increase over the $45.7 reported for the same period in
1993. For the first three quarters of 1994, total sales were $387.2
million, a 282% increase from $101.2 in the first three quarters of
1993. Unit sales in 1994's third quarter were 5.88 million, a 253%
increase, while unit sales for the first three quarters were 15.6
million, up 292%.
>> Chip Market Surged in 1994 <<
The 1994 semiconductor market shattered the $100 billion mark in 1994
and reached an unprecedented $109.7 billion in revenue for the year,
according to Dataquest's preliminary 1994 worldwide semiconductor market
share results.
The market researcher notes that the market showed no signs of slow-
ing as revenue grew by 28%, outpacing the 1993 market growth rate of 26%.
Each of the four semiconductor supplying regions of the world in-
creased semiconductor revenue by more than 20% in 1994. otal revenue for
Asia/Pacific companies grew by 63% and surpassed European suppliers for
the first time.
Intel Corp. became the first semiconductor company to break the $10
billion barrier in a calendar year. The microprocessor giant led the
worldwide semiconductor market in revenue for the third consecutive
year.
>> White House Tackles Telecom Laws <<
The Clinton administration began educating the American public this
week on why reform of 60-year-old telecommunications laws is needed.
Reports from Washington, D.C. say that Vice President Al Gore said
that consumers need to understand reform is necessary for them to
receive the most benefits of the information age.
"Competition in the information marketplace will provide Americans
lower prices for their telephone, cable, and information goods and
services and give them more and better choices," he said in a speech to
regulators and local government officials meeting in Washington.
"Consumers want to ensure that they are not disadvantaged by the
change that does come to them -- that they do not find the cost of being
in the game rising constantly with little benefit to justify it and no
increase in the quality," Gore said.
Until now, the administration's efforts to revise the old tele-
communications laws centered on how such reform would affect multi-
million-dollar telecommunications companies and their ability to get
into new businesses.
In an attempt to reach the American people on the issue, Gore
insisted the competition resulting from legal reform will create jobs --
some 1.4 million over the next 10 years, according to White House
estimates.
The Clinton administration will focus legislation in the new Congress
on opening businesses to competition.
>> Dell Drops Latitude Notebook Price <<
Dell Computer Corp. announced this week it has reduced prices on its
Latitude notebook computers by 7% to 13% with the largest cuts made on
the 50 megahertz Intel DX2-based dual-scan color models, which were
reduced by $300 to a new retail price of $1,999.
In addition, both the 33 megahertz Intel 486SX-based dual-scan color
models and the 50 megahertz Intel DX2-based active-matrix TFT color
models were reduced by $200. The former was reduced from $1,999 to
$1,799, while the price of the latter was lowered from $2,799 to $2,599.
The price reductions are effective immediately.
>> Kits to Fix 1.5 Million HP Printers <<
Hewlett-Packard Co. has discovered 1.5 million of its inkjet printers
have a flaw -- they sometimes fail to grab the top sheet of paper in
their feeder trays -- and the company plans to distribute fix-it kits to
correct the problem.
Affected models are DeskJet and DeskWriter printers, models 510, 520,
550C and 560C.
Reports say that HP discovered the flaw in printers made in its
Vancouver, Wash., facilities between June 1993 and March 1994.
Sources say HP will send roller-repair kits immediately to all re-
gistered owners of affected printers and will ask everyone else to call
for the kit.
Customers can request a kit by calling (800) 656-2324. The 1.5
million printers affected represent about 10 percent of all of HP's
inkjets.
>> System 7.5 Shipments Near 1 Million <<
Shipments of System 7.5, the new Apple Macintosh operating system
which has been available for about three years, now are nearing 1
million.
Apple Vice President Guerrino DeLuca also says shipments of PowerMac
computers, Apple's top-of-the-line computer introduced last March, now
have topped 750,000.
DeLuca also said:
-:- Apple's Newton technology, including licenses, now commands 75%
of the personal digital assistant market.
-:- The company is ready to license its Pippin multimedia CD-ROM
player and has sold a license to Bundie, Japan's largest toy company.
-:- The AppleSoft Interactive TV unit is licensing its set top box
processor technology and that Bell Atlantic Corp. will be using it in
its interactive TV trials.
>> Compaq Adds to Multimedia Units <<
A new model has been added to Compaq Computer Corp.'s family of
multimedia computers.
The Compaq Presario CDS 524 incorporates a 486DX2/66MHz microprocessor
and 8MB of RAM. Company officials are quoted as saying the estimated
street price of the computer is $1,849.
____________________________________
> Graphics Support STR FOCUS!
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""
While the following Unisys Statement did appear in last week's issue, we
decided to include it again. This time, its accompanied by the Unisys
FAQ. The main reason is to alleviate the "profusion of confusion" being
unloaded upon the graphics community. Hopefully, between the two highly
informative documents, you'll be able to cut through the nonsense and get
to the real facts. As the man says; "just the facts".
January 6, 1995
---------------
Unisys Clarifies Policy Regarding Patent Use
in On-Line Service Offerings
The concerns, inquiries and some apparent confusion that have resulted
from the December CompuServe advisory clearly indicate that we need to
clarify our policy concerning the use of the Unisys Lev Zempel Welch (LZW)
patent by software developers for the major on-line services.
We want to reiterate earlier communications that the issue of patent
licenses is not focused on the end users of on-line networks, including
the Internet. We encourage end users to continue to take full advantage
of the outstanding benefits of a rapidly growing on-line community.
Unisys was awarded the patent in 1985. We became aware of the increasing
interest in our LZW patent beginning in 1990 when many companies
approached us to license the patent for their hardware and software
products. The growth in the use of compression technology was mushrooming
in order to meet the demands for transmitting increased amounts of data.
To date, more than 100 companies, including hardware, software and on-line
information services, have licensed the Unisys LZW technology.
Two years ago, Unisys learned that the LZW method was incorporated in the
GIF specification and immediately began negotiations with CompuServe in
January of 1993. We reached agreement with CompuServe on licensing the
technology in June 1994, which calls for CompuServe to pay Unisys a
royalty of 1% of the average selling price it charges for its software.
This represents approximately 11 cents for each copy sold and connected to
its information service.
Under the agreement, CompuServe, at its discretion, could relicense the
LZW technology to commercial developers using the GIF specification in
software that connected directly to the CompuServe information service.
With the agreement completed on June 21, 1994, CompuServe was given six
months to implement the terms of its license. CompuServe later asked for
a one-month extension, which we granted.
Unisys did not require CompuServe to pass on any fee to its sublicensees
or end users. Such a decision, and the content and timing of CompuServe's
advisory, was at their discretion.
Consistent with the entire information industry's desire to protect
intellectual property, Unisys will expect all of the major commercial
on-line information services companies employing the LZW patent to license
the technology from Unisys at a reasonable rate. The on-line service
companies are not required to sublicense the technology to developers
producing software for the commercial on-line services. It will be, as it
is today, at the on-line service's discretion as to whether it charges a
license fee to developers or chooses an alternative method to account for
its licensing fees payable to Unisys.
We recognize and are concerned -- thanks in large part to the recent and
very active use of the on-line network -- that developers did not
understand that the patented technology was resident in GIF. Taking that
into account, Unisys does not intend to pursue previous inadvertent
infringement by versions of GIF-based software products marketed prior to
1995.
Concerning all future software product development and enhancement of
existing products for accessing on-line services, Unisys expects
developers of commercial, for-profit software to secure a license from
Unisys, or through the licensed on-line service, for the use of the
patented technology. The very reasonable terms should prove no financial
barrier to the introduction of product into the on-line network.
Unisys does not require licensing, or fees to be paid, for non-commercial,
non-profit GIF-based applications, including those for use on the on-line
services.
Concerning developers of software for the Internet network, the same
principle applies. Unisys will not pursue previous inadvertent
infringement by developers producing versions of software products for the
Internet prior to 1995. The company does not require licensing, or fees to
be paid for non-commercial, non-profit offerings on the Internet,
including 'Freeware'.
Commercial developers of GIF-based software for the Internet are expected
to secure a licensing agreement with Unisys for software products
introduced beginning in 1995, or enhancements of products that were
introduced prior to 1995. Again, terms should not preclude the entry by
these firms into the marketplace.
For organizations introducing World Wide Web servers and 'Home Page'
offerings, most will not be required to secure a license from Unisys.
Most organizations acquire software from other developers to create their
offerings on their servers. Therefore, only the software firms who sell
the enabling software for profit would be expected to secure a licensing
agreement from Unisys.
Unisys understands that this issue has caused concern. We want to
reassure all users and developers that we are strong proponents of the
on-line industry.
We're proud that this important Unisys technology has played a role in
the introduction of innovative products and services, many of which are
fueling the explosive growth of the information superhighway.
As members of the information community we want to strike the appropriate
balance between information access and the rights of all information
companies, including the developers of software, to protect their
intellectual property rights.
Patent information: Contact Welch Patent Licensing Department; Unisys;
Mail Stop C1SW19; P.O. Box 500, Blue Bell, PA 19424.
Or via Internet, send E-mail to LZW_INFO@UNISYS.COM, or use a form
available on the Home Page of the Unisys Web Server
(http:\\www.unisys.com) to request follow-up information.
Media contacts:
Unisys Public Relations
-----------------------
Bob O+Leary (215) 986-6413
or
Oliver Picher (215) 986-5367
From: rmarks@ecdcsvr.tredydev.unisys.com (Richard Marks)
Date: Fri, 6 Jan 1995 22:09:14 GMT
UNISYS LZW PATENT
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
January 6, 1995
---------------
Since we released our statement this morning clarifying the terms of our
LZW patent licensing agreement, we have received several questions from
both the press and the on-line community at large. We thought we would
share with you some of the most frequently asked questions -- and our
answers. We hope this may help answer some similar questions you have.
What is the LZW patent?
-----------------------
The LZW patent covers methods and apparatus for lossless compression and
decompression of digital data. Unisys holds a U.S. patent (number
4,558,302) as well as equivalent patents on the technology in Canada,
France, Germany, U.K. and Italy. Equivalent patents are also pending in
Japan.
How did Unisys get the patent?
-----------------------------
Data compression and decompression is a critical aspect of data
transmission and storage and is very much of interest to Unisys and the
industry. The patent is the result of research done by Terry Welch at
Sperry Corporation in the early 1980s that extended previous work by
researchers Lempel and Zev. Sperry Corporation was granted the U.S.
patent in 1985. Sperry and Burroughs merged in 1986 to form Unisys, thus
Unisys became the owner of the Sperry patents.
Why is LZW so widely used?
--------------------------
It is a very efficient compression method and a highly advantageous way of
compressing and decompressing data for a wide variety of purposes. It is
easy to implement, operates at high speed and results in high compression
ratios without loss of data (that is, it significantly shrinks the file
size).
GIF has been in use since 1987. Why is Unisys enforcing its rights now?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unisys only became aware of the use of LZW in the GIF specification two
years ago. We immediately began negotiations with CompuServe at that time
and reached an agreement in June, 1994. The existence of the patent has
never been a secret. In fact, we have completed licensing agreements for
LZW technology with over 100 companies since 1990, for products including
hardware, software and on-line information services. With most of these
companies, it was the licensees who approached Unisys, not Unisys forcing
the taking of a license.
Why did it take you so long -- almost five years --
to figure out that GIF was infringing on your patent?
-----------------------------------------------------
As is common in industry, we don't have massive people resources devoted
to searching and finding products which may be infringing and then
undertaking the complex task of reverse engineering the products to
determine whether or not they have infringed on the patent. In the case
of GIF, as soon as we became aware we immediately sought to protect the
patent through a license to CompuServe.
Is this part of a larger campaign to enhance your revenues?
-----------------------------------------------------------
No. The actual revenue derived from this particular patent is not
significant. However, Unisys has invested hundreds of millions of dollars
in overall technology development and has protected its investments in the
form of thousands of patents. We have a responsibility to our
shareholders to ensure that we protect these valuable company assets.
Why have you targeted the on-line industry now?
-----------------------------------------------
Unisys has not specifically targeted the on-line industry, evidenced by
the fact that we have licensed this technology to hardware, software and
information services companies over the past several years. We became
aware of the applicability of our patent to the GIF specification and we
simply undertook negotiations with CompuServe as the primary stakeholder
in this specification. The announcement content and timing of
CompuServe's action was solely a CompuServe business decision.
The agreement with CompuServe says I can only use GIF in accessing
CompuServe? What about other on-line services?
------------------------------------------------------------------
Our relicensing agreement with CompuServe allows CompuServe to relicense
the technology only for use in accessing the CompuServe information
network. However, commercial, for-profit developers are free to contact
us to secure a license for LZW. Non-commercial, non-profit users aren't
required to secure a license to use the technology.
Is Unisys willing to negotiate with other developers?
-----------------------------------------------------
Absolutely. Unisys wants to encourage the use of its patented technology
and is therefore continuing to make licenses available under the patent at
reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and conditions to any interested
party. Keep in mind that Unisys can only license the patented LZW
technology. Unisys has no other stake in GIF (other than using it for our
own graphics transmission).
What do you consider "reasonable terms"?
----------------------------------------
While we will conduct negotiations with each applying developer, the
CompuServe royalty rate is somewhat indicative of the terms that should
cause no financial barrier to product entry into the on- line marketplace,
or anywhere else. The CompuServe agreement calls for the company to pay
Unisys a royalty of approximately 1% of the selling cost of the product
for each product sold and connected to the on-line service. Given the
calculation of the average price of CompuServe products, this came out to
about 11 cents per product sold and connected.
GIF is used extensively on the World Wide Web.
What does Unisys intend to do there?
-----------------------------------------------
Unisys in no way wants to discourage end users and developers from making
use of this technology. We intend to license commercial software
developers. However, non-commercial, non-profit products, including
freeware, need not pay license fees. Organizations introducing a World
Wide Web server and home page to the Internet are not expected to license
the technology if they used a third-party software application to develop
their server offering. Only the commercial third-party developer in that
case should secure a license.
What about Internet browsers?
-----------------------------
Again, our focus is on the developers and not on the end user. Also, our
action is primarily focused on for-profit developers. If a developer
intends to make a profit or provide a product for commercial use, they
should negotiate a license from Unisys.
Will this hurt the use of GIF?
------------------------------
We certainly hope not. GIF has been outstanding for handling graphics
files and its use of LZW technology is one of the factors in its success.
Again, the licensing terms are very modest and should not be a barrier to
its use.
Will users of CompuServe have to pay a royalty to
Unisys every time they upload or download a GIF file?
-----------------------------------------------------
No. Revenue to Unisys under the CompuServe license is independent of the
number of files transferred.
What will be the impact on end users and commercial software developers?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
There should be no impact on individual end users. We encourage them to
take full advantage of GIF. For developers, the impact should be minimal.
Again, Unisys continues to make licenses under the patent available to any
interested party at reasonable and non-discriminatory terms and
conditions. License fees for this technology should not be a barrier to
any software developer.
Why did you announce the changes during the Christmas holiday?
--------------------------------------------------------------
We concluded the license with CompuServe on June 21, 1994. CompuServe was
given six months to implement the terms of the license agreement.
CompuServe asked for, and we granted, a one- month extension. The timing
and content of the announcement, and for that matter, the need for the
announcement, were entirely of CompuServe's choosing and without Unisys
knowledge or approval.
I'm using freeware or shareware that can manipulate GIF files.
Can I still use it?
--------------------------------------------------------------
Yes.
What about freeware developers?
-------------------------------
Our focus is on commercial, for-profit developers. Freeware is exempted
from licensing fees.
And shareware developers?
-------------------------
Shareware developers that intend to make a profit from their software
should negotiate a license with Unisys. Alternatively, if their software
is intended to access CompuServe only, they might want to take advantage
of CompuServe's relicensing agreement with us.
Was the Unisys patent ever challenged?
--------------------------------------
The Unisys LZW patent was challenged in 1993, re-examined by the United
States Patent and Trademark Office, and the patentability of all claims
was reconfirmed in January of 1994. This is a valid and fully enforceable
patent.
Patent information: Contact Welch Patent Licensing Department; Unisys;
Mail Stop C1SW19; P.O. Box 500, Blue Bell, PA 19424.
Or via Internet, send E-mail to LZW_INFO@UNISYS.COM, or use a form
available on the Home Page of the Unisys Web Server
(http:\\www.unisys.com) to request follow-up information.
Media contacts:
Unisys Public Relations
-----------------------
Bob O+Leary (215) 986-6413
or
Oliver Picher (215) 986-5367
***
Go Graphics NEWS
----------------
TO BE FEATURED IN ARCHIVE FILMS
HOLLYWOOD'S MOST BEAUTIFUL LADIES
New clips from Hollywood's golden age of films will feature the greatest
of Hollywood's leading ladies in a new section in the Archive Films Forum
(GO ARCFILM). The clips, in .AVI format, are a cross section of many kinds
of Hollywood features and short topics. They have been culled from Archive
Films' vast collections of movie and TV content. Famous models such as
Betty Page and Dorothy Van Nuys will join actress greats such as Marilyn
Monroe and Jayne Mansfield in this fascinating look at the lovely ladies
of the screen, large and small.
For more information on graphics and your computer, GO GRFWELCOME. The
Graphics forums are part of CompuServe's extended services.
MILL POND PRESS BRINGS
LIMITED-EDITION ART TO FINE ART FORUM
Mill Pond Press, one of the world's leading publishers of limited-edition
art prints and art books, has joined forces with the 'Go Graphics' Group,
Inc. and CompuServe to provide CompuServe members with immediate viewing
access to the Mill Pond collection. This makes Mill Pond the first major
publisher of contemporary limited-edition prints to enter the information
superhighway.
Images of the Mill Pond works can be viewed online. This "virtual
catalogue" will allow CompuServe members to see the work of today's
greatest artists at their convenience before going to local galleries or
museums. The online area will also allow collectors to locate nearby
galleries that feature Mill Pond works and communicate with these
galleries online.
The Mill Pond Press libraries may be accessed through the Fine Art Forum
on CompuServe by using the online command GO FINEART or GO MILLPOND. The
Graphics forums are part of CompuServe's extended services.
____________________________________
> CIS RATE CHANGE STR FOCUS!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
COMPUSERVE REVISES STANDARD PRICING PLAN
========================================
(09-Jan-95)
CompuServe has announced new Standard Pricing Plan rates that
significantly cut connect-time and mail charges, allow access to more
basic services, reduce U.S. and Canadian WATS-line charges, eliminate
European prime-time communications surcharges, and raise the monthly
membership fee by $1.
Effective 05-Feb, connect charges for access at 9.6 and 14.4 kilobits per
second will drop by 50 percent to $4.80 per hour. This is CompuServe's
third price reduction in connect-time rates in three years.
At the same time, CompuServe will enhance its basic service package,
giving members access to more than 100 services at no additional charge,
compared to 78 previously. Members also will be able to send the
equivalent of 90, three-page electronic mail messages at no additional
charge, compared to 60 previously. Electronic mail costs have been reduced
by as much as 80 percent.
The monthly membership fee will increase by $1 to $9.95. The new fee will
include free access to the Executive Service Option. ESO surcharges for
specific products continue to apply. In Western Europe, the CompuServe
network $7.70 per hour prime-time communications surcharge will be
eliminated. In the United States, Wide Area Telephone Service surcharges
will be cut by 31 percent to $6 per hour. The Canadian WATS-line charge
will be cut by 41 percent to $20 per hour.
NEW PRICING MEANS MORE VALUE FOR MEMBERS
----------------------------------------
Starting 05-Feb-95, CompuServe Members will benefit from an enhanced
Standard Pricing Plan. The new rates significantly lower connect-time
and mail charges, allow access to more basic services, reduce US and
Canadian WATS-line charges, and eliminate CompuServe network prime-time
communication surcharges for Western Europe. The new monthly membership
fee will be $ 9.95.
Rates are quoted in US [$] Dollars
----------------------------------
CompuServe's new Standard Pricing Plan rates will not be effective for
members in Japan or Australia until 26-Mar-95.
HOW YOU WILL BENEFIT
--------------------
Lower connect-time rates: The connect-time rate for access at .6 and 14.4
kilobits per second will drop from $9.60/hour to $4.80/hour. This is a 50
percent rate reduction in high speed access.
Lower mail charges: The rate for sending a CompuServe Mail message will
be lowered from .15 cents for the first 7500 characters of a message, and
.05 cents for each additional 2500 characters of the message.
On 05-Feb-95, the rate will become 10 cents for the first 7500 characters
of a message, and .02 cents for each additional 7500 characters of a
message. At the same, you will continue to receive the $9/month mail
allowance. This means that you may send 90 three-page full-text messages
per month FREE. This is an increase of 30 messages per month.
Enhanced Basic Services Package: CompuServe will increase the number of
basic services from 78 to more than 100. As of 05-Feb-95, you will now
have access to over 100 basic services connect-time free.
Lower WATS-line charge in the United States: The Wide Area Telephone
Service (WATS) surcharge in the United States will be reduced to $6/hour.
This is 31 percent rate reduction from $8.70/hour previously. The
Canadian WATS-line charge will be cut by 41 percent to $20/hour.
Elimination of prime-time communication surcharge in Western Europe: The
$7.70/hour prime-time communication surcharges for CompuServe network
access in Western Europe will be eliminated.
Free Access to the Executive Service Option: The Standard Pricing Plan
will now receive all of the benefits of the Executive Service Option.
Premium service surcharges continue to apply for specific products.
For More Information:
---------------------
GO BASIC
GO EXECUTIVE
GO RATES
Chart compiled by Jim Ness
FEATURE NEW OLD
*******************************************************************
* Connect time $4.80/hr (300-14.4*) $4.80 (300-2400) *
* $9.60 (9600-14.4) *
*******************************************************************
* Basic Services 100 + 78 *
* (free) *
*******************************************************************
* US/Can. Toll-free $6/hr $8.70/hr *
* surcharge *
*******************************************************************
* Europe prime-time $0/hr $7.70 *
* surcharge *
*******************************************************************
* Email free 90 3-page msgs 60 3-page msgs *
* allowance (approx) (approx) *
*******************************************************************
* Exec. Services Incl. in Basic $10/month min. *
* (news, stocks, etc) services charge *
*******************************************************************
* Membership fee $9.95/month $8.95/month *
* (std plan) *
*******************************************************************
* During testing period, 28800 and 57600bps
are also charged at $4.80/hr
________________________________________________
> SB EDUTAINMENT CD 16 STR Spotlight "It keeps getting better"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
SOUND BLASTER EDUTAINMENT CD 16 MULTIMEDIA KIT
==============================================
Sound Blaster 16 Advancing the standard for CD-Quality stereo sound.
Features & Specifications:
Sound Blaster 16 with a Panasonic CD-ROM interface.
See SB16.TXT for specifications of the sound card.
Everything You Need with the Best-Selling Software Included
-----------------------------------------------------------
* Top-selling software titles (see below)
* Sound Blaster 16 stereo sound card
* Double-speed internal CD-ROM drive
* Stereo Speakers
* Microphone
* Easy Installation
Creative Double-Speed Technology CD-ROM Drive
---------------------------------------------
Features and Specifications:
* Internal double-speed drive
* 300 KB/second transfer rate, fast data access of 320 ms
* Multi-Session Photo CD Compatible
* Exceeds MPC level 2 specifications, CD-ROM XA ready
* Software controlled, automatic tray-loading drive
* Daisy-chain up to 4 Creative Labs drives
Stereo Speakers & Microphone
----------------------------
* Matched, high performance Creative Labs stereo speakers
* High-quality dynamic microphone
Sound Blaster Edutainment CD 16
-------------------------------
Includes Today's Top-Selling Multimedia Software
* Aldus Photostyler SE
* Aldus Gallery Effects Vol. 1
* Quicken Deluxe CD-ROM
* New Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia
* Rebel Assault
* Links
* Lemmings
* Indianapolis 500, The Simulation
* Speed
* 3-D Dinosaur Adventure
* Travel Adventures
* Creative Screen Singer
* Creative VoiceAssist
* Allie's Playhouse
* Altamira Composer
* Kai's Power Tools
* Digital Morph
* SeaWolf
* Ultima VIII
* Strike Commander
* Syndicate
* Wing Commander 2
* Hong Kong Mahjong
* Populous II
* Savage Empire
* 7 Cities of Gold
* Shadowcaster
* Space Hulk
* Ultima Underworld
* Ultima VII
* Wing Commander Academy
* Chuck Yeager's Air Combat
* Eagle Eye Mysteries Orignal
* Peter Pan: A Story Painting Adventure
* Eagle Eye Mysteries in London
* Scooter's Magic Castle
* Creative Ensemble
* Creative WaveStudio 2.0
* Creative Soundo'LE
* Creative Mosaic
* Creative Talking Scheduler
* Monologue for Windows
* QuickCD
System Requirements
-------------------
* IBM-PC 386SX and higher or 100% compatible
* SVGA graphics adapter
* Microsoft Windows 3.1 or higher
* 30 MB hard drive (minimum)
* 4 MB RAM (optimum performance with 8 MB or higher)
* 3.5 inch, 1.44 MB floppy drive
* Mouse
* Open 16-bit Slot
* Open + height drive bay available (drive rails may be required)
Warranty
--------
One-year limited hardware warranty covering parts and labor
_____________________________________
> PC TOOLS FAQ STR Spotlight
""""""""""""""""""""""""""
More PC Tools for DOS and Windows FAQ
=====================================
This is the Frequently Answered Questions Document for More PC Tools for
DOS and Windows.
0.0 What is an FAQ (Frequently Asked/Answered Questions)?
-----------------
GENERAL QUESTIONS
-----------------
1.1 What is More PC Tools for DOS and Windows?
1.2 Where should I install More PC Tools for DOS and Windows?
1.3 Technical Support Services
----------------------------
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS/UPGRADES
----------------------------
2.1 I heard that Symantec is going to drop the Central Point Products.
2.2 Are there any file upgrades available?
---------------
TROUBLESHOOTING
---------------
3.1 How can I receive more information about Central Point
Products?
3.2 More PC Tools Installation fails.
3.3 CPR locks up the system when saving image files.
3.4 CPR locks up the system when saving image files in Windows.
3.5 CPR interferes with my modem communications when saving an image
file.
3.6 CrashGuard Pro setup changes are not saved.
------------------------
BEGINNING OF THE ANSWERS
------------------------
0.0 What's an FAQ?
Introduction:
A FAQ is a compilation of the most common questions about a subject and
their answers. This is an established technique (adopted from its
widespread use on USENet) for reducing the repetition of questions and
answers from on-line services (such as BBS, CompuServe and America
Online).
Our intent is to answer as many questions as possible. You don't have to
leave a question and call back to get an answer to something that we've
already covered a few times before.
We will be aggressively maintaining these to ensure that they always have
answers to the most current issues pertaining to a product. Naturally
users are encouraged to read the FAQ before posting. Hopefully you'll
find your question (and its answer) here (which will save you time and
money).
Please note that this is not intended to replace the manual or the
built-in help. It is prepared and maintained by our tech. support staff
so our FAQ's may not have breadth or editorial polish of our official
documentation. Hopefully, this will answer some questions that our
technical writers couldn't foresee. You may have been referred to this
document by one of our technicians or another customer. Please don't take
offense to this. We are trying to provide the answers in the best
possible way. You are welcome to suggest improvements.
-----------------
GENERAL QUESTIONS
-----------------
1.1 What is More PC Tools for DOS and Windows?
More PC Tools includes a combination of new and improved features
that will help users configure, control and protect their systems. These
include:
* CrashGuard Pro with CPR for Windows - which includes upgraded
technology from PC Tools for Windows and PC Tools Pro - is a
two-part system which helps prevent crashes and facilitates the
recovery of data if a crash or power loss does occur. CrashGuard
monitors system resources, memory and disk space in Windows and
warns the user so he can shut down unnecessary applications and
stabilize his system before a crash occurs. An improved CPR
feature automatically takes periodic snapshots of un-saved data
in RAM to facilitate recovery of that work if a crash occurs.
CPR is now twice as fast as the version in PC Tools Pro and is
controlled from within Windows. CrashGuard Pro also adds a new
automatic shutdown (commonly known as a bookmark) feature.
* DriveSpeed improves IDE hard disk drive transfer speed 50% or
more by utilizing the buffers built into the drive controller.
Unlike a disk cache which uses the PC's memory to buffer reads
and writes, this feature uses the firmware on the hard disk's
embedded IDE controller to improve data-transfer rates.
DriveSpeed uses less than 1K of RAM, making it economical in
operation as well.
* DriveCheck quickly and unobtrusively checks a user's hard disk
periodically and alert users to actual or potential problems,
including lost clusters or cross-linked files and high degrees of
file fragmentation. When a problem is noticed, advice on solving
it is given.
* BackTrack is a utility many will appreciate _ this program
keeps a history of changes made to DOS startup files
(autoexec.bat and config.sys) and Windows configuration files
(win.ini, system.ini and progman.ini). In use, this program
allows users to "back track" and restore earlier "working"
versions of these files, should that become necessary.
* System Information Pro (SI Pro) helps improve system
reliability by providing the user information about what
resources (like IRQs and DMAs) are currently being used in their
system. This lets the user quickly troubleshoot new hardware
installations. SI Pro uses Intel's Plug-and-Play database for
easier system configuration, even for non-Plug-and-Play PCs and
add-in cards. SI Pro also gives extensive hardware diagnostics,
including new tests for modems, CD-ROM drives and the latest CPUs.
1.2 Where should I install More PC Tools for DOS and Windows?
If you already have an earlier version of PC Tools for DOS or
Windows, More PC Tools should install to the same subdirectory. Because
More PC Tools does update certain files in the PCTOOLS or CPS directory,
installing into that directory will guarentee that all files are updated
properly and minimize the amount of disk space needed.
If you do not have an earlier version, then it can be installed on
any drive and to any subdirectory of your choosing.
1.3 Technical Support Services
A wide variety of services are available to registered owners of Central
Point products.
ON-LINE & AUTOMATED SUPPORT SERVICES
Technical Support via on-line services is available through the services
listed below. Use these services to converse with us and other Central
Point customers for helpful dialog, tips and for access to files using
your computer.
CompuServe Forums:
------------------
Call your local access number, available in your CompuServe
membership kit, and type GO CENTRAL at any exclamation point (!) prompt.
We have two Forums, and if you are using a script to log onto CompuServe,
type GO SYMCPDOS for DOS and Network products, type GO SYMCPWIN for
Windows, Macintosh, and OS/2.
America Online Industry Connection:
-----------------------------------
Call your local access number, available in your America Online membership
kit. The keyword for our industry connection is CENTRAL.
Bulletin Board System:
----------------------
Set your modem to 8 data bits, 1 stop bit and no parity. Dial
503-984-5366 for up to 14,400 baud access.
With our automated fax retrieval service you have instant access to
up-to-date technical articles and product information 24 hours a day, 7
days a week. Call this easy-to-use system from a touch tone phone to
request catalogs or up to four documents to be sent directly to your fax
machine. Call 503-984-2490.
INTERACTIVE TELEPHONE SUPPORT
-----------------------------
Technical Support by telephone is available through a variety of
programs designed to meet the individual support needs of users of our
products. Telephone support is available weekdays from 6:00am to 5:00pm
Pacific Standard Time. Following is a summary of our telephone support
plans:
If you have only an occasional need for technical assistance via
telephone, our PriorityCare program gives you immediate access to our
experts on a pay-as-you-go basis. You have two options with this program:
Call our 800 number to charge the service fee to your credit card, or call
our 900 number and the service fee willbe charged to your regular phone
bill.
Dial 800-491-2764 to charge the $25.00 service fee to your Visa,
MasterCard or American Express card. Please have your credit card
handy when you call.
Dial 900-555-7700 to charge the $2.00 per minute fee directly to
your regular phone bill. The first minute of your call is free.
This option is a good choice for those quick questions.
Our QuickStart support program is designed for users who need
telephone assistance getting started with their new software. This
program is also a great value if you think you may need to make more than
one or two calls to technical support. QuickStart gives you 30 days of
unlimited telephone access to our technical experts for $30 per person,
per product family*.
PremiumCare Gold, our annual support plan, is a cost effective
solution if you frequently call technical support. This plan offers a
full year of unlimited calls to technical support for $149.95 per person,
per product family*.
Extended plans are also available to organizations in need of
additional technical support services. We offer a variety of plans,
ranging from toll-free priority telephone support to extended hours and
weekend support. Please call customer service at 503-690-8090 for more
information, or to order any one of our telephone support plans.
* Product Families
----------------
ANTI-VIRUS Anti-Virus for DOS, Windows and OS/2
BACKUP CP Backup for DOS, Windows and special manufacturer's
bundles
MACINTOSH MacTools, MacTools Power PC, Safe & Sound and Anti-Virus
for Macintosh
PC TOOLS PC Tools Pro (DOS), PC Tools for Windows, E-Disk, Speed
Tools, and File Manager
XTREE XTree Gold, XTree for Windows and XTree Gold for Windows
Please note that support is no longer available for Copy II products or
for the Deluxe Option Board. These products have been discontinued. The
most common support questions and answers for these products are available
via the automated fax retrieval service. Order document 58000 for the
Copy II document and 59000 for the Deluxe Option Board document.
----------------------------
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS/UPGRADES
----------------------------
2.1 I heard that Symantec is going to drop the Central Point Products.
Central Point will remain a separate division of Symantec. The Support
Policies will continue to be those of Central Point.
2.2 Is there a file upgrade available?
If file updates should become available, all file updates are in our
software libraries available on our BBS, CompuServe and America Online
forums.
---------------
TROUBLESHOOTING
---------------
3.1 How can I receive more information about Central Point Products?
Symantec and Central Point both offer several less known ways to gain
technical support. Our faxback service is one of them. It contains most
of the more prevalent issues regarding Central Point Software. The
faxback number is (800) 847-8766. Remember, You'll need a touch tone
phone, and a fax machine.
3.2 More PC Tools Installation fails.
First refer to the README.TXT file on More PC Tools Disk #1 for system
hardware considerations and application notes.
Normally if the installation fails, it indicates that there is a device
driver/TSR conflict. System configurations vary, DOS version, Memory
Manager, associated device drivers and TSRs can all effect the
installation.
SOLUTION:
Boot clean (no CONFIG.SYS and/or AUTOEXEC.BAT) and retry the
install. Load any device driver/TSR's that are REQUIRED for
your system.
3.3 CPR locks up the system when saving image files.
Make backup copies of your CONFIG.SYS and AUTOEXEC.BAT files and create
these test files. Let's try to determine if it's the system configuration
(Memory manager, etc.). This is the minimum required to run Windows.
Adjust these files to point to where the files are located on your system
making sure to load any required device driver/TSRs.
CONFIG.SYS
----------
DOS=HIGH
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
FILES=40
BUFFERS=30
DEVICE=C:\CPRLOW.EXE
AUTOEXEC.BAT
------------
PATH=C:\WINDOWS;C:\PCTOOLS
PROMPT=$P$G
SET PCTOOLS= < point this to where you installed More PCTools
\CPR.EXE /LOAD < point this to where you installed More PCTools
REM Do not change the next four lines (*CPR*)
\CPR.EXE /ASK < point this to where you installed More PCTools
IF ERRORLEVEL 2 TRSPWIN
IF ERRORLEVEL 2 WIN
REM End of CPR /ASK section (*CPR*)
Try CPR in both DOS and Windows.
If this configuration works, you'll need to determine which device
driver/TSR is conflicting in the original CONFIG.SYS and/or AUTOEXEC.BAT
file.
3.4 CPR locks up the system when saving image files in Windows.
Try tip 3.3 to verify it's not a device driver/TSR conflict. If you still
lock up in Windows make sure that CPR is identifying the video board
properly in the Advanced Configuration. Next try a different Windows
Video mode which will effect how the image is saved. The default is CPR
driver, but try Windows Repaint and Windows Reprogram and see how that
effects the operation. if you still have problems, refer to the CPR.TXT
file located in the /SYSTEM sub-directory for compatibility issues on
other information.
3.5 CPR interferes with my modem communications when saving an image
file.
The CPR.TXT file tells you to disable CPR before running any modem
communication software.
An alternative is to run SI.EXE to determine which software interrupts are
intercepted, and set this as a Hooked Interrupt in the Advanced
Configuration Options menu. This will vary from system to system
depending on the communications software that your running and the
software interrupts that it intercepts.
3.6 CrashGuard Pro setup changes are not saved.
Make sure that the following lines are included in the WIN.INI file.
Either add it to the existing [cps] section or create this section if it
does not exist.
[cps]
CPS3=[drive]:\[directory]\WNGUARD.INI
Make sure that CPS3= points to the directory where you installed More
PCTools. This tells CrashGuard where to store the configuration changes
made for CrashGuard. Without it, the changes are not saved.
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N
FARGO PRIMERA PRO COLOR PRINTERS - 600DPI
For a limited time only; If you wish to have a FREE sample printout sent
to you that demonstrates FARGO Primera & Primera Pro SUPERIOR QUALITY
600dpi 24 bit Photo Realistic Color Output, please send a Self Addressed
Stamped Envelope [SASE] (business sized envelope please) to:
STReport's Fargo Printout Offer
P.O. Box 6672
Jacksonville, Florida 32205-6155
Folks, the FARGO Primera Pro has GOT to be the best yet. Its far superior
to the newest of Color Laser Printers selling for more than three times as
much. Its said that ONE Picture is worth a thousand words. Send for this
sample now. Guaranteed you will be amazed at the superb quality. (please,
allow at least a one week turn-around)
A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N -- A T T E N T I O N
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
:HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
_________________________________
Set your communications software to Half Duplex (or Local Echo)
Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.
Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
Wait for the U#= prompt.
Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.
Fire up that high-speed modem and head for your favorite GEnie Software
Library! Effective October 10, 1994, you'll be able to participate in an
open beta test, offering access to GEnie Services at 9600 bps for as
little as $5.00 per hour.
As a result of an arrangement with Sprint, GEnie will be offering 9600 bps
access from almost 300 SprintNet locations. Best of all, this high-speed
access will not be subject to high-priced surcharges. The normal $2.00
per hour SprintNet surcharge will apply...even at 9600 bps! This open
beta test is expected to run through the end of the year.
To find the number of the SprintNet access number nearest you, simply type
PHONES at any GEnie menu prompt (or use the "Move To Keyword" option in
GENIE for Windows and type PHONES). Remember, this rate applies only to
9600 bps access via SprintNet. So be sure to choose the access number
showing "9600" in the "Baud Rate" column AND "SprintNet" in the "Network"
column.
From the "Fine Print" department, please note that the $2.00 per hour
surcharge for SprintNet access is applicable even during your initial four
hours of monthly usage.
So, whether you're into downloading software, reading bulletin boards, or
accessing databases, it's about to become cheaper to do it faster!
GENIE Information Services copyright 1995 by General Electric
Information Services/GENIE, reprinted by permission
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
___ ___ _____ _______
/___| /___| /_____| /_______/ The Macintosh RoundTable
/____|/____| /__/|__| /__/ ________________________
/_____|_____|/__/_|__|/__/
/__/|____/|__|________|__/
/__/ |___/ |__|_/ |__|_/____ Managed by SyndiComm
/__/ |__/ |__|/ |__|______/
An Official Forum of the International Computer Users Group
*** STReport available in MAC RT ***
ASCII TEXT
for ALL GENIE users!
MAC/APPLE SECTION (II)
======================
John Deegan, Editor (Temp)
> ADOBE STREAMLINE 3.1 STR InfoFile
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
ADOBE STREAMLINE 3.1 FOR THE POWER MACINTOSH
============================================
For Immediate Release
---------------------
Adobe Systems Announces Adobe Streamline 3.1 For the Power Macintosh
Mountain View, Calif. (January 4, 1995) (NASDAQ:ADBE) Adobe Systems
Incorporated today announced Adobe Streamline version 3.1 software for the
Power Macintosh. The Adobe Streamline product is a widely acclaimed
software application that converts color and black & white bitmapped
images into Adobe PostScript language line art.
The package will now include application software for both the Apple
Macintosh and Power Macintosh on floppy diskette, automatically installing
the version appropriate for users and allowing users to take full
advantage of their equipment now and in the future. Adobe Streamline 3.1
is expected to be available by the end of this month.
Adobe Streamline 3.1 for Power Macintosh takes advantage of the increased
processor speed of the Power Macintosh, allowing users to convert files
from pixels to vectors at three times the speed of a 68040 processor.
Adobe Streamline gives me the ability to set preferences and customize
how I want my tracing done, said Abigail Rudner, partner in On the Wave
Visual Communications, a design firm based in Oakland, Calif., that
specializes in interface design, 3D modeling and animation for print and
multimedia. I have seen a huge improvement in productivity when using the
Power Macintosh version of the product.
Adobe Streamline software is used by graphic artists, desktop publishers
and technical illustrators for converting logos, photographs, sketches and
non-technical illustrations into Adobe PostScript language line art.
Streamline provides the ability to scan artwork directly into the program
(using any scanner plug-in compatible with Adobe Photoshop software); to
retouch images with an assortment of pixel-editing tools; to convert
images using a variety of commonly used options or through custom
settings; and to recolor and edit the resulting Adobe PostScript paths.
Once converted, the artwork can be edited further with Adobe Illustrator
software or incorporated directly into a page layout.
With the new version of Adobe Streamline, Adobe now offers a complete line
of Power Macintosh graphics arts tools, said John Kunze, Adobe's vice
president of graphics products. Power Macintosh users can now take full
advantage of cross-application integration with Adobe Streamline, Adobe
Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Dimensions via PostScript on the
Clipboard and then similar interfaces.
Adobe Streamline for the Macintosh and now Power Macintosh provides
support for posterizing both color and grayscale images, and converting
them into filled and stroked Adobe PostScript objects. Scanned color
photos can automatically be posterized into vector-based art by specifying
up to 256 different colors or 16 grayscale levels. Direct scanner control
is provided through the Acquire interface, allowing any scanner with an
Adobe Photoshop-compatible plug-in or that supports the TWAIN interface to
be used for scanning images directly into the program. Retouching images
prior to conversion is accomplished with Adobe Streamline softwares image
editing tools and commands.
These tools are modeled after similar features in the Adobe Photoshop
program and include the marquee, lasso, magic wand, pencil, eraser and
line tools, the eyedropper, Grow and Select Similar commands and Adjust
Levels. After conversion, users can use sophisticated color controls and
simplify images by deleting points and smoothing paths. For example, the
Smooth command lets users adjust the bezier curves createdduring image
conversion, while the Paint Style palette, modeled after the Adobe
Illustrator 5.0 program, provides interactive, drag-and-drop editing of
process and custom colors. Special commands allow searching by fill color,
stroke color or stroke weight enabling easy selection and editing of the
artwork.
System Requirements
-------------------
System requirements for running the Adobe Streamline 3.1 program include a
Macintosh II, Classic, Centris, SE/30, Quadra or any other Macintosh with
a 68020 processor or higher, including Power Macintosh; 2 megabytes of
application RAM on a 68000-based machine or a Power Macintosh; a hard
disk; Apple System 6.0.7 or greater. For improved performance, Adobe
recommends 4 megabytes of application RAM and a color monitor.
Price and Availability
----------------------
Adobe Streamline 3.1, supporting both the Macintosh and the Power
Macintosh, is expected to be available by the end of January from Adobe
Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $199.
Registered users of version 3.0 may upgrade to version 3.1 for $29.
Registered users of Adobe Streamline 1.0 and 2.0 for the Macintosh may
upgrade to the full retail package of Streamline 3.1 for $69. The upgrade
will include two floppy disks and Type On Call 4.0, a locked CD-ROM
containing both the Macintosh and Windows versions of the Adobe Type
Library. In addition to instant access to more than 2,000 typefaces
available for purchase, Type On Call 4.0 includes the latest versions of
ATM, 32 free fonts, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Adobe Type Reunion and KeyCap
Access.
To upgrade, customers may call Adobe direct at 1-800-521-1976. Customers
who purchased Adobe Streamline 3.0 for Macintosh on or after November 1,
1994, will receive a free upgrade with proof of purchase.
Adobe Systems Incorporated, founded in 1982, is headquartered in Mountain
View, California. Adobe develops, markets and supports computer software
products and technologies that enable users to create, display, print and
communicate electronic documents. The company licenses its technology to
major computer, printing, and publishing suppliers, and markets a line of
application software and type products for authoring visually rich
documents. Additionally, the company markets a line of powerful, but easy
to use, products for home and small business users. Adobe has subsidiaries
in Europe and the Pacific Rim serving a worldwide network of dealers and
distributors. Adobe recently completed a merger with Aldus Corporation
and Adobe's 1993 revenue on a combined basis was approximately $520
million.
Adobe, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Streamline, Type On Call
and PostScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated or its
subsidiaries and may be registered in certain jurisdictions. Apple,
Macintosh, Power Macintosh, Macintosh Centris and Macintosh Quadra are
registered trademarks, and Power Macintosh are trademarks of Apple
Computer, Inc. Classic is a registered trademark licensed to Apple
Computer.
For more information please contact:
Patricia J. Pane
415 962.2967 Fax 415 962.2659
ppane@mv.us.adobe.com
_______________________________________________
> SEGA/CDROM SUPPORT STR InfoFile SEGA; SETTING CDROM STANDARDS
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Where CD-Rom Support is Happening
SEGA - CDRom GAMES Listing
==========================
Compiled by Joel Hilke - 74271,1016
This is a list of Sega/CD games released as of January 10, 1995. Most of
this list is from memory (!!) and I'm sure I've missed a few games. If you
know of something I've left out, please let me know.
I plan on including a list of ratings for the games as soon as I can work
out the time to do so. And I plan on keeping this up to date - but as the
poet once said, "The best laid schemes o' mice and men gang aft a-glay."
AD&D: Eye of the Beholder RPG FCI
Adventures of Willy Beamish Adventure Dynamix
Afterburner 3 Flight Sega
AH-3 Thunderstrike Simulation JVC
Android Assault Shooter Big Fun Games
Animals, The Educational Software Toolworks
Batman Returns Action/Driving Sega
Bill Walsh College Football Sports/Football Electronic Arts
Black Hole Assault Arena Bignet
Bram Stoker's Dracula Action Sony Imagesoft
Brutal: Paws of Fury Arena Gametek
Cadillacs and Dinosaurs Driving Rocket Science
Championship Soccer '94 Sports/Soccer Sony Imagesoft
Chuck Rock Action Sony Imagesoft
Chuck Rock 2: Son of Chuck Action Virgin
Cliffhanger Beat 'em Up Sony Imagesoft
Cobra Command Shooting Sega
Comton's Encyclopedia Educational Comptons New Media
Corpse Killer Shooting Digital Pictures
Crime Patrol Shooting American Laser Games
Dark Wizard Strategy Sega
Double Switch Cinematic Sega
Dracula Unleashed Adventure Sega
Dragon's Lair Cinematic Readysoft
Dune Adventure Virgin
Dungeon Master II: Skull Keep RPG JVC
Ecco the Dolphin Adventure Sega
Ecco: The Tides of Time Adventure Sega
ESPN Baseball Tonight Sports/Baseball Sony Imagesoft
ESPN National Hockey Night Sports/Hockey Sony Imagesoft
ESPN Sunday Night NFL Sports/Football Sony Imagesoft
FIFA Internation Soccer Sports/Soccer Electronic Arts
Final Fight CD Beat 'em Up Capcom
Flashback Action Sega
Formula 1 World Championship Driving Sega
Ground Zero, Texas Shooting Sega
Heart of the Alien Action Virgin
Heimdall RPG JVC
Hook Action Sony Imagesoft
Iron Helix Adventure Spectrum Holobyte
Jaguar XJ220 Driving JVC
Jeopardy Puzzle Sony Imagesoft
Joe Montana NFL Football Sports/Football Sega
Jurassic Park Adventure Sega
Kids on Site Creativity Digital Pictures
Lethal Enforcers Shooting Konami
Lethal Enforcers 2: Gunfighters Shooting Konami
Links Sports/Golf Virgin
Loadstar Shooting Rocket Science
Lunar: The Silver Star RPG Working Designs
Mad Dog McCree Shooting American Laser Games
Mad Dog 2: The Lost Gold Shooting American Laser Games
Make my Video: C&C Creativity Sony Imagesoft
Make my Video: INXS Creativity Sony Imagesoft
Make my Video: Kris Kross Creativity Sony Imagesoft
Make my Video: Marky Mark Creativity Sony Imagesoft
Mansion of Hidden Souls Adventure Vic Tokai
Mary Shelly's Frankenstein Adventure Sony Imagesoft
Masked Rider: Kamen Rider Zo Cinematic Sega
MegaRace Driving Software Toolworks
Mickey Mania Action Sony Imagesoft
Microcosm Shooter Psygnosis
Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers Cinematic Sega
Mortal Kombat Arena Arena
My Paint Creativity Saddleback Graphics
NBA Jam Sports/B'ball Acclaim
NFL's Greatest: S.F. vs. Dallas Sports/Football Sega
NHL '94 Sports/Hockey Electronic Arts
Night Trap Cinematic Sega
Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure Action Activision
Powermonger Strategy Electronic Arts
Prime Beat 'em Up Sony Imagesoft
Prince of Persia Action Sega
Prize Fighter Sports/Boxing Sega
Puggsy Action Psygnosis
Racing Aces Simulation Sega
Revenge of the Ninja Cinematic Renovation
Revengers of Vengeance Arena Extreme
Rise of the Dragon Adventure Dynamix
Road Avengers Cinematic Renovation
Robo Aleste Shooter Tengen
Secret of Monkey Island Adventure JVC
Sewer Shark Cinematic Sony Imagesoft
Shadow of the Beast 2 Action Psygnosis
Sherlock Holmes Volume I Adventure Sega
Sherlock Holmes Volume II Adventure Sega
Silpheed Shooter Game Arts
Slam City with Scottie Pippin Sports/B'ball Digital Pictures
Snatcher Adventure Konami
Sonic CD Action Sega
Soulstar Flight Core
Space Ace Cinematic Readysoft
Spiderman vs. the Kingpin Action Sega
Star Wars Chess Chess Software Toolworks
Star Wars: Rebel Assault Shooting JVC
Starblade Shooting Namco
Stellar Fire Driving Dynamix
Supreme Warrior Arena Digital Pictures
Terminator Action Virgin
Third World War Strategy Extreme
Three Ninjas Kick Back Beat 'em Up Sony Imagesoft
Time Gal Cinematic Renovation
Tomcat Alley Shooting Sega
Trivial Pursuit Puzzle Parker Brothers
Vay RPG Working Designs
Who Shot Johnny Rock Shooting American Laser Games
Wing Commander Simulation Electronic Arts
Wolfchild Action JVC
Wonder Dog Action JVC
World Cup USA '94 Sports/Soccer US Gold
WWF Rage in the Cage Sports/Wrestle Acclaim
***
For the record I define the main genres in this way:
Action - pretty much any sort of action or platform game where a character
runs from left to right, jumping, shooting or whatever.
Example: Sonic CD, Chuck Rock, and Wonder Dog
Adventure - A game in which you lead a single character, solving puzzles.
Usually does not include combat.
Examples: Rise of the Dragon, Snatcher, and Jurassic Park
Arena - A fighting game in which the soul purpose is to beat the stuffing
out of another character. Focus is on moves.
Examples: Mortal Kombat and Brutal: Paws of Fury
Beat 'em Up - A fighting game in which the soul purpose is beating the
stuffing out of a lot of bad guys at once.
Examples: Final Fight CD and Cliffhanger
Cinematic - A game that uses Full Motion Video in such a way that you must
react to the video sequences displayed. Decision making.
Examples: Night Trap, Road Avengers, and Dragon's Lair
Creativity - A game based on creating or being creative.
Examples: My Paint, Make my Video
Driving - A game in which you drive a vehicle of some sort.
Examples: Jaguar XJ220 and Stellar Fire
Educational - Learning stuff
Examples: Compton's Encyclopedia and The Animals
Flight - A game in which you fly a vehicle (usually from behind) and shoot
at things. The difference between this and a shooter is that this
sort of games puts you IN the craft. The difference between this
and a simulation is that this type of game usually doesn't have
a "real" world to fly in.
Examples: Afterburner and SoulStar
Puzzle - A game in which you solve puzzles of various types.
Example: Jeopardy and Trivial Pursuit
RPG - A game in which you control a single or group of characters around,
primarily fighting creatures, controlling inventory, and solving
puzzles - usually very little of the later.
Examples: Lunar, Eye of the Beholder, and Heimdall
Shooter - A game in which you fly a craft or thing up the screen or across
the screen, shooting at things that (hopefully) are shooting
back.
Examples: Android Assault and Robo Aleste
Shooting - A game in which you are the crosshairs. You shoot at things
coming toward you either with the control pad or a light-gun.
Examples: Lethal Enforcers, Tomcat Alley, & Ground Zero, Texas
Simulation - Problematic category. But I've defined it as a game that
places a vehicle into a 3D world and lets you have free run.
Example: Wing Commander
Sports - Pretty simple - I've broken it up into the various sports.
Examples: NHL '94 and FIFA Soccer
Strategy - A game where you manage or control something in effort to
attain some sort of goal. Wargames and such included.
Examples: Powermonger and Dark Wizard
**********************************************************************
IMPORTANT NOTICE!
=================
STReport International OnLine Magazine is available every week for your
reading pleasure on DELPHI. STReport's readers are invited to join DELPHI
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computer users there.
SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI
======================
Using a personal computer and modem, members worldwide access
DELPHI services via a local phone call
JOIN --DELPHI
--------------
Via modem, dial up DELPHI at 1-800-695-4002
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20 Hours for Only $20!
-----------------------------
Advantage Members have always enjoyed the lowest DELPHI access rates
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is only $1.80 per hour.
20/20 Advantage rates apply for access via SprintNet or Tymnet from within
the continental United States during home time or via direct dial around
the clock. Home Time is from 6pm to 6am weekdays. Access during business
time carries a surcharge of $9 per hour. These rates apply for most
services, but note that there are some surcharged areas on DELPHI which
are clearly marked with a "$" sign.
Who is eligible to take advantage of the plan? Any DELPHI member in good
standing. Applications are reviewed and subject to approval by Delphi
Internet Services Corporation.
It's easy to join. If you meet the eligibility requirements, you can apply
OnLine -- at any time -- for membership in the DELPHI 20/20 Advantage
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The $20 charge will be billed to you at the beginning of the month to
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TRY DELPHI FOR $1 AN HOUR!
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where you can use up to 4 weekend and evening hours a month for a minimum
$10 monthly charge, with additional hours available at $3.96. But hurry,
this special trial offer will expire soon! To take advantage of this
limited offer, use your modem to dial 1-800-365-4636. Press <RET> once or
twice. When you get the Password: prompt, type IP26 and press <RET> again.
Then, just answer the questions and within a day or two, you'll officially
be a member of DELPHI!
DELPHI-It's the BEST Value and getting BETTER all the time!
************************************************************
ATARI/JAG SECTION (III)
=======================
Dana Jacobson, Editor
> From the Atari Editor's Desk "Saying it like it is!"
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Last week, the flood waters let loose on the onlines with regard
to the decision by Unisys to enforce its patent on the LZW compression
routine and start licensing developers who incorporated it into their
software and hardware. These "waters" caused about as much discourse
as the real ones in California these past few days, if you'll pardon
the analogy.
At first glance, it appeared that there was some sort of online
conspiracy between Compuserve and Unisys, since Compuserve was the
first to be affected. However, after a few days of messages had
passed, it appears that Compuserve is just as much a "victim" as the
rest of those entities who use the GIF format, for example.
It appears that Unisys is the "bad guy" in all of this, but in
STReport editor's eyes, not totally so. Afterall, Unisys has the
right to enforce one of their patents. One can not blame them for
wanting to make a profit from their work. However, myself and the other
STR editors agree the fault is with with Unisys' timing of all this.
The GIF format has been a graphics standard for a number of years.
There has never been an outcry by anyone, to the best of my knowledge,
that claimed anyone using this format was infringing on a patent. GIF
has been freely and widely distributed, by many developers, in various
uses. Why, after seven or so years, is Unisys "suddenly" crying
"FOUL"!! I could understand if Unisys was doubling efforts to enforce
a patent that they've been enforcing all along, but this is simply not
the case.
I realize that the company is attempting to do all of this in a
manner that's equitable, but I'm not sure if that can be accomplished.
I do see many developers either removing LZH formats from their
programs; or maintaining them and likely to increase software costs and
pass this increase on to their customers. What it will likely boil
down to is the creation of a new graphics standard, perhaps a 24-bit
GIF95 format, which will be beneficial in many ways.
If there is any good news to come out of all of this, these
licensing fees and royalties, etc. will not affect freeware software.
It will also not affect products generated by programs using the LZW
format. On a personal note, this certainly alleviates a number of
fears that I had as a bulletin board operator. Some of the things that
I'll likely have to remove will be shareware programs, as these are
"for profit". Examples of such programs would be GemView, Speed of
Light, PhotoChrome, and others.
Who knows where all of this will eventually lead. I'm sure that
there's more info available elsewhere in this week's issue; and as more
is learned in the future, we'll pass it along to you.
Well, I've probably gone on about this more than I had planned,
but when I get rolling...
Joe Mirando is back in "review mode" this week with his long-
awaited piece on Gribnif Software's "Geneva". The Winter CES has been
the main focus in the market recently, so computing news from an Atari
standpoint has been quiet. Let's get to it!
Until next time...
___________________________________
Delphi's Atari Advantage!
TOP TEN DOWNLOADS (1/11/95)
(1) MAXIVEWR IMAGE VIEWER *(6) TEXTBOOK 1.01
*(2) CD-ROM LIST *(7) ESS-CODE 6.3
(3) CRACK ART V. 1.36 *(8) STENO V.2.00 TO 2.10 UPGRADE
(4) STALKER 3.02 TO 3.03 UPGRADE *(9) MASTERBROWSE 4.9 DEMO
*(5) ICD ADSCSI ST SOFTWARE *(10) DATA'S FIRST CHRISTMAS
* = New on list
HONORARY TOP 10
The following on-line magazines are always top downloads, frequently
out-performing every other file in the databases.
STREPORT (Current issue: STREPORT 11.01) [Weekly]
ATARI EXPLORER ONLINE (Current issue: AEO: VOLUME 3, ISSUE 14)
Look for the above files in the RECENT ARRIVALS database.
__________________________________________
> Geneva! STR Review!
"""""""""""""""""""
Geneva
Review by Joe Mirando
Back in the days of the Atari ST's childhood, there was another
kid on the block that used Motorola's 68000 microprocessor: the
Commodore Amiga.
While the processors were the same, that was about where the
similarity ended. While the ST had a much more solid, stable operating
system and a faster operating speed, the Amiga had the ability to run
more than one program at a time. This ability was termed multi-tasking.
In the eyes of many, this single feature made the Amiga a more desirable
machine. It didn't seem to matter that multi-tasking made the Amiga
much slower than it could have been, or that system crashes and lockups
could happen at an alarming rate. Folks still "ooh"ed and "aah"ed at
the ability to format a floppy disk while using a word processing
program.
Practical multi-tasking for DOS and Macintosh users was still off
on the horizon, awaiting the next generation of Intel processor (for
DOS machines) and the next revision of their operating system (both DOS
and Macintosh) when the Amiga made its splash, so many users opted for
the slower, less intuitive, more belligerent Amiga.
While DOS and Macintosh users finally got their multi-tasking
systems with the advent of more capable Intel chips and re-worked
operating systems, the tried and true Atari ST sat quietly in the
background, awaiting this wondrous ability.
Atari introduced, along with the FALCON030, its own multi-tasking
system: MultiTOS. Based on Mint (Mint Is Not TOS), Although MultiTos
slowed down even the most basic operations and was not compatible with
programs that automatically acquired all available memory,it did provide
the long awaited ability to multi-task programs. The key, said Atari,
is "Memory Protection", which is not available using Motorola processors
below the 68030. That left most ST users out in the cold... or so we
thought.
Dan Wilga of Gribnif Software (the NeoDesk folks) realized that
memory protection was only effective after the fact. In other words,
all that memory protection could do for you was to tell you that one
program had grabbed memory that was being used by another program.
With that, Dan set out to create a superior multi-tasking
environment for the Atari ST, STe, TT, and Falcon. Code-named MAGIC,
the program grew from being able to load and un-load desk accessories
to taking complete control of the Atari's AES (Application Environment
Services). This not only provided for loading and un-loading of
Accessories, but also for running as many programs simultaneously as
memory would allow.
After the Beta testing phase of development, MAGIC was renamed
Geneva. The name was chosen because Geneva is thought of as a place
where separate entities can meet, in peace, to work out differences.
Let's take a look at what Geneva offers. Although it is not our
intention to show every facet of Geneva's operation, it will give you a
good idea of Geneva's abilities.
When Geneva is installed, the first thing that a user will notice
is a "blank" desktop. There are no icons for drives or for the trash
can, and the only options on the menu bar are "Geneva", "File", and
"Options". The available options under these titles is just as spartan.
Beneath the "Geneva" title is where you will find any installed
Desk Accessories, just as in the ST's native desktop. But between the
obligatory "About Geneva..." option (this displays information about
Geneva, the serial number, and registered user's name) and the names of
the installed desk accessories is an new listing. This is where any
programs installed in memory are listed. There is a checkmark next to
whichever program is topmost, and any inactive programs are listed here
in italics.
The "File" menu consists of only two items; "Open" and "Quit
Geneva". While this may seem inadequate when compared to the native
desktop's slew of options, selecting "Open" provides access to Geneva's
own item selector which provides all of the options of the native
desktop's "File" menu and provides many others.
Upon selecting "Open", you are presented with the Geneva File
Selector. The first difference one will notice is that there are two
"windows" within the selector (if the file selector is so configured).
The left-most window is a listing of available folders, or
sub-directories, on the selected drive. To its right is a list of
files within the current directory/sub-directory. Sound confusing?
Well, its actually more effective than the ST's normal way of showing
folders and files in the same window. To the left of the "Folders"
window is a vertical bar that lists all available drives. Clicking on
a drive letter switches to that drive.
At the top of the Item Selector is a box labeled "Path". Geneva
allows you to save up to ten pre-selected paths and call them from
within the File Selector by using the function keys. If you find
yourself going to only a few paths when running programs or manipulating
files, this can be quite useful.
Next to the "Paths" box, is the file mask. Anyone who has used
Atari's File Selector, Little Green Football's Little Green File
Selector, or A & D's Universal Item Selector is familiar with search
masks. The mask is composed of a Drive letter, any sub-directories,
and, using wildcards, the file name. Gribnif added a twist however,
by allowing multiple masks. In this manner, you can list files with
several different extensions. For instance, you could show all files
in the root directory of drive C that end in either PRG, TOS, TTP, or
ACC by modifying the mask to read: C:\*.{PRG,TOS,TTP,ACC}. You could
also modify it to show all DEGAS picture files for all resolutions in
a sub-directory of drive G called PIX by modifying the mask to read:
G:\PIX\*.P[IC][1-3]. This tells the Item Selector to show all files
whose extension begins with P, has either I or C as the second letter,
and has a 1, 2, or 3 at the end. This is quite a powerful option to
have at your disposal when searching for files with different names or
extensions.
Below the "Path" and Search Mask are several selectable options
which are as follows: "1/2 Col", which allows you to change between
the Geneva "two window" display and the more familiar "one window"
standard. Next is "Update" which tells the computer to look at the
disk directory again in case of a "media change". Then come the "Sort"
options, Name, Size, Date, Type, and None. The last sort option is
available only in one column mode.
Next in line is the "Tools" option which allows you to view
information about the current drive, folder, or file, find a file on
the current drive by using a search mask, copy, move, or delete a file
or folder, create a folder, and check free space on the current drive.
After "Tools" comes "Ext", which allows you to pick one or more
definable extensions to include in the search mask.
Below the "Folders" column of the Item Selector you can find, at a
glance, the number of files in the current directory and the number of
bytes used.
In addition to these features and the usual "OK" and "Cancel"
buttons, is a "Help" button that calls Geneva's Help Viewer. This is a
Hyper-Text type of file reader that allows you to search for information
on all facets of using Geneva. Words and phrases related to the
current topic for which there is also help available are underlined.
The user can "jump" to these topics by double-clicking on the
underlined word or phrase. There is also a "Find" option and an index
to aid in the search. The user also has the ability to set the font
(if GDOS is in use) and its size. The Help Viewer also has the ability
to display other help files, which can be composed using a utility
included on the Geneva disk. The Help Viewer can also be called by
pressing the keyboard Help key.
The other "File" option, "Quit Geneva", should only be used as a
last resort since, because of the way Geneva loads into the computer,
it will cause the computer to lock up in most cases.
The "Options" menu, like the "File" menu, contains only two
options; "ASCII Table" and "Help". "ASCII Table" contains a list of
all available ASCII characters which can be entered into an application
simply by mouse-clicking on them. The "Help" option is yet another way
of calling the Help Viewer.
Before we get to the actual loading and un-loading of programs and
accessories, there is one more "goodie" we should look at: Geneva's
Task Manager Accessory.
TASKMAN.ACC can be loaded as any other accessory is: by putting
it and its resource file in the root directory of the computer's boot
drive. This is the preferable method of installation because, as we
shall see, TASKMAN has the ability to control many of Geneva's options
for making programs "behave".
Opening the Task Manager shows a list of all programs and desk
accessories currently in memory. Accessories are differentiated from
programs by a small circle that appears to the left of the accessory
name. Programs and Accessories can be accessed from the Task Manager
just as they can be from the Desktop menu. Above the list of
memory-resident files are two menu options: "File" and "Options".
"File" allows you to open (load and run) a program or accessory
just as from Geneva's Menu Bar, set "flags" for programs, put a program
or accessory "to sleep", terminate either type of executable, or quit
(close) the Task Manager. We'll look at some of the "Flag" options in
a moment, but let's look at the "Options" menu first.
The "Options" menu lets you assign your own keyboard equivalents
for manipulating windows (like growing/shrinking windows, scrolling,
switching programs, and putting applications to sleep), setting border
widths for window scroll and title bars, text effects (3-D buttons,
text size, etc.), whether to use "drop-down" or "pull-down" menus,
tear-away menus (You can display a menu inside of a window for easier
access), whether or not alert boxes will appear in the center of the
screen or wherever the mouse is, and whether or not to alert you when
a "single-tasking" program is run (this reminds you that any other
programs in memory will go to sleep and wait until the single-tasking
program is finished).
The "Options" menu also allows you to set the video mode (options
are limited to resolutions that your monitor is capable of). You can
also use this menu to save or re-load Geneva's settings.
Okay, as promised, let's get back to the Task Manager's "File"
menu. Aside from the "Open" and "Quit" options (which are
self-explanatory), there are also the "Asleep" and "Terminate" options
which will either make a program or accessory inactive while remaining
in memory, or end the program and remove it from memory. These also
are self-explanatory.
With the "Flags" option you can not only set general defaults for
Geneva, but also for any program that doesn't happen to like any of
Geneva's special abilities.
Upon opening the "Flags" menu, you are presented with a list of
options. First is the ability to edit flags for either Geneva itself
(default) or another program. If the program you are editing flags for
is not already listed, you can enter the full name of the program. If
the program is already listed (Geneva comes with a large assortment of
flags for popular programs) and you wish to change any of the flags for
some reason, you can simply toggle the option on or off (most of the
flags provide only two choices: On or Off).
"Multitask" allows you to set a program to Multitask or to put all
other programs to sleep when it is running. "Limit window handles",
when enabled, will allow only seven windows to be open at a time. This
is because some older programs will only recognize windows numbered from
one to seven. If a program exhibits problems with accessing windows,
this option should be enabled.
"Limit memory to _____ Kb" allows you to limit the amount of memory
that a program can "grab" when it is run. Some programs, such as the
original "Flash!" terminal program, expect to be the only program in
memory and try to take all of the available memory for their own use.
Using a combination of this option and "Multitask" almost any program
can be run under Geneva.
"Clear allocated memory" will clear any memory that a program has
requested from the system by the program after it was run. Some
programs take for granted that this will automatically be done, since
multitasking was not envisioned for the ST until recently.
"Windows off left edge" is an interesting option. It allows windows
to be "pulled" or "pushed" off of the left edge of the screen. You have
always been able to move windows off the right side and bottom of the
screen, but the ST wouldn't allow you to move a window past the top or
left edge of the screen. Most of us now take that for granted, but with
a multitasking environment, the desktop can get crowded fast. It's nice
to be able to have an extra side to move windows past.
"Maximize window areas" will give you the most area possible by not
showing unused window "gadgets".
"Redraw upon exiting" will ensure that all open windows will be
redrawn when you exit from a program. This is necessary because many
programs simply assume that when they quit, the desktop will take over
and redraw the screen. That's all well and good until you want to
multitask. Some programs will leave all kinds of artifacts in open
windows simply because the screen was not redrawn when it exited.
"Special object types", allows you to turn Geneva's special window
gadgets off with programs that don't react properly with them or supply
their own special gadgets.
"Rounded buttons" lets you tell Geneva not to use its special
rounded buttons with programs that just don't look right with them
(hey, esthetics count too <smile>).
"Automatic keyboard equivs" tells Geneva whether or not to draw
lines under certain letters in option buttons inside of dialog boxes.
When a program passes a dialog to Geneva, it will allow keyboard
combinations for exit options. These equivalents are normally accessed
by holding the Alternate key and pressing the first letter or number in
the option you wish to use. To make this easier, Geneva normally
underlines the appropriate letter or number for each option. Some
dialogs look strange when allowing these lines, so Geneva gives you
the option to disable it.
"Undraw auto keyboard equivs", when selected, tells Geneva to
undraw the aforementioned lines when a program regains control after
Geneva displays the dialog box. Having this option set to "off" is
faster, but can sometimes make a dialog box button look as though it
has more than one keyboard equivalent.
"Keep menu bar/desktop" tells Geneva whether or not to take control
of the desktop when an active program turns off the menu bar. Some
programs do this at various times. Since Geneva normally takes this to
mean that it can look for another program to "top", the program that
turned off its menu bar gets sent to the back. This can be annoying at
the very least.
"AES 4.0 extended messages" tells Geneva whether or not to allow a
program to receive any of the messages Atari added to version 4.0 of the
AES (Application Environment Services). Some programs use the new
message numbers for completely different things, or act unpredictably
when one is received.
Also available in the "Flags" menu are a help button, which brings
up Geneva's help viewer, a "New" button, which you use to set flags for
a program not already included, the usual "Ok" and "Cancel" buttons,
and a "Keys..." button. The "Keys..." button allows you to set to do
things such as call a program (as long as it is in memory already), Set
reserved keys. These are keys that the program uses for its own
functions. When you press a reserved key, Geneva does not react to it,
but sends it through to the program.
With all of the options mentioned above, it's no wonder that Geneva
is much more compatible with early programs that Atari's MultiTos is.
The truly amazing part is that Geneva is also much faster than MultiTos.
Under normal circumstances, Geneva takes up less than five percent of
the computer's processor speed. While this slight slowdown is usually
not noticeable, it can show itself in processor-intense applications.
Geneva also breaks the "six desk accessory limit". Using Geneva,
you can load as many accessories as memory will allow. Accessories can
also be loaded and un-loaded at any time... not just at boot-up. By
telling Geneva that "ACX" is a valid extension, you can go straight to
your list of inactive accessories and run one from the desktop. While
there are some accessories that don't like loading at any time other
than boot-up, I have found that most behave well when loaded from the
desktop.
As a slight divergence from the subject, anyone with Geneva and/or
NeoDesk4 should seriously consider getting a copy of Al Fasoldt's
"Secrets of Geneva" and/or "Secrets of NeoDesk 4". Al has painstakingly
explained the workings of these programs and has included many useful
hints and tips to make using them even easier. Both files can be found
on most online services and BBS's that support Atari computers or local
Users Groups. The files may be freely distributed providing they remain
intact.
As stated earlier, Geneva provides no desktop icons or windows of
its own. Although Geneva makes these thing unnecessary for most
operations, it can be used in conjunction with NeoDesk 3.04 and higher
to provide all of the functions that Atari ST/Ste/TT/Falcon users have
come to expect. The combination of the two provides a powerful,
manageable, easy to use environment without taking up inordinate
portions of time and memory.
Geneva rates as one of the most helpful and usable programs in the
Atari world, and is well worth consideration.
__________________________________________
JAGUAR SECTION
==============
Atari WCES Announcements!
Reviews:
--------
Iron Soldier and Kasumi Ninja!
Iron Soldier Hidden Tips! And More!
> From the Editor's Controller - Playin' it like it is!
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
Well, the WCES is over. Atari was there in all of its Jaguar
glory, by all accounts that I've seen. However, I'm not sure that
there was a whole lot of new information available to portray this show
as a terrific plus for Atari and the Jaguar.
Sure, there were plenty of announcements early on during the show
(see below), but not a real lot of things we weren't already aware. I
still see Atari's Sam Tramiel making available game predictions, after
the dismal ones he made prior to the holidays! I wish that he wouldn't
continue to do that!
Release of the CD-player is still up in the air after promises of
last October, November, late-December, and early January. The latest
date being bantered about is sometime during the second quarter. I
understand why there is a delay - Atari is waiting to have some games
released for the hardware before coming out with it. But please, make
a definitive statement and stick with it!. These projections are
killing everybody!
With over 200 developers signed, you would think that there would
be more than 17 games available for the Jaguar right now. Are there
that many developers taking a "wait and see" attitude? No one can
afford to wait too long - the patience is wearing thin for many. In
Thursday's USA Today, a brief note regarding Atari's presence at the
WCES was deafening: "Atari's 32-bit [yes, it misstated this!] Jaguar
cartridge system has good games coming, but it may be too little, too
late. The price dropped $50 to $199; a CD add-on is due soon." In
another blurb elsewhere on the page was the following: "Atari. The top
title is the arcade hit Primal Rage (Time-Warner, November); it's also
due this fall for other systems."
It's been stated before, and will be many times again - Atari has
to get quality games out, in numbers, soon. The faithful are losing
faith with each new delay while watching as new systems are beginning
to get a foothold. Atari also needs to evaluate its regional
penetration and spread out more, with more product. I've also noticed
that television advertising has ceased since the holidays, or been
reduced drastically. I can't recall seeing a television ad in the past
few weeks, while before the holidays it was amazing to see so many of
them!
There are no more excuses in the forseeable future. The holidays
are over. The Winter CES is over. It's time to get back on track and
do all that is humanly possible to get Jaguars out in numbers. It's
time to get the games finished and out. Other hardware? The CD-player
and voice modem are being anxiously awaite