News - Apr.90 - Jul.90
From: Atari SIG (xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 02/27/94-03:16:49 PM Z
From: xx004@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Atari SIG)
Subject: News - Apr.90 - Jul.90
Date: Sun Feb 27 15:16:49 1994
Time Capsule - News - Apr.90 - Jul.90
-------------------------------------
News Subject Title Date Posted
------------------ -----------
Diamond Back II May.03,1990
ATARI TAKING ON NINTENDO May.10,1990
FIRM'S FORTUNES HAVE SWUNG UP AND DOWN May.10,1990
Quick ST 2.1 News May.27,1990
Summer CES and Atari Jun.05,1990
Summer CES and Atari: Another View Jun.10,1990
WordPerfect News Jun.14,1990
Re: WordPerfect News Jul.02,1990
32 Mhz TT? Jul.15,1990
--------------------------------------
Article #217 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Kevin Steele)
Subject: Diamond Back II
Date: Thu May 3 09:51:37 1990
Announcing.............
Diamond Back II
-----------------
Now with Diamond Cache!!
----------------------------
DIAMOND BACK II provides a TRUE file backup at image backup speeds with more
power and flexibility then all of the rest combined. Here are just a few of
the features packed into DIAMOND BACK II and Diamond Cache:
EASY to use 100% GEM user interface with online help - Backup/Restore ANY
number of drive partitions, directory paths, single directories, or speficic
files in a single pass - Flexible creation of backup sets from different
paths or partitions - Wildcard masks to include or exclude files may be
different for each path - Incremental backups by date/time or archive
bit(TOS 1.4) - Load/Save custom backup configurations - Automatic drive
switching - Full or Partial restore - Recreate original directory tree or
specify new structure during restore - Flexible disk formating options -
Preformatted disks do not have to be the same type - File compression and
encryption available - Disk usage estimation - Disk statistics - Backup to
floppies of other partitions - Intelligent Image backup option - Backup and
Restore Spectre partitions - Create file listings during the backup or from
floppy disks or selected paths - Create CRC validation logs from Hard Disk or
Floppy files and MUCH MUCH MORE!!!
DIAMOND BACK II is FAST and now even FASTER with DIAMOND CACHE! The fastest
most powerful disk caching program available for the Atari ST. Custom
communication links between Diamond Back II and Diamond Cache make backups
and restores FLY even faster than they did before!
DIAMOND CACHE is fully user configurable with a easy to use GEM
configuration/cache statistics program. Sophisticated Artificial Intellegence
routines make Diamond Cache the fastest cache period! It even includes a
flexible print spooler that uses cache buffers to save precious ram!
Of course, all of Data Innovations Diamond products fully support
TOS 1.4 extended partitions.
DIAMOND BACK II and DIAMOND CACHE provide more POWER, SPEED, and FLEXIBLITY
than any other backup system for the Atari ST/Mega/TT. Go to your local dealer a
nd ask for
Diamond Back II TODAY. Remember, buy Diamonds
The others are just CARBON!
Diamond Back II with Diamond Cache retails for $59.95
Diamond Cache is also available seperately for $29.95
Current owners of Diamond Back may upgrade to Diamond Back II with Diamond
Cache by sending your original disk and $10 ($15 if you also want a new
manual) to:
Data Innovations, Inc.
127 N. Front Street
Rising Sun, IN 47040
(812) 438-3733
Reviewers comments on Diamond Back I :
"DIAMOND BACK is a very powerful, flexible program...excellent manual...
highly recommended" David Plotkin - STart Jan 1990
"The overall winner has got to be DIAMOND BACK.. it creates GEM compatible
disks at image backup speeds...this is the one I use and I use it alot.
It's dependable!" LeRoy Valley & Ron Robinson ST Informer Nov 1989
"If you own a hard drive... then RUN, don't walk, to your nearest dealer
and ask him to order Diamond Back!" Victor T. Albino ST World Oct 1989
Here's a few of the features new in Diamond Back II :
Spectre Partition Backup/Restore:
Full support for backing up and restoring Spectre partitions!!
Specify which partitions to backup/restore by their Mac names.
Use preformated GEM disks or format on the fly. Very Fast!
File Backup:
Backup to hard disk partition: Select any number of paths and
masks from different partitions(just as if you were backing up
to floppy) and back them up to a specified partition. If a file
already exists on the destination partition you will be asked
if you want to overwrite it.
Append incremental backups to last disk in a previous backup
saveset. Saves disks, no longer have to use a new disk to
start an incremental backup.
Date incremental backups can now be specified by date AND time.
Addition of wildcard masks to Exclude files from the backup.
Unlimited number of specific backup paths. Each backup path
may now have an unlimited number of include and exclude wildcard
masks. As before, all of the include and exclude masks can be
different for each path.
Wildcard masks have been expanded from ? and * to include full
UNIX style [abc],[a-k],and [!abc] masks. [abc] means include
every file with a a,b,or c in that position, [a-k] means include
every file with any of the letters a through k in that position.
and [!abc] means include every file Except those with a,b,or c
in that position.
Example: *.[ch] backs up all files *.c and *.h
A best fit algorithm has implemented when No Split is selected
to optimally fill a backup disk without splitting any files.
MS-DOS compatible boot sector is now written to all backup disks
(even preformatted ones) so backup disks can be taken as is
and read by MS-DOS machines.
82 track format support has been added.
User option to clear archive bit or have it remain unchanged.
New Disk utilities options include:
Esitmate Disk Requirements. Based on the currently selected
backup paths and backup options, a precise estimate of the
number of disks required to complete the backup will be given.
Disk Statistics: Everything you ever wanted to know about
all your disk drives(and probably some that you don't)
including partitioning information and free disk space.
Browse Directories: Access to the Gem File selector has been
added just to look around.
Create validation file: This is a historical information
file containing all file atributes(name, date, time, size,
attribute flags) and a CRC. Validation files may be built
from the currently selected backup paths or from floppies.
You may append new files to existing validation files.
Validate Files: This function uses a specified Diamond Back
validation file as reference. Files from the currently
selected backup paths or from floppies may be validated.
The files are read in and a CRC is performed. The CRC and
file attributes compared with information contained in the
validation file to protect against corrupted files. If a
file is not found in the validation file, you are given the
option of adding it.
Build File List: You may build a file Diamond Back file list
from a set of floppies or from the currently selected backup
paths. This is independent of the file list you may choose
to create during a backup.
File Restore:
100-200% speed increase on restore when using Diamond Cache.
Restore from hard disk. Used when you backup to a hard disk
partition using compression or encryption.
From the restore menu you may tell Diamond Back to overwrite,
skip, or ask you when a restore file already exists on the
hard drive.
File dates are correctly restored for all TOS versions.
Image Backup/Restore:
Intellegent and easy to use image backup system.
Only backs up the sectors that contain data. If you have
5 meg on an 16 meg partition, you only use 5 meg worth of disks.
Restore partition images to different size partitions!
Both larger and smaller!
And Diamond Cache.........
DIAMOND BACK II and DIAMOND CACHE provide more POWER, SPEED, and FLEXIBLITY
than any other backup system for the Atari ST/Mega/TT. Go to your local dealer
and ask for Diamond Back II TODAY. Remember, buy Diamonds
The others are just CARBON!
--
Article #218 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Len Stys)
Subject: ATARI TAKING ON NINTENDO
Date: Thu May 10 18:35:12 1990
(Reprinted from the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, May 8, 1990)
LOS ANGELES TIMES
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Atari Corp. President Sam Tramiel is not one to shy
away from a fight, but taking on powerhouse Nintendo of America in the
fledging market for hand-held video games may be like an 80-pound kid
trying to knock out a heavyweight champ.
Many observers say Atari, primary a seller of computers overseas, is
foolish to go up against the Nintendo juggernaut. On the strength of its
Nintendo Entertainment System, found in 20% of all U.S. homes, Nintendo has won
an estimated 80% of the home game market, bashing home based system of
Atari and Sega. Atari's main entry to the hand-held category is selling at
double the price of the comparable Nintendo model.
But despite the long odds, Tramiel is determined to slug it out. His
strategy for winning will be to tout the superior graphics, color display
and multiplayer capability of his company's Lynx portable system.
The stakes are high. For 1990, the U.S. home video game market will be
worth an estimated $5.1 billion. Atari, trying to bounce back from an
ill-fated venture into consumer electronics retailing, can scarcely
afford another financial setback.
Sparring with rivals comes naturally to Tramiel, son of Atari
Chairman Jack Tramiel, a scrappy fixture in the computer industry.
The Tramiels - including Sam's brother Garry and Leonard, both Atari
vice presidents - are pinning their hopes for a hefty share of future sales
=n Lynx, which barely made it to market in time to compete for holiday business
last year with Nintendo's Game Boy. Such battery-operated portable systems
run on small game cartridges plugged into machines a bit larger than a Sony
Walkman.
Hampered by what Sam Tramiel called "logistical" problems and
"under-ordering" by some retailers. Atari is attempting to speed production
and to bring out more game titles.
As it was, Atari had only enough supply late last year for the New York
City and Tokyo markets, where Lynx's color display and superior graphics did
indeed lure many customers away from the Game Boy. That was despite a
selling price for Lynx hardware of $179.99 compared with Game Boy's $75 to
$90.
Since then, Atari has rolled out the product to New Jersey, Califonia,
the Chicago area and several overseas markets, although shipments frequently
are weeks late. By the end of May, Tramiel said, the company expects Lynx
to be available nationally in about 1,500 outlets. Game Boy, meanwhile, is
in 15,000.
Nintendo of America, the Redmond, Wash., subsidary of Nintendo Co. of
Japan, projects $950 million in 1990 sales for its Game Boy product,
introduced in mid-1989. Sam Tramiel calls $200 million an "optimistic" but
attainable number for Atari's Lynx system this year.
In February 1989, Atari filed a $250 million suit against its huge
rival, alleging that it violated antitrust laws by preventing designers
of software for its game consoles from selling their wares to makers of other
systems. Nintendo has called the suit "meritless."
As with all video games, Sam Tramiel said, software is crucial to
Lynx's success. Blessed with more plentiful games and a lower price, Game
Boy has zapped Lynx in terms of number of units sold.
Tramiel pointed out that more than two dozen programmers worldwide are
working full tilt to produce games. Even so, Atari projects it willhave
only 25 titles available by yearend, compared with as many as 70 for Game
Boy.
--
Article #219 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aa399@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Len Stys)
Subject: FIRM'S FORTUNES HAVE SWUNG UP AND DOWN
Date: Thu May 10 18:36:16 1990
FIRM'S FORTUNES HAVE SWUNG UP AND DOWN
(Reprinted from the CLEVELAND PLAIN DEALER, May 8, 1990)
LOS ANGELES TIMES
SUNNYVALE, Calif. - Atari's fortunes weren't always so modest.
Founded in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell, the creater of the Pong arcade video
game, Atari Inc. was sold to Warner Communications in 1976 and became a
leader in the booming video game business, achieving $2 billion in
annual sales.
But in 1982, the industry header into a steep decline as Americans began
defecting to videocassette recorders and other entertainment gear.
high-flying Atari suddenly was mired in red ink.
In 1985, Jack Tramiel saw an opportunity. Years before, he had
parlayed a one-time typewriter repair shop into Commodore International,
which became one of the hottest computer companies around.
While at Commodore, Tramiel slashed prices and squeezed competitors
such as Coleco and Timex out of the home computer market. Computer dealers
complained that Tramiel's price-cutting and penchant for marketing through mass
merchants such as K mart and Toys R Us made it impossible for them to make a
profit.
When Atari went on the block, Tramiel had just emerged the loser from
a power struggle with a prominent Commodore shareholder.
He and a group of investors paid $240 million in notes for Atari's home
video game and personal computer division, with Tramiel staking an
estimated $45 million of his personal fortune on Atari.
(When Warner sold Atari, it was spit into two independent companies.
The other entity is privately held Atari Games, which produces arcade
games and develops software for among other equipment, Nintendo Entertainment
Systems.)
A though executive who is fond of saying that "business is war." Tramiel
slashed the Atari work force to fewer than 200 from 2,000.
Tramiel's hard-driving strategies seemed to pay off. Profits climbed,
and defying skeptical industry analysts, Atari went public in November
1986. The Tramiel family holds about 52% of the stock and Time Warner owns
22%, according to Sam Tramiel.
Yet Tramiel's treatment of computer dealers apparently haunted
him. Atari had well-regarded computers but few places to sell them.
The situation prompted a mistake. In August 1987, seeking a quick way to
expand distribution, Atari paid $67.3 million for the struggling Federated
Group consumer electronics chain of 67 stores.
Troubles soon escalated. A year after purchase, Atari sued several
former Federated officers and investment advisers, alleging that they
had overstated the company's assets, causing Atari to overpay for the chain.
The suit is still pending.
Since then, Atari has sold the Southern California Federated stores
and has begun treating Federated Group as a discontinued operation, even
though a handful of stores remain open in Texas, Atari took a $100 million hit
against 1988 earnings for write-offs of merchandise, stores and reserves for
future losses from the chain.
As a result, Atari showed a loss of nearly $85 million, contrasted with
a profit of $57 million in 1987.
For 1989, Atari reported a profit of $4 million on sales of $424 million.
--
Article #220 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Kevin Steele)
Subject: Quick ST 2.1 News
Date: Sun May 27 17:25:08 1990
Quick ST 2.1 and Quick ST 2.1G
==============================
Price: $19.95 US, $22.95 Cnd, some dealers may sell for less.
By Darek Mihocka. Copyright (C) 1990 Branch Always Software.
Release date: May 25, 1990.
Branch Always Software
Box 2624, Station B \
Kitchener, Ontario - new address this summer!
Canada N2H 6N2 /
Compuserve: 73657,2714
GEnie: DAREKM
Quick ST 2.1 is the latest upgrade to the Quick ST II screen accelerator.
The utility has only one purpose in life, and that is to make your ST
run as fast as possible without requiring any hardware modifications.
This is done by replacing those parts of TOS that draw text and graphics
to the screen with machine language code that is many times faster. The
result is that most text and GEM based programs run noticably faster.
Some screen drawing functions are made so efficient with Quick ST, that
they are even faster than on a hardware accelerated ST, or even a TT!
So after investing $1000 or more in your ST system doesn't it make sense
to invest another $20 to exploit the full power of the 68000 chip?
Features
--------
Quick ST 2.1 is functionally identical to Quick ST 2.0, providing such
features as:
- acceleration of GEM text, window updates, zoom boxes, rectangle fills,
and other VDI functions of GEM
- acceleration of VT52 text output and scrolling
- support of custom desktop backgrounds and fonts
- built-in Moniterm and Overscan support
It is fully compatible with the Desktop Customizer program (that comes
bundled with Quick ST 2.0) for editing the desktop background.
Quick ST 2.0 has received some great reviews and praise after less than
3 months on the market. Just read through any recent ST magazine. But
Quick ST 2.0 had room for improvement, and so Quick ST 2.1 was developed.
One of the things that was totally rewritten in Quick ST 2.1 was GEM text
support. This is the type of text that appears in desktop windows,
menu bars, dialog boxes, file selectors, and almost any other GEM objects.
This text is drawn using a function in GEM called "v_gtext". Just about
every GEM based application uses v_gtext, usually a lot. Word processors,
spreadsheets, custom file selectors, terminal programs, editors, are just
some GEM applications that use v_gtext.
v_gtext draws not only the standard desktop font, but also the small 6x6
font, and GDOS fonts. (Contrary to popular belief, it is not GDOS itself
that draws GDOS fonts to the screen). Unfortunately, Quick ST 2.0 and all
earlier versions only supported the desktop font and no other. Therefore,
Quick ST 2.0 was not very effective with programs that used other sizes
of fonts. Our users complained about that, so..... (guess what folks!)
Here are new features of Quick ST 2.1:
- faster GEM text support, including 6x6 font, system font, and GDOS
fonts. All calls to v_gtext are now significantly faster. Programs
that use GDOS fonts, such as Microsoft Write or Word Flair, will
have much faster screen updates. Fonts such as 10 point Dutch or
Swiss are drawn up to 5 times faster, so GDOS based word processors
will now run as fast as non-GDOS based word processors such as
First Word or Word Writer. But those weren't forgotten either.
Drawing of the standard font was also sped up, so that non-GDOS based
applications like First Word or Word Writer will also run quite a
bit faster than with Quick ST 2.0, even if your machine already has
a blitter chip. The 6x6 font support is now many times faster, so
programs like Universal Item Selector III or C-Breeze, which use the
6x6 font, will now have much faster screen updates.
- fast text attributes, such as bold, italic, outline, etc. Not all
software draws plain text. A lot of word processors support text
effects, and GEM usually chokes on these. Quick ST 2.1 makes bold,
underlined, and italic text almost as fast as plain text. Without
Quick ST 2.1, GEM becomes 2 or 3 times slower when doing text effects.
- faster VT52 text (Bconout and Cconws functions). These are the
plain and simple text routines used by .TOS and .TTP programs.
- faster overall performance, including a smaller speed drop when using
other AUTO folder programs and desk accessories. So pile up those
custom file selectors and RAM disks and mouse accelerators, because
the performance of Quick ST 2.1 will not be affected as much.
- faster low resolution GEM support.
- improved use of the blitter chip. On the Mega ST and STe, GEM text
and rectangles will be drawn up to twice as fast, on top of the
already fast speed of Quick ST 2.1.
Some minor bugs from version 2.0 are also fixed:
- the Hotwire 2.0 menu was not being redrawn properly
- crossed out objects in resource files were missing the white 'X'
- Pagestream displayed phantom characters on screen when printing
Quick ST 2.1 is still compatible with other AUTO folder programs that
install custom desktop backgrounds. By default, Quick ST 2.1 now uses the
normal desktop background, which can be changed with the Desktop Customizer.
Quick ST 2.0 came configured with a tiled desktop pattern, and this blew
away many people's minds, which is why we've gone back to the normal
desktop.
Memory requirements
-------------------
All these new features cannot be put in without increasing the memory
requirements of Quick ST. While Quick ST 2.0 required only 20K of RAM
in either color or monochrome, Quick ST 2.1 requires 24K.
That is why a special version of Quick ST was created called Quick ST 2.1G.
The G means that it is primarily meant to speed up GDOS and GEM, and not
VT52 text. The G version is also a "no frills" version, not having support
for the Moniterm or custom backgrounds. As a result, it requires only
16K of RAM. 2.1G still runs faster than Quick ST 2.0 and uses less memory.
Availability
------------
So how does one get a hold of Quick ST 2.1 or 2.1G? Easy. If you already
own Quick ST 2.0, call Compuserve or GEnie and download the patch program
for updating your Quick ST 2.0 disk to a Quick ST 2.1 disk. The files that
are up in the Atari ST download libraries of Compuserve and GEnie are as
follows:
on Compuserve:
QST21.ARC - this file
QST21U.ARC - patch program to convert Quick ST 2.0 to 2.1/2.1G
on GEnie:
QST21NEW.ARC - this file
QST21UPD.ARC - patch program to convert Quick ST 2.0 to 2.1/2.1G
In addition to these two files, other files containing various benchmark
results of Quick ST 2.1 will be posted. The benchmark results were
compiled by several beta testers who tested it with all sorts of hardware
configurations and application programs, and some of the results are
shocking! Standard Quick Index results are also included.
If you do not have access to Compuserve or GEnie, these patch programs
will become available on bulletin boards and will also appear on some
magazine disks (such as Atari Interface Magazine's disk of the month).
If you do not yet own Quick ST 2.0, it is available for $19.95 or less
from almost all Atari ST dealers in the United States. If your dealer
does not have it or is sold out, there are a number of mail order dealers
that advertize in magazines such as START or ST Informer who do carry
Quick ST 2.0. Usually they also have toll free 1-800 order lines and can
have the product to you in a few days. Then simply download the patch
programs. Flipping through the latest Current Notes, I see one dealer
carrying Quick ST 2.0 for $14.
If you live in Canada, Quick ST 2.0 is available at dealers everywhere,
for about $22.95 or less. The first shipments of Quick ST 2.1 have
started going out to dealers in Canada and the U.S. The new packages are
clearly labeled with "2.1" on the front and back.
Whether you buy 2.0 and patch it to 2.1, or if you wait until you can buy
Quick ST 2.1, you will get the exact same files, so don't wait!
As always, I will continue my never ending visits of Atari user groups.
This Monday, May 28, 1990, I will be at one of my favorite user groups, the
Toronto Atari Federation (the guys that put on that amazing show last month)
and Quick ST 2.1 will be on sale at Users Convention prices!
We're moving!
-------------
Summer is approaching, and that means vacation time. It also means moving
time. Please do not attempt to place orders directly with Branch Always
Software during the month of July, because Branch Always Software is
moving. A new business address and telephone number will be posted as soon
as it is available. The old mailing address will be valid until October,
when the lease on the current post office box expires, and mail will be
forwarded to the new address.
More updates
------------
Except in the case of someone discovering a really bad problem with
Quick ST 2.1, there will be no updates of Quick ST during the summer.
Some of the features that will be worked on in that time will be things
like 68020/68030 support (for TT compatibility and comptibility with any
68030 accelerator boards that may appear), improved low resolution
speed (which is not quite up to par with the medium resolution speed),
and making Quick ST faster overall. That's right. Quick ST can still be
made to run a lot faster if it were to use more memory. We have tried to
limit the size of Quick ST to below 25K, but many users have indicated that
they would be willing to give up another 20K or 50K or even 100K of memory
to get the maximum possible speed out of Quick ST. With the price of RAM
dropping and more and more people upgrading their ST to 2 meg or 4 meg, this
is now something that is being seriously considered.
When such updates are available, they will be announced on Compuserve and
GEnie. We invite GEnie users to drop by the Quick ST II topic in Category
2 Topic 13, and give us your comments or questions about Quick ST.
Branch Always Software will have a booth at this year's WAACE show, and it
would not be all too surprising if the next Quick ST update was released
at the show. See you all in October!
--
Article #225 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Kevin Steele)
Subject: Summer CES and Atari
Date: Tue Jun 5 11:59:11 1990
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
///// ////// /////// SUMMER
// // // /// **
//// // ////// C.E.S. SHOW
// // // //
///// // // // JUNE 03, 1990
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
STR Publishing Inc.
STREPORT EYEWITNESS REPORT
===========================
ATARI LYNX ECLIPSED!
by
NEW N.E.C. TURBO EXPRESS HANDHELD GAME MACHINE!!!
ATARI SHOWING "LITTLE THAT'S REALLY NEW!!"
==========================================
CHICAGO, IL. <CES> 06-03-90 (c)1990 STReport: While Atari is busy trying
to appear sharp and spiffy by coming up with witty slogans like <"TOUCH
the FUTURE"> and an elaborate display of the LYNX and Portfolio, NEC has
triumphantly introduced their latest offering in the 'super' game machine
arena. For an upbeat "contemporary happening" Atari only has the LYNX and
the Portfolio. 'Tis a shame both are yesterday's news. Its no wonder,
they chose to NOT show at Spring Comdex! They had NOTHING new and earth
shaking to show.
NO MENTION MADE OF INTRODUCING "THE ATARI ADVANTAGE PACKAGE"!!!
While the USA's userbase anxiously awaits Atari's fabled resurgence,
there was no reference or mention made concerning the introduction of
"The Atari Advantage Package". Which was highly touted in the recent
stock report and at the Las Vegas Fall Comdex show. While there is a
rather fancy sign proclaiming ; "The Atari Advantage - The Complete Family
Workstation", there has been NO INTRODUCTION. Also in the Atari display,
framed by the Advantage posters, were a few new 1040STe units.
According to Atari reps at the show, there will be no introduction at this
show because of a last minute cancellation. Seems a call from Japan (Sam
is in Japan) put the kibosh on the whole thing AGAIN for more "changes".
Should we have expected more? By the time they get this promotional thing
to market the 520stfm will be a collectible antique!
The CES shows are well known as the place where one can find the buyers
from K-Mart and most other MAJOR Mass Merchandisers, it was at this show
that industry observers expected the fancy intro of; "The Atari
Advantage" to be released but no.. nothing unusual for Atari,
disappointment reigns supreme. The GAME MACHINE company continues to
"play games." The 'joke of the show' (so far) was Atari's attempting to
make something, once again, of the 2600 and 7800 game machines. Yes, they
were actually on display! Talk about antiques...
Meanwhile the Portfolio, now embroiled in bitter controversy between Atari
and DIP over unpaid royalties to DIP (the UK designer and manufacturer of
the Portfolio), is rumored to be marketed in the USA shortly by DIP
direct. At that time, the Portfolio will boast a new, highly compatible,
operating system plus a number of attractive add-ons (i.e.; memory
expansion card, etc..) designed and made by DIP. All of which will be
available in the USA through DIP.
In reference to the absence of the memory expander... According to Atari
rep D. Thomas, the memory expander was, in Atari's opinion, "not working
properly" . However, from all reports gathered from those who have the
cards in use "they work just fine." Atari had the Finance Card and the
DOS Utilities Card there along with the File manager card that is normally
bundled with the Portfolio.
The NEC TURBO EXPRESS, with 512 colors displayable, (the Lynx has 16),
and over 50 Games available at this time, and at least 70 games by the end
of the year, will present strong competition to all currently available
handhelds. Additionally, the NEC unit boasts of a nifty little device
that plugs into it to become a full blown, handheld color TV!
The NEC Turbo Express unit is about the same size as the gameboy however,
slightly thicker. Although somewhat more expensive than the Lynx, the
Turbo Express is expected to sell for approximately $200.00 - $249.00 with
the TV tuner module at $90.00 - $100.00 extra. The ultimate clincher is
the reliability of the company, its future, and the prospect of support
and UPGRADES..... Not to mention the abundance of games already available
for this new upcoming handheld, Turbo Express from NEC.
"ALWAYS FIRST WITH THE REAL NEWS!"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
STReport Newsline "Your Independent News Source" June 03, 1990
Bulletin Service copyright 1990 No. 106
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
Article #227 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Kevin Steele)
Subject: Summer CES and Atari: Another View
Date: Sun Jun 10 16:40:05 1990
In the interest of fairness, here is another opinion on Atari's
showing at the Summer CES show:
-----------Category 14, Topic 18
Message 1 Sun Jun 03, 1990
UNICORNPUB at 14:25 EDT
Bill and I just got back from the show in Chicago. It's still running
(until Tues. June 5 I believe), but we were able to only go for Saturday.
Here are my impressions....
The Atari Booth was very impressive, with lots of Portfolios, Lynxes, the
older game machines and two rows of STEs. This was the strongest showing
of the ST computer line at a CES that I've seen. The ST was demoing game
software, MIDI software and productivity software. Right next to the Lynx
posters were Atari Advantage posters.
I had the pleasure of meeting Meade Ames-Klein, President of Atari
Computer, and he told me we would see the Advantage package appearing in
the next few months, because the only holdup is finalizing the software
package. He said Atari has been signing up major distributors at CES but
didn't give me any names. I also had the pleasure of meeting Bill Crouch
(VP of Sales), Jim Fisher (VP of Marketing) and Don Thomas (Portfolio
division and the founder of the Revolution).
A couple of personal opinion comments...
I was very glad to see Atari didn't have models jumping around handing out
silly prizes and things. I liked the giant mock-up of the Lynx which had a
large tv/monitor in the center where the screen would be playing the Lynx
commercial. I got to see Sam and Gary Tramiel, and I was very surprised
that they look more like twins than brothers. Commodore had a booth near
Atari's showing off a portable they are creating. It hasn't passed FCC
yet, and they hadn't set a retail price. This will have a high-density
3.5" disk drive and a 20 meg hard drive. I don't know any other
particulars on it. I think that seeing Commodore there, since they don't
have a Lynx or 2600/7800 series, kind of refutes those people who said CES
was only a games show, and Atari should go to COMDEX if they are to be
serious about computers in the US. (for those of you who don't know, CES
and COMDEX overlap dates this year, making lots of companies choose between
them.)
That's about all I can think of right now...
Pattie Rayl (Atari Interface Magazine)
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Article #228 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Kevin Steele)
Subject: WordPerfect News
Date: Thu Jun 14 10:23:36 1990
The following is a post by a WordPerfect Rep. on GEnie:
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-----------Category 5, Topic 3
Message 138 Fri Jun 08, 1990
WP.ATARI at 02:10 EDT
We expect to have an update release this summer, hopefully in the next
several weeks. The PostScript disk is finished, and will be available as a
part of the update for a small extra charge, which will pay for the
additional duplication costs. We are happy about being able to make the
additional support available, and hope to get it out as soon as possible.
We will announce the release date here on GEnie as soon as it is determined
by development. Thanks for your interest!
BTW, we do _hope_ that sales and interest continue, which will make it
possible to continue progress towards a 5.x version!
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Article #230 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Kevin Steele)
Subject: Re: WordPerfect News
Date: Mon Jul 2 16:03:14 1990
An update on WordPerfect's support of the ST version of their word
processor:
Seems the version due out this summer is an _interim_ release, mainly
a set of enhancements to the current version, along with some new
printer drivers (included _very_ enhanced Postscript/Ultrascript support)
A _new_ version of WP for the ST is currently being written. It will
not be a 5.x version, but it should bring ST WP up to _at least_ the
IBM 4.2 level...
It's nice to see the _only_ major software house to ever support the
ST continue to do so even in these trying times for ST owners. (and no,
I don't count Microsoft Write as a genuine effort to support the ST -
perhaps it was an effort to deep-six the ST, but it sure wasn't a
genuine effort to 'break-in' to the ST market...)
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Article #232 (376 is last):
>Newsgroups: freenet.sci.comp.atari.news
From: aj205@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Kevin Steele)
Subject: 32 Mhz TT?
Date: Sun Jul 15 01:09:30 1990
This document is Press Information (VERBATIM including
capitalization, spacing, and spelling) provided by SOFTWARE
SUPPLIES, AKA ATARI NEW ZEALAND, on ATARI Logo paper.
Transcribed using optical character reader for precise conversion
by Z*NET NEWS SERVICE, 7/9/90. Z*Net assumes no responsibility
for the accuracy of the information itself.
--------------------------------------------
PAGE 1 (in very large letters)
ATARI
TT030
Compatible
Expandible
Flexible
Affordable
--------------------------------------------
PAGE 2
The Atari TT030
- Compatible with the Atari ST, 1000"s of software titles
already available
- 3 New Graphics modes:
320 x 480 with 256 colours from a palette of 4096
640 x 480 with 16 colours from a palette of 4096
1280 x 960 high resolution monochrome
- Stereo 8-bit PCM sound
- 68030 running at 32 Mhz
- 68881 Floating Point co-processor
- 2 Megabytes of RAM, expandable to 26 Mb
- SCSI and ASCI with DMA built in
- Internal Hard disk
- SCC LAN port with DMA
- Four serial ports
- Parallel port
- MIDI ports
- Detachable keyboard
- Internal A24/D16 VME card slot
- Real time clock with non-volatile RAM
- ROM cartridge slot
- External floppy connector
--------------------------------------------
PAGE 3
Comparison of standard features
Amiga 3000 Mac IIcx Atari TT030
CPU 68030 68030 68030
FPU Yes Yes Yes
Clock speed 16 Mhz - 32 Mhz
RAM 2 to 17 1 to 32 2 to 26
Burst Mode Yes No Yes
ROM 512K 256K 512K
Graphics
Max resolution 1280 x 480 Optional 1280 x 960
Interlaced Non-interlaced
Max colours 32 Colours 256 Colours
from 4096 from 4096
Max video RAM 1 Mb 8 Mb
Sound Stereo Stereo Stereo
Expansion Proprietary NuBus VME
Hard disk DMA Non-DMA DMA
Floppy disk Proprietary Proprietary PC compatible
Network No Yes Yes, DMA
Serial 1 x RS232 2 x RS232 4 x RS232
Parallel Yes No Yes
MIDI No No Yes
ROM Cartridge No No Yes
--------------------------------------------
PAGE 4
The Atari TT030 Hardware
The TT030 (Thirty-two/Thirty-two bit) is the first member of a
new series of Atari computers designed as enhanced versions of
the existing ST and MEGA family. The TT series maintains
compatibility with the ST/MEGA architecture, but uses the
Motorola 68030 microprocessor and provides enhanced graphics and
sound. The TT030 is also designed to run Unix (Unix is a
trademark of AT&T).
The TT030 is based on the high performance 32-bit Motorola MC68030
processor running at a 32 Mhz clock frequency. The 68030 includes
on-chip data and instruction caches which can be filled from some
regions of memory in bursts of double word fetches
The architecture also includes the industry standard VME bus to
facilitate expansion. The system supports the latest revision
(C.1) of the VME bus specification. The TT030 can accommodate one
single-Eurocard (3U) A24/D 16 or A 16/D 16 slave-only VME board,
The TT series is expected to function in an environment with
other TTs and even machines from different manufacturers. To
facilitate connectivity, each system has an on-board port for a
moderate speed LAN. If the LAN is not being used, the port can be
programmed to be a standard RS232C port. Through an optional VME
bus-based or SCSI-based Ethernet controller, the TT also has the
capability of connecting to heterogeneous Ethernet networks. The
TT030 has three additional standard RS-232C serial ports for
connection to modems, display terminals, or digitizing tablets.
The hardware features of the TT030 include:
- Motorola MC68030 at 32MHz
- Motorola MC68881 Floating Point Coprocessor (the coprocessor
is socketed, so that it can be optionally upgraded to a
MC68882)
- ST RAM: 2 Mbyte of ST-compatible dual-purpose (video/system)
RAM, expandable by an add-on daughterboard containing a
further 2 or 8 Mbyte of dual-purpose memory. This 64-bit
wide memory appears 32 bits wide to the processor and
SCSI/SCC DMA engines TT video logic has access to this
memory on a time critical basis. The remaining system logic,
including the processor, can access this memory in the
alternate 250 nS TIME SLICES.
- TT BURST MODE RAM: provision for a daughter-board that will
accept either 4 x 1 Mbyte or 4 x 4 Mbyte SIMMS, allowing
another 4 Mb or 16 Mb expansion. This RAM can only be
accessed by the processor, the SCSI DMA Engine, and the SCC
Network DMA Engine. The 68030 can take advantage of
burst-mode for filling its internal cache from this RAM.
- 4 socketed 1 Mbit ROMS, providing 512 Kbyte of ROM space.
-------------------------------------------
PAGE 5
- Internal video modes that are a superset of those in the
Atari ST/STe series using an analog RGB (VGA-like) colour
monitor:
pixels rows colors palette
320 200 16 4096 (STe compatible)
640 200 4 4096 (STe compatible)
640 400 2 4096 (STe superset)
320 480 256 4096
640 480 16 4096
using a high resolution ECL monochrome monitor
1280 960 black on white
- parallel I/O port, generally used for Parallel printer
output
- internal speaker, which can be disabled under software
control
- 2 low-speed asynchronous serial I/O ports (one from each of
two 68901 MFPS) at programmable baud rates up to 19.2 baud
- 2 high-speed asynchronous/SDLC Serial I/O ports (from a
Zilog 8530 SCC). One part can be programmed to be a Local
Talk compatible LAN interface with a proprietary single
channel DMA controller. The other port is intended for use
as an asynchronous AS-232 port with programmable split baud
rates.
- battery backed-up real time clock (RTC) with 50 bytes of
non-volatile RAM
- ST/MEGA compatible intelligent keyboard, with mouse and
joystick ports including support for a 3 button mouse
- Atari ACSI DMA channel (for Atari Hard Disk, Laser Printer,
CD-ROM, etc)
- Floppy disk controller and interface sharing the ACSI DMA
channel
- Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI) STe compatible
DMA sound engine with programmable volume and tone control
which can play back stereo 8-bit samples at rates up to 50
Khz
- Atari ST compatible cartridge port (128 Kbyte Storage)
- SCSI interface using 23-pin connector implemented with the
NCR 5380 SCSI controller chip and a proprietary DMA
controller
- Industry standard VME bus for expansion
When comparing the TT030 with the competition, four important
features stand out:
- flicker-free, high resolution colour graphics built-in as
standard
- high bus bandwidth, independent of video resolution
- excellent connectivity including four RS232 ports, MIDI,
LAN, ASCI & SCSI.
- high speed burst-mode RAM, 32 Mhz CPU clock speed.
----------------------------------------------------
End of Press Release
--
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