Gemulator II/emulator/commercial

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 06/01/93-12:11:21 PM Z


From: aa789@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: Gemulator II/emulator/commercial
Date: Tue Jun  1 12:11:21 1993




GEMULATOR VERSION 2.1

from Z*Net 9308

Branch Always Software
14150 N.E. 20th Street Suite 302
Bellevue, WA 98007, U.S.A.

- NEW FEATURES AND IMPROVEMENTS
  - SMALLER HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
  - INTERNATIONAL AVAILABILITY
  - SEE IT AT THE SAC SHOW
  - LOWER U.S. PRICES


Branch Always Software has just released version 2.1 of the Gemulator,
the Atari ST emulator for DOS and Windows compatible PCs.  Gemulator
allows a 386 or 486 based PC to directly run most Atari ST software
(except for games and music software) and supports all versions of TOS,
four different screen resolutions, and can provide up to 8 megabytes of
RAM to ST programs.

Gemulator 2.1 is now available from computer dealers in Europe and North
America.  In the U.S. and Canada, the list price is now only $229 U.S.
which includes the Gemulator board, emulation software, and U.S. TOS
2.06 ROMs.

Gemulator 2.1 is now also available in the U.K., France, Holland, and
Germany.  The versions sold in each of those countries contain TOS 2.06
ROMs appropriate for each country, and all documentation and software
has been fully translated.

Gemulator 2.1 will be shown at the upcoming Sacramento Atari Expo on
March 13th and 14th in Sacramento, California.  Come by the Branch
Always Software booth and see Gemulator for yourself!

Version 2.1 has the following new features and improvements:

- the separate 386 and 486 versions of Gemulator have been combined into
  one single convenient version which is just as fast (or even slightly
  faster on some machines) than Gemulator 2.0.

- the ability to create a virtual Atari hard disk partition on any size
  DOS partition means that you can now safely read and write Atari files
  anywhere on your PC's hard disk and even over the network, without
  having to reformat or repartition the hard disk as before.

- a 4 megabyte PC can now emulate a full megabyte of ST RAM (up from
  512K before).  Gemulator can emulate up to 8 megabytes of ST RAM,
  double the 4 megabyte limit of the real Atari ST.

- Pagestream and some other programs now print up to 10 times faster.
  The actual speedup will depend on the size and contents of the
  Pagestream document.  A full page 8.5" x 11" 300 dpi Pagestream
  document prints out in about 3 minutes on an HP LaserJet printer.

- the real-time clock in the ST keyboard is now emulated.  This allows
  TOS 2.06 to boot up with the current DOS time and date.

- the "missing keystrokes" bug from Gemulator 2.0 and other bugs are
  fixed.

Gemulator already has several features not found in the real Atari ST,
and in many ways it is much better than a real ST:

- the ability to emulate up to 8 megabytes of ST RAM (described above)
  makes it ideal when using a lot of GDOS fonts, running the new
  MultiTOS, or editing very large Calamus and Pagestream documents.

- the ability to emulate TT medium resolution (640x480 16 colors) allows
  most GEM based Atari ST programs to run with more colors and with
  better graphics than is possible on the real ST.

- switching from color to monochrome (or vice versa) is as simple as
  pressing one key.  Forget having to use two monitors and swapping
  cables all the time!

- each Gemulator board can hold up to 4 sets of TOS ROMs and you can
  easily switch from one version of TOS to another by just pressing a
  few keys.  This allows you to use the supplied TOS 2.06 with most of
  your ST software, but switch back to TOS 1.0 or TOS 1.4 for running
  earlier software not compatible with TOS 2.06.

- due to the ever increasing speed of PCs and the availability of the
  486 DX2 clock doubler chip, you can easily upgrade your 33 Mhz 486 PC
  to a 66 Mhz PC and run Atari ST software up to 3 times faster than a
  real ST.  That's faster than a Mega STE, faster than a 20 Mhz
  accelerator, and in many cases, as fast as the Falcon.

Gemulator now has smaller hardware requirements.  Your PC need only have
the following:

- a 386 or 486 CPU
- 4 megabytes of RAM
- a 720K 3.5" floppy disk drive
- a VGA card and monitor
- 1.7 megabytes of hard disk space
- a mouse is optional but recommended

Gemulator consists of a PC board which plugs into any 8-bit or 16-bit
AT-style slot.  The board is used to install TOS ROMs which are needed
to run Atari ST software on a PC.  The emulator itself is simply copied
to the hard disk and run from the DOS prompt or a DOS window just like
any other PC program.

The speed of Gemulator's emulation is affected by the speed of your PC's
processor, hard disk, video card, and other factors, but it is usually
proportional to the speed of the processor (the 386 or 486 chip).  Below
is a table of various processors and the APPROXIMATE speed of emulation
compared to a standard ST (which of course has a relative speed of 1.0):

  386/16    - 0.3
  386/33    - 0.6
  386/40    - 0.8
  486/25    - 0.9
  486/33    - 1.2
  486/50    - 1.8
  486/66    - 2.4

386 based computers running slower than 33 Mhz are not recommended for
use with Gemulator due to the relatively slow speed of emulation.
Gemulator emulates the 68000 chip entirely in software and so a fast 386
is required.

The Gemulator package comes with a set of TOS 2.06 ROMs, but if you wish
to use your own ROMs, the board and emulator can now be purchased
without any TOS ROMs for $179, a $50 savings.  You must of course supply
your own TOS 1.0, 1.2, 1.4, 1.6 or 2.06 ROMs before being able to use
Gemulator.

In the U.S. and Canada, Gemulator is distributed by:

PMC (Purple Mountain Computers)
15600 N.E. 8th Street, Unit #A3-412
Bellevue, WA  98008, U.S.A.

For ordering information, call 1-206-399-8700.

In Europe (including the U.K. and Germany), Gemulator is distributed by:

ACN / Atari ST Nieuws
Postbus 5011
2000 CA Haarlem
The Netherlands

For ordering information, phone 011-31-23-351100, or fax
011-31-23-351444.

To upgrade from Gemulator 1.0 to Gemulator 2.1, send $49.95 is U.S.
funds and your Gemulator registration card directly to us:

Branch Always Software
14150 N.E. 20th Street, Suite 302
Bellevue, WA 98007, U.S.A.

Users who last year upgraded to Gemulator 2.0 have already been sent a
free Gemulator 2.1 upgrade disk.  If you upgraded to 2.0 but haven't
received the 2.1 disk, please contact us and make sure that we have your
latest mailing address in our records.


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