ST Report: 17-May-91 #720

From: Bruce D. Nelson (aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu)
Date: 05/21/91-12:43:04 AM Z


From: aj434@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bruce D. Nelson)
Subject: ST Report: 17-May-91 #720
Date: Tue May 21 00:43:04 1991



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 May 17, 1991                                                       No.7.20
 ==========================================================================

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                               R.F. Mariano
                            Publisher - Editor
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 > 05/17/91: STReport  #7.20  The Original 16/32 bit Online Magazine!
   -------------------------
     - The Editor's Desk      - CPU REPORT        - MAC REPORT
     - Start a Usergroup      - GEM-View! Review  - ICD SOFTWARE
     - SYSTEM 7.0 RELEASED    - Apple Stock Drops - CHANGING TIMES!

                      -* MEGA STE NOW CLASS B OK! *-
                  -* START MAGAZINE SUSPENDS OPERATONS *-
                    -* ST WRITER ELITE 4.0 RELEASED! *-

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                  ST REPORT INTERNATIONAL ONLINE MAGAZINE
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 > The Editor's Podium

     This issue is chock full of valuable information,  it seems  the Atari
 marketplace is 'hunting' for its own place in the natural order of things.
 Three weeks ago STReport pointed out the severity of Antic  Publishing and
 Start magazines's position.  At this point in time, they (Antic) are nego-
 tiating the sale of the magazine.    According  to  our  sources, contract
 negotiations  are  fully  underway...  Of  course, the results will not be
 known until all negotiations are satisfactorily completed.

     Lately one can find a rather  sensible  clamoring  for  Atari  to "get
 with it"  and produce  real Hard disk software or, license the outstanding
 software ICD produces.  Not a bad idea.  But if one were to pay any atten-
 tion at  all to  one Atari online rep, (a newfie), to ask for such a thing
 appears to be a blow to Atari's heart.  But  then, another  of Atari's on-
 liners requested  that suggestions  be forwarded  to the proper parties as
 this newfie has no responsibilities in  that area.   Someone  ought to let
 this newfie know that the "Answer Man" show was cancelled decades ago.  In
 any case, the adoption of ICD's hard drive software is  in our  opinion an
 excellent idea.  And it would come at a time when Atari can use the excel-
 lent PR such a move will generate.

     Saving the best for  last, according  to our  sources, the  Atari Mega
 STe is  now Class B certified!  The TT030 is next.  In fact, if you listen
 carefully, you can almost hear the echos of the cheers  when the  folks in
 Sunnyvale were  informed of  the good news.  Now, the trick is to get them
 into the consumer pipeline.  Also, it would  appear there  is some serious
 grumbling concerning  the ease  of upgrading  the MSTE1  to a unit with an
 internal hard drive.  Reports are trickling in that installation of a hard
 drive is made rather difficult by the inclusion of a "molded plastic webb-
 ing", honey combed affair  inside the  hard drive  enclosure.   As always,
 lets wait  and see.   STReport  is aware  of an upgrade 'kit' of sorts and
 that Atari would rather have their dealers or,  at least  have technically
 qualified individuals  do the  installation.  As soon as we have more info
 concerning this matter it will be  made available.   In  the meantime, the
 'stripped down'  version of the MSTE is not available in the States.. yet.
 Therefore, it does not effect us at all.  The MegaSTE4/50 is very good buy
 and  a  substantially  improved  unit.    If  you are in the market, don't
 hesitate get one.  You'll love it.


                     Thanks once again for your strong support!


                                        Ralph............





                           TODAY'S NEWS ..TODAY!

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 > STReport's Staff              The regulars and this week's contributors!
   ================

                            Publisher - Editor
                            ------------------
                             Ralph F. Mariano


 Staff Editors:
 --------------
          Michael Arthur      Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.     Dana P. Jacobson
          Lucien Oppler       Brad Martin              Walter Daniel
          Oscar Steele        Robert Allbritton        John Szczepanik
                              Dan Stidham

 Contributing Correspondants:
 ----------------------------
          Michael Lee         Richard Covert           Roger Stevens
          Brian Converse      Oliver Steinmeier        Ed Krimen
          Tim Holt            Andrew Learner           Norman Boucher


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                             ================
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     COMPUSERVE WILL PRESENT $15.00 WORTH OF COMPLIMENTARY ONLINE TIME

                              to the Readers of;

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                  WHAT'S NEW IN THE ATARI FORUMS (May 17)

                           ST WRITER ELITE 4.0!

 Bruce Noonan has uploaded version 4.0 of ST  Writer Elite!   The following
 files are  now available in LIBRARY 1 ("New Uploads") of the Atari Produc-
 tivity Forum (GO ATARIPRO):

              STWEL4.ARC - ST Writer Elite 4.0 Word Processor
            STWELD.ARC - Documentation for ST Writer Elite 4.0
    STWGER.ARC - German and Spanish ST Writer Elite 4.0 Word Processor

                   PROGRAM OF THE WEEK FROM DOUBLE CLICK

 DCRTCL.ARC, available in LIBRARY 13 of the Atari Vendors Forum  (GO ATARI-
 VEN).  DC Right Call v1.0 gives you access to the file selector (including
 alternate ones like UIS) or Maxifile(tm) with the press of the right mouse
 button.

                       NEW FROM GRIBNIF IN ATARIVEN

 The following  new files  are available  in LIBRARY 8 of the Atari Vendors
 Forum (GO ATARIVEN) from Gribnif Software:

 FIXQUE.ARC -- A fixed NeoDesk 3.02 Printer Queue.  The one included in the
 PCH302.ARC would  not print  correctly, so download this file if you down-
 loaded the  older version  of the  PATCH program  and you  use the NeoDesk
 Printer Queue.

 FIXPCH.ARC --   This  patch program will upgrade copies of NeoDesk 3 (ver-
 sion 3.01) to the newer 3.02  version.   This program  fixes several small
 bugs and problems, and adds some minor enhancements.

 NEW IN ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM

 The following  new files are available in LIBRARY 1 of the Atari Portfolio
 Forum (GO APORTFOLIO) courtesy of BJ Gleason:

 STOPW.ZIP  - A multidisplay stopwatch/event counter.
                      Up to 10 timers/event.

 CLOCK.EXE  - Turn your Portfolio into a BIG clock!

 BM2.ZIP    - Battery Monitor Version 2; smaller than the old version.

 ADDRES.EXE - Address Viewer for the PC, Version 1.0

 BATTST.ZIP - Battery Test for the Portfolio, version 1


                  THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM ON COMPUSERVE
                            HAS BEEN DESIGNATED AN
                OFFICIAL SUPPORT SITE BY ATARI CORPORATION

            "GO APORTFOLIO TO ACCESS THE ATARI PORTFOLIO FORUM"


  ***********************************************************************






 > CPU STATUS REPORT               LATE BREAKING INDUSTRY-WIDE NEWS
   =================

   Issue #21
   ---------


 Compiled by: Lloyd E. Pulley, Sr.


 - Topeka, Kansas                       STAND-ALONE VIDEO TOASTER
   --------------

 NewTek,  whose  Video Toaster board for the Amiga acts as a  stillstore,
 switcher,  titler,  and video effects generator, among other things, has
 announced that because of the fading Commodore Amiga market,  it is  now
 selling a stand-alone Toaster system for $3,995.

 The new stand-alone Toaster looks like a Commodore Amiga 2000, but it is
 designed specifically for the broadcast TV market.  The product features
 a four-input production switcher which can perform cuts, fades and wipes
 among any of seven sources including four video inputs. It also includes
 a digital video effects generator, a three-dimensional animation package
 called  LightWave,  a  character generator,  a paint  program,  2  frame
 buffers,  a color processing engine called ChromaFX, and a frame grabber
 and storer.



 - Sunnyvale, California                NEW CHIP SPEEDS UP WINDOWS
    ---------------------

 The  first  user interface single chip  controller  microprocessor,  the
 W5086, has been introduced by Weitek. The W5086 incorporates in hardware
 the key functions of Microsoft Window's graphic device interface and  is
 expected  to increase the speed of the Windows environment  and  Windows
 applications.

 The new chip is expected to provide an increase of 25 times the  current
 speed of BitBlk transfers, which consist of moving the visual objects in
 Windows  and is expected to cut the average user's work-time in  Windows
 in half.

 Weitek claims the W5086 is compatible with 80286 and 80386 hardware  and
 IBM Video Graphics Array (VGA) arrays,  so it will run all existing non-
 Windows  software.  Weitek expects the new chip to be available by  this
 fall  through original equipment manufacturer video cards and be in  the
 $150-$200 price range.



 - Phoenix, Arizona                     GUILTY PLEA IN 'SUNDEVIL' CASE
   ----------------

 Sentencing is due on June 7 for Baron Majette,  19,  also known as  "Doc
 Savage" who was arrested in late March as a result on the on-going joint
 federal/state "Operation Sundevil" investigation.  Majette plead  guilty
 in the Superior Court in the State of Arizona to a single count of  com-
 puter fraud,  a third degree misdemeanor.  Under Arizona state law,  the
 maximum  sentence for this crime is 10 years and the  'presumptive  sen-
 tence' is 5 years.



 - Manhasset, New York                   MAC VARS JUMPING TO WINDOWS?
   -------------------

 According  to a report in this week's Computer Reseller News by  Allison
 Calderbank, several Macintosh VARs (value-added resellers), are drifting
 toward  Windows 3.0 applications because the MS-DOS GUI (graphical  user
 interface) offers better market opportunities.

 Some  industry  observers feel that this could pose a  very  significant
 problem for Apple, which has always relied on its position as having the
 only  strongly GUI-oriented operating environment to  maintain  customer
 loyalty.



 - Central, Hong Kong       HONG KONG TO LEGALIZE SOME SOFTWARE COPYING
   ------------------

 The  Law  Reform  Commission's Copyright Subcommitte in  Hong  Kong  has
 proposed that copying of software products by end users should not be  a
 criminal  offence.   Although  heavy  penalties  would  still  apply  to
 commercial copying and distribution of copyright material,  the Business
 Software Alliance (BSA and Software Publishers Association (SPA) face  a
 serious legal setback to their software protection efforts.

 In  the  past,  Hong Kong has had a flourishing software  piracy  trade,
 catering principally to students and non-business users. There have been
 many criticisms in the past of prices being much higher than in the USA,
 and of a lack of user support.



 - San Diego, California           HEWLETT-PACKARD HELPING OUT AMERICA'S
   ---------------------                     CUP YACHT RACERS

 In  the  fast-changing world of yacht  racing,  computer  technology  is
 essential in designing new boats and Hewlett-Packard is helping out  the
 American team headed by Dennis Conner.

 Yacht  building is as much an art as a science,  but,  while  the  three
 years prior to the 1987 America's Cup races saw Dennis Conner's Stars  &
 Stripes team tank-testing models of 40 designs and building three  full-
 sized yachts, the greater use of computers has allowed them to tank-test
 fewer than 15 models this time and build only one full-sized yacht.

 Hewlett-Packard  computer  systems  are also used  by  the  New  Zealand
 challengers,  and both teams use HP computers for both on-board tactical
 evaluation, design, and simulation.

 Besides  working with yacht designers and the racing teams,  HP is  also
 providing  about  150 personal computers and  workstations,  along  with
 associated  printers  and plotters,  for use during  this  week's  World
 Championship races.



 - Cupertino, California                       SUIT FILED AGAINST APPLE
   ---------------------

 Due to Apple Computer's disappointing third quarter financial results, a
 lawsuit  (Berley  v.  Sculley) was filed on May  7,  1991,  against  the
 company  and  certain  officers  and  directors  for  allegedly   making
 misleading  statements regarding the company's prospective earnings  and
 business  outlook.  The lawsuit alleges violation of federal  securities
 laws.



 - Scotts Valley, California                       BORLAND STOCK FALLS
   -------------------------

 Since  Charlotte  Walker,  analyst for Labe Simpson and  Co.,  issued  a
 report  in  which she said Borland would lose a  copyright  infringement
 case with Lotus, Borland stock has dropped 2-3/4 to 48. Lotus has sought
 a  summary  judgement  against Borland claiming  Borland's  Quattro  Pro
 product violates the copyright on Lotus' 1-2-3 spreadsheet product.

 David Bayer,  an analyst with Montgomery Securities, said the outcome of
 the case was far from clear and believed the market was overreacting. "I
 think it (the stock fall) is overstating the case.



 - Cupertino, California                SYSTEM 7.0 NOW SHIPPING FOR MAC
   ---------------------

 System 7.0, an upgrade to the Macintosh operating system is now shipping
 according to a recent announcement by Apple Computer. Apple calls System
 7.0  "the  most significant enhancement to Macintosh  since  its  intro-
 duction in 1982".  According to John Sculley, Apple's chairman and chief
 executive officer,  "System 7 sets a new standard,  thereby widening the
 gap between what one can do with a computer,  and what one can do with a
 Macintosh."

 Among the features contained in the new operating system are:

    Improved handling of fonts and desk accessories

    'Virtual  memory'  which  allows the automatic  expansion  of  memory
    available for applications

    'InterApplication  Communications' (IAC) which allows disparate  pro-
    grams to dynamically work together

    'Data  Access  Manager' (DAT) which allows access  to  mainframe  and
    minicomputer-based SQL (structured query language) databases.

 System  7.0  will be bundled with all Macintoshes within  the  next  few
 months, and those which contain System 6 software will include a special
 card for a free software upgrade.

 Those  buying the PUK -- Personal Upgrade Kit -- get 90 days of  direct,
 toll-free telephone support,  and those buying the GUK -- Group  Upgrade
 Kit -- get 180 days of free technical support.  This is the first  time
 Apple  has  had a direct support hotline for its products,  and  is  not
 depending on dealers to answer buyer's questions.

 Apple  stated  that it "expects most of the more  than  4,000  Macintosh
 applications currently shipping to be compatible with the new System 7."



 - San Jose, California               MEMORY REQUIREMENTS OF SYSTEM 7.0
   --------------------

 A  minimum  of 2 megabytes of RAM are needed to run  applications  under
 System 7,  but Apple officials say most computers now are being  shipped
 with  2  megabytes of RAM,  even the Macintosh Classics.  Of the  3  1/2
 million Macintoshes in the US,  2 million of them have the necessary RAM
 on hand to run System 7.0 software, said Apple USA President Bob Puette.

 Even the 1 meg Macintosh Classics, which have become Apple's volume pro-
 duct, will come with System 7 software but won't be able to run it with-
 out  a RAM upgrade.  Dealers will be responsible to inform  buyers  that
 their  machines will not be able to run System 7.0  software,  and  will
 have the incentive to sell buyers of the lowest-priced Macs more  memory
 at the time of purchase.



 - San Jose, California                   APPLE REDUCES MEMORY PRICES
   --------------------

 Coinciding  with the extra memory requirements of the recently  released
 System  7.0 operating system,  Apple has announced a  significant  price
 cuts  of  up to 41% for logic board upgrades and up to  57%  for  memory
 kits.  2MB of RAM is required to run System 7.0.



 - San Jose, California              BILL GATES HELPS INTRODUCE SYSTEM 7
   --------------------

 Bill Gates,  Microsoft chairman and co-founder, introduced new Microsoft
 Excel  features  and a new version of the  venerable  Flight  Simulator.
 Despite their friction in court, where Apple is suing Microsoft over its
 Windows  product  in a celebrated 'look and feel' case,  the  two  firms
 continue to work closely on product development and collaborated closely
 on development of the Truetype technology.

 Gates  told  the audience that he was wearing the same blue  polo  shirt
 Steve Jobs,  Apple co-founder,  gave him in 1984 at the introduction  of
 the original Macintosh.  Gates got a laugh when he said,  "At that  time
 there  were 15 developers and we all went out to dinner afterwards."  At
 this roll-out there were 2,000 developers.  He concluded his address  by
 saying  that  Microsoft  will  have  8  major  applications  which  take
 advantage of System 7.



 - San Jose, California              MOST EXISTING MAC APPS WILL RUN ON
   --------------------                          SYSTEM 7.0

 Most  of the existing 4,000 applications will run on the new System  7.0
 software,  according to the company. Apple engineers say they tested 777
 existing Macintosh programs and the 'top 500' ran on System 7.0 with  no
 problems.



 - San Jose, California              100 NEW 3RD PARTY SYSTEM 7.0 APPS
   --------------------                      DUE BY AUGUST

 In  addition  to the existing 4,000 applications on the market  for  the
 Macintosh,  John Sculley,  Apple CEO, promised over 100 new applications
 written specifically to exploit the power of the new software would ship
 by August.



 - San Jose, California             APPLE SYSTEM 7.0 EXPLOITS WORKGROUP
   --------------------                         COMPUTING

 Apple  has leaped ahead of IBM in the area of distributed processing  --
 not with a different class of computers,  but with a different class  of
 computer usage, so says Bob Puette, president of Apple USA.

 The new System 7.0 software enables the processing of an application  to
 be offloaded to a different Macintosh while the user's machine processes
 a different program,  a feature normally found in far more sophisticated
 networks and a feature designed to make it more attractive to  corporate
 users.  Apple  demonstrated this capacity on an LC which distributed  an
 application to a second Macintosh while it worked on a different one.

 "Workgroup  computing," with System 7.0,  proclaimed  Puette,  now  goes
 "beyond  connecting computers to a single printer." Workgroup  computing
 is  also at the heart of several new products and features for the  Mac.
 The "publish" and "subscribe" options now found in several applications,
 written specifically with System 7.0 in mind, enable users to make their
 files  available  to  others on their network  without  departing  their
 application, or pulling up a special network menu.



 - Santa Clara, California          CLARIS ANNOUNCES SYSTEM 7.0 PRODUCTS
   -----------------------

 Claris Corporation has announced the introduction of a series of new and
 revised  products  designed  specifically to  utilize  the  features  of
 Macintosh System 7.0 operating system which began shipping on May 13.

 The  new products are a spreadsheet (Claris Resolve) which Claris  calls
 "the first Macintosh application designed from the ground up for  System
 7.0" and a word processor (MacWrite Pro),  while those programs modified
 for  the new System 7.0 operating system are MacProject II  version  2.5
 and HyperCard 2.1.



 - San Jose, California               VENTURA PUBLISHER FOR SYSTEM 7.0
   --------------------

 Ventura  Software  has  announced a new version  of  Ventura  Publisher,
 Macintosh Edition desktop publishing software that includes support  for
 the  System 7.0 architecture.

 System  7.0  features supported by the new version of  Ventura  include:
 Publish  and  Subscribe,  which is the ability of one document  to  have
 dynamic links with another document;  Interapplication Communication, or
 the  communication between applications;  and Balloon help,  a  form  of
 system level help within and between applications.




      ______________________________________________________________


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                             IMPORTANT NOTICE!
                             =================

 As a reader of STReport International Online Magazine, you are entitled to
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 $14 worth of free time.

  NOTE: Special offers can be found in your favorite Atari magazines:

              START             CURRENT NOTES         ST INFORMER
                          ATARI INTERFACE MAGAZINE

                          SIGNING UP WITH DELPHI
                          ======================
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                  DELPHI services via a local phone call

                              JOIN -- DELPHI
                              --------------
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     2. At the Username prompt, type JOINDELPHI.
     3. At the Password prompt enter STREPORT.

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                 DELPHI Member Services at 1-800-544-4005
                                    or
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                           SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT
                           --------------------

 The 20/20  Advantage Plan  IS FANTASTIC!   And it features 20 hours online
 for just $20 a month!  The $20 is a monthly fee that covers  your first 20
 hours online via direct dial into one of DELPHI's two direct-access lines,
 or via a special Tymnet 20/20 Access code.   It  also gets  you additional
 hours at just $1.20 per hour.  And you get free access to several services
 on DELPHI as part of the Advantage Perks.

 Other telecom services may have additional charges.  Canadian Tymnet users
 have an  additional telecom charge.  Office Time access (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.,
 weekdays) may have an additional charge.   And  of course,  other restric-
 tions may apply.  But this is still an amazing deal!

 For more information please contact:

           DELPHI at 1-800-544-4005 and ask for Member Services.

                 DELPHI- It's getting better all the time!



  """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""





 > ATARI BOSTON STR Feature          A view of Atari life from Boston
   ========================





                         A BOSTONIAN AND HIS ATARI
                         =========================


 by Norman Boucher


     Hello my  name is  Norman, and I will try and give you an idea on what
 it is like being an Atari user in the Boston area.   First  a little about
 myself and how I got started on Atari.  I had always liked video games, so
 when I was in a local salvage store and spotted an 800XL for $25.00 I knew
 that I  had to have it.  About a year late I moved up to a 130XE and tele-
 communications.  This was a whole new  world  for  me.    I  learned  of a
 usergroup within a 30 minute drive so I joined.  It was here that I saw my
 first ST, also I met  the  owner  of  a  computer  store  that  sold Atari
 Computers.  Well it did not take long for him to get me into an ST.

     I now  own a  1040STfm, both  Color and  Mono monitors,  a 40 meg hard
 drive, a second floppy, and two  9 pin  printers.   of course  hundreds of
 disks with  all sorts of PD stuff from the boards.  I still like games but
 find most of my time is taken up  calling the  boards.   The only national
 board I call is Delphi (NORMAN238).  At the time I got my first ST I found
 out about another usergroup closer to home.  This group, South Shore Atari
 Group (SSAG)  was just  what I  needed.  Before long I joined the Steering
 Committee and am now assistant director.  SSAG  maintains a  sig on Delphi
 in the  Boston node.   Since  the 20/20  plan things have been slow in the
 Boston area but we still intend to keep  the area  going, so  next time on
 Delphi go to Boston and say hello.  Well enough about me.

     Last year,  the Boston Computer Society's Atari groups along with help
 and support of some of the other groups in the area hosted the New England
 AtariFest '90.  At this point I would like to say thanks to Kevin and Har-
 ry for without their energy and determination we  would never  have gotten
 the show off the ground.  Thanks Guys!! I would like also to thank all the
 vendors who helped make the show the success that it was, and if you would
 like to  see another  one let  us know.  It helped having some great Atari
 developers living and working in the area, and  when these  people decided
 to come  it made it that more easier to bring the others on board.  It was
 three LONG years between shows and I would not want to see it go that long
 again.

     A little  about Boston.   We seem to be blessed with not one but three
 stores that carry Atari products.   That seems  above average  compared to
 the rest  of the  country.   There is  a forth  store 2.5  hours away from
 Boston that also carries our beloved machine.  But for some reason all the
 Atari users seem to be hiding.  I mean with this much in the way of dealer
 support you would think that every where you  go there  would be  an Atari
 user.   I know there are a lot of usergroups around but there is also a l-
 arge group of people who belong to more that one of these groups so  it is
 hard to  tell exactly what the market is like.  Boston is also home of the
 Berkeley School of Music and I  have met  a few  Atari users  but for some
 reason they  don't want  to mix  with the  rest of us.  I would love some-
 musicians to belong to some of the groups, I think all of us would benefit
 from meeting and talking with these people.  Of course Boston has the Bos-
 ton Computer Museum which was just written up in Current Notes.   I am sad
 to say that living here I never been there and sorry to say it had to take
 a visitor to our city to spotlight it.  Boston is also home to  the Boston
 Computer Society  the largest  computer usergroup in the world.  BCS supp-
 orts all types of computers and is known worldwide.
 It is my hope to tell you about the other groups in  and around  Boston in
 future stories.

     We in the Boston area seem to have it good, I mean not only three dea-
 lers we also have some fine developers around.  Jim  Alan who  shows up at
 our meetings when time permits to the fine folks from Gribnif half a state
 away.  Those two are not the only well known Atari people  around there is
 Albert Braggata  I am  sure that You have seen his fine shareware programs
 and picture files on the boards.  There is also Rick Keene  recently feat-
 ured in  ST Informer,  and Dr.  T's, the Guys who bring FoReM BBS and many
 many more.  The only support we can't seem to get out  here is  from ATARI
 itself.   There are  places that  say what  can we have and Atari jumps to
 help and places like Boston for some reason getting any kind of acknowled-
 gment from them is like having all your teeth pulled.

     Well in  leaving I  must say  Boston is a great city!!! If you get the
 chance come on by and visit us.  I will be writing  some more  (I Hope) in
 the future.   Sometimes I go off the deep end, I get ticked off what can I
 say I just don't know enough to keep  my big  mouth shut  or in  this case
 keep my  fingers off the keyboard.  Remember if you want to yell at me for
 my horrid style of writing or just want to say hello I am always on Delphi
 (at least  once a  day) if you have any ideas on what you would want me to
 write about again let me know.  If you don't have a Delphi account you can
 send me  US Mail  thru my  group SSAG P.O. Box 129 Hyde Park, Ma 02136.  I
 might yell I might scream and I may throw a cream pie  at some  people but
 I very seldom bite anyone.






  ***********************************************************************


                    :HOW TO GET YOUR OWN GENIE ACCOUNT:
                     _________________________________

      To sign up for GEnie service: Call: (with modem) 800-638-8369.

               Upon connection type HHH (RETURN after that).
                         Wait for the U#= prompt.

                 Type: XTX99587,CPUREPT then, hit RETURN.

                       **** SIGN UP FEE WAIVED ****

           The system will now prompt you for your information.

               -> NOW!  GENIE STAR SERVICE IS IN EFFECT!! <-

         GEnie Information copyright (C) 1991 by General Electric
            Information Services/GEnie, reprinted by permission


  ***********************************************************************






 > STR Feature                          "...a different viewpoint"
   ===========




                    A LITTLE OF THIS, A LITTLE OF THAT
                    ==================================




 by Michael Lee

 Do  you know how to give an on-line magazine publisher a  heart  attack?
 You  give him a column that's 5-10k larger than he's  expecting.  That's
 what I did this week. I had a backlog of posts from CIS and Genie that I
 wanted to use up (I haven't been on CIS in two weeks,  I'm afraid to see
 how far behind I am there).

                             ----------------

 From D.A. Brumleve (Kidprgs) from the ST RoundTable on Genie...
    If your child attends a preschool,  day care center, at-risk program,
    or  Kindergarten-Grade  1,  please be aware that my  company  is  now
    marketing a package which includes a 1040STe,  11 programs and  disk-
    box,  mouse,  and  mousepad;  used with a color monitor  or  tv,  the
    package  provides  a complete computer center for  a  school  program
    aimed at kids ages 2-7.

    We presented  this  package  at  the  Midwest  Association  for   the
    Education of Young Children conference in Des Moines this past  week-
    end [April 18-20] and it was well-received by everyone who gave it  a
    try.

    Programs  included  with  the  package  include  PD  and   commercial
    offerings  which have been specially modified to suit the needs of  a
    classroom setting.

    Please  ask interested teachers/directors to contact me  at  217-337-
    1937 for our literature.

                             ---------------

 About  the  Gravis  Joysticks from Ron Haidenger  (Product  Manager)  on
 CIS...
    Advanced  Gravis  makes 2 models of sticks for the Atari.  One  is  a
    Switch (digital) Joystick and the other is our Amiga/Atari ST  Mouse-
    Stick.

    The Switch Joystick was upgraded last year to include Turbo-fire  and
    adjustable switch points. When you tighten up the handle tension, the
    switch  contact  locations  actually respond  to  less  stick  handle
    movement.  There should not be many of the older non-turbo units left
    out in the market...

    The MouseStick is an optical joystick which can function as a  Switch
    Joystick  or  a mouse.  It can be defined by the  user  for  movement
    control  and  button  functions.  As  with  all  our  joysticks,  the
    MouseStick  has  3 fire buttons,  a full-sized  foam  padded  handle,
    adjustable  handle tension and microswitch buttons.  The  microswitch
    buttons  are rated for a MINIMUM life of 10,000,000  operations...The
    MouseStick  has  added  button power as they  can  be  programmed  to
    perform several different functions such as Trim, Double Click, Click
    & Lock, Adjustable Turbo Fire and more.

                             ----------------

 Some  paraphrased  comments by various  Atari  on-line  representatives.
 Maybe there's a tidbit here that might interest or help you. From the ST
 RT on Genie...
    ...recently  we [Atari] have seen networking packages for the  TT030,
    MegaSTe and the ST's.  Of course, all of them are currently beta ver-
    sions  (the ST version requires a special cartridge) and aren't  com-
    plete yet, but the Atari users could be seeing some decent networking
    software real soon.

    ...all  I  can say at this time is that we [Atari] are  looking  into
    Multitasking for GEM.

    ...to  make  sure  applications will work okay on future  ST  and  TT
    systems, with few or no modifications, programmers should use the VDI
    for their output and stay independent of hardware.

    ...due  to  a limitation of the Spectre GCR and not the  TT,  the  TT
    won't be able to run Mac II software at this time.

    ...roms in the ST, STe and TT's are currently socketed.

    ...Atari is selling a system in Saudi Arabia that has TOS 1.2 done in
    Arabic.   It has an Arabic keyboard, character set and when you enter
    text, it goes from right to left.

    ...programs  that do their own Atari Laser Printer Output  will  pro-
    bably be unable to use or run in TT Ram.

    ...some early developer versions of the TT030 had the 68881  floating
    point  coprocessors,  the current systems are being shipped with  the
    68882.

    ...The STe and the TT030 have 3 channels for the GI sound chip and  2
    DMA channels for stereo sound.

    ...to  get a TT030 ram upgrade,  you should contact the dealer  where
    you purchased your system. They are in short supply but available.

    ...while  getting the TT030 certified as a Class B system  has  taken
    Atari longer than they anticipated,  they are not holding up its cer-
    tification on purpose. As soon as it passes its FCC tests, it will be
    certified.

    ...changing desktop resolutions on the MegaSTe and TT030 is as simple
    as pressing a key.   ALT 1-3 handles the three ST resolutions and ALT
    4-5 handles the TT Low and Medium resolution (on the TT only).

    ...on the TT030,  if you have problems running a program, try running
    it in ST Medium or High resolution and in ST Ram.

    ...if you own a PTC1426 monitor,  it has a small black switch on  the
    back  that is labeled "VGA/TTC".  This affects the horizontal  timing
    and screen width.

    ...most Atari PC's,  the MegaSTe and the TT use a 6v lithium  battery
    pack  for  their real time clock.  Since they are common  in  the  PC
    world,  you might check with a PC service shop for one if your dealer
    doesn't have one in stock.

    ...while in theory all new AA alkaline batteries are the same, in the
    'real world',  many things can effect their life span.  How long they
    set  on  the shelf,  the tolerance of the length of the  battery  and
    slightly different positive end buttons can all effect the life of  a
    battery cell.

    ...Lattice C/TT is basically an upgrade to Lattice C v5 that has been
    recompiled  improve performance by using the 68030 code  itself  (the
    same with Devpac TT).  Lattice C v5 and the regular Devpac will  work
    on a 68000 system,  Lattice C/TT and Devpac TT will only work on  the
    68030 processor.

    ...Atari's  SPF004  6881  board for the old Mega  ST  is  implemented
    identically to the MegaSTe's FPU,  software that worked on the FPU in
    the old Mega's will work with the MegaSTe.

    ...Currently,  Atari's plans are to charge about $100 for the FSMGDOS
    up-grade.  The package would include FSMGDOS,  FSM.CPX and the entire
    Lucida font family.  But these plans and charges could change by  the
    time of its release.

    ...if  you want the full VME Catalog,  contact  VITA,  VMEbus  Inter-
    national  Trade  Association,   10229  N.  Scottsdale  Rd,  Suite  E,
    Scottsdale, Arizona 85253. They produce a directory of VME Compatible
    Products, and a VMEbus Handbook that gives a full tutorial on the VME
    specification.

                             ----------------

 Some comments from Paul Wu (WuzTEK/OMINIMON Peripherals) from the ST  RT
 on Genie...
    ...The  NEC  3D  is a good monitor but  quite  expensive...WuzTEK  in
    California  (I  work  for WuzTEK) sells a  plug  'm  play  multi-sync
    monitor  that retails for $549 complete with all cables.  If you  are
    interested you may reach me by phone at 714-753-9253.
    ...[if a VGA monitor does not work with Omniswitch],  there may be  a
    chance that [it] will not work with the Atari ST at all.
    ...The reason...is because VGA runs a 31 Khz horz.  and optionally at
    35kHz  and the Atari ST displays 15.7Kz in color mode and 35.1Khz  in
    mono.  That is why some VGA monitors will display ST's mono pictures.
    Unfortunately,  some  VGA monitors does not support the higher  35Khz
    frequency and therefore will not work with the ST.  Beware!  Know the
    scanning frequency range of the monitor before you buy them!

                             ----------------

 Question from Stephen Holcombe on CIS...
    I'm looking for a good C compiler for my ST,  preferably as UNIX-like
    as possible.

 Answer from Bob Retelle (Sysop) on CIS...
    ...the Mark Williams C package uses a shell that is very UNIX like in
    its commands. It also includes an emacs-like editor...

 Answer from Greg Wageman on CIS...
    ...I've been working with Mark Williams C for several years  now.  It
    is a very solid compiler,  with lots of familiar Unix emulation  fun-
    ctions, a source debugger, and a resource construction set. The shell
    is also very familiar to a Unix user,  providing the most  frequently
    used commands...

                             ----------------

 Comments from Mark Kelling on CIS...
    ...I've seen the ATARI MEGA machines featured in several FOX  network
    shows over the past few months. First was on an episode of "Harry and
    the  Hendersons"  where one character was using a MEGA 4  with  ATARI
    hard drive to type a newspaper (I think) article. Another time was in
    a show called "Parker Lewis Can't Lose" There the MEGA was just shown
    (for several seconds) sitting on a desk. It wasn't actually used.

                             ----------------

 From  Doug Wheeler (ICD) on how to install the new upgrades of  the  ICD
 software. From the ST RT on Genie...
     ------------------------------------------------------------------
                Doug's Easy ICDBOOT Installation Instructions
     ------------------------------------------------------------------
    1.  After  unARCing all the files,  copy them onto a floppy disk  or-
        ganized  just like an original ICD disk (ICDBOOT.PRG in  an  AUTO
        folder, and most everything else outside the AUTO folder).
    2.  Reboot your ST and bypass the HD autobooting using CTRL-ALT-LSHFT
        (remember,  if  you're  using TOS 1.2 or later,  wait  until  the
        floppy light comes on before pressing CTRL-ALT-LSHFT).
    2a. Occasionally, the programs in the AUTO folder on floppy disk will
        not  run after a warm boot.  If ICDBOOT.PRG didn't  run,  run  it
        manually from the floppy disk.
    3.  Run HDUTIL.PRG and use the BOOT option to install the booter onto
        your  boot partition (usually C:).  You can also use  the  CONFIG
        option to reconfigure the booter the way you want.
    4.  That's  it...reboot  and  your HD should autoboot  with  the  new
        booter.

                              ----------------

 From Frank Bell from the ST RoundTable on Genie...
    ...I had a look at MULTIGEM the other day and can say the following:
    1. Software multi-tasking system, really! If a program is written for
    multi-tasking,  such  as the included Clock program,  it really  runs
    while your executing a program in another window.  Otherwise you just
    have up to 6 programs loaded at the same time and must jump from win-
    dow to window to do your thing. The program is similar to Multifinder
    on the Mac...

    2. Up  to 6 programs can be active at one time if no accessaries  are
    active.  MULITGEM uses free accessary slots for control.  Once a pro-
    gram has ended, the slot becomes available for the next job.

    3. It should work on all STs and TTs. Great big monitors too.

    4. I  understand quite a few normal ST/TT programs work right out  of
    the  box.  I didn't have too much time to play with the  program  and
    never did read the manual but I had Turbo C,  WordPlus,  my  terminal
    program  shell and editor running along with the above Clock.Prg  and
    two  or three normal GEM windows open.  I could either just click  on
    the  window/program I wanted or click on one the accessary  slots  to
    active the program.  The Clock just ticked away all by itself in  the
    corner (most of the time,  sometimes it wouldn't tick for a minute or
    so).  Programs that use the menu line cause no problems,  the program
    thats active owns it.  Activate another program and it takes the menu
    line.

    5. Programs  such as GEMIMI won't work.  I suppose the same goes  for
    every Desktop program or program that takes over the complete desktop
    from  GEM...GEnie's  Aladdin (ST version) would load part way  but  I
    could never activate it.

    If  you have one of those big monitors or a multisync and a  overscan
    program, I used MegaScreen for 768x608 pixels, MULTIGEM is what we've
    all be waiting for.  But is also works on a normal ST or STE but  the
    screen  is  a little cramped.  MULTIGEM also needs one of  those  VDI
    accelerators. A T16, T20, T30, T40, ..., or SST must scream.

    I think multitasking is just about here.

    Oh,  the price.  I think its around $80.00,  but as it hasn't come to
    Austria yet the price is still open.  The version I saw came directly
    from the CeBit and was in the version 1.0. Update to the next version
    is free.

                             ----------------

 From  Keith  Brooks  (New Horizon Computer Systems) from the  ST  RT  on
 Genie...
    I just demo'd a MegaSTe4 and TT030 at a large company in Calgary that
    has  offices  from coast to coast and several  in  U.S.  The  program
    demo'd was written in dbMan v5.1, the command files and DBF's came to
    over 500k. (Their entire criteria is raw speed for this program.)

    The top speed for their '386 machines running the uncompiled  version
    was  80 seconds.  Their newest unit,  an Everex 286/20mhz with  Step-
    Cache, ran the program in 67 seconds. Our clients MegaST4 (w/TOS 1.2)
    got 107 seconds.

    We  took in the MegaSTe4 and our TT030/8Mb unit.  The MegaSTe4  (with
    16mhz cache turned on) run the program in 70 seconds,  just 3 seconds
    off  the  mark set by their Everex but 10 seconds faster  than  their
    fastest '386.  The TT030 (reminiscent of burning rubber and squealing
    tires)  ran  the same program in 38 seconds!!!  It ran  the  compiled
    version in 24 seconds. The company couldn't believe it, so we ran the
    tests 3 more times...all with the same results.

    The  subject  of a hot rod computer in their boardroom  brought  some
    higher ups down the hall. Serious stuff. Their EDP and accounting and
    test departments will be hearing about it...

                             ----------------

 Question from Myles Cohen on CIS...
    I  just bought a STE.  Included was a disk with an AUTO  folder  with
    STE_FIX.PRG in it.  I had heard that POOLFIX4.PRG was a good idea  to
    use  with the STe,  so I included both of these programs in  my  hard
    drive AUTO folder...Now when my Hard disk initializes...I get a  mes-
    sage that says one of the programs in my AUTO folder does not  follow
    the  XBRA conventions...Turns out that the culprit  is  POOLFIX.  Can
    anyone help me?

 Answer from Dan Rhea (Sysop) on CIS...
    ...I  suspect  your  problem may relate to the order  the  files  are
    [physically] in the AUTO folder. Not the way you see them sorted, but
    in the older they are on the disk.

    Copy  the  files to another folder (use another window)  then  delete
    both files out of the AUTO folder (if you have more files in the auto
    folder, copy and delete them too). Now, one at a time, move the files
    back into the AUTO folder (put poolfix in first,  then the other  fix
    file).   Move  the rest of the files back in the order suggested  (if
    any).  Now reboot the system and see if your problem is still  there.
    If  so  you  have that second folder to  juggle  things  again.  This
    "might" fix things until someone can give you a definitive error.

 Myles Cohen, with a 'happily burbling computer'...
    ...Dan's message straightened out the problem for me.  I had  STE-FIX
    first  in  the  AUTO folder,  followed by POOLFIX-4.  As  soon  as  I
    reversed  them,  the computer burbled happily and stopped sending  me
    the doesn't-follow-XBRA-rules message.

                             ----------------

 Some computer definitions from Dave Small that I found interesting. From
 Cat. 4, Topic 16, Message 146 on the ST RoundTable on Genie...

    "RSN" is Jerry Pournelle's "Real Soon Now" phrase,  typically meaning
    six months to forever.

    "Two  Weeks"  is Atari's phrase to describe when their  product  will
    pass FCC Class B. It typically means the same as "RSN".

    "Yesterday"  is a generic phrase typically used to mean "when  I  get
    the d*mned software to compile...I mean, it SHOULD work first time!".

    "Now Shipping" means that roses are Now Shipping for Mother's Day  to
    the  person's relatives.  It also typically means that if  everything
    turns out perfectly, the product will ship RSN, in Two Weeks.

    "I  don't  know why it isn't at the dealers...probably stuck  at  the
    distributors" means the product is Now Shipping.

    "Feature" means a bug.

    "Didn't Bother To Mention That Feature"  means  the  bug  was  REALLY
    embarrassing!

    "The  Manuals  Are At The Printers" means that the company  has  pur-
    chased a computer to write the manual on, and is now trying different
    word processors out, particularly shareware ones.

    "The Disks Didn't Duplicate Right" means that the disks don't  exist,
    and  thus,  couldn't  duplicate right.  It's all in your  time  pers-
    pective.  (In other words, "You're not thinking fourth dimensionally,
    Marty" -- "Doc" Emmett Brown, "Back To The Future".)

    I  *do*  hope that this Translation and Definition Guide  will  prove
    useful to you.

    A new edition will be posted RSN.

    Grin, Dave / Gadgets

                              ----------------

 Until next week.....





   _____________________________________________________________________





 > MAC REPORT
   ==========

   Issue #008
   ----------



 by Robert Allbritton


 ***     System 7 Arrives

     The Windows 3.0 killer version of the Macintosh OS has arrives, and it
 looks to be everything that it  claimed to  be: the  good the  bad and the
 ugly. A full review next week.



 ***     Apple Stock Plunge

     Within three  weeks, Apple  stock has  gone down over 25 points from a
 high of 75 to about 50 this week. Lower earnings than expected are to bla-
 me, but  Apple seems  to be having big problems transforming to a high vo-
 lume computer maker. While sales of  the Macintosh  Classic remain strong,
 sales of  the Mac  II line are up only slightly, and the new Mac LC, while
 successful, is not nearly sharing the same sales  figures as  the Classic.
 On top  of that,  a class action suit has been filed by Apple shareholders
 who bought stock between January 17  and April  30. The  suit charges that
 Apple Executives, including Chairman John Scully, made misleading stateme-
 nts about the company's outlook for earnings growth.

     Earlier in the week, Apple stated that their third quarter  income may
 actually be  below last  years. This sent a shock wave through Wall Street
 as Apple's rating has gone from buy, to  hold, to  sell in  a little under
 three weeks.

     Everyone seems to believe that Apple as a company remains strong. They
 are sitting on over $500 million in cash and have no long term debt. Howe-
 ver for an investor, the stock is rapidly losing its attractiveness. Apple
 claims the transformation from a low volume, high profit margin company to
 a high volume, low profit margin company may take up to 18 months.



 ***     Radius lowers prices

     In an  attempt to  match Apple's  pricing on the Classic, IIsi and Mac
 LC, Radius has lowered prices on several products.  The Pivot  monitor was
 lowered $200  to $1,095.  The GS/C greyscale interface was lowered $400 to
 $995. The DirectColor/GX for 13" color video was reduced $300 to $795, and
 Radius TV went down $600 to $2,195.


 ***     Apple orders second Cray.

     Cray computer  announced they received a $4.6 million dollar order for
 a Cray Y-MP2E supercomputer from Apple. The computer will be  installed at
 Apple's main  campus in  Cupertino California  this fall.  The computer is
 Apple's second Cray (they also have an older Cray X-MP  that was installed
 in 1986) The new Cray will be used in research and development and will be
 linked via high speed networks (over 100 Megabytes  per second)  to scien-
 tific workstations.



 ***     University of Maine integrates with Macs.

     After considering several vendors, the University of Maine chose Apple
 Computer and their Macintosh systems to  fully integrate  the campus. Macs
 will find  their way into every form of student and faculty life with com-
 puters in dorms, classrooms, and  eventually  even  Professors  homes. The
 Macs were  chosen because  of price, software, hardware compatibility with
 existing systems and project training and support.



 ***     RasterOps introduces new video equipment

     The ultimate Macintosh video  board will  be available  from RasterOps
 starting in  June. The new 24XLTV supports 21 inch screens at 1,152 by 870
 pixels with 24 bits of color (over 16.7 million colors at once) with real-
 -time live video display in a window at 30 frames a second and video frame
 capture from NTSC (American et al) PAL (European) and SECAM (French) video
 sources.   Also built  into the  board is live video out, and overlay that
 will allow the mixing of graphics and video.  The 24XLTV  also supports Q-
 uickDraw display acceleration and JPEG hardware picture compression all on
 the board. How much for all of this? $4,995 -  Screen extra.  But remember
 that this  board has 4 megs of RAM, and is the equivalent of a small video
 studio.

     RasterOps also introduced a new 21"  color monitor  (Hitachi tube) for
 $4,499 and a separate image compression NuBus board for $399, along with a
 new display system for the Sun SPARC line of computers.



 ***     Apple joins Novell Group

     Novell announced that Apple will participate in Novell's new Technical
 Support Alliance. This new group will attempt to provide cross - training,
 cooperative support, and product and information  exchanges. Other members
 include Borland, Compaq, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, NetFRAME,
 Novell, Oracle, Ungermann-Bass and 3Com.



 ***     New configurations for Mac LC

     In an attempt to speed up business sales  for the  Macintosh LC, Apple
 announced two new configurations for the computer.  Customers can now sub-
 stitute the 512K Video Ram for the Keyboard in the LC for  the same $2,499
 suggested retail price (2 Megs of RAM, 40 Mb Hard Drive). This allows cus-
 tomers to select the  keyboard they  want while  giving them  the expanded
 colors that  the 512K  Video Ram  offers (16,000 colors at once on the 12"
 screen and 256 colors at once on the 13" screen.)  The other configuration
 offers the 512K video Ram, no keyboard, 8 Megs of Ram and 80 Megs of hard
 drive storage for $2,999

     Well, that's  all for  now -  back to  exams (3 more days, then its my
 "last" summer before I have to deal with the Real  World [and  a job]) See
 you next week.



         _________________________________________________________






 > ST WRITER 4.0 STR InfoFile          ST WRITER ELITE VERSION 4.0!
   ==========================




                        ST WRITER ELITE VERSION 4.0
                            (Changes since 3.6)

   - For  users of  the MEGA TOS (1.2) and the buggy disk-loaded version of
     TOS 1.4 (1988), previous versions required you to move the  mouse poi-
     nter outside of the menu area at the top of the edit screen when pres-
     sing the [ESC] key to return  to the  menu screen.   This  was done to
     correct for a GEM bug which drops menus on the mouse, leaving holes in
     the menu like swiss cheese.  No problem  with the  original version of
     soft-load  TOS,  1.0,  and  1.4  (1989).  Now, the mouse automatically
     drops out of the area (does NOT work in combination  with Atari's MAC-
     CEL2.PRG).

   - Improvements  to the  form input  (from disk file) have been made, and
     bugs that caused screwy things on wrapping an insert word occurring at
     the end of a line have been squashed.

   - Support  for Moniterm  monitor.  160 columns by 57 lines, or 160 by 93
     lines in hi-res flip-flop.

   - ver.  3.6 had a bug in the floppy format routine which appeared on TOS
     versions previous  to TOS  1.2 (Mega  TOS), and  caused a fatal crash.
     Fixed in 3.7.

   - The mouse cursor state is neutralized at  exit further  enhancing run-
     ning of the program from a shell.

   -  ALL  PREVIOUS  VERSIONS  TO  3.8  WILL  NOT  RUN  PROPERLY ON THE STe
     COMPUTERS.  THE TEXT  AND BACKGROUND  APPEAR THE  SAME COLOR  WHEN YOU
     PRESS ^T TO TRANSFORM COLORS.

   -  Increased  compatibility  with  AtariWriter+.  Foreign characters now
     translate into their ST equivalents correctly.  You will still need to
     edit out the AtariWriter+ global formatting data and tab settings.

   - 4.0 is compatible with ALL resolutions on the TT.

   - 4.0 will now fast-load, and on TT will load into fast TT RAM.

   -  4.0  allows  selection  of  3  font  sizes  in  TT  Med  and  TT High
     resolutions, and 2 sizes in ST High and TT Low.

   - 4.0 combines menu screens into one screen.  GEM is always  active, and
     alert boxes  now work alone as opposed to in parallel with command box
     alerts.

   - 4.0 actually has two flavors: this one  works fine  in TT  TOS 3.5 and
     better, but  TOS 3.1  has VT52  emulator color  problems in Low Res TT
     mode.  The version for START magazine has a fix for this,  and will be
     available if  and when  START publishes again.  You can also fix it by
     using Quick ST 3.0 which bypasses the TOS routines.

   - You can now set the default for tabs to 4, 5,  or 8  for tab expansion
     when loading  non-ST Writer  Elite programs.  SETTING the default tabs
     [Shift Tab] remains unchanged.

   - The STWRITER.PRG  file  may  now  be  modified  to  hold  your default
     settings for  screen color  on boot-up   (black or white background is
     ineffective on the Moniterm  Moniter, it  always has  white background
     with black  text), tab setting, default file extender, and format line
     settings.  Your disk and STWRITER.PRG file must NOT be write-protectd,
     so do it on a back-up copy just in case of a screw-up.

     When you  re-boot STWRITER.PRG,  the new  settings become the default.
 If you want to return to the virgin settings, this option is  available as
 well.

                              As always, any bugs, let me know.
      Bruce Noonan, M.D., Compuserve [72407,504] or Genie [B.Noonan]


 Editor Note;
     This program,  ST Writer Elite, is one of our standby favorites.  Many
 to the good Doctor for keeping this jewel up to date.  STReport was elated
 to see  this file  available for download on CIS early Friday.  For a "Not
 for Sale",  PD word  processor, this  beauty rivals  many, many commercial
 programs.  Make sure you obtain this program.  Its a good one.



         ________________________________________________________





 > GEM-View STR Review             "GEM-View is *THE* picture viewer."
   ===================



                          GEM-View -- SUPER HOT!
                          ======================


 by Ed Krimen


         A new  picture viewer came across comp.binaries.atari.st on Usenet
 recently.  Just what we all need is another picture viewer, right?   Well,
 GEM-View is  *THE* picture  viewer.   Not only  does it handle the mundane
 GIF, Degas (uncompressed and  compressed), and  Tiny-Compressed images, it
 also handles (and this from the included READ.ME file):

  o DF Rasterfiles (a own format)                        [*.PDF]
  o GIF Images                                           [*.GIF]
  o Sun Rasterfiles                                      [*.SUN]
  o STAD Images                                          [*.PAC]
  o IFF Imagefiles (SOME, NOT ALL, searching for desc.)  [*.IFF]
  o GEM-(X)Image Files                                   (*.IMG)
  o GEM-Metafiles (Vector)                               (*.GEM)
  o Neochrome Rasterfiles                                (*.NEO)
  o Art-Director Rasterfiles                             (*.ART)
  o Degas Images                                         (*.P[IC][123])
  o Tiny-Compressed Images                               (*.TN[123Y] )
  o Doodle Monochrome Rasters                            (*.DOO [640x...] )
  o Spectrum 512 Images                                  ( *.SPU, *.SPC )
  o X Bitmap-File (a bitmap C-Source description)        [ *.XBM ]

         There are  quite a  few good picture viewers for the ST, including
 ViewGIF 1.2, Giffer, PicSwitch, and DSlide.  Each of them have unique fea-
 tures, but I have not seen anything so feature-packed as GEM-View.

         For starters,  all of  GEM-View's output  is done in a GEM window.
 Since the program can be run as a program or  a desk  accessory, it's very
 versatile.  When run as a desk accessory, you can have a picture in a win-
 dow along with all your other open windows.

         When GEM-View is selected under the  DESK menu  on the  desktop or
 run as  a program,  the first  thing that appears is a small log window in
 the lower left portion of the screen.  This non-scrollable window displays
 the  title  of  the  program,  its  version  number,  and  author,  Dieter
 Fiebelkorn, all in the smallest system font to fit as much info in as lit-
 tle space.   Before  you've recognized  this however,  a file selector has
 appeared so that you may select a picture to view.  Once  a file  has been
 selected,  it's  current  configuration,  including original picture type,
 size, number of colors, is shown in the log window.

         By this time, GEM-View is converting the picture, if conversion is
 necessary, to  the current  screen resolution  and color capabilities.  If
 you're running GEM-View in monochrome and you've selected a color picture,
 it will  automatically convert  the picture to monochrome, including dith-
 ering and resizing if the picture is larger than your current screen size.
 If required,  it goes  through a couple of color remapping and screen com-
 pression sequences.  It also tells you how long it takes to load and proc-
 ess the picture.  The neat thing is that it actually tells you this in the
 log window as it's happening.  Oh, and before I  forget, not  only does it
 show the info in the log window as it's doing its converting, but it does
 everything in the background.  Yes, this program multitasks!!  So, you can
 select a GIF picture to convert, and while it's doing that in  the backgr-
 ound, you can do other stuff, like write a review of a new program or your
 new unauthorized biography of Jack Tramiel.  The down-side to this is that
 the system is slowed down considerably when it's doing the conversions.  I
 suppose this would be a good reason to get a TT or a 68030 upgrade. <grin>

         So, once the picture is finished converting, it  outputs the image
 to a  full-screen window.  If the image doesn't fit on the screen, you can
 scroll the image using the usual scroll bars on the  GEM window.   Or, you
 can hold  down the  right mouse  button on  the image and use the mouse to
 scroll the picture inside the window.  Some spectacular, advanced features
 are revealed  when you  hold the  right-mouse button over the scroll bars.
 These features include saving the picture, sizing the window, clipping the
 picture, rotating  the clip,  setting the  brightness, dither or halftone,
 and a few other things.

         I used GEM-View with MonSTer, which  is a  program that  creates a
 1280x960 monochrome,  1280x480 4-color, or 640x480 16-color virtual screen
 depending upon which ST resolution you've  chose  to  boot  in.   GEM-View
 works  perfectly  with  this,  and  I'll  assume  it  works with the large
 Moniterm monitors as well the TT resolutions.

         When I was looking through the  READ.ME file,  I was  expecting to
 find the  ubiquitous shareware plea, but there wasn't one -- only Dieter's
 Usenet signature file.  This program is easily of commercial caliber.  I'd
 be surprised  if it  isn't sold by itself or at least bundled with another
 commercial program in the future.

         There are many more features in GEM-View that I haven't mentioned.
 If  you  ever  view  pictures  on  your  ST, you should get a copy of this
 program.




         _________________________________________________________





 > USERGROUPS STR FOCUS                         Starting a Usergroup
   ====================




                    SO YOU WANT TO START A USER GROUP?
                    ==================================



  A primer for starting
  your own user group


 by Tim Holt

 ACCEPT of El Paso

     The computer sits on your desk, shiny, new and ready to take  you on a
 cruise that  you have  never been  on before. You got your word processor,
 your spreadsheets, your data bases, and all the other neat things that the
 guy at the computer store could sell you. You tax rebate check is gone,and
 you wife wants some results from  that expensive  "toy". You  crank up the
 word processor,  and start into the 576 page manual:"Make sure interface A
 is solidly connected to your camshaft  before you  begin any  operation of
 your wing  nut removal  system..." It  is going  to be  a long time before
 grandma gets her letter.

     How could you avoid the hassles of computer  ownership? How  could you
 find out  how part  A slides  "easily into  slot B"? And most importantly,
 will grandma ever get her letter? Well, you could go back to  your dealer,
 but  chances  are  they  would  have  to fit you in between customers, and
 frankly, they thought you  were smart  enough to  figure the  computer out
 before you  bought it.  It would  be EMBARRASSING  to go back to them. You
 convinced them that you were smart, and going  back would  prove they were
 wrong. The  best bet  would be  to find  another computer user, who was in
 the same mess you are in  now. Another  user who  could guide  you through
 the programs.

     Even better,  a group  of users  who could  help you, whose brains you
 could pick, and who wouldn't make you feel too stupid.  What you need is a
 USER GROUP.  What do  you say?  There is no user group in your area? Well,
 why not start your own? In this series of columns we will  hopefully desc-
 ribe how  someone can  get a  user group going in their area. What to look
 for, what to avoid, and how to keep that club going even after it you have
 it well  established. Of  course, this is just a generic outline of how to
 get a UG going. The rest will be up to  you. Like  art, the  limits in any
 user group  are the limits of your imagination. You will do things that we
 have never tried, and  some of  the things  we have  tried won't  work for
 you. But  hopefully, this  series will let you at least see the way to go.
 This week's topic:

                WHAT, WHY and WHERE of a user group:

 1. The first questions are, what is a user group, and do I belong?
    A user group is defined here as a group of people with some
    sort of similar interest: ie. The computer. This group meets
    together, either formally or informally to discuss how to make
    the computer a more useful tool for them. If you do not think
    that you are getting all you can out of your computer, then you
    might enjoy the services of a user group. If you are a master
    of everything about computers, then a user group would be a
    great place to display the fruits of all your hard work. In
    other words, a user group can be fun for just about everyone.


 2. Why form a user group?
    Wouldn't just talking to your friends be enough? Well, this
    idea works if all of your friends own exactly the same things
    you do. Chances are they don't. Chances are also pretty good
    that your friends are not using the computer for the same
    purposes you are. The old cliche that two heads are better
    than one works well here. Input from a wide variety of sources
    is extremely important. You didn't buy the first car you ever
    saw, or the first computer.You shopped around and got a
    variety of ideas. A user group facilitates the wide
    variety of inputs, the bantering around of new ideas. Some
    fellow from the other side of town or in another city, might
    have a solution to your problem that your inner circle just
    can't figure out. The sharing of ideas is THE major reason
    user groups are formed.

 3. Okay, I want to form one. How do I do it?
    Well, you just can't expect a user group to form overnight.
    Some careful considerations are in order BEFORE you even have a
    first meeting.

    Consideration #1: Will your area support a user group?
    Get a feel for how many other similar computer users there are
    in your area. If you are the only one in a 300 mile radius,
    chances are a group won't work. However, if you know of several
    other people with your type of computer, chances are there are
    many others that you do not know about. (Kind of like roaches:
    if you see one, there might be thousands in the walls...) Put
    a feeler up on a local BBS that supports your computer. Ask the
    dealer nearby if they would ask customers about starting a
    group. Put a poster up in the local computer store saying that
    a user group is forming, and to call you if they are
    interested. This should give you a pretty good idea. Make an
    effort to let it be known about an organizational meeting that
    you will have. Make the date and time convenient for most
    people. The organizational meeting for our group was held in a
    food court at a local shopping center. The reason being, the
    mall was well known, easy to get to, centrally located, and
    neutral. Folks might have qualms about going to some stranger's
    house. If you find that a few people are interested, great.
    Don't be discouraged by a low turnout either. Our first meeting
    had 5 people show up!

    Consideration #2: Where are you going to meet regularly?
    Well, you can't keep meeting in the middle of the mall, so you
    had better find a place that facilitates your club. I will give
    you several things to look for in a meeting room:
    Lots of chairs (for the big crowds!), lots of tables (gotta put
    those computers somewhere) and lots of electrical outlets. If
    you know a place that meets those criteria, go for it. (This
    also knocks out most peoples homes.)

    -Public libraries usually have meeting rooms that they will let
    you use. They SHOULD let you use them if you tell them you are
    a non-profit organization. Since your taxes help pay for the
    library, most cities allow clubs to use the meeting rooms in
    libraries.

    -Public schools also make nice meeting places. Lots of chairs,
    etc, however, most schools are not open on Saturdays, which is
    a traditional meeting day. Check with your local school
    district on their policy towards clubs using the facilities.
    -Churches usually have meeting rooms and tables with chairs.

    If you have a close relationship with a local church, go
    ahead and ask them if you can use the room once a month. They
    might ask for a small donation, and if it isn't too outrageous,
    go for it.

    -Local computer dealer: The guy that sold you the computer
    might have an open area in the back of the shop that you can
    use. This is especially nice for you because you get to use
    their computers, and see the newest gadgets right in the store.
    It is also nice for the dealer, because he gets a group of
    users that are always looking for the newest and neatest stuff,
    and he essentially has a captive audience for a few hours. Good
    for you, good for him.

    -Other options: I have heard of clubs meeting in banks,
    Shriner's Halls, Bingo Parlors, the local college, you name it,
    they meet there.

    Remember though, if you can save money, do so. If you have a
    choice between a free place and a $5 a month place, go for the
    free one if they are similar.Some places make you sign an
    agreement for a period of time,say, a year. Don't sign one that
    says YOU will have to pay so and so. YOU will get stuck with
    the bill if something happens. Try to find a place that has no
    monetary restriction, such as security deposits. That's why our
    club meets in a library. We have an agreement that says our
    club will meet there the second Saturday of each month for an
    entire year. No other user can use the facility during our
    time, from 12:30pm until 3:30pm.

    Consideration #3: How will the group be structured?
    Traditionally, a club of ANY kind has the basic officers:
    President: The grand marshall. He oversees all the goings-on of
    the club. This person sets the agenda of the club, and is
    responsible for making sure that things run smoothly. (In many
    clubs, the president is EVERYTHING! Don't let this happen. For
    one, he will get burned out real fast, OR he will go on a power
    trip that will alienate the rest of the membership.When things
    go well, the president looks good. When things go poorly,the
    president look s real bad! If you have a traditional club, make
    sure the president shares responsibilities with,

    Vice President: This guy fills in for the president when the
    president is away, sick, or resigns, as in the case of our
    club! Sometimes, the president just flips out, and the vice
    president must be there to fill in.(I would tell you about our
    flipped out president, but there are still a few in El Paso
    that are sensitive about it...)

    Secretary: This person is in charge of the club's office work.
    Mailing out letters, filing newsletters, keeping the membership
    informed about the goings on in the club. Also, the secretary
    often will take the minutes of the meeting to be read at the
    next meeting. The duties of the secretary are often closely
    related to the

    Treasurer: He is in charge of the club's money. Your club will
    have to get a bank account and this person is in charge of it.
    Make sure it is someone trustworthy. Also, make sure there
    are specific guidelines for how money should be spent. Can the
    treasurer take money out of the account by himself, or must two
    officers sign for money? Can the officers spend money BETWEEN
    meetings, or must all transactions be approved by the
    membership? All of these questions must be answered BEFORE
    anyone should be allowed to play with the money. Sure as shoot,
    if you spend money, someone will ask why, and since the
    membership money was paid by the members, they will demand an
    accounting. They have the right to one at any time. It's really
    their money. Sometimes, the officers of a club will get cocky,
    and think that the money belongs to them. That is why safety
    guidelines should be established, to protect everyone.In many
    smaller clubs, the secretary and the treasurer are usually the
    same person.

    This traditional method is rather like a triangle, with the
    president at the top, and the regular members at the bottom.

    There are other ways to structure the club as well. ACCEPT has
    no officers per se, but rather a three member executive
    committee that meets on occasion. There are no RULES that say
    your club must have things a certain way. Our group started out
    with the traditional officers, but evolved into what we have
    now. No one way is correct. You may decide that officers are
    needed, or you may decide that officers are a pain. If it feels
    good, do it. Can't decide? Well, that's one of the neat things
    about user groups, someone will always come up with an idea.
    (Sometimes the ideas are pretty lousy, but every once in a
     while, a gem of hope comes through.)

 So you have decided to form a group, you got a meeting place and have dec-
 ided on the organizational aspects. Next time, we will discuss  how to get
 members, and what you have to offer them in order to keep them.


        __________________________________________________________





 > CHANGING TIMES! STR Spotlight                       What is going on??
   =============================





                       EVOLUTION IN THE ATARI WORLD
                                    OR
          THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY REMAIN THE SAME!


 An observation...

 by Ralph F. Mariano


     Lately, we  clearly find  the DTP publishing arena seeming to dominate
 the entire marketing perspective for Atari's  computer sales  efforts.  Is
 this really  the picture  Atari Corp. cares to portray?  Could it possibly
 be we are in on the  very beginnings  of a  substantial change  in Atari's
 marketing and  penetration priorities?   Is the current crop of Atari com-
 puters destined to be primarily aimed at the DTP market?   Has  there been
 some type  of clandestine arrangement made to favor certain software pack-
 ages which are aimed at niche markets only?  Is  Atari slowly  leaning to-
 ward  the  high  priced,  specialty  application  and productivity market?
 Read.. A "verticle niche" market.  Are the days of the "home computer" for
 everyone over?   Could be.  Let's try to begin an examination of the 'big'
 picture.

     Since the plethora of online conferences at the beginning of the year,
 how many of the projected goals of those conferences are actually in exis-
 tance?  How many are driving the Atari userbase and  market in  the USA to
 new and  dizzying heights?  How many here-to-fore unheard of publishers of
 magazines, reviews, software and  newsletters  have  picked  up  the Atari
 story of success and begun to cover the fine example of how to do business
 in the USA and succeed?  Well, so far one  author/reviewer tried  and bec-
 ause he spoke the truth... the clique and its lemmings found it absolutely
 necessary to attack this man.  How very original and indeed what a wonder-
 ful manner in which to win unrivaled support for Atari.  Well done folks.

     As an  example, Jerry  Pournelle was  sent a TT030 to try, examine and
 review.  Of course, everyone held their breath hoping for  a magnanimously
 positive exclamation  from Jerry.   Or  did they?  From what is known now,
 some were very busy trying to place their  software in  the running  to be
 reviewed  along  with  the  TT,  nothing  wrong  with  that.  Except Jerry
 receives large quantities of both hardware  and software  every week.   It
 would have  been nice  if he  and the  TT were 'prepped'.  That is to say,
 have the software already  installed on  the TT's  hard disk  and ready to
 use.   To expect  Jerry to  set-up the  TT, install software and THEN do a
 review is a bit much.  Then to top off  the scene  he is  bombarded with a
 level of arrogance which drove to decide to drop the whole idea.

     Well, Jerry  said he  "liked" the TT but that he was less than pleased
 with the software that  was available  specifically for  it.  Immediately,
 the "war  hounds" were  foaming at the muzzles ready to kill.  Unfortunat-
 ely, these "representatives of the Atari  userbase" failed  to realize one
 fact.  Pournelle was to do a hardware review!  He was not to carry on over
 any single software offering or  indeed  indirectly  promote  a particular
 company or  individual's software  offerings.   It was, after all, a TT030
 HARDWARE review.

     Amazingly, when this occurred, a number of questions arose:

 Was every software publisher who still supports the Atari platform "notif-
 ied to  send software  to Pournelle in hopes of getting a favorable review
 along with review of the TT?

 Was it really necessary for all the hate mail?  Did the  so-called leader-
 ship in the Atari arena take all things into consideration and then act in
 the best interests of Atari and its supporting developers?

 How in heaven's name can Atari ever hope to project the image  of a mature
 anxious to  learn and  progressive userbase  when continually, an immature
 "gang up on and get even" type attitude seems to  permeate each  and every
 reaction to negative or disagreeable commentaries?

     To continue,  tragically we find a MAJOR software publisher, Word Per-
 fect Corp. has dropped future development for the Atari lines.  Up to this
 point we  all were hopeful that the porting of later versions of Word Per-
 fect for Atari Germany would lead to the USA getting  a full  update.  The
 PRESTEGE lost  by this  unfortunate occurance is serous.  This wouldn't be
 so bad if it were JUST Word Perfect but when one considers how many others
 are doing  or have done the very same thing it fast becomes a tragedy.  It
 IS a tragedy!   Now, there  are rumblings  of a  re-worked Word-Up  in the
 works.  Could this be a coincidence?

     The ST/TT/STE  Computer line is very well designed, easy to use and of
 course among the most user friendly ever made.  Then why, WHY  aren't they
 readily accepted  in the  computing world?  This is not an easy answer but
 there ARE answers to this problem and surprisingly,  there are  good solu-
 tions available too!  Can someone say advertise and provide an ample supp-
 ly of product to the USA market?

     National wholesale distribution is  a large  part of  the big picture,
 thankfully, its  now in place.  Advertising is the rest of the picture, so
 let's see some real publicity for  these fine  machines.   Perhaps the new
 arrangements of  joint advertising  ventures will bear fruit.  Make people
 aware of the superb Atari Computers and the machines will sell themselves.
 Out here  in the trenches, anyone who mentions the machine or demonstrates
 it experiences this all the time.  Folks are amazed  at what  a great com-
 puter it really is.  Most all say the same thing, "HOW COME WE NEVER HEARD
 OF IT?"  That  is the  easiest question  to answer,  because Atari doesn't
 really advertise.  Its time they did and did it heavily with a vengeance.




       ____________________________________________________________







 > Hard Disks STR InfoFile       ***** ABCO PRICE CHANGES! *****
   =======================




                       ** EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY! **

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       ____________________________________________________________




 > A "Quotable Quotable"
   ====================




                      "......A KINDER, GENTLER ATARI"

                                                    ...Sam Tramiel



 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
                  STReport International Online Magazine
     Available through more than 10,000 Private BBS systems WorldWide!
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 STReport            "YOUR INDEPENDENT NEWS SOURCE"            May 17, 1991
 16/32bit Magazine        copyright = 1987-91                     No.7.20
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
 Views, Opinions and Articles Presented herein are not necessarily those of
 the editors, staff, STReport  CPU/MAC/STR  or  ST Report .   Permission to
 reprint articles  is hereby granted, unless otherwise noted.  Each reprint
 must include the name of the publication, date, issue #  and  the author's
 name.  The entire publication and/or portions therein may not be edited in
 any way without prior  written permission.   The  entire contents,  at the
 time of publication, are believed to be reasonably accurate.  The editors,
 contributors and/or staff are not responsible for either the use/misuse of
 information contained herein or the results obtained therefrom.
 """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""


-----------------------------------------
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