tob@inuxa.UUCP (T Burger) (01/08/85)
Another report from CES85 by the staff of ANTIC magazine. This file is a report on the GEM operating environment, developed by Digital Research for the new ST line of ATARI computers based upon the MC68000 cpu. ANTIC ONLINE NEWS SPECIAL BULLETIN Permission to reprint or excerpt is granted only if the following credit appears at the top of article: ANTIC SPECIAL BULLETIN, REPRINTED BY PERMISSION. COPYRIGHT 1985, ANTIC PUBLISHING INC. Sunday, 6 January 1985 by MICHAEL CIRAOLO, Associate Editor, Antic Las Vegas--Officials from Digital Research Inc. said today their company has signed the first in a series of agreements with the new Atari Corp for DRI's GEM operating system extension. This move, combined with DRI's commitment to independent software developers, is expected to bring a wide variety of software to the top-of-the-line Atari computers. GEM (for Graphics Environment Manager) will run on the Atari ST line of 16-bit microcomputers, which are based on the 68000 microprocessor Noted for its ability to enable icons, pull-down menus, windows and mice, GEM also simplifies the job of the software developer, according to DRI's Tom Byers. "Digital Research has taken graphics abilities into the software realm," said Byers. "With the new Atari, the furnishings--the windows, menues and so on-- are included in GEM. The technological barriers to programming are gone." Digital Research is currently working with about 10 independent software developers now, and will be hosting a seminar in February for about 150 major software developers. Following next month's seminar, attendees, attendees will be given GEM toolkits to aid in the development of 68000 software. DRI's development software will allow independent software vendors to write software for the Atari ST machines on any MS-DOS computer. Thorn EMI/Perfect Software, Chang Labs, Lifetree Software and Matrix have all agreed to write GEM software to take advantage of GEM's user interface, according to DRI officials. Future software developers can look forward to seminars across the country, toolkits from DRI and one-year access to a toll-free telephone number for immediate technical support. Because GEM works independently of operating systems and languages, it is compatible with PC-DOS (version 2.0 and up), MS-DOS and Concurrent DOS. There is no specific development language for the new Ataris, although Byers recommended C. Part of the GEM package is the Application Environment Services (AES) supplement. AES includes subroutine libraries to monitor and respond to user input from mouse movement, mouse button clicks, keyboard entry and so on. Libraries also include software that lets a programmer write a menu in text form and have it translated into pull- down menu form, and several storage/retrieval managers to keep track of graphics, icons and the screen under a pulled menu. Contrary to earlier reports, the ST operating system was developed specifically for the Atari, although it did have its roots in CPM 68000, according to Byers.