fetrow@entropy.UUCP (David Fetrow) (02/02/86)
Quantumlink came in the mail today so, after a few hours, a quick
review seems appropriate. The software itself is stunningly beautiful
to the eye, it only runs on a C64 (or C128 in C4 mode), but that's
o.k. This is tailormade to the system so not only do the screens look
good but a lot of overhead is taken care of automatically. It's a very
menudriven approach (the menus' are slightly inconsistent but well
labelled and very pretty) which is easy to find things in. It has some
nice touches: If your reading the first of several screens of data the
modem fills a buffer in the backround which speeds thing up a bit.
It has a rather nice selection of PD software and a "software preview"
from commercial developers (Timeworks, Epyxx, EA) that allows you to
download demo programs, the latest corporate propaganda (press releases)
are available from Commodore, an electronic encyclopedia,etc. This is
the thing to show your friends who own more expensive computers to make
them envious.
At this time the system doesn't seem overloaded BUT expect a whole
lot of people jumping on system soon which will be the real test. Bug fixes
are, of course, available.
The pricing is reasonable and the phone taps cover most large towns and
cities. Availability is evenings and weekends only. It is (ugh!) copy
protected. It is much easier to use than Compuserve but also much narrower
in focus.
--
- Dave Fetrow
{ ihnp4, fluke, tektronix, uw-june }!uw-beaver!entropy!fetrow :UUCP
entropy!fetrow@uw-june.arpa :ARPA
fetrow@UWALOCKE :BITNET
74175,1724 :Compuserve