OHA101%URIACC.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu (F. Michael Theilig) (07/25/89)
Commodore is being VERY tight-lipped with 1.4. Why? What has been
announced about it? Is this because of the 1.3 delay problem?
Also, Commodore hasn't (to my knowledge) released any technical
specs on the ECS. Is this because it isn't finished or are they being
mysterious about that too. They shouldn't because, after all, it IS
available.
Also, is VLT docs available? My first impression was "Bleach!" but
I keep hearing so much praising about it. Some of the features sound
great.
/* F. Michael Theilig OHA101 at URIACC.Bitnet
"There is no Dark Side of the Moon...
in fact it is all dark." */portuesi@tweezers.esd.sgi.com (Michael Portuesi) (07/25/89)
In article <20364@louie.udel.EDU> OHA101%URIACC.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu (F. Michael Theilig) writes:
Commodore is being VERY tight-lipped with 1.4. Why?
Because the release of 1.4 is SEVERAL months away and the Commodore
engineering staff does not want to be accused of pedaling vaporware.
Imagine the flames on Usenet if the developers said "1.4 will offer
fooble-de-goo" and months later fooble-de-good didn't make it into the
release version. Besides that, advertising upcoming features will
only encourage those people who post weekly to Usenet asking "when is
1.4 coming out?" to post even more often.
Also, Commodore hasn't (to my knowledge) released any technical
specs on the ECS. Is this because it isn't finished or are they being
mysterious about that too. They shouldn't because, after all, it IS
available.
The technical specs on ECS have been released to developers, who are
the only people that can profitably use such information at the
moment. The entire ECS has **NOT** been released; only the Fat Agnus
chip so far.jms@tardis.Tymnet.COM (Joe Smith) (07/26/89)
In article <20364@louie.udel.EDU> OHA101%URIACC.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu (F. Michael Theilig) writes: > Commodore is being VERY tight-lipped with 1.4. Why? What has been > announced about it? Is this because of the 1.3 delay problem? Many developers don't expect 1.4 to be done until sometime in 1990. You don't want Commodore to make "vaporware announcements", do you? More companies get into trouble for making official announcements for products that they cannot deliver immediately. > Also, Commodore hasn't (to my knowledge) released any technical > specs on the ECS. Is this because it isn't finished or are they being > mysterious about that too. They have released the specs, to registered developers. > They shouldn't because, after all, it IS available. ^^^^^ The "S" in "ECS" stands for "set", and one chip does not a set make. That is, ECS is NOT available and won't be until the new Denise chip is at the dealers. -- Joe Smith (408)922-6220 | SMTP: JMS@F74.TYMNET.COM or jms@tymix.tymnet.com McDonnell Douglas FSCO | UUCP: ...!{ames,pyramid}!oliveb!tymix!tardis!jms PO Box 49019, MS-D21 | PDP-10 support: My car's license plate is "POPJ P," San Jose, CA 95161-9019 | narrator.device: "I didn't say that, my Amiga did!"
COSC60I@jane.uh.edu (Bandolar) (07/26/89)
> Commodore is being VERY tight-lipped with 1.4. Why? What has been > announced about it? Is this because of the 1.3 delay problem? > Also, Commodore hasn't (to my knowledge) released any technical > specs on the ECS. Is this because it isn't finished or are they being > mysterious about that too. They shouldn't because, after all, it IS > available. > > Also, is VLT docs available? My first impression was "Bleach!" but > I keep hearing so much praising about it. Some of the features sound > great. > Hi, I'm sysop of Phoenix96 in Houston. I get the impression that 1.4 is getting close at least. The latest I've heard sounds pretty incredible to be honest. Arexx: builtin, ARP:CBM version built in, Hooks for (?!) Virtual Memory. Better Fonts, hooks for "outline" type fonts, WB & Intuition somehow changed to be a lot better (can't remember the exact terminology though). Supposedly CLI & WB will be better integrated as well. But, What is ECS and VLT???? -- Stephen McLeod, (Native Texican)| Interests: SF/Gaming, Artist, French, Samurai Programmer | Computers, the SCA and friendly people! Vote Spock, The logical choice!| So, whaduya wanna be when you grow up?
mark@xrtll.UUCP (Mark Vange) (07/28/89)
In article <20364@louie.udel.EDU>, OHA101%URIACC.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu (F. Michael Theilig) writes: > > Commodore is being VERY tight-lipped with 1.4. Why? What has been > announced about it? Is this because of the 1.3 delay problem? > > Also, Commodore hasn't (to my knowledge) released any technical > specs on the ECS. Is this because it isn't finished or are they being > mysterious about that too. They shouldn't because, after all, it IS > available. > Before I left Visionary Design Technologies, we spent a great deal of time trying to get some questions answered about the ECS, and met with very little success. They went as far as pulling our software up on their debuggers, but would not simply inform us of what the new registers were/did. It seems to me, that if you are already publically selling a machine/chip set, then it's probably about time to make public any information which is necessary for developers to program it! mark@xrtll
lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca (Larry Phillips) (07/28/89)
In <331@xrtll.UUCP>, mark@xrtll.UUCP (Mark Vange) writes: > It seems to me, that if you are already publically selling a machine/chip > set, then it's probably about time to make public any information which is > necessary for developers to program it! They are not selling an ECS machine/chipset. Presumably, when the ECS has been cast in concrete, the specs will be made available to those who need it, as has been done with everything else. I don't know how long you've been messing with the Amiga, but any of those who have ben around since the beginning will tell you that the last thing we need is yet another Zorro spec debacle. -larry -- "So what the hell are we going to do with a Sun?" - Darlene Phillips - +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | // Larry Phillips | | \X/ lphillips@lpami.wimsey.bc.ca -or- uunet!van-bc!lpami!lphillips | | COMPUSERVE: 76703,4322 -or- 76703.4322@compuserve.com | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+