hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com (Harv Laser) (11/21/87)
Reposted from People/Link (with permission)... ---- AMIGA ZONE Sec: 2 Theme: AMIGA NEWS To: ALL By: JOHN*VIG Date: 11/21/87 0:28 Num: 18,780 Title: GREAT STUFF COMING IN '88. ---- I learned a few interesting things at the JAUG mtg. Friday night; four guys from C= were in the audience, including Dale Luck and Jeff Porter. WP rep put on a great show; Mimetics rep put on a boring show. ==> WP shipped > $1M worth of Amiga WP between Nov 1 & Nov 11. ==> Beware of Spirit Tech's 1.5M internal exp. for A500 - the A500 specs don't allow for that - draws too much power. ==> Check "gold fingers" for alignment before plugging 2 Meg boards into A2000 - people have experienced difficulties, especially with the Micron board, but also with C='s board. ==> 80286 Bridge Board shipping in Jan. ==> KS 1.21/WB 1.3 shipping in Feb. (NOT a misprint - KS 1.21 & WB 1.3 will be next versions) - KS 1.3 about spring '88 - KS 1.4 about summer of '88. C= will offer ROM upgrades; will be easy to replace ROM chips in A2000; a bit more difficult in A500. WB will be removed from ROM chips - there will be no room in the chips after all the new features of KS are added. ==> 800 X 1000 monochrome monitor will ship in late spring '88. ==> XWindows is ready now, will probably be released w. KS 1.4. ==> NEWS is ready but hung up due to lack of sponsorship (I did not understand the full story, but apparently, the hangup has nothing to do with Apple - a notice here a while back stated that it did?) - the Co. that has the rights to Amiga NEWS has not yet decided to spend the $$$ to market it. ==> Some of the original Amigoids are returning to C=/A in Los Gatos; three are back, a fourth is on the way - all are working for C= as contractors. ==> Early A2000's had problems with power supply & fan. Units being shipped now have solid power supplies & quieter fans; C= is using a couple of new suppliers now. ==> One of the C= guys at the mtg. works on the new Denise chip - new chips (all custom chips were intentionally made to be easily replacable in the A500/A2000) will be out in '88 - 1 Meg Agnes chip is ready now. None of the new chips are in production yet. It sounds like the next year will be an exciting one for AMY. It will be a much better machine a year from now!!! ------- Don't ask ME about any of this, I wasn't at the meeting. Just passing along what hopefully is not a bunch-o-rumors. :) +------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Harv Laser - Chairman (sysop) The PeopleLink AmigaZone // | | PeopleLink: CBM*HARV \X/ | | UUCP: {ihnp4!crash, hplabs!hp-sdd!crash}!gryphon!pnet02!hrlaser | | INET: hrlaser@pnet02.CTS.COM | +------------------------------------------------------------------+
tdwest@lion.UUCP (11/23/87)
I bought my Amiga 2000 yesterday (and am waiting for my 45M hd to be put in.. I wanna play :-(). I was going to get a 1000, but the salesman was very good in pointing out (this guy was GOOD) the possible future chip upgrades that the 1000 would not support. In article <2358@gryphon.CTS.COM> Harv Laser writes: > Reposted from People/Link (with permission)... [lots of interesting things, but these are what I am wondering about] > ==> KS 1.21/WB 1.3 shipping in Feb... ...C= will offer ROM upgrades... > ==> One of the C= guys at the mtg. works on the new Denise chip - > new chips (all custom chips were intentionally made to be easily replacable > in the A500/A2000) will be out in '88... > > | Harv Laser - Chairman (sysop) The PeopleLink AmigaZone // | It looks like I made the right choice. I gotta GOOD dealer. Next Question: How much are the new ROMs, Denise, Obese-Agnes, and all her new face-lifted friends going to cost ME? I've been in micros long enough to know that the best things are NEVER free :-{ -- Terry D. West University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. {backbone}!watmath!lion!tdwest
hedley@cbmvax.UUCP (Hedley Davis) (11/23/87)
In article <2358@gryphon.CTS.COM> hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com (Harv Laser) writes: > >Reposted from People/Link (with permission)... > >==> One of the C= guys at the mtg. works on the new Denise chip - >new chips (all custom chips were intentionally made to be easily replacable >in the A500/A2000) will be out in '88 - 1 Meg Agnes chip is ready now. >None of the new chips are in production yet. > Almost... Don't send your pennies yet. We all know there is a big difference between "ready now" and "available". We're pushing on this, but it may be mid to late spring before you can have them. Hedley
rokicki@rocky.STANFORD.EDU (Tomas Rokicki) (11/24/87)
In article <2358@gryphon.CTS.COM>, hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com (Harv Laser) writes: > Title: GREAT STUFF COMING IN '88. Thanks, Harv! > WB will be removed from > ROM chips - there will be no room in the chips after all the new features of > KS are added. So people will have to decide whether to run 1.2, so their programs will still fit, or 1.3/1.4, with the new features? Arghh! Make the damn ROMs bigger, or at least offer bigger ROMs to those who want them. You should *always* make the ROMs bigger; saves disk space, saves RAM. Fill the rest of the space with all those damn libraries and fonts, if any space is left over. I *want* to be able to run a full workbench environment with all the libraries I need, with an essentially blank disk! Please? -tom
ccplumb@watmath.UUCP (11/25/87)
In article <2358@gryphon.CTS.COM> hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com (Harv Laser) writes: >Reposted from People/Link (with permission)... I'm assuming this is for real. Please, someone at C-A correct us if this is nonsense/hype. >==> XWindows is ready now, will probably be released w. KS 1.4. Oooh! Goody! How much RAM does this eat? >==> Some of the original Amigoids are returning to C=/A in Los >Gatos; three are back, a fourth is on the way - all are working for C= as >contractors. Is this true, and can someone give details? Who? What are they doing? Is Los Gatos alive again? I was going to propose a day of mourning on the anniversary of Los Gatos' closing, but I'd be delighted to cancel the idea if it proves unnecessary. >==> One of the C= guys at the mtg. works on the new Denise chip - >new chips (all custom chips were intentionally made to be easily replacable >in the A500/A2000) will be out in '88 - 1 Meg Agnes chip is ready now. >None of the new chips are in production yet. What new features are here? Is it just more chip mem, or something better? If the latter, I'll hack it into my A1000. Otherwise, it probably isn't worth the fiddling. >It sounds like the next year will be an exciting one for AMY. It >will be a much better machine a year from now!!! Yeah! It seems the people at C-A are doing much more than braving the flames and answering our pleas for help. Thanks for both! -- -Colin (watmath!ccplumb) Zippy says: I brought my BOWLING BALL - and some DRUGS!!
mcrae@ssc-vax.UUCP (Brian Mcrae) (11/26/87)
In article <2839@cbmvax.UUCP>, hedley@cbmvax.UUCP (Hedley Davis) writes: > In article <2358@gryphon.CTS.COM> hrlaser@pnet02.cts.com (Harv Laser) writes: > > > >Reposted from People/Link (with permission)... > > > >==> One of the C= guys at the mtg. works on the new Denise chip - > >new chips (all custom chips were intentionally made to be easily replacable > >in the A500/A2000) will be out in '88 - 1 Meg Agnes chip is ready now. > >None of the new chips are in production yet. > > > Almost... Don't send your pennies yet. We all know there is a big > difference between "ready now" and "available". We're pushing on this, > but it may be mid to late spring before you can have them. > > Hedley I know that this has been asked before but I's got ta ask again. Will these new chips work on the 1000? If not why? Is this a good reason to update to the 2000 if they don't work on the 1000. Probably more important, if they don't work on the 1000 will they be supported by software developers who will want to reach the broadest market possible (i.e. if software works with extra fat agnes chip will it work with the current pals.) Thanx in advance for any answers. Brian McRae Boeing Aerospace /* don't kiss aluminium doors in the winter time */ /* since I didn't express any opinions I don't need to disclaim them*/
eric@hector.UUCP (Eric Lavitsky) (11/27/87)
I think I should clarify two things that John Vig mentioned about
the JAUG meeting last week:
a) The problem with seating memory boards is not especially
prevalent with the Micron boards. The problem has been
observed on some boards from both Commodore and Micron,
but neither manfacture has any widespread problems.
b) X Windows is not really ready for distribution now, but Dale
does have most of it working. His version works in "local"
mode where both the server and the client communicate
locally over message ports. He is currently adding support
for Ameristar's board.
The rep from WordPerfect was very good - as Jeff said "he kept the
audience on it's toes by throwing things at them!". If you're in the
northeast and want a demo, try and get Matt Kirk from WordPerfect to
do it, he's a very good speaker (We never believed a demo of a word
processor could be so much fun!).
Oh well, 'nuff for now - gotta plan the next JAUG meeting :-)
Eric
ARPA: lavitsky@topaz.rutgers.edu "Lithium is no longer available
UUCP: ...{wherever!}ulysses!eric on credit..."
...{wherever!}rutgers!topaz!eric - from Buckaroo Banzai
SNAIL: 34 Maplehurst Ln, Piscataway, NJ 08854peter@sugar.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (11/27/87)
> WB will be removed from > ROM chips - there will be no room in the chips after all the new features of > KS are added. So, what minimal set of files will have to be on a minimal boot disk then? Right now you can have a minimal boot disk that will load one program with nothing but s:startup-sequence and the program you want to run. I guess if you're not doing any workbench stuff there won't be any problem. A new version of loadwb, or a driver in l:/libs:/devs:? -- -- Peter da Silva `-_-' ...!hoptoad!academ!uhnix1!sugar!peter -- Disclaimer: These U aren't mere opinions... these are *values*.
cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (11/28/87)
[WARNING: Man talking through his hat below ... ] In article <1546@ssc-vax.UUCP> mcrae@ssc-vax.UUCP (Brian Mcrae) writes: > Will these new chips work on the 1000? If not why? Is this a > good reason to update to the 2000 if they don't work on the 1000. I'm willing to bet that they won't go into the A1000 because the A1000 wasn't designed to take them. Adding an address line to the Chip memory bus would be a lot of hardware hacking. Also I believe the new chips will use a different package layout, if so that would mean additional towers. Anything is possible when the truely demented get hold of a soldering iron (I won't mention any names) so I won't say it can't be done. It is a good reason to upgrade to a 2000. > Probably more important, if they don't work on the 1000 will they > be supported by software developers who will want to reach the > broadest market possible (i.e. if software works with extra > fat agnes chip will it work with the current pals.) Again my impression is that the only changes you will see real soon would be 1Meg of chip ram. This shouldn't break any programs. The biggest benefit will be that you can have more interactive tasks lying around because they won't run out of chip memory for their screens/windows. Also if you are doing double buffered overscan animations in 16 colors you need 321K of chip ram just for the two buffers. Last but not least, if Games take advantage of this 1Meg Chip ram they wouldn't work on the A1000. By the same token no one seems to write games that take advantage of extra memory because they 'write to the lowest common denominator' and since not everyone with a 500 or 2000 will feel the need to upgrade I think you are safe. --Chuck McManis uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis BIX: cmcmanis ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.
king@dciem.UUCP (Stephen King) (11/30/87)
In article <1546@ssc-vax.UUCP> mcrae@ssc-vax.UUCP (Brian Mcrae) writes: > Will these new chips work on the 1000? If not why? Is this a > good reason to update to the 2000 if they don't work on the 1000. ATTN. CATS: Please answer these questions. I am sure I am not alone as an owner of a 2 year old A1000 who does not want to be left out in the cold because of hardware improvements to newer generations of Amigas. I am not afraid to desolder chips, cut PCB traces, install jumpers, decoders, flying wiring, and whatever else is necessary to bring my baby up to new levels of power/performance. ...sjk -- * Defence & Civil Institute * ...!utzoo!dciem!king * of Environmental Medicine * Stephen J King - Simulation & Training Group - (416) 635-2149
dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU.UUCP (12/03/87)
>In article <1546@ssc-vax.UUCP> mcrae@ssc-vax.UUCP (Brian Mcrae) writes: >> Will these new chips work on the 1000? If not why? Is this a >> good reason to update to the 2000 if they don't work on the 1000. > >ATTN. CATS: Please answer these questions. I am sure I am not alone as >an owner of a 2 year old A1000 who does not want to be left out in the >cold because of hardware improvements to newer generations of Amigas. >I am not afraid to desolder chips, cut PCB traces, install jumpers, decoders, >flying wiring, and whatever else is necessary to bring my baby up to new >levels of power/performance. ...sjk I'm an owner of a 2 year old A1000 and I do not feel like I'm being left out in the cold! As far as the A2000 goes, there are no huge differences between the base machines, and it is the base machines that people are writing software for! As far as hardware goes, yes! the A1000 is obsoleted by the new internal bus of the A2000. There *will* be many new products that will work only in an A2000. So what? If I'm going to spend $$ on lots of hardware and $$ on lots of high powered software I might as well spend another $ for an A2000. If I'm a simple user who doesn't have the $$ to buy all that hardware then an A1000 will still last me a couple of years because the relatively low-powered software (< $1000) that I'm buying will work on my A1000. I'm happy with my A1000. When I decide to expand towards lots of hard-disk space I will probably buy an A2000. Of course, by then there will be an A2500... It is a continuous process. Lets think about that for a moment... in 15 years the A1000, A500, and A2000 will all be obsolete hardware wise. The keyword is SOFTWARE COMPATIBILITY. But even though it is the prime consideration you cannot let the issue BIND you... look at IBM, they are still using punch-card models in their main-frames. If something really becomes obsolete, it should be REMOVED even if it does cause a few programs to break. It's relatively simple to take a little time and fix those programs so they don't break on the new OS or machine. -Matt
grr@cbmvax.UUCP (George Robbins) (12/06/87)
In article <2560@dciem.UUCP> king@dciem.UUCP (Stephen King) writes: > In article <1546@ssc-vax.UUCP> mcrae@ssc-vax.UUCP (Brian Mcrae) writes: > > Will these new chips work on the 1000? If not why? Is this a > > good reason to update to the 2000 if they don't work on the 1000. > > ATTN. CATS: Please answer these questions. I am sure I am not alone as > an owner of a 2 year old A1000 who does not want to be left out in the > cold because of hardware improvements to newer generations of Amigas. > I am not afraid to desolder chips, cut PCB traces, install jumpers, decoders, > flying wiring, and whatever else is necessary to bring my baby up to new > levels of power/performance. ...sjk As mentioned before, they are not likely to work in an A1000 without major, if not grand mal, hackery to the Amiga circuit board. I'm sure a brave few will do it, but no simple adapter or tower board will do the trick. If you are still interested, and your soldering iron is hot, then order the A1000 Expansion Architecture manual (A1000 schematics) and the A500/A2000 Tech Ref Manual (A500/A2000 schematics) from CATS, and finally order one each 8370 (Fat Agnus chip) p/n 318070-01 from Service. Extract and discard your old 8361 (Agnus chip) and start working out the changes required to make your system work with the fat lady in charge. Inquiring minds eagerly await your results. Sorry to sound a bit twitty here, but the question has come up a number of times before, and the answer has always been the same, to the extent that we are permitted to comment on chips/products that have been mentioned, but not yet officially announced. -- George Robbins - now working for, uucp: {uunet|ihnp4|rutgers}!cbmvax!grr but no way officially representing arpa: cbmvax!grr@uunet.uu.net Commodore, Engineering Department fone: 215-431-9255 (only by moonlite)
keithd@cadovax.UUCP (Keith Doyle) (12/08/87)
In article <8712032023.AA08353@cory.Berkeley.EDU> dillon@CORY.BERKELEY.EDU (Matt Dillon) writes: > I'm an owner of a 2 year old A1000 and I do not feel like I'm being >left out in the cold! As far as the A2000 goes, there are no huge >differences between the base machines, and it is the base machines that >people are writing software for! I'm on the other side of the fence. I want to get a 2000, but feel it would leave me out in the cold with my MIDI adapter (no power on serial port), NTSC for my VCR (no comp video, well, alright it really wasn't very good anyway I'm told), and my Digi-View (have to wire up a cable, some rumors claim there are complications). I will probably get a 2000 anyway, but these things have sure caused me to have second thoughts. Keith Doyle # {ucbvax,decvax}!trwrb!cadovax!keithd Contel Business Systems 213-323-8170