gaudreau@juggler.East.Sun.COM (Joe Gaudreau - Sun BOS Software) (02/04/91)
Howdy,
Since there has been a lot of interest lately in the Mega/Ste line, I
figure it's time to add my two cents worth. Being a developer, I
really wanted one of these machines, so I went for it and the machine
arrived on the 22nd of January. A day to remember fondly :-)
Gregory Carter has recently given a good overview of the hardware and
hopefully, he'll tear his machine apart and let us know more about it.
Since software is my main bent, I'll describe the new desktop features
of TOS 2.05.
General details of the machine include a "wedding cake" box (it's not a
pizza-box). The case is the standard Atari grey which matches the
SF314 floppy drive and the new SC1435 stereo color monitor. The CPU
box is really quite attractive and I'm very pleased with the way it
turned out. In all ways that I'm familiar with, the Mega/Ste looks just
like a TT. The only details that may differ are: Color of letters on the
keyboard is dark Navy blue (TT is reported to have green keys) and the
mouse ball is grey (TT has white?).
Other details: The keyboard is excellent. It is somewhat like the new
keyboards found on Sun Microsystem's Sparcs. Pretty nifty since I use
a Sparcstation daily. The CPU box has a nice fan which isn't too loud
and hopefully will keep things cool. The top of the case is WELL
ventilated, as is the HD section. I should point out that the smaller
part of the CPU box contains the HD, which is supposed to be a Seagate
157N, 48.6 MBs. No known specs on ms. Atari has recently upgraded the
HDX software to version 402. While the Mega/Ste HD is shipped
formatted, partitioned and ready to go, mine didn't come with the HDX
utilities (you still need to install the HD), so I had a few days wait
to get them from Atari. The tech support crew were very helpful in
this regard.
The VME port is vacant on my machine although the slot cover has been used
to add the serial 2 connector. Something would have to be done if ever
a card is added... The serial 2 and the LAN port are one and the same,
even though there are two different connectors, I'm told that they cannot
be used simultaneously. Hmmmm.
Right now, the desktop. Looking from left to right, the pull-downs are as
follows: Desk, File, View, Options. There is also the new control panel
under Desk and the help key menu.
Desk -
Desktop Info...
...various .acc as usual
Control-Panel
File -
Open [O]
Show Information... [S]
Search... [L] Searches thru all selected devices for filename,
wild cards work.
---
Delete Item [!]
---
Create Folder [F]
Close Directory [B]
Close Top Window [C]
Bottom to Top [W]
Select All Items [E]
Set File Mask [X]
---
Format Floppy Disk
View -
Show as Icons [9] *
Show as Text [0] *
---
Sort by Name
Sort by Date
Sort by Size
Sort by Type
No Sort
---
Size to Fit
---
Set Color & Style
Options -
Install Icon Select your choice of icon for device, file, etc.
Install Application... Install an application to desktop (&/or func key)
path names, auto boot, tos/ttp/gem/prg, args, doc
type, default dir, parameter (full or local file
name), etc.
Install Devices
Remove Desktop Icon [R] Includes anything you can drag onto desk top. It
is quite cute to have emacs on the desktop, drag
a file on the icon (which looks like a pencil &
paper - thanx to TOS 2.05) and edit it. Emacs
knows where to look for its startup files due
to install application default dir.
---
Set Preferences... Confirmation for delete, copy, overwrite, and
of course, low, medium, and high.
Read .INF File... Allows for multiple .INFs for different rezzes,
work styles, and projects, etc...
Desktop Configuration [M] Global settings for default dir and parameter
(these are over-ridden by install application),
Function key assignments (view or edit from
install application, or whatever you like),
Define single keystrokes for anything that is
on menus... Change, clear, etc., show free
mem.
---
Save Desktop [V]
Print Screen
---
Blitter
* ==> Keys that I assigned (ie not default).
The [HELP] key gives you two boxes of text:
[ALT]+Open Folder - Open new folder into a new window
[CTRL][?] - Replace top window with drive ?
[ALT][?] - Open drive ? into a new window
arrows - Scroll window contents
[ESC] - Update top window
[HELP] - Show help menu
[UNDO] - Stop any file operation
[CTRL][ALT][RSHIFT][DEL] - Cold boot
[CTRL][ALT][RSHIFT] - Warm boot
[CTRL]+Drag Files - Move files
[CTRL][ALT]+Drag Files - Move and rename files
[ALT]+Drag Files - Copy and rename files
[ALT][HELP] - Screen dump to printer
[ALT][1..6] - Change resolution [No the Mega/STe doesn't have 6 rezzes
normal 3, extra 3 for TT :-(]
[CR] - Deselect all items
[>] - Print top window contents
The Control-Panel is pretty slick. It has the following features:
o Shows time and Date
o Options/About
o Options/Setup - 12/24 hour time display, # cpx slots, cpx dir
o Color Setup - RGB sliders define what color you have for this rez on
the desktop (2/4/16 for high/medium/low).
o Configure CPXs - Text/Icon color, RAM resident or not.
o General Setup - Status TOS version 2.05, TOS date 12/05/1990, free ram//
Set response rate, Set repeat rate, Set mouse click speed, blitter on or
off, CPU speed (8, 16, 16 w/cache).
o Mouse accelerator & screen saver/black-out (with modem activity setting).
o Modem stuff - the usual.
o Sound - L/R balance, bass, treble, volume
o Window Colors - 16 color windows in low - anything about window can be
set, only 4 colors in medium, but it looks cool, change the color
and pattern for almost everything. No more icky Atari green. There
might be a way to set individual colors for each icon on the screen but
I haven't figured out how (yet). Anybody?
Disk operations seem a lot faster than what I was used to with TOS 1.4.
The disk copy operation (I tried it once, okay? :-) reads the whole disk
into memory before writing it out. File copies are read file by file but
the whole file is read.
With this "new" TOS/desktop, I have to wonder why I'd want to run a
replacement desktop (that's not to say that they aren't handy for
some). TOS now functions in a way that is useful, which is a treat to
say the least. F10 has Gulam-*07 hooked into it for any shell things I
want to do, F9 is hooked into Emacs 3.10s (which is also pretty cute)
and also tied in as a desktop icon. I suppose I'll put Turbo-C onto
F8. With the new key mappings and such, you don't have to touch the
mouse if you don't want to. Being used to Emacs, using keyboard
accelerators is quite natural and desired. Nice move by the Atari
programming crew.
Now only if I could run Star Raiders... Oh yes, as far as problems
with TOS incompatibility, I have run across a few programs that don't
play nice, but overall I'm not worried by it.
Joe
-=-
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The opinions I juggle may not be mine, but they aren't my employer's either.mjv@brownvm.brown.edu (Marshall Vale) (02/05/91)
[lots of reallly neat info about the MegaSTe deleted]
Thanks for the honest opinion/info, Joe. What I am wondering is did the
MegaSTe come with the new outline font GDOS? I'm really interested in
seeing how it works. When I played with a TT up in Boston, they had it
on the machine but no fonts to use with the O-GDOS. Personally, the
o-gdos might be the new TOS's greatest addition.
(if you can't say anything about because of developer status, I
understand!)
Marshall
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Agnes Nutter, Witchgaudreau@juggler.East.Sun.COM (Joe Gaudreau - Sun BOS Software) (02/06/91)
mjv@brownvm.brown.edu (Marshall Vale) writes: >[lots of reallly neat info about the MegaSTe deleted] > > Thanks for the honest opinion/info, Joe. What I am wondering is did the >MegaSTe come with the new outline font GDOS? I'm really interested in Don't know. Certainly didn't get a disk for it... Probably not in ROM... Joe -=-
buggs@cup.portal.com (William Edward JuneJr) (02/09/91)
Gee, now all we Mega 4 owners NEED is an upgrade/trade-in policy/path. I'd DEFINATELY go for one if indeed it was an affordale proposition...