VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET (03/15/89)
I asked if anyone was coming to the Cebit '89 at Hannover, West Germany. Well, thanks to the people who responded. Unfortunately, I overestimated the digest turn-around speed, so I had gone before any of the replies reached me. For that same reason, I guess by the time I write this, a lot of reports from Cebit have come in, but I haven't seen any. So, here are the new things I've seen and heard. Atari Germany has found a new excuse: TOS 1.4 *is* there, they say, but they don't have ROMs in quantity yet, so they can't officially (!) announce it. They were displaying the new big monocrome screen (SM 129, price as yet undecided), but couldn't demo it, because the screen driver (done by Ken B. & others) needs TOS 1.4 to work, and Atari Germany had *only 2* machines with 1.4 ROMs avail- able in Hannover. That would, for once, confirm that excuse. I know *I* am going to get TOS 1.4 sometime next week (from where I'd rather not say :-), but if it's really finished, I can't understand why Atari doesn't make a copy available for the general public, so that at least those who own an EPROM burner can make their own ROMs. The ATW was shown in the new tower-like case, but the demo program looked just like the one they had last September at the Atari Fair in Duesseldorf. The TT and TT/X *supposedly* will be shown in September at the '89 Atari Fair, again in Duesseldorf. Lots of new software, but nothing really impressive, except maybe Tempus Word, which is a Tempus-like word processor (available IV/89 for ~ DM 650). The CD ROM was quoted as "now being shipped to dealers." There was a pre- release of the complete PD collection of the German 'ST Computer' magazine, all on one CD. No price yet. No new laser printer / postscript emulator etc. I probably missed a lot. I also got the impression that every Atari person told different stories, so don't be surprised if what I'm saying turns out to be all wrong ... ;-) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bitnet: VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1 Volker A. Brandt UUCP: ...!unido!DBNUAMA1.bitnet!vbrandt Angewandte Mathematik ARPAnet: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Bonn, West Germany)
good@atari.UUCP (Roy Good) (03/16/89)
in article <8903150013.AA29812@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET says: > > >I know *I* am going to get TOS 1.4 sometime next week (from where I'd rather >not say :-), but if it's really finished, I can't understand why Atari doesn't >make a copy available for the general public, so that at least those who own an >EPROM burner can make their own ROMs. I sincerely hope the source is Atari GmbH. If not, you will have copies of either the very early "Beta" version, or unofficial PROMs derived from the Developer softloaded release of 8/88. Either way, you will have a version which still contains errors, unless you get the latest version via GmbH. Roy Good/Atari
meulenbr@cstw01.UUCP (Frans Meulenbroeks) (03/16/89)
Thanks Volker for your nice report. I have some flames included below. They are intended to atari, not to you. Note: I trimmed the message a lot. Find the original if you want to read it all. In article <8903150013.AA29812@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET writes: > > Atari Germany has found a new excuse: TOS 1.4 *is* there, they say, but they >don't have ROMs in quantity yet, so they can't officially (!) announce it. They Hah! When the first developers release of 1.4 came out last August they used the very same excuse to tell the people the 1.4 will not be available before December. Do they still want me to believe this.... >were displaying the new big monocrome screen (SM 129, price as yet undecided), >but couldn't demo it, because the screen driver (done by Ken B. & others) needs >TOS 1.4 to work, and Atari Germany had *only 2* machines with 1.4 ROMs avail- >able in Hannover. That would, for once, confirm that excuse. Huh, Huh, Huh, There are also disk based versions of 1.4 (you'll only need 1 copy to boot any number of machines). Furthermore if a company like Atari cannot burn a few Eproms for a large fair, what are they up to?? > > I know *I* am going to get TOS 1.4 sometime next week (from where I'd rather >not say :-), but if it's really finished, I can't understand why Atari doesn't >make a copy available for the general public, so that at least those who own an >EPROM burner can make their own ROMs. Agree!! Anyway, if systems with new ROMs hit the shop before there are upgrade kits a lot of people will burn their own roms. (Thats how I got my Mega Roms) > > The TT and TT/X *supposedly* will be shown in September at the '89 Atari >Fair, again in Duesseldorf. Ough. I cannot keep from laughing. This thing has been promised to be available very soon now for three years. Giggle. I could have developed a TT alone in that time. > >---------------------------------------------------------------------------- >Bitnet: VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1 Volker A. Brandt >UUCP: ...!unido!DBNUAMA1.bitnet!vbrandt Angewandte Mathematik >ARPAnet: VBRANDT%DBNUAMA1.BITNET@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU (Bonn, West Germany) Once again thanks Volker. Does this Atari company really wants us to believe anything they say. They can only tell the same promises and excuses again and again. Nay, my ST is a fine machine, and I'm still happy I bought it, but I would not rely on Atari info any more. Seeing is believing as far as Atari concerns. Where are the long ago promised blitter upgrades for 1040 owners??? PS: One major advantage of the ST: It runs MINIX! No more single tasking. Unix is here. -- Frans Meulenbroeks (meulenbr@cst.prl.philips.nl) Centre for Software Technology ( or try: ...!mcvax!philmds!prle!cst!meulenbr)
Bob_BobR_Retelle@cup.portal.com (03/19/89)
Frans Meulenbroeks asks: >Nay, my ST is a fine machine, and I'm still happy I bought it, but I >would not rely on Atari info any more. Seeing is believing as far as >Atari concerns. Where are the long ago promised blitter upgrades for 1040 >owners??? The "Blitter Upgrade" for 520/1040 ST machines has actually been out for quite some time now.. Instructions for upgrading a 520/1040ST to a blitter machine: 1) Carefully unplug your 520/1040ST 2) Hold it approximately 12 inches above any available trash receptacle 3) Let go 4) Go to your dealer and buy a Mega 2 ST or Mega 4 ST 5) Blitter upgrade is complete BobR
VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET (03/20/89)
In Info-Atari16 Digest #96, imagen!atari!good@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU (Roy Good) writes: >in article <8903150013.AA29812@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET > says: >>I know *I* am going to get TOS 1.4 sometime next week .... > >I sincerely hope the source is Atari GmbH. If not, you will have copies of >either the very early "Beta" version, or unofficial PROMs derived from the >Developer softloaded release of 8/88. Either way, you will have a version >which still contains errors, unless you get the latest version via GmbH. Thanks for your concern, Roy. Well, the source *is* Atari GmbH, and the date in the ROMS is 22-Feb-89. I would not recommend using any earlier ROM versions. Note: This all relates *only* to the German ROM version. BTW: Maybe someone at Atari could tell us (many people in Germany already use this ROM version, so I use plural) if the abovementioned version does/does not include the 'rare fatal TOS 1.4 harddisk bug' Ken Badertscher told the net about a few digests back.
marc@pbinfo.UUCP (Marc Gumbold) (03/20/89)
In article <8903150013.AA29812@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET writes:
[...]
The CD ROM was quoted as "now being shipped to dealers." There was a pre-
release of the complete PD collection of the German 'ST Computer' magazine,
all on one CD. No price yet.
^^^^^^^^^^^^
I asked them and they told me it'll cost 1200 DM, which are, ehmmm, say $660.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
UUCP: ...!uunet!unido!pbinfo!marc | Marc Gumbold
or marc@pbinfo.UUCP | Universitaet-GH Paderborn, FB 17
CSNET: marc%pbinfo.uucp@Germany.CSNET | Warburger Str. 100
ARPA: marc%pbinfo.uucp@uunet.uu.net | D-4790 Paderborn, West Germany
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------cmcmanis%pepper@Sun.COM (Chuck McManis) (03/21/89)
In article <508@corona.pb> marc@pbinfo.UUCP (Marc Gumbold) writes: > I asked them [Atari] and they told me it'll [The CD-ROM] cost 1200 DM, > which are, ehmmm, say $660. Be careful, looking at prices in West Germany and in other countries shows that they have no relation to the current (or future) US <-> German currency exchange rate. I'll keep my eye out for one around the northern CA area and see if the US price is close to that 660. --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.
sarnila@tukki.jyu.fi (Pekka Sarnila) (03/22/89)
Mayby these were allready mentioned, we lost some news. New products from Atari: - large monitor SM194 (really Viking) 1280 * 960, 70 Hz, graphics card, TOS upgrade to support large screen, availabe in June, price in Germany c. 3800.- DEM. They had several of them working there; the quality of the picture was really good. (This + laser + Calamus = really impressive) - Megafile 44, cartridge hard disk unit, 44MB, 30ms seek, bootable, available in April, price in Germany c. 2500.- DEM, cartridge c. 300.-. Seemed to work fine. Cartridges are about the size of a 5" floppy in hard cover. - CD-roms available right now (High Sierra 86 and ISO 9660 standart) - TT was not publicly precented (was there though); will be officially out in Dusseldorf ATARI show 25-27. August, the clock will be 16MHz, low end version about 6000.- DEM, unix version about 10000.- DEM (depends the ram price development). - ATW is available now, starting price about 15000.- DEM (with one transputer); One university had developped some simulation programms in it (something to do with jet turbines I understood), they liked it, speed (one transputer) they saed was about twice the MicroVax II. They had X-windows working. The operating system seems to work aright, Csh seemed pretty compatible. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------- Pekka Sarnila, University of Jyvaskyla Finland sarnila@tukki.jyu.fi -------------------------------------------------------------------
kbad@atari.UUCP (Ken Badertscher) (03/27/89)
In article <8903201139.AA00599@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> VBRANDT@DBNUAMA1.BITNET writes: |... |BTW: Maybe someone at Atari could tell us (many people in Germany already use |this ROM version, so I use plural) if the abovementioned version does/does not |include the 'rare fatal TOS 1.4 harddisk bug' Ken Badertscher told the net |about a few digests back. Most Definitely Not. The German TOS release is exactly the same as what is being made for France, Switzerland, USA, Canada, UK, etc. etc. This is very much the most bug-free TOS version yet. If we knew of any serious (or even small!) bugs, it would not have been released! That was the point of the "Fatal TOS 1.4 bug" message. That, and correcting the incorrect TOS version date from ST Report. -- Ken Badertscher | #include <disclaimer> Atari R&D Software Engine | GEMDOS LIVES! ...or is that Frodo? {portal,ames,imagen}!atari!kbad | I can never remember these things...
grahamt@syma.sussex.ac.uk (Graham Thomas) (03/30/89)
From article <1406@atari.UUCP>, by kbad@atari.UUCP (Ken Badertscher): > > The German TOS release is exactly the same as what is being made for > France, Switzerland, USA, Canada, UK, etc. etc. This is very much > the most bug-free TOS version yet. > > If we knew of any serious (or even small!) bugs, it would not have > been released! So, is this version finally IT then? Or are you still testing, Ken? Seriously, my impression is that, thanks to people like Ken and Allan (and a few others before them who have since left for other pastures: Landon, Alex & co.) Atari's support, at least on this network, is now pretty acceptable. However, it still takes too long to get products out the door (not Ken's or Allan's fault, I should add), there are still lots of problems with policy co-ordination between Atari USA and the various subsidiaries (I'm starting to BELIEVE the customer support people in the UK when they say they don't know what's going on, and I think that's worse than believing they're just putting me off!) and there are still the most amazing cock-ups. On this last point, why does the fabled (and long-since 'finished', according to an Atari UK spokesperson at Hannover) CD-ROM player not (yet?) have software to allow CDs for MS-DOS machines to be used without problems, and why does it not have an interface that would allow PC users to plug it into their machines? Does Atari not want to create a market for it? > Ken Badertscher | #include <disclaimer> > Atari R&D Software Engine | GEMDOS LIVES! ...or is that Frodo? Well, the heavy betting around here's on Frodo, at least until people outside the magic circle of developers can get their hands on TOS 1.4 :-) Graham -- Graham Thomas, SPRU, Mantell Building, U of Sussex, Brighton, BN1 9RF, UK JANET: grahamt@uk.ac.sussex.syma EARN/BITNET: grahamt@syma.sussex.ac.uk ARPA: grahamt%syma.sussex.ac.uk@cunyvm.cuny.edu UUCP: grahamt@syma.uucp Phone: +44 273 686758
zessel@incas.UUCP (Holger Zessel AG Nehmer) (03/31/89)
Hello netlanders ! I was in Hannover too and I wonder why nobody else told about X11R3 for the ST. It can be used only in connection with a unix machine, the ST serving as an X-terminal. It's not possible to write X applications on the ST. As far as I know there are two versions, one using an ethernetcard and the other over a serial line (slow but cheap). The whole thing is not yet released (shall be in summer) and there is no price announced (I forgot by whom, does anybody else know that ?). I think this is a very interesting product, as there are so many standalone ST's which could be used as cheap bitmap terminals. It can make X-software usable for machine without bitmap terminals. I may be wrong but the ST together with an X-server and ethernetcard will be much cheaper than a small diskless workstation I think. Holger -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Holger Zessel, uucp: ...!uunet!mcvax!unido!uklirb!incas!zessel Fachbereich Informatik, SFB124-D1 Universitaet Kaiserslautern, FRG
twolf@homxb.ATT.COM (T.WOLF) (04/04/89)
In article <1885@incas.UUCP>, zessel@incas.UUCP (Holger Zessel AG Nehmer) writes: > > Hello netlanders ! > I was in Hannover too and I wonder why nobody else told about > X11R3 for the ST. It can be used only in connection with a unix machine, ...deleted stuff... > The whole thing is not yet released (shall be in summer) and there > is no price announced (I forgot by whom, does anybody else know that ?). Yes, please let everyone know. Will the package include the ethernet card or is it an option? Will it work only on Megas or also on 1040s (the ethernet card that is?) Is the X server software TCP/IP (SLIP for the serial version) or some non-standard protocol that isn't available on all unix machines? Any info is appreciated. -- -----------No, Bell Labs doesn't know!!!-------------- I don't remember, Tom Wolf Phone: (201) 949-2079 I don't recall, Bell Labs, NJ e-mail: twolf@homxb.att.com I have no memory, No memory at all.