damir@duttnph.UUCP (Damir Sudar) (07/27/88)
Considering the existing interest in new and exciting computers among the Atari ST users I thought it useful say something about the Archimedes RISC machine. In the past month I have ported a large program that was running on the ST to the Archimedes. Facts: the machine is fast, typically in integer calculations 3 to 4 times faster than the ST. In floating point it is still faster but don't expect miracles here. The FPP is not yet available. the operating system is disgusting if you usually work on a UNIX system. Not a single command is the same as in UNIX and the help facility is hardly useful. This only applies to the 'shell', the low-level system calls are well thought-out and very powerful. A third-party developer should sell a new shell and all would be well. There is also a DESKTOP build into the ROM but that's something we can only laugh about, useless. the native language of the machine seems to be BASIC, in my opinion the gravest mistake of the makers. The software package I have ported was completely written in C and the ANSI C compiler that comes with the machine is pretty good although it is lacking a good optimizer. The original code was written for Mark Williams C and the only changes I made had to do with UNIX-type C to ANSI C and naturally the GEM and O.S.-specific parts. the windowing system (WIMP) is quite powerful in performing simple tasks so a lot is done for you by the dispatcher but support of pieces of text and dialog-boxes is limited. the hardware is well-designed and looks sturdy except for the mouse. the prices are too high but that's normal for new computers but more important there is hardly any software at this moment. This should improve in the near future. the machine is available now in the Netherlands and Germany outside of the U.K. Damir Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands. disclaimer: I have no commercial connection with the Archimedes. My program will come into the P.D. The opinions above are all mine personally. I am not saying that any computer is better than any other computer. My /dev/null has unlimited capacity for flames.