K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNET (07/27/87)
The Mega ST's started selling today in Switzerland ('selling' = you can go
in the shop payup 3000 SFr and walk away with one). So at last we know how
long immient is :-). The bad news is (well at least in my opinion) is that they
are being sold without blitter (I don`t think anyboady actually believes it
will ever be available!). One interesting point is that the price difference
between 2 and 4 Mega versions is only 400.- SFr (~$270), so our local shop
expects only to be selling the 4 Mb version.
Another point to note is that UniTerm will not run on the ST-4 (I haven`t
tried it on a ST-2) with german ROM`s, the xbios setscreen call seems to
have changed, in any case the switching between text and help screen doesn't
seem to work anymore. Can anybody at Atari shed some light on this (BTW it
would be nice if some of the more widely spread PD and Freeware stuff could
be tested for problems with new ROM releases).
Simon Poole
K538915@CZHRZU1A.BITNETapratt@atari.UUcp (Allan Pratt) (07/29/87)
in article <8707271604.AA11579@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>, Simon says: > > Another point to note is that UniTerm will not run on the ST-4 (I > haven't tried it on a ST-2) with german ROM's [...] (BTW it would be nice > if some of the more widely spread PD and Freeware stuff could be tested > for problems with new ROM releases). > > Simon Poole We tested a *lot* of commercial software, but hardly any PD stuff. This is because people don't send us their software. Leonard says all the developer newsletters have been pleading for people to send their programs to the software library here. The way to get in the pool of software which might be tested is to send *two* copies of the program and documentation to our librarian: Julie Wade, software librarian Atari Corp. 1196 Borregas Ave. Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Once in our library, it *might* be tested -- that's not my decision to make. I guess you could expect the top 20 or so PD programs to get a going-over before the next big ROM release, but not every program. (Think about it -- how many *are* there?) Far and away, the reason most programs won't work with the new ROMs is that they broke the rules by depending on unpublished addresses in RAM or ROM. Since people seem to have fewer compunctions about this when writing PD stuff, that is the case even more often for that class of software. It takes a long time to determine that a program doesn't work with the new ROMs, then to determine WHY, and if the reason is that they broke the rules, we don't learn anything. We do tell the authors about it, so they can come out with more rule-abiding software, but the cost/benefit ratio is pretty poor. Before sending us your PD software, please try it on a Mega. If it doesn't work, please ask yourself if you have used any addresses in low RAM that aren't published as SYSTEM VARIABLES in Atari's documentation. The system BSS is scrambled pretty well by the linker, and there's no telling where a given unpublished variable ended up. (To look at this another way, what if somebody wrote a program which depended on the order variables in UniTerm -- would he be right to compain if a new version of UniTerm had its variables in a different order?) /----------------------------------------------\ | Opinions expressed above do not necessarily | -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp. | reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else. | ...lll-lcc!atari!apratt \----------------------------------------------/ (APRATT on GEnie)
schuster@dasys1.UUCP (Michael Schuster) (08/01/87)
>This >is because people don't send us their software. Leonard says all the >developer newsletters have been pleading for people to send their >programs to the software library here. The way to get in the pool of >software which might be tested is to send *two* copies of the program >and documentation to our librarian: Doesn't Atari look at their own BBS? (AtariBase). There are at least a few megabytes of the most popular PD software right in Atari's hands full-time (grin). Check the downloads. -- l\ /l' _ Mike Schuster {allegra,philabs,cmcl2}!phri!dasys1!schuster l \/ lll/(_ Big Electric Cat {bellcore,cmcl2}!cucard!dasys1!schuster l lll\(_ New York, NY USA
glenn@otto.COM (Glenn Scott) (08/01/87)
In article <799@atari.UUcp>, apratt@atari.UUcp (Allan Pratt) writes: ... >We tested a *lot* of commercial software, but hardly any PD stuff. This >is because people don't send us their software. What are you talking about ? You have at least four ST's running your BBS each of which has many PD programmes. >Leonard says all the developer newsletters have been pleading for people to >send their programs to the software library here. The way to get in the >pool of software which might be tested is to send *two* copies of the program >and documentation to our librarian: > > Julie Wade, software librarian > Atari Corp. > 1196 Borregas Ave. > Sunnyvale, CA 94086 Why must anyone send two disks (I assume you want the two copies on separate disks) in the mail (of all things!) when I can just download it to your BBS ? Here we are, with all this equipment, and we have to use the mail. I swear, some folks sure can complicate things. ... >Before sending us your PD software, please try it on a Mega. ... Oh! What a great way to discourage having the PD software even sent to you by any means. Maybe you have Mega's lying around the office, but I sure don't. Glenn ---- Glenn Scott Las Vegas Sun Las Vegas, Nevada {mirror,sdcrdcf,ihnp4}!otto!glenn