schuster@dasys1.UUCP (Michael Schuster) (07/18/87)
Introduction ------------
We would like to introduce ourselves: we are Avant-Garde Systems,
manufacturer of pc-ditto for the Atari ST. The company is small, comprised of
just two of us -- Ginny and Bill Teal.
First and most importantly, we wish to thank everyone who has supported us
so far on just blind faith: dealers as well as consumers. In particular, we
wish to say a special thanks to those who have carried the torch on our
behalf until we could get here.
Piracy -- We know that some rumors abound regarding the piracy of pcditto
and the effect on Avant-Garde. We would like to go on record and eliminate any
pesky rumors you've heard. A couple of weeks ago, we began to receive calls
from dealers regarding piracy of our product. Not one or two, but in our phone
log, now well over a hundred; fairly well scattered across the country. This
might not seem unusual in this electronic age, but we were astounded by the
sheer numbers of individuals who began contacting dealers and ourselves for
support and disk drives. When we originally decided to enter the retail
marketplace, we took into consideration that some piracy would occur. This,
like similar events in other industries, goes with the territory. But, it
still hurt our feelings, after we tried to give the market a good product, at
a good price, a free update, and to offer to listen to the market so as to
improve the product and service in the future.
So, are we going out of business or do we plan to roll over? No.
Thank goodness for those of you who supported us. You have shown us that
the entire Atari market is not corrupt. Only, that it sometimes seems so.
If you continue your support, and your friends continue, then we will work
even harder to earn your respect, to provide you the best support we can
and keep all the promises we've made. Maybe, if by providing great
support, more updates, and maintaining good prices, most people who want
the product will ultimately want the real thing.
Support policy -- Please send in your registration cards. Many
manufacturers tell us that only 20 to 30 percent of these cards are ever
returned. We are providing a free update. This will be the only way we
will know where and to whom to send an update. Also, if you call us, we
can not help you if your card is not on file. Lastly, we are making the
next update free, as a way to entice you to tell us what you think. The
next update will contain enhancements, rather than bug fixes. But, we want
your input. We do want the product to be useful to you. So, call, write,
or send a message to us here.
About once a week we will visit this system, to reply to your
questions. Usually, on Sunday.
Since we view this medium as a technical support system, you may find
that from time to time you ask us questions which we may not respond to.
We will not give our opinion, speculate about the future, nor enter into
debates of a non-technical nature publicly. Please send us E-mail, if you
wish to covering other ancillary topics. Because this system costs money,
we want to save those who come here time and aggravation, instead of cover
a lot of irrevelant ifs, maybes, and should haves. It appears that this
professional attitude is already in place here...we would just like to
continue it. Thanks.
Finally, many of you may find it hard obtaining pc-ditto at your local
dealer. We are working on this. We have one phone line. We are
installing others. Also, we did not expect the overwhelming rush to buy
this product. We had anticipated a slow summer in which to build up our
credibility and advertise to dealers. Instead, you surprised us. Have
patience. We won't forget you.
By the way, our address is:
Avant-Garde Systems
381 Pablo Point Drive
Jacksonville, Florida 32225
(904) 221-2904
a dealer order number is coming shortly
Next section is Design of pc-ditto
Design of pc-ditto
------------------
1. The Atari monochrome monitor (which we refer to henceforth as the
Black and white or B/W) is not supported in production release version 2.0.
Please do not buy the system if you have only the B/W monitor; pc-ditto
will not work.
There has been some confusion over whether the documentation or the
outside packaging is correct. The "requirements" on the outside back of
the packaging are correct. The B/W monitor support will be included in the
first update. We make no apologies for our initial decision.
Unfortunately, this decision excludes about 20 percent of the U.S. market
(according to Richard Frick and Sig Hartman at Atari). Quite simply, we
did not have sufficient time and resources to implement and test the
monitor. Do we want to exclude this market? No. We are probably losing
money right now. But, any manufacturer has to weigh opportunity costs of
decisions. Our cost was to not support B/W monitor, or delay announcement
of the product by 3 to 6 months. We knew the window of opportunity for
launching this product was this summer for both U.S. and European sales.
Any later would most likely mean missing targets for advertising and
promotions during the "back-to-schoool" and "Holiday season" buying
periods. Approximately 40 percent of the microcomputer sales are made
during these periods.
That is why we officially state the B/W monitor support will be in the
first update. Furthermore, we have been told by a major magazine reviewer
regarding our product: we made the wisest decision. Had we chosen to
initially support the B/W monitor, most people would have said "Ahhhh.
Color is impossible." Instead, psychologically, implementing color makes
people think B/W is simple. (Well, we wouldn't go quite as far as to say,
simple. Just that it is about the same). In any case, there is one other
rule we have about products. They are tested.
Should we prematurely release an untested product into the market, you
would have to wait just about as long to get an update to fix it, should it
be a disaster. We prefer your wrath now, and will work harder to recover
your faith, when we release a solidly tested product. In the first
instance, we destroy something we can never quite recover: your confidence
in us and our product.
2. 80-track 5.25" drives -- not currently supported to read 40-track
media (even if just to transfer data). We are working on a simple, utility
which will get the job done under DOS. This will be out shortly. If
enough need is voiced for this, we can always make a "hardware" switch,
later.
3. Programs on our certified list -- my wife and I have limited
financial resources. We tried to select DOS applications which have
widespread appeal. Our most objective scorecard of the most popular
programs is the list of top 40 IBM programs sold by the distributors:
Softsel, Ingram, and Micro D. We will continue to update this list about
monthly; here, and with a list to dealers. If your favorite program is not
here, that does not mean it will not work. But, like many compatibles, we
are not perfect. (That's why we sell through dealers.. so you can try
before you buy).
As we fix bugs and make other improvements, many non-working programs
may start running. And, we appreciate all the calls you make regarding
which do run. Please understand, our official list is only updated when we
have tested the product ourselves. We make this policy because if you call
with a problem, we can duplicate it (in most cases). For you to rely on
someone elses word is less than professional for us, since we have to stand
behind our product.
4. We never realized there would be such a debate over the poor little
mouse. It certainly makes sense that if a mouse is attached, and free,
that a product support it. Well, when we surveyed the market to determine
what dealers and consumers wanted, we we told "IBM PC XT compatibility."
So, there is no mouse on a stock PC XT. Two, most of the programs on the
market directly do not support any mouse at all. What you will find is
when you purchase a mouse, it will include two kinds of software: a mouse
driver -- which knows how to talk to the mouse hardware; and applications
interface software -- which is usually customed designed for the most
popular applications, such as Lotus 1-2-3, and includes the pull-down
menus, and the like.
We intend to provide the driver. And, a generic mouse which generates
cursor keystrokes, with maybe the right button to generate a user definable
key (say, carrige return). Now, either will be selectable from our menu.
At this time, unless you already own IBM mouse interface software, from
Microsoft, Logitech, Maynard, etc, then you may end up using Generic mouse.
The cost of developing interface software is very large. Any one looking
for a low cost market to develop for, here you are. Of course, there are
some public domain mice programs, such as PMM (poor mans mouse), available.
We will keep you posted as we go.
5. There is no support for the European keyboards and timers yet. That
version will be released to European distributors this summer.
6. The new blitter may help some screen updates, but we don't know.
Little information about them, and the machines they will be supported on,
is currently available.
7. Megas with 2 and 4 Meg memories, as well as upgraded 1.5 to 4 Meg STs
will be supported by pc-ditto.
8. Color text support -- One IBM CGA mode, 80 column text, permits 16
color backgrounds and 8 color characters. The Atari ST only supports 4
colors in 80 column mode. We DO allow you to choose which 4 colors.
Unfortunately, this is one limitation placed on us by hardware design.
However, we have not found this to be very limiting. Try it yourself,
before discounting the ST. Also, the other CGA modes are supported fully.
Therefore, there is no loss of graphic color or resolution capability.
The next section is current BUGS
Current BUGS
------------
Current bugs we are working on are:
1. PC-DFMT doesn't always like to format a blank disk without error.
2. Hard disks partitioned sometimes indicate all logical drives assigned
to partition 0. This especially true of separate external drive/controller
combinations.
3. Documentation:
a. We refer to TOS system disks in the manual. We mean GEMDOS
format disks.
b. We refer to the Atari monichrome monitor in the manual. At the
last minute, we left this in so we would not have to reprint the manual for
an update. We do state on the outside package, however, that color monitor
is currently required.
c. There are minor typos in the Problem/solution section in the
README.1st file.
4. Self-booting disks -- These are disks which require no operating
system to run. Generally, they are started using the CTRL-ALT-DEL key
combination of rebooting pc-ditto. We perform a special check of the boot
sector we start a disk with to ensure novice users have not left the GEMDOS
disk in the A: drive accidently. Unfortunately, as these things go, we
look for a special IBM signature. To correct this, we will look for GEMDOS
in the future. Please do not patch the system. You WILL cause
irregularities in system operation, especially where disk writes occur.
The next section is Next Update Information
Next Update Information
-----------------------
1. The next update to current owners of version 2.0 is FREE. Contrary to
some nasty rumors that suggested otherwise.
2. The next update will be this Fall. Exactly when we do not know. As a
policy, we announce products when they can be obtained right then. This is
to prevent vaporware. For some of you, this may not seem soon enough. We
are sorry. But, the software development road is littered with many dead
bodies of consumers who relied on some vaporware date. Until someone can
make an exact science out the viscous art of software development, we are
stuck with the frailties of the inestimatable. Therefore, we will not lie.
3. Please, please, send those registration cards to us. Again, we do not
know who you are without them. Consequently, we will not send you your
update...which you deserve and have already paid for.
4. For dealers, we currently investigating how to do updates to help you
get return customer traffic. Because of the piracy problem, and the fact
that our product is not copy-protected, this is a very sticky situation.
No matter what is resolved, you will be notified of updates, and your
inventory replaced.
5. The reason for the FREE part of the update is two-fold. First, we
don't believe in you paying us for bugs. If we did, we would have designed
bugs into the system, marketed several add-on modules to fix different
bugs, and charged a lower price for the main product. We would like to
treat you the way we want to be treated ourselves.
Second, we want to encourage you to let us know what enhancements will
add value to your product. We are a consumer-oriented company. We do not
invent technologies and foist them onto the public. Instead, we know that
the way to continue sales is to improve the product and service to meet
your needs. Sales only occur when needs are met. So,.....what do you
need? Don't be afraid to be absurd (though, don't just make things up
either). We will review your needs. Implement those needs that we can. If
we cannot, we will also tell you, and why. We are always looking for ways
to improve our product. We're listening.
6. Topping the current list of needs are:
B/W monitor support (selected for the next release)
Mouse support -- Microsoft
Logitech
Maynard
Midi hardware support
Time/date carry over from the Atari GEM time/date
Next section is specific questions
Specific questions
------------------
1. Which single-sided 3.5" disk format to boot DOS from?
Our utility, pc-dfmt, will not let you create a single-sided 80-track
bootable DOS diskette, because the DOS you may be using could be lower than
version 3.2. Thus, for DOS versions below 3.2, you may only create a 40-
track single-sided bootable DOS diskette. You may, however, create 80-
track data diskettes (containing no bootable DOS) for use under DOS
versions below 3.2. See our user manual and README.1ST file for details.
For DOS version 3.2, there is a simpler way to format high-capacity
diskettes. You may also create bootable (that's right Bootable) 80-track
single-sided DOS diskettes.
This works for IBM and COMPAQ DOS versions. (For all other DOS
makers, we haven't tested this).
Create a Config.sys file containing the line:
DRIVPARM=/D:x /T:80 /S:9 /H:1
(replace x with a 0 or 1 depending on which physical drive is 3.5"
0 is a:
1 is b: )
Now, using the DOS FORMAT command, you can create the SS 80-track
disk, optionally bootable with DOS.
2. Can't Avant-Garde find a way to override the DOS drives to reduce the
confusion regarding device drivers with various letter assignments.
Unfortunately, our job is to act like hardware. Once we begin to take
over the functions of the DOS, we lose the compatibility and would probably
introduce complexities in other areas.
However, if you think you know the answer, let us know. Thanks.
3. Can't Avant-Garde make the creation of the CONFIG.SYS and the
formatting more automatic, say by using batch files?
Maybe. We'll look into it. Everyone's hardware is so different,
making a general purpose utility to accomplish this may still be quite a
task. Any DOS programmers out there up to the challenge? (How about a DOS
shell?)
This is perhaps why many of you, inexperienced with DOS, may find that
the GEM environment is so much easier to use. The command line approach to
running a microcomputer is difficult and often ambiguous. Add to that the
evolution of new hardware, even as simple as 3.5" drives, and some systems
seem to be very poorly designed to handle it, without extreme contortions
on the part of the operator.
Anyway, we're looking into some sort of simplification.
4. Isn't there some way to improve the creation of 3.5" 720K disks?
This is a problem inherent in the design of DOS. We will try to find
the simplest and best way to create them. Let us hear your success tips.
Maybe we can come up with the all around best "cookbook" rules to handle
DOS formats.
--
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