apratt@atari.UUCP (01/16/87)
The Mega ST is just like the 1040 except for the packaging and amount of memory: well-behaved programs will be object-compatible, and there will be no new screen resolutions. The battery-backed-up clock is about the only truly new feature, and you can even get one of those for your 1040ST. The ROMs in the Mega ST probably won't be much different from the current ST ROMs: new code for the battery clock is necessary, but other than that there will be very few changes. The BLT ROMs are another story: we can't fit both hardware-BLT and software-BLT code into the same 192K of ROM (remember that GEMDOS, AES, and VDI are in there, too), so BLT ROMs will be separate. The Atari PC >will< be shipped with GEM, including GEM Write and GEM Draw. This means it will have over $500 (retail) in software bundled with it. Remind you of the Osborne 1? Software bundling was a big reason for the success of that machine, and not a contributor to its failure (in my opinion). Please remember that I am not God of Atari, and what I say might turn out to be old news or even wrong: these are the facts and plans as I understand them. /----------------------------------------------\ | Opinions expressed above do not necessarily | -- Allan Pratt, Atari Corp. | reflect those of Atari Corp. or anyone else. | ...lll-lcc!atari!apratt \----------------------------------------------/